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TOEFL EXERCISE 3
Study each of the passages, and choose the best answers to the questions that follow.

PASSAGE ONE (Questions 1-2)

Blood pressure measurement has two components: systolic and diastolic. Systolic
pressure is taken when the heart is contracting to pump blood; diastolic pressure is
taken when the heart is resting between beats. In the usual blood pressure reading, the
systolic measurement is given first and is the higher of the two.
Normal blood pressure is a systolic measurement of 120140, and when the systolic
pressure is 160 or higher, then hypertension exists. Systolic pressure between 140 and
160 indicates borderline hypertension.

1. Which of the following is NOT true 2. Which of the following is NOT

about systolic blood pressure?
(A) It is taken during the contraction of
the heart.
(B) It is usually given first in a blood
pressure reading.
(C) A normal systolic measurement is 120
140.
(D) Hypertension exists when the systolic
pressure is below 140.
stated about diastolic pressure?
(A) It is one of the two components of
blood pressure measurement.
(B) It is taken when the heart is resting.
(C) It is lower than systolic pressure.
(D) A diastolic measurement of 140 is
normal.

PASSAGE TWO (Questions 3 - 4)

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
requests 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 a waiting list of
more than 90,000 names for its first lunar flight.

3. 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
4. Which of the following is NOT true
about Pan Ams 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.
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(D) Pan Ams waiting list had only a few names on it.

PASSAGE THREE (Questions 5-8)

The tunnel trees in Yosemite Valley are an amazing attraction to people who visit
there. The tunnel trees are huge trees, giant redwoods, which have had tunnels carved
in them, and cars can actually drive through some of the trees. The fact that the trees
are large enough to have cars drive through them should give you some indication of
just how big the trees are.
There are currently two existing tunnel trees in Yosemite Valley. One of them is
called the Dead Giant. This is just the stump, or bottom part, of a much larger tree.
The hole was cut through the base of the tree in 1878, and stagecoaches used to drive
through it. Today the Dead Giant still exists, but the stagecoaches do not. Passenger cars
can and do drive through the 10-foot-wide opening in the tree stump.
The other existing tunnel tree is the 230-foot high California Tree, which had a hole
carved through it in 1895. This tree is no longer open to the public, so it is not possible
to take a car through it.
Unfortunately, a third tunnel tree no longer exists. The Wawona Tunnel Tree was a
2,100-year-old tree which was carved in 1881. A terrible snowstorm in 1969 caused this
ancient giant of a tree to fall.

5. Which of the following is NOT true about
the tunnel trees in Yosemite Valley?
(A) They are trees with holes cut in them.
(B) They are giant redwoods.
(C) Three tunnel trees currently exist.
(D) Cars have driven through some of
them.
6. All of the following are stated about the
Dead Giant, EXCEPT that
(A) it is still a tunnel tree today
(B) it is just the stump of a tree
(C) it was cut less than a century ago
(D) it has a 10-foot opening
7. Which of the following is NOT true about
the California Tree?
(A) Its tunnel still exists.
(B) Its tunnel is 230 feet high.
(C) Its tunnel was cut in 1895.
(D) Cars are not allowed to go through it.
8. All of the following are true about the
Wawona Tunnel Tree, EXCEPT that
(A) it does not exist anymore
(B) the tree lived for more than 2,000
years
(C) the tunnel tree was destroyed in a
snowstorm
(D) the tunnel was destroyed in 1881
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TOEFL REVIEW EXERCISE (Skills 13): Study each of the passages, and choose the best
answers to the questions that follow.

PASSAGE ONE (Questions 1-4)

When the typewriter was first invented, its keys were arranged alphabetically. This
made the keys easy to find. However, this arrangement also caused the bars of the
machine to jam, or get stuck.
To solve this problem, a new letter arrangement was introduced by Christopher
Latham Scholes in 1872. His system, the standard keyboard system, is still used on
typewriters today. He arranged the letters in such a way that the bars hit the inked
ribbon from opposite directions as much as possible. This resulted in far less jamming
than had occurred with the alphabetical models.

1. The main topic of this passage is
(A) the invention of the typewriter
(B) a problem and solution concerning the
early typewriter
(C) how to write a letter on the typewriter
(D) why the keys stick on todays
typewriter
2. According to the passage, on the first
typewriters
(A) the keys were in alphabetical order
(B) the keys were hard to find
(C) the bars on the machine never jammed
(D) Scholess system worked quite well
3. Which of the following is NOT true about
the system invented by Scholes?
(A) It was introduced in 1872.
(B) It is still used today.
(C) It became the standard system.
(D) It was alphabetical.
4. The passage indicates that under
Scholess system, the bars hit the ribbon
(A) in alphabetical order
(B) from opposite directions
(C) and caused the keys to jam
(D) in the same way as they had on the
original typewriter
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PASSAGE TWO (Questions 5-9)

Desert tundra, or cold desert, occurs on the Arctic edges of North America, Europe,
and Asia. In these areas the temperatures are almost always freezing, and they cause an
environment in which plant life is virtually impossible. The existence of ice rather than
water for the majority of the year means that vegetation does not have enough moisture
for growth to take place. During the short period of time when the temperature
increases enough for the ice to melt, there is generally a large volume of water. Too
much water and not enough drainage through the frozen subsoil make it difficult for
plants to grow.

5. Which of the following is the best title for (D) The lack of ice
the passage? 8. According to the passage, which of the
(A) Where Desert Tundra Is Found following does NOT happen when the
(B) The Weather in the Arctic weather heats up?
(C) The Effect of Desert Tundra on Plant (A) Plants grow well.
Life (B) The ice melts.
(D) The Variety of Plant Life in Desert (C) There is not enough drainage.
Tundra (D) There is too much water.

6. According to the passage, desert 9. According to the passage, why is it

tundra is found impossible for the water to drain after it
(A) throughout North America, Europe, melts?
and Asia (A) The land beneath the surface is still
(B) in Antarctica frozen.
(C) on the Arctic borders of the northern (B) The temperature is too high.
continents (C) The period of time is too short.
(D) at the North Pole (D) The vegetation is flourishing.

7. According to the passage, what

makes plant life almost impossible in
areas of desert tundra during most of the
year?
(A) Excessive water on the plants
(B) The frozen state of the water
(C) The increase in temperature
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PASSAGE THREE (Questions 1014)

Whales are mammals rather than fish, yet they live in the worlds oceans rather than
on land. Because of the fact that they are mammals, scientists have believed for quite
some time that whales are descendants 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 evolution 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.

10. The main idea of this passage is that

(A) numerous whale fossils have been 13. Which of the following was NOT
found in the worlds oceans mentioned in the list of whale fossils
(B) there is evidence that whales may found in Egypt?
have descended from land mammals (A) A whales kneecap
(C) whales are mammals and not fish (B) A whales ankle
(D) whales have not evolved very much (C) A whales footbones
over the last millions of years (D) A whales fingers

11. All of the following are true about whales, 14. According to the hypothesis in the
EXCEPT that passage, what happened to whales legs?
(A) they are mammals (A) They got stronger over time.
(B) they live in the ocean (B) They got larger over time.
(C) they are fish (C) They disappeared quickly.
(D) they may have come from the land (D) They became front flippers.

12. 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.
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