EXERCISE SKIMMING AND SCANNING
Example of the passage:
Basketball was invented in 1891 by a physical education instructor in Springfield, Massachusetts, by the name of James Naismith. Because of the terrible weather in winter, his physical education students were indoors rather than outdoors. They really did not like the idea of boring, repetitive exercises and preferred the excitement and challenge of a game. Naismith figured out a team sport that could be played indoors on a gymnasium floor, that involved a lot of running, that kept all team members involved, and that did not allow the tacking and physical contact of American-style football.
What is the topic of this passage?
a. The life of James Naismith
b. The history of sport
c. Physical education and exercise.
d. The origin of basketball
The best answer is (D)
PASSAGE ONE (question 1-2)
Fort Knox, Kentucky, is the site of a U.S. Army post, but it is even more renowned for the Fort Knox Bullion Depository, the massive vault that contains the bulk of the U.S. government’s gold deposits. Completed in 1936, the vault is housed in a two-story building constructed of granite, steel, and concrete; the vault itself is made of steel and concrete and has a door that weighs more than twenty tons. Naturally, the most up-to-date security devices available are in place at Fort Knox, and the army post nearby provides further protection.
1) Which of the following best describes the topic of the passage?
(A) The city of Fort Knox, Kentucky
(B) The federal gold depository
(C) The U.S. Army post at Fort Knox
(D) Gold bullion
2) Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
(A) The
Massive Concrete Vault
(B) Fort Knox Security
(C) Where the U.S. Keeps Its Gold
(D) A Visit to Kentucky
PASSAGE TWO (question 3-4)
One identifying characteristic of minerals is their
relative hardness, which can be determined by scratching one mineral with
another. In this type of test, a harder mineral can scratch a softer one, but a
softer mineral is unable to scratch the harder one. The Mohs’ hardness scale is
used to rank minerals according to hardness. Ten minerals are listed in this
scale, ranging from talc with a hardness of 1 to the diamond with a hardness of 10.
On this scale, quartz (number 7) is harder than feldspar (number 6) and is, therefore, able to scratch it; however, feldspar is unable to make a mark on
quartz.
3) Which of the following best states the subject of
this passage?
(A) The hardness of diamonds
(B) Identifying minerals by means of a scratch
test
(C) Feldspar on the Mohs’ scale
(D) Recognizing minerals in their natural state
4) The main idea of this passage is that
(A) the
hardness of a mineral can be determined by its ability to make a mark on other
minerals
(B) Diamonds,
with a hardness of 10 on the Mohs’ scale, can scratch all other minerals
(C) A
softer mineral cannot be scratched by a harder mineral
(D) Talc
is the first mineral listed on the Mohs’ scale
PASSAGE THREE (question 5-6)
Ice ages, those periods when ice covered extensive
areas of the Earth, are known to have occurred at least six times. Past ice
ages can be recognized from rock strata that show evidence of foreign materials
deposited by moving walls of ice or melting glaciers. Ice ages can also be
recognized from land formations that have been produced from moving walls of
ice, such as U-shaped valleys, sculptured landscapes, and polished rock faces.
The questions:
5) According to the passage, what happens during an
ice age?
(A) Rock
strata are recognized by geologists
(B) Evidence
of foreign materials is found
(C) Ice
covers a large portion of the Earth’s surface
(D) Ice melts six times
6) The passage covers how many different methods of
recognizing past ice ages?
(A) One (C)
Three
(B) Two (D)
Four
PASSAGE FOURE (question 7-9)
The human heart is divided into four chambers, each of which serves its own function in the cycle of pumping blood. The atria are the thin-walled upper chambers that gather blood as it flows blood from the veins between heartbeats. The ventricles are the thick-walled lower chambers that receive blood from the atria and push it into the arteries with each contraction of the heart. The left atrium and ventricle work separately from those on the right. The role of the chambers on the right side of the heart is to receive oxygen-depleted blood from the body tissues and send it on to the lungs; the chambers on the left side of the heart then receive the oxygen-enriched blood from the lungs and send it back on the right side of the heart is to receive oxygen-depleted blood from the body tissues and send it on to the lungs; the chambers on the left side of the heart then receive the oxygen-enriched blood from the lungs and send it back out to the body tissues.
7) The passage indicates that the ventricles
(A) have
relatively thin walls
(B) send
blood to the atria
(C) are above the atria
(D) force blood into the arteries
8) According to the passage, when is blood pushed into
the arteries from the ventricles?
(A) As
the heartbeats
(B) Between
heartbeats
(C) Before
each contraction of the heart
(D) Before it is received by the atria
9) According to the passage, which part of the heart
gets blood from the body tissues and passes it on to the lungs
(A) The
atria
(B) The
ventricles
(C) The
right atrium and ventricle
(D) The
left atrium and ventricle
