R Practice Test 3

Read the following message.

Canada is surrounded on three sides by oceans. To the north, the Arctic Ocean borders Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. Off the west coast of British Columbia is the Pacific Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean, meanwhile, sits to the east of Canada's Maritime provinces, which include Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island.

Using the drop-down menu (  ), choose the best option according to the information given in the message.

1. Which province is on the Pacific Ocean? 

Read the following message.

Dear Grandpa,

Thank you so much! I was surprised and delighted to receive your parcel and open your thoughtful present. A two-person camping tent is just what I needed. I've used it already; my friend Ryan and I spent a week camping in the Kootenay region of BC. We just got back. I was going to use our old family tent, but it's not only too big, it is also getting pretty worn out, so your gift was perfect.

We planned on camping at various locations in the Kootenay region, but we ended up staying at our first campsite for the whole trip. The campground, located on the east side of Arrow Lake, was called McDonald Creek Provincial Park. We were looking forward to the white sand beach, but when we arrived, the park ranger informed us that all the recent rainfall had caused the lake to flood a couple metres higher than normal. The beach was completely submerged. We still had a great time, though, hiking in the beautiful wilderness.

We drove a different route to get home so we could pass through the city of Nelson. It looks different from the last time I was there, but that’s not too surprising; I was there just a couple times as a kid. Last time we were there, Dad showed me the house where he had been born, and also your old clothing store. I drove around and I couldn’t find your old house, Grandpa; however, I did find your old store! It’s a cafe now, but they kept your old shop sign as a decoration in the cafe. I got pretty emotional when I saw it. I felt really proud of our family history.

Now I'm back in Calgary, but the trip to Nelson made me realize how much I miss you. So, I was thinking that maybe I should fly over to visit you. I have 2 weeks before college starts, so I could come for a week or so. I have enough money saved up from my summer job to pay for the ticket to Montreal. How does that sound? Perhaps the two of us can go camping like in the old days. We haven’t done that since you moved east. I’ll bring the new tent!

Love, Greg

Using the drop-down menu (  ), choose the best option according to the information given in the message.

Greg,

It goes without saying that I’d love to 7. _________________ Now with my old bones, I’m not so sure that 8. _________________ but even if it’s not, I think we should do it anyway. After all, we have to put the tent to good use! You just email me your travel plans. Also, there’s no need to 9. _________________I can take care of that, you should keep your savings for tuition.

Well, I can’t say I’ve been to Nelson since I sold my business there many years ago. Did you take any photos of
10. _________________If you did, I’d love to see them. I’m sorry you 11. _________________

I don’t even know if it’s still standing. If it is, it would be a hundred years old.

Anyway, email me as soon as you book the flight over here.

Grandpa

Read the following email message about the diagram on the left. Complete the email by filling in the blanks. Select the best choice for each blank from the drop-down menu (  ).

Subject: Kids Activities
To: Mary S
From: Sandy Rockton

Hi Mary,

It was a pleasure meeting you and the kids at the park on Sunday. I hope you’re settling into our neighborhood.
You said you were looking for 1. _____________ I saw a few possibilities in the latest Burnaby Parks and Recreation brochure. I remember you saying that Alex is contemplative 2.  _____________ seems a great choice for thinkers like Alex. He will get to think hard and learn some additional math skills. You said Melissa is quite scared of math, in which case you could check out 3.  _____________ They may help her feel better about her schoolwork.

Speaking of Melissa, she may want to join my daughter Cindy in the young teens’ soccer league. This is quite a commitment as there is 4.  _____________ If that’s a problem, she could try karate. I’m not sure about the class times 5.  _____________ 

You’ll have to call and ask.

Cheers,
Sandy

.

Read the following passage.

1. The first record of chewing gum dates back to Finland about 5,000 years ago. Neolithic-period chewing gum was made of bark tar and was widely utilized for its antiseptic and medicinal properties. In America, chewing gum was first introduced to settlers by the American Indians who chewed resin made from the sap of spruce trees. After World War II chewing gum was made of a latex sap substance called chicle, which has been steadily engineered and replaced by synthetic rubbers and artificial sweeteners that allow for greater flavouring, colouring, and texture. Modern chewing gum hardly resembles its predecessors in appearance and flavour. It has also gained unprecedented popularity, becoming a 20-billion-dollar industry in North America.
   
