Practice Test A – Reading

Question 1- 10

The conservatism of the early English colonists in North America, their strong
attachment to the English way of doing things, would play a major part in the furniture
that was made in New England. The very tools that the first New England furniture
Line makers used were, after all, not much different from those used for centuries – even
(5) millennia: basic hammers, saws, chisels, planes, augers, compasses, and measures.
These were the tools used more or less by all people who worked with wood:
carpenters, barrel makers, and shipwrights. At most the furniture makers might have
had planes with special edges or more delicate chisels, but there could not have been
much specialization in the early years of the colonies.
(10) The furniture makers in those early decades of the 1600’s were known as “joiners,”
for the primary method of constructing furniture, at least among the English of this
time, was that of mortise-and-tenon joinery. The mortise is the hole chiseled and cut
into one piece of wood, while the tenon is the tongue or protruding element shaped
from another piece of wood so that it fits into the mortise; and another small hole is
(15) then drilled (with the auger) through the mortised end and the tenon so that a whittled
peg can secure the joint – thus the term “joiner. ” Panels were fitted into slots on the
basic frames. This kind of construction was used for making everything from houses to
chests.
Relatively little hardware was used during this period. Some nails – forged by
(20) hand – were used, but no screws or glue. Hinges were often made of leather, but metal
hinges were also used. The cruder varieties were made by blacksmiths in the colonies,
but the finer metal elements were imported. Locks and escutcheon plates – the latter to
shield the wood from the metal key – would often be imported.
Above all, what the early English colonists imported was their knowledge of,
(25) familiarity with, and dedication to the traditional types and designs of furniture they
knew in England.

1. The phrase “attachment to” in line 2 is 2. The word “protruding” in line 13 is

closest in meaning to closest in meaning to

(A) control of (A) parallel

(B) distance from (B) simple
(C) curiosity about (C) projecting
(D) preference for (D) important

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3. The relationship of a mortise and a 7. The word “shield” in line 23 is closest
tenon is most similar to that of in meaning to

(A) a lock and a key (A) decorate

(B) a book and its cover (B) copy
(C) a cup and a saucer (C) shape
(D) a hammer and a nail (D) protect

4. For what purpose did woodworkers 8. The word “they” in line 25 refers to
use an auger
(A) designs
(A) To whittle a peg (B) types
(B) To make a tenon (C) colonists
(C) To drill a hole (D) all
(D) To measure a panel

9. The author implies that the colonial

5. Which of the following were NOT used joiners
in the construction of colonial
furniture? (A) were highly paid
(B) based their furniture on English
(A) Mortises models
(B) Nails (C) used many specialized tools
(C) Hinges (D) had to adjust to using new kinds
(D) Screws of wood in New England

6. The author implies that colonial 10. Which of the following terms does the
metalworkers were author explain in the passage?

(A) unable to make elaborate parts (A) “millennia” (line 5)

(B) more skilled than woodworkers (B) “joiners” (line 10)
(C) more conservative than other (C) “whittled” (line 15)
colonists (D) “blacksmiths” (line 21)
(D) frequently employed by joiners

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 Question 11 – 20

In addition to their military role, the forts of the nineteenth century provided numerous
other benefits for the American West. The establishment of these posts opened new
roads and provided for the protection of daring adventurers and expeditions as well as
Line established settlers. Forts also served as bases where enterprising entrepreneurs could
(5)
bring commerce to the West, providing supplies and refreshments to soldiers as well as to
pioneers. Posts like Fort Laramie provided supplies for wagon trains traveling the
natural highways toward new frontiers. Some posts became stations for the pony
express; still others, such as Fort Davis, were stagecoach stops for weary travelers. All
of these functions, of course, suggest that the contributions of the forts to the
(10) civilization and development of the West extended beyond patrol duty.
Through the establishment of military posts, yet other contributions were made to the
development of western culture. Many posts maintained libraries or reading rooms,
and some – for example, Fort Davis – had schools. Post chapels provided a setting
for religious services and weddings. Throughout the wilderness, post bands provided
(15)
entertainment and boosted morale. During the last part of the nineteenth century, to
reduce expenses, gardening was encouraged at the forts, thus making experimental
agriculture another activity of the military. The military stationed at the various forts
also played a role in civilian life by assisting in maintaining order, and civilian officials
often called on the army for protection.
(20)
Certainly, among other significant contributions the army made to the improvement
of the conditions of life was the investigation of the relationships among health,
climate, and architecture. From the earliest colonial times throughout the nineteenth
century, disease ranked as the foremost problem in defense. It slowed construction of
forts and inhibited their military functions. Official documents from many regions
(25) contained innumerable reports of sickness that virtually incapacitated entire garrisons.
In response to the problems, detailed observations of architecture and climate and their
relationships to the frequency of the occurrence of various diseases were recorded at
various posts across the nation by military surgeons.

