When the prairies were being settled, undoubtedly, the good economic conditions of the 1950's supported a growth in the population, but the expansion also derived from a trend toward earlier marriages and an increase in the average size of families.
The word "trend" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) tendency
(B) aim
(C) growth
(D) directive
41-50
People in the United States in the nineteenth century were haunted by the prospect that unprecedented change in he nation's economy would bring social chaos. In the years following 1820, after several decades of relative stability, the economy entered a period of sustained and extremely rapid growth that continued to the end of the nineteenth century. Accompanying that growth that was a structural change that featured increasing economic diversification and a gradual shift in the nation's labor force from agriculture to manufacturing and other nonagricultural pursuits.
Although the birth rate continued to decline from its high level of the eighteenth and early nineteenth century. The population roughly doubled every generation during the rest of the nineteenth centuries. As the population grew, its makeup also changed. Massive waves of immigration brought new ethnic groups into the country. Geographic and social mobility - downward as well as upward - touched almost everyone. Local studies indicate that nearly three - quarters of the population - in the North and South, in the emerging cities of the Northeast, and in the restless rural counties of the West - changed their residence each decade. As a consequence, historian David Donald has written, "Social atomization affected every segment of society," and it seemed to many people that "all the recognized values of orderly civilization were gradually being eroded." Rapid industrialization and increased geographic mobility in the nineteenth century had special implications for women because these tended to magnify social distinctions. As the roles men and women played in society became more rigidly defined, so did the roles they played in the home. In the context of extreme competitiveness and dizzying social change, the household lost many of its earlier functions and the home came to serve as a haven of tranquillity and order. As the size of families decreased, the roles of husband and wife became more clearly differentiated than ever before. In the middle class especially, men participated in the productive economy while women ruled the home and served as the custodians of civility and culture. The intimacy of marriage that was common in earlier periods was rent, and a gulf that at times seemed unbridgeable was created between husbands and wives.
【題組】47.Which of the following best describes the society about which David Donald wrote?
(A) A highly conservative society that was resistant to new ideas
(B) A society that was undergoing fundamental change
(C) A society that had been gradually changing since the early 1700's
(D) A nomadic society that was starting permanent settlements
Questions 10-21
Basic to any understanding of Canada in 20 years after the Second World War is the country's impressive population growth. For every three Canadians in 1945, there were over five in 1996. In September 1966 Canada's population passed the 20 million mark. Most of this surging growth came from natural increase. The depression of the 1930's and the war had held back marriages and the catching – up process began after 1945. The baby boom continued through the decade of the 1950's, producing a population increase of nearly fifteen percent in the five years from 1951 to 1956. This rate of increase had been exceeded only once before in Canada's history, in the decade before 1911, when the prairies were being settled. Undoubtedly, the good economic conditions of the 1950's supported a growth in the population, but the expansion also derived from a trend toward earlier marriages and an increase in the average size of families. In 1957 the Canadian birth rate stood at 28 per thousand, one of the highest in the world.
After the peak year of 1957, the birth rate in Canada began to decline. It continued falling until in 1966 it stood at the lowest level in 25 years. Partly this decline reflected the low level of births during the depression and the war, but it was also caused by changes in Canadian society. Young people were staying at school longer, more women were working, young married couples were buying automobiles or houses before starting families, rising living standards were cutting down the size of families. It appeared that Canada was once more falling in step with the trend toward smaller families that had occurred all through the Western world since the time of the Industrial Revolution.
Although the growth in Canada's population has slowed down by 1966(the increase in the first half of the 1960's was only nine percent). Another large population wave was coming over the horizon. It would be composed of the children of the children who were born during the period of the high birth rate prior to 1957.
【題組】21. The phrase "prior to" in line 26 is closest in meaning to
(A) behind
(B) Since
(C) During
(D) Preceding
Question 19-29
A folk culture is small, isolated, cohesive, conservative, nearly self-sufficient group that is homogeneous in custom and race, with a strong family or clan structure and highly developed rituals. Order is maintained through sanctions based in the religion or family, and interpersonal relationships are strong. Tradition is paramount, and change comes infrequently and slowly. There is relatively little division of labor into specialized duties. Rather, each person is expected to perform a great variety of tasks, though duties many differ between the sexes. Most goods are handmade, and a subsistence economy prevails. Individualism is weakly developed in folk cultures, as are social classes. Unaltered folk cultures no longer exist in industrialized countries such as the United States and Canada. Perhaps the nearest modern-equivalent in Anglo-America is the Amish, a German American farming sect that largely renounces the products and labor saving device of the industrial age. In Amish areas, horse - drawn buggies still serve as a local transportation device, and the faithful are not permitted to own automobiles. The Amish's central religious concept of Demut, "humility", clearly reflects the weakness of individualism and social class so typical of folk cultures, and there is a corresponding strength of Amish group identity. Rarely do the Amish marry outside their sect. The religion, a variety of the Mennonite faith, provides the principal mechanism for maintaining -order.
