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Reading comprehension Answers 1. (C) The passage states that stalagmites grow "as a result of water dripping from an overhead stalactite. Choice (A) is how a stalactite is formed, the opposite of a stalagmite. Underground rivers (B) do not result in mineral deposits. Water which trickles down a slope, (D), results in a curtain. 2. (B) The second paragraph begins with the definition of sinkholes "natural openings on the surface that lead to caves." 3. (A) Stalagmites grow upward from the floor. Stalactites (B) hang from the ceiling of a cave. Sinkholes (C) are openings that lead to caves. Curtains (D) form when drops of water trickle along a slope. 4. (C) In the term "inclined ceiling," the word "inclined" means sloped, or slanted. Therefore, slanted is the correct answer. (A), (B), and (D) are incorrect. 5. (C) Slopes are not caused by dripping water. They are part of the natural shape of the cave, so (C) is the correct choice. Stalagmites (A) and stalactites (B) are both caused by dripping water; these choices are incorrect. Curtains (D) are formed out of stalactites and stalagmites, which are created by dripping water. Therefore, (D) is incorrect. 6. (D) Geology includes the study of rocks, including speleothems. (D) is the right answer. Geography (A) is the study of all the Earth's features, not just caves, and is incorrect. Archaeology (B) is the study of ancient civilizations and their remains; (B) is also incorrect. Physics (C) is the science of energy and matter; (C) is an incorrect answer. 7. (B) In this passage, another term for "curtain" is "drapery." Choice (B) "draperies," the plural form of "drapery," is the correct answer. (A) "columns," (C) "stalagmites," and (D) "rims" are incorrect. 8. (C) The passage states that the word speleothem comes from the Greek language. Therefore, (A) Latin, (B) French, and (D) English are all incorrect. 9. (A) The passage says specifically that stalactites "are formed as drop after drop of water slowly trickles through cracks in the cave roof." This is restated in choice (A), the correct answer. There is no mention of underground rivers in the passage, so (B) is an incorrect choice. Water which seeps through the floor of the cave (C) is the opposite of the correct answer and should not be chosen. Curtains, not stalactites, are formed by water dripping down a slope. Therefore, (D) is incorrect. 10. (B) Stalactites grow from the ceiling, and is the correct answer. Stalagmites (A) grow from the cave floor. (A) is incorrect. Columns (C) are the union of stalactites and stalagmites; they do not grow from ceilings. (C) is incorrect. Rimstones (D) are not mentioned in the passage. (D) is incorrect. 11. (C) The passage lists three examples of Eastern stallions: Byerly Turk, Darley Arabian, and Godolphin Barb. According to the passage, the Thoroughbred is a distinct breed that traces its ancestry to Eastern stallions, but is not technically an Eastern stallion itself. 12. (B) According to the passage, the Great Horse of the Middle Ages was bred for all of the listed characteristics except swiftness. It was the horse bred by the Arabs, in fact, that showed swiftness. 13. (C) The passage states that "cross-breeding of hot- blooded and coldblooded horses for certain characteristics produced breeds ranging from riding horses to draft horses." Choices (A), (B), and (D) are all factually incorrect within the passage. 14. (A) The clue here is in the discription of the horses as "small and swift," which would most likely mean they were also "graceful." The horses, then, would certainly not be "clumsy" (B), "massive" (C), or "bulky" (D). 15. (C) A "foal," or baby horse, is not one of the major divisions of horse breeds. 16. (B) The passage states, "the Thoroughbred is considered by many to be the highpoint of elegance and fine selective breeding." The other choices are

earlier ancestors of the Thoroughbred. 17. (B) A breeder is someone who raises horses in order to have them reproduce. Bred mares become pregnant when they conceive. (B) is the correct answer. Although a horse may become sick when it conceives, (A) is not the correct answer. To die (C) is not the correct answer. To be born (D) is the result of conception, not the definition of conception. Therefore, (D) is also incorrect. 18. (D) A foal is a baby horse. A male horse (A) is a stallion, and a female horse (B) is a mare. There is no a term for an old horse (C). Therefore, (A), (B), and (C) are incorrect. 19. (C) According to the passage, the average amount of mares which actually conceive is less than 50 percent (50%). (A) 40 and (B) 85 are the percentages of variation in horses' conception, not the average. (D) 75 is not mentioned in the passage at all. 20. (C) A mare is a female horse. A male horse (A) is a stallion. A baby horse (B) is a foal. There is no term for an old horse (D). Therefore, (A), (B), and (D) are incorrect. 21. (C) The second paragraph states that the gestation period for hamsters is about 16 days. 22. (B) The second paragraph states that female hamsters may eat their own young when the litter is large. Hunger (A), deformity (C), and quick maturation (D) are not listed as possible reasons. 