UNIT 4

OVERALL REVIEW QUESTIONS

Often in the reading section of both the paper TOEFL test and the computer TOEFL test,
the last question or two for a particular reading passage are overall questions that ask
about the passage as a whole rather than one small detail. The most common type of
overall review questions are questions that ask where in the passage something is found,
questions about the tone of the passage, questions about the author’s purpose in writing
the passage, questions about which course the passage might be a part of, or questions
about where a particular piece of information might be inserted into the passage.

SKILL 12: DETERMINE WHERE SPECIFIC INFORMATION IS FOUND

Sometimes the final question accompanying a reading passage (or one paragraph of a
passage) will ask you to determine where in the passage a piece of information is found.
This type of question is worded differently on the paper TOEFL test and on the computer
TOEFL test. On the paper test, there will be a multiple-choice question that asks where
certain information is found. The answer choices will list possible locations for that
information. On the computer test, the question asks you to click on the sentence that
contains certain information. Look at a multiple-choice example from the paper TOEFL
that asks you to identify where certain information is found.

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This questions asks you to find where in the passage there is information about the
composition of the crater. You should skim through the lines of the passage listed in the
answers to the question looking for the word composition or something that means
composition. In line 4, you should find the expression made of, and you should recognize
that composition is what something is made of. Answer (B) is therefore the best answer to
this question.
The following chart outlines the key information that you should remember when you are
trying to determine where in where in the passage something is found:

ORGANIZATION OF IDEAS

HOW TO IDENTIFY THE

- Where in the passage…?
QUESTIONS
WHERE TO FIND THE The answer can be in any of the lines listed in the answers
ANSWER to the questions
1. Choose a key word or idea in the question.
HOW TO ANSWER THE 2. Skin the appropriate part(s) of the passage looking for
QUESTION the key word or idea.
3. Choose the answer that contains the key word or idea.

EXERCISE 9.0: Study each of the passages and choose the best answers to the questions
that follow.
PASSAGE ONE (Questions 1-4)
Beavers generally live in family clusters consisting of six to ten members. One cluster
would probably consist of two adults, one male and one female, and four to eight young
beavers, or kits. A female beaver gives birth each spring to two to four babies at a time.
These baby beavers live with their parents until they are two years old. In the springtime of
their second year they are forced out of the family group to make room for the new babies.
These two-year-old beavers then proceed to start new family clusters of their own.

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 1. Where in the passage does the author 3. Underline below the sentence in the
give the name of a baby beaver? passage that states the age at which
a) Line 1 beavers must go out on their own.
b) Line 2 4. Where in the passage does the author
c) Line 3 indicate why the young beavers must
d) Lines 4-5 leave their parents’ home?
2. Underline below the sentence in the a) Line 1
passage that mentions the time of year b) Line 2
when new baby beavers are born. c) Line 3
d) Lines 4-5

PASSAGE TWO (Questions 5-7)

Chamber music received its name because it was originally intended to be
performed in small rooms in private homes rather than huge concert halls or theatres.
Today it has evolved into small ensemble music in which each performer in the ensemble
plays an individual part.

5 The compositions written for this type of performance can easily be classified into three distinct
periods, each with its style of music and instrumentation. In the earliest period (1450-1650), the
viol and other instrumental families developed considerably, and instrumental music took its
first steps toward equal footing with vocal music. In the second period (1650-1750), trio sonatas
dominated. These ensemble compositions were often written for two violins and a cello; the
harpsichord was also featured in various compositions of this period. In the modern period
(after 1750), the preponderance of chamber music was written for the string quartet, an
ensemble composed of two violins, a viola, and a cello.

5. Where in the passage does the author 6. Underline below the sentence in
discuss the modern definition of chamber paragraph 2 that describes the first of the
music? three periods of compositions for chamber
a) Lines 2-3 music.
b) Lines 4-5 7. Underline below the sentence in
c) Lines 8-9 paragraph 2 that discusses which
d) Lines 9-11 instruments were used in ensembles for
three instruments.