By contrast, a popular culture is a large heterogeneous group, often highly individualistic and constantly changing. Relationships tend to be impersonal, and a pronounced division of labor exists, leading to the establishment of many specialized professions. Secular institutions of control such as the police and army take the place of religion and family in maintaining order, and a money-based economy prevails. Because of these contrasts, "popular" may be viewed as clearly different from "folk". The popular is replacing the folk in industrialized countries and in many developing nations, Folk-made objects give way to their popular equivalent, usually because the popular item is more quickly or cheaply produced, is easier or time saving to use, or lends more prestige to the owner.
【題組】20. The word "homogeneous" in line 2 is closest in meaning to
(A) uniform
(B) general
(C) primitive
(D) traditional
Questions 10-20
Long before they can actually speak, babies pay special attention to the speech they
hear around them. Within the first month of their lives, babies' responses to the sound of
the human voice will be different from their responses to other sorts of auditory stimuli.
Line They will stop crying when they hear a person talking, but not if they hear a bell or the
(5) sound of a rattle. At first, the sounds that an infant notices might be only those words that
receive the heaviest emphasis and that often occur at the ends of utterances. By the time
they are six or seven weeks old, babies can detect the difference between syllables
pronounced with rising and falling inflections. Very soon, these differences in adult stress
and intonation can influence babies' emotional states and behavior. Long before they
(10) develop actual language comprehension, babies can sense when an adult is playful or
angry, attempting to initiate or terminate new behavior, and so on, merely on the basis of
cues such as the rate, volume, and melody of adult speech.
Adults make it as easy as they can for babies to pick up a language by exaggerating
such cues. One researcher observed babies and their mothers in six diverse cultures and
(15) found that, in all six languages, the mothers used simplified syntax, short utterances and
nonsense sounds, and transformed certain sounds into baby talk. Other investigators have
noted that when mothers talk to babies who are only a few months old, they exaggerate
the pitch, loudness, and intensity of their words. They also exaggerate their facial
expressions, hold vowels longer, and emphasize certain words.
(20) More significant for language development than their response to general intonation is
observation that tiny babies can make relatively fine distinctions between speech sounds.
other words, babies enter the world with the ability to make precisely those perceptual
discriminations that are necessary if they are to acquire aural language.
Babies obviously derive pleasure from sound input, too: even as young as nine months
(25) they will listen to songs or stories, although the words themselves are beyond their
understanding. For babies, language is a sensory-motor delight rather than the route to
prosaic meaning that it often is for adults.
【題組】16. The passage mentions all of the following as ways adults modify their speech when talking to
babies EXCEPT
(A) giving all words equal emphasis
(B) speaking with shorter sentences
(C) speaking more loudly than normal
(D) using meaningless sounds
1Questions 1-9
In 1903 the members of the governing board of the University of Washington. in
Seattle. engaged a firm of landscape architects, specialists in the design of outdoor
environments--OImsted Brothers of Brookline, Massachusetts-to advise them on an
Line appropriate layout for the university grounds. The plan impressed the university officials,
(5) and in time many of its recommendations were implemented. City officials in Seattle, the
largest city in the northwestern United States, were also impressed, for they employed the
same organization to study Seattle's public park needs. John Olmsted did the investigation
and subsequent report on Seattle's parks. He and his brothers believed that parks should
be adapted to the local topography, utilize the area's trees and shrubs, and be available to
(10) the entire community. They especially emphasized the need for natural, serene settings
where hurried urban dwellers could periodically escape from the city. The essence of the
Olmsted park plan was to develop a continuous driveway, twenty miles long, that would
tie together a whole series of parks, playgrounds, and parkways. There would be local
parks and squares, too, but all of this was meant to supplement the major driveway,
(15) which was to remain the unifying factor for the entire system.
In November of 1903 the city council of Seattle adopted the Olmsted Report, and
it automatically became the master plan for the city's park system. Prior to this report,
Seattle's park development was very limited and funding meager. All this changed
after the report. Between 1907 and 1913, city voters approved special funding measures
(20) amounting to $4,000,000. With such unparalleled sums at their disposal, with the Olmsted
guidelines to follow, and with the added incentive of wanting to have the city at its best
for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition of 1909, the Parks Board bought aggressively.
By 1913 Seattle had 25 parks amounting to 1,400 acres, as well as 400 acres in
playgrounds, pathways, boulevards, and triangles. More lands would be added in the
(25) future, but for all practical purposes it was the great land surge of 1907-1913 that
established Seattle's park system.
【題組】4. Which of the following statements about parks does NOT reflect the views of the Olmsted Brothers firm?
(A) They should be planted with trees that grow locally.
(B) They should provide a quiet, restful environment.
(C) They should be protected by limiting the number of visitors from the community.
(D) They should be designed to conform to the topography of the area.
Questions 10-17
From their inception, most rural neighborhoods in colonial North America included
at least one carpenter, joiner, sawyer, and cooper in woodworking; a weaver and a tailor
for clothing production; a tanner, currier, and cordwainer (shoemaker) for fabricating leather
objects; and a blacksmith for metalwork, Where stone was the local building material, a
5) mason was sure to appear on the list of people who paid taxes. With only an apprentice as
an assistant, the rural artisan provided the neighborhood with common goods from furniture
to shoes to farm equipment in exchange for cash or for “goods in kind” from the customer’s
field, pasture, or dairy. Sometimes artisans transformed material provided by the customer
wove cloth of yam spun at the farm from the wool of the family sheep; made chairs or tables
10) from wood cut in the customer’s own woodlot; produced shoes or leather breeches from
cow, deer, or sheepskin tanned on the farm.
