CRITICAL READING EXERCISES 1

Questions 1–3 are based on the following passage.

The following selection is about the invention of the compact disc, and explains
how it works.

Compact discs (CDs), which may be found in over 25 million American homes, not
to mention backpacks and automobiles, first entered popular culture in the 1980s.
But their history goes back to the 1960s, when an inventor named James Russell
decided to create an alternative to his scratched and warped phonograph records
—a system that could record, store, and replay music without ever wearing out.
The result was the compact disc (CD). Made from 1.2 mm of poly- carbonate
plastic, the disc is coated with a much thinner aluminum layer that is then
protected with a film of lacquer. The lacquer layer can be printed with a label.
CDs are typically 120 mm in diameter, and can store about 74 minutes of music.
There are also discs that can store 80, 90, 99, and 100 minutes of music, but
they are not as compatible with various stereos and computers as the 74–minute
size.
The information on a standard CD is contained on the polycarbonate layer, as
a single spiral track of pits, starting at the inside of the disk and circling its way
to the outside. This information is read by shining light from a 780 nm
wavelength semiconductor laser through the bottom of the polycarbonate layer. The
light from the laser follows the spiral track of pits, and is then reflected off either
the pit or the aluminum layer. Because the CD is read through the bottom of the
disc, each pit looks like a bump to the laser.
Information is read as the laser moves over the bumps (where no light will be
reflected) and the areas that have no bumps, also known as land (where the laser
light will be reflected off the aluminum). The changes in reflectivity are
interpreted by a part of the compact disc player known as the detector. It is the
job of the detector to convert the information collected by the laser into the
music that was originally recorded onto the disc. This invention brought 22
patents to James Russell, who today says he working on an even better system
for recording and playing back music.

1. According to the passage, why did James Russell invent the CD?
a. He was tired of turning over his records to hear both sides.
b. He wanted to record more music on a new format.
c. He wanted a purer, more durable sound than he could get fromvinyl
records.
d. He was interested in getting patents.
e. He wanted to work with lasers.

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 2. What would happen if the detector on a CD player malfunctioned?
a. The spiral track would not be read properly.
b. The pits and land would look like one unit.
c. The changes in reflectivity would be absorbed back into thelaser.
d. The music would play backwards.
e. The information read by the laser would not be converted into music.

3. Paragraph 3 explains all of the following EXCEPT

a. how the information on a CD is read.
b. why semiconductor lasers were invented.
c. where information is stored on a CD.
d. what pits and bumps are.
e. the purpose of the aluminum layer of a CD.

Questions 4–6 are based on the following passage.

The selection that follows is about the current state of the modeling industry.

The beginning of the twenty-first century has been called the end of the supermodel
era by fashion magazines, trend watchers, and news organizations around the world.
The models are being replaced, so the theory goes, with actors. Check the covers
of fashion magazines, and you will find that many on any given month feature an
actor, rather than amodel. But, as with most trends, this is nothing new.
From its beginnings in the 1920s, the modeling industry has pro- vided
beautiful people to help sell everything from magazines to computers to vacation
destinations. John Robert Powers, who opened the first modeling agency in 1923,
was a former actor who hired his actor friends to model for magazine
advertisements. Cary Grant, Lucille Ball, and Princess Grace of Monaco were
clients. However, for many models simply being “great-looking” was where their
resumés began and ended. The height of popularity for them was in the 1980s
and 1990s, the era of the supermodel. A handful of “perfect” women commanded
salaries of up to $25,000 a day to walk catwalks at fashion shows, appear in print
ads, and pose their way through commercials. They were celebrities, treated with
all of the lavish attention usually paid to heads of state or rock stars.
But that was in the supermodel heyday. As designers and magazine editors
began to favor more exotic and more “real” looking models, the modeling
handful grew into an army. The demand for the perfect- looking select few
dropped, and women who had quirky smiles, a few extra pounds, spiky hair, or
were past their twenties, gained favor. This group was joined by those who
achieved success in some other venue, such as music (think Renee Fleming
raving about a watch), sports (Tiger Woods happily devouring his Wheaties®),
and acting (Danny Glover waxing rhapsodic over MCI). Iconic fashion designer
Calvin Klein summed it up: “I don’t think that people are that interested in
models anymore. It’s not a great moment for the modeling industry. It says a lot
about our society and I think it’s good.”
 4. According to the passage, the author believes that
a. today’s fashion models are not as perfect looking as were the supermodels.
b. people still respond to perfection in advertising.
c. today’s fashion models are thinner than those in the past.
d. to be a model, one must be taller than average.
e. in the 1980s, models were paid more than they are today.

