Reading Comprehension Passage 1

Throughout history, people have been the victim of pickpockets. Today, pick pocketing is
the one of the most rapidly increasing crimes. Pickpockets are increasing in number and
developing better methods to practice their skill. Approximately one million Americans
lose money to pickpockets every year, and none is really safe from a skilled pickpockets.
His victims, or ‘marks’ as they are called, can be rich or poor, young or old.

During the eighteenth century, pickpockets were hanged in England, large crowds of
people would gather watch the hanging, which was supposed to be a warning to other
pickpockets. However, in time the practice was discontinued. The reason: while people
were attentively watching the hanging of a pickpockets, other pickpockets skillfully stole
the money of spectators.

Police official say that the most efficient pickpockets come from South America. Many of
these expert pickpockets are trained in special school called ‘Jingle Bell Schools’. A
pickpocket’s graduate from J. B. S when he is able to steal a wallet from a dresses dummy
(mannequin) that has bells inside its pockets.
Even the most well dressed, respectable person may be a pickpocket. Some of the
favorite places of pickpockets are banks, airports, racetrack, supermarkets, elevators,
and train and bus stations. Oftentimes a pickpocket will work with another pickpockets as
his partner. Another kind of pickpockets works outside or inside bars and specialize in
stealing from women is called a ‘purse snatcher’.

To avoid being the victim of a pickpocket, it’s important to be very cautious and alert when
in the midst of large gathering of the people.

7. The best title for the passage would be…

(A) Pickpockets are well dressed

(B) Jingle Bell Schools
(C) Pickpockets
(D) The hanging of pickpockets

8. The hanging of pickpockets were not continued because …

(A) they were large crowd of people

(B) it was against humanity
(C) the police were not at the hanging
(D) it was not effective to stop pickpocketing

9. Pick pocketing is … crime.

(A) an old
(B) a modern
(C) a temporary
(D) a contemporary
10. The passage mentions that pickpockets steal in/from the following, except

(A) crowded places

(B) the shops
(C) drunkards
(D) women

11. South Americans pickpockets are the most efficient ones because …

(A) they are well-trained

(B) they are handsome
(C) they are well-dressed
(D) they are respectable

Reading Comprehension Passage 2

The cause of tooth decay is acid, which is produced by bacteria in the mouth. The acid
removes minerals from tooth enamel, allowing tooth decay to begin; the saliva in your
mouth encourages remineralization and Line neutralizes the acid. The rate at which
bacteria in the mouth produce acid depends on the amount of plaque on the teeth, the
composition of the microbial flora, and whether the bacteria of the plaque have been
“primed” by frequent exposure to sugar. To keep your teeth healthy, a regular dental
hygiene program should be followed.

Removing plaque with a toothbrush and dental floss temporarily reduces the numbers of
bacteria in the mouth and thus reduces tooth decay. It also makes the surfaces of the
teeth more accessible, enabling saliva to neutralize acid and remineralise lesions. If
fluoride is present in drinking water when teeth are forming, some fluoride is incorporated
into the enamel of the teeth, making them more resistant to attack by acid. Fluoride
toothpaste seems to act in another way, by promoting the remineralization of early carious
lesions.

In addition to a regular dental hygiene program, a good way to keep your teeth healthy is
to reduce your intake of sweet food. The least cavity- causing way to eat sweets is to
have them with meals and not between. The number of times you eat sweets rather than
the total amount determines how much harmful acid the bacteria in your saliva produce.
But the amount of sweets influences the quality of your saliva. Avoid, if you can, sticky
sweets that stay in your mouth a long time. Also try to brush and floss your teeth after
eating sugary foods. Even rinsing your mouth with water is effective. Whenever possible,
eat foods with fiber, such as raw carrot sticks, apples, celery sticks, etc., that scrape
off plaque, acting as a toothbrush. Cavities can be greatly reduced if these rules are
followed when eating sweets.
12. What does this passage mainly discuss?

