Thầy Minh Education Studio

Evidence-based Reading

Session 1
Text 1

Because it is filled with contradictions, performance is also filled with risk. This is the domain of
stage fright. The actor is aware that appearing in front of an audience is a scary proposition.
Maintaining the reality of the character is, in itself, a fragile affair, it demands of the actor a
series of complex transformations. The actor has the unique problem of hiding and showing at
the same time. The actor's conscious fear is not about making a mistake, but about allowing the
audience to see something that it is not supposed to see: namely, the performer's fear, or stage
fright.

Text 2

The term "stage fright" has largely dropped out of the use because we now know that dwelling
on something this malevolent gives it power. If I tell you not to be afraid, you may dwell on your
fear. If I say, do not think of fast-food burgers under any circumstances, a line of them will
parade through your mind. The key to most fears is substitution. On the simplest level, you
replace the ogre with something less menacing to fill your consciousness. If you will
instead project your concern to your listeners, thinking more about their comfort than their
verdicts, everything will fall into place.
 Text 1

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1
The intelligence of dolphins is well The two texts differ in their views of dolphin
documented by science. Studies show that intelligence in that Text 1 states that dolphins
dolphins are able to understand sign language,
Line solve puzzles, and use objects in their A) share a sophisticated culture, while Text 2
5 environment as tools. Scientists also believe that contends that dolphin intelligence is
dolphins possess a sophisticated language: roughly equal to human intelligence.
numerous instances have been recorded in B) are as intelligent as humans, while Text 2
which dolphins transmitted information from notes that dolphins outperform other
one individual to another. A recent experiment animals.
10 proved that dolphins can even recognize C) are more intelligent than most other
themselves in a mirror - something achieved by animals, while Text 2 points out that
very few animals. This behavior demonstrates dolphins are less intelligent than other
that dolphins are aware of their own mammals.
individuality, indicating a level of intelligence
D) are highly intelligent, while Text 2
15 that may be very near our own.
suggests that there is not enough evidence
to understand dolphin intelligence fully.
Text 2
Are dolphins unusually intelligent? Dolphins
have large brains, but we know that brain size
alone does not determine either the nature or
extent of intelligence. Some researchers have
20 suggested that dolphins have big brains because
they need them for sonar and sound processing
and for social interactions. Others have argued 2
that regardless of brain size, dolphins have an Which generalization about dolphins is
intelligence level somewhere between that of a supported by both texts?
25 dog and a chimpanzee. The fact is, we don't
A) They display self-awareness.
know, and comparisons may not be especially
helpful. Just as human intelligence is B) They are more emotional than other
appropriate for human needs, dolphin animals.
intelligence is right for the dolphin's way of life. C) They learn at a rapid rate.
30 Until we know more, all we can say is that D) They have a certain degree of intelligence.
dolphin intelligence is different.
 1 1
Literary passage. But that was before Easter Sunday. On Easter

