Reading Practice 4

THE DIFFUSION OF INNOVATIONS

1 One of the major areas of interest for anthropologists is how new ideas are introduced and
adopted into a civilization. Some ideas may be invented independently by several differen
civilizations. For example, agriculture was developed independently in China, India, the Mid
East, and South America. In each of these regions, civilizations developed agriculture on
their own, without knowledge of the other civilizations or their activities. Other areas adopted
agriculture through a process known as diffusion. As European civilizations came in contact
with Middle Eastern civilizations, they saw the advantages to be gained from agriculture and
adopted the technology themselves. Agriculture spread from China to other parts of Asia in
the same way.

2 Diffusion, however, is a complex process. Each new technology may not diffuse to each
culture that comes in contact with it, even if that technology would be beneficial. For example
not every Native American civilization adopted agriculture, and Japan went several hundred
years before finally adopting gunpowder and firearms. Furthermore, ideas or inventions may
diffuse to different cultures at different speeds. Even within a single culture, different people
will adopt new ideas at different speeds. Finding a way to explain these variations in
diffusion is of great interest to anthropologists.

3 The first anthropologist to propose a workable theory for diffusion was Everett Rogers in
his 1962 book Diffusion of Innovations. According to Rogers, any society can be organized
into five groups based on how quickly it adopts new ideas. Innovators are the smallest group
(2.5%). They are the ones who actually develop new ideas or adopt new ideas from other
cultures. The other groups are early adopters (13.5%), the early majority (34%), the late
majority (34%), and laggards (16%), with early adopters adopting new ideas the quickest
and laggards doing so the slowest.

4 Furthermore, Rogers claimed that socioeconomic status (one's level of wealth and
education) at least partially determined what group one belonged to. More affluent and
more educated people were more likely to be innovators or early adopters, while the poor
and the uneducated were more likely to be laggards, Rogers explained this fact in terms of
risk. When any new idea or technology is adopted, there is always the risk that it will not be
useful or that its use will not become widespread. In the 1990s mini-disks were supposed to
replace CDS. but this never happened. The people who bought mini-disks when they were
first sold basically bought a useless piece of equipment because music stores do not sell
mini-disks today. There is a similar risk with any new technology or idea. The more affluent
are able to accept a higher level of risk because the failure of a technology and the resulting
financial loss may not affect them as greatly. Similarly, the more educated may feel more
confident in their ability to predict which technologies will fail and which technologies will
succeed. The poor and the uneducated, however, are more likely to fear the risks of
adopting a new technology, and may prefer to wait until the technology has proven useful
before adopting it themselves. Therefore, they are often among the last people to adopt a
new technology or idea.
QUESTIONS 1-8:
Choose the best answer (A, B, C, or D) for each of the following questions.

1. In paragraph 1, the author mentions the development of agriculture in order to

a. discuss the relative success of various civilizations
b. discuss the origins of civilization
c. provide an example of how ideas spread from one culture to another
d. compare societies that develop ideas to those that borrow them

2. Based on the information in paragraph 1, the term diffusion can best be explained as
a. the production of new agricultural methods
b. the continuous development of civilization
c. the process through which new technologies are spread
d. the process through which the advantages of a society are analyzed

3. The word themselves in the passage refers to

a. European civilizations
b. Middle Eastern civilizations
c. advantages
d. regions

4. In paragraph 2, why does the author mention Native American civilizations and Japan?
a. To contrast their acceptance of new technologies
b. To illustrate the complexities in diffusion
c. To suggest they were the slowest civilizations to adopt technology
d. To give examples of the types of diffusion most interesting to anthropologists

5. Everett Rogers categorized different elements of society according to

a. the percentage of people actively creating new inventions
b. their willingness to adopt new ideas
c. the effectiveness with which they used new inventions
d. the methods through which they organized new ideas

6. The word affluent in the passage is closest in meaning to

a. adventurous
b. creative
c. cultured
d. wealthy

7. What can be inferred about mini-disks?

a. They were technically inferior to CDs.
b. They were primarily bought by the rich.
c. Their inventors knew little about music.
d. They failed because of their high cost.

