PASSAGE 1 – Questions 1-10
As new industrialism swept over the land in the wake of the Civil War, people flocked to the nation's cities in unprecedented numbers from rural regions, villages, and foreign countries. Housing for the new city-dwellers took many forms as new architectural styles were developed.
During this period of urban expansion, speculative builders discovered a bonanza in the form of the row house. Designed for single-family occupancy, these dwellings cost relatively little to construct because they shared common walls with their neighbors and because many could be erected side by side on a narrow street frontage. Along New York's gridiron of streets and avenues rose block after block of row houses, which, by the 1880s, were almost invariably faced with brownstone. In contrast, wooden row houses on the West Coast appeared light and airy with their coats of bright paint. San Francisco developed a particularly successful row vernacular, suitable for rich and poor alike, as typified by clusters of homes like the Rountree group, which featured Queen Anne elements in their pitched roofs and heavily decorated exteriors. "Although critics likened the facades of such structures to the 'puffing, paint, and powder of our female friends'", the houses were efficiently planned, sanitary, and well-lighted. Virtually every dwelling boasted one or more bay windows, which were as important to sun-loving San Franciscans as brownstone fronts were to New Yorkers. As an English traveler observed, California architecture, "with all the windows gracefully leaping out at themselves", should rightly be called the "bay-window order".
Câu 1: The main purpose of the author in this passage is _____________.
- A. to contrast two versions of a similar architectural form
- B. to persuade people to live in row houses
- C. to argue for the excellence of California row houses
- D. to describe the effects of urbanization
- A. a confusing choice
- B. a difficult challenge
- C. an exciting design
- D. a good investment
- A. usually
- B. seldom
- C. sometimes
- D. never
- A. Because they cost very little to build.
- B. Because they were for single families.
- C. Because they were well-constructed.
- D. Because they were attractive.
- A. they provided for high-density housing
- B. they housed people of different economic classes
- C. they provided a new and popular form of architectural design
- D. they had no front yards
- A. West Coast wooden row houses
- B. poor people's houses
- C. the homes in the Rountree group
- D. Queen Anne's home
- A. They were less colorful than row houses on the West Coast.
- B. They were windowless.
- C. They were smaller than California row houses.
- D. They were less similar in appearance than row houses in California.
- A. excessive use of bay windows
- B. ostentatious decoration
- C. repetitive nature
- D. lack of light
- A. skill
- B. wealth
- C. intelligence
- D. pride
- A. the color
- B. the price
- C. the windows
- D. the heavily decorated exteriors
PASSAGE 2 – Questions 11-20
Since water is the basis of life, composing the greater part of the tissues of all living things, the crucial problem of desert animals is to survive in a world where sources of flowing water are rare. And since man's inexorable necessity is to absorb large quantities of water at frequent intervals, he can scarcely comprehend that many creatures of the desert pass their entire lives without a single drop. Uncompromising as it is, the desert has not eliminated life but only those forms unable to withstand its desiccating effects. No moist-skinned, water-loving animals can exist there. Few large animals are found: the giants of the North American desert are the deer, the coyote, and the bobcat. Since desert country is open, it holds more swift-footed, running, and leaping creatures than the tangled forest. Its population is largely nocturnal, silent, filled with reticence, and ruled by stealth. Yet they are not emaciated. Having adapted to their austere environment, they are as healthy as animals anywhere in the world.
The secret of their adjustment lies in a combination of behavior and physiology. None could survive if, like mad dogs and Englishmen, they went out in the midday sun; many would die in a matter of minutes. So most of them pass the burning hours asleep in cool, humid burrows underneath the ground, emerging to hunt only by night. The surface of the sun-baked desert averages around 150 degrees, but 18 inches down the temperature is only 60 degrees.
An example of a desert animal that has adapted to subterranean living and lack of water is the kangaroo rat. Like many desert animals, kangaroo rats stay underground during the day. At night, they go outside to look for food. As evening temperatures drop, moisture from the air forms on plants and seeds. They absorb some of this moisture and kangaroo rats take in the life-giving water as they eat.
Câu 11: What is the topic of this passage?
- A. Desert plants
- B. Life underground
- C. Animal life in a desert environment
- D. Man's life in the desert
- A. stronger
- B. larger
- C. more noticeable
- D. heavier
- A. water-loving animals
- B. the bobcat
- C. moist-skinned animals
- D. many large animals
- A. drying
- B. humidifying
- C. killing
- D. life threatening
- A. animals sleep during the day
- B. animals dig homes underground
- C. animals are noisy and aggressive
- D. animals are watchful and quiet
- A. wild
- B. cunning
- C. unmanageable
- D. unhealthy
- A. are smaller and fleeter than forest animals
- B. are less healthy than animals who live in different places
- C. can hunt in temperatures of 150 degrees
- D. live in an accommodating environment
- A. underground
- B. safe
- C. precarious
- D. harsh
- A. kangaroo rats
- B. the desert population
- C. plants and seeds
- D. the burrows of desert animals
- A. Water is the basis of life.
- B. All living things adjust to their environments.
- C. Desert life is colorful.
- D. Healthy animals live longer lives.
