READING SKILL 3: SIMPLIFY MEANINGS OF SENTENCES

QUESTIONS ABOUT SIMPLIFYING THE MEANINGS OF SENTENCES
HOW TO IDENTIFY THE QUESTION	Which of the sentences below best express the essential information…?
WHERE TO FIND THE ANSWER	The targeted sentence is highlighted in the passage. Information to answer the question is in the highlighted sentence and may also be in the context around the highlighted sentence
HOW TO ANSWER THE QUESTION	1. Study the highlighted sentence carefully 2. Break the sentence down into meaningful parts by looking for pronunciation and transition expresses 3. If the highlighted sentence makes references to information outside of the highlighted sentence, read the context around the highlighted sentence 4. Study the answer choice, and eliminate definitely wrong answers 5. Choose the best answer from the remaining choices

 

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

 

PASSAGE ONE (Questions 1-2)

Camouflage

 

Camouflage is one of the most effective ways for animals to avoid attack in the treeless Arctic. However, the summer and winter landscapes there are so diverse that a single protective coloring scheme would, of course, prove ineffective in one season or the other. Thus, many of the inhabitants of the Arctic tundra change their camouflage twice a year. The arctic fox is a clear-cut example of the phenomenon; it sports a brownish-gray coat in the summer which then turns white as cold weather sets in, and the process reverses itself in the springtime. Its brownish-gray coat blends in with the barren tundra landscape in the months without snow, and the white coat naturally blends in with the landscape of the frozen wintertime tundra.

 

1. Which of the sentences below expresses the essential information in the first highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

1. Opposite conditions in summer and in winter necessitate different protective coloration for Arctic animals.
2. The coloration of the summer and winter landscapes in the Arctic fails to protect the Arctic tundra.
3. In a single season, protective coloring schemes are ineffective in the treeless Arctic.
4. For many animals, a single protective coloring scheme effectively protects them during summer and winter months.

 

2. Which of the sentences below expresses the essential information in the second highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

1. The arctic fox is unusual in that the color of its coat changes for no reason.
2. The arctic fox lives in an environment that is brownish gray in the summer and white in the winter.
3. It is a phenomenon that the coat of the arctic fox turns white in the springtime and gray in the fall.
4. The arctic fox demonstrates that protective coloration can change during different seasons.

 

PASSAGE TWO (Questions 3-6)

Post-it^® Notes

1   Post-it@ Notes were invented in the 1970s at the 3M company in Minnesota quite by accident. Researchers at 3M were working on developing different types of adhesives, and one particularly weak adhesive, a compound of acrylate copolymer microspheres, was developed. Employees at 3M were asked if they could think of a use for a weak adhesive which, provided it did not get dirty, could be reused. One suggestion was that it could be applied to a piece of paper to use as a bookmark that would stay in place in a book. Another use was found when the product was attached to a report that was to be sent to a colleague with a request for comments on the report; the colleague made his comments on the paper attached to the report and returned the report. The idea for Post-it Notes was born.

2   It was decided within the company that there would be a test launch of the product in 1977 in four American cities. Sales of this innovative product in test cities were less than stellar, most likely because the product, while innovative, was also quite unfamiliar. A final attempt was then made in the city of Boise to introduce the product. In this attempt, 3M salesmen gave demonstrations of the product in offices throughout Boise and gave away free samples of the product. When the salesmen returned a week later to the offices where the product had been demonstrated and given away, a huge percentage of the office workers, having noted how useful the simple little product could be, were interested in purchasing it. Over time, 3M came to understand the huge potential of this new product, and over the next few decades more than 400 varieties of Post-it products – in different colors, shapes, and sizes – have been developed.

 

3. Which of the sentences below expresses the essential information in the first highlighted sentence in paragraph 1? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

1. Of the many adhesives that were being developed at 3M, one was not a particularly strong adhesive.
2. Researchers at 3M spent many years trying to develop a really weak adhesive.
3. Numerous weak adhesives resulted from a program to develop the strongest adhesive of all.
4. Researchers were assigned to develop different types of uses for acrylate copolymer microspheres.

