UTS Basic Reading

Fort Knox, Kentucky, is the site of a U.S. army post, but it is even more renowned for the Fort Knox Bullion Depository, the massive vault that contains the bulk of the U.S. government’s gold deposits. Completed in 1936, the vault is housed in a two-story building constructed of granite, Line steel, and concrete; the vault itself is made of steel and concrete and has a door that weighs more than twenty tons. Naturally, the most up-to-date security devices available are in place at Fort Knox, and the army post nearby provides further protection.

 

1. Which of the following best describes the topic of the passage?

• The city of Fort Knox, Kentucky

• The federal gold depository

• The U.S. army post at Fort Knox

• Gold bullion

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One identifying characteristic of minerals is their relative hardness, which can be determined by scratching one mineral with another. In this type of test, a harder mineral can scratch a softer one, but a softer mineral is unable to scratch the harder one. The Mohs’ hardness scale is used to rank minerals according to hardness. Ten minerals are listed in this scale, ranging from talc with a hardness of 1 to diamond with a hardness of 10. On this scale, quartz (number 7) is harder than feldspar (number 6) and is therefore able to scratch it; however, feldspar is unable to make a mark on quartz.

2. Which of the following best states the topic of this passage?

• The hardness of diamonds

• Identifying minerals by means of a scratch test

• Feldspar on the Mohs’ scale

• Recognizing minerals in their natural state

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One identifying characteristic of minerals is their relative hardness, which can be determined by scratching one mineral with another. In this type of test, a harder mineral can scratch a softer one, but a softer mineral is unable to scratch the harder one. The Mohs’ hardness scale is used to rank minerals according to hardness. Ten minerals are listed in this scale, ranging from talc with a hardness of 1 to diamond with a hardness of 10. On this scale, quartz (number 7) is harder than feldspar (number 6) and is therefore able to scratch it; however, feldspar is unable to make a mark on quartz.

3. The main idea of this passage is that …

• the hardness of a mineral can be determined by its ability to make a mark on other minerals

• diamonds, with a hardness of 10 on the Mohs’ scale, can scratch all other minerals

• a softer mineral cannot be scratched by a harder mineral

• talc is the first mineral listed on the Mohs’ scale

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Hurricanes generally occur in the North Atlantic from May through November, with the peak of the hurricane season in September; only rarely will they occur from December through April in that part of the ocean. The main reason for the occurrence of hurricanes during this period is that the temperature on the water’s surface is at its warmest and the humidity of the air is at its highest.

Of the tropical storms that occur each year in the North Atlantic, only about five, on the average, are powerful enough to be called hurricanes. To be classified as a hurricane, a tropical storm must have winds reaching speeds of at least 117 kilometers per hour, but the winds are often much stronger than that; the winds of intense hurricanes can easily surpass 240 kilometers (10) per hour.

4. The passage mainly discusses …

• how many hurricanes occur each year

• the strength of hurricanes

• the weather in the North Atlantic

• hurricanes in one part of the world

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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) was perhaps the best-known American poet of the nineteenth century. His clear writing style and emphasis on the prevalent values of the period made him popular with the general public if not always with the critics. He was particularly recognized for Line his longer narrative poems Evangeline, The Song of Hiawatha, and The Courtship of Miles Standish, in which he told stories from American history in terms of the values of the time. Evangeline was set during the French and Indian War (1754–1763), when the British forced French settlers from Nova Scotia; two lovers, Gabriel and Evangeline, were separated by the British, and Evangeline devoted her lifetime to the search for Gabriel. With its emphasis on sentimental, undying love, Evangeline was immensely popular with the public.

In The Song of Hiawatha, Longfellow depicted the noble life of the American Indian through the story of the brave Hiawatha and his beloved wife Minehaha. The tear-inspiring poem follows Hiawatha through the tragedies and triumphs of life, ending with the death of Minehaha and Hiawatha’s departure into the sunset in his canoe. The Courtship of Miles Standish takes place during the early period of the settlement of New (15) England, a period which was viewed as a time of honor and romance. In this poem centered around a love triangle, Miles Standish asks his friend John Alden to propose to Priscilla Mullins for him; John Alden ends up marrying Priscilla Mullins himself, and it takes time for his friendship with Miles Standish to recover. As with Longfellow’s other narrative poems, the emphasis on high ideals and romance made the poem extremely popular.

5. Which of the following best describes the main idea of the passage?

• American history is often depicted in poetry.

• Longfellow described American history even though people really did not enjoy it.

• The popularity of Longfellow’s poems results from his stress on the values of the people.

• Longfellow wrote long narrative poems that were not always popular with the critics.

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Most of the ice on the Earth, close to 90 percent of it, is covering the surface of the continent Antarctica. It does not snow very much in Antarctica, but whatever snow does fall remains and grows deeper and deeper. In some areas of Antarctica, the ice has perhaps been around for as much as a million years and now is more than two miles deep.

6. The main idea of the passage is that...

• the Earth is a cold planet

• most of the Earth’s ice is found in Antarctica

• it snows more in Antarctica than in any other place on Earth

• Antarctica is only two miles wide but is 90 percent ice

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The extremely hot and humid weather that occurs in the United States in July and August is commonly called the “dogs days” of summer. This name comes from the star Sirius, which is known as the Dog Star. Sirius is the brightest visible star, and in the hot summer months it rises in the east at approximately the same time as the Sun. As ancient people saw this star rising with the Sun when the weather was at its hottest, they believed that Sirius was the cause of the additional heat; they believed that this bright star added its heat to the heat of the Sun, and these two together made summer weather so unbearably hot.

7. The topic of this passage is...

• how dogs like to play during the summer

• the causes of hot and humid weather

• why the hot summer days are known as the “dogs days”

• the days that dogs prefer

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The extremely hot and humid weather that occurs in the United States in July and August is commonly called the “dogs days” of summer. This name comes from the star Sirius, which is known as the Dog Star. Sirius is the brightest visible star, and in the hot summer months it rises in the east at approximately the same time as the Sun. As ancient people saw this star rising with the Sun when the weather was at its hottest, they believed that Sirius was the cause of the additional heat; they believed that this bright star added its heat to the heat of the Sun, and these two together made summer weather so unbearably hot.

8.  The main idea of this passage is that...

• the name for the summer days came from Sirius, the Dog Star

• dogs generally prefer hot summer days

• the hottest days occur in the summer because of the movements of the Sun and stars

• Sirius rises at almost the same time as the Sun during the summer months

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A wonderful example of this second type of primitive artist is Grandma Moses, who spent all her life living on a farm and working at tasks normally associated with farm life. She did not begin painting until she reached the age of seventy-six, when she switched to painting from embroidery because the arthritis in her hands made embroidery too difficult. Totally without formal education in art, she began creating panoramic images of everyday life on the farm that have achieved international fame.

9. The subject of this passage is

• an example of one of the types of primitive art

• Grandma Moses’s life on the farm

• how primitive art differs from formal art

• Grandma Moses’s primitive life-style

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A wonderful example of this second type of primitive artist is Grandma Moses, who spent all her life living on a farm and working at tasks normally associated with farm life. She did not begin painting until she reached the age of seventy-six, when she switched to painting from embroidery because the arthritis in her hands made embroidery too difficult. Totally without formal education in art, she began creating panoramic images of everyday life on the farm that have achieved international fame.

10.   Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?

• Grandma Moses spent her life on a farm

• Grandma Moses is one type of primitive artist because of her lack of formal training.

• Art critics cannot come to any agreement on a definition of primitive art.

• Many artists receive little professional training.

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