(A) Good nutrition

(B) Food with fiber
(C) Ways to keep your teeth healthy
(D) Fluoridization and cavities

13. According to the passage, all of the following statements about plaque are true
EXCEPT…

(A) it consists of acid producing bacteria

(B) it is not affected by eating sweets
(C) it can be removed from teeth by brushing and flossing
(D) it reduces the positive effect of saliva

14. We can infer from the passage that one benefit of fluoride to healthy teeth is…

(A) It strengthens tooth enamel

(B) it stimulates saliva production
(C) it makes teeth whiter
(D) It Is a replacement for brushing and flossing in dental care

15. The word “it” in paragraph 2 refers to …

(A) dental floss

(B) bacteria
(C) removal of plaque
(D) plaque

16. What can be concluded from the passage about sweets?

(A) All sweets should be avoided.

(B) Sweets should be eaten with care.
(C) It is better to eat sweets a little at a time throughout the day.
(D) Sticky sweets are less harmful than other sweets.

17. The word “scrape off” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to…

(A) repel
(B) rub together with
(C) remove
(D) dissolve

18. According to the passage, the value of eating foods with fiber is that …

(A) they contain Vitamin A

(B) they are less expensive than a toothbrush
(C) they are able to remove the plaque from your teeth
(D) they contain no sugar
19. The author of the passage states that the amount of acid produced by the bacteria
in your saliva increases …

(A) with the amount of sweets you eat

(B) with the number of times you eat sweets
(C) if you eat sweets with your meals
(D) if you eat sticky sweets

Reading Comprehension Passage 3

Until recently,most American entrepreneurs were men. Discrimination against women in
business, the demands of caring for families, and lack of business training had kept the
number of women entrepreneurs Line small. Now, however, businesses owned by
women account for more than $40 billion in annual revenues, and this figure is likely to
continue rising throughout the 1990s. As Carolyn Doppelt Gray, an official of the Small
Business Administration, has noted, “The 1970s was the decade of women entering
management, and the 1980s turned out to be the decade of the woman entrepreneur”.

What are some of the factors behind this trend? For one thing, as more women earn
advanced degrees in business and enter the corporate world, they are finding obstacles.
Women are still excluded from most executive suites. Charlotte Taylor, a management
consultant, had noted, “In the 1970s women believed if they got an MBA and worked hard
they could become chairman of the board. Now they’ve found out that isn’t going to
happen, so they go out on their own”.

In the past, most women entrepreneurs worked in “women’s” fields: cosmetics and
clothing, for example. But this is changing. Consider ASK Computer Systems, a $22-
million-a-year computer software business. It was founded in 1973 by Sandra Kurtzig,
who was then a housewife with degrees in math and engineering. When Kurtzig founded
the business, her first product was software that let weekly newspapers keep tabs
on their newspaper carriers and her office was a bedroom at home, with a shoebox under
the bed to hold the company’s cash. After she succeeded with the newspaper software
system, she hired several bright computer-science graduates to develop additional
programs. When these were marketed and sold, ASK began to grow. It now has 200
employees, and Sandra Kurtzig owns $66.9 million of stock.

Of course, many women who start their own businesses fail, just as men often do. They
still face hurdles in the business world, especially problems in raising money; the banking
and finance world is still dominated by men, and old attitudes die hard. Most businesses
owned by women are still quite small. But the situation is changing; there are likely to be
many more Sandra Kurtzigs in the years ahead.
20. What is the main idea of this passage?

(A) Women today are better educated than in the past, making them more attractive to
the business world.
(B) The computer is especially lucrative for women today.
(C) Women are better at small businesses than men are.
(D) Women today are opening more businesses of their own.

