Table Of Contents

LITERARY TECHNIQUE AND FIGURE OF SPEECH ……………………………………………………Page No 1

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE…………………………………………………………………………………..Page No 3

PART-01

READING COMPREHENSION

SHORT PASSAGES 01-03……………………………………………………………………………..… Page No 5

PASSAGES 01-10………………………………………………………………………………………....… Page No 22

LONG READING PASSAGES 01-10……………………………………………………………………... Page No50

MAIN IDEA QUESTION…………………………………………………………………………………… Page No 81

PART-02

SENTENCE COMPLETION

SENTENCE COMPLETON EX A-D……………………………………………………………………… Page No 92

SENTENCE COMPLETION EXERCISE 01-05………………………………………………………….. Page No 102

PART-03

VOCAB TESTS

VOCAB TESTS 01-05…………………………………………………………………………………...… Page No 109

VOCAB TESTS 01-05 (CBM BASED)…………………………………………………………………… Page No 120

 Literary Techniques and figure of speech

At IBA, reading passages (both long and short) include questions about the author’s use of literary
techniques and figures of speech-tools authors use to convey meaning or to lend depth and richness to their
writing.

The following list contains common literally techniques and figures of speech likely to be covered on the
IBA Critical Reading:

• Cliché: An expression, such as “turn over a new leaf,” that has been used and reused so many times
that it has lost its expressive power.

• Hyperbole: An excessive overstatement or conscious exaggeration of fact, “I’ve told you that a
million times already” is a hyperbolic statement.

• Irony: Broadly speaking, irony is a device that emphasizes the contrast between the way things are
expected to be and the way they actually are. A historical example of irony might be the fact that
people in medieval Europe believed bathing would harm them when in fact not bathing led to the
unsanitary conditions that caused the bubonic plague.

• Metaphor: The comparison of one thing to another that does not use the terms “like” or “as”. A
metaphor from Shakespeare’s Macbeth: “Life is but a walking shadow.”

• Paradox: A statement that seems contradictory on the surface but often expresses a deeper truth. One
example is the line “All men destroy the things they love” from Oscar Wilde’s “The Ballad of Reading
Goal”

• Rhetorical question: A question asked not to elicit an actual response but to make an impact or call
attention to something. “Will the world ever see the end of the war?” is an example of a rhetorical
question.

• Simile: A comparison of two things through the use the words like or as. The title of Robert Burn’s
poem “My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose” is a simile.

• Tone: The general atmosphere created in a story, or the authors or narrator’s attitude toward the story
or the subject. For example, the tone of the Declaration of Independence is determined and confident.
Examples of Hyperbolic:

• They ran like greased lighting.

• He’s got tons of money.
• Her brain is the size of a pea.
• He is older than the hills.
• I will die if she asks me to dance
• She is as big as an elephant!
• I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.
• I have told you a million times not to lie!

Examples of personification:

1. The star danced playfully in the moonlight sky.

2. The run down house appeared depressed.
3. The first rays of the morning tiptoed through the meadow.
4. She did not realize that opportunity was knocking at her door.
5. He did not realize that his last chance was walking out the door.
6. The bees played hide and seek with the flowers as they buzzed from one to another.
7. The wind howled its mighty objection.
8. The snow swaddled the earth like a mother would her infant child.
9. The river swallowed the earth as the water continued to rise higher and higher.
10. Time flew and before we knew it, it was time for me to go home.
11. The ocean waves lashed out at the boat and the storm continued to brew.
12. My computer throws a fit every time I try to use it.
13. The thunder grumbled like an old man.
14. The flowers waltzed in the gentle breeze.
15. Her life passed her by.

Examples of simile:

1. Allie’s cell phone dropped into the toilet like a falling star.
2. “Food?” Chris inquired, popping out of his seat like a toaster strudel.
3. If seem from above the factory, the workers would have looked like clock parts.
4. Toby manipulated the people in his life as though they were chess pieces.
5. My mother’s kitchen was like a holy place: you couldn’t wear your shoes, you had to sit there at a certain
time, and occasionally we’d pray.
6. The bottled rolled off the table like a teardrop.
7. Arguing with her was like dueling with hand gestures.
8. The classroom was a quiet as a tongue-tied librarian in a hybrid car.
9. The clouds were like ice-cream castles.
 Figurative Language

Test
1) Your eyes are shining stars.
A) Simile B) personification C) metaphor

2) The wind whistled a beautiful hymn as I passed by.

A) Personification B) simile C) metaphor

3) Your teeth are as white as snow.

A) Metaphor B) personification C) simile

4) The flames were dancing on that house.

A) Metaphor B) personification C) simile

5) You are a stubborn donkey.

A) Simile B) personification C) metaphor

6) The trees were bowing down through the windy storm.

A) Personification B) simile C) metaphor

7) You are like a sweet, sweet rose.

A) Personification B) simile C) metaphor

8) You are a hungry pig.

A) Simile B) Metaphor C) personification

9) You are as tall as a statue.

A) Simile B) metaphor C) personification

10) The trees kissed my shoe during hurricane Floyd.

A) Metaphor B) personification C) simile

11) I was so hungry that I even ate the plate. What type of figurative language is used in this sentence?
A) Metaphor B) personification C) hyperbole D) simile

12) My father was the sun and the moon to me. What type of figurative language is used in this sentence?
A) Simile B) metaphor C) hyperbole D) personification
13) He was a library of information about baseball. What type of figurative language is used in this sentence?
A) simile B) hyperbole C) metaphor D) personification

14) The baby was like an octopus, grabbing for everything in sight. What type of figurative language is used
in this sentence?
A) hyperbole B) personification C) metaphor D) simile

15) That movie took my breath away. What type of figurative language is used in this sentence?
A) personification B) metaphor C) idiom D) alliteration

Answers
1. C
2. A
3. C
4. B
5. C
6. A
7. B
8. B
9. A
10. B
11. C
12. B
13. C
14. D
15. C
 PART-1
READING
COMPREHENSION
 SHORT PASSAGES

PASSAGE-01
It is now established that the Milky Way is far more extended and of much greater mass than was hitherto
thought. However, all that is visible of the constituents of the Milky Way’s corona (outer edge), where much
of the galaxy’s mass must be located, is a tiny fraction of the coronas mass.
Thus, most of the Milky Way’s outlying matter must be dark.

Why? Three facts are salient. First, dwarf galaxies and globular clusters, into which most of the stars of the
Milky Way’s corona are probably bound, consist mainly of old stars. Second, old stars are not highly
luminous. Third, no one has detected in the corona the clouds of gaseous matter such as hydrogen and carbon
monoxide that are characteristic of the bright parts of a galaxy. At present, therefore, the best explanation-
though still quite tentative- for the darkness of the corona is that the corona is composed mainly of old
burned-out stars.

1. The passage as a whole is primarily concerned with

A) analyzing a current debate
B) criticizing a well-established theory
C) showing how new facts support a previously dismissed hypothesis
D) stating a conclusion and adducing evidence that may justify it
E) contrasting two types of phenomena and showing how they are related

2. According to the passage, a bright part of a galaxy typically includes

A) dwarf galaxies and clusters of stars B) a balanced mixture of old and new stars
C) a large portion of the galaxy’s mass D) part of the corona of the galaxy
E) gases such as hydrogen and carbon monoxide.

PASSAGE-02
The outpouring of contemporary American Indian literature in the last two decades, often called the Native
American Renaissance, represents for many the first opportunity to experience Native American poetry. The
appreciation of traditional oral American Indian literature has been limited, hampered by poor translations and
by the difficulty even in the rare culturally sensitive and aesthetically satisfying translation, of completely
conveying the original’s verse structure, tone and syntax.

By writing in English and experimenting with European literary forms, contemporary American Indian
writers have broadened their potential audience, while clearly retaining many essential characteristics of their
ancestral oral traditions. For example, Pulitzer-prize- winning author N. Scott Momaday’s poetry open treats
art and mortality in a manner that recalls British romantic poetry, while his poetic response to the power of
natural forces recalls Cherokee oral literature. In the same way, his novels, an art form European in origin,
display an eloquence that echoes the oratorical grandeur of the great nineteenth-century American Indian
chiefs.

1. According to the passage, Momaday’s poetry shares which of the following with British romantic poetry?
A) Verse structure B) Oratorical techniques
C) Manner of treating certain themes D) Use of certain syntactical constructions
E) Patterns of rhythm and rhyme

2. The passage suggests which of the following about American Indian poets before the Native
American Renaissance?
A) Art and mortality were rarely the subjects of their poetry.
B) Their oratorical grandeur reached its peak in the nineteenth century.
C) They occasionally translated their own poetry.
D) They seldom wrote poetry in English.
E) They emphasized structure, tone, and syntax rather than literary form.

PASSAGE-03
One advantage of breeding African bees with
other bee types (Africanization) may be resistance to
the parasitic mite Varroa jacobsoni, a major threat to
modern beekeeping. In parts of Europe, this mite is
(5) devastating honeybees and killing many colonies
despite preventive measures by beekeeping. But in
Brazil Varroa jacobsoni has been present in Africanized
bees since 1972 without the single colony killed, even
though beekeepers there undertook no preventive
(10) measures. The mites lay eggs within the brood cells
of immature bees, and developing mites feed on the
hemolymph (blood) of bee pupae. But fewer mites
reproduce in Africanized bees than in European bees.
Some researchers point out that this resistance may
be related to the Africanized worker bee’s shorter
(15) development period, which prevents some mites from
reaching maturity. Recently the mite has become
serious problem in colonies of European bees in
North America. Africanization of these bees may be
the best safeguard against this parasite.
1. The passage suggests that which of the following was true of the honeybee colonies described in line 4-6?
A) Their life expectancy, when free of disease, was shorter than that of European bee colonies in North
America.
B) They were no Africanized.
C) Their life cycle did not accommodate the feeding habits of Varroa jacobsoni.
D They responded well to measures to control Varroa jacobsoni.
E) They were managed using methods that were more modern than those employed in Brazil.

2 The author’s argument regarding the resistance of Africanized bees to Varroa jacobsoní would be most
weakened if which of the following were true?
A) The bees in Brazil were resistant before being Africanized.
B) The number of bee colonies in North America increased dramatically whereas the number in Brazil
remained unchanged.
C) Mites found in European bees reproduce at a faster rate than mites of identical species found in the bees in
Brazil.
D) Africanized bees retain many of the characteristics of European bees.
E) Bee colonies in Europe continue to produce greater quantities of honey than do those in Brazil.

PASSAGE-O4
National character is not formally considered by
social scientists in discussing economic and social
development today. They believe that people differ and
that these differences should be taken into account
(5) somehow, but they have as yet discovered no way to
include such variables in their formal models of economic
and social development. The difficulty lies in the
nature of the data that supposedly define different
national characters. Anthropologists and others are on
(10) much firmer ground when they attempt to describe the
cultural norms for a small homogeneous tribe or village
than when they undertake the formidable task of discovering
the norms that exist in a complex modern
nation-state composed of many disparate groups. The
(15) situation is further complicated by the nature of judgments
about characters since such judgments are overly
dependent on impressions and since, furthermore,
impressions are usually stated in qualitative terms, it is
impossible to make a reliable comparison between the
(20) national characters of two countries.
1. The author’s main point in the passage is that national character
A) is too elusive to merit attention by anthropologists and other social scientists.
B) is of greater interest to social scientists today than it has been in the past.
C) is still too difficult to describe with the precision required by many social scientists
D) has become increasingly irrelevant because of the complexity of modern life
E) Can be described more accurately by anthropologists than by other social scientists

2. Given the information in the passage, which of the following is NOT true of modern nation-states?
A) They are complex. B) They are heterogeneous.
C) They are of interest to social scientists. D) They lack cultural norms.
E) They differ from one another in terms of national character.

PASSAGE-05
Many philosophers disagree over the definition
of morality, but most disputants fall into one of
two categories: egocentrics, who define morality
as the pursuit of self-fulfillment, and socio-
(5) centrics, who define morality as an individual’s
obligations to society. Where does the truth lie?
Fortunately, the stem of the word “morality”
provides some clues. The word “mores” originally
referred to the customs of preliterate cultures.
(10) Mores, which embodied each culture’s ideal
principles for governing every citizen, were
developed in the belief that the foundation of a
community lies in the cultivation of individual
powers to be placed in service to the community.
(15) These mores were concerned with such skills as
food-gathering and warfare as well as an individual’s
relationships with others. Thus, I submit
“morality” must be concerned with what is honored
by the community at large. However, self-
(20) fulfillment is important to morality because
unfulfilled citizens, no matter how virtuous,
cannot perform the duties morality assigns them.

1. The primary purpose of this passage is to

A) summarize an argument B) resolve a dispute
C) trace a word’s origin D) prove a hypothesis E) initiate a debate
2. According to the passage, mores in pre literate cultures concerned such skills as warfare and food
gathering because these skills were
A) characteristic of an individual’s self-fulfillment
B) examples of a culture’s traditions
C) manifestations of an individual’s ideals
D) demonstrations of an individual’s contributions to the community
E) examples of a community’s governing principles

PASSAGE-o6
Typically the queen honey bee is mother to all the
bees in a hive: after mating with several male drones
from other colonies, she lays fertilized eggs that
develop into all-female worker bees and lays
(5) unfertilized eggs that become all-male drones. When
a queen dies, workers often lay unfertilized eggs that
hatch into drones. Yet workers rarely reproduce
while a queen reigns.
According to natural selection theory, a worker
(10) would enhance her fitness- or ability to propagate
her genes- by hatching her own eggs in addition to
or in place of the queen’s. But a typical worker’s
fitness would be diminished if other workers’ sons,
who have less genetic material in common with the
(15) worker, supplanted the queen’s sons (the worker’s
brothers). Researchers, testing the hypothesis that
workers usually somehow block each other’s
attempts to reproduce put unfertilized eggs laid by
workers and by the queen into a hive. Other workers
(20) quickly devoured the workers’ eggs while leaving the
queen’s eggs alone.

1. The author refer to the experiment described in lines 16-19 in order to

A) explain how worker bees are prevented from mating with drones
B) explain how worker bees hatch and nurture the queen’s young
C) demonstrate the universality of natural selection
D) show that worker bees are capable of thwarting each other’s attempts to reproduce
E) provide a model of daily life in a typical honeybee hive
2. The passage suggests which of the following about the eggs laid by worker bees?
A) One of the eggs hatches into the next queen.
B) The eggs are invariably destroyed by other worker bees.
C) Each worker tries to hide her eggs from the other worker bees.
D) The eggs hatch only if the worker has mated with a drone from another hive.
E) The eggs are less likely to be harmed by other workers if the queen is dead.

PASSAGE-07
Analyzing the physics of dance can add fundamentally
to a dancer’s skill. Although dancer seldom see
themselves totally in physical terms- as body mass
moving through space under the influence of well-known
(5) forces and obeying physical laws-neither can they
afford to ignore the physics of movement. For example,
no matter how much a dancer wishes to leap off the floor
and then start turning, the law of conservation of
angular momentum absolutely prevents such a
(10) movement.
Some movements involving primarily vertical or
horizontal motions of the body as a whole, in which
rotations can be ignored, can be studied using simple
equations of linear motions in three dimensions. How-
(15) ever, rotational motions require more complex
approaches that involve analyses of the way the body’s
mass is distributed, the axes of rotation involved in
different types of movement, and the sources of the
forces that produce the rotational movement.

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

A) initiate a debate over two approaches to analyzing a field of study
B) describe how one field of knowledge can be applied to another field
C) point out the contradictions between two distinct theories
D) define and elaborate on an accepted scientific principle
E) discuss the application of a new theory within a new setting
2. Analysis of which of the following would require the kind of complex approach described in lines 14-19?
A) A long leap across space
B) A short jump upward with a return to the same place
C) A sustained and controlled turn in place
D) Short, rapid steps forward and then backward without turning
E) Quick sidesteps in a diagonal line

PASSAGE-o8
Although a historical lack of access to formal
Spanish-language education initially limited the opportunities
of some Chicanos to hone their skills as writers
of Spanish, their bilingual culture clearly fostered as
(5) exuberant and compelling oral tradition. It has thus
generally been by way of the emphasis on oral literary
creativity that these Chicano writers, whose English language
works are sometimes uninspired, developed
the powerful and arresting language that characterized
(10) their Spanish-language works. This Spanish-English
difference is not surprising. When writing in Spanish,
these authors stayed close to the spoken traditions of
their communities where publication, support, and
instructive response would come quickly in local or
(15) regional newspapers. Works in English, however, often
required the elimination of nuance or colloquialism, the
adoption of a formal tone, and the adjustment of
themes or ideas to satisfy the different demands of
national publications.

1. The passage is primarily concerned with doing which of the following?

A) Debating the historical value of a literary movement
B) Describing and accounting for a difference in literary styles
C) Explaining a publishing decision and evaluating its results
D) Analyzing the expectations of a particular group of readers
E) Classifying several kinds of literary production
2. The passage suggests that which of the following was probably characteristic of the “national
publications” mentioned in line 19?
A) They primarily scholarly material of little interest to general audience.
B) They sometimes published articles treating controversial themes.
C) They encouraged authors to feature local issues in the articles in order to increase circulation.
D) They included a significant number of articles by minority authors.
E) They took a stylistically formal approach to material of interest to a general audience.

PASSAGE 09
While it is true that living organisms are profoundly
affected by their environment, it is equally
important to remember that many organisms are also
capable of altering their habitat significantly, some-
(3) times limiting their own growth. The influence of the
biological component of an ecosystem is often greater
in fresh waters than in marine or terrestrial systems,
because of the small size of many freshwater
bodies. Many of the important effects of organisms
(10) are related to their physiology, especially growth and
respiration. By their growth many species can deplete
essential nutrients within the system, thus limiting
their own growth or that of other species. Land has
demonstrated that in Lake Windermere the algae
(15) Asterionella is unable to grow in conditions that it
itself has created. Once a year, in the spring, this
plant starts to grow rapidly in the lake, using up so
much silica from the water that by late spring there is
no longer enough to maintain its oval growth. The
population decreases dramatically as a result.

1. Which of the following is an example of the type of organism described in lines 2-5?
1. A kind of ant that feeds on the sweet juice exuded by the twigs of a species of thorn tree that grow in dry
areas.
2. A kind of fish that, after growing to maturity in the ocean, return to fresh water
3. A kind of flower that has markings distinctly perceptible in ultraviolet light to the species of bee that
pollinates the flowers
4. A kind of tree with seeds that germinate readily only in a sunny spot and then develop into mature trees
that shade the area below them
5. A kind of butterfly, itself nonpoisonous, with the same markings as a kind of butterfly that birds refuse
tomcat because it is poisonous
2. It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following is true about Asterioncella plants in Lake
Windermere?
A) They are not present except in early spring
B) They contribute silica to the waters as they grow
C) They are food for other organisms
D) They form a silica-rich layer on the lake bottom
E) Their growth peaks in the spring

PASSAGE-10
It is their sensitive response to human circumstance
that accounts for the persistence of certain
universal ideas. Rabbi Meir, a second-century
scholar, admonished his disciples to look not at the
(5) pitcher but at its contents because, he stated, “Many a
new pitcher has been found to be full of old wine.”
This was his way of emphasizing the importance of
the distinction between form and idea and of stressing
that the integrity of an idea is more important than the
(10) form of its expression.
Creative ideas not only produce their own
instruments of survival as time and circumstances
demand, but permit the substitution of new forms for
old under the pressure of changed circumstances.
(15) For example democracy, as an idea originated in
ancient Greece and was carried from there to Western
Europe and the Americas. But it did not retain the
ancient Greek form: it passed through several
reforming processes and exists today in many
(20) countries. Democratic governments differ in form
because democracy is in principle dynamic and
has therefore responded to local needs.

1. The author is primarily concerned with

A) Illustrating the importance of a historical figure
B) discussing an important characteristic of human ideas
C) describing the history of the growth of democracy
D) contrasting ancient and modern views of the importance of creative ideas
E) evaluating the contribution of ancient Greece to modern government
1. The “new pitcher” mentioned in line 6 is the equivalent of which of the following elements in the author’s
discussion of democracy (lines 15-22)?
A) Ancient Greece B) The idea of democracy
C) A modern democratic government D) A dynamic principles E) The Greek form of democracy

PASSAGE-11
Most people can remember a phone number for up to thirty seconds. When this short amount of time elapses,
however, the numbers are erased from the memory. How did the information get there in the first place?
Information that makes its way to the short term memory (STM) does so via the sensory storage area. The
brain has a filter which only allows stimuli that is of immediate interest to pass on to the STM, also known as
the working memory.

There is much debate about the capacity and duration of the short term memory. The most accepted theory
comes from George A. Miller, a cognitive psychologist who suggested that humans can remember
approximately seven chunks of information, A chunk is defined as a meaningful unit of information, such as a
word or name rather than just a letter or number. Modern theorists suggest that one can increase the capacity
of the short term memory by chunking, or classifying similar information together. By organizing
information, one can optimize the STM, and improve the chances of a memory being passed on to long term
storage.

When making a conscious effort to memorize something, such as information for an exam, many people
engage in “rote rehearsal”. By repeating something over and over again, one is able to keep a memory alive.
Unfortunately, this type of memory maintenance only succeeds if there are no interruptions. As soon as a
person stops rehearsing the information, it has the tendency to disappear. When a pen and paper are not
handy, people often attempt to remember a phone number by repeating it aloud. If the doorbell rings or the
dog barks to come in before a person has the opportunity to make a phone call, he will likely forget the
number instantly.* Therefore, rote rehearsal is not an efficient way to pass information from the short term to
long term memory.* A better way is to practice “elaborate rehearsal”. *This involves assigning semantic
meaning to a piece of information so that it can be filed along with other pre-existing long term memories.*

Encoding information semantically also makes it more retrievable. Retrieving information can be done by
recognition or recall. Humans can easily recall memories that are stored in the long term memory and
used often; however, if a memory seems to be forgotten, it may eventually be retrieved by prompting.
The more cues a person is given (such as pictures), the more likely a memory can be retrieved.
This is why multiple choice tests are often used tor subjects that require a lot of memorization.

1. According to the passage, how do memories get transferred to the STM?

A) They revert from the long term memory. B) They are filtered from the sensory storage area.
C) They get chunked when they enter the brain. D) They enter via the nervous system.
2. The word elapses in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to:
A) passes B) adds up C) appears D) continues

3. All of the following are mentioned as places in which memories are stored EXCEPT the:
A) STM B) long term memory
C) sensory storage area D) maintenance area

4. Why does the author mention a dog’s bark?

A) To give an example of a type of memory
B) To provide a type of interruption
C) To prove that dogs have better memories than humans
D) To compare another sound that is loud like a doorbell

5. How do theorists believe a person can remember more information in a short time?
A) By organizing it B) By repeating it C) By giving it a name D) By drawing it

6. The author believes that rote rotation is:

A) The best way to remember something B) more efficient than chunking
C) Ineffective in the long run D) an unnecessary interruption

7. The word it in the last paragraph refers to:

A) encoding B) STM C) semantics D) information

8. The word elaborate in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to:

A) complex B) efficient C) pretty D) regular

9. Which of the following is NOT supported by the passage?

A) The working memory is the same as the short term memory.
B) A memory is kept alive through constant repetition.
C) Cues help people to recognize information.
D) Multiple choice exams are the most difficult.

10. The word cues in the passage is closest in meaning to

A) questions B) clues C) images D) tests
11. Which of the following best provides the important information in the highlighted sentence from the
passage. Incorrect answer choices leave out essential information or change the meaning of it
A) Prompting is the easiest way to retrieve short term memory after an extended period of time.
B) A memory can be retrieved by prompting, in a case where it has been rarely used.
C) It’s easier to remember short term memories than long term memories due to regular prompts.
D) Recalling a long term memory that is often used is easy, while forgotten memories often require
prompting.

PASSAGE-12
Although websites such as Facebook and MySpace experienced exponential growth during the middle of the
first decade of the 21st century, some users remain oblivious to the fact that the information they post online
can come back to haunt them. First, employers can monitor employees who maintain a blog, photo diary, or
website. Employers can look for controversial employee opinions, sensitive information disclosures, or wildly
inappropriate conduct. For example, a North Carolina newspaper fired one of its features writers after she
created a blog on which she anonymously wrote about the idiosyncrasies of her job and coworkers.

The second unintended use of information from social networking websites is employers who check on
prospective employees. A June 11, 2006 New York Times article reported that many companies recruiting on
college campuses use search engines and social networking websites such as MySpace, Xanga, and Facebook
to conduct background checks. Although the use of MySpace or Google to scrutinize a student’s background
is somewhat unsettling to many undergraduates, the Times noted that the utilization of Facebook is especially
shocking to students who believe that Facebook is limited to current students and recent alumni.

Corporate recruiters and prospective employers are not the only people interested in college students’ lives.
The third unintended use of social networking websites is college administrators who monitor the Internet-
especially Facebook-for student misconduct. For example, a college in Boston’s Back Bay expelled its student
Government Association President for joining a Facebook group highly critical of a campus police sergeant.
In addition, fifteen students at a state university in North Carolina faced charges in court for underage
drinking because of photos that appeared on Facebook.

Although more users of websites such as Facebook are becoming aware of the potential pitfalls of online
identities, many regular users still fail to take three basic security precautions. First, only make your
information available to a specific list of individuals whom you approve. Second, regularly search for
potentially harmful information about yourself that may have been posted by mistake or by a disgruntled
former associate. Third, never post blatantly offensive material under your name or on your page as, despite
the best precautions, this material will likely make its way to the wider world. By taking these simple steps,
members of the digital world can realize the many benefits of e-community without experiencing some of the
damaging unintended consequences.
1. The primary purpose of the passage is to:
A) Explain the growth of the digital world through the lens of privacy.
B) Discuss the risks of the digital world and suggest ways to protect yourself.
C) Evaluate the pros and cons of active participation in the digital world
D) Propose steps Facebook, MySpace and Google can take to protect user privacy.
E) Illustrate potential unintended use of private information.

