PRACTICE TEST 1

3. The woman agrees with the notice. The notice says that

the university believes students need at least four terms of

language instruction because the world is now more glob-

alized and students need another language to communi-

cate internationally. She says that people need a language

to understand another culture and to work and travel

abroad. The notice urges students with high levels of lan-

guage ability to study an additional language, and she

plans to follow this advice and study a European language.

4. Both the Columbia and the Hindenburg are lighter-than-

air craft. The blimp Columbia is a non-rigid airship.

Blimps are much smaller than zeppelins, and they have no

internal structure. Because they are filled with helium,

they are safer than zeppelins. Blimps like the Columbia are

often used as platforms for cameras at sporting events and

for advertising.

The German zeppelin Hindenburg was a rigid airship. It

had an internal aluminum frame. It was huge, about 250

meters in length, and was used to carry passengers. The

Hindenburg was filled with flammable hydrogen and was

destroyed by an explosion and fire in 1937. This disaster

ended the age of zeppelins.

5. Diane’s problem is that she would like to go see her sister

in Boston during Spring Break. However, she didn’t make

an airline reservation in advance, and now she can’t afford

the fare. She doesn’t want to drive because buying gas

would be expensive and the drive would be tiring.

Mike suggests two solutions: using the Ride Board or

taking a train. Test-takers who chose the first solution

should mention that she could find someone to do some

of the driving and to share the cost of gasoline. She could

also either take her car or go in another person’s car.

Test-takers who chose the second solution should men-

tion that she could relax or study on the train, and that it is

a little bit cheaper than flying.

6. Lantana plants need insects to visit their flowers to spread

their pollen. Insects need the nectar that fertile plants pro-

duce for food. The lantana plant uses color to direct

insects to flowers full of nectar and pollen. On the first day

a lantana flower blooms, the flower is yellow and it is fer-

tile and ready for a visit from an insect. On the second day

the flower is orange and there is less pollen and nectar. On the third it is red and there is no pollen or nectar at all.

Insects know this and visit the yellow plants much more

often than they visit orange or yellow flowers. This system

helps the plant because it does not have to try to keep

pollen and nectar in all of its flowers. It helps the insect

because it does not have to spend time visiting all the

flowers.

PRACTICE TEST 2

3. The woman thinks this is a great program. The man agrees

that it is a good program for her, but says that it doesn’t

help him. That’s because it affects only first-year students,

and he is a second-year student. The woman mentions

that he can buy a low-cost laptop computer through this

program, but he says that he already bought one last year.

He does agree that laptop computers are important for

students.

4. The reading discusses the general concept of utopian

communities. According to the reading, some people in

the nineteenth century believed they could reform society

by creating cooperative communities. The reading gives

the general characteristics of a utopian community: 

(1) They were isolated from the surrounding communities.

(2) They had experimental societies. (3) They usually

lasted only a short time.

The speaker looks at one specific example of a utopian

community, Brook Farm. Brook Farm was the most

famous of utopian communities. It fit the general charac-

teristics of a utopian community. For one thing, it was iso-

lated geographically. Although the location today is in

suburban Boston, at the time it was founded it was in the

countryside. It had an unusual economic structure. People

who lived there traded 300 days of work a year for their

room and board. Also, there was equality of the sexes,

which was unusual at that time. Brook Farm, like most

utopian communities, lasted only a short time. It closed

after six years as a result of financial problems, disease,

and a fire.

5. Nancy’s problem is that she has noisy neighbors and can-

not study or sleep at home. (They are musicians and they

practice their music at home.) She has spoken to her

neighbors several times but they continue to make noise.

The man suggests that she contact the police, but Nancy

says she doesn’t really like that idea. Besides, they are not

the only neighbors in her building who are noisy. The man

then suggests that she move, perhaps to his building,

which is quieter.

Test-takers who think the first solution is best might

point out that these noisy neighbors should be taught a

lesson, that they might not be so noisy in the future if

Nancy called the police. They might also say that, since

Nancy is not the one who is causing the problem, she is

not the one who should have to move.

Test-takers who support the second idea might point

out that this might be a good option because she does not

want to get her neighbors in trouble with the police.

Because her building is noisy in general, she might be bet-

ter off moving to a quieter location such as the man’s

building, where she could study and sleep.

6. Before 1953, hurricanes did not have names. After that, the

storms were given female names. Beginning in 1979, male

and female names began to alternate. No names begin

with the letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z, so there are only twenty-

one names in each list. There are six lists of names that are

used over and over. However, when a storm is very bad, its

name is retired and another name is added to the list for

that year. If there are ever more than twenty-one named

storms in one year, then hurricanes are named after Greek

letters.