Reading Comprehension Test

May 27, 28, 29 Reading exercises on line and in Lisa's book as well as the Kaplan with some Ted Talks as well.

Reading Comprehension Passage #1

"After Review, Giant Sequoia Beats Neighbor"
The ranks of the world's biggest trees have changed, with The President now edging out its neighbor for the No. 2 spot.
By Tracie Cone

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Deep in the Sierra Nevada, the famous General Grant giant sequoia tree is suffering its loss of stature in silence. What once was the world's No. 2 biggest tree has been supplanted thanks to the most comprehensive measurements taken of the largest living things on Earth.

The new No. 2 is The President, a 54,000-cubic-foot gargantuan not far from the Grant in Sequoia National Park. After 3,240 years, the giant sequoia still is growing wider at a consistent rate, which may be what most surprised the scientists examining how the sequoias and coastal redwoods will be affected by climate change and whether these trees have a role to play in combating it.

"I consider it to be the greatest tree in all of the mountains of the world," said Stephen Sillett, a redwood researcher whose team from Humboldt State University is seeking to mathematically assess the potential of California's iconic trees to absorb planet-warming carbon dioxide.

The researchers are a part of the 10-year Redwoods and Climate Change Initiative funded by the Save the Redwoods League in San Francisco. The measurements of The President, reported in the current National Geographic, dispelled the previous notion that the big trees grow more slowly in old age.

It means, the experts say, the amount of carbon dioxide they absorb during photosynthesis continues to increase over their lifetimes.

In addition to painstaking measurements of every branch and twig, the team took 15 half-centimeter-wide core samples of The President to determine its growth rate, which they learned was stunted in the abnormally cold year of 1580 when temperatures in the Sierra hovered near freezing even in the summer and the trees remained dormant.

But that was an anomaly, Sillett said. The President adds about one cubic meter of wood a year during its short six-month growing season, making it one of the fastest-growing trees in the world. Its 2 billion leaves are thought to be the most of any tree on the planet, which would also make it one of the most efficient at transforming carbon dioxide into nourishing sugars during photosynthesis.

"We're not going to save the world with any one strategy, but part of the value of these great trees is this contribution and we're trying to get a handle on the math behind that," Sillett said.

After the equivalent of 32 working days dangling from ropes in The President, Sillett's team is closer to having a mathematical equation to determine its carbon conversion potential, as it has done with some less famous coastal redwoods. The team has analyzed a representative sample that can be used to model the capacity of the state's signature trees.

More immediately, however, the new measurements could lead to a changing of the guard in the land of giant sequoias. The park would have to update signs and brochures - and someone is going to have to correct the Wikipedia entry for "List of largest giant sequoias," which still has The President at No. 3.

Now at 93 feet in circumference and with 45,000 cubic feet of trunk volume and another 9,000 cubic feet in its branches, the tree named for President Warren G. Harding is about 15 percent larger than Grant, also known as America's Christmas Tree. Sliced into one-foot by one-foot cubes, The President would cover a football field.

Giant sequoias grow so big and for so long because their wood is resistant to the pests and disease that dwarf the lifespan of other trees, and their thick bark makes them impervious to fast-moving fire.

It's that resiliency that makes sequoias and their taller coastal redwood cousin worthy of intensive protections - and even candidates for cultivation to pull carbon from an increasingly warming atmosphere, Sillett said. Unlike white firs, which easily die and decay to send decomposing carbon back into the air, rot-resistant redwoods stay solid for hundreds of years after they fall.

Though sequoias are native to California, early settlers traveled with seedlings back to the British Isles and New Zealand, where a 15-foot diameter sequoia that is the world's biggest planted tree took root in 1850. Part of Sillett's studies involves modeling the potential growth rate of cultivated sequoia forests to determine over time how much carbon sequestering might increase.

All of that led him to a spot 7,000 feet high in the Sierra and to The President, which he calls "the ultimate example of a giant sequoia." Compared to the other giants whose silhouettes are bedraggled by lightning strikes, The President's crown is large with burly branches that are themselves as large as tree trunks.

The world's biggest tree is still the nearby General Sherman with about 2,000 cubic feet more volume than the President, but to Sillett it's not a contest.

"They're all superlative in their own way," Sillett said.

1. The word "supplanted" in paragraph 1 
A) inquisitive 
B) Has a double-meaning both as a pun on the topic of plants and a literal meaning of "to replace" 
C) Is a synonym for "to plant again" 
D) Has the same meaning as "to plant," with extra emphasis 

2. One common myth about trees that The President helps disprove is
A) That giant sequoias are more resilient than other tree species 
B) That old trees are as productive at photosynthesis as younger ones 
C) That only giant sequoias may be named after historical figures 
D) That large trees grow more slowly as they age 

3. What is the primary benefit that Sillett and other researchers suggest that giant sequoias may have?
A) Their natural beauty can have health benefits for those who travel to wildlife preserves to see them 
B) They represent centuries of natural history that no other living things do 
C) Because of their size, they are able to process more carbon dioxide than other trees, which can have significant benefits for the atmosphere 
D) Their resilient bark may have eventual uses in human medicine. 

