TOFEL 1

Questions 1-13
Atmospheric pressure can support a column of water up to 10 meters high. But plants can move
water much higher, the sequoia tree can pump water to its very top, more than 100 meters above
the ground. Until the end of the nineteenth century, the movement of water in trees and other tall
plants was a mystery. Some botanists hypothesized that the living cells of plants in which all the
cells are killed can still move water to appreciable heights. Other explanations for the movement
of water in plants have been based on root pressure, a push on the water from the roots at the
bottom of the plant. But root pressure is not nearly great enough to push water to the tops of tall
trees. Furthermore, the conifers, which are among the tallest trees, have unusually low root
pressures.
If water is not pumped to the top of a tall tree, and if it is not pushed to the top of a tall tree, then
we may ask, How does it get there? According to the currently accepted cohesion-tension theory,
water is pulled there. The pull on a rising column of water in a plant results from the evaporation
of water at the top of the plant. As water is lost from the surface of the leaves, a negative pressure,
or tension, is created. The evaporated water is replaced by water moving from inside the plant in
unbroken columns that extend from the top of a plant to its roots. The same forces that create
surface tension in any sample of water are responsible for the maintenance of these unbroken
columns of water. When water is confined in tubes of very small bore, the forces of cohesion (the
attraction between water molecules) are so great that the strength of a column of water compares
with the strength of a steel wire of the same diameter. This cohesive strength permits columns of
water to be pulled to great heights without being broken.

1. How many theories does the author (A) Some very tall trees have weak root
mention? pressure.
(A) One (B) Root pressures decrease in winter.
(B) Two (C) Plants can live after their roots die.
(C) Three (D) Water in a plant's roots is not connected
(D) Four to water in its stem.

2. The passage answers which of the 6. Which of the following statements does the
following questions? passage support?
(A) What is the effect of atmospheric pressure (A) Water is pushed to the tops of trees.
on foliage? (B) Botanists have proven that living cells act
(B) When do dead cells harm plant growth? as pumps.
(C) How does water get to the tops of trees? (C) Atmospheric pressure draws water to the
(D) Why is root pressure weak? tops of tall trees.
(D) Botanists have changed their theories of
3. The word "demonstrated" in line 6 is how water moves in plants.
closest in meaning to
(A) ignored 7. The word "it" in line 12 refers to
(B) showed (A) top
(C) disguised (B) tree
(D) distinguished (C) water
(D) cohesion-tension theory.
4. What do the experiments mentioned in lines
5-7 prove? 8. The word "there" in line 14 refers to
(A) Plant stems die when deprived of water (A) treetops
(B) Cells in plant stems do not pump water (B) roots
(C) Plants cannot move water to high (C) water columns
altitudes (D) tubes
(D) Plant cells regulate pressure within stems

5.How do botanists know that root pressure is

not the only force that moves water in plants?

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9. What causes the tension that draws water up molecules together.
a plant? (D) Atmospheric pressure supports the
(A) Humidity columns.
(B) Plant growth
(C) Root pressure 12.Why does the author mention steel wire in
(D) Evaporation line 22?
(A) To illustrate another means of pulling
10. The word "extend" in line 18 is closest in water
meaning to (B) To demonstrate why wood is a good
(A) stretch building material
(B) branch (C) To indicate the size of a column of water
(C) increase (D) To emphasize the strength of cohesive
(D) rotate forces in water

11. According to the passage, why does water 13.Where in the passage does the author give
travel through plants in unbroken columns? an example of a plant with low root pressure?
(A) Root pressure moves the water very (A) Lines3-4
rapidly. (B) Lines5-7
(B) The attraction between water molecules (C) Lines10-11
in strong. (D) Lines12-13
(C) The living cells of plants push the water

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Question 14-22

Mass transportation revised the social and economic fabric of the American city in three
fundamental ways. It catalyzed physical expansion, it sorted out people and land uses, and it
accelerated the inherent instability of urban life. By opening vast areas of unoccupied land for
residential expansion, the omnibuses, horse railways, commuter trains, and electric trolleys pulled
settled regions outward two to four times more distant from city centers than they were in the pre-
modern era. In 1850, for example, the borders of Boston lay scarcely two miles from the old
business district; by the turn of the century the radius extended ten miles. Now those who could
afford it could live far removed from the old city center and still commute there for work,
shopping, and entertainment. The new accessibility of land around the periphery of almost every
major city sparked an explosion of real estate development and fueled what we now know as
urban sprawl. Between 1890 and 1920, for example, some 250,000 new residential lots were
recorded within the borders of Chicago, most of them located in outlying areas. Over the same
period, another 550,000 were plotted outside the city limits but within the metropolitan area.
Anxious to take advantage of the possibilities of commuting, real estate developers added 800,000
potential building sites to the Chicago region in just thirty years – lots that could have housed five
to six million people.
Of course, many were never occupied; there was always a huge surplus of subdivided, but
vacant, land around Chicago and other cities. These excesses underscore a feature of residential
expansion related to the growth of mass transportation: urban sprawl was essentially unplanned. It
was carried out by thousands of small investors who paid little heed to coordinated land use or to
future land users. Those who purchased and prepared land for residential purposes, particularly
land near or outside city borders where transit lines and middle-class inhabitants were anticipated,
did so to create demand as much as to respond to it. Chicago is a prime example of this process.
Real estate subdivision there proceeded much faster than population growth.

17. The word "sparked" in line 11 is closest in

14. With which of the following subjects is the meaning to
passage mainly concerned? (A) brought about
(A) Types of mass transportation. (B) surrounded
(B) Instability of urban life. (C) sent out
(C) How supply and demand determine land (D) followed
use.
(D) The effects of mass transportation on 18. Why does the author mention both Boston
urban expansion. and Chicago?
(A) To demonstrate positive and negative
15. The author mentions all of the following effects of growth.
as effects of mass transportation on cities (B) To show that mass transit changed many
EXCEPT cities.
(A) growth in city area (C) To exemplify cities with and without
(B) separation of commercial and residential mass transportation.
districts.
(C) Changes in life in the inner city. 19. The word "potential" in line 16 is closest
(D) Increasing standards of living. in meaning to
(A) certain
16. The word "vast" in line 3 is closest in (B) popular
meaning to (C) improved
(A) large (D) possible
(B) basic
(C) new 20. The word "many" in line 19 refers to
(D) urban (A) people
(B) lots
(C) years
(D) developers

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21. According to the passage, what was one 22. The author mentions Chicago in the
disadvantage of residential expansion? second paragraph as an example of a city
(A) It was expensive. (A) that is large
(B) It happened too slowly. (B) that is used as a model for land
(C) It was unplanned. development
(D) It created a demand for public (C) where land development exceeded
transportation. population growth
(D) with an excellent mass transportation
system.

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