Universidad Tecnologica Oteima

English Department
Subject: English for Specific Purposes I
Midterm Test
2022-1

Student’s name: ______________________________ ID Number: _________________

Total Points: ____80 points___ Score: _____________ Grade: _____________

Date: Saturday, February 5th, 2022.

Deadline: Friday, February 11th, 2022.

First part. Skimming and Scanning

A. Skim the review of Typical American, a novel by Gish Jen. Read the questions and then skim
the review for the answers. 7 points.
1. Is it a good book for an 11-year-old girl? Why or why not?
2. Does it seem like a good book for vacation reading?
3. Is this a good book to read if you are interested in romance? Why or why not?
4. Did the reviewer think this was a good book? How can you tell?
 B. The questions in this practice set are all factual; they can be answered by merely scanning the
passage below looking for clue-words from the questions. 4 points

"Moby Dick" was published in 1851 by Richard Bentley of London. Written by Herman Melville, this
novel tells the story of a perilous journey of a whaling ship. The crew and its growingly obsessed Captain
Ahab embark on an epic expedition to capture Moby Dick, a large, white, sperm whale. Initially, the
book received mostly negative reviews from critics, but today it is hailed as one of the finest novels in
American literature. The book has become a fixed staple in many public schools across the United
States. Although many Americans are familiar with the literary story of Moby Dick, it is less commonly
known that Herman Melville based his story around the Essex and Mocha Dick.

The Essex, a Nantucket whaling ship, was attacked in 1820 by a sperm whale weighing 80 tons. The giant
sea mammal, dubbed Mocha Dick, hit and sank the Essex 2,000 miles (2,700 km) off the western coast of
South America. The event was recorded by Owen Chase, the ship’s first-mate, in the "Narrative of the
Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex".

Mocha Dick was a large albino sperm whale that became famous for aggressively ramming into ships
without warning or provocation. With its back full of protruding harpoons, souvenirs of prior battles
with whaling ships, the creature finally met its demise in the 1830’s. The story of Mocha Dick's nature
gained notoriety in an account given in "Knickerbocker Magazine" by Jeremiah N. Reynolds, an American
newspaper editor and advocate of scientific exploration. (KRIS)

1. According to the passage, Owen Chase was

 the captain of a whaling ship.

 Herman Melville's harshest critic.
 the first mate of the Pequod.
 the first mate of a whaling ship.
 the captain of the Essex.

2. The passage mentions all of the following as characteristics of Mocha Dick EXCEPT

•  it was giant.
•  it was a sea mammal.
•  it weighed 80 tons.
•  it was obsessed.
•  it was a sperm whale.

3. According to the author, it is significant that Mocha Dick's back was full of protruding harpoons
because
•  the pain of the harpoons made the whale aggressive.
•  Jeremiah N. Reynolds was an American newspaper editor.
 • 
• 
• 

4. "Moby Dick" was first published by

•  Herman Melville.
•  London.
•  Richard Benchley.
•  1851.
 Richard Bentley.

C. Scan the article for the answers to the questions below. 8 points

1. In what year were the population statistics calculated?

2. Who was the governor of Hawaii at the time of this article?

3. How did D.H. Hwang describe Hawaii at the time of this article?

4. Which group in Hawaii is the largest?

5. What is the combined total of mixed and pure Hawaiians?

6. How many Chinese residents are listed?

7. What is the percentage of Samoans?

8. Does any ethnic group have a majority?

Second Part. Making Inferences

Read the passage below from “The Day Mr. Prescott Died,” a story by Sylvia Plath. Try to infer the
answers to the questions below. 8 points

1. Who are the main characters in this story?

 2. Where are they?
3. What happened before this passage in the story?
4. What do you think will happen next?

In each of these paragraphs, some is talking about their job. Infer what the job is. Then underline the
words or phrases that helped you guess. 4 points

1. “The minute you climb in, you start feeling excited. There’s nothing so exciting for me, not even a jet
plane. You get in and start up and off you go. And then you’ve got to pay attention every minute.
There’s always someone doing something crazy who’s likely to end up under wheels. I sometimes
think it’s a miracle if I can get all the way there with no accidents. You’ve always got to be thinking
ahead. There’s a lot of people in this hob who have stomach problems from the tension. They lose
their hearing too, because of the noise. You’ve got to be tough on this job, you know.”

