1) What are you wearing to the party?

a) I are wearing a tuxedo.

b) Wear wearing tuxedos.
c) We're wearing suits.
d) I wear a black suit
.

2) They're tired ___________ they worked for ten hours.

a) because
b) however
c) except
d) or
.

3) You two are always fighting! Why can't you ___________ ?

a) get through
b) get over
c) get along
d) get down
.

4) Chocolate is my greatest ____________.

a) weakened
b) weakness
c) weak
d) weakly
.

5) Edward has always __________ things very efficiently.

a) does
b) did
c) do
d) done
.

6) Last Sunday, they __________ to the football game.

a) went
b) going
c) gone
d) were
.

7) Today is Thursday, isn't it?

a) No, today's Wendsday.
b) Yes, is Thursday.
c) No, isn't it Thursday. It's Friday!
d) Yes, that's right. It's Thursday
.
 8) What is the definition of 'gist'?
a) The main point or essence.
b) The conclusion of an article.
c) The facts used by the author to make a point.
d) The transition between paragraphs.
.

9) Either folk songs or country songs are my favourite types of music because of _____________
good rhythms.
a) they're
b) it's
c) its
d) their
.

10) After class, the Principal talked to _________ and me.

a) she
b) he
c) her
d) they
.

11) Which of the following answers uses correct punctuation?

a) His goals were simple: find the girl, get the bad guys, and make off with the cash.
b) His goals were simple: find the girl, get the bad guys make off with the cash.
c) His goals were simple; find the girl, get the bad guys; make off with the cash.
d) His goals were simple; find the girl, get the bad guys, make off with the cash.
.

Questions 12 to 20 are based on the following story.

When another old cave is discovered in the south of France, it is not usually news. Rather, it is an
ordinary event. Such discoveries are so frequent these days that hardly anybody pays heed to them.
However, when the Lascaux cave complex was discovered in 1940, the world was amazed. Painted
directly on its walls were hundreds of scenes showing how people lived thousands of years ago. The
scenes show people hunting animals, such as bison or wildcats. Other images depict birds and,
most noticeably, horses, which appear in more than 300 wall images, by far outnumbering all other
animals.

Early artists drawing these animals accomplished a monumental and difficult task. They did not limit
themselves to the easily accessible walls but carried their painting materials to spaces that required
climbing steep walls or crawling into narrow passages in the Lascaux complex. Unfortunately, the
paintings have been exposed to the destructive action of water and temperature changes, which
easily wear the images away. Because the Lascaux caves have many entrances, air movement has
also damaged the images inside. Although they are not out in the open air, where natural light would
have destroyed them long ago, many of the images have deteriorated and are barely recognizable.
To prevent further damage, the site was closed to tourists in 1963, 23 years after it was discovered.
12) Which title best summarizes the main idea of the passage?
a) Wild Animals in Art
b) Hidden Prehistoric Paintings
c) Exploring Caves Respectfully
d) Determining the Age of French Caves
.

13) In the second sentence of the first paragraph, the words pays heed to are closest in meaning
to __________.
a) discovers
b) watches
c) notices
d) buys
.

14) Based on the passage, what is probably true about the south of France?
a) It is home to rare animals.
b) It has a large number of caves.
c) It is known for horse-racing events.
d) It has attracted many famous artists.
.

15) According to the passage, which animals appear most often on the cave walls?
a) Birds
b) Bisons
c) Horses
d) Wild cats
.

16) In the last sentence of the first paragraph, the word depict is closest in meaning to
__________.
a) show
b) hunt
c) count
d) draw
.

17) Why was painting inside the Lascaux complex a difficult task?
a) It was completely dark inside.
b) The caves were full of wild animals.
c) Painting materials were hard to find.
d) Many painting spaces were difficult to reach.
.

18) In the second sentence of the second paragraph, the word They refers to _________.
a) walls
b) artists
c) animals
d) materials
.
19) According to the passage, all of the following have caused damage to the paintings EXCEPT
_______.
a) temperature changes
b) air movement
c) water
d) light
.

20) What does the passage say happened at the Lascaux caves in 1963?
a) Visitors were prohibited from entering.
b) A new lighting system was installed.
c) Another part was discovered.
d) A new entrance was created.
.