2. According to the passage, all of the following represent a possible threat to privacy or an unintended use
of data EXCEPT:
A) Disgruntled past associates posting damaging information online
B) Colleges or universities disciplining students for expressing politically incorrect or institutionally
disowned opinions.
C) Government officials using online information, obtained against one’s will, to bring legal proceedings
D) Potential employers conducting unauthorized and potentially invasive background checks via Google or
Facebook
E) Malicious users impersonating one’s identity to commit identity fraud

3. Based upon the passage the author implies which of the following:
A) Information obtained unwillingly from the internet is permissible in court
B) It is impossible to protect yourself from the unintended uses of information online
C) Making information available only to people whom you trust compromises your online community
D) Even if you restrict who can view your data, the government may still access it
E) Done properly, posting information about oneself poses no substantial risk

4. Which of the following best describes the relationship of the fourth paragraph to the remainder of the
passage?
A) It offers detailed examples to support previous assertions
B) It provides suggestions to the previously mentioned problems
C) It summarizes the points of the preceding paragraphs
D) It offers counter evidence and an alternative point of view to the claims made earlier in the passage
E) It reconciles conflicting claims

5. The author implies that user should take all of the following actions to protect their online privacy
EXCEPT:
A) Known to whom you make your online information available
B) Actively hunt for misinformation or damaging information posted about you or under your name
C) Speak with recruiters to inform them of any misinformation published about you
D) Carefully select and limit who can view your electronic profile
E) Avoid uploading information that would be exceedingly damaging if it were discovered
6. The tone of the passage suggests that the author’s view toward e-community and the digital word can best
be described as:
A) Largely Pessimistic B) Frustrated C) Guardedly Optimistic
D) Distressed E) Strongly Optimistic

7. Which of the following best describes the author’s logical flow in the passage?
A) Define a problem, provide examples of it, offer means of remedying it, and offer a brief evaluation of the
issue at hand
B) Provide examples of a problem, offer a counter point, provide a resolution of the conflicting views and
offer a brief evaluation of the issue at hand
C) Provide examples of a problem, provide means of remedying it, offer a brief evaluation of the issue at
hand, and provide a contrasting evaluation of the issue at hand
D) Define a problem, provide examples of it, offer a brief evaluation of the issue at hand, and offer
suggestions to support that evaluation
E) Define a problem, offer a contrasting view of the issue at hand, offer a brief evaluation of the issue at hand
and offer a solution to the conflicting views

PASSAGE-13
On the surface, the conquest of the Aztec empire by Herman Cortes is one of the most amazing military
accomplishments in history. With a small fighting force numbering in the hundreds, Cortes led the Spanish
explorers into victory against an Aztec population that many believe topped 21 million. In light of such a
seemingly impossible victory, the obvious question is: how did a small group of foreign fighters manage to
topple one of the world’s strongest, wealthiest, and most successful military empires?

Several factors led to Cortes’ success. First, the Spanish exploited animosity toward the Aztecs among rival
groups and convinced thousands of locals to fight. In one account of a battle, it is recorded that at least
200,000 natives fought with Cortes. Next, the Spanish possessed superior military equipment in the form of
European cannons, guns, and crossbows, leading to effective and efficient disposal of Aztec defenses. For
example, Spanish cannons quickly defeated large Aztec walls that had protected the empire against big and
less technically advanced armies.

Despite the Spanish advantages, the Aztecs probably could have succeeded in defending their capital city of
Tenochtitlan had they leveraged their incredible population base to increase their army’s size and ensured that
no rogue cities would ally with Cortes. In order to accomplish this later goal, Aztec leader Motecuhzoma
needed to send envoys to neighboring cities telling their inhabitants about the horrors of Spanish conquest and
the inevitability of Spanish betrayal.
In addition, the Aztecs should have exploited the fact that the battle was taking place on their territory. No
reason existed for the Aztecs to consent to a conventional battle, which heavily favored the Spanish.
Motecuhzoma’s forces should have thought outside the box and allowed Cortes into the city, only to
subsequently use hundreds of thousands of fighters to prevent escape and proceed in surprise “door-to-door”
combat. With this type of battle, the Aztecs would have largely thwarted Spanish technological supremacy.
However, in the end, the superior weaponry of the Spanish, the pent-up resentment of Aztec rivals, the failure
of Aztec diplomacy, and the lack of an unconventional Aztec war plan led to one of the most surprising
military outcomes in the past one thousand years.

1. Which of the following best characterizes the main point the author is trying to convey in the passage?
A) Aztec failure to fight an unconventional war led to an unnecessary defeat
B) Spanish victory was neither as impressive nor as surprising as it may first appear
C) Resentment toward the Aztecs led to their demise
D) Herman Cortes masterminded an amazing military accomplishment
E) The myopic vision of the Aztecs led to their unnecessary downfall

2. According to the passage, all of the following led to Cortes’ success EXCEPT:
A) Advanced crossbows B) Nimble military force
C) Local Spanish allies D) Local tribal friction E) Quick destruction of Aztec walls

3. Which of the following best characterizes the author’s view about the inevitability of Aztec demise at the
hands of the Spanish?
A) Absolutely Inevitable B) Likely Inevitable
C) Ambivalent D) Likely Not Inevitable E) Absolutely Not Inevitable

4. The passage is sequentially organized in which of the following ways?

A) Introduce an enigma; explain the reasons for the enigma; discuss the inevitability of the enigma
B) Define a problem; explain the sources of the problem; offer a solution to the problem
C) Introduce a mystery; offer an explanation for the mystery; provide an alternative explanation for the
mystery
D) Pose a question; offer an answer to the question; offer an alternative answer to the question
E) Define a problem; explain the likelihood of the problem; discuss the consequences of the problem

5. The author implies which of the following about the nature of Aztec regional influence and power?
A) Engendered some anger B) Achieved with a non-traditional military campaign
C) Based upon a technologically outdated military D) Achieved through alliances
E) Based upon small yet swift and brutal military force
6. The passage implies that which of the following constituted the reason for Cortes’ success seeming so
impressive?
A) Utilization of technological supremacy
B) Ability to form a coalition of local tribes to fight the Aztecs
C) The vast quantities of gold and other precious metals obtained in conquest
D) The large disparity in the size of the Aztec and Spanish militaries
E) Spanish speed and brutality in battle

7. The author’s tone can best be described as?

A) Frustrated B) Angry C) Optimistic D) Analytical E) Introspective

8. The author implies which of the following about the Aztec view toward an unconventional military
confrontation of the Spanish?
A) The Aztecs did not consider it
B) The Aztecs considered it, but rejected it out of beliefs about how battles ought to be fought
C) The Aztecs considered this, but it was too late
D) The Aztecs were certain a victory could be achieved via traditional combat
E) The Aztecs felt the geography of Tenochtitlan did not favor this strategy
 SHORT PASSAGES ANS
Q# Passage 1 Passage 2 Passage 3 Passage 4 Passage 5
1 D C B C C
2 E D B D D

Q# Passage 6 Passage 7 Passage 8 Passage 9 Passage 10

1 D B B D B
2 B C E E C

Q# Passage 11 Passage 12 Passage 13

1 B B B
2 A E B
3 D A D
4 B B A
5 A C A
6 C C D
7 D A D
8 A A
9 D
10 B
11 D
 PASSAGE-01

The pioneers of the teaching of science imagined that its

introduction into education would remove the conventionality,
artificiality, and backward-lookingness which were characteristic;
of classical studies, but they were gravely disappointed. So, too, in
5 their time had the humanists thought that the study of the classical
authors in the original would banish at once the dull pedantry and
superstition of mediaeval scholasticism. The professional
schoolmaster was a match for both of them, and has almost
managed to make the understanding of chemical reactions as dull
10 and as dogmatic an affair as the reading of Virgil’s Aeneid.

The chief claim for the use of science in education is that it

teaches a child something about the actual universe in which he is
living, in making him acquainted with the results of scientific
15 discovery, and at the same time teaches him how to think logically
and inductively by studying scientific method. A certain limited
success has been reached in the first of these aims, but practically
none at all in the second. Those privileged members of the
community who have been through a secondary or public school
20 education may be expected to know something about the
elementary physics and chemistry of a hundred years ago, but they
probably know hardly more than any bright boy can pick up from
an interest in wireless or scientific hobbies out of school hours
As to the learning of scientific method, the whole thing is palpably
25 a farce. Actually, for the convenience of teachers and the
requirements of the examination system, it is necessary that the
pupils not only do not learn scientific method but learn precisely
the reverse, that is, to belie e exactly what they are told and to
reproduce it when asked, whether it seems nonsense to them or
30 not. The way in which educated people respond to such quackeries
as spiritualism or astrology, not to say more dangerous ones such
as racial theories or currency myths, shows that fifty years of
education in the method of science in Britain or Germany has
produced no visible effect whatever. The only way of learning the
35 method of science is the long and bitter way of personal
experience, and, until the educational or social systems are altered
 to make this possible, the best we can expect is the production of a
minority of people who are able to acquire some of the techniques
of science and a still smaller minority who are able to use and
40 develop them.

Adapted from: The Social Function of Science, John D Bernal (1939)

1. The author implies that the ‘professional schoolmaster’ (line 7) has

A) no interest in teaching science B) thwarted attempts to enliven education
C) aided true learning D) supported the humanists
E) been a pioneer in both science and humanities.

2. The author’s attitude to secondary and public school education in the sciences is
A) ambivalent B) neutral C) supportive D) satirical E) contemptuous

3. The word ‘palpably’ (line 24) most nearly means

A) empirically B) obviously C) tentatively D) markedly E) ridieulously

4. The author blames all of the following for the failure to impart scientific method through the education
system except
A) poor teaching B) examination methods
C) lack of direct experience D) the social and education systems
E) lack of interest on the part of students

5. If the author were to study current education in science to see how things have changed since he wrote the
piece, he would probably be most interested in the answer to which of the following questions?
A) Do students know more about the world about them?
B) Do students spend more time in laboratories?
C) Can students apply their knowledge logically?
D) Have textbooks improved?
E) Do they respect their teachers?

6. Astrology (line 31) is mentioned as an example of

A) a science that needs to be better understood
B) a belief which no educated people hold
C) something unsupportable to those who have absorbed the methods of science
D) the gravest danger to society
E) an acknowledged failure of science
7. All of the following can be inferred from the text except
A) at the time of writing, not all children received a secondary school education
B) the author finds chemical reactions interesting
C) science teaching has imparted some knowledge of facts to some children
D) the author believes that many teachers are authoritarian
E) it is relatively easy to learn scientific method.

PASSAGE O2

By the time a child is six or seven she has all the essential
avoidances well enough by heart to be trusted with the care of a
younger child. And she also develops a number of simple
techniques. She learns to weave firm square balls from palm
5 leaves, to make pinwheels of palm leaves or frangipani blossoms,
to climb a coconut tree by walking up the trunk on flexible little
feet, to break open a coconut with one firm well-directed blow of
a knife as long as she is tall, to play a number of group games
and sing the songs which go with them, to tidy the house by
10 picking up the litter on the stony floor, to bring water from the
sea, to spread out the copra to dry and to help gather it in when
rain threatens, to go to a neighboring house and bring back a
lighted faggot for the chief’s pipe or the cook-house fire.
But in the case of the little girls all these tasks are merely
15 supplementary to the main business of baby-tending. Very small
boys also have some care of the younger children, but at eight or
nine years of age they are usually relieved of it. Whatever rough
edges have not been smoothed off by this responsibility for
younger children are worn off by their contact with older b
20 For little boys are admitted to interesting and important activities
only so long as their behavior is circumspect and helpful. Where
small girls are brusquely pushed aside, small boys will be
patiently tolerated and they become adept at making themselves
useful. The four or five little boys who all wish to assist at the
25 important, business of helping a grown youth lasso reef eels,
organize themselves into a highly efficient working team; one boy
holds the bait, another holds an extra lasso, others poke
eagerly about in holes in the reef looking for prey, while still
another tucks the captured eels into his lava. The small girls,
30 burdened with heavy babies or the care of little staggerers who are
too small to adventure on the reef, discouraged by the hostility
of the small boys and the scorn of the older ones, have
little opportunity for learning the more adventurous forms of work
and play. So while the little boys first undergo the
35 chastening effects of baby-tending and then have many
opportunities to learn effective cooperation under the supervision
of older boys, the girls’ education is less comprehensive. They
have a high standard of individual responsibility, but the
community provides them with no lessons in cooperation with one
40 another. This is particularly apparent in the activities of young
people: the boys organize quickly; the girls waste hours in
bickering, innocent of any technique for quick and efficient
cooperation.

Adapted from: Coming of Age in Samoa, Margaret Mead (1928)

1. The primary purpose of the passage with reference to the society under discussion is to
A) explain some differences in the upbringing of girls and boys
B) criticize the deficiencies in the education of girls
C) give a comprehensive account of a day in the life of an average young girl
D) delineate the role of young girls
E) show that young girls are trained to be useful to adults

2. The word ‘brusquely’ (line 22) most nearly means

A) Quickly B) gently C) nonchalantly D) abruptly E) callously

3. The list of techniques in paragraph one could best be described as

A) household duties B) rudimentary physical skills
C) important responsibilities D) useful social skills E) monotonous tasks

4. It can be inferred that the ‘high standard of individual responsibility’ (line 38) is
A) developed mainly through child-care duties
B) only present in girls
C) taught to the girl before she is entrusted with babies
D) actually counterproductive
E) weakened as the girl grows older.
5. The expression ‘innocent of (line 42) is best taken to mean
A) not guilty of B) unskilled in C) unsuited for
D) uninvolved in E) uninterested in

6. It can be inferred that in the community under discussion all of the following are important except
A) domestic handicrafts B) well-defined social structure C) fishing skills
D) formal education E) division of labor

7. Which of the following if true would weaken the author’s contention about ‘lessons in cooperation’(line
39)?
I Group games played by younger girls involve cooperation
II Girls can learn from watching boys cooperating
III Individual girls cooperate with their mothers in looking after babies
A) I only B) II only C) III only D)1 and II only E) 1, II and III

8. Which of the following is the best description of the author’s technique in handling her material?
A. Both description and interpretation of observations.
B. Presentation of facts without comment.
C. Description of evidence to support a theory.
D. Generalization from a particular viewpoint.
E. Close examination of preconceptions.

PASSAGE 03

The name of Florence Nightingale lives in the memory of the

world by virtue of the heroic adventure of the Crimea. Had she
died - as she nearly did - upon her return to England, her
reputation would hardly have been different; her legend would
5 have come down to us almost as we know it today - that gentle
vision of female virtue which first took shape before the adoring
eyes of the sick soldiers at Scutari. Yet, as a matter of fact, she
lived for more than half a century after the Crimean War; and
during the greater part of that long period all the energy and all the
10 devotion of her extraordinary nature were working at their
highest pitch. What she accomplished in those years of unknown
labor could, indeed, hardly have been more glorious than her
Crimean triumphs; but it was certainly more important. The true
history was far stranger even than the myth, In Miss Nightingale’s
15 own eyes the adventure of the Crimea was a mere incident -
 scarcely more than a useful stepping-stone in her career. It was the
fulcrum with which she hoped to move the world; but it was
only the fulcrum. For more than a generation she was to sit in
secret, working her lever: and her real life began at the very
20 moment when, in popular imagination, it had ended.
She arrived in England in a shattered state of health. The
hardships and the ceaseless efforts of the last two years had
undermined her nervous system; her heart was affected; she
suffered constantly from fainting-fits and terrible attacks of utter
25 physical prostration. The doctors declared that one thing alone
would save her - a complete and prolonged rest. But that was also
the one thing with which she would have nothing to do. She had
never been in the habit of resting; why should she begin now?
Now, when her opportunity had come at last; now, when the iron
30 was hot, and it was time to strike? No; she had work to do; and,
come what might, she would do it. The doctors protested in vain;
in vain her family lamented and entreated, in vain her friends
pointed out to her the madness of such a course. Madness? Mad -
possessed - perhaps she was. A frenzy had seized upon her. As
35 she lay upon her sofa, gasping, she devoured blue-books, dictated
letters, and, in the intervals of her palpitations, cracked jokes. For
months at a stretch she never left her bed. But she would not rest.
At this rate, the doctors assured her, even if she did not die, she
would become an invalid for life. She could not help that; there
40 was work to be done; and, as for rest, very likely she might rest...
when she had done it.
Wherever she went, to London or in the country, in the hills
of Derbyshire, or among the rhododendrons at Embley, she was
haunted by a ghost. It was the specter of Scutari - the hideous
45 vision of the organization of a military hospital. She would lay that
phantom, or she would perish. The whole system of the
Army Medical Department, the education of the Medical Officer,
the regulations of hospital procedure... rest? How could she rest
while these things were as they were, while, if the like necessity
50 were to arise again, the like results would follow? And, even in
peace and at home, what was the sanitary condition of the Army?
The mortality in the barracks, was, she found, nearly double the
mortality in civil life. ‘You might as well take 1, 100 men every
 year out upon Salisbury Plain ad shoot them,’ she said. After
55 inspecting the hospitals at Chatham, she smiled grimly. ‘Yes, this
is more symptom of the system which, in the crimes, put to
death 16,000 men. “Scutari had given her knowledge; and it had
given her power too; her enormous reputation was at her back -
an incalculable force. Other work, other duties, might lie before
60 her but the most urgent, the most obvious, of all was to look to
the health of the Army

Adapted from: Eminent Victorians, Lytton Strachey (1918)

1. According to the author, the work done during the last fifty years of Florence Nightingale’s life was, when
compared with her work in the Crimea, all of the following except
A) less dramatic B) less demanding
C) Less well-known to the public D) more important
E) more rewarding to Miss Nightingale herself

2. The ‘Fulcrum’ (line 17) refers to her

A) reputation B) mental energy C) physical energy
D) overseas contacts E) commitment to a cuase

3. Paragraph two points a picture of a woman who is

A) an incapacitated invalid B) mentally shattered
C) stubborn and querulous D) physically weak but mentally indomitable
E) purposeful yet tiresome

4. The primary purpose of paragraph 3 is to

A) account for conditions in the army
B) show the need for hospital reform
C) explain Miss Nightingale’s main concerns
D) argue that peacetime conditions were worse than wartime conditions
E) delineate Miss Nightingale’s plan for reform

5. The series of questions in paragraphs 2 and 3 are

A) the author’s attempt no show the thoughts running through Miss Nightingale’s mind
B) Miss Nightingale questioning her own conscience
C) Miss Nightingale’s response to an actual questioner
D) Responses to the doctors who advised rest
E. The author’s device to highlight the reactions to Miss Nightingale’s plans
6. The author’s attitude to his material is
A) disinterested reporting of biographical details
B) over-inflation of a reputation
C) debunking a myth
D) uncritical presentation of facts
E) interpretation as well as narration

7. In her statement (lines 53-54) Miss Nightingale intended to

A) criticize the conditions in hospitals
B) highlight the unhealthy conditions under which ordinary soldiers were living
C) prove that conditions in the barracks were as bad as those in a military hospital
D) ridicule the dangers of army life
E) quote important statistics

PASSAGE 04

Mr. Harding was not a happy man as he walked down

the palace pathway, and stepped out into the close. His
position and pleasant house were a second time
gone from him; but that he could endure. He had been
5 schooled and insulted by a man young enough to be
his son; but that he could put up with. He could even
draw from the very injuries which had been inflicted
on him some of that consolation which, we may
believe, martyrs always receive from the injustice of
10 their own sufferings. He had admitted to his daughter
that he wanted the comfort of his old home, and yet he
could have returned to his lodgings in the High Street,
if not with exultation, at least with satisfaction, had
that been all. But the venom of the chaplain’s
15 harangue had worked into his blood, and sapped the
life of his sweet contentment.
‘New men are carrying out new measures, and
are carting away the useless rubbish of past centuries!’
What cruel words these had been- and how often are
20 they now used with all the heartless cruelty of a
Slope! A man is sufficiently condemned if it can only
be shown that either in politics or religion he does not
 belong to some new school established within the last
score of years. He may then regard himself as rubbish
25 and expect to be carted away. A man is nothing now
unless he has within him a full appreciation of the
new era; an era in which it would seem that neither
honesty nor truth is very desirable, but in which
success is the only touchstone of merit. We must
30 laugh at everything that is established. Let the joke be
ever so bad, ever so untrue to the real principles of
joking; nevertheless we must laugh - or else beware
the cart. We must talk, think, and live up to the spirit
of the times, or else we are naught. New men and new
35 measures, long credit and few scruples, great success
or wonderful ruin, such are now the tastes of
Englishmen who know how to live! Alas, alas! Under
such circumstances Mr. Harding could not but feel
that he was an Englishman who did not know how to
40 live. This new doctrine of Mr. Slope and the rubbish
cart sadly disturbed his equanimity.
“The same thing is going on throughout the
whole country!” ‘Work is now required from every
man who receives wages!’ And had he been living all
45 his life receiving wages, and doing no work? Had he
in truth so lived as to be now in his old age justly
reckoned as rubbish fit only to be hidden away in
some huge dust-hole? The school of men to whom he
professes to belong, the Grantlys, the Gwynnes, are
50 afflicted with no such self-accusations as these which
troubled Mr. Harding. They, as a rule, are as satisfied
with the wisdom and propriety of their own conduct
as can be any Mr. Slope, or any Bishop with his own.
But, unfortunately for himself, Mr. Harding had little
55 of this self-reliance. When he heard himself
designated as rubbish by the Slopes of the world, he
had no other resource than to make inquiry within his
own bosom as to the truth of the designation. Alas,
alas! the evidence seemed generally to go against him.

Adapted from: The Warden, Anthony Trollope (1855)

1. The main cause of Mr. Harding’s unhappiness as he leaves the Bishop’s Palace is
A) the loss of his house B) the loss of his position
C) the need to live with his daughter D) the thought-provoking words of the chaplain
E) the injustice he has suffered

2. It can be inferred that Slope is

A) the chaplain B) the Bishop C) a foreigner D) a politician E) a young writer

3. The word ‘equanimity’ (line 41) most nearly means

A) status B) happiness C) justice D) complacency E) composure

4. It can be inferred that Mr. Harding is especially disturbed because he

A) does not feel himself to be old B) is offended by the young man’s impertinence
C) believes no one else feels as he does D) believe his life’s work has been worthwhile
E) feels there may be some truth in regarding himself as ‘rubbish’

5. Mr. Harding differs from others of his ‘school’ (line 49) because they
A) do not believe Slope B) have never been called ‘rubbish’
C) are sure their conduct is irreproachable D) have already examined their consciences
E) feel that Mr. Harding is not one of them

6. The tone of the sentence ‘New men….live’ (lines 34-37) is

A) objective B) ironic C) derogatory D) expository E) ambivalent

7. The first two sentences of paragraph 3 relate the

A) words of Mr. Slope B) thoughts of Mr. Harding
C) view of the old school of men D) viewpoint of the author
E) opinions of all young men

PASSAGE 05

A stout old lady was walking with her basket down the middle of a
street in Petrograd to the great confusion of the traffic and with no
small peril to herself. It was pointed out to her that the
pavement was the place for pedestrians, but she replied: ‘I’m going
5 to walk where I like. We’ve got liberty now.’ It did not occur
to the dear old lady that if liberty entitled the pedestrian to
walk down the middle of the road, then the end of such liberty
would be universal chaos. Everybody would be getting in
 everybody else’s way and nobody would get anywhere.
10 Individual liberty would have become social anarchy.
There is a danger of the world getting liberty-drunk in
these days like the old lady with the basket, and it is just as well
to remind ourselves of what the rule of the road means. It means
that in order that the liberties of all may be preserved, the
15 liberties of everybody must be curtailed. When the policeman,
say, at Piccadilly Circus steps into the middle of the road and
puts out his hand, he is the symbol not of tyranny, but of liberty.
You may not think so. You may, being in a hurry, and seeing
your car pulled up by this insolence of office, feel that your
20 liberty has been outraged. How dare this fellow interfere with
your free use of the public highway? Then, if you are a
reasonable person, you will reflect that if he did not interfere with
you, he would interfere with no one, and the result would be that
Piccadilly Circus would be a maelstrom that you would never
25 cross at all. You have submitted to a curtailment of private liberty
in order that you may enjoy a social order which makes your
liberty a reality.
Liberty is not a personal affair only, but a social
contract. It is an accommodation of interests. In matters which do
30 not touch anybody else’s liberty, of course, I may be as free as I
like. If I choose to go down the road in a dressing-gown who
shall say me nay? You have liberty to laugh at me, but I have
liberty to be indifferent to you. And if I have a fancy for dyeing
my hair, or waxing my moustache (which heaven forbid), or
35 wearing an overcoat and sandals, or going to bed late or getting
up early, I shall follow my fancy and ask no man’s permission. I
shall not inquire of you whether I may eat mustard with my
mutton. And you will not ask me whether you may follow this
religion or that, whether you may prefer Ella Wheeler Wilcox to
40 Wordsworth, or champagne to shandy.
In all these and a thousand other details you and I please
ourselves and ask no one’s leave. We have a whole kingdom in
which we rule alone, can do what we choose, be wise or
ridiculous, harsh or easy, conventional or odd. But directly we
45 step out of that kingdom, our personal liberty of action becomes
qualified by other people’s liberty. I might like to practice on the
 trombone from midnight till three in the morning. If I went on to
the top of Everest to do it, I could please myself, but if I do it in
my bedroom my family will object, and if I do it out in the streets
50 the neighbors will remind me that my liberty to blow the
trombone must not interfere with their liberty to sleep in quiet.
There are a lot of people in the world, and I have to
accommodate my liberty to their liberties.
We are all liable to forget this, and unfortunately we are much
55 more conscious of the imperfections of others in this respect than
of our own. A reasonable consideration for the rights or feelings
of others is the foundation of social conduct.
It is in the small matters of conduct, in the observance of
the rule of the road, that we pass judgment upon ourselves, and
60 declare that we are civilized or uncivilized. The great moments of
heroism and sacrifice are rare. It is the little habits of
commonplace intercourse that make up the great sum of life and
sweeten or make bitter the journey.

Adapted from an essay by George Orwell

1. The author might have stated his ‘rule of the road’ as

A) do not walk in the middle of the road B) follow the orders of policemen
C) do not behave inconsiderately in public D) do what you like in private
E) liberty is more important than anarchy

2. The author’s attitude to the old lady in paragraph one is

A) condescending B) intolerant C) objective D) sardonic E) supportive

3. The sentence ‘It means....curtailed’ (lines 13-15) is an example of

A) hyperbole B) cliché C) simile D) paradox E) consonance

4. Which sentence best sums up the author’s main point?

A) There is a danger....lines 11-13 B) A reasonable….lines 56-57
C) It is in the small matters....lines 58-60 D) The great moments....lines 60-61
E) It is the little….lines 61-63
5. A situation analogous to the insolence of office’ described in paragraph 2 would be
A) a teacher correcting grammar errors
B) an editor shortening the text of an article
C) a tax inspector demanding to see someone’s accounts
D) an army office giving orders to a soldier
E) a gaoler locking up a prisoner

6. ‘Qualified’ (line 46) most nearly means

A) accredited B) improved C) limited D) stymied E) educated

7. The author assumes that he may be as free as he likes in

A) all matters of dress and food
B) any situation which does not interfere with the liberty of others
C) anything that is not against the law
D) his own home
E) public places as long as no one sees him

8. In the sentence’ We are all liable….’ (lines 54-56) the author is

A) pointing out a general weakness B) emphasizing his main point
C) countering a general misconception D) suggesting a remedy E) modifying his point of view

PASSAGE o6

I have yet to meet a poetry-lover under thirty who was

not an introvert, or an introvert who was not unhappy in
adolescence. At school, particularly, maybe, if, as in my own
case, it is a boarding school, he sees the extrovert successful,
5 happy, and good and himself unpopular or neglected; and what is
hardest to bear is not unpopularity, but the consciousness that it
is deserved, that he is grubby and inferior and frightened and
dull. Knowing no other kind of society than the contingent, he
imagines that this arrangement is part of the eternal scheme of
10 things, that he is doomed to a life of failure and envy. It is not till
he grows up, till years later he runs across the heroes of his
school days and finds them grown commonplace and sterile, that
he realizes that the introvert is the lucky one, the best adapted to
an industrial civilization the collective values of which are so
15 infantile that he alone can grow, who has educated his fantasies
 and learned how to draw upon the resources of his inner life. At
the time, however, his adolescence is unpleasant enough. Unable
to imagine a society in which he would feel at home, he turns
away from the human to the nonhuman: homesick he will seek,
20 not his mother, but mountains or autumn woods, and the
growing life within him will express itself in a devotion to music
and thoughts upon mutability and death. Art for him will be
something infinitely precious, pessimistic, and hostile to life. If it
speaks of love it must be love frustrated, for all success seems to
25 him noisy and vulgar; if it moralizes, it must counsel a stoic
resignation, for the world he knows is well content with itself and
will not change.