21. The word “excluded” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to…

(A) not permitted in

(B) often invited to
(C) decorators of
(D) charged admission to

22. All of the following were mentioned in the passage as detriments to women in the
business world EXCEPT…

(A) women were required to stay at home with their families

(B) women lacked ability to work in business
(C) women faced discrimination in business
(D) women were not trained in business

23. In paragraph 2, “that” refers to …

(A) a woman becomes chairman of the board

(B) women working hard
(C) women achieving advanced degrees
(D) women believing that business is a place for them

24. According to the passage, Charlotte Taylor believes that women in the 1970s…

(A) were unrealistic about their opportunities in business management

(B) were still more interested in education than business opportunities
(C) had fewer obstacles in business than they do today
(D) were unable to work hard enough to succeed in business

25. The author mentions the “shoebox under the bed” in the third paragraph in order
to…

(A) show the frugality of women in business

(B) show the resourcefulness of Sandra Kurtzig
(C) point out that initially the financial resources of Sandra Kurtzig’s business were
limited
(D) suggest that the company needed to expand

26. In the third paragraph, the word “this” refers to…

(A) women becoming entrepreneurs
(B) women buying cosmetics and clothing
(C) women working in “women’s fields”
(D) women staying at home

27. The expression “keep tabs on” in the third paragraph is closest in meaning to …

(A) recognize the appearance of

(B) keep records of
(C) provide transportation for
(D) pay the salaries of

28. The word “hurdles” in the last paragraph can be best replaced by…

(A) fences
(B) obstacles
(C) questions
(D) small groups

29. It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes that businesses
operated by women are small because …

(A) women prefer a small intimate setting

(B) women can’t deal with money
(C) women are not able to borrow money easily
(D) many women fail at large businesses

30. The author’s attitude about the future of women in business is …

(A) skeptical
(B) optimistic
(C) frustrated
(D) negative

Reading Comprehension Passage 4

There are two basic types of glaciers, those that flow outward in all directions with little
regard for any underlying terrain and those that are confined by terrain to a particular
path.

The first category of glaciers includes those massive blankets that cover whole
continents, appropriately called ice sheets. There must be over 50,000 square kilometers
of land covered with ice for the glacier to qualify as an ice sheet. When portions of an ice
sheet spread out over the ocean, they form ice shelves.
About 20,000 years ago the Cordilleran Ice Sheet covered nearly all the mountains in
southern Alaska, western Canada, and the western United States. It was about 3
kilometers deep at its thickest point in northern Alberta. Now there are only two sheets
left on Earth, those covering Greenland and Antarctica.

Any domelike body of ice that also flows out in all directions but covers less than 50,000
square kilometers is called an ice cap. Although ice caps are rare nowadays, there are a
number in northeastern Canada, on Baffin Island, and on the Queen Elizabeth Islands.

The second category of glaciers includes those of a variety of shapes and sizes generally
called mountain or alpine glaciers. Mountain glaciers are typically identified by the
landform that controls their flow. One form of mountain glacier that resembles an ice cap
in that it flows outward in several directions is called an ice field. The difference between
an ice field and an ice cap is subtle. Essentially, the flow of an ice field is somewhat
controlled by surrounding terrain and thus does not have the domelike shape of a cap.
There are several ice fields in the Wrangell. St. Elias, and Chugach mountains of Alaska
and northern British Columbia.

Less spectacular than large ice fields are the most common types of mountain glaciers:
the cirque and valley glaciers. Cirque glaciers are found in depressions in the surface of
the land and have a characteristic circular shape. The ice of valley glaciers, bound by
terrain, flows down valleys, curves around their corners, and falls over cliffs.

31. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) Where major glaciers are located
(B) How glaciers shape the land
(C) How glaciers are formed
(D) The different kinds of glaciers

32. The word “massive” in line 4 is closest in meaning to

(A) huge
(B) strange
(C) cold
(D) recent

33. It can be inferred that ice sheets are so named for which of the following reasons?
(A) They are confined to mountain valleys.
(B) They cover large areas of land.
(C) They are thicker in some areas than in others.
(D) They have a characteristic circular shape.