21) Which is a synonym for ludicrous?

a) laughable
b) insulting
c) shameful
d) believable
.

22) Which is a synonym of repast?

a) clothing
b) harm
c) meal
d) hesitation
.

23) Which is a synonym of render?

a) deliver
b) list
c) label
d) measure
.

24) Which is a synonym of redact?

a) reply
b) edit
c) expect
d) release
.

25) Which is closest in meaning to pungent?

a) distinct
b) familiar
c) fair
d) sharp
.
26) Which word is closest in meaning to prudence?
a) charity
b) talent
c) confusion
d) wisdom
.
Directions: This writing passage is followed by 11 questions. Read the passage and select the
answer to each question that is most effective in improving the quality of the writing or in making the
passage conform to the standard conventions of English.
Questions 27–37 are based on the following passage.

Ulysses S. Grant: An Unusual Leader

On March 10th, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln 1 signed a brief document officially promoting
then-Major General Ulysses S. Grant to the rank of Lieutenant General of the U.S. Army, tasking the
future president with the job 2 of being the leader of all the Union troops against the Confederate
Army.

The rank of lieutenant general 3 wasn’t officially in use since 4 1798, at that time, President John
Adams assigned the post to former President George Washington, in anticipation of a possible
French invasion of the United States. One of Grant’s predecessors in the Civil War, Winfield Scott,
had briefly earned the rank, but the appointment was only temporary 5 — really, use of the rank had
been suspended after George Washington’s death in 1799.

In 1862, Lincoln asked Congress to revive the rank of lieutenant general in order to distinguish
between the general in charge of all Union forces and other generals of equal rank who served under
him in the field. Congress also wanted to reinstate the rank of lieutenant general, but only if Lincoln
gave the rank to Grant. 6 The seeming incongruity that a lieutenant general outranks a major
general is due to the derivation of the latter rank from sergeant major general, which was also
subordinate to lieutenant general.

Lincoln preferred to promote then-Commanding General Henry Wagner Halleck to lead the Union 7
Army, which had been plagued by a string of ineffective leaders and terrible losses in battle. He was
reluctant to promote Grant and risk boosting the general’s popularity; at the time Washington was
abuzz with rumors that 8 much northern senators were considering nominating Grant instead of
Lincoln at the 1864 Republican National Convention. After Grant publicly dismissed the idea of
running for the presidency, Lincoln submitted to Congress’ choice and agreed to give Grant the
revived rank. As lieutenant general of the U.S. Army, Grant was answerable only to Lincoln. Well-
respected by troops and civilians, Grant earned Lincoln’s trust and went on to force the South’s
surrender in 1865.

9 A primary focus of Grant’s administration was Reconstruction, and he worked to reconcile the
North and South while also attempting to protect the civil rights of newly freed black slaves. While
Grant was personally honest, some of his associates 10 was corrupt and his administration were
tarnished by various scandals. After retiring, Grant invested in a brokerage firm that went bankrupt,
costing him his life savings. He spent his final days penning his memoirs, which were published the
year he died and proved a critical and financial success.

Although Grant enjoyed a distinguished career in the military, he wrote that he never consciously
chose the life of a soldier. As a student at West Point, he never expected to graduate, let alone lead
the entire U.S. Army in a desperate but ultimately successful struggle to preserve the Union. In late
1884, he was diagnosed with throat cancer. Grant died at age 63 on July 23, 1885, in Mount
McGregor, New York, in the Adirondack Mountains, 11 which he and his family were spending the
summer. The former president was laid to rest in a tomb in New York City’s Riverside Park.
27) 1
a) NO CHANGE
b) was signing
c) were signing
d) had signed
.

28) 2
a) NO CHANGE
b) of leading all of the troops that were Union
c) of leading all Union troops
d) of Union leader of all of the troops
.

29) 3
a) NO CHANGE
b) were not in use, officially,
c) was not in use, officially,
d) had not officially been used
.

30) 4
a) NO CHANGE
b) 1798; at that time
c) 1798, yet at that time
d) 1798; and, at that time
.

31) 5 The author of the passage is debating whether or not to delete the underlined portion.
What should the author do?
a) Keep it, because it adds vital information to understanding the character of Ulysses S.
Grant.
b) Keep it, because it adds necessary background information to support the ideas in the
paragraph.
c) Delete it, because it introduces information not relevant to the passage as a whole.
d) Delete it, because it does not relate to the sentence immediately preceding it.
.