Deep as first love and wild with all regret,

O death in life, the days that are no more.

Now more than ever seems it sweet to die

To cease upon the midnight with no pain.

35 That to the adolescent is the authentic poetic note and whoever is

the first in his life to strike it, whether Tennyson, Keats,
Swinburne, Housman or another, awakens a passion of imitation
and an affectation which no subsequent refinement or
sophistication of his taste can entirely destroy. In my own case it
40 was Hardy in the summer of 1923; for more than a year I read no
one else and I do not think that I was ever without one volume or
another or the beautifully produced Wessex edition in my hands:
I smuggled them into class, carried them about on Sunday walks,
and took them up to the dormitory to read in the early morning,
45 though they were far too unwieldy to be read in bed with
comfort. In the autumn of 1924 there was a palace revolution
after which he had to share his kingdom with Edward Thomas,
until finally they were both defeated by Elliot at the battle of
Oxford in 1926.
50 Besides serving as the archetype of the Poetic, Hardy was
also an expression of the contemporary scene. He was both my
Keats and my Sandburg.
To begin with, he looked like my father: that broad
 unpampered moustache, bald forehead, and deeply lined
55 sympathetic face belonged to that other world of feeling and
sensation. Here was a writer whose emotions, if sometimes
monotonous and sentimental in expression, would be deeper and
more faithful than my own, and whose attachment to the earth
would be more secure and observant.

Adapted from an article written by W H Auden

1. According to the author, poetry lovers under thirty generally

A) have a strong sense of their own inferiority during school years
B) are always products of boarding schools
C) have an unhappy home life
D) are outgoing as adolescents
E) long to return to early childhood

2. The author’s main purpose is apparently to

A) describe what lead to his being an introvert
B) explore the reasons for his early taste in poetry
C) explain what lead to his becoming a poet
D) account for the unhappy adolescent’s aesthetic sense
E) criticize a system that makes young people feel unhappy and neglected

3. The word ‘contingent’ (line 8) most nearly means

A) juvenile B) scholarly C) competitive D) immediate E) intelligent

4. The author regards the introverted adolescent as ultimately lucky because he has
A) become financially successful in an industrialized society
B) ceased to envy others
C) cultivated inner resources that he will need in modern society
D) a better general education than those who were envied in school
E) learned to appreciate nature

5. To the adolescent the ‘authentic poetic note’ is one of

A) pain and affirmation B) hostility and vulgarity
C) contentment and peace D. purity and love E) melancholy and acceptance
6. It can be inferred that, for the author, the poetry of Hardy is
A) something with which he is not entirely comfortable
B) a temporary interest soon supplanted by other poetry
C) a secret obsession that he is reluctant to confess
D) his first poetic love that time has not entirely erased
E) a childlike passion

7. The author uses all of the following to make his point except
A) metaphor B) personal experience C) generalization
D) classical allusions E) comparison
8. The poetry quoted (lines 28-34) is most likely included as
A) extracts from the author’s Own poetry
B) extracts from Hardy’s poetry
C) examples of poetry that appeals to the unhappy adolescent
D) the type of poetry much admired by all poetry lovers
E) examples of schoolboy poetry

9. It can be inferred that Edward Thomas

A) was once held in high esteem by the author
B) was a better poet than Hardy
C) was writing in 1924
D) had views opposed to Eliot
E) wrote poetry similar to that of Hardy

10. The author mentions Carl Sandburg (line 52) as

A) an example of a modern poet B) an example of a traditional figure
C) having a poetic appearance D) a poet to appeal to young people
E) resembling his father

11. The author qualifies his appreciation of Hardy by pointing out that Hardy’s poetic techniques were
A) sometimes unmoving B) not always deeply felt C) occasionally lacking in variety
D) always emotional E) irrelevant to certain readers

12. The author feels that Hardy’s physical appearance suggested

A) deep and lasting feelings B) paternal values C) careworn old age
D) a contemporary writer E) fatherly concern
 PASSAGE-o7

The word euthanasia is of Greek origin and literally means “a good death.” The American Heritage Dictionary
defines it as “the act of killing a person painlessly for reasons of mercy.” Such killing can be done through
active means, such as administering a lethal injection, or by passive means, such as withholding medical care
or food and water.

In recent years in the United States, there have been numerous cases of active euthanasia in the news. They
usually involve the deliberate killing of ill or incapacitated persons by relatives or friends who plead that they
can no longer bear to see their loved ones suffer. Although such killings are a crime, the perpetrators are often
dealt with leniently by our legal system, and the media usually portrays them as compassionate heroes who
take personal risks to save another from unbearable suffering.

The seeming acceptance of active forms of euthanasia is alarming, but we face a bigger, more insidious threat
from passive forms of euthanasia. Every year, in hospitals and nursing homes around the country, there are
growing numbers of documented deaths caused by caregivers withholding life sustaining care, including food
and water, from vulnerable patients who cannot speak for themselves.

While it is illegal to kill someone directly, for example with a gun or knife, in many cases the law has put its
stamp of approval on causing death by omitting needed care. Further, many states have “living will” laws
designed to protect those who withhold treatment, and there have been numerous court rulings which have
approved of patients being denied care and even starved and dehydrated to death.

Because such deaths occur quietly within the confines of hospitals and nursing homes, they can be kept
hidden from the public. Most euthanasia victims are old or very ill, so their deaths might be attributed to a
cause other than the denial of care that really killed them. Further, it is often relatives of the patient who
request that care be withheld. In one court case, the court held that decisions to withhold life sustaining care
may be made not only by close family members but also by a number of third parties, and that such decisions
need not be reviewed by the judicial system if there is no disagreement between decision makers and medical
staff. The court went so far as to rule that a nursing home may not refuse to participate in the fatal withdrawal
of food and water from an incompetent patient!

“Extraordinary” or “heroic” treatment need not be used when the chance for recovery is poor and medical
intervention would serve only to prolong the dying process. But to deny customary and reasonable care or to
deliberately starve or dehydrate someone because he or she is very old or very ill should not be permitted.
Most of the cases coming before the courts do not involve withholding heroic measures from imminently
dying people, but rather they seek approval for denying basic care, such as administration of food and water to
people who are not elderly or terminally ill, but who are permanently incapacitated. These people could be
expected to live indefinitely, though in an impaired state, if they were given food and water and minimal
treatment.
No one has the right to judge that another’s life is not worth living. The basic right to life should not be
abridged because someone decides that someone else’s quality of life is too low. If we base the right to life on
quality of life standards, there is no logical place to draw the line. To protect vulnerable patients, we must
foster more positive attitudes towards people with serious and incapacitating illnesses and conditions. Despite
the ravages of their diseases, they are still our fellow human beings and deserve our care and respect. We must
also enact positive legislation that will protect vulnerable people from those who consider their lives
meaningless or too costly to maintain and who would cause their deaths by withholding life-sustaining care
such as food and water.

1. The tone of the author can best be described as

A. pleading B. argumentative C. compassionate D. emphatic E. empathetic

2. In paragraph 3, the author finds starvation and dehydration induced euthanasia is to be “more insidious”
because
A. euthanasia is legally considered to be a criminal act
B. the public’s attitude toward euthanasia is becoming more positive
C. it often involves those who cannot protest
D. the patient has asked to die with dignity
E. its perpetrators are viewed as kindly caregivers

3. As used in paragraph 3, what is the best synonym for insidious?

A. mischievous B. treacherous C. seductive D. apparent E. cumulative

4. The author maintains that death by withholding care is

A. largely confined to hospitals B. largely confined to the terminally ill
C. often requested by family members D. approved by living wills E. difficult to prove if prosecuted

5. As used in paragraph 7, which is the best definition of abridged?

A. trimmed B. curtailed C. lengthened D. extended E. compressed

6) Using the passage as a guide, it can be inferred that the author would find euthanasia less objectionable in
cases in which
I. the patient’s death is imminent
II. the patient has left instructions in a living will not to provide care
II. the patient refuses to accept nourishment
A. I only B. II only C. I and II only D. II and III only E. I, II and III
7. The main idea of paragraph 7 is that
A. lawyers will be unable to prosecute or defend caregivers
B. no comprehensive right or wrong definition of euthanasia will exist
C. using a subjective standard will make the decision to end an individual’s life arbitrary
D. no boundary will exist between euthanasia and care omission
E. ‘quality of life’ will no longer be able to be rigidly defined

8. In the final paragraph the author writes, “Despite the ravages of their diseases, they are still our fellow
human beings and deserve our care and respect.” The main purpose of this statement is to
A. prove a previous argument B. illustrate an example
C. gainsay a later statement D. object to a larger idea E. justify an earlier statement

PASSAGE-o8

The biggest house of cards, the longest tongue, and of course, the tallest man: these are among the thousands
of records logged in the famous Guinness Book of Records. Created in 1955 after a debate concerning
Europe’s fastest game bird, what began as a marketing tool sold to pub landlords to promote Guinness, an
Irish drink, became the bestselling copyright title of all time (a category that excludes books such as the Bible
and the Koran). In time, the book would sell 120 million copies in over 100 countries- quite a leap from its
humble beginnings.

In its early years, the book set its sights on satisfying man’s innate curiosity about the natural world around
him. Its two principal fact finders, twins Norris and Ross McWhirter, scoured the globe to collect empirical
facts. It was their task to find and document aspects of life that can be sensed or observed, things that can be
quantified or measured. But not just any things. They were only interested in superlatives: the biggest and the
best. It was during this period that some of the hallmark Guinness Records were documented, answering such
questions as “What is the brightest star?” and “What is the biggest spider?” Once aware of the public’s thirst
for such knowledge, the book’s authors began to branch out to cover increasingly obscure, little-known facts.
They started documenting human achievements as well. A forerunner for reality television, the Guinness
Book gave people a chance to become famous for accomplishing eccentric, often pointless tasks. Records
were set in 1955 for consuming 24 raw eggs in 14 minutes and in 1981 for the fastest solving of a Rubik’s
Cube (which took a mere 38 seconds). In 1979 a man yodeled non-stop for ten and quarter hours.

In its latest incarnation, the hook has found a new home on the internet. No longer restricted to the confines of
physical paper, the Guinness World Records website contains seemingly innumerable facts concerning such
topics as the most powerful combustion engine, or the world’s longest train, What is striking, however, 1s that
such facts are found sharing a page with the record of the heaviest train to be pulled with a beard. While there
is no denying that each of these facts has its own, individual allure, the latter represents a significant deviation
from the education-oriented facts of earlier editions. Perhaps there is useful knowledge to be gleaned
regarding the tensile strength of a beard, but this seems to cater to an audience more interested in seeking
entertainment than education.

Originating as a simple bar book, the Guinness Book of Records has evolved over decades to provide insight
into the full spectrum of modern life. And although one may be more likely now to learn about the widest
human mouth than the highest number of casualties in a single battle of the Civil War, the Guinness World
Records website offers a telling glimpse into the future of fact-finding and record- recording.

1. Which of the following statements would best serve as the headline for this passage?
A. The encyclopedia of the extremes reflects the changing interests of modern society.
B. A book of simple origins makes it to the top as sales total a staggering 120 million copies.
C. Facts are often displayed in a boring, uninteresting manner, but not in the Guinness Book of Records.
D. The Guinness World Records website proves itself a valuable resource for insight into the full spectrum of
modern life.
E. Where other books tall short, the index of superlative sciences never ceases to amaze.

2. According to the author, the most significant difference between older editions of the Guinness Book of
Records and the new Guinness World Records website involves
A. an end to the use of facts as a means to promote Guinness
B. an overall increase in the total number of facts presented
C. a move from fact-finding to the recording of achievements
D. a shift in focus from educational to entertaining material
E. a departure from book sales being limited to local pubs and bars

3. As used in paragraph 2, which is the best definition for empirical?

A. natural B. derived from experience C. recordable
D. excellent or unmatched E. convenient or handy

4. Based on its use in paragraph 2, which of the following best describes something that is superlative?
A. Students give presentations about their favorite subjects for a grade. Amy Newhouse receives an 87% for
her presentation, while Dustin Lincoln receives a 92%.
B. Although sharks are significantly bigger and have razor-sharp teeth, dolphins are smarter and can
therefore successfully evade attack.
C. The lake holds a contest to see who can catch the biggest fish. Tommy wins, having caught a 6 lb. 5 oz.
smallmouth bass.
D. A man built an enormous house of cards. It took him 44 days and 218,792 individual playing cards to
complete.
E. Ichiro likes tennis and practices every day. In his last tournament, he placed 3rd of over 350 competitors,
winning the bronze trophy.
5. Using the passage as a guide, it can be inferred that the author most likely believes reality television to be
A. corrupt B. absurd C. idiotic D. invaluable E. shallow

6. In the final paragraph, the author writes, “And although one may be more likely now to learn about the
Widest human mouth than the highest number of casualties in a single battle of the Civil War, the
Guinness World Records website offers a telling glimpse into the future of fact-finding and record-
recording.”
Which of the following literary devices is used in this quotation?
A. Aphorism, characterized by the use of a concise statement that is made in a matter of fact tone to state a
principle or an opinion that is generally understood to be a universal truth. Aphorisms are often adages,
wise sayings and maxims aimed at imparting sense and wisdom.
B. Alliteration, characterized by the use of adjacent words that begin with the same sound or letter, creating a
repetition of similar sounds in the sentence. This is used to add character to the writing and often adds an
element of playfulness.
C. Amplification, characterized by the embellishment or extension of a statement in order to give it greater
worth or meaning. This is often used for rhetorical purposes.
D. Anagram, characterized by the jumbling of the syllables of a phrase or the individual letters of a word to
create a new word. Anagram is a form of wordplay that allows the writer to infuse mystery and a fun into
the writing so that the reader can decipher the actual word on his or her own and discover enhanced depth
of meaning.
E. Anthropomorphism in which a human quality, emotion or ambition is attributed to a non-human object or
being. This is often used in order to relate the object to the reader on a familiar level and also to increase
the level of relativity between the humans and objects while lending character to the subject.

7. Which of the following best summarizes the organization of this passage?

A. introduction, history, conclusion B. history, examples, explanations, conclusion
C. exposition, history, conclusion D. introduction, thesis, supporting paragraphs, conclusion
E. introduction, history, exposition, conclusion

PASSAGE o9

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a range of psychological conditions characterized by abnormalities in
social interaction, behavior, interests, and communication. The five forms of ASD include classical autism,
Asperger syndrome, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Rett syndrome, and Childhood Disintegrative
Disorder. Although the number of reported cases of ASD has experienced a dramatic increase in the past 25
years, the majority of doctors agree that this increase is due to changes in diagnostic practices and advances in
the understanding of psychiatric health. While there is no general consensus among medical professionals
about the underlying causes of ASD, theories range from genetic inheritance to environmental factors. One of
the most controversial theories to have emerged in recent times is the hypothesis that ASD could be caused by
the MMR vaccine, which is an immunization against measles, mumps, and rubella that was first developed in
the 1960’s. The vaccine is a mixture of three live viruses and is administered via injection to children when
they are one year old. By the late 1990 s, this vaccination had led to the near-eradication of measles in
countries that employed widespread inoculation. However, a combination of spurious scientific data and
alarmist media attention led to an entirely preventable resurgence in measles cases in the early 214 century.

The first claims of a connection between the MMR vaccine and autism were made in 1998, when an article in
The Lancet, a respected British medical journal, reported on eight cases of autism that could possibly be
traced back to the administration of an MMR vaccine. The parents of the children in this study contended that
the symptoms of autism in their children developed within days of vaccination. During a press conference,
Andrew Wakefield, one of the authors of the article, called on British doctors to stop giving combined MMR
vaccines, instead advocating for individual inoculations against measles, mumps, and rubella. Following the
publication of this article, Wakefield published several follow-up papers that further questioned the safety of
the MMR vaccine. An onslaught of media coverage then began. Parents appeared on television sharing
anecdotal evidence linking their child’s inoculation to the onset of ASD. The popular press quickly seized
upon this story: in 2002, over 1200 articles were written about the link between MMR vaccines and ASD.
Less than 30% of these articles mentioned that an overwhelming amount of scientific evidence suggested that
these vaccinations were completely safe. Since the initial panic, fears that MMR vaccines cause ASD have
generally subsided. A survey completed in 2004 showed that only 2% of people in the United Kingdom
thought that there was a legitimate link between MMR vaccines and ASD. Fears were most likely allayed
when, in 2004, an investigative reporter discovered that Andrew Wakefield had received a large sum of
money from lawyers seeking evidence to use in cases against vaccine manufacturers. It was then discovered
that Wakefield had applied for patents on an alternate MMR vaccine. These severe conflicts of interest
damaged the credibility of Wakefield’s study beyond repair. In 2010, Wakefield was tried by Britain’s
General Medical Council under allegations that he had falsified data and manipulated test results. The Council
found that Wakefield had acted “dishonestly and irresponsibly,” and consequently The Lancet officially
retracted Wakefield’s 1998 article. The anti-MMR vaccine panic that arose immediately after Wakefield’s
article was published had a significant negative effect on the health of thousands of children. Once the
controversy began, the number of parents in the United Kingdom who inoculated their children with the
MMR vaccine experienced a sharp decline. Not surprisingly, the number of reported cases of measles
increased; while there were only 56 confirmed cases of measles in the UK in 1998; in 2008 there were over
1300. Between 2002 and 2008, there were outbreaks of measles throughout Europe and North America, These
outbreaks cost millions of dollars in health care and resulted in the deaths of dozens of children and adults
with compromised immune systems. Who is to blame for these deaths? It is easy to hold Andrew Wakefield
accountable, but the media must also bear some of the responsibility. The media’s appetite for a sensational
medical story overshadowed the fact that there was very little scientific evidence behind Wakefield’s claim.
Although Wakefield is certainly not the first person to publish fraudulent scientific findings in a respected
medical journal, the magnitude of this event was anomalous, as most medical hoaxes are discredited before
they can reach the popular media. While The Lancet should not have published Wakefield’s
article without checking it thoroughly, the popular media should not have blown the study out of proportion
without fully considering the consequences.

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

A. warn parents about the dangers of not vaccinating their children against measles.
B. criticize The Lancet for publishing Wakefield’s article without vetting it more thoroughly
C. provide an overview of the MMR vaccine controversy, including its consequences and responsible parties
D. Inform readers about the history of the MMR vaccine, especially in the U.S. and the UK
E. blame parents who believed alarmist media reports for the measles outbreaks

2. As used in paragraph 1, which is the best antonym for spurious?

A. reassuring B. safe C. clear D. necessary E. legitimate

3. Which of the following statements most accurately summarizes the author’s explanation for the increase
in reported cases of ASD over the past 25 years?
A. Over the past 25 years, parents have been more likely to have their young children inoculated against
MMR.
B. Since the results of Wakefield’s study were published, parents have been less likely to have children
inoculated against MMR.
C. In the past 25 years, doctors have developed a better understanding of genetics, which is thought to be the
leading factor in whether or not a child will develop ASD.
D. The drastic changes in our environment that have occurred over the past 25 years have most significantly
contributed to an increase in cases of ASD.
E. The increase in reported cases of ASD is mainly the result of an increased understanding of how to
recognize ASD.

4. Which of the following pieces of evidence from paragraphs 2 and 3 support(s) the author’s claim that
popular media is partially responsible for creating unnecessary panic?
I. “An article published in The Lancet, a respected British medical journal, reported on eight cases of
autism that could possibly be traced back to the administration of an MMR vaccine,”
II. “In 2002, over 1200 articles were written about the link between MMR vaccines and ASD. Less than
30% of these articles mentioned that an overwhelming amount of scientific evidence suggested that these
vaccinations were completely safe.”
III. “Parents appeared on television sharing anecdotal evidence regarding the links between their child’s
inoculation and the onset of ASD.”
A. I only B. II only C. I and II only D. II and 1II only E. I, II, and III
5. In paragraph 4, the author cites all of the following as ways that Wakefield’s study was discredited except
A. Investigators discovered that the parents of children in Wakefield’s study were litigants in a lawsuit
against the pharmaceutical company that made the MMR vaccine
B. The Lancet eventually retracted Wakefield’s original article
C. it was discovered that Wakefield accepted money from lawyers who were filing a suit against the
pharmaceutical companies responsible for making the MMR vaccine
D. an investigation into Wakefield’s research found that he had falsified data in his initial study
E. Wakefield himself had apparently been working on an alternate vaccine to compete with MMR

6. Based on its use in paragraph 4, it can be inferred that the phrase “conflicts of interest” means situations in
which people
A. unethically accept large sums of money
B. have interests that fail to accord with those of the mainstream media
C. falsify data and manipulate test results
D. have personal interests that threaten their official objectivity
E. stand to gain financially through illegal means

7. As used in paragraph 6, which is the best synonym for anomalous?

A. timely B. calamitous C. abnormal D. unacceptable E. coincidental

8. Which of the following pieces of evidence, if true, would best strengthen the author’s argument in
paragraph 6?
A. An estimated 1.4 million measles deaths are averted each year due to MMR immunization.
B. 90% of parents in the UK who decided not to immunize their children against measles reported that they
did so against their doctors’ wishes.
C. Measles outbreaks in Japan can be traced back to Japanese exchange students who were studying in the
UK.
D. In the United States, over 60% of children who are not immunized against MMR never exhibit any
symptoms of the measles.
E. Andrew Wakefield sued the investigative reporter who accused him of fraud.
 PASSAGE-10

The average computer user has between 5 and 15 username/password combinations to log in to email
accounts, social networking sites, discussion boards, news and entertainment sites, online stores, online
banking accounts, or other websites. For people who use email or other internet applications at work, the
number of required username/password combinations may surpass 30. Some of these accounts demand that
you use a specific number of symbols and digits, while others require you to change your password every 60
days. When you add to this list the codes needed to access things like ATMs, home alarm systems, padlocks,
or voicemail, the number of passwords becomes staggering. The feeling of frustration that results from
maintaining a memorized list of login credentials has grown so prevalent that it actually has a name: password
fatigue. Having to remember so many different passwords is irritating, but it can also be dangerous. Because it
is virtually impossible to remember a unique password for each of these accounts, many people leave
handwritten lists of usernames and passwords on or next to their computers. Others solve this problem by
using the same password for every account or using extremely simple passwords. While these practices make
easier to remember login information, they also make it exponentially easier for thieves to hack into accounts.

Single sign-on (SSO) authentication and password management software can help mitigate this problem, but
there are drawbacks to both approaches. SSO authentication can be used for related, but independent software
systems. With SSO, user login once to access a variety of different applications. Users only need to remember
one password to log in to the main system; the SSO software then automatically logs the user in to other
accounts within the system. SSO software is typically used by large companies, schools, or libraries.Password
management software, such as KeePass and Password Safe, is most often used on personal computers. These
software programs-which have been built into many major web browsers-store passwords in a remote
database and automatically “remember” users’ passwords for a variety of sites. The problem with both SSO
authentication and password management software is that the feature that makes them useful is also what
makes them vulnerable. If a user loses or forgets the password required to log in to SSO software, the user
will then lose access to all of the applications linked to the SSO account. Furthermore, if a hacker can crack
the SSO password, he or she will then have access to all of the linked accounts. Users who rely on password
management software are susceptible to the same problems, but they also incur the added threat of passwords
being compromised because of computer theft. Although most websites or network systems allow users to
recover or change lost passwords by providing email addresses or answering a prompt, this process can waste
time and cause further frustration. What is more, recovering a forgotten password is only a temporary
solution; it does not address the larger problem of password fatigue. Some computer scientists have suggested
that instead of passwords, computers rely on biometrics. This is a method of recognizing human users based
on unique traits, such as fingerprints, voice, or DNA. Biometric identification is currently used by some
government agencies and private companies, including the Department of Defense and Disney World. While
biometrics would certainly eliminate the need for people to remember passwords, the use of biometrics raises
ethical questions concerning privacy and can also be expensive to implement. The problems associated with
SSO, password management software, and biometrics continue to stimulate software engineers and computer
security experts to search for the cure to password fatigue. Until they find the perfect solution, however,
everyone will simply have to rely on the flawed password system currently in place.

1. Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?

A. The passage organizes ideas in order of increasing importance.
B. The author presents an argument and then uses evidence to dismiss opposing views.
C. The author explains a problem, explores solutions, and then dismisses these solutions as inadequate.
D. The author explains a problem and then persuades readers to agree with his or her solution to the problem.
E. The author explains a problem, contextualizes the problem, and ultimately dismisses it as an unnecessary
concern.

2. The passage discusses all of the following solutions to password fatigue except
A. writing the passwords down on a piece of paper
B. voice-recognition software
C. KeePass
D. using very simple passwords
E. intelligent encryption

3. As used in paragraph 3, which is the best synonym for mitigate?

A. predict B. postpone C. investigate D. lessen E. complicate

4. According to the passage, SSO authentication software may be safer than password management software
because

I. stolen personal computers contain passwords memorized by a user’s web browser

II. if a user of password management software forgets his or her login credentials, the user can no longer
access any of the applications protected by the password
III. hackers who access password management software can gain access to all of the applications protected by
that password
A. I only B. II only C. I and II only D. II and III only E. I, II, and III
5. Which of the following statements from the passage represents an opinion, as opposed to a fact?
A. “For people who use email or other internet applications at work, the number of required
username/password combinations may surpass 30.”
B. “The feeling of frustration that results from maintaining a memorized list of login credentials has grown
so prevalent that it actually has a name: password fatigue.”
C. “Having to remember so many different passwords is irritating, but it can also be dangerous.”
D. “Additionally, recovering a forgotten password is only a temporary solution; it does not address the larger
problem of password fatigue.”
E. “The problems associated with SOS, password management software, and biometrics continues to
stimulate software engineers and computer security experts to search for the cure to password fatigue.”

6. In paragraph 6, the author notes that “the use of biometrics raises ethical questions concerning privacy.”
Which of the following situations could be used as an example to illustrate this point?
A. A thief steals a personal computer with password management software and gains access to private email
accounts, credit card numbers, and bank statements.
B. An employee at a company uses a voice recognition system to log in to his computer, only to be called
away by his boss. While he is away from the computer but still logged in, another employee snoops on his
computer and reads personal email correspondence.
C. A computer hacker gains access to a system that uses SSO software by cracking the password, thus
gaining private access to all linked accounts.
D. A company that employs fingerprint identification security software turns over its database of fingerprints
to the local police department when a violent crime occurs on its grounds.
E. Even when a person is on password-protected websites, an internet browser tracks the person’s internet
use and collects information in order to tailor advertisements to his or her interests.

