Reading Practice

1.
In the 1960s, The Beatles were probably the most famous pop group in the whole world.
Since then, there have been a great many groups that have achieved enormous fame, so it is
perhaps difficult now to imagine1 how sensational The Beatles were at that time.1They were
2 four boys from the north of England 2and none of them had any training in music.3 They started
3
by performing and recording songs by black Americans and they had some success with these
songs.4 Then they started writing their own songs and that was when they became really
popular. The Beatles changed pop music. They were the first pop group to achieve great
4
success from songs they had written themselves. After that it became common for groups and
singers to write their own songs. The Beatles did not have a long career. Their first hit record
5
was in 1963 and they split up in 1970. They stopped doing live performances in 1966 because
it had become too dangerous for them – their fans were so excited that they surrounded them
and tried to take their clothes as souvenirs! However, today some of their songs remain as
5
famous as they were when they first came out. Throughout the world many people can sing
part of a Beatles song if you ask them.
1. The passage is mainly about
A. Why the Beatles split up after 7 years
B. The Beatles’ fame and success
C. How the Beatles became more successful than other groups
D. Many people’s ability to sing a Beatles song
2. The four boys of the Beatles___________
A. Were at the same age
B. Came from a town in the north of England
C. Came from the same family
D. Received good training in music
3. The first songs of the Beatles were _____
A. paid a lot of money
B. broadcast on the radio
C. written by themselves
D. written by black Americans
4. What is not true about the Beatles?
A. They became famous when they wrote their own songs
B. They had a long stable career
C. The members had no training in music
D. They were afraid of being hurt by fans
5. The Beatles stopped their live performances because
A. They spent more time writing their own songs
 B. They did not want to work with each other
C. They had earned enough money
D. They were afraid of being hurt by fans.
6. The tone of the passage is that of________
A. neutral B. criticism C. admiration D. sarcasm
2.
The diseases connected to smoking are a big problem. Doctors think that the annual
medical cost for lung cancer, heart disease, and other illnesses connected to smoking is
between 12 and 35 million pounds.
And smoking costs society money in other ways. Between 27 and 61 billion pounds are
spent each year on sick days when people don't go to work, on wages that you don't get when
2
you don't go to work, and on work lost at the company when you are sick. This
2 money counts
the wages from people who die of cancer at young age and stop paying taxes.
This does not count fire started by cigarettes, which kill fifteen hundred people yearly
and injure another four thousand. Smoking costs every man, woman arid child in the UK
from one hundred and ten to two hundred and fifty pounds each year in the lost work and
wages. When you add another fifty to one hundred and fifty pounds yearly in insurance cost,
that comes to one hundred and sixty to four hundred and ten pounds.3 If everyone stopped
smoking, a family of four could have up to one thousand six hundred and forty pounds a year
more. 3 1
1 Smoking will also cause other problems. People who don't smoke will live longer, and
so they will take money from the government when they are old. But they will also work for
more years and pay more taxes. 4
In the end, the value of a non-smoking nation is not in pounds. The good health of the
people is the true value for us all. 4

1. If everyone stopped smoking, all the United Kingdom

A. would have more money. B. would live longer.
C. would have less money. D. would have no more problems.
2. Every year companies lose ________ because of the disease.
A. money B. work C. wages D. time
3. If everyone stopped smoking, a family of four could have ________ more each year.
A. from 110 pounds to 260 pounds B. from 1,340 to 1,430 pounds
C. from 160 pounds to 410 pounds D. 1,640 pounds
4. The true value for the UK of not smoking is ________.
A. more working B. more taxes C. good health D. more money
5. This text is about ________.
A. taxes which are not paid by smokers
B. diseases that smokers get
C. how much smoking costs the UK
D. how much the UK get if everyone stopped smoking
3.
 1
1 The elephants left the shade, crossed an open piece of grass between bushes, and came
towards the mud-pool where my truck was parked. One by one, they arrived on the shore, but,
just as they seemed to be about to bathe in the inviting muddy liquid, they became aware of
the silent truck with its tell-tale smell of man. The leading elephant merely spread her ears
and cautiously backed away taking the young elephants with her.
