Passage 1

There were two widely divergent influences on the early development of statistical methods. Statistics had a mother who was dedicated to keeping orderly records of governmental units (state and statistics come from the same Latin root. status) and a gentlemanly gambling father who relied on mathematics to increase his skill at playing the odds in games of chance. The influence of the mother on the offspring, statistics, is represented by counting, measuring, describing, tabulating, ordering, and the taking of censuses-all of which led to modern descriptive statistics. From the influence of the father came modern inferential statistics, which is based squarely on theories of probability.

Descriptive statistics involves tabulating, depicting, and describing collections of data. These data may be either quantitative, such as measures of height, intelligence, or grade level-159 variables that are characterized by an underlying continuum-or the data may represent qualitative variables, such as sex, college major, or personality type. Large masses of data must generally undergo a process of summarization or reduction before they are comprehensible. Descriptive statistics is a tool for describing or summarizing or reducing to comprehensible form the properties of an otherwise unwieldy mass of data.

Inferential statistics is a formalized body of methods for solving another class of problems that present great difficulties for the unaided human mind. This general class of problems characteristically involves attempts to make predictions using a sample of observations. For example a school superintendent wishes to determine the proportion of children in a large school system who come to scho6l without breakfast have been vaccinated for flu. or whatever. Having a little knowledge of statistics, the superintendent would know that it is unnecessary and inefficient to question each child; the proportion for the entire district could be estimated fairly accurately from a sample of as few as 100 children. Thus, the purpose of inferential statistics is to predict or estimate characteristics of a population from a knowledge of the characteristics of only a sample of the population.

1. With what is the passage mainly concerned?

2. According to the first paragraph, counting and describing are associated with

3. Why does the author mention the “mother” and “father” in the first paragraph?

4. The word “squarely” in line 8 could best be replaced by which of the following?

5. Which of the following is NOT given as an example of a qualitative variable?

6. Which of the following statements about descriptive statistics is best supported by the passage?

7. According to the passage, what is the purpose of examining a sample of a population.?

Passage 2    

With its radiant color and plantlike shape, the sea anemone looks more like a flower than an animal. More specifically, the sea anemone is formed quite like the flower for which it is named, with a body like a stem and tentacles like petals in brilliant shades of blue, green, pink, and red Its diameter varies from about six millimeters in some species to more than ninety centimeters in the giant varieties of Australia. Like corals, hydras, and jellyfish, sea anemones are coelenterates. They can move slowly, but more often they attach the lower part of their cylindrical bodies to rocks, shells, or wharf pilings. The upper end of the sea anemone has a mouth surrounded by tentacles that the animal uses to capture its food. Stinging cells in the tentacles throw out tiny poison threads that paralyze other small sea animals. The tentacles then drag this prey into the sea anemone’s mouth. The food is digested in the large inner body cavity. When disturbed a sea anemone retracts its tentacles and shortens its body so that it resembles a lump on a rock. Anemones may reproduce by forming eggs, dividing in half or developing buds that grow and break off as independent animals.

1. The word “shape” in line 1 is closest in meaning to which of the following?

2. According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true of sea anemones?

3. It can be inferred from the passage that sea anemones are usually found

4. The word “capture” in line 8 is closest in meaning to which of the following ?

5. The word “disturbed” in line 11 is closest in meaning to which of the following?

6. The sea anemone reproduces by

Passage 3

Forces other than damaging winds are also at work inside tornadoes. Sometimes, as the writhing, twisting funnel passes over a house, the walls and ceiling burst apart as if a bomb had gone off inside. This explosion is caused by the low air pressure at the center of a tornado.

The pressure at the center of a tornado is usually 13 pounds per square inch. However, inside the house, the air pressure is normal, about 15 pounds per square inch. The difference of 2 pounds per square inch between the inside and outside pressure may not seem like much. But suppose a tornado funnel passes over a small building that measures 20 by 10 by 10 feet. On each square inch of the building, there is 2 pounds of pressure from the inside that is not balanced by air pressure outside the building. On the ceiling, that adds up to an unbalanced pressure of 57, 600 pounds. The pressure on the four walls adds up to 172,800 pounds. If windows are open in the building, some of the inside air will rush out through them. This will balance the pressure inside and outside the building. But if the windows are shut tightly, the enormous inside pressure may cause the building to burst.

Unfortunately, heavy rain and hail often occur in thunderstorms that later produce tornadoes. So people frequently shut all windows to protect their property. This may cause far worse damage later. For the same reason, tornado cellars must have an air vent. Otherwise, the cellar door might be blown out when a tornado passes over it.

1. Which of the following is the main topic of the passage?

2. In line 2, the word “funnel” refers to which of the following?

3. According to the passage, tornadoes can destroy buildings because the

4. According to the passage, what is the difference per square inch between the air pressure inside a building and the air pressure inside a tornado?

5. According to the passage, the pressure on a building during a tornado can be relieved by

6. According to the passage, people close their windows to prevent damage caused by

7. In line 17, the word “it” refers to

Passage 4

The term “art deco” has come to encompass three distinct but related design trends of the 1920’s and 1930’s. The first was what is frequently referred to as “zigzag moderne” –the exotically ornamental style of such skyscrapers as the Chrysler Building in New York City and related structures such as the Paramount Theater in Oakland, California. The word “zigzag” alludes to the geometric and stylized ornamentation of zigzags, angular patterns, abstracted plant and animal motifs, sunbursts, astrological imagery, formalized fountains, and related themes that were applied in mosaic relief and mural form to the exterior and interior of the buildings. Many of these buildings were shaped in the ziggurat form, a design resembling an ancient Mesopotamian temple tower that recedes in progressively smaller stages to the summit, creating a staircase-like effect.

The second manifestation of art deco was the 1930’s “streamlined moderne” style—a Futuristic-looking aerodynamic style of rounded corners and horizontal bands known as “speed stripes.” In architecture, these elements were frequently accompanied by round windows, extensive use of glass block, and flat rooftops.

The third style, referred to as “ international stripped classicism” also came to the forefront during the Depression, a period of severe economic difficult in the 1930’s. This was a more conservative style, blending a simplified modernistic style with a more austere form of geometric and stylized relief sculpture and other ornament, including interior murals. May buildings in this style were erected nationwide through government programs during the Depression .

Although art deco in its many forms was largely perceived as thoroughly modern, it was strongly influenced by the decorative arts movements that immediately preceded it. For example, like “art nouveau” (1890-1910), art deco also used plant motifs, butregularized the forms into abstracted repetitive patterns rather than presenting them as flowing, asymmetrical foliage, Like the Viennese craftspeople of the Wiener Werkstatte, art deco designers worked with exotic materials, geometricized shapes, and colorfully ornate patterns. Furthermore, like the artisans of the Arts and Crafts Movement in England and the United States, art deep practitioners considered it their mission to transform the domestic environment through well-designed furniture and household accessories.

1. What aspect of art deco does the passage mainly discuss?

2. 2. The word “encompass” in line 1 is closest in meaning to …………

3. 3. The phrase “The first” in line 2 refers to …………..

4. In line 8, the author mentions “an ancient Mesopotamian temple tower ” in order to ……….

5. The streamlined moderne style is characterized by all of the following EXCEPT

………..

6. The phrase “came to the forefront” in line 15 is closest in meaning to …………..

7. According to the passage, which of the following statements most accurately describes the relationship between art deco and art nouveau?

8. According to the passage, a building having an especially ornate appearance would most probably have been designed in the style of ………….

9. According to the passage, which of the following design trends is known by more than one name ?

10. The passage is primarily developed as …………….