23. (A) The passage states that a female hamster can bear young when she is six weeks to two months old. 24. (D) The word perpetuation in this context means that the animals need a large litter to continue their species. Extinction (A) and annihilation (B) both are opposites of perpetuation. Variation (C) would mean that they wanted diversity in the litter. 25. (C) The second paragraph states that the female hamster may produce litters up to an age of 15 months. 26. (B) The tone of the passage could best be described as informative because of the extensive information about large litters and especially hamsters. 27. (B) Since the passage's main idea is about why animals have large litters, "Reasons for Large Litters" is the best choice. Although the passage says that some of the offspring of the litter can be endangered, it is not the main theme, so the title in choice (A), "Endangered Animal Litters," is not the best choice. While the passage does discuss the parents of large litters, they are not the main topic. Therefore (C), "Parents of Large Litters," is an incorrect answer. Since the passage states that litters are not educated, choice (D), "Educating Litters," is a wrong answer. 28. (C) A litter is the amount of offspring, or babies, an animal has. The amount of parents an animal has (A) does not vary. Therefore, (A) is incorrect. Although "litter" can also mean "garbage," (B) it is the wrong meaning for this passage. A litter is the number of children an animal has, not how many brothers and sisters (siblings) it has, therefore, (D) is an incorrect choice. 29. (A) The passage states that the parents of the litter spend most of their time reproducing and food gathering. (A), which restates the passage, is the correct answer. The passage specifically states that the litter is uneducated, so (B) is incorrect. The parents of the litter are too busy to interfere with the litter. Therefore, (C) is incorrect. The passage does not mention playing, so (D) is an incorrect choice. 30. (B) (A), (C), and (D) are all reasons to have large litters as stated in the passage. Only (B) is incorrect, for the passage says litters are uneducated. Since the question asked for the incorrect answer, (B) is the right choice. 31. (B) The third paragraph clearly states that de Leon landed on Florida's east coast in March, 1513. The other choices, then, are obviously incorrect. 32. (C) According to the passage, Ponce de Leon started a colony in Caparra

in 1509 and later abandoned it in favor of San Juan (A). La Florida (B) is the name de Leon gave to the peninsular extension of North America, and St. Augustine (D) is the name later given to the area in Florida where he landed in 1513. 33. (B) The second paragraph clearly states that the legendary island was named "Bimini." The other choices are thus incorrect. 34. (C) The passage states, "it is said he was seeking this spring [The Fountain of Youth] when he discovered Florida." None of the other statements are supported by the passage. 35. (A) The second paragraph states that "he named the place La Florida after the Spanish term for Easter Sunday - Pascua florida." 36. (D) Nowhere in the passage is it stated that the Spanish Empire was advanced through negotiations - only by subjugation and force. 37. (C) If you can imagine what Florida looks like on a map, you know that three of its sides are surrounded by water, while the top part is attached to the rest of the North American continent. Such a land formation is called a "peninsula." Choice (C), which restates this definition, is the correct answer. Choice (A) is incorrect because the passage mentions nothing about volcanoes in Florida. Choice (B), an island, is what de Leon thought Florida was; he did not realize it was part of a huge continent. And choice (D) is incorrect because the shape of the land mass, incorrectly called an island, has nothing to do with its inhabitants. 38. (D) This question asks you about the intent (or tone) of a word, instead of its meaning. Because the word "advanced" is in quotations in the passage itself, we can assume that the author of the passage had a different meaning in mind for the word, implying that the way adelantados "advanced" the Spanish Empire was wrong. Choice (A), which states that adelantados favor progress, is true, but it does not give a negative meaning to "advanced." (A) is incorrect. (B), progress could not have occurred without subjugation (repression), may be the way the adelantados felt, but not how the author feels. (B) is incorrect. (C) is also incorrect. Although progress may be related to conquest and subjugation, it is not what the tone of "advanced" suggests. (D) is correct because the quotations around "advanced" suggest the author's feelings that what adelantados believe is progress really is not. 39. (B) According to the passage, de Leon believed he had discovered a new island called Florida. (B), which restates this, is the correct answer. (A), (C), and (D) are therefore incorrect. 