READING COMPREHENSION

Directions: Read the passage and answer the questions following it. Choose the answer on the basis of what
is stated or implied in that passage. Mark the best answer you have chosen on your answer sheet.
Questions

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 5 The White House, the official home of the United States president, was not built in time for George
Washington to live in it. It was begun in 1792 and was ready for its first inhabitants, President and Mrs.
John Adams, who moved in on November 1, 1800. When the Adamses moved in, the White House was
not yet complete, and the Adamses suffered many inconveniences; for example, the main staircase was
incomplete, which hindered movement from floor to floor, and the future laundry yard was merely a pool
10of mud, so wet laundry was hung in the unfinished East Room to dry. Thomas Jefferson, the third
president, improved the comfort of the White House in many respects and added new architectural
features such as the terraces on the east and west ends.
When the British forces burned the White House on August 24, 1814, President Madison was forced
to leave. All that remained after the fire was the exterior walls; the interior was completely destroyed. It
15was not until December of 1817 that the following president, James Monroe, was able to move into a
rebuilt residence. Since then, the White House has continued to be modified but has been continuously
occupied by each succeeding U.S. president.

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 1) Which of the following would be the most appropriate title for this passage?
A) George Washington’s Life in the White House B) The Burning of the White House
C) The Early History of the White House D) Presidential Policies of Early U.S. Presidents
20 2) Why did George Washington NOT live in the White House?
A) It had been burned by the British. B) He did not like the architectural features.
C) He did not want to suffer the inconveniences D) Construction had not yet been completed.
that the Adamses had suffered.
3) The word “inhabitants” in line 2 is closest in meaning to
A) modifications B) moves
C) residents D) celebrations
4) It can be inferred from the passage that John Adams was
A) the first president of the United States B) the second president of the United States
C) the third president of the United States D) the fourth president of the United States
5) The author most likely discusses the “staircase” in line 5 in order to
A) show the elegance of the new White House B) explain the architectural features added by
Jefferson
C) demonstrate what had to be rebuilt after the D) provide an example of an inconvenience in the
fire White House
6) The word “hindered” in line 5 is closest in meaning to
A) obstructed B) reinforced
C) returned D) favored
25 7) The word “forces” in line 9 could best be replaced by
A) power B) effort
C) military D) energy
8) According to the passage, when James Monroe came to the White House, it had been
A) repressed B) reconstructed
C) relocated D) reserved

STRUCTURE AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION

This section is designed to measure your ability to recognize language that is appropriate for standard
written English. There are two types of questions in this section, with special directions for each type.

30Structure

Directions: Mark the one word or phrase that best completes the sentence on your answer sheet.

1) The sport of hang gliding _____ by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
A) regulated it B) is regulated
C) that was regulated D) that it was regulated
2) The adder is a venomous snake _____ bite may prove fatal to humans.
A) its B) whom its
C) that D) whose
35 3) The javelin used in competition must be between 260 and 270 centimeters _____
A) in length B) it is long
C) its length D) lengthily
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 4) In an internal combustion engine, _____ and air are heated inside a cylinder.
A) and gasoline vapor B) both gasoline vapor
C) gasoline vaporizes D) besides gasoline vapor
5) In November of 1863, the city of Atlanta _____ during Sherman’s famous “March to the Sea.”
A) was completely burned B) completely burning
C) it was burned completely D) completely burned it
6) The Kentucky Derby _____ every May at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.
A) to be run B) run
C) it maybe run D) is run
7) ______ have captured the spirit of the conquest of America as well as James Fenimore Cooper.
A) Few writers B) The few writers
C) The writers are few D) Few are the writers
40 8) Prospectors rushed to Nevada in 1859 _____ was discovered there.
A) after gold soon B) soon after gold
C) gold soon after D) soon gold after
9) _____ heat from the Sun is trapped near the Earth’s surface, the greenhouse effect occurs.
A) No B) When
C) That D) What
10) _____, the outer layer of the skin, contains pigments, pores, and ducts.
A) That the epidermis B) The epidermis is
C) The epidermis D) The epidermis which