4. The giant sequoias are compared to white firs to demonstrate that?
A) Even when the sequoias fall, they do not decay and so send less carbon into the air 
B) White firs are more plentiful because they grow and decay more quickly than sequoias 
C) The giant sequoias are completely resistant to death 
D) White firs are essential because when they decompose they emit necessary nutrients 

5. The President has grown every year EXCEPT
A) 1850 
B) 2012 
C) 1580 
D) The President has grown every year of its life 

6. All of the following contribute to the lifespan of the giant sequoia EXCEPT
A) They are resistant to diseases that can affect other tree species 
B) Their size makes them less vulnerable to animal attacks 
C) They are resistant to pests that commonly inhabit trees 
D) Their thick bark protects them from wildfires. 

7. The term "changing of the guard" in Paragraph 10 means
A) The size rankings of various large sequoias is being reevaluated 
B) Human security will be employed to protect these valuable trees 
C) Wildlife parks will bring in new equipment to ensure the safety of the trees 
D) A new schedule of shifts will be made for studying the trees 

8. What does the term "cultivated sequoia forests" in Paragraph 14 imply?
A) Current sequoia reserves will be altered to grow in particular patterns 
B) That sequoias may be specially grown in the future for the sole purpose of filtering carbon from the air 
C) New forests may be grown globally to promote the beauty of the species 
D) Wildlife parks will make more of an effort in the future to direct visitors to the sequoia forests 

9. Giant sequoias are native to California, but can also be found in 
A) New Zealand 
B) France 
C) South America 
D) Australia 

10. In the final sentence, the word "superlative" is closest in meaning to
A) Best of a species 
B) Most beautiful 
C) The winner of a contest 
D) Having individual, unique merit 

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Reading Comprehension Passage #2

"Surprise! Empire State Building Switches to LED" 
While New York slept, the Empire State Building switched on a new light show with the capability to produce millions of color combinations and effects. 

In the middle of the night, as most of New York slept, something big and bright lit up the Manhattan skyline for just seconds-a tightly kept secret to all but a handful of people.

It was a tiny test for the huge public surprise four days later: the flipping of a switch at the Empire State Building to turn on its dancing new LED lights. They burst from the skyscraper while synchronized with R&B star Alicia Keys singing "Empire State of Mind" on nationwide radio.

The LED system has "16.7 million color possibilities, in digital combinations of ripples, sparkles, sweeps and strobes," says Phil O'Donnell, of Burlington, Mass.-based Philips Color Kinetics that's responsible for the system and worked with a resident lighting designer. "It's the sum of all possibilities - a huge palette."

The old lights came in only 10 colors.

From Manhattan and the Bronx to Staten Island and even New Jersey, "there were hundreds of thousands of people on the streets looking up, filming and videoing, clustered on street corners," when the new lights came on, said Anthony Malkin, whose family controls the iconic Art Deco building.

In an interview with The Associated Press at his office, he glowed with pleasure describing Monday night's inaugural light show.

Keys also sang "Girl On Fire" from her new CD.

After all, the 102-story skyscraper "has always been a symbol of what's possible in New York, and all the dreams that can come true in this city that never sleeps," Keys, a New York native, said before her performance, which was ready on tracks while she watched from a Manhattan studio.

Malkin and his technical team wanted to test the new lighting system with as few people noticing as possible and chose early Thanksgiving morning.

Good luck, in the middle of Manhattan, with people walking around even at 2:30 a.m.

That seemed the best moment, after most bars close and before dawn.

"We decided to do it facing west, in very short bursts between 2:30 a.m. and 3 a.m., because we knew we didn't have a camera trained on us from there," Malkin said.

Apparently, the secret test worked. No images of the Empire State Building alight that night appeared anywhere, as far as Malkin knows.

To stage the show, he worked with Clear Channel radio, which has 239 million monthly listeners in the United States.

The lights are part of a larger effort to modernize the 81-year-old edifice that is undergoing a more than half a billion-dollar renovation that includes making it "green." The computerized LED system will cut energy consumption by more than half, while delivering light and vibrancy superior to the old floodlights, which have huge timpani drum-size lenses that had to be changed every so often, O'Donnell said.

They may still have nostalgic value to some who watched them light up New York City for every special occasion from Christmas to the Fourth of July.

They were part of "the grande dame of the New York skyline, now state-of-the-art, but still stately," says Malkin, adding that the light show was "a gift we gave to the world, these lights. We don't get paid for this."

