Toefl test 3 - FYPacademy

1. 1. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in paragraph 1 as a change that occurred in
the fauna of the Mediterranean?

Most invertebrate species disappeared during a wave of extinctions.

A few hardy species wiped out many of the Mediterranean’s invertebrates.

Some invertebrates migrated to the Atlantic Ocean.

New species of fauna populated the Mediterranean when the old migrants returned.

2. 2. What does the author imply by saying “Not a single pebble was found that might have
indicated that the pebbles came from the nearby continent”?

The most obvious explanation for the origin of the pebbles was not supported by the
evidence.

The geologists did not find as many pebbles as they expected.

The geologists were looking for a particular kind of pebble.

The different pebbles could not have come from only one source.

3. 3. Select the TWO answer choices from paragraph 3 that identify materials discovered in
the deepest part of the Mediterranean basin. To receive credit, you must select TWO
answers.

Volcanic rock fragments

Thin silt layers

Soft, deep-sea mud

Crystalline salt

4. 4. What is the main purpose of paragraph 3 ?

To describe the physical evidence collected by Hsu and Ryan

To explain why some of the questions posed earlier in the passage could not be answered
by the findings of the Glomar Challenger

To evaluate techniques used by Hsu and Ryan to explore the sea floor

To describe the most difficult problems faced by the Glomar Challenger expedition

5. 5. According to paragraph 4, which of the following was responsible for the evaporation of
the Mediterranean’s waters?

The movements of Earth’s crust

The accumulation of sediment layers

Changes in the water level of the Atlantic Ocean

Changes in Earth’s temperature

6. 6. The word “scores” in the passage is closest in meaning to

members

large numbers

populations

different types

7. 7. According to paragraph 4, what caused most invertebrate species in the Mediterranean
to become extinct?

The evaporation of chemicals necessary for their survival

Crustal movements that connected the Mediterranean to the saltier Atlantic

The migration of new species through the narrow straits

Their inability to tolerate the increasing salt content of the Mediterranean

8. 8. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted
sentence in paragraph 4? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or
leave out essential information.

The Strait of Gibraltar reopened when the Mediterranean and the Atlantic became
connected and the cascades of water from one sea to the other caused crustal adjustments
and faulting.

The Mediterranean was dramatically refilled by water from the Atlantic when crustal
adjustments and faulting opened the Strait of Gibraltar, the place where the two seas are
joined.

The cascades of water from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean were not as spectacular as
the crustal adjustments and faulting that occurred when the Strait of Gibraltar was
connected to those seas.

As a result of crustal adjustments and faulting and the creation of the Strait of Gibraltar,
the Atlantic and Mediterranean were connected and became a single sea with spectacular
cascades of water between them.

9. 9. In paragraph 2 of the passage, there is a missing sentence. The paragraph is repeated
below and shows four letters (A, B, C, and D) that indicate where the following sentence
could be added.

Thus, scientists had information about the shape of the domes but not about their
chemical composition and origin.

Where would the sentence best fit?

(A) Another task for the Glomar Challenger’s scientists was to try to determine the origin of
the domelike masses buried deep beneath the Mediterranean seafloor. (B) These structures
had been detected years earlier by echo-sounding instruments, but they had never been
penetrated in the course of drilling. (C) Were they salt domes such as are common along the
United States Gulf Coast, and if so, why should there have been so much solid crystalline salt
beneath the floor of the Mediterranean? (D)

Option A

Option B

Option C

Option D

10. 10. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided
below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the
most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary
because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in
the passage. This question is worth 2 points.

Write your answer choices in the spaces where they belong. You can either write the letter of
your answer choice or you can copy the sentence.

The Glomar Challenger expedition investigated changes in invertebrate fauna and some
unusual geologic features.

Researchers collected fossils to determine which new species migrated from the Atlantic
with older species.

Scientists aboard the Glomar Challenger were the first to discover the existence of
domelike masses underneath the seafloor.

Samples recovered from the expedition revealed important differences in chemical
composition and fossil distribution among the sediment layers.

Evidence collected by the Glomar Challenger supports geologists’ beliefs that the
Mediterranean had evaporated and become a desert, before it refilled with water.

Mediterranean salt domes formed after crustal movements opened the straits between the
Mediterranean and the Atlantic, and the Mediterranean refilled with water.

Question 1 of 10