Passage 13

A highly acclaimed motion picture of 1979 concerned a nearly disastrous accident at a nuclear power plant. Within a few weeks of the film’s release, in a chilling coincidence, a real-life accident startlingly similar to the fictitious one occurred at the Three Mile Island plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The two incidents even corresponded in certain details; for instance, both in the film and in real life, one cause of the mishap was a false meter reading caused by a jammed needle.

Such similarities led many to wonder whether the fictional movie plat had been prophetic in other ways. The movie depicted officials of the power industry as seriously corrupt, willing to lie, bribe, and even kill to conceal their culpability in the accident. Did a similar cover-up occur in the Three Mile Island accident? Perhaps we will never know. We do know that, despite the endeavors of reporters and citizen groups to uncover the causes to the accident, many of the facts remain unknown. Although they declare that the public is entitled to the truth, many of the power industry leaders responsible have been reluctant to cooperate with independent, impartial investigators.

1. The nuclear accident described in the movie

2. Officials of the nuclear power industry

3. According to the passage, public concern over the accident near Harrisburg

4. Reporters looking into the accident at Three Mile Island

5. All of the following are true EXCEPT

Passage 14

The education of deaf people has a long history. Some educators preferred to teach sign language, a method of communicating with one’s hands. While others emphasized to teach deaf people to speak.
The first known teacher of the deaf was Pedro Ponce De Leon, a Benedictine monk, who tutored children of the nobility in the 1570s. He had some success in teaching deaf children to speak and write. A former pupil of his indicated that Ponce de Leon used both a manual Alphabet and oral methods.
France was one of the leaders in education of the deaf. There, around 1600, Juan Bonet and Manuel Ramirez de carrion worked with a young child who had lost his hearing. Bonet later wrote and published the first book on teaching the deaf. Bonet taught his pupil a signed alphabet that is very close to the one 6 used today in the United States. In 1775 in Paris, Abbe Charles Michel de I’Epee founded a free school for deaf pupils that taught sign language. Over the school for deaf people that taught sign language. Over the next several decades, this school’s method of teaching students sign language became famous as the “French method”.
In America, the first school for deaf students was not founded Until April 15, 1817, probably because that was when an American city had a concentration of people large enough to sustain a permanent institution. Thomas Gallaudet founded. this first school, the American Asylum for the education of the Deaf and Dumb, located in Hartford, Connecticut, and now called the American School for the Deaf. Gallaudet hired a deaf French man, Laurent Clerc, to teach at his school. Clerc created the sign language system used in the school, and trained many of the first teachers in his techniques. Hence Clerc was one of the most influentialeducator in early American deaf education.
In 1857, Edward Minor Gallaudet, a son of Thomas Gallaudet, became principal of the Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Dumb in Washington, D.C, which eventually became Gallaudet college, the only liberal arts institution for the deaf. Edward Gallaudet advocated a combination of oral and manual methods of deaf education.

1. Why is Pedro Ponce de Leon mentioned?

2. The word “tutored“ in line 3 is closest in meaning to which of the following?

3. According to the passage, what was the principal achievement of Juan Boner ?

4. “This school’s method” in line 11 refers to which school?

5. In line 15, the word “institution” refers to 

6. The word “influential” in line 19 is closest in meaning to

7. The word “ advocated ” in line 22 is closest in meaning to which of the following ? 

8. The tone of the passage can best be described as 

9. What is the distinction of Gallaudet College ?

10. Why does the author suggest that the first school for the deaf was opened in 1817?

11. What is the main topic of this passage ?

Passage 15

The aurora is an atmospheric phenomenon occurring near the earth’s poles. Known as aurora borealis or “northern lights” in the Line northern hemisphere, and as aurora australis or “southern lights” in the southern hemisphere, it is a kind of cosmic light show.

Although their causes are not precisely known, auroras seem to result from solar activ ity. The sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, can  be extremely hot, up to several million degrees. Such heat causes atoms to dissolve, and changes hydrogen into plasma—free electrons and protons. Holes in the sun’s magnetic field allow this plasma to escape. As the sun rotates, it throws plasma outward in a spiral. The plasma moves further and further away from the sun, eventually reaching Earth’s orbit. When the plasma particles get caught in the earth’s magnetic field, they travel to the magnetic poles, where, at heights of several hundred kilometers, they collide with oxygen and nitrogen atoms. This energetic activity knocks away electrons to leave ions in excited states. The ions emit radiation and create color. Then the light show begins.

The longest lasting aurora form is the arc, which may remain in the sky for several hours. An aurora can also appear as a curtain, ray, or band. In the dazzling auroral substorm, an aurora’s shape may change dramatically. Green lights can fill the sky towards the pole, and end in a shimmering, folded arc with a red border at the bottom. The bottom of the arc or fold often takes a sharper form than the top part. Towards the end of the display, the shapes pale and gradually drift towards the pole.

1. What is the best title for the passage?

2. The word precisely in line 4 is closest in meaning to

3. Auroras are mainly caused by

4. According to the passage, the suns corona changes hydrogen gas into which of the following substances?

5. The word “collide” in line 21 is closest in meaning to

6.Where in the passage does the author define the term corona?

7. The word dazzling in line 29 could best be replaced by which of the following?

8. Which of the following generalizations about auroras could best be drawn from the passage?

9. As the auroral display comes to a close, it appears to

Passage 16

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

3. The phrase “The first” in paragraph 1 refers to …………………

4. In paragraph 1, the author mentions “an ancient Mesopotamian temple tower” in order to ………………

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

6. The phrase “came to the forefront” in paragraph 2 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 …………………