8. According to paragraph 4, what is the relationship between socioeconomic status and the
adoption of new technologies?
a. Quicker adoption of new technologies tends to increase wealth.
b. The adoption of the wrong technologies results in poverty.
c. Wealthier people are more likely to accept the risks associated with new technologies.
d. Wealthier people have more time and money to invest in the creation of new technologies.

QUESTIONS 9-12:
True/False/Not given: Decide if the following sentences agree with the information in the
passage
Write T if the statement agrees with the information
Write F if the statement contradicts with the information
Write NG if there is no information on this

9. Not every new idea is diffused to other cultures, though that would be beneficial.
10. The speed of diffusion remains unchanged among different civilizations.
11. Diffusion’s speed is related to the complexity of the invention involed.
12. People with lower levels of wealth and education adopt new innovations less quickly than
the upper classes.

QUESTIONS 13-14:
Fill in each blank with NO MORE TWO THAN THREE WORDS from the passage.

13. Everette Rogers proved that the rate at which people adopt new innovations is related to
their _______________ in society.
14. The upper classes are less likely to be affected by the innovation failure and ________.

Reading Practice 5

Bride Price

The custom of paying a bride price before marriage is still a well-established part of many
African cultures. In paying a bride price, the family of the groom must provide payment to the
family of the bride before the marriage is allowed. The bride price can vary greatly from
culture to culture in Africa. In the Zulu and Swazi tribes of southern Africa, the bride price
often takes the form of cattle. In western Africa, kola nuts, blankets, shells, and other goods
are often used for the payment of the bride price. The actual payment of money sometimes
takes place, but the payment of goods is more frequent. The amount paid in a bride price
can also vary. In modern times the bride price is occasionally quite small and its value is
mainly symbolic. However, the bride price can still be quite high, especially among
prominent or highly traditional families.

There are a number of justifications used to explain the payment of bride price. The first is
that the bride price represents an acknowledgement of the expense the bride's family has
gone to in order to raise her and bring her up as a suitable bride for the groom. It also
represents payment for the loss of a family member, since the bride will officially become a
member of her husband's family and will leave her own. On a deeper level the bride price
represents for the fact that the bride will bring children into the family of the groom, thereby
increasing the wealth of the family. This concept is reinforced by the fact that the bride price
must often be returned if the bride fails to bear children.

The payment of bride price has quite a number of effects on African society. First, the
payment of bride price acts to increase the stability of African family structures. Sons are
dependent on their fathers and older relatives to help them pay the bride price of their wives,
and this generally leads to greater levels of obedience and respect. The negotiations
between the two families concerning the bride price allow the parents and other family
members to meet and get to know one another before the marriage. Finally, since the bride
price must often be repaid in case of a divorce, the bride's family often works to make sure
that any marital problems are solved quickly. Bride prices also work as a system of wealth
distribution in African cultures. Wealthier families can afford to support the marriage of their
sons, and thus their wealth is transferred to other families.
Not all of the effects of bride price are so positive, however. One major disadvantage to the
system of bride price is that women are often married to men much older than themselves.
In many African cultures, the typical age for marriage among women is still quite young,
lower than 18 in many cases. Yet few men at this age would have the ability to raise the
bride price to marry. Thus there is sometimes a significant age gap between husbands and
wives. This cuts short the education of many young women. In addition, the husband, being
far older, may die while the wife is still relatively young, leaving her with the burden of raising
the children alone.

1. Based on the information in paragraph 1, the term bride price can best be explained as
A. the costs associated with a traditional African wedding
B. the payment of money to a newly married couple
C. money paid to woman’s family for permission to marry
D. a purely symbolic wedding practice

2. According to paragraph 1, all of the following are true of bride price EXCEPT:
A. Its amount and form can vary.
B. It is a relatively new practice in Africa.
C. Its practice is occasionally only symbolic.
D. It is generally higher among traditional families.