 

4. Which of the sentences below expresses the essential information in the second highlighted sentence in paragraph 1? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

1. The 3M company suggested applying for a patent on the product in a report prepared by a colleague.
2. One unexpectedly-discovered use for the adhesive was in sending and receiving notes attached to documents.
3. A note was attached to a report asking for suggestions for uses of one of 3M's products.
4. A colleague who developed the new product kept notes with suggestions by other workers.

 

5. Which of the sentences below expresses the essential information in the first highlighted sentence in paragraph 2? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

1. The 3M company was unfamiliar with the process of using test cities to introduce innovative products.
2. Sales of the product soared even though the product was quite unfamiliar to most customers.
3. The new product did not sell well because potential customers did not understand it.
4. After selling the product for a while, the company understood that the product was not innovative enough.

 

6. Which of the sentences below expresses the essential information in the second highlighted sentence in paragraph 2? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

A. The company immediately understood the potential of the product and began to develop it further.

B. The company worked overtime to develop its new product, initially creating numerous varieties to make it successful.

C. The company initially introduced 400 varieties of the product and then watched for decades as sales improved.

D. It took some time for the company to understand how important its new product was and how many variations were possible.

 

PASSAGE THREE (Questions 7-10)

The Pulitzer Prize

1 The Pulitzer Prize came about as part of an attempt by newspaperman Joseph Pulitzer to upgrade the profession of journalism. Pulitzer, the owner of the New York World and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, made a proposal in 1903 to Columbia University to make a $ 2 million bequest to the university for the dual purposes of establishing a school of journalism at the university and also establishing prizes for exceptional work in journalism and other fields. However, the university did not initially respond as one might expect to such a seemingly generous offer.

2 Interestingly, Colombia University was not immediately amenable to the proposal by Pulitzer inasmuch as journalism was not held in high regard in general and Pulitzer’s papers were more known for their sensationalization of the news than for the high quality of the journalism. The trustees of the university were not at all sure that they wanted a school of journalism because newspaper reporting was considered more of a trade than a profession at the time and they did not want to decrease the academic prestige of their institution. It took years of discussions and negotiations before the terms for the establishment of the school of journalism and the prizes bearing Pulitzer’s name were agreed upon, and it was not actually until the year after Pulitzer’s death in 1911 that construction began on the building to house Columbia’s new school of journalism. The school of journalism opened in 1913, and the first prizes were awarded in 1917, for work done the previous year.

3 The method for selecting Pulitzer Prize winners and the categories for prizes have changed slightly over the years. Today, 21 different awards are given in three different areas, with he majority of awards going to journalists; 14 of the 21 awards are from various aspects of journalism (i.e., news reporting, feature writing, cartoons, and photography), 6 awards are given in letters (in fiction, nonfiction, history, drama, poetry, and biography), and 1 award in music. Columbia University appoints nominating juries comprised of experts in each field, and the nominating juries submit these nominations for each category to the Pulitzer Prize Board, which makes the final decisions and awards the prizes.

 

7. Which of the sentences below expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in paragraph 1? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

1. Joseph Pulitzer generously offered to donate a large sum of money to Columbia University for two specific purposes.
2. In 1903, an attempt was made by Joseph Pulitzer to halt the movement of the school of journalism and the journalism prizes from Columbia University.
3. Joseph Pulitzer requested that Columbia University donate a large sum of money to the New York World and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for the purpose of establishing journalism scholarships and prizes.
4. In 1993, Joseph Pulitzer decided to give up his position as head of two newspapers to take over the department of journalism at Columbia University.

 

8. Which of the sentences below expresses the essential information in the first highlighted sentence in paragraph 2? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

1. The university immediately appreciated Pulitzer's proposal, agreeing completely with Pulitzer as to the need for high-quality journalism.
2. University officials were unhappy when they read a sensationalized version of Pulitzer's proposal in one of Pulitzer's newspapers.
3. Initially, the university was not interested in working with Pulitzer because they did not have a high opinion of newspapers in general and Pulitzer's in particular.
4. The Pulitzer papers did not have a high regard for what was being taught in Columbia University's school of journalism.

