Reading Practice Test

English Practicum – STIESIA Surabaya

The third section of the TOEFL ITP test and CEP test is the Reading Comprehension
section. This section consists of fifty questions; and you have fifty-five minutes to complete
the fifty questions in this section. In this part of the test you will be given some reading
passages, and you will be asked two types of questions about the reading passage:
(1) Reading Comprehension questions ask you to answer questions about the information
given in the reading passages. There will be a variety of questions about each reading
passage, including main idea questions, directly answered detail questions and implied
detail questions.
(2) Vocabulary question ask you to identify the meaning of vocabulary words in the reading
passages. To answer these questions, you may have to know the meanings of the words.
You can also identify the meanings of some of the words by understanding the context
surrounding the words.

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 SECTION 3
READING COMPREHENSION

Directions: In the Reading Comprehension section, you will read several passages. Each one is
followed by a number of questions about it. For questions 1-50, you are to choose the one best
answer- A, B, C, or D- to each question. Then, on your answer sheet, find the number of the
question and fill in the space that corresponds to the letter of the answer you have choosen.

Answer all questions about the information in a passage on the basis of what is stated or
implied in that passage.

Read the following passage:

The railroad was not the first institution to impose regularity on society or to draw attention
to the importance of precise timekeeping. For as long as merchants have set out their wares at
daybreak and communal festivities have been celebrated, people have been in rough
agreement with their neighbors as to the time of day. The value of this tradition is today more
apparent than ever. Were it not for public acceptance of a single yardstick of time, social life
would be unbearably chaotic; the massive daily transfers of goods, services, and information
would proceed in fits and starts; the very fabric of modern society would begin to unravel.
Example I
What is the main idea of the passage?
A. In modern society we must make more time for our neighbors
B. The traditions of society are timeless
C. An accepted way of measuring time is essential for the smooth functioning of society
D. Society judges people by the times at which they conduct certain activities
The main idea of the passage is that societies need to agree about how time is to be measured
in order to function smoothly. Therefore, you should choose C.
Example II
In line 4, the phrase “this tradition” refers to
A. the practice of starting the business day at dawn
B. friendly relations between neigbors
C. the railroad’s reliance on time schedules
D. people’s agreement on the measurement of time

The phrase “this tradition” refers to the preceding clause,”people have been in rough
agreement with their neighbors as to the time of day.” Therefore, you should choose D.

NOW BEGIN WORK ON THE QUESTIONS

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 Questions 1-7

Hotels were among the earliest facilities that bound the United States together. They were
both creatures and creators of communities, as well as symptoms of the frenetic quest for
community. Even in the first part of the nineteenth century, Americans were already forming
the habit of gathering from all corners of the nation for both public and private, business and
pleasure, purposes. Conventions were the new occasions, and hotels were distinctively
American facilities making conventions possible. The first national convention of a major
party to choose a candidate for president (that of the National Republican Party, which met on
December 12, 1831, and nominated Henry Clay for president) was held in Baltimore, at a
hotel that was then reputed to be the best in the country. The presence in Baltimore of
Barnum’s City Hotel, a six-story building with two hundred apartments, helps explain why
many other early national political conventions were held there.
In the longer run, American hotels made other national conventions not only possible but
pleasant and convivial. The growing custom of regularly assembling from afar the
reprentatives of all kinds of groups- not only for political conventions, but also for
commercial, professional, learned, and avocational ones- in turn supported the multiplying
hotels. By the mid-twentieth centurym conventions accounted for over conventions were held
annually with a total attendance of about ten millions persons.
Nineteenth-century American hotelkeepers, who were no longer the genial, deferential
“hosts” of the eighteenth-century European inn, became leading citizens. Holding a large stake
in the community, they exercised power to make it prosper. As owners or managers of the
local “palace of the public,” they were makers and shapers of a principal community
attraction. Travelers from abroad were midly shocked by this high social position.