On a sunny Wednesday afternoon, with a spectacular view of the new World Trade Center and New York Harbor, a vacant space under reconstruction on the building's 72nd floor was filled with the retired floodlights, sitting side by side in long lines, veterans of years of New York weather. What will be done with them is also a secret - for now.

One old light will not be discarded in favor of a 21st century novelty: a red beacon - "half the size of a Volkswagen Beetle," as Malkin puts it - that serves as a warning signal for aircraft constantly flying over New York City.

1. What is the primary purpose of the first sentence of the article? 
A) To explain that New Yorkers are commonly asleep in the middle of the night. 
B) To mislead readers into thinking the light flash was some sort of attack 
C) To build suspense and curiosity so that the reader wants to know more" 
D) To suggest that there is a secret organization working late at night at the Empire State Building 

2. The phrase "huge palette" in Paragraph 3 is most likely
A) A metaphor for the scope and range of combinations the new LED lights have 
B) A literal explanation of the shape of the new lights, which form an artist's palette 
C) An extreme over exaggeration meant to draw more onlookers to the new display 
D) A way to emphasize the amount of lights, since 16.7 could never fit onto a palette 

3. What does Alicia Keys suggest the Empire State building is a symbol of?
A) A way for Americans to have a landmark similar to other major global cities 
B) The iconic American capacity to push boundaries and break new ground in art and architecture. 
C) Lights that are always on due to the number of New Yorkers who work night shifts 
D) That any person can use the new lights as a way to make a wish, as people do with other world landmarks. 

4. To help keep the new lights secret during their initial test, all precautions were taken EXCEPT:
A) Conducting the test in the middle of the night 
B) Conducting the test facing west, away from cameras 
C) Conducting the test in short bursts, so that there was no sustained lighting 
D) Conducting the test with additional sound effects to distract anyone who might be on the street 

5. What was the primary reason Malkin and his team choose to test the new LED lights in the middle of the night?
A) Because the lights are impossible to see in the daylight 
B) So that no spies would be awake to steal the new lighting design 
C) Because his team only works at night, to enhance their creativity 
D) So that when they made the formal reveal to the city and world, it would be a true surprise 

6. How does the new LED display contribute to the Empire State Building's efforts to become more "green"?
A) The lights will be bright enough to reflect into the building, allowing less lighting to be used indoors 
B) The new lighting will consume almost half the amount of energy the old lights did 
C) The lights can become green in color, to cover the entire building 
D) The lights will be solar-powered, generating their own electricity. 

7. The article suggests that some older people might miss the old lights. Why is this?
A) The elderly who have poorer eyesight have an easier time seeing the old lights 
B) The older generation might not understand the technology behind the new LED lighting
C) Those who used to work in the Empire State Building will no longer be able to recognize it without the old, larger lights 
D) The old lights represented momentous occasions in American history, and may still have nostalgic value 8. In the second-to-last paragraph, the old floodlights are described as "veterans." What is the most suitable explanation for this word in context?
A) The old lights have worked through the years, despite harsh weather conditions and continual use for special occassions 
B) The old lights have been up through many previous wars, making them literal veterans 
C) The old lights were dedicated to the Empire State Building to memorialize war heroes 
D) The old lights were only used before to celebrate Veteran's Day 

9. Currently, how many of the former lights are set to be preserved for a specific purpose? 
A) All, to replace other major lights around the city 
B) None, they are all set to be discarded entirely 
C) Five, spaced across Central Park for more light and better security 
D) One, to serve as a warning beacon for aircraft 

10. Why might it be important for the Empire State's global image to replace its lighting?
A) To represent that it is both environmentally conscious as well as technologically advanced 
B) To prove that other world landmarks are not as spectacular 
C) To suggest that despite its being decades-old, the Empire State Building is still relevant 
D) To provide New Yorkers and visitors with better entertainment

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Reading Comprehension Passage #3

"Research: Change in walking may indicate cognitive decline" By Janice Lloyd

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Subtle changes in the way a person walks can be an early warning sign of cognitive decline and a signal for advanced testing, according to research out at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2012. 

The findings are the first to link a physical symptom to disease, which up until now, required doctors to begin a diagnosis by focusing on cognition and administering lengthy neurological exams. The evidence in the five studies is "robust," say experts, adding walking changes can occur even before cognition decline surfaces. The presentation on the opening day of the weeklong meetings follows a government plan announced in May to help train doctors to detect the disease earlier and to find a cure by 2025. 

"Monitoring deterioration and other changes in a person's gait is ideal because it doesn't require any expensive technology or take a lot of time to assess,'' says Bill Thies, chief medical and scientific officer for the Alzheimer's Association. 

