Desert Island is one of the largest—sixteen miles long and nearly twelve miles wide—and one of the most beautiful of Maine’s coastal islands.. Desert Island very nearly formed as two dis
Trang 2Section 1: Reading Comprehension
Answer questions 1–8 on the basis of the following
passage
(1) The coast of the State of Maine is one of the
most irregular in the world A straight line running
from the southernmost city in Maine, which is
Kit-tery, to the northernmost coastal city, Eastport,
would measure about 225 miles If you followed the
coastline between the same two cities, you would
travel more than ten times as far This irregularity is
the result of what is called a drowned coastline The
term refers to the results of the glacial activity of the
Ice Age At that time, the whole area that is now
Maine was part of a mountain range that towered
above the sea As the glacier descended, however, it
expended enormous force on those mountains and
they sank into the ocean
(2) As the mountains sank, ocean water charged
over the lowest parts of the remaining land, forming
a series of twisting inlets and lagoons, of contorted
grottos and nooks Once the glacier receded, the
highest parts of the former mountain range that
were nearest the shore remained as islands
Although the mountain ranges were never to
return, the land rose somewhat over the centuries
On one of the islands that the glacier left behind,
marine fossils have been found at 225 feet above
today’s sea level, indicating that the island was once
part of the shoreline
(3) The 2,500-mile-long rocky and jagged
coast-line of Maine keeps watch over nearly two thousand
islands Many of these islands are tiny and
unin-habited, but many are home to thriving
communi-ties Mt Desert Island is one of the largest—sixteen
miles long and nearly twelve miles wide—and one
of the most beautiful of Maine’s coastal islands Mt
Desert Island very nearly formed as two distinct
islands It is split almost in half by Somes Sound, a very deep and very narrow stretch of water seven miles long On the east side of the island, Cadillac Mountain rises 1,532 feet, making it the highest mountain on the Atlantic seaboard
(4) For years, Mt Desert Island, particularly its
major settlement, Bar Harbor, afforded summer homes for the wealthy Recently, Bar Harbor has made a name for itself as a burgeoning arts com-munity as well But there is much more to Mt Desert Island than a sophisticated and wealthy play-ground A majority of the island is unspoiled forest-land, which makes up the greatest part of Acadia National Park Mt Desert Island sits on the bound-ary line between the temperate and sub-Arctic zones The island, therefore, supports the flora and fauna of both zones, as well as beach, inland, and alpine plants In addition to its geological treasures,
Mt Desert Island lies in a major bird-migration lane; all kinds of migratory birds pass over the island
(5) The establishment of Acadia National Park in
1916 means that this diversity of nature will be pre-served and that it will be available to all people, not just the wealthy who once had exclusive access to the island’s natural beauty Today, visitors to Acadia may receive nature instruction from the park natu-ralists, in addition to enjoying the beauty of the island by camping, hiking, cycling, or boating Or, visitors may choose to spend time at the archeolog-ical museum, learning about the Stone Age inhabi-tants of the island The best view on Mt Desert Island, though, is from the top of Cadillac Moun-tain From the summit, you can gaze back toward the mainland or out over the Atlantic Ocean and contemplate the beauty created by a retreating glacier
Trang 31 Which of the following statements best expresses
the main idea of paragraph 4?
a The wealthy residents of Mt Desert Island
selfishly kept it to themselves
b Acadia National Park is one of the smallest of
the national parks
c On Mt Desert Island, there is great tension
between the year-round residents and the
summer tourists
d Due to its location and environment, Mt.
Desert Island supports an incredibly diverse
animal and plant life
e A variety of activities are available to tourists
who visit Mt Desert Island
2 According to the selection, the large number of
small islands along the coast of Maine is the
result of
a glaciers.
b a temperate climate.
c volcanic mountains.
d floods.
e the irregular coastline.
3 According to paragraph 2, one way to tell
whether the top of a mountain was once at sea
level is to look for
a inlets and lagoons.
b grottos and nooks.
c marine fossils.
d islands.
e mountains.
