Read the passage and mark A, B, C or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.
In the early 1800’s, over 80 percent of the United States labor force was engaged in agriculture. Sophisticated technology and machinery were virtually nonexistent. People who lived in the cities and were not directly involved in trade often participated in small cottage industries making handcrafted goods. Others cured meats, silversmiths, candle or otherwise produced needed goods and commodities. Blacksmiths, silversmiths, candle makers, and other artisans worked in their homes or barns, relying on help of family.Perhaps no single phenomenon brought more widespread and lasting change to the United States society than the rise of industrialization. Industrial growth hinged on several economic factors. First, industry requires an abundance of natural resources, especially coal, iron ore, water, petroleum, and timber-all readily available on the North American continent. Second, factories demand a large labor supply. Between the 1870’s and the First World War (1914-1918), approximately 23 million immigrants streamed to the United States, settled in cities, and went to work in factories and mines. They also helped build the vast network of canals and railroads that crisscrossed the continent and linked important trade centers essential to industrial growth.Factories also offered a reprieve from the backbreaking work and financial unpredictability associated with farming. Many adults, poor and disillusioned with farm life, were lured to the cities by promises of steady employment, regular paychecks, increased access to goods and services, and expanded social opportunities. Others were pushed there when new technologies made their labor cheap or expendable; inventions such as steel plows and mechanized harvesters allowed one farmhand to perform work that previously had required several, thus making farming capital-intensive rather than labor-intensive. The United States economy underwent a massive transition and the nature of work was permanently altered. Whereas cottage industries relied on a few highly skilled craft workers who slowly and carefully converted raw materials into finished products from start to finish, factories relied on specialization. While factory work was less creative and more monotonous, it was also more efficient and allowed mass production of goods at less expense.
The word “expendable” is closest in meaning to _______.
A. nonproductive
B. unacceptable
C. nonessential
Find the mistake and correct
John is having a clown birthday party. The clown is appearing. He always loves watching the clown. He is looking happy.
Lately, I ____ about changing my career because I ____ dissatisfied with the conditions at my company.
Read the following passage and then choose the most suitable word or phrase for each space.
The money that some professional sportsmen earn shouldn't impress anyone when you take into (1) __ the fact that only a few of them manage to attain immortality and everlasting fame. And once they reach their (2) __ and display their talent at their best, they are fully conscious that their brilliant careers won't last forever. They live under a constant pressure of being (3) ____ and subsequently replaced by someone who is younger, faster and more accomplished. For that reason, objectives like retirement benefits and pensions are (4)____ great concern to all professional athletes. Some of the retired competitors go as far as to organize strikes and rallies to voice their protest against any policy unresponsive to their demand (5)_____ the younger professionals seek more upgrading solutions to the problem as more and more of them attach a proper significance to (6)___ a solid education, even at university level. Such an approach should help them find interesting and well-paid jobs (7)____ their sports career is over. A completely new strategy has been devised by the schools priding themselves (8)_____ supporting their own teams. Their authorities insist that the sports clubs members achieve high academic standards or else they are debarred from partaking in certain sports events, which may lead to further disruption in their professional careers. By these practical and most effective (9)___, combining education with sports activity, the (10)___ of the professional athlete as being brainless and unintelligent may eventually be changing to the sportsmen's benefit.
My car broke down yesterday, so I ____ catch a taxi to the office.
Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.
Most human diets contain between 10 and 15 percent of their total calories as protein. The rest of the dietary energy comes from carbohydrates, fats, and in some people, alcohol. The proportion of calories from fats varies from 10 percent in poor communities to 40 percent or more in rich communities.
In addition to providing energy, fats have several other functions in the body. The fat-soluble vitamins, A, D, E, and K, are dissolved in fats, as their name implies. Good sources of these vitamins have high oil or fat content, and the vitamins are stored in the body’s fatty tissues. In the diet, fats cause food to remain longer in the stomach, thus increasing the feeling of fullness for some time after a meal is eaten. Fats add variety, taste, and texture to foods, which accounts for the popularity of fried foods. Fatty deposits in the body have an insulating and protective value. The curves of the human female body are due mostly to strategically located fat deposits.
Whether a certain amount of fat in the diet is essential to human health is not definitely known. When rats are fed a fat-free diet, their growth eventually ceases, their skin becomes inflamed and scaly, and their reproductive systems are damaged. Two fatty acids, linoleic and arachidonic acids, prevent these abnormalities and hence are called essential fatty acids. They also are required by a number of other animals, but their roles in human beings are debatable. Most nutritionists consider linoleic fatty acid an essential nutrient for humans.
This passage probably appeared in which of the following?
Indicate the word(s) OPPOSITE in meaning to the underlined word(s):
I prefer reading fictional stories to hearing about real events.
Which of the following is NOT true about the tea production process?
Environmental campaigners argue that cheap short-haul flights have caused _____ massive increase at carbon emissions over the past few years.
We were _______ by the officers' decision to divert the whole traffic from the main route.