A smaller mother elephant continued to stand next to the pool, however, swinging her
long trunk and swaying her head from side to side always keeping an eye on the truck. The
3
baby elephant behind her held up his head, waving his trunk to sample the suspicious smell in
the wind.3 The mother elephant seemed to be uncertain about whether to come on and
investigate the truck or to back away with the others. Finally she made up her mind and
slowly advanced on the truck. Her ears were half out, and her trunk moved inquiringly
towards the vehicle and then back under her stomach in a rhythmic swing.
4 I was fascinated by this close approach.4 Never before had I been able to see the hairiness
around the jaw, nor smell the warm scent of elephant which now reach me in concentrated
waves. The mother elephant's steps were slow but determined, and brought her to within a
couple of metres of me.
She gave the impression of being intensely curious about this metal object which had
appeared in her world and behaved as if it were itself an animal. I wondered how far she
would accept the situation and, if after all the centuries of men killing elephants,5she would
ever allow me to approach her on foot. To be able to move freely among the elephants
without their minding was an exciting thought, but I certainly did not expect it would ever be
possible. 5

1. It had been the elephants' intention to ________.

A. feed on the grass
B. swim in the pool
C. lie in the sunshine
D. avoid the mud
2. The presence of the writer and his vehicle ________.
A. was not noticed by the elephants
B. made the leading elephant suspicious
C. made the adult elephants curious
D. frightened all the elephants away
3. How did the smaller elephant react the truck?
A. She showed more curiosity than the other elephants.
B. She kept her baby away from it.
C. After some hesitation she moved away with the other elephants.
D. She rushed up to it excitedly.
4. While he watched the mother elephant approaching, the author ________.
A. was worried that the elephants were too close
B. found the smell very unpleasant
C. was impressed by the elephant's size
D. saw details he had not noticed before
5. The author did not expect he would ever be able to ________.
A. shoot the elephants
B. touch the elephants
C. walk about freely near the elephants
D. drive his truck close to the elephants
4.
The sun was going down beyond great banks of cloud which were full of orange-pink
1
light. It would usually be time for Joe to be going in but he didn't want to go back if Aunt
1
Daisy and Uncle Ted were still there, because his mother would only send him straight to bed
out of the way.2 So he turned away from home and walked down the lane past the football
field, kicking a stone before him at the risk of scratching the toes of his best brown shoes. A
2
couple of dogs, one large, black and smooth-haired, the other smaller with a long black and
white coat, played on the edge of the field, running round, jumping at each other and
sometimes rolling over and over together, totally content in each other's company.
3
Joe watched them for a moment or two and walked on. Twenty minutes later he was on
the riverside and half-way round the circle he had set out to walk from the town and back
again. On his way he had passed several couples and one or two family groups returning from
3
their Sunday evening walk; but now there was no one about except one man resting on the
grass between the path and the river bank. When Joe realised that it was his father, his
4
surprise was so great that the he stopped. Then his father, who had been leaning on his arm
and looking into the river, looked round, but did not seem surprised to see him. "Hello, Joe",
he said dully. He went back to staring at the river. The fact that he was wearing his best
4
clothes somehow added to the strangeness of his sitting there alone like this, and as Joe
looked at him he was conscious for the first time of a sense of his father as not his father, but
as someone Without connection With himself: as a man, with thoughts and feelings outside
5
their existence as father and son. He saw, for the first time, his father as a person carrying
about with him a world of his own, and he had an indefinite sense of this world of his father's
5
extending back to a time and a life before he himself was born. He was only a part of his
father's world, while his father belonged in the centre of his, Joe's world. And things were far
from well in his father's world, he knew.
He moved a few steps nearer, and his father did not look at him. "They're all at home,
wondering where you are," said Joe.