4 In the context of paragraph 4, which of the
fol-lowing words or phrases would most logically be
substituted for the underlined word afforded?
a remembered
b discouraged
c bought for a higher price
d caused to exist
e endured
5 Paragraph 5 suggests that the writer believes that
a the continued existence of national parks is
threatened by budget cuts
b the best way to preserve the environment on
Mt Desert Island is to limit the number of visitors
c national parks allow large numbers of people
to visit and learn about interesting wilderness areas
d Mt Desert Island is the most interesting
tourist attraction in Maine
e Acadia National Park should be made into a
sanctuary for endangered birds
6 In the first paragraph, the author compares the
straight-line distance (225 miles) from Kittery to Eastport with the driving distance (2,250 miles)
to illustrate
a just how jagged the Maine coastline is.
b that Maine’s coastline is very mountainous.
c that driving the coast of Maine can be
danger-ous
d difference in appearance between the two
cities
e that air travel is the best way to reach Maine’s
coastal cities
7 This passage could best be described as
a a persuasive essay.
b a tourist brochure.
c an informative essay.
d a description of a fictional setting.
e a personal narrative.
8 Paragraph 5 celebrates which of the following
aspects of Maine?
a its historical interest as a playground of the
wealthy
b the diversity of its plants and wildlife
c its geological origins
d its system of national parks
e its beautiful shoreline
Trang 4Answer question 9 on the basis of the following
passage
One of the missions of the Peace Corps is to help
the people of interested countries meet their need
for trained men and women People who work for
the Peace Corps do so because they want to But to
keep the Peace Corps dynamic with fresh ideas, no
staff member can work for the agency for more than
five years
9 The paragraph best supports the statement that
Peace Corps employees
a are highly intelligent people.
b must train for about five years.
c speak several different languages.
d are hired for a limited term of employment.
e have both academic and work experience.
Answer questions 10–13 on the basis of the
follow-ing passage
Theodore Roosevelt was a city boy with asthma and
poor eyesight Yet this sickly child later won fame as
a political leader, Rough Rider, and hero of the
common people To conquer his handicaps, Teddy
trained in a gym and became a lightweight boxer at
Harvard Out west, he hunted buffalo and ran a
cattle ranch Back east, he became a civil service
reformer and police commissioner He became
President McKinley’s Assistant Navy Secretary
dur-ing the Spanish-American War Also, he led a charge
of cavalry Rough Riders up San Juan Hill in Cuba
After achieving fame, he became Governor of New
York and went on to become the Vice-President
When McKinley was assassinated, Theodore
Roosevelt became the youngest U.S President at
forty-two He is famous for his motto, “Speak softly
and carry a big stick.” Roosevelt battled for meat
inspection and pure food laws Also, he wanted to save the forests and break up the grip that big busi-ness had on steel and oil Roosevelt persuaded the diplomats of warring Russia and Japan to make peace
10 Which of the following states the main idea of
the passage?
a Theodore Roosevelt was a man of many
accomplishments
b Presidents should speak softly and carry big
sticks
c Presidents can help countries make peace.
d A governor can become a president.
e Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest U.S.
president
11 What achievement illustrates Roosevelt’s ability
to overcome personal obstacles?
a He led a charge of cavalry Rough Riders in
Cuba
b He is famous for his motto, “Speak softly and
carry a big stick.”
c He overcame his asthma by training in gym
and became a boxer
d He became Governor of New York.
e He was committed to saving the forests.
12 According to the passage, how did Roosevelt first
become President?
a He won the support of his party in a political
campaign
b As Vice-President, he took over the Presidency
when McKinley was assassinated
c He won the nation’s popular vote.
d He won the necessary Electoral College votes.
e He was appointed after serving as Governor of
New York
Trang 513 He first worked under President McKinley in
what capacity?
