Tài liệu Cracking the Toefl IBT 2009 edition part 25 pdf

Go back to the passage and read a few lines before the shaded word to try to come up with your own word to replace the one in the question.. Answer B is a good trap answer because studie

Chapter 8 Reading Practice Answers and Explanations

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READING DRILL #1

1 © Thisisa vocabulary in context question Go back to the passage and read a few lines before the shaded

word to try to come up with your own word to replace the one in the question The passage tells us

that

Through her published research, she was the first to direct public attention to the

environmental damage caused by the indiscriminate use of pesticides in agriculture She is thus regarded as the public figure who the environmentalist

movement

“The clue is that she was the “first to direct public attention to the environmentalist movement.” Thus, a good word for the blank would be started or began Here's why the other answer choices are incorrect

* There is no evidence for choice (B), “reorganized,” so eliminate it

* Although it is true that she was a science writer, the passage doesn’t say she “wrote about”

the environmentalist movement, so (A) incorrect

+ Similarly, alchough she researched scientific issues, she didn’t research the movement itself,

so choice (D) is wrong as well

2 A Question 2 is another vocabulary in context question Return to the passage and read a few lines be-

fore and after the word in question

Upon enrolling in college, Carson had initially intended to major in English and become a journalist or novelist Her attentiveness to presentation allowed her to convey even rather facts in an evocative prose style that held the attention of the general reader

In this case, the clues are that Carson could write in a way that “held the attention of the general reader.” The words even rather mean that the facts do not usually hold the attention of people, So our word for the blank may be boring or uninteresting Here's why the other answer choices are incorrect + There is no support for answer choice (B): The sentences do not talk about marine life + Additionally, che lines talk about Carson’s ability to write, not explain, so choice (C) should be eliminated

* Finally, no mention is made of other scientists, so eliminate answer choice (D)

3 D This is a paraphrase question Remember to trim the fat on these questions Here's the sentence we

have to work with

Wedded to her extensive academic training in biology, Carson's talent for expressive

writing positioned her ideally to bring scientific findings about ecology to a mass audience

Lets get rid of some of the modifies

Wedded to-her extensive aeademic training in biology, Carson's talent for expressive- writing positioned her ideally to bring scientific findings abeuteeelegy to a mass

audience

So the sentence is stating basically that Carson had the talent to bring science to a large audience Here’s why the other answer choices are incorrect

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* Answer choice (A) says Carson had to choose between being a writer and a scientist, but

that is not stated at all in this sentence

* Choice (B) is about how people reacted to her findings, not Carson's ability ro bring science

to the people so eliminate this choice

* Finally, choice (C) states thar Carson found it hard to write for a mass audience, but this

sentence states the opposite

Remember to answer questions of this type during your second pass, especially if you're having trou- ble understanding the sentence

Here we have another vocabulary in context question This one asks about a phrase instead of a single word, but our approach is still che same Let’ look at a few lines from the passage

The Sea Around Us made Rachel Carson

It became not only a best-seller but also a National Book Award winner

‘The sentence tells us that the book was a best-seller and an award winner What sort of word would

make sense in the blank? Even if you are unable to come up with a good word for the blank, you can often figure out if the word should be positive or negative In this case, we need a positive word Here's why the other answer choices are incorrect

+ Wecan eliminate answers (B) and (C) because these choices are not very positive

* That leaves us with either (A) or (D) Because there is no information about Carson plan-

ning her next book, (D) should be eliminated

Here's another vocabulary in context question, and this one is kind of rough However, we can still use Process of Elimination (POE) to help us out Let’ look at the following lines from the passage

The last book in the trilogy was The Edge of the Sea, in which Carson her

writerly and scientific gaze on the shoreline of the East Coast to examine the

endangered organisms that populated it

Ik seems as if the blank is referring to Carson's “gaze.” According to the sentence, what did she do with her gaze? She focused it on the shoreline So we want a word that means something like focused (Of the choices, only “aimed” is close Here's why the other answer choices are incorrect

* Even if you were unable to come up with a word for the sentence, you should still be able to

climinate choice (A) Nothing in the sentence says she “questioned” anything,

* Choice (C) can be eliminated for the same reason There is nothing in the sentence to sug-

gest that she “reviewed” something

* That leaves you with choices (B) and (D) Answer (B) is a good trap answer because studied

is very close to the word examine, which does appear in the sentence However, if you are

going to guess on the TOEFL, it’s a good strategy to avoid answers that seem too easy or

obvious

This question is a detail question Make sure you rephrase the question first so you know what you're looking for in the passage A good paraphrase of this question would be

‘What influenced Carson to write Silent Spring?