Like their farming neighbors, rural artisans were part of an economy seen, by one
historian, as “an orchestra conducted by nature.” Some tasks could not be done in the winter,
other had to be put off during harvest time, and still others waited on raw materials that were
15) only produced seasonally. As the days grew shorter, shop hours kept pace, since few artisans
could afford enough artificial light to continue work when the Sun went down. To the best
of their ability, colonial artisans tried to keep their shops as efficient as possible and to
regularize their schedules and methods of production for the best return on their investment
in time, tools, and materials, While it is pleasant to imagine a woodworker, for example,
20) carefully matching lumber, joining a chest together without resort to nails or glue, and
applying all thought and energy to carving beautiful designs on the finished piece, the time
required was not justified unless the customer was willing to pay extra for the quality—
and few in rural areas were, Artisans, therefore, often found it necessary to employ as
many shortcuts and economics as possible while still producing satisfactory products.
【題組】10. What aspect of rural colonial North America does the passage mainly discuss?
(A) Farming practices
(B) The work of artisans
(C) The character of rural neighborhoods
(D) Types of furniture that were popular
Questions 40-50
Of all modern instruments, the violin is apparently one of the simplest. It consists in
essence of a hollow, varnished wooden sound box, or resonator, and a long neck, covered
with a fingerboard, along which four strings are stretched at high tension. The beauty of
Line design, shape, and decoration is no accident: the proportions of the instrument are
(5) determined almost entirely by acoustical considerations. Its simplicity of appearance is
deceptive. About 70 parts are involved in the construction of a violin, Its tone and its
outstanding range of expressiveness make it an ideal solo instrument. No less important.
however, is its role as an orchestral and chamber instrument. In combination with the
larger and deeper-sounding members of the same family, the violins form the nucleus
(10) of the modern symphony orchestra.
The violin has been in existence since about 1550. Its importance as an instrument
in its own right dates from the early 1600's, when it first became standard in Italian
opera orchestras. Its stature as an orchestral instrument was raised further when in 1626
Louis XIII of France established at his court the orchestra known as Les vingt-quatre
(15) violons du Roy (The King's 24 Violins), which was to become widely famous later in
the century.
In its early history, the violin had a dull and rather quiet tone resulting from the fact
that the strings were thick and were attached to the body of the instrument very loosely.
During the eighteenth and nineteenth century, exciting technical changes were inspired
(20) by such composer-violinists as Vivaldi and Tartini. Their instrumental compositions
demanded a fuller, clearer, and more brilliant tone that was produced by using thinner
strings and a far higher string tension. Small changes had to be made to the violin's
internal structure and to the fingerboard so that they could withstand the extra strain.
Accordingly, ,a higher standard of performance was achieved, in terms of both facility
(25) and interpretation. Left-hand technique was considerably elaborated, and new fingering
patterns on the fingerboard were developed for very high notes.
【題組】45. The word "strain" in line 23 is closest in meaning to
(A) struggle
(B) strength
(C) strategy
(D) stress
【題組】50. All of the following are mentioned in the passage as contributing to the ability to play modern violin music EXCEPT
(A) more complicated techniques for the left hand
(B) different ways to use the fingers to play very high notes
(C) use of rare wood for the fingerboard and neck
(D) minor alterations to the structure of the instrument
Questions 1-9
The term "folk song" has been current for over a hundred years, but there is still a
good deal of disagreement as to what it actually means. The definition provided by the
International Folk Music Council states that folk music is the music of ordinary people,
Line which is passed on from person to person by being listened to rather than learned from
(5) the printed page. Other factors that help shape a folk song include: continuity (many
performances over a number of years); variation (changes in words and melodies either
through artistic interpretation or failure of memory); and selection (the acceptance of a
song by the community in which it evolves).
When songs have been subjected to these processes their origin is usually impossible
(10) to trace. For instance, if a farm laborer were to make up a song and sing it to a-couple of
friends who like it and memorize it, possibly when the friends come to sing it themselves
one of them might forget some of the words and make up new ones to fill the gap, while"
the other, perhaps more artistic, might add a few decorative touches to the tune and
improve a couple of lines of text. If this happened a few times there would be many
(15) different versions, the song's original composer would be forgotten, and the song would
become common property. This constant reshaping and re-creation is the essence of folk
music. Consequently, modem popular songs and other published music, even though
widely sung by people who are not professional musicians, are not considered folk music.
The music and words have been set by a printed or recorded source, limiting scope for
(20) further artistic creation. These songs' origins cannot be disguised and therefore they
belong primarily to the composer and not to a community.
