TSIA English II

Instructions

Read the passage and then choose the best answer to each question. Answer the question on the basis to what is stated or implied in the passage.

Polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, is used in most water-carrying pipes in the United States. Known for their resistance to the corrosion that can be caused by water, PVC pipes are more durable than the metal pipes of old. As useful PVC is, it may surprising that it was accidentally discovered in 1835 by Henri Victor Regnault, who observed a mysterious white solid plastic forming inside some test tubes that were left exposed to sunlight in his lab.

Question

Which statement can be inferred about metal pipes from the passage above?

• are used more than PVC pipes outside of the of the United States

• are more expensive than PVC pipes

• are more likely to corrode than PVC pipes

• are no longer used in the United States

Instructions

Read the passage and then choose the best answer to each question. Answer the question on the basis to what is stated or implied in the passage.

Passage

The first coin-operated vending machines in the United States were installed on the elevated platforms of the New York City railway system in 1888. These machines sold a chewing gum called "Tutti- Frutti," which was manufactured by the Thomas Adams Gum Company. These machines were eventually updated to feature animated figures that would dance each time a gum purchase was made.

Question

All of the following statements about the vending machines discussed in the passage are true EXCEPT

• they dispensed chewing gum in exchange for coins

• they were the first of their kind in the country

• they were utilized by train passengers

• they were originally designed to entertain customers

Instructions

Read the passage and then choose the best answer to each question. Answer the question on the basis to what is stated or implied in the passage.

Passage

The main authors of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are usually thought of as America's founders. Other, less known personages also deserve that designation, however, and Noah Webster was one of these. Through his writings, which include the still-influential dictionary that bears his name. Webster sought to legitimize an "American English" that was independent of British spelling and pronunciation. For instance, Webster removed the "u" from "colour," creating the distince American version of the word.

Question

According to the passage, Noah Webster

• helped with the Constitution

• was a poor speller

• authored a new dictionary

• was unknown in his lifetime

Instructions

Read the passage and then choose the best answer to each question. Answer the question on the basis to what is stated or implied in the passage.

Passage

Swarms of locusts causing deadly plagues are usually thought of as the stuff of myths. However, the desert locust Schistocerga gregaria has been responsible for damage to populations across three continents. The desert locust does its damage by consuming its body weight in food each day, devouring virtually any type of vegetation it encounters. When millions of locusts swarm into an area, their effect on the food supply in that area and surrounding areas can be catastrophic. Fortunately, it takes a big, sustained rainstorm (a rare event event in desert areas) to create the conditions in which desert locusts thrive.

Question

The passage is primarily about

• the damage done by swarms of desert locusts

• the consumption behavior of the desert locust

• comparing real plagues to mythical ones

• protecting vulnerable areas from desert locusts

Instructions

Read the passage and then choose the best answer to each question. Answer the question on the basis to what is stated or implied in the passage.

Passage

Some historians attribute the origin of front porches so common in American houses to the covered porticos of classical Rome. Indeed, our word "porch" derives from the Latin portico. However, these colonnaded spaces were almost always connected to public or religious structures rather than to private homes. The loggias of Renaissance Venice, recessed front entryways built into the ground floor of Venetian canal houses, perhaps provide a better starting point for the evolution of the American-style porch. This architectural feature later became popularized throughout Europe by the 17th-century Venetian architect Andrea Palladio. Eventually, English colonists would spread the loggia to the American colonies.

Question

Does the author agree with the "historians" who attribute the origins of the American front porch to the classical Roman portico?

• Yes, because the word "porch" derives from the Latin word portico

• Yes, because the buildings of ancient Rome have influenced many American architects

• No, because Roman porticos had public uses rather than domestic ones

• No, because Italian architecture was popular in Europe but not in America

Instructions

Read the following early draft of an essay and then choose the best answer to the question or the best completion of the statement.

Passage

(1) What happens in our brains when we read? (2) As one would expect, the parts of the brain associated with language development and processing play a central role. (3) But recent research by neuroscientists suggests that the words and phrases we encounter when reading stories activate many other parts of our brains as well, including those responsible for smell, touch, motion, and even empathy.

