Read the passage carefully, then choose the best answer for each question.
THE MAMMOTH’S TALE
Imagine finding a body that had been lost for 40,000 years . . .
The strange animal in the ice looked like it was sleeping. Ten-year-old Kostia Khudi and his brother had never seen anything like it before. But they had heard stories of the mamont. It was an imaginary animal that lived in the ice-filled blackness of the Siberian underworld. Their father, a reindeer herder named Yuri Khudi, went to ask a friend for advice. But when he returned, the body had vanished.
Yuri soon found the animal's body leaning against a store in a nearby town. While he was away, his cousin had sold it to the store owner. Dogs had eaten part of the tail and ear, but it was still in "as close to perfect condition as you can imagine," says scientist Daniel Fisher. The police came to help. The body was taken by helicopter to a museum. The animal was a baby mammoth from the Ice Age. It was female, so the scientists named it after Yuri's wife.
From Siberia, the mammoth was sent to the Netherlands and Japan. Scientists there studied it more closely. Detailed studies of her teeth and tusks showed she was just one month old when she died. Ongoing research has also shown us the sequence of events that led to her death. Lyuba fell and died near a muddy river. The mud helped keep her body frozen until she was found, 40,000 years later. Scientists hope that further studies will help explain how mammoths, like Lyuba lived. They also want to know why mammoths became extinct.
Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
A.Yuri’s wife’s name was Lyuba.
B.The mammoth died when the Ice Age ended.
C.Yuri’s cousin didn’t know what the mammoth was when he sold it.
D.Lyuba was one year old when she died.

Read the passage carefully, then choose the best answer for each question.
THE MAMMOTH’S TALE
Imagine finding a body that had been lost for 40,000 years . . .
The strange animal in the ice looked like it was sleeping. Ten-year-old Kostia Khudi and his brother had never seen anything like it before. But they had heard stories of the mamont. It was an imaginary animal that lived in the ice-filled blackness of the Siberian underworld. Their father, a reindeer herder named Yuri Khudi, went to ask a friend for advice. But when he returned, the body had vanished.
Yuri soon found the animal's body leaning against a store in a nearby town. While he was away, his cousin had sold it to the store owner. Dogs had eaten part of the tail and ear, but it was still in "as close to perfect condition as you can imagine," says scientist Daniel Fisher. The police came to help. The body was taken by helicopter to a museum. The animal was a baby mammoth from the Ice Age. It was female, so the scientists named it after Yuri's wife.
From Siberia, the mammoth was sent to the Netherlands and Japan. Scientists there studied it more closely. Detailed studies of her teeth and tusks showed she was just one month old when she died. Ongoing research has also shown us the sequence of events that led to her death. Lyuba fell and died near a muddy river. The mud helped keep her body frozen until she was found, 40,000 years later. Scientists hope that further studies will help explain how mammoths, like Lyuba lived. They also want to know why mammoths became extinct.
What is the purpose of the second paragraph?
A.to describe the condition of Lyuba when she was found
B.to describe the difficulties of studying a mammoth’s body
C.to describe how Lyuba was found again and taken to a safe place
D.to describe the condition Lyuba was in

Read the passage carefully, then choose the best answer for each question.
THE MAMMOTH’S TALE
Imagine finding a body that had been lost for 40,000 years . . .
The strange animal in the ice looked like it was sleeping. Ten-year-old Kostia Khudi and his brother had never seen anything like it before. But they had heard stories of the mamont. It was an imaginary animal that lived in the ice-filled blackness of the Siberian underworld. Their father, a reindeer herder named Yuri Khudi, went to ask a friend for advice. But when he returned, the body had vanished.
Yuri soon found the animal's body leaning against a store in a nearby town. While he was away, his cousin had sold it to the store owner. Dogs had eaten part of the tail and ear, but it was still in "as close to perfect condition as you can imagine," says scientist Daniel Fisher. The police came to help. The body was taken by helicopter to a museum. The animal was a baby mammoth from the Ice Age. It was female, so the scientists named it after Yuri's wife.
From Siberia, the mammoth was sent to the Netherlands and Japan. Scientists there studied it more closely. Detailed studies of her teeth and tusks showed she was just one month old when she died. Ongoing research has also shown us the sequence of events that led to her death. Lyuba fell and died near a muddy river. The mud helped keep her body frozen until she was found, 40,000 years later. Scientists hope that further studies will help explain how mammoths, like Lyuba lived. They also want to know why mammoths became extinct.
Which of the following happened first?
A.Scientists in the Netherlands and Japan studied it more closely.
B.Lyuba’s body was taken to a museum.
C.The police arrived to take Lyuba’s body away.
D.Yuri’s cousin sold the mammoth to a store owner.

