READING PRACTICE: Detail, Negative, and Scanning Items

Passage 7
Mesa Verde is the center of the prehistoric Anasazi culture. It is located in the high plateau
lands near Four Corners, where Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona come together. This
high ground is majestic but not forbidding. The climate is dry but tiny streams trickle at the
bottom of deeply cut canyons, where seeps and springs pro- vided water for the Anasazi to
irrigate their crops. Rich red soil provided fertile ground for their crops of corn, beans, squash,
tobacco, and cotton. The Anasazi domesticated the wild turkey and hunted deer, rabbits, and
mountain sheep. (1)
For a thousand years the Anasazi lived around Mesa Verde. Although the Anasazi are not
related to the Navajos, no one knows what these Indians called themselves, and so they are
commonly referred to by their Navajo name, (2) Anasazi, which means “ancient ones” in the
Navajo language.
Around 550 A.D., early Anasazi—then a no- madic people archaeologists call the Basketmak-
ers—began constructing permanent homes on mesa tops. In the next 300 years, the Anasazi
made rapid technological advancements, including the refinement of not only basket-making
but also pot- tery-making and weaving. (3) This phase of develop- ment is referred to as the
Early Pueblo Culture.
By the Great Pueblo Period (1100–1300 A.D.) the Anasazi population swelled to more than
5,000 and the architecturally ambitious cliff dwellings came into being. The Anasazi moved
from the mesa tops onto ledges on the steep canyon walls, (4) creating two- and three-story
dwellings. They used sandstone blocks and mud mortar.(5) There were no doors on the first
floor and people used ladders to reach the first roof. All the villages had underground chambers
called kivas. Men held tribal councils there and also used them for secret religious ceremonies
and clan meetings.(7) Winding paths, ladders, and steps cut into the stone led from the valleys
below to the ledges on which the villages stood.(6) The largest settlement contained 217
rooms. One might surmise that these dwellings were built for protection, but the Anasazi had no
known enemies and there is no sign of conflict.
X But a bigger mystery is why the Anasazi occupied these structures such a short time. By
1300, Mesa Verde was deserted. It is conjectured that the Anasazi abandoned their settlements
because of drought, overpopulation, crop failure, or some combination of these.(8) They
probably moved southward and were incorporated into the pueblo villages that the Spanish
explorers encountered 200 years later. (9) Their descendants still live in the Southwest.
1. The passage does NOT mention that the Anasazi hunted
(A) sheep.
(B) turkeys.
(C) deer.
(D) rabbits.
2. The name that the Anasazi used for themselves
(A) means “Basketmakers” in the Navajo language.
(B) is unknown today.
(C) was given to them by archaeologists.
(D) means “ancient ones” in the Anasazi language.
3. How long did the Early Pueblo Culture last?
(A) 200 years
(B) 300 years
(C) 550 years
(D) 1,000 years
4. Where did the Anasazi move during the Great Pueblo Period?
(A) To settlements on ledges of canyon walls
(B) To pueblos in the South
(C) Onto the tops of the mesas
(D) Onto the floors of the canyons
5. According to the passage, the Anasazi buildings were made primarily of
(A) mud.
(B) blocks of wood.
(C) sandstone.
(D) the skins of animals.
6. According to the passage, the Anasazi entered their buildings on the ledges
(A) by means of ladders.
(B) from underground chambers.
(C) by means of stone stairways.
(D) through doors on the first floor.
7. According to the passage, kivas were used for all the following purposes EXCEPT
(A) clan meetings.
(B) food preparation.
(C) religious ceremonies.
(D) tribal councils.
8. According to the passage, the LEAST likely reason that the Anasazi abandoned Mesa Verde
was
(A) drought.
(B) overpopulation.
(C) war.
(D) crop failure.
9. Put an X next to the paragraph that presents theories about why the Anasazi left.
Passage 8
Dulcimers are musical instruments that basically consist of wooden boxes with strings stretched
over them. In one form or another, they have been around since ancient times, probably
originating with the Persian santir. Today there are two varieties: the hammered dulcimer and
the Appalachian, or mountain dulcimer. The former is shaped like a trapezoid,(12) has two or
more strings, and is played with wooden mallets. It is the same instrument played in a number
of Old World countries. The Appalachian dulcimer is classified by musicologists as a box
zither.(10) It is a descendant of the Pennsylvania Dutch schei- tholt and the French epinette.
Appalachian dulcimers are painstakingly fashioned by artisans in the mountains of West
Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. These instruments have three or four strings(11)
and are plucked with quills or the fingers. They are shaped like teardrops or hourglasses. Heart-
shaped holes in the sounding board are traditional. Most performers play the instruments while
seated with the instruments in their laps(13), but others wear them around their necks like
guitars or place them on tables in front of them. Originally used to play dance music,
Appalachian dulcimers were popularized by performers such as John Jacob Niles and Jean
Ritchie during the folk music revival of the 1960s.(14)
10. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT an ancestor of the Appalachian
dulcimer?
