TOEFL Mock Test 86: Reading Passages
Read the passage below and choose the best answers for the following questions.
Questions and Answers
- 1.
WAX TABLETS AND PARCHMENT (1) For brief writings the Greeks and the Romans used small wax tablets. These were made of small boards with narrow raised frames at the edges. A thin coating of wax, commonly black, was laid over the sunken part of wood. Letters were scratched with a stylus through the black wax so that the light-colored wood showed in the strokes. The tablets could be bound together with the thongs or metal rings through holes in their edges. Such a group of tablets was called in Latin a codex. (2) Long documents and books were written by hand on sheets of papyrus. These were glued together by the side margins to form a roll 5 to 12 inches wide and 15 to 40 feet long, with writing on only one side. The Romans called such a roll volume, from which the world volume is derived. Usually the papyrus was rolled around a brightly painted, gilded stick, or umbilicus, with knobs at both ends. To the top of the roll was attached a slip of vellum giving the title of the work and the author’s name. Each roll was kept in a cylindrical parchment case. In reading, a person held the roll in his right hand and unrolled it column by column. (3) Although papyrus was the material used for most ancient books, special copies were often written on vellum or parchment. Vellum was made form calfskin. Parchment, a coarser material, was made from the skins of sheep and goats. Parchment and vellum were used as early as the 5th century BC. From the beginning of the Christian era these materials gradually displaced papyrus until by the middle of the 5th century the usual material for the book, or codex, was vellum or parchment sheets. The sheets were cut to uniform size and bound together at one side with leather thongs. Question: The word sunken in the passage is closest in meaning to
- A.
Submerged
- B.
Depressed
- C.
Settled
- D.
Wasted
Correct Answer
C. Settled -
- 2.
What is the word these in paragraph 2 referring to?
- A.
Documents and books
- B.
Papyrus
- C.
Codex
- D.
Wax Tablets
Correct Answer
A. Documents and books -
- 3.
The word “umbilicus” in the passage is closest in meaning to
- A.
Opening
- B.
Navel
- C.
Golden gilt
- D.
Button
Correct Answer
B. Navel -
- 4.
Which of the following best expresses the essential information in the highlighted passage?
- A.
Vellum and Parchment are made out of different animal’s skin
- B.
Vellum and Parchment are similar with texture
- C.
Vellum and Parchment are used only by the ancient times
- D.
Vellum and Parchment are both special
Correct Answer
A. Vellum and Parchment are made out of different animal’s skin -
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