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.
This dry and calm spot is caused as the air spins around the center of the 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…

a. The destruction of hurricanes
b. The harsh weather during a hurricane
c. The calm in the center of a hurricane
d. The beautiful weather that follows a hurricane

2. The passage indicates that in the eye of a hurricane…

a. It is windy
b. There is a lot of rain
c. There is cloudy, gray sky
d. It can be sunny

3. According to the passage, what causes the calm spot?

a. The air circling around the center
b. The blue sky and sunshine
c. The high temperatures
d. The heavy rainfall

The invention of the phonograph happened quite by accident. Thomas Edison moved
to Menlo Park, New Jersey, in 1876, where he established and industrial research laboratory.
There, Edison was working on a carbon telephone transmitter to improve the existing Bell
telephone system.
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. He recited “Mary Had a
Little Lamb” into the machine and played his voice back to a very surprised audience.

1. What is the best title for the passage?

a. Thomas Edison’s Many Inventions
b. Improvements in the Telephone and Telegraph
c. The History of Menlo Park
d. An Accidental Invention

2. According to the passage, the invention of the phonograph…

a. Was quite unplanned
b. Was Edison’s principal project
c. Was surprising to no one
 d. Took many years

3. In what year did the invention of the phonograph occur?

a. 1876
b. 1877
c. 1878
d. The article does not say.

4. 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

5. 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.

When the typewriter was first invented, it’s keys were arranged alphabetically. This
made the keys easy to find. However, this arrangement also caused the bars of the machine
to jam, or get stuck.
To solve this problem, a new letter arrangement was introduced by Christopher
Latham Scholes in 1872. His system, the standard keyboard system, is still used on typewriters
today. He arranged the letters in such a way that the bars hit the inked ribbon from opposite
directions as much as possible. This resulted in far less jamming than had occurred with the
alphabetical models.

1. The main topic of the passage is…

a. The invention of the typewriter
b. A problem and solution concerning the early typewriter
c. How to write a letter on the typewriter
d. Why the keys stick on today’s typewriter

2. According to the passage, on the first typewrites…

a. The keys were in alphabetical order
b. The keys were hard to find
c. The bars on the machine never jammed
d. Scholes’s system worked quite well

3. Which of the following is NOT true about the system invented by Scholes?
a. It was introduced in 1872
b. It is still used today
 c. It became the standard system
d. It was alphabetical

4. The passage indicates that under Scholes’s system, the bars hit the ribbon…
a. In alphabetical order
b. From opposite directions
c. And caused the keys to jam
d. In the same way as they had on the original typewriter

Desert tundra, or cold desert, occurs on the Arctic edges of North America, Europe,
and Asia. In these areas the temperatures are almost always freezing, and they cause an
environment in which plant life is virtually impossible. The existence of ice rather than water
for the majority of the year means that vegetation does not have enough moisture for growth
to take place. During the short period of time when the temperature increases enough for the
ice to melt, there is generally a large volume of water. Too much water and not enough
drainage through the frozen subsoil make it difficult for plants to grow.

1. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

a. Where Desert Tundra Is Found
b. The Weather In The Arctic
c. The Effect of Desert Tundra on Plant Life
d. The Variety of Plant Life in Desert Tundra

2. According to the passage, desert tundra is found…

a. Throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.
b. In Antartica
c. On the Arctic borders of the northern continents
d. At the North Pole

3. According to the passage, what makes plant life almost impossible in areas of desert
tundra during most of the year?
a. Excessive water on the plants
b. The frozen state of water
c. The increase in temperature
d. The lack of ice

4. According to the passage, which of the following does NOT happen when the weather
heats up?
a. Plants grow well
b. The ice melts
c. There is not enough drainage
d. There is too much water

5. According to the passage why is it impossible for water to drain after it melts?
 a. The land beneath the surface is still frozen
b. The temperature is too high
c. The period of time is too short
d. The vegetation is flourishing

Sometimes mail arrives at the post office, and it is impossible to deliver the
mail. Perhaps there is an inadequate or illegible address and no return address.
The post office cannot just throw this mail away, so this becomes “dead mail”.
Line This dead mail is sent to one of the U.S. Postal Service’s dead-mail offices in
(5) Atlanta, New York, Philadelphia, St. Paul, or San Francisco. Seventy-five million
pieces of mail can end up in the dead-mail office in one year.
The staff of the dead-mail offices have a variety of ways to deal with all of
these types of dead mail. First of all, they look for clues that can help them
deliver the mail; they open packages in the hope that something inside will show
(10 where the package came from or is going to. Dead mail will also be listed on a
) computer so that people can call in and check to see if a missing item is there.
However, all of this mail cannot simply be stored forever; there is just too
much of it. When a lot of dead mail has piled up, the dead-mail offices hold public
auctions. Every three months, the public is invited in and bins containing items
found in dead-mail packages are sold to the highest bidder.
(15
)
1. The best title for the passage is…
A. The U.S. Postal Service
B. Staff Responsibilities at the U.S. Postal Service
C. Why Mail is Undeliverable
D. Dead-Mail Offices
E. A Dead Person’s Mail

2. Dead mail is mail that…

A. has no use
B. has been read and thrown away
C. is unwanted
D. is undeliverable
E. tells the passing of somebody

3. The word “illegible” in line 2 is closest in meaning to which of the following?

A. Incomplete
B. Missing
C. Unreadable
D. Incorrect
E. Not written

4. According to the passage, how many dead-mail offices does the U.S. Postal Service
have?
A. 3
B. 5
C. 15
D. 75
E. 150

5. The word “staff” in line 7 is closest in meaning to

A. workers
B. machines
 C. rules
D. pieces of furniture
E. a stick

6. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a way that post office staff members deal
with dead mail?
A. They search for clues.
B. They throw dead mail away.
C. They open dead mail.
D. They list dead mail on a computer.
E. They hope the package inside will tell where it came from.

7. It is implied in the passage that the dead-mail staff would be happy if they opened a
package and found…
A. money
B. jewelry
C. a computer
D. an address
E. an office

8. In line 11, the expression “call in” could best be replaced by…
A. visit
B. phone
C. shout
D. talk
E. mail

9. The word “auctions” in line 14 is closest in meaning to…

A. sales
B. deliveries
C. meetings
D. demonstrations
E. seminars
10. The passage indicates that dead-mail auctions are held…
A. once a year
B. twice a year
C. three times a year
D. four times a year
E. five times a year