Passage 5

If the salinity of ocean waters is analyzed, it is found to vary only slightly from place to place. Nevertheless, some of these small changes are important. There are three basic processes that cause a change in oceanic salinity. One of these is the subtraction of water from the ocean by means of evaporation-conversion of liquid water to water vapor. In this manner, the salinity is increased, since the salts stay behind. If this is carried to the extreme, of course, white crystals of salt would be left behind this. By the way is how much of the table salt we use is actually obtained.

The opposite of evaporation is precipitation such as rain, by which water is added to the ocean. Here the ocean is being diluted so that the salinity is decreased. This may occur in areas of high rainfall or in coastal regions where rivers flow into the ocean. Thus salinity may be increased by the subtraction of water by evaporation or decreased by the addition of fresh water by precipitation or runoff.

Normally in tropical regions where the Sun is very strong, the ocean salinity is somewhat higher than it is in other parts of the world where there is not as much evaporation. Similarly, in coastal regions where rivers dilute the sea salinity is somewhat lower than in other oceanic areas.

A third process by which salinity may be altered is associated with the formation and melting of sea ice. When seawater is frozen, the dissolved materials are left behind. In this manner, seawater directly beneath freshly formed sea ice has a higher salinity than it did before the ice appeared. Of course, when this ice melts, it will tend to decrease the salinity of the surrounding water.

In the Weddell Sea, off Antarctica, the densest water in the oceans is formed as a result of this freezing process, which increases the salinity of cold water. This heavy water sinks and is found in the deeper portions of the oceans of the world.

1-What does the passage mainly discuss?

2-All of the following are processes that decrease salinity EXCEPT ________.

3-Which of the following statements about the salinity of a body of water can best be inferred from the passage?

4-The word “it” in paragraph 4 refers to which of the following?

5-Why does the author mention the Weddell Sea?

7-What can be inferred about the water near the bottom of oceans?

Passage 6

Philosophy in the second half of the 19th century was based more on biology and history than on mathematics and physics. Revolutionary thought drifted away from metaphysics and epistemology and shifted more towards ideologies in science, politics, and sociology. Pragmatism became the most vigorous school of thought in American philosophy during this time, and it continued the empiricist tradition of grounding knowledge on experience and stressing the inductive procedures of experimental science. The three most important pragmatists of this period were the American philosophers Charles Peirce (1839-1914), considered to be the first of the American pragmatists, William James (1842-1910), the first great American psychologist, and John Dewey (1859-1952), who further developed the pragmatic principles of Peirce and James into a comprehensive system of thought that he called “experimental naturalism”, or “instrumentalism”.

Pragmatism was generally critical of traditional western philosophy, especially the notion that there are absolute truths and absolute values. In contrast, Josiah Royce (1855-1916), was a leading American exponent of idealism at this time, who believed in an absolute truth and held that human thought and the external world were unified. Pragmatism called for ideas and theories to be tested in practice, assessing whether they produced desirable or undesirable results. Although pragmatism was popular for a time in Europe, most agree that it epitomized the American faith in know-how and practicality, and the equally American distrust of abstract theories and ideologies. Pragmatism is best understood in its historical and cultural context. It arose during a period of rapid scientific advancement, industrialization, and material progress; a time when the theory of evolution suggested to many thinkers that humanity and society are in a perpetual state of progress. This period also saw a decline in traditional religious beliefs and values. As a result, it became necessary to rethink fundamental ideas about values, religion, science, community, and individuality. Pragmatists regarded all theories and institutions as tentative hypotheses and solutions. According to their critics, the pragmatist’s refusal to affirm any absolutes carried negative implications for society, challenging the foundations of society’s institutions.

1-What is this passage primarily about?

2-Which of the following is true?

3-Which of the following is true, according to the passage?

4-According to the passage, pragmatism was more popular in America than Europe because ________.

5-The word “abstract” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ________.

6-The word “perpetual” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ________.

8- All of the following are true EXCEPT ________.