7. In the final paragraph, the author’s tone can best be described as

A. angry B. resigned C. confused D. hopeful E. depressed
 READING PASSAGES 1-10 ANSWERS
RC 01 RC 02 RC 03 RC 04 RC 05
1 B 1 A 1 B 1 D 1 C
2 E 2 D 2 A 2 A 2 A
3 B 3 D 3 D 3 E 3 D
4 E 4 A 4 C 4 E 4 B
5 C 5 B 5 A 5 C 5 C
6 C 6 D 6 E 6 B 6 C
7 E 7 D 7 B 7 A 7 B
8 A 8 A

RC 06 RC 07 RC 08 RC 09 RC 10
1 A 1 C 1 A 1 C 1 C
2 B 2 C 2 D 2 E 2 E
3 D 3 B 3 B 3 E 3 D
4 C 4 C 4 C 4 D 4 A
5 E 5 B 5 E 5 A 5 C
6 D 6 E 6 B 6 D 6 D
7 D 7 C 7 E 7 C 7 B
8 C 8 E 8 B
9 A
10 A
11 C
12 A
 LONG READING PASSAGES 01-10

PASSAGE-01
Women’s Suffrage
The United States Constitution has been amended 27 times since its ratıfication. Rights such as freedom of
speech, religion, and press, for example, are granted by the First Amendment. This passage focuses on the
Nineteenth Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.
The American political landscape is constantly shifting on a myriad of issues, but the voting process itself has
(5) changed over the years as well. Electronic ballot casting, for example, provides the public with
instantaneous results, and statisticians are more accurate than ever at forecasting our next president. Voting
has always been viewed as an intrinsic American right and was one of the major reasons for the nation’s
secession from Britain’s monarchical rule. Unfortunately, although all men were constitutionally deemed
“equal,” true equality of the sexes was not extended to the voting booths until 1920.
(10) The American women’s suffrage movement began in 1848, when Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia
Mott organized the Seneca Falls Convention. The meeting, initially an attempt to have an open dialogue about
women’s rights, drew a crowd of nearly three hundred women and included several dozen men. Topics ranged
from a woman’s role in society to law, but the issue of voting remained a contentious one. A freed slave
named Frederick Douglass spoke eloquently about the importance of women in politics and swayed
(15) the opinion of those in attendance. At the end of the convention, one hundred people signed the Seneca
Falls Declaration, which listed “immediate admission to all the rights and privileges which belong to (women
as citizens of the United States,”
Stanton and Mott’s first victory came thirty years later when a constitutional amendment allowing women to
vote was proposed to Congress in 1878. Unfortunately, election practices were already a controversial issue,
(20) as unfair laws that diminished the African American vote had been passed during Reconstruction.
Questionable literacy tests and a “vote tax” levied against the poor kept minority turnout to a minimum. And
while several states allowed women to vote, federal consensus was hardly as equitable. The rest of the world,
however, was taking note-and women were ready to act.
In 1893, New Zealand allowed women the right to vote, although women could not run for office in
(25) New Zealand. Other countries began reviewing and ratifying their own laws as well. The United
Kingdom took small steps by allowing married women to vote in local elections in 1894. By 1902, all women
in Australia could vote in elections, both local and parliamentary.
The suffrage movement in America slowly built momentum throughout the early twentieth century and
exploded during World War I. President Woodrow Wilson called the fight abroad a war for democracy, which
(30) many suffragettes viewed as hypocritical. Democracy, after all, was hardly worth fighting for when half
of a nation’s population was disqualified based on gender. Public acts of civil disobedience, rallies, and
marches galvanized pro-women advocates while undermining defenders of the status quo. Posters read
“Kaiser Wilson” and called into question the authenticity of a free country with unjust laws. The cry for
equality was impossible to ignore and, in 1919, with the support of President Wilson, Congress passed the
(35) Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution. It was ratified one year later by two thirds of the states,
effectively changing the Constitution. Only one signatory from the original Seneca Falls Declaration lived
long enough to cast her first ballot in a federal election.
America’s election laws were far from equal for all, as tactics to dissuade or prohibit African Americans from
effectively voting were still routinely employed. However, the suffrage movement laid the groundwork for
(40) future generations. Laws, like people’s minds, could change over time. The civil rights movement in the
mid- to late twentieth century brought a end to segregation and so-called Jim Crow laws that stifled African
American advancement. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was the final nail in the coffin; what emerged was a
free nation guided by elections determined not by skin color or gender, but by the ballot box.

1. The stance the author takes in the passage is best described as that of
A. an advocate of women’s suffrage proposing a constitutional amendment.
B. a legislator reviewing the arguments for and against women’s suffrage.
C. a scholar evaluating the evolution and impact of the women’s suffrage movement.
D. a historian summarizing the motivations of women’s suffrage leaders.

2. Line 38 (“America’s election laws...equal for all”) most clearly support which explicit claim?
A. The founders of the Constitution did not provide for free and fair elections.
B. The United States still had work to do to secure equal voting rights for some people.
C. Most women in the United States did not want suffrage and equal rights.
D. The women’s suffrage movement perpetuated discriminatory voting laws.

3. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
A. Line 10 (“The American...in 1848”) B. Line 24 (“In 1893...to vote”)
C. Lines 34-35 (“Congress...the Constitution”) D. Lines 42 (“The Voting Rights Act...the coffin”)
4. As used in line 32, “galvanized” most nearly means
A. displaced B. divided C. excited D. organized

5. The main rhetorical effect of line 40 (“Laws, like….could change”) is to

A. connect the success of legislative reform with shifts in public sentiment.
B. dissuade reformers from focusing on grassroots activity rather than political campaigns.
C evaluate the effectiveness of judicial rulings based on popular response to public polls.
D. reject the need for legal actions and court proceedings to attain social change.

6. As a whale, the passage most strongly suggests which conclusion?

A. American government adapts to the changing needs and ideas of society.
B. The best-organized reform movements are most likely to achieve their goals.
C. The nation is more vulnerable to change during the confusion of wartime.
D. The civil rights movement would not have happened without women suffragists.

7. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
A. Lines 5-6 (“Electronic ballot casting...our next president”)
B. Lines 6-8 (“Voting has...monarchical rule”)
C. Lines 11-12 (“The meeting….dozen men”)
D. Lines 40-42 (“The civil rights....advancement”)

8. The graphic most clearly illustrates which idea?

A. The Nineteenth Amendment happened as a result of World War I.
B. The states slowed reform of national voting rights laws.
C. Women’s suffrage resulted from a slow evolution of events.
D. Acts of civil disobedience won support for suffrage in Congress.

9. In line 33, the word “authenticity” most nearly means

A. reliability B. realism C. legitimacy D. truth

10. The passage suggests that President Wilson contributed to the success of the women’s suffrage movement
by
A. circulating government propaganda in support of women’s suffrage.
B. framing the fight in World War I as a fight for democracy and freedom.
C. engaging in a foreign war to distract the nation from political debate.
D. working with legislators to write the Nineteenth Amendment.

11. The graphic helps support which statement referred to in the passage?
A. Early women suffragists did not live to vote in national elections.
B. The Nineteenth Amendment passed within a few years of its introduction.
C. A majority of state representatives opposed women’s suffrage in 1918.
D. Many state governments approved suffrage before the federal government did.
PASSAGE-02
Paired Passages-Genomes
Passage 1
Coffee is a pillar of the world economy, generating both jobs and profits. The plant produced revenue to the
tune of $15.4 billion in 2013 alone. The coffee industry is also one of the world’s largest employers,
supporting 26 million employees. Because of the global importance of coffee, scientists at the University at
Buffalo and their international colleagues were compelled to sequence the genome of the most popular
(5) coffee plant. In the genome lies the secrets of the bold flavor that people around the world have come to
enjoy daily, as well as the caffeine kick that comes along with it. This new genetic information can be used to
expand the market by creating new types of coffee varieties. The results of the study can also safeguard the
existing industry. Scientists can now modify the genetic material of the coffee plant. Heartier strains of
popular coffee types can be created so that they are resistant to drought, disease, and bugs.
(10) Researchers began their work by sequencing the genome of the type of coffee that makes up 30 percent
of all coffee production. The conclusions drawn from this study will help save money and resources during
the coffee production process. Researchers were able to isolate the genetic information of the enzymes in the
coffee plant that produce caffeine. With this information, it may be possible to reduce or eliminate caffeine
from coffee. This would remove a costly step in the current process of extracting caffeine
(15) from the coffee beans, while expanding the coffee market to people who avoid caffeine for health
reasons, such as high blood pressure or pregnancy, The same research team plans to sequence the genome of
other types of coffee in the future. It is their hope that the information will benefit the coffee producer,
consumer, and also the environment.
Passage 2
The Gibbon Genome Sequencing Consortium has successfully sequenced the genome of the Northern
(20) white-cheeked gibbon. Both gibbons and humans have DNA that changes during the course of their
lifetime. Some DNA changes in humans are the result of mutations, which cause cancer and other diseases.
The changes in gibbons’ DNA have resulted in many changes to the species over a very short period of time.
Although gibbons are close relatives to humans, their DNA changes do not cause disease. Understanding the
pattern of the gibbon genome might turn out to be very important to humans. If these changes in DNA
(25)can be understood, scientists may be able to use the information to better understand human disease.
Cancer and other genetic diseases are caused by faulty gene regulation. Scientists have sought to understand
human biology through the lens of gibbon DNA structures for some time. Until now, there has simply been
too much information to analyze. The endless rearrangements made it difficult to align gibbon DNA to that of
humans, but it has finally been accomplished. Scientists discovered a piece of DNA that is
(30) unique to the gibbon species. Gibbons have a specific repeat element, or a piece of DNA that copies itself
multiple times throughout the genome. Repeat elements, in both gibbons and humans, are related to the
maintenance of genetic structures. Scientists hope to be able to answer the question “Why can gibbon DNA
rearrange itself without causing diseases- unlike humans’ DNA?” If this complicated biological question can
be solved, scientists may be able to work backward in order to help stop cancer, heart failure,
(35) and other humans disease related to genetic repeats.

1. Which of the following best describes the central idea of Passage 1?

A. Advancements in genome sequencing will lead to healthier food options worldwide.
B. Genome sequencing of coffee can increase the profitability of coffee as a commodity
C. Removing caffeine from coffee will allow more people to drink and enjoy coffee.
D. The coffee trade is an important sector of the global economy.

2. The author of Passage 2 would most likely agree that

A. instead of studying nonhuman animals, scientists should look for a way to stop human DNA from changing
when it replicates itself.
B. sequencing the genome of other nonhuman primates could yield results that would be beneficial to people.
C. the benefits of genome sequencing of gibbons and other nonhuman animals does not justify the great
expense and resources used.
D. scientists will be able to cure cancer once the mystery is solved of how the DNA of gibbons replicates
itself without causing disease.

3. Passage 1 most strongly suggests that

A. the coffee industry will fail without new developments stemming from genome sequencing.
B. newly developed varieties of coffee plants are more expensive for consumers than are existing varieties
C. future research will lead to developments that could increase the profitability for coffee producers.
D. genome sequencing of coffee plants could help scientists understand diseases that affect humans

4. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
A. Lines 3-5 (“Because of the global…coffee plant”)
B. Lines 8 (“Scientists can…coffee plant”)
C. Lines 10-11 (“Researchers began...coffee production”)
D. Lines 14-16 (“This would remove...pregnancy”)

5. Passage 2 most strongly suggests which of the following?

A. The genetic makeup of the Northern white-cheeked gibbon is more similar to that of humans than to other
primates.
B. More research is needed before the findings of scientists studying the DNA of gibbons can be used to cure
disease in humans.
C. Many diseases and illnesses that affect humans can only be understood by studying the DNA of plants and
other animals.
D. Cancer and other diseases can be eliminated completely if enough funding is given to scientific research
6. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
A. Lines 20-21 (“Both gibbons...diseases”)
R. Lines 26-27 (“Scientists have sought...some time”)
C. Lines 31-32 (“Repeat elements...genetic structures”)
D. Lines 33-35 (“If this…genetic repeats”)

7. Which of the following best summarizes a shared purpose of the two authors?
A. To explain how genome sequencing in animals and plants can benefit people in unexpected ways
B. To summarize how genome sequencing has changed the field of medicine and the study of diseases
C. To inform readers about how scientific research can be applied to improving the world economy
D. To convince readers to support funding for research in genome sequencing of plants and animals

8. As used in line 4, “compelled” most nearly means

A. forced B. driven C. required D. constrained

9. As used in line 32, “maintenance” most nearly means

A. preservation B. protection C. organization D. repair

10. Which point is the author of Passage 1 trying to make by using the phrase “a pillar of the world economy”
in line 1 to refer to the coffee industry?
A. Research into the coffee plant is important and should be continued.
B. The coffee industry plays a significant role in global economics.
C. Many jobs will be lost if the coffee industry goes into decline.
D. The coffee industry provides financial stability for millions of people worldwide.

11. Which of the following can reasonably be inferred based on the information in both passages?
A. Studying the genomes of animals closely related to humans can help scientists learn about diseases that
affect humans.
B. Expanding the customer base of the coffee industry will lead to higher profits and increase the stability of
the global economy.
C. The scientists who study coffee and those who study gibbons could learn more by collaborating.
D. The genomes of other plants and nonhuman animals hold secrets that can benefit people and are worthy of
exploration.
PASSAGE-o3
Bio mimicry Passage
In 1948, Swiss chemist George de Mestral was impressed with the clinging power of burrs snagged in his
dog’s fur and on his pant legs after he returned from a hike. While examining the burrs under a microscope,
he observed many hundreds of small fibers that grabbed like hooks. He experimented with replicas of the
burns and eventually invented Velcro, a synthetic clinging fabric that was first marketed as “the zipperless
(5) zipper.” In the 1960s, NASA used de Mestral’s inventions on space suits, and now, of course, we see it
everywhere.
You might say that de Mestral was the father of bio mimicry, an increasingly essential field that studies nature
looking for efficiencies in materials and systems, and asks the question “How can our homes, 6nd our cities
work better?” As one biomimetics company puts it: “Nature is the largest laboratory
(10) that ever existed and ever will”
Architecture is one field that is constantly exploring new ways to incorporate bio mimicry. Architects have
studied everything from beehives to beaver dams to learn how to best use materials, geometry, and physics in
buildings, Termite mounds, for example, very efficiently regulate temperature, humidity, and airflow, so
architects in Zimbabwe are working to apply what they’ve learned from termite mounds to human-made
(15) structures.
Says Michael Pawlyn, author of Biomimicry in Architecture, “If you look beyond the nice shapes in nature an
understand the principles behind them, you can find some adaptations that can lead to new, innovative
solutions that are radically more resource-efficient. It’s the direction we need to take in the coming decades”
Designers in various professional fields are drawing on bio mimicry; for example, in optics, scientists have
(20) examined the surface of insect eyes in hopes of reducing glare on handheld device screens. Engineers in
the field of robotics worked to replicate the property found in a gecko’s feet that allows adhesion to smooth
surfaces.
Sometimes what scientists learn from nature isn’t more advanced, but simpler. The abalone shrimp, for
example, makes its shell out of calcium carbonate, the same material as soft chalk. It’s not a rare or complex
(25) substance, but the unique arrangement of the material in the abalone’s shell makes it extremely tough
The walls of the shell contain microscopic pieces of calcium carbonate stacked like bricks, which are bound
together using proteins just as concrete mortar is used. The result is a shell three thousand times harder than
chalk and as tough as Kevlar (the material used in bullet-proof vests),
Often it is necessary to look at the Nano scale structures of a living material’s exceptional properties in order
(30) to re-create it synthetically. Andrew Parker, an evolutionary biologist, looked at the skin of the thorny
evil (a type of lizard) under a scanning electron microscope, in search of the features that let the animal
channel water from its back to its mouth.
Examples like this from the animal world abound. Scientists have learned that colorful birds don’t always
have pigment in their wings but are sometimes completely brown; it’s the layers of keratin in their wings that
(35) produce color. Different colors, which have varying wavelengths, reflect differently through keratin. The
discovery of this phenomenon can be put to use in creating paint and cosmetics that won’t fade or chip. At the
same time, paint for outdoor surfaces can be made tougher by copying the structures found in antler bone.
Hearing aids are being designed to capture sound as well as the ears of the Ormia fly do. And why
(40) can’t we have a self-healing material like our own skin? Researchers at the Beckman Institute at the
University of Illinois are creating just that; they call it an “autonomic materials system.” A raptor’s feathers, a
whale’s fluke, a mosquito’s proboscis-all have functional features we can learn from.
The driving force behind these innovations, aside from improved performance, is often improved energy
efficiency. In a world where nonrenewable energy resources are dwindling and carbon emissions threaten
(45) the planet’s health, efficiency has never been more important. Pawlyn agrees: “For me, biomimicry is
one of the best sources of innovation to get to a world of zero waste because those are the rules under which
biological life has had to exist.”
Biomimicry is a radical field and one whose practitioners need to be radically optimistic, as Pawlyn is when
he says, “We could use natural products such as cellulose, or even harvest carbon from the atmosphere to
(50) create bio-rock.”

1. The central idea of the passage is primarily concerned with

A. the field of bio mimicry, the study of materials and systems found in nature and replicated in ways that
benefit people.
B. the work of George de Mestral, the Swiss chemist who invented Velcro? After observing burrs under a
microscope.
C. the ways in which architects use termite mounds as models for human-made structures in Zimbabwe.
D. how scientists are seeking ways to improve energy efficiency as nonrenewable energy sources decline.

2. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
A. Lines 1-3 (“In 1948…hooks”) B. Lines 7-10 (“You might say…ever will”)
C. Lines 13-15 (“Termite mounds...structures”) D. Lines 43-45 (“The driving…more important”)

3. The author includes a quote in paragraph 4 in order to

A. explain why architects are looking to bio mimicry for solutions in architecture.
B. provide an argument for more scientists to study bio mimicry.
C. give an explanation as to why someone might choose a career in architecture.
D. provide a counterargument to the author’s central claim.
4. Based on the information in paragraph 6, how does the shell of an abalone shrimp compare with soft chalk?
A. The essential building blocks are arranged in a similar manner, but the material that makes up the shell of
an abalone shrimp is harder.
B. Both are made from the same essential building blocks, but the shell of the abalone shrimp is much harder
because of the manner in which the materials are arranged
C. the essential building blocks of both are the same, but the abalone shrimp shell is harder because the soft
chalk lacks a protein binding the materials together.
D. they are made from different essential building blocks, but they have a similar hardness because the
materials are arranged in a similar manner

3. In paragraph 9, what is the most likely reason that the author included the quote from Pawlyn about
efficiency?
A. To convince readers that Pawlyn is an expert in his field
B. To prove that great strides are being made in creating products that do not generate waste
C. To demonstrate the limits of what bio mimicry can achieve
D. To support the statement that energy efficiency “has never been more important”

6. In line 17, “principles” most nearly means

A. sources B. attitudes C. standards D. theories

7. It can be reasonably inferred from the passage that

A. more scientists will utilize solutions developed through biomimiery in the future.
B. the field of biomimiery will eventually decline as more nonrenewable resources are discovered.
C. scientists will leave the fields they are currently working in and begin research in bio mimicry.
D. doctors will create a self-healing skin called an “autonomic materials system” using methods based in
biomimicry

8. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
A. Lines 19-20 (“Designers...screens”) B. Lines 29-30 (“Often it is…synthetically”)
C. Lines 33-42 (“Examples like...learn from”) D. Lines 48-50 (“Biominiery...bio-rock”)

9. As used in line 48, “radical” most nearly means

A. pervasive B. drastic C. essential D. revolutionary

10. The graphic and caption that accompany this passage help illustrate how biomimicry can be used to
A. make a solar plant more attractive. B. decrease waste generated by energy sources.
C. improve the efficiency of existing models. D. replicate a pattern common in nature.
PASSAGE-04
Walden
The following passage is adapted from Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, a mid-19th-century philosophical and
personal reflection on the writer’s experience living in nature and simplicity. This excerpt is from the chapter
titled “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For.”
It matters not what the clocks say or the attitudes and labors of men. Morning is when I am awake and there
(5) is a dawn in me. Moral reform is the effort to throw off sleep. Why is it that men give so poor an account
of their day if they have not been slumbering? They are not such poor calculators. If they had not been
overcome with drowsiness, they would have performed something. The millions are awake enough for
physical labor, but only one in a million is awake enough for effective intellectual exertion, only one in a
hundred millions to a poetic or divine life. To be awake is to be alive. I have never vet met a man who was
(10) quite awake. How could I have looked him in the face?
We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation
of the dawn, which does not forsake us in our soundest sleep. I know of no more encouraging fact than the
unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor. It is something to be able to paint a
particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to
(15) carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To
affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts. Every man is tasked to make his life, even in its details,
worthy of the contemplation of his most elevated and critical hour. If we refused, or rather used up, such
paltry information as we get, the oracles would distinctly inform us how this might be done.
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I
(20) could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not
wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite
necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to
put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it
to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and
(25) publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a
true account of it in my next excursion. For most men, it appears to me, are in a strange uncertainty about it,
whether it is of the devil or of God, and have somewhat hastily concluded that it is the chief end of man here
to “glorify God and enjoy him forever.”
Still we live meanly, like ants; though the fable tells us that we were long ago changed into men; like pygmies
(30) we fight with cranes; it is error upon error, and clout upon clout, and our best virtue has for its occasion a
superfluous and evitable wretchedness. Our life is frittered away by detail.
An honest man has hardly need to count more than his ten fingers, or in extreme cases he may add his ten
toes, and lump the rest. Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a
hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail.
(35) In the midst of this chopping sea of civilized life, such are the clouds and storms and quicksands and
thousand-and-one items to be allowed for, that a man has to live, if he would not founder and go to the bottom
and not make his port at all, by dead reckoning, and he must be a great calculator indeed who succeeds.
Simplify, simplify. Instead of three meals a day, if it be necessary eat but one; instead of a hundred dishes,
five, and reduce other things in proportion.

1. The activities described in lines 13-15 (“It is something...morally we can do”) explain how people can
A. develop a satisfying and morally upright career.
B. give an elevated and proper account of their day.
C. learn to reawaken and live by conscious endeavor.
D. awaken enough for effective intellectual exertion.

2. As used in line 21, “resignation” most nearly means

A. compliance B. departure C. quitting D. revival

3. The first paragraph of the passage most strongly suggests that which of the following is true of the author?
A. He believes that to affect the quality of the day is the highest form of art.
B. He feels that people perform poorly at work because they sleep too much.
C. He is determined to spend as many waking hours as possible working.
D. He believes that most people have yet to realize their fullest potential in life.

4. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
A. Lines 5-6 (“Why is…slumbering”)
B. Lines 7-9 (“The millions...life”)
C. Line 9 (“To be…alive”)
D. Lines 9-10 (“I have…awake”)

5. Based on details in the passage, what central idea does the author express about our society as a whole?
A. The few artists in our society do not receive the recognition they deserve.
B. Our society willingly focuses too much on drudgery and insignificant details.
C. Too many people hastily choose to dedicate their lives to religion.
D. People should move to the woods to find their own conscious endeavor.

6. What does the passage most strongly suggest about the author’s views on religion?
A. He believes too few people critically examine their religious beliefs.
B. He thinks that his studies in the woods will prove that God is sublime,
C. He thinks that meanness and the sublime are the same in nature.
D. He believes that oracles give us clues about how to live a sublime life.
7. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
A. Lines 16-17 (“Every man... hour”)
B. Lines 19-20 (“I went…not lived”)
C. Lines 22-20(1 wanted... excursion”)
D. Line 26-28 (“For most...forever”)

8 As used in line 22, “Spartan-like” most nearly means

A. indulgent B. rigid C. pioneering D. austere

6. The author uses such words as “meanly” and “wretchedness” in lines 29-31 in order to imply that
A. people are cruel to one another. B. society will destroy itself in time.
C. our existence is harsh and mundane. D. negative tendencies ruin our intelligence.

10. Which of the following describes an approach to life that is similar to the one Thoreau promotes in this
passage?
A. Taking courses and acquiring books on how to simplify your life
B. Hiring people to help you do your chores so you can live more simply
C. Cleaning out your closet so that you are left with only the most essential items of clothing
D. Traveling to a cabin without cell phone service to get away from life’s complications for a weekend
PASSAGE-05
“The Opening of the Library”
This passage is adapted from “The Opening of the Library” by W.E.B. DuBois, professor of Economics and
History at Atlanta University, published in the Atlanta Independent on April 3, 1902.
“With simple and appropriate exercises the beautiful new Carnegie Library was thrown open to the public
yesterday.” So says the morning paper of Atlanta, Georgia...
(5)The white marble building, the gift of Andrew Carnegie, is indeed fair to look upon. The site was given the
city by a private library association, and the City Council appropriates $5,000 annually of the city moneys for
its support. If you will climb the hill where the building sits, you may look down upon the rambling city.
Northward and southward are 53,905 white people, eastward and westward are 35,912 African Americans.
And so in behalf of these 36,000 people my companions and I called upon the trustees of the Library on this
(10) opening day, for we had heard that black folk were to have no part in this “free public library,” and we
thought it well to go ask why. It was not pleasant going in, for people stared and wondered what business we
had there; but the trustees, after some waiting, received us courteously and gave us seats-some eight of us in
all. To me, unfortunately, had fallen the lot to begin the talking. I said, briefly:
“Gentlemen, we are a committee come to ask that you do justice to the black people of Atlanta by giving
(15) them the same free library privileges that you propose giving the whites. Every argument which can be
adduced to show the need of libraries for whites applies with redoubled force to the blacks. More than any
other part of our population, they need instruction, inspiration and proper diversion; they need to be lured
from the temptations of the streets and saved from evil influences, and they need a growing acquaintance with
what the best of the world’s souls have thought and done and said. It seems hardly necessary in the
(20)20th century to argue before men like you on the necessity and propriety of placing the best means of
human uplifting into the hands of the poorest and lowest and blackest.
I then pointed out the illegality of using public money collected from all for the exclusive benefit of a part of
the population, or of distributing public utilities in accordance with the amount of taxes paid by any class or
individual, and finally I concluded by saying:
(25) “The spirit of this great gift to the city was not the spirit of cast or exclusion, but rather the catholic spirit
which recognizes no artificial differences of rank or birth or race, but seeks to give all men equal opportunity
to make the most of themselves. It is our sincere hope that this city will prove itself broad enough and just
enough to administer this trust in the true spirit in which it was given.”
Then I sat down. There was a little pause, and the chairman, leaning forward, said: “I should like to ask you a
(30) question: Do you not think that allowing whites and blacks to use this library would be fatal to its
usefulness?”
There come at times words linked together which seem to chord in strange recurring resonance with words of
other ages and one hears the voice of many centuries and wonders which century is speaking...
I said simply, “I will express no opinion on that point.”
(35)Then from among us darker ones another arose. He was an excellent and adroit speaker. He thanked the
trustees for the privilege of being there, and reminded them that but a short time ago even this privilege would
have been impossible. He said we did not ask to use this library, we did not ask equal privileges, we only
wanted some privileges somewhere. And he assured the trustees that he had perfect faith in their justice.
(40)The president of the Trustee Board then arose, gray-haired and courteous. He congratulated the last
speaker and expressed pleasure at our call. He then gave us to understand four things:
1. African Americans would not be permitted to use the Carnegie Library in Atlanta.
2. That some library facilities would be provided for them in the future.
3. That to this end the City Council would be asked to appropriate a sum proportionate to the amount of
(45) taxes paid by blacks in the city.
4. That an effort would be made, and had been made, to induce Northern philanthropists to aid such a library,
and he concluded by assuring us that in this way we might eventually have a better library than the whites.
Then he bade us adieu politely and we walked home wondering.