Job: _____________________________

2. The most important thing is to understand people. You’ve got to know what they’re thinking. If you
can figure that out you can get them to do anything. They come in with an idea about what they
want. You get them talking about themselves, about what they like. If it’s a man, you talk about
baseball, or something like that. If it’s a woman, you ask her about fashions, that way they get
comfortable with you. You ask them a lot of questions and get them saying yes. Then they just get
into the habit of saying yes. In the end you can put them into anything you want, if you’re really
good. They need a little car for the city; you send them home with a truck. Of course, I wouldn’t
really do that. It wouldn’t be right. You’ve got to sell on this job, but you also to be fair. It’s not fair
to take advantage of people too much. There are some people in this business who’d do anything.
But I don’t believe in that.”
Job: _______________
 After reading each of the following paragraphs, select the choice that best represents the topic of
the paragraph. 6 points
1. A century ago politicians used to say, “Vote early and often.” Cases such as West Virginia’s
159,000 votes being cast by 147,000 eligible voters in 1888 were not that unusual. Largely to
prevent corruption associated with stuffing ballot boxes, states adopted voter registration laws
around the turn of the century, which require individuals to first place their name on an
electoral roll in order to be allowed to vote. Although these laws have made it more difficult to
vote more than once, they have also discouraged some people from voting at all. Voter
registration requirements in the United States are, in part, to blame for why Americans are
significantly less likely to go to the polls than citizens of other democratic nations.
—Edwards et al., Government in America, p. 313
a. voter turnout
b. voter registration
c. voter eligibility
d. voter fraud

2. Compared with the technical resources of a theater of today, those of a London public theater in
the time of Queen Elizabeth I seem hopelessly limited. Plays had to be performed by daylight,
and scenery had to be kept simple: a table, a chair, a throne, perhaps an artificial tree or two to
suggest a forest. But these limitations were, in a sense, advantages. What the theater of today
can spell out for us realistically, with massive scenery and electric lighting, Elizabethan playgoers
had to imagine and the playwright had to make vivid for them by means of language. Not having
a lighting technician to work a panel, Shakespeare had to indicate the dawn by having Horatio,
in Hamlet, say in a speech rich in metaphor and descriptive detail:
But look, the morn in russet mantle clad
Walks o’er the dew of yon high eastward hill.
—Kennedy and Gioia, Literature, p. 1243

a. impact of technological limitations on Elizabethan theater

b. benefits of modern technology in theater performances
c. effects of Shakespeare’s writing style
d. the use of language to make ideas vivid

Specify the topic that is being discussed.

 ■ “The continued flow of immigrants into the United States has created a rich, diverse society that has
been beneficial to the country.”

■ “The presence of guest workers from South America in states like Arizona and California has a
positive effect on the U.S. economy.”

■ “Because the country is suffering from high unemployment, we must reduce the number of people
who come here looking for jobs.”

Topic: ___________________________________________

Directions: Read the following paragraphs and compose a one-sentence main idea for each. 9 points

Main Idea Paragraph 1: Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne is a name associated with many different styles of writing that have intrigued
the reader well past the 19th century. Born in the infamous city of Salem, Massachusetts on
Independence day in 1804, he grew up with many obstacles that influenced his writing and led him to
adopt various patterns instead of relying on one sole medium to convey his thoughts. He was a
novelist, a master of the short story, and a poetic essayist. One facet, though, that tied his works
together, was his brilliant use of the concepts of both the Enlightenment and Romanticism.
Hawthorne combined and intertwined those concepts to project themes in his various short stories
and novels, of which he was a master.

What's the main idea? _______________________________________

Main Idea Paragraph 2: Internet Regulation

Because the Internet exists in a world that is already regulated with policies and laws, government
officials, upholders of current laws, should be the people responsible for the regulation of the
Internet. With this responsibility comes the enormous task of managing the protection of First
Amendment rights, and honoring social and public interests across the world. That being said, the
ultimate responsibility still rests in the hands of Internet users who vote – they, along with the
officials elected to serve them, make up the global community. Voters have the ability to elect
responsible individuals to the appropriate posts, and the elected officials have the responsibility to act
on the will of the people.

What's the main idea? ________________________________________________

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