WOMS ESOL 5 May 9, 2013

Vocabulary in Context

100

1. The statue of the goddess is MARRED by a gash on her cheek. It is said that the sculptor, dissatisfied with his creation, threw his chisel at it. a. improved b. made less perfect c. restricted

c. MARRED = made less perfect

200

3. Jonathan Swift was the author of A Modest Proposal, a SATIRICAL masterpiece in which he criticizes his country's attitude toward the poor by sarcastically suggesting that poor children be used as food for the rich. a. mocking b. humorless c. ancient

a. SATIRICAL = mocking A sarcastic suggestion is made to mock.

300

5. Laura is not interested in PARTISAN politics. She refuses to identify herself as a Democrat or a Republican, saying, "I think for myself." a. related to the environment b. conservative c. supporting one party

c. PARTISAN = supporting one party ✔ Identifying oneself as a Democrat or a Republican is supporting one party, which Laura is not interested in doing.

400

6. To help her little daughter paddle around in the pool, Barbara bought her a swimsuit that has a BUOYANT tube attached around the waist. a. heavy b. able to float c. loosely-fitting

b. BUOYANT = able to float ✔ A tube intended for a child to wear in water would be able to float.

500

In a fit of PIQUE because the management had forgotten to send flowers to his dressing room, the temperamental opera star refused to sing. a. illness b. confusion c. resentment

c. PIQUE = resentment; The star's refusal to sing tells us he was in a fit of resentment over not having been treated as well as he had wished to be.

Inferences

100

A. (1) An anecdote from the Cold War era illustrates how hard it can be to voice dissent if a leader rules with an iron hand. (2) About 40 years ago, when Nikita Khrushchev, ruler of what was then the Soviet Union, came to the United States, he met with reporters at the Washington Press Club. (3) The first anonymous written question he received was: “Today you talked about the hideous rule of your predecessor, Stalin, who killed thousands of his political opponents. (4) You were one of his closest aides and colleagues during those years. (5) What were you doing all that time?” (6) Khrushchev’s face turned red. (7) “Who asked that?” he shouted. (8) No one answered. (9) “Who asked that?” he shouted again. (10) Still no answer. (11) Then Khrushchev said, “That’s what I was doing: keeping my mouth shut.” A1. We can infer from this passage that a. after Khrushchev took power, he killed just as many people as Stalin did. b. the person who wrote the first anonymous question was afraid of Khrushchev. c. Khrushchev believed that Stalin had to kill his political opponents.

b. the person who wrote the first anonymous question was afraid of Khrushchev. Because the person who wrote the question refused to identify himself or herself when Khrushchev demanded, the person must have been afraid of the leader. Answers a and c are incorrect because Khrushchev considered Stalin’s rule “hideous” (sentence 3).

200

B. (1) Of the 7.5 million people who live in Cairo, Egypt, more than a million are homeless; and hundreds of thousands of those homeless people live in an unusual place: a cemetery. (2) The City of the Dead is a huge, ancient cemetery spread out like a city in the desert. (3) Many of Cairo’s homeless people have made a home for themselves in the City of the Dead. (4) Often, a mourning ritual brings someone to the cemetery. (5) After someone dies, the family traditionally camps out beside the grave for 40 days. (6) For poor people, 40 days can stretch into a lifetime. (7) Widows often have no way to pay for the home they shared with their husband. (8) Some of them feel they have no option but to stay in the cemetery. (9) They frequently end up in a ramshackle building, sharing a small room with their husband’s grave. (10) Not all the buildings are shabby. (11) The cemetery also has elaborate small palaces built for dead kings and rulers. (12) The homeless have crowded into these luxurious buildings, which have domed roofs, stained glass windows, and gold accents. (13) Despite the eerie setting, life in the City of the Dead can look almost normal. (14) Some areas have electricity. (15) People hang out laundry to dry. (16) Children play in the streets. (17) People fall in love and marry and give birth, all while living in their unlikely home: the City of the Dead. B4. Based on this passage, we can infer that a. Cairo is made up mostly of homeless people. b. although Cairo has large numbers of poor people, the quality of life for many of its residents is improving. c. Egypt has no laws that prohibit people from living in cemeteries.

c. Egypt has no laws that prohibit people from living in cemeteries. ✔ The fact that hundreds of thousands of Cairo’s homeless people live relatively normal lives in a cemetery suggests that Egypt has no laws that prohibit living in cemeteries. Answer a is incorrect because only about one in seven citizens of Cairo is homeless (sentence 1). There is no support for answer b.