11. Which of the following statements best 12. The word “daring” in line 3 is closest
expresses the main idea of the in meaning to
passage?
(A) lost
(A) By the nineteenth century, forts (B) bold
were no longer used by the (C) lively
military. (D) foolish
(B) Surgeons at forts could not
prevent outbreaks of disease.
(C) Forts were important to the
development of the American
West
(D) Life in nineteenth-century forts
was very rough.

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13. Which of the following would a 17. According to the passage, which of
traveler be likely be LEAST likely to the following posed the biggest
obtain at Fort Laramie? obstacle to the development of
military forts?
(A) Fresh water
(B) Food (A) Insufficient shelter
(C) Formal clothing (B) Shortage of materials
(D) Lodging (C) Attacks by wild animals
(D) Illness

14. The word “others” in line 8 refers to

18. The word “inhibited” in line 24 is
(A) posts closest in meaning to
(B) wagon trains
(C) frontiers (A) involved
(D) highways (B) exploited
(C) united
(D) hindered
15. The word “boosted” in line 15 is
closest in meaning to
19. How did the military assists in the
(A) influenced investigation of health problems?
(B) established
(C) raised (A) By registering annual birth and
(D) maintained death rates
(B) By experiments with different
building materials
16. Which of the following is the most (C) By maintaining records of
likely inference about the decision to diseases and potential causes
promote gardening at forts? (D) By monitoring the soldiers’ diets

(A) It was expensive to import

produce from far away. 20. The author organizes the discussion
(B) Food brought in from outside of forts by
was often spoiled
(C) Gardening was a way to occupy (A) describing their locations
otherwise idle soldiers. (B) comparing their sizes
(D) The soil near the forts was very (C) explaining their damage to the
fertile. environment
(D) listing their contributions to
western life

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 Question 21 – 30

Anyone who has handled a fossilized bone knows that it is usually not exactly like
its modern counterpart, the most obvious difference being that it is often much heavier.
Fossils often have the quality of stone rather than of organic materials, and this has led
Line to the use of the term “petrifaction” (to bring about rock). The implication is that bone,
(5) and other tissues, have somehow been turned into stone, and this is certainly the
explanation given in some texts. But it is wrong interpretation; fossils are frequently
so dense because the pores and other spaces in the bone have become filled with
minerals taken up from the surrounding sediments. Some fossil bones have all the
interstitial spaces filled with foreign minerals, including the marrow cavity, if there is
(10) one, while others have taken up but little from their surroundings. Probably all of the
minerals deposited within the bone have been recrystallized from solution by the action
of water percolating thru them. The degree of mineralization appears to be determined
by the nature of the environment in which the bone was deposited and not by the
antiquity of the bone. For example, the black fossil bones that are so common in many
(15) parts of Florida are heavily mineralized, but they are only about 20,000 years old,
whereas many of the dinosaur bones from western Canada, which are about 75 million
years old, are only partially filled in. Under optimum conditions the process of
mineralization probably takes thousands rather than millions of years, perhaps
considerably less.
(20) The amount of change that has occurred in fossil bone, even in bone as old as that of
dinosaurs, is often remarkably small. We are therefore usually able to see the
microscopic structures of the bone, including such fine details as the lacunae where the
living bone cells once resided. The natural bone mineral, the hydroxyapatite, is
virtually unaltered too – it has the same crystal structure as that of modern bone.
(25) Although nothing remains of the original collagen, some of its component amino acids
are usually still detectable, together with amino acids of the noncollagen proteins of bone.

21. What does the passage mainly 22. The word “counterpart” in line 2 is
discuss? closest in meaning to

(A) The location of fossils in North (A) species

America (B) version
(B) The composition of fossils (C) change
(C) Determining the size and weight (D) material
of fossils
(D) Procedures for analyzing fossils

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23. Why is fossilized bone heavier than 27. Why does the author compare fossils
ordinary bone? found in western Canada to those
found in Florida?
(A) Bone tissue solidifies with age.
(B) The marrow cavity gradually fills (A) To prove that a fossil’s age cannot
with water be determined by the amount of
(C) The organic materials turn to mineralization.
stone (B) To discuss the large quantity of
(D) Spaces within the bone fill with fossils found in both places
minerals. (C) To suggest that fossils found in
both places were the same age.
(D) To explain why scientists are
24. The word “pores” in line 7 is closest in especially interested in Canadian
meaning to: fossils

(A) joints
(B) tissues 28. The word “it” in line 24 refers to
(C) lines
(D) holes (A) hydroxyapatite
(B) microscopic structure
(C) crystal structure
25. What can be inferred about a fossil (D) modern bone
with a high degree of mineralization?

