Read the two passages below, and then answer questions regarding the author's

purpose, organizational pattern and tone.

Passage 1
     Anyone can understand the confusion ancient traders experienced trying to market
their goods without a common standard of measurement.  Imagine trying to sell grain in
Egypt by the basket without having any comparison to make as to the basket's weight or
volume.  Such were the problems in early times when weight had to be guessed or
measured against a standard of the weight of stones, seashells, seeds, or grain.

     Problems also existed in terms of measurement of lengths.  One of the earliest linear
measurements was the foot which first took its standard from the length of a human foot
and later used the length of a king's foot as the standard.  Archaeologists have traced
people's attempts to grapple with standard units of measurement from the ancient
Egyptians' attempts to reset precise property lines after flooding of the Nile River to
biblical times when a cubit was the standard unit of length.  The cubit took its standard
from the distance between the end of the elbow to the end of the middle finger -- usually
about 18 inches.  The Romans defined the inch as the width of the thumb, and the mile
as 311,000 paces.  The problems involved in using such measurements are obvious. 
Imagine trying to set new, more accurate standards among people who hung on
tenaciously to existing standards.

     When the Romans conquered ancient Britain, they brought their standards of
measurement along and imposed them on the people.  Consequently, some of these
standards have survived to the 20th century.  The British Imperial System of weights
and measures evolved from many sources and became fairly well standardized by the
19th century.  The standard yard and pound were kept in the Houses of Parliament. 
However, when the Parliament building burned in 1834, the standards were destroyed. 
British scientists then began to press for a more uniform standard for the gallon, the
pound, and the yard which could be used in the entire British Empire.  This made
trading, buying, and selling much more uniform.

1.  The first sentence in paragraph 1 indicates that the author's purpose is --
A)  to analyze the problems of weights and measures. 
B)  to explain the growth of standards of measurements. 
C)  to describe the problems associated with lack of standards in weights and
measurements. 
D)  to classify standards of weights and measurements.
E)  to persuade readers to adopt a new set of weights and measurements.

2.  The tone of this passage can be described as --

A)  angry.  D)  informative.
B)  confused.  E)  ironic.
C)  formal. 
Passage 2
    One of the industrial giants who changed American society was Henry Ford.  Born on
a farm in Michigan in 1863, he grew up to bring forth some of the most revolutionary
improvements in automotive technology in the early 20th century.  His outstanding
mechanical ability led him to become interested in the new automobiles in the early
1900s.  Though he did not invent the automobile, he improved upon everyone else's
designs.
     He was a person who believed in inexpensive, efficient production, so he established
standards for his plant and workers.  He also standardized and produced many new
auto parts for his Ford Motor Company cars.  Then he studied the workers' problems
and built an assembly line -- the first of its kind in America.  This ingenious improvement
led to mass production of thousands of automobiles per year.  In fact, his plants had
produced 15 million Model Ts by 1927.
     Ford's personality was not all thrift, efficiency, and ingenuity, however.  He was a
man who was cold and who could not keep pace with the competition due to his own
rigidity.  His company suffered because of his desire to maintain the status quo instead
of meeting and beating the competition by changing his product.  Finally, he saw that he
must change or lose out; therefore, he introduced the eight-cylinder engine and once
again took over the automobile market.  Ford left a legacy of millions of dollars, millions
of jobs for American workers, and millions of satisfied customers.

1.  In developing the passage, the organizational pattern used by the author could be
described as --
A)  simple listing 
B)  time order 
C)  example
D)  cause and effect
E)  compare and contrast

2.  The tone of this passage can be described as --

A)  optimistic 
B)  formal 
C)  serious 
D)  critical
E)  sympathetic
 
ANSWER

PASSAGE 1
1. A / C
2. D

PASSAGE 2
1. B
2. A