READING POST-TEST COMPUTER BASED LONGMAN COMPLETE COURSE FOR THE TOEFL

LONGMAN COMPLETE COURSE FOR THE TOEFL

READING

READING POST-TEST

COMPUTER BASED

QUESTIONS 1-10

These stories of killer bees in the news in recent years have attracted a lot of attention as the bees have made their way from South America to North America. Killer bees are reputed to be extremely aggressive in nature, although experts say that their aggression may have been somewhat inflated. The killer bee is a hybrid of the very mild European strain of honeybee and the considerably more aggressive African bee, which was created when the African strain was imported into Brazil in 1955. The African bees were brought into Brazil because their aggression was considered an advantage; they were far more productive than their European counterparts in that they spent a higher percentage of their time working and continued working longer in inclement weather than did the European bees. These killer bees have been known to attack humans and animals, and some fatalities have occurred. Experts point out, however, that the mixed breed known as the killer bee is actually not at all as aggressive as the pure African bee. They also point out that the attacks have a chemical cause. A killer bee stings only when it has been disturbed; it is not aggressive by nature. However, after a disturbed bee stings and flies away, it leaves its stinger embedded in the victim. In the vicera attached to the embedded stinger is the chemical isoamyl acetate, which has an odor that attracts more bees and causing them to sting. The new stings create more of the chemical isoamyl acetate, which attracts more bees and increases the panic level of the victim. Killer bees tend to travel in large clusters or swarms and thus respond in large numbers to the production of isoamyl.

1	The subject of the preceding paragraph was most likely		6	Look at the word hybrid in paragraph 2. Click on the expression in paragraph 3 that is cosest in meaning to hybrid
	A	ways of producing honey
	B	stories in the media about killer bees
	C	the chemical nature of killer bee attacks
	D	the creation of the killer bee
2	The main idea of this passage is that killer bees		7	It is stated in the passage that killer bees
	A	have been in the news a lot recently		A	are more deadly than African bees
	B	have been moving unexpectedly rapidly through the Americas		B	are less aggressive than African bees
	C	are not as aggressive as their reputation suggests		C	never attack animals
	D	are a hybrid rather than a pure breed		D	always attack African bees
3	Look at the word “inflated” in paragraph 1. This word could best be replaced by		8	Look at the word They in paragraph 3. Click on the word or phrase that They refer to
	A	exaggerated
	B	blown
	C	aired
	D	burst
4	It can be inferred from the passage that the killer bee		9	What is NOT mentioned in the passage as a contributing factor in an attack by killer bees?
	A	travelled from Brazil to Africa in 1955		A	Panic by the victim
	B	was a predecessor of the African bee		B	An odorous chemical
	C	was carried from Africa to Brazil in 1955		C	Disturbance of the bees
	D	did not exist early in the twentieth century		D	Inclement weather
5	Why were African bees considered beneficial?		10	Click on the sentence in paragraph 3 that describes the size of the groups in which killer bees move.
	A	They produced an unusual type of honey.
	B	They spent their time travelling
	C	They were very aggressive
	D	They hid from inclement weather

QUESTIONS 11-21

Clara Barton is well known for her endeavors as a nurse on the battlefield during the Civil Wae and for her role in founding the American Red Cross. She is perhaps not as well known, however, for her role in establishing a bureau for tracing missing soldiers following the civil war. At the close of the Civil War, the United States did not have in place any agency responsible for accounting for what had happened to the innumerable men who had served in the military during the war, and many families had no idea as to the fate of their loved ones. Families were forced to agonize endlessly over where their loved ones were, what kind of shape they were in, whether or not they would return, and what had happened to them. 15A Clara Barton developed a system for using print media to publish the names of soldiers known to have been wounded or killed during various battles of the Civil War. 15B She made numerous unsuccessful attempts to interest various government officials in her plan. 15C However, it was not until Henry Wilson, a senator from the state of Massachusetts, took up her cause and presented her plan to President Lincoln that her plan was implemented. 15D With Lincoln’s assistance, Clara Barton was set up in a small government office with funding for a few clerks and the authority to examine military records. She and her clerks gathered and compiled information from military records and battlefield witnesses and published it in newspaper and magazines. Clara Barton operated the missing persons bureau for four years, from the end of the was in 1865 until 1869. During this period, she and her staff put out more than 100,000 printed lists, answered more than 60,000 letters, and accounted form more than 20,000 missing soldiers.