Passage 7

The study of the astronomical practices, celestial lore, mythologies, religions and world-views of all ancient cultures is called archaeo-astronomy. It is described, in essence, as the “anthropology of astronomy”, to distinguish it from the “history of astronomy”. Many of the great monuments and ceremonial constructions of early civilizations were astronomically aligned, and two well-known ancient archaeological sites seem to have had an astronomical purpose. The Orion mystery, as it is dubbed, purports that the geometry and brightness of the stars in the Orion constellation are mirrored in the alignment and size of the great pyramids of Egypt. While this claim remains hypothetical, it is nevertheless clear that ancient Egyptians incorporated astronomy with architecture. In the Temple of Abu Simbel, for example, sunlight penetrates a sacred chamber to illuminate a statue of Ramses on October 18, which ushered in the start of the Egyptian civil year. Astronomy did not exist on its own, however, but as one limb of a larger body whose other limbs included agriculture and the after-life. In this sense, astronomy linked the two themes humans are most obsessed with: life and death.

Around the same period, another monument was erected that combines religion, architecture and astronomy. Stonehenge was built in three separate stages, starting in approximately 3000 B.C. Mostly it remains a mystery, but two clues offer some enlightenment. One is that the megalithic arrangement is not random nor purely aesthetic but astronomical: It marks the solstice and lunar phases. The other is that archaeological excavations have revealed it was also used in religious ceremonies. Chinese records suggest their own astronomical observations dated from the same period; Indian sacred books point to earlier observations; and Babylonian clay tablets show Chaldean priests had been observing the sky (including the motion of the visible planets and of eclipses) shortly thereafter. But the earliest physical vestige of an observatory in fact, lies in southern Egypt. Surprisingly it is probably not the product of a Semitic (Syrian or Babylonian) peoples but rather sub-Saharan, as evidenced by analysis of a human jawbone found on site. The Nabta site is the African equivalent of Stonehenge except it predates it by some 1,500 years.

1-What does the passage mainly discuss?

2-The word “celestial” in the first sentence could best be replaced by __________.

3- According to the passage, archaeo-astronomy ________.

4- Which of the following, according to the passage, is true about the great pyramids of Egypt?

5- The word “enlightenment” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ________.

6- According to the passage, the earliest known site of an observatory is probably ________.

7- In the paragraph 2, the word “it” refers to which of the following?

Passage 8

Psychologists who work on motivation research a wide range of human traits and physiological characteristics that include the effects of hunger, reward, and punishment, as well as desires for power, tangible achievement, social acceptance, belongingness, self-esteem, and self-actualization. A plethora of hypotheses developed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have the goal of identifying causes of an organism’s behavior that can be both conscious and unconscious. The hierarchical organization of human needs is a theoretical model, originally established by an American psychologist, Abraham Maslow, in 1954. The needs located at the bottom of the pyramid are the essentials of physiological survival that encompass oxygen, water, nutrition, rest and avoidance of pain. Maslow’s theory, grounded in research, also stipulated that these are variable and, at least to some extent, may explain, for example, food gratification. The second tier is rooted in the human need for safety, stability and protection.

In the human life cycle, the needs for belonging are manifested in the desires to marry, have a family, belong in a community or among similarly minded people. In part, the need to belong can also show up in a search for particular types of occupations or careers. The next level of the hierarchy in effect deals with two substrata, where the first presumes the need for status, prestige, recognition, appreciation, and dominance, and the higher division includes a conglomeration of emotionally centered traits that pivot on competence, confidence, mastery, achievement, independence, and freedom.

The top tier is different from all others, and Maslow referred to it as growth motivation and self-actualization. At the highest level, individuals seek to realize and put to use their creativity, talent, leadership, curiosity and understanding. At this level people can reach their full potentials and accurately perceive and accept reality, seek privacy and depth in personal relationships, resist enculturation, and develop social interests, compassion, and humanity. In many cases, self-actualizers do not lead ordinary lives, choose growth over safety, and cultivate peak experiences that leave their mark and change one for the better.

1- According to the passage, what does psychology of motivation attempt to uncover?

2- The word “plethora” in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ________.

3- It can be inferred from the passage that in Maslow’s hierarchy ________.

4- The word “these” in paragraph 1 refers to ________.

5- It can be inferred from the passage that in modern-day terms, the second layer of needs can be reflected in people’s desire for ________.

6- The word “conglomeration” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ________.

7- Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a factor in human motivation?

8- Which of the following conclusions is supported by the passage?