TOEFL Mock Test 95: Reading Passages
Read the passage below and choose the best answers for the following questions.
Questions and Answers
- 1.
TYPES OF RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION (1) Sociologists categorize the hundreds of different religious organizations found in the United States along a continuum, with churches at one end and sects at the other. We can describe any actual religious organization, then, in relationship to these two ideal types by locating it on the church-sect continuum. (2) There are three major types of religious organizations, first one is the church. Church is well integrated into the larger society. While concerned with the sacredness, a church accepts the ways of the profane world, which gives it broad appeal. Church doctrine conceives of God and highly intellectualized terms and favors abstract moral standards over specific rules for day-to-day living. By teaching morality in safely abstract terms, church leaders avoid social controversy. For example, many churches that celebrate the unity of all peoples nevertheless have all-white memberships. Such duality minimizes conflict between a church and political life. (3) The second general religious form is the sect, a type of religious organization that stands apart from the larger society. Sect members have rigid religious convictions and deny the beliefs of others. Generally, to members of a sect, religion is not just one aspect of life, but a firm plan for how to live. In some cases, then, members of a sect may withdraw completely from society in order to practice their religion without interference. In organizational terms, sects are less formal than churches. Thus, sect members may be highly spontaneous and emotional in worship while members of churches tend to listen passively to their leader. (4) A cult on the other hand is a religious organization that is largely outside a society’s cultural traditions. Whereas most sects spin off from a conventional religious organization, a cult typically forms around a highly charismatic leader who offers compelling message of a new and very different way of life. Because some cult principles or practices are unconventional, the popular view is that they are deviant or even evil. The suicides of thirty-nine members of California’s Heaven’s Gate cult in 1997-people who claimed that dying was a doorway to a higher existence, perhaps in the company of aliens from outer space –confirmed the negative image the public holds of most cults. Source: Sociology John J. Macionis. Eight Edition Question: The word continuum in the passage is closest in meaning to
- A.
Succession
- B.
Field
- C.
Continuity
- D.
Limitation
Correct Answer
C. Continuity -
- 2.
The word profane in the passage is closest in meaning to
- A.
Blasphemous
- B.
Sacred
- C.
Sinful
- D.
Obscene
Correct Answer
C. Sinful -
- 3.
Which of the following best expresses the essential information in the highlighted passage?
- A.
They only make friends with people who are the same with their religion.
- B.
They do not join social activities; they focus only on their religious activities other than going to school and helping their parents.
- C.
They do not accept the outside world and is trying to transform it.
- D.
They would always try to convince other people from other religion to join them.
Correct Answer
B. They do not join social activities; they focus only on their religious activities other than going to school and helping their parents. -
- 4.
The word unconventional in the passage is closest in meaning to
- A.
Freaky
- B.
Unique
- C.
Unusual
- D.
Bizarre
Correct Answer
D. Bizarre -
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