PETERSON TOEFL TEST PRACTICE 1 PART 8

QUESTIONS 40-50

While many nineteenth-century reformers hoped to bring about reform through education or by eliminating specific social evils, some thinkers wanted to start over and remake society by founding ideal, cooperative communities. The United States seemed to them a spacious and unencumbered country where models of a perfect society could succeed. These communitarian thinkers hoped their success would lead to imitation, until communities free of crime, poverty, and other social ills would cover the land. A number of religious groups, notably the Shakers, practiced communal living, but the main impetus to found model communities came from nonreligious, rationalistic thinkers.

Among the communitarian philosophers, three of the most influential were Robert Owen, Charles Fourier, and John Humphrey Noyes. Owen, famous for his humanitarian policies as owner of several thriving textile mills in Scotland, believed that faulty environment was to blame for human problems and these problems could be eliminated in a rationally planned society. In 1825 he put his principles into practice at New Harmony, Indiana. The community failed economically after a few years but not before achieving a number of social successes. Fourier, a commercial employee in France, never visited the United States. However, his theories of cooperative living influenced many Americas through the writings of Albert Brisbane, whose Social Destiny of Man explained Fourierism and its self-sufficient associations or “phalanxes.” One or more of these phalanxes was organized in every Northern state. The most famous were Red Bank, New Jersey, and Brook Farm, Massachusetts. An early member of the latter was the author Nathaniel Hawthorne. Noyes founded the most enduring and probably the oddest of the utopian communities, the Oneida Community of upstate New York. Needless to say, none of these experiments had any lasting effects on the patterns of American society.

1.        The main topic of the passage is

a)         nineteenth-century schools

b)        American reformers

c)         the philosophy of Fourierism

d)        model communities in he nineteenth century

2.        Which of the following is NOT given in the passage as one of the general goals of communitarian philosophers?

a)         to remake society

b)        to spread their ideas throughout the United States

c)         to establish ideal communities

d)        to create opportunities through education

3.        The Shakers are mentioned in line 6 as an example of

a)         a communal religious group

b)        radical reformers

c)         rationalistic thinkers

d)        an influential group of writers

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

a)         Stimulus

b)        Commitment

c)         Drawback

d)        Foundation

5.        Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word thriving in line 10?

a)         Prosperous

b)        Famous

c)         Failing

d)        Pioneering

6.        The “phalanxes” described in the second paragraph were an idea originally conceived by

a)         Albert Brisbane

b)        Robert Owen

c)         Charles Fourier

d)        John Humphrey Noyes

7.        Why does the author mention Nathaniel Hawthorne in line 18?

a)         He founded Brook Farm in Massachusetts.

b)        He was a critic of Charles Fourier.

c)         He wrote a book that led to the establishment of model communities.

d)        He was at one time a member of the Brook Farm community.

8.        Which of the following communities lasted longest?

a)         New Harmony

b)        The Oneida Community

c)         Red Bank

d)        Brook Farm

9.        The word oddest in line 19 is closest in meaning to which of the following?

a)         Earliest

b)        Most independent

c)         Largest

d)        Most unusual

10.    The author implies that, for readers, the conclusion of the passage is?

a)         obvious

b)        surprising

c)         absurd

d)        practical

11.    Why did the author probably divide the passage into two paragraphs?

a)         To compare nineteenth-century reforms with twentieth-century reforms

b)        To present an over view of a concept in the first paragraph and specific examples in the second

c)         To contrast the work of utopian thinkers with that of practical reformers

d)        To give the causes for a phenomenon in the first paragraph and its consequences in the second.

ANSWER KEY

1.        D

The main topic of the passage is nineteenth – century model communities. Choice (A) is not mentioned; choice (B) is too general; choice (C) is too specific.

2.        C

The author states that “many nineteenth – century reformers hoped to bring about reform through education ….” (lines 1-2). However, these are not the “communitarian reformers” on whom the passage focuses.

3.        A

Lines 7-8 say that “ A number of religious groups, notably the Shakes, practiced communal living.”

4.        A

The word impetus means stimulus, motivation.

5.        A

The word thriving means prospering, flourishing.

6.        C

Lines 18-20 say that Fouries’s theories influenced Americans through the writings of Albert Brisbane and that Fouerierism involved self-sufficient associations called “phalanxes”

7.        D

According to line 23, Hawthorne was “an early member of the latter” (“the latter” refers to Brook Farm),

8.        B

According to lines 23-25, “Noyes founded the most enduring ….. of the utopian communities, the Oneida Community” (enduring means long lasting)

9.        D

The word oddest (the superlative form of the adjectives “odd”) means strangest, most unusual.

10.    A

The author begins the concluding sentence (the last sentence of the passage) with the phrase “needless to say ….,” which means obviously.

11.    B

The author presents an overview of the concept of the model communities in the first paragraph and specific example of this concept (New Harmony, Brook Farm, and Oneida Community) in the second.