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Time–35 minutes
Read the passages and choose the best answer to each question. Answer all questions about a passage on the basis of what is stated or implied in that passage.
1 Car registrations in the United States rose from one million in 1913 to ten million in 1923. By 1927, Americans were driving some twenty–six million automobiles, one car for every five people in the country. Automobile sales in the state of Michigan outnumbered those in Great Britain and Ireland combined. For the first time in history, more people lived in cities than on farms, and they were migrating to the city by automobile.
2 The automobile was every American’s idea of freedom, and the construction of hard–surface roads was one of the largest items of government expenditure, often at great cost to everything else. The growth of roads and the automobile industry made cars the lifeblood of the petroleum industry and a major consumer of steel. The automobile caused expansions in outdoor recreation, tourism, and related industries—service stations, roadside restaurants, and motels. After 1945, the automobile industry reached new heights,and new roads led out of the city to the suburbs, where two–car families transported children to new schools and shopping malls.
3 In 1956 Congress passed the Interstate Highway Act, the peak of a half–century of frenzied road building at government expense and the largest public works program in history. The result was a network of federally subsidized highways connecting major urban centers. The interstate highways stretched American mobility to new distances, and two–hour commutes, traffic jams, polluted cities, and Disneyland became standard features of life. Like almost everything else in the 1950s, the construction of interstate highways was justified as a national defense measure.
4 The federal govern ment guaranteed the predominance of private transportation. Since the 1950s, 75 per cent of federal funds for transportation has been spent on highways,while a scant one percent has gone to buses, trains, or subways. Even before the interstate highway system was built, the American bias was clear, which is why the United States has the world’s best road system and nearly its worst public transit system.
1. The author makes the point that in the early twentieth century
A automobiles were very expensive
B there were more cars than people in the United States
C automobile use increased rapidly
D there were few good roads for automobiles
2. The phrase the lifeblood in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to
A a supervisor
B an important part
C an opponent
D a serious threat
3. The word frenzied in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to
A intense
B scientific
C disorganized
D wasteful
4. Which sentence best describes road building in the 1940s and 1950s?
A It was the last public works project funded by the federal government.
B It cost more money than the government spent on national defense.
C It produced a network of highways that favored large cities and suburbs.
D It led to an increase in the demand for better public transit systems.
5. The word scant in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to
A more important
B barely sufficient
C very generous
D privately funded
6. According to the passage, the growth in the number of cars had a positive impact on all of the following EXCEPT
A tourism
B service stations
C subway systems
D shopping malls
7. According to the passage, the American attitude toward the automobile has resulted in
A a preference for private cars over public transportation
B loss of farmland and destruction of traditional farm life
C an increase in the number of deaths due to car accidents
D criticism of the amount of money spent on roads
1 One instance in the animal kingdom with parallels to human music is bird song. Much has recently been discovered about the development of song in birds. Some species are restricted to a single song learned by all individuals, while other species have a range of songs and dialects, depending on environmental stimulation. The most important auditory stimuli for birds are the sounds of other birds, including family or flock members and territorial rivals. For all bird species, there is a prescribed path to development of the final song, beginning with the subsong, passing through plastic song, until the bird achieves the species song or songs. This process is similar to the steps through which young children pass as they first babble and then mimic pieces of the songs they hear around them, although the ultimate output of human singers is much vaster and more varied than even the most impressive bird repertoire .
2 Underlying all avian vocal activity is the syrinx, an organ unique to birds that is located at the first major branching of the windpipe and is linked to the brain. There are general parallels between the syrinx in birds and the larynx in humans. Both produce sound when air is forced through the windpipe, causing thin membranes to vibrate. However, compared to the human larynx, which uses only about two percent of exhaled air, the syrinx is a far more efficient sound–producing mechanism that can create sound from nearly all the air passing through it.
3 Possibly the most interesting aspect of bird song from the perspective of human intelligence is its foundation in the central nervous system. Like humans, birds have large brains relative to their body size. Song is a complex activity that young birds must learn, and learning implies that higher–brain activity must be complex in the control of song. This control is associated with two song–control centers in the avian brain. If the links between these centers and the syrinx are interrupted, a bird is unable to produce normal song. Moreover, bird song is one of the few instances in the animal kingdom of a skill that is lateralized ; the song–control centers are located in the left side of the avian brain. A lesion there will destroy bird song, while a similar lesion in the right half of the brain will result in much less damage.
Glossary:
repertoire: stock of songs
avian: relating to birds
windpipe: main airway to the lungs; trachea
8. The word range in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to
A region
B memory
C variety
D system
9. How does the development of song in birds parallel its development in humans?
A Bird song and human music evolved during the same period in history.
B All birds and humans are capable of learning a large number of songs.
C The song repertoire of both birds and humans changes over their lifetime.
D Song development progresses through stages in both birds and humans.
