Read the e-mail and answer the questions.
Dear sir,
The purpose of this letter is to inquire as to the status of Mike Marston's application for admission to your school. We were informed in November 2014 that our son was placed on a waiting list. My husband and I attended Victoria School, as did our son, John. We have great respect for the teachers and the school's program and reputation, and we think highly of the school's facilities. Thus, we have encouraged Mike to pursue his dreams and aspirations at your school. We are aware that other students are being notified as to their status. We would greatly appreciate knowing Mike's status so that we can plan accordingly.
Thank you for your attention to this matter, and we look forward to your positive reply.
Yours faithfully,
Lily Marston
(Adapted from TOEFL Junior 10 Practice Tests: Reading Comprehension)
According to the letter, why do the family encourage Mike to attend Victoria School?
The word "notified" is closest in meaning to _____.
Read the story and answer the questions.
Laura went to the stable. Four horses stood there. She put a saddle on Star. He was seven years old, big and dark brown. Her sister came out to the stable. They were both going to exercise the horses. It was a warm, sunny day. Jan saddled up Moonbeam, a white mare. They got on the horses and started walking them.
A few minutes later, Laura was telling Jan about the new doctor in her hospital. She raised her hand for a second to make a point. Just then, Star bucked. Laura went flying into the air. She landed on her head and shoulder on the grass.
"Oh, my gosh!" Jan cried. "Laura, are you all right?"
Laura moaned. Jan gently rolled her over. She didn't see any blood. "That's good," she thought.
"Can you move? You're not paralyzed anywhere, are you?"
Jan pulled Laura up into a sitting position. Laura slightly moved her legs and arms. She wasn't paralyzed. When she moved her right hand to touch her head, she groaned.
"What's the matter?"
"That hurt. When I moved my arm, it hurt."
They still didn't see any blood. Jan undid the top buttons on Laura's blouse and looked at Laura's right collarbone.
"Oh no," she said.
(Adapted from TOEFL Junior 10 Practice Tests: Reading Comprehension)
In the first paragraph, the word "He" refers to _____.
What happened to Laura after falling off the horse?
Read the passage and answer the questions.
The roots of Canadian English can be found in the events which followed the American Revolution of 1776. Those who had supported Britain found themselves unable to stay in the new United States, and most went into exile in the Ontario of Canada. From there they spread to all parts of the country. They were soon followed by many thousands who were attracted by the cheapness of land. Within fifty years, the population of Upper Canada (above Montreal) reached 100,000 - mainly people from the United States.
In the east, the Atlantic Provinces had been settled by English speakers much earlier (the first contacts were as early as 1497 when the British explorer John Cabot claimed Newfoundland), but even today these areas contain less than 10 percent of the population, so they have only a marginal role in the development of the Canadian "norm". In Quebec, the use of the French language and culture remains from the first period of exploration, with the majority of people using French as their mother tongue: here, English and French coexist uneasily.
Because of its origins, Canadian English has a great deal in common with the rest of the English spoken in North America and is often difficult to distinguish for people who live outside the region. To British people, Canadians may sound American; to Americans, they may sound British. Canadians themselves insist on not being identified with either, and certainly, there is a great deal of evidence in support of this view.
(Adapted from TOEFL Junior 10 Practice Tests: Reading Comprehension)
In the second paragraph, the word "marginal" is closest in meaning to _____.
In the last paragraph, the phrase "in common" is closest in meaning to _____.
In the last line of the passage, the phrase "this view" refers to _____.
According to the passage, all of the following have contributed to the origins of Canadian English EXCEPT _______.
Read the story and answer the questions.
Here I am again with another one of my 100% true stories.
I have just left my primary school; in other words, I am now in grade 6, and I am going to secondary school after the six week holidays of course. Now my story happened at St. Bart's, my old primary school, in the junior girls' bathroom.
There is a plaque in our hall, and we had never really noticed it until things started to happen. If you're ever alone in the girls' bathroom, you mostly all of the time can hear someone walking around. It's not my imagination, because it happened to my friends, too. Also this is weird because sometimes you go in there, and the end cubicle's door is locked, but no one's in there. Once my friend was in there with her friend, it was just the two of them when her friend saw a hand pop out under the cubicle. She asked if it was her friend, but her friend was also in the bathroom and it wasn't her, and they were positive no one else was in the bathroom at the time. Another time, one of my friends was in there alone, and she was washing her hands opposite the end cubicle. Then she looked in the mirror, and to her surprise, a girl looked round the door and smirked at her! So she quickly dashed out of the bathroom. After we found out that all these instances had happened, we just had to check out the plaque in the hall. It turned out a girl had died in our school because it said "whom we all loved".
