22. What does the passage mainly discuss?
(A) Reasons for the failure to understand the written records of Old European culture
(B) Influences on the development of Old European script
(C) Similarities between Old European script and other ancient writing systems
(D) Events leading to the discovery of Old European script
23. According to the passage, New Elamite is
(A) a language that was written in the cuneiform script
(B) a modem language that came from Old Persian
(C) one of the languages spoken by the Old Europeans
(D) a language that was understood by the late eighteenth century
24, According to the passage, scholars were able to decipher cuneiform script with the help of
(A) the Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian languages
(B) Old Persian.
(C) tablets written in Old European
(D) a language spoken in eighteenth century Iran

25. The word “fortuitous” in line 6 is closet in meaning to
(A) important
(B) sudden
(C) early
(D) lucky

26. The word them in line 7 refers to
(A) Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian
(B) bilingual inscriptions
(C) cuneiform tablets
(D) scholars

27. When does the passage suggest that ancient Egyptian hieroglypttic script was finally deciphered?
(A) At around the same time as cuneiform script was deciphered
(B) Shortly before the Rosetta stone was unearthed
(C) As soon as additional bilingual inscriptions became available to scholars
(D) A few decades after the hieratic script was decoded        

28. According to the passage, which of the following is true of the Rosetta stone?
(A) It was found by scholars trying to decode ancient languages.
(B) It contains two versions of hieroglyphic script.
(C) Several of its inscriptions were decoded within a few months of its discovery.
(D) Most of its inscriptions have still not been decoded.

29,  The word thwarted in line 16 is closest in meaning to
(A) continued
(B) influenced
(C) encouraged
(D) frustrated

30. According to the passage, Indo-European incursions caused Old European populations to
(A) separate into different tribes
(B) move eastward
(C) change their ways of living obtaining food
(D) start recording historical events in Writing

31. The author mentions the Balkans in the passage in order to explain why
(A) Indo-European languages were slow to spread in Old Europe
(B) the inhabitants of Old Europe were not able to prevent Indo-European incursions
(C) the use of the Old European script declined
(D) the Old European culture survived for a time after the Indo-European incursions
 

Questions 32-40
         Next to its sheer size, the profound isolation of its many small islands is the most
  distinctive feature of the Pacific Ocean. Over 25,000 islands are scattered across the
  surface of the Pacific, more than in all the other oceans combined, but their land area
Line  adds up to little more than 125,000 square kilometers, about the size of New York State,
5 and their inhabitants total less than two million people, about a quarter of the number that
  live in New York City. The oceanic islands of the Pacific are some of the most isolated
  places on Earth. Many are uninhabitable, by virtue of their small size and particular
  characteristics, but even the most favored are very isolated fragments of land, strictly
  circumscribed by the ocean, strictly limited in terms of the numbers of people they can
10 support. This basic fact of environmental circumstance has been the most pervasive
  influence in determining the social arrangements, and cultural practices of the people that
  settled in the Pacific Islands.
     The peopling of the Pacific Islands has been described as the greatest feat of maritime
  colonization in human history. Contrary to the conclusions of Thor Heyerdahls Kon-Tiki
15 expedition of 1946, the evidence of plant dispersal, archaeology, linguistics, and genetics
  now shows quite conclusively that the Pacific Islands were not populated from tile east by
  South Americans who drifted on balsa-wood rafts and the prevailing wind and current, but
  from the west, by groups from mainland Asia who gradually spread from island to island
  out into the Pacific. The process began over 40,000 years ago and reached Easter Island
20  the most isolated place on Earth-about 1.500 years ago. It ended about 1,000 years ago,
  when people first settled in Hawaii and New Zealand.
     Simply surviving those ocean crossings of indeterminate length, in open canoes, to
  arrive on the shores of uninhabited and hitherto unknown islands, was a formidable
  achievement. But having found an oasis of land in a watery wilderness, crossed its reef,
25  and landed, on its shores, the survivors then faced a series of pressing problems for which
  solutions had to be found quickly if the small group was to become a vigorous, self-
      sustaining island population.

 
32. The word scattered in line 2 is closest in meaning to
(A) widely known
(B) usually estimated
(C) rarely inhabited
(D) irregularly distributed

33. Why does the author mention New York City in line 6 ?
(A) To emphasize how small the population of the Pacific Islands is
(B) To emphasize the extreme distances between the Pacific Islands and other regions
(C) To note the economic ties of the Pacific Islands to other regions
(D) To note the lack of urban environments on the Pacific Islands

34.The phrase by virtue or in line 7 is closest in meaning to
(A) regarding
(B) because of
(C) taking advantage of
(D) in place of

35. The word circumscribed in line 9 is closest in meaning to
(A) located
(B) flooded
(C) restricted
(D) pushed

36. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as, evidence used to determine Iht origins of Pacific Islands people?
(A) Oral histories
(B) Plant dispersal
(C) Linguistics
(D) Archaeology

