READING COMPREHENSION

Exercise 1:Read the passage and mark A, B, C or D to indicate the correct answer to each
of the questions.
For more than six million American children, coming home after school means com-ing back
to an empty house. Some deal with the situation by watching TV. Some may hide. But all of
them have something in common .They spend part of each day alone. They are called ”latchkey
children”. They are children who look after themselves while their parents work .And their bad
condition has become a subject of concern .
Lynette Long was once the principal of an elementary school .She said,”We had a school rule
against wearing jewalry. A lot of kids had chains around their necks with key attached. I was
constantly telling them to put the key inside shirts. There was so many keys ; it never came to my
mind what they meant.” Slowly, she learned that they were house keys.

She and her husband began talking to the children who had keys. They learned of the effect
working couples and single parents were having on their children. Fear was the biggest problem
faced by children at home alone. One in three latchkey children the Longs talked to reported
being frightened. Many had nightmares and were worried about their own safety.

The most common way latchkey children deal with their fears is by hiding. They may hide in a
shower stall, under a bed or in a closet. The second is TV. They often turn the volume up. It’s
hard to get statistics on latchkey children, the Longs have learned . Most parents are slow to
admit that they leave their children alone

Question 1. The phrase ”an empty house” in the passage mostly means                
A. a house with nothing inside      B. a house with no people inside

C. a house with too much space      D. a house with no furniture

Question 2. One thing that the children in the passage share is that                
A. they all watch TV      B. they all were jewelry

C. they spend part of each day alone      D. they are from single-parent families

Question 3. The phrase ”latchkey children” in the passage means children who        
A. look after themselves while their parents are not at home

B. close doors with keys and watch TV by themselves

C. are locked inside houses with latches and keys

D. like to carry latches and keys with them everywhere

Question 4. The main problem of latchkey children is that they              

A. watch too much TV during the day      B. are growing in numbers

C. suffer alot from being left alone      D. are also found in middle-class families
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Question 5. What is the main idea of the first paragraph?

A. bad condition of latchkey children      B. children’s activities at home

C. how kids spend free time      D. why kids hate going home

Question 6. Why did a lot of kids have chains around their necks with keys attached?
A. Schools didn’t allow them to wear jewelry, so they wore keys instead.

B. They would use the keys to enter their houses when they came home.

C. They were fully grown and had become independent.

D. They had to use the keys to open school doors.

Question 7. What do latchkey children suffer most from when they are at home alone?
A. Fear      B. Tiredness     C. Loneliness     D. Boredom

Question 8. Lynette Long learned of latchkey children’s problems by        

A. talking to them      B. visiting their homes

C. interviewing their parents       D. delivering questionaires

Exercise 2:Read the passage and mark A, B, C or D to indicate the correct answer to each
of the questions.
Animation traditionally is done by hand-drawing or painting successive frames of an object, each
slightly different than the preceding frame. In computer animation, although the computer may
be the one to draw the different frames, in most cases the artist will draw the beginning and
ending frames and the computer will produce the drawings between the first and the last
drawing. This is generally referred to as computer-assisted animation, because the computer is
more of a helper than an originator.In full computer animation, complex mathematical formulas
are used to produce the final sequence of pictures. These formulas operate on extensive
databases of numbers that define the objects in the pictures as they exist in mathematical space.
The database consists of endpoints, and color and intensity information. Highly trained
professionals are needed to produce such effects because animation that obtains high degrees of
realism involves computer techniques for three-dimensional transformation, shading, and
curvatures.High-tech computer animation for film involves very expensive computer systems
along with special color terminals or frame buffers. The frame buffer is nothing more than a
giant image memory for viewing a single frame. It temporarily holds the image for display on the
screen.A camera can be used to film directly from the computer’s display screen, but for the
highest quality images possible, expensive film recorders are used. The computer computes the
positions and colors for the figures in the picture, and sends this information to the recorder,
which captures it on film. Sometimes, however, the images are stored on a large magnetic disk
before being sent to the recorder. Once this process is completed, it is repeated for the next
frame. When the entire sequence has been recorded on the film, the film must be developed
before the animation can be viewed. If the entire sequence does not seem right, the motions must
be corrected, recomputed, redisplayed, and rerecorded. This approach can be very expensive and
 READING COMPREHENSION

time consuming. Often, computer-animation companies first do motion tests with simple
computer-generated line drawings before selling their computers to the task of calculating the
high-resolution, realistic-looking images.