PASSAGE THREE (Questions 8-10)

It is common practice to coat metals such as iron and steel with a protective layer of
zinc or an alloy made from zinc mixed with aluminium, cadmium, or tin a process known as
“galvanization.” The purpose of galvanization is to prevent the corrosion of the iron or steel.
The most common method to galvanize metal is the hot-dip galvanizing process. In
5 this process, the iron or steel is dipped into a hot bath of a zinc alloy to form a protective
coating approximately .003 inches thick. Another method of galvanizing that is not as
common is the process known as electro-galvanizing; in this process the metal is placed in a
solution composed of zinc sulphate and water and is then charged electrically. This causes a
thin layer of zinc to coat the metal.
Zinc is effective in galvanizing metals such as iron or steel in that zinc reacts more
easily with oxygen than iron does. If iron is unprotected, it reacts with the oxygen in the air

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 to form iron oxide, or rust, which leads to the corrosion of the iron. If, however, the iron is
coated with zinc, as it is in the galvanization process, then it is the zinc rather than the iron
which interacts with the oxygen to form zinc oxide, and the iron is not subject to corrosion.

8. Where in the passage does the author a) Lines 1-2

list the components of a zinc alloy? b) Line 4
a) Lines 1-2 c) Lines 6-8
b) Lines 4-6 d) Lines 10-11
c) Lines 9-10 10. Underline below the sentence in
d) Lines 11-12 paragraph 2 that explains how the hot-
9. Where in the passage does the author dip galvanizing process is carried out.
present the less routinely used process of
galvanization?

EXERCISE 9.1: Study each of the passages and choose the best answers to the questions
that follow.
Levels of Vocabulary
Most languages have several levels of vocabulary that may be used by the same
speakers. In English, at least three have been identified and described.
Standard usage includes those words and expressions understood, used, and
accepted by a majority of the speakers of a language in any situation regardless of the
5 level of formality. As such, these words and expressions are well defined and listed in
standard dictionaries. Colloquialisms, on the other hand, are familiar words and idioms that
are understood by almost all speakers of a language and used in informal speech or
writing, but not considered acceptable for more formal situations. Almost all idiomatic
expressions are colloquial language. Slang, however, refers to words and expressions
10 understood by a large number of speakers but not accepted as appropriate formal
usage by the majority. Colloquial expressions and even slang may be found in standard
dictionaries but will be so identified. Both colloquial usage and slang are more common
in speech than in writing.
Colloquial speech often passes into standard speech. Some slang also passes into
15 standard speech, but other slang expressions enjoy momentary popularity followed by
obscurity. In some cases, the majority never accepts certain slang phrases but nevertheless
retains them in their collective memories. Every generation seems to require its own set of
words to describe familiar objects and events.
It has been pointed out by a number of linguists that three cultural conditions are
20 necessary for the creation of a large body of slang expressions. First, the introduction and
acceptance of new objects and situations in the society; second, a diverse population
with a large number of subgroups; third, association among the subgroups and the
majority population.
Finally, it is worth nothing that the terms “standard,” “colloquial,” and “slang” exist
25 only as abstract labels for scholars who study language. Only a tiny number of the
speakers of any language will be aware that they are using colloquial or slang
expressions. Most speakers of English will, during appropriate situation, select and use all
three types of expressions.

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1. Which of the following is the main 6. Where in the passage does the author
topic of the passage? explain where colloquial language and
slang are most commonly used?
a) Standard speech
a) Lines 4-6
b) Idiomatic phrases
b) Lines 12-13
c) Different types of vocabulary
c) Lines 20-21
d) Dictionary usage
d) Lines 25-26
2. How is slang defined by the author?
7. What does the author mean by the
a) Words and phrases accepted by statement in lines 6-8: “Colloquialisms,
the majority for formal usage on the other hand, are familiar words
b) Words and phrases understood and idioms that are understood by
by the majority but not found in almost all speakers of a language and
standard dictionaries used in informal speech or writing, but
not considered acceptable for more
c) Words and phrases understood by formal situations”?
a restricted group of speakers
a) Familiar words and phrases are
d) Words and phrases understood found in both speech and
by a large number of speakers writing in formal settings.
but not accepted as formal
usage b) Familiar situations that are
experienced by most people are
3. The word “obscurity” in line 16 could called colloquialisms.
best replaced by
c) Informal language contains
a) Disappearance colloquialisms, which are not
found in more formal language.
b) Influence
c) Qualification d) Most of the speakers of a
language can use both formal
d) Tolerance and informal speech in
appropriate situations.
4. The word “appropriate” in line 10 is
closest in meaning to 8. Which of the following is true of
standard usage?
a) Old
a) It can be used in formal or
b) Large informal settings.
c) Correct b) It is limited to written language.
d) Important c) It is only understood by the
5. The word “them” in line 17 refers to upper classes.