1. Joe didn't go straight home because he ________.
A. half-way to the town
B. wanted to find his father first
C. along the bank of the river
D. didn't want to see Aunt Daisy and Uncle Ted
2. Instead of going home Joe went ________.
A. on to the football field
B. through some fields
C. half-way to the town
D. along the bank of the river
3. When Joe had completed half his intended walk he ________.
A. went back to the town
B. passed a couple of people
C. saw a man sitting by himself
D. met some family groups
4. When Joe's father saw Joe, he ________.
A. sat down on the grass
B. went back to the river
C. looked round at the river
D. didn't seem very interested in him
5. That evening Joe realised that ________
A. he hardly knew his father at all
B. his father had a life of his own
C. he had never really loved his father
D. he had not seen his father wearing those clothes before
5. The Most Powerful Force in Space
A black hole is a spot in space that has incredibly powerful gravity. A black hole's gravity
is so strong that it pulls everything nearby into it. It can pull stars, planets, and other things.
Nothing can escape a black hole. In fact, they are so powerful that even light cannot escape
them.
Scientists first started talking about black holes in the year 1783. That year, one scientist
said that in the universe, there might be places with gravity strong enough to trap light.
However, that scientist didn’t use the term “black hole”. The term “black hole” was invented
in 1967.
1
1 Black holes are formed when a star dies. When a star dies, it collapses. When that
happens, a huge amount of matter crowds into a very small space. The matter becomes very,
very dense. How much matter are we talking about? Imagine a star that is the size of ten suns.
 Imagine fitting that amount of matter into New York City. That is what a black hole is like.
3 Its gravity is so powerful because it has so much matter. 3
However, not all black holes are huge. Scientists believe that some black holes are the size
of atoms. Although these black holes are tiny, they might have the same amount of matter that
a mountain has.
We can’t see black holes because they don’t have any light. They are completely invisible.
2 Scientists can guess where black holes are by studying nearby stars and planets.2If gravity
seems to be pulling the stars and planets to one spot, then scientists believe that the spot is a
black hole.
6
6 Some people wonder if a black hole could ever destroy the Earth. We do not need to
worry about that. There is no black hole that is close enough to destroy the Earth. The closest
black hole is about 7,800 light years away. In addition, the sun is not big enough to create a
black hole.
1 When are black holes formed?
A. When a new star is formed
B. When a planet collapses
C. When two suns crash into each other
D. When a star dies
2. How do scientists study black holes?
A. They look at nearby stars.
B. They look at the black holes.
C. They look at the sun.
D. They visit the black holes.
3. Which statement is NOT true?
A. Black holes have very little matter.
B. Black holes can be big or small.
C. We can’t see black holes.
D. Nothing can escape a black hole.
4. Which of the following CAN’T be inferred from the passage?
A. Scientists started studying a black hole in 1967.
B. A black hole is invisible because it traps light.
C. The movement of stars and planets are affected by a nearby black hole.
D. A black hole gets its name because it does not have any light.
5. The word “them” in paragraph 1 refers to______.
A. planets B. gravitation C. empty spaces D. black holes
6. What would be another good title for the passage?
A. Places without Gravity
B. Strong Enough to Pull a Planet
C. Will a Black Hole Destroy the Earth?
 D. The Brightest Things in the Universe
6. The World's Smallest Science
Have you ever noticed that our machines are getting smaller? Cell phones, cameras,
computers and everything else look smaller every year. One kind of new science involves
machines that are smaller than we can imagine. The name of this science is nanotechnology.
Nanotechnology means doing science, engineering, and technology at a very, very small
level. In other words, nanotechnology is the science of tiny things. But how tiny is the science
Ipootechnology? In nanotechnology, scientists work with things that are the size of a
nanometer. One meter has one billion nanometers. Here is another way to describe logy: it is
the science of observing and controlling individual atoms and molecules.
Nanotehnology is a new word, but the idea ol studying atoms and molecules has existed
1
lime. In 1959, an American scientist Richard Phillips Feynman gave a speech in which he
claimed that we can see and control molecules and atoms. About ten years later Japanese
professor came up with the term “nanotechnology”. 1
3 Because nanotechnology is so new, we are only starting to understand how we can use
Nanotechnology could be very useful in medicine. 3In the future, doctors may uJ the
nanotechnology to help with organ transplants. An organ transplant is the act of putting an
organ into another person’s body. Scientists think that with nanotechnology, they might be
able to make a person’s body accept a foreign organ. Nanotechnology might also help
doctors fight infections, find diseases in patients, and deliver medicine to the right spot in
patients’ bodies.