Read the passage carefully, then choose the best answer for each question.
FREAKY FORCES OF NATURE
When Weird Weather Strikes
Most of us know about fires, hurricanes, droughts, and floods. But from time to time, Mother Nature surprises us, and delivers a weather event that is really weird. Here are some examples of truly weird weather.
One day in 2005, residents of a small town in Serbia looked out their windows and saw an unusual sight. It was raining frogs! Without any warning, they found their streets filling with the little jumping creatures. “There were thousands of them," one resident told a local newspaper. "I thought perhaps a plane carrying frogs had exploded," said another. Scientists think a tornado passed over a lake. It sucked up animals that lived there. The frogs were carried into the air. Then they were dropped in the Serbian town, far away.
As if tornadoes aren't dangerous enough, some of them can actually be made of fire. When a wildfire reaches very high temperatures, it causes the air to become hot and to rise. Cooler air rushes in to replace the hot air. This creates strong winds. These winds suck up burning plants and even the fire itself. When this happens, like it did on March 14, 2014, in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A., a tornado of fire is produced. This tornado can become 15 meters (50 feet) wide and grow as tall as a 40-story building.
In 1942, hundreds of thousand-year-old skeletons were found under the ice of Lake Roopkund in the Himalayas. Many had holes in their skulls. But they weren't hurt in any other way. Scientists thought the people must have been hit from above. But for years, the cause of their deaths was a mystery. Today, scientists think these people were killed by giant hailstones—balls of ice. Hailstones form when raindrops high in the sky turn into pieces of ice. The ice pieces increase in size until the wind cannot hold them up. This results in hailstones falling to the ground, often at speeds of over 160 kilometers (100 miles) an hour. For the unlucky people at Lake Roopkund, there was nowhere to run. They were all killed by the hailstones.
The following sentence would best be placed at the end of which paragraph? This makes them very dangerous.
A.paragraph 1
B.paragraph 2
C.paragraph 3
D.paragraph 4

Read the passage carefully, then choose the best answer for each question.
FREAKY FORCES OF NATURE
When Weird Weather Strikes
Most of us know about fires, hurricanes, droughts, and floods. But from time to time, Mother Nature surprises us, and delivers a weather event that is really weird. Here are some examples of truly weird weather.
One day in 2005, residents of a small town in Serbia looked out their windows and saw an unusual sight. It was raining frogs! Without any warning, they found their streets filling with the little jumping creatures. “There were thousands of them," one resident told a local newspaper. "I thought perhaps a plane carrying frogs had exploded," said another. Scientists think a tornado passed over a lake. It sucked up animals that lived there. The frogs were carried into the air. Then they were dropped in the Serbian town, far away.
As if tornadoes aren't dangerous enough, some of them can actually be made of fire. When a wildfire reaches very high temperatures, it causes the air to become hot and to rise. Cooler air rushes in to replace the hot air. This creates strong winds. These winds suck up burning plants and even the fire itself. When this happens, like it did on March 14, 2014, in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A., a tornado of fire is produced. This tornado can become 15 meters (50 feet) wide and grow as tall as a 40-story building.
In 1942, hundreds of thousand-year-old skeletons were found under the ice of Lake Roopkund in the Himalayas. Many had holes in their skulls. But they weren't hurt in any other way. Scientists thought the people must have been hit from above. But for years, the cause of their deaths was a mystery. Today, scientists think these people were killed by giant hailstones—balls of ice. Hailstones form when raindrops high in the sky turn into pieces of ice. The ice pieces increase in size until the wind cannot hold them up. This results in hailstones falling to the ground, often at speeds of over 160 kilometers (100 miles) an hour. For the unlucky people at Lake Roopkund, there was nowhere to run. They were all killed by the hailstones.
What is probably true about the frogs that rained down in Serbia?
A.They fell out of an airplane that exploded.
B.There were hundreds of them.
C.They were carried away as babies, grew in the clouds, and then fell down to Earth.
D.A tornado took them from a lake and dropped them over the town.