1. The word “bound” (pag.1) is closest in meaning to

A. Led
B. Protected
C. Tied
D. strengthened
2. The National Republican Party is mentioned in line 8 as an example of a group
A. from Baltimore
B. of learned people
C. owning a hotel
D. holding a convention
3. The word “assembling” (pag.2) is closest in meaning to
A. announcing
B. motivating
C. gathering
D. contracting
4. The word “ones” (pag. 2) is closest in meaning to
A. hotels
B. conventions
C. kinds
D. representatives
5. The word “it” (pag. 3) refers to
A. European inn
B. host
C. community
D. public
6. It can be inferred from the passage that early hotelkeepers in the United States were
A. active politicians
B. European immigrants

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 C. professional builders
D. influential citizens
7. Which of the following statements about early American hotels is NOT mentioned in the
passage?
A. Travellers from abroad did not enjoy staying in them
B. Conventions were held in them
C. People used them for both business and pleasure
D. They were important to the community

Questions 8-15

With Robert Laurent and William Zorach, direct carving enters into the story of modern
sculpture in the United States. Direct carving- in which the sculptors themselves carve stone or
wood with mallet and chisel- must be recognized as something more than just a technique.
Implicit in it is an aesthetic principle as well: that the medium has certain qualities of beauty
and expresiveness with which sculptors must bring their own aesthetic sensibilities into
harmony. For example, sometimes the shape or veining in a piece of stone or wood suggests,
perhaps even dictates, not only the ultimate form, but even the subject matter.
The technique of direct carving was a break with nineteenth-century tradition in which the
making of a clay model was considered the creative act and the work was then turned over to
studio assistants to be cast in plaster or bronze or carved in marble. Neoclassical sculptors
seldon held a mallet or chisel in their own hands, readily conceding that the assistants they
employed were far better than they were at carving the finished marble.
With the turn-of-the-century Arts and Crafts movement and the discovery of nontraditional
sources of inspiration, such as wooden African figures and masks, there arose a new urge for
hands-on, personal execution of art and an interaction with the medium. Even as early as the
1880s and 1890s, nonconformist European artists were attempting direct carving. By the
second decade of the twentieth century, Americans-Laurent and Zorach most notably- had
adopted it as their primary means of working.
Born in France, Robert Laurent (1890-1970) was a prodigy who received his education in
the United States. In 1905 he was sent to Paris as an apprentice to an art dealer, and in the
years that followed he witnessed the birth of Cubism, discovered primitive art, and learned the
techniques of woodcarving from a frame maker.
Back in New York City by 1910, Laurent began carving pieces such as The Priestess,
which reveals his fascination with African, pre-Columbian, and South Pasific art. Taking a
walnut plank, the sculptor carved the expressive, stylized design. It is one of the earliest
examples of direct carving in American sculpture. The plank’s form dictated the rigidly frontal
view and the low relief. Even its irregular shape must have appealed to Laurent as a break with
a long-standing tradition that required a sculptor to work within a perfect rectangle or square.

8. The word “medium” (pag.1) could be used to refer to

A. stone or wood
B. mallet and chisel
C. technique
D. principle
9. What is one of the fundamental principles of direct carving?
A. A sculptor must work with talented assistants
B. The subject of a sculpture should be derived from classical stories
C. The material is an important element in a sculpture
D. Designing a sculpture is a more creative activity than carving it
10. The word “dictates” (pag.1) is closest in meaning to
A. reads aloud
B. determines

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 C. includes
D. records
11. How does direct carving differ from the nineteenth-century tradition of sculpture
A. Sculptors are personally involved in the carving of a piece
B. Sculptors frind their inspiration in neoclassical sources
C. Sculptors have replaced the mallet and chisel with other tools
D. Sculptors receive more formal training
12. The word “witnessed” (pag.4) is closest in meaning to
A. influenced
B. studied
C. validated
D. observed
13. Where did Robert Laurent learn to carve?
A. New York
B. Africa
C. The South Pasific
D. Paris
14. The phase “a break with” is closest in meaning to
A. a destruction of
B. a departure from
C. a collapse of
D. a solution to
15. The piece titled The Priestess has all of the following characteristics EXCEPT:
A. The design is stylized
B. It is made of marble
C. The carving is not deep
D. It depicts the front of a person

