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

passage 1

Tube worms live anchored to the sea floor, 1,700 feet below the ocean surface, near natural spring vents that spew forth water from the earth. They live off geothermal energy instead of sunlight. There are two species of the tube worm family, with very different lengths of life and growth rates, but similari-ties as well.

The slow-growing tube worms are known to live as long as 250 years, making them the longest-living sea invertebrates known. This species lives near cold sea-floor seeps and may not grow at all from one year to the next. Even when they do grow, it is generally from a half an inch to four inches per year. In spite of their slow growth, due to their long lives, they can reach nine feet before they die, although they are thinner than the hot-water worms.

The seeps under the slow-growing tube worms are rich with oily materials. The envi-ronment in which they live is slow and peaceful, stable and low-energy. The cold-water seeps and the tube worms that reside there may live hundreds or thousands of years.

In stark contrast, the fast-growing tube worms live a quick and short life, growing rapidly. They attach themselves near hot steaming vents that force water into the sea, growing about two and a half feet a year, and up to eight feet overall. They live by absorb-ing sulfur compounds metabolized by bacteria in a symbiotic relationship.

The hot water vents spew forth scalding water filled with hydrogen sulfide, which the tiny bacteria living in the worms’ tissues consume. These tube worms live a rapid life, with none of the relaxing characteristics of the cold-water tube worms.

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

2. The expression spew forth in the first sentence is closest in meaning to

3. The author implies that a vent and a seep are the same

4. The passage indicates that the two types of tube worms discussed are

5. The author states that the cold-water tube worm

6. The word stark in the fourth paragraph is closest in meaning to

7. The word overall in the fourth paragraph is closest in meaning to

8. The word scalding in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to

9. The author indicates that the ingredients in the water that comes from the two types of vents are

Passage 2

A new procedure has been developed to treat aneurysms, particularly those that occur near the brain stem, where surgery is dangerous.

Aneurysms are blood sacs formed by en-largement of the weakened wall of arteries or veins. They are dangerous and thus must generally be removed before they cause considerable damage. If one ruptures, it can cause strokes or fatal hemorrhaging, the lat-ter of which occurs in 50 percent of all pa-tients. Before rupturing, an aneurysm frequently shows no sign or symptom that it exists. Brain aneurysms occur in approxi-mately 5 percent of the population. Most pa-tients are between 40 and 65 years old, with hemorrhages most prevalent in those be-tween 50 and 54.

The new procedure involves inserting a soft, flexible micro-catheter through the femoral artery in the groin area and snaking it up through blood vessels to the brain. Inside the catheter is a small, coiled wire, which can be extruded after it reaches its destination. After the coil is outside the catheter, a low voltage electrical current is applied, and the coil de-taches at a preset solder point. Additional coils are snaked through the catheter and also detached at the site, creating a basket, or metal framework, which causes the blood to clot around it. The micro-catheter is withdrawn, the clot remains, and the healed aneurysm no longer is exposed to the stress that can cause another rupture.

The procedure lasts two hours, which is half as long as invasive surgery, and recovery time is generally limited to a few days in-stead of a few weeks. The procedure was discovered in the 1990s, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1995, and is available in various hospitals where there are advanced neurology departments and specialists trained in the procdure. Many lives have been saved by use of the procedure, because the alternative would have been to watch and wait rather than risk the hazards of surgery.

1. The author implies that the procedure described is useful for

2. The word They in the first paragraph refers to

3.The word considerable in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to

4. The word one in the first paragraph refers to

5. The word snaking in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to

6. The word withdrawn in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to

7. An aneurysm is most similar to

8. The author indicates that half of the patients who have a brain aneurysm could also have

9. The author indicates that the point of creating a basket near the aneurysm is to

10. The author indicates that the femoral artery is

11. The author states that the electrical charge is applied in order to

12. The author implies that the wire breaks off

13. According to the passage, traditional surgical techniques take

14. The author implies that the new procedure