10. The word mimic in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to
A imitate
B enjoy
C compose
D memorize
11. The word underlying in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to
A restricting
B surrounding
C recording
D supporting
12. In what way are the avian syrinx and the human larynx different?
A The syrinx is located near the windpipe,but the larynx is not.
B The syrinx is larger than the larynx relative to body size.
C The syrinx produces a wider variety of sounds than the larynx.
D The syrinx uses much more of the passing air to produce sound.
13. What aspect of bird song suggests the involvement of the brain in the control of song?
A The purpose of song is similar in birds and humans.
B Song is a complex activity that must be learned.
C Birds can produce two separate sounds at the same time.
D Song consists of a wide variety of musical notes.
14. The word lateralized in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to
A linked to a specific area of the brain
B highly evolved
C shared by all species
D easily damaged or destroyed
15. All of the following statements characterize bird song EXCEPT:
A Birds learn song mainly by listening to the sounds of other birds.
B Birds are born with the full ability to sing their species song.
C Song is produced in the syrinx, which is linked to the avian brain.
D The central nervous system has the lead role in the control of song.
1 Niccolo Machiavelli, an Italian statesman and political philosopher of the early sixteenth century, is considered the founder of modern political thinking. Machiavelli was a product of Renaissance Florence, a city–state that was struggling for expansion and survival among a competing group of similar states. As a public servant and diplomat, Machiavelli came to understand power politics by observing the spectacle around him without any illusions . In 1512, he was briefly imprisoned and then forced to leave public life. He retired to his country estate, where he recorded his reflections on politics. Two of his books would become classics in political theory: Discourses on the First Ten Books of Livy, a set of essays on ancient and modern politics, and The Prince, a potent little book that would shock readers for centuries.
2 Machiavelli saw politics as an affair separate from religion and ethics, an activity to be practiced and studied for its own sake. Politics was simply the battle of men in search of power, and since all men were brutal, selfish, and cowardly, politics must follow certain rules. In his most famous work, The Prince(1532), Machiavelli described the means by which a leader may gain and maintain power. The ideal prince was the man who had studied his fellow men, both by reading history and by observing the present, and was willing to exploit their weaknesses. Machiavelli thought that his own time was too corrupt to permit any alternative to the Renaissance despots that he saw all around him.
3 Machiavelli’s philosophy arose more from a deeply pessimistic view of human nature than from a lack of moral sense, which many readers criticized in him. He was, and still is,misunderstood to have promoted atheism over religion and criminality over other means of governing. Despite the ruthless connotation of the term “Machiavellian,” many of his works,such as the History of Florence(1532), express republican principles. Machiavelli’s supporters saw him not as a cynic who gloried in evil but as a scientist of politics who saw the world more clearly than others and reported what he saw with lucidity and honesty.
4 The cultural impact of Machiavelli’s philosophy was far–reaching, and negative interpretations have persisted. The dramatic literature of the late sixteenth century, notably the plays of Shakespeare, often featured a villainous but humorous character type known as the Machiavel. The Machiavel character loved evil for its own sake, and this delight in evil made all other motivation unnecessary. The Machiavel had a habit of using humorous monologues to comment on his own wickedness and contempt for goodness. Shakespeare’s principal Machiavel characters are the treacherous Iago in Othello, the ruthlessly ambitious Edmund in King Lear, and the murderous title character in Richard III.
16. According to the passage, what was a major influence on Machiavelli’s political philosophy?
A The power struggles within and among city–states
B The desire to express his anger for being imprisoned
C The rejection of ancient theories about politics
D The shock and disgust he felt toward political leaders
17. The word illusions in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to
A conclusions
B false beliefs
C limits
D good intentions
18.The word potent in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to
A influential
B dishonest
C poetic
D humorous
19. What is the subject of The Prince?
A The trial and imprisonment of Machiavelli
B The relationship between politics and religion
C The ways that a ruler gains and maintains power
D The history of the political leadership of Florence
20. The word pessimistic in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to
A negative
B cautious
C religious
D emotional
21. Machiavelli’s political philosophy included all of the following beliefs EXCEPT:
A Politics is the power struggle among men who are all brutal and selfish.
B The ideal ruler understands and exploits the weaknesses of others.
C People must organize to fight against evil and corruption in politics.
D Politics should be studied and practiced separately from religion and ethics.
22. According to the author, how has Machiavelli been misunderstood?
A Some people think he was cowardly for retiring from public life.
B Some of his writings seem to support religion, while others oppose it.
C Some of his principles of republican government have been misused.
D Some people interpret his writings as promoting evil in government.
23. The word lucidity in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to
A distaste
B clarity
C respect
D concern
24. The word monologues in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to
A speeches
B actions
C noises
D costumes
25. The Machiavel character in drama has all of the following characteristics EXCEPT
A dislike for goodness
B humorous commentary
C enjoyment of evil
D complex motivation
Answers to Reading Quiz 4 are on pages 638–639.
Record your score on the Progress Chart on page 790.
PROGRESS–1.1 through 1.3