Most of the fastening devices used in clothing today, like the shoelace, the button, and the safely

pin, have existed in some form in various cultures for thousands of years. But the zipper was the
brainchild of one American inventor, namely Whitcomb Judson of Chicago. At the end of the 19th
century, Judson was already a successful inventor, with a dozen patents to his credit for
mechanical items such as improvements to motors and railroad braking systems.

He then turned his mind to creation a replacement for the lengthy shoelaces which were then
used in both men's and women's boots. On August 29th 1893, he won another patent, for what he
called the "clasp-locker". Though the prototype was somewhat clumsy, and frequently jammed, it
did work: in fact, Judson and his business associate Lewis Walker had sewn the device into their
own boots. Although Judson displayed his clasp-locker at the World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893,
the public largely ignored it. The company founded by Judson and Walker, Universal Fastener,
despite further refinements, never really succeeded in marketing the device.

The earliest zip fasteners were being used in the apparel industry by 1905, but it was only in 1913,
after a Swedish-American engineer, Gideon Sundbach, had remodeled Judson's fastener into a
more streamlined and reliable form, that the zipper was a success. The US Army applied zippers to
the clothing and gear of the troops of World War ‡T. By the late 1920s, zippers could be found in
all kinds of clothing, footwear, and carrying cases; by the mid-1930s, zippers had even been
embraced by the fashion industry.

The term "zipper" was coined as onomatopoeia ( resembling the sound it makes ) by B. F.
Goodrich, whose company started marketing galoshes featuring the fastener in 1923. Regrettably,
Whitcomb Judson died in 1909, and never heard the term, or saw the success by which his
invention would become ubiquitous.

1. The zipper differs from the other three fastening devices mentioned in paragraph 1 in which
way?
(a) it has been used in many more ways
(b) it is more recent
(c) it can be used in place of the other three
(d) it is usually made from different materials

2. The word “prototype” in line 8 is closest in meaning to

(a) device
(b) design
(c) model
(d) original

3. What is the author’s main point in the second paragraph?

(a) despite being a successful inventor, Judson failed with the clasp-locker
(b) Judson lacked marketing skills
(c) Judson was a poor businessman
(d) Although Judson invented a workable product, it did not appeal to the public

4. The word “it” in line 11 refers to

(a) Judson
(b) Clasp-locker
(c) Worldfs Fair
(d) The public

5. The word “refinements” in line 12 is closest in meaning to

(a) improvements
(b) changes
(c) promotion
(d) additions

6. According to the passage, zippers did not really become a success until
(a) they were used in the apparel industry after 1905
(b) in 1913 after being remodeled
(c) the Army used them in World War I
(d) be the late 1920s

7. The word “gear” in line 16 is closest in meaning to

(a) boots
(b) luggage
(c) equipment
(d) tents

8. According to the passage, by the late 1920s zippers could be found in all of the following
industries EXCEPT
(a) footwear
(b) luggage
(c) tents
(d) fashion

9. The word “embraced” in line 18 is closest in meaning to

(a) welcomed
(b) considered
(c) discarded
(d) promoted

10. According to the passage, the zipper got its name

(a) when used in clothing
(b) in 1909
(c) from Judson
(d) because of its sound

11. Which of the following descriptions best describes the author’s last comments about Judson?
(a) admire
(b) sad
(c) envy
(d) celebrate

12. Which of the following statements can best be inferred from the passage about zippers?
(a) the imaginative name was a major factor in its success
(b) a successful model had been developed commercially before Sundbach’s version because it
was used in the apparel industry by 1905
(c) Judson was an inventor, not a business man
(d) If Judson had still been alive by World War I his company would have been more successful

Answers

1.B 2.C 3.D 4.B 5.A 6.B 7.C 8.C 9.A 10.D 11.B 12.B
1.B

2.C

3.D

4.B

5.A

6.B
7.C

8.C

9.A

10.D

11.B

12.B

Passage 1

Spiders produce three basic types of webs. The sheet web is a two
dimensional layer of threads seemingly laid out at random. The space web
is a three- dimensional, wispy structure. The orb web, by far the most
familiar, is the two- dimensional cartwheel pattern.
5 Of the 30.000 spider species, some 6.000 are orb spinners. For three
Decades Dr. Peter N. Witt has studied orb spinners, especially a species
called Areneus diadematus, and their webs. Witt is a German-born medical
doctor and self- taught arachnologist, whose passion is to understand the
ways of spiders. Witt has delved deeply into the behavior of spiders and
10 vastly expanded our knowledge about orb spinners and their webs. Some
of his findings have even amazed other arachnologists.
"We have actually compared human building activities to spider
building, and we find an enormous amount of parallet between the two,"
Witt says. For one thing, just like their human counterparts in the building
15 trades, orb spinners erect a form of removable scaffolding as they weave
their webs.
Orb spinners are solitary creatures who dwell one to a web. The web
is home, food source, and mating ground, and it is guarded aggressively.
When a male arrives at mating time, the courtship ritual is an intricate set
20 of advances and retreats until the female is finally won over and no longer
25  tries to kill her would- be lover.
Orb spinners each weave a new web every day, working in the predawn
darkness and executing the distinctive pattern of concentric circles and
 radial lines in a half hour or less. "There is nothing as important as web
building, because without the web there is no food," Witt says.