3. Why does the author mention the payment of money?

A. To illustrate how the practice of bride price has changed over time
B. To demonstrate how expensive a bride price can be sometimes
C. To stress that the use of goods in the payment of bride price is most common
D. To demonstrate the differences in how rich and poor families pay the bride price

4. The word prominent in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. conservative
B. important
C. religous
D. educated

5. The phrase The first in paragraph 2 refers to the first

A. Justification
B. Bride price
C. Payment
D. Marriage

6. It can inferred from paragraph 2 that African families

A. place great importance on childbirth
B. never see their daughters after marriage
C. pay the bride price on the day of the wedding
D. place more value on men than women

7. According to paragraph 3, which of the sentences below best expresses the essential
information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the
meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
A. Obedient and respectful sons can rely on their fathers and elders to help them pay the
bride price of their wives.
B. Sons are dependent on their fathers and elders, and this makes them more obedient and
respectful.
C. Young men must obey their fathers and elders because they need their help to pay the
bride price of their wives.
D. Sons respect the fact that their fathers and elders will help them pay the bride price of
their wives.

8. The author uses the word marital to indicate that the problems are related to
A. money
B. laws
C. pregnancy
D. marriage

9. According to paragraph 3, the initial negotiations over the bride price help ensure the
stability of the family because
A. they make the distribution of wealth more equal
B. they lessen the chances for divorce
C. they provide an opportunity for the families to meet each other
D. they ensure that the groom’s family has the money to pay the bride price

10. According to paragraph 4, why are women often married to older men?
A. The legal age for marriage is lower for women than for men.
B. Families are eager to gain the bride price from their daughter’s marriage.
C. Young men lack the financial ability to marry.
D. Women live longer than men on average.

Reading Practice 6

The Robber Barons

1 As an economic system, capitalism assumes that open markets and free competition are
always of benefit to the customer. The idea is that in order to compete in an open market, a
company must offer higher-quality products at a lower cost than its competitors. The result of
this competition is that the consumer gets the best possible product at the lowest possible
cost. Another assumption of capitalism is that governments must refrain from regulating or
interfering in the business practices of companies because this prevents free competition.
The problem, however, is that this system relies on companies operating in an honest and
ethical manner, which is not always the case.

2 In the 19th century, America was still a developing nation in many ways. The Industrial
Revolution was rapidly transforming much of the nation. However, the US was still a rustic,
backward nation when compared with the great nations of Europe. Much of the country's
territory was undeveloped and lacked even basic developments such as usable roads and
electricity. Therefore, the focus of the United States during this period was on development,
and the men driving this development were the robber barons.

3 The robber barons were not actually nobility. They were the leading businessmen of the
time. They owned the factories, shipyards, and railway companies that built the infrastructure
America lacked, and they became very rich doing this. The robber barons got their name
from the fact that many of the business practices they used were dishonest, and sometimes
even criminal. Willing to do whatever was necessary to ensure their dominance in business,
the robber barons bribed officials, threatened competitors, took advantage of their
employees, and cared little for the environmental impacts of their industries. The attitude of
the robber barons can best be summed up by the words of Cornelius Vanderbilt, one of the
great robber barons, who said "The public be damned" when asked about some of his more
unfair business practices. In creating their vast business empires, the robber barons
routinely engaged in anti-competitive business practices to destroy their competitors. The
result was that their brand of capitalism was not beneficial to the consumer. Without the
threat of real competition, the robber barons were able to set prices as they liked, and they
had no real pressure to improve the quality of their products. Today, control of the market by
one corporation is recognized as being against the interests of consumers and is illegal in
the United States.

