SECTION B SKIMMING AND SCANNING
In this section there are seven passage followed by ten multiple-choice questions. Skim or scan them as required and then mark your answers on your Answer Sheet.
TEXT E First read the question. 51. What is the authors main purpose in the passage? A. to point out the importance of recent advances in archaeology. B. to describe an archaeologists education. C. to explain how archaeology is a source of history. D. to encourage more people to become archaeologist. Now go though Text E quickly to answer question 51. Archaeology is a source of history, not just a humble auxiliary discipline. Archaeological data are historical documents in their own right, not mere illustrations to written texts. Just as much as any other historian, an archaeologist studies and tries to reconstitute the process that has created the human world in which we live —— and us ourselves in so far as we are each creatures of our age and social environment. Archaeological data are all changed in the material world resulting from human action or, more succinctly, the fossilized results of human behavior. The sum total of these constitute what may be called the archaeological record. This record exhibits certain peculiarities and deficiencies the consequences of which produce a rather superficial contrast between archaeological history and the more familiar kind based upon written records. Not all human behavior fossilizes. The words I utter and you hear as vibrations in the air are certainly human changes in the material world any may be of great historical significance. Yet they leave no sort of trace in the archaeological records unless they are captured by a Dictaphone or written down by a clerk. The movement of troops on the battlefield may "change the course of history", but this is equally ephemeral from the archaeologists standpoint. What is perhaps worse is that most organic materials are perishable. Everything made of wood, hide, wool, linen, grass, hair, and similar materials will decay and vanish in dust in a few years or centuries, save under very exceptional conditions. In a relatively brief period the archaeological record is reduced to mere scraps of stone, bone, glass, metal, and earthenware. Still modern by a few lucky finds from peat bogs, deserts, and frozen soils, is able to fill up a good deal of the gap.
51. What is the author's main purpose in the passage?
A) to point out the importance of recent advances in archaeology.
B) to describe an archaeologist's education.
C) to explain how archaeology is a source of history.
D) to encourage more people to become archaeologist.
TEXT F First read the questions. 52. The main subject of the passage is ____ A. famous mathematicians. B. mathematical education. C. tiling the plane. D. irregular polygons. Now go through TEXT F quickly and answer question 52. Marjorie Rice was an unlike candidate for the role of mathematical innovator. She had no formal education in mathematics save a single course required for graduation from high school in 1931. Nonetheless, in 1975 she took up a problem that professional mathematicians had twice left for dead, and showed how much life was in it still. The problem was tessellation, or tiling of the plane, which involves taking a single closed figure —— a triangle, for example, or a rectangle —— and kitting it together with copies of itself so that a plane is covered without any gaps or overlap. A region of this plane would look rather like a jigsaw puzzle whose pieces are all identical. Rice worked primarily with polygons, which consist only of straight lines. More specifically, she worked with convex polygons, in which the line joining any two points on the polygon lies entirely within the polygon itself or on one of its edges. (A five-pointed star, for example, does not qualify as a convex polygon.) By the time Rice took up tiling, its basic properties had been established. Obviously, any square can tile the plane, as many kitchen floors have demonstrated. Equilateral triangles are also a fairly clear-cut case. There is one other regular polygon (a polygon whose angles, and sides, are equal) that can tile the plane: the hexagon. This fact was building their honeycombs. And what of irregular polygons? As it turns out, any triangle or quadrilateral, no matter how devoid of regularity, will tile the plane. On the other hand, no convex polygon with more than six sides can do so, and the three classes of convex hexagons that can were uncovered by the end of the First World War. So the only real question lest by the time Marjorie Rice began her work was which convex pentagons tile the plane.
52. The main subject of the passage is ____
A) famous mathematicians.
B) mathematical education.
C) tiling the plane.
D) irregular polygons.
TEXT G First read the following question. 53. What is the passage mainly about? A. faint dwarf stars. B. the evolutionary cycle of the Sun. C. the Suns fuel problem. D. the dangers of invisible radiation. Now go through TEXT G and answer question 53. When we accept the evidence of our unaided eyes and describe the Sun as a yellow star, we have summed up the most important single fact about it —— at this moment in time. It appears probable, however, that sunlight will be the color we know for only a negligibly small part of the Suns history. Stars, like individuals, age and change. As we look out into space, we see around us stars at all stages of evolution. There are faint blooded dwarfs so cool that their surface temperature is a mere 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, there are searing ghosts blazing at 100,000 degrees Fahrenheit and almost too hot to be seen for the great part of their radiation is in the invisible ultraviolet range. Obviously, the "daylight" produced by any star depends on its temperature, today (and for ages to come) our Sun is at about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit and this means that most of the Suns light is concentrated in the yellow band of the spectrum falling slowly in intensity toward both the longer and shorter light waves. That yellow "hump" will shift as the Sun evolves and the light of day will change accordingly. It is natural to assume that as the Sun grows older and uses up its hydrogen fuel —— which it is now doing at the sparkling rate of half a billion tons a second —— it will become steadily colder and colder.