37. According to the-passage where did the original inhabitants of the Pacific Islands come from?
(A) South America
(B) Hawaii
(C) New Zealand
(D) Asia

38.The word It in line 20 refers to
(A) Pacific
(B) process
(C) isolated place
(D) Earth

39. The word indeterminate in line 22 is closest in meaning to
(A) undecided
(B) uncertain
(C) unacceptable
(D) increasing

40. The passage is most likely followed by a discussion of
(A) how settlers adapted to newly discovered Pacific Ocean Islands
(B) the design and construction of canoes used in the Pacific Islands
(C) the characteristics sties of reefs in the Pacific Islands
(D) how early explorers of the Pacific Ocean found their way from island to island
 

Questions 41-50
     The atmosphere that originally surrounded Earth was probably much different from
 the air we breathe today. Earths first atmosphere (some 4.6 billion years ago) was most
 likely hy~ogen and helium--.the two most abundant gasses found in the universe--as
Line well as hydrogen compounds, such as methane and ammonia, Most scientists feel that
5 this early atmosphere escaped into space from the Earths hot surface.
     A second, more dense atmosphere, however, gradually enveloped Earth as gasses
 from molten rocks within its hot interior escaped through volcanoes and steam vents.
 We assume that volcanoes spewed out the same gasses then as they do today: mostly
 water vapor (about g0 percent), carbon dioxide (about ten percent), and up to a few
10 percent nitrogen. These same gasses probably created Earths second atmosphere.
    As millions of years passed, the constant outpouring of gasses from the hot
 interior--known as outgassing--provided a rich supply of water vapor, which formed
 into clouds. Rain fell upon Earth for many thousands or years, forming the rivers,
 lakes, and oceans of the world. During this Lime, large amounts of carbon dioxide were
  15 dissolved in the oceans. Through chemical and biological processes, much of the carbon
 dioxide became locked up in carbon sedimentary rocks, such as limestone. With much
 of the water vapor already condensed into water and the concentration of carbon dioxide
 dwindling, the atmosphere gradually became rich nitrogen.
    It appears that oxygen, the second most abundant gas in todays atmosphere, probably
20 began an extremely slow increase in concentration as energetic rays from the sun split
 water vapor into hydrogen and oxygen during a process called photodissociation. The
 hydrogen, being lighter, probably rose and escaped into space, while the oxygen remained
 in the atmosphere.
    This slow increase in oxygen may have provided enough of this gas for primitive
25 plants to evolve, perhaps two to three billion years ago. Or the plants may have evolved
in an almost oxygen-free (anaerobic) environment. At any rate, plant growth greatly
enriched our atmosphere with oxygen. The reason for this enrichment is that plants, in
the presence of sunlight, process carbon dioxide and water to produce oxygen.

 
41. What is the main idea of the passage?
(A) The original atmosphere on Earth was unstable.
(B) The atmosphere on Earth has changed over time.
(C) Hot underground gasses created clouds, which formed the Earths atmosphere.
(D) Plant growth depended on oxygen in the Earths atmosphere.

42. The word enveloped in line 6 is closest in meaning to
(A) surrounded
(B) changed
(C) escaped
(D) characterized

43. The word they in line 8 refers to
(A) gasses
(B) volcanoes
(C) steam vents
(D) rocks

44. According to the passage. outgassing eventually led to all of the following EXCEPT
(A) increases in the carbon dioxide content of sedimentary rocks
(B) the formation of bodies of water
(C) decreases in the level of nitrogen
(D) the formation of clouds

45. The word gradually in line 18 is closest in meaning to
(A) accidentally
(B) quickly
(C) in the end
(D) by degrees

46. The passage suggests that oxygen remained in the atmosphere because
(A) it was caused by outgassing
(B) it was heavier than hydrogen
(C) hydrogen became trapped in limestone
(D) rays from the sun created equal amounts of hydrogen and oxygen

47. The author uses the word Or in line 25 to
(A) criticize the previous suggestion
(B) provide unrelated information
(C) propose a similar idea
(D)suggest an alternative

48. The phase “At any rate ”in line 26 is closest in meaning to
(A) regardless
(B) in addition
(C) although unlikely
(D) fortunately

49. The author organizes the discussion of the Earths atmosphere in terms of the
(A) role of volcanoes in its formation
(B) occur in which changes occurred
(C) time it took for the Earths surface: to cool and nitrogen to appear
(D) chemical and physical features of gasses

50. Which of the following does the passage mention as necessary for both the production of oxygen by photodissociation and the production of oxygen by plants?
(A) Water:
(B) Hydrogen
(C) Carbon dioxide
(D) Nitrogen
 

TWE
Schools should ask students to evaluate their teachers. Do you agree or disagree? Use
specific reasons and examples to support your answer.