   Over the past decades, the bad reputation chewing gum earned for causing cavities and gum disease has also begun to dwindle. With the advent of sugarless chewing gum, most dentists today deem chewing gum in moderation to be harmless, or even potentially beneficial to oral hygiene. In addition, functional chewing gum, a special category of gum that imparts a practical function in addition to, or as a replacement for, the usual enjoyment provided by a confectionery gum, has become increasingly prescribed by dentists and doctors alike. Conditions such as bad breath and tobacco addictions are now commonly treated with functional gum. Surgeons also prescribe functional chewing gum for patients recovering from gastrointestinal surgeries.
   
   C. Recent research suggests the benefits of gum may not be limited to medicated gum. Chewing regular gum has been found to boost cognitive performance in many ways including improved reaction time, motor control, and alertness. These effects have been found to come at an expense, however. Although as many as eight areas of the brain are activated by the simple act of chewing gum, the cognitive gains of mastication-induced arousal can only be sustained for a short period. Moreover, chewing gum was observed to interfere with verbal-fluency and short-memory tasks.
   
   D. Oral health researchers posit the short-lived cognitive gains of chewing gum pale in comparison to their potentially hazardous health effects. They claim the innocuousness of sugarless gum is a myth, expounding that sugar substitutes such as aspartame have been increasingly linked to different types of cancer and autoimmune diseases. They also point to possible chronic irreversible conditions that may ensue from excessive gum chewing such as headaches, tightness in jaw muscles and nerves, metabolic imbalances, and irregularities in mastication that range from tooth decay to bone loss.
   
   E. Not given in any of the above paragraphs.

Decide which paragraph, A to D, has the information given in each statement below. Select E if the information is not given in any of the paragraphs.

Read the following article from a website.

Stephanie Lee is a science teacher at Ryerson Secondary who believes that real science should encourage critical thinking, even if it means challenging what's written in the textbook. Part of the curriculum involves learning about climate change, and Lee was dismayed to find the textbook material to be "little more than propaganda, which claims that global warming is chiefly a human-caused phenomenon."

Lee argues that education is supposed to teach students how to see objectively, yet textbooks often monopolize certain viewpoints and push them as the only truth. In the case of climate change, Lee was appalled to find that no alternative theories were presented. "The absence of other perspectives seems to indicate that the topic of global warming has been made into a sort of doctrine which seeks to diminish the credibility of other points of view," Lee says. Lee taught her students additional perspectives. Not only did she teach the theory of anthropogenic global warming, that is, that global warming is caused by human consumption of fossil fuels and the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but also taught that throughout history, the earth's temperature has naturally risen and fallen.

Other science teachers at Lee's school have raised concerns that Lee's approach is only confusing students. Carol Harvey argues that the greenhouse gas effect and subsequent global warming is not a controversy in the scientific community. It has been proven that humans have increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by roughly 30% in the last 100 years. "Our textbooks are up to date, and Lee is only prompting students to dismiss valuable textbook information," Harvey says.

Lee disagrees, asserting that science should not shy away from evaluating multiple perspectives. "Carbon dioxide changes have not been proven to be the primary cause of global warming," Lee says. "In fact, research indicates the reverse might be happening: global warming might be causing changes in carbon dioxide levels. Either way, my job is to help students to analyze both theories, not simply accept the one presented in the textbook."

Using the drop-down menu (  ), choose the best option according to the information given on the website.

Lee is right that schools 6. ____________ The trouble is how we decide which points of view we teach and who decides. On the one hand, as Lee notes, 7. ____________ On the other hand, are teachers any better at presenting an unbiased perspective? 8. ____________ upon which Lee seems to focus is very complex. The scientists themselves have yet to make up their minds and yet Lee believes that science teachers are qualified to 9. ____________

This is a complicated problem. In the end, however, I tend to side with Lee. Teachers 10. ____________ on a topic and allow students to draw their own conclusions.

M. Ladner