1. Which choice best explains why DuBois wrote this passage?

A. To encourage philanthropists such as Andrew Carnegie to fund new libraries
B. To present the trustees’ explanation of why African Americans could not use the library
C. To contrast his position on public access to libraries with that of the trustees
D. To state his support for construction of a new library for just African Americans

2. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
A. Lines 9-11 (“And so ... ask why”) B. Lines 22-24 (“I then... or individual”)
C. Lines 35-37 (“He thanked ... impossible”) D. Lines 46-48 (“That an effort … than the whites”)

3. As used in line 13, “lot” most nearly means

A. a predictable result. B. a random decision.
C. an unaccepted consequence. D. an agreed upon responsibility.

4. It can be reasonably inferred from the passage that

A. the trustees would consider the construction of segregated public library facilities.
B. the trustees disagreed with DuBois’s arguments in favor of expanding access to public libraries.
C. the trustees were open to the idea of integrating Atlanta’s public library system.
D. the trustees proposed concrete plans to provide public library facilities for African Americans.

5. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
A. Lines 29-31 (“There was a little ... to its usefulness”)
B. Lines 40-41 (““The president... at our call”)
C. Lines 42-43 (“African Americans... in Atlanta”)
D. Line 43 (“That some ... in the future”)
6. As used in line 18, “growing acquaintance” most nearly means
A. a friendly relationship. B. an increasing comprehension.
C. an active involvement. D. a brief initiation.

7. Which claim does DuBois make to the trustees?

A. Allowing all of Atlanta’s residents to use the new library would render it useless.
B. African Americans will benefit less from access to public libraries than white residents.
C. Poor African Americans have greater need for a public library than other residents.
D. Atlanta should invest in public libraries and schools for all of its residents.

8. DuBois uses the example of a “catholic spirit” (line 25) to support the argument that
A. the city’s neighborhoods continue to be segregated by race and economic class.
B. Atlanta has an obligation to provide equal opportunity for all its residents to better themselves.
C. access to public libraries should be based on the amount of taxes one pays.
D. Northern philanthropists should provide private money to help pay for a public library.

9. The author’s reflections expressed in lines 29-34 most likely indicate that he
A. wishes he lived in a different century.
B. is frustrated that people’s attitudes have not changed over time.
C. is thinking about a time when another person said the exact same words to him.
D. is planning a detailed response to the chairman’s question.

10. The four-point list in the passage can be described as

A. a summary of the author’s supporting points.
B. an acknowledgement of a counterargument.
C. an introduction to a counterargument.
D. a response to the author’s main argument.
PASSAGE-06
Diderot Passage
Over a thirty-year period, Denis Diderot tirelessly undertook a bold endeavor; the philosopher and writer
furthered technology education by creating one of the most important books of the 18th century. He
documented the Western world’s collective knowledge through a massive set of volumes called the
Encyclopedia. Today, Diderot’s Encyclopédie remains one of the most accessible primary sources for the
(5) study of technology during the Enlightenment, having received exposure in recent times through the
Internet.
Since Diderot didn’t know all there was to know, he sought contributors, more than 150, and organized their
72,000 articles into entries on politics, economics, technology, and other topics. His goal was to create an
intellectual work instructionally useful to all, but soon, his Encyclopédie became mired in controversy, and
(10)this precursor to the modern encyclopedia was seized after its inception, its publication banned by the
French government. The encyclopedia, however, had already sparked mass interest in the secrets of
manufacturing and more, and so this “how-to” compendium was widely circulated underground after
eventually being published in 1765 by a Swedish printer.
Undoubtedly, the Encyclopédie served then as a beacon of free thought, and questions about control of its
(15) content caused critics to boil over. For in building a compilation of human knowledge, Diderot made a
direct political statement. Essentially, the political statement was: You, the average person, can now know
what only kings knew before.
In particular, Diderot created an “encyclopedic revolution” by integrating scientific discoveries with the
liberal arts. He linked technology to culture when he divided the Encyclopédic into three categories: history,
(20) philosophy, and poetry. Diderot then assigned subjects to these three groupings such as industry, political
theory, theology, agriculture, and the arts and sciences.
The execution was deceptively simple enough because Diderot pursued everyday trade topics such as cloth
dying, for example, accompanying his explanations with diagrams and illustrations. Thus, Diderot elevated
“unacademic” craft knowledge to a scholarly status, challenging viewpoints about erudition held by the
(25) aristocratic ruling class of the time. More important, Diderot suggested that everyone could have access
to the rational, down-to-earth truth, since he believed that knowledge about reality could be obtained by
reason alone, rather than through authority or other means.
Not surprisingly, such rationalist philosophy was considered radical. The new idea of showing in amazing
detail how the production techniques used in tanning and metalwork were accomplished displeased those in
(30) power. Trade guilds held control of such knowledge, and so Diderot’s Encyclopédie was viewed as a
threat to the establishment. Diderot’s ideology of progress by way of better quality materials, technical
research, and greater production speed was unprecedented in printed books.
Royal authorities did not want the masses exposed to Diderot’s liberal views such as this one: “The good of
the people must be the great purpose of government. By the laws of nature and of reason, the governors are
(35) invested with power to that end. And the greatest good of the people is liberty.”
But the opposition was too late. Despite an official ban, the Encyclopédie’s beautiful bookplates survived,
recording production techniques dating to the Middle Ages. Ironically, with the advent of both the English
Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution, the trades shown in Diderot’s work changed significantly
after the encyclopedia’s publication. Therefore, instead of becoming a technical dictionary, the Encyclopedie
(40) rather serves today as a history of technology, showing us what trades were like before machines swept
in to transform industry.

1500-1800 Scientific Revolution

1543. Nicolaus Copernicus creates
model of heliocentric solar system.

1600: Hans Lippershey invents telescope.

1628: William Harvey discovers
properties of blood circulation.

1633 Galileo Galilei stands trial for
scientific observations.

1687: Isaac Newton articulates theory of gravity.

1774: Joseph Priestley discovers oxygen.

1781: William Herschel discovers Uranus.

1. Which choice expresses a central idea of the passage?

A. Diderot crafted a revolutionary guide for the development of industrial technology.
B. Diderot provided students with a superb reference for the study of scientific principles.
C. Diderot’s Encyclopédie continues to serve as a valuable technical resource.
D. Diderot’s Encyclopédie helped promote the liberalization and expansion of knowledge.

2. The passage most clearly reflects the author’s

A. devotion to the study of science. B. disdain for intellectualism.
C. interest in early printing methods. D. respect for individual innovation.

3. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
A. Lines 18-19 (“In particular ... liberal arts”) B. Lines 28-30 (“The new idea... in power”)
C. Lines 33-34 (“Royal … of government”) D. Lines 37-39 (“Ironically ... publication”)
4. According to the passage, Diderot’s main goal in developing the Encyclopédie was to
A. express his views, B. challenge political authority.
C provide information and instruction. D. create a historical record of technology

5. As used in line 12, “underground” most nearly means

A. cautiously B. secretly. C. perilously. D. privately

6. In lines 14-25, the author most likely uses the phrase “a beacon of free thought” to suggest that Diderot’s
work
A. attracted more people to the pursuit of knowledge.
B. provided information tor people most likely to use it.
C. encouraged revolutionary thinking.
D. spread scientific theory among intellectual circles.

7. The passage most strongly suggests that during this time period
A. access to information was limited to select demographics.
B. advances in printing resulted in comparable advances in other fields.
C. demands for political and social reform were severely punished.
D. intellectuals were widely respected and elevated to elite status.

8. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
A. Lines 7-8 (“Since Diderot ... topics”) B. Lines 22-23 (“The execution ... illustrations”)
C. Lines 30-31 (“Trade guilds... establishment”) D. Lines 36-37 (“Despite … Middle Ages”)

9. As used in line 24, “erudition” most nearly means

A. hierarchy. B. sophistication. C. skill. D. learning.

10. Which choice best describes how the impact of the Encyclopédie changed over time?
A. Advances in science and industry made the Encyclopédie obsolete.
B. Advances in science and industry changed the Encyclopédie from a “how-to” source into a history of
technology.
C. Advances in science and industry turned the Encyclopédie into an affordable, mass-produced publication
used by millions.
D. Advances in science and industry led to an expansion of the number of Encyclopédie volumes in each set.

11. Based on the passage and the graphic, which of the following is most likely to be true?
A. Diderot would not have included information about Galileo’s scientific observations.
B. Diderot would have included information on the production techniques used to create the first telescope.
C. Diderot would not have included information about the discovery of Uranus.
D. Diderot would have included information about Einstein’s theory of relativity.
PASSAGE-07
Paired Passages-Acidity
Passage 1
In the past century, due to the burning of fossil fuels in energy plants and cars, acid rain has become a cause
of harm to the environment. However, rain would still be slightly acidic even if these activities were to stop.
Acid rain would continue to fall, but it would not cause the problems we see now. The environment can
handle slightly acidic rain; it just cannot keep up with the level of acid rain caused by burning fossil fuels.
(5)A pH of 7 is considered neutral, while pH below 7 is acidic and pH above 7 is alkaline, or basic. Pure rain
water can have a pH as low as 5.5. Rain water is acidic because carbon dioxide gas in the air reacts with the
water to make carbonic acid. Since it is a weak acid, even a large amount of it will not lower the pH of water
much.
Soil, lakes, and streams can tolerate slightly acidic rain. The water and soil contain alkaline materials that will
(10)neutralize acids. These include some types of rocks, plant and animal waste, and ashes from forest fires.
Altogether, these materials can easily handle the slightly acidic rain that occurs naturally. The alkaline waste
and ashes will slowly be used up, but more will be made to replace it.
Anthropomorphic causes of acid rain, such as the burning of fossil fuels, release nitrogen oxide and sulfur
oxide gases. These gases react with water to make nitric acid and sulfuric acid. Since these are both strong
(15)acids, small amounts can lower the pH of rain water to 3 or less. Such a low pH requires much more
alkaline material to neutralize it. Acid rain with a lower pH uses up alkaline materials faster, and more cannot
be made quickly enough to replace what is used up. Soil and water become more acidic and remain that way,
as they are unable to neutralize the strong acid.
Passage 2
In humans, keeping a constant balance between acidity and alkalinity in the blood is essential. If blood pH
(20)drops below 7.35 or rises above 7.45, all of the functions in the body are impaired and life-threatening
conditions can soon develop. Many processes in the body produce acid wastes, which would lower the pH of
blood below the safe level unless neutralized. Several systems are in place to keep pH constant within the
necessary range. Certain conditions, however, can cause acids to be made faster than these systems can react.
(25)Most of the pH control involves three related substances: carbon dioxide, carbonic acid, and bicarbonate
ions. Carbonic acid is formed when carbon dioxide reacts with water. Bicarbonate ions are formed when the
carbonic acid releases a hydrogen ion. Excess carbonic acid lowers the pH, while excess bicarbonate ions
raise it.
The kidneys store bicarbonate ions will release or absorb them to help adjust the pH of the blood.
(30)Breathing faster removes more carbon dioxide from the blood, which reduces the amount of carbonic
acid; in contrast, breathing more slowly has the opposite effect. In a healthy body, these systems automatically
neutralize normal amounts of acid wastes and maintain blood pH within the very small range necessary for the
body to function normally.
In some cases, these systems can be overwhelmed. This can happen to people with diabetes if their blood
(35)sugar drops too low for too long. People with diabetes do not make enough insulin which the body uses to
release stored sugar into the blood to supply the body with energy. If a person’s insulin level gets too low for
too long, the body breaks down fats to use for energy. The waste produced from breaking down fats is acidic,
so the blood pH drops. If the kidneys exhaust their supply of bicarbonate ions, and the lungs cannot remove
carbon dioxide fast enough to raise pH, all of the other functions in the body begin to fail as well. The
(40)person will need medical treatment to support these functions until the pH balancing system can catch up.
The system will then keep the blood pH constant, as long as the production of acid wastes does not exceed the
body’s capacity to neutralize them.

1. Passage 1 most strongly suggests that

A. the environment will be seriously damaged if people do not reduce the burning of fossil fuels.
B. scientists must find a way to introduce more alkaline materials into the water supply to combat acid rain.
C. acid rain will not be a problem in the future as we move away from fossil fuels and toward alternative
energy resources
D acidic rain water is more of a problem than acidic soil because soil contains more alkaline materials.

2 Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
A. Lines 3-4 (“The environment... fuels”)
B. Lines 6-7 (“Rain water ... acid”)
C. Line 9 (“Soil, lakes ... rain”)
D. Lines 13-14 (“Anthropomorphic… gases”)

3. According to the information in Passage 1, which pH level for rain water would cause the most damage to
the environment?
A. 2.25 B. 4 C. 5 D. 9.1

4. As used in line 9, “tolerate” most nearly means

A. accept. B. endure. C. acknowledge. D. distribute.

5. Passage 2 most strongly suggests that

A. a pH of 7.35 is ideal for blood in the human body.
B. acid wastes in the blood multiply if not neutralized.
C. the normal range of blood pH narrows as a person ages.
D. small amounts of acid wastes in the blood are a normal condition.

6. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
A. Lines 19-21 (“If blood pH… develop”) B. Lines 23-24 (“Certain conditions... react”)
C. Limes 31-33 (“In a healthy... normally”) D. Lines 35-36 (“People with... energy”)

7. As used in line 28, “exhaust” most nearly means

A. fatigue. B. consume C. deplete D. dissolve.
8. Which of the following plays a role in the environment most similar to the role played by excess
bicarbonate ions in the blood?
A. Acid rain B. Ashes from a forest fire
C. Sulfur oxide gases D. Fossil fuels

9. Based on the information in Passage 2, which of the following can cause the body to break down fats to use
for energy?
A. An excess of carbonic acid B. Low blood pH
C. A drop in blood sugar D. Not enough insulin

10. Which of the following best describes a shared purpose of the authors of both passages?
A. To encourage readers to care for delicate systems such as the environment and human body
B. To explain how the human body neutralizes acid wastes that it produces and deposits in the blood
C. To describe systems that can neutralize small amounts of acids but become overwhelmed by large amounts
D. To persuade readers to work toward reducing acid rain by cutting consumption of fossil fuels

11. Both passages support which of the following generalizations?

A. The human body and environment are delicate systems that require balance to function properly.
B. There are many similarities between the systems that make up the human body and the water cycle.
C. Acid rain is an important issue that will continue to impact the environment until we reduce the use of
fossil fuels.
D. Medical treatment is necessary when the pH of a person’s blood drops below 7.35 or rises above 7.45.
PASSAGE-08
Hydrogen Passage
Scientists worldwide have been working diligently to advance hydrogen as a renewable energy source.
Hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe, is found primarily with oxygen in water. Because it can
be safely used as fuel, it is a candidate for gasoline replacement in passenger vehicles.
The potential benefits to moving away from petroleum-based fuel are plentiful. Since hydrogen can be
(5) produced within the United States, discovering ways to safely and economically switch to hydrogen fuel
would drastically reduce our dependency on other petroleum-producing nations. In addition to making us
more independent, hydrogen produces no pollution, including greenhouse gasses, when used as fuel. For this
reason alone, forward-thinking scientists have made it a priority to invent new ways to use hydrogen.
Until now, there have been several challenges preventing hydrogen from becoming a mainstream form of
(10)clean energy. In the United States, engines that run on hydrogen are much more expensive than gasoline.
Additionally, it is difficult to store enough hydrogen to get comparable mileage to a gasoline vehicle.
However, these factors have not been the biggest drawback in producing hydrogen for use in fuel cells; the
biggest drawback has been that fossil fuels were needed to generate large amounts of hydrogen. Relying on
fossil fuels to produce this element nearly negates the environmental benefit behind the concept.
(15)Recently, a new method has been discovered, allowing scientists to create large quantities of the element
using lower amounts of energy derived from renewable sources. As in traditional methods, scientists employ
electrolysis, a process during which electricity is used to break the bonds between the atoms found in water by
passing a current through the water via a semiconductor. Once the water molecules are broken into separate
hydrogen and oxygen atoms, both are released as individual gasses and the hydrogen can be
(20)harvested.
When people think of solar power, huge panels usually come to mind, the type of panels that could not be
used to power consumer vehicles in a way equivalent to gasoline. However, scientists have recently been
successful at employing solar power as the catalyst in electrolysis, harvesting energy from the sun and using it
to break apart water molecules. The same scientists who made this achievement then built a
(25)semiconductor out of affordable, oxide-based materials. When these two advances are coupled, they also
reduce the economic and environmental cost of generating and processing hydrogen.
Another bonus to this new method of production is that if is significantly more efficient than older production
methods. The team of researchers attained the most efficient solar-to-fuel conversion to date, and they did it
without using cost-prohibitive materials.
(30)There are still several challenges to be overcome before hydrogen is a viable gasoline replacement. This
new method of creation, though, is a huge step in the right direction. There are many ongoing researches
initiatives that aim to make hydrogen extraction even more cost-effective, as well as easy to store. When these
issues are solved, hydrogen will become a fuel that works for humanity and the earth at the same time
1. With which of the following statements would the author most likely agree?
A. Scientists should consider the final cost to consumers when exploring alternatives to petroleum-based fuels
B. The development of hydrogen fuel for automobiles will give a boost to the economy in the United States.
C. Safety concerns surrounding hydrogen used as fuel pose the biggest problem for scientists studying
alternative energy.
D. Gasoline must be eliminated as a source of fuel for automobiles within the next decade.

2. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
A. Lines 2-3 (“Because it ... vehicles”) B. Lines 4-6 (“Since hydrogen... nations”)
C. Lines 10-11 (“In the United States... gasoline”) D. Lines 33-34 (“When these ... time”)

3. According to the passage, which of the following is true of hydrogen?

A. It exists mostly with oxygen in water molecules in its natural state.
B. It is more efficient than solar power as an energy source.
C. It can be used as fuel in most types of engines.
D. It can be easily harvested from water molecules.

4. As used in line 1, “diligently” most nearly means

A. impulsively. B. persistently. C. rapidly. D. perpetually.

5. The passage most strongly suggests that which of the following is true of petroleum-based fuel?
A. Its cost is higher than most alternative fuels.
B. Its use has a negative effect on the environment.
C. It cannot be produced in the United States.
D. It is more efficient than other types of fuel.

6. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
A. Line 1 (“Scientists … source”)
B. Lines 6-7 (“In addition ... as fuel”)
C. Lines 27-28 (“Another bonus ... methods”)
D. Lines 28-29 (“The team ... materials”)

7. In paragraph 2, why does the author explain that hydrogen energy will reduce our dependency on
petroleum-producing nations?
A. To illustrate why scientists in other countries are not working to develop hydrogen energy
B. To highlight how hydrogen energy is superior to other forms of alternative energy
C. To suggest how hydrogen energy can help protect the environment
D. To clarify why the development of hydrogen as a fuel source is important
8. As used in line 16, “derived” most nearly means
A. gained. B. received. C. obtained. D. copied.

9. The passage most strongly suggests that which of the following is true about methods of extracting
hydrogen from water?
A. Much additional research is needed to perfect hydrogen extraction.
B. Scientific breakthroughs will soon make hydrogen extraction unnecessary.
C. Scientists are on course to develop a safe way to extract hydrogen within one year.
D. it is unlikely that hydrogen extraction will ever be done in an environmentally friendly way.

10. It can be reasonably inferred from the information in the passage and the graphic that
A. Compressed natural gas is the most environmentally friendly form of automobile fuel.
B. scientists are making great advances in the development of hydrogen as a fuel for automobiles.
C. electricity produces less air pollution than hydrogen and compressed natural gas.
D. switching from gasoline to hydrogen to fuel automobiles would significantly reduce air pollution.
PASSAGE-09
Great Expectations
The following passage is adapted from Charles Dickens’s 1860 novel Great Expectations. In this scene, the
narrator, a boy named Pip, eats breakfast with his older sister’s acquaintance, Mr. Pumblechook.
Pumblechook has agreed to take Pip to see Miss Havisham, a wealthy woman who has requested this visit,
although Pip has never met her.
(5)Mr. Pumblechook and I breakfasted at eight o’clock in the parlor behind the shop, while the shop man took
his mug of tea and hunch of bread and butter on a sack of peas in the front premises. I considered Mr.
Pumblechook wretched company. Besides being possessed by my sister’s idea that a mortifying and
penitential character ought to be imparted to my diet, 1-besides giving me as much crumb as possible in
combination with as little butter, and putting such a quantity of warm water into my milk that it would have
(10)been more candid to have left the milk out altogether,-his conversation consisted of nothing but
arithmetic. On my politely bidding him Good morning, he said, pompously, “Seven times nine, boy?” And
how should I be able to answer, dodged in that way, in a strange place, on an empty stomach! I was hungry,
but before I had swallowed a morsel, he began a running sum that lasted all through the breakfast. “Seven?”
“And four?” “And eight?”... And so on. And after each figure was disposed of, it was as much as I could do
(15)to get a bite or a sup, before the next came; while he sat at his ease guessing nothing, and eating bacon
and hot roll, in (if I may be allowed the expression) a gorging and gormandizing manner.
For such reasons, I was very glad when ten o’clock came and we started for Miss Havisham’s; though I was
not at all at my ease regarding the manner in which I should acquit myself under that lady’s roof. Within a
quarter of an hour we came to Miss Havisham’s house, which was of old brick, and dismal, and had a great
(20)many iron bars to it. Some of the windows had been walled up; of those that remained, all the lower were
rustily barred. There was a courtyard in front, and that was barred; so we had to wait, after ringing the bell,
until some one should come open it. While we waited at the gate, I peeped in (even then Mr. Pumblechook
said, “And fourteen?” but I pretended not to hear him), and saw that at the side of the house there was a large
brewery. No brewing was going on in it, and none seemed to have gone on for a long long time.
(25)A window was raised, and a clear voice demanded “What name?” To which my conductor replied,
“Pumblechook.” The voice returned, “Quite right,” and the window was shut again, and a young lady came
across the court-yard, with keys in her hand.
“This,” said Mr. Pumblechook, “is Pip.”
“This is Pip, is it?” returned the young lady, who was very pretty and seemed very proud; “come in, Pip.”
(30)Mr. Pumblechook was coming in also, when she stopped him with the gate.
“Oh!” she said. “Did you wish to see Miss Havisham?”
“If Miss Havisham wished to see me,” returned Mr. Pumblechook, discomfited.
“Ah!” said the girl; “but you see she don’t.”
She said it so finally, and in such an undiscussible way, that Mr. Pumblechook, though in a condition of
(35)ruffled dignity, could not protest. But he eyed me severely,-as if I had done anything to him!-and departed
with the words reproachfully delivered: “Boy! Let your behavior here be a credit unto them which
brought you up by hand!”2 I was not free from apprehension that he would come back to propound through
the sate. “And sixteen?” But he didn’t,
1
Pip’s sister indicated to Pumblechook that Pip should be grateful, even penitent (unreasonably so) for his
help.
2
Pumblechook is speaking of Pip’s sister, who often boasts that she raised him “by hand.”

1. According to the first paragraph, Pip’s breakfast with Mr. Pumblechook is

A. eaten on the run B. small and of poor quality
C. better than Pip usually receives. D. carefully cooked and served.

2. As Used in line 7, “wretched” most nearly means

A. shameful B. deprived C. distressing D. heartbroken

3. Based on the details in the passage, it can be inferred that Mr. Pumblechook
A. has looked forward to his morning with Pip.
B. is as uncomfortable as Pip is during breakfast.
C. has known Pip and his sister for a very long time.
D. is indifferent to Pip’s discomfort during breakfast.

4. Which choice provides the best support for the answer to the previous question?
A. Lines 5-6 (“Mr. Pumblechook and I ... premises”)
B. Lines 7-11 (“Besides... arithmetic”)
C. Lines 25-26 (“To which my ... Pumblechook”)
D. Lines 34-35 (“She said... not protest”)

5. What theme does the passage communicate through the experiences of Pip, the narrator?
A. The world can be a puzzling and sometimes cruel place.
B. Young people are misunderstood by their elders.
C. Mean-spirited people deserve to be treated harshly.
D. The favors one receives in life should be reciprocated.

6. Which word best describes the young lady’s demeanor when she approaches Pip and Mr. Pumblechook?
A. Rude B. Timid C. Self-centered D. Authoritative

7. The passage strongly suggests that which of the following is true when Mr. Pumblechook leaves Pip at
Miss Havisham’s house?
A. Pip is excited to finally meet Miss Havisham.
B. Pip is nervous about being away from his sister for so long.
C. Pip is relieved to be away from Mr. Pumblechook.
D. Pip is anxious about spending time with the young lady who greets them.
8. Which choice provides the best support for the answer to the previous question?
A. Lines 17-18 (“For such reasons... roof”)
B. Line 25 (“A window ... name”)
C. Lines 34-35 (“She said it... protest”)
D. Lines 37-38 (“I was not... he didn’t”)

9. As used in line 34, “condition” most nearly means

A. illness B. prerequisite C. state D. limitation.

10. The author’s use of the parenthetical comment in line 24 helps reveal that
A. Pip is usually more polite in his references to others.
B. Mr. Pumblechook appreciates gourmet food.
C. Pip is very angered that his own breakfast is so meager.
D. Mr. Pumblechook has no qualms about overeating in public.
PASSAGE-10
“Letter from Birmingham Jail”
This passage is adapted from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”
…I think I should give the reason for my being in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the
argument of “outsiders coming in.” I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every Southern state with headquarters in Atlanta,
Georgia. We have some eighty-five affiliate organizations all across the South, one being the Alabama
(3)Christian Movement for Human Rights. Whenever necessary and possible we share staff, educational, and
financial resources with our affiliates. Several months ago our local affiliate here in Birmingham invited us to
be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct action program if such were deemed necessary. We readily
consented and when the hour came we lived up to our promises. So I am here, along with several members of
my staff, because we were invited here. I am here because I have basic organizational ties here. Beyond
(10)this, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here..
Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta
and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere.
We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects
one directly affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow,
(15)provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an
outsider anywhere in this country.
You may well ask, “Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches, etc.? Isn’t negotiation a better path?” You are
exactly right in your call for negotiation. Indeed, this is the purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action
seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly
(20)refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer
be ignored. I just referred to the creation of tension as a part of the work of the nonviolent resister. This may
sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word tension. I have earnestly worked
and preached against violent tension, but there is a type of constructive nonviolent tension that is necessary
for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that
(25) individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative
analysis and objective appraisal, we must see the need of having nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of
tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights
of understanding and brotherhood. So the purpose of the direct action is to create a situation so crisis-packed
that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. We, therefore, concur with you in your call for
(30)negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in the tragic attempt to live in
monologue rather than dialogue..
My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and
nonviolent pressure. History is the long and tragic story of the fact that privileged groups seldom give up their
Privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but as
(35) Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups are more immoral than individuals.
We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be
demanded by the oppressed... For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” It rings in the ear of every African
American with a piercing familiarity. This “wait” has almost always meant “never.” It has been a
tranquilizing thalidomide, relieving the emotional stress for a moment, only to give birth to an ill-formed
infant
(40)of frustration. We must come to see with the distinguished jurist of yesterday that “justice too long
delayed is justice denied.” We have waited for more than three hundred and forty years for our constitutional
and God-given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jet-like speed toward the goal of
political independence, and we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward the gaining of a cup of coffee at a
lunch counter….