4 While the business practices of the robber barons were obviously unethical, it is harder to
say whether they were good or bad for America. The robber barons did much to advance the
nation, even if they did so at the expense of the poor. Under the guidance of the robber
barons, the United States steadily grew into a developed nation, and by the turn of the
century it had largely caught up to mucn of Europe. Furthermore, many (though not all) of
the robber barons contributed significant amounts of money to charity and to the arts. They
built the great theaters and museums of the US, and many of the top universities in America
benefited greatly from the contributions of these men.

Questions 1-7
1. According to paragraph 1, how does capitalism benefit the customer?
A. It ensures that businesses operate in an ethical manner.
B. The competition it creates ensures lower prices and higher-quality products.
C. It prevents the government from interfering in business.
D. It increases the level of competition among customers for high-quality products.

2. The word refrain in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. prohibit
B. acknowledge
C. resist
D. institute

3. The phrase “this system” in the passage refers to

a. government regulation
b. capitalism
c. beneficial business practices
d. operating in an ethical manner

4. According to paragraph 2, what difficulty did America face in 19th century?

a. It lacked effective forms of business management.
b. It lacked the territory to become a developed nation.
c. It could not deal with the rapid transformations of the Industrial Revolution.
d. Large portions of its territory were far less developed than Europe.

5. According to paragraph 3, the robber barrons were not forced to reduce their prices
because
a. they produced high-quality goods that demanded higher prices
b. their business practices were not effective in lowering costs
c. they were able to eliminate their competition
d. they did not use the system of capitalisn in their business

6. Why does the author mention Cornelius Vanderbit in paragragh 3?

a. To suggest he was the cruellest robber baron
b. To better illustrate the robber barons’ lack of concern for the public
c. To show that the robber barons knew the public was clueless about business
d. To demonstrate why was the most successful robber baron
7. According to paragraph 4, the robber barons were able to help the US in all of the
following ways EXCEPT:
a. Their unfair business practices led to the creation of capitalism.
b. They turned the US into a more advanced nation.
c. They helped enhance the educational system.
d. They donated money to the arts.

Questions 8-11
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer
8. Governments must avoid becoming involved in _________ in the business practices.
9. This system depends on organizations acting in an honest and ______ behavior.
10. They would do whatever it takes to maintain their _________ in business.
11. In order to build their empires, the robber barons involved in _________ practices to
eliminate their rivals.

Reading Practice 7

Game Theory and Illogical Decisions

It has long been known that communities often choose courses of action that are either very
damaging or even fatal to the community. For example, the society that lived on Easter
Island continued to practice extensive logging, even though eventual deforestation of their
island leg to the destruction of their society. Today, many countries around the world
continue to pollute the environment, despite well-documented evidence that such
pollution may make life much more difficult or even impossible in the future. Such self-
destructive behavior may seem like madness, but it is explained by a branch of mathematics
known as game theory. Game theory attempts to explain why individuals or groups make
certain decisions. A basic assumption of game theory is that every decision maker acts in his
or her own self-interest. People seek to maximize their own benefit, and the welfare of others
is secondary. In such a situation individual interests often conflict with the interests of the
group as a whole. This is expressed in a famous hypothetical situation known as the
prisoner's dilemma.

In the prisoner's dilemma, two prisoners, prisoner A and prisoner B, are being questioned by
the police in separate rooms. Each prisoner has two choices: either remain silent, or betray
the other prisoner by talking to the police. There are three possible outcomes. If both
prisoners remain silent, they will go to jail for six months. If prisoner A remains silent and
prisoner B betrays him, prisoner A will go to jail for 10 years but prisoner B will go free. The
reverse will happen if prisoner B remains silent and prisoner A betrays him. If both prisoners
betray each other, they will go to jail for 2 years. In this situation, the best possible outcome
for the prisoners as a group would be to remain silent. This, however, requires a large
measure of trust. If one prisoner remains silent and the other prisoner betrays him, he will
receive the worst possible outcome. Since neither prisoner is 100% sure he can trust the
other, the most logical choice is for both prisoners to betray the other. In this case, both
prisoners suffer, but not as much as they could if they remained silent.