300

(1) Advertising is a brilliant tool for creating conventional wisdom. (2) Listerine, for instance, was invented in the nineteenth century as a powerful surgical antiseptic. (3) It was later sold, in distilled form, and as a floor cleaner. (4) But it wasn’t a runaway success until the 1920s, when it was pitched as a solution for “chronic halitosis”—a then obscure medical term for bad breath. (5) Listerine’s new ads featured forlorn young women and men, eager for marriage but turned off by their mate’s rotten breath. (6) “Can I be happy with him in spite of that?” one maiden asked herself. (7) Until that time, bad breath was not conventionally considered such a catastrophe. (8) But Listerine changed that. (9) As the advertising scholar James B. Twitchell writes, “Listerine did not make mouthwash as much as it made halitosis.” (10) In just seven years, the company’s revenues rose from $115,000 to more than $8 million. a. advertisers sometimes exaggerate people’s need for their products. b. people today are wiser with regard to advertising than they were in the 1920s. c. smart advertisers can sell anything to anybody

a. advertisers sometimes exaggerate people’s need for their products. ✔ ** If the advertisers made bad breath seem catastrophic and something that could outweigh true love, they are exaggerating people’s need for a product. Answers b and c are not supported.

400

D. (1) A bottle of spring or mineral water has become the lifestyle accessory of the health-conscious. (2) Lately, however, environmental activists are warning that people’s thirst for bottled water is producing unnecessary garbage and consuming vast quantities of energy, even in areas where perfectly good drinking water is available on tap. (3) One environmental action group contends that approximately 25 percent of bottled water is really just tap water in a bottle—sometimes treated, sometimes not. (4) Other environmentalists note that the plastic most commonly used to bottle water is polyethylene terepthalate (PET), which is derived from crude oil. (5) More than 1.5 million barrels of oil are needed annually to meet Americans’ demand for bottled water. (6) That’s enough to fuel some 100,000 U.S. cars for a year. (7) Furthermore, about 86 percent of plastic water bottles in the U.S. become garbage or litter. (8) Plastic debris in the environment can take between 400 and 1,000 years to degrade. (9) Incinerating used containers isn’t a viable option, since burning the plastic produces toxic byproducts, such as chlorine gas and ash containing heavy metals. (10) Recently a company in Colorado has begun to bottle its spring water in a container made from a biodegradable plastic that is derived from corn. (11) Given the right composting conditions, the container will disappear in 75 to 80 days. D9. We can infer from this passage that a. it’s a waste of money and natural resources for Americans to buy bottled water. b. 25 percent of the bottled water in the United States is not fit to drink. c. decades ago, the quality of tap water in the United States was better than it is now.

a. it’s a waste of money and natural resources for Americans to buy bottled water. ✔ For people who have “perfectly good drinking water on tap” (sentence 2), buying bottled water is a waste of money. By using “more than 1.5 million barrels of oil .....annually” (sentence 5) to make bottles for water, we are wasting natural resources. Answers b and c are not supported.