32) 6
a) NO CHANGE
b) Lincoln had other ideas.
c) The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held
by the second in command on the battlefield.
d) OMIT the underlined portion.
.
33) 7
a) NO CHANGE
b) Army which,
c) Army that
d) Army, that
.

34) 8
a) NO CHANGE
b) less
c) fewer
d) many
.

35) 9 Which of the following sentences should be inserted at the beginning of this
paragraph?
a) During the war Grant became a national hero.
b) The Republicans nominated him for president in 1868.
c) In 1869, Grant became the 18th president of the United States.
d) The first scandal to taint the Grant administration in 1869 was Black Friday, also known as
the Gold Panic.
.

36) 10
a) NO CHANGE
b) were corrupt and his administration was
c) were corrupt and his administration were
d) was corrupt and his administration was
.

37) 11
a) NO CHANGE
b) with
c) when
d) where
.

38) The first train took twenty-six minutes to complete the route, which ran from City Hall to West
145th Street in under a half an hour.
a) NO CHANGE
b) in the completion of its route.
c) in twenty-six minutes.
d) DELETE the underlined portion and end the sentence with a period.
.
39) We talked just as easily as we had in the past, when we would sit in the field behind Joan’s
house atop the rabbit hutch and discuss our friends and our hopes for the future.
a) NO CHANGE
b) in the field atop the rabbit hutch behind Joan’s house
c) atop the rabbit hutch in the field behind Joan’s house
d) behind Joan’s house in the field atop the rabbit hutch
.

40) In some agricultural parts of Japan, for instance, these three stars are commonly referred to as
Karasuki and represent a three-pronged plow.
Given that all the choices are true, which one provides a detail that has the most direct
connection to the information that follows in this sentence?
a) NO CHANGE
b) distant
c) populated
d) historic
.

41) Some sixty years later, an elderly Frances Griffiths publicly admitted that her and her cousin
had staged the photographs as a practical joke.
a) NO CHANGE
b) her cousin and herself
c) she and her cousin
d) her cousin and her
.

42) On each wing, all flighted birds have ten primary flight feathers, each one shaped slight
different.
a) NO CHANGE
b) slight differently.
c) slightly differently.
d) slightly more different.
.

43) The man next door has a garden that is being overrun with cats. Which of the following
questions is correct?
a) Who's cats are using our neighbours garden?
b) Who's cats' are using our neighbours garden?
c) Whose cats are using our neighbour's garden?
d) Whose cats are using our neighbours' garden?
.

44) Lots of people are confused about when to use "may" and when to use "might". Which one is
better here?
a) The win against Australia might have been a turning point, but it didn't turn out like that
b) The win against Australia may have been a turning point, but it didn't turn out like that
.
45) Consider this sentence: "Do you mind my asking you?" Which of the following does it include?
a) Modal
b) Gerund
c) Imperative
d) Adjective
.

46) Less' and 'fewer' often cause confusion, 'farther' and 'further' can also create problems for those
trying to use strict grammar. Which sentence correctly uses 'further'?
a) My house is further from the station
b) The rain caused further flooding in the region
c) I threw the ball further than Joan
d) All the above sentences are correct
.

47) This is it, the last question, the tenth. What was the first ordinal in the previous two sentences?
a) Tenth
b) Ten
c) First
d) Last
.

48) I have finished typing all ..... the last page.

a) For
b) But
c) Until
d) To
.

49) If __________ a man on the moon, why can't they sort out paper-jams?!?!
a) we are landing
b) they had landed
c) we had landed
d) they were able to land
.

50) Pete is arrogant and David's pompous - it's like __________ .

a) a bolt out of the blue
b) turning over a new leaf
c) six of one and half a dozen of the other
d) a different kettle of fish
.
51) Struthers College has built its reputation for academic excellence largely on significant
contributions from wealthy alumni who are avid fans of the school’s football team. Although the
team has won more national championships over the years than any other team in its division,
this year it did not even win the division title, and so Struthers College can expect to see a
decline in alumni contributions next year.