Nanotechnology might also be useful in protecting the environment. It might be able to
help us save energy, reduce waste, and keep water clean. For example, nanotechnology mighj
de, be able to make some materials such as steel stronger. If we have stronger steel, we will
be able to use it longer. That way, we can produce less steel and save our resources.
Nanotechnology might be useful in so many ways. This science of studying tiny things
could change the world.
1. Around what year did people start using the word “nanotechnology”?
A. 1959
B. 1969
C. 1979
D. 1089
2. The word “which” in paragraph 3 refers to______.
A. nanotechnology
B. the speech
C. atom study
D. the article
3. What does the first sentence of the fourth paragraph mean?
 A. Nanotechnology is new, so we are still learning about its uses.
B. Nanotechnology is not new, so we already know its uses.
C. We have no idea how we are going to use nanotechnology.
D. We used to understand nanotechnology more than we do now.
4. According to the passage, what will nanotechnology NOT do?
A. Find diseases
B. Fight infections
C. Reduce wastes
D. Build organs
5. All of the following are the advantages of using nanotechnology in medicine EXCEPT A/it
that_____.
A. it helps doctors make and deliver medicine more accurately
B. it makes our bodies accept the organ transplants
C. it helps doctors prevent infectious diseases
D. it is also useful in medical examinations
7. What Do You Think?
We have all had bad experiences with restaurants, stores, or hotels. Maybe you have gone
to a restaurant that served terrible food. Perhaps you have gone to a store that had high pried
or bad service. Or maybe you have booked a hotel and found out later that the room vfl
nothing like the advertisement.
These days, we have a better chance of preventing these unpleasant surprises. We can do
this by using apps. “App” is short for “application”. An app is a computer programme on
smartphone. You can use apps to do almost anything. Apps can help you play games, get
directions, talk to friends, and so on.
If you want to find information about a store or a hotel, you can use a review app. Review
apps help us evaluate services and products before we hand over our money. The idea is very
simple. After you go to a restaurant or stay in a hotel, you can post a review with one of your
apps. You can say anything you want. If you like a hotel you stayed in, you can tell people
that it was wonderful. If you think that the food in a certain restaurant was bad, then you tell
people not to eat there. Other people can use their apps to read your reviews.
Plenty of people prefer not to use these review apps. Many of these people prefer to go
out and decide for themselves whether or not a service is good. However, review apps are
getting more and more popular every day. Some apps are for specific services. For example,
Tripadvisor focuses on travel, and Goodreads focuses on books. There are also other, larger
apps that provide information for just about every service that you can think of.
1. What does the passage say about apps?
A. There are very few good apps.
B. You can use apps for many things.
 C. Apps are only for travel.
D. Apps are very expensive to use.
2. If you want to book a hotel, how can a review app help you?
A. It can tell you about the hotel before you book it.
B. It can tell you how to use a smartphone.
C. It can tell you about other people who post reviews.
D. It can help you write better reviews.
3. The word “it” in paragraph 3 refers to______.
A. A restaurant
B. A hotel
C. A review
D. An idea
4. According to the passage, why do some people prefer NOT to use review apps?
A. They don’t trust review apps.
B. They don’t know how to use review apps.
C. They think review apps are too hard.
D. They prefer to make their own decisions.
5. What does the app “Goodreads” focus on?
A. Books
B. Films
C. Newspapers
D. Travel

8.
We live in a world of tired, sleep deprived people. In his book Counting Sheep, Paul
Martin - a behavioural biologist - describes a society which is just too busy to sleep and
which does not give sleeping the importance it deserves.
Modem society has invented reasons not to sleep. We are now a 24/7 society where shops
and services must be available all hours. We spend longer hours at work than we used to, and
more time getting to work. Mobile phones and email allow us to stay in touch round the clock
and late-night TV and the Internet tempt us away from our beds. When we need more time for
work or pleasure, the easy solution is to sleep less. The average adult sleeps only 6.2 hours a
night during the week, whereas research shows that most people need eight or even eight and
a half hours' sleep to feel at their best. Nowadays, many people have got used to sleeping less
than they need and they live in an almost permanent state of 'sleep debt'.
