ENGLISH
artists. In these paintings, Monet used the
Begin Here:
1. Kara Wolters, together with her teammates,
_________ a formidable opponent on the
basketball court.
a. presents c. presented
b. present d. Presenting
2. In a small community everyone tills the soil
_____ to produce good harvest.
a. lazily c. honestly
b. extently d. Patiently
3. The players _________ are willing to clean
the field.
a. himself c. themelves
b. herself d. Ourselves
4. Everyone selected to serve on this jury _____
to be willing to give up a lot of time.
a. has c. have
b. is d. are
5. In school, Mary greets me ________
whenever he meets me.
a. diligently c. gracefully
b. religiously d.courteously
6. Nadia accomplished that work all by
_______.
a. myself c. yourself
b. itself d. herself
7. Which of the following is a compound
sentence?
A. Although she is pretty, she is cruel.
B. I knocked but you didn't open the door.
C. He was able to carry the heavy bag.
D. He wants to write a song for his wife.
Claude Monet, a 19th-century French
painter, was the most famous artist associated
with the movement known as Impressionism.
Monet was born on November 14, 1840, and
even as a young man he was known for
producing small portraits in charcoal. In 1858
Monet met the artist Eugène Boudin, who
became his mentor and introduced Monet to
painting outdoors, or “en plein air” as it came
to be known. In 1859, at the age of 19, Monet
moved to Paris to become a professional
artist. Most artists of his time tried to imitate
nature realistically, but in his landscape
painting Monet instead sought to portray
nature as it appeared to him. In particular, he
was interested in how light affects the ways
that we perceive color. In one of his most
famous series of works, Monet painted the
cathedral in Rouen, France at several
different times of day, showing how changes
in natural light make the cathedral appear to
change color. In 1883, Monet moved to a
small French town called Giverny, where he
built an elaborate garden. This garden, in
particular its water lily ponds, became the
chief subject of Monet’s later paintings.
Monet’s paintings of water lilies were
extremely influential to 20th-century modern
landscape merely as a starting point, creating
abstract fields of vibrant color. These
paintings relied on broad, thick brushstrokes.
The texture of these brushstrokes gave the
canvases a tactile quality that contrasted
sharply with the smooth canvases produced
by more traditional artists. Though he
struggled financially throughout his life,
when Monet died in 1926, he was one of the
most famous and influential painters in the
world.
8. This passage would most likely be found in
A. a newspaper B. an encyclopedia
C. a magazine D. a blog
9. Based on information in the passage, it can
be inferred that the phrase “a tactile quality”
suggests that Monet’s canvases were
A. colorful B. beautiful
C. smooth D. rough
10. According to the passage, Monet moved to
Paris in 1859 to
A. join the Impressionism movement
B. paint cathedrals
C. become a professional artist
D. build an elaborate garden
11. The tone of the passage can best be described
as ___________.
A. factual B. passionate
C. clever D. adoring
It is easy to make a delicious-looking hamburger
at home. But would this hamburger still look
delicious after it sat on your kitchen table under very
bright lights for six or seven hours? If someone took
a picture or made a video of this hamburger after the
seventh hour, would anyone want to eat it? More
importantly, do you think you could get millions of
people to pay money for this hamburger?
These are the questions that fast food companies
worry about when they produce commercials or print
ads for their products. Video and photo shoots often
last many hours. The lights that the photographers
use can be extremely hot. These conditions can cause
the food to look quite unappealing to potential
consumers. Because of this, the menu items that you
see in fast food commercials are probably not
actually edible.
Let’s use the hamburger as an example. The first
step towards building the perfect commercial
hamburger is the bun. The food stylist—a person
employed by the company to make sure the products
look perfect—sorts through hundreds of buns until he
or she finds one with no wrinkles. Next, the stylist
carefully rearranges the sesame seeds on the bun
using glue and tweezers for maximum visual appeal.
The bun is then sprayed with a waterproofing
solution so that it will not get soggy from contact
with other ingredients, the lights, or the humidity in
the room.