(A) It was exposed to large amounts 29. The word “detectable” in line 26 is
of mineral-laden water throughout closest in meaning to
time.
(B) Mineralization was complete (A) sizable
within one year of the animal’s (B) active
death. (C) moist
(C) Many colorful crystals can be (D) apparent
found in such a fossil.
(D) It was discovered in western
Canada. 30. Which of the following does NOT
survive in fossils?

26. Which of the following factors is most (A) Noncollagen proteins

important in determining the extent of (B) Hydroxyapatite
mineralization in fossil bones? (C) Collagen
(D) Amino acid
(A) The age of fossil
(B) Environmental conditions
(C) The location of the bone in the
animal’s body.
(D) The type of animal the bone came
from

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 Question 31 – 40

In the last third of the nineteenth century a new housing form was quietly being
developed. In 1869 the Stuyvesant, considered New York’s first apartment house was
built on East Eighteenth Street. The building was financed by the developer Rutherfurd
Line Stuyvesant and designed by Richard Morris Hunt, the first American architect to graduate
(5) from the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. Each man had lived in Paris, and each understood
the economics and social potential of this Parisian housing form. But the Stuyvesant
was at best a limited success. In spite of Hunt’s inviting façade, the living space was
awkwardly arranged. Those who could afford them were quite content to remain in the
more sumptuous, single-family homes, leaving the Stuyvesant to young married couples
(10) and bachelors.
The fundamental problem with the Stuyvesant and the other early apartment buildings
that quickly followed, in the 1870’s and early 1880’s was that they were confined
to the typical New York building lot. That lot was a rectangular area 25 feet wide by 100
feet deep – a shape perfectly suited for a row house. The lot could also accommodate a
(15) rectangular tenement, though it could not yield the square, well-lighted, and logically
arranged rooms that great apartment buildings require. But even with the awkward
interior configurations of the early apartment buildings, the idea caught on. It met the
needs of a large and growing population that wanted something better than tenements
but could not afford or did not want row houses.
(20) So while the city’s newly emerging social leadership commissioned their mansions,
apartment houses and hotels began to sprout in multiple lots, thus breaking the initial
space constraints. In the closing decades of the nineteenth century, large apartment
houses began dotting the developed portions of New York City, and by the opening
decades of the twentieth century, spacious buildings, such as the Dakota and the Ansonia
(25) finally transcended the tight confinement of row house building lots. From there it was
only a small step to building luxury apartment houses on the newly created Park Avenue,
right next to the fashionable Fifth Avenue shopping area.

31. The new housing form discussed in 33. Why was the Stuyvesant a limited
the passage refers to success?

(A) single-family homes (A) The arrangement of the rooms

(B) apartment buildings was not convenient.
(C) row houses (B) Most people could not afford to
(D) hotels live there.
(C) There were no shopping areas
nearby.
32. The word “inviting” in line 7 is closest (D) It was in a crowded neighborhood.
in meaning to

(A) open
(B) encouraging
(C) attractive
(D) asking

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34. The word “sumptuous” in line 9 is 38. The word “yield” in line 15 is closest in
closest in meaning to meaning to

(A) luxurious (A) harvest

(B) unique (B) surrender
(C) modern (C) amount
(D) distant (D) provide

35. It can be inferred that the majority of 39. Why did the idea of living in an
people who lived in New York’s first apartment become popular in the late
apartments were 1800’s?

(A) highly educated (A) Large families needed housing

(B) unemployed with sufficient space.
(C) wealthy (B) Apartments were preferable to
(D) young tenements and cheaper than row
houses
(C) The city officials of New York
36. It can be inferred that the typical New wanted housing that was centrally
York building lot of the 1870’s and located.
1880’s looked MOST like which of the (D) The shape of early apartments
following? could accommodate a variety of
interior designs.

40. The author mentions the Dakota and

the Ansonia in line 24 because

(A) they are examples of large, well-

designed apartment buildings
(B) their design is similar to that of
row houses
(C) they were built on a single building
37. It can be inferred that a New York lot
apartment building in the 1870’s and (D) they are famous hotels
1880’s had all of the following
characteristics EXCEPT:

(A) Its room arrangement was not

logical.
(B) It was rectangular.
(C) It was spacious inside.
(D) It had limited light.

