50 Section 1 Guide to Reading ‘he word cosmopolitan in the passage is closest in meaning to worldwide O useful O well-known © ancient There are two clues to help you find the meaning of the highlighted word. The first is in the preceding sentence, where the author says “all species might spread t0 every place on Earth where favorable conditions occur.” The author then says that there really are some of these cosmopolitan species—species that spread every where in the world. Then, in the following sentence, the author gives the example of the housefly, which is found “almost everywhere on Earth,” again indicating that a cosmopolitan species must be one that lives all over the world. This information should help you choose worldwide as being closest in meaning to cosmopolitan, Notice that if you put the three incorrect answer choices—usefil, well-known, and. ancient—Into the passage in place of cosmopolitan, the sentence does not make sense in the passage. At the end of the Reading Section of this book, there is a special tutorial called “Vocabulary Building.” This section contains lists of words that may appear in vocabulary questions and that are useful to learn to develop your academic vocab- ulary. The exercises will help you practice using context to guess the meaning of words. EXERCISE 2.1 Focus: Using context to guess the meaning of words in short passages. Dinecttos: Read the passages and then guess the meaning of the highlighted expressions in the passage. Write one or two synonyms or a definition on the lines next to the expressions. The first item is done for you. Passage 1 | Everyday life in the British Colonies of North America may seem glamorous, | | especially as reflected in antique shops. But judged by today’s standards, it was | quite a drab and harsh existence. For most people, the labor was hard and | constant from morning to dusk | Rudimentary comforts now taken for granted were lacking. Public buildings | were often not heated at all. Drafty homes were heated only by inefficient fire- | places. There was no running water or indoor plumbing, The faint light of candles and whale oil lamps provided inadequate illumination. There was no | sanitation service to dispose of refuse; instead, it was consumed by long-snouted | | hogs that were allowed to roam the streets freely. eeLesson 2: Vocabulary Questions 51 drab uninteresting, dull constant dusk 4, rudimentary —— —_—___— Fs eee ee eeu een eb ie ne eb me Ee SEE 6. refuse Passage 2 When Charles W, Eliot took over as president of Harvard in 1869, he broke with the traditional curriculum. The usual course of studies at U.S. universities at the time emphasized classical languages, mathematics, rhetoric, and ethics. Eliot pioneered a system under which most required courses were dropped in favor of elective courses. The university increased its offerings and stressed physical and social sciences, the fine arts, and modern languages. Soon other universities all over the United States were following Harvard's lead. 8. took over 9. curriculum 10. elective — IL. stressed52 Section 1 Guide to Reading Passage 3 The Pleiades, named after the Seven Sisters of Greek mythology, is a cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus. It is among the nearest to Earth of all star clusters, probably the best known, and certainly the most beautiful. The cluster has been known to humans since antiquity, and is mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey. It appears as a dipper-shaped group of stars high overhead on autumn evenings. Its so young (only a few milion years old) that many of its stars appear to be surrounded by a blue mist, This luminous haze is actually starlight from the hot blue stars that dominate the cluster reflecting off the interstellar dust and debris that was left over after the stars were formed. Our own sun’s stellar neighborhood probably looked much lke this just after its formation. Despite its name, the cluster is actually composed of about 250 stars, only a handful of which are visible with the naked eye. The seven brightest are named for the Seven Sisters of Greek mythology: Asterope, Electra, Maia, Taygete, Celaeno, Alcyone, and Merope. Six of these are considerably brighter than the seventh one, Merope. According to one myth, Merope is dimmer than her sisters because she is mourning a lost lover. 12, cluster 13, mist 14, tuminous — 15. debris — pees : ieee eee eeeeeeeee 16, a handful —___ 17, mourning ———______Lesson 2: Vocabulary Questions Passage 4 Interior designers may claim that a solitary goldfish displayed in a glass bow! makes a striking minimalist fashion statement, but according to a team of British researchers, goldfish leam from each other and are better off in groups than alone. In one experiment, two groups of goldfish were released into a large aquarium separated by a transparent panel. On one side, fish food was hidden in various locations. The fish on that side foraged for the food while the fish on the other side of the clear panel watched. When released into the feeding area, these observant fish hunted for the food exactly in the proper locations. Other experiments showed that fish raised in a group are less fearful than fish raised alone. And not only are they less skittish, but they are also better at eluding enemies in the event of actual attack. 18, solitary 19, striking — — 20, transparent 21, foraged skittish ~ eluding Passage 5 Although business partnerships enjoy certain advantages over sole proprietor- ships, there are drawbacks as well. One problem that partnerships face is the fact that each general partner is liable for the debts of any other partner. Moreover, he or she is responsible for lawsuits resulting from any partner’s mal- practice. Interpersonal conflicts may also plague partnerships. All partnerships, from law firms to rock bands, face the problem of personel disagreements. Another problem is the difficulty of dissolving partnerships. Its usually much easier to dissolve a sole proprietorship than it is to terminate a partnership, Generally, a partner who wants to leave a partnership must find someone— either an existing partner or an outsider that is acceptable to the remaining partners—to buy his or her interest in the firm. 24, drawbacks 25, able — 26. conflicts 27. plague 28, terminate 53