Read the following passages and then choose the best answer for each question.

Passage 1

Even a muddy pond contributes to the ecosystem that affects the environment. A vernal  or springtime pool is only a few feet deep and lasts only from March until mid-summer but yields  a considerable number of diverse  life forms. Like all of nature, there are predators and victims, and a particular living being may be one or the other, depending on its  age and characteristics. One may find masses of spotted salamander eggs floating just under the surface of the pond, left behind by adults who entered the pond early in the season before predators arrived. Other amphibians and reptiles return to the recurrent  pond year after year to reproduce, as their ancestors have done for years.

Various forms of algae grow well in the murky  water, if there is sufficient sunlight. They  in turn produce and transmit oxygen to the salamander embryos and other young that are not yet able to survive outside of water. Diving beetles feast on eggs and larvae deposited in the pond by the salamanders and other amphibians that have called it home. Tadpoles are born in the late spring and feed on the algae. The pond also invites wood frogs staking their territory and courting potential mates, calling as loud as quacking ducks.

By the end of the short season, the pond dries to spongy mud and then dries further, becoming covered with leaves and debris, until the following spring when the process repeats itself.

1. The word “vernal” in the second sentence most nearly the same as means

2. What is the author’s purpose stated in the first sentence: “Even a muddy pond contributes to the ecosystem that affects the environment”

3. The word yields in the third sentence means most nearly the same as

4. The word diverse in the third sentence means most nearly the same as

5.The word its in the fifth sentence refers to

6. Which sentence in the first paragraph indicates that a young life form might be prey to an older life form?

7. Which sentence in the first paragraph indicates that life forms continue to act in the same way as the same life forms did previously?

8. The word murky in the first sentence of the second paragraph means most nearly the same as

9. The word they in the second sentence of paragraph two refers to

10. Which of the following does the author imply in the first two sentences of paragraph two?

11. The word recurrent in the last sentence of paragraph one means most nearly the same as

Passage 2

Scientists have experimented with a new procedure for alleviating the damage caused by strokes. Strokes are frequently caused by a blood clot lodging in the tree of arteries in the head, choking the flow of blood. Some brain cells die as a direct result of the stroke, but others also die over several hours be-cause the proteins spilling out of the first cells that die trigger a chemical chain reaction that kills the neighboring cells.

The current method of reducing the amount of damage is to give a clot dissolver, known as TPA, as soon as possible. But generally TPA is not given to the patient until he or she reaches the hospital, and it still does not immediately stop the damage.

The new technology, still in the research stage, involves chilling the area or the entire patient. It is already known that when an organ is cooled, damage is slowed. This is why sometimes a person who has fallen into an icy pond is not significantly harmed after being warmed up again. The biggest issue is the method of cooling. It is not feasible to chill the head alone. Doctors have chilled the en-tire body by wrapping the patient in cold materials, but extreme shivering was a problem.

The new idea is to cool the patient from the inside out. Several companies are studying the use of cold-tipped catheters, inserted into the artery in the groin and threaded up to the inferior vena cava, which is a large vein that supplies blood to the abdomen. The catheter is expected to cool the blood that flows over it, thus allowing cooler blood to reach the area of the stroke damage.

It is not expected that the cooling will be substantial, but even a slight decrease in temperature is thought to be helpful. In effect, the patient is given a kind of forced hypothermia. And doctors believe it is important to keep the patient awake so that they can converse with the patient in order to ascertain mental condition.

Studies continue to determine the most effective and least damaging means of cooling the patient in order to reduce this damage.

1. The word alleviating in the first sentence is closest in meaning to

2. According to the passage, the method of chilling from the inside out is being considered for all of the following reasons except