Next, the food stylist shapes a meat patty into a
perfect circle. Only the outside of the meat gets
cooked—the inside is left raw so that the meat
remains moist. The food stylist then paints the
outside of the meat patty with a mixture of oil,
molasses, and brown food coloring. Grill marks are
either painted on or seared into the meat using hot
metal skewers.
Finally, the food stylist searches through dozens
of tomatoes and heads of lettuce to find the best-
looking produce. One leaf of the crispest lettuce and
one center slice of the reddest tomato are selected and
then sprayed with glycerin to keep them looking
fresh.
So the next time you see a delectable hamburger
in a fast food commercial, remember: you’re actually
looking at glue, paint, raw meat, and glycerin! Are
you still hungry?
12. The author’s primary purpose is to _______
A. convince readers not to eat at fast food restaurants
B. explain how fast food companies make their food
look delicious in commercials
C. teach readers how to make delicious-looking food
at home
D. criticize fast food companies for lying about their
products in commercials
13. As used in paragraph 2, something is edible if it
_________
A. can safely be eaten
B. looks very delicious
C. seems much smaller in real life
D. tastes good
14. According to the passage, a food stylist working
on a hamburger commercial might use glue to
A. make sure the meat patty stays attached to the bun
B. keep the sesame seeds on the bun in perfect
order
C. arrange the lettuce on the tomato
D. hold the entire hamburger together
15. Based on information in the passage, it is most
important for the lettuce and tomato used in a fast
food hamburger commercial to
A. have a great taste
B. be the perfect shape and size
C. appear natural
D. look fresh
16. None of these chocolate-broccoli muffins
__________ good either.
a. tasting c. tastes
b. tasted d. taste
17. Kareem Abdul Jabaar used to be one of the
____________ basketball players in the NBA.
a. good c. best
b. better d. well
18. The roads in this town are _________ than
the roads in the city.
a. narrower c. more narrow
b. narrowest d. least narrow
19. A ____________ cat is wandering the
streets.
a. old, black, dirty c. dirty, black, old
b. black, dirty, old d. dirty, old, black
20. Our family lived in Norway.We get plenty of
snow here ____ the winter.
a. in c. throughout
b. during d. by
21. Everyone on the roller coaster, including Martha
and Angie, __________ that the hot dogs, onion
rings, funnel cake, and cotton candy will stay down
during the twisting ride to come.
a. hopes c. hope
b. hoped d. have hoped
22. You should buy the blue sweater. It suits you
better than the red one and I think it fits
you_________.
a. diligently c. clearly
b. quickly d. perfectly
23. Joy Fielding writes the ______ books I’ve
ever read.
a. exciting c. most exciting
b. more exciting d. least exciting
24. My daughter has______ ______ ______hair.
a. beautiful, long, black
b. long, beautiful, black
c. black, beautiful, long
d. long, black, beautiful
25. Stefano stepped ________ the elevator and
pressed the button for the fifth floor.
a. in b. into
c. at d. on
A robot is a machine. But it is not just any
machine. It is a special kind of machine. It is a
machine that moves. It follows instructions. The
instructions come from a computer. Because it is a
machine, it does not make mistakes. And it does not
get tired. And it never complains. Unless you tell it
to!
Robots are all around us. Some robots are used
to make things. For example, robots can help make
cars. Some robots are used to explore dangerous
places. For example, robots can help
explore volcanoes. Some robots are used to clean
things. These robots can help vacuum your house.
Some robots can even recognize words. They can be
used to help answer telephone calls.
Some robots look like humans. But most robots do
not. Most robots just look like machines.
Long ago, people imagined robots. Over 2,000
years ago, a famous poet imagined robots. The poet’s
name was Homer. His robots were made of gold.
They cleaned things and they made things. But they
were not real. They were imaginary. Nobody was
able to make a real robot. The first real robot was
made in 1961. It was called Unimate. It was used to
help make cars. It looked like a giant arm.
In the future, we will have even more robots.
They will do things that we can’t do. Or they will do
things that we don’t want to do. Or they will do
things that are too dangerous for us. Robots will help
us fight fires. They will help us fight wars. They will
help us fight sickness. They will help us discover
things. They will help make life better.