Question 1. What aspect of computer animation does the passage mainly discuss?
A. The production process      B. The equipment needed

C. The high cost      D. The role of the artist

Question 2. According to the passage, in computer-assisted animation the role of the computer is
to draw the                      .
A. first frame      B. middle frames

C. last frame      D. entire sequence of frames

Question 3. The word “they” in the second paragraph refers to                .

A. formulas       B. databases      C. numbers     D. objects

Question 4. According to  the  passage, the  frame buffers mentioned  in  the  third  paragraph 
are  used to                    .
A. add color to the images      B. expose several frames at the same time

C. store individual images       D. create new frames

Question 5. According to the passage, the positions and colours of the figures in high-tech
animation are determined by                .
A. drawing several versions      B. enlarging one frame at a lime

C. using computer calculations       D. analyzing the sequence from different angles

Question 6. The word “captures” in the fourth paragraph is closest in meaning to .

A. separates       B. registers       C. describes     D. numbers

Question 7. The word “Once” in the fourth paragraph is closest in meaning to .

A. before      B. since      C. after     D. while

Question 8. According to the passage, how do computer-animation companies often test motion?
A. They experiment with computer-generated line drawings.

B. They hand-draw successive frames.

C. They calculate high-resolution images.

D. They develop extensive mathematical formulas.

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Exercise 3:Read the passage and mark A, B, C or D to indicate the correct answer to each
of the questions.
Basic to any understanding of Canada in the 20 years after the Second World War is the
country’s impressive population growth. For every three Canadians in 1945, there were
over five in 1966. In September 1966, Canada’s population passed the 20 million mark. Most of
this surging growth came from natural increase. The depression of the 1930s and the war had
held back marriages, and the catching-up process began after 1945. The baby boom continued
through the decade of the 1950s, producing a population increase of nearly fifteen percent in the
five years from 1951 to 1956. This rate of increase had been exceeded only once before in
Canada’s history, in the decade before 1911 when the prairies were being settled. Undoubtedly,
the good economic conditions of the 1950s supported a growth in the population, but the
expansion also derived from a trend toward earlier marriages and an increase in the average size
of families. In 1957 the Canadian birth rate stood at 28 per thousand, one of the highest in the
world.
After the peak year of 1957, the birth rate in Canada began to decline. It continued falling until in
1966 it stood at the lowest level in 25 years. Partly this decline reflected the low level of births
during the depression and the war, but it was also caused by changes in Canadian society. Young
people were staying at school longer; more women were working; young married couples were
buying automobiles or houses before starting families; rising living standards were cutting down
the size of families.

It appeared that Canada was once more falling in step with the trend toward smaller families that
had occurred all through the Western world since the time of the Industrial Revolution. Although
the growth in Canada’s population had slowed down by 1966 (the increase in the first half of the
1960s was only nine percent), another large population wave was coming over the horizon. It
would be composed of the children of the children who were born during the period of the high
birth rate prior to 1957.
Question 1. The word “five” in the first paragraph refers to                  .
A. decades       B. marriages       C. years       D. Canadians

Question 2. The word “surging” in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to                   .

A. surprising       B. new       C. accelerating     D. extra

Question 3. According to the passage, when did Canada’s baby boom begin?
A. During the depression of the 1930s       B. After 1945

C. In 1966        D. In the decade after 1911

Question 4. The author mentions all of the following as causes of declines in population growth
after 1957 EXCEPT                            .
A. couples buying houses       B. people being better educated

C. people getting married earlier       D. better standards of living

Question 5. The phrase “prior to” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to                   .
 READING COMPREHENSION

A. during       B. behind        C. before       D. since

Question 6. It can be inferred from the passage that before the Industrial Revolution                   .
A. population statistics were unreliable        B. the population grew steadily

C. families were larger       D. economic conditions were bad

Question 7. What does the passage mainly discuss?

A. Educational changes in Canadian society       B. Canada during the Second World War

C. Population trends in post war Canada       D. Standards of living in Canada

Exercise 4:Read the passage and mark A, B, C or D to indicate the correct answer to each
of the questions.
A rather surprising geographical feature of Antarctica is that a huge freshwater lake, one of the
world’s largest and deepest, lies hidden there under four kilometers of ice. Now known as Lake
Vostok, this huge body of water is located under the ice block that comprises Antarctica. The
lake is able to exist in its unfrozen state beneath this block of ice because its waters are warmed
by geothermal heat from the earth’s core. The thick glacier above Lake Vostok actually insulates
it from the frigid temperatures on the surface.
The lake was first discovered in the 1970s while a research team was conducting an aerial survey
of the area. Radio waves from the survey equipment penetrated the ice and revealed a body of
water of indeterminate size. It was not until much more recently that data collected by satellite
made scientists aware of the tremendous size of the lake; the satellite-borne radar detected an
extremely flat region where the ice remains level because it is floating on the water of the lake.