(4) In one study, researchers asked participants to read words and have them scanned by a brain imaging machine. (5) Brain imaging machines are also used to detect the effects of tumors, stroke, head, and brain injury, or diseases such as Alzheimer's. (6) When subjects looked at words such as "perfume," their primary olfactory cortex, the region used for smells, lit up; when they saw words such as "chair," this region remained dark. (7) In another study, metaphors involving texture, such as "The singer had a velvet voice," roused the sensory cortex, while phrases such as "The singer had a pleasing voice" did not. (8) The sensory cortex is the part of the brain responsible for perceiving texture and touch. (9) In a third study, sentences like "Pablo kicked the ball" caused brain activity in the motor cortex, which coordinates the body's movements. (10) This activity was concentrated in different parts of the motor cortex depending on whether the movement was arm-related or leg-related.

(11) The idea that reading activates parts of the brain associated with "real life" functions goes beyond simple words and phrases: there is evidence that the brain treats the detailed interactions among characters in a book as something like real-life social encounters. (12) One scientist has proposed a reason: reading produces a vivid simulation of reality, one that "runs on minds of readers just as computer simulations run on computers." (13) The brain, it seems, does does not make much of a distinction between reading about an experience and encountering it in real life.

Question

In context, which phrase should replace the vague pronoun "them" in sentence 4 (reproduced below)?

In one study, researchers asked participants to read words and have them scanned by a brain imaging machine.

• the researchers

• the participants

• the words

• their brains

Instructions

Read the following early draft of an essay and then choose the best answer to the question or the best completion of the statement.

Passage

(1) What happens in our brains when we read? (2) As one would expect, the parts of the brain associated with language development and processing play a central role. (3) But recent research by neuroscientists suggests that the words and phrases we encounter when reading stories activate many other parts of our brains as well, including those responsible for smell, touch, motion, and even empathy.

(4) In one study, researchers asked participants to read words and have them scanned by a brain imaging machine. (5) Brain imaging machines are also used to detect the effects of tumors, stroke, head, and brain injury, or diseases such as Alzheimer's. (6) When subjects looked at words such as "perfume," their primary olfactory cortex, the region used for smells, lit up; when they saw words such as "chair," this region remained dark. (7) In another study, metaphors involving texture, such as "The singer had a velvet voice," roused the sensory cortex, while phrases such as "The singer had a pleasing voice" did not. (8) The sensory cortex is the part of the brain responsible for perceiving texture and touch. (9) In a third study, sentences like "Pablo kicked the ball" caused brain activity in the motor cortex, which coordinates the body's movements. (10) This activity was concentrated in different parts of the motor cortex depending on whether the movement was arm-related or leg-related.

(11) The idea that reading activates parts of the brain associated with "real life" functions goes beyond simple words and phrases: there is evidence that the brain treats the detailed interactions among characters in a book as something like real-life social encounters. (12) One scientist has proposed a reason: reading produces a vivid simulation of reality, one that "runs on minds of readers just as computer simulations run on computers." (13) The brain, it seems, does does not make much of a distinction between reading about an experience and encountering it in real life.

Question

Which sentence provides unnecessary information and should be deleted from the second paragraph (sentences 4-10)?

• Sentence 4

• Sentence 5

• Sentence 6

• Sentence 9

Instructions

Read the following early draft of an essay and then choose the best answer to the question or the best completion of the statement.

Passage

(1) What happens in our brains when we read? (2) As one would expect, the parts of the brain associated with language development and processing play a central role. (3) But recent research by neuroscientists suggests that the words and phrases we encounter when reading stories activate many other parts of our brains as well, including those responsible for smell, touch, motion, and even empathy.

(4) In one study, researchers asked participants to read words and have them scanned by a brain imaging machine. (5) Brain imaging machines are also used to detect the effects of tumors, stroke, head, and brain injury, or diseases such as Alzheimer's. (6) When subjects looked at words such as "perfume," their primary olfactory cortex, the region used for smells, lit up; when they saw words such as "chair," this region remained dark. (7) In another study, metaphors involving texture, such as "The singer had a velvet voice," roused the sensory cortex, while phrases such as "The singer had a pleasing voice" did not. (8) The sensory cortex is the part of the brain responsible for perceiving texture and touch. (9) In a third study, sentences like "Pablo kicked the ball" caused brain activity in the motor cortex, which coordinates the body's movements. (10) This activity was concentrated in different parts of the motor cortex depending on whether the movement was arm-related or leg-related.