Question 16-26

Birds that feed in flocks commonly retire together into roosts. The reasons for roosting
communally are not always obvious, but there are some likely benefits. In winter especially, it
is important for birds to keep warm at night and conserve precious food reserves. One way to
do this is to find a sheltered roost. Solitary roosters shelter in dense vegetation or enter a
cavity- horned larks dig holes in the ground and ptarmigan burrow into snow banks- but the
effect of sheltering is magnified by several birds huddling together in the roosts, as wrens,
swifts, brown creepers, bluebirds, and anis do. Body contact reduces the surface area exposed
to the cold air, so the birds keep each other warm. Two kinglets huddling together were found
to reduce their heat losses by a quarter, and three together saved a third of their heat.
The second possible benefit of communal roosts is that they act as information centers.
During the day, parties of birds will have spread out to forage over a very large area. When
they return in the evening some will have fed well, but others may have found little to eat.
Some investigators have observed that when the birds set out again next morning, those birds
that did not feed well on the previous day appear to follow those that did. The behavior of
common and lesser kestrels may illustrate different feeding behaviors of similar birds with
different roosting habits. The common kestrel hunts vertebrate animals in a small, familiar
hunting ground, whereas the very similar lesser kestrel feeds on insects over a large area. The
common kestrel roosts and hunts alone, but the lesser kestrel roosts and hunts in flocks,
possibly so that one bird can learn from others where to find insect swarms.
Finally, there is safety in numbers at communal roosts since there will always be a few
birds awake at any given moment to give the alarm. But this increased protection is partially
counteracted by the fact that mass roosts attract predators and are especially vulnerable if they
are on the ground. Even those in trees can be attacked by birds of prey. The birds on the edge

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 are at greatest risk since predators find it easier to catch small birds perching at the margins of
the roost.

16. What does the passage mainly discuss?

A. How birds find and store food
B. How birds maintain body heat in the winter
C. Why birds need to establish territory
D. Why some species of birds nest together
17. The word “conserve” (pag.1, line 3) is closest in meaning to
A. retain
B. watch
C. locate
D. share
18. Ptarmigan keep warm in the winter by
A. huddling together on the ground with other birds
B. bnests in trees
C. burrowing into dense patches of vegetation
D. digging tunnels into the snow
19. The word “magnified” (pag. 1) is closest in meaning to
A. caused
B. modified
C. intensified
D. combined
20. The author mentions kinglets (pag.1) as an example of birds that
A. protect themselves by nesting in holes
B. nest with other species of birds
C. nest together for warmth
D. usually feed and nest in pairs
21. The word “forage” (pag. 2) is closest in meaning to
A. fly
B. assemble
C. feed
D. rest
22. Which of the following statements about lesser and common kestrels is true?
A. The lesser kestrel and the common kestrel have similar diets
B. The lesser kestrel feeds sociably, but the common kestrel does not
C. The common kestrel nests in larger flocks than does the lesser kestrel
D. The common kestrel nests in trees; the lesser kestrel nests on the ground
23. The word “counteracted” (pag. 3) is closest in meaning to
A. suggested
B. negated
C. measured
D. shielded
24. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as an advantage derived by birds
that huddle together while sleeping?
A. Some members of the flock warn others of impending dangers
B. Staying together provides a greater amount of heat for the whole flock
C. Some birds in the flock function as information centers for others who are looking for
food
D. Several members of the flock care for the young

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 26. Which of the following is a disadvantage of communal roosts that is mentioned in the
passage?
A. Diseases easily spread among the birds
B. Groups are more attractive to predators than individual birds are
C. Food supplies are quickly depleted
D. Some birds in the group will attack the others

