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Thursday, September 20, 2007

Reading-Comprehension-Lesson 20

Đọc hiểu -TOEFL- Bài 20

Đọc đoạn văn sau và trả lời các câu hỏi: 
   It's hard to find artifacts that are genuinely American, but the present
day banjo may be one of them. Even though its ancestry is African,
the modern banjo is nothing like the early instruments first brought
by Africans to the southern plantations. In the nineteenth century
5  the banjo was a standard instrument in minstrel shows, and, as it
continued to be used, it was changed in various ways. Machined pegs
were added for precise tuning, frets were added for better intonation,
and vellum heads were added to improve the tension. The number of
strings also continued to change. Early banjos had four strings,
10 while later models had as many as nine. In the late 1800s, the five-string
banjo was developed, a model that had a small unfretted drone string
that was played with the thumb. This was the instrument that country
singer Earl Scruggs played, and was the type used to produce that
great style of music known as American bluegrass.
15
In the 1920s, the four-string tenor banjo made a remarkable comeback,
as banjo bands became popular in schools and clubs from coast to
coast. Again in the 1960s there was a renewed interest in folk and
country music that brought the banjo back into the forefront of American
20 music. It's an American instrument that continues to live on.
1. What does this passage mainly discuss?




2. The banjo originally came from




3. The word "plantations" in line 4 most probably refers to




4. Which of the following words is most similar to the word "pegs" in line 6?




5. The word "precise" in line 7 could best be replaced by which of the following?




6. According to the passage, all of the following are true of the five-string banjo EXCEPT:




7. Which of the following is most similar to the meaning of "comeback" in line 16?




8. The word "renewed" in line 18 could be best replaced by which of the following?




9. Which of the following means most nearly the same as the word "forefront" as used in line 19?




10. Which of the following best indicates the author's attitude toward the banjo?





Xem lại bài Reading-Comprehension-Lesson 19 và bài Reading-Comprehension-Lesson 20
Được đăng bởi Anonymous tại 11:37:00 PM 0 nhận xét
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Reading-Comprehension-Lesson 19

Đọc hiểu -TOEFL- Bài 19

Đọc đoạn văn sau và trả lời các câu hỏi: 
   Are you interested in seeing the beautiful fall foliage of New England
but tired of traffic jams and overbooked hotels? Then this year forget
the crowds in New England and see the beautiful colors of autumn
in the Catskills.
5
These rugged mountains in New York State, just 90 miles northwest
of New York City, are famous for the legendary tales of Rip Van Winkle,
and more recently for the summer hotels that sprang up in the region
during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Families trying to escape the
10 heat of New York City found the Catskills to be the perfect place
to stay for a month or so each summer. By the late 1950s there were
over 500 resorts and hotels offering nighttime entertainment as well
as all kinds of outdoor activities. Famous comedians like Jackie
Gleason, Joan Rivers, and Sid Caesar all got their start touring
15 the hotel clubs here. Since the introduction of air-conditioning
and cheaper air travel, however, families have stopped coming to
the Catskills in such large numbers, choosing instead more distant
locations at different times of the year. Many of the Catskill hotels
closed in the 1970s, but some remain and have expanded and changed
20 their facilities to meet the needs of today's visitors.

Currently, there are many activities available to the traveler besides
witnessing the changing colors of the leaves. There is an all-organic
sheep farm where visitors can see how a traditional sheep farm operates.
25 There are also hundreds of miles of scenic drives in the area. Route
42, for instance, is an excellent site for spotting bald eagles.
For more information on vacations in the Catskills, call the Office
of Public Information.
1. What is the author's main purpose in this passage?




2. The word "rugged" in line 6 could be best replaced by which of the following?




3. According to the passage, which of the following caused the decline in the number of resorts in the 1970s?




4. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word "legendary" in line 7?




5. The phrase "sprang up" in line 8 most probably refers to something that has




6. In what season would a tourist most likely have visited the Catskills in the 1950s?




7. Which of the following most reflects the author's tone in this passage?




8. What does the passage imply that a visitor might be lucky enough to do?




9. As used in line 23, the word "witnessing"could best be replaced by




10. As used in line 25, the word "drives" refers to




11. As used in line 26, which of the following could best replace the word "spotting"?




12. The author implies that in the Catskills there are few





Xem lại bài Reading-Comprehension-Lesson 18 và bài Reading-Comprehension-Lesson 19
Được đăng bởi Anonymous tại 11:34:00 PM 0 nhận xét
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Reading-Comprehension-Lesson 18

Đọc hiểu -TOEFL- Bài 18

Đọc đoạn văn sau và trả lời các câu hỏi: 
   Until recently, hunting for treasure from shipwrecks was mostly fantasy;
with recent technological advances, however, the search for sunken
treasure has become more popular as a legitimate endeavor. This has
caused a debate between those wanting to salvage the wrecks and those
5  wanting to preserve them.

Treasure hunters are spurred on by the thought of finding caches of
gold coins or other valuable objects on a sunken ship. One team of
salvagers, for instance, searched the wreck of the RMS Republic,
10 which sank outside the Boston harbor in 1900. The search party, using
side-scan sonar, a device that projects sound waves across the ocean
bottom and produces a profile of the sea floor, located the wreck
in just two and a half days. Before the use of this new technology,
such searches could take months or years. The team of 45 divers searched
15 the wreck for two months, finding silver tea services, crystal dinnerware,
and thousands of bottles of wine, but they did not find the five
and a half tons of American Gold Eagle coins they were searching
for.

