In this section of the test, you will read six texts and answer 42 questions. Choose the correct answer to each question and mark the letter of the correct answer on your answer sheet.

Questions 1-6 are about the following letter.

Dear Parents, 
      We have almost arrived at the end of another school year. The last day of school is going to be held on Friday, May 15. All students should have their lockers cleaned out no later than 3:30 on that day.

     This year, we have accomplished a number of our objectives. Several of our students received academic awards. such as for winning the city spelling bee (Teresa Kelly), winning the state math competition (Rohit Apu), and winning the county essay-writing contest (Julie Johnston). Furthermore, our athletic teams all had winning recordsNand the girls' volleyball team, led by Coach Alice Stevens, managed to come in second place in the entire state.

     Let me remind you as summer begins that all returning students must do their summer reading. Enclosed with this letter is a list of the hooks from which each student must choose. All students have to read at least five books and write short reports on them during the summer.

     Allow me to dose by noting that I am always willing to meet with you and to address any of your concerns about the school. You can feel free to swing by and chat with me anytime. 

Sincerely,

Gregory Jenkins

Principal 

Questions 7-12 refer to the following article in the school newspaper

     Last Saturday, October 10, the school's math team took part in the Hampton Junior Math Tournament. The event was held in the auditorium at Lakeview High School. There were students from twenty-seven schools that participated in the competition. 

     Mrs. Gibbons, the math teacher, led our school's team at the competition. There were seven students from our school who took part in the contest. By the time the competition ended, we were in third place with a total of eighty-five points:, The first place winner. Trinity High School, scored ninety-one points while Copeland Academy came in second with eighty-six points. Our performance was a dramatic improvement from last year's team, which failed to score a single point. 

     Overall, Molly Reed led the team by scoring an incredible twenty-five points. That made her the leading scorer in the entire tournament. 

     After the competition ended, Mrs. Gibbons said. "I'm so proud of this group. They took on teams that had twice as many students, but they still managed to is capture third place. What an incredible achievement." 

Questions 13-18  are about the following note from the school administration. 

Please be aware that the school is planning to field several athletic teams during the spring semester. The coaches have scheduled tryouts for these teams during the next two weeks. All tryouts run from 3:30 to 5:30. Here is the schedule: 

There will not be a girls' soccer team this year. However, according to state rules. girls may participate in the boys soccer team. All interested girls should speak with Coach McCloud prior to tryouts. The coaches have all agreed that any student may participate in two athletic teams so long as one is the track team. Those students wishing to play two sports must speak with both coaches prior to tryouts. Finally, all students must submit an injury release form to the coach of the team they want to play on. No students will be permitted to try out until it has been turned in. 

Quetions 19-26 are about the following passage. 

     The Age of Exploration lasted from the early part of the fifteenth century to the early years of the seventeenth century. During that time. adventurers from throughout Europe sailed around the world. The majority of these men came from Spain. Portugal, and England. One of the greatest of all English adventurers during this time was Sir Francis Drake. He lived from 1540 to 1596. Drake accomplished a number of feats that led him to be highly revered in England, yet he was considered a pirate by people in other countries, particularly Spain. 

     After the New World was discovered by Christopher Columbus, the Spanish led the way in establishing colonies there. They were particularly dominant in Central America and South America. Their soldiers. called conquistadors, effect-ively defeated the Aztec and Inca empires. On account of their strength In the New World, the Spanish acquired a great amount of treasure. Thus there were constantly ships filled with treasure sailing across the Atlantic Ocean to Spain. 

     Many sailors from other countries tried to capture these ships. Drake was one of these men. In 1573. he and his crew engaged in an act of piracy against a con-voy of Spanish ships. They managed to capture the ships near Panama. Seizing their treasure of gold and silver, Drake and his men returned to England. This act brought him to the attention of Queen Elizabeth. She sponsored another exped-ition of Drake's that sailed to the New World in 1577. Drake had live small ships and nearly 200 men. They raided Spanish holdings in South America and then sailed into the Pacific Ocean. There, Drake captured two Spanish treasure ships before sailing west across the Pacific. In September 1580, one of Drake's ships and fifty-six men reached home after having circumnavigated the world. 