a Assistant Navy Secretary during the
Spanish-American War
b Back east, he served as a Police Commissioner
c Governor of New York
d Civil Service reformer
e Rough Rider
Answer question 14 on the basis of the following
passage
One New York publisher has estimated that 50,000
to 60,000 people in the United States want an
anthology that includes the complete works of
William Shakespeare And what accounts for this
renewed interest in Shakespeare? As scholars point
out, his psychological insights into both male and
female characters are amazing even today
14 The paragraph best supports the statement that
a Shakespeare’s characters are more interesting
than fictional characters today
b people today are interested in Shakespeare’s
work because of the characters
c academic scholars are putting together an
anthology of Shakespeare’s work
d New Yorkers have a renewed interest in the
work of Shakespeare
e Shakespeare was a psychiatrist as well as a
playwright
Answer question 15 on the basis of the following
passage
Due to downsizing and new technologies, the role
of the traditional secretary is declining At the same
time secretaries and administrative assistants are
becoming much more important to businesses of all
sizes Although traditional jobs such as typist,
stenographer, and data entry specialist have declined by about 33 percent, there has been a sharp increase in jobs such as clerical supervisor and med-ical and legal secretary
15 The paragraph best supports the statement that
a secretaries are less important now than they
once were
b many traditional secretaries have been
pro-moted to clerical supervisors
c due to downsizing, about 33 percent of all
typists have recently become unemployed
d advances in technology have contributed to
the changing role of the secretary
e downsizing and the new technologies have
made the traditional secretary obsolete
Answer questions 16–19 on the basis of the follow-ing passage
The English language premiere of Samuel Beckett’s
play, Waiting for Godot, took place in London in August 1955 Godot is an avant-garde play with only
five characters (not including Mr Godot, who never arrives) and a minimal setting: one rock and one bare tree The play has two acts; the second act repeats what little action occurs in the first with few changes: the tree, for instance, acquires one leaf In
a statement that was to become famous, the critic
Vivian Mercer has described Godot as “a play in
which nothing happens twice.” Opening night, crit-ics and playgoers greeted the play with bafflement and derision The line, “Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes It’s awful,” was met by a loud rejoinder of “Hear! Hear!” from an audience mem-ber
However, Harold Hobson’s review in The Sunday
Times managed to recognize the play for what
his-tory has proven it to be, a revolutionary moment in theater
Trang 616 Which sentence, if inserted in the blank space in
the passage, would make the best sense in the
context of the passage?
a The director, Peter Hall, had to beg the theater
management not to close the play
immedi-ately but to wait for the Sunday reviews
b Despite the audience reaction, the cast and
director believed in the play
c It looked as if Waiting for Godot was
begin-ning a long run as the most controversial play
of London’s 1955 season
d Waiting for Godot was in danger of closing the
first week of its run and of becoming nothing
more than a footnote in the annals of the
Eng-lish stage
e The audience and critics all completely
mis-understood Beckett’s play
17 Judging from the information provided in the
paragraph, which of the following statements is
accurate?
a The 1955 production of Waiting for Godot was
the play’s first performance
b Waiting for Godot was written by Peter Hall.
c The sets and characters in Waiting for Godot
were typical of London stage productions in
the 1950s
d Waiting for Godot was not first performed in
English
e Waiting for Godot has a complicated plot.
18 Which of the following provides the best
defini-tion of the term “avant-garde” as the author
intends it in the passage?
a innovative
b unintelligible
c foreign
d highbrow
e eccentric
19 Which of the following best describes the
atti-tude of the author of the passage toward the play
Waiting for Godot?
a It was a curiosity in theater history.
b It is the most important play of the 20th
century
c It had no effect on theater.
d It is too repetitious.
e It represents a turning point in stage history.
Answer questions 20 and 21 on the basis of the fol-lowing passage
May is National Reading Month In conjunction with the public library, the city is offering half-fare rides to anyone carrying a library card In order to receive the half-price fare, each passenger must show the driver his or her current library card and deposit one-half the fare in the collection box Dri-vers will record these fares in the “special fares” sec-tion on the trip sheets for each route
20 John and Mary Burton get on the bus driven by
Operator Hudson at the corner of Sherman Avenue and West 123rd Street John shows Hud-son his library card and deposits half-fare in the collection box Mary deposits half-fare in the col-lection box The couple move toward their seats What should Operator Hudson do first?
a Proceed to the next stop without saying
any-thing
b Inform Mary that she must exit the bus
c Assume Mary has a library card, too
d Inform Mary that she may acquire a library
card at any branch of the library
e Tell Mary that if she does not have a library
card, she will have to pay full fare