1. Which choice correctly states King’s purpose for writing this letter?
A. To explain why he came to Birmingham
B. To launch a nonviolent protest movement in Birmingham
C. To open an affiliate of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Birmingham
D. To support fellow civil rights activists in Birmingham

2. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
A. Line 1 (“I think…in Birmingham”) B. Lines 2-4 (“I have... Atlanta, Georgia”)
C. Lines 4-5 (“We have some…Rights”) D. Lines 12-13 (“Injustice anywhere… everywhere”)

3. The passage most strongly suggests that which of the following statements is true?
A. King was warmly welcomed when he arrived in Birmingham.
B. King received criticism for his decision to come to Birmingham.
C. King did not want to cause a disruption by coming to Birmingham.
D. King was abandoned by his supporters when he arrived in Birmingham.

4. As used in line 11, “interrelatedness of all communities and states” most nearly means that
A. King has personal connections to people in the town.
B. the Southern Christian Leadership Conference needs national support.
C. events in one part of the country affect everyone in the nation.
D. local civil rights groups operate independently of one another.

5. Based on paragraph 3, it can be reasonably inferred that King believed circumstances in Birmingham at the
time
A. were unfair and wrong.
B. constituted an isolated event.
C. justified his arrest.
D. required federal intervention.
6. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
A. Line 11 (“Moreover, ... states”)
B. Lines 12-13 (“Injustice anywhere…everywhere”)
C. Line 13 (“We are caught ... destiny”)
D. Lines 14-15 (“Never again ... idea”)

7. As used in line 20, “dramatize” most nearly means

A. Cast events in an appealing light.
B. Draw attention to significant events.
C. Exaggerate events to seem more important.
D. turn events into a popular performance.

8. Which choice most clearly paraphrases a claim made by King in paragraph 4?

A. A failure to negotiate in the South has provoked direct action by civil rights activists.
B. A focus on dialogue blinds reformers to the necessity for direct action to promote change.
C. Direct action is necessary to motivate people to talk about prejudice and racism.
D. Nonviolent protest encourages a sense of brotherhood and understanding among citizens.

9. Paragraph 5 best supports the claims made in the preceding paragraph by

A. arguing that nonviolent pressure is most likely to spur just action by individuals.
B. clarifying that throughout history, privileged classes have been reluctant to let go of privilege.
C. drawing a distinction between the morality of individuals and of groups.
D. pointing out that few gains in civil rights have been made without nonviolent pressure.

10. King refers to “the gaining of a cup of coffee at a lunch counter” (lines 43-44) primarily to
A. call attention to the sedative effect of delaying civil rights reform in the United States.
B. emphasize that white Americans will not willingly end oppression against black Americans.
C. describe the progress made toward the winning of equal rights in other countries.
D. underscore the contrast between progress made in other countries and the United States.
 LONG READING PASSAGES 01-10
Passage- Passage- Passage- Passage- Passage- Passage- Passage- Passage- Passage- Passage-
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
1 C 1 B 1 A 1 C 1 C 1 D 1 A 1 A 1 B 1 A
2 B 2 B 2 B 2 A 2 A 2 D 2 A 2 C 2 C 2 A
3 D 3 C 3 A 3 D 3 D 3 A 3 A 3 A 3 D 3 B
4 C 4 D 4 B 4 B 4 A 4 C 4 B 4 B 4 B 4 C
5 A 5 B 5 D 5 B 5 D 5 B 5 D 5 B 5 A 5 A
6 A 6 D 6 D 6 A 6 B 6 A 6 C 6 B 6 D 6 B
7 D 7 A 7 A 7 D 7 C 7 A 7 C 7 D 7 C 7 B
8 C 8 B 8 C 8 D 8 B 8 C 8 B 8 C 8 D 8 C
9 C 9 A 9 D 9 C 9 B 9 D 9 D 9 A 9 C 9 D
10 B 10 B 10 C 10 C 10 D 10 B 10 C 10 D 10 A 10 D
11 D 11 D 11 C 11 A
 MAIN IDEA QUESTIONS
Passage-01
The conversation started over a fence dividing two backyards. On one side, an ecologist remarked that
surveying animals is a pain. His neighbor, an astronomer, said he could see objects in space billions of light
years away. And so began an unusual partnership to adapt tools originally developed to detect stars in the sky
to monitor animals on the ground. The neighbors, Steven Longmore, the astronomer, and Serge Wich, the
ecologist, both of Liverpool John Moores University in England, made their backyard banter a reality that
may contribute to conservation and the fight against poaching. The scientists developed a system of drones
and special cameras that can record rare and endangered species on the ground, day or night. Computer-vision
and machine-learning techniques that help researchers study the universe’s oldest and most distant galaxies
can now be used to find animals in video footage.

Q-The Primary Purpose of the excerpt can be best named as

A. Finding the relationship between astronomy and ecology.
B. Analyzing the latest machine-learning techniques
C. Working on how to count the endangered species world wide
D. Discovering special cameras to serve their unique purposes

Passage-02
Facebook on Wednesday said that the data of up to 87 million users may have been improperly shared with a
political consulting firm connected to President Trump during the 2016 election - a figure far higher than the
estimate of 50 million that had been widely cited since the leak was reported last month. Mark Zuckerberg,
the company’s chief executive, also announced that Facebook would offer all of its users the same tools and
controls required under European privacy rules. The European rules, which go into effect next month, give
people more control over how companies use their digital data. Facebook had not previously disclosed how
many accounts had been harvested by Cambridge Analytica, the firm connected to the Trump campaign. It
has also been reluctant to disclose how it was used by Russian-backed actors to influence the 2016
presidential election.

Q-A suitable title for the passage can be

A. Rigging of 2016 U.S. presidential elections.
B. Vulnerability of data on Facebook.
C. Facebook’s involvement in U.S. Presidential Elections?
D. Need to improve the standards of protecting online data.
Passage-03
When something on your fruit or vegetable looks odd, it isn’t unusual to instinctively toss it to the side. But
some “weird” parts of fruits and veggies actually contain copious amounts of health benefits (like thin fruit’s
seed), or they may offer other little-known uses. (Who knew there’s a use for onion skins?) Those “strings on
your banana are no different. Often peeled off and thrown away with its skin, banana “strings,” which are
scientifically called “phloem bundles.” are just as nutritious as the rest of the fruit. They are packed full of
potassium, fiber, vitamin A, and vitamin B6. Phloem is a tissue found in all plants, which is responsible for
the transport of nutrients, “Phloem bundles are made up of living cells and allows for food products and sugar
to all the different parts of the plant,” says Rebecca Lee, a registered nurse and the founder of
remediesforme.com, a health resource for natural remedies.

Q- The main idea of the passage is

A. Bananas are good for health
B. Bananas are packed with potassium and fiber which good for health
C. Phloem is an extremely nutritious tissue
D. Banana strings are as healthy as the bananas themselves

Passage-04
Fortunately, there are a few easy ways to ensure your pan is 13x9. To start, always measure from inside edge
to inside edge. Going from the outside edges includes the pan’s border which throws off your measurement
and will most likely make it inaccurate. Another rule of thumb is to use your ruler to measure across the top,
not the bottom. You can also measure the pan’s volume, aka how much batter it holds. Do this by filling the
pan with water all the way to the top-a true 13x9 pan should hold about 14 cups or 3.3 liters of liquid. Tip:
This is much easier to do if you measure the cups as you fill (instead of filling it up, then having to pour the
water into a measuring cup). Don’t forget to consider your pan’s depth, too. The average 13x9 pan is two
inches deep. You can measure for depth by holding a ruler straight up (no slanting!) in the bottom of the dish.
A shallower pan may not hold all of your batter whereas a deeper pan may not cook evenly through the center.
Remember, just because a piece of bakeware looks like a 13x9 pan doesn’t mean it really is. Always measure
first to make sure you’re using the right size-and avoid burning those delicious blondies you worked so hard
for.

Q- What can be a suitable title for the above paragraph

A. How to measure a baking pan.
B. How to control the pan during baking.
C. How not to be inaccurate.
D. How the keep the blondies fresh.
Passage-05
Japan continues its ascent on our list. The country nearly tripled its presence this year with 38 entries; 33 of
them derived 100% of their revenue from Asia-Pacific. Their stories support Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s
policies to boost domestic demand and GDP growth. Chiba, Japan-based Start Today made a comeback after
a four-year hiatus. Through its online retail outlet Zozotown and fashion app Wear, it experienced a 55.6%
growth in sales last year. The market value of the company is $7.2 billion, up 41% from this time last year.
Plans to expand internationally are in the works. Last fall the company launched a beta version of its app in
the U.S. Doing business in America is nothing new. Right now the company sells merchandise online under a
“Made In The USA” category. Billionaire founder Yusaku Maezawa, whose holdings in the company are
worth $2.9 billion, also seems to enjoy spending his money there. In May, he paid a record $110.5 million for
a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting at Sotheby’s art auction in New York City, shattering the previous record he
set in May 2016 when he paid $57 million for another Basquiat.

Q- The best suited title for the excerpt can be

A. Augmenting businesses in the United States of America.
B. Japan’s climb for 2018.
C. Companies in Japan are planning to expand internationally.
D. Japan will leave USA behind in the years that follow.

Passage-06
Starbucks branding is truly iconic. Just looking at a Starbucks cup doesn’t give much of a hint about what its
name means. The woman in its logo is a mythological siren, so what does that have to do with stars? Or
bucks?
And why is it one word? Originally, the chain was going to be called “Cargo House, which would have been a
terrible, terrible mistake,” co-founder Gordon Bowker tells the Seattle Times. The owners had also considered
using “Pequod” after Captain Ahab’s ship in Moby Dick. But Terry Heckler, the brand consultant who
designed the chain’s logo, wasn’t so crazy that name either. Heckler mentioned offhand that like these power
words, things starting with “st” sounded powerful-a good trait for a brand that would grow to more than
25,000 cations by 2016. From there, Bowker made a list of “st” words. But Starbucks wasn’t on it. As the
team tried landing on a name, Heckler brought out an old 1800s map of Mt. Rainier and the Cascades. The
name of one mining town, Starbos, stood out to Bowker. He immediately thought of the first mate on the
Pequod: Starbuck.

Q-What can be a suitable title for the excerpt?

A. How Starbucks was almost named Pequod.
B. How has Starbucks developed the best branding strategies.
C. How Starbuck’s name is a result of effort of its founding team.
D. How words that start with ‘st’ have a profound impact.
Passage-07
Recently, scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) discovered that treating aging mice
with NMN for as little as two months visibly improved the health of the mice’s blood vessels. These elderly
mice gained 80 percent more exercise endurance and helped to restore their muscle mass to that of much
younger mice. The results of this study were published in the journal Cell. “What this paper would suggest is
that you may actually be able to rescue muscle mass in an aging population by this kind of intervention,”
Leonard Guarente, PhD, the Novartis Professor of Biology at MIT and one of the senior authors of the study,
said in a press release. “There’s a lot of crosstalk between muscle and bone, so losing muscle mass ultimately
can lead to loss of bone, osteoporosis, and frailty, which is a major problem in aging.

Q- The primary purpose for the passage can be best described as

A. The improving research standards of MIT
B. Scientists have successfully discovered an antidote for aging.
C. Nervous system of mice is similar to that of humans.
D. Losing muscle mass is a direct result of aging

Passage-08
Let’s be honest: These days, airplanes can barely fit your own two legs. Given the limited real estate that
comes with an economy class seat, you can expect to sit for hours with a stiff neck and back, which takes a
serious toll on your circulation. While most people know that standing up and walking around during your
flight can boost your blood flow, it’s not always possible (or convenient!) to do so. That’s where a tennis ball
comes in.
Confused? Just hear us out. Tennis balls can put any fancy, expensive gadgets to shame when it comes to
alleviating pain, improving circulation, and relieving tightness. And as it turns out, having one of these
portable masseuses in your carry-on could prevent blood clots on long flights or road trips. (You should
always pack these things in your carry-on, too.) Rolling a tennis ball along your body loosens up stiff muscles
and stimulates blood flow. It’s practically the ultimate on-the-go self-massage you never knew you needed.
Not only are tennis balls are compact enough to fit into a small bag, but using one during a flight won’t bother
your neighbors, either. And luckily, it’s not one of the things most likely to get you flagged in the security
line.

Q- The best title for the above excerpt can be

A. Relieving stress.
B. Uncomfortable atmosphere in the airplanes.
C. Importance of flying with a tennis ball.
D. The unwanted security checks.
Passage-09
I must confess that I was skeptical at first. I saw those stories as comforting illusions that filled the void left
by secure employment. While precariousness exists in organizations too, there it is often temporary - tied to
the early stage of one’s career or to a sudden change. For independent workers, however, precariousness is
chronic - no matter how long one has been at it, and how much success one has had in the past. But then, I
would think that. I am ensconced in a university, immersed in research and pundit communities that still
regard the lack of full-time employment in an organization as a deprivation of sorts. On second thought,
however, couldn’t many of our deepest longings - safety, love, respect, freedom -be called illusions? And
even if they were, would life be worth living without them? Furthermore, why are we so intent on forgetting
that organizations can be depriving too, and at times even abusive of their employees?

Q- The excerpt can be most suited to be called

A. Doubts in the heart of an average employee
B. Inability of organizations to retain their employees
C. Declining work-life balance
D. Importance of blending in

Passage-10
During a typical week, managers meet with their teams for check-ins. Similarly, plan to check in periodically
with your team member on leave. Create an individualized schedule that works for you and the team member.
Obviously, when they’re in the midst of a chaotic time, office check-ins aren’t likely to be a priority, but you
can expand them as the situation stabilizes. A good starting point is checking in on a monthly basis, but of
course this depends on the length of the leave. Keeping up even occasional communication will help your
team member feel valued and engaged when they are out of the office, and it demonstrates your confidence in
and support of their work. You can talk with your employee to find the method of communication that best
suits them, whether it’s quick emails, phone calls, or perhaps an occasional face-to-face meet-up if they’re on
extended leave and their situation allows for it. For instance, your check-in might be a simple email such as:
“Hi Carlos, I thought I would check in and say hello today. Can I help you with a meal or dropping off
paperwork? All the best, Anne.”

Q- The most suitable title for the passage can be

A. Remember to check in during the leave
B. Medical leaves are very important
C. Managers should work on understanding their responsibility
D. Communications methods should be improved
Passage-11
At a news conference on April 16, Bryan Stirling, the director of the South Carolina Department of Correction
tried to explain why seven men had been stabbed to death and many more had been severely injured by their
fellow prisoners at the Lee Correctional Institution. A fight had broken out the night before between rival
gangs over “territory, contraband and cellphones,” Mr. Stirling said, and the priority now was to jam all illegal
cellphones in the state’s prison system. According to the many emails, calls and texts I have received this
week from inside South Carolina’s prisons, however, this account is misleading, and to clamp down even
harder on the men inside would be a terrible mistake.

Q-The primary purpose of the passage is to

A. Explain what happened in the news conference
B. State the reason why there was a fight
C. Explain in detail the system of state prison
D. Emphasize how further mistreating the prisoners can be dangerous

Passage-12
I sometimes think I went to the wrong college. By many measures – most of them financial – my choice to
attend Cornell was not the smartest one. I applied to only two colleges, the University of Florida and Cornell,
because applying to college is an expensive process, and I didn’t know about fee waivers. What I did know
was that thanks to my good grades and various state initiatives meant to entice students to stay in the state for
college, I had an excellent financial aid package from the University of Florida: full tuition, room and board
covered, the additional outside scholarships I’d earned going toward books and other expenses. I was about to
be the first in my family to go to college, and it wouldn’t cost us a cent. Then, in April, I got into Cornell. I
now know that the financial aid package was also strong, but it didn’t feel that way then: There was a
subsidized loan of $4,00o a year in my name and an additional “expected family contribution.” If I were going
to Cornell today, that contribution would have been zero, but this was before the school eliminated the parent
contribution for families who made less than $60,000 a year.

Q- The passage implies all of the following except

A. The author is not happy at Cornell.
B. The author regrets not knowing about fee waivers
C. The author didn’t have a strong financial background
D. University of Florida was very open to financial help
Passage-13
It’s only been seven years since the launch of Xiaomi’s first smartphone in August 2011. Now, the Beijing-
based firm is getting ready to raise an eye-watering tech IPO of at least $50 billion -- expected to be the
biggest public listing the world has ever seen. That’s double Alibaba’s record-breaking offering of $25 billion
just three years prior. Valued at roughly $46 billion following its last funding round in 2014, Xiaomi became
the most valuable private tech company at the time. Helped by its flash sales and savvy social media
campaigns, the Chinese smartphone maker is at present the third largest unicorn just behind ride-sharing Didi
Chuxing and Uber, according to data compiled by CB Insights. While the hardware maker hasn’t commented
on the timeline of the deal, founder and chairman Lei Jun said at the recent World Internet Conference in
Wuzhen that he’s looking to “transplant China’s business ideas into other countries.” A well-timed and
successful IPO could bring in much-needed ammunition for the expansion.

Q- The main idea of the passage is that

A. Alibaba is no longer the biggest company of the world.
B. Xiaomi has had many successful campaigns.
C. This IPO could help Xiaomi to expand more than it ever did.
D. Chairing the world internet conference is very important for Xiaomi.

Passage-14
As a writer, I often work from home, spending a lot of time on the computer. To stay connected to nature
while indoors, I decorate my space with flowers. One of my favorite pick-me-ups is walking to a nearby
grocery store to buy inexpensive tea roses, sunflowers, or gerbera daisies to bring home. I put the flowers in
mason jars on the windowsill, on my bookcase and at my desk. The sweet smell and colorful sight make me
feel light inside. The boost of happiness I get from fresh flowers made me wonder what others do. What I
discovered was a slew of readily available (and good-for-you!) ways to feel a variety of positive emotions
including energized, calm, empowered, and joyful.

Q- The primary purpose of the passage is to

A. State that flowers can positively boost the mood of an individual.
B. Spending a lot of time on computers is not good.
C. Decorating spaces is a rare art.
D. State that happiness, in most cases, is hard to get.
Passage-15
Candace Payne went viral for her infectious laughter when she put on a Chewbacca mask and the Internet
hailed her “Chewbacca Mom” after falling in love with her joy. She went on to write Laugh It Up: Embrace
Freedom and Experience Defiant Joy. In an email, she told Reader’s Digest, “One of my favorite simple joys
is to create for others. I think about making something fun/pretty/useful to give away and I get to it. It might
be crocheting a hat for a friend, lettering my favorite fun quote in sparkly markers, putting together a grocery
bag of goodies and a taco recipe to drop on the doorstep of a neighbor, or causing an unexpected Nerf battle
with the hubs after the kids fall asleep. When I do for others, I feel my mood instantly changes. My focus
shifts from my problems and helps me find a way to brighten someone else’s day.”

Q- The central idea of the passage is that

A. The author loves writing about self fulfillment.
B. Internet was in awe of the Chewbacca Mom.
C. Helping other is one of the most important aspects of life.
D. The only way to attain true happiness is to make others happy.

Passage-16
Sleep is a wonderful thing that doesn’t just feel good, but is completely necessary to our overall health. When
we’re rested, our physical and mental health thrives. When we don’t get enough sleep, we break down in more
ways than one: Bad moods, bad habits, dull skin, poor work performance, and even delirium can all result
from too much tossing and turning and not enough dreaming. Though we all struggle to get a good night’s
sleep from time to time, if you start to label yourself an insomniac, you may be making the problem worse. In
a recent paper published in the Journal of Behavior Research and Therapy, psychologist Kenneth Lichstein
calls insomnia more than a sleep disorder, but also a cognitive appraisal disorder. The paper, titled “Insomnia
Identity,” examines the difference between the label and the condition.

Q- The author of the passage centrally suggests that

A. Sleep is not necessarily and equally important for everyone.
B. Its very important to work on your mental and physical fitness.
C. Dreaming regularly is equally important even if one doesn’t have proper sleep.
D. Tagging yourself with insomnia is actually worse than not have proper sleep.
Passage-17
Whether you’re on a long road trip or stuck in traffic during a daily commute, a low iPhone battery could spell
disaster for the bored driver. At first, it may seem harmless to plug your phone into your car’s USB port. But
unless you’re desperate, charging your iPhone during your commute might be a big mistake. (And by the way,
charging your iPhone like this could ruin its battery.) Why? For starters, the USB port in your vehicle
probably provides less electricity than your phone really needs to charge. As a result, your phone might stall
while it charges, or worse-barely charge at all. This common battery-saving iPhone hack actually hurts your
charge, too

Q- The primary purpose of the passage is

A. Explain how stressful the daily commute can be
B. Show that the phone batteries are of extremely low quality
C. Charging the phones in cars can actually ruin the batteries.
D. Traffic is increasing on a very rapid pace.

Passage-18
For those who don’t want to end up similarly compartmentalized, the message is clear. A focused leader is not
the person concentrating on the three most important priorities of the year, or the most brilliant systems
thinker, or the one most in tune with the corporate culture. Focused leaders can command the full range of
their own attention: They are in touch with their inner feelings, they can control their impulses, they are aware
of how others see them, they understand what others need from them, they can weed out distractions and also
allow their minds to roam widely, free of preconceptions.

Q- According to the passage, all of the following are true about a ‘Focused Leader’ except
A. The one who is in touch with the sentiments and has a high E.Q.
B. The one who does not react immediately.
C. The one free from all sorts of stereotypes.
D. The one who is extremely intelligent.
Passage-19
Some parents are uncomfortable exercising authority over their child, but when it comes relaying food and
lifestyle habits to your children, Japanese parents find success using an authoritative rather than an
authoritarian approach. Authoritative parenting, pioneered in the early 1960s by the psychologist Diana
Baumrind, is an easy, effective way to be the boss your children need without resorting to phrases like
“because I said so,” which can erode their trust. With authoritative parenting, you establish guidelines and
rules that your children are expected to follow, listen to questions, and be nurturing and strategic in your
approach to discipline. You are assertive, but not intrusive and restrictive. You are supportive, rather than
punitive. “The authoritative model of discipline,” Baumrind wrote, “is characterized by the use of firm control
contingently applied and justified by rational explanation of consistently enforced rules.” It is possible for us
as parents, anywhere in the world, to build an environment for children that, although far from perfect, can
inspire them to adopt testes and habits that will increase their chances of enjoying as long and healthy a life as
it’s possible for them to experience.

Q- The main idea of the passage is

A. How the lifestyles of the parents can affect their children
B. How authoritative approach is different from authoritarian approach.
C. Why Japanese parents use the authoritative approach and how it is beneficial for their children.
D. How to perfectly enjoy a healthy life.

Passage-20
If you supersize your coffee to jump start your day, you may be driving yourself deeper and deeper into a low-
energy rut. Compelling research from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and other
institutions finds that frequent low doses of caffeine-the amount in a quarter-cup of coffee-were more
effective than a few larger doses of caffeine when it comes to keeping people alert.

Q- The primary purpose of the passage is to

A. Discover the importance of coffee.
B. Differentiate between coffee and tea.
C. Explain the effectiveness of small doses of caffeine in contrast to big ones.
D. State that small doses of caffeine takes away the daily energy.
ANSWERS
P-1. C
P-2. C
P-3. D
P-4. A
P-5. B
P-6. A
P-7. B
P-8. C
P-9. B
P-10 .A
P-11. A
P-12. A
P-13. C
P-14. A
P-15. D
P-16. D
P-17. C
P-18. D
P-19. C
P-20. C
 PART-2
SENTENCE
COMPLETION
 Sentence Completion Exercises

Select the word or set of words that best completes each of the following sentences.

EXERCISE A.
15 Question - 10 minutes.

1. Those people who are interested in_________ today are concerned about the effect of toxic wastes on our
environment.
(a) sociology (b) evolution (c) entomology (d) ecology (e) geology

2. Promotion in that company was based all too frequently on favoritism rather than an_________.
(a) nepotism (b) relationships (c) seniority (d) ability (e) loyalty

3. My_________ were_________ when I heard his explanation; I was convinced that he was telling the
(a) suspicions – confirmed (b) companions – startled
(c) misgivings – aroused (d) fears – distracted (e) doubts - dispelled

4. Although she was normally a_________ individual, she attacked the heckler who had been interrupting
her speech.
(a) perceptive (b) pusillanimous (c) peaceful (d) choleric (e) boastful

5. The doctors have ordered additional tests because the patient has not_________ as rapidly as had been
expected.
(a) reiterated (b) recuperated (c) deteriorated (d) qualified (e) behaved

6. The owners of the spa advertised that their_____________ were especially___________ for the arthritic.
(a) springs – toxic (b) waters – deleterious
(c) mountains – beneficial (d) facilities – inaccessible (e) waters- healthful

7. Somber news from the flood-stricken area does not justify the_________ attitude which you are
displaying.
(a) lugubrious (b) sanguinary (c) belligerent (d) optimistic (e) gloomy

8. The trite and______________ situations in many television programs alienate many viewers.
(a) predictable (b) novel (c) unpredictable (d) strange (e) gruesome
9. Ever since Pearl Harbor, we realized that we have to be_________ on the alert to prevent a sneak attack
from any adversary
(a) constantly (b) frequently (c) occasionally (d) obviously (e)manifestly

10. We find it hard to believe that there is no_________ between the resignation of the company treasurer and
the missing found.
(a) Connection (b) competition (c) understanding (d) cohesion (e) condescension

11. Voting in local, state, and national elections is the____________ of every American citizen.
(a) Imposition (b) emotion (c) respect (d) limit (e) duty

12. Since you disagree with John’s arguments in this dispute, your_________ of his position is_________.
(a) support – hypocritical (b) approval – understandable
(c) endorsement- logical (d) disapproval – unexpected
(e) denunciation – surprising

13. Peter has a bad habit of making_________ remarks which cause us to forget the gist of what he is saying.
(a) Awkward (b) pertinent (c) digressive (d) telling (e) tentative

14. Few in the audience waited for the_________ ; they had found the performance amateurish and boring.
(a) Curtain (b) epilogue (c) overture (d) playbill (e) dialog

15. Here in America, we have a_________ speech that is neither American, Oxford English, nor English but
a_________ of all three.
(a) Motely – conflagration (b) hybrid – combination c) nasal – mutilation
(d) mangled – conglomeration (e) feigned – masquerade

EXERCISE B
15 Question - 10 minutes.