3. According to the passage, what causes a stroke?

4. The word shivering in the last sentence of the third paragraph is closest in meaning to

5. According to the passage, all of the following are true except that…………..

6. What is the passage mainly about

7. The word substantial in the fifth paragraph is closest in meaning to………..

9. The author describes a person falling into cold water in order to

10. The author implies that

11. When the author states that the catheter is threaded to the vena cava, the author means that

11. The author implies that hypothermia is caused by

13. According to the passage, doctors prefer to keep the patient awake in order to

Passage 3

Bees, classified into over 10,000 species, are insects found in almost every part of the world except the northernmost and southern-most regions. One commonly known species is the honeybee, the only bee that produces honey and wax. Humans use the wax in making candles, lipsticks, and other products, and they use the honey as a food. While gathering the nectar and pollen with which they make honey, bees are simultaneously helping to fertilize the flowers on which they land. Many fruits and vegetables would not survive if bees did not carry the pollen from blossom to blossom.
Bees live in a structured environment and social structure within a hive, which is a nest with storage space for the honey. The different types of bees each perform a unique function. The worker bee carries nectar to the hive in a special stomach called a honey stomach. Other workers make beeswax and shape it into a honeycomb, which is a water-proof mass of six-sided compartments, or cells. The queen lays eggs in completed cells. As the workers build more cells, the queen lays more eggs.
All workers, like the queen, are female, but the workers are smaller than the queen. The male honeybees are called drones; they do no work and cannot sting. They are developed from unfertilized eggs, and their only job is to impregnate a queen. The queen must be fertilized in order to lay worker eggs. During the season when less honey is available and the drone is of no further use, the workers block the drones from eating the honey so that they will starve to death.

1. Which of the following is the best title for this reading?

2. The word species in the first sentence is closest in meaning to

3. The word which in the fourth sentence refers to

4. The word simultaneously in the fourth sentence is closest in meaning to

5. According to the passage, a hive is

6. According to the passage, the drone

7. The author implies that

8. According to the passage, honey is carried to the hive in a honey stomach by the

9. In what way does the reading imply that bees are useful in nature?

10. All of the following are characteristic of a honeycomb except

11. The passage implies that bees can be found in each of the following parts of the world except

12. It can be inferred from the reading that beeswax is

Passage 4

Diabetes Mellitus is a disorder of carbohydrate metabolism resulting from insufficient production of insulin or reduced sensitivity to insulin. A polypeptide hormone, insulin is synthesized in the pancreas and is necessary for normal utilization of glucose by most cells in the body. People with diabetes suffer an inhibition in the normal ability of body cells to use glucose, which results in in-creased blood sugar levels. As more glucose accumulates in the blood, excess levels of sugar are excreted  in the urine.

There are two varieties of the disease, Type 1 and Type 2. The two types were previously   designated by Roman numerals, but now Arabic numerals are used; for example, Type is now known as Type 2. Type 1 was formerly referred to as juvenile onset diabetes, but it can occur at any age. In Type 1 diabetes, insulin is not secreted by the pancreas, so it must be injected. This type of diabetes is most often seen in people whose parents, siblings, or other close relatives are affected by the disease.

Type 2, representing 90 percent of all diabetes, used to be called adult onset diabetes, but it can also occur at any age. It results from sluggish  pancreatic insulin secretion and tissue resistance to secreted insulin, which is complicated by subtle changes in the secretion of insulin by the beta cells. It is generally controlled by dietary restriction. People who are at risk for this type include: women who have delivered a baby of 9 pounds or more or have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes; people over 45 years of age, particularly those of African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic, Native American, or Pacific Islander heritage; those who have a history of diabetes in the family; those who are obese;  and those with high blood pressure, a high triglyceride level, or high blood sugar.

A person affected with diabetes may have no symptoms at all. Or, he or she may experience one or more of the following common symptoms: fatigue; increased urination and thirst; hunger; blurred vision; weight loss; repeated infections of the skin, genitals, or feet; or itching and dizziness. The diagnosis is reached by testing the blood sugar. If the blood sugar is over 126 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl) after an 8-hour overnight fast, or over 200 mg/dl at other times of the day, the patient is diagnosed as having the disease.

Diabetes is a formidable illness that can result in serious complications, including heart attack, blindness, kidney failure, and loss of circulation to the lower extremities (feet and legs). This loss of circulation can lead to amputation of the affected areas. Prior to the isolation of insulin in the 1920s, rapid death was common among diabetes sufferers. Now, the illness can be managed and those affected can lead a long, fairly normal life with proper medical attention and proper attention to personal care. Patients should follow nutrition plans designed to help them reach and maintain normal body weight and to limit their intake of carbohydrates and fats. They should also exercise regularly, which enhances the movement of glucose into muscle cells and inhibits the increase in glucose in the blood.

1. Insulin is………………………………..

2. The word excreted in the last sentence of paragraph one means most nearly the same as……

3. The word previously  in the second paragraph means most nearly the same as………….

4. The word it in the fourth sentence of paragraph two refers to………………..

5. According to the passage, insulin is produced ………………………………..

6. The word sluggish in the third paragraph means most nearly the same as …………………………

7. The word obese in the last sentence of paragraph three means most nearly the same as………..

8. What is a suitable title for this passage?

9. The author distinguishes between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes to describe how

10. All of the following are correct except that