The above argument relies on which of the following assumptions about Struthers College?
a) The college’s reputation for academic excellence depends on the performance of its football
team.
b) Contributions from alumni are needed for the college to produce a winning football team.
c) As a group, the college’s alumni will have at least as much discretionary money to give
away next year as this year.
d) Struthers alumni contributions depend to an extent on a winning record by the college's
football team.
.

52) With his sub-four minute mile Bannister broke a psychological barrier, and inspired thousands
of others to attempt to overcome seemingly ____ hurdles.
a) inane
b) insurmountable
c) trivial
d) ineffable
.

53) All good comic writers use humor to ____, not to side-step the problems of human behavior.
a) amuse
b) avert
c) juxtapose
d) confront
.

54) Taking antibiotics for a viral infection may, it is true, be ____ ; however, in certain cases a
course of these drugs can actually ward off opportunistic bacterial infections.
a) justified
b) enough
c) curative
d) ineffective
.

55) The revolution in art has not lost its steam; it ____ on as fiercely as ever.
a) trudges
b) meanders
c) rages
d) ambles
.
56) Each occupation has its own ____ ; bankers, lawyers and computer professionals, for example,
all use among themselves language which outsiders have difficulty following.
a) merits
b) jargon
c) disadvantages
d) rewards
.

57) ____ by nature, Jones spoke very little even to his own family members.
a) garrulous
b) taciturn
c) gregarious
d) equivocal
.

58) Many people at that time believed that spices help preserve food; however, Hall found that
many marketed spices were ____ bacteria, moulds and yeasts.
a) devoid of
b) teeming with
c) improved by
d) destroyed by
.

59) Unwilling to admit that they had been in error, the researchers tried to ____ their case with more
data obtained from dubious sources.
a) buttress
b) absolve
c) dispute
d) refute
.

60) After the accident, the nerves to her arm were damaged and so the muscles ____ through
disuse.
a) atrophied
b) contracted
c) elongated
d) invigorated
.

61) The student was extremely foolhardy; he had the ____ to question the senior professor's
judgment.
a) trepidation
b) condescension
c) interest
d) temerity
.
62) He was treated like a ____ and cast out from his community.
a) ascetic
b) tyro
c) prodigy
d) pariah
.

63) We live in a ____ age; everyone thinks that maximizing pleasure is the point of life.
a) ubiquitous
b) sporadic
c) corrupt
d) hedonistic
.

64) Though Adam Bede is presented to us by the author as ____ fiction, there are none of the life-
like meanderings of the story of Amos Barton.
a) imaginative
b) romantic
c) entertaining
d) realistic
.

65) Scrooge, in the famous novel by Dickens, was a ____ ; he hated the rest of mankind.
a) sybarite
b) misanthrope
c) hypochondriac
d) philanthropist
.

66) Our bookshelves at home display a range of books on wide-ranging subjects and in many
languages, reflecting the ____ tastes of our family members.
a) limited
b) anomalous
c) arcane
d) eclectic
.

67) After an initially warm reception by most reviewers and continued ____ by conservative
thinkers, Bloom's work came under heavy fire.
a) criticism
b) endorsement
c) denigration
d) refutation
.
68) The cricket match seemed ____ to our guests; they were used to watching sports in which the
action is over in a couple of hours at the most.
a) interminable
b) unintelligible
c) implausible
d) evanescent
.

69) The refugee's poor grasp of English is hardly an _____ problem; she can attend classes and
improve within a matter of months.
a) implausible
b) insuperable
c) inconsequential
d) evocative
.

70) The pond was a place of reek and corruption, of ____ smells and of oxygen-starved fish
breathing through laboring gills.
a) fragrant
b) evocative
c) dolorous
d) fetid
.

71) His musical tastes are certainly ____ ; he has recordings ranging from classical piano
performances to rock concerts, jazz and even Chinese opera.
a) antediluvian
b) eclectic
c) sonorous
d) dazzling
.

72) The crew of the air balloon ____ the sand bags to help the balloon rise over the hill.
a) capsized
b) jettisoned
c) salvaged
d) augmented
.

73) Hawkins is ____ in his field; no other contemporary scientist commands the same respect.
a) disparaged
b) ignominious
c) preeminent
d) obsolete
.
74) She was roundly condemned for her ____ ; she betrayed the woman to whom she owed her
success.
a) truculence
b) perfidy
c) serendipity
d) pragmatism
.

