READING TOEFL EXERCISES (6-7) LONGMAN COMPLETE COURSE FOR THE TOEFL

LONGMAN COMPLETE COURSE FOR THE TOEFL

READING

TOEFL EXERCISES (6-7)

TOEFL EXERCISE (Skills 6-7): Study each of the passages and choose the best answers to the questions that follow.

PASSAGE ONE (Questions 1-4)

The most conservative sect of the Mennonite Church is the Old Order Amish, with 33,000 members living mainly today in the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. Their lifestyle reflects their belief in the doctrines of separation from the world and simplicity of life. The Amish have steadfastly rejected the societal changes that have occurred in the previous three hundred years, preferring instead to remain securely rooted in a seventeenth-century lifestyle. They live on farms without radios, televisions, telephones, electric lights, and cars; they dress in plainly styled and colored old-fashioned clothes; and they farm their lands with horses and tools rather than modern farm equipment. They have a highly communal form of living, with barn raisings and quilting bees as commonplace activities.

1	The paragraph preceding this passage probably discusses		3	It can be inferred from the passage that a quilting bee
	A	other, more liberal sects of Mennonites		A	involves a group of people
	B	where Mennonites live		B	is necessary when raising bees
	C	the communal Amish lifestyle		C	always follows a barn raising
	D	the most conservative Mennonites		D	provides needed solitude
2	Which of the following would probably NOT be found on an Amish farm?		4	Which of the following is most likely the topic of the paragraph following the passage?
	A	A hammer		A	The effects of the communal lifestyle on the Old Order Amish
	B	A cart		B	How the Old Order Amish differ from the Mennonites
	C	A long dress		C	The effect of the modern technology on the Old Order Amish
	D	A refrigerator		D	The doctrines of the Old Order Amish

PASSAGE TWO (Questions 5-8)

Various other Native American tribes also lived on the Great Plains. The Sioux, a group of seven Native American tribes, are best known for the fiercely combative posture against encroaching White civilization in the 1800s. Although they are popularly referred to as Sioux, these Native American tribes did not call themselves Sioux; the name was given to them by an enemy tribe. The seven Sioux tribes called themselves by some variation of the word Dakota, which means “allies” in their language. Four tribes of the eastern Sioux community living in Minnesota were known by the name Dakota. The Nakota included two tribes that left the eastern woodlands and moved out onto the plains. The Teton Sioux, or Lakota, moved even farther west to the plains of the present-day states of North Dakota, and Wyoming.

5	The paragraph preceding this passage most probably discusses		7	It is implied in the passage that the seven Sioux tribes called each other by some form of the word Dakota because they were
	A	how the Sioux battled the white man		A	united in a cause
	B	one of the tribes of the plains		B	all living in North Dakota
	C	where the Sioux lived		C	fiercely combative
	D	Native American tribes on the East Coast		D	enemies
6	Which of the following represents a likely reaction of the Sioux in the 1800s to the encroaching white civilization?		8	It can be inferred from the passage that the present-day states of North and South Dakota
	A	The Sioux would probably help the whites to settle in the West.		A	are east of Minnesota
	B	The Sioux would probably attack the white settlers.		B	are home to the four tribes known by the name Dakota
	C	The Sioux would probably invite the whites to smoke a peace pipe.		C	received their names from the tribes living there
	D	The Sioux would probably join together in hunting parties with the white settlers.		D	are part of the eastern woodlands

PASSAGE THREE (Questions 9-12)

The extinction of many species of birds has undoubtedly been hastened by modern man; since 1600 it has been estimated that approximately 100 bird species have become extinct over the world. In North America, the first species known to be annihilated was the great auk, a flightless bird that served as an easy source of food and bait for Atlantic fishermen through the beginning of the nineteenth century. Shortly after the great auk’s extinction, two other North American species, the Carolina parakeet and the passenger pigeon, began dwindling noticeably in numbers. The Last Carolina parakeet and the last passenger pigeon in captivity both died in September 1914. In addition to these extinct species, several others such as the bald eagle, the peregrine falcon, and the California condor are today recognized as endangered; steps are being taken to prevent their extinction.

9	The number of bird species that have become extinct in the United States since 1600 most probably is		11	It can be inferred from the passage that the grat auk was killed because
	A	more than 100		A	it was eating the fishermen’s catch
	B	exactly 100		B	fisherman wanted to eat it
	C	less than 100		C	it flew over fishing areas
	D	exactly three		D	it baited fishermen
10	The passage implies that the great auk disappeared		12	The paragraph following this passage most probably discusses
	A	before 1600		A	what is being done to save endangered birds
	B	in the 1600s		B	what the bald eagle symbolizes to Americans
	C	in the 1800s		C	how several bird species became endangered
	D	in the last fifty years		D	other extinct species

ANSWER KEY

1	A	11	B
2	D	12	A
3	A
4	A
5	B
6	B
7	A
8	C
9	C
10	C