This is the basic principle at work in many decisions that may at first seem illogical. For
example, it is entirely possible for a nation to eliminate or at least largely reduce its
pollution, but its economy would suffer because it would have to create less energy or use
more expensive technologies that cause less pollution. [A] Again, the best possible choice
for the Earth as a whole would be for every nation to ma this choice. [B] However, if one
nation. chooses to stop polluting but other nations do not, then that nation suffers twice. [C]
Not only does it suffer from a reduced economy, but it also suffers the effects of pollution,
since most pollution affects the world as a whole and not just the nations producing it. [D]
Therefore, the most logical choice for each nation is to continue polluting the Earth, even
though that will lead to a more negative outcome for the world as a whole.

1. The word extensive in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. destructive
B. irresponsible
C. widespread
D. fast-paced

2. What can be inferred from paragraph 1 about Easter Island society?

A. It lacked an understanding of game theory.
B. It was in the self-interest of its individual members to cut down trees.
C. Its responses to its environmental problems were unusual for a society.
D. It was in fierce economic competition with neighboring societies

3. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted
sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave
out essential information.
A. Today, many nations continue to pollute the environment for lack of well-documented
evidence regarding the effects.
B. Many nations that pollute the environment are well aware of their actions, yet continue to
do so.
C. Even though they know the future consequences of their actions, many nations continue
to pollute the environment.
D. It is well documented that many nations pollute the environment despite the fact that this
will make life impossible in the future.

4. The phrase such a situation in the passage refers to a situation in which

A. decision makers make self-destructive decisions
B. the decisions of a group seem illogical
C. game theory is employed in the decision-making process
D. decision makers act without regard to the welfare of others

5. According to paragraph 2, all of the following are possible outcomes in the prisoner's
dileme EXCEPT:
A. Both prisoners will receive the lightest possible sentence.
B. One prisoner will go free while the other receives a harsh sentence.
C. Both prisoners will receive the harshest possible sentence.
D. Both prisoners will receive a sentence of 2 years.

6. According to paragraph 2, what prevents the prisoners from picking a solution mutually
beneficial to both of them?
A. Their inability to trust each other to act in an unselfish manner
B. The complexity of the rules and their lack of understanding
C. Their desire to punish the other prisoner by betraying him
D. The threat of a harsher punishment if they both remain silent

7. The word eliminate in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. avoid
B. repair
C. alleviate
D. eradicate
8. According to paragraph 3, why is it in the self-interest of nations to continue polluting the
Ear
A. Preventing pollution is economically infeasible.
B. There is no benefit for a single nation that stops polluting the Earth.
C. Most nations have concluded that their economies are more important than the
environment.
D. Pollution damages the economies of other nations and ensures equality.

9. Look at the four squares [] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to
the passage.
In this way, each nation would suffer some negative effects, but they would
collectively avert an environmental disaster.
Where would the sentence best fit?
A. [A]
B. [B]
C. [C]
D. [D]

Reading Practice 8

Solar Activity
Like Earth, the sun has several different forms of visible activity, or weather. But unlike
Earth the sun's weather is created by forces deep within the sun rather than in its atmosphere.
The sun is made of electrically charged particles which create a strong magnetic field around
the sun. Because the sun rotates slightly faster at its equator than it does at its poles, this
magnetic field slowly gets pulled out of balance. A helpful analogy is to think of the sun's
magnetic field as a giant rubber band. As the sun rotates, the rubber band slowly twists,
becoming tighter and tighter.

