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Reading Comprehension

Passage 1
The difference between a liquid and a gas is obvious under the conditions of temperature and pressure commonly
found at the surface of the Earth. A liquid can be kept in an open container and fills it to the level of a free surface. A
gas forms no free surface but tends to diffuse throughout the space available; it must therefore be kept in a closed
container or held by a gravitation field, as in the case of a planet's atmosphere. The distinction was a prominent
feature of early theories describing the phases of matter. In the nineteenth century, for example. one theory
maintained that a liquid could be "dissolved" in a vapor without losing its identity. and another theory held that the
two phases are made up of different kinds of molecules: liquidons and gasons. The theories now prevailing take a
quite different approach by emphasizing what liquids and gases have in common. They are both forms of matter that
have no permanent structure, and they both flow readily. They are fluids.
The fundamental similarity of liquids and gases becomes clearly apparent when the temperature and pressure are
raised somewhat. Suppose a closed container partially filled with a liquid is heated. The liquid expands, or in other
words becomes less dense; some of it evaporates. In contrast, the vapor above the liquid surface becomes denser as
the evaporated molecules are added to it. The combination of temperature and pressure at which the densities become
equal is called the critical point. Above the critical point the liquid and the gas can no longer be distinguished; there is
a single, undifferentiated fluid phase of uniform density.
1. Which of the following would be the most appropriate title for the passage?
(A) The Properties of Gases and Liquids
(B) High Temperature Zones on the Earth
(C) The Beginnings of Modern Physics
(D) New Containers for Fluids
2. According to the passage, the difference between a liquid and a gas under normal conditions on Earth is that the
liquid
(A) is affected by changes in pressure
(B) has a permanent structure
(C) forms a free surface
(D) is considerably more common
3. It can be inferred from the passage that the gases of the Earth's atmosphere are contained by
(A) a closed surface
(B) the gravity of the planet
(C) the field of space
(D) its critical point
4. According to the passage, in the nineteenth century some scientists viewed liquidons and gasons as
(A) fluids
(B) dissolving particles
(C) heavy molecules
(D) different types of molecules
5. According to the passage, what happens when the temperature is increased in a closed container holding a liquid?
(A) The liquid and gas phases become more similar.
(B) The liquid and the gas become less dense.
(C) The container expands.
(D) The liquid evaporates out of the container.
6. According to the passage, which of the following is the best definition of the critical point?
(A) When the temperature and the pressure are raised
(B) When the densities of the two phases are equal
(C) When the pressure and temperature are combined
(D) When the container explodes

Passage 2
The oldest living things on Earth are trees. Some of California's sequoias have for four
thousand years looked down on the changes in the landscape and the comings and goings of humans.
They sprouted from tiny seeds about the time the Egyptian pyramids were being built. Today these
giant patriarchs seem as remote and inaccessible as the rocks and mountain cliffs on which they
grow, like cathedral columns holding up the sky. It is hard to imagine them playing any part in the
lives of mere humans or being in any way affected by the creatures that pass at their feet.
Lesser trees, however, have played an intimate role in the lives of people since they first appeared on
Earth. Trees fed the fires that warmed humans: they provided shelter, food and medicine and even
clothing. They also shaped people's spiritual horizons. Trees expressed the grandeur and mystery of
life, as they moved through the cycle of seasons, from life to death and back to life again. Trees were
the largest living things around humans and they knew that some trees had been standing on the same
spot in their parent's and grandparents' time, and would continue to stand long after they were gone.
No wonder these trees became symbols of strength, fruitfulness, and everlasting life.
1. What is the main idea of the passage?
(A) Trees grow to great heights.(B) Trees have been important to people throughout history.
(C) Trees make humans seem superior(D) Trees that grow in California are very old.
2. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as a way in which people have used trees?
(A) For furniture
(B) For fuel
(C) For housing
(D) For nourishment
3. In line 3, the phrase "giant patriarchs" could best be replaced by which of the following?
(A) tiny seeds
(B) important leaders
(C) towering trees
(D) Egyptian pyramids
4. In line 9, the word "they" refers to which of the following?
(A) Trees
(B) Grandeur and mystery
(C) Seasons
(D) People's spiritual horizons
5. The author implies that, compared with sequoias, other trees have
(A) been in existence longer (B) adapted more readily to their environments
(C) been affected more by animals
(D) had a closer relationship with people
6. Where in the passage does the author make a comparison between trees and parts of a building?
(A) Line 1
(B) Lines 4-5
(C) Lines 9-11
(D) Lines 12-14

