ข้อสอบ CU-TEP Reading พร้อมเฉลย ฝึกทักษะการอ่านก่อนลงสนามสอบจริง

        It’s an annual back-to-school routine. One morning you wave goodbye, and that ….1…. evening you’re burning the late-night oil in sympathy. In the race to improve educational standards, …2… are throwing the books at kids. Even elementary school students are complaining of homework ….3…… What’s a well-meaning parent to do?

        As hard as it may be, sit back and chill, experts advise. Though you’ve got to get them to do it, by helping too much, or even examining ………4……… too carefully, you may keep them from doing it by themselves. “I wouldn’t advise a parent to check every ………5…….. assignment,” says psychologist, John Raymond, author Of Ending the Tough Homework. “There’s a ………6……… of appreciation for trial and error. Let your children ……...7…….. the grade they deserve.”

        Many experts believe parents should gently look over the work of younger children and ask them to rethink their ……..8…….. but “you don’t want them to feel it has to be ……..9………,” he says.

        That’s not to say parents should ………10…….. homework – first, they should monitor how much homework their kids ……….11…….. Thirty minutes a day in the early elementary years and an hour in ………12…….. four, five and six is standard, says Raymond. For junior-high students it should be “….13….. more than an hour and a half,” and two for high-school students. If your child ….14…. has more homework than this, you may want to check with other parents and then talk to the teacher about……15…… assignment

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

        Popular architecture in the United States in the beginning of the twentieth century paid respect to elaborately ornate historical motifs. The new skyscrapers sprouting up at the time were often ornately finished with elements of Gothic or Roman detailing.

        During this period of emphasis on intricate ornamentation, certain architects began moving in a different direction, from the historic attention to ornate detailing toward more modern design typified by simplified flowing lines. Frank Lloyd Wright, the best known of these early modern architects, started work in Chicago designing “prairie houses,” long low buildings featuring flowing horizontal lines and simplistic unity of design. These buildings were intended to fit the wide, open expanses of Midwest plains that served as a setting for Chicago. These “prairie houses,” found in Chicago’s suburban areas, served to tie the rapidly developing neighborhoods of Chicago with its plain heritage.

16. What is the main idea of this passage?

17. According to the passage, the new skyscrapers built at the beginning of the twentieth century were

18. The word “sprout up” is closest in meaning to __________ .

19. Which of the following statements about Frank Lloyd Wright is supported in the passage?

20. The “prairie houses” built by Frank Lloyd Wright were

21. According to the passage, how do Frank Lloyd Wright’s “prairie houses” resemble the prairies around Chicago?

        In the American colonies there was little money. England did not supply the colonies with coins and it did not allow the colonies to make their own coins, except for the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which received permission for a short period in 1652 to make several kinds of silver coins. England wanted to keep money out of America as a means of controlling trade: America was forced to trade only with England if it did not have the money to buy products from other countries. The result during this pre-revolutionary period was that the colonists used various goods in place of money: beaver pelts, Indian wampum, and tobacco leaves were all commonly used as substitutes for money. The colonists also made use of any foreign coins they could obtain. Dutch, Spanish, French, and English coins were all in use in the American colonies.

         During the Revolutionary War, funds were needed to finance the war, so each of the individual states and the Continental Congress issued paper money. So much of this paper money was printed that by the end of the war it was virtually worthless. As a result, trade in goods and the use of foreign coins still flourished.

         By the time the Revolutionary War had been won by the American colonists, the monetary system was in a state of total disarray. To remedy this situation, the new Constitution of the United States, approved in 1789, allowed only Congress to issue money. The individual states could no longer have their own money supply. A few years later, the Coinage Act of 1792 made the dollar the official currency of the United States and put the country on a bimetallic standard. In this bimetallic system, both gold and silver were legal money, and the rate of exchange of silver to gold was fixed by the government at sixteen to one.

22. This passage mainly discusses

23. The passage indicates that during the colonial period, money was

24. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was allowed to make coins __________ .

25. The word “worthless” is closest in meaning to _________ .

26. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as a substitute for money during the colonial period?

27. According to the passage, what happened to the American monetary system during the Revolutionary War?

28. How was the monetary system arranged in the Constitution?

29. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true about the bimetallic monetary system?

        Louisa May Alcott, an American author best known for her children’s books Little Women, Little Men, and Jo’s Boys, was profoundly influenced by her family, particularly her father. She was the daughter of Bronson Alcott, a well-known teacher, intellectual, and free thinker who advocated abolitionism, women’s rights, and vegetarianism long before they were popular. He was called a man of unparalleled intellect by his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson. Bronson Alcott instilled in his daughter his lofty and spiritual values and in return was idolized by his daughter. Louisa used her father as a model for the impractical yet serenely wise and adored father in Little Women, and with the success of this novel she was able to provide for her family, giving her father the financial security that until then he had never experienced.

