ENGLISH TEACHING PROGRAM
ADVANCED 2 C
Reading Exam
Term III, 2021
Duration: 1h30
PLEASE DO NOT MAKE ANY MARKS ON THIS BOOKLET. USE THE
ANSWER SHEET TO MARK YOUR ANSWERS. ANSWERS MARKED ON
THE BOOKLET WILL NOT BE SCORED.
Passage 1/4 points
Directions: Read the following passages and the questions about
them. Decide which of the choices best answers the question,
and mark the answer.
Several hundred million years ago, plants similar to modern ferns covered
vast stretches of the land. Some were as large as trees, with giant fronds
bunched at the top of trunks as straight as pillars. Others were the size
of bushes and forms thickets of undergrowth. Still others lived in the
shade of giant club mosses and horsetails along the edges of swampy
lagoons where giant amphibians swam.
A great number of these plants were true ferns, reproducing themselves
without fruits or seeds. Others had only the appearance of ferns. Their
leaves had organs of sexual reproduction and produced seeds. Although
their “flowers” did not have corollas, these false ferns (today completely
extinct) ushered in the era of flowering plants. Traces of these flora of the
earliest times have been preserved in the form of fossils. Such traces are
most commonly found in shale and sandstone rocks wedged between coal
and beds.
Today only tropical forests bear living proof of the ancient greatness of
ferns. The species that grow there are no longer those of the
Carboniferous period, but their variety and vast numbers, and the great
size of some, remind us of the time when ferns ruled the plant kingdom.
1. What does the passage mainly discuss?/1 point
(A) Plant reproduction
(B) How to locate fossils
(C) An ancient form of plant life
(D) Tropical plant life
2. The word “others” in line 3 refers to/0.5 point
(A) plants
(B) pillars
(C) trees
(D) fronds
3. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a characteristic of the
plants described in the passage?/1 point
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(A) They once spread over large areas of land.
(B) They varied greatly in size.
(C) They coexisted with amphibians, mosses, and horsetails.
(D) They clung to tree trunks and bushes for support.
4. The word “true” in line 6 is closest in meaning to which of the
following?/0.5 point
(A) accurate
(B) genuine
(C) straight
(D) dependable
5. The author states that fossils of early plant life are usually found in
rocks located between deposits of/0.5 point
(A) coal
(B) shale
(C) sandstone
(D) corollas
6. The word “bear” in line 13 could best be replaced by which of the
following?/0.5 point
(A) call for
(B) provide
(C) tolerate
(D) suffer
Passage 2/4 points
Directions: Read the following passage and check the best
answer to the questions.
In 1781 twelve families trooped north from Mexico to California. On a
stream along the desert's edge they built a settlement called Los Angeles.
For many years it was a market town where nearby farmers and ranchers
met to trade.
Then in 1876 a railroad linked Los Angeles to San Francisco and, through
San Francisco to the rest of the country. The next year farmers sent their
first trainload of oranges east. By a new railroad provided a direct route
between Los Angeles and Chicago.
Then in the 1890's oil was discovered in the city. As derricks went up,
workers built many highways and pipe lines. Digging began on a harbor
that would make Los Angeles not only an ocean port but also a fishing
center. The harbor was completed in 1914. That year the Panama Canal
opened. Suddenly Los Angeles was the busiest port on the Pacific Coast.
Today the city is the main industrial center in the West. It produces goods
not only for other West Coast communities but also for those in other
parts of the country. It leads the nation in making air planes and
equipment for exploring outer space. Many motion pictures and television
programs are filmed in Los Angeles. The city is also the business center
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for states in the West. Improvements in transportation are the main
reason for Los Angeles' growth.
7. According to the passage what was the main commercial activity of Los
Angeles during the years directly following its settlement?/1 point
(A) Fruit growing
(B) Oil drilling
(C) Fishing
(D) Trading
8. According to the passage in which year were oranges first shipped from
Los Angeles to the East Coast by train?/1 point
(A) 1781
(B) 1876
(C) 1877
(D) 1890
9. San Francisco is mentioned in the passage for which of the following
reasons?/1 point
(A) The settlers who founded Los Angles came from San Francisco.
(B) San Francisco linked Los Angeles with the rest of the country
(C) San Francisco was a market town where farmers came to trade.
(D) Oil was discovered in San Francisco in the 1890's.
10. Where in the passage does the author state the principal cause of the
expansion of Los Angeles?/1 point
(A) Line 5
(B) Line 7
(C) Line 11
(D) Lines 15-16
Passage 3/7 points
Directions: Read the following passage and answer the questions
about them. Use the answer sheet to write your answers.
Botany, the study of plants, occupies a peculiar position in the history of
the human knowledge. For many thousands of years it was the one field
of awareness about which humans had anything more than the vaguest of
insights. It is impossible to know today just what our Stone Age ancestors
know about plants, but from what we can observe of preindustrial
societies that still exist, a detailed learning of plants and their properties
must be extremely ancient. This is logical. Plants are the basis of the food
pyramid, for all living things, even for other plants. They have always
been important in the welfare of people, not only for food, but also for
clothing, weapons, tools, dyes, medicines, shelter, and a great many
other purposes. Tribes living today in the jungles of the Amazon recognize
literally hundreds of plants and know many properties of each. To them,
botany as such has no name and is probably not even recognized as a
special branch of “knowledge” at all.
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Unfortunately, the more industrialized we become, the farther
away we move from direct contact with plants, and the less
distinct our knowledge of botany grows. Yet everyone comes
unconsciously on an amazing amount of botanical knowledge and few
people will fail to recognize a rose, an apple or an orchid. When our
Neolithic ancestors, living in the Middle East about 10,000 years ago,
discovered that certain grasses could be harvested and their seeds
planted for richer yields for the next season, the first great step in a new
association of plants and humans was taken. Grains were discovered and
from them the marvel of agriculture: cultivated crops. From then on,
humans would increasingly take their living from the controlled
production of a few plants, rather than getting a little here and a little
there from many varieties that grew wild---and the accumulated
knowledge of tens of thousands of years of experience and intimacy with
plants in the wild would begin to fade away.
11. What does the passage mainly discuss?/2 points
12. What does the word “peculiar” in bold mean?/1 point
13. According to the passage, why has general knowledge of botany
declined?/1 point
14. According to the passage, what was the first great step toward the
practice of agriculture?/1 point
15. Provide the best paraphrase for the following sentence./2 points
“Unfortunately, the more industrialized we become, the farther
away we move from direct contact with the plants, and the less
distinct our knowledge of botany grows.”