The ideal situation for the creation of folk music is an isolated rural community. In
such a setting folk songs and dances have a special purpose at every stage in a person's
life, from childhood to death. Epic tales of heroic deeds, seasonal songs relating to
(25) calendar events, and occupational songs are also likely to be sung. 【題組】5. The word "subjected" in line 9 is closest in meaning to
(A) reduced
(B) modified
(C) exposed
(D) imitated
Questions 10-19
What unusual or unique biological train led to the remarkable diversification and
unchallenged success of the ants for ever 50 million years? The answer appears to be
that they were the first group of predatory ensocial insects that both lived and foraged
Line primarily in the soil and in rotting vegetation on the ground. Eusocial refers tc a form
(5) of insect society characterized by specialization of tasks and cooperative care of the
young; it is rare among insects. Richly organized colonies of the land made possible
by eusociality enjoy several key advantages over solitary individuals.
Under most circumstances groups of workers arc better able to forage for food and
defend the nest, because they can switch from individual to group response and back
(10) again swiftly and according to need. When a food object or nest intruder is too large for
one individual to handle, nestmates can be quickly assembled by alarm or recruitment
signals. Equally important is the fact that the execution of multiple-step tasks is
accomplished in a series-parallel sequence. That is, individual ants can specialize in
particular steps, moving from one object (such as a larva to be fed) to another (a second
(15) larva to be fed). They do not need to carry each task to completion from start to finish—.
for example, to check the larva first, then collect the food, then feed the larva. Hence, if
each link in the chain has many workers in attendance, a senes directed at any particular
object is less likely to fail. Moreover, ants specializing in particular labor categories
typically constitute a caste specialized by age or body form or both. There has bees some
(20) documentation of the superiority in performance and net energetic yield of various castes
for their modal tasks, although careful experimental studies are still relatively few.
What makes ants unusual in the company of eusocial insects is the fact that they are
the only eusocial predators (predators are animals that capture and feed on other animals)
occupying the soil and ground litter. The eusocial termites live in the same places as ants
and also have wingless workers, but they feed almost exclusively on dead vegetation.
【題組】14. According to the passage, one thing eusocial
insects can do is rapidly switch from
(A) one type of food consumption to another
(B) one environment to another
(C) a solitary task to a group task
(D) a defensive to an offensive stance
Questions 30-40
The smooth operation of an ant colony depends on ten to twenty different signals,
most of which are pheromones (chemical signals triggering behavioral responses). It is
estimated that red fire ants employ at least twelve different chemical signals. The simples
Line of these is the carbon dioxide from the respiration of an ant cluster, a chemical that acts as
(5) a pheromone to promote aggregation. Workers move toward a source of carbon dioxide,
resulting in solitary ants moving to join a group. At the other extreme, the most complex
of the fire ants' signals is probably colony odor, by which the workers of a particular
colony or nest identify another worker as local or foreign. Each ant nest has its own odor
as a result of its location, history, and local food supply. The resident ants pick up this
(10) odor on their bodies, so that ants of the same species, but from different nests, have
different colony odors. This allows ants to identify intruders and maintain colony
integrity.
Fire ants also make use of an alarm pheromone to alert workers to an emergency,
and their scouts lay down a trail pheromone as a guide during mass migrations. A fire ant
(15) queen emits a chemical signal that identifies her to the colony's workers. They respond
by scurrying to gather around her. The decomposing corpse of a dead ant also generates
a signal, to which workers respond by eliminating the corpse from the nest.
Ants provide examples of both public (accessible to other species) and private
messages. One of their most important private messages concerns food, for a food source
(20) is worth keeping secret. Each species marks its trails with signals that are meaningless to
others, so that an ant crossing a trail left by another ant species typically notices nothing.
On the other hand, a secret signal to mark a dead body is unnecessary. Many kinds of ants
perceive a natural decomposition product of dead insects as a signal to remove a corpse.
If an outsider recognizes this message and moves the body, no harm is done.
【題組】36. What is the role of pheromones in the mass migrations of ants?
(A) Pheromones are used to create a trail that directs the ants during migrations.
(B) Pheromones signal the ants that the nest has been invaded and must be
abandoned.
(C) Pheromones control the speed at which ants move from one location to another.
(D) Pheromones enable scouts to identify suitable areas for establishing a new nest.
Questions 20-28
The interrelationship of science, technology, and industry is taken for granted
today—summed up, not altogether accurately, as "research and development." Yet
historically this widespread faith in the economic virtues of science is a relatively recent
Line phenomenon, dating back in the United States about 150 years, and in the Western world
(5) as a whole not over 300 years at most. Even in this current era of large scale, intensive
research and development, the interrelationships involved in this process are frequently
misunderstood. Until the coming of the Industrial Revolution, science and technology
evolved for the most part independently of each other. Then as industrialization became
increasingly complicated, the craft techniques of preindustrial society gradually gave way
(10) to a technology based on the systematic application of scientific knowledge and scientific
methods. This changeover started slowly and progressed unevenly. Until late in the
nineteenth century, only a few industries could use scientific techniques or cared about
using them. The list expanded noticeably after 1870, but even then much of what passed
for the application of science was "engineering science" rather than basic science.