34. According to the passage, ice shelves can be found

(A) covering an entire continent
(B) buried within the mountains
(C) spreading into the ocean
(D) filling deep valleys

35. According to the passage, where was the Cordilleran Ice Sheet thickest?
(A) Alaska
(B) Greenland
(C) Alberta
(D) Antarctica

36. The word “rare” in line 12 is closest in meaning to

(A) small
(B) unusual
(C) valuable
(D) widespread

37. According to the passage (paragraph 5), ice fields resemble ice caps in which of the following
ways?
(A) Their shape
(B) Their flow
(C) Their texture
(D) Their location

38. The word “it” in line 16 refers to

(A) glacier
(B) cap
(C) difference
(D) terrain

39. The word “subtle” in line 17 is closest in meaning to

(A) slight
(B) common
(C) important
(D) measurable

40. All of the following are alpine glaciers EXCEPT

(A) cirque glaciers
(B) ice caps
(C) valley glaciers
(D) ice fields

41. Which of the following types of glaciers does the author use to illustrate the two basic types of
glaciers mentioned in line 1?
(A) Ice fields and cirques
(B) Cirques and alpine glaciers
(C) Ice sheets and ice shelves
(D) Ice sheets and mountain glaciers

Reading Comprehension Passage 5

Awarded the Nobel prize for physics in 1918, German physics Max Planck is best
remembered as the originator of the quantum theory. His work helped user in a new era
in theoretical physics and revolutionized the scientific community’s understanding of
atomic and sub-atomic processes.
Planck intriduced an idea that led to the quantum theory, which became the foundation
of twentieth century physics. In December 1900, Plnck worked out an equation that
described the distribution of radiation accurately over the range of low to high frequencies.
He had developed a theory which depended on a model of matter that seemed very
strange at the time. The model required the emission of electromagnetic radiation in small
chunks or particles. These particles were later called quantums. The energy associated
with each quatum is measured by multiplying the frequency of the radiation, v, by a
universal constant, h. Thus, energy, or E, equals hv. The constant, h, is known as Planck’s
constant. It is now recognized as one of the fundamental constant of the world.

Planck announced his finding in 1900, but it was years before teh full consequences of
his revolutionary quantum theory were recognized. Throughout his life, Planck made
significant contributions to optics, thermodynamics and stastistical mechanics, physical
chemistry, and other fields. In 1930, He was elected president of the Kaiser Wilhelm
society, which was renamed the Max II. Though deeply opposed to the fascist regime of
Adolf Hitler, Planck remained in Germany throughout teh war. He died in Gottingen on
October 4, 1947.

42. In which of the following fields did Max Planck NOT make a significant
contribution?
a) Optics
b) Thermodynamics
c) Stastistical mechanics
d) Biology
43. Theword “revolutionary” as used in line 13, means…
a) Dangerous
b) Extremist
c) Momentous
d) Militarist
44. It can inferred from the passage that Planck’s work led to the development of
which of the following?
a) The rocket
b) The atomic bomb
c) The internal combustion engine
d) The computer
45. The particles of electromagnetic radiation given off by matter are known as…
a) Quantums
b) Atoms
c) Electrons
d) Valences
46. The word “universal”, as used in line 10 most nearly means…
a) Planetary
b) Cosmic
 c) Worldwide
d) Always present
47. The implication in this passage is that…
a) Only a German physics could discover such a theory
b) Quantum theory, which led to the development of twentieth century
physics, is basically a mathematical formula
c) Planck’s constant was not discernible before 1900
d) Radiation was hard to study
48. “An idea” as used in line 4, refers to…
a) A model of matter
b) Emission of electromagnetic radiation
c) Quantums
d) The equation that described the distribution of radiation accurately over the
range of low to high frequencies
49. The word “emission” as used in line 8 means…
a) Giving off
b) Holding on to
c) Throwing away
d) Taking back
50. Planck’s constant, expressed in a mathematical formula, is…
a) e = v/h
b) E = h/v
c) e = h-v
d) E = hv
51. What is known as Planck’s constant?
a) v
b) h
c) e
d) E
52.