The disease affects 5.4 million mostly older people in the USA, numbers expected to spike to 16 million in 2050 as the Baby Boomers age. Nearly 5,000 researchers are attending the meetings in Vancouver, where dozens of studies will address new treatments currently being tested in trials and how lifestyle influences the disease. 

"Walking and movements require a perfect and simultaneous integration of multiple areas of the brain,'' says Rodolfo Savica, author of a study done at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. 

Walking changes occur because the disease interferes with the circuitry between these areas of brain. Savica ruled out other diseases (Parkinson's, arthritis) as possible causes of gait change. 

In the Mayo Clinic study, researchers measured the stride length, cadence and velocity of more than 1,341 participants through a computerized gait instrument at two or more visits roughly 15 months apart. They found that study participants with lower cadence, velocity and length of stride experienced significantly larger declines in global cognition, memory and executive function. 

"These changes support a possible role of gait changes as an early predictor of cognitive impairment,'' Savica says. 

Another large study of 1,153 adults with a mean age of 78 done by researchers at the Basel Mobility Center in Basel Switzerland found gait became "slower and more variable as cognition decline progressed.'' 

Participants were divided into groups based on their cognitive diagnoses: cognitively healthy, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Alzheimer's dementia. Gait was measured using a walkway with nearly 30,000 integrated sensors. 

"Those with Alzheimer's dementia walked slower than those with MCI, who in turn walked slower that those who were cognitively healthy,'' says Stephanie Bridenbaugh, lead researcher. 

Bridenbaugh says analysis of walking could also be used to show if treatments to treat the disease are working. 

"At the annual wellness visit required by Medicare, a physician could add a walking test to the checklist without adding a lot of extra time,'' says Thies. 

Yet, one of the study's researchers said that one annual test wouldn't work with everyone. 

"You'd be surprised how many people say to me 'He doesn't walk that well at home,' when I give them a gait test in the office,'' says physician Lisa Silbert. 
1. The word "robust" in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to
A) durable
B) healthy
C) full-bodied
D) strong 

2. According to paragraph 2, why is this new evidence about walking so important to Alzheimer's researchers?
A) It demonstrates that walking longer distances may improve your chances of developing disease
B) It could potentially be the earliest indication of potential Alzheimer's disease in patients who show no other outward symptoms
C) It could help prevent doctor liability in diagnosing these cases
D) It is something that could be observed and logged by family and friends 

3. Why is the statistic in paragraph 4 about the potential spike in Alzheimer's patients significant?
A) It shows that, because Alzheimer's primarily impacts older people, as largest generation (the Baby Boomers) ages, the number of cases will likely rise dramatically
B) It suggests that if the next generation wants to be healthy, they must have their gait tested now
C) It is of no real concern to the younger generation because Social Security will pay for medical care
D) The lifestyle of older generations is significantly poorer than that of younger generations 

4. The statement made in paragraph 5 implies all of the following EXCEPT 
A) Movements require many complex interactions within the brain
B) Our movements and cognitive state could very well be closely linked
C) Movement may become impaired if any one brain activity is somehow altered
D) Our brains have no control over our walking or movements 

5. In paragraph 7, the word "cadence" is closest in meaning to
A) musical beat
B) rhythm of steps
C) intonation
D) sequence of movement

6. What is the most significant discovery of the Mayo Clinic study described in paragraph 7?
A) Cadence, velocity, and length of stride are all independent variables that impact cognitive function in different ways
B) The slower the participant's walk, the greater their memory capacity
C) The pace of participants' walk demonstrated no correlation to brain activity
D) The ways in which the participants walked had a definitive relationship to cognitive functioning 

7. Which of the following is NOT a population or group studied in the experiments the article discusses?
A) movement impaired
B) mild cognitive impairment (MCI
C) cognitively healthy
D) Alzheimer's dementia 

8. Throughout the article, "gait" is mostly often used to refer to
A) walking speed
B) the time it takes to transition from a walk to a run
C) a combination of cadence, length of stride, and velocity
D) the posture used while walking 

9. What is the primary argument that the article makes AGAINST the link between gait and cognitive decline?
A) Areas of the brain that control movement are completely separate from those with cognitive function
B) Walking speed can change significantly depending upon the scenario and conditions
C) Dementia has no relationship to brain size
D) An annual test is too often to show significant changes over time 

10. What best summarizes the overarching idea of the article?
A) The speed at which we walk and potential decline in cognitive function as we age is clearly proven by the studies presented in the article
B) Whatever your current walking speed is, the better shape you are in and the faster you become can both directly lower your chance of developing Alzheimer's
C) Annual gait tests are an expensive and ineffective test to add to Alzheimer's screenings
D) There is a definite probability that aspects of human gait and cognitive function are related, but the evidence is far from definitive 