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The following excerpt from a novel is set in Baltimore in Sunday, at the dinner table, the aunts were
1952. discussing Mrs. Norman Worth's extensive
50 collection of eggshell miniatures. The lawyer uncles
Something came over Duncan that year. No one were arguing the details of a hypothetical legal
could quite put a finger on it. He had what he wanted, problem: If a farmer, while turning on the water to
didn't he? He was studying science, wasn't he? Yet it irrigate the fields, accidentally startled another
Line seemed sometimes that he was more dissatisfied than farmer's mule, which, in turn, kicked down the fence
5 ever, almost as if he regretted winning the 55 enclosing a prize-winning Angus bull, who
scholarship. He complained about living at home, thereupon . . .
which he had to do because college was so expensive. "Neither of these subjects is fit table
He said the expense was an excuse; this was just the conversation," Duncan said.
family's way of punishing him. Punishing! To live at Everybody thought about that for a minute.
10 home with your own close family? He was morose 60 "But what's wrong with them, dear?" his mother
and difficult to talk to. He did not appear to have any said finally.
friends at all, at least none that he would introduce. "They're not real."
Well, of course he had always been somewhat of a Great-Grandma, who had lived longest and was
problem. Surely this was just another of his stages, the hardest to shock, poured more ice water into her
15 aunts told his mother. 65 tumbler. "To you they may not be," she said, "but I
But then he started reading Dostoyevsky.* myself find eggshell miniatures fascinating and if I
Naturally they had all read Dostoyevsky, or at least didn't have this tremor I would take them up myself."
the uncles had, in college. Or his Crime and "You owe us an apology, Duncan boy," said Uncle
Punishment, at any rate. At least in the abridged Two.
20 edition. But this was different. Duncan didn't just 70 "You owe me an apology," said Duncan. "I've
read Dostoyevsky; he sank in, he buried himself in spent eighteen years here growing deader and
Dostoyevsky, he stopped attending classes entirely deader, listening to you skate across the surface.
and stayed in his room devouring obscure novels and Watching you dodge around what matters like
diaries none of the rest of the family had heard of. On painting blue sea around boats, with spaces left for
25 a soft spring evening, in the midst of a peaceful 75 safety's sake."
discussion on the merits of buying a home freezer, "What?"
Uncle Two's branch of the family might be startled by "Can't you say something that means something?"
the crash of enormous footsteps down the stairs and Duncan asked.
Duncan's wild, wiry figure exploding into the living "About what?" said his mother.
30 room to wave a book at them. "Listen! Listen!" and he 80 "I don't care. Anything. Anything but
would read out some passage too loudly and too featherstitch and the statute of limitations. Don't you
quickly for them to follow - a jumble of extravagant want to get to the bottom of things? Talk about
Russian prose, where emotions were stated outright whether there's a God or not."
in a surprising way and a great many extreme "But we already know," said his mother.
35 adjectives were used and feverish fancies kept darting 85 What was so terrible about that? None of them
and flashing. Paragraphs were layered and dense and could see it. But Duncan stood up, as wild-eyed as
complicated like chunks of mica. "Did you hear?" he any character in a Dostoyevsky story, and said, "I'm
shouted. His parents nodded and smiled, their leaving. I'm going for good."
embarrassed expressions giving them the look of He slammed out of the dining room. Cousin
40 sleepers dazzled by bright light. "Well then!" he would 90 Justine jumped up to follow him, but then she
say, and off he spun, up the stairs. His parents stared stopped in the doorway, undecided. "He'll be back,"
at each other. His father went to talk to the Uncle Two said comfortably. "It's only growing
grandfather, who understood it no better. "But I pains. Ten years from now he'll talk the same as all
thought he was scientific!" he said. "What is he the rest of us."
45 reading for?" And then, "Ah well, never mind. At least
it's the classics, they surely can't hurt him." * Russian novelist (1821-1881) whose works combine
religious mysticism with profound psychological insight

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Main Idea
 1 1
Question 3 is based on the following text. 3

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The main idea of the text is that the author
In between school days, we gathered A) preferred certain academic subjects over
hazelnuts, fished, had long deer-hunting others
weekends, went to powwows, beaded on looms,
Line and made quilts. I did not question the B) valued knowledge of the natural world
5 necessity or value of our school education, but more than book learning
somehow I grew up knowing it wasn’t the only C) loved both family trips and tribal activities
education I would need. I’m thankful for those D) learned many important things both in
experiences of my Anishinaabe heritage, and out of school
because now I know by heart not only the
10 national anthem, but the ancient song of the
loon. I recognize not only the alphabet and the
parts of an English sentence, but the intricate
language of a beaver’s teeth and tail.

Question 4 is based on the following text. 4

The text is primarily concerned with Jane
Dr. Jane Wright insisted in later years that Wright’s
her father, surgeon Louis Wright, never A) childhood recollections
pressured her to study medicine; indeed he
Line warned her how hard becoming a doctor would B) perception of her father as a role model
5 be. His very fame, within and beyond the C) reluctance to collaborate with her father
African American community, made her D) gratitude for her father’s encouragement
training harder in some ways. “His being so
good really makes it very difficult,” Wright told
an interviewer soon after she graduated from
10 medical school in 1945. “Everyone knows who
Papa is.”