(A) The box zither
(B) The santir
(C) The scheitholt
(D) The epinette
11. According to the passage, how many strings does the Appalachian dulcimer have?
(A) One or two
(B) Three or four
(C) Four or five
(D) Six or more
12. According to the passage, a hammered dulcimer is made in the shape of a(n)
(A) hourglass.
(B) heart.
(C) trapezoid.
(D) teardrop.
13. According to the author, most performers play the Appalachian dulcimer
(A) while sitting down.
(B) with the instrument strapped around their neck.
(C) while standing at a table.
(D) with wooden hammers.
14. According to the author, what are John Jacob Niles and Jean Ritchie known for?
(A) Playing dance music on Appalachian dulcimers
(B) They are artisans who design Appala- chian dulcimers
(C) They helped bring Appalachian dulcimers to the public’s attention
(D) They began the folk music revival of the 1960s
15. Underline the sentence in the passage that tells where Appalachian dulcimers are made.
Passage 9
Humanitarian Dorothea Dix was born in Hamp- den, Maine, in 1802. At the age of 19, she
established a school for girls, the Dix Mansion School, in Boston, but had to close it in 1835
due to her poor health(16). She wrote and published the first of many books for children in
1824. In 1841, Dix accepted an invitation to teach classes at a prison in East Cambridge,
Massachusetts.(17) She was deeply disturbed by the sight of mentally-ill people thrown in the
jail and treated like criminals. For the next eighteen months, she toured Massachusetts
institutions where other mental patients were confined and reported the shocking conditions she
found to the state legislature. (18) When improvements followed in Massachusetts, she turned
her attention to the neighboring states and then to the West and South.
Dix’s work was interrupted by the Civil War; she served as superintendent of women hospital
nurses for the federal government. Dix saw special hospitals for the mentally ill built in some
fifteen states. Although her plan to obtain public land for her cause failed, she aroused concern
for the problem of mental illness all over the United States as well as in Canada and Europe.
Dix’s success was due to her indepen- dent and thorough research, her gentle but
persistent manner, and her ability to secure the help of powerful and wealthy supporters.
(20)
16. In what year was the Dix Mansion School closed?
(A) 1821
(B) 1824
(C) 1835
(D) 1841
17. Underline the sentence in the first para- graph that explains why Dorothea Dix first went to a
prison.
18. Where was Dorothea Dix first able to bring about reforms in the treatment of the mentally
ill?
(A) Canada
(B) Massachusetts
(C) The West and South
(D) Europe
19. Dorothea Dix was NOT successful in her attempt to
(A) become superintendent of nurses.
(B) publish books for children.
(C) arouse concern for the mentally ill.
(D) obtain public lands.
20. Underline the sentence in paragraph 2 in which the author gives specific reasons why Dix
was successful.
Passage 10
Ambient divers are, unlike divers who go underwater in submersible vehicles or pressure
resistant suits, exposed to the pressure and temperature of the surrounding (ambient) water (21).
Of all types of diving, the oldest and simplest is free diving. Free divers may use no equipment
at all, but most use a face mask, foot fins, and a snorkel.(22) Under the surface, free divers must
hold their breath. Most free divers can only descend 30 to 40 feet, but some skilled divers can
go as deep as 100 feet. (23)
Scuba diving provides greater range than free diving. The word scuba stands for self- contained
underwater breathing apparatus.
Scuba divers wear metal tanks with compressed air or other breathing gases. When using
open-circuit equipment, a scuba diver simply breathes air from the tank through a hose and
releases the exhaled air into the water. A closed-circuit breathing device, also called a
rebreather, filters out carbon dioxide and other harmful gases and automatically adds oxygen.
This enables the diver to breathe the same air over and over.(24)
In surface-supplied diving, divers wear helmets and waterproof canvas suits. Today,
sophisticated plastic helmets have replaced the heavy copper helmets used in the past. (25)
These divers get their air from a hose connected to compressors on a boat. Surface-
supplied divers can go deeper than any other type of ambient diver.
21. Ambient divers are ones who
(A) can descend to extreme depths.
(B) use submersible vehicles.
(C) use no equipment.
(D) are exposed to the surrounding water.
22. According to the passage, a free diver may use any of the following EXCEPT
(A) a rebreather.
(B) a snorkel.
(C) foot fins.
(D) a mask.
23. According to the passage, the maximum depth for free divers is around
(A) 40 feet.
(B) 100 feet.
(C) 200 feet.
(D) 1,000 feet.
24. When using closed-circuit devices, divers
(A) exhale air into the water.
(B) hold their breath.
(C) breathe the same air over and over.
(D) receive air from the surface.
25. According to the passage, surface-supplied divers today use helmets made from
(A) glass.
(B) copper.
(C) plastic.
(D) canvas.
26. Underline the sentence in paragraph 3 that explains how surface-supplied divers are able to
breath.