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Reading Comprehension Passage #4
From the article "Against the Undertow: Language-Minority Education Policy and Politics in the 'Age of Accountability'" by Terrence G Wiley and Wayne E. Wright

Language diversity has always been part of the national demographic landscape of the United States. At the time of the first census in 1790, about 25% of the population spoke languages other than English (Lepore, 2002). Thus, there was a diverse pool of native speakers of other languages at the time of the founding of the republic. Today, nationwide, school districts have reported more than 400 languages spoken by language-minority students classified as limited English proficient (LEP) students (Kindler, 2002). Between 1991 and 2002, total K-12 student enrollment rose only 12%, whereas LEP student enrollment increased 95% during this same time period (National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition, 2002b). This rapid increase and changing demographics has intensified the long debate over the best way to educate language-minority students.

Historically, many groups attempted to maintain their native languages even as they learned English, and for a time, some were able to do so with relatively little resistance until a wave of xenophobia swept the country during World War 1 (Kloss, 1977/1998). Other groups, Africans, and Native Americans encountered repressive politics much earlier. During the 1960s, a more tolerant policy climate emerged. However, for the past two decades there has been a steady undertow of resistance to bilingualism and bilingual education. This article provides historical background and analyzes contemporary trends in language-minority education within the context of the recent national push for accountability, which typically takes the form of high-stakes testing.

The origins of persistent themes regarding the popular antagonisms toward bilingual education and the prescribed panaceas of "English immersion" and high-stakes testing in English need to be scrutinized. As background to the contemporary context, we briefly discuss the history of language politics in the United States and the ideological underpinnings of the dominant monolingual English ideology. We analyze the recent attacks on bilingual education for what this attack represents for educational policy within a multilingual society such as the United States. We emphasize multilingual because most discussions of language policy are framed as if monolingualism were part of our heritage from which we are now drifting. Framing the language policy issues in this way masks both the historical and contemporary reality and positions non-English language diversity as an abnormality that must be cured. Contrary to the steady flow of disinformation, we begin with the premise that even as English has historically been the dominant language in the United States since the colonial era, language diversity has always been a fact of life. Thus, efforts to deny that reality represent a "malady of mind" (Blaut, 1993) that has resulted in either restrictionist or repressive language policies for minorities.

As more states ponder imposing restrictions on languages of instruction other than English-as California, Arizona, and Massachusetts have recently done-it is useful to highlight several questions related to the history of language politics and language planning in the United States. Educational language planning is frequently portrayed as an attempt to solve the language problems of the minority. Nevertheless, the historical record indicates that schools have generally failed to meet the needs of language-minority students (Deschenes, Cuban, & Tyack, 2001) and that the endeavor to plan language behavior by forcing a rapid shift to English has often been a source of language problems that has resulted in the denial of language rights and hindered linguistic access to educational, social, economic, and political benefits even as the promoters of English immersion claim the opposite.

The dominance of English was established under the British during the colonial period, not by official decree but through language status achievement, that is, through "the legitimization of a government's decisions regarding acceptable language for those who are to carry out the political, economic, and social affairs of the political process" (Heath, 1976, p.51). English achieved dominance as a result of the political and socioeconomic trade between England and colonial administrators, colonists, and traders. Other languages coexisted with English in the colonies with notable exceptions. Enslaved Africans were prohibited from using their native tongues for fear that it would facilitate resistance or rebellion. From the 1740s forward, southern colonies simultaneously institutionalized "compulsory ignorance" laws that prohibited those enslaved from acquiring English literacy for similar reasons. These restrictive slave codes were carried forward as the former southern colonies became states of the newly United States and remained in force until the end of the Civil War in 1865 (Weinberg, 1977/1995). Thus, the very first formal language policies were restrictive with the explicit purpose of promoting social control.

1. What is the primary purpose of including the statistic from the 1790 census in the introductory paragraph?
A) To explain how colonizing the US eradicated language diversity
B) To show concrete evidence that language diversity in the US is not a new phenomenon
C) To note that before that time, there was no measure of language diversity in the US
D) To demonstrate that census data can be inaccurate

2. The article compares two sets of statistics from the years 1991-2002, increases in K-12 enrollment and increases in LEP students, to highlight.
A) That the two numbers, while often cited in research, are insignificant
B) That while many people with school-age children immigrated to the US during this time, an equal amount left the country as well
C) That language diversity had no impact on US student enrollment during this time
D) That while the total amount of students enrolled in US schools may have grown slowly, the amount of those students who were LEP increased dramatically

3. According to the second paragraph, many groups maintained their native languages without resistance into the 20th century EXCEPT
A) Native Americans and African Americans
B) Irish Americans and African Americans
C) Mexican Americans and Native Americas
D) Native Americans and Dutch Americans

