link to many different periods of history and to people of many cultures. From the use of trumpets in ancient religious ceremonies to the part they play in modern rock bands, the trumpet family of instruments has much to tell about civilization and its development. 36. What is the best title for this passage? A. Science and Trumpet. B. Recordings of the Trumpet. C. The Trumpet and Its Ancestry. D. How the Trumpet is Made.
37. It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following is needed to make the trumpet
work?
A. Air pressure. B. Keen eyesight. C. Daily cleaning. D. Long fingers. 38. Which of the following can be inferred about the first trumpet players? A. They could not play all the notes of the scale. B. They were not able to pick up the trumpet. C. They could not play simple tunes.
D. They had difficulty improving upon the trumpet.
39. The word “one” (1st sentence of 4th para.) could best be replaced by ______________. A. the listener B. a family C. the composer D. an instrument 40. The author believes that the trumpet is particularly important because it ______________. A. can be used in rock bands B. has historical significance C. is a religious instrument D. has a narrow range
Passage Nine:
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All that we really need to plot out the future of our universe are a few good measurements. This does not mean that we can sit down today and outline the future course of the universe with anything like certainty. There are still too many things that we do not know about the way the universe is put together, but we do know what information we need to fill in our knowledge, and we have a pretty good idea of how to go about getting it.
Perhaps the best way to think of our present situation is to imagine a train coming into a switchyard. All of the switches are set before the train arrives, so that its path is completely determined. Some switches we can see, others we cannot. There is no ambiguity if we can see the setting of a switch: we can say with confidence that some possible futures will not materialize and others will. At the unseen switches, however, there is no such certainty. We know that the train will take one of the tracks leading out, but we have no idea which one. The unseen switches are the true decision points in the future, and what happens when we arrive at them determines the entire subsequent course of events.
When we think about the future of the universe, we can see our “track many billions of years into the future, but after that there are decision points to be dealt with and possible fates to consider. The goal of science is to reduce the ambiguity at the decision points and find the true road that will be followed.
41. According to the passage, it is difficult to be certain about the distant future of the universe because we ____________.
A. have too many conflicting theories.
B. do not have enough funding to continue our research. C. are not sure how the universe is put together. D. think too much of our present situation.
42. What does the author see as the function of the universe?s unseen switches? A. They tell us which one of the tracks the universe will use. B. They enable us to alter the course of the universe.
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C. They give us information about the lunar surface.
D. They determine which course the universe will take in the future.
43. The word “track” (6th sentence of 2nd para.) could best be replaced by which of the following?
A. band B. rails C. path D. sequence 44. For whom is the author probably writing this passage?
A. train engineers B. general audiences C. professors of statistics D. young children 45. Which of the following statements best describes the organization of the passage? A. a statement illustrated by analogy B. a hypothesis supported by documentation C. a comparison of two contrasting theories D. a critical analysis of a common assumption
Passage Ten:
The accuracy of scientific observations and calculations is always at the mercy of the scientist?s timekeeping methods. For this reason, scientists are interested in devices that give promise of more precise timekeeping.
In their search for precision, scientists have turned to atomic clocks that depend on various vibrating atoms or molecules to supply their “ticking”. This is possible because each kind of atom or molecule has its own characteristic rate of vibration. The nitrogen atom in ammonia, for example, vibrates or “ticks” 24 billion times a second.
One such atomic clock is so accurate that it will probably lose no more than a second in 3000 years. It will be of great importance in fields such as astrological observation and long-range navigation. The heart of this Atomichron is a cesium atom that vibrates 9.2 billion times a second when heated to the temperature of boiling water.
An atomic clock that operates with an ammonia molecule may be used to check the
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accuracy of the predictions based on Einstein?s relativity theories, according to which a clock in motion and a clock at rest should keep time differently. Placed in an orbiting satellite moving at the speed of 18000 miles an hour, the clock could broadcast its time readings to a ground station, where they could be compared with the readings on a similar model. Whatever differences develop would be checked against the differences predicted.
46. The selection says that the accuracy of scientific observation depends on __________. A. methods of measurement. B. timekeeping methods. C. basic assumptions. D. earlier experiments. 47. Atomic clocks differ according to __________.
A. function. B. type of molecule or atom used. C. rate of vibration. D. both b and c. 48. From the selection, we may assume that temperature changes __________. A. affect only ammonia molecules. B. may affect the vibration rate of atoms. C. affect the speed at which the atoms travel. D. do not affect atoms in any way.
49. Identical atomic clocks may be used to check __________. A. the effect of outer space on an atomic clock. B. the actual speed of an orbiting satellite.
C. the accuracy of predictions based on theories of relativity. D. all of Einstein?s theories.
50. An appropriate title for this selection would be __________.
A. A Peacetime Use of the Atom. B. Atoms and Molecules. C. The Satellite Timekeepers. D. The Role of the Clock.
Passage Eleven:
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Let children learn to judge their own work. A child learning to talk does not learn by being corrected all the time: if corrected too much, he will stop talking. He notices a thousand times a day the difference between the language he uses and the language those around him use. Bit by bit, he makes the necessary changes to make his language like other people?s. In the same way, when children learn to do all the other things they learn to do without being taught------to walk, run, climb, whistle, ride a bicycle------compare those performances with those of more skilled people, and slowly make the needed changes. But in school we never give a child a chance to find out his own mistakes himself, let alone correct them. We do it all for him. We act as if we thought that he would never notice a mistake unless it was pointed out to him, or correct it unless he was made to. Soon he becomes dependent on the teacher. Let him do it himself. Let him work out, with the help of other children if he wants it, what this word says, what answer is to that problem, whether this is a good way of saying or doing this or not.
If it is a matter of right answers, as it may be in mathematics or science, give him the answer book. Let him correct his own papers. Why should we teachers waste time on such routine work? Our job should be to help the child when he tells us that he can?t fin the way to get the right answer. Let?s end this nonsense of grades, exams, marks. Let us throw them all out, and let the children learn what all educated persons must some day learn, how to measure their own understanding, how to know what they know or do not know.
Let them get on with this job in the way that seems most sensible to them, with our help as school teachers if they ask for it. The idea that there is a body of knowledge to be learnt at school and used for the rest of one?s life is nonsense in a world as complicated and rapidly changing as ours. Anxious parents and teachers say, “But suppose they fail to learn something essential, something they will need to get in the world? Don?t worry! If it is essential, they will go out into the world and learn it.”
51. What does the author think is the best way for children to learn things?
A. by copying what other people do
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