TOEFL Mock Test 93: Reading Passages
Read the passage below and choose the best answers for the following questions.
Questions and Answers
- 1.
MARRIAGE PATTERNS (1) Cultural norms and often laws identify people as suitable or unsuitable marriage partners. Some marital norms promote endogamy, marriage between people of the same social category. Endogamy limits marriage prospects to others of the same age, race, religion, or social class. By contrast, exogamy mandates marriage between people of different social categories. In rural areas of Pakistan and India, for example, people are expected to marry someone of the same caste-endogamy but from a different village-exogamy. The logic of endogamy is that people of similar positions pass along their standing to offspring, thereby maintaining traditional social patterns. Exogamy, on the other hand, builds alliances and encourages cultural diffusion. (2) In industrial societies, laws prescribe monogamy ( from the Greek, meaning “one union”), marriage uniting two partners. Our high level of divorce and remarriage however suggests that serial monogamy might be a more accurate description of this nation’s marital practice. While monogamy is the rule throughout the Americas and in Europe, many lower-income societies-especially in Africa and southern Asia permit polygamy (from the Greek, meaning “many unions”), marriage that unites three or more people. This takes two forms. By far the more common is polygyny (from Greek, meaning “many women”), marriage uniting one male and two or more females. Islamic nations in Africa and southern Asia, for example, permit men up to four wives. (3) Polyandry (from the Greek, meaning “many men” or “many husbands”) is marriage uniting one female and two or more males. One case of this rare pattern is in Tibet, a mountainous land where agriculture is difficult. There, polyandry discourages the division of land into parcels too small to support a family and divides the work of farming among many men. Polyandry has also been linked to female infanticide-aborting female fetuses or killing the female infants because a decline in female population forces men to share women. Source: Sociology John J. Macionis, Eight Edition\ Question: The word mandates in the passage is closest in meaning to
- A.
Commands
- B.
Defines
- C.
Describes
- D.
Encourages
Correct Answer
A. Commands -
- 2.
The word serial in the passage is closest in meaning to
- A.
Ongoing
- B.
Successive
- C.
Deadly
- D.
Common
Correct Answer
B. Successive -
- 3.
The word this in the passage is referring to
- A.
People
- B.
Marriage
- C.
Polygamy
- D.
Monogamy
Correct Answer
C. Polygamy -
- 4.
Look at the four (4) paragraphs that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. “Even so, most Islamic families are monogamous because few men can afford to support several wives and even more children.” Where could the sentence best fit? Choose the number of the paragraph where the sentence should be added.
- A.
3rd
- B.
4th
- C.
1st
- D.
2nd
Correct Answer
D. 2nd -
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Jan 31, 2017Quiz Edited by
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