Until the invention of the electric light in 1879 our daily cycle of sleep used to depend on
the hours of daylight. People would get up with the sun and go to bed at nightfall. But
nowadays our hours of sleep are mainly determined by our working hours (or our social life)
and most people are woken up artificially by an alarm clock. During the day caffeine, the
world's most popular drug, helps to keep us awake. 75% of the world's population habitually
consume caffeine, which up to a point masks the symptoms of sleep deprivation.
What does a chronic lack of sleep do to us? As well as making us irritable and unhappy as
humans, it also reduces our motivation and ability to work. This has serious implications for
society in general. Doctors, for example, are often chronically sleep deprived, especially
when they are on 'night call', and may get Ups than three hours' sleep. Lack of sleep can
seriously impair their mood, judgment, and ability to take decisions. Tired engineers, in the
early hours of the morning, made a series of mistakes with catastrophic results. On our roads
and motorways lack of sleep kills thousands of people every year. Tests show that a tired
driver can be just as dangerous as a drunken driver. However, driving when drunk is against
the law but driving when exhausted isn't. As Paul Martin says, it is very ironic that we admire
people who function on very little sleep instead of criticizing them for being irresponsible.
Our world would be a much safer, happier place if everyone, whatever their job, slept eight
hours a night.
1. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE about Paul Martin?
A. He describes the modem world as a place without insomnia.
B. He gives an interesting account of a sleepless society.
C. He is a scientist who is chronically deprived of sleep.
D. He shows his concern for sleep deprivation in modem society.
2. The writer mentions the Internet in the passage as______.
A. an easy solution to sleep deprivation
B. a temptation that prevents us from sleeping
C. a factor that is not related to sleep deprivation
D. an ineffective means of communication
3. The word “which” in the third paragraph refers to______ .
A. masking the symptoms B. reaching a point
C. caffeine consumption D. the world's population
4. Which of the following is TRUE, according to the last paragraph?
A. Doctors “on night call” do not need more than three hours of sleep a day.
B. Sleep deprivation has negative effects on both individuals and society.
C. Thousands of people are killed every day by drunken drivers
D. Our motivation decreases with the bigger number of hours we sleep.
5. Which of the following would the writer of the passage approve of?
A. Both drunken drivers and sleep-deprived people should be criticized.
B. We certainly can function well even when we hardly sleep.
C. There is no point in criticizing irresponsible people in our society.
D. Our world would be much safer place without drinkers.
9.
The ability to conduct electricity is one of the key properties of a metal. Other solid
materials such as silicon can conduct electricity but only effectively at certain temperatures.
Also, some substances such as salt (sodium chloride) can conduct when molten or when
dissolved in water. The ability of metals to conduct electricity is due to how their atoms bond
together. In order to bond together the metal atoms lose at least one of their outermost
electrons. This leaves the metal atoms with a positive charge and they are now strictly ions.
The lost electrons are free to move in what is known as a sea of electrons. Since the electrons
are negatively charged they attract the ions and this is what keeps the structure together.
An electric current is a flow of charge and since the electrons in the sea of electrons are
free to move they can be made to flow in one direction when a source of electrical energy
such as a battery is connected to the metal. Hence we have an electric current flowing through
the wire, and this is what makes metals such good conductors of electricity. The only other
common solid conducting material that pencil users are likely to encounter is graphite (what
the ‘lead’ of a pencil is made from). Graphite is a form of carbon and again the carbon atoms
bond in such a way that there is a sea of electrons that can be made to flow as an electric
current. Likewise, if we have an ionic substance like salt we can make the electrically charged
ions flow to create a current but only when those ions are free to move, either when the
substance is a liquid or dissolved in water. In its solid state an ionic substance like salt cannot
conduct electricity as its charged ions cannot flow.
Electrical insulators are substances that cannot conduct electricity well either, because
they contain no charged particles or any charged particles they might contain do not flow
easily. Water itself is a poor conductor of electricity as it does not contain a significant
amount of fully charged particles (the ends of a water molecule are partly charged but overall
the molecule is neutral). However, most water we encounter does contain dissolved charged
particles, so it will be more conductive than pure water. Many of the problems that occur
when touching electrical devices with wet hands result from the ever-present salt that is left
on our skin through perspiration and it dissolves in the water to make it more conductive.