11	The purpose of this passage is		17	It can be inferred from the passage that the budget for Barton’s missing persons agency was
	A	to praise Clara Barton’s work as a battlefield nurse		A	quite lavish
	B	to outline Clara Barton’s role in establishing the American Red Cross		B	open-ended
	C	to malign the role of the U.S. government at the end of the Civil War		C	limited in scope
	D	to present one of Clara Barton’s lesser-known accomplishments		D	from private sources
12	Which of the following is NOT mentioned as one of the Clara Barton’s accomplishments?		18	Look at the word it in paragraph 4. Click on the word or phrase in paragraph 4 that it refers to.
	A	That she treated wounded Civil War soldiers
	B	That she was integral to the establishment of the American Red Cross
	C	That she served as an elected government official
	D	That she continued to work for the good of soldiers and their families after the Civil War
13	Look at the word close in paragraph 2. This word could best be replaced by		19	Which of the following did Clara Barton and her staff accomplish, according to the passage?
	A	near		A	They searched military records.
	B	battle		B	They responded to 100,000 letters.
	C	end		C	They printed a list with 100,000 names.
	D	shut		D	They talked with 20,000 missing soldiers.
14	What is stated in the passage about the issue of missing persons following the Civil War?		20	Click on the sentence in paragraph 4 that indicates the duration of the existence of Clara Barton’s missing person agency.
	A	The U.S. government was not officially prepared to deal with the issue.
	B	President Lincoln did not recognize that there was an issue.
	C	One U.S. government agency was responsible for the issue.
	D	U.S. citizens were unaware of the issue.
15	The following sentence could be added to paragraph 3. She was prepared to publish names that she herself had gathered on the battlefield as well as information gathered from others. Where would it best fit into the paragraph? Click on the square to add the sentence to the paragraph.		21	Click on the paragraph that describes Clara Barton’s efforts to establish a missing person bureau.
16	Look at the expression print media in paragraph 3. Click on the expression in paragraph 4 that is closest in meaning to print media.

QUESTIONS 22-34

Federal Express is a company that specializes in rapid overnight delivery of high-priority packages. The first company of its type, Federal Express was founded by the youthful Fred Smith in 1971, when he was only 28 years old; Smith had actually developed the idea for the rapid delivery service in a term paper for an economics class when he was a student at Yale University. The term paper reputedly received a less-than-stellar grade because of the infeasibility of the project that Smith had outlined. The model that Smith proposed had never been tried; it was a model that was efficient to operate but at the same time was very difficult to institute. Smith achieved efficiency in his model by designing a system that was separate from the passenger system and could, therefore, focus on how to deliver packages most efficiently. His strategy was to own his own planes so that he could create his own schedules and to ship all packages through the centralized hub city of Memphis, a set-up which resembles the spokes on the wheel of a bicycle. With this combination of his own planes and hub set-up, he could get packages anywhere in the United States overnight. What made Smith’s idea difficult to institute was the fact that the entire system had to be created before the company could begin operations. He needed a fleet of aircraft to collect packages from airports every night and deliver them to Memphis, where they were immediately sorted and flown out to their new destinations; he needed a fleet of trucks to deliver packages to and from the various airports; he needed facilities and trained staff all in place to handle the operation. Smith had a $4 million inheritance from his father, and he managed to raise an additional $91 million dollars from venture capitalists to get the company operating. 32A When Federal Express began service in 1973 in 25 cities, the company was not an immediate success, but success did come within a relatively short period of time. 32B The company lost $29 million in the first 26 months of operations. 32C By late 1976, Federal Express was carrying an average of 19,000 packages per night and had made a profit of $3.6 million. 32D

22	The most appropriate tittle for this passage is		29	It is NOT mentioned in the passage that, in order to set up his company, Smith needed
	A	The Problems and Frustrations of a Business Student		A	airplanes
	B	The Importance of Business Studies		B	trucks
	C	The Capitalization of Federal Express		C	personnel
	D	The Implementation of Successful Business		D	faculty
23	Look at the word developed in paragraph 1. This word could best be replaced bt		30	Click on the sentence in paragraph 3 that explains how Smith raised the capital he needed.
	A	come up with
	B	come about
	C	come across
	D	come into
24	What is stated in the passage about Smith’s term paper?		31	How long did it take Federal Express to become profitable?
	A	Smith submitted it through a delivery service		A	Two months
	B	It was written by a student of Smith’s.		B	One year
	C	Its grade was mediocre.		C	Three years
	D	The professor thought it had great potential.		D	Six years
25	What was a key idea of Smith’s?		32	The following sentence could be added to paragraph 4. However, the tide was to turn relatively quicly. Where would it best fit into the paragraph? Click on the square to add the sentence to the paragraph.
	A	That he should focus on passenger service.
	B	That package delivery should be separate from passenger service.
	C	That packages could be delivered on other companies’ planes
	D	That passenger service had to be efficient
26	Click on the drawing that most closely resembles a hub.		33	Click on the paragraph that explains what made Smith’s model effective.
27	It can be inferred from the passage that Smith selected Memphis as his hub city because it		34	The tone of the passage in describing Smith’s accomplishments is
	A	was near the middle of the country		A	unflattering
	B	had a large number of passenger aircraft		B	sincere
	C	already had a large package delivery service		C	unconvincing
	D	was a favourite passenger airport		D	snobbish
28	Look at they in paragraph 3. Click on the word or phrase that they refers to.