“The question helpfully told us that the answer is somewhere in paragraph 3, so let’s go back and look

for it

Reading Practice Answers and Explanations | 243

She began to examine data on the effects of agricultural pesticides, spurred in part

by a letter from two friends who owned a farm in Massachusetts and expressed concern that sprayed pesticides were causing harm to local wildlife Carson's research convinced her that high exposure to pesticides such as DDT threatened not only beneficial insects and birds but also people She put her conclusions in a landmark fourth scientific volume, Silent Spring

Try to answer in your own words before returning to the choices According to these lines, what in- fluenced Carson? It appears that the letter from two friends impacted her ‘This information should lead us to answer choice (B) Here's why the other answer choices are incorrect

+ Choice (A) is wrong because i stares that Carson observed pesticides at “her” farm, but the passage states that the farm belongs to her friends

‘+ Eliminate choice (C) because it talks about public reaction, bur that topic doesn’t appear in this paragraph,

* Choice (D) is incorrect because the passage does not state that Carson was sick

7 € Question 7 asks us to make an inference about DDT Use DDT as your lead word and return to the

passage There are two places in the passage that refer to DDT Here's the first

Carson's research convinced her that high exposure to pesticides such as DDT threatened not only beneficial insects and birds but also people She put her conclusions in a landmark fourth scientific volume, Silent Spring

However, this part of the passage doesn’t answer the question of why DDT is especially dangerous If you are unable to answer the question in your own words after reading a portion of the passage, look for another part of the passage that also contains the lead word, DDT is mentioned again in the fol- lowing paragraph:

Through her influence, she assisted in bringing about far stricter controls on toxic chemicals such as DDT, which deteriorates slowly and thus remains in soil and groundwater for very long periods of time

“This part of the passage seems to be more helpful Ít states that DDT deteriorates “slowly and thus re- mains in soi for very long periods of time,” which matches answer choice (C) Here's why the other answer choices are incorrect

+ Watch out for answer choice (A), which states that DDT is the “most” used pesticide, That

is an extreme answer and should be eliminated on an inference question

* There is no mention of the information in choices (B) or (D)

8 C_ Here we havea reference question If we rephrase this one, it asks the following:

“To what does the phrase silent spring refer?

Once again, we'll use a lead word to help us find our answer Go back to the passage and look for the phrase silent spring Look at this part of the passage

She put her conclusions in a landmark fourth scientific volume, Silent Spring In the famous image that gave the book its title, Carson hypothesized about an ecosystem

in which the calling of birds had been silenced by poison in soil and groundwater

‘Thus, based on these lines, (C) is the best answer Here’s why the other answer choices are incorrect

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+ The information mentioned in choice (A) appears earlier in the passage, but itis not related

to this question

+ Choice (B) may seem to be common sense, but there is no support for it in the passage + Choice (D) is wrong as well; there is no mention of “hidden” dangers in reference to the title of Carson's book

B Here's another vocabulary in context question Let's go back to the passage and find some clues Take a look at the following lines:

Carson that the regulations governing use of these chemicals were

inadequate, though her positions were not as extreme as they are sometimes now characterized She did not support the outright banning of pesticides

“These lines talk about Carson's “positions” and state that she did “not support” banning pesticides

“Therefore, we need a word for the blank that is related to these words You may have come up with

a word such as believed or thought Looking at the answer choices, only choice (B) is close to these words, Here's why the other answer choices are incorrect

+ Based on the sentence and the rest of the passage at which we've looked, ie’ clear that Car son is in no position to make a ruling, so (A) is out as well

+ There is no evidence that Carson disproved anything, so el

+ She did not limit something, so (D) must be wrong

inate choice (C)

B On some vocabulary in context questions, you'll sce that the author does you a favor by actually de- fining a word for you Usually, when this occurs, the definition will be set off by commas and come directly after the word in question The lines below are an example

