Eng 102 Midterm Mock Exam

Part I: Reading

Passage I:

The Polynesians were probably the best explorers in the history of the world. They traveled thousands of kilometers across the Pacific Ocean in large double canoes. They could look at the stars and know which way to go. They also understood the wind and ocean currents. They made maps of the stars and ocean currents. They made these maps out of sticks and shells.

About four thousand years ago, a group of people lived in southern China. They were a mixture of white, black, and Mongol people. When the Chinese moved farther and farther into the south, these people needed to find safer homes.

Slowly these Polynesians left China in their double canoes and started toward the southeast. They took animals and plants with them. A group of people might arrive at an island and stay there until they had children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Then a few families might start traveling again. Some canoes went one way and some another. It took hundreds of years for them to reach all of the islands in Polynesia.

The Polynesian double canoe is one of the greatest inventions in history. The Polynesians were among the greatest sailors in history. They understood how to sail by the stars, wind, and ocean currents. This made them great explorers.


1. What is the passage about?

a. The Polynesians as great explorers
b. The Polynesians’ skill in making maps
c. The Polynesians’ skill in building double canoes

2. How did the Polynesians travel across the Pacific Ocean?

a. They travelled in small boats.
b. They travelled in large double canoes.
c. They swam across the ocean.
d. They travelled in large boats made from steel.

3. Why did the Polynesians need to leave Southern China?

a. To escape Chinese encroachment
b. To find more fertile land to grow their crops
c. To find a better source of drinking water
d. To escape from plague


Complete the summary of the above article.

The Polynesians were originally from Southern China. They left Southern China because they felt it was not 4)______living too near the 5)______who had started to move farther and farther into the South. The Polynesians were people of mixed 6)_______. They were great 7)__________because they had invented 8)_______which enabled them to travel across the Pacific Ocean. They also had great skills in reading stars, wind and ocean currents. Moreover, 9)_________made from sticks and shells were helpful when they travelled. Gradually, the Polynesians10) ________all of the islands in Polynesia and made these islands their home.

4.
a. dangerous
b. safe
c. risky
d.unhealthy

5.
a. Chinese
b. Mongol
c. Polynesians
d. Mongol

6.
a. water
b. star
c. race
d. health
7.
a. translators
b. cooks
c. builders
d. explorers


8.
a. double canoes
b. guns
c. houses
d. wooden ships

9.
a. stars
b. currents
c. maps
d. compass

10.
a. reached
b. built
c. left
d. destroyed


Passage II:

Every year in early March, dogs pull sleds in a race along the Iditarod Trail. The trail is 1,770 kilometers long. It goes from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. The people who drive the dog teams are called mushers.

A musher is an adventurer. He runs by himself with his dogs. Some mushers are women. Susan Butcher is a famous musher. She won the Iditarod race four times. Rick Swenson won the race five times.

Mushers are very brave to go on this adventure. The dogs run across snow and ice pulling their sleds. Sometimes, the mushers ride, and sometimes they walk. In 1991, Rich Swenson led his dogs through a snow storm. It was so dark that no one could see. He fell to his knees and got up again. In 1990, Susan Butcher’s dogs got sick. Then they came to a river where there was water on top of ice. They were very lucky that they didn’t fall through the thin ice. No one could live in the icy water below.

At night the mushers sleep in tents. In the morning, they can see footprints of wild animals near the camp. Sometimes they have to shoot at the wild animals to make them go away.

The Iditarod race is very long, dangerous, and cold. The mushers spend eleven or twelve days running this race. The temperature can go down to -46 degrees C. The dogs and the mushers take care of each other during this adventure.


What is the passage about?

a. Susan Butcher
b. Mushers’ life
c. Mushers and wild animals
d. The Iditarod race


Comprehension: Which of the following statements are true (T) or false (F)?