30. This passage mainly discusses

31. The passage implies that vegetarianism

32. In line 6, the word “lofty” is closest in meaning to

33. It can be inferred from the passage that Louisa May Alcott used the success of Little Women to

34. The author’s purpose in the passage is to

        The brain of the average human weighs approximately 14 kilograms and consists of three main parts-the cerebrum, the cerebellum, and the brain stem. The cerebrum is by far the largest of the three parts, taking up 85% of the brain by weight. The outside layer of the cerebrum, the cerebral cortex, is a grooved and bumpy surface covering the nerve cells beneath. The various sections of the cerebrum are the sensory cortex, which is responsible for receiving and decoding sensory messages from throughout the body; the motor cortex, which sends action instructions to the skeletal muscles; and the association cortex, which receives, monitors, and processes information. It is in the association cortex that the processes that allow humans to think take place. The cerebellum, located below the cerebrum in the back part of the skull, is the cerebrum and the spinal cord. It controls various body processes such as breathing and heart beating.

35. What is the author’s main purpose?

36. The passage states that the most massive part of the brain is the __________ .

37. How does the passage describe the appearance of the cerebral cortex?

38. According to the passage, which part of the brain analyzes information?

39. The sensory cortex __________ .

40. Which of the following is true about the cerebellum?

41. What shape does the brain stem most likely have?

        The next famous woman writer to be considered is Dorothy Parker, an American poet, short story writer, and literary critic who became famous in the early twentieth century for her witty but cynical observations on life. She got her first paying job as a writer in 1916 at the age of 23 when she began working for a woman’s magazine, and nine years later she became a contributor to The New Yorker as a book reviewer

         In addition to her magazine work, she published volumes of poetry and short stories with the recurrent themes of disappointment with life and the loss of idealism. One of her most famous observations, “Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses,” came from the poem “News Item,” which was published in the volume “Enough Rope” (1926). This volume of poetry was followed by “Sunset Gin” (1928), “Death and Taxes” (1931), and a collection of short stories “Here Lies” (1939).

42. According to the passage, Dorothy Parker as NOT famous for __________ .

43. Dorothy Parker’s first job was __________ .

44. In line 7, the word “recurrent” could best be replaced by which of the following?

45. In what year did “News Item” appear?

46. With what topic does the paragraph preceding the passage most likely deal?

        Desert tundra, or cold desert, occurs on the Arctic edges of North America, Europe, and Asia. In these areas the near eternal freezing temperatures cause an environment in which plant life is virtually impossible. The existence of ice rather than water for the majority of the year means that vegetation lacks sufficient moisture for growth. During the short period of time when the temperature increases enough for the ice to melt, there is generally a large volume of water. This excess of water, coupled with a lack of drainage through the frozen subsoil, does not allow vegetation to flourish.

47. What would be the most appropriate title for the passage?

48. According to the passage, desert tundra in found __________ .

49. According to the passage, what makes plant life almost impossible in areas of desert tundra during most of the year?

50. What would be the most appropriate title for the passage?

51. According to the passage, why can’t the water drain after it melts?

52. The word “sufficient” is closest in meaning to __________ .

        It is the role of the Federal Reserve, known simply as the Fed, to control the supply of money in the U.S. through its system of twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks, each with its own Federal Reserve District Bank. Many commercial banks belong to the Federal Reserve System and as members must follow the Fed’s reserve requirements, a ruling by the Fed on the percentage of deposits that a member bank must keep either in its own vaults or on deposit at the Fed. If the Fed wants to change the money supply, it can change reserve requirements to member banks; for example, an increase in the percentage of deposits required to be kept on hand would reduce the available money supply. Member banks can also borrow money from the Fed, and an additional way that the Fed can control the money supply is to raise or lower the discount rate, the interest rate at which commercial banks borrow from the Fed. An increase in the discount rate would reduce the funds available to commercial banks and thus shrink the money supply, the Fed has an additional powerful tool: open-market operations.

53. According to the passage, the main purpose of the Federal Reserve System is to

54. When the Fed controls the percentage of deposits kept on hand by member banks. It controls __________ .

55. The passage implies that a lowering of the discount rate would lead to __________ .

56. The paragraph following the passage most likely discusses _________ .

        Fog occurs when damp air above the surface of the earth is cooled to the point at which it condenses. Of the two types of fog, advection fog occurs along the ocean coast or near rivers or lakes. This type of fastmoving fog, which may cover vast areas, occurs when warm winds blow across a cold surface of land or water. In this collision of heat and cold, the warm air is cooled to the point at which the water vapor condenses into fog. Radiation fog, quite different from advection fog, is immobile cloud-like moisture generally found hovering over wintertime valleys. It occurs on clear nights when the earth’s warmth escapes into the upper atmosphere.

57. According to the passage, fog is found when wetness in the air is

58. According to the passage, advection fog is found __________ .

59. In the passage, radiation fog is said to be __________ .

60. According to the passage, which of the following statements about fog is true?

61. The author’s purpose in this passage is to __________ .