1. We were annoyed by her_________ reply for we had been led to expect definite assurances of her
approval.
(a) acerbic (b) noncommittal (c) vehement d) caustic (e) articulate

2. Because of anticipated_________ the captain had the “Fasten Seat Belts” sign on during the entire
(a) sabotage (b) difficulties (c) activity (d) turbulence (e) piracy
3. Intolerance among_________ groups is deplorable and usually is based on lack of information about the
cultural groups involved.
(a) ethnic (b) aesthetic (c) belligerent (d) cohesive (e) alien

4. In such_________ weather, you must dress properly in order to avoid catching a cold or the flu.
(a) incompatible (b) variegated (c) salubrious (d) inclement (e) balmy

5. John Ferguson was widely_________ for his contributions to scientific research and was_________ for
the Nobel Prize.
(a) castigated – proposed (b) renowned – landed
(c) known – condemned (d) lauded – ignored (e) acclaimed – nominated

6. It was a great victory, but its_________ effect will not be_________ until we learn exactly how badly the
enemy fared.
(a) immediate – accomplished (b) long – time felt
(c) real – appreciated (d) finite – apprehended (e) lasting - implemented

7. The child was not_________ in his response; he showed his_________ openly.

(a) candid – anger (b) inhibited – emotions (c) quick – eagerness
(d) hesitant – indecision (e) slow – hesitation

8. Janet was liked by everyone she met because of her_________ manner and attractive appearance.
(a) universal (b) fortuitous (c) auspicious (d) insipid (e)winsome

9. Because your solution to this problem is so_________, I must oppose its adoption by this committee.
(a) Practical (b) enigmatic (c) diabolical (d) gratuitous (e)superannuated

10. John was awarded the Medal of Honor in recognition of his_________ in the very fierce battle.
(a) conformity (b) attitude (c) accuracy (d) garrulity (e) fortitude

11. She should be_________ for her ruthless attack on the reputation of her hapless opponent.
(a) censured (b) extolled (c) admired (d) affronted (e) maligned

12. I have no_________ in this matter: I am forced to follow the guidelines set forth in this manual.
(a) Grudge (b) qualifications (c) prudence (d) wisdom (e) latitude
13. In the face of family crises that would have undone a lesser woman, Eleanor Roosevelt_________
maintaining an air of composure and_________ dignity.
(a) fled – unseemly (b) cowered – spurious (c) preserved – unruffled
(d) triumphed – false (e) collapsed – hard – won

14. If you come to the conference with such_________ attitude, we cannot expect to reach a_________
agreement.
(a) A subservient – agreement (b) an indolent – passive
(c) an unwonted – hypothetical (d) an obdurate - harmonious
(e) a complicated - conclusive

15. She is so hypocritical that she_________ feelings she does not possess but feels she should _________.
(a) depicts – allow (b) manifests – demonstrates (c) desires – portray
(d) simulates – display (e) despises – abhor

EXERCISE C
15 Question - 10 minutes.

1. The_________ qualities of this salve will provide you with temporary relief from the pain which you now
suffer.
(a) obscure (b) analgesic (c) soporific (d) caustic (e) esthetic

2. We were amazed at the_________ culprits; they were not at all embarrassed by their arrest.
(a) arrest (b) brazenness (c) indignation (d) humility (e) impotence

3. Because she was a_________ writer, she was able to complete four novels by the end of the year.
(a) perfunctory (b) voracious (c) controversial (d) prolific (e) veritable

4. You term paper is too wordy; try to make it more_________.

(a) verbose (b) succulent (c) superficial (d) conciliatory (e) succinct

5. Polls indicate that many prospective voters in the next presidential election are_________ about the
outcome; they do not seem to care who wins.
(a) enthusiastic (b) inadequate (c) antagonistic (d) apathetic (e) suspicious
6. The_________ man was advised by his physician to go on a rigorous diet to lose weight.
(a) chronic (b) corpulent (c) cadaverous (d) frightened (e) emaciated

7. I object to this contract because it is_________; it stipulates my responsibilities but not yours.
(a) unilateral (b) indifferent (c) questionable (d) inevitable (e) universal

8. Aristotle maintained that tragedy created a_________ by purging the soul of base concepts.
(a) Vacuum (b) compromise (c) paradox (d) problem (e) catharsis

9. Before embarking on his first trip to Europe, John discussed his_________ with his friends and his travel
agent; he left little to chance.
(a) itinerary (b) meanderings (c) challenges (d) escapade (e) desires

10. I am seeking_________ solution to this dispute, one which will be fair and acceptable to both sides.
(a) obvious (b) equivocal (c) ambivalent (d) equitable (e) infamous

11. Many hoped to get the job not only because of the salary but also because of the health plan and
other_________ which went with it.
(a) perquisites (b) inconveniences (c) detractions (d) details (e) prerequisites

12. Propaganda may influence the sophisticated and urbane as well as the more_________ members of the
community.
(a) knowledgeable (b) worldly (c) gullible (d) philanthropic (e) blasé

13. The sales tax has been called_________ by many; it presents a greater hardship to the_________ members
of the state.
(a) progressive – disadvantaged (b) retrospective- affluent (c) regressive – poorer
(d) fair- wealthier (e) liberal-marginal

14. Although I do not wish to_________ your activities, I must insist that you_________ this assignment
before you start anything else.
(a) enlarge – cancel (b) prolong – finish
(c) compromise – accept (d) circumscribe – complete (c) impute – decline

15. It is no uncommon occurrence in the_________ world of theater, to encounter extreme prosperity one
week and financial_________ the next.
(a) dramatic- solvency (b) chancy-ruin
(c) uncertain – betterment (d) uncertain – betterment (e) celebrated - recovery
 EXERCISE D
15 Question - 10 minutes,

1. Even though Frank’s work is often immature, his latest effort is not_________; it is an intelligent report.
(a) theoretical (b) sophomoric (c) redundant (d) atypical (e) pedantic

2. Stop resorting to_________; make a direct charge or drop the matter.

(a) effrontery (b) subterfuge (c) slander (d) criticism (e) innuendo

3. Since all the financial news is so gloomy, I do not understand how you can have such_________ view
about the future of the stock.
(a) a skeptical (b) an apprehensive (c) a roseate (d) a melancholy (e) a negative

4. Such_________ act cannot be condoned; we must find the culprits and punish them.
(a) an altruistic (b) a sporadic (c) an impromptu (d) a heinous (e) a fortuitous

5. The dinner has been arranged to honor the_________ of Mr. Livingstone whose acts of philanthropy have
helped many needed individuals.
(a) diversity (b) gregariousness (c) tenacity (d) altruism (e) prodigality

6. Many in the audience were yawning because the speeches were, to say the least, _________.
(a) enthralling (b) soporific (c) maudlin (d) salacious (e) lachrymose

7. He displayed his_________ nature when he contributed only 50 cents at a time while everyone else was
donating at least five dollars.
(a) Penurious (b) sordid (c) philanthropic (d) specious (e) lethargic

8. I am afraid that this border raid is the_________ of more serious attacks.

(a) harbinger (b) reply (c) antithesis (d) successor

9. During the middle of the eighteenth century, the_________ style in furniture and architecture, marked by
scroll work and excessive decoration, flourished.
(a) gothic (b) functional (c) rococo (d) medieval (e) artistic

10. The orator delivered a_________ speech that was_________ by the more sophisticated in the audience
who were not swayed by the pompous language.
(a) patriotic – cheered (b) bombastic – ridiculed
(c) sententious – rejected (d) eulogistic – derided (e) fiery - ignored
11. Pacifists argued that our_________ attitude toward our former allies could only result in a more strained
relationship.
(a) truculent (b) harmonious (c) placid (d) uncomfortable (e) subservient

12. The science of_________ was largely Influenced by Audubon and his magnificent paintings of American
birds.
(a) ornithology (b) virology (c) endocrinology (d) photography

13. I have no_________ in bringing this matter before this group: I am only interested in seeing that justice
prevails.
(a) preference (b) obligation (c) animus (d) predilection (e) justification

14. Like the best_________ fiction, Mark Helprin’s Winter’s Tale is part dream, part mad invention, and all
of it hauntingly beautiful.
(a) satiric (b) prosaic (c) naturalistic (d) documentary (e) fantastic

15. They jury was convinced that some of the witnesses were guilty of_________ since_________ of
conflicting testimony had been heard.
(a) subornation- a refutation (b) insubordination - a quantity
(c) falsification - a absence (d) perjury – a plethora
(e) lying-a minimum
 ANSWERS TO SENTENCE COMPLETION EXERCISES

SENTENCE COMPLETION EXERCISE A

1.D 4.C 7.D 10.A 13.C

2.D 5.B 8.A 11.E 14.B
3.E 6.E 9.A 12.A 15.B

SENTENCE COMPLETION EXERCISE B

1.B 4.D 7.B 10.E 13.C

2.D 5.E 8.E 11.A 14.D
3.A 6.C 9.C 12.E 15.D

SENTENCE COMPLETION EXERCISE C

1.B 4.E 7.A 10.D 13.C

2.B 5.D 8.E 11.A 14.D
3.D 6.B 9.A 12.C 15.B

SENTENCE COMPLETION EXERCISE D

1.B 4.D 7.A 10.B 13.C

2.E 5.D 8.A 11.A 14.E
3.C 6.B 9.C 12.B 15.D

ANSWER EXPLANATIONS

SENTENCE COMPLETION EXERCISE A.

1. (D) Ecology is the study of the environment and its interrelationship with organisms; therefore, the
ecologists would be fearful about the effect that toxic material would have on the environment.
2. (D) A contrast to promotion by favoritism is promotion on the basis of ability.
3. (E) If the listener believed the speaker, any doubts that he might have had must have been dispelled (made
to disappear).
4. (C) The use of the word although implies that a contrast is being made. A peaceful person would not
normally attack someone.
5. (B) Recuperate means recover health.
6. (E) A spa is a mineral spring. Its waters are thought to be healthful (conductive to health).Note the
difference in meaning between healthful and healthy (having good health).
7. (D) Bad news never justifies an optimistic attitude.
8. (A) the key to this question is and. We need a synonym for trite. This is provided by predictable.
9. (A) constantly means always, without variation.
10. (A) connection indicates a causal relation; the implication is that the treasurer’s resignation and the
missing funds are related.
11. (E) Every citizen must fulfill the obligation, or duty, of choosing the leaders of the country.
12. (A) If a person supports a position with which he disagrees his behavior may be described as hypocritical.
13. (C) Digressive means wandering away. Such remarks can make a listener forget the topic.
14. (B) An epilogue is a speech delivered at the end of a play
15. (B) Hybrid means derived from mixed sources.

SENTENCE COMPLETION EXERCISE B.

1. (B) Anyone expecting definite assurances would be irritated by a noncommittal (not committing oneself to
a definite course of action) reply.
2. (D) Turbulence (agitated or disturbed air condition) would cause the captain to ask the passengers to
fasten their seat belts.
3. (A) Ethnic means pertaining to a race or nationality possessing common cultural qualities.
4. (D) Inclement means severe or stormy.
5. (E) Only a person acclaimed (praised) for his work would be nominated (named) for a prize.
6. (C) Choice C is the best of the lot. Appreciate as used in this sentence means become fully aware of.
7. (B) Inhibited means holding back.
8. (E) Winsome means charmingly engaging.
9. (C) A diabolical (fiendish) solution would be opposed.
10. (E) Fortitude means courage.
11. (A) A ruthless (merciless) attack on a hapless (unfortunate) victim should be blamed or censured.
12. (E) Latitude means freedom of action.
13. (C) Roosevelt’s strength enabled her to persevere (undisturbed) dignity.
14. (D) Obdurate meuns stubborn and unyielding.
15. (D) Simulate means assume the appearance of. A hypocrite pretends to be different from what he actually
is.

SENTENCE COMPLETION EXERCISE C.

1. (B) Analgesic means causing relief from pain.
2. (B) If the culprits display no sense of shame or embarrassment they are guilty of brazenness.
3. (D) Prolific (producing many works) best describes this writer.
4. (E) Succinct means compact, free of unnecessary verbiage.
5. (D) Apathetic means showing little feeling, emotion, or interest. If a voted is apathetic, he does not care
who wins.
6. (B) A corpulent (stout, overweight) person would be advised to lose weight.
7. (A) Unilateral means one-sided.
8. (E) Purging the soul of base concepts is called catharsis.
9. (A) Itinerary means a detailed plan of a journey.
10. (D) equitable means just and fair.
11. (A)A perquisite is a benefit or privilege received in addition to a salary.
12. (C) In this sentence, the use of as well indicates that we are looking for a contrast to the words
sophisticated and urbane. This contrast is provided only by gullible. Propaganda will fool the gullible
(easily deceived).
13. (C) A tax is called regressive when it taxes unfairly those least able to pay. The power members of Society
pay a larger proportion of the income than the weather under tax.
14. (D) Circumscribe means limit the scope of.
15. (B) Someone in a financially or chancy profession would be likely to face extremes of prosperity and ruin.

SENTENCE COMPLETION EXERCISE D.

1. (B) Sophomoric means immature.
2. (E) An innuendo is an indirect hint.
3. (C) roseate means optimistic or promising
4. (D) Heinous mean reprehensible, wicked.
5. (D) Altruism means unselfishness. Prodigality (choice E) means extravagance.
6. (B) Soporific means causing sleep
7. (A) Penurious means stingy
8. (A) Harbinger conveys the meaning of forerunner or introducer.
9. (C) The architectural style marked by excessive decoration is called the rococo style.
10. (B) A pompous speech may be described as bombastic. Such a speech would be ridiculed (laughed at) by
those not influenced by pomposity.
11. (A) a truculent (aggressively hostile) attitude will result in a strained (tense) relationship.
12. (B) the study of birds is called ornithology.
13. (C) Animus (hostile feeling) is the only choice that fits this sentence.
14. (E) A novel that is part-dream and part*mad invention is best described as a work of fantasy.
15. (D) Plethora means an overabundant amount. If conflicting testimony exists in large amounts, there is
always a possibility that some of the witnesses were guilty of perjury (lying under oath).
 Sentence Completion Exercise 1

1. Today Wegener’s theory is________; however, he died an outcast treated with________ by the scientific
establishment.
A. unsupported – approval B. dismissed – contempt C. accepted-approbation
D. unchallenged – disdain E. unrivalled- reverence

2. The revolution in art has not lost its steam; it________ on as fiercely as ever.
A. Marches B. meanders C. edges D. ambles E. rages

3. Each occupation has its own ________; bankers, lawyers and computer professionals, for example, all
among themselves language which outsiders have difficulty following.
A. merits B. disadvantages C. rewards D. jargon E. problems

4. ________by nature, Jones spoke very little every to his own family members.
A. Garrulous B. Equivocal C. taciturn D. Arrogant E. Gregarious

5. Biological clocks are of such________ adaptive value to living organisms, that we would expect most
organisms to________ them.
A. clear - avoid. B. meager – evolve C. significant – avoid
D. obvious – possess E. ambivalent – develop

6. The peasants were the least________ of all people, bound by tradition and________ by superstitions
A. free-fettered B. enfranchised – rejected C. enthralled- tied
D. restrained – limited E. conventional – encumbered

7. Many people at that time believed that spices help preserve food; however, Hall found that many marketed
spices were________ bacteria, moulds and yeasts.
A. devoid of B. teeming with C. improved by D. destroyed by E. active against

8. If there is nothing to absorb the energy of sound waves, they travel on________, but their
intensity________ as they travel further from their source.
A. erratically – mitigates B. eternally – alleviates C. forever – increases
D. steadily – stabilizes E. indefinitely – diminishes

9. The two artists differed markedly in their temperaments; Palmer was reserved and courteous,
Frazer________ and boastful.
A. phlegmatic B. choleric C. constrained D. tractable E. patient
10. In the Middle Ages, the________ of the great cathedrals did not enter into the architects’ plans; a
cathedral was positioned haphazardly in________ surroundings.
A. situation - incongruous B. location – apt C. Ambience- salubrious
D. durability – convenient E. majesty - grandiose

Sentence Completion Exercise 2

1. Unwilling to admit that they had been in error, the researchers tried to________ their case with more data
obtained from dubious sources.
A. ascertain B. buttress C. refute D. absolve E. dispute

2. Archaeology is a poor profession; only________ sums are available for excavating sites and even
more________ for preserving the excavations.
A. Paltry – meager B. miniscule – substantial C average – augmented
D. judicious – penurious E. modest – generous

3. The student was extremely foolhardy; he had the________ to question the senior professor’s judgment.
A. wisdom B. audacity C. interest D. pellucid E. condescension

4. The formerly________ waters of the lake have been polluted so that the fish are no longer visible from the
surface.
A. muddy B. tranquil C. stagnant D. pellucid E. stale

5. After the accident, the nerves to her arm were damaged and so the muscles________ through disuse.
A. atrophied B. contracted C. elongated D. invigorated E. dwindled

6. Some critics maintain that Tennyson’s poetry is uneven, ranging from the________ to the________.
A. sublime – elevated B. trite – inspired C. senseless – inane
D. succinct- laconic E. loud - voluble

7. After grafting there is a________ of lymphocytes in the lymph glands; the newly produced lymphocytes
then move in to attack the foreign tissue.
A. diminution B. proliferation C. obliteration D. paucity E. attraction

8. Corruption is________ in our society; the integrity of even senior officials is________.
A. growing – unquestioned B. endangered – disputed C. pervasive - intact
D. rare – corrupted E. rife - suspect
9. His characteristically________ views on examination methods at university level aroused________ in
those who want to introduce innovation and flexible patterns of assessment.
A. conservative – antagonism B. moderate-anger C. reactionary- admiration
D. rigid – support E. accommodating – annoyance

10. Our grandfather was an entertaining________; he used to________ us with marvelous anecdotes that we,
in our childlike simplicity, accepted unquestioningly.
A. rascal – bore B. orator-intimidate C. storyteller - regale
D. teacher – surprise E. tyrant - stupefy

Sentence Completion Exercise 3

1. He was treated like a________ and cast out from his community
A. ascetic B. prodigy C. prodigal D. pariah E. novice

2. The teacher accused me of________ because my essay was so similar to that of another student.
A. procrastination B. plagiarism C. celerity D. confusion E. decorum

3. We live in a________ age; everyone thinks that maximizing pleasure is the point of life.
A. ubiquitous B. propitious C. sporadic D. corrupt E. hedonistic

4. Thankfully the disease has gone into________; it may not recur for many years.
A. treatment B. seizure C. isolation D. remission E. oblivion

5. People from all over the world are sent by their doctors to breathe the pure, ________ air in this mountain
region.
A. invigorating B. soporific C. debilitating D. unhealthy E. aromatic

6. As were many colonial administrators, Gregory was________ in his knowledge of the grammar of the
local language, though his accent was________.
A. deficient – poor B. competent – adequate C. faultless - awful
D. well-versed effective E. erratic – eccentric

7. Though Adam Bede is presented to us by the author as a________ fiction, there are none of the life-like
descriptions of the story of Amos Barton.
A. realistic B. romantic C. imaginative D. educational E. entertaining
8. There is a general________ in the United States that our ethics are declining and that out moral standards
are ________.
A. feeling – normalizing B. idea – futile C. optimism - improving
D. complaint – deteriorating E. outlook - escalating

9. Homo sapiens, the proud splitter of the atom, inventor of the electronic computer, ________ of the genetic
code may be humbled by a lowly________ of the sewers and soils - the microbe.
A. designer – inhabitant B. discoverer – rodent C. writer - organism
D. decipherer – denizen E. author – purifier

10. After centuries of obscurity, this philosopher’s thesis is enjoying a surprising________.

A. dismissal B. remission C. decimation D. longevity E. renaissance

Sentence Completion Exercise 4

1. Scrooge, in the famous novel by Dickens, was a________; he hated the rest of mankind.
A. misanthrope B. hypochondriac C. philanthropist D. hedonist E. sybarite

2. A businessman must widen his horizons; a________ attitude will get you nowhere in this age of global
communications.
A. moderate B. terrified C. narrow-minded D. diversified E. comprehensive

3. Our bookshelves at home display a range of books on wide-ranging subjects and in many languages,
reflecting the________ tastes of our family members.
A. anomalous B. limited C. esoteric D. furtive E. diverse

4. Plastic bags are________ symbols of consumer society; they are found wherever you travel.
A. rare B. ephemeral C. ubiquitous D. fleeting E. covert

5. Dr. Stuart needs to________ his argument with more experimental data; as it stands his thesis is________.
A. support – profound B. bolster – acceptable C. refine - satisfactory
D. buttress – inadequate E. define – succinct

6. After an initially warm reception by most reviewers and continued________ by conservative thinkers,
Bloom’s work came under harsh criticism.
A. criticism B. endorsement C. disparagement D. counterattack E. refutation
7. Through the 19th Century, the classics of Western Civilization were considered to be the________ of
wisdom and culture and an________ person - by definition- knew them well.
A. foundation – average B. epitome –uneducated C. cornerstone - obtuse
D. font – ecclesiastical E. repository - educated

8. In this biography we are given a glimpse of the young man________ pursuing the path of the poet
despite________ rejection slips.
A. doggedly – disappointment B. tirelessly – encouragement C. sporadically - awards
D. successfully – acclaim E. unsuccessfully - failure

9. The wall and floor decorations created by Indian housewives are usually________, remaining hours, days,
or at most, weeks before being worn off by human activity or weather and replaced by new________.
A. perennial – drawings B. ephemeral – designs C. trivial – purchases
D. impermanent – furnishings E. innovative – pictures

10. The subtle shades of meaning, and still subtler echoes of association, make language an instrument which
scarcely anything short of genius can wield with________ and________.
A confidence – aloofness B. definiteness – certainty C. sincerity – hope
D. conservatism – alacrity E. eloquence – ruthlessness

Sentence Completion Exercise 5

1. To reach Simonville, the traveler needs to drive with extreme caution along the ________curves of the
mountain road that climbs________ to the summit.
A. winding – steeply B. rough- steadily C. gentle - sharply
D. shady – steadily E. hair-raising – lazily

2. The cricket match seemed________ to our guests; they were used to watching sports in which the action is
over in a couple of hours at the most.
A. unintelligible B. inconsequential C. endless
D. implausible E. evanescent

3. Our present accountant is most________; unlike the previous________ incumbent, he has never made a
mistake in all the years that he has worked for the firm.
A. unorthodox – heretical B. dependable- assiduous C. punctilious- painstaking
D. idiotic- diligent E. meticulous - unreliable
4. The refugee’s poor grasp of English is hardly an________ problem; she can attend classes and improve
within a matter of months.
A. implausible B. insuperable C. inconsequential D. evocative E. injudicious

5. We appreciated his________ summary of the situation; he wasted no words yet delineated his position
most________
A. comprehensive : inadequately B. succinct : direfully C. rational : persuasively
D. verbose : concisely E. grandiloquent: eloquently

6. His musical tastes are certainly________; he has recordings ranging from classical piano performances to
rock concerts, jazz and even Chinese opera.
A. antediluvian B. assorted C. harmonious D. sonorous E. dazzling

7. Before his marriage the Duke had led an austere existence and now regarded the affectionate, somewhat
________ behavior of his young wife as simply________.
A. restrained – despicable B. childish – elevating C. playful - sublime
D. frivolous – immature E. unpleasant – delightful

8. Wilson________ that human beings inherit a tendency to feel an affinity and awe for other living things, in
the same way that we are________ to be inquisitive or to protect our young at all costs.
A. argues – encouraged B. maintains – trained C. contends - predisposed
D. fears – taught E. demurs – programmed

9. The pond was a place of reek and corruption, of ________ smells and of oxygen-starved fish breathing
through laboring gills.
A. fragrant B. evocative C. dolorous D. resonant E. foul

10. While war has never been absent from the________ of man, there have been periods in History which
appear remarkably________.
A. archives – ambivalent B. posterity – serene C. mind - desultory
D. annals – pacific E. life - belligerent
 Sentence Completion Exercise 1-5 Answers
S# SC-Ex-1 SC-Ex-2 SC-Ex-3 SC-Ex-4 SC-Ex-5
1 D B D A A
2 E A B C C
3 D B E E E
4 C D D C B
5 D A A D C
6 A B C B B
7 B B A E D
8 E E D A C
9 B A D B E
10 A C E B D
 PART-3

VOCAB TESTS
 Vocab Test 01
1. Join; unite; fuse; mend
(a) muddle (b) disinter (c) filch (d) solder

2. harass with persistent criticism or carping; razz; rag; cod

(a) tantalize (b) petrify (c) dissimulate (d) truncate

3.injure or wound seriously and leave permanent disfiguration or mutilation

(a) prolong (b) malign (c) maim (d) collaborate

4. avoid dealing with

(a) surmount (b) extenuate (c) attenuate (d) shirk

5. suffer from intense heat

(a) tote (b) flag (c) swelter (d) protract

6. make secure underneath

(a) undergird (b) shirk (c) interdict (d) countenance

7. lose freshness, vigor, or vitality

(a) attribute (b) replicate (c) wither (d) perforate

8. formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure; retract; resile
(a) flummox (b) forswear (c) adorn (d) dismiss

9. express one’s sympathetic grief, on the occasion of someone’s death

(a) swathe (b) countenance (c) hurtle (d) condole

10. achieve something by means of trickery or devious methods; manage

(a) decoke (b) pulsate (c) finagle (d) denudate

11. exhume
(a) dig up for reburial or for medical investigation (b) accuse; serve as evidence against
(c) dismiss from priestly office (d) cause to be embarrassed

12. filch
(a) suffuse with color
(b) make or become black; melanise; black
(c) correct by punishment or discipline; subdue
(d) make off with belongings of others; cabbage; purloin; hook; sneak

13. evoke
(a) transform a solid directly into a gas (b) dress up garishly and tastelessly
(c) call to mind; paint a picture (d) command against; proscribe; veto; disallow; nix
14. wax
(a) look at with amorous intentions (b) set straight or right; remedy; repair
(c) increase in phase (d) impregnate; aerate

15. trigger
(a) initiate; start; bring about
(b) pierce with a sharp stake or point; spike
(c) cancel officially; lift; reverse; repeal; overturn; rescind; vacate
(d) reduce to small pieces or particles by pounding or abrading; crunch; bray

16. defile
(a) eat greedily; raven; pig
(b) spot, stain, or pollute; maculate
(c) praise, glorify, or honor; exalt; glorify; proclaim
(d) treat or speak of with contempt

17. unhallow
(a) spoil by behaving clumsily or foolishly
(b) express a negative opinion of; pick at
(c) find repugnant; execrate
(d) remove the consecration from a person or an object; deconsecrate

18. undulate
(a) speak unfavorably about; traduce; drag through the mud
(b) establish the validity of something, as by an example, explanation or experiment; establish; show
(c) increase and decrease in volume or pitch, as if in waves
(d) viewpoint; standpoint; attitude

19. germinate
(a) release, as from one’s grip; release
(b) cuase to grow or sprout
(c) make a parody of; parody
(d) knock down with force; dump; knock down; floor

20. mutilate
(a) cancel officially; countermand; reverse; rescind
(b) destroy or injure severely
(c) cut the head of; decollate
(d) move fast; hasten; hie; speed; race; pelt along; rush along
 Vocab Test 02
1. call together
(a) convoke (b) sear (c) ambuscade (d) simper