75) In a fit of ____ she threw out the valuable statue simply because it had belonged to her ex-
husband.
a) pique
b) goodwill
c) contrition
d) prudence
.

76) I cannot conclude this preface without ____ that an early and untimely death should have
prevented Persius from giving a more finished appearance to his works.
a) commenting
b) mentioning
c) affirming
d) lamenting
.

77) The quantum theory was initially regarded as absurd, unnatural and ____ with common sense.
a) discernable
b) consistent
c) decipherable
d) incompatible
.

78) The success of the business venture ____ his expectations; he never thought that the firm
would prosper.
a) confirmed
b) nullified
c) belied
d) ratified
.

79) The professor became increasingly ____ in later years, flying into a rage whenever he was
opposed.
a) voluble
b) irascible
c) contrite
d) subdued
.
80) Many so-called social playwrights are distinctly ____ ; rather than allowing the members of the
audience to form their own opinions, these writers force a viewpoint on the viewer.
a) conciliatory
b) prolific
c) iconoclastic
d) didactic
.
Read the following passage and answer questions 81 - 89.

The Alaska pipeline starts at the frozen edge of the

Arctic Ocean. It stretches southward across the largest
and northernmost state in the United States, ending at
a remote ice-free seaport village nearly 800 miles from
where it begins. It is massive in size and extremely
complicated to operate.
The steel pipe crosses windswept
plains and endless miles of delicate tundra that tops
the frozen ground. It weaves through crooked canyons,
climbs sheer mountains, plunges over rocky crags,
makes its way through thick forests, and passes over or
under hundreds of rivers and streams. The pipe is 4 feet in
diameter, and up to 2 million barrels (or 84 million
gallons) of crude oil can be pumped through it daily.
Resting on H-shaped steel racks called "bents," long
sections of the pipeline follow a zigzag course high
above the frozen earth. Other long sections drop out of
sight beneath spongy or rocky ground and return to the
surface later on. The pattern of the pipeline's up-and-
down route is determined by the often harsh demands
of the arctic and subarctic climate, the tortuous lay of
the land, and the varied compositions of soil, rock, or
permafrost (permanently frozen ground). A little more
than half of the pipeline is elevated above the ground.
The remainder is buried anywhere from 3 to 12 feet,
depending largely upon the type of terrain and the
properties of the soil.
One of the largest in the world, the pipeline cost
approximately $8 billion and is by far the biggest
and most expensive construction project ever
undertaken by private industry. In fact, no single
business could raise that much money, so eight major oil
companies formed a consortium in order to share
the costs. Each company controlled oil rights to
particular shares of land in the oil fields and paid
into the pipeline-construction fund according to the
size of its holdings. Today, despite enormous
problems of climate, supply shortages, equipment
breakdowns, labor disagreements, treacherous
terrain, a certain amount of mismanagement, and
even theft, the Alaska pipeline has been completed
and is operating.
81) The passage primarily discusses the pipeline's
a) operating costs
b) employees
c) consumers
d) construction
.

82) The word "it" in line 5 refers to the

a) a pipeline
b) ocean
c) state
d) village
.

83) According to the second paragraph, 84 million gallons of oil can travel through the pipeline each
a) day
b) week
c) month
d) year
.

84) The phrase "Resting on" in line 15 is closest in meaning to

a) Consisting of
b) Supported by
c) Passing under
d) Protected with
.

85) The author mentions all of the following in the third paragraph as important in determining the
pipeline's route EXCEPT the
a) climate
b) lay of the land itself
c) local vegetation
d) kind of rock and soil
.

86) The word "undertaken" in line 31 is closest in meaning to

a) removed
b) selected
c) transported
d) attempted
.

87) According to the last paragraph, how many companies shared the costs of constructing the
pipeline?
a) three
b) four
c) eight
d) twelve
.
88) The word "particular" in line 35 is closest in meaning to
a) peculiar
b) specific
c) exceptional
d) equal
.

89) According to the last paragraph, which of the following determined what percentage of the
construction costs each member of the consortium would pay?
a) How much oil field land each company owned
b) How long each company had owned land in the oil fields
c) How many people worked for each company
d) How many oil wells were located on the company's land
.

90) Construct and pen a 200 - 250 word story on the word 'betrayed'.