Passage 3
Insects' lives are very short and they have many enemies, but they must survive long enough
to breed and perpetuate their kind. The less insect-like they look, the better their chance of survival.
To look "inedible" by resembling or imitating plants is a deception widely practiced by insects.
Mammals rarely use this type of camouflage, but many fish and invertebrates do.
The stick caterpillar is well named. It is hardly distinguishable from a brown or green twig. This
caterpillar is quite common and can be found almost anywhere in North America. It is also called
"measuring worm" or "inchworm." It walks by arching its body, than stretching out and grasping the
branch with its front feet then looping its body again to bring the hind feet forward. When danger
threatens, the stick caterpillar stretches its body away from the branch at an angle and remains rigid
and still, like a twig, until the danger has passed.
Walking sticks, or stick insects, do not have to assume a rigid, twig-like pose to find protection;
they look like inedible twigs in any position. There are many kinds of walking sticks, ranging in size
form the few inches of the North American variety to some tropical species that may be over a foot
long. When at rest their front legs are stretched out. heightening their camouflage. Some of the
tropical species are adorned with spines or ridges. imitating the thorny bushes or trees in which they
live.
Leaves also seem to be a favorite object for insects to imitate. Many butterflies can suddenly
disappear from view by folding their wings and sitting quietly among the foliage that they resemble.
1. What is the main subject of the passage?
(A) Caterpillars that live in trees
(B) The feeding habits of insects
(C) How some insects camouflage themselves
(D) Insects that are threatened with extinction
2. In lines I and 4, the word "enemies" refers to
(A) other creatures competing for space
(C) creatures that eat insects

(B) extreme weather conditions


(D) inedible insects

3. According to the passage, how does the stick caterpillar make itself look like a twig?
(A) By holding its body stiff and motionless
(B) By looping itself around a stick
(C) By changing the color of its skin
(D) By laying its body flat against a branch
4. Which of the following is true of stick insects?
(A) They resemble their surroundings all the time.
(B) They make themselves look like other insects.
(C) They are camouflaged only when walking.
(D) They change color to make themselves in visible.
5. Which of the following are NOT mentioned in the passage as objects that are imitated as a means of protection?
(A) Thorns
(B) Flowers
(C) Leaves
(D) Sticks
6. In which paragraph does the author describe the way in which stick caterpillars move?
(A) Paragraph one
(B) Paragraph two
(C) Paragraph three
(D) Paragraph four
7. Where in the passage does the author describe the habitat of tropical stick insects?
(A) Line 7
(B) Lines 10-11
(C) Lines 13-15
(D) Lines 16-17

Passage 4

Anthropologists have pieced together the little they know about the history of left - handedness
and right - handedness from indirect evidence. Though early men and women did not leave written
records, they did leave tools, bones, and pictures. Stone Age hand axes and hatchets were made from
stones that were carefully chipped away to form sharp cutting edges. In some. the pattern of chipping
shows that these tools and weapons were made by right handed people. designed to fit comfortably
into a right hand. Other Stone Age implements were made by or for left-handers Prehistoric pictures.
painted on the walls of caves. provide further clues to the handedness of ancient people. A right hander finds it easier to draw faces of people and animals facing toward the left. whereas a left hander finds it easier to draw faces facing toward the right. Both kinds of faces have been found in
ancient painting. On the whole. the evidence seems to indicate that prehistoric people were either
ambidextrous or about equally likely to be left - or right - handed.
But, in the Bronze Age. the picture changed. The tools and weapons found from that period are
mostly made for right - handed use. The predominance of right - handedness among humans today
had apparently already been established.
1. What is the main topic of the passage?
(A) The purpose of ancient implements
(B) The significance of prehistoric cave paintings
(C) The development of right - handedness and left - handedness
(D) The similarities between the Stone Age and Bronze Age
2. Which of the following helped lead to conclusions about whether Store Age people preferred one hand to the
other?
(A) Petrified forms of vegetation
(B) Patterns of stone chipping
(C) Fossilized waste material
(D) Fossilized footprints
3. In line 8, the word "further" is closest in meaning to which of the following?
(A) advanced
(B) additional
(C) artistic

(D) factual

2. According to the passage, a person who is right - handed is more likely to draw people and animals that are facing
(A) upward
(B) downward
(C) toward the right
(D) toward the left
5. In line 13, the words "the picture" refer to which of the following?
(A) Faces of animals and people
(B) People's view from inside a cave
(C) People's tendency to work with either hand
(D) The kinds of paint used on cave walls
6. Where in the passage does the author mention a type of evidence that was NOT studied by anthropologists
researching the handedness of ancient people?
(A) Lines 2-3
(B) Lines 7-8
(C) Lines 11-12
(D) Lines 14-15
7. The author implies that which of the following developments occurred around the time of the Bronze Age
(A) The establishment of written records
(B) A change in the styles of cave painting
(C) An increase in human skill in the handling of tools
(D) The prevalence of righthandedness

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