QUESTIONS 35-44

Perhaps better known that the Cullinan Diamond is the Hope Diamond, a valuable and rare blue gem with a background of more than 300 years as a world traveller. The 112-caret clue stone that later became the Hope Diamond was mined in India sometime before the middle of the seventeenth century and was first known to be owned by Shah Jahan, who built Taj Mahal in memory of his beloved wife. From India, the celebrated blue stone has changed hands often, moving from location to location in distant corners of the world. In the middle of the seventeenth century, a trader from France named Jean Baptise Tavernier acquired the large blue diamond, which was rumoured to have been illegally removed from a temple. Tavernier returned to France with the big blue gem, where the stone was purchased by the Sun King, Louis XIV. Louis XIV had it cut down from 112 to 67 carats to make its shape symmetrical and to maximize its sparkle. The newly cut diamond, still huge by any standards, was passed down through the royal family of France, until it arrived in the hands of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. During the French Revolution, Louis XVI and his wife met their fate on guillotine in 1793, and the big blue diamond disappeared from public sight. The diamond somehow managed to get from France to England, where banker Henry hope purchased it from a gem dealer early in the nineteenth century. The huge blue stone was cut into a 45.5 carat oval, and at this point it took on the name by which it is known today. The diamond stayed in the Hope family for around a century, when deep indebtedness brought on by a serious gambling habit on the part of one of Henry Hope’s heirs forced the sale of the diamond. From England, the Hope Diamond may have made its way into the hands of the Sultan of Turkey; whatever route it took to get there, it eventually went on to the United States when American Evelyn Walsh McLean purchased it in 1911. Mrs. McLean certainly enjoyed showing the diamond off; guests in her home were sometimes astounded to notice the huge stone embellishing the neck of McLean’s Great Dane as the huge pet trotted around the grounds of her Washington, D.C. home. The Hope Diamond later became the property of jeweller Harry Winston, who presented the stunning 45.5 carat piece to the Smithsonian in 1958. The Hope Diamond is now taking a well-earned rest following its rigorous travel itinerary and is on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., where it has been since 1958.

35	The paragraph proceeding the passage most likely discussed		40	Look at the word dealer in paragraph 3. A dealer is most likely a
	A	why gems are considered valuable		A	card player
	B	how the Hope Diamond was mined		B	miner
	C	a diamond other than the Hope Diamond		C	cutter
	D	methods for mining diamond		D	businessman
36	The main idea of this passage is that the Hope Diamond		41	It can be determined from the passage that Henry Hope most likely had how many carats cut off the Hope Diamond?
	A	came from India		A	21.5
	B	has moved around a lot		B	45.5
	C	has been cut several times		C	66.5
	D	now resides in the Smithsonian		D	67
37	Look at the word it in paragraph 2. Click on the word or phrase that it refers to.		42	According to the passage, Mrs. McLean
				A	donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian
				B	let her dog wear the Hope Diamond
				C	purchased the Hope Diamond from the French
				D	had the Hope Diamond cut to its present size of 45.5 carats
38	Click on the sentence in paragraph 2 that describes what happened to the royal French owners of the diamond.		43	Which country is NOT mentioned in the passage as a place where the Hope Diamond spent some time?
				A	India
				B	France
				C	England
				D	Denmark
39	It can be inferred from the passage that the author is not certain		44	Click on the paragraph that discusses the period when the Hope Diamond received its current name.
	A	who bought the Hope Diamond in England
	B	who sold the Hope Diamond in England
	C	how the Hope Diamond went from France to England
	D	how big the Hope Diamond was in the nineteenth century

ANSWER KEY

1	B	11	D	21	P3	31	C	41	A
2	C	12	C	22	D	32	C	42	B
3	A	13	C	23	A	33	P2	43	D
4	D	14	A	24	C	34	B	44	P3
5	C	15	B	25	B	35	C
6	mixed breed	16	newspapers and magazines	26	B	36	B
7	B	17	C	27	A	37	diamond
8	Experts	18	information	28	packages	38	P2, S5
9	D	19	A	29	D	39	C
10	P3, S9	20	P4, S3	30	P3, S3	40	D