Reading

Questions 1-11

The work of the railroad pioneers in America became the basis for a great surge of railroad
building halfway through the nineteenth century that linked the nation together as never before.
Railroads eventually became the nation’s number one transportation system, and remained so
until the construction of the interstate highway system halfway through the twentieth century.
They were of crucial importance in stimulating economic expansion, but their influence reached
beyond the economy and was pervasive in American society at large.
By 1804, English as well as American inventors had experimented with steam engines for
moving land vehicles. In 1920, John Stevens ran a locomotive and cars around in a circular track
on his New Jersey estate, which the public saw as an amusing toy. And in 1825, after opening a
short length of track, the Stockton to Darlington Railroad in England became the first line to
carry general traffic. American businesspeople, especially those in the Atlantic coastal region
who looked for better communication with the West, quickly became interested in the English
experiment. The first company in America to begin actual operations was the Baltimore and
Ohio, which opened a thirteen- mile length of track in 1830. It used a team of horses to pull a
train of passenger carriages and freight wagons along the track. Steam locomotive power didn’t
come into regular service until two years later.
However, for the first decade or more, there was not yet a true railroad system. Even the
longest of the lines was relatively short in the 1830’s, and most of them served simply to connect
water routes to each other, not to link one railroad to another. Even when two lines did connect,
the tracks often differed in width, so cars from one line couldn’t fit onto tracks of the next line.
Schedules were unreliable and wrecks were frequent. Significantly, however, some important
developments during the 1830’s and 1840’s included the introduction of heavier iron rails, more
flexible and powerful locomotives, and passenger cars were redesigned to become more stable,
comfortable, and larger. By the end of 1830 only 23 miles of track had been laid in the country.
But by 1936, more than 1,000 miles of track had been laid in eleven States, and within the
decade, almost 3,000 miles had been constructed. By that early age, the United States had
already surpassed Great Britain in railroad construction, and particularly from the mid-1860’s,
the late nineteenth century belonged to the railroads.
2 The word “their” in line 6 refers to
1 The word “stimulating” in line 5 is closest (a)railroad pioneers
in meaning to (b) railroads
(a) helping (c)the interstate highway system
(b) changing (d) American society
(c) promoting
(d) influencing 3 Which of the following can be
inferred from the passage?
(a) The United States regarded Great (a) fixed
Britain as a competitor in developing the (b) supportive
most efficient railroad system (c) reliable
(b) Steam locomotive power was first used (d) sound
in 1832
(c) American businessmen saw railroads 8 By what time had almost 3,000 miles of
as a threat to established businesses track been laid?
(d) Steam locomotives replaced horses (a) 1830
because of the distances across the country (b) 1836
(c) 1840
4 The author concludes that for the first (d) mid-1860s
decade or more, there was not yet a true
railroad system because 9 The word “surpassed” in line 29 is closest
(a) passenger cars were not stable, in meaning to
comfortable or large (a) exceeded
(b) locomotives were not powerful enough (b) beaten
(c) schedules were unreliable and wrecks (c) overtaken
were frequent (d) equaled
(d) lines were relatively short and not
usually linked 10 Where in the passage does the author
outline the main conclusions about the
5 The word “schedules” in line 23 is closest importance of railroads in America?
in meaning to: (a) Lines 3-7
(a) safety procedures (b) Lines 14-18
(b) employees (c) Lines 19-21
(c) timetables (d) Lines 29-31
(d) railroad tracks
11 Why does the author include details
6 Which of the following is NOT true about about Great Britain in the passage?
the 1830’s and 1840’s (line 24) (a) To compare developments in both the
(a) passenger cars became larger United States and Great Britain
(b) schedules were reliable (b) To illustrate the competitiveness
(c) locomotives became more powerful between the two countries
(d) tracks were heavier (c) To show where Americans got their
ideas and technology from
7 The word “stable” in line 26 is closest in (d)To provide a more complete historical
meaning to context

Questions 12-19
 The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded annually and the first woman to win this prize was

