TOEFL Test 1 - Part 3, Reading

Part Three Reading

The French word renaissance means rebirth. It was first used in 1855 by the historian Jules Michelet in his History of France, then adopted by historians of culture, by art historians, and eventually by music historians, all of whom applied it to European culture during the 150 years spanning 1450-1600. The concept of rebirth was appropriate to this period of European history because of the renewed interest in ancient Greek and Roman culture that began in Italy and then spread throughout Europe. Scholars and artists of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries wanted to restore the learning and ideals of the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome. To these scholars this meant a return to human-as opposed to piritual-values. Fulfillment in life-as opposed to concern about an afterlife- became a desirable goal, and expressing the entire range of human emotions and enjoying the pleasures of the senses were no longer frowned on. Artists and writers now turned to secular as well as religious subject matter and sought to make their works understandable and appealing.

These changes in outlook deeply affected the musical culture of the Renaissance period--how people thought about music as well as the way music was composed, experienced, discussed, and disseminated. They could see the architectural monuments, sculptures, plays, and poems that were being rediscovered, but they could not actually hear ancient music-although they could read the writings of classical philosophers, poets, essayists, and music theorists that were becoming available in ranslation. They learned about the power of ancient music to move the listener and wondered why modern music did not have the same effect. For example, the influential religious leader Bernardino Cirillo expressed disappointment with the learned music of his time. He urged musicians to follow the example of the sculptors, painters, architects, and scholars who had

rediscovered ancient art and literature.

The musical Renaissance in Europe was more a general cultural movement and state of mind than a specific set of musical techniques. Furthermore, music changed so rapidly during this century and a half-though at different rates in different countries-that we cannot define a single Renaissance style.

1. What is the passage mainly about?

(A) The musical compositions that best illustrate the developments during the European Renaissance

(B) The musical techniques that were in use during the European Renaissance

(C) The European Renaissance as a cultural development that included changes in musical style

(D) The ancient Greek and Roman musical practices used during the European Renaissance

2. What does the author mean by using the word “eventually” in line 3 ?

(A) That music historians used the term “Renaissance” after the other historians did

(B) That most music historians used the term “Renaissance”

(C) The term “Renaissance” became widely used by art historians but not by music historians

(D) That music historians used the term “Renaissance” very differently than it had been used by Jules Michelet

3. The phrase "frowned on" in line 11 is closest in meaning to

(A) given up

(B) forgotten about

(C) argued about

(D) disapproved of

4. The word“now”in line 11 refers to

(A) tile time of the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome

(B) the period of the Renaissance

(C) 1855

(D) the time at which the author wrote the passage

5. Where in the passage does the author mention where the Renaissance interest in classical ideas first appeared?

(A) Lines I-4

(B) Lines 4-6

(C) Lines 8-9

(D) Lines 11-13

6. It can be inferred from the passage that thinkers of the Renaissance were seeking a rebirth of

(A) communication among artists across Europe

(B) spirituality in everyday life

(C) a cultural emphasis on human values

(D) religious themes in art that would accompany the traditional secular themes

7. According to the passage, Renaissance artists and writers had all of the following intentions EXCEPT

(A) to use religious themes

(B) to portray only the pleasant parts of human experience

(C) to produce art that people would find attractive

(D) to create works that were easily understood

8. The word "disseminated" in line 16 is closest in meaning to

(A) played

(B) documented

(C) spread

(D) analyzed

9. What can be inferred about the music of ancient Greece and Rome?

(A) It expressed different ideals than classical sculpture, painting and poetry.

(B) It was played on instruments that are familiar to modern audiences.

(C) It had the same effect on Renaissance audiences as it had when originally performed.

(D) Its effect on listeners was described in a number of classical texts.

10. According to the passage, why was Bemardino Cirillo disappointed with the music of his time?

(A) it was not complex enough to appeal to musicians.

(B) It had little emotional impact on audiences.

(C) It was too dependent on the art and literature of his time.

(D) It did not contain enough religious themes.

11. Which of the following is mentioned in the passage as a reason for the absence of a single Renaissance musical style?

(A) The musical Renaissance was defined by technique rather than style.

(B) The musical Renaissance was too short to give rise to a new musical style.

(C) Renaissance musicians adopted the styles of both Greek and Roman musicians.

(D) During the Renaissance, music never remained the same for very long.