1.The topic of this passage is

(A) spiders.

(B) different types of webs spiders make.

(C) Dr. Peter N. Witt.

(D) orb spinners and their webs.

2. According to the passage, the difference between the sheet web and the orb web

is  (A) the pattern.

(B) the size.

(C) the texture.

(D) the length of thread spun by the spiders.

3. The phrase "at random" in line 2 is closest in meaning to

(A) arbitrarily.

(B) quickly.

(C) deftly.

(D) incongruously.

4. We can infer from the passage that an arachnologist is

(A) a photographer.

(B) a medical doctor.

(C) a person who studies spiders.

(D) a person who intensely dislikes spiders.

5. The word "their" in line 14 refers to

(A) humans who build.

(B) other arachnologists.

(C) Witt and his associates.

(D) orb spinners.

6. According to the passage, web-making by spiders and human building activities are

(A) both dependent on removable scaffolding.

(B) hard to compare.

(C) simple to analyze.

(D) lengthy procedures.

7. The word "it" in line 18 refers to

(A) the web.

(B) the food source.

(C) the female spider.

(D) the mating ground.

8. We can infer that the female orb spinner is NOT

(A) hard-working.

(B) cautious.

(C) solitary.

(D) easily wooed.

9. We can conclude from the passage that the purpose of webs is

(A) to initiate courtship of spiders.

(B) to engage spiders in useful activity.

(C) to provide a way for spiders to entrap food.

(D) to display artistic talents of spiders.

Passage 2
For any business, the cost of transportation is normally the largest single
item in the overall cost of physical distribution. It doesn't necessarily
follow, though, that a manufacturer should simply pick the cheapest
available form of transportation. Many companies today use the total
5 physical distribution concept, an approach that involves maximizing the
efficiency of physical distribution activities while minimizing their cost.
Often, this means that the company will make cost tradeoffs between the
various physical distribution activities. For instance, air freight may be
much more expensive than rail transport, but a national manufacturer
10 might use air freight to ship everything from a single warehouse and thus
avoid the greater expense of maintaining several warehouses.
When a firm chooses a type of transportation, it has to bear in mind its
other marketing concerns-storage, financing, sales, inventory size, and the
like. Transportation, in fact, can be an especially important sales tool. If the
15 firm can supply its customers' needs more quickly and reliably than its
competitors do, it will have a vital advantage: so it may be more profitable
in the long rub to pay higher transportation costs, rather than risk the loss of
future sales. In addition, speedy delivery is crucial, in same industries. A
mail-order distributor sending fruit from Oregon to Pennsylvania needs the
20 promptness of air freight. On the other hand, a manufacturer shipping
lingerie from New York to Massachusetts may be perfectly satisfied with
25  slower (and cheaper) truck or rail transport.
1. The passage supports which of the following statements?

(A) Businesses should use the least expensive form of transportation.

(B) Transportation is an important aspect of business.

(C) Rail transportation is usually better for companies because it is cheaper than
air transport.

(D) Most manufacturers choose the fastest form of delivery.

2. According to the passage, all of the following would influence the type of
transportation that a company might choose EXCEPT
 (A) the type of goods to be shipped

(B) the expense of the shipped

(C) the time it takes for delivery

(D) the size of its warehouses

3. The author states in the passage that the total physical distribution concept

(A) is based on the capability and cost-effectiveness of a transportation system

(B) advocates the use of air freight because of its efficiency

(C) suggests trading goods for transportation services

(D) relies on using warehouses for storing goods

4. The phrase "cost tradeoffs" in line 7 means that companies

(A) sometimes engage in bartering goods

(B) may choose an expensive form of transportation if costs can be cut in another
area

(C) prefer warehouses to air transportation

(D) rarely use rail transport

5. It can be inferred fm the passage that transportation is

(A) important to continued successful sales

(B) independent of other business concerns

(C) not used effectively by businesses

(D) too expensive for most mail-order industries to use

6. We can conclude from the passage that a business that deals in perishable goods
would probably choose to ship by

(A) rail

(B) truck

(C) air freight

(D) any type of cheap transport

7. The word "its" in line 15 refers to which of the following?

(A) Competitors

(B) Firm

(C) Customers

(D) Sales fool

8. This passage would probably be assigned reading in which of the following academic
courses?

(A) Marketing

(B) Statistics

(C) Mechanical engineering

(D) History

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