2. draw back, as with fear or pain; funk; cringe; shrink; wince; recoil; quail
(a) germinate (b) manumit (c) flinch (d) erode

3. adj. having made preparations; prepared

(a) stentorian (b) baffling (c) inclined (d) extant

4. n. mud or clay or small rocks deposited by a river or lake

(a) turbulence (b) silt (c) junket (d) hymnal

5. n. the fullness of a tone of voice

(a) tanner (b) sepulcher (c) coiffure (d) rotundity

6. make off with belongings of others; cabbage; purloin; hook; sneak

(a) decant (b) invert (c) flourish (d)flich

7. wear out completely; beat

(a) tucker (b) rase (c) stymy (d) discount

8.adj. marked by precise accordance with details

(a) propulsive (b) punctilious (c) puny (d) permeable

9. adj. commonly used or practiced; usual; accustomed; customary; habitual

(a) unassuming (b) wonted (c) indissoluble (d) redoubtable

10. adj, sensible and practical

(a) earthy (b) redundant (c) serpentine (d) stainless

11. a club-shaped hand tool for grinding and mixing substances in a mortar
(a) oculist (b) pestle (c) acuity (d) succor

12. n. a collector and student of postage stamps

(a) compilation (b) philatelist (c) pomposity (d) automation

13. adj. having existed from the beginning; primeval; primeval

(a) tensile (b) musky (c) primordial (d) seedy
14. adj. very thin especially from the disease or hunger or cold: emaciated: haggard: pinched; skeletal;
wasted
(a) inflated (b) gaunt (c) sixpenny (d) discerning

15. bone linking the scapula and sternum

(a) warren (b) component (c) clavicle (d) cleft

16.n, kinship; blood relation

(a) gratuity (b) collage (c) consanguinity (d) indolence

17. v. breathe noisily, as when one is exhausted; heave

(a) bedazzle (b) liken (c) gasp (d) intimate

18. v. approve and express assent, responsibility, or

(a) balk (b) ratify (c) authenticate (d) undulate

19. adj. situated at or extending to great depth; unplumbed; unsounded

(a) unfathomed (b) qualified (c) sensuous (d) argent

20. v. annoy continually or chronically; hassle; harry plague; provoke

(a) Chevy (b) filch (c) integrate (d) obscure
 Vocab Test 03
1. call together
(a) convoke (b) sear (c) ambuscade (d) simper

2. draw back, as with fear or pain; funk; cringe; shrink; wince; recoil; quail
(a) germinate (b) manumit (c) flinch (d) erode

3. adj, having made preparations; prepared

(a) stentorian (b) baffling (c) inclined (d) extant

4. n. mud or clay or small rocks deposited by a river or lake

(a) turbulence (b) silt (c) junket (d) hymnal

5. n. the fullness of a tone of voice

(a) tanner (b) sepulcher (c) coiffure (d) rotundity

6. make off with belongings of others; cabbage; purloin; hook; sneak

(a) decant (b) invert (c) flourish (d) filch

7. wear out completely; beat

(a) tucker (b) rase (c) stymy (d) discount

8. adj. marked by precise accordance with details

(a) propulsive (b) punctilious (c) puny (d) permeable

9. adj. commonly used or practiced; usual; accustomed; customary; habitual

(a) unassuming (b) wonted (c) indissoluble (d) redoubtable

10. adj. sensible and practical

(a) earthy (b) redundant (c) serpentine (d) stainless

11. a club-shaped hand tool for grinding and mixing substances in a mortar
(a) oculist (b) pestle (c) acuity (d) succor

12. n. a collector and student of postage stamps

(a) compilation (b) philatelist (c) pomposity (d) automation
13. adj. having existed from the beginning: primeval; primeval
(a) tensile (b) musky (c) primordial (d) seedy

14. adj. very thin especially from disease or hunger or cold; emaciated; haggard; pinched: skeletal;
wasted
(a) inflated (b) gaunt (c) sixpenny (d) discerning

15. bone linking the scapula and sternum

(a) warren (b) component (c) clavicle (d) cleft

16.n. kinship; blood relation

(a) gratuity (b) collage (c) consanguinity (d) indolence

17. v. breathe noisily, as when one is exhausted; heave

(a) bedazzle (b) liken (c) gasp (d) intimate

18. v. approve and express assent, responsibility, or obligation

(a) balk (b) ratify (c) authenticate (d) undulate

19.adj. situated at or extending to great depth; unplumbed; unsounded

(a) unfathomed (b) qualified (c) sensuous (d) argent

20.v. annoy continually or chronically; hassle; harry; plague; provoke

(a) Chevy (b) filch (c) integrate (d) obscure
 VOCAB TEST 04

1. n. someone who educates young people

(a) inebriety (b) pedagogue (c) outskirts (d) reminiscence

2. n. a change of position that does not entail a change of location; move

(a) pittance (b) motility (c) circumlocution (d) dossier

3. a female fox
(a) mace (b) vixen (c) debutante (d) anemia

4. n. rapid simultaneous discharge of firearms; volley; burst

(a) ken (b) concession (c) fusillade (d) posterity

5. a sudden loss of consciousness resulting when the rupture or occlusion of a blood vessel leads to
oxygen lack in the brain
(a) apoplexy (b) curator (c) tribulation (d) conniption

6. a trader who exchanges goods and not money

(a) cataclysm (b) derision (c) eddy (d) barterer

7. a feeling of evil to come; presentiment

(a) ambivalence (b) emetic (c) boding (d) hegemony

8. floater; vagabond
(a) vagrant (b) demagogue (c) lagoon (d) proxy

9. the resemblance of an animal species to another species or to natural objects

(a) mimicry (b) centaur (c) exegesis (d) blende

10. an abject coward; recreant

(a) restraint (b) milieu (c) geta (d) poltroon

11. Criminate
(a) disembowel (b) aggrandize (c) censure (d) goad

12. promote
(a) replenish (b) jeer (c) exemplify (d) facilitate
13. Scrutinize
(a) genuflect (b) canvass (c) broach (d) gerrymander

14. strip the skin off

(a) exonerate (b) supplant (c) flay (d) delude

15. shower with love

(a) reverberate (b) bask (c) dote (d) hotfoot

16. expose while ridiculing

(a) bushel (b) illuminate (c) debunk (d) tout

17. Spoil
(a) cocker (b) apprehend (c) espouse (d) skimp

18. v. return to consciousness

(a) steep (b) extrude (c) resuscitate (d) attest

19. work excessively hard

(a) descry (b) wangle (c) spume (d) exploit

20. Restate
(a) ingeminate (b) compound (c) bushel (d) muckrake
 VOCAB TEST 05

1. heady
(a) Judicious (b) fallow (c) ethnic (d) wanton

2. Vague
(a) stultify (b) obscure (c) grok (d) devolve

3. difficult or impossible to evaluate with precision

(a) offensive (b) florid (c) imponderable (d) concurrent

4. lacking intent or capacity to injure

(a) unsightly (b) mellifluous (c) innocuous (d) lucullan

5. Excogitation
(a) decrepitude (b) tributary (c) conception (d) cornice

6. a state of Rage
(a) agape (b) amok (c) askew (d) gratis

7. the highest rage

(a) podium (b) vertex (c) nonchalance (d) balker

8. retiring
(a) reticent (b) preeminent (c) synchronous (d) natty

9. Vexed
(a) histrionic (b) harassed (c) precise (d) dabbled

10. Verbose
(a) wordy (b) incitive (c) uttered (d) receptive

11. suitable for drinking

(a) lustrous (b) coincident (c) potable (d) putrid

12. having a puzzling terseness

(a) worldly (b) linguistic (c) nonimmune (d) cryptic
13. of our relating to gestation
(a) gustatory (b) odious (c) bogus (d) zany

14. having important issues or results

(a) clogging (b) facile (c) consequential (d) voracious

15. liverish
(a) conjugal (b) theoretical (c) infinitesimal (d) bilious

16. showing pensive sadness

(a) wistful (b) provident (c) vulpine (d) tautological

17. living by or given to victimizing others personal gain

(a) plaint (b) gustatory (c) conscientious (d) predatory

18. knotty; problematic; problematical; tough

(a) serpentine (b) baffling (c) belated (d) infantile

19. dishonest; purchasable; venal

(a) actuarial (b) stealthy (c) bribable (d) sonorous

20. characterized by a buoyant rhythm

(a) laudable (b) lilting (c) desultory (d) hirsute
VOCAB VOCAB VOCAB VOCAB VOCAB
TEST 01 TEST 02 TEST 03 TEST 04 TEST 05
1 D 1 A 1 C 1 B 1 A
2 A 2 C 2 C 2 B 2 B
3 C 3 C 3 D 3 B 3 C
4 D 4 B 4 A 4 C 4 C
5 C 5 D 5 C 5 A 5 C
6 A 6 D 6 B 6 D 6 B
7 C 7 A 7 A 7 C 7 B
8 B 8 B 8 C 8 A 8 A
9 D 9 B 9 D 9 A 9 B
10 C 10 A 10 B 10 D 10 A
11 A 11 B 11 D 11 C 11 C
12 D 12 A 12 B 12 D 12 D
13 C 13 C 13 B 13 B 13 A
14 C 14 B 14 C 14 C 14 C
15 A 15 C 15 C 15 C 15 D
16 B 16 C 16 C 16 C 16 A
17 D 17 C 17 C 17 A 17 D
18 C 18 B 18 B 18 C 18 B
19 B 19 A 19 A 19 D 19 C
20 B 20 A 20 B 20 A 20 B
 VOCAB TEST-01

Directions: For each underlined word or phrase, five answer choices are given as A,B,C,D & E. You should
choose the word or phrase from the answer choices which is the closest in meaning to the underlined word.

1. He understands his obligations and attends to them

A) Restrictions B) annoyances C) observations D) duties

2. The pact has been in effect for twenty years

A) decade B) two decades C) quarter century D) silver jubilee

3. Cancer specialists are known as

A) Oncologists B) Pediatricians C) general practitioners D) Gynecologists

4. He was refused admission to the restaurant for not wearing a tie.

A) granted B) denied C) acquiesced D) requested

5. The foolish young man made ducks and drakes of his patrimony.
A) bought ducks B) made profit C) gave money to charity D) squandered

6. The ship was cast away on the coast of Africa.

A) wrecked B) isolated C) anchored D) landed

7. The professors introductory remarks were about the salient features of the new University
A) Preliminary B) final C) middle D) supplementary

8. The law is very explicit regarding the use of child safety seats in automobile.
A) brief B) new C) form D) clear

9. Trees have to be pruned to ensure that they bear fruit.

A) fertilized B) trimmed C)weeded D) harvested

10. An infectious disease can sweep through a community in a very short time.
A) spread B) creep C) stride D) maneuver

11. Small businesses often lack the means to provide their employees with health care insurance.
A) Resources B) standards C) supplies D) exclusions
12. Over-the-counter remedies can occasionally cause marginal side effects.
A) Strong doze B) serious illnesses C) guaranteed results D) secondary reactions

13. Many philosophers have claimed that acquiring knowledge is their life long goal
A) usurping B) gaining C) meditating D) legalizing

14. Herbal medicine relies on the real or imaginary curative properties of plants.
A) secured B) harmful C) healing D) remarkable

15. Indian hunters painted their bodies to camouflage themselves in the forest.
A) defend B) disguise C) clean D) strengthen

16. The lower leaves of indoor plants discolor and wilt from over watering.
A) tear B) spill C) drip D) droop

17. Taxation is a system of fiscal policy that can be altered to match economic changes.
A) temporary B) tenuous C) criminal D) macroeconomic

18. Sometimes, while living in a foreign country, one craves a special dish from home.
A) desires B) cooks C) tastes D) prepares

19. He turned a deaf ear to my advice.

A) heeded B) ignored C) praised D) honored

20. Marco Polo who was an Italian trader became famous for his journeys and narratives.
A) traveller B) tourist C) merchant D) adventurer

21. A mainframe computer system can run hundreds of programs simultaneously.

A) at the same time B) at the same speed C) in the same way D) in the same sequence

22. Large passenger aircrafts are so designed that their seats can be detached to make room for cargo
A) apartment B) windows C) space D) shelves

23. Acute diabetes may be difficult to treat and impossible to reverse.

A) Severe B) Occasional C) Common D) Juvenile
24. Even the most determined dieters are likely to give in to the temptation of holiday treats.
A) oppose B) subscribe C) yield D) resist

25. A manufacturer’s label on a garment indicates how to care for that particular item.
A) price B) logo C) material D) tag

VOCAB TEST-02

1. This account offers a paltry return on your investment.

A) Small B) too small C) big D)very big E)none of the above

2. The air was pungent in the afternoon.

A) cold B) hot C) strong D) pleasant E)none of the above

3. The person has left a prefatory note for you.

A) Introductory B) invitation C) threatening D) matrimonial E) none of above

4. The company responded pragmatically to local conditions

A) Successfully B) sluggishly C) in writing D) practically E)none of the above

5. He’s interested in the occult.

A) quick success B) promotions C) magical powers D) corruption E)none of the above

6. The soloist-got an ovation.

A) Prize B) applause C) magic powers D) advice E)none of the above

7. An onslaught means:
A) Order B) truth C) suggestion D) attack E)none of the above

8. My cousin is a knave.
A) Honest B) dishonest C) brilliant D) weak E)none of the above

9. I talked to an irate subordinate.

A) Meek B) dumb C)angry D) happy E)none of the above
10. He has got a docile temperament.
A) pleasure to control B) vague to control C) easy to control
D) difficult to control E) none of the above

11. He grimaced at the bitter taste

A) made an ugly expression with his face B) shouted at his servant
C) gave a laughter D) threw the plate E)none of the above

12. They have developed fraternity for each other,

A) a feeling of friendship B) a feeling of hostility
C) a feeling of jealousy D) a feeling of idealism E) none of the above

13. Politicians are often accused of evasiveness

A) corruption B) efficiency C)hasty decision D)embezzlement E)none of the above

14. There is an element of dissonance among them,

A) agreement B) lack of agreement C) cooperation
D) congenial colleague relationship E) none of the above

15. We’re decorating, so everything’s in complete disarray at home.

A) state of confusion B) state of perfection C) state of happiness
D) state of order E) none of the above

16. My boss does not like my diffident manner.

A) audacious B) brave C) shy D) explicit E)none of the above

17. We had a banal conversation about the weather.

A) Ordinary B) productive C) fruitful D) significant E)none of the above

18. He received accolade from his boss.

A) amount of money B) praise C) warning D)an important position E)none of the above

19. These are the arid regions of the world.

A) Dry B) fertile C) wet D) deserted E)none of the above

20. They apportioned the property left by their parents

A) Sold B) left C) bought D) divided E)none of the above
21. More than 50% population of some South Asian countries lives in abject poverty.
A) Little B) so-called C) terrible D) congenial E)none of the above

22. Humans have a special affinity for dolphins.

A) Disliking B) empathy C) training D)range E)none of the above

23. Steps have been taken to ameliorate the situation.

A) make the situation intensified B) make the situation tense C) make the situation worse
D) make the situation better E) none of the above

24. There are many anomalies in the tax system.

A) Similarities B) confusions C)differences D) interests E)none of the above

25. She has taken an avid interest in the project.

A) is extremely interested B) is not interested C) seems interested
D) fakes interest E) none of the above

VOCAB TEST-02

1. They had many qualms as to whether the plans were practical.

(A) troubles (B) misgivings C) rewards (D) duties (E) none of these

2. Playing their hardest, the two teams vied for the championship.
(A) coveted (B) surpassed (C) stimulated (D) competed (E) none of these

3. After he told me his problems, I could not help but commiserate with him.
(A) suffered (B) felt compassion for (C) complained
(D) fancied (E) none of these

4. England has granted autonomy to many states that were once under her rule.
(A) self-government (B) dictatorship (C) democracy (D) status (E) none of these

5. The liberty of the people was placed beyond transitory power.

(A) hesitating (B) easily seen through (C) captivating
(D) of short duration (E) none of these
6. His talk ended with the implication that he still had more to say on the subject.
(A) complexity (B) doubt (C) something hinted at
(D) a curse (E) none of these

7. The child was perusing the book with rapt attention.

(A) skimming through (B) reading carefully (C) planning
(D) taking advantage of (E) none of these

8. The politician felt hot under the collar when questioned about the bribery scandal of his henchmen.
(A) angry (B) disturbed (C) embarrassed
(D) confused (E) none of these

9. By that one move, the Duke will aggrandize his family’s estate.
(A) increase (B) steal (C) assemble (D) infuriate (E) none of these

10. The temporal affairs of a businessman are mundane.

(A) mild (B) slow (C) holy (D) worldly (E) none of these

11. With and almost miraculous tenacity, they held at the one-yard line.
(A) toughness (B) anger (C) wisdom (D) cooperation (E) none of these

12. Silas mariner, a famous character in a novel, was an avaricious man.

(A) weak (B) ruthless (C) greedy (D) talented (E) none of these

13. This attack on the Senator’s character is obviously reprehensible and disgraceful.
(A) bitter blameworthy (B) blameworthy (C) dishonest
(D) irresponsible (E) none of these

14. The School Board was so parochial in its outlook, it even disregarded what was happening to education
on a national level.
(A) pertaining to teaching (B) universal (C) critical
(D) limited (E) none of these

15. The frenetic pace of New York at Christmas time exhausted him
(A) peevish (B) frenzied (C) idiotic (D) accepted (E) none of these
16. The game ended in a complete debacle
(A) collision (B) tangle (C) sudden collapse (D) solution (E) none of these

17. He was the most disagreeable young man, arrogant and presumptuous
(A) offensively bold (B) insincere (C)weak
(D) temperamental (E) none of these

18. The jeweler carefully appraised the diamond.

(A) exhibited (B) explained (C) evaluated (D) carved (E) none of these

19. The investors were misled by entries showing fictitious asset:

(A) true (B) straightforward (C) artificial (D) wild (E) none of these

20. Within the student body, there were several cliques.

(A) hired applauders (B) clannish sets (C) traitors
(D) mischief-mongers (E) none of these

21. The tribe invoked their gods to send rains.

(A) implored (B) repeated (C) angered (D) blessed (E) none of these

22. The premiere’s address to the nation, by and large, was well-received in the country.
(A) for a little while (B) incidentally (C) on the whole
(D) apparently (E) none of these

23. Despite having the semblance of good will-building, his message appeared tantamount to a bitter-sweet
refusal.
(A) contrary (B) confusing (C) ready (D) equivalent (E) none of these

24. They plundered the city, filling their coffers with jewels and money.
(A) coins (B) strongboxes (C) records (D) pockets (E) none of these

25. The small group of people at our disposal were all experts in espionage.
(A) supervision (B) calculations (C) conflict-management (D) spying (E) none of these
 VOCAB TEST-04

1. To many of his contemporaries, Hitler’s rise to power seemed inexplicable

(A) overwhelming (B) complicated (C) conflicting (D) not explainable (E) none of these

2. It was necessary for him to amplify his remarks before we could understand the situation.
(A) to elaborate (B) falsify (C) assist (D) confuse (E) none of these

3. A layman would have difficulty understanding a physicist’s jargon.

(A) humor (B) crudeness (C) confusing lingo (D) wordy style (E) none of these

4. Modern Chinese sometimes pass along current news by utilizing graffiti on wall posters.
(A) dishonesty (B) scribbling (C) confetti (D) vulgarity (E) none of these

5. The student’s forte was obviously mathematics

(A) doubt (B) great size (C) one’s strong point (D) weakness (E) none of these

6. I was told never to look at, or to allude to his excessively large feet, for he was extremely sensitive about
this abnormality.
(A) emphasize (B) avoid (C) refer to indirectly (D) attack (E) none of these

7. Even though he had finally become president of the company, no one could ever accuse him of being
complacent.
(A) peaceful (B) straightforward (C) affable (D) self-satisfied (E) none of these

8. Visiting the town in which he grew up evoked nostalgic recollections.

(A) summoned (B) explained (C) exhibited (D) enraged (E) none of these

9. As we listened to the symphony, we were intrigued by the melodic nuances.

(A) mysteries (B) shades of difference (C) weaknesses
(D) similarities (E) none of these

10. There are individuals who use the occult science of astrology in planning their lives.
(A) unorthodox (B) idolatrous (C) pertaining
(D) pertaining to the supernatural (E) none of these
11. The motor vehicle department revoked her license.
(A) repealed (B) remembered (C) damaged (D) accepted (E) none of these

12. To Michelangelo, caring for his avaricious family must have seemed an unfair onus.
(A) sadness (B) happiness (C) criticism (D) burden (E) none of these

13. He saw the mountain, not as being part of an entire beauty and majesty on the landscape, but with
utilitarian eyes that would turn its graceful slopes into a profitable ski center.
(A) forceful (B) reflective) (C) watchful (D) endearing (E) none of these

14. All his statements were later substantiated by facts.

(A) wakened (B) substituted (C) verified (D) made wealthy (E) none of these

15. The old man had a loving and benign way about
(A) kindly (B) angry (C) wise (D) cooperative (E) none of these

16. There is a latent evil in any form of dictatorship.

(A) wide open (B) slow (C) hidden (D) weak (E) none of these

17. The garrulous old woman talked about her childhood incidents.
(A) feeble (B) excited (C) quarrelsome (D) talkative (E) none of these

18. This initial victory augmented their desire to win the championship.
(A) urged (B) increased (C) lost (D) disputed (E) none of these

19. There are many intriguing facets to his personality.

(A) jewels (B) sparkle (C) gadgets (D) aspects (E) none of these

20. The speech against freedom was a blatant denial of one of our most cherished
(A) unpleasantly noisy (B) brutal C) openly hostile (D) conceited (E) none of these

21. The clerk was enmeshed in a backlog of work.

(A) crushed (B) disentangled (C) captivated (D) weaved (E) none of these

22. The man stood up slowly and said, “I challenge the proponents of the ludicrous scheme.”
(A) objectors (B) competitors (C) advocates (D) followers (E) none of these
23. Despite all the injuries on their team, they contrived to win.
(A) attempted (B) devised (C) opposed (D) fancied (E) none of these

24. For one so young, the captain of the tennis team was unusually astute.
(A) proud (B) shrewd (C) foolish (D) stylish (E) none of these

25. The government granted amnesty to all political prisoners.

(A) total surrender (B) temporary cessation of hostilities
(C) peace treaty (D) pardon (E) none of these
 VOCAB TEST-05

1. The young girl listened to her grandfather’s end-less and repetitious stories with laudable patience.
(A) exorbitant (B) meticulous (C) unwavering (D) exemplary (E) intractable

2. When the right job comes along, act with celerity to take advantage of the opportunity.
(A) alacrity (B) resourcefulness (C) pragmatism (D) compunction (E) diligence

3. His diffidence caused him to miss many opportunities.

(A) ignorance (B) timidity (C)indifference (D) indolence (E) arrogance

4. The business survived on a tenuous relationship with one customer.

(A) tentative (B) insubstantial (C) lucrative (D) salient (E) amatory

5. He asked for compensation commensurate to his work.

(A) approximate (B) previous (C) equal (D) appropriate (E) incongruous

6. Visitors to impoverished countries are often shocked at the number of mendicants in the streets.
(A) beggars (B)criminals (C) vendors (D) drunkards (E) soldiers

7. It will take more than good intentions to ameliorate the conditions in the schools.
(A) understand (B) counteract (C) eliminate (D) camouflage (E) improve

8. Ephemeral pleasures may leave long-lasting memories.

(A) enervated (B) irresolute (C) frivolous (D) adventurous (E) transitory

9. The critic belittled her talent by suggesting that her beauty, rather than her acting ability, was
(A) illuminated (B) disparaged (C) declared (D) diminished (E) inveighed

10. The father upbraided his children for their extravagance.

(A) scolded (B) scorned (C) advocated (D) bolstered (E) flouted

11. Imagination and curiosity are the antidotes for ennui.

(A) inactivity (B) indolence (C) boredom (D) jollity (E) woe

12. His friends dissuaded him from that unwise course of action.
(A) protected (B) ostracized (C) deterred (D) sequestered (E) enmeshed
13. They rescinded their offer of aid when they became disillusioned with the project.
(A) renegotiated (B) withdrew (C) reinstated (D) rethought (E) validated

14. The novel told a lurid tale of murder and lust.

(A) sensational (B) nonsensical (C) esoteric (D) unrealistic (E) validated

15. She made many enemies because of her acerbic wit.

(A) boorish (B) caustic (C) inane (D) ingratiating (E) magnanimous

16. He ancient town was a labyrinth of narrow, winding streets.

(A) confusion (B) model (C) maze (D) collection (E) path

17. I will ruminate on your proposal and let you know my decision next week.
(A) ameliorate (B) linger (C) report (D) procrastinate (E) contemplate

18. One contentious student can disrupt an entire class.

(A) rambunctious (B) vociferous (C) quarrelsome (D) humorous (E) garrulous

19. The hot, humid weather can enervate even hearty souls.
(A) intimidate (B) invigorate (C) weaken (D) incite (E) impugn

20. Insisting on a luxury car you cannot afford is fatuous.

(A) inane (B) avarice (C) nefarious (D) impetuous (E) pretentious

21. They had to jettison the cargo to lighten the plane.

(A) relocate (B) divide (C) eject (D) disregard (E) consume

22. His ideas were quixotic and thoroughly useless.

(A) erroneous (B) dubious (C) incomprehensible (D) unrealistic (E) incoherent

23. He was candid about his financial difficulties.

(A) incredulous (B) apprehensive (C) enigmatic (D) blunt (E) ambiguous

24. Because of the drug’s soporific effect, you should not drive after taking it.
(A) noxious (B) sedative (C) inimical (D) poignant (E) incongruous

25. He is always chary with a new acquaintance

(A) eager (B) amiable (C) impudent (D) baleful (E) cautious
 ANSWERS
VOCAB TEST- VOCAB TEST- VOCAB TEST- VOCAB TEST- VOCAB TEST-
01 02 03 04 05
1 D 1 B 1 B 1 D 1 D
2 B 2 E 2 D 2 A 2 A
3 A 3 A 3 B 3 C 3 B
4 B 4 D 4 A 4 B 4 B
5 D 5 C 5 D 5 C 5 C
6 B 6 B 6 C 6 C 6 A
7 A 7 D 7 B 7 D 7 E
8 D 8 B 8 C 8 A 8 E
9 B 9 C 9 A 9 B 9 B
10 B 10 C 10 D 10 D 10 A
11 A 11 A 11 E 11 A 11 C
12 D 12 A 12 C 12 D 12 C
13 B 13 E 13 B 13 C 13 B
14 C 14 B 14 D 14 C 14 A
15 B 15 A 15 B 15 A 15 B
16 A 16 C 16 C 16 C 16 C
17 D 17 A 17 A 17 D 17 E
18 A 18 B 18 C 18 B 18 C
19 B 19 A 19 C 19 D 19 C
20 C 20 D 20 E 20 A 20 A
21 A 21 C 21 A 21 C 21 C
22 C 22 B 22 C 22 C 22 D
23 A 23 D 23 D 23 B 23 D
24 C 24 C 24 B 24 B 24 B
25 D 25 A 25 D 25 D 25 E