500

D. (1) Over the last 50 years, the number of married women in the paid labor force has increased dramatically: 71% of married women with school-aged children and 60% of women with children under 6 now have jobs outside the home. (2) The two-paycheck family is not always a matter of choice. (3) The increasing role of women as economic providers is a world-wide trend. (4) Balancing the demands of career and family is a problem in many families, especially for women. (5) Even when the wife has a full-time job outside of the home, she is likely to end up doing far more than half of the housework and childcare. (6) She is also likely to be aware of this imbalance and resent it. (7) The “double shift”—one at paid work outside the home and another at unpaid household labor—is the common experience of millions of women throughout the world. (8) True equality—the hopeful goal of the dual-career movement—has yet to be achieved. D9. We can infer that working women usually do more than their share of the housework and childcare because a. many men consider these tasks “women’s work” and therefore not something they need to do. b. men’s jobs outside the home are almost always more demanding than women’s. c. women are naturally better at child-rearing and household tasks.

a. many men consider these tasks “women’s work” and therefore not something they need to do. ✔ If balancing career and family is a problem “especially for women” (sentence 4), and if women “end up doing far more than half of the housework and childcare” (sentence 5), it is likely that men assume that housework and childcare are “women’s work.” Nothing in the passage supports answer b or answer c.

Main Idea

100

(1) A hurricane is by far the most powerful event on Earth. (2) The average hurricane encompasses a million cubic miles of atmosphere. (3) The amount of energy generated by a single hurricane could provide all the electric power needed by the United Sates for three or four years. (4) All the nuclear weapons in the U.S. and former Soviet Union do not contain enough energy to keep a large hurricane going for one day. (5) So much rain can fall during a hurricane that soil turns to liquid. (6) Hillsides slump into valleys, and birds drown in flight. (7) In 1970 a hurricane drowned half a million people in what is now Bangladesh. (8) In 1938, a hurricane covered downtown Providence, Rhode Island, with ten feet of ocean. (9) Waves generated by that storm were so huge that they literally shook the Earth; seismographs in Alaska picked up their impact five thousand miles away.

SENTENCE 1- Sentences 2–9 provide examples illustrating the claim, stated in sentence 1, that hurricanes are the most powerful event on earth.

200

(1) Today, bottled water is extremely popular. (2) People buy it—often at a premium price—because they think it is cleaner and healthier than tap water. (3) However, 25 percent of bottled water does not come from natural springs or wells. (4) Instead, it comes from municipal tap water sources. (5) The standards used to package it for resale are the same ones used to regulate public water supplies. (6) In fact, there have been numerous accounts of bottled water being contaminated with pollutants and other chemicals. (7) People have even gotten sick from drinking bottled water they mistakenly thought was clean and pure. (8) In other words, bottled water is often no better than tap water—even though it’s much more expensive.

SENTENCE 8-- Sentences 1 and 2 introduce the topic of the paragraph: bottled water. Sentences 3–7 explain the flaws in bottled water, leading up to the conclusion in sentence 8 that bottled water is often no better than tap water.

300

(1) Children were an important part of the labor force during the nineteenth century. (2) One of the most unpleasant and dangerous jobs performed by children in the 1800s was chimney sweeping. (3) Employed heavily in England, “chimney sweeps”—kids as young as four or five—were sent crawling up 14 inch chimneys to remove soot and ash deposits by hand. (4) Since the chimney surfaces were generally smooth inside, only the pressure of the children’s elbows and knees kept the small boys up. (5) The black soot and ash got into cuts and scrapes caused by climbing the dark chimney shafts. (6) It also filled the lungs of children forced to do the work—causing respiratory diseases, and in some cases, death. (7) To force children to work, older boys were often employed to hold lighted straws or sharp pins to the feet of the sweeps to “encourage” them to climb higher.

SENTENCE 2-- Sentence 1 introduces the topic of child labor in the nineteenth century. Sentence 2 states the main point about that topic: it was one of the most unpleasant and dangerous jobs for children in the 1800s. The details in sentences 3–7 show why the work was so unpleasant and dangerous.

400

(1) Today, many Americans take for granted their writing pads and computer paper. (2) But paper had a long history of development before it reached North America. (3) The Egyptians first discovered that the papyrus plant could be made into paper in the year 2500 B.C. (4) In China a court official, Cai Lun, discovered that paper could be made from trees in 105 A.D. (5) In Europe, wood-based paper did not appear until much later. (6) Spain gained knowledge of papermaking skills from the Arab occupation in 1150. (7) This knowledge then spread throughout Europe and, later, to the American colonies.

