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WorksheetsACT Passage II
Total questions: 10
Worksheet time: 20mins
The author's attitude toward the main subject of the passage can be described as:
awe and fascination.
disbelief and cynicism.
amusement and nostalgia.
boredom and indifference.
The passage makes clear the "Middle Ground," "Telegraph Plateau," and "Dolphin Rise" were names that people gave what was actually:
an island in Atlantic.
a transatlantic telegraph cable.
an acient and drowned land bridge.
the immense mountain range in Atlantic's basin.
In the frist paragraph, the author describes the stillness of the Sargasso Sea as the Cramer passes through it primarily to emphasize that the stillness:
won't last long, for the sea will become rough when the wind rises.
makes it easy for a passenger on the Cramer to spot oceanic islands that break the water's surface.
is in dramatic contrast to the power of what exists on adn under the seafloor far below.
makes it seem as if the Cramer's wake is dividing the unbroken expanse of water into two.
The passage states that compared to Arizona's Grand Canyon, the canyon that lies within the mountains in Atlantic's basin is considerably:
deeper.
older.
wider.
longer.
The main purpose of the information in lines 71-76 is to:
describe in detail scientists' expectations for their first trip to the rift valley.
characterize the rift valley as an alien, seemingly barren place.
provide statistics about several geographic properties of the rift valley.
list the names that scientists gave to the volcanic hills in the rift valley.
One of the main purposes of the last paragraph is to state that the:
gashes in the rift valley continue to increase in width.
seafloor of Atlantic has cooled.
entire Atlantic seafloor has issued from the gashes in the rift valley.
volcanoes in Earth's dry land have created the newest, youngest pieces of Atlantic seafloor.
The author most strongly implies that people commonly assum the deepest waters of an ocean are:
about one thousand miles offshore.
at the middle of the ocean.
dotted with islands.
located in trenches.
As it is used in line 19 the phrase paid out most nearly means:
dispensed.
ascertained.
suggested.
compensated.
According to the passage, the mountain range in Atlantic's basin covers nearly the same amount of Earth's surface as does:
Mount St. Helens
the Himalayas
the Pacific Ocean
the dry land of continents
According to the passage, the white cover on the peaks of the mountains in Atlantic's basin is:
skeletal remains of microscopic animals
thin layers of sedimentary volcanic ash.
patches of ice
salt deposits.
