4 Practice Test 1 Passage 3 is about cars and highway safety. You don't have to hoist yourself into a 14-mile-pergallon, gas-guzzling spore utility vehicle (SUV) to be safe on the highway. While that’s been the hunch of many an accidenefiree driver, ies now the conclusion of U.S. Deparement of Energy researchers, who performed a “risk analysis” using crash data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Their neatly graphed results, which unblinkingly chare annual deaths per million vehicles sold for 40 different models, show that drivers of many small cars are statistically safer than drivers of 5 the average SUV. That will alarm SUV drivers who assumed that, if nothing else, they could guarantee their own protection on the interstate. But more than a dozen passenger cars, including the subcompact, fuel-efficient Volkswagen Jetta and Honda Civic, protect drivers berter than SUVS. The study also found that most passenger cars are safer than the average sport utility vehicle or pickup truck when the risk posed to other drivers is taken into account, a figure the researchers call “combined risk.” Even 10 the safest SUV on the road, the mammoth Chevrolet Suburban, is bested by much smaller Honda Accords and Toyota Camrys. The safest vehicles of them all? Minivans and imported luxury cars. The worst: full-size Chevroler, Ford, and Dodge pickup trucks. So much for the conventional wisdom that large cars are inherently safe and small cars inherently dangerous. ‘A wide dispariey in results among small cars like the front-running Jetta and Civic and the relatively risky 15 Ford Escort and Dodge Neon suggests that vehicle design is more important than sheer mass. “I'he argument that lowering the weight of cars to achieve high fuel economy has resulted in excess deaths is unfounded,” says cone of the authors of the report. “Safety is a challenging concept. It includes the design of the car itself, driver demographics, and behavior, the kinds of roads, the time of day ~ a whole host of factors.” While highway safety is complex, one thing is clear: A safety-conscious driver need not purchase a vehicle by the pound. 20 161. What commonly believed idea has the study disproved? a. SUVs are more fuel efficient than smaller cars, b. SUVs are more dangerous than small cars. c. SUVs are safer than smaller cars. d. SUVs are heavier than smaller cars. 162. According to the passage, which of the following received the best safety rating? ‘a. full-size pickup trucks b. sudcompacts ©. minivans d. SUVs 163. How do the Ford Escort and Dodge Neon differ from the Volkswagen Jetta and Honda Civic? a. They weigh considerably more, b. They are not as fuel efficient. ¢. They are much less massive. d. Their design makes them less safe. 164. Of the following, which is the largest? a. the Chevrolet Suburban b. the Honda Accord ©. the Toyota Camry d. the Volkswagen Jetta 165. Which ofthe following best sums up the main idea of the passage? ‘a. Drivers should think twice about fuel economy. b. Fuel economy has resulted in fewer accidents, ‘c. The smaller the model, the safer the driver. d. Cars can be both fuel efficient and safe.ee Passage 4 is about bird feathers. The feathers of birds, collectively called plumage, play several roles. Brightly colored plumage, sometimes including ornamental feathers called plumes, is often influential in attracting a mate, but display of such plumage is used with equal frequency by males to try to intimidate other males competing for females or for territory. Some birds are camouflaged to resemble their surroundings, thus escaping the notice of possible predators, They sometimes even take on a pose that enhances the protective coloration. The marsh: 5 dwelling herons called bitterns “freeze” with their striped necks and long bills pointing straight up, emphasizing their resemblance to the surrounding reeds. The screech owls, which have a plumage pattern that resembles tree bark, close their large eyes and stretch very thin, thus often passing for a stubby, broken branch. In many species of birds, including most ducks and pheasants, adult males are brightly colored, whereas the more vulnerable females and young blend into the background. 10 Most adult birds mole at least once a year, with the exception that molting of the flight feathers of the wings can extend over two years in a few very large birds such as eagles and cranes, Feathers are subject t0 physical wear and become faded and brittle with long exposure to sunlight. During molting, new feathers grow within follicles in the skin, pushing out the old feathers, which are dead seructures, Molt cycles often go hand in hand with other cycles. In most migratory species, the new plumage is grown after breeding and 15 before autumn migration. The importance of a bird’s feathers is reflected in the amount of time each bird spends preening (chat is, cleaning and arranging its plumage with its bill). The preen or uropygeal gland, situated at the base of the bird's tail, secretes oil that is used in preening. The oil keeps the feathers in good condition but also \aterproofs them and so is particularly important for sea and water birds. 20 166. What is true about protective coloration? ‘a. Its rarely, if ever, found in adult female birds. b. _ Itallows weaker birds to avoid thelr enemies. . Its ineffective unless the bird adopts a pose. d. It serves to help birds intimidate predators. 167. How does brightly colored plumage benefit certain male birds? @. _ Ithelps them fight off aggressive females. b. _Ithelps them avoid predators, ©. Ithelps them compete for females. d. _ Itserves as protective coloration, 168. What does the writer imply about reeds (line 7)? a. They are long, thin, woody plants that grow in marshes. b. They are striped plants that grow in icy marsh water. ©. They are birds that very closely resemble bitterns. d. They are an effective form of protective coloration. 169. What is not true about preening? a. It keeps the feathers waterproof and in good condition. b. _Itinvolves an oil produced at the base of the tail, ¢. It helps to keep the feathers properly arranged. d. itis necessary only on a very infrequent basis, 4170. What does the molting process involve? @. the preening and waterproofing of old feathers, b. the replacement of old feathers with new ones ‘¢. the production of ols in the uropygeal gland d. arresting phase between breeding and migrating 31