(15) Nevertheless, by the middle of the nineteenth century, the rapid expansion of scientific
knowledge and of public awareness-if not understanding-of it had created a belief that the
advance of science would in some unspecified manner automatically generate economic
benefits. The widespread and usually uncritical acceptance of this thesis led in turn to the
assumption that the application of science to industrial purposes was a linear process, starting
(20) with fundamental science, then proceeding to applied science or technology, and through
them to industrial use. This is probably the most common pattern, but it is not invariable. New
areas of science have been opened up and fundamental discoveries made as a result of
attempts to solve a specific technical or economic problem. Conversely, scientists who mainly
do basic research also serve as consultants on projects that apply research in practical ways.
(25) In sum, the science-technology-industry relationship may flow in several different ways, and
the particular channel it will follow depends on the individual situation. It may at times even
be multidirectional.
【題組】24. The understanding of research and
development in the late nineteenth
century is based on which of the
following?
(A) Engineering science is not very
important.
(B) Fundamental science naturally leads
to economic benefits.
(C) The relationship between research
and development should be
criticized.
(D) Industrial needs should determine
what areas fundamental science
focuses on.
Questions 21-30
In colonial America, people generally covered their beds with decorative quilts resembling those of the lands from which the quitters had come. Wealthy and socially prominent settlers made quilts of the English type, cut from large lengths of cloth of the same color and texture rather than stitched together from smaller pieces. They mad these until the advent of the Revolutionary War in I 775, when everything English came to be frowned upon.
Among the whole-cloth quilts made by these wealthy settlers during the early period are those now called linsey-woolseys. This term was usually applied to a fabric of wool and linen used In heavy clothing and quilted petticoats worn in the wintertime. Despite the name, linsey-woolsey bedcovers did not often contain linen. Rather, they were made of a lop layer of woolen or glazed worsted wool fabric, consisting of smooth, compact yarn from long wool fiber dyed dark blue, green, or brown with a bottom layer of a coarser woolen material, either natural or a shade of yellow. The filling was a soft layer of wool which had been cleaned and separated and the three layers were held together with decorative stitching done with homespun linen thread. Later, cotton thread WM used for this purpose. The design of the stitching was often a simple one composed of interlocking circles or crossed diagonal lines giving a diamond pattern.
This type of heavy, warm, quilted bedcover was so large that it hung to the floor. The corners are cut out at the foot of the cover so that the quilt fit snugly around the tall four-poster, beds of the 1700's, which differed from those of today in that they were shorter and wider; they were short because people slept in a semi-sitting position with many bolsters or pillows, and wide, because each bed often slept three or more. The linsey-woolsey covering was found in the colder regions of the country because of the warmth it afforded. There was no central heating and most bedrooms did not have fireplaces.
【題組】30. Which of the following was most likely to be found in a bedroom in the colder areas of the American colonies?
(A)A linsey-woolsey
(B)A vent from a central healing system
(C) A fireplace
(D) A wood stove
Questions 40-50
Pheromones are substances that serve as chemical signals between members of the
same species. They are secreted to the outside of the body and cause other individuals
of the species to have specific reactions. Pheromones, which are sometimes called
Line "social hormones," affect a group of individuals somewhat like hormones do an individual
(5) animal. Pheromones are the predominant medium of communication among insects
(but rarely the sole method). Some species have simple pheromone systems and produce
only a few pheromones, but others produce many with various functions. Pheromone
systems are the most complex in some of the so-called social insects, insects that live
in organized groups.
(10) Chemical communication differs from that by sight or sound in several ways.
Transmission is relatively slow (the chemical signals are usually airborne), but the
signal can be persistent, depending upon the volatility of the chemical, and is sometimes
effective over a very long range. Localization of the signal is generally poorer than
localization of a sound or visual stimulus and is usually effected by the animal's moving
(15) upwind in response to the stimulus. The ability to modulate a chemical signal is limited,
compared with communication by visual or acoustic means, but some pheromones may
convey different meanings and consequently result in different behavioral or physiological
responses, depending on their concentration or when presented in combination. The
modulation of chemical signals occurs via the elaboration of the number of exocrine
(20) glands that produce pheromones. Some species, such as ants, seem to be very articulate
creatures, but their medium of communication is difficult for humans to study and
appreciate because of our own olfactory, insensitivity and the technological difficulties
in detecting and analyzing these pheromones.
Pheromones play numerous roles in the activities of insects. They may act as alarm
(25) substances, play a role in individual and group recognition, serve as attractants between
sexes, mediate the formation of aggregations, identify foraging trails, and be involved in
caste determination. For example, pheromones involved in caste determination include
the "queen substance" produced by queen honey bees. Aphids, which are particularly
vulnerable to predators because of their gregarious habits and sedentary nature, secrete
an alarm pheromone when attacked that causes nearby aphids to respond by moving away.
【題組】45. According to the passage, the meaning of a message communicated through a
pheromone may vary when the
(A) chemical structure of the pheromone is changed
(B) pheromone is excreted while other pheromones are also being excreted
(C) exocrine glands do not produce the pheromone
(D) pheromone is released near certain specific organisms
Question 32-40
Generally, in order to be preserved in the fossil record, organisms must possess hard body parts
such as shells or bones. Soft, fleshy structures are quickly destroyed by predators pr decayed by
bacteria. Even hard parts left on the surface for and length of time will be destroyed Therefore,
organisms must be buried rapidly to escape destruction by the elements and to be protected
(5) agents of weathering and erosion Marine organisms thus are better candidates for
fossilization than those living on the land because the ocean is typically the site of sedimentation,
whereas the land is largely the site of erosion.