The discovery of such a huge freshwater lake trapped under Antarctica is of interest to the
scientific community because of the potential that the lake contains ancient microbes that have
survived for thousands upon thousands of years, unaffected by factors such as nuclear fallout and
elevated ultraviolet light that have affected organisms in more exposed areas. The downside of
the discovery, however, lies in the difficulty of conducting research on the lake in such a harsh
climate and in the problems associated with obtaining uncontaminated samples from the lake
without actually exposing the lake to contamination. Scientists are looking for possible ways to
accomplish this.
Question 1. What is true of Lake Vostok?
A. It is completely frozen.       B. It is a saltwater lake.

C. It is beneath a thick slab of ice.        D. It is heated by the sun.

Question  2.  All  of  the  following  are  true  about  the  1970  survey  of  Antarctica  EXCEPT
that  it                       .
A. was conducted by air      B. made use of radio waves

C. could not determine the lake’s exact size       D. was controlled by a satellite

Question 3. It can be inferred from the passage that the ice would not be flat if                    .
 READING COMPREHENSION

A. there were no lake underneath      B. the lake were not so big

C. Antarctica were not so cold      D. radio waves were not used

Question 4. The word “microbes” in paragraph 3 could best be replaced by which of the
following?
A. Pieces of dust     B. Tiny bubbles       C. Tiny organisms     D. Rays of light

Question 5. Lake Vostok is potentially important to scientists because it

A. can be studied using radio waves      B. may contain uncontaminated microbes

C. may have elevated levels of ultraviolet light       D. has already been contaminated

Question 6. The last paragraph suggests that scientists should be aware of

A. further discoveries on the surface of Antarctica

B. problems with satellite-borne radar equipment

C. ways to study Lake Vostok without contaminating it

D. the harsh climate of Antarctica

Question 7. The purpose of the passage is to                  .

A. explain how Lake Vostok was discovered.

B. provide satellite data concerning Antarctica.

C. discuss future plans for Lake Vostok.

D. present an unexpected aspect of Antarctica’s geography.

Exercise 5: Read the following passage and choose the best answer to each question.
Madison Square Garden, a world-famous sporting venue in New York City, has actually
been a series of buildings in varied locations rather than a single building in one spot. In 1873,
P.T. Barnum built Barnum’s Monster Classical and Geological Hippodrome at the corner of
Madison Avenue and 26th Street, across from Madison Square Park. Two years later, the
bandleader Patrick Gilmore bought the property, added statues and fountains, and renamed it
Gilmore’s Gardens. When Cornelius Vanderbilt bought the property in 1879, it was renamed
Madison Square Garden.
A second very lavish Madison Square Garden was built at the same location in 1890,
with a ballroom, a restaurant, a theater, a rooftop garden, and a main arena with seating for
15,000. However, this elaborate Madison Square Garden lasted until 1924 when it was torn
down to make way for a forty-storey skyscraper.
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When the second Madison Square Garden had been replaced in its location across from
Madison Square Park, the boxing promoter Tex Rickard raised six million dollars to build a new
Madison Square Garden. This new Madison Square Garden was constructed in a different
location, on 8th Avenue and 50th Street and quite some distance from Madison Square Park and
Madison Avenue. Rickard’s Madison Square Garden served primarily as an arena for boxing
prize fights and circus events until it outgrew its usefulness by the late 1950s.
A new location was found for a fourth for Madison Square Garden, a top Pennsylvania
Railroad Station, and plans were announced for its construction in 1960. This current edifice,
which includes a huge sports arena, a bowling center, a 5,000-seat amphitheater, and a twenty-
nine-storey office building, does retain the traditional name Madison Square Garden. However,
the name is actually quite a misnomer. The building is not located near Madison Square, nor
does it have the flowery gardens that contributed to the original name.
1. The main point of this passage is that Madison Square Garden ________.

