PRACTICE TEST 31 – December 1997
27. The word "ingots" in line 17 refers to
(A) coins that people saved (B) blocks of silver mixed with copper
(C) tools used to shape silver plates (D) casts in which to form parts of silver articles
28. The phrase "came of age" in line 22 is closest in meaning to
(A) established itself (B) declined
(C) became less expensive (D) was studied
29. The passage mentions all of the following as uses for copper in colonial America EXCEPT
(A) cooking pots (B) scientific instruments
(C) musical instruments (D) maritime instruments
30. According to the passage, silversmiths and coppersmiths in colonial America were similar in which of the
following ways?
(A) The amount of social prestige they had
(B) The way they shaped the metal they worked with
(C) The cost of the goods they made
(D) The practicality of goods they made
31. Based on the information in paragraph 4, which of the following was probably true about copper in the
colonies?
(A) The copper used by colonists was not effective in conducting heat.
(B) The copper items created by colonial coppersmiths were not skillfully made.
(C) There were no local copper mines from which copper could be obtained.
(D) The price of copper suddenly decreased.
Questions 32-40
Fossils are the remains and traces (such as footprints or other marks) of ancient
plant and animal life that are more than 10,000 years old. They range in size from
microscopic structures to dinosaur skeletons and complete bodies of enormous animals.
Line Skeletons of extinct species of human are also considered fossils.
(5) An environment favorable to the growth and later preservation of organisms is
required for the occurrence of fossils. Two conditions are almost always present:
(1) The possession of hard parts, either internal or external, such as bones, teeth,
scales, shells, and wood; these parts remain after the rest of the organism has decayed.
Organisms that lack hard parts, such as worms and jelly fish, have left a meager
(10) geologic record. (2) Quick burial of the dead organism, so that protection is afforded
against weathering, bacterial action, and scavengers.
Nature provides many situations in which the remains of animals and plants are
protected against destruction. Of these, marine sediment is by far the most important
environment for the preservation of fossils, owing to the incredible richness of marine
(15) life. The beds of former lakes are also prolific sources of fossils. The rapidly
accumulating sediments in the channels, floodplains, and deltas of streams bury
fresh-water organisms, along with land plants and animals that fall into the water. The
beautifully preserved fossil fish from the Green River soil shale of Wyoming in the
western United States lived in a vast shallow lake.
(20) The frigid ground in the far north acts as a remarkable preservative for animal
fossils. The woolly mammoth, along-haired rhinoceros, and other mammals have been
periodically exposed in the tundra of Siberia, the hair and red flesh still frozen in cold
storage.
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