53. What is the passage mainly about?
A) faint dwarf stars.
B) the evolutionary cycle of the Sun.
C) the Sun's fuel problem.
D) the dangers of invisible radiation.
TEXT H First read the following question. 54. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage? A. the evolution of dance in the twentieth century. B. artists of last century. C. natural movement in dance. D. a pioneer on modern dance. Now go through TEXT H quickly and answer question 54. Many artists late in the last century were in search means to express their individuality. Modern dance was one of the ways some of these people sought to free their creative spirit. At the beginning there was no exacting technique, no foundation from which to build. In later years trial, innovators even drew from what they considered the dread ballet, but first they had to discard all that was academic to that the new could be discovered. The beginning of modern dance were happening before Isadora Duncan, but she was the first person to bring the new dance to general audiences and see it accepted and acclaimed. Her search for natural movement form sent her to nature. She believed movement should be as natural as the swaying of the trees and the rolling of the sea, and should be in harmony with the movements of the Earth. Her great contributions are in three areas. First, she began the expansion of the kinds of movements that could be used in dance. Before Duncan danced, ballet was the only type of dance performed in concert. In the ballet the feet and legs were emphasized, with virtuosity shown by complicated, codified positions and movements. Duncan performed dance by using all her body in the freest possibly way. Her dance stemmed from her soul and spirit. She was one of the pioneers who broke tradition so others might be able to develop the art. Her second contribution lies in dance costume. She discarded corset, ballet shoes, and stiff costumes. There were replaced with flowing Grecian tunics, bare feet, and unbound hair. She believed in the natural body being allowed to move freely, and her dress displayed this ideal. Her third contribution was in the use of music. In her performances she used the symphonies of great masters, including Beethoven and Wagner, which was not the usual custom. She was as exciting and eccentric in her personal life as in her dance.
54. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A) the evolution of dance in the twentieth century.
B) artists of last century.
C) natural movement in dance.
D) a pioneer on modern dance.
In this section there are seven passage followed by ten multiple-choice questions. Skim or scan them as required and then mark your answers on your Answer Sheet.
TEXT E First read the question. 51. What is the authors main purpose in the passage? A. to point out the importance of recent advances in archaeology. B. to describe an archaeologists education. C. to explain how archaeology is a source of history. D. to encourage more people to become archaeologist. Now go though Text E quickly to answer question 51. Archaeology is a source of history, not just a humble auxiliary discipline. Archaeological data are historical documents in their own right, not mere illustrations to written texts. Just as much as any other historian, an archaeologist studies and tries to reconstitute the process that has created the human world in which we live —— and us ourselves in so far as we are each creatures of our age and social environment. Archaeological data are all changed in the material world resulting from human action or, more succinctly, the fossilized results of human behavior. The sum total of these constitute what may be called the archaeological record. This record exhibits certain peculiarities and deficiencies the consequences of which produce a rather superficial contrast between archaeological history and the more familiar kind based upon written records. Not all human behavior fossilizes. The words I utter and you hear as vibrations in the air are certainly human changes in the material world any may be of great historical significance. Yet they leave no sort of trace in the archaeological records unless they are captured by a Dictaphone or written down by a clerk. The movement of troops on the battlefield may "change the course of history", but this is equally ephemeral from the archaeologists standpoint. What is perhaps worse is that most organic materials are perishable. Everything made of wood, hide, wool, linen, grass, hair, and similar materials will decay and vanish in dust in a few years or centuries, save under very exceptional conditions. In a relatively brief period the archaeological record is reduced to mere scraps of stone, bone, glass, metal, and earthenware. Still modern by a few lucky finds from peat bogs, deserts, and frozen soils, is able to fill up a good deal of the gap.
51. What is the author's main purpose in the passage?
A) to point out the importance of recent advances in archaeology.
B) to describe an archaeologist's education.
C) to explain how archaeology is a source of history.
D) to encourage more people to become archaeologist.