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 Written Expression

45Directions: Each sentence has four underlined words or phrases. Identify the one underlined word or phrase
that must be changed in order to correct the sentence. Then, mark this answer you have chosen on your
answer sheet.
1) (A) Soon after the United States’ (B) entrance into the war, (C) the major hotels in Atlantic City (D)
was. transformed into military barracks.
50 2) Major (A) advertising companies have (B) traditionally volunteered (C) its time (D) to public service
accounts.
3) The value of (A) precious (B) gems is determined by (C) their hardness, color, and (D) brilliant.
4) (A) Find in 1933, The New York Sun (B) was (C) the first successful penny (D) newspaper.
5) The 3,500-foot George Washington Bridge (A) spans (B) the Hudson River (C) to link New York City
55 (D) also New Jersey.
6) (A) Some researchers believe that (B) an unfair attitude toward the (C) poor will (D) contributed to the
problem of poverty.
7) Gene therapy (A) it is the (B) latest advance in a (C) revolutionary branch of medicine (D) called
molecular genetics.
60 8) Astronomers do not know (A) how many galaxies (B) there are, but (C) is it thought that there are (D)
millions or perhaps billions.
9) (A) The amino acids (B) serve (C) as the building (D) block of proteins.
10) (A) The most popular (B) breed of dog (C) in the United States are cocker spaniel, poodle, (D) and
retriever.

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65Directions: Choose the answer that best completes the paragraph. Then, mark this answer you have chosen
on your answer sheet.
1) The purpose of the proposed law requiring a doctor's prescription for obtaining hypodermic
needles is to lower the incidence of drug-related deaths, both accidental and intentional,
involving hypodermic needles. __________; yet everyone would agree that imposing legal
70 restrictions on obtaining knitting needles would be preposterous. Hence the proposed law
involving hypodermic makes no sense and should not be enacted.

A) The benefits of hypodermic needles outweigh those of knitting needles

B) But even knitting needles can be lethal if they fall into the wrong hands
C) The proposed law could not be effectively enforced
75 D) Knitting needles are not readily available to anybody who wants to obtain them

2) From bones found in the United States we have learned that many, many animals no longer
found in the world once made their homes here. __________ . Sometimes, workers find their
bones in pits from which rock and coal have been dug. Other workers who make way for
railroad tracks and workers who dig pits for the basements of new buildings sometimes uncover
80 them. Nowadays, scientists know where to look for them.

A) How workers uncovered bones of extinct animals is important

B) Huge fishes and enormous reptiles swam in the water
C) Bones of extinct animals could have been found only by experts
D) We say that these animals are extinct

85 3) In the days of Christopher Columbus, people in Europe traded goods with India. The goods
were carried along paths or roads from one country to another. However, no person from
Europe had ever reached India by ship. After Columbus found what he thought was India by
going west, people in Europe wanted to try to reach India by going east. __________ . His
sailors were just as afraid to go into open ocean as were Columbus' sailors, but Vasco da Gama
90 insisted, and, sure enough, they found a sea route to India. They found it by sailing around the
south end of Africa.

A) Columbus and Vasco da Gama were very alike

B) The first sea captain to do this was Vasco da Gama
C) When Gama reached there, they received a hostile reaction from local people
95 D) Finding a way to get to India by ship was Gama's dream

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 Directions: Choose the numbered sentences which can be excluded from the passages below. (The
number of each sentence is before it.) Then, mark this answer you have chosen on your answer sheet.
1) The acts of a single man are as a rule unimportant nowadays. (I) But the acts of groups are more
important than they used to be. (II) If one man refuses to work, that is his own affair. (III) After
100 all, everyone stops working when he retires. (IV) But if there is a strike in a vital industry, the
whole community suffers.
A) I B) II C) III D) IV
2) (I)
A) I B) II C) III D) IV
3) A thick layer of snow on a steep slope is always liable to avalanche. (I) A lot of avalanches
occur in the Alps. (II) A very small disturbance may set it in motion. (III) The vibrations caused
105 by a passing train are sufficient. (IV) Once in motion it gains in speed and crushes everything in
its path.
A) I B) II C) III D) IV

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 Most of these sample questions are taken from Longman Pencil and Paper TOEFL books. The format of the
Erasmus exam will be similar. So, candidates can study those books for the exam. In the exam, there will
110also be a writing section; candidates will be asked to write a three-paragraph essay on a current topic.

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