The beds of ancient lakes were also excellent sites for rapid burial of skeletal remains of
freshwater organisms and skeletons of other animals, including those of early humans Ancient
(10)swamps were particularly plentiful with prolific growths of vegetation, which fossilized in
abundance. Many animals became trapped in bogs overgrown by vegetation. The environment of
the swamps kept bacterial decay to a minimum, which greatly (aideD)in the preservation of plants
and animals. The rapidly accumulating sediments in flood plains, deltas, and stream channels
buried freshwater organisms, along with other plants and animals that happened to fall into the
(15)water.
Only a small fraction of all the organisms that have ever lived are preserved as fossils. Normally,
the remains of a plant or animal are completely destroyed through predation and decay. Although
it seems that fossilization is common for some organisms, for others it is almost impossible. For
the most part, the remains of organisms are recycled in the earth, which is fortunate because
(20)otherwise soil and water would soon become depleted of essential nutrients. Also, most of the
fossils exposed on Earth’s surface are destroyed by weathering processes. This makes for an
incomplete fossil record with poor or no representation of certain species.
The best fossils are those composed of unaltered remains. Generally, it is the inorganic hard parts,
composed mostly of calcium carbonate, that form the vast majority of unaltered fossils. Calcite and
(25)aragonite also contributed to a substantial number of fossils of certain organisms.
【題組】38. It can be inferred that flood plains, deltas, and stream channels (lines 13-14) are similar in
which of the following ways?
(A) Animals rather than plants have been preserved at such locations.
(B) Such locations are likely to be rich sources of fossils.
(C) Fossilized human remains are only rarely found in such locations.
(D) Rapid sedimentation in such locations makes it difficult to locate fossils.
Mass transportation revised the social and economic fabric of the American city in three fundamental ways. It catalyzed physical expansion, it sorted out people and land uses, and it accelerated the inherent instability of urban life. By opening vast areas of unoccupied land for residential expansion, the omnibuses, horse railways, commuter trains, and electric trolleys pulled settled regions outward two to four times more distant from city centers than they were in the pre-modern era. In 1850, for example, the borders of Boston lay scarcely two miles from the old business district; by the turn of the century the radius extended ten miles. Now those who could afford it could live far removed from the old city center and still commute there for work, shopping, and entertainment. The new accessibility of land around the periphery of almost every major city sparked an explosion of real estate development and fueled what we now know as urban sprawl. Between 1890 and 1920, for example, some 250,000 new residential lots were recorded within the borders of Chicago, most of them located in outlying areas. Over the same period, another 550,000 were plotted outside the city limits but within the metropolitan area. Anxious to take advantage of the possibilities of commuting, real estate developers added 800,000 potential building sites to the Chicago region in just thirty years – lots that could have housed five to six million people.
Of course, many were never occupied; there was always a huge surplus of subdivided, but vacant, land around Chicago and other cities. These excesses underscore a feature of residential expansion related to the growth of mass transportation: urban sprawl was essentially unplanned. It was carried out by thousands of small investors who paid little heed to coordinated land use or to future land users. Those who purchased and prepared land for residential purposes, particularly land near or outside city borders where transit lines and middle-class inhabitants were anticipated, did so to create demand as much as to respond to it. Chicago is a prime example of this process. Real estate subdivision there proceeded much faster than population growth.
【題組】17. The word "sparked" in line 11 is closest in meaning to
(A) brought about
(B) surrounded
(C) sent out
(D) followed
Question 9-19
Birds that feed in flocks commonly retire together into roosts. The reasons for roosting communally are not always obvious, but there are some likely benefits. In winter especially, it is important for birds to keep warm at night and conserve precious food reserves. One way to do this is to find a sheltered roost. Solitary roosters shelter in dense vegetation or enter a cavity - horned larks dig holes in the ground and ptarmigan burrow into snow banks - but the effect of sheltering is magnified by several birds huddling together in the roosts, as wrens, swifts, brown creepers, bluebirds, and anis do. Body contact reduces the surface area exposed to the cold air, so the birds keep each other warm. Two kinglets huddling together were found to reduce their heat losses by a quarter and three together saved a third of their heat.
The second possible benefit of communal roosts is that they act as "information centers." During the day, parties of birds will have spread out to forage over a very large area. When they return in the evening some will have fed well, but others may have found little to eat. Some investigators have observed that when the birds set out again next morning, those birds that did not feed well on the previous day appear to follow those that did. The behavior of common and lesser kestrels may illustrate different feeding behaviors of similar birds with different roosting habits. The common kestrel hunts vertebrate animals in a small, familiar hunting ground, whereas the very similar lesser kestrel feeds on insects over a large area. The common kestrel roosts and hunts alone, but the lesser kestrel roosts and hunts in flocks, possibly so one bird can learn from others where to find insect swarms.
