ProfGuineaPig3984
A. Write the letter of the sentence that best expresses the implied…
A. Write the letter of the sentence that best expresses the implied main idea of each of the following passages.
1. During the 1989 Northern California earthquake, a half-mile section of elevated freeway in Oakland collapsed on itself. 2Since the earthquake happened right at the afternoon rush hour, early estimates were that more than two hundred people might have died, crushed in the rubble. 3But by sheer good luck, the earthquake came just before the scheduled start of a World Series baseball game between the Oakland “A’s” and the San Francisco Giants. 4Thousands of people had left work early to get home for the game. 50thers went to friends’ homes or bars near where they worked to watch the game, instead of driving straight home. 6Thus, few people were on the freeway when the quake hit, and the death toll was much lower than expected.
The 1989 Northern California earthquake came just before the scheduled start of a World Series game.
Because of a scheduled World Series game, the death toll from the 1989 Northern California earthquake was lower than expected.
c. Being on the freeway during an earthquake is more dangerous than being at home.
D. Before the 1989 Northern California earthquake, many people left work early to watch the World Series.
2. I l-low much water is stored as glacial ice? 2Estimates by the U.S. geological survey indicate that only slightly more than 2 percent of the world’s water is accounted for by glaciers. 3But this small figure may be misleading when the actual amounts of water are considered. 4The total volume of all valley glaciers is about 210,000 cubic kilometers. 5That volume is comparable to the combined volume of the world’s largest saltwater and freshwater lakes. 6Furthermore, 80 percent of the world’s ice and nearly two-thirds of the Earth’s fresh water are represented by Antarctica’s ice sheet, which covers an area almost one and one-half times that of the United States. 71f this ice melted, sea level would rise an estimated sixty to seventy meters, and the ocean would flood many densely populated coastal areas. 8The amount of the continent’s ice can be illustrated in another way. 91f Antarctica’s ice sheet were melted at a uniform rate, it would feed (1) the Mississippi River for more than 50,000 years, (2) all the rivers in the United States for about 17,000 years, (3) the Amazon River for approximately 5,000 years, or (4) all the rivers of the world for about 750 years.
If melted at a uniform rate, Antarctica’s ice sheet would feed the Mississippi River for 50,000 years.
The world’s water takes various formssalt water, fresh water, and ice.
c. If Antarctica’s glacial ice were melted, the ocean would flood many heavily populated coastal areas.
D. The quantity of glacial ice on Earth today is truly immense.
(Continues on next page)
Copyright 0 2008 by Townsend Press. Permission to copy this test is granted to teachers using Ten Steps to Improving College Reading Skills as a class text.
73
(3.) Write out the implied main idea of the following paragraph.
1 Some researchers have found that women are more likely than men to use eye contact and smiles to attract members of the opposite sex. 2Women also have a tendency to use fleeting touches and seductive grooming, such as lip licking and hair smoothing, as flirting signals. 31n comparison, men rarely make these gestures for the same purpose. 41ndeed, according to the researchers, the only flirting technique that men use frequently is the obvious, direct approachhugging or kissing, which is as direct as you can get!
Implied main idea:
(4.) In the space provided, write the letter of the item that best expresses the implied central idea of the following textbook passage.
l ln their research on happiness, psychologists have studied influences upon both our temporary moods and our long-term life satisfaction. 2Studying people’s reports of daily moods confirms that stressful eventsan argument, a sick child, a car problem trigger bad moods. 3No surprise there. 4But by the next day, the gloom nearly always lifts. 5When in a bad mood, you can usually depend on rebounding within a day or two. 6 Similarly, your times of joy are hard to keep going.
7Apart from prolonged grief over the loss of a loved one or continuing anxiety after a traumatic stress, such as child abuse, rape, or the terrors of war, even tragedy is not permanently depressing. 8The finding is surprising but reliable. 9People who become blind or paralyzed usually recover near-normal levels of day-to-day happiness. 10For example, able-bodied University of Illinois students described themselves as happy 50 percent of the time, unhappy 22 percent of the time, and neutral 29 percent of the time. 11 To within one percentage point, students with disabilities rated their emotions identically. 12Moreover, students perceive their friends with disabilities as just as happy as their other friends.
13The effect of dramatically positive events is similarly temporary. 140nce the rush of euphoria wears off, state lottery winners typically find their overall happiness is unchanged. 15 0ther research confirms that there is much more to well-being than being well-off. 16Many people believe they would be happier if they had more money. 17They
probably would betemporarily. 18But in the long run, increased wealth hardly affects happiness. 19People with lots of money are not much happier than those with just enough money to afford life’s necessities.
Psychologists have conducted many studies on the causes of happiness.
Psychologists have learned that money and happiness are not related.
c. Psychologists have learned that in the long run, our emotional ups and downs tend to wear off, and we go back to feeling as we always did.
According to psychologists, emotional ups and downs are a normal part of life.