TEXT F First read the questions. 52. The main subject of the passage is ____ A. famous mathematicians. B. mathematical education. C. tiling the plane. D. irregular polygons. Now go through TEXT F quickly and answer question 52. Marjorie Rice was an unlike candidate for the role of mathematical innovator. She had no formal education in mathematics save a single course required for graduation from high school in 1931. Nonetheless, in 1975 she took up a problem that professional mathematicians had twice left for dead, and showed how much life was in it still. The problem was tessellation, or tiling of the plane, which involves taking a single closed figure —— a triangle, for example, or a rectangle —— and kitting it together with copies of itself so that a plane is covered without any gaps or overlap. A region of this plane would look rather like a jigsaw puzzle whose pieces are all identical. Rice worked primarily with polygons, which consist only of straight lines. More specifically, she worked with convex polygons, in which the line joining any two points on the polygon lies entirely within the polygon itself or on one of its edges. (A five-pointed star, for example, does not qualify as a convex polygon.) By the time Rice took up tiling, its basic properties had been established. Obviously, any square can tile the plane, as many kitchen floors have demonstrated. Equilateral triangles are also a fairly clear-cut case. There is one other regular polygon (a polygon whose angles, and sides, are equal) that can tile the plane: the hexagon. This fact was building their honeycombs. And what of irregular polygons? As it turns out, any triangle or quadrilateral, no matter how devoid of regularity, will tile the plane. On the other hand, no convex polygon with more than six sides can do so, and the three classes of convex hexagons that can were uncovered by the end of the First World War. So the only real question lest by the time Marjorie Rice began her work was which convex pentagons tile the plane.
52. The main subject of the passage is ____
A) famous mathematicians.
B) mathematical education.
C) tiling the plane.
D) irregular polygons.
TEXT G First read the following question. 53. What is the passage mainly about? A. faint dwarf stars. B. the evolutionary cycle of the Sun. C. the Suns fuel problem. D. the dangers of invisible radiation. Now go through TEXT G and answer question 53. When we accept the evidence of our unaided eyes and describe the Sun as a yellow star, we have summed up the most important single fact about it —— at this moment in time. It appears probable, however, that sunlight will be the color we know for only a negligibly small part of the Suns history. Stars, like individuals, age and change. As we look out into space, we see around us stars at all stages of evolution. There are faint blooded dwarfs so cool that their surface temperature is a mere 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, there are searing ghosts blazing at 100,000 degrees Fahrenheit and almost too hot to be seen for the great part of their radiation is in the invisible ultraviolet range. Obviously, the "daylight" produced by any star depends on its temperature, today (and for ages to come) our Sun is at about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit and this means that most of the Suns light is concentrated in the yellow band of the spectrum falling slowly in intensity toward both the longer and shorter light waves. That yellow "hump" will shift as the Sun evolves and the light of day will change accordingly. It is natural to assume that as the Sun grows older and uses up its hydrogen fuel —— which it is now doing at the sparkling rate of half a billion tons a second —— it will become steadily colder and colder.
53. What is the passage mainly about?
A) faint dwarf stars.
B) the evolutionary cycle of the Sun.
C) the Sun's fuel problem.
D) the dangers of invisible radiation.
TEXT H First read the following question. 54. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage? A. the evolution of dance in the twentieth century. B. artists of last century. C. natural movement in dance. D. a pioneer on modern dance. Now go through TEXT H quickly and answer question 54. Many artists late in the last century were in search means to express their individuality. Modern dance was one of the ways some of these people sought to free their creative spirit. At the beginning there was no exacting technique, no foundation from which to build. In later years trial, innovators even drew from what they considered the dread ballet, but first they had to discard all that was academic to that the new could be discovered. The beginning of modern dance were happening before Isadora Duncan, but she was the first person to bring the new dance to general audiences and see it accepted and acclaimed. Her search for natural movement form sent her to nature. She believed movement should be as natural as the swaying of the trees and the rolling of the sea, and should be in harmony with the movements of the Earth. Her great contributions are in three areas. First, she began the expansion of the kinds of movements that could be used in dance. Before Duncan danced, ballet was the only type of dance performed in concert. In the ballet the feet and legs were emphasized, with virtuosity shown by complicated, codified positions and movements. Duncan performed dance by using all her body in the freest possibly way. Her dance stemmed from her soul and spirit. She was one of the pioneers who broke tradition so others might be able to develop the art. Her second contribution lies in dance costume. She discarded corset, ballet shoes, and stiff costumes. There were replaced with flowing Grecian tunics, bare feet, and unbound hair. She believed in the natural body being allowed to move freely, and her dress displayed this ideal. Her third contribution was in the use of music. In her performances she used the symphonies of great masters, including Beethoven and Wagner, which was not the usual custom. She was as exciting and eccentric in her personal life as in her dance.
54. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A) the evolution of dance in the twentieth century.
B) artists of last century.
C) natural movement in dance.
D) a pioneer on modern dance.