1. Electrical conductivity is______.
A. one of the key properties of most solid materials
B. impossible for any substance when it is dissolved in water
C. completely impossible for silicon
D. one of the most important properties of metals
2. According to the passage, a metal can conduct electricity due to______.
A. the way its atoms bond together
B. the absence of free electrons
C. its atoms with a positive charge
D. the loss of one electron in the core of its atoms
3. Salt in its solid state is not able to conduct electricity because ______.
A. it cannot create any charged ions
B. its charged ions can flow easily.
C. it charged ions are not free to move
D. it has free electrons
4. The word “they” in the third paragraph refers to______.
A. charged particles
B. electrical insulators
C. electric currents
D. charged ions
5. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Graphite is a common solid substance that can conduct electricity.
B. Some materials are more conductive than others.
C. Pure water is much more conductive than most water we encounter every day.
D. Salt can conduct electricity when it is molten or dissolved.
10.
What are the keys to career success? Our background? Our education? Maybe. But they
only affect our careers; they by no means guarantee success. If there is any guarantee of
success, and that is questionable, it is through one's own intrinsic qualities, one's own hard
work and a constant re-assessment of one's goals.
A recent study in the US showed that something between 10 and 20% of the Harvard
College Class of 1958 have lost their jobs in the past ten years. So, not only the best education
but also the best possible social background cannot guarantee career success.
If these people, mainly men, had not believed their background was an assurance to
success in life, and if they had searched for ways to make new and better-quality
contributions to their work, they wouldn't now be out of work. Anyone can succeed, and
anyone can fail, and in terms of one's career this is very important to recognize. As long as
one has goals and one takes action to achieve these goals, then one can be said to be
following a successful career strategy.
1. Which of the following would be a suitable title for the passage?
A. Career Success
B. Background and Education
C. The Guarantee of Success
D. Our Intrinsic Qualities
2. What does the author imply the reason is why the Harvard graduates lost their jobs?
A. Their lack of insurance.
B. Failure to work hard.
C. Bad luck.
 D. Failure to improve their own abilities.
3. What is the way to a successful career strategy?
A. Good education.
B. Having goals.
C. Good background.
D. Hard work.
4. What is the author's attitude to having a good education?
A. It cannot guarantee career success.
B. It is better than changing one's goals.
C. It is better than having a good background.
D. It is a good insurance to life and work.
5. As used paragraph 3, the phrase “in terms of” could be best replaced by which of the
following?
A. in addition to
B. on the contrary to
C. regardless of
D. regarding
11.
The handling and delivery of mail has always been a serious business, underpinned by
the trust of the public in requiring timeliness, safety, and confidentiality. After early
beginnings using horseback and stagecoach, and although cars and trucks later replaced
stagecoaches and wagons, the Railway Mail Service still stands as one of America’s most
resourceful and exciting postal innovations. This service began in 1832, but grew slowly until
the Civil War. Then from 1862, by sorting the mail on board moving trains, the Post Office
Department was able to decentralize its operations as railroads began to crisscross the nation
on a regular basis, and speed up mail delivery. This service lasted until 1958. During peak
decades of service, railway mail clerks handled 93% of all non-local mail and by 1905 the
service had over 12,000 employees.
Railway Post Office trains used a system of mail cranes to exchange mail at stations
without stopping. As a train approached the crane, a clerk prepared the catcher arm which
would then snatch the incoming mailbag in the blink of an eye. The clerk then booted out the
outgoing mailbag. Experienced clerks were considered the elite of the Postal Service’s
employees, and spoke with pride of making the switch at night with nothing but the curves
and feel of the track to warn them of an upcoming catch. They also worked under the greatest
pressure and their jobs were considered to be exhausting and dangerous. In addition to regular
demands of their jobs they could find themselves the victims of train wrecks and robberies.