She did not support the outright banning of pesticides Rather, she objected

to “indiscriminate” use, which is to say, use without any thought for caution and

moderation

Notice how the definition follows right after the highlighted word In this context, indiscriminate

means “without any thought for caution and moderation.” Of course, if you're still unsure, POE is

very helpful Here's how POE can help you identify why the other answer choices are incorrect

* There are no words about the effectiveness of the pesticides, so choice (A) can't be right

* You may be tempted to pick (C), but remember to always find proof for your answer No- where does it say that using pesticides are against the law

+ Likewise, nowhere does the passage mention spending money for pesticides, so eliminate (Ð)

D_ Remember for an EXCEPTINOTILEAST question to go through the answer choices one by one and see if you find evidence for them in the passage If you can find evidence, then mark the answer as

ruc!

(A) True: “She also testified before Congress.”

(B) True: “President John F Kennedy's Science Advisory Committee solicited her advice on

how to improve rules about pesticide use.”

(©) True: “ that book is still frequently cited in environmental policy recommendations by analysts and regulators.”

(D) False: ‘there is no evidence of this in the passage

Reading Practice Answers and Explanations

12 This final summary question requires you to work with the main idea of the passage As we've learned,

the main idea appears throughout the passage; use the active reading strategies discussed earlier to find it, For this type of question, avoid picking answers that refer to specific details Here are the cor- rect answers

Rachel Carson was a pioneering environmentalist who helped draw public attention to

the effects of human activity on wildlife

+ Carson's three books about ocean ecology increasingly focused on the dangers humans

posed to marine life

+ The book Silent Spring has had both immediate and long-term influence on

environmentalism

+ The government considered Carson a valued expert and invited her input on ecological policy

Each of the correct answers is somehow related to the initial boldfaced statement The first correct re- sponse refers to the effects of “human activity on wildlife,” and the second and third refer to Carson's environmental influence

For this question, itis helpful to look ar the wrong answers Here's the first one that we eliminated Carson at first considered majoring in English and becoming a nonscientific writer

“This is a detail mentioned in the paragraph, but itis not related to the summary, which focuses on Carson as a “pioneering environmentalist who helped draw public attention to the effects of human activity on wildlife.”

Let's look at another incorrect answer choice,

Many scientists doubted Carson's conclusions, causing her to write more books to

support them

‘This choice mentions scientists doubting Carson’s conclusions, which doesn’t match the summary Look to eliminate answers that are opposite of the tone of the summary

Here's the last incorrect answer choice

Carson did much of her research by talking to people with everyday experience using pesticides

‘Once again, we have a specific detail Eliminate this choice because it doesn’t touch on the main themes of environmentalism or drawing people's attention to the problem Instead, it focuses on re- search methods

READING DRILL #2

1 C_ Our firse question is a derail ques

about the “design of the typical flag,”

The traditional flag of fabric is still used to mark buildings, ships, and diplomatic caravans by national affiliation, but its visual design makes it adaptable for other

roles as well

Return to the first paragraph and look for the information

246 | Cracking he TOEFL i8T

‘This matches nicely with answer choice (C) Here's why the other answer choices are incorrect,

* Choice (A) is wrong; if anything, the passage states that flags are “instantly recognizable.”

+ There is no mention of flags changing with technology, so eliminate choice (B)

* Choice (D) states that the flag is older than the country it represents, but this is beyond

the information in the passage The passage only states that flags are an “ancient” symbol

For this vocabulary in context question, let's look at the following lines:

Their strong colors and geometric patterns are usually instantly recognizable even if _

to less than a square centimeter Images of flags can thus serve as identifying icons on airliners, television broadcasts, and computer displays

A good word for the blank may be something like reduced because the lag is “less than a square cen-

timeter” and can fit on “television broadcasts” and “computer displays.” Only answer choice (D) fits this meaning Here's why the other answer choices are incorrect,

* Answer choice (A) is a trap answer Be careful not to add your own interpretation to the

passage

* Although you may think thar putting the flag on an airliner or a computer is a form of

publicity, the passage doesn't state that There is no support for either answer (B) or (C)