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 1 1
Question 5 is based on the following text. 5

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The primary focus of the text is on
Before I ever saw myself, I saw my sister. A) the narrator’s happy childhood
When I was still too small for mirrors, I saw
B) the narrator’s identification with Cole
her as the reflection that proved my own
Line existence. Back then, I was content to see only C) Cole’s facial features
5 Cole, three years older than me, and imagine D) Cole’s behavior
that her face—cinnamon skinned, curly
haired, serious—was my own. It was her face
above me always, waving toys at me, cooing at
me, whispering to me, pinching me when she
10 was angry and I was the easiest target. That
face was me and I was that face and that was
how the story went.

Question 6 is based on the following text. 6

Which best summarizes the information in
One of the many things that orcas do well is this text?
turn on a dime in tight quarters. Marine
A) Agility and memory are two notable traits
biologist Eva Saulitis reports that although
of orcas.
Line orcas are typically longer than the twenty-foot
5 skiff she uses and many tons heavier, “We find B) Orcas are among the largest creatures in
them in tiny coves where it’s too narrow for us the ocean.
to anchor.” Also, like other dolphins, orcas C) Marine biologists have had difficulty
can use their own sonar to locate underwater studying orcas in Prince William Sound.
objects by making clicking sounds, but those D) Sonar is more critical than physical agility
10 that hunt seals are mostly silent (to avoid when orcas are hunting seals.
tipping off their prey). This means that the
crafty hunters of Prince William Sound, with
nearly a thousand miles of shoreline to prowl,
apparently memorize the contours of the
15 whole convoluted coast.

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 1 1
Question 7 is based on the following text. 7

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The text is primarily concerned with
In 1843 Augusta Ada King published an A) explaining Augusta Ada King’s interest in
influential set of notes describing Charles
computer science
Babbage’s conception of an “analytical
Line engine”—the first design for an automatic B) providing a character analysis of Augusta
5 computer. King’s notes, which included her Ada King
program for computing a series of figures called C) summarizing how and why Augusta Ada
Bernoulli numbers, established her importance King is celebrated
in computer science. However, her fascinating D) tracing the development of the modern-
life and lineage (she was the daughter of the
day computer
10 flamboyant poet Lord Byron)—and her role as
a female pioneer in her field—have turned her
into an icon. She has inspired biographies,
plays, novels, and even a feature film. And
whereas many women have helped to advance
15 computer science, only King has had a
computer language named after her: Ada.

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Tone/Attitude
 DIRECTIONS

Each passage or pair of passages below is followed by a number of questions. After reading
each passage or pair, choose the best answer to each question based on what is stated or
implied in the passage or passages and in any accompanying graphics (such as a table or
graph).

Just how powerful was Mary Wells 8

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Lawrence, the first woman to found, own, and Saatchi's attitude toward Mary Wells
run a major ad agency, in her heyday? Maurice Lawrence is best described as one of
Line Saatchi, the kingpin of British advertising who
5 founded the world's largest ad conglomerate, A) envy
puts it this way: “If Mary had decided to go into B) uneasiness
politics instead of advertising, she'd have been
C) respect
America's first female president.” Lawrence
laughs at this. But Saatchi insists his biggest D) compassion
10 “mistake” was failing to persuade Lawrence to
let him buy her agency in 1990. Saatchi was
even willing to name her CEO of his holding
company.
 1 1
This passage is adapted from A Study in Scarlet, work, but of these he has a large assortment,

