Study each of the passages and choose the best answers to the questions that follow.
PASSAGE ONE (Questions 1-4)
The center part of a hurricane is called the eye of the storm. In the eye of a
hurricane, winds are calm and no rain falls. There can even be blue sky and
sunshine in the eye of the storm.
Line This dry and calm spot is caused as the air spins around the center of the
(5) hurricane. The spinning air rises and pulls moisture with it. What remains in
the center is dry, clear air.
1. The topic of the passage is 2. The passage indicates that in the
(A) the destruction of hurricanes eye of a hurricane
(B) the harsh weather during a (A) it is windy
hurricane (B) there is a lot of rain
(C) the calm in the center of a (C) there is a cloudy, gray sky
hurricane (D) it can be sunny
(D) the beautiful weather that
follows a hurricane
3. According to the passage, what 4. Click on the paragraph that
causes the calm spot? explains how the eye of a hurricane
(A) The air circling around the is formed.
center
(B) The blue sky and sunshine
(C) The high temperatures
(D) The heavy rainfall
PASSAGE TWO (Questions 5-10)
The invention of the phonograph happened quite by accident. Thomas
Edison moved to Menlo Park, New Jersey, in 1876, where he established an
industrial research laboratory. There, Edison was working on a carbon telephone
Line transmitter to improve the existing Bell telephone system.
(5) In that laboratory a year later, Edison invented the phonograph while he
was trying to improve a telegraph repeater. He attached a telephone diaphragm
to the needle in the telegraph repeater; in this way, he was able to reproduce a
recording that could be played back. After he made some improvements to the
machine, he tested it. He recited “Mary Had a Little Lamb” into the machine and
(10) played his voice back to a very surprised audience.
5. What is the best title for the 7. In what year did the invention of
passage? the phonograph occur?
(A) Thomas Edison’s Many (A) 1876
Inventions (B) 1877
(B) Improvements in the Telephone (C) 1878
and Telegraph (D) The article does not say.
(C) The History of Menlo Park
(D) An Accidental Invention 8. What was Edison working on when
he created the phonograph?
6. Click on the drawing that shows (A) A telegraph repeater
what was invented by accident. (B) A telegraph diaphragm
(C) A telephone repeater
(D) A telephone diaphragm
9. According to the passage, how was
the phonograph made?
(A) With a telephone needle and a
recorder
(B) From a recording of a telegraph
(C) With only a telegraph repeater
(D) From a combination of
telephone and telegraph parts.
10. According to the passage, how did
Edison test his new invention?
(A) He made improvements to the
machine
(B) He used a carbon transmitter
(C) He read a children’s rhyme
(D) He reproduced the audience’s
voice.
PASSAGE THREE (Questions 11-17)
The Sears and Roebuck catalogue was fixture in American society for
many decades. Practically anything needed in the American home could be
ordered through this comprehensive catalogue and delivered by mail. The
Line catalogue made it easier for homeowners in urban areas to track down items
(5) they were trying to find; the catalogue was an absolute necessity for residents
in out-of-the-way areas where many types of home supplies were not available
for hundreds of miles.
In the early twentieth century, it was not just possible to buy home
supplies from the Sears and Roebuck catalogue. It was actually possible to
(10) buy a mail-order house. If you ordered a house through the mail, you would
receive all the necessary building materials as well as plans for constructing
the house; all of this could be had for prices starting around $600.
11. This passage mainly discusses 13. According to the passage, why was
(A) products sold in the Sears and the Sears and Roebuck catalogue
Roebuck stores important to people in remote
(B) the design of the Sears and areas?
Roebuck catalogue (A) It contained the only products
(C) how to shop using catalogues they could afford
(D) shopping through the Sears and (B) They did not like the products
Roebuck catalogue in the past in local stores
(C) It had a lot of products they
12. The passage indicates that items could not get in their local
ordered through the Sears and areas.
Roebuck catalogue (D) It was the only way to get a
(A) had to be picked up at a Sears new home.
and Roebuck store
(B) Were delivered by mail 14. The passage mentions the which of
(C) Arrived in Sears and Roebuck the following large items could be
trucks. purchased through the Sears and
(D) Had to be small. Roebuck catalogue?
(A) A home
(B) A car
(C) A boat
(D) A train
15. The mail-order house in the Sears 16. The price of $600 mentioned in the
and Roebuck catalogue passage was
(A) was for urban areas only (A) the lowest price for the item
(B) was set up by Sears and (B) the average price for the item
Roebuck workers (C) the only price for the item
(C) needed to be put together (D) the highest price for the item.
(D) arrived in one piece
17. Click on the paragraph that
describes one unusual item from
the early Sears and Roebuck
catalogue.