4. Why is the word "undertow" emphasized in the second paragraph?
A) To explain how certain groups continued to carry their native languages with them despite the opposition from those against language diversity
B) To show the secretive and sneaky nature of those opposed to language diversity
C) To call attention to the ebb and flow of language resistance during the 20th century, experiencing periods of both rest and extremism
D) To explain that, while many groups tried to maintain their native languages, many gave in to social and political pressure to use only English

5. What is the best way to describe the function of the third paragraph in this excerpt?.
A) The paragraph provides its primary thesis as well an outline of the article's main points
B) The paragraph is an unnecessary and irrelevant inclusion
C) The paragraph serves to reveal the conclusions of the article before detailing the data
D) The paragraph firmly establishes the article's stance against language diversity

6. What is the best summary of why the phrase "multilingualism" is emphasized in the third paragraph?
A) Language repression stems from the US's unwillingness to recognize the languages of its foreign allies
B) Because language is constantly changing and often goes through multiple phases over time
C) The authors firmly believe that speaking more than one language gives students a substantial benefit in higher education. 
D) Language policy discussions often assumes that the US has a monolinguistic history, which is untrue and poses language diversity as threatening

7. Phrases such as "prescribed panaceas" and "malady of the mind" are used in the third paragraph to
A) Defend the point that the US must standardize its language education or there will be severe results
B) Point out that language is as much a physical process as an intellectual one
C) Illustrate how certain opponents of language diversity equate multilingual education with a kind of national disease
D) Demonstrate how the stress of learning multiple languages can make students ill

8. According to the fourth paragraph, all of the following are potential negatives of rapid English immersion EXCEPT:
A) It can lead to a denial of language rights for particular groups
B) Students become more familiar with conversational expressions and dialect
C) It can prevent access to certain benefits that are always available to fluent speakers
D) It can promote feelings of alienation among groups that are already in a minority status

9. The best alternate definition of "language status achievement" is 
A) When enough scholarly work has been produced in a language, it is officially recognized
B) Those who are in power socially and economically determine the status of a language
C) Languages fall into a hierarchy depending upon the numbers of populations that speak them
D) The position of a language in which no others may coexist with it

10. From the context of the final paragraph, what does "compulsory ignorance" mean?
A) Populations at the time were required only to obtain a certain low level of education
B) Slave populations were compelled to only speak in their native languages and not learn English
C) That slaves were forcibly prevented from developing their native language skills out of fear that they would gain power
D) Slave owners would not punish slaves who did not wish to learn and speak only English

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Reading Comprehension Passage #5
Excerpted from What Video Games Have to Teach us about Learning and Literacy by James Paul Gee

When people learn to play video games, they are learning a new literacy. Of course, this is not the way the word "literacy" is normally used. Traditionally, people think of literacy as the ability to read and write. Why, then, should we think of literacy more broadly, in regard to video games or anything else, for that matter? There are two reasons.

First, in the modern world, language is not the only important communicational system. Today images, symbols, graphs, diagrams, artifacts, and many other visual symbols are particularly significant. Thus, the idea of different types of "visual literacy" would seem to be an important one. For example, being able to "read" the images in advertising is one type of visual literacy. And, of course, there are different ways to read such images, ways that are more or less aligned with the intentions and interests of the advertisers. Knowing how to read interior designs in homes, modernist art in museums, and videos on MTV are other forms of visual literacy.

Furthermore, very often today words and images of various sorts are juxtaposed and integrated in a variety of ways. In newspaper and magazines as well as in textbooks, images take up more and more of the space alongside words. In fact, in many modern high school and college textbooks in the sciences images not only take up more space, they now carry meanings that are independent of the words in the text. If you can't read these images, you will not be able to recover their meanings from the words in the text as was more usual in the past. In such multimodal texts (texts that mix words and images), the images often communicate different things from the words. And the combination of the two modes communicates things that neither of the modes does separately. Thus, the idea of different sorts of multimodal literacy seems an important one. Both modes and multimodality go far beyond images and words to include sounds, music, movement, bodily sensations, and smells.

None of this news today, of course. We very obviously live in a world awash with images. It is our first answer to the question why we should think of literacy more broadly. The second answer is this: Even though reading and writing seem so central to what literacy means traditionally, reading and writing are not such general and obvious matters as they might at first seem. After all, we never just read or write; rather, we always read or write something in some way.

There are many different ways of reading and writing. We don't read or write newspapers, legal tracts, essays in literary criticism, poetry, rap songs, and on through a nearly endless list in the same way. Each of these domains has its own rules and requirements. Each is a culturally and historically separate way of reading and writing, and, in that sense, a different literacy. Furthermore, in each case, if we want to "break the rules" and read against the grain of the text-for the purposes of critique, for instance-we have to do so in different ways, usually with some relatively deep knowledge of how to read such texts "according to the rules."