So to see if it was true, we held a seance, and we asked the girl, if she was really there, to give us a sign, show herself, touch someone, or turn on a tap. Amazingly, one of the taps was turned on! We were in shock and rushed out of the bathroom.
Luckily we don't go to that school anymore, but I would really appreciate it if you could comment on my story.
(Adapted from TOEFL Junior 10 Practice Tests: Reading Comprehension)
All of the following are mentioned to describe how creepy the bathroom was EXCEPT ______.
Read the passage and answer the questions.
TEXAS - A Texas middle school is under fire after students say they have been banned from speaking Spanish in class. The students say their principal announced the rule last month over the intercom.
Inside the walls of Hempstead Middle School, a language controversy is brewing. "There's one teacher that said, 'If you speak Spanish in my class, I'm gonna write you up,"' 8th grader Tiffani Resurez says. Four students say their principal's announcement - banning them from speaking Spanish in class - has given teachers and fellow students a hall pass to discriminate. "She was like, 'No speaking Spanish.' She told me that. I was like, 'That's my first language.' She said, 'Well, you can get out,"' fellow classmate Yedhany Gallegos says. A letter sent home by the superintendent says, "Neither the district nor any campus has any policy prohibiting the speaking of Spanish." The four students feel that the statement from the superintendent has not been made entirely clear at their school. "People don't want to speak it anymore and don't want to get caught speaking it because they're going to get into trouble," 6th grader Kiara Lozano says.
Parents, like Cynthia Zamora, believe the school is not getting to the root of the problem. She wants to know why the "No Spanish" announcement was ever made in the first place. "I was very surprised that she would even go to such lengths," Zamora says. Many students at the school grew up speaking Spanish at home, and they say it often comes as second nature when they're talking to each other at school.
"I'm not scared. I'm gonna keep speaking my language. That's my first language, and I'm gonna keep doing it," Lozano said. The principal has been placed on paid administrative leave while the district investigates. A spokeswoman for Hempstead Independent School District has released a statement saying, in part, "The district is committed to efficiently and effectively resolving this matter with as little disruption to our students and their learning environment as possible."
(Adapted from TOEFL Junior 10 Practice Tests: Reading Comprehension)
According to Kiara Lozano, why did people avoid speaking Spanish in school?
The word "root" is closest in meaning to _____.
The word "it" refers to _____.
Read the passage and answer the questions.
The transition of digital photography from the privilege of rich people to an ordinary home appliance has caused some problems. That is the reason a modern man has a set of questions concerning digital cameras, especially the what's, why's and where's of digital cameras. Nobody wants to make a "miscalculation"!
The basic problem in choosing a digital camera is the "guarantee" that the device you are purchasing will "grow old" in a couple of months due to constant improvements and developments of the sphere. The only factor that may delay this process of "growing old" is purchasing a device with the price twice or three times higher than the average market price for a digital camera at the moment. If a person chooses a digital camera, there are several criteria of a great priority he needs to keep in mind: the price of and the image resolution of the camera, the capacity of the memory card, the presence of an LCD display, the interface of the device, its weight and size.
The price of a digital camera depends on its quality factors. The resolution of a digital camera, or in other words, the "size of a digital image", is measured in pixels. Pixels in their turn are photosensitive elements. It is common knowledge that the bigger the amount of pixels indicated in the camera properties is, the better it is. Therefore, if a high-detailed photo is required, the usage of the zoom on a digital camera with low resolution will not give the desired result. In this case, a person choosing a digital camera needs to exactly know what it will be used for and to choose it according to its future destination. It is necessary to mention that the resolution of 640 x 480 is the lowest resolution any customer should be orientated to. It is the minimal resolution with which the purchase of a digital camera still remains reasonable.
The lens of the camera or the zoom properties mentioned above allows saving a lot on the price of the device but hits the quality of the pictures obtained. The memory card is a very important issue, too. It is much better to choose a good camera with a small memory capacity than an average digital camera with a larger memory capacity. The presence of an LCD display is no longer a wish. It is a requirement for any digital camera. It allows people to check the future image, to anticipate it and to delete bad images and therefore to save space.
(Adapted from TOEFL Junior 10 Practice Tests: Reading Comprehension)
What can we infer from the last paragraph?