SENTENCE 2 -- Sentence 1 introduces the topic of paper and leads into the main idea stated in sentence 2. Sentences 3–7 give examples of paper’s long history before it reached North America.

500

(1) When facing a difficult task—like cleaning a messy bedroom or writing a long paper—many people choose to “put things off” or “wait until later.” (2) While common, procrastination can lead to serious problems, including stress. (3) Fortunately, there are several simple steps which can prevent procrastination. (4) First, just get started. (5) All beginnings are difficult, but once you have taken the first step on any project, the job will become easier. (6) Second, try to break the big job down into little tasks. (7) For example, instead of thinking of finishing the entire report, just work on a section. (8) A few little jobs are much easier to complete than a single big task. (9) Third, try to give yourself deadlines. (10) This is tough because you—not someone else—are setting the rules. (11) Still, if your deadlines are realistic, you will be encouraged to work steadily, instead of waiting until the last minute. (12) Finally, think of a reward for each deadline you set. (13) It could be an hour off to listen to your favorite CD, or a night to go out with a friend.

SENTENCE 3-- Sentences 1–2 introduce the topic: procrastination and its effects. Sentence 3 states the main idea about the topic: there are steps one can take to prevent procrastination. Sentences 4–13 detail those steps, along with examples.

Relationships

100

A cup of weak coffee has about 80 milligrams of caffeine, or enough to boost the heart rate and blood pressure. A cup of strong tea can have a similar effect, for it, too, has about 80 milligrams of caffeine. The comparison transition used is___________?

“Similar” indicates that the physical effects of a strong cup of tea are being compared to the physical effects of a weak cup of coffee. Each has the same sort of physical impact.

200

When the United States went to war with Japan during World War II, approximately 100,000 Japanese Americans were put into relocation camps for security reasons. Some observers still believe that this was an appropriate course of action. Many others, however, have concluded that the Japanese American citizens were deprived of their rights. The contrast transition used is _______?

“However” signals that the conclusion of the second group of people differs from or contrasts with the beliefs of the first group. Some people feel that the action was appropriate, but others do not.

300

White-collar crime is the crime committed by so-called “respectable” people. Crimes such as cheating on federal income taxes or using deceptive advertising are considered white-collar crime. The illustration transition used is ______?

“Such as” signals that cheating on taxes or using deceptive advertising are examples of the term white-collar crime, which is defined in the first sentence.

400

When you quit smoking, one effect is that your circulation improves and carbon monoxide levels in your blood start declining. Your pulse rate and blood pressure, which are abnormally high while smoking, immediately start returning to normal. One year after quitting, your risk of heart disease is cut in half, and over the next several years it continues to decrease. The selection’s main pattern of organization is: a. definition and example. b. comparison. c. contrast. d. cause and effect.

d. cause and effect. Quitting smoking is the cause of the effects listed in the rest of the passage. The word “effect” signals that the paragraph has a cause and effect pattern.

500

A mnemonic device is a method for remembering information. It might combine chunks of information into a format such as an acronym, a jingle, or a phrase. For example, the acronym HOMES stands for the Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior. A well-known jingle for spelling is “I before E except after C or when sounded like a as in neighbor or weigh.” A famous phrase used to remember whether to set a clock ahead or back for Daylight Saving Time is “Spring forward, fall back.” People often make up their own mnemonic devices for remembering things, including grocery lists. The selection’s main pattern of organization is: (Click on the pattern of organization.) a. definition and example. b. comparison. c. contrast. d. cause and effect.

a. definition and example. ✔ The first sentence defines the term mnemonic device. The words “such as” and “for example” indicate that the sentences that follow will give examples of the term.

