(main idea) (supporting detail) ( ) John left the house and went to the station. He bought the ticket and got in the train. He arrived in London.

Transcription

1 1994 (main idea) (supporting detail) () cats dogs goldfish parrots pets gun sword spear bomb weapons sweater skirt dress coat clothes () John left the house and went to the station. He bought the ticket and got in the train. He arrived in London. John went to London. Mary went to the flower shop. She bought some flowers. She wanted to take them to the hospital. Tom was ill in bed in the hospital. Mary visited the hospital to give the flowers to Tom. (l) In August of 1873 the first hydrogen-filled balloon was launched in Paris. (2) It landed near a little village fifteen miles away. (3) The peasants were terrified. (4) They thought it was a monster from another world. (5) One fired a shot into it, allowing the hydrogen to escape. (6) Others tore the balloon to shreds with their pitchforks.

2 (1) August of 1873 first was launched in Paris (2) landed near balloon flew and landed (3) (5)(6) (4) (5) (6) peasants attacked and destroyed it When the first hydrogen-filled balloon flew and landed, peasants in France were terrified. They attacked and destroyed it. Rogers (1999, pp )

3 S Too specific G Too general X Incorrect I Irrelevant C Correct An old proverb states, Beware of oak, it draws the stroke. This saying is handy during thunderstorm season. In general, trees with deep roots that tap into groundwater attract more lightning than do trees with shallow, drier roots. Oaks are around 50 times more likely to be struck than beeches. Spruces are nearly as safe as beeches. Pines are not as safe as these two, but are still much safer than oaks. What is the author s main point? G C X (A) Old proverbs often contain important truths. (B) Trees with shallow roots are more likely to avoid lightning than those with deep roots. (C) The deeper a tree s roots, the safer it is during a thunderstorm. Alternative history is generally classified as a type of science fiction, but it also bears some relation to historical fiction. This type of writing describes an imaginary world that is identical to ours up to a certain point in history, but at that point, the two worlds diverge; some important historical event takes place in one world but not in the other, and they go in different directions. Alternative histories might describe worlds in which the Roman Empire had never fallen, in which the Spanish Armada had been victorious, or in which the South had won the Civil War. Or they may suppose that some technology had been introduced earlier in the world s history than actually happened. For example: What if computers had been invented in Victorian times? Many readers find these stories interesting because of the way they stimulate the imagination and get them thinking about the phenomenon of cause and effect in history. What is the main idea of this passage? (A) Alternative histories describe worlds in which history has taken another course. (B) Alternative histories are a type of historical novel. (C) Science fiction writers have accurately predicted certain actual scientific developments.

4 Until the late 1700s, metal could not be turned on a lathe to make it uniformly smooth and round. The operator could not guide the cutting tool evenly by hand against the turning piece. This problem was solved by David Wilkinson of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. In 1798 he invented a machine in which the cutter was clamped into a moveable slide that could be advanced precisely, by hand crank, parallel to the work. The slide rest, as it came to be called, has many uses. It permits the manufacture of parts so uniform that they can be interchanged. Without it, mass production would not have been possible. As it turns out, the great English machinist Henry Maudsley developed nearly the same mechanism a few years before, but this was unknown to Wilkinson and does not diminish his accomplishment. Why did the author write this passage? (A) To prove that Wilkinson s invention was based on Maudsley s. (B) To demonstrate the importance of mass production to American society. (C) To show the usefulness of Wilkinson s invention. Almost every form of transportation has given someone the idea for a new type of toy. After the Montgolfier brothers flew the first balloon, toy balloons became popular playthings. In the nineteenth century, soon after railroads and steamships were developed, every child had to have model trains and steamboats. The same held true for automobiles and airplanes in the early twentieth century. Toy rockets and missiles became popular at the beginning of the space age, and by the 1980s, there were many different versions of space-shuttle toys. The main idea of this passage is that (A) inventors have been inspired by toys to build new forms of transportation (B) toy automobiles and airplanes were very popular in the early 1900s (C) toy design has followed developments in transportation 1 (A) C 2 (A) X 3 (A) X (B) X (B) I (B) S (C) I (C) C (C) C

5 Rogers, B. (1999). TOEFL success. New Jersey: Peterson s. pp (1994). pp