27. The word “they” (pag.3) refers to

A. a few birds
B. mass roosts
C. predators
D. trees

Questions 27-38

Perhaps the most striking quality of satiric literature is its freshness, its originality of
perspective. Satire rarely offers original ideas. Instead, it presents the familiar in a new form.
Satirists do not offer the world new philosophies. What they do is look at familiar conditions
from a perspective that makes these conditions seem foolish, harmful, or affected. Satire jars
us out of complacence into a pleasantly shocked realization that many of the values we
unquestioningly accept are false. Don Quixote makes chivalry seem absurd; Brave New World
ridicules the pretensions of science; A Modest Proposal dramatizes starvation by advocating
cannibalism. None of these ideas is original. Chivalry was suspect before Cervantes,
humanists objected to the claims of pure science before Aldous Huxley, and people were
aware of famine before Swift. It was not the originality of the idea that made these satires
popular. It was the manner of expression, the satiric method, that made them interesting and
entertaining. Satires are read because they are aesthetically satisfying works of art, not because
they are morally wholesome or ethically instructive. They are stimulating and refreshing
because with commonsense briskness they brush away illusions and secondhand opinions.
With spontaneous irreverence, satire rearranges perspectives, scrambles familiar objects into
incongruous juxtaposition, and speaks in a personal idiom instead of abstract platitude.
Satire exists because there is need for it. It has lived because readers appreciate a
refreshing stimulus, an irreverent reminder that they live in a world of platitudinous thinking,
cheap moralizing, and foolish philosophy. Satire serves to prod people into an awareness of
truth, though rarely to any action on behalf of truth. Satire tends to remind people that much of
what they see, hear, and read in popular media is sanctimonious, sentimental, and only
partially true. Life resembles in only a slight degree the popular image of it. Soldiers rarely
hold the ideals that movies attribute to them, nor do ordinary citizens devote their lives to
unselfish service of humanity. Intelligent people know these things but tend to forget them
when they do not hear them expressed.

28. What does the passage mainly discuss?

A. Difficulties of writing satiric literature
B. Popular topics of satire
C. New philosophies emergin from satiric literature
D. Reasons for the popularity if satire
29. The word “realization” (pag.1) is closest in meaning to
A. certainty
B. awareness
C. surprise
D. confusion
30. Why does the author mention Don Quixote, Brave New World, and A Modest?
A. They are famous example of satiric literature

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 B. They present commonsese solutions to problems
C. They are appropriate for readers of all ages
D. They are books with similar stories
31. The word “aesthetically” (pag.1) is closest in meaning to
A. artistically C. realistically
B. exceptionally D. dependably
32. Which of the following can be found in satiric literature
A. New emerging philosophies
B. Odd combinations of objects and ideas
C. Absrtact discusion of morals and ethics
D. Wholesome characters who are unselfish
33. According to the passage, there is a need for satire because people need to be
A. Informed about new scientific development
B. Exposesd to original philosopihies when they are formulated
C. Reminded that popular ideas are often inaccurate
D. Told how they can be of service to their communities
34. The word “refreshing” (pag.1) is closest in meaning to
A. popular
B. ridiculous
C. meaningful
D. unsual
35. The word “they” (pag.2) refers to
A. people
B. media
C. ideals
D. movies
36. The word “devote” (pag.2) is closest in meaning to
A. distinguish
B. feel affection
C. prefer
D. dedicate
37. As a result of reading satiric literature, readers will be most likely to
A. teach themselves to write fiction
B. accept conventional points of view
C. become better informed about current affais
D. reexamine their opinions and values
38. The various purposes of satire include all of the following EXCEPT
A. introducing readers to unfamiliar situations
B. brushing away illusions
C. reminding readers of the truth
D. exposing false values
39. Why does the author mention “service of humanity” (pag.2)?
A. People need to be reminded to take action
B. Readers appreciate knowing about it
C. It is an ideal that is rarely achieved
D. Popular media often distort such stories

Questions 39-50

Galaxies are the major building blocks of the universe. A galaxy is a giant family of many
millions of stars, and it is held together by its own gravitational field. Most of the material in the
universe is organized into galaxies of starts, together with gas and dust.

