Basketball was invented in 1891 by a physical education instructor in Springfield, Massachusetts,
by the name of James Naismith. Because of the terrible weather in winter, his physical education
students were indoors rather than outdoors. They really did not like the idea of boring, repetitive
exercises and preferred the excitement and challenge of a game. Naismith figure out a team sport that
could be played indoors on a gymnasium floor, that involved a lot of running, that kept all team
members involved, and did not allow the tackling and physical contact of American-style football.
1. The main idea of the passage is ...
(A) The life of James Naismith
(B) Physical education and exercise
(C) The history of sports
(D) The origin of basketball
Early maps of the North American continent showed a massive river that began in the Rocky
Mountains, flowed into the Great Salt Lake, and from there continued westward into the Pacific Ocean.
This river, named the Buenaventura River, on some maps rivaled the great Mississippi River.
This mythical river of course does not exist. Perhaps an early mapmaker hypothesized that such
a river probably existed; perhaps a smaller river was seen and its path from the Rockies to the Pacific
was assumed. As late as the middle of the nineteenth century, this river was still on maps and explorers
were still searching for it.
2. Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
(A) Early Maps of North America
(B) A Non-Existent River on Maps
(C) A Comparison of the Buenaventura and the Mississippi Rivers
(D) Rivers in Mythology
The term “primitive art” has been used in a variety of ways to describe works and styles of art.
One way that this term has been used is to describe the early period within the development of a
certain style of art. Another way that this term has been used is to describe artists who have received
little professional training and who demonstrate a nontraditional naivete in their work.
A wonderful example of this second type of primitive artist is Grandma Moses, who spent all her
life living on a farm and working at tasks normally associated with farm life. She did not begin painting
until she reached the age of seventy-six, when she switched to painting from embroidery because the
arthritis in her hands made embroidery too difficult. Totally without formal education in art, she began
creating panoramic images of everyday life on the farm that have achieved international fame.
3. The subject of this passage is ...
(A) an example of one of the types of primitive art
(B) Grandma Moses’s life on the farm
(C) how primitive art differs from formal art
(D) Grandma Moses’s primitive lifestyle
4. Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?
(A) Grandma Moses spent her life on a farm.
(B) Art critics cannot come to any agreement on a definition of primitive art.
(C) Grandma Moses is one type of primitive artists because of her lack of formal training.
(D) Many artists receive little professional training.
