TOEFL - Reading

SOAL READING

There are two kinds of evidence which can explain how some of Charles Darwin’s opinions were formed and promulgate. The first is an essay on population growth by Thomas Malthus and the order is the theory and practice of selective breeding.

Thomas Malthus wrote that the human population war growming faster than food supply needed to feed it. This started Darwin’s thinking about all forms of life. He realized that in nature too many organism are being producedn and that many of their affspring did not survive. He concluded that there must be some kind of struggle between the organism to survive. Only some organism can survive by winning the competition for food, avoiding predators and by finding shelter.

Selective breeding showed Darwin that plants and animals could be created by the selection parents which have the best possibilities for survival. Breeders and growers selected parents with the most suitable size, color and number of seeds or offspring. This was artificial selection, and it led Darwin to belive that there was a similar force in nature, but a natural selection.

Darwin drew up his theory of evolution by natural selection over a period of many years, and the final outcome was his book entitled “The Origin of the Species, in which he stated that not only was evolution by natural selection but also that organism with variation suitable for the environment survive and eventually an organism population as a whole will become better suited for its environment.

1.       Which of the following would be the best title for the passage ?

a.       Survival of the fittest

b.      Charles Darwin’s Opinions

c.       Thomas Malthus’s Theory

d.      Darwin’s Theories the Evidence

Answer  :   D

2.       The world “promulgated” in line 2 is closest in meaning to

a.       Disseminated

b.      Concurred with

c.       Banned

d.      Opposed

Answer  :   A

3.       The word “it” in line6 refers to

a.       The food supply

b.      The human population

c.       All forms of life

d.      Selective breeding

Answer  :   B

4.       Darwin concluded from Malthus’s theory that

a.       There was not enough food for all the people in the world

b.      Only those who won the fight for food survived

c.       Organism survived if they struggle

d.      Organism survived by becoming predators

Answer  :   B

5.       The word “predators” in line 11 is closest in meaning to which of the following?

a.       Diseases

b.      Humans

c.       Hunters

d.      Floods

Answer  :   C

6.       Selective breeding means that

a.       Organism with the most desirable characteristicswere chosen for breeding

b.      Parents were selected for breeding according to the organism

c.       Organism with less desirable feature were bred with those with better ones

d.      New species af animal and plants were created

Answer  :   A

7.       The word “growers” in line 15 refers to

a.       Food

b.      Animal

c.       Organism

d.      Plants

Answer  :   D

8.       Artificial selection is used by

a.       Parents

b.      Nature

c.       People who raise animal

d.      Most plants

Answer  :   C

9.       Darwin’sfinal conclusion as stated in this book was

a.       That we whole population will eventually survive

b.      That whole groups of plants and animals will adapt better to their environment

c.       That the environment will eventually change to suit organism better

d.      Evolution was not only by natural selection but also by artifical selection

Answer  :   B

10.   The author’s attitude in this passage appears to be

a.       Critical

b.      Obsequious

c.       Doubting

d.      Matter-of-fact

Answer :   A