_____ 1. The finishing line of the Iditarod race is in Anchorage, Alaska.
_____ 2. Susan Butcher is a well-known musher.
_____ 3. The first dog is called the musher.
_____ 4. Rick Swenson brought his dogs through a snow storm.
_____ 5. Susan Butcher’s dogs didn’t fall through the ice.
_____ 6. Sometimes wild animals come near the camps.
_____ 7. The temperatures during the Iditarod are below freezing.
_____ 8. Susan Butcher’s team has won more races than Rick Swenson’s team.


Vocabulary

(The purpose of the following exercise is to sharpen student’s skill in guessing meaning by using context clues. The vocabulary tested here are not from Headway. However, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with vocabulary presented in Headway’s unit 1-unit 6 because the midterm exam will cover them.)

Directions: Read the following sentences and choose the correct meanings for the bolded words.

1. During the winter, taking a cold shower makes me shiver all over.

a. sleepy
b. cry
c. shake
d. warm

2. Although the rigors of the job were very tough- for example, the long hours, the lifting of heavy loads, the very hot and then very cold temperatures outdoors- George didn’t complain because the pay was good.

a. difficult conditions
b. darkness
c. beauty
d. healthfulness

3. When Mary compared her new apartment with her old one, she first noticed the spaciousness of the new one. There was more room than she would ever be able to fill up with her few pieces of furniture.

a. smallness
b. darkness
c. beauty
d. largeness

4. The rivers are getting so full that they are about to inundate large areas with flood waters.

a. cover
b. dry up
c. empty
d. open

5. My library at home is quite sparse; the central library, however, has a lot of books.

a. large
b. few in number
c. full
d. interesting

6. As the lawyer’s health deteriorated, his legal practice suffered too, because he was unable to give much time to it.

a. became better
b. became penniless
c. became worse
d. improved

7. As he was absolutely broke, he could not even lend me one baht.

a. sick
b. rich
c. careful with money
d. without any money

8. Rubber tubes filled with air float very readily on water and do not sink. That is why these buoyant tubes are used by non-swimmers when they swim in the sea.

a. can float very easily
b. can make swimming harder
c. cannot sink easily
d. both a. and c.


9. The primates are the most developed creatures in the animal kingdom. Within this group, which includes chimpanzees, apes, and monkeys, man ranks the highest.

a. all animals
b. different types of monkeys
c. the most developed animals in the animal kingdom excluding man
d. the most developed animals in the animal kingdom including man

10. The entire city was annihilated by the war. All the buildings were ruined; all the animals were killed; the vegetation was destroyed and not a single human survived.

a. completely destroyed
b. made smaller
c. dirty
d. dead

Grammar

Correct the bolded mistakes.

My name is 1) peter Johnson and I come from 2) ireland. I used to 3)works in a bank but now I’m unemployed. I’m hoping to find a new job soon 4)although I’m broke.


Put the words in correct order and rewrite the following sentences.

5. machine/a/is/dryer/clothes/dries/that/a
=______________________________


6. storm/big/destroys/trees/houses/a/and/is/a/typhoon/that
=________________________________


7. small/a/everywhere/can/you/carry/laptop/computer/that/is/a
=_______________________________________



Choose the best answer to fill in the blanks.

Dear Mrs Johnson,

I’m writing to ask for your help about my son, Peter Salmon, who 8) ______ one of your pupils. Lately, Peter doesn’t do well in his studies and he looks very depressed. I think he has problem making 9)________. 10)_______Peter is a nice boy, he is usually very quiet and shy. That’s why he hardly has any friends. It’s very sad for me to see my son so unhappy so I really want to help him. 11)_______,I don’t know what to do. I wonder if you can kindly give me some advice.
I look 12)_________ to hearing from you.

13)_______ sincerely,

Jane Salmon

8.
a. is
b. are
c. were
d. have

9.
a. parents
b. teachers
c. friends
d. students

10.
a. And
b. Although
c. However
d. Then

11.
a. However
b. And
c. Despite
d. Although

12.
a. backward
b. forward
c. at
d through

13.
a. My
b. Yours
c. Hers
d. Ours

(Answers for all questions are available from the comment section below.)