Key-vocabulary to Unit 1

Vocabulary sheet (to be filled with useful words and expressions of the Unit)

UNIT 2

SCIENCE TO LIFE: BETWEEN THE LINES

Objectives:

Here in the unit you will get some more principles of effective reading:

1. Continue learning how to read effectively

2. Practise in finding the thesis and topic sentences

3.Find out what critical reading is

4. Practise in using illustrating sentences

5. Learn how to avoid common mistakes in sentence structures

PART 1: HOW EFFECTIVELY CAN YOU READ?

Task 1. Check how effectively you can read. (10-minute test)

Questions 1 and 2 refer to the following passage:

Each year, millions of people visit the national parks of the American West, and they come for a variety of reasons. Some seek to explore the historical past. Others are looking for a short escape from the hot city or the crowded office or factory. Still others are trying to learn something about the mysteries of nature. Whatever their reason for visiting the parks, few leave disappointed.

1. People who visit the parks for the first reason mentioned by the author would most probably want to see

A. an animal preserve

B. the ruins of a Pueblo Indian village

C. a canyon with a variety of geological formations

D. a geyser with a predictable pattern of eruptions

2. The passage tell us what about national parks?

A. Those in the West are preferable to those in the East.

B. They serve relatively few people.

C. They should be closed to people who treat them badly.

D. They satisfy the needs of many people.

Questions 3 and 4 refer to the following passage:

Television today sits in the center of American homes and not too far from the center of American lives, a companionable though unsettling kind of house pet. Here and there, somebody will claim independence from it by announcing scornfully, "I never watch television!" or even, "I don't own a television set!" But such defiance matters little. You do not really need to have this pet in the house to be affected by it.

3.Which of the following best summarizes the main point of the passage?

A. Americans cannot escape the influence of television.

B. Americans love television as much as they love their pets.

C. The role of television is in a stage of transition.

D. Few people realize the advantages of television.

4.The passage suggests that people who claim to be unaffected by television are

A. apologetic

B. mistaken

C. educated

D. devious

Questions 5 through 8 refer to the following passage:

It cannot be said that San Francisco was ever a planned city. It simply grew. What saved it from complete chaos was its fortunate geographic location on a hilly peninsula. The surrounding waters, like the walls of old cities in Europe, confined its growth and forced its builders to face limitations in space. Although builders tried to ignore the hills and laid their gridirons of square blocks and rectangular lots over hill and valley alike, some hills were too steep to be so overrun. Thus, despite the indifference of its citizenry, San Francisco became a beautiful city, and because of the varied nature of its population, it became a cosmopolitan city. It has always been spared the uniformity and dullness of the small town.

5.In the context of the passage, "gridiron" means

A. a regular geometric pattern

B. a metal tool used by builders

C. streetcar tracks

D. geographical features

6. According to the passage, what do the waters surrounding San Francisco and the walls of old European cities have in common?

A. They protect the city from invaders.

B. They are natural phenomena.

C. They are beautiful elements.

D. They shape and limit urban growth.

7. What does the passage suggest about the planning and development of San Francisco?

A. The present citizens of San Francisco are very concerned about city planning.

B. So little planning went into the development of San Francisco that the overall effect of the city is one of chaos.

C. The development of San Francisco on a hilly peninsula has contributed greatly to its beauty.

D. The development of San Francisco on a hilly peninsula has been destructive to nature.

8.The development of San Francisco on a hilly peninsula has been destructive to nature.

A. natural beauty

B. space restrictions

C. careful planning and development

D. variety and interest

Questions 9 and 10 refer to the following passage:

A recent study showed that in twelve cases of computer-related embezzlement, the average take was one million dollars. With such rewards, computer crime seems destined to flourish, especially because the chances of detection are slim; embezzlers are discovered more often by coincidence than by internal safeguards.

9. Which of the following sentences best summarizes the passage?

A. Annual reports concerning computer crime are accurate.

B. Computer crime can be a very profitable business.

C. Various techniques are used in computer crime.

D. The adoption of safeguards against computer crime is widespread.

10.According to the passage, the number of computer crimes will increase because

A. people convicted of computer crimes receive light sentences

B. most computer crimes are committed by accident

C. the use of computers is growing

D. the rewards outweigh the risks

Questions 11 through 13 refer to the following passage:

By happy coincidence, jazz emerged as a major musical form in this century just at the time the phonograph was invented. Such composers of classical music as Mozart and Beethoven made detailed notations that, centuries later, enable us to reproduce their original music. Early African America jazz composers, on the other hand, often created their music as they performed it. If it were not for the modern invention of the phonograph, the music of these great pioneers of jazz would have been lost.

11. According to the passage, how did the invention of the phonograph affect jazz?

A. It helped jazz become a major musical form.

B. It made jazz musicians aware of other types of music.

C. It stimulated the creativity of jazz musicians.

D. It preserved unique performances of jazz.

12. The passage mentions Mozart and Beethoven as examples of composers who

A. were as popular in their own times as jazz musicians are today

B. were at a disadvantage because of the limitations of technology in their times

C. transmitted their works in written form to later ages

D. created music that was less imaginative than that of the pioneers of jazz music

13.The passage supports which of the following statements?

A. Jazz was slow to gain acceptance as a major musical form.

B. The early jazz pioneers inspired the development of new technology.

C. Jazz developed as a spontaneous form of musical expression.

D. Jazz has influenced society more than classical music has.

Questions 14 through 16 refer to the following passage:

Those who specialize in the study of language claim that no two people speak a language in precisely the same way. An individual's version of a language is called an idiolect. Groups of speakers – separated from other groups by geographical, social, or economic barriers – also develop language habits peculiar to their own group. Such group differences are called dialects. Each person in a small town in Maine might speak his or her own idiolect, but the people of the town as a group will speak a dialect quite different from that spoken in a small town in Kentucky.