5. In paragraph 2, the phrase “great-looking” was where their resumes began

and ended, is
a. a description of the models’ work experience.
b. meant to be taken literally.
c. meant to be taken figuratively.
d. a truthful statement.
e. an example of pathos.

6. Waxing rhapsodic in paragraph 3 most nearly means

a. orchestrating a positive statement.
b. becoming musical.
c. burning a candle for.
d. making overtures.
e. becoming enthusiastic.

Questions 7–9 are based on the following passage.

This selection introduces the Computer Museum of America, and details animportant
item in its collection.

Wondering what to do with that old Atari Home Video Game in the attic? It’s on
the wish list of the Computer Museum of America, in San Diego, California, which
hopes you will donate it to their holdings. The Museum was founded in 1983 to
amass and preserve historic computer equipment such as calculators, card
punches, and typewriters, and now owns one of the world’s largest collections. In
addition, it has archives of computer-related magazines, manuals, and books
that are available to students, authors, researchers, and others for historical
research.
One item currently on display is a 1920s comptometer, advertised as “The
Machine Gun of the Office.” The comptometer was first sneered at by accountants
and bookkeepers, many of whom could add four columns of numbers in their heads.
The new machine was the first that could do the work faster than humans. The
comptometer gained a large following, and its operation became a formal
profession that required serious training. But by the 1970s, computers took over,
and comptometers, and the job of operating them, became obsolete.
7. All of the following are probably part of the collection of theComputer
Museum of America EXCEPT
a. adding machines.
b. old computers.
c. operation manuals for calculators.
d. card punch machines.
e. kitchen scales.

8. In paragraph 2, the author used the words sneered at to show

a. a negative image of accountants.
b. what accountants and bookkeepers looked like.
c. the negative reaction to the comptometer.
d. the precursor of the comptometer operator.
e. how fast accountants and bookkeepers could add.

9. What term paper topic could probably be researched at theComputer

Museum of America?
a. Alexander Graham Bell’s contributions to American society
b. IBM’s contribution to the development of the moderncomputer
c. more than just paintings: the museums of California
d. the rise and fall of the comptometer operator
e. why video games are harmful to our nation’s youth

Questions 10–17 are based on the following passage.

The following selection explains the origins and development of the modern shopping
mall.

Today’s shopping mall has as its antecedents historical marketplaces, such as

Greek agoras, European piazzas, and Asian bazaars. The purpose of these sites,
as with the shopping mall, is both economic and social. People go not only to buy
and sell wares, but also to be seen, catch up on news, and be part of the human
drama. Both the market- place and its descendant the mall might also contain
restaurants, banks, theaters, and professional offices.
The mall is also the product of the creation of suburbs. Although villages
outside of cities have existed since antiquity, it was the technological and
transportation advances of the 19th century that gave rise to a conscious exodus
of the population away from crowded, industrialized cities toward quieter, more
rural towns. Since the suburbs typically have no centralized marketplace,
shopping centers or malls were designed to fill the needs of the changing
community, pro- viding retail stores and services to an increasing suburban
population. The shopping mall differs from its ancient counterparts in a number
of important ways. While piazzas and bazaars were open-air venues, the modern
mall is usually enclosed. Since the suburbs are spread out geographically, shoppers
drive to the mall, which means that parking areas must be an integral part of a
mall’s design. Ancient market- places were often set up in public
spaces, but shopping malls are designed, built, and maintained by a separate
management firm as a unit. The first shopping mall was built by J. C. Nichols in
1922 near Kansas City, Missouri. The Country Club Plaza was designed to be an
automobile- centered plaza, as its patrons drove their own cars to it, rather than
take mass transportation as was often the case for city shoppers. It was
constructed according to a unified plan, rather than as a random group of stores.
Nichols’ company owned and operated the mall, leasing space to a variety of
tenants.
The first enclosed mall was the Galleria Vittoria Emanuele in Milan, Italy in
1865–77. Inspired by its design, Victor Gruen took the shopping and dining
experience of the Galleria to a new level when he created the Southdale Center
Mall in 1956. Located in a suburb of Minneapolis, it was intended to be a
substitute for the traditional city center. The 95- acre, two-level structure had a
constant climate-controlled temperature of 72 degrees, and included shops,
restaurants, a school, a post office, and a skating rink. Works of art, decorative
lighting, fountains, tropical plants, and flowers were placed throughout the mall.
Southdale afforded people the opportunity to experience the pleasures of urban
life whileprotected from the harsh Minnesota weather.
In the 1980s, giant megamalls were developed. While Canada has had the
distinction of being home to the largest of the megamalls for over twenty years,
that honor will soon go to Dubai, where the Mall of Arabia is being completed at
a cost of over five billion U.S. dollars. The 5.3 million square foot West
Edmonton Mall in Alberta, Canada, opened in 1981, with over 800 stores, 110
eating establishments, a hotel, an amusement park, a miniature-golf course, a
church, a zoo, and a 438-foot-long lake. Often referred to as the “eighth wonder
of the world,” the West Edmonton Mall is the number-one tourist attraction in
the area, and will soon be expanded to include more retailspace, including a
facility for sports, trade shows, and conventions.
The largest enclosed megamall in the United States is Blooming- ton,
Minneapolis’s Mall of America, which employs over 12,000 people. It has over five
hundred retail stores, an amusement park which includes an indoor roller
coaster, a walk-through aquarium, a college, and a wedding chapel. The mall
contributes over one billion dollars each year to the economy of the state of
Minnesota. Its owners have proposed numerous expansion projects, but have
been hampered by safety concerns due to the mall’s proximity to an airport.