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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's first story in his acclaimed and all in the most perfect order. It is a mistake
Sherlock Holmes series. In this excerpt the narrator,
to think that that little room has elastic walls
Dr. Watson, observes Mr. Holmes, with whom he
has recently entered into a shared housing and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it
arrangement, although he knows very little about 35 there comes a time when for every addition of
this new roommate as of yet. knowledge you forget something that you knew
before. It is of the highest importance,
His ignorance was as remarkable as his therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out
knowledge. Of contemporary literature, the useful ones."
philosophy and politics he appeared to know 40 "But the solar system!" I protested.
Line next to nothing. Upon my quoting Thomas "What the deuce is it to me?" he interrupted
5 Carlyle,* he inquired in the naivest way who he impatiently. "You say that we go round the sun.
might be and what he had done. My surprise If we went round the moon it would not make
reached a climax, however, when I found a pennyworth of difference to me or to my
incidentally that he was ignorant of the 45 work."
Copernican Theory and of the composition of
10 the solar system. That any civilized human
being in this nineteenth century should not be * Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881) was a nineteenth-century
aware that the earth travelled round the sun British historian and essayist.
appeared to be to me such an extraordinary fact
that I could hardly realize it.
15 "You appear to be astonished," he said,
smiling at my expression of surprise. "Now that
I do know it I shall do my best to forget it." 9
"To forget it!"
"You see," he explained, "I consider that a Mr. Holmes' attitude toward the acquisition
20 man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, of knowledge as described in lines 19-39 is
and you have to stock it with such furniture as best characterized as
you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of A) open-minded.
every sort that he comes across, so that the
B) pragmatic.
knowledge which might be useful to him gets
25 crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot C) delighted.
of other things so that he has a difficulty in D) disillusioned.
laying his hands upon it. Now the skillful
workman is very careful indeed as to what he
takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing
30 but the tools which may help him in doing his
 DIRECTIONS

Each passage or pair of passages below is followed by a number of questions. After reading
each passage or pair, choose the best answer to each question based on what is stated or
implied in the passage or passages and in any accompanying graphics (such as a table or
graph).

10
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Are we now compelled, as a culture, to be

comical, no matter the setting or the endeavor? The author's attitude toward the value of
And if so, what on earth gave rise to this "comedy consultants" is best described as
Line troubling idea? One possible culprit may be
5 corporate America itself, where being funny is A) fascination
now seen as a valuable asset. Fortune 500 B) approval
companies dole out big fees to comedy C) ambivalence
consultants who offer humor seminars and
improvisational workshops—all in the name of D) skepticism
10 improved productivity. But how exactly are
funnier employees better for business?
According to Tim Washer, a former improv
performer who is now a communications
executive at IBM, humor helps foster team-
15 building and, of course, learning how to "think
outside the box."
 1 1
Question 11 is based on the following text. 11

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The author’s tone in the final sentence is best
described as
Recently excavated artifacts from Pakistan
have inspired a reevaluation of one of the great A) ambivalent
early urban cultures—the enigmatic Indus
B) resigned
Line Valley civilization, one of the four great early
5 Old World state-cultures, along with C) somewhat encouraged
Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China’s Yellow River D) unshakably confident
civilization. Much less is known about the Indus
civilization than these other states because
linguists have yet to decipher the Harappan
10 script found on recovered objects. Attempting
to understand these vanished people and their
social structures, my colleagues and I have
drawn clues from the miscellaneous objects we
uncover and sites we excavate. In this effort, the
15 Harappan writings have not been totally useless;
we have gleaned insights by examining the
context of the writing’s use.

Question 12 is based on the following text. 12

The author’s attitude toward the ‘‘portrait” is
The science fiction masterpiece 2001: A Space best characterized as one of
Odyssey will probably be remembered best for
A) resentment
the finely honed portrait of HAL, the
Line Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic B) appreciation
5 computer that could not only reason but also C) awe
experience human feelings and anxiety. D) derision
Surprisingly, perhaps, computers have in some
ways surpassed writer Arthur C. Clarke’s and
film director Stanley Kubrick’s vision of
10 computing technology at the turn of the
millennium. Today's computers are vastly
smaller and more portable than HAL and use
software interfaces that forgo the type of manual
controls found on the spaceship that carried
15 HAL.

