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Minggu, 13 Desember 2015

reading toefl biologi tecnology psicology

The Toefl Biology and Technology

Compiled By
Name : Roynaldo EP Siregar

Reading Toefl of Biology

(1) In 1970 geologists Kenneth J. Hsu and William B. F. Ryan were collecting research data while aboard the oceanographic research vessel Glomar Challenger. An objective of this particular cruise was to investigate the floor of the Mediterranean and to resolve questions about its geologic history. One question was related to evidence that the invertebrate fauna (animals without spines) of the Mediterranean had changed abruptly about 6 million years ago. Most of the older organisms were nearly wiped out, although a few hardy species survived. A few managed to migrate into the Atlantic. Somewhat later, the migrants returned, bringing new species with them. Why did the near extinction and migrations occur?
(2) Another task for the Glomar Challenger’s scientists was to try to determine the origin of the domelike masses buried deep beneath the Mediterranean seafloor. These structures had been detected years earlier by echo-sounding instruments, but they had never been penetrated in the course of drilling. Were they salt domes such as are common along the United States Gulf Coast, and if so, why should there have been so much solid crystalline salt beneath the floor of the Mediterranean?
(3) With questions such as these clearly before them, the scientists aboard the Glomar Challenger proceeded to the Mediterranean to search for the answers. On August 23, 1970, they recovered a sample. The sample consisted of pebbles of hardened sediment that had once been soft, deep-sea mud, as well as granules of gypsum and fragments of volcanic rock. not a single pebble was found that might have indicated that the pebbles came from the nearby continent. In the days following, samples of solid gypsum were repeatedly brought on deck as drilling operations penetrated the seafloor. Furthermore, the gypsum was found to possess peculiarities of composition and structure that suggested it had formed on desert flats. Sediment above and below the gypsum1 layer contained tiny marine fossils, indicating open- ocean conditions. As they drilled into the central and deepest part of the Mediterranean basin, the scientists took solid, shiny, crystalline salt from the core barrel. Interbedded with the salt were thin layers of what appeared to be windblown silt.
(4) The time had come to formulate a hypothesis. The investigators theorized that about 20 million years ago, the Mediterranean was a broad seaway linked to the Atlantic by two narrow straits. Crustal movements closed the straits, and the landlocked Mediterranean began to evaporate. Increasing salinity caused by the evaporation resulted in the extermination of scores of invertebrate species. Only a few organisms especially tolerant of very salty conditions remained. As evaporation continued, the remaining brine (salt water) became so dense that the calcium sulfate of the hard layer was precipitated. In the central deeper part of the basin, the last of the brine evaporated to precipitate more soluble sodium chloride (salt). Later, under the weight of overlying sediments, this salt flowed plastically upward to form salt domes. Before this happened, however, the Mediterranean was a vast desert 3,000 meters deep. Then, about 5.5 million years ago came the deluge. As a result of crustal adjustments and faulting, the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean now connects to the Atlantic, opened, and water cascaded spectacularly back into the Mediterranean. Turbulent waters tore into the hardened salt flats, broke them up, and ground them into the pebbles observed in the first sample taken by the Challenger. As the basin was refilled, normal marine organisms returned. Soon layers of oceanic ooze began to accumulate above the old hard layer.
(5) The salt and gypsum, the faunal changes, and the unusual gravel provided abundant evidence that the Mediterranean was once a desert. email: info@trytoeflonline.com

The Question
1. The word “objective” in the passage is closest in meaning to

[A] achievement
[B] requirement
[С] purpose
[D] feature

2. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in paragraph 1 as a change that occurred in the fauna of the Mediterranean?

[A] Most invertebrate species disappeared during a wave of extinctions.
[B] A few hardy species wiped out many of the Mediterranean’s invertebrates.
[С] Some invertebrates migrated to the Atlantic Ocean.
[D] New species of fauna populated the Mediterranean when the old migrants returned.

3. What does the author imply by saying “Not a single pebble was found that might have indicated that the pebbles came from the nearby continent”?

[A] The most obvious explanation for the origin of the pebbles was not supported by the evidence.
[B] The geologists did not find as many pebbles as they expected.
[С] The geologists were looking for a particular kind of pebble.
[D] The different pebbles could not have come from only one source.

4. Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 3 about the solid gypsum layer?

[A] It did not contain any marine fossils.
[B] It had formed in open-ocean conditions.
[С] It had once been soft, deep-sea mud.
[D] It contained sediment from nearby deserts.

5. Select the TWO answer choices from paragraph 3 that identify materials discovered in the deepest part of the Mediterranean basin. To receive credit, you must select TWO answers.