10. The statement that people went to marketplaces to be part of the human
drama
(paragraph 1) suggests that people
a. prefer to shop anonymously.
b. like to act on stage rather than shop.
c. seem to be more emotional in groups.
d. like to be in community, interacting with one another.
e. prefer to be entertained rather than shop for necessities.
11. In line 1, antecedents most nearly means
a. designers.
b. planners.
c. predecessors.
d. role models.
e. teachers.

12. All of the following questions can be explicitly answered on thebasis

of the passage EXCEPT
a. Who designed the Southdale Center Mall in Minnesota?
b. Why was the Country Club Plaza automobile-centered?
c. What are three examples of historical marketplaces?
d. Where is the Galleria Vittoria Emanuele?
e. What is the Edmonton Mall often referred to as?

13. How was the Country Club Plaza different from an urban shopping district?
a. It consisted of many more stores.
b. It was built by one company that leased space and oversawoperations.
c. It was enclosed.
d. It had both retail stores and restaurants, and offered areas
forcommunity programs.
e. It was based on an Italian design.

14. According to the passage, how did Southdale expand the notion ofthe
shopping mall?
a. It added an amusement park.
b. It was unheated.
c. It was the first to rise above two stories.
d. It was designed with more parking spaces than any previousshopping mall.
e. It was intended to be a substitute for the traditional city center.

15. According to paragraph 5, which is the only activity visitors to

theWest Edmonton Mall cannot enjoy?
a. staying in a hotel
b. gambling in a casino
c. visiting animals in a zoo
d. playing miniature golf
e. riding an amusement park ride
16. When the author states in paragraph 3 that Southdale afforded
people the opportunity to experience the pleasures of urban life
she means that
a. they could perform necessary and leisurely activities in one location.
b. they could have a greater variety of retailers to choose from.
c. they could see more artwork and botanicals than they would in a city.
d. they could be entertained as they would be in a city.
e. they could have taller buildings in their landscape.

17. What is NOT a probable reason for the proposed expansion of the
Mall of America?
a. so it can contribute more to the economy of its state
b. to keep it closer in size to the other megamalls
c. so it can employ more people
d. to attract more tourists
e. to compete for visitors with the Mall of Arabia

Questions 18–25 are based on the following passage.

The following selection explains the origins of sushi, and its popularity in theUnited States.