So there are different ways to read different types of texts. Literacy is multiple, then, in the sense that the legal literacy needed for reading law books is not the same as the literacy needed for reading physics texts or superhero comic books. And we should not be too quick to dismiss the latter form of literacy. Many a superhero comic is replete with post-Freudian irony of a sort that would make a modern literary critic's heart beat fast and confuse any otherwise normal adult. Literacy, then, even as traditionally conceived to involve only print, is not a unitary thing but a multiple matter. There are, even in regard to printed texts and even leaving aside images and multimodal texts, different "literacies."

Once we see this multiplicity of literacy (literacies), we realize that when we think about reading and writing, we have to think beyond print. Reading and writing in any domain, whether it is law, rap songs, academic essays, superhero comics, or whatever, are not just ways of decoding print, they are also caught up with and in social practices. � Video games are a new form of art. They will not replace books; they will sit beside them, interact with them, and change them and their role in society in various ways, as, indeed, they are already doing strongly with movies. (Today many movies are based on video games and many more are influenced by them.) We have no idea yet how people "read" video games, what meanings they make from them. Still less do we know how they will "read" them in the future.

Please answer questions based on following passage.

1. According to the first paragraph, the broadest definition of "literacy" is
A) The ability to analyze literature
B)The ability comprehend basic cultural cues
C)The ability to read and write
D)The ability to compose poetry

2. All are mentioned as being types of "visual literacy" EXCEPT
A) Musical tones
B) Interior Design
C) Diagrams
D)Modern Art

3. An example from a science textbook of the phenomenon the author describes in the third paragraph could be
A) A genetic tree that coincides with the discussion of specific mammal classes in the text
B) A diagram of a specific chemical reaction that is used to explain a broad definition in the text
C) An illustration of a plant cycle that accompanies a chapter on photosynthesis
D) A cartoon that references the same methods discussed in the text about laboratory safety

4. What is an example of a "multimodal" text?
A) A dictionary
B) A movie script
C) A photo album
D) An art book that describes the art as well as reproduces images of the original prints

5. The idiom in the sixth paragraph, "read against the grain of the text" is closest in meaning to
A) Reading to understand the underlying meanings and themes of the author's words-not just a literal interpretation
B) Reading text that defines different types of wheat and grains
C) To read the text from right to left rather than left to right
D) To read books that use recycled paper and other green alternatives

6. In the seventh paragraph, the author suggests that literacy is multiple, meaning that
A) To be "literate" can mean participating in any form of expression
B) One's literacy increases exponentially as greater mastery of reading and writing is achieved
C) Different genres and modes of expression require different background knowledge and perspectives to understand them
D) Literacy can only be gained by exploring every type of media and expression

7. Why does the author give the example of superhero comics to explain multiple literacies?
A) To explain that comic books are written for children and purely for entertainment. They require only a basic knowledge of the action that occurs in the story
B) To once again refer to his earlier points about "multimodal" texts
C) To insist that even when an author may intend multiple meanings and interpretations, they are rarely successful in conveying those to readers
D) Things that may seem on the surface to be only meant for a particular group of people can actually have very profound meanings to those who possess other types of literacy

8. The author suggests that all of the following require different types of literacy and the ability to decode meaning EXCEPT
A) Rap music
B) Comic books
C) Academic papers
D) Symphonies

9. The author says that video games
A) Are not yet entirely understood in terms of literacy, but are already impacting other forms of expression such as filmmaking
B) Are unrealistic and should not fall into the same categories as the other texts he describes
C) Are too violent to risk experimenting with for the purposes of understanding literacy
D) Are irrelevant in academic discussion because no one has yet determined how to explain the ways that people understand them

10. What would be the most logical information for the next paragraph to contain if the article continued?
A) A technological definition of video games, how they are made, and how they are played
B) A historical explanation of the very first video game and its evolution
C) Examples of the way that some people currently interpret video games and what they mean to them
D) A price comparison of video game consoles and whether or not quality has a direct impact on literacy

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Reading Comprehension Passage #6
The evolution of the banana, star of the Western fruit bowl" By Rosie Mestel

Did you hear? The genome of the banana has been sequenced, an important development in scientists' efforts to produce better bananas. 

A look at that genome has revealed curious things, said Pat Heslop-Harrison, a plant geneticist at the University of Leicester in England who was a coauthor of the report published this week in the journal Nature. 

For example, there are regions of the banana genome that don't seem to be involved in making proteins but are shared by many different species of plants, far beyond bananas. What, he wonders, are they doing? 

There are remnants of bits of banana streak virus spliced into the banana genome (too broken-up to cause disease, however). 

There are whole sets of DNA repeats that plants normally have but bananas do not. And, intriguingly, three times since this genus of giant herbs took an evolutionary turn away from its relatives -- the grasses -- it has duplicated its entire set of chromosomes. 