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 There are three main types of galaxies: spiral, elliptical, and irregular. The Milky Way is a
spiral galaxy: a flattish disc of stars with two spiral arms emerging from its central nucleus.
About one-quarter of all galaxies have this shape. Spiral galaxies are well supplied with the
interstellar gas in which new stars form; as the rotating spiral pattern sweeps around the galaxy,
it compresses gas and dust, triggering the formation of bright young stars in its arms. The
elliptical galaxies have a symmetrical, ellliptical or spheroidal shape with no obvious structure.
Most of their member stars very old, and since ellipticals are devoid of interstellar gas, no new
stars are forming in them. The biggest and brightest galaxies in the universe are ellipticals with
masses of about 1013 times that of the Sun; these giants may frequently be sources of strong
radio emission, in which case they are called radio galaxies. About two-thirds of all galaxies are
elliptical. Irregular galaxies comprise about one-tenth of all galaxies, and they come in many
subclasses.
Measurement in space is quite different from measurement on Earth. Some terrestial
distances can be expressed as intervals of time: the time to fly from one continent to another or
the time it takes to drive to work, for example. By comparison, with these familiar yardsticks,
the distances to the galaxies are incomprehensibly large, but they too are made more manageble
by using a time calibration, in this case, the distance that light travels in one year. On such a
scale, the nearest giant spiral galaxy, the Andromeda galaxy, is two million light years away.
The most distant luminous objects seen by telescopes are probably ten thousand million light
years away. Their light was already halfway here before the Earth even formed. The light from
the nearby Virgo galaxy set out when reptiles still dominated the animal world.

40. The word “major (pag.1) is closest in meaning to

A. intense
B. principal
C. huge
D. unique
41. What does the second paragraph mainly discuss
A. The Milky Way
B. Major categories of galaxies
C. How elliptical galaxies are formed
D. Differences between irregular and spiral galaxies

42. The word “ which (pag.2) refers to

A. dust
B. gas
C. pattern
D. galaxy
43. According to the passage, new stars are formed in spiral galaxies due to
A. an explosion of gas
B. the compression of gas and dust
C. the combining of old stars
D. strong radio emissions
44. The word “symmetrical” (pag.2) is closest in meaning to
A. proportionally balanced
B. commonly seen
C. typically large
D. steadily growing
45. The word “obvious” (pag. 2) is closest in meaning to
A. discovered
B. apparent
C. understood
D. simplistic

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 46. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true of elliptical galaxies?
A. They are the largest galaxies
B. They mostly contain old stars
C. They contain a high amount of interstellar gas
D. They have a spherical shape
47. Which of the following characteristics of radio galaxies is mentioned in the passage?
A. They are a type of elliptical galaxy
B. They are usually too small to be seen with a telescope
C. They are closely related to irregular galaxies
D. They are not as bright as spiral galaxies
48. What percentage of galaxies is irregular?
A. 10%
B. 25%
C. 50%
D. 75%
49. The word “they” (pag.3) refers to
A. intervals
B. yardsticks
C. distances
D. galaxies
50. Why does the autor mention the Virgo galaxy and the Andromeda galaxy in the third
paragraph?
A. To describe the effect that distance has on visibility
B. To compare the ages of two relatively young galaxies
C. To emphasize the vast distances of the galaxies from Earth
D. To explain why certain galaxies cannot be seen by a telescope
51. The word “dominated” (pag.3) is closest in meaning to
A. Threatened
B. Replaced
C. Were developing in
D. Were prevalent in

THIS IS THE END OF THE READING COMPREHENSIION SECTION

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