PRACTICE TEST A (7) SECTION 3: READING COMPREHENSION TOEFL ITP PRACTICE TEST

 

TOEFL ITP PRACTICE TEST VOLUME 1 PRACTICE TEST A (7) SECTION 3: READING COMPREHENSION

 

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: 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.   Example 1 What is the main idea of the passage? A In modern society, we must take more time for our neighbors. B The traditions of society are timeless. C An accepted way of measuring time is essential for the smooth functioning of society. D Society judges people by the times at which they conduct certain activities. 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 A B C D   Example II In line 5, the phrase “this tradition” refers to A the practice of starting the business day at dawn B friendly relations between neighbors C the railroad’s reliance on time schedules D people’s agreement on the measurement of time 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 A B C D   Questions 21-30 Astronomers have long used direct photography to gather large amounts of information from telescopes. To do this, they have special light-sensitive coatings on glass plates, whose size depends on the type of telescope employed. Certain wide-field telescopes commonly required very large glass plates. These plates do not bend, can be measured accurately, and can preserve information over a long period of time, providing a record that an astronomer at a later time can examine. However, even though long time exposures increase the amount of light striking the plate so that very faint objects in the sky eventually show up clearly, even the most sensitive plates convert only a small percent of the photons striking them into an image. For this reason, photography cannot make very efficient use of short time exposures on a telescope. Despite this inefficiency, photography is still very useful because it works as a two-dimensional detector covering a large area at a telescope’s focus. Hence, the information contained in a single photograph can be enormous, especially when the photograph is taken with wide-field telescopes. Today, the technology of newer radio and x-ray telescopes has allowed astronomers to view images otherwise invisible to the eye, and direct photography is now used less often to gather images. Today’s astronomers can study an enhanced view of a telescope’s focus on a television monitor; and in most cases, the data can later be converted by computer into digital form. This procedure, called image processing, plays a central role in astronomy today. Using false colors, the computer can display images of information otherwise undetectable to the unaided eye. These colors are false in the sense that they are not the actual colors of the object in the visual range of the spectrum. Rather, they are codes to a specific property, such as the x-ray emissions from stars.   21.       What is the main topic of the passage? (A)       The use of false colors in image processing (B)       The use of wide-field telescopes in astronomy (C)       New astronomical theories (D)       Methods used by astronomers to obtain information 22.       The word “employed” in line 3 is closest in meaning to (A)       measured (B)       inspected (C)       used (D)       purchased 23.       The word “efficient” in line 10 is closest in meaning to (A)       productive (B)       frequent (C)       objective (D)       visible 24.       Which of the following is NOT mentioned as an advantage of glass-plate photographs? (A)       They can be measured accurately. (B)       They can capture the images of faint objects. (C)       They can be stored for a long time. (D)       They can be processed quickly. 25.       Astronomers most probably use direct photography less frequently today than in the past because (A)       glass plates are no longer available (B)       only a small amount of information is contained in a single photograph (C)       alternate ways of observing images have been developed (D)       photographic data deteriorates quickly 26.       What is image processing? (A)       The process of light waves striking a glass plate (B)       A way to produce images more quickly (C)       A reevaluation of old photographs (D)       A way computers can present data for analysi 27.       The word “undetectable” in line 23 is closest in meaning to (A)       immense (B)       inferior (C)       imperceptible (D)       intolerable 28.       Why do computer-generated images use false colors? (A)       The real objects are too bright to look at. (B)       The computer screens have a limited range of colors. (C)       The properties represented in the image are not otherwise visible. (D)       The colors are used to convert black-and-white photographs. 29.       Why does the author mention “x-ray emissions” in line 25? (A)       To discuss the measurement of energy flow (B)       To emphasize the precision of direct photography (C)       To provide an example of what false colors represent (D)       To compare the properties of color and movement 30.       Where in the passage does the author mention a disadvantage of photography? (A)       Lines 1-3 (B)       Lines 7-11 (C)       Lines 18-21 (D)       Lines 24-25

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