Two of the doublings took place at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary 65 million years ago, back when the dinosaurs and lots of other species went extinct, Heslop-Harrison noted. 

Duplications like this are known to have happened in other plant groups at this same time but haven't occurred since, Heslop-Harrison said. Scientists don't know why, but they believe having extra copies of genes may have imparted some stability to plants during a time of rapid climate change after an asteroid hit Earth. 

Having more than one gene of each type means that if one gene of a set loses function, the plant still has another one that works. And there's more room for adaptability to new circumstances, because one gene could be altered and co-opted for new purposes and there would still be the other one left to perform the original job. 

"Perhaps it's the reason [bananas have] done so well in the subsequent millions of years," Heslop-Harrison said. "One can ask, will changes occurring in the world's climate now mean there's going to be a whole set of new genome duplications that will enable plants to survive? We don't know that, but it's interesting to consider." 

The banana genome sequenced by the French scientists was from the Pahang, a wild Malaysian banana of the species Musa acuminata. It's a key species in the complicated evolution of the bananas and plantains people eat around the world, including the Cavendish banana that we buy at the supermarket. 

The sterile Cavendish is a so-called triploid: It has three sets of chromosomes instead of the normal two. One of those genomes came from Pahang. The others came from other subspecies of Musa acuminata. 

The changes occurred stepwise, and went something like this:

• Thousands of years ago, two wild banana species from different parts of the islands of Southeast Asia were brought into the same range by people. They formed hybrids. A bit like mules, the hybrids were vigorous but fairly sterile.
• The hybrids were kept going without sex through propagation of their shoots.
• At some point, the hybrids developed the ability to set fruit without being fertilized.
• Then (for most bananas, including the Cavendish) came another chance event that caused the hybrids to end up with three sets of chromosomes. Every now and again, the few viable eggs and pollen that they made would mistakenly contain two sets of chromosomes instead of just one.

When a double-chromosome pollen combined with a single-chromosome egg (or vice versa), the result was a hopelessly sterile plant with even more vigorous fruit. 

Events like this happened more than once and sometimes included other types of ancestral banana species. 

Some scientists, in fact, have made a whole study of banana domestication and movement around the world. They've pieced the story together using quite different strands of information, including the genomes of wild and cultivated bananas, the microscopic relics of banana leaf material found at archaeological sites, and even the word for "banana" in different languages. 

1. In paragraph 2, the word "curious" is closest in meaning to
A) inquisitive 
B) peculiar 
C) nosy 
D) intricate 

2. What does paragraph 5 suggest about bananas?
A)The banana genus may not yet be classifiable into a traditional category 
B)Bananas are actually a species of grass 
C)Bananas may now be categorized as "herbs" in supermarkets 
D)Because banana chromosomes duplicate themselves, they have better potential for successful cloning 

3. Why does the author use "intriguingly" to describe the phenomenon in paragraph 5?
A) To imply that bananas are far more interesting than other fruits 
B) To make readers doubt the claims scientists are making about bananas 
C) To suggest that duplication of chromosomes is a rare and interesting occurrence in the plant world 
D) To encourage questions about whether bananas are grasses or herbs 

4. Why is the observation in paragraph 6 important?
A) It suggests that the banana mutated its genetic structure for survival 
B) It shows that bananas can be traced as far back as dinosaurs 
C) It suggests that bananas were fatal to dinosaurs and other species 
D) It proves that bananas are immune to atmospheric changes 

5. The word "co-opted" in paragraph 8 is closet in meaning to
A) decided upon together 
B) argued against 
C) removed from the study 
D) adopted 

6.The quote in paragraph 9 most closely suggests
A) Bananas may be an example of ways that species might alter their genetics to survive changes in the earth's climate and atmosphere 
B) That the genetic mutations of bananas have no implications for other species 
C) That genetic structure is the only factor that should be considered when predicting survival 
D) Though bananas have made it this far, there is no proof that they will survive the next wave of significant atmospheric changes. 

7. According to the article, all are steps in the evolution of the banana EXCEPT
A) Some banana hybrids began to develop three sets of chromosomes 
B) The merging of two different banana species 
C) Bananas reproduced widely and easily through fertilization 
D) Bananas developed the ability to develop fruit without fertilization 

8.The word "chance" in paragraph 16 is closet in meaning to 
A) random 
B) gamble 
C) risky 
D)opportune 

9. All are variations of banana mentioned in the article EXCEPT
A) the Cavendish 
B) Dolus mundi 
C) Musa acuminata 
D) plantains 

10. The word "domestication" in the final paragraph is closet in meaning to>
A) housebroken 
B) well-controlled 
C) adapted for human consumption 
D) accepted within the culture