Here's another vocabulary in context question Look at the following sentences from the passage:

Despite its simplicity, the national flag as we know it today is in no way a

artifact Itis, rather, the product of millennia of development in many corners of the

globe

‘This sentence has some good context clues ‘Ihe first sentence says despite its simplicity, which means

the shaded word should have a meaning close to simplicity, Also, the next line states that the flag is

“the product of development ” which means a good word for the blank could be simple or unde- veloped Often on vocabulary questions, the right answer is found in the text Here's why the other

answer choices are incorrect

* Choice (A) is the trap answer One way of avoiding itis to notice that ancient shows up

earlier in the passage, in the first line, Remember that for vocabulary questions, you should

be looking at only the two or three lines closest to the word you're being questioned about

‘Therefore, if you see a word that appears outside of that range, itis probably a trap answer

* Choice (C) is similar to choice (A) in that the first paragraph mentions how easy itis to

identify a flag, but that information is not relevant to this sentence

+ There is no support for answer choice (D)

“This reference question asks us to find the word to which a pronoun refers Here are the sentences in

question

Even after various grains had been domesticated, people needed cooperation

from the elements to assure good harvests For all these reasons, they feared and

depended on the power of the wind, which could bring warmth from one direction

and cold from another

For a pronoun reference, it is sometimes helpful to “trim the fat.” Let's get rid of some of the extra information

Reading Practice Answers and Explanations | 247

Even-atter-various-grains-had-been- domesticated; people needed cooperation

from the elements to assure good harvests ForaiHthese-reasons, they feared and

depended on the power of the wind-whieh-ceuld-bring-warmth-from-one-direction- ancteetctronrancther:

Based on this, who “feared and depended on the power of wi it must be the “people” from the first sentence It wouldn't make sense for any of the other answers to fear and depend on wind

5 CMake sure you rephrase the question first ‘This is a detail question that asks

Why were flags associated with divine power?

Look in the passage for the phrase divine power Here are the lines we need

Ascertaining the direction of the wind using a simple strip of cloth tied to the top of a post was more reliable than earlier methods, such as watching the rising of smoke from a fire or the swaying of field grasses The association of these prototypes of the flag with divine power was therefore a natural one ml Tribes began to fix long cloth flutters to the tops of totems before carrying them into battle, believing that the magical assistance of the wind would be added to the blessings of the gods and ancestors represented by the totem itself

From these lines, it seems that there is a connection between the wind and divine power, hence choice (©) Here’s why the other answer choices are incorrect

+ Look for extreme wording in answers, such as in choices (A) and (D) The first choice says flags were flown “as high as people could reach” whereas (D) says that tribes with flags

“always won” battles ‘These concepts are not supported in the passage

+ There is no mention of “valuable” field grasses, as in choice (B)

6 © The same lines will help us with this lead word question he first line tells us that tribes used a “sim-

ple strip of cloth tied to the top ofa post.” This matches with the sentence “Tribes began to long cloth flutters to the tops of torems.” ‘Thus, a good word for the blank may be tie That makes (C) the best choice ‘The other answers are tempting, but they do nor relate to the shaded word

7 A Question 7 is a paraphrase question Here's the boldfaced sentence

These flutters may seem like close kin of our present-day flags, but the path through history from one to the other wanders through thousands of years and over several continents

“This sentence doesn’t have a lot of fatto trim, so POE may be a good strategy here

+ Start with the first part of the sentence and find the subject—it's referring to lags There- fore, we can eliminate choice (C), which is about historians, not flags

Now look at the second part of the sentence It says the path “through history wanders through thousands of years and several continents.” Eliminate answers that bring in new information not related to these terms Choice (D) mentions official journeys, which is not

part of the sentence Eliminate it

+ Choice (B) states that ancient flags are “still used in some parts of the world.” Nothing about that appears in the sentence, so the answer must be (A)

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D_ Firse rephrase the question, which asks about a detail from the passage It asks us

Whar do we know about the first known flag in history?

