Reading Comprehension

For numbers 1-4.

On Saturday, December 12th, from 10 A.M. until 4 P.M., Carverton Middle School will be holding a music festival in the school gymnasium. The special event will feature a variety of professional musicians and singers. Interested students should speak with Ms. Brenda, the music teacher. Students who would like to help at the festival must have written permission from a parent or guardian.

What time will the festival begin?

• 10 A.M.

• 11 A.M.

• 1 P.M.

In line 3, the word feature is closest in meaning to _______.

• look

• keep

• include

Who is told to talk to Ms. Brenda?

• Parents

• Students

• Performers

What do you think will be done first before the festival happens?

• Making Posters

• Setting up the gym

• Helping the performers

Opera refers to a dramatic art form, in which the emotional content is conveyed to the audience as much through music, both vocal and instrumental, as it is through the lyrics. The drama in opera is presented using the primary elements of theater such as scenery, costumes, and acting.

It is pointed out in the reading that opera ----.

• has developed under the influence of musical theater

• is a drama sung with the accompaniment of an orchestra

• is not a high-budget production

Dolphins are regarded as the friendliest creatures in the sea and stories of them helping drowning sailors have been common since Roman times. The more we learn about dolphins, the more we realize that their society is more complex than people previously imagined. They look after other dolphins when they are ill, care for pregnant mothers and protect the weakest in the community, as we do. Some scientists have suggested that dolphins have a language but it is much more probable that they communicate with each other without needing words.

It is clear from the passage that dolphins ---

• are proven to be less intelligent than once thought

• have linguistic skills far beyond what we

  previously thought

• are the most powerful creatures that live in the oceans

How will you describe dolphins?

• friendliest creature in the sea

• powerful creatures

• biggest mammal

Why do dolphins regarded as the friendliest creatures in the sea?

• are capable of learning a language and communicating with humans

• are powerful creatures

• as intelligent as human

Erosion of Philippines farmland by wind and water has been a problem since settlers first put the grasslands under the plow in the nineteenth century. After 40 years of conservation efforts, soil erosion has accelerated due to new demands placed on the land by heavy crop production. In the years ahead, soil erosion and the pollution problems it causes are likely to replace petroleum scarcity as the nation's critical natural resource problem.

What do you think is the cause of soil erosion?

• petroleum production

• water pollution

• new demands placed on the land by heavy crop production

Erosion of Philippines farmland by wind and water has been a problem since settlers first put the grasslands under the plow in the nineteenth century. After 40 years of conservation efforts, soil erosion has accelerated due to new demands placed on the land by heavy crop production. In the years ahead, soil erosion and the pollution problems it causes are likely to replace petroleum scarcity as the nation's critical natural resource problem.

The author points out in the passage that erosion ----.

• occurs only in areas with no vegetation

• can become a more serious problem in the future

• is undoubtedly caused by water