20 Preservationists focus on the historic value of a ship. They say that
even if a shipwreck's treasure does not have a high monetary value,
it can be an invaluable source of historic artifacts that are preserved
in nearly mint condition. But once a salvage team has scoured a site,
much of the archaeological value is lost. Maritime archaeologists
25 who are preservationists worry that the success of salvagers will
attract more treasure-hunting expeditions and thus threaten remaining
undiscovered wrecks. Preservationists are lobbying their state lawmakers
to legally restrict underwater searches and unregulated salvages.
To counter their efforts, treasure hunters argue that without the
30 lure of gold and million-dollar treasures, the wrecks and their historical
artifacts would never be recovered at all.
1. What is the main idea of this passage?




2. The word "sunken" in line 2 is closest in meaning to which of the following words?




3. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word "legitimate" in line 3?




4. Which of the following could best replace the phrase "a profile" as used in line 12?




5. Which of the following statements is best supported by the author?




6. The author uses the word "services" in line 15 to refer to which of the following?




7. The author uses the phrase "mint condition" in line 23 to describe




8. All of the following were found on the RMS Republic EXCEPT




9. From the passage, you can infer that a preservationist would be most likely to




10. The word "scoured" in line 23 is most similar to which of the following?




11. In line 30, what is the closest meaning to the word "lure"?




12. The second and third paragraphs are an example of





Xem lại bài Reading-Comprehension-Lesson 18 và bài Reading-Comprehension-Lesson 17
Được đăng bởi Anonymous tại 11:32:00 PM 0 nhận xét
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Reading-Comprehension-Lesson 17

Đọc hiểu -TOEFL- Bài 17

Đọc đoạn văn sau và trả lời các câu hỏi: 
   Alzheimer's disease impairs a person's ability to recall memories,
both distant and as recent as a few hours before. Although there
is not yet a cure for the illness, there may be hope for a cure with
a protein called nerve growth factor. The protein is produced by
5  nerve cells in the same region of the brain where Alzheimer's occurs.
Based on this relationship, scientists from the University of Lund
in Sweden and the University of California at San Diego designed
an experiment to test whether doses of nerve growth factor could
reverse the effects of memory loss caused by Alzheimer's. Using a
10 group of rats with impaired memory, the scientists gave half of the
rats doses of nerve growth factor while giving the other half a blood
protein as a placebo, thus creating a control group. At the end of
the four-week test, the rats given the nerve growth factor performed
equally to rats with normal memory abilities. While the experiments
15 do not show that nerve growth factor can stop the general process
of deterioration caused by Alzheimer's, they do show potential as
a means to slowing the process significantly.
1. With what topic is this passage mainlyconcerned?




2. The word "impairs" in line 1 is most similar to which of the following?




3. According to the passage, where is nerve growth factor produced in the body?




4. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word "region" as used in line 5?




5. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word "doses" in line 8?




6. Which of the following could best replace the word "reverse" as used in line 9?




7. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?




8. The passage most closely resembles which of the following patterns of organization?




9. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word "deterioration" in line 16?




10. Which of the following could best replace the word "potential" in line 16?




11. Which of the following could best replace the word "significantly" in line 17?




12. The relationship between nerve growth factor and a protein is similar to the relationship between Alzheimer's and





Xem lại bài Reading-Comprehension-Lesson 16 và bài Reading-Comprehension-Lesson 17
Được đăng bởi Anonymous tại 6:58:00 PM 0 nhận xét
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Reading-Comprehension-Lesson 16

Đọc hiểu -TOEFL- Bài 16

Đọc đoạn văn sau và trả lời các câu hỏi: 
   About 200 million years ago, as the Triassic Period came to a close,
many species of animals disappeared from the face of the Earth. Scientists
previously believed that the series of extinctions happened over
a period of 15 to 20 million years. Recent discoveries in Nova Scotia
5  suggest, however, that the extinctions may have happened over a much
shorter period of time, perhaps less than 850,000 years.

Evidence for a rapid extinction of species at the end of the Triassic
Period is found in the McCoy Brook Formation along the Bay of Fundy
10 in Nova Scotia. Fossils found in this formation indicate a rapid
disappearance of species rather than a slow and gradual change over
time. One explanation for a relatively sudden extinction at the end
of the Triassic may be that a large meteorite struck the earth at
the time and is responsible for a 70- kilometer hole nearby. If geologists
15 and other researchers can find evidence, such as shocked quartz in
the rock formations, that a meteorite did strike the earth, it would
give more credence to the theory of rapid Triassic extinctions. It
is possible, however, that even if a rapid extinction happened in
and around Nova Scotia, it did not necessarily occur in the rest
20 of the world.
1. What is the main topic of this passage?




2. Which of the following could best replace the word "close" as used in line 1?




3. The author uses the phrase "the face of the Earth" in line 2 in order to




4. All of the following were mentioned in the passage EXCEPT




5. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word "relatively" in line 12?




6. Where in the passage does the author give evidence for the argument?




7. According to the passage, what would give evidence that a meteorite struck the earth?




8. Which of the following could best replace the word "struck" as used in line 13?




9. Which of the following is most probably the meaning of "shocked quartz" in line 15?




10. In line 16, "it" refers to




11. Which of the following could best replace the word "credence" in line 17?




12. Which of the following best describes the author's tone?





Xem lại bài Reading-Comprehension-Lesson 16 và bài Reading-Comprehension-Lesson 15
Được đăng bởi Anonymous tại 6:54:00 PM 0 nhận xét
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