PASSAGE 3 QUESTIONS 21 - 30
Pottery refers to dishes, plates, cups and cooking pots made out of clay. Chinese pottery was invented during the Neolithic period (5,000 - 2,200 BC) and it was molded by hand. Before this time, people had been nomadic, making it difficult to carry heavy, breakable pieces of pottery. At first, pottery was made by pushing a hole into a ball of clay or by taking a piece of clay and coiling it up into a pot shape. Many early pots were simple lumps of clay. However, people later discovered that clay, when placed in an open fire, hardened. This technique, known as firing, soon became common practice in pottery production.
People used pottery as a way of forming their social identity or showing who they were and how they were different from other people. Many of the designs that were used on pottery were usually borrowed from those already found on clothing and garments. The decoration of pottery began with simple incisions, which were later painted on. Gradually, plants, animals, and human figures were included on the vases. Mythological scenes were common as were dancers, musicians, and images from everyday life.
[A] Pottery also has roots in ancient China where, for centuries, people produced black, carved, and painted pieces from rough clay. It was in the Sui dynasty, however, that the aesthetics of pottery took a major leap forward. [B] Potters began experimenting with porcelain and the effect was a stunning, shiny new look and feel for Chinese ceramics. [C] This gleaming pottery became a popular not only in China, but in West Asia as well. [D] Inevitably, this led to a new market for cheap imitations.
After 1,200 AD, Chinese potters began using different colored glazes to create designs on their pots. Chinese pottery was still the best and most expensive. After thousands of years of advancements in technique and materials, painted porcelain such as blue and white, tri-color, and under-glazed became successfully produced.
The Chinese often used pottery as part of the burial ritual; bronze vessels were decorated with elaborate designs of plants and animals. In Chinese culture, jade symbolizes nobility, perfection, and immortality. Jade utensils were laid aover the deceased and some were placed in the mouth or enclosed in the hand. Liquids were placed in the vessels to help the dead in their afterlife and also to aid in funerary ceremonies in which the living communicated with deceased ancestors and gods in an altered state of consciousness after drinking fermented beverages.
Such vessels containing liquids have been excavated at centers near the Yellow River, especially from burials of elite, eminent individuals. Many pottery fragments and figurines have also been discovered in the Chang Jiang drainage area.
Pottery can be divided into three groups: those designed for storage, those for preserving or holding liquids, and those for special uses. The Greeks made pottery for many purposes. The custom of burning their dead involved using vases to collect the ashes. Some pottery served as decorative pieces, while others were used for ceremonies or during religious festivals Amphoras were larger vessels used to store liquids such as water or wine. Amphoras have occasionally been found in ancient shipwrecks; some held wine and others were shipped empty after selling their contents off to other countries. The Alabastron had special uses such as holding perfume or oil. The Skyphes, a flat-bottomed bowl, was used as a drinking cup.
Grecian soil had many deposits of clay near rivers. This abundance of raw material was not available to others, giving the Greeks a strategic advantage in manufacturing material. They made full use of clay. After its discovery, vessels were made in a wide range of sizes and shapes. Jugs, vases, fruit bowls, and feeding bottles were widely used in homes. Although some larger vessels were made of stone, glass, or metal, clay was by far the most prominent.
The ancient Egyptians used pottery and ceramic art for burial purposes. Four vases were sometimes deposited with the mummified body. A large number of vases which have been recovered had been buried with the dead in tombs. Some vases are found hanging or standing upright in the tomb. They appear to have been valued by the deceased, hence leaving them for burial in the tomb.
According to paragraph 1, which of the following statements is true of early pottery?
- A. The first pots were made of hardened clay.
- B. The nomadic nature of man before the Neolithic period prevented the widespread use of pottery
- C. Pottery was invented as a way of storing fresh fish and meats.
- D. It was not possible to fashion clay into shapes for pottery.
- A. figures
- B. squares
- C. paintings
- D. cuts
- A. Designs helped the pot to stay together and not break.
- B. The designs on pottery reflected the culture of those who made them.
- C. Three basic techniques to produce pottery vessels have been used around the world.
- D. Pot design was imaginative and unique in every example.
- A. shiny
- B. dull
- C. delicate
- D. soft
- A. Japanese
- B. Egyptian
- C. Chinese
- D. Greek
- A. demonstrate how stone could be carved into pottery
- B. give an example of the use of expensive material in burials
- C. show how different cultures value different materials
- D. explain the difficulties in mining a stone for pottery
- A. sick
- B. dying
- C. dead
- D. diseased
- A. The use of substantial amounts of clay in Greece resulted in a culture rich in pottery.
- B. The ancient Greeks had a more advanced way to construct pottery.
- C. Pottery making was harder for the ancient Greeks, but pottery was important to them for storage.
- D. Pottery was very convenient and useful because the raw material, clay, was abundant and simple to shape and fire in Greek.