Questions 20-29

The medieval artists didn’t know about perspective; they didn’t want to make their people
look like real, individual people in a real, individual scene. They wanted to show the truth, the
eternal quality of their religious stories. So these artists didn’t need to know about perspective.
In the European Renaissance period, artists wanted to show the importance of the
individual person and his or her possessions and surroundings. A flat medieval style couldn’t
show this level of reality and the artists needed a new technique. It was the Italian artist
Brunelleschi who discovered the technique of perspective drawing. At first the artists of the
Renaissance only had single-point perspective. Later they realized that they could have two-
pointed perspective and still later multi-point perspective.
With two-point perspective they could turn an object (like a building) at an angle to the
picture and draw two sides of it. The technique of perspective which seems so natural to us now
is an invented technique, a part of the “grammar of painting”. Like all bits of grammar there are
exceptions about perspective. For example, only vertical and horizontal surfaces seem to meet on
eye level. Sloping roof tops don’t meet on eye level.
For 500 years, artists in Europe made use of perspective drawing in their
pictures. Nevertheless, there are a range of priorities that artists in displaying individual styles.
Crivelli wanted to show depth in his picture and he used a simple single-point perspective.
Cezanne always talked about space and volume. Van Gogh, like some of the other painters of the
Impressionist period, was interested in Japanese prints. And Japanese artists until this century
were always very strong designers of “flat” pictures. Picasso certainly made pictures which have
volume and depth. However, he wanted to keep our eyes on the surface and to remind us that his
paintings are paintings and not illusions.
It is technically easy to give an illusion of depth. However, a strong two dimensional design
is just as important as a feeling of depth, and perhaps more important.

20 The passage mainly discusses 21 The word “eternal” in line 3 is closest

(a) the difference between medieval and in meaning to
Renaissance art (a) timeless
(b) how the technique of perspective (b) infinite
influenced the modern art (c) frequent
(c) the discovery of the technique of (d) constant
perspective
(d) the contribution of Renaissance artists 22 According to the passage, which is
the main concern for medieval artists?
(a) the individual person and his/her (b) support two-pointed perspective
possessions and surroundings (c) illustrate that there are exceptions
(b) real people, real scenes about perspective
(c) eternal timeless truth of the earth (d) point out that the technique of
(d) themes of religious stories perspective though seems so natural is an
invented technique
23 The discovery of perspective was the
result of 27 The following artists’ priorities in style
(a) Renaissance artists’ to prove that the shift away from perspective except
medieval artists could show level of reality (a) Crivelli
(b) the need to turn an object at an (b) Cezanne
angle and draw more than one side of it (c) Japanese artists
(c) the subject being shifted from religious (d) Brunelleschi
stories to individual person
and surroundings. 28 The word ”Illusion” in line 25 is closest
(d) natural evolution of human senses in meaning to
(a) deception
24 The word “it” in line 12 refers to (b) photograph
(a) the picture (c) decoration
(b) perspective (d) illustration
(c) angle
(d) the object 29 It can be inferred from the passage that
Renaissance artists
25 The word “Grammar ” in line 13 is (a) embraced the medieval style of eternal
closest in meaning to truth
(a) construction (b) needed to develop a new approach
(b) grammatical rules towards painting to show a new level of
(c) rules and regulations reality
(d) tones and volume (c) were inspired by vertical and
horizontal surfaces in inventing the
26 The author’s purpose to give the technique of perspective
example in line14-15 is to (d) saw two dimensional design more
(a) explain how perspective work in important than a feeling of depth
painting

Questions 30-39

There are two main hypotheses

Questions 40-50
Although management principles
Reading Test 1– Answer Key

1.c 2.b 3.b 4.d 5.c 6.b 7.d 8.c 9.a 10.a

11.d 12.b 13.b 14.c 15.c 16.b 17.a 18.d 19.b 20.b

21.a 22.d 23.c 24.d 25.c 26.c 27.d 28.a 29.b 30.b

31.c 32.b 33.d 34.a 35.b 36.c 37.a 38.d 39.c 40.d

41.b 42.b 43.a 44.d 45.c 46.d 47.c 48.b 49.c 50.b