44. Which of the following statements is the best topic sentence for the second paragraph?
(A) At the whole word recognition stage of reading, phonics is only used to decode words that are unknown (not already in the visual dictionary).
(B) Explicit teaching about the linguistic features of an alphabetic language needs to take place during the early stage of the literacy instruction.
(C) Chinese writing system is characterized by a high degree of script-to-sound correspondence and regularity.
(D) Because orthographic and phonological processing both play a role in semantic access, complete reliance on only one of them will dampen readers’ comprehension.

40.(A) The first empirical evidence for the above stipulation comes from Conrad’s seminal study. (B) In contrast, beginners had more difficulties in identifying pictures of visually-similar items due to their holistic learning experience and reliance on a direct link between orthography (or pictures) and semantics. (C) Despite the fact that auditory word recognition precedes visual word recognition, empirical first-language (L1) cquisition studies have shown that beginning L1 learners seem to rely more on pictorial or orthographic representations as media in remembering newly learned lexical items. (D) The above evidence suggests that there appears to be a difference in how learners of different proficiency profiles and at different developmental stages process lexical items.

41. What is the best title for this passage? (A) Influence of phonological recoding on advanced and beginning L2 learners from different language backgrounds (B) The development of phonological awareness as a mnemonic strategy (C) Examining the discourse strategies employed by L2 learners from different language backgrounds (D) The native speaker concept in second language acquisition and language teaching

42. Which of the following best describes the nature of this passage? (A) A test bulletin (B) A research proposal (C) A procedural motion (D) A diplomatic memorandum

43. Which of the following statements is NOT noted in the first paragraph? (A) Reading comprehension is by no means a simple, straightforward process. (B) Caplan’s view is aligned with Van Orden’s claim. (C) Phonological recoding is a supplementary meaning activation mechanism. (D) Comprehension does not involve any sound code.

45. In the third paragraph, what is the lens through which the role of phonological recoding performed by advanced readers is described? (A) A philosophical account (B) A developmental perspective (C) A psychological angle (D) An aesthetic perspective

46. According to the author, what’s the major gap in existing phonological recoding studies? (A) The lack of recognition that the second language user is a particular kind of person in their own right. (B) The exact nature of phonological recoding is still an unresolved issue in L1 acquisition literature. (C) Existing evidence is primarily based on research conducted with L1 alphabetic readers. (D) An interdisciplinary approach is yet to be adopted in order shed further light on phonological recoding literature.

47. The word “dampening” is closest in meaning to: (A) interweaving (B) disrupting (C) complimenting (D) mediating

48. Which of the following is NOT true about Xu’s perspective? (A) Xu believes that all readers—irrespective of their language backgrounds—appear to decode a written language using some kind of similar strategies. (B) Xu’s contention is fully supported by abundant empirical evidence. (C) Xu’s stipulation proceeds from theoretical deduction rather than from observation or experience. (D) Xu attempts to make a case for this contention from the linguistic perspective.

49. What does the expression “a case in point” mean in the content of this study? (A) Xu’s account is an exemplary instance of a particular view. (B) Xu’s view is only one of the many cases under discussion. (C) Xu’s proposition is pointing to a new research direction. (D) Xu put across a proposition that requires further validation.

50. Which of the following is the most appropriate participant/informant population for the purpose of this writing? (A) L2 users who have some linguistic knowledge (B) Beginning readers of an ideographic writing system (C) Chinese and English readers of different proficiency levels (D) L2 learners who are still struggling with how to read