Read the passage carefully, then choose the best answer for each question.
FREAKY FORCES OF NATURE
When Weird Weather Strikes
Most of us know about fires, hurricanes, droughts, and floods. But from time to time, Mother Nature surprises us, and delivers a weather event that is really weird. Here are some examples of truly weird weather.
One day in 2005, residents of a small town in Serbia looked out their windows and saw an unusual sight. It was raining frogs! Without any warning, they found their streets filling with the little jumping creatures. “There were thousands of them," one resident told a local newspaper. "I thought perhaps a plane carrying frogs had exploded," said another. Scientists think a tornado passed over a lake. It sucked up animals that lived there. The frogs were carried into the air. Then they were dropped in the Serbian town, far away.
As if tornadoes aren't dangerous enough, some of them can actually be made of fire. When a wildfire reaches very high temperatures, it causes the air to become hot and to rise. Cooler air rushes in to replace the hot air. This creates strong winds. These winds suck up burning plants and even the fire itself. When this happens, like it did on March 14, 2014, in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A., a tornado of fire is produced. This tornado can become 15 meters (50 feet) wide and grow as tall as a 40-story building.
In 1942, hundreds of thousand-year-old skeletons were found under the ice of Lake Roopkund in the Himalayas. Many had holes in their skulls. But they weren't hurt in any other way. Scientists thought the people must have been hit from above. But for years, the cause of their deaths was a mystery. Today, scientists think these people were killed by giant hailstones—balls of ice. Hailstones form when raindrops high in the sky turn into pieces of ice. The ice pieces increase in size until the wind cannot hold them up. This results in hailstones falling to the ground, often at speeds of over 160 kilometers (100 miles) an hour. For the unlucky people at Lake Roopkund, there was nowhere to run. They were all killed by the hailstones.
The words “sucked up” could be replaced with_____.
A.lifted
B.used
C.blew
D.grew

Read the passage carefully, then choose the best answer for each question.
A WARMING WORLD
One weekend in May 2010, the weather forecast for Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A., predicted 10 centimeters (4 inches) of rain. By Sunday, over 33 centimeters (13 inches) had fallen. Soon the city was flooded. On the roads, cars were covered by the rising water. "We've got buildings running into cars,” the news reported as a small building floated by. There were 11 deaths that weekend.
Changing Weather
The weather is changing. Over the last few years, heavy rains have caused floods in Brazil, Pakistan, and Thailand. Droughts have struck Russia and Australia. Heat waves have killed thousands in Europe, and all over the world, hurricanes and tornadoes strike more frequently and with greater force than ever before. In 2011 alone, losses caused by the weather cost the world 150 billion dollars.
Warmer and Wetter
As more wild weather events happen, a worried world is beginning to ask questions like: What is going on with the weather? And why? Many also want to know: Is this natural, or are we to blame?
The answer seems to be: a little of both. Wild weather is natural. But most scientists agree human activity has made the Earth warmer. This global warming makes heat waves more likely to occur. The higher temperatures also cause more water to enter the air. This causes heavier and more frequent rain. Some scientists also believe global warming makes hurricanes and other storms stronger.
This means we're likely to see more wild weather. "[But] we don't have to just stand there and take it," says scientist Michael Oppenheimer. He and other experts say we need to stop the Earth from getting warmer. We also need to be prepared, to do things that will help save lives.
What is the purpose of the second paragraph?
A.to give examples of recent wild weather events
B.to describe the weather events that occurred in 2011
C.to predict how the weather will change in a few years
D.to explain why wild weather events happened

