THE HEINEMANN TOEFL COURSE PRACTICE TEST 4 READING PART 2 (Questions 12-18)

THE HEINEMANN TOEFL COURSE

PRACTICE TEST 4

READING

PART 2 (Questions 12-18)

line 5 Writing is arguably the most important invention in human history. The opportunity for human knowledge to build on other knowledge is severely limited without the medium of writing. Not only does writing allow a permanence to human thought but also a complexity and scope to human       expression that seem barely possible without it. line 10 The earliest known artifacts that could be considered writing by the loosest definition are the famous and extraordinarily beautiful 20,000-year-old "cave paintings" in southern France and northern Spain. The pictures, mostly of animals but with some human figures, possibly tell some sort of story or may merely be pictures with expressive, magical, or religious purpose. Other assorted pictures have been found antedating the rise of the great civilizations of the Near East, but line 15 the earliest artifacts that are clearly writing date from about only 5,500 years ago in   Mesopotamia. The earliest system of writing is usually attributed to the Sumerians of Mesopotamia during the end of the fourth millennium B.C. There, officials of such Sumerian city-states as Uruk had developed a system of recording numerals, line 20 pictographs, and ideographs on specially prepared clay surfaces. Although the clay blanks used by the Uruk scribes are universally referred to as  tablets, a word with the connotation of flatness, they are actually convex.  Individual characters were inscribed in the clay by means of a stylus made of wood, bone, or ivory, with one end blunt and the other pointed. The characters were basically of two kinds. Numerical signs were impressed into the clay; all other signs, pictographs, and ideographs alike, were incised with the pointed end of the stylus. The repertory of characters used by the Uruk scribes was large; it is estimated at no fewer than 1,500 separate signs. 12 This passage mainly discusses A "cave paintings" as an expressive achievement early writing systems the Uruk culture in Mesopotamia writing instruments of the Uruk scribes B C D 13 According to the passage, the invention of writing was important for all of the following reasons EXCEPT A it allowed for the development of human knowledge it encouraged complexity of thinking it began in Mesopotamia it allowed human thought to be permanently recorded B C D 14 The phrase "attributed to" in line 13 is closest in meaning to A blamed on credited to characterized by replaced by B C D 15 The word "incised" in line 22 is closest in meaning to A painted erased cut embroidered B C D 16 Which of the following terms does NOT refer to something on which early writing was inscribed? A Clay surfaces Characters Clay blanks Tablets B C D 17 According to the passage, how were pictographs recorded? A They were cut into the clay. They were painted onto the surface. They were pressed into the clay. They were brushed onto the surface. B C D 18 The word "repertory" in line 23 is closest in meaning to A arrangement composition understanding number B C D

ANSWER KEY

12. В   The correct answer is (B) because this is the central idea of the passage. Answers (A) and (D) are too narrow to be the topic; answer (C) is too general to be the topic of the passage. 13. С   The correct answer is (C) because answers (A), (B), and (D) are stated in the first paragraph as reasons why writing was the most important invention in human history. 14. B   The sentence in which the phrase "attributed to" occurs, The earliest system of writing is usually attributed to the Sumerians ... , is followed by a description of the Uruk writing system. We infer from the context that the Sumerians developed the earliest writing system. Therefore, answer choice (B) credited to is correct. 15. C   Lines 20-22 state that there were two kinds of signs. We infer that incise is different from impress, and that the pointed end of the stylus would make a sharp mark. Therefore, answer choice (C) cut is correct. 16. B    The correct answer is (B) because the other answer choices are mentioned in the passage as things on which early writing was inscribed: (A) in line 16; (C) and (D) in lines 17-18. According to line 19, characters were what was inscribed on a surface. 17. A  The correct answer (A) is found in line 22. Incised is similar in meaning to cut into. In the context of the passage, incised with the pointed end of the stylus is a clue to the meaning of incised. (B) and (D) are not mentioned in the passage, and (C) refers to numerical signs, according to line 21. 18. D   Clues to the meaning of "repertory" are the fact that the repertory of characters... was large; it is estimated at no fewer than 1,500 signs (lines 23-24). We infer that "repertory" includes a large number of signs. The best answer choice is (D) number.