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 1 1
Question 13 is based on the following text. 13

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The author’s attitude toward the “media”
Summer 1995. School children collecting might best be described as
frogs from a pond in Minnesota discover one A) respectful
frog after another with deformities. The story
B) indifferent
Line immediately seizes the attention of national
5 media. Is this an isolated occurrence or a C) resentful
widespread trend? What is causing these D) critical
deformities?
Malformations have since been reported in
more than 60 species of amphibians in 46
10 states. Surprising numbers of deformed
amphibians have also been found in Asia,
Europe, and Australia. Investigators have
blamed the deformities on amphibians’
increased exposure to ultraviolet radiation, the
15 chemical contamination of water, even a
parasite epidemic. Every time another report
appears, the media tout the new position, thus
providing a misleading view. Most likely, all of
these factors have been working in tandem.

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Main Purpose
 1 1
Question 14 is based on the following text. 14

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Which choice best states the main purpose of
My first day observing a community of forest the text?
chimpanzees showed me a richer and more
satisfying world than I had imagined. I suddenly A) To describe a typical day's work on a
Line recognized why I, a nonscientist, or anyone scientific project.
5 should care about what happens to them: not, B) To propose an alternative method of
ultimately, because they use tools and solve studying animal behavior.
problems and are intellectual beings, but because C) To convey an unexpected and
they are emotional beings, as we are, and memorable insight.
because their emotions are so obviously similar D) To relive an unusual and fleeting
10 to ours. experience.
I was moved by the play, the adult male
chasing a toddler round and round a tree, the
mother nibbling her baby’s toes and looking
blissful, the three females playing with and
15 adoring a single infant. They feel!
That was my discovery.

Question 15 is based on the following text. 15

Which choice best states the main purpose of
In an essay in 1984, the novelist Thomas
the text?
Pynchon wondered if it was “O.K. to be a
Luddite,” meaning someone who opposes A) To point out that the Luddites’ modern
Line technological progress. And a recent headline at reputation is based on a misconception.
5 an Internet humor site perfectly captured how B) To emphasize the destructive nature of
difficult it is to resist: “Luddite invents machine the Luddites’ actions.
to destroy technology quicker.” Like all good
satire, the mock headline comes perilously close C) To describe some of the machines
to the truth. Modern Luddites do indeed invent invented by modern Luddites.
10 “machines”—in the form of computer viruses, D) To indicate that perception of the
cyberworms and other malware—to disrupt the Luddites has changed over time.
technologies that trouble them.
But despite their modern reputation, the
original Luddites were neither opposed to
15 technology nor inept at using it. Many were
highly skilled machine operators in the textile
industry. Nor was the technology they attacked
particularly new. Moreover, the idea of
smashing machines as a form of industrial
20 protest did not begin or end with them. In truth,
the secret of their enduring reputation depends
less on what they did than on the name under
which they did it.
CO NTI N U E
 1 1
Question 16 is based on the following text. 16

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The main purpose of the text is to describe
In the beginning of the year 1666, I procured A) a hypothesis being shaped through a
me a triangular glass prism, to try therewith the process.
celebrated phenomena of colors. Having
Line darkened my chamber and made a small hole in B) an observation in conflict with the
5 my window-shuts, to let in a convenient predictions of an accepted theory.
quantity of the sunlight, I placed my prism at its C) a scientist compensating for the effects of
entrance, so that the light might be thereby an optical illusion.
refracted to the opposite wall. It was at first a D) the misleading results of a flawed
very pleasing divertissement, to view the vivid experimental procedure.
10 and intense colors produced thereby. But after a
while applying myself to consider them more
circumspectly, I became surprised to see the
colors in an oblong form, which, according to
the received laws of refraction, should have
15 been circular.

