SECTION 2: STUDY SKILLS
Directions: In this section, you will read several passages. Each passage is followed by several questions based on its content. You are to choose ONE best answer, (A), (B), (C) or (D), to each question. Answer all the questions following each passage on the basis of what is stated or implied in that passage and write the letter of the answer you have chosen in the corresponding space in yourANSWER BOOKLET.
Questions 1—5
The first permanent shelters were probably built twenty or forty thousand years ago by fish-eating people who lived in the places as long as the fish supply lasted. Fish-eaters could stay in one place for several years. However, once man learned to farm, he could live longer in one place. Thus, he was able to build a permanent home. Once again, he built his home with the materials he found at hand. In Egypt, for example, wood was scarce, so most houses were built of bricks made of dried mud, with a roof supported by tree trunks.
When the Norsemen came from Scandinavia to northern Europe, they found many forests, so they built homes with a framework of heavy tree trunks and then filled the space between the trunks with clay. The Eskimos, on the other hand, lived in a land where there was little or no wood. They learned to adapt their homes perfectly to their surroundings. In the wintertime, when everything was covered with snow and ice, the Eskimos built their homes with blocks of ice. When the warm weather came and melted the ice, the Eskimos lived in a tent made of animal skins.
The weather is man’s worst natural enemy. He has to protect himself from extremes of heat and cold and from storms, wind and rain. Where there are torrential rains, houses are either built on piles to keep them off the ground, or they have steep thatched roofs to drain off the rain. People living in the Congo River region have found that steep, heavily-thatched roofs drain off the jungle rains more quickly.
Protection from danger has also influenced the type of house man builds. When enemies threatened him, man made his house as inaccessible as possible. The tree-dwellers of the Philippines protect themselves by living high above the ground. When danger threatens, they remove the ladders leading to their homes. The cliff dwellers of the American Southwest built their homes high up on the sides of cliffs, where access was very difficult.
Nomad tribes must move from place to place, taking care of flocks of sheep that are always in need of fresh grass. Their houses must be simple and easy to transport. The nomads of central Asia have developed a house made of a framework of poles covered with felt. The house is round because the framework is curved, and there is a hole at the top to let the smoke out.
1. According to the passage, the Norsemen who came to northern Europe built their houses with__________.
(A) rocks and wood
(B) wood and clay
(C) wooden roofs and stone walls
(D) wooden walls and thatched roofs
2. Man’s most urgent need in building a house is protection from __________.
(A) enemies
(B) floods
(C) earthquakes
(D) the weather
3. The passage suggests that a house with a steep sloping roof is more likely to be found__________.
(A) in a windy country
(B) in a rainy country
(C) near the coast
(D) in the desert
4.When danger threatens, the tree-dwellers of the Philippines __________.
(A) take away their ladders
(B) bombard the enemy from above
(C) pull up the bridge over their moat
(D) wind up the ropes leading to their homes
5. According to the passage, the nomad tribes of central Asia live in __________.
(A) tents
(B) tree houses
(C) small houses of clay
(D) round houses of felt