[A] Volcanic rock fragments
[B] Thin silt layers
[С] Soft, deep-sea mud
[D] Crystalline salt

6. What is the main purpose of paragraph 3?

[A] To describe the physical evidence collected by Hsu and Ryan.
[B] To explain why some of the questions posed earlier in the passage could not be answered by the findings of the Glomar Challenger.
[С] To evaluate techniques used by Hsu and Ryan to explore the sea floor.
[D] To describe the most difficult problems faced by the Glomar Challenger expedition.

7. According to paragraph 4, which of the following was responsible for the evaporation of the Mediterranean’s waters?

[A] The movements of Earth’s crust
[B] The accumulation of sediment layers
[С] Changes in the water level of the Atlantic Ocean
[D] Changes in Earth’s temperature

8. The word “scores” in the passage is closest in meaning to

[A] members
[B] large numbers
[С] populations
[D] different types

9. According to paragraph 4, what caused most invertebrate species in the Mediterranean to become extinct?

[A] The evaporation of chemicals necessary for their survival.
[B] Crustal movements that connected the Mediterranean to the saltier Atlantic.
[С] The migration of new species through the narrow straits.
[D] Their inability to tolerate the increasing salt content of the Mediterrane

10. Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 4 about the salt domes in the Mediterranean?

[A] They began as layers of oceanic ooze.
[B] They contain large quantities of calcium sulfate.
[С] They were destroyed when the basin refilled with water.
[D] They formed after the Mediterranean basin refilled with water.

Reading Toefl of Technology

One of the most popular literary figures in American literature is a woman who spent almost half of her long life in China, a country on a continent thousands of miles from the United States. In her lifetime she earned this country's most highly acclaimed literary award: the Pulitzer Prize, and also the most prestigious form of literary recognition in the world, the Nobel Prize for Literature. Pearl S. Buck was almost a household word throughout much of her lifetime because of her prolific literary output, which consisted of some eighty - five published works, including several dozen novels, six collections of short stories, fourteen books for children, and more than a dozen works of nonfiction. When she was eighty years old, some twenty - five volumes were awaiting publication. Many of those books were set in China, the land in which she spent so much of her life. Her books and her life served as a bridge between the cultures of the East and the West. As the product of those two cultures she became as the described herself, "mentally bifocal." Her unique background made her into an unusually interesting and versatile human being. As we examine the life of Pearl Buck, we cannot help but be aware that we are in fact meeting three separate people: a wife and mother, an internationally famous writer and a humanitarian and philanthropist. One cannot really get to know Pearl Buck without learning about each of the three. Though honored in her lifetime with the William Dean Howell Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in addition to the Nobel and Pulitzer prizes. Pearl Buck as a total human being, not only a famous author. is a captivating subject of study.

1. What is the author's main purpose in the passage?

(A) To offer a criticism of the works of Pearl Buck.