Burgers, fries, pizza, raw fish. Raw fish? Fast food in America is changing. Sushi,
the thousand-year-old Japanese delicacy, was once thought of in this country as
unpalatable and too exotic. But tastes have changed, for a number of reasons.
Beginning in the 1970s, Americans became increasingly more aware of diet and
health issues, and began rejecting their traditional red-meat diets in favor of
healthier, lower- fat choices such as fish, poultry, whole grains, rice, and
vegetables. The way food was prepared began to change, too; rather than frying
food, people started opting for broiled, steamed, and raw versions. Sushi, a
combination of rice and fish, fit the bill. In addition, that same decade saw Japan
become an important global economic force, and companies began flocking to the
country to do business. All things Japanese, including décor, clothing, and
cuisine, became popular.
Sushi started small in the United States, in a handful of restaurants in big cities.
But it caught on. Today, sushi consumption in American restaurants is 40%
greater than it was in the late 1990s, according to the National Restaurant
Association. The concession stands at almost every major league stadium sell
sushi, and many colleges and univer- sities offer it in their dining halls. But
we’re not just eating it out. The National Sushi Association reports that there
are over 5,000 sushi bars in supermarkets, and that number is growing monthly.
This incredible growth in availability and consumption points to the fact that
Americans have decided that sushi isn’t just good for them, or just convenient, but
that this once-scorned food is truly delicious.
The origins of this food trend may be found in Asia, where it was developed as
a way of preserving fish. Fresh, cleaned fish was pressed between rice and salt
and weighted with a heavy stone over a period of several months. During this time,
the rice fermented, producing lactic acid that pickled and preserved the fish.
For many years,
the fish was eaten and the rice was discarded. But about 500 years ago, that
changed, and hako-zushi (boxed sushi) was created. In this type of sushi, the rice
and fish are pressed together in a box, and are consumed together.
In 1824, Yohei Hanaya of Edo (now called Tokyo) eliminated the fermentation
process, and began serving fresh slices of seafood on bases of vinegared rice.
The vinegar was probably used to mimic the taste of fermented sushi. In fact,
the word sushi actually refers to any vinegared rice dish, and not to the fish, as
many Americans believe (the fish is called sashimi). In Japanese, when sushi is
combined with a mod- ifier, it changes to the word zushi.
Chef Yohei’s invention, called nigiri zushi, is still served today. It now refers
to a slice of fish (cooked or uncooked) that is pressed by hand onto a serving of
rice. Popular choices include ama ebi (raw shrimp), shime saba (marinated
mackerel), and maguro (tuna). In addition to the vinegar flavor in the rice, nigiri
zushi typically contains a taste of horseradish (wasabi), and is served with soy
sauce for dipping. Maki zushi contains strips of fish or vegetables rolled in rice
and wrapped in thin sheets of nori, or dried seaweed. Popular ingredients
include smoked salmon, fresh crab, shrimp, octopus, raw clams, and sea urchin.
Americans have invented many of their own maki zushi combinations, including
the California roll, which contains imitation crabmeat and avocado. They have also
made innovations in the construction of maki zushi. Some American sushi bars
switch the placement of nori and rice, while others don’t use nori, and instead
roll the maki zushi in fish roe. These colorful, crunchy eggs add to the visual and
taste appeal of the dish.

18. According to the passage, what other food also gained popularity in the
1970s?
a. salads
b. pepperoni pizza
c. fried chicken
d. fast-food burgers
e. fried rice

19. What was Yohei Hanaya’s contribution to

sushi?
a. He pressed the fish and rice together in a box.
b. He introduced the population of Edo to the dish.
c. He smoked the fish before putting it on vinegared rice.
d. He used wasabi to flavor it.
e. He used raw fish.

20. According to the passage, what does shime mean?

a. salmon
b. shrimp
c. marinated
d. roe
e. seaweed
21. All of the following can be explicitly answered by reading thepassage EXCEPT
a. What is the definition of the word sushi?
b. Did Japan’s economic status have a bearing on sushi’s popularity?
c. Have Americans adapted sushi to make it more in keeping withtheir tastes?
d. Why do some Americans prefer maki zushi over nigiri zushi?
e. What happens to fish when it is layered together with rice
andleft for a period of months?

22. The passage describes Americans’ sushi consumption as

a. more than it was five years ago.
b. important when watching baseball.
c. taking place primarily in their homes.
d. a trend due to supermarket marketing.
e. beginning for many in college.

23. In paragraph 1, unpalatable most nearly means

a. not visually appealing.
b. not good tasting.
c. bad smelling.
d. too expensive.
e. rough to the touch.

24. What happens when fish is pickled (paragraph 3)?

a. It becomes crisp.
b. It turns green.
c. It dissolves into the rice.
d. It is preserved.
e. It gets dry.

25. What would be the best name for maki zushi that has theplacement of
the rice and nori switched?
a. rice ball
b. maki maki
c. zushi deluxe
d. inside-out
e. wasabi sashimi

The end