(11) The idea that reading activates parts of the brain associated with "real life" functions goes beyond simple words and phrases: there is evidence that the brain treats the detailed interactions among characters in a book as something like real-life social encounters. (12) One scientist has proposed a reason: reading produces a vivid simulation of reality, one that "runs on minds of readers just as computer simulations run on computers." (13) The brain, it seems, does does not make much of a distinction between reading about an experience and encountering it in real life.

Question

In context, which of the following is the best way to revise and combine sentences 7 and 8 (reproduced below)?

In another study, metaphors involving texture, such as "The singer had a velvet voice," roused the sensory cortex, while phrases such as "The singer had a pleasing voice" did not. The sensory cortex is the part of the brain responsible for perceiving texture and touch.

• Since the sensory cortex is the part of the brain for perceiving texture through touch, in another study, metaphors involving texture, such as "The singer had a velvet voice," roused it, while phrases such as "The singer had a pleasing voice" did not.

• In another study, metaphors involving texture, such as "The singer had a velvet voice," roused the sensory cortex, the part of the brain responsible for perceiving texture through touch, while phrases such as "The singer had a pleasing voice" did not.

• In another study, metaphors involving texture, such as "The singer had a velvet voice," roused the sensory cortex, while phrases such as "The singer had a pleasing voice" did not and it is the part of the brain responsible for perceiving texture through touch.

• In another study, metaphors involving texture, such as "The singer had a velvet voice," roused the sensory cortex, while phrases such as "The singer had a pleasing voice" did not; however, the sensory cortex is the part of the brain responsible for perceiving texture through touch.

Instructions

Read the following early draft of an essay and then choose the best answer to the question or the best completion of the statement.

Passage

(1) What happens in our brains when we read? (2) As one would expect, the parts of the brain associated with language development and processing play a central role. (3) But recent research by neuroscientists suggests that the words and phrases we encounter when reading stories activate many other parts of our brains as well, including those responsible for smell, touch, motion, and even empathy.

(4) In one study, researchers asked participants to read words and have them scanned by a brain imaging machine. (5) Brain imaging machines are also used to detect the effects of tumors, stroke, head, and brain injury, or diseases such as Alzheimer's. (6) When subjects looked at words such as "perfume," their primary olfactory cortex, the region used for smells, lit up; when they saw words such as "chair," this region remained dark. (7) In another study, metaphors involving texture, such as "The singer had a velvet voice," roused the sensory cortex, while phrases such as "The singer had a pleasing voice" did not. (8) The sensory cortex is the part of the brain responsible for perceiving texture and touch. (9) In a third study, sentences like "Pablo kicked the ball" caused brain activity in the motor cortex, which coordinates the body's movements. (10) This activity was concentrated in different parts of the motor cortex depending on whether the movement was arm-related or leg-related.

(11) The idea that reading activates parts of the brain associated with "real life" functions goes beyond simple words and phrases: there is evidence that the brain treats the detailed interactions among characters in a book as something like real-life social encounters. (12) One scientist has proposed a reason: reading produces a vivid simulation of reality, one that "runs on minds of readers just as computer simulations run on computers." (13) The brain, it seems, does does not make much of a distinction between reading about an experience and encountering it in real life.

Question

Which piece of evidence, if added to the third paragraph (sentences 11-13), would best support the writer's argument?

• Information about a study that showed substantial overlap in the parts of the brain used to understand stories and those used to navigate interactions with other people

• A discussion of how the nature of reading has changed due to people choosing to read books, magazines, and newspapers on computers and mobile devices rather than print

• A quote from a neuroscientist about the connection between watching television and decreased brain activity

• A statement from a teacher about how reading great literature enhances students' minds and improves students as human beings

Instructions

Select the best version of the underlined part of the sentence. If you think the original sentence is best, choose the first answer.

Question

Indiana is the smallest state in the Midwest although they have one of the largest populations of any state in that region.

• although they have

• although with

• but has

• but they have