- A. Storing wine
- B. Holding ashes
- C. Ceremonial offerings
- D. Cooking
- A. [A]
- B. [B]
- C. [C]
- D. [D]
PASSAGE 4 QUESTIONS 31 - 40
Louis Pasteur was arguably the greatest biologist of the 19th century. His immense contributions were among the most varied and beneficial in the field of science and industry. Pasteur's methods of conducting experiments illustrated brilliance, which started when he studied the crystal structure. He observed that tartrate, when created in a laboratory, was optically inactive. This is different from the tartrate from grapes because the artificial tartrate is composed of two optically asymmetric crystals. Pasteur succeeded in unraveling the asymmetric crystals from each other and showed that each regained optical activity.
He then theorized that living organisms only produce molecules that are of one specific objective and that these molecules are active at all times. This experiment contradicted “Milscherlich” who had observed only a single type of crystal. Later in his career, Pasteur was approached by the parent of one of his students, regarding a contamination problem in alcoholic fermentation. At the time, fermentation to the making of wine, or beer was thought to be a simple breakdown of sugar to the favored molecules. Yeast cells were believed to be either a useful ingredient in maintaining or simply a product of fermentation.
The manufacturers of alcohol were having economic problems related to fermentation. Wine would suddenly turn sour or into vinegar, or the quality and taste of beer would suddenly change. Therefore, the producers would have to start anew. Pasteur proved that yeast was an organism which did not necessitate oxygen for fermentation to occur. This proved to Justin von Liebig, who had upheld that fermentation was purely chemical, that he was incorrect.
Pasteur was able to prove that the yeast was responsible for forming alcohol from sugar and that contaminating microorganisms turned the fermentations sour. Over the years, he segregated the organisms that were responsible for normal and abnormal fermentations when producing wine or beer. He demonstrated that if he heated them to mild temperatures, this would kill the microorganisms and prevent souring. This was a major discovery and Pasteur showed brewers how to refine the right organisms for good beer. He proposed that heating wine to a high temperature before bottling it would prevent souring. This is now known as pasteurization.
All this had given Pasteur an iconic status throughout the world. After his research on fermentation, he refuted the principle of spontaneous generation. The theory that maggots, beetles and microbes could arise spontaneously from matter had always been a matter of speculation. Pasteur carried out ingenious experiments wiping out every argument in favor of spontaneous generation. In his famous experiment using the “swan neck flask”, fermented juice was put in a flask and after sterilization, the neck was heated, (this resembled the neck of a swan). The end of the neck was then sealed. If the flask was opened by pinching off the end of the neck, air would enter but dust would get trapped on the inside of the neck which was wet. The fluid, however, would still be germ free. If the flask was tipped over allowing the juice to touch the inside of the neck, microorganisms would grow instantly.
Pasteur's work with silkworm parasites and germs led to the proposal of the germ theory of disease. After visiting the hospital wards, he became more aware of the infections being spread by physicians from sick patients to the healthy patients. He compelled doctors to disinfect their instruments by boiling and steaming them. Surgeons were told to wash their hands and use disinfectant. At the time, countries were suffering from anthrax, which is a disease that affects cattle. He believed it was possible that if the animals were intentionally infected with a very mild case of the disease, this may be enough to prevent them from getting the disease later on. To prove this, he needed to test his theory on live animals.
[A] They recovered and, when placed with cattle that did have the disease, they remained immune. [B] Pasteur's last major research success was the development of a vaccine against rabies. [C] Institutes were built and people were treated for the disease in them. Pasteur was a national hero in France. [D] He died in 1895 and was given a state funeral.
The word “inactive” in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to ________.
- A. motionless
- B. occupied
- C. dangerous
- D. reactive
- A. Proof of the process of fermentation
- B. Molecules being active at all times
- C. Observed only a single type of crystal
- D. Molecules produce all living organisms
- A. The wine would change to vinegar because of fermentation.
- B. Microorganisms were present in all alcoholic drinks.
- C. Yeast was an organism that did not need oxygen to work.
- D. The fermentation was a purely chemical process.
- A. facilitate
- B. require
- C. produce
- D. consume
- A. That fermentation contributed to spontaneous generation
- B. That bottle-neck glasses can keep things germ-free
- C. That maggots can form suddenly from matter without warning
- D. That flies were created from the maggots on dead meat
- A. To explain the method of scientific experimentation
- B. To demonstrate the correct way to do a scientific experiment
- C. To show how microbes contribute to spontaneous generation
- D. To illustrate exactly how Pasteur determined his findings
- A. original
- B. tremendous
- C. controlled
- D. significant
- A. Most patients became sick from being infected by doctors in the emergency room.
- B. Hospital wards had become dirty and dangerous places due to the lack of proper training and space.
- C. Pasteur learned that infections could be transmitted to healthy patients from dirty, non-sterile instruments doctors had used on previous patients.
- D. Healthy patients could become infected by sick people, simply by the shake of a hand or sharing a drink.
- A. Sealed bottles under observation
- B. Disinfection of materials and instruments
- C. Heating to mild temperatures
- D. Going into animal experimentation known to be scientifically unsound
- A. [A]
- B. [B]
- C. [C]
- D. [D]