     Drake was knighted by the queen in 1581. By then, he was considered the best and most daring sailor in England. In 1585, war broke out between England and Spain. Three years later. King Philip II of Spain sent an enormous fleet, called the Spanish Armada, to defeat England. Drake was made second in command of the English fleet that emerged victorious against the Spanish. A few years later, in 1595, Drake returned to the New World. This time, however, his luck ran out. He caught a disease and died in Panama in January 1596. 

  Questions 27-34 are about the following passage

   There are a number of natural disasters that can strike across the globe. Two that are frequently linked to one another are earthquakes and tsunamis. Both of them can cause a great amount of devastation when they hit. However, tsunamis are the direct result of earthquakes and cannot happen without them.

      The Earth has three main parts. They are the crust, the mantle, and the core. The crust is the outer layer of the Earth. It is not a single piece of land. Instead, it is comprised of a number of plates. There are a few enormous plates and many smaller ones. These plates essentially rest upon the mantle, which is fluid. As a result, the plates are in constant - yet slow - motion. The plates may move away from or toward other plates. In some cases, they collide violently with the plates adjoining them. The movement of the plates causes tension in the rock. Over a long time, this tension may build up. When it is released, an earthquake happens.

      Tens of thousands of earthquakes happen every year. The vast majority are so small that only scientific instruments can perceive them. Others are powerful enough that people can feel them, yet they cause little harm or damage. More powerful earthquakes, however, can cause buildings, bridges. and other struc-tures to collapse. They may additionally injure and kill thousands of people and might even cause the land to change its appearance. 

     Since most of the Earth's surface is water, numerous earthquakes happen be-neath the planet's oceans. Underwater earthquakes cause the seafloor to move. This results in the displacement of water in the ocean. When this occurs, a tsu-nami may form. This is a wave that forms on the surface and moves in all direc-tions from the place where the earthquake happened. A tsunami moves extremely quickly and can travel thousands of kilometers. As it approaches land, the water near the coast gets sucked out to sea. This causes the tsunami to increase in height. Minutes later, the tsunami arrives. A large tsunami - one more than ten meters in height - can travel far inland. As it does that, it can flood the land, des-troy human settlements, and kill large numbers of people. 

Questions 35-42 are about the following passage

     A large number of inventions require years of arduous research and develop-ment before they are perfected. For instance, Thomas Edison had to make more than 1.000 attempts to invent the incandescent light bulb before he finally succeed-ed. History is replete with numerous other examples of people trying, yet failing, to make Inventions before they eventually succeeded. Yet some inventions have come about not through hard work but simply by accident. 

     In most cases. when someone unintentionally invented some-thing, the inventor was attempting to create something else. For example. in the 1930s, chemist Roy Plunkett was attempting to make a new substance that could be used to refrigerate items. He mixed some chemicals together. Then, he put them into a pres-surized container and cooled the mixture. By the time his experi-ment was complete, he had a new invention. It was not a new substance that could be use for refrigeration though. Instead, he had invented Teflon, which is today most commonly used to make nonstick pots and pans. Similarly, decades earlier, John Pemberton was a pharmacist in Atlanta, Georgia. He was attempting to create a tonic that people could use whenever they had headaches. While he was not successful in that endeavor, he managed to invent Coca-Cola, the world-famous carbonated soft drink. 

     Scientists have also made crucial discoveries by accident when they were con-ducting experiments. In 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, an antibi-otic, in this manner. He discovered some mold growing in a dish with some bacteria. He noticed that the bacteria seemed to be avoiding the mold. When he investigated further, he determined some of the many useful properties of penicillin. which has saved millions of lives over the past few decades. Likewise, in 1946. scientist Percy Spencer was conducting an experiment with microwaves. He had a candy bar in his pocket, and he noticed that It suddenly melted. He investigated and learned the reason why that had happened. Soon afterward. he built a device that could utilize microwaves to heat food: the microwave oven.