a) Words d) It is constantly changing.

b) Slang phrases 9. The author mentions all of the

following as requirements for slang
c) Memories expressions to be created EXCEPT
d) The majority a) New situations

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 b) A new generation a) Does not approve of either slang
or colloquial speech in any
c) Interaction among diverse situation
groups
b) Approves of colloquial speech in
d) A number of linguists some situations, but not slang.
10. It can be inferred from the passage c) Approves of slang and colloquial
that the author
speech in appropriate situations.
d) Does not approve of colloquial
usage in writing

The New Photography

In order to establish photography as art, members of the Aesthetic Movement
modelled their work on classical paintings, even copying the subjects and poses
popularized by artists of the Classical Period. As the movement gained in popularity,
photographers made a clear distinction between the elegant, artistic photography that
5 conformed to the aesthetic standard used for paintings and the work of more realistic
photographers that was beginning to appear. Since they were cloudy because of the gum
bichromate plate that allowed for manual intervention, the aesthetic prints were easily
distinguished from the more modern prints, which came to be called straightforward
photographs. In contrast, the straightforward photographers produced images that were
10 sharp and clear. Whereas the proponents of the Aesthetic movement continued to hand
color their photographs, adding details and textures to conform to the art of printmakers,
the philosophy that surrounded the new photography rejected manipulation of either the
subject matter or the print. The subjects included nature in its undisturbed state and
people in everyday situations.
15 A number of major exhibitions and the formation of photographic clubs during the late
nineteenth century provided the impetus for the Photo-Secession Movement. Founded
by Alfred Steiglitz in New York City in 1902, Photo-Secession had as its
proposition the promotion of straightforward photography through exhibits and
publications. One of the publications, Camera Work, has been recognized among the
20 most beautiful journals ever produced. By the 1920s, the mechanical precision that had
once been criticized as a defect by members of the Aesthetic Movement had become a
hallmark of modern photography. Chiefly through the efforts of Steiglitz, modern
photography had seceded from painting and emerged as a legitimate art form. In
summary, the Aesthetic Movement rejected reality for beauty, but the Photo-
Secessionists embraced realism as even more beautiful.

1. Which of the following would be an d) Photography as Art

alternative title for the passage?
2. How can earlier photographs be
a) The Photo-Secession Movement distinguished from more modern
photographs?
b) The Aesthetic Movement
a) They were not the same color.
c) Alfred steiglitz
b) They were not as clear.

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 c) They did not look like paintings. a) The defect of the Aesthetic
Movement was eliminated by the
d) They were not retouched. mechanical precision of later
3. The word “defect” in line 21 is closest in photographers.
meaning to b) Later photographers used
a) Disturbance mechanical precision in spite of
criticism by earlier photographers
b) Ideal in the Aesthetic Movement.
c) Requirement c) The modern photographers used
d) Imperfection hallmarks, unlike the
photographers of the earlier
4. The word “chiefly” in line 22 is closest in Aesthetic Movement.
meaning to
d) Mechanical precision was a defect
a) Only that later photographers
eliminated from their work.
b) Mostly
8. What is NOT true of Camera Work?
c) Rarely
a) It is considered among the most
d) Likely attractive magazines.
5. The word “they” in line 6 refers to b) It encouraged members of the
a) Paintings Aesthetic Movement.
b) Aesthetic prints c) It was promoted by Alfred Steiglitz.

c) Modern prints d) It was a vehicle for realistic beauty.

d) Straightforward photographs 9. The Photo-Secession Movement is

described as including all of the
6. Where in the passage does the author following EXCEPT
identify the subjects that modern
photographers used? a) Straightforward photographs
a) Lines 4-7 b) Mechanical precision
b) Lines 16-18 c) Sharp, clear images
c) Lines 20-22 d) Manipulation of prints
d) Lines 23-25 10. It can be inferred from the passage
that the author
7. What does the author mean by the
statement in lines 25-28: “By the 1920s, a) Knew Alfred Steiglitz personally
the mechanical precision that had once b) Was not interested in Alfred
been criticized as defect by members of Steiglitz
the Aesthetic Movement had become a
hallmark of modern photography”? c) Disagreed with Alfred Steiglitz
d) Admired Alfred Steiglitz

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