Questions 1-10

One of the most important social developments that helped to make possible a shift in thinking about the
role of public education was the effect of the baby boom of the 1950's and 1960's on the schools. In the
1920's, but especially in the Depression conditions of the 1930's, the United States experienced a declining
birth rate-every thousand women aged fifteen to forty -four gave birth to about 118 live children in 1920,
89.2 in 1930, 75.8 in 1936, and 80 in 1940. With the growing prosperity brought on by the Second World
War and the economic boom that followed it, young people married and established households earlier and
began to raise larger families than had their predecessors during the Depression. Birth rates rose to 102 per
thousand in 1946. 106.2 in 1950 and 118 in 1955. Although economics was probably the most important
determinant, it is not the only explanation for the baby boom. The increased value placed on the idea of the
family also helps to explain this rise in birth rates. The baby boomers began streaming into the first grade
by the mid-1940's and became a flood by 1950. The public school system suddenly found itself overtaxed.
While the number of schoolchildren rose because of wartime and postwar conditions, these same
conditions made the schools even less prepared to cope with the flood. The wartime economy meant that
few new schools were built between 1940 and 1945. Moreover, during the war and in the boom times that
followed large numbers of teachers left their profession for better -paying jobs elsewhere in the economy.
Therefore, in the 1950's and 1960's, the baby boom hit an antiquated and inadequate school system.
Consequently, the "custodial rhetoric" of the 1930's and early 1940's no longer made sense; that is, keeping
youths aged sixteen and older out of the labor market by keeping them in school could no longer be a high
priority for an institution unable to find space and staff to teach younger children aged five to sixteen. With
the baby boom, the focus of educators and of laymen interested in education inevitably turned toward the
lower grades and back to basic academic skills and discipline. The system no longer had much interest in
offering nontraditional new and extra services to older youths.

1. what dose the passage mainly discuss?

(A) the teaching profession during the baby boom
(B) birth rates in United States in the 1930's and 1940's
(C) the impact of the baby boom on public education
(D) the role of the family in the 1950's and 1960's

2. The word "it" n line 11 refuse to

(A) 1995
(B) economics
(C) the baby boom
(D) value

3. The word "overtaxed" in the 14 is closest in meaning to

(A) well prepared
(B) plentifully supplied
(C) heavily burdened
(D) charged too much

4. The public schools of the 1950's and 1960's faced all of the following problems EXCEPT
(A) a declining number of students
(B) old-fashioned facilities
(C) a shortage of teachers
(D) an inadequate number of school buildings

5. According to the passage, why did teachers leave the teaching profession after the outbreak of the
war?
(A) They needed to be retrained.
(B) They were dissatisfied with the curriculum.
(C) Other jobs provided higher salaries.
(D) Teaching positions were scarce.
6. The word "inadequate" in line 20 is closest in meaning to
(A) deficient
(B) expanded
(C) innovative
(D) specialized

7. The "custodial rhetoric" mentioned in line 21 refers to

(A) raising a family
(B) keeping older individuals in school
(C) running an orderly household
(D) maintaining discipline in the classroom

8. The word "inevitably" in line 25 is closest in meaning to

(A) unwillingly
(B) impartially
(C) irrationally
(D) unavoidably

9. Where in the passage does the author refer to the attitude of Americans toward raising a family in the
1950's and 1960's?
(A) Lines 1-3
(B) Lines 11-12
(C) Lines 20-21
(D) Lines 24-26

10. Which of the following best characterizes the organization of the passage?
(A) The second paragraph presents the effect of circumstances described in the first paragraph.
(B) The second paragraph provides a fictional account to illustrate a problem presented in the first
paragraph.
(C) The second paragraph argues against a point made in the first paragraph.
(D) The second paragraph introduces a problem not mentioned in the first paragraph.
Questions 11-20
Nineteenth-century writers in the United States, whether they wrote novels, short stories, poems or plays
were powerfully drawn to the railroad in its golden years. In fact, writers responded to the railroads as soon
as the first were built in the 1830's. By the 1850's, the railroad was a major presence in the life of the
nation. Writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau saw the railroad both as a boon to
democracy and as an object of suspicion. The railroad could be and was a despoiler of nature furthermore,
in its manifestation of speed and noise, it might be a despoiler of human nature as well. By the 1850's and
1860's, there was a great distrust among writer and intellectuals of the rapid industrialization of which the
railroad was a leading force. Deeply philosophical historians such as Henry Adams lamented the role that
the new frenzy for business was playing in eroding traditional values. A distrust of industry and business
continued among writers throughout the rest of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth.
For the most part, the literature in which the railroad plays an important role belongs to popular culture
rather than to the realm of serious art. One thinks of melodramas, boy's books, thrillers, romances and the
like rather than novels of the first rank. In the railroads' prime years, between 1890 and 1920, there were a
few individuals in the United States, most of them with solid railroading experience behind them, who
made a profession of writing about railroading - works offering the ambience of stations yards and
locomotive cabs. These writers who can genuinely be said to have created a genre, the "railroad novel" are
now mostly forgotten, their names having faded from memory. But anyone who takes the time to consult
their fertile writings will still find a treasure trove of information about the place of the railroad in the life
of the United States.
11. With which of the following topics is the passage mainly concerned?
(A) The role of the railroad in the economy of the United States
(B) Major nineteenth - century writers
(C) The conflict between expanding industry and preserving nature
(D) The railroad as a subject for literature.

12. The word "it" in line 7 refers to

(A) railroad
(B) manifestation
(C) speed
(D) nature

13. In the first paragraph, the author implies that writers reactions to the development of railroads were
(A) highly enthusiastic
(B) both positive and negative
(C) unchanging
(D) disinterested

14. The word "lamented" in line 10 is closest in meaning to

(A) complained about
(B) analyzed
(C) explained
(D) reflected on

15. According to the passage, the railroad played a significant role in literature in all of the following
kinds of books EXCEPT
(A) thrillers
(B) boys' books
(C) important novels
(D) romances

16. The phrase "first rank" in line 16 is closest in meaning to

(A) largest category
(B) highest quality
(C) earliest writers
(D) most difficult language
17. The word "them" in line 18 refers to
(A) novels
(B) years
(C) individuals
(D) works

18. The author mentions all of the following as being true about the literature of railroads EXCEPT that
(A) many of its writers had experience working on railroads
(B) many of the books were set in railroad stations and yards
(C) the books were well known during the railroads' prime years
(D) quite a few of the books are still popular today

19. The words "faded from" in line 21 are closest in meaning to

(A) grew in
(B) disappeared from
(C) remained in
(D) developed from

20. What is the author's attitude toward the "railroad novels" and other books about railroads written
between 1890 and 1920?
(A) They have as much literary importance as the books written by Emerson. Thoreau and Adams.
(B) They are good examples of the effects industry and business had on the literature of the United
States.
(C) They contributed to the weakening of traditional values.
(D) They are worth reading as sources of knowledge about the impact of railroads on life in the
United States