Question 17 is based on the following text. 17

Which choice best states the main purpose of
A century ago, opponents of women’s the text?
suffrage in the United States scoffed at the
notion that extending the vote to women would A) To describe the evolution of a gender gap
Line make any difference. in the United States.
5 “Women will vote with their husbands” was the B) To present a concise history of the
commonly accepted wisdom. This was an women’s suffrage movement.
argument made in the absence of evidence, as C) To show the inaccuracy of a prediction
women did not yet have the vote. Ever since about women’s suffrage.
women won the vote, researchers have been D) To explain the differences in voting
10 keeping close track of female voting behavior. A behavior between men and women.
“gender gap" in voting behavior has been found
in the United States as in many other countries.
In the United States, the 1994 and 1996
elections showed the largest gaps ever between
15 candidates favored by women and those favored
by men.

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 1 1
Question 18 is based on the following text. 18

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Which choice best states the main purpose of
I had grown up in the United States virtually the text?
without relatives, which, in my intense desire to
A) To reveal how lonely the author often
assimilate, was quite all right with me. But this
felt.
Line attitude dissolved when I walked into that
B) To provide examples of the author's
5 apartment in Beijing. I realized then that my
fondness for her relatives.
extended family is not just a collection of
C) To convey the author's sudden awareness
accidental alliances but a living body, an entity
of the importance of family.
that will welcome me for being simply who I
D) To illustrate the closeness that existed
am: the daughter of my mother, the niece of my
among the author's mother, aunts, and
10 aunts and uncles. We had never before seen
uncles.
each other but, in that moment, we shared a
sense of connection and loyally unlike anything
I had previously experienced.

Question 19 is based on the following text. 19

Which choice best states the main purpose of
A turning leaf stays green at first, then reveals the text?
splotches of yellow and red as chlorophyll
A) To explain a phenomenon
gradually breaks down. Dark green seems to
Line stay longest in the veins, outlining and defining B) To recount an experiment
5 them. During the summer, chlorophyll breaks C) To advocate an action
down in the heat and light, but it is also being D) To refute a theory
steadily replaced. In the fall, on the other hand,
no new pigment is produced, and so we notice
the other colors that were always there, although
10 chlorophyll's shocking green hid them from
view. With their camouflage gone, we see these
colors for the first time all year, and marvel, but
they were always there, hidden like a vivid secret
beneath the hot glowing greens of summer.

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 1 1
Question 20 is based on the following text. 20

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Which choice best states the main purpose of
What embodies the bounty of nature better the text?
than an ear of corn? With a twist of the wrist it
A) Challenging a common assumption
is easily plucked from the stalk with no waste or
about farming
Line fuss. It is packed with tasty, nutritious kernels
5 that are larger and more numerous than those B) Comparing corn to other types of grains
of other grains. Wrapped up in a protective C) Enumerating the various uses of corn
leafy husk, corn appears to be a gift from D) Revealing how technology enhances corn
nature. But appearances can be deceptive. A production
cultivated field of corn, or any other crop, is as
10 human made as a microchip. Much as we like to
think of farming as natural, farmed land is as
much a technological landscape as a biological
one.

Question 21 is based on the following text. 21

Which choice best states the main purpose of
African American publishing entrepreneur the text?
John H. Johnson (1918-2005) had a significant
impact on American business practices. By A) To discuss an important event in media
Line successfully disproving a common assumption history
5 about marketing and media in the early B) To describe the impact made by an
twentieth century—that a single message and influential individual
medium could reach all Americans—Johnson C) To offer a theory about the motives of a
helped make possible everything from media pioneer
Telemundo to Ms. magazine. The very nature of
10 contemporary media hinges on the concept D) To elaborate on the challenges of
demonstrated by Johnson—the profitability of marketing to diverse groups
targeting specific niches of consumers,
segmented by ethnicity, age, and other
demographic characteristics. Johnson devised
15 techniques and concepts whose effectiveness
now benefits many American businesses and
even multinational corporations facing the
challenge of marketing goods and services to a
globally diverse population.

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