As successful as it was, “mail-on-the-fly” still had its share of glitches. If they hoisted
the train’s catcher arm too soon, they risked hitting switch targets, telegraph poles or
semaphores, which would rip the catcher arm off the train. Too late, and they would miss an
exchange.
1. What does the passage mainly discuss?
A. How Post Office Trains handled the mail without stopping
B. The skills of experienced clerks
C. How the mail cranes exchanged the mail
D. Improvements in mail handling and delivery
2. The public expects the following three services in handling and delivering mail
EXCEPT______.
A. confidentiality
B. timeliness
C. safety
D. accuracy
3. According to the passage, the Railway Mail Service commenced in______.
A. 1832
B. 1842
C. 1874
D. 1905
4. According to the passage, which of the following is true?
A. The clerk booted out the outgoing mailbag before snatching the incoming bag.
B. Clerks couldn’t often see what they were doing.
C. The Railway Mail cleric’s job was considered elite because it was safe and exciting.
D. Despite their success railway mail clerks only handled a small proportion of all non-
local mail.
5. In the second paragraph, the word “they” refers to______.
A. trains
B. postal service's employees
C. mailbags
D. experienced clerks
12.
The Moon has been worshipped by primitive peoples and has inspired humans to create
everything from lunar calendars to love sonnets, but what do we really know about it? The
most accepted theory about the origin of the Moon is that it was formed of the debris from a
massive collision with the young Earth about 4.6 billion years ago. A huge body, perhaps the
size of Mars, struck the Earth, throwing out an immense amount of debris that coalesced and
cooled in orbit around the Earth.
The development of Earth is inextricably linked to the moon; the Moon's gravitational
influence upon the Earth is the primary cause of ocean tides. In fact, the Moon has more than
twice the effect upon the tides than does the Sun. The Moon makes one rotation and
completes a revolution around the Earth every 27 days, 7 hours, and 43 minutes. This
synchronous rotation is caused by an uneven distribution of mass in the Moon (essentially, it
is heavier on one side than the other) and has allowed the Earth’s gravity to keep one side of
the Moon permanently facing Earth. It is an average distance from Earth of 384,403 km.
The Moon has no atmosphere; without an atmosphere, the Moon has nothing to protect it
from meteorite impacts, and thus the surface of the Moon is covered with impact craters,
both large and small. The Moon also has no active tectonic or volcanic activity, so the erosive
effects of atmospheric weathering, tectonic shifts, and volcanic upheavals that tend to erase
and reform the Earth’s surface features are not at work on the Moon. In fact, even tiny surface
features such as the footprint left by an astronaut in the lunar soil are likely to last for millions
of years, unless obliterated by a chance meteorite strike. The surface gravity of the Moon is
about one-sixth of the Earth’s. Therefore, a man weighing 82 kilograms on Earth would only
weigh 14 kilograms on the Moon.
The geographical features of the Earth most like those of the Moon are, in fact, places
such as the Hawaiian volcanic craters and the huge meteor crater in Arizona. The climate of
the Moon is very unlike either Hawaii or Arizona, however; in fact the temperature on the
Moon ranges between 123 degrees C. to -233 degrees C.
1. What is the passage primarily about?
A. The Moon’s effect upon the Earth.
B. The origin of the Moon.
C. What we know about the Moon and its differences to Earth.
D. A comparison of the Moon and the Earth.
2. According to the passage, the Moon is______.
A. older than the Earth
B. protected by a dense atmosphere
C. composed of a few active volcanoes
D. the primary cause of Earth’s ocean tides
3. A person on the Moon would weigh less than on the Earth because
A. of the composition of lunar soil
B. the surface gravity of the Moon is less
C. the Moon has no atmosphere
D. the Moon has no active tectonic or volcanic activity
4. All of the following are true about the Moon EXCEPT______.
A. it has a wide range of temperatures
B. it is heavier on one side than the other
C. it is unable to protect itself from meteorite attacks
D. it has less effect upon the tides than the Sun
5. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
A. The Moon is not able to support human life.
B. If the Moon had no gravitational influence, the Earth would not have tides.
C. People living in Hawaii and Arizona would feel at home on the Moon.
D. Mars could have been formed in a similar way to the Moon.