The thick, woolly fleece of the domestic sheep is its distinguishing feature and the source of much of its economic importance. Yet only a moment, in evolutionary terms, has passed since the domestic sheep had a coat resembling that of many other wild Line animals. As recently as 8,000 years ago, it was covered not in a white, continuously growing mass of wool but in a brown coat consisting of an outer array of kemps, or coarse hairs, that was shed annually and a fine woolly undercoat that also molted. Such an animal could not have supported the technology that has grown up around the domestic sheep--the shearing, dyeing, spinning, and weaving of wool--any better than could a wild sheep such as the bighorn of North America, Much of the selective breeding that led to the fleece types known today took place in prehistory, and even the later developments went largely unchronicled. Yet other kinds of records survive, in three forms. Specimens of wool from as long ago as 1500 B.C. have been found, mostly as ancient textiles, but also in the form of sheepskins. Antique depictions of sheep in sculpture, relief, and painting give even earlier clues to the character of ancient fleeces. The longest line of evidence takes the form of certain primitive breeds that are still tended in remote areas or that escaped from captivity long ago and now live in the wild. They retain the characteristics of ancient sheep, providing living snapshots of the process that gave rise to modern fleeces.

12. What topic does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) The economic importance of sheep through the ages

(B) The development of textile crafts and technologies

(C) The evolution of the fleece of domestic sheep

(D) The influence of technology on wool manufacturing

13. The word “source” in line 2 is closest in meaning to

(A) quantity

(B) result

(C) basis

(D) cost

14. According to the passage, the outer coat of sheep 8,000 years ago was

(A) white

(B) coarse

(C) warmer than that of bighorn sheep

(D) similar to that of the modern sheep

15. Which of the following can be concluded about wild sheep, as compared with domestic sheep?

(A) They are evolving more rapidly.

(B) They have thicker coats.

(C) They are of less economic importance.

(D) They are less similar to bighorn sheep.

16. The word “unchronicled” in line 11 is closest in meaning to

(A) unquestioned

(B) unexplained

(C) unnoticed

(D) unrecorded

17. What does the author mention as evidence of the characteristics of ancient sheep?

(A) Representations of sheep in an

(B) Ancient tales about sheep

(C) Documents describing sheep

(D) Skeletons of sheep

18. The word “clues” in line 14 is closest in meaning to

(A) proofs

(B) indications

(C) colors

(D) variations

19. In line 17, the author uses the term “living snapshots” to refer to

(A) photographs of early types of sheep

(B) early guns used for hunting sheep

(C) ancient paintings of sheep

(D) early breeds of sheep that still exist

20. The phrase "gave rise to" in line 18 is closest in meaning to

(A) replaced by

(B) favored over

(C) brought about

(D) found out

Architecture the been characterized by W. R. Dalze11 as the “indispensabie art,” and rightly so. Inevitably, the practical functions that shelters arc designed to fulfill play a strong role in determining their appearance and thus, in part, their artistic character. So do the Line methods of construction available and practicable at any given moment. The strikingly new forms of architecture that appeared in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries were built to meet the needs of industry and of commerce based on industry, in a society whose essential character and internal relationships had been sharply transformed by the Industrial Revolution.

About the middle of the nineteenth century, mechanized industrial production began to demand large, well-lighted interiors in which manufacturing could be carried on. The administration of giant industrial and commercial concerns required office buildings of unprecedented size, containing suites of offices easily accessible to employees and customers. The marketing of industrial products necessitated large-scale storage spaces, and enormous shops selling under one roof a wide variety of items. Industrial and commercial pressures drew increasing populations to urban centers, and traditional housing was no longer adequate to contain them. Mechanized transportation of industrial products and industrial and business personnel was essential. Leisure-time entertainment and cultural activities for the vast new urban populations required still a different kind of structure. Hence, the characteristic new architectural forms of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries have been the factory, the multistory office building, the warehouse, the department store, the apartment house, the railway station, the large theater, and the gigantic sports stadium. None of these could have been built on the desired scale by traditional construction methods.

21. What is the main idea of the passage?

(A) Various types of traditional building materials strongly influenced modem architectural design.

(B) Changing architectural styles affected the character of cities.

(C) New architectural forms evolved in response to the changing needs of society.

(D) Technological advances affected conventional methods of building construction.