 

9. Which of the sentences below expresses the essential information in the second highlighted sentence in paragraph 2? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

1. There were long discussions about the names that could "be used in the new school of journalism and the journalism prizes, and these discussions proved quite harmful to Pulitzer.
2. It took quite some time for Pulitzer and Columbia University to reach an agreement, and the agreement was not actually implemented until after Pulitzer's death.
3. University officials spent years discussing what the new journalism building would look like and finally came to a decision about it in 1911.
4. Pulitzer’s death caused university officials to rethink their decision on a school of journalism and to decide that it was a good idea to have one.

 

10. Which of the sentences below expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in paragraph 3? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

1. The 21 awards are divided equally among journalism, letters, and music.
2. Three different awards are given to journalists, while the others are given to artists and musicians.
3. Most awards are given in three different areas of journalism, while the rest are given in letters and music.
4. Two-thirds of the awards are for journalism, while the other third goes to other fields.

 

PASSAGE FOUR (Questions 11-14)

Competition and Cooperation

 

1   Explanations of the interrelationship between competition and cooperation have evolved over time. Early research into competition and cooperation defined each of them in terms of the distribution of rewards related to each. Competition was defined as a situation in which rewards are distributed unequally on the basis of performance; cooperation, on the other hand, was defined as a situation in which rewards are distributed equally on the basis of mutual interactive behavior among individuals. By this definition, a competitive situation requires at least one competitor to fail for each competitor that wins, while a cooperative situation offers a reward only if all members of the group receive it.

2   Researchers have found definitions of competition and cooperation based upon rewards inadequate primarily because definitions of these two concepts based upon rewards depict them as opposites. In current understanding, competition is not viewed as the opposite of cooperation; instead, cooperation is viewed as an integral component of competition. Cooperation is necessary among team members, perhaps in a sporting event or in a political race, in order to win the competition; it is equally important to understand that cooperation is of great importance between teams, in that same sporting or political race, inasmuch as the opposing teams need to be in agreement as to the basic ground rules of the game or election in order to compete.

3   Interestingly, the word competition is derived from a Latin verb which means "to seek together." An understanding of the derivation of the word competition supports the understanding that cooperation, rather than evoking a characteristic at the opposite extreme of human nature from competition, is in reality a necessary factor in competition.

 

11. Which of the sentences below expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in paragraph 1? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

1. Unequal rewards for competition should be distributed equally to achieve cooperation.
2. Earlier definitions of competition and cooperation described them in basically the same way.
3. Competition and cooperation were seen as opposites, with rewards distributed equally to those who competed and unequally to those who cooperated.
4. Competition was defined in terms of unequal distribution of rewards and cooperation in terms of equal distribution of rewards.

 

12. Which of the sentences below expresses the essential information in the first highlighted sentence in paragraph 2? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

1. It does not work well to define competition and cooperation in terms of rewards because definitions of this type incorrectly indicate that the two are opposites.
2. Researchers tend to define competition and cooperation on the basis of rewards because this shows how the two differ.
3. Researchers are looking for ways to define cooperation and competition in terms of rewards but have so far not been able to come up with definitions.
4. Research has shown that the optimal definitions of competition and cooperation are those indicating that the two are opposites.

 

13. Which of the sentences below expresses the essential information in the second highlighted sentence in paragraph 2? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

1. Because sports and politics are so competitive, participants may appear to be cooperating but are not really doing so.
2. In a number of contexts, cooperation is necessary both among team members and between opposing teams.
3. When cooperation exists in contests such as games and elections, competition naturally decreases.
4. In sports, cooperation is necessary among team members but should not take place between opposing teams.

 

14. Which of the sentences below expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in paragraph 3? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

1. The derivation of the word competition indicates that competition and cooperation are clearly opposing forces.
2. The derivation of the word competition shows us that competition is necessary for cooperation to succeed.
3. The derivation of the word competition demonstrates that cooperation is an integral part of competition.
4. The derivation of the word competition leads to the conclusion that cooperation cannot exist without competition.

 

 

---

Дата добавления: 2019-02-12; просмотров: 522; Мы поможем в написании вашей работы!

Поделиться с друзьями:

---

---

Мы поможем в написании ваших работ!