Read the passage carefully, then choose the best answer for each question.
A WARMING WORLD
One weekend in May 2010, the weather forecast for Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A., predicted 10 centimeters (4 inches) of rain. By Sunday, over 33 centimeters (13 inches) had fallen. Soon the city was flooded. On the roads, cars were covered by the rising water. "We've got buildings running into cars,” the news reported as a small building floated by. There were 11 deaths that weekend.
Changing Weather
The weather is changing. Over the last few years, heavy rains have caused floods in Brazil, Pakistan, and Thailand. Droughts have struck Russia and Australia. Heat waves have killed thousands in Europe, and all over the world, hurricanes and tornadoes strike more frequently and with greater force than ever before. In 2011 alone, losses caused by the weather cost the world 150 billion dollars.
Warmer and Wetter
As more wild weather events happen, a worried world is beginning to ask questions like: What is going on with the weather? And why? Many also want to know: Is this natural, or are we to blame?
The answer seems to be: a little of both. Wild weather is natural. But most scientists agree human activity has made the Earth warmer. This global warming makes heat waves more likely to occur. The higher temperatures also cause more water to enter the air. This causes heavier and more frequent rain. Some scientists also believe global warming makes hurricanes and other storms stronger.
This means we're likely to see more wild weather. "[But] we don't have to just stand there and take it," says scientist Michael Oppenheimer. He and other experts say we need to stop the Earth from getting warmer. We also need to be prepared, to do things that will help save lives.
What does “this” refer to?
A.a worried world
B.global warming
C.deaths caused by wild weather
D.the increase in wild weather

Read the passage carefully, then choose the best answer for each question.
A WARMING WORLD
One weekend in May 2010, the weather forecast for Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A., predicted 10 centimeters (4 inches) of rain. By Sunday, over 33 centimeters (13 inches) had fallen. Soon the city was flooded. On the roads, cars were covered by the rising water. "We've got buildings running into cars,” the news reported as a small building floated by. There were 11 deaths that weekend.
Changing Weather
The weather is changing. Over the last few years, heavy rains have caused floods in Brazil, Pakistan, and Thailand. Droughts have struck Russia and Australia. Heat waves have killed thousands in Europe, and all over the world, hurricanes and tornadoes strike more frequently and with greater force than ever before. In 2011 alone, losses caused by the weather cost the world 150 billion dollars.
Warmer and Wetter
As more wild weather events happen, a worried world is beginning to ask questions like: What is going on with the weather? And why? Many also want to know: Is this natural, or are we to blame?
The answer seems to be: a little of both. Wild weather is natural. But most scientists agree human activity has made the Earth warmer. This global warming makes heat waves more likely to occur. The higher temperatures also cause more water to enter the air. This causes heavier and more frequent rain. Some scientists also believe global warming makes hurricanes and other storms stronger.
This means we're likely to see more wild weather. "[But] we don't have to just stand there and take it," says scientist Michael Oppenheimer. He and other experts say we need to stop the Earth from getting warmer. We also need to be prepared, to do things that will help save lives.
The word “take” could be replaced by_____.
A.feel good about
B.do nothing about
C.find out more about
D.bring something to

Read the passage carefully, then choose the best answer for each question.
THE GREAT DOME OF FLORENCE
Brunelleschi and the Dome
In 1419, at the beginning of the Renaissance in Italy, a clockmaker named Filippo Brunelleschi started work on a very difficult project. He was building the dome of Florence's main cathedral, the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. At 55 meters (180 feet) above ground, it would be the largest dome built since the Pantheon in Rome was finished 1,500 years before.
After most of the cathedral was built in 1296, many builders tried to complete the dome. But none could do it. No one knew what material to use. Many builders knew how to build concrete domes. However, the dome in Florence needed to be wider than any dome ever built. Also, tall buildings of the time relied on structures that supported the heavy stone from the outside. The cathedral didn't have these structures, so a concrete dome was too heavy. It would easily fall. So, the cathedral's roof was left unfinished for over a hundred years.
Filippo Brunelleschi promised to solve all these problems. He said he would build two domes, an inner dome made of stone, and an outer one made of light bricks. He would use lighter materials as he worked upwards, and would hold it all together with strong rings made of stone, wood, and iron.
Brunelleschi also had to find a way to lift the materials high into the air. What did he do? He invented a new machine to do the job.
Building the dome took 16 years. The crown at the top took another ten. Brunelleschi died a few years later, in 1446. He had done something no one else could. However, he left no pictures of his design. So—even today - experts don't fully understand how this amazing structure was built.
The following sentence would best be placed at the end of which paragraph? As a result, there was a large hole in the cathedral’s roof.
A.paragraph 1
B.paragraph 2
C.paragraph 3
D.paragraph 4