A. has had a varied history in various locations B. was P.T. Barnum’s major
accomplishment

C. is home to many different sporting events D. was named after and adjacent
park

2. Which paragraph discusses the third location of Madison Square Garden?

A. The third paragraph. B. The second paragraph.

C. The first paragraph. D. The last paragraph.

3. According to the passage, Patrick Gilmore did all of the following EXCEPT that he
________.

A. purchased the property at the corner of Madison Avenue and 26th Street

B. made improvements to the property that he bought

C. named the property that he bought Madison Square Garden

D. sold the property to Cornelius Vanderbilt

4. The word “lavish” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ________.

A. simple B. modern C. elaborate D. outlandish

5. How long did the second Madison Square garden last?

A. 11 years B. 34 years C. 45 years D. 60 years

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6. Which of the following would most likely have taken place at Rickard’s Madison Square
Garden?

A. A balloon dance B. A theater production C. A basketball game D. a

tiger show

7. An “edifice” in paragraph 3 is most likely________.

A. an address B. an association C. a competition D. a building

8. Monster Classical and Geological Hippodrome was renamed Gilmore’s Gardens in

________.

A. 1890 B. 1879 C. 1875 D. 1874

9. What can be inferred about the current Madison Square Garden?

A. It is on Madison Avenue. B. It is across from Madison Square

Park.

C. It has incredible gardens. D. It is above a transportation center.

10. Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE according to the passage?

A. Madison Square Garden has been rebuilt for the fourth time.

B. Lots of flowers have been planted inside Madison Square Garden.

C. The Madison Square Garden building is far from Madison Square.

D. Madison Square Garden still has its original name.

Exercise 6:Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer
sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions.
In science, a theory is a reasonable explanation of observed events that are related. A theory
often involves an imaginary model that helps scientists picture the way an observed event could
be produced. A good example of this is found in the kinetic molecular theory, in which gases are
pictured as being made up of many small particles that are in constant motion.
A useful theory, in addition to explaining past observation, helps to predict events that have not
as yet been observed. After a theory has been publicized, scientists design experiments to test the
theory. If observations confirm the scientists’ predictions, the theory is supported. If
observations do not confirm the predictions, the scientists must search further. There may be a
fault in the experiment, or the theory may have to be revised or rejected.
Science involves imagination and creative thinking as well as collecting information and
performing experiments. Facts by themselves are not science. As the mathematician Jules Henri
Poincare said: “Science is built with facts just as a house is built with bricks, but a collection of
facts cannot be called science any more than a pile of bricks can be called a house.”
Most scientists start an investigation by finding out what other scientists have learned about a
particular problem. After known facts have been gathered, the scientist comes to the part of the
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investigation that requires considerable imagination. Possible solutions to the problem are
formulated. These possible solutions are called hypotheses. In a way, any hypothesis is a leap
into the unknown. It extends the scientist’s thinking beyond the known facts. The scientist plans
experiments, performs calculations, and makes observations to test hypotheses. For without
hypotheses, further investigation lacks purpose and direction. When hypotheses are confirmed,
they are incorporated into theories.
Question 1. Which of the following is the main subject of the passage?
A. The place of theory and hypothesis in scientific investigation.

B. The importance of models in scientific theories.

C. The ways that scientists perform different types of experiments.

D. The sorts of facts that scientists find most interesting.

Question 2. The word “related“in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to                          .

A. Described      B. Identified      C. completed      D. connected

Question 3. The word “this“in paragraph 1 refers to                          .

A. a good example      B. an imaginary model

C. the kinetic molecular theory      D. an observed event

Question 4. According to the second paragraph, a useful theory is one that helps scientists
to                .
A. observe events      B. publicize new findings

C. make predictions      D. find errors in past experiments

Question 5. The word “supported” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to                      .

A. finished      B. investigated      C. upheld      D. adjusted

Question 6. “Bricks”are mentioned in paragraph 3 to indicate how                        .

A. building a house is like performing experiments

B. mathematicians approach science

C. science is more than a collection of facts

D. scientific experiments have led to improved technology

Question 7. In the fourth paragraph, the author implies that imagination is most important to
scientists when they                         .
A. evaluate previous work on a problem      B. formulate possible solutions to a problem
 READING COMPREHENSION

C. gather known facts      D. close an investigation

Question 8. In paragraph 4, the author refers to a hypothesis as “a leap into the unknown” in
order to show that hypotheses                                     .
A. require effort to formulate      B. can lead to dangerous results

C. are sometimes ill-conceived      D. go beyond available facts