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

Passage 1

By the end of the first quarter of the nineteenth century a number of Eastern institutions – Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Pennsylvania – had some of the necessary ingredients of a university, but hardly yet the point of view. They were little clusters of schools and institutes. Indeed, just after the Revolution, the schools of Pennsylvania and Harvard had assumed the somewhat pretentious title of university, and, shortly after, the University of Virginia was founded under the guidance of Thomas Jefferson. In the South, Georgia and later North Carolina began to rise. The substance in all these was mainly lacking, though the title was honored.There were rather feeble law, medical, and divinity schools, somewhat loosely attached to these colleges. It has been commonly recognized, however, that the first decade after the close of the War Between the States, that is, from about 1866 to 1876, was the great early flowering of the university idea in America. In this decade,a surprising number of extremely able men in higher education began to appear. Eliot was revolutionizing Harvard, White went from Yale to help in the founding of Cornell, and Gilman to establish Johns Hopkins, and Barnard to renew Columbia, the older Angell was busy at Michigan. ln 1867, through the Morrill Act, the Land Grant colleges rose, and in the decade of 1880, Minnesota and Wisconsin began to develop as universities, In 1890, the University of Chicago was established by Harper,another refugee from Yale, and in 1891 Stanford started on its career. By this time,James Bryce thought he could recognize eight to twelve true universities in the country and from thirty to forty institutions that would qualify as undergraduate colleges, whatever they called themselves.

1. In l825, ………………… .

2. Thomas Jefferson founded ……………..

3. The University idea really began to develop ………………. .

4. The Land Grant colleges began in ……………….

5- Four universities founded by men who came from Yale were ………………. .

Passage 2

William Faulkner of Oxford was not a native of Oxford; nor was he born with the name Faulkner. He was born in New Albany; Mississippi, on September 25, 1897, and the family spelled the name, Falkner. He published his first book when he was twenty-seven. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature when he was 53. He was generally acknowledged as the major American writer of his time, when he died on July 6, 1962. Faulkner spent almost the whole of his life in the Mississippi town, which millions who read his works know not as Oxford but as Jefferson. Even to the people of Oxford, Faulkner was a kind of legend in his own lifetime. There was, for example, the mystery of who put the “u” in William’s last name. For many years, the commonly accepted story was that it was a careless printer, in setting type for the Marble Faun (1924). Faulkner’s biographer, Carvel Collins, demonstrates that the writer himself added it, and, at least occasionally as early as 19l8_ Thirty years later Faulkner drafted and printed by hand two amusing documents, commissioning a boat owned by him and several other persons in Oxford In one, he signed his name”William C. Falkner II”. perhaps because in this document, he pays tribute to his great-grandfather, Colonel William C. Falkner, but in the other, in which he calls himself the First Sea Lord of Lafayette County, Mississippi, “William Faulkner”. Even had Faulkner given him the “facts” there is no certainty that they would have been the correct ones. Six years before his death, the writer told another interviewer (Jena Stein, for Paris Review) that when he was asked questions about himself, “I may answer or I may not. but even if I do, if the same question is asked tomorrow,the answer may be different”.

1. At the time of his death, Faulkner was …………………… .

2. Faulkner lived most of his life in …………………………. .

3. William Faulkner was probably named after ………………….. .

4. Many of Faulkner’s novels are set in …………………….. .

5. Falkner ………………………….

6. The “u” in Faulkner’s name was added by ………………….. .

Passage 3

In West African villages, the way of life for most people centered on farming women prepared food, cared for the children, made pottery, worked in the fields, and brought water to the village. Men looked after large animals-such as cattle or camels-cleared land for farming, and built houses and fences. Children were often responsible for gathering firewood, helping their fathers tend the flocks, and helping their mothers clean their home. Some people focused on specific types of work, a process known as labor specialization. Labor specialization led to a diverse West African economy. Most people practiced an economy based on farming. Others specialized in the herding of animals. Metalworking was a specialization that required great skill. Iron technology allowed Africans to create stronger agricultural tools and weapons. As a result of this technology, the population grew and became wealthier. Finally, some people traded goods within West Africa and with other regions, such as North Africa.

1. The passage mainly discusses ……..

2. It can be inferred from the passage that …………. .

3. The word “herding” in line ‘J is closest in meaning to ………………. .

4. The word “this” in line 11 refers to ………………….. .

5. According to the passage, Africans became wealthier because they ………….. .

Passage 4

Earth’s magnetic poles do not stay in one place. The magnetic pole in the north today is in a different place from where it was 20 years ago. In fact, not only does the position of the magnetic poles move, but Earth’s magnetic field sometimes reverses direction. For example, 700 thousand years ago, a compass needle that now points north would point south. During the past 20 million years, Earth’s magnetic field has reversed direction more than 70 times. The magnetism of ancient rocks contains a record of these magnetic field changes. When some types of molten rock cool,magnetic domains of iron in the rock line up with Earth’s magnetic field. After the rock cools, the orientation of` these domains is frozen into position. Consequently,these old rocks preserve the orientation of Earth’s magnetic field as it was long ago.

1- The passage mainly discusses the …………………. .

2- According to the passage ………………. .

3- The purpose in the mention of “ancient rocks” in line 6 is to show …………….. .

4- The word “molten” in line 7 is closest in meaning to ……………..

5- The word “it” in line 10 refers to …………………