Finally, there is safety in numbers at communal roosts since there will always be a few birds awake at any given moment to give the alarm. But this increased protection is partially counteracted by the fact that mass roosts attract predators and are especially vulnerable if they are on the ground. Even those in trees can be attacked by birds of prey. The birds on the edge are at greatest risk since predators find it easier to catch small birds perching at the margins of the roost.
【題組】13. The author mentions kinglets in line 9 as an example of birds that
(A) protect themselves by nesting in holes.
(B) Nest with other species of birds
(C) Nest together for warmth
(D) Usually feed and nest in pairs.
Question 10-19
Geographers say that what defines a place are four properties: soil, climate, altitude,
and aspect, or attitude to the Sun. Florida’s ancient scrub demonstrates this principle. Its
soil is pure silica, so barren it supports only lichens as ground cover.( It does, however,
sustain a sand-swimming lizard that cannot live where there is moisture or plant matter
(5) the soil.) Its climate, despite more than 50 inches of annual rainfall, is blistering desert
plant life it can sustain is only the xerophytic, the quintessentially dry. Its altitude is a
mere couple of hundred feet, but it is high ground on a peninsula elsewhere close to sea
level, and its drainage is so critical that a difference of inches in elevation can bring major
changes in its plant communities. Its aspect is flat, direct, brutal—and subtropical.
Florida’s surrounding lushness cannot impinge on its desert scrubbiness.
This does not sound like an attractive place. It does not look much like one either;
Shrubby little oaks, clumps of scraggly bushes, prickly pear, thorns, and tangles. “It appear
Said one early naturalist,” to desire to display the result of the misery through which it has
Passed and is passing.” By our narrow standards, scrub is not beautiful; neither does it meet
our selfish utilitarian needs. Even the name is an epithet, a synonym for the stunted, the
scruffy, the insignificant, what is beautiful about such a place?
The most important remaining patches of scrub lie along the Lake Wales Ridge, a chain
of paleoislands running for a hundred miles down the center of Florida, in most places less
than ten miles wide. It is relict seashore, tossed up millions of years ago when ocean levels
(20) were higher and the rest of the peninsula was submerged. That ancient emergence is
precisely what makes Lake Wales Ridge so precious: it has remained unsubmerged, its
ecosystems essentially undisturbed, since the Miocene era. As a result, it has gathered to
itself one of the largest collections of rare organisms in the world. Only about 75 plant
species survive there, but at least 30 of these are found nowhere else on Earth.
【題組】14. The author mentions the prickly pear (line 12)
as an example of
(A) valuable fruit-bearing plants of the scrub area
(B) unattractive plant life of the scrub area
(C) a pant discovered by an early naturalist
(D) plant life that is extremely are
The thick, woolly fleece of the domestic sheep is its distinguishing feature and the
source of much of its economic importance. Yet only a moment, in evolutionary terms,
has passed since the domestic sheep had a coat resembling that of many other wild Line
animals. As recently as 8,000 years ago, it was covered not in a white, continuously
growing mass of wool but in a brown coat consisting of an outer array of kemps, or
coarse hairs, that was shed annually and a fine woolly undercoat that also molted. Such
an animal could not have supported the technology that has grown up around the domestic
sheep--the shearing, dyeing, spinning, and weaving of wool--any better than could a
wild sheep such as the bighorn of North America,
Much of the selective breeding that led to the fleece types known today took place
in prehistory, and even the later developments went largely unchronicled. Yet other kinds
of records survive, in three forms. Specimens of wool from as long ago as 1500 B.C. have
been found, mostly as ancient textiles, but also in the form of sheepskins. Antique
depictions of sheep in sculpture, relief, and painting give even earlier clues to the character
of ancient fleeces. The longest line of evidence takes the form of certain primitive breeds
that are still tended in remote areas or that escaped from captivity long ago and now live
in the wild. They retain the characteristics of ancient sheep, providing living snapshots of
the process that gave rise to modern fleeces.
【題組】14. According to the passage, the outer coat of sheep 8,000 years ago was
(A) white
(B) coarse
(C) warmer than that of bighorn sheep
(D) similar to that of the modern sheep
Questions 23-33
The mineral particles found in soil range in size from microscopic clay particles
to large boulders. The most abundant particles—sand, silt, and clay—are the focus
of examination in studies of soil texture. Texture is the term used to describe the
line composite sizes of particles in a soil sample, typically several representative handfuls.
(5) To measure soil texture, the sand, silt, and clay particles are sorted out by size and
weight. The weights of each size are then expressed as a percentage of the sample
weight.
In the field, soil texture can be estimated by extracting a handful of sod and
squeezing the damp soil into three basic shapes; (1) cast, a lump formed by squeezing
(10) a sample in a clenched fist; (2) thread, a pencil shape formed by rolling soil between
the palms; and (3) ribbon, a flatfish shape formed by squeezing a small sample between
the thumb and index finger. The behavioral characteristics of the soil when molded into
each of these shapes, if they can be formed at all, provides the basis for a general
textural classification. The behavior of the soil in the hand test is determined by the
(15) amount of clay in the sample. Clay particles are highly cohesive, and when dampened,
behave as a plastic. Therefore the higher the clay content in a sample, the more refined
and durable the shapes into which it can be molded.