(B) To illustrate Pearl Buck's views on Chinese literature

(D) To discuss Pearl Buck's influence on the cultures of the East and the West

2. According to the passage, Pearl Buck is known as a writer of all of the following EXCEPT

(A) novels

(B) children's books

(D) short stories

3. Which of the following is NOT mentioned by the author as an award received by Pearl Buck?

(A) The Nobel Prize

(B) The Newberry Medal

(D) The Pulitzer prize

4. According to the passage, Pearl Buck was an unusual figure in American literature in that she

(A) wrote extensively about a very different culture

(B) published half of her books abroad

(D) achieved her first success very late in life

5. According to the passage, Pearl Buck described herself as "mentally bifocal" to suggest that she was

(A) capable of resolving the differences between two distinct linguistic systems

(B) keenly aware of how the past could influence the future

(D) equally familiar with two different cultural environments

6. The author's attitude toward Pearl Buck could best be described as

(A) indifferent

(B) admiring

(D) tolerant

Reading toefl of Phsycology

(1) Joy and sadness are experienced by people in all cultures around the world, but how can we tell when other people are happy or despondent? It turns out that the expression of many emotions may be universal. Smiling is apparently a universal sign of friendliness and approval. Baring the teeth in a hostile way, as noted by Charles Darwin in the nineteenth century, may be a universal sign of anger. As the originator of the theory of evolution, Darwin believed that the universal recognition of facial expressions would have survival value. For example, facial expressions could signal the approach of enemies (or friends) in the absence of language.
(2) Most investigators concur that certain facial expressions suggest the same emotions in all people. Moreover, people in diverse cultures recognize the emotions manifested by the facial expressions. In classic research Paul Ekman took photographs of people exhibiting the emotions of anger, disgust, fear, happiness, and sadness. He then asked people around the world to indicate what emotions were being depicted in them. Those queried ranged from European college students to members of the Fore, a tribe that dwells in the New Guinea highlands. All groups, including the Fore, who had almost no contact with Western culture, agreed on the portrayed emotions. The Fore also displayed familiar facial expressions when asked how they would respond if they were the characters in stories that called for basic emotional responses. Ekman and his colleagues more recently obtained similar results in a study of ten cultures in which participants were permitted to report that multiple emotions were shown by facial expressions. The participants generally agreed on which two emotions were being shown and which emotion was more intense.
(3) Psychological researchers generally recognize that facial expressions reflect emotional states. In fact, various emotional states give rise to certain patterns of electrical activity in the facial muscles and in the brain. The facial-feedback hypothesis argues, however, that the causal relationship between emotions and facial expressions can also work in the opposite direction. According to this hypothesis, signals from the facial muscles (“feedback”) are sent back to emotion centers of the brain, and so a person’s facial expression can influence that person’s emotional state. Consider Darwin’s words: “The free expression by outward signs of an emotion intensifies it. On the other hand, the repression, as far as possible, of all outward signs softens our emotions.” Can smiling give rise to feelings of good will, for example, and frowning to anger?
(4) Psychological research has given rise to some interesting findings concerning the facial-feedback hypothesis. Causing participants in experiments to smile, for example, leads them to report more positive feelings and to rate cartoons (humorous drawings of people or situations) as being more humorous. When they are caused to frown, they rate cartoons as being more aggressive.
(5) What are the possible links between facial expressions and emotion? One link is arousal, which is the level of activity or preparedness for activity in an organism. Intense contraction of facial muscles, such as those used in signifying fear, heightens arousal. Self-perception of heightened arousal then leads to heightened emotional activity. Other links may involve changes in brain temperature and the release of neurotransmitters (substances that transmit nerve impulses.) The contraction of facial muscles both influences the internal emotional state and reflects it. Ekman has found that the so-called Duchenne smile, which is characterized by “crow’s feet” wrinkles around the eyes and a subtle drop in the eye cover fold so that the skin above the eye moves down slightly toward the eyeball, can lead to pleasant feelings.
(6) Ekman’s observation may be relevant to the British expression “keep a stiff upper lip” as a recommendation for handling stress. It might be that a “stiff” lip suppresses emotional response—as long as the lip is not quivering with fear or tension. But when the emotion that leads to stiffening the lip is more intense, and involves strong muscle tension, facial feedback may heighten emotional response.

1. The word "despondent" in paragraph 1 in the passage is closest in meaning to

[A] curious
[B] unhappy
[С] thoughtful
[D] uncertain

2. The author mentions “Baring the teeth in a hostile way” in paragraph 1 in order to

[A] differentiate one possible meaning of a particular facial expression from other meanings of it
[B] support Darwin’s theory of evolution
[С] provide an example of a facial expression whose meaning is widely understood
[D] contrast a facial expression that is easily understood with other facial expressions

3. The word "concur" in paragraph 2 in the passage is closest in meaning to

[A] estimate
[B] agree
[С] expect
[D] understand

4. The word "them" in the sentence "He then asked people around the world to indicate what emotions were being depicted in them." refers to

[A] emotions
[B] people
[С] photographs
[D] cultures

5. According to paragraph 2, which of the following was true of the Fore people of New Guinea?

[A] They did not want to be shown photographs.
[B] They were famous for their story-telling skills.
[С] They knew very little about Western culture.
[D] They did not encourage the expression of emotions.

6. According to the passage, what did Darwin believe would happen to human emotions that were not expressed?

[A] They would become less intense.
[B] They would last longer than usual.
[С] They would cause problems later.
[D] They would become more negative.

7. According to the passage, research involving which of the following supported the facial-feedback hypothesis?

[A] The reactions of people in experiments to cartoons
[B] The tendency of people in experiments to cooperate
[С] The release of neurotransmitters by people during experiments
[D] The long-term effects of repressing emotions

8. The word "rate" in paragraph 4 in the passage is closest in meaning to

[A] judge
[B] reject
[С] draw
[D] want

9. The word "relevant" in paragraph 5 in the passage is closest in meaning to

[A] contradictory
[B] confusing
[С] dependent
[D] applicable

10. According to the passage, stiffening the upper lip may have which of the following effects?

[A] It first suppresses stress, then intensifies it.
[B] It may cause fear and tension in those who see it.
[С] It can damage the lip muscles.
[D] It may either heighten or reduce emotional response.

reading toefl biology tecnology phsicology

The Toefl Biology and Technology

Compiled By
Name : Roynaldo EP Siregar
Npm : 15810020