Return to paragraph 4 and read these lines

The first known flag of a nation or ruler was unmarked: The king who established the

Chou Dynasty in China (around 1000 c.) was reputed to have a white flag carried

ahead of him

‘Thus, the flag was unmarked, which makes choice (D) the best You may have noticed that the answer

to reading questions on the TOEFL are often very close to the lead word or line reference provided

in the question Remembering this will help you avoid many trap answers Notice how the other an- swers are not mentioned at all in the relevant line, making them all easy to eliminate

‘This vocabulary in context question asks “What is a crest2” Let's look for the word “crest” in the pas-

sage We find it in the following lines:

In Europe, the Chinese-derived flag met up with the modern flag's second ancestor,

the heraldic crest The flags used in Asia may have been differentiated by color,

but they rarely featured emblems or pictures European nobles of the medieval

period had, however, developed a system of crests (symbols or insignias specific

to particular families) that were commonly mounted on hard surfaces; shields to be

used in battle often displayed them especially prominently

“The first line tells us that the crest was the flag’s “second ancestor.” However, that is not mentioned

in the answer choices, so keep reading The next mention of crests states that nobles had “developed

a system of crests (symbols or insignias specific to particular families) ” This information is what we

need Here's why the other answer choices are incorrect

+ Answers (A) and (D) don'c make sense because they state that the crest is a person instead

of an object

+ Answer (B) is wrong because it refers to Rags, not crest

‘We know the answer to this detail question is somewhere in paragraph 6, so ler’ find it The question asks

Why did the number of flag designs increase?

‘Take a look at the following lines, which mention the word “increasing”:

While crests began to appear on flags as well as shields, the number of prominent

families was also increasing They required an ever greater number of combinations

of stripes, crosses, flowers, and mythical animals to distinguish themselves These

survived as the basic components of flag design when small regional kingdoms

were later combined into larger nation-states They remain such for many European

countries today

‘These lines state that there were more families, and they needed an “ever greater number of combina-

tions of stripes, crosses, flowers, and mythical animals to distinguish themselves.” Therefore, choice (D) must be correct Here's why the other answer choices are incorrect

* Answer choice (A) states the opposite of what the passage says

‘* Although it is true that kingdoms were combined into “larger” nation-states, this doesn’t

answer the question of why flag designs increased, which eliminates choice (B)

Reading Practice Answers and Explanations | 249

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+ Finally eliminate choice (C) because there is no mention of artists having greater freedom

A This is another pronoun reference question Let’s look at the passage excerpt again

European nobles of the medieval period had, however, developed a system of crests (symbols or insignias specific to particular families) that were commonly mounted

on hard surfaces; shields to be used in battle often displayed especially

‘Try to pur your own word in the blank According to the sentence, what is being “displayed”? It must

be the crests It wouldn't make sense for the other choices to be displayed

Question 12 is a more typical vocabulary in context question Again, lets look at the passage excerpt They required an ever greater number of combinations of stripes, crosses, flowers, and mythical animals to distinguish themselves These survived as the basic

of flag design when small regional kingdoms were later combined into larger nation-

states

‘What word would fir in the blank? We need a word that would mean stripes, crosses, flowers, and mythical animals because these are the items that are referred to by the sentence A good choice for the shaded portion may be things or items, and choice (D) comes closest to that Here’s why the other answer choices are incorrect

+ Answers (B) and (C) don’t make sense; the sentence says “these survived ” which must refer to the things in the previous sentence,

* Choice (A) may be tempting, but the sentence refers to individual parts of the flags, not the overall style

Start by taking a moment to understand what this detail question is asking you to find

How do the two flags of Poland differ?

Go back to the final passage and read about the two flags of Poland, looking for something different between them,

For example, the flag of Poland is a simple rectangle with a white upper half and ted lower half The colors themselves have been associated with Polish nationalism since the 1700s They originated as the colors of the Piast family, which during its rule displayed a crest bearing a white eagle on a red field Homage is paid to the Piast Dynasty in the Polish ensign, the flag officially used at sea Unlike the familiar plain flag flown on land, the ensign has a red shield with a white eagle centered on its upper white stripe

‘One difference mentioned in the passage is that one flag is flown at sea and one on land; however, that difference is not one of our choices If you're not sure what the answer is based on your reading, don't forget the importance of POE, Here’s how to use POE to determine why the other answer choices are incorrect,

* Answer (A) says the two flags don’t use the same colors, but that is incorrect—they both use red and white, according to the passage

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