40. (C) Although de Leon was a great explorer and was the first Spaniard to see the shores of the United States, that is not what adelantado means, so choices (A) and (B) are incorrect. The passage does not state that de Leon claimed Florida for the King of Spain, so (D) is incorrect. The passage states that an adelantado is one who "'advanced' the Spanish Empire by conquest, subjugation of the Indians, and establishment of a semimilitary government." (C), conquered and ruled by military force, restates the passage, and therefore is correct. 41. (C) The passage focuses primarily on Einstein's work in physics and does not mention chemistry (A), biology (B), or engineering (D). 42. (D) The passage discusses television as being a practical application of Einstein's theory of light. None of the other inventions are discussed. 43. (B) The passage states that "Einstein spoke out frequently against nationalism, the exalting of one nation above all others." According to the passage, Einstein supported Zionism (A), U.S. atomic bomb research (C), and the defeat of the Nazis (D). 44. (C) Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany. He later lived in Switzerland (A) and the United States (B). Israel (D) was not a nation when he was born. 45. (A) Brownian movement is the zig-zag motion of microscopic particles in suspension. Choices (B) and (C) relate to Einstein's later work, not to Brownian movement. Brownian movement did not form the basis of the

theory of relativity (D). 46. (A) Nowhere in the passage is it mentioned that Einstein ever lived in Belgium, much less became a citizen there. He was, however, a citizen of the United States (C) and Switzerland (D). He was always obviously a citizen of Germany (B), having been born there. 47. (B) It is obvious from the passage that the author greatly respects Albert Einstein's work and considers him "one of the greatest thinkers in history." Nowhere does the author pass judgment on Einstein's political views (A). Choices (C) and (D) are directly opposite of the facts in the passage. 48. (C) Einstein's special theory of relativity directly states that time and motion are relative to the observer, given a constant speed of light and natural laws. The other choices are also Einstein theories, but are not related to his special theory of relativity. 49. (A) In this context, nationalism refers to the "elevation" of one nation over all others. This eliminates (B) and (D) as possibilities. "Support" (C) would be a good second choice, but does not have as strongly positive a connotation as "elevation." 50. (C) The passage states that Einstein's second paper "proposed that light is composed of separate packets of energy, called quanta." None of the other terms is discussed in the passage. 51. (B) In this context, obliterated would mean destroyed. Created (A) is the opposite of obliterated. Changed (C) and eroded (D) are not meanings for obliterated. 52. (A) The second paragraph states that scientists estimate the Earth's age by measuring the ratios of various radioactive elements in rocks. The other methods are not mentioned in the passage. 53. (C) Scientists estimate that the Earth is 4.6 billion years old by testing rocks found on the moon and meteorites. (A) 3 1/3 billion years (A) old is the age of the oldest rock found on Earth. 54. (D) The passage indicates that the craters were obliterated by crustal motions and erosion. None of the other answers were mentioned in the passage. 55. (B) Erosion and crustal motions are mentioned in the passage as the cause for the obliteration of the craters that formed from celestial bombardment of the Earth. Human alteration (A) and deforestation (D) are both man-made procesess of recent occurence. 56. (A) "Determining the Age of the Earth" would be the primary focus of the passage. "Determining the Age of the Solar System" (B) is mentioned but is not the focus of the passage. "Erosion and Crustal Motion of Earth" (C) is a process that hampered scientific determining of the Earth's age. "Radioactive Elements in Rocks" (D) help determine the age of the Earth. 57. (C) Choices (A), (B), and (D) were all studied to determine if Earth was bombarded in its early history. The satellites of Jupiter were studied according to the passage. Jupiter, choice (C), was not studied, however. Therefore, (C) is the correct answer. 58. (A) The passage says that there is evidence that the other planetary bodies were bombarded; from that evidence, one can infer that Earth was bombarded as well. There is no mention in the passage that bombardment of Earth is documented fact, so choice (B) is incorrect. The lunar record is discussed in the passage as indicating the decrease of bombardment, not whether it actually happened, so choice (C) is incorrect. The passage states that erosion has gotten rid of any evidence that Earth was bombarded, so (D) is incorrect. 59. (D) The passage states that the number of bombardments "decreased to its current low about 4 billion years ago." Choices (A), (B), and (C) are incorrect because they state that information incorrectly. 60. (B) "Assault" is the best answer because it is closest to the meaning of "bombardment," which is an attack or battering. An "avoidance" (A) is the

opposite of a bombardment, so (A) is a wrong answer. Choices (C) and (D), effect and cause, have nothing to do with the meaning of bombardment.