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TOEFL ITP PRACTICE TEST VOLUME 1
PRACTICE TEST B (30-39)
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 20-29
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The Comstock Lode in Nevada
was the scene of one of the biggest silver mining booms in the history of
the opening up of the North American West. It was discovered in 1859, but
productivity did not reach its peak until the 1870’s when many large silver
deposits were discovered. A large number of mines are scattered along the
five-kilometer length of the lode, which is basically a mineralized fault
zone, separating geologically young andesite and dacite lavas from older
rocks. The lode forms a flattish sheet, inclined at about 40 degrees to the
horizontal, and reaches a maximum thickness of 120 meters and a depth of
1,000 meters, although most of the richest ore was found well above this
level.
As in so many of the world’s
mines, the mining operations on the Comstock Lode were severely hampered by
water flooding into the workings. At Comstock, though, the problems were
particularly acute, since the water was extremely hot, reaching 64 degrees
Celsius in some places. Geologically, the presence of such large volumes of
hot water was immensely significant, since it implied that beneath the
Comstock Lode there was still a large mass of hot igneous rock that might
be producing more mineralization. For a long while this near-scalding water
made it impossible to mine much below the 1,000-meter level, and many
miners were killed by it, either directly by falling into the water or
indirectly through the effects of overexertion in the very high
temperatures of the mine galleries. No fewer than 53 miners died in one
period of 22 months ending in May 1877.To combat this it was decided to dig
a six-kilometer-long tunnel to drain and ventilate the upper parts of the
mine workings. This tunnel, which became known as the Sutro Tunnel, took
many years of extremely hard work to complete, and the succession of
physical obstacles and financial crises that were successfully overcome in
its construction have become legendary, comparable in some ways with the
heroic engineering involved in the laying of the first transcontinental
railway across the United States.
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30. The word “It” in line 2 refers to
(A) Comstock Lode
(B) history
(C) productivity
(D) peak
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31. The word “scattered” in line 4 is
closest in meaning to
(A) combined
(B) spread out
(C) easily identified
(D) preserved
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32. Where in the passage does the author
describe a lode?
(A) Lines 4-6
(B) Lines 10-11
(C) Lines 13-16
(D) Lines 21-22
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33. What is the main idea of the second
paragraph?
(A) The Comstock Lode mines were the most
successful in North American history.
(B) The Comstock Lode mines had severe
problems affecting their operation.
(C) The transcontinental railroad made
mines profitable.
(D) Thousands of workers were employed in
the Comstock Lode mines.
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34. The word “hampered” in line 11 is
closest in meaning to
(A) overwhelmed
(B) deepened
(C) prolonged
(D) disrupted
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35. The word “acute” in line 12 is
closest in meaning to
(A) fiery
(B) unsolvable
(C) serious
(D) sensitive
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36. According to the passage, what can be
signaled by the presence of hot igneous rock?
(A) Flooding
(B) Uneven deposits of ore
(C) Low water levels
(D) Continuing mineralization
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37. What was the purpose of the Sutro
Tunnel?
(A) To relieve flooding and bring air
into the mine
(B) To get miners to the Comstock Lode
quickly
(C) To pump the hot water out of the mine
and bring cold water in to cool it
(D) To transport ore to the surface
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38. The word “obstacles” in line 24 is
closest in meaning to
(A) injuries
(B) objects
(C) qualifications
(D) difficulties
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39. The
author compares the construction of the Sutro Tunnel to the first transcontinental
railroad in North America because both projects
(A) were accomplished quickly
(B) employed young workers
(C) were challenging to complete
(D) lost money
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