14.The author develops the idea that

A. the speech patterns of individuals are inferior to the speech patterns of groups

B. dialects are more difficult to study than idiolects

C. language systems reflect both individual and group patterns

D. barriers between regions should be removed in order to improve communication

15.The author refers to "geographical, social, or economic barriers" mainly to show that

A. individual speakers can control language changes

B. external factors affect the language patterns of groups

C. language study is not scientific

D. speakers in Maine differ from those in Kentucky

16.The main purpose of the passage is to

A. define idiolect and dialect

B. argue for the value of change in languages

C. give examples of how language changes over time

D. illustrate grammatical differences among individual speakers

Questions 17 through 19 refer to the following passage:

With all those vast mesas and canyons in the Southwest, you might think that finding a good desert resort would be a simple matter. Unfortunately, this is not the case. There are many mirages out there; during a recent trip, I saw scores of so-called desert resorts where cars outnumbered the cacti and neon outshone the stars.

17.Which of the following best summarizes the author's main point?

A. Desert resorts will lose their customers because they lack space and solitude.

B. A good desert resort is not as easy to find as people may think.

C. People expect a desert resort to have all of the modern conveniences.

D. Because desert areas are rare in this country, desert resorts are a luxury.

18.The author uses the word "mirages" in the last sentence to suggest

A. falsity

B. rarity

C. simplicity

D. popularity

19.The author condemns "so-called desert resorts" because they

A. lack the natural quality of the unspoiled desert

B. emphasize indoor rather than outdoor entertainment

C. are so overcrowded that reservations are difficult to make

D. provide too many modern conveniences

Questions 20 and 21 refer to the following passage:

Compared with such towering twentieth-century political figures as Mao Tse-tung, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill, Leonid Brezhnev seems destined to be remembered by the Western world as a secondary figure. Yet he achieved enormous stature within the former Soviet Union. He led the country during the period when it achieved the greatest strength and influence in its history. He was the first to be both chief of state and leader of the Communist party. He was acclaimed by his most immediate associates as Vozhd, "The Chief," a title even Lenin did not receive until after his death.

20.What is the main purpose of the passage?

A. To explain how Brezhnev came to power

B. To compare Brezhnev with other great leaders of the twentieth century

C. To support the belief that Brezhnev was a secondary figure

D. To document the power and popular appeal that Brezhnev achieved within the Soviet Union

21.The passage suggests that Vozhd (in the last sentence) is an indication of

A. the challenges of being both chief of state and party leader

B. the extraordinary respect felt for a leader

C. the closeness that can develop among colleagues

D. an overwhelming feeling of pride in one's heritage

Questions 22 through 24 refer to the following passage:

Chicken was once an expensive food in the United States, but because of the introduction of technology into farming it now costs one-fifth what it did in 1940. As is true in other sectors of high-tech farming, however, efficiency has inevitably been detrimental to the animals' well-being. According to critics, this most highly mechanized of all forms of agriculture in the United States has resulted in the inhumane treatment of chickens, disrupting important aspects of their life cycle, such as their rate of laying eggs.

22.According to the passage, which of the following is true of the present-day method of raising chickens?

A. It has resulted in the greatest drop in price of all common foods in the United States.

B. It is the most efficient segment of agriculture in the United States.

C. It is the most mechanized segment of agriculture in the United States.

D. It is the only form of high-tech farming that seriously affects the well-being of the animals.

23.Which of the following does the passage indicate about the inhumane treatment involved in raising chickens?

A. It is a result of human indifference.

B. It is a coincidental result of falling prices.

C. It is a holdover from practices common in 1940.

D. It is a consequence of efficient production.

24.The passage refers to the rate of laying eggs as an example of

A. an unusual problem in high-tech agriculture

B. a technological substitute for a natural process

C. a beneficial result of high-tech agriculture

D. a commercially caused disruption of a natural process

Questions 25 through 27 refer to the following passage:

The sudden invasion of California during the 1850's by an army of gold prospectors was a challenge too great for the established agencies of government. Like the settlers of many North American frontiers, the miners found it necessary to construct their own system of social control. The primary problem was regulation of the size, staking, working, and transfer of land claims. Each community drafted a simple set of rules and elected officials to administer them. In spite of local variations among the hundreds of mining districts so organized, there was an underlying consistency resulting from similar conditions and widespread imitation. These codes were the work of squatters and were therefore without legal authority. Yet they proved to be so effective that both the state and federal governments eventually accorded them recognition. Reproduced with little alteration on later mining frontiers, the claim law of California became almost universal in the American West.

25.Of the following characteristics, which is emphasized by the author to describe the codes that miners created to regulate claims in California?

A. Variety

B. Consistency

C. Impracticality

D. Complexity

26.According to the passage, what did California's early miners have in common with the settlers of other North American frontiers?

A. A disdain for law and order

B. A need for effective local government

C. A thirst for adventure and reward

D. A need for privacy and personal accomplishment

27.According to the passage, which of the following is true of the claim law of California?

A. It was widely imitated.

B. It was rejected by the federal government.

C. It was clearly unjust to anyone who was not a miner.

D. It was formulated by lawyers.

Task 2. Compare your results with the results other students have got.

Task 3. Share your opinions with your fellow students.

In a college or university, a student has to do a lot of reading. Does it help to know how to read quickly, looking for specific information? Why or why not?

Do you know what important information can be given by the title of the book or an article, details about the author, table of contents, etc.?

What other information about an article or a book can you find to help your efficient reading?