26. As used in paragraph 1, we can understand that
something special is NOT
A. normal B. expensive
C. perfect D. tired
27. According to the author, robots may be used
to ____________.
I. make cars
II. II. explore volcanoes
III. answer telephone calls
A. I only B. I and II only
C. II and III only D. I, II, and III
28. Using the information in the passage as a guide,
which of these gives the best use of a robot?
A. to help make a sandwich
B. to help tie shoes
C. to help read a book
D. to help explore Mars
29. Which of these statements correctly summarizes
how the author of this passage feels about robots?
A. Robots are old. B. Robots are confusing.
C. Robots are helpful. D. Robots are dangerous.
30. What is the correct sequence of events in the
story?
1. Over 2,000 years ago, a poet imagined robots.
2. They will do things that are too dangerous for us.
3. Robots will help us fight fires.
4. His robots were made of gold.
A. 3-1-4-2 B. 1-4-2-3
B. 2-4-1-3 D. 1-2-4-3
Helicopters are very different from airplanes.
They can do three things that airplanes cannot do.
First, when airplanes move upward, they must also
move forward, but helicopters can move straight up
without moving ahead. Second, helicopters can fly
backward, which airplanes cannot do. Third,
helicopters can use their rotors to hover in the air
which is impossible for planes.
Because helicopters can perform actions that
airplanes cannot, they are used for different tasks.
Since helicopters can take off without moving
forward, they do not need a runway for takeoff. They
are used in congested areas where there is no room
for airplanes or in isolated areas which do not have
airports. Because they can hover, they are used on
firefighting missions to drop water on fires. They are
used in logging operations to lift trees out of forests.
Helicopters are used as air ambulances to airlift
patients out of situations which are difficult to reach
by conventional ambulances. The police use
helicopters to follow suspects on the ground or to
search for cars on the ground. Of course, helicopters
have military uses because of their design and
capabilities.
31. Helicopters are able to…
A. move straight up. B. fly backward.
C. hover. D. All of the above
32. When airplanes move upward…
A. they must move forward.
B. they must move sideways.
C. they must move backwards.
D. Both A and B are correct.
33. Helicopters are used in firefighting
because…
A. they can reach difficult spots.
B. they can hover above the fire.
C. their rotors can put out the fire.
D. Both A and B are correct.
34. How are helicopters used as ambulances?
A. They chase suspects on the ground.
B. They airlift people out of accidents.
C. They can drop water on fires.
D. They lift trees out of forests.
35. Why don’t helicopters need runways?
A. They can take off without moving
forward.
B. They can hover in the air.
C. They can fly backward.
D. They are small.
Why do birds sing? You might assume that birds
sing because they are happy. While birds might be
happy, they sing in order to communicate. One
reason they sing is to stake a claim on territory. Birds
sing to warn other birds to stay off their property. For
example, a robin might stake a claim on a piece of
land which measures about 200 feet wide by 200 feet
long. This amount of land provides enough worms
for the robin to feed its family. A bird maintains
singing perches around the outside edges of its
territory. The perches are high in the trees, so other
birds can see and hear it. Birds also sing to find a
mate. The length and complexity of the mating song
gives information about the fitness
of the bird. Healthy birds can sing longer, more
complicated songs. Birds call to one another in
shorter vocalizations in order to warn of danger and
to locate one another. Birds sing instinctively. Young
birds learn to perfect their songs by listening to adult
birds and interacting with other birds. Birds in a local
area might learn variations in the basic song which
help them recognize other members of their group.
36. Why do birds sing?
A. To locate one another
B. To warn other birds
C. To find a mate
D. All of the above
37. Birds perch very high so …?
A. other birds can hear them.
B. other birds can see them.
C. they can hide there.
D. Both A and B are correct.
38. The health of a bird can be determined…
A. by the length of its song.
B. by the complexity of its song.
C. by the volume of its song.
D. Both A and B are correct.
39. Shorter bird vocalizations are …

A. territorial songs.
B. mating songs.
C. warnings.
D. None of the above

40. Young birds perfect their songs by …

A. natural instinct.
B. listening and interaction.
C. practice.
D. Both B and C are correct.