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TOEFL ITP PRACTICE TEST VOLUME 1
PRACTICE TEST A (6)
SECTION 3: READING COMPREHENSION
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Time: 55 minutes, including the reading of the
directions
Now set your clock for 55 minutes.
Directions: In this section you will read
several passages. Each passage is followed by several questions about it.
For questions 1-50, you are to choose the one best answer, (A), (B), (C) or
(D), to each question. Then, on your answer sheet, find the number of the
question and fill in the space that corresponds to the letter of the answer
you have chosen.
Answer all questions following a passage on the
basis of what is stated or implied in the passage.
Read the following sample passage:
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The railroad was not the first institution to
impose regularity on society, or to draw attention to the importance of
precise timekeeping. For as long as merchants have set out their wares at
daybreak and communal festivities have been celebrated, people have been
in rough agreement with their neighbors as to the time of day. The value
of this tradition
is today more apparent than ever. Were it not for public acceptance of a
single yardstick of time, social life would be unbearably chaotic: the
massive daily transfers of goods, services, and information would proceed
in fits and starts; the very fabric of modern society would begin to
unravel.
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Example 1
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What is the main idea of the passage?
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A
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In modern society, we must
take more time for our neighbors.
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B
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The traditions of society are timeless.
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C
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An accepted way of
measuring time is essential for the smooth functioning of society.
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D
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Society judges people by the times at which
they conduct certain activities.
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The main idea of the passage is that societies
need to agree about how time is to be measured in order to function
smoothly. Therefore, you should choose (C).
Sample Answer
Example II
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In line 5, the phrase “this tradition” refers to
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A
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the practice of starting
the business day at dawn
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B
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friendly relations between neighbors
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C
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the railroad’s reliance on
time schedules
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D
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people’s agreement on the measurement of time
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The phrase “this tradition” refers to the
preceding clause, “people have been in rough agreement with their neighbors
as to the time of day.”Therefore, you should choose (D).
Sample
Answer
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Questions 11-20
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By the 1920’s in the United
States, great change had been made in daily life by an accumulation of
inventions that had been produced in increasing numbers since the Civil
War. These technological innovations created what, in effect, was a social
revolution.
Improvements in
communications served to knit more closely citizens of diverse ethnic and political
backgrounds. Rapid printing presses, typesetting devices, and page-plate
processes made printed matter more widely accessible. The telephone
simplified person-to-person communication. The phonograph, the silent
motion picture, the radio, and the sound picture for the first time made
auditory and visual impact simultaneously possible over the whole country
and had the inevitable, and perhaps undesirable, effect of establishing a
trend to national conformity in thought and feeling. One could call this
revolution the nationalization of thought and taste.
Improvements in
transportation made all parts of the country less remote from each other
when measured by the time required to go from one place to another.
Bicycles and trolleys put the nation on wheels. Then the automobile
provided the means for speed and mobility, now so dear to Americans, and
brought a demand for better highways. By the 1920’s cargo trucks were
beginning to cut into railroad revenues, and the latest wonder, the
airplane, was a fairly common sight.
The transport revolution was
made possible by the development and perfection of new engines and motors.
The internal-combustion engine, using gasoline or oil, could be built in
compact power units admirably suited to automobiles, aircraft, and boats.
The use of electricity, generated by water power or coal-burning plants,
simplified the problems of mechanical power for industrial use and made
electrical illumination commonplace in cities, indoors and out.
Electricity also powered an
increasing variety of domestic appliances.
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11. The passage focuses on the United
States in the 1920’s primarily in terms of the
(A) creativity of American inventors
(B) decline in social relationships
(C) influence of technology on society
(D) negative side of technological
progress
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12. The word “knit” in line 5 is closest
in meaning to
(A) unite
(B) attract
(C) inform
(D) study
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13. The word “accessible” in line 7 is
closest in meaning to
(A) understandable
(B) read
(C) printed
(D) available
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14. According to the author, expanded
communications led to a decrease in
(A) individuality
(B) travel
(C) patriotism
(D) entertainment
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15. The words “each other” in line 15
refer to
(A) improvements in transportation
(B) parts of the country
(C) bicycles and trolleys
(D) better highways
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16. The word “mobility” in line 17 is
closest in meaning to
(A) excitement
(B) movement
(C) modernity
(D) control
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17. According
to the passage, which of the following modes of transportation was
negatively affected by motor vehicles?
(A) Trolleys
(B) Bicycles
(C) Trains
(D) Airplanes
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18. The passage suggests that a major
advantage of the internal-combustion engine was its
(A) safety
(B) size
(C) durability
(D) price
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19. The
author identifies all of the following as contributors to the “social
revolution” of the 1920’s EXCEPT
(A) improved communication
(B) improved transportation
(C) improvements resulting from
electricity
(D) improvements in the arts
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20. Where
in the passage does the author give an example of a technological advance
that led to a demand for improvement in another area?
(A) Lines 6-7
(B) Lines 16-17
(C) Lines 21-23
(D) Line 26
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