Another method of determining soil texture involves the use of devices called
sediment sieves, screens built with a specified mesh size. When the soil is filtered
(20) through a group of sieves, each with a different mesh size, the particles become
grouped in corresponding size categories. Each category can be weighed to make a
textural determination. Although sieves work well for silt, sand, and larger particles,
they are not appropriate for clay particles. Clay is far too small to sieve accurately;
therefore, in soils with a high proportion of clay, the fine particles are measured on the
(25) basis of their settling velocity when suspended in water .Since clays settle so slowly,
they are easily segregated from sand and silt. The water can be drawn off and
evaporated, leaving a residue of clay, which can be weighed.
【題組】31. During the procedure described in paragraph 3, when clay particles are placed into water
they
(A) stick to the sides of the water container
(B) take some time to sink to the bottom
(C) separate into different sizes
(D) dissolve quickly
Question 11-21:
Printmaking is the generic term for a number of processes, of which woodcut and engraving are two prime examples. Prints are made by pressing a sheet of paper (or other material) against an image-bearing surface to which ink has been applied. When the paper is removed, the image adheres to it, but in reverse.
The woodcut had been used in China from the fifth century A.D. for applying patterns to textiles. The process was not introduced into Europe until the fourteenth century, first for textile decoration and then for printing on paper. Woodcuts are created by a relief process; first, the artist takes a block of wood, which has been sawed parallel to the grain, covers it with a white ground, and then draws the image in ink. The background is carved away, leaving the design area slightly raised. The woodblock is inked, and the ink adheres to the raised image. It is then transferred to damp paper either by hand or with a printing press.
Engraving, which grew out of the goldsmith's art, originated in Germany and northern Italy in the middle of the fifteenth century. It is an intaglio process (from Italian intagliare, "to carve"). The image is incised into a highly polished metal plate, usually copper, with a cutting instrument, or burin. The artist inks the plate and wipes it clean so that some ink remains in the incised grooves. An impression is made on damp paper in a printing press, with sufficient pressure being applied so that the paper picks up the ink.
Both woodcut and engraving have distinctive characteristics. Engraving lends itself to subtle modeling and shading through the use of fine lines. Hatching and cross-hatching determine the degree of light and shade in a print. Woodcuts tend to be more linear, with sharper contrasts between light and dark. Printmaking is well suited to the production of multiple images. A set of multiples is called an edition. Both methods can yield several hundred good-quality prints before the original block or plate begins to show signs of wear. Mass production of prints in the sixteenth century made images available, at a lower cost, to a much broader public than before.
【題組】11. What does the passage mainly discuss?
(A) The origins of textile decoration
(B) The characteristics of good-quality prints
(C) Two types of printmaking
(D) Types of paper used in printmaking
Questions 41-50
The tern “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,
5) 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
10) 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.
15) The third style, referred to as cither “ international stripped classicism,” or simply
“ classical moderne,” also came to the forefront during the Depression, a period of severe
economic difficult in the 1930’s. This was amore 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
20) 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, but
regularized the forms into abstracted repetitive patterns rather than presenting them as
25) 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.
【題組】48. According to the passage, a building having an especially ornate appearance would most probably have been designed in the style of
(A) zigzag moderne
(B) streamlined moderne
(C) classical moderne
(D) the Arts and Crafts Movement
Questions 31-40
There are many theories about the beginning of drama in ancient Greece. The one most widely accepted today is based on the assumption that drama evolved from ritual. The argument for this view goes as follows. In the beginning, human beings viewed the natural forces of the world, even the seasonal changes, as unpredictable, and they sought through various means, to control these unknown and feared powers. Those measures which appeared to bring the desired results were then retained and repeated until they hardened into fixed rituals. Eventually stories arose which explained or veiled the mysteries of the rites. As time passed some rituals were abandoned, but the stories, later called myths, persisted and provided material for art and drama.
Those who believe that drama evolved out of ritual also argue that those rites contained the seed of theater because music, dance, masks, and costumes were almost always used. Furthermore, a suitable site had to be provided for performances, and when the entire community did not participate, a clear division was usually made between the "acting area" and the "auditorium." In addition, there were performers, and since considerable importance was attached to avoiding mistakes in the enactment of rites, religious leaders usually assumed that task. Wearing masks and costumes, they often impersonated other people, animals, or supernatural beings, and mimed the desired effect - success in hunt or battle, the coming rain, the revival of the Sun - as an actor might. Eventually such dramatic representations were separated from religious activities.
Another theory traces the theater's origin from the human interest in storytelling. According to this view, tales (about the hunt, war, or other feats) are gradually elaborated, at first through the use of impersonation, action, and dialogue by a narrator and then through the assumption of each of the roles by a different person. A closely related theory traces theater to those dances that are primarily rhythmical and gymnastic or that are imitations of animal movements and sounds.
【題組】34. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a common element of theater and ritual?
(A) Dance
(B) Costumes
(C) Music
(D) Magic
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