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 Question 41 – 50

A snowfall consists of myriads of minute ice crystals that fall to the ground in the
form of frozen precipitation. The formation of snow begins with these ice crystals in the
subfreezing strata of the middle and upper atmosphere when there is an adequate
Line supply of moisture present. At the core of every ice crystal is a minuscule nucleus, a
(5) solid particle of matter around which moisture condenses and freezes. Liquid water
droplets floating in the supercooled atmosphere and free ice crystals cannot coexist
within the same cloud, since the vapor pressure of ice is less than that of water. This
enables the ice crystals to rob the liquid droplets of their moisture and grow continuously.
The process can be very rapid, quickly creating sizable ice crystals, some of which
(10) adhere to each other to create a cluster of ice crystals or a snowflake. Simple flakes
possess a variety of beautiful forms, usually hexagonal, though the symmetrical shapes
reproduced in most microscope photography of snowflakes are not usually found in
actual snowfalls. Typically, snowflakes in actual snowfall consists of broken fragments
and clusters of adhering ice crystals.
(15) For a snowfall to continue once it starts, there must be a constant inflow of moisture
to supply the nuclei. This moisture is supplied by the passage of an airstream over a
water surface and its subsequent lifting to higher regions of the atmosphere. The Pacific
Ocean is the source of moisture for most snowfalls west of the Rocky Mountains, while
the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean feed water vapor into the air currents over
(20) the central and eastern sections of the United States. Other geographical features also
can be the source of moisture for some snowstorms. For example, areas adjacent to the
Great Lakes experience their own unique lake-effect storms, employing a variation of
the process on a local scale. In addition, mountainous section or rising terrain can
initiate snowfalls by the geographical lifting of a moist airstream.

41. Which of the following questions does 42. The word “minute” in line 1 is closest in
the author answer in the first meaning to
paragraph?
(A) tiny
(A) Why are snowflakes hexagonal? (B) quick
(B) What is the optimum temperature (C) clear
for snow? (D) sharp
(C) In which months does most snow
fall?
(D) How are snowflakes formed?

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43. What is at the center of an ice crystal? 48. How do lake-effect snowstorms form?

(A) A small snowflake (A) Water temperature drop below

(B) A nucleus freezing.
(C) A drop of water (B) Moisture rises from a lake into the
(D) A hexagon airstream.
(C) Large quantities of wet air come off
a nearby mountain.
44. The word “adhere” in line 10 is closest (D) Millions of ice crystals form on the
in meaning to surface of a large lake.

(A) belong
(B) relate 49. The word “initiate” in line 24 is closest
(C) stick in meaning to
(D) speed
(A) enhance
(B) alter
45. What is the main topic of the second (C) increase
paragraph? (D) begin

(A) How ice crystals form

(B) How moisture affects temperature 50. Which of the following could account
(C) What happens when ice crystals for the lack of snowfall in a
melt geographical location close to
(D) Where the moisture to supply the mountains and a major water source?
nuclei comes from
(A) Ground temperatures below the
freezing point
46. The word “it” in line 15 refers to (B) Too much moisture in the air
(C) Too much wind off the mountains
(A) snowfall (D) Atmospheric temperatures above
(B) snowflake the freezing point.
(C) cluster
(D) moisture

47. What is necessary for a snowfall to

persist?

(A) A decrease in the number of

snowflakes
(B) Lowered vapor pressure in ice
crystals
(C) A continuous infusion of moisture
(D) A change in the direction of the
airstream

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 Practice Test A – Answers

Question Number Answer Level of Difficulty Answered Correctly

1 D Medium 65%
2 C Difficult 47%
3 A Medium 74%
4 C Medium 78%
5 D Easy 86%
6 A Difficult 40%
7 D Medium 67%
8 C Easy 88%
9 B Medium 75%
10 B Medium 63%
11 C Easy 84%
12 B Difficult 43%
13 C Difficult 43%
14 A Easy 82%
15 C Difficult 45%
16 A Medium 55%
17 D Medium 80%
18 D Difficult 48%
19 C Easy 86%
20 D Medium 75%
21 B Medium 62%
22 B Difficult 46%
23 D Medium 58%
24 D Medium 75%
25 A Medium 71%
26 B Medium 76%
26 A Easy 83%
28 A Easy 87%
29 D Medium 57%
30 C Medium 70%
31 B Medium 80%
32 C Difficult 45%
33 A Medium 60%
34 A Difficult 49%
35 D Medium 58%
36 D Medium 67%
37 C Difficult 46%
38 D Medium 65%
39 B Medium 61%
40 A Medium 68%
41 D Medium 82%
42 A Medium 74%

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43 B Medium 78%
44 C Medium 69%
45 D Medium 63%
46 A Medium 80%
47 C Medium 71%
48 B Medium 71%
49 D Medium 57%
50 D Difficult 35%

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