Toefl Review Exercise

TOEFL REVIEW EXERCISE (Skills 1 - 3): Study each of the passages, and choose the
best answers to the questions that follow.
PASSAGE ONE (Questions 1-3)
The center part of a hurricane is called the eye of the storm. In the eye of
a hurricane, winds are calm and no rain falls. There can even be blue sky and sunshine in
the eye of the storm.
This dry and calm spot is caused as the air spins around the center of the hurricane.
The spinning air rises and pulls moisture with it. What remains in the center is dry,
clear air.
1. The topic of the passage is

(A) the destruction of hurricanes
(B) the harsh weather during a hurricane
(C) the calm in the center of a hurricane
(D) the beautiful weather that follows a hurricane
2. The passage indicates that in the eye of a hurricane

(A) it is windy
(B) there is a lot of rain
(C) there is cloudy, gray sky
(D) it can be sunny
3. According to the passage, what causes the calm spot?

(A) The air circling around the center
(B) The blue sky and sunshine
(C) The high temperatures
(D) The heavy rainfall
PASSAGE TWO (Questions 4-8)
The invention of the phonograph happened quite by accident. Thomas Edison

moved to Menlo Park, New Jersey, in 1876, where he established an industrial research
laboratory. There, Edison was working on a carbon telephone transmitter to improve
the existing Bell telephone system.
In that laboratory a year later, Edison invented the phonograph while he was trying
to improve a telegraph repeater. He attached a telephone diaphragm to the needle in the
telegraph repeater; in this way, he was able to reproduce a recording that could be
played back. After he made some improvements to the machine, he tested it. He recited
“Mary Had a Little Lamb” into the machine and played his voice back to a very
surprised audience.
4. What is the best title for the passage?

(A) Thomas Edison’s Many Inventions
(B) Improvements in the Telephone and Telegraph
(C) The History of Menlo Park
(D) An Accidental Invention
5. According to the passage, the invention of the phonograph

(A) was quite unplanned
(B) was Edison’s principal project
(C) was surprising to no one
(D) took many years
6. In what year did the invention of the phonograph occur?

(A) 1876
(B) 1877
(C) 1878
(D) The article does not say.
7. According to the passage, how was the phonograph made?

(A) With a telephone needle and a recorder
(B) From a recording of a telegraph
(C) With only a telegraph repeater
(D) From a combination of telephone and telegraph parts
8. According to the passage, how did Edison test his new invention?
(A) He made improvements to the machine.
(B) He used a carbon transmitter.
(C) He read a children’s rhyme.
(D) He reproduced the audience’s voice.
PASSAGE THREE (Questions 9 - 14)
The Sears and Roebuck catalogue was a fixture in American society for many
decades. Practically anything needed in the American home could be ordered through
this comprehensive catalogue and delivered by mail. The catalogue made it easier for
homeowners in urban areas to track down items they were trying to find; the catalogue
was an absolute necessity for residents in out-of-the-way areas where many types of
home supplies were not available for hundreds of miles.
In the early twentieth century, it was not possible to buy just home supplies from
the Sears and Roebuck catalogue. It was actually possible to buy a mail-order house. If you
ordered a house through the mail, you would receive all the necessary building
materials as well as plans for constructing the house; all of this could be had for prices
starting around $600.
9. This passage mainly discusses

(A) products sold in the Sears and Roebuck stores
(B) the design of the Sears and Roebuck catalogue
(C) how to shop using catalogues
(D) shopping through the Sears and Roebuck catalogue in the past
10. The passage indicates that items ordered through the Sears and Roebuck catalogue
(A) had to be picked up at a Sears and Roebuck store
(B) were delivered by mail
(C) arrived in Sears and Roebuck trucks
(D) had to be small
11. According to the passage, why was the Sears and Roebuck catalogue important to people
in remote areas?
(A) It contained the only products they could afford.
(B) They did not like the products in local stores.
(C) It had a lot of products they could not get in their local areas.
(D) It was the only way to get a new home.
12. The passage mentions that which of the following large items could be purchased through
the Sears and Roebuck catalogue?
(A) A home
(B) A car
(C) A boat
(D) A train
13. The mail-order house in the Sears and Roebuck catalogue

(A) was for urban areas only
(B) was set up by Sears and Roebuck workers
(C) needed to be put together
(D) arrived in one piece
14. The price of $600 mentioned in the passage was

(A) the lowest price for the item
(B) the average price for the item
(C) the only price for the item
(D) the highest price for the item
PASSAGE FOUR (Questions 15 - 16)
In the 1960s, as space travel was becoming a subject of much discussion, Pan
American Airlines began receiving some fairly unusual requests for flight information.
People began making requests to be on the first flight that Pan Am made to the Moon. On a
whim, Pan Am started a waiting list for the first flight to the Moon. Similar request have
come to Pan Am over the years, and Pan Am has responded by adding the names of the
requesters to the list.
Unfortunately for Pan Am, the original company is no longer in business, and it never got to
the Moon. However, when it went out of business, it had waiting list of more than 90,000
names for its first lunar flight.
15. All of the following are mentioned about Pan American Airlines, EXCEPT that
a. it started business in the 1960s
b. it received requests for its first flight to the Moon
c. it kept some people on a long waiting list
d. it went out of business
16. Which of the following is NOT true about Pan Am’s Moon flights?
a. People asked Pan Am about its flights to the Moon.
b. Pan Am kept a waiting list for its Moon flights.
c. Pan Am never really made any Moon flights.
d. Pan Am’s waiting list had only a few names on it.
PASSAGE FIVE (Questions 17 - 18)
Whales are mammals rather than fish, yet they live in the world’s oceans rather than on land.
Because of the fact that they are mammals, scientists have believed for quite some time that
whales are descendant of land mammals. Some interesting evidence to support this theory has
recently been found. In Egypt, fossils have been found of a forty-million-year-old whale leg,
kneecap, ankle, footbones, and toes. It appears from the fossil evidence that the bones were
not very strong and not very large in comparison to the size of the whale. Based on this fossil
evidence, the following evolutionary path has been hypothesized. As the whale began its
evaluation toward the water, its legs weakened and decreased in size. Then, during its
millions of years in the water, the legs slowly disappeared, leaving only the front flippers
today.
17. All of the following are true about whales, EXCEPT that
a. they are mammals
b. they live in the ocean
c. they are fish
d. they may have come from the land
18. Which of the following is NOT mentioned about the whale fossils in the passage?
a. They were found in Egypt.
b. They support the theory that whales came from land.
c. They are forty million years old.
d. They showed that ancient whales had flippers.

Toefl Review Exercise

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Toefl Review Exercise

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Toefl Review Exercise

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

TOEFL REVIEW EXERCISE (Skills 1 - 3): Study each of the passages, and choose the

best answers to the questions that follow.

PASSAGE ONE (Questions 1-3)

1. The topic of the passage is

2. The passage indicates that in the eye of a hurricane

3. According to the passage, what causes the calm spot?

PASSAGE TWO (Questions 4-8)

The invention of the phonograph happened quite by accident. Thomas Edison

4. What is the best title for the passage?

5. According to the passage, the invention of the phonograph

6. In what year did the invention of the phonograph occur?

7. According to the passage, how was the phonograph made?

PASSAGE THREE (Questions 9 - 14)

9. This passage mainly discusses

13. The mail-order house in the Sears and Roebuck catalogue

14. The price of $600 mentioned in the passage was

PASSAGE FOUR (Questions 15 - 16)

PASSAGE FIVE (Questions 17 - 18)

You might also like