22. The author uses the expression “rightly so” in line 2 in order to

(A) introduce an opinion that differs from that of W. R. Dalzell

(B) provide examples of architecture that are indispensable show agreement with the way W. R. Dalzell has described architecture

(D) indicate that architectural design must reflect artistic qualities

23. The word "strikingly" in line 4 is closest in meaning to

(A) aggressively

(B) specifically

(C) noticeably

(D)occasionally

24. According to the passage, which of the following motivated the “new forms of architecture” mentioned in line 5 ?

(A) The increased wealth of citizens

(B) The Industrial Revolution

(C) Competitive international trade

(D) Changing ideas about artistic merit

25. It can be inferred that the demand for “large, well-lighted interiors” mentioned in line 10 resulted in the construction of

(A) offices

(B) factories

(C) warehouses

(D) department stores

26. The phrase “carried on” in line 10 is closest in meaning to

(A) conducted

(B) supervised

(C) moved about

(D) improved

27. The word "necessitated" in line 13 is closest in meaning to

(A) identified

(B) replaced

(C) required

(D) supplied

28. It can be inferred from the passage that all of the following occurred as a result of the Industrial Revolution EXCEPT

(A) considerable societal changes

(B) office buildings larger than any ever built before

(C) storage and marketing of industrial products

(D) a decrease in leisure activities

29. The word "them" in line 16 refers to

(A) items

(B) pressures

(C) populations

(D) centers

30. According to the passage, which of the following is true about the effect of the Industrial Revolution on transportation systems?

(A) Traditional methods of transportation were adequate for workers to get to their jobs.

(B) Faster, more efficient methods of transportation were required for the production and distribution of goods.

(C) Manufacturers could not produce sufficiently large quantities of goods to support the costs of railroad transportation.

(D) Only the most essential products required new, mechanized methods of transportation.

31. The word “Hence” in line 19 is closest in meaning to

(A) moreover

(B) nevertheless

(C) in contrast

(D) for these reasons

Famed for their high-elevation forests, the Appalachian Mountains sweep south from Quebec to Alabama. Highest in New England and North Carolina, this broad system covers more than 1,200 miles to form the rocky backbone of the eastern United States. Line The Blue Ridge Mountains form a substantial part, 615 miles, of the far-reaching Appalachians. They begin as a narrow, low ridge in Pennsylvania, then slowly spread and rise until they reach the height of 5,938 feet at majestic Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina. The Blue Ridge technically includes among its major spurs the Great Smoky Mountains and the Black Mountains; Mount Mitchell, in the latter range, is at 6,684 feet the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. Like the rest of the Appalachians, these mountains were once substantially higher and bolder. Their uplift was completed some 289 million years ago, and they have been drastically eroded ever since.

At one time, immense continental glaciers covered the land as far south as Pennsylvania. Although they did not spread over the Blue Ridge, plants and animals far beyond their reach became adapted to the cold. When the climate warmed and the ice melted, the cold-adapted species retreated northward, surviving in the south only at higher, cooler elevations. Red Spruces and Fraser firs are remnants of the Ice Age, thriving in the higher elevations of the Blue Ridge; and local belches, birches, and red oaks are typical of forests farther to the north.

Sharing the high peaks is another distinctive plant community. This is the "bald"—a treeless area covered with grass, or more commonly, with broad-leaved shrubs. Often large and vigorous, the latter include huckleberries, mountain laurel, and most especially, rhododendron, an evergreen shrub that blossoms in June and creates some of the most spectacular wild gardens on Earth.

32. The word "sweep" in line 1 could best be replaced by which of the following?

(A) brush

(B) extend

(C) clear

(D) hurry

33. The southernmost point of the Appalachian Mountains is in

(A) Quebec

(B) New England

(C) Alabama

(D) North Carolina

34. According to the passage, a 615-mile expanse of the Appalachians is known as

(A) the Blue Ridge Mountains

(B) Grandfather Mountain

(C) the Black Mountains

(D) the Great Smoky Mountains

35. The word "technically" in line 7 is closest in meaning to

(A) partially

(B) similarly

(C) likely

(D) officially

36. The expression "the latter range" in line 8 refers to

(A) Appalachians

(B) the Black Mountains

(C) the Great Smoky Mountains

(D) Grandfather Mountain

37. The word "they" in line 13 refers to

(A) Pennsylvania and the southern states

(B) plants and animals

(C) mountains

(D) glaciers

38. According to the passage, the melting of glaciers caused some plant species to

(A) adapt to the heat

(B) die out

(C) grow bigger and stronger

(D) move northward

39. The author mentions all of the following as plants that can be found in a "bald" EXCEPT

(A) mountain laurel

(B) huckleberries

(C) red oaks

(D) rhododendron

40. Where in the passage does the author mention what has happened to the development of the mountains since they reached their highest point?

