READING 4

Read the following paragraph and answer the questions:

A pilot cannot fly a plane by sight alone. In many conditions, such as flying at
night and landing in dense fog, a pilot must use radar, an alternative way of
navigating. Since human eyes are not very good at determining speeds of
approaching objects, radar can show a pilot how fast nearby planes are moving.

The basic principle of radar is exemplified by what happens when one shouts in
a cave. The echo of the sounds against the walls helps a person determine the
size of the cave. With radar, however, the waves are radio waves instead of
sound waves. Radio waves travel at the speed of light, about 300,000 kilometers
in one second. A radar set sends out a short burst of radiation waves. Then it
receives the echoes produced when the waves bounce off objects. By
determining the time it takes for the echoes to return to the radar set, a trained
technician can determine the distance between the radar set and other objects.
The word "radar," in fact, gets its name from the term "radio detection and
ranging." "Ranging" is the term for detection of the distance between an object
and the radar set. Besides being of critical importance to pilots, radar is essential
for air traffic control, tracking ships at sea, and for tracking weather systems
and storms.

1. What is the main topic of this passage?

(A) the nature of radar

(B) types of ranging
(C) alternatives to radar
(D) history of radar
2. In line 2, the word "dense" could be replaced by

(A) cold
(B) wet
(C) dark
(D) thick
3. According to the passage, what can radar detect besides location of
objects?’

(A) size
(B) weight
(C) speed
 (D) shape
4. The word "shouts" in line 8 is most similar in meaning to which of
the following?
(A) eavesdrops
(B) yells
(C) confesses
(D) whispers
5. Which of the following words best describes the tone of this
passage?

(A) argumentative
(B) imaginative
(C) explanatory
(D) humorous
6. The phrase "a burst" in line 13 is closest in meaning in which of the
following?

(A) an attachment
(B) a discharge
(C) a stream
(D) a ray
7. The word "it" in line 13 refers to which of the following?

(A) a radar set

(B) a short burst
(C) a radiation wave
(D) light
8. Which of the following could best replace the word "bounce" in line
13?

(A) overturn
(B) groove
(C) extend
 (D) rebound
9. Which type of waves does radar use?

(A) sound
(B) heat
(C) radio
(D) light
10. The word "tracking" in line 20 is closest in meaning to which of the
following?

(A) repairing
(B) searching for
(C) glancing at
(D) fighting
11. Which of the following would most likely be the topic of the next
paragraph?

(A) other uses of radar

(B) uses of sonar technology
(C) other technology used by pilots
(D) a history of flying
12. What might be inferred about radar?

(A) It takes the place of a radio.

(B) It gave birth to the invention of the airplane.
(C) It developed from a study of sound waves.
(D) It has improved navigational safety.

READING 5

Read the following paragraph and answer the questions:

Langston Hughes was one of the greatest American writers of the twentieth
century. He was born in Joplin, Missouri, and moved to Cleveland at the age of
fourteen. Several years later he spent one year in Mexico before attending
Columbia University in New York. For a few years after that he roamed the world
as a seaman, visiting ports around the world and writing some poetry. He
returned to the United States and attended Lincoln University, where he won the
Witter Bynner Prize for undergraduate poetry. After graduating in 1928, he
traveled to Spain and to Russia with the help of a Guggenheim fellowship.

His novels include Not Without Laughter (1930) and The Big Sea (1940). He
wrote an autobiography in 1956 and also published several collections of poetry.
The collections include The Weary Blues (1926), The Dream
Keeper (1932), Shakespeare in Harlem (1942), Fields of Wonder (1947), One
Way Ticket (1947), and Selected Poems (1959). A man of many talents, Hughes
was also a lyricist, librettist, and a journalist. As an older man in the 1960s he
spent much of his time collecting poems from Africa and from African-Americans
to popularize black writers. Hughes is one of the most accomplished writers in
American literary history, and he is seen as one of the artistic leaders of the
Harlem Renaissance, the period when a neighborhood that was predominantly
black produced a flood of great literature, music, and other art forms depicting
daily city life for African-Americans.

1. What is the main topic of this passage?

(A) the life of Langston Hughes

(B) the Harlem Renaissance
(C) African-American writers
(D) American twentieth-century writers
2. Where was Langston Hughes born?

(A) Spain
(B) New York
(C) Missouri
(D) North Carolina
3. The word "roamed" as used in line 5 is closest in meaning to which
of the following?

(A) traveled
(B) soared
(C) floated
(D) walked
4. As used in line 5, which of the following words could best replace
the word "ports"?
 (A) islands
(B) ships
(C) friends
(D) harbors
5. To which of the following movements might "Shakespeare in
Harlem" refer to?

(A) the Civil War

(B) the Harlem Riots
(C) the Harlem Renaissance
(D) the Civil Rights Movement
6. What provided Hughes with assistance for his travel to Spain and
Russia?

( A) his job as a reporter

(B) his career as a soldier
(C) a literary fellowship
(D) a college study program
7. The word "talents" in line 16 could be be replaced by which of the
following?

(A) desires
(B) abilities
(C) strategies
(D) careers
8. According to the author, what did Hughes do during the later years
of his life?

(A) write short stories

(B) popularize African-American writers
(C) advocate racial equality
(D) write about life in Harlem
9. Which of the following could best replace the word "accomplished"
as used in line 19?
 (A) successful
(B) prolific
(C) brilliant
(D) imaginative
10. The author uses the word "flood" in line 22 to refer to

(A) a drought
(B) an outpouring
(C) a cloudburst
(D) a streak
11. Which of the following can best substitute for the word "depicting"
in line 23?

(A) congratulating
(B) blessing
(C) screening
(D) portraying
12. According to the passage, Langston Hughes was all of the
following EXCEPT

(A) a novelist
(B) a poet
(C) an historian
(D) a journalist