Mini-test

(TOEFL format; time – 15 minutes)

Directions: You will read several passages. Each reading passage is followed by a set of answers. Choose the best answer a), b), c), or d) to the question of what the main subject of the passage is.

Example:

Between the late 1920s and 1950s, the Osborne Calendar Company produced a series of calendars featuring trains of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Up to 300,000 of these, featuring large colourful scenes of trains at work, were published each yea to hang in depots and shippers’ offices along the lines of the famous railroad company. The scenes, mostly painted by one artist, Grif Teller, are now valuable collectibles.

a) Trains at work

b) Calendars of the Pennsylvania Railroad trains √

c) Valuable calendarsGrif

d) Teller’s paintings of trains

The passage mainly discusses the calendars of the trains of the Pennsylvania Railroad produced by the Osborne Calendar Company. Therefore, you should mark b)

1. Yuzen dyeing is a Japanese art that produces a lavish, multicolored type of kimono design that dates from the seventeenth century. First a pattern is sketched on a kimono of plain, undyed silk. The garment is then taken apart and the design carefully painted onto the fabric with a paste that prevents the fabric from absorbing dye. Next, dyes are brushed over the silk, their colors penetrating only the untreated areas. After the paste is rinsed out, the strips of silk are again sewed into the kimono. Elaborate embroidery often completes the decoration.

a) Kimono design dating from the seventeenth century

b) A description of Yuzen dyeing

c) How kimonos are made

d) The elaborate embroidery done on kimonos

2. The bioluminescent flashlight fish does not actually light up but has a saclike organ under each eye that contains luminous bacteria. Although the bacteria glow constantly, the fish can control the light by eye movements. The flashlight fish uses its lights to search for food in the dark depths. Upon finding the food, the fish blinks rapidly to signal its mates. If an intruder threatens, the fish can startle it by shining its light. Predators can be confused by the flashlight fish’s flashing its light and abruptly changing directions.

a) The flashlight fish uses its bioluminescence for different purposes

b) Bioluminescence can save the life of the flashlight fish

c) Bioluminescence in the flashlight fish is due to the luminous bacteria in the eye organs

d) Different fish use bioluminescence for different purposes

3. Cole Porter was never regarded in his lifetime as socially conscious. Society-conscious, yes; he was born rich, and married richer, to Linda Lee Thomas, a wealthy divorcee. Songwriting made him a third fortune. He was not just rich and famous, he was famous for being rich. Though not a native New Yorker – he was a backcountry boy from Peru, Indiana – he and his work came to typify smart Manhattan society. His music was a highly personal mixture and had huge appeal. Porter, as an admiring contemporary remarked, made sophistication popular.

a) A socially conscious musician

b) Becoming rich and famous

c) The life of a songwriter

d) Popularizing sophistication

4. The beaver's comical-looking flat tail, which is three quarters of an inch thick, six or seven inches wide, and perhaps a foot long, is unique in the animal world. In the water, it serves as a rudder for swimming, and on land it props the beaver upright while the animal is cutting trees. It also serves as a radiator through which the heavily insulated beaver passes off excess body heat. The beaver uses its broad tail for an early warning system by slapping it against the water's surface, making a resounding whack that can be heard half a mile away.

a) To describe what the beaver's tail looks like to the reader

b) To inform the reader about the many uses of a Beaver's tail

c) To give the reader a lesson in nature studies

d) To teach the reader how to use a beaver's tail

5. Tree rings have long been used to determine the ages of trees and to gauge past climatic conditions. New evidence adds considerable weight to the theory that tree rings also record earthquakes. The rings reflect the effects of earthquakes, such as tilting, the disruption of root systems, and breakage, as well as shifts in environments. Older trees and petrified trees may give information about earthquakes that took place hundreds and even thousands of years ago.

a) How earthquakes affect tree rings

b) How tree rings can be used to warn people of impending earthquakes

c) What information might be gained from studying tree rings

d) Why tree rings are used to determine tree ages, climatic conditions, and earthquakes

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