(A) Lines 5-7

(B) Lines 10-11

(C) Lines 14-15

(D) Lines 19-20

A rapidly advancing contemporary science that is highly dependent on new tools is Earth system science. Earth system science involves observation and measurements on the Earth at all scales from the largest to the smallest. The huge anaounts of data that are Line gathered come from many different locations and require special techniques for handling data. Important new tools that facilitate Earth system science include satellite remote sensing, small deep-sea submarines, and geographic information systems. More than any other way of gathering evidence, satellite observations continually remind us that each part of the Earth interacts with and is dependent on all other parts.

Earth system science was born from the realization of that interdependence. Satellite remote sensing makes possible observations at large scales, and in many cases, measurements of factors that could not otherwise be measured. For example, the ozone hole over Antarctica--the decrease in the concentration of ozone high in the atmosphere--is measured by remote sensing, as are changes in deserts, forests, and farmlands around the world. Such measurements can be used in many areas of specialization besides Earth system science. Archaeology, for example, has benefited from satellite observations that reveal the traces of ancient trade routes across the Arabian Desert.

New tools for exploring previously inaccessible areas of the Earth have also added greatly to our knowledge of the Earth system. Small deep-sea submarines allow scientists to travel to the depths of the ocean. There they have discovered new species and ecosystems thriving near deep-sea vents that emit heat, sasses, and mineral-rich water. Just as important as new methods of measurement and exploration are new ways to store and analyze data about the Earth system. Computer-based software programs known as geographic information systems, or GIS, allow a large number of data points to be stored along with their locations. These can be used to produce maps and to compare different sets of information gathered at different times. For example, satellite remote sensing images of a forest can be converted to represent stages in the forest's growth. Two such images, made at different times can be overlaid and compared, and the changes that have taken place can be represented in a new image.

41. What is the main idea of the passage?

(A) Special techniques are needed to classify the huge amounts of data about Earth.

(B) New tools provide information about Earth that was once impossible to obtain.

(C) Advances in Earth system science have resolved many environmental problems.

(D) Satellite remote sensing can show changes between two images taken years apart.

42. The word "contemporary" in line 1 is closest in meaning to

(A) little-known

(B) informative

(C) current

(D) exciting

43. The word "facilitate" in line 5 is closest in meaning to

(A) enable

(B) require

(C) organize

(D) examine

44. The author of the passage mentions that satellite observations are especially effective in

(A) conducting scientific studies of life on the ocean floor

(B) predicting future climate changes

(C) providing data to determine Earth's age

(D)demonstrating interactions among all of Earth's parts

45. The word "realization" in line 9 is closest in meaning to

(A) observation

(B) assumption

(C) explanation

(D) recognition

46. According to the passage, satellite observations of the Arabian Desert allow archaeologists to discern

(A) indications of ancient routes

(B) evidence of former lakes

(C) traces of early farms

(D) remains of ancient forests

47. The word "inaccessible" in line'18 is closest in meaning to

(A) unreachable

(B) undiscovered

(C) unexplored

(D) unpredictable

48. The word "they" in line 20 refers to

(A) new tools

(B) small deep-sea submarines

(C) scientists

(D) the depths of the ocean

49. The word "thriving" in line 21 is closest in meaning to

(A) surviving

(B) flourishing

(C) feeding

(D) competing

50. The organization of the passage can best be described as

(A) an extended statement of the basic principles of a particular scientific theory

(B) an introductory statement followed by a discussion of particular examples

(C) a comparison of the effectiveness of different types of scientific tools

(D) an argument for the claim that new techniques can be useful in many specialized fields

Result

1C 2D 3D 4B 5B

6C 7B 8C 9D 10C

11D 12C 13C 14B 15C

16D 17A 18A 19D 20C

21D 22C 23C 24B 25A

26A 27C 28D 29C 30B

31D 32B 33D 34A 35D

36B 37D 38D 39C 40B

41B 42C 43A 44D 45D

46A 47A 48C 49B 50B