IV. Reading Comprehension (30 points)
Directions:
There are two reading passages in this part. Each passage is followed by five questions. For each question. There are four suggested answers marked A. B. C. and D. Choose one best answer and blacken the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.

Passage One

For many years scientists believed that the chimpanzee was the most intelligent animal in the world – not including human beings. But now they are not so sure. Recently they have learned that dolphins are very intelligent too – perhaps more intelligent than chimpanzees.

Many people think that dolphins are fish, but this is not true. Dolphins are different from fish in many important ways. They are mammals. They are warm-blooded, and they cannot stay underwater all the time like fish. They breathe air. They have to come to the surface of the water and take in air every few minutes.

Dolphins live in groups, or schools. Schools of dolphins travel and catch fish together. They use a kind of language to communicate within the group. Scientists do not understand the language, but they know that dolphins can talk to each other and send messages underwater.

Dolphins are very friendly to people, and they are helpful too. A few dolphins have already been trained to do useful things. They carry messages quickly between ships, they find lost objects in the ocean, and they carry equipment underwater to collect information for scientists. In the future dolphins could become the most useful animals in the world.

56. What is the passage mainly about?
A. Intelligent animals.
B. Chimpanzees and dolphins.
C. Chimpanzees.
D. Dolphins.

57. Which of the following are the most intelligent of all?
A. Mammals.
B. Human beings.
C. Chimpanzees.
D. Dolphins.

58. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. Dolphins are mammals like chimpanzees.
B. Dolphins can live underwater like fish.
C. Dolphins can communicate with each other, by using a language, like human beings.
D. Dolphins can not survive without breathing air.

59. Dolphins live in schools. This means that _____
A. Dolphins have schools to teach their young ones how to catch fish for food.
B. Young dolphins have to attend their special schools.
C. Young dolphins have to live at schools like children.
D. Dolphins always live together in groups, not individually.

60. What is the one thing dolphins may NOT be able to do?
A. Sending messages.
B. Finding lost objects underwater.
C. Helping scientists carry research equipment underwater.
D. Collecting all necessary information for scientists.

Passage Two

From aft came the tunes of the band. It was a ragtime tune. I don’t know what. Then there was “autumn” … I went to the place I had seen the collapsible boat on the boat deck, and to my surprise I saw the boat, and the men still trying to push it off. I guess there wasn’t a sailor in the crowd. They couldn’t do it. I went up to them and was lending a hand when a large wave came awash of the deck. The big wave carried the boat off. I had hold of an oarlock and I went with it. The next thing I knew I was in the boat. But that was not all. I was in the boat and the boat was upside-down, and I was under it. And I remember realizing I was wet though and that whatever happened I must not breathe, for I was under water. I knew I had to fight for it and I did. How I got out from under the boat I did not know but I felt a breath of air at last. There were men all around me ---- hundreds of them. The sea was dotted with them, all depending on their lifebelts. I felt I simply had to get away from the ship. She was a beautiful sight then. Smoke and sparks were rushing out of her funnel. There must have been an explosion, but we heard none. We only saw the big stream of sparks. The ship was turning gradually on her nose ---- just like a duck that goes for a dive. I had only one thing in my mind ---- to get away from the suction. The band was still playing “Autumn” then. I swam with all my might. I suppose I was 150 feet away when the Titanic, on her nose, with her after ---- quarter sticking straight up in the air, began to settle ----slowly.

61. What is described in the passage?
A. How the Titanic sank into the ocean.
B. The beautiful sight of a sinking ship.
C. How the narrator escaped from the sinking ship.
D. What happened to hundreds of other passengers when the Titanic sank.

62. When he got to the place where he had seen the life-boat _____
A. he had not expected to find it to be there.
B. it was already filled with other passengers.
C. some sailors were trying to push it off the deck.
D. he saw it was “Autumn”.

63. How come he ended up in the water?
A. He was trying to lend a hand.
B. He wanted to escape from the ship quickly.
C. Someone had pushed him off the deck.
D. He was carried off by a strong wave together with the boat.

64. When he first fell into the sea _____
A. he was inside the life-boat safe and sound.
B. he was on top of the upside down boat.
C. he was slowly going down to the bottom with the life-boat.
D. he found it impossible to breathe under water.

65. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. Everywhere in the water there were men struggling with a lifebelt.
B. Though smoke and sparks rushed out there had been no explosion.
C. The Titanic went down head first into the sea.
D. The band went down with the sinking ship.