It is this rising imbalance in its magnetic field that gives the sun its first form of weather. As
the magnetic field of the sun gets twisted, it gets focused on one part of the sun's surface,
resulting in an area where the magnetic field is much stronger than on the rest of the sun. This
incredibly strong magnetic field prevents heat from rising up from the center of the sun to this
area of the surface. [A] The result is an area of the sun's surface which is cooler than the rest
of the surface. [B] Because they are cooler than the rest of the sun, sun spots appear to be
darker. [C] These dark spots can be several times the size of Earth, and astronomers have
noticed them for hundreds of years. [D] Sun spots appear to follow an 11-year cycle of
activity. Although no one has been able to adequately explain the causes for this cycle as of
yet, it seems that the height of the cycle represents the time of greatest imbalance in the sun's
magnetic field, resulting in more sun spots.

Eventually the magnetic field around a sun spot will become so twisted that it will snap. All
the energy that has been stored in the twists of the magnetic field will be released in one
moment. The result is a huge jump in temperature called a solar flare. In as little as ten
seconds, the temperature will rise to as much as 20 million degrees, up from about 1 million.
Solar flares also release huge amounts of radiation, primarily in the form of x-rays, into
space. When this radiation reaches the Earth, it can damage satellites and affect weather
patterns.
Another solar phenomenon somewhat similar to a solar flare is a Coronal Mass Ejection, or
CME. During a CME, the immense rise in temperature accelerates particles and atoms to
nearly the speed of light. Huge quantities of matter are literally blown off the surface of the
sun and sent hurling into space. When these high-speed particles and atoms reach the Earth's
atmosphere, they have effects similar to those of a solar flare. But CMES, because they
contain atoms and not simply charged particles like protons and electrons, have played an
important role in the evolution of the Earth. Among the atoms ejected from the sun during a
CME are oxygen, carbon, and iron: all essential to life on Earth.

Questions 1-8
Choose from the letter A,B,C, and D that corresponds to the correct answer.

1. What can be inferred from paragrapgh 1 about magnetic fields?

A. They just occur near the sun.
B. Rotation influences their balance.
C. The number of particles in the sun controls the their strength.
D. They help find out the weather of both the sun and the Earth.

2. The author mentions rubber band in paragraph 1 to:

A. To show the action of the sun’s magnetic field more clearly
B. To show the problems caused by the rotation of the sun
C. To explain how the sun’s magnetic field is getting stronger
D. To explain how different the sun’s equator and its poles are

3. How does the magnetic field of the sun create sun spots?
A. It limits the light that is emitted by the sun.
B. It focuses the sun’s charged particles in one area.
C. It stops the sun’s internal heat from rising.
D. It makes some areas of the sun’s surface larger than others.

4. According to paragraph 3, which of the following is not true about solar flares?
A. They are the final result of the imbalances in the sun’s magnetic field.
B. They result in a rapid increase in the surface temperature of the sun.
C. They have little impact on the Earth due to their distance.
D. They occur in cycles that correspond to those of sun spots.

5. According to paragraph 4, how have CMEs influenced life on Earth?

A. They have made the average temperature increase on Earth.
B. They have made a great contribution to the essential chemistry of life.
C. They have provided light and energy to Earth.
D. They have increased the Earth’s magnetic field.

6. The word hurling in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. speeding
B. radiating
C. attracting
D. preventing

7. It can be inferred from the passage that CMEs

A. only occur at the height of solar cycle
B. can damage electronics
C. are impossible to predict
D. occur at lower temperatures than solar flares

8. Look at four squares [A], [B], [C] and [D] that indicate where the following sentence could
be added to the reading passage. Where would the sentence best fit?
This area is called a sun spot.
A. [A]
B. [B]
C. [C]
D. [D]

Questions 9-12
Choose NO MORE THAN FOUR WORDS OR A NUMBER from the passage for each
answer.
9. The sun are caused by huge releases of_______ around it.
10. The sun’s magnetic field gets focused on certain spots on its______, and this lowers the
temperature of these areas.
11. Solar activity seems to follow a(an) __________ that is somehow related to the sun’s
magnetic field.
12. Solar flares and CMEs produce radiation, which move toward the Earth and can do harm
to_________.