Purpose and Tone

100

(1) Schizophrenia is a serious and relatively prevalent disorder. (2) It is found in roughly 1 percent of people at some time in their lives. (3) It accounts for a higher percentage of the inpatient population of mental hospitals than any other diagnostic category. (4) The disorder seems to be equally prevalent in males and females, but, for unknown reasons, it typically is more severe and strikes earlier in males than in females. (5) The most frequent age range for first symptoms is 18 to 25 for men and 26 to 45 for women. (6) Sometimes people make a full recovery from schizophrenia, sometimes they make a partial recovery, and sometimes the disorder takes a deteriorating course through the person’s life. Inform Persuade Entertain

INFORM -- The author presents facts about schizophrenia in a straightforward manner.

200

(1) Suppose Colin Powell tires of giving $100,000-a-pop speeches and wants to teach high school social studies. (2) Suppose Meryl Streep has a hankering to teach drama. (3) Alas, they would be “unqualified” for a public school. (4) Elite private schools would snap them up, of course, but public schools that are begging for teachers would have to turn them away because they don’t have teacher certification. (5) That’s an absurd snarl in our education bureaucracy. (6) Let’s relax the barriers so people can enter teaching more easily, either right out of college or later as a midcareer switch. Inform Persuade Entertain

PERSUADE-- The author uses extreme examples to persuade us that the barriers to becoming a public school teacher should be relaxed. The contraction “Let’s” (sentence 6) is used in the sense of “we should.” (Note that the author presents the examples in an entertaining manner by using casual language—“hankering”—and mock-serious language—“alas.”)

300

(1) I imagine going to the doctor one day, and he comes in with the X-rays, a shadow across his face, and he says, “It’s everywhere. (2) You have six months, maybe eight. (3) There’s nothing we can do but make you comfortable.” (4) “Not a problem,” I say. (5) “I can make myself comfortable.” (6) I head for the nearest convenience store and ask for a carton of Camels. (7) I light up one of these coffin nails and then head for the liquor store. (8) I ask for an empty carton and fill it up with a dozen bottles of hard stuff. (9) I knock down a couple of shots and head for the market, where I buy some thick steaks to charbroil on the grill. (10) “Cancer schmancer,” I say to myself. (11) “It’s party time.”

ENTERTAIN - The author’s careless attitude toward a diagnosis of terminal cancer is so exaggerated that it is amusing. Calling cigarettes “coffin nails” and saying “cancer schmancer” help establish the entertaining purpose.

400

(1) In 1943, a naval engineer named Richard James was working with tension springs when one of the springs fell on the floor. (2) James noticed how the spring kept moving after hitting the ground, and he got the idea for the creation of a toy. (3) For the next two years, he experimented with developing a coiled spring toy that could “climb” down stairs using a flip-flopping motion. (4) James’s wife, Betty, named the toy the Slinky. (5) The Jameses introduced their new toy at Gimbels Department Store in Philadelphia in 1945, selling 400 of the toys in 90 minutes. (6) The Slinky continues to be a popular toy today. Inform Persuade Entertain

INFORM - The author informs us, using factual details, about the development of the Slinky.

500

(1) Stress comes from a variety of sources in our lives. (2) Frustration over not being able to satisfy a motive, conflicts arising from mutually incompatible motives, pressure, and unpleasant environmental conditions are all sources of stress. (3) Similarly, life events, both negative ones such as the loss of employment and positive ones such as marriage, can be potent sources of stress. (4) These sources of stress lead to stress reactions. (5) People react to stress in both psychological and physical ways. (6) Stress brings anxiety, anger, and depression, but also body changes such as increased appetite, headaches, and difficulty sleeping. (7) Under some circumstances, stress even leads to high blood pressure, increased blood cholesterol, and decreased efficiency of the body’s immune system. (8) The body tends to react to all stressors, psychological and physical ones, in much the same way. (9) This nonspecific response to stress has been called the general adaptation syndrome. Inform Persuade Entertain

INFORM - The author presents straightforward information on sources of stress and reactions to stress.