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Dorothy Height was a pioneering voice of the civil rights movement. Her activism spanned from the 1930s to 2010. Height was born in 1912 in Richmond, Virginia, but was raised mostly in Pennsylvania. At that time, African Americans had few rights, and women were not allowed to vote until 1920. Few African-American women went to college, but Height was an outstanding student and was determined to further her education. She was accepted to Barnard College in New York but was turned away because the school already had reached its limit of two black women. She moved on and earned two degrees from New York University instead.
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Height was _________.
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A hostile
B ambitious
C considerate
D imaginative
B ambitious
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Scientists studied the 3,300-year-old mummy of King Tut, conducting DNA testing and CT scans. DNA tests were also performed on 15 other mummies, some of which belonged to relatives of the young king. Results confirmed that he was not a healthy man. Scientists found that the ruler suffered from a painful illness called Kohler disease. As a result, a severe lack of blood flow slowly damaged the bones of his left foot. These findings explain the 130 walking sticks and canes that were discovered in Tut's tomb.
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King Tut was _________.
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A subdued
B disabled
C combative
D slain
B disabled
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For over 150 years, a carving of the face of Pharaoh Ramses VI sat in the British Museum. That carving, however, was originally part of Ramses's sarcophagus—a stone coffin with a carving of his image. Ramses VI ruled Egypt over 3,000 years ago. He was one of the last pharaohs of the Egyptian Empire. His time was marked by the empire's decline because of drought, civil unrest, and the corruption of officials. Ramses' tomb was robbed within 100 years of his death. During the theft, his sarcophagus was broken into pieces. In 1823, the face of that coffin arrived at the British Museum, where it remained for many decades. Egypt began rebuilding the coffin, and it wanted the museum to return that important piece.
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The carving has _________ significance.
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A cultural
B scientific
C economic
D artistic
A cultural
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Coatis are raccoon-like mammals native to South and Central America. Many people find them cute, and tourists have made a habit of offering the coatis food. Coatis realize that it is easier to seek out tourists than to search the forest for bugs. Like humans, they prefer junk food to what they should be eating. For their part, tourists do little to discourage the animals. After all, a coati drinking soda makes for a great vacation photo. Scientists, however, say that coatis and humans do best when they stay away from each other.
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Coatis and tourists _________.
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A negotiate
B interact
C persist
D respond
B interact
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Activists say that the Brazilian government is not doing enough to stop the destruction of the Amazon rain forest. In 2004, the government reported the second-highest rate of destruction ever. Brazil's government estimates that farmers cut down 10,590 square miles (27,430 square kilometers) of rain forest. That is an area larger than Vermont, and it shows an increase from the deforestation of the previous year. In fact, the 2004 figure is nearly that of 1995, in which the Amazon lost a record 11,229 square miles (29,080 square kilometers) of trees. The activists are demanding that officials take the problem more seriously.
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The rain forest destruction seems to be _________.
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A tiresome
B relentless
C limited
D favorable
B relentless
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Scientists want to study Jupiter because the planet may hold clues about the formation of the solar system. According to Scott Bolton, an astrophysicist at the Southwest Research Institute in Texas, Jupiter is like a time capsule. Many astronomers theorize that Jupiter was the first planet in the solar system to form. They believe that Jupiter got most of the mass that remained after the sun's creation, and its enormous gravity field has enabled it to hold on to that original material. Astronomers also believe that this is why the planet is so immense. Jupiter is so big that it could contain everything in the solar system, minus the sun.
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Scientists believe Jupiter could be _________.
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A informative
B reactive
C polluted
D lusterless
A informative
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The age of discovery is nowhere near ending when it comes to space exploration. In 2003, scientists discovered an object about three times farther away from Earth than Pluto is. The new discovery is called Sedna, named for an Inuit goddess who created Arctic sea creatures. Scientists say that the name is fitting. Sedna's temperature is a bone-chilling 400 degrees F (240 degress C) below zero.
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Sedna is _________.
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A explosive
B atomic
C distant
D grisly
C distant
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Is it possible to make up for missed sleep on the weekends? Dr. Daniel Cohen investigated this prevalent belief by disrupting the circadian rhythms of a group of volunteers. Participants remained conscious for 33-hour stretches—equivalent to staying awake all night—and then slept for 10 hours. While the volunteers were awake, Cohen periodically tested their mental and motor skills. The sleep-deprived volunteers scored fairly well soon after waking, but as the hours wore on, the participants' ability to think clearly, as well as their reaction times, steadily worsened. The study implies that the chronically sleep-deprived may function normally for a short time but inevitably slow down, even if they attempt to catch up on their sleep.
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The volunteers' performance eventually _________.
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A stabilized
B intensified
C deteriorated
D accelerated
C deteriorated
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Constructed in sections over several centuries beginning in the third century BCE, the Great Wall is the most famous monument in China. The oldest sections of the wall are believed to have crumbled away completely. Modern mapping technologies have revealed parts of the wall that had been absorbed by the landscape. Hills and rivers had hidden sections of the wall over the years. Today, many other elements also threaten the structure. Sandstorms nibble away at some portions of the Great Wall. Tourists also do damage, as some sections draw hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. People's shoes wear down the stone, and many bricks have been carved with people's names.
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Human activity is _________ the Great Wall.
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A eroding
B sustaining
C infecting
D promoting
A eroding
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In 1717, Blackbeard and his men took over a French ship and named it Queen Anne's Revenge, after the Queen of England. The English Navy then considered Blackbeard and his crew wanted criminals. The next year, the ship ran aground near the North Carolina coast. The pirates went into hiding. Later, Blackbeard was found and put to death for his crimes. In 1996, researchers found the wreckage of Queen Anne's Revenge. Items from the ship are now on display in a North Carolina museum.
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Blackbeard _________ the ship.
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A unveiled
B recommended
C defended
D seized
D seized
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A painting called "Still Life with Carnations" was left to the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1990. The artwork was attributed to celebrated nineteenth-century Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, but scholars and art experts were suspicious. They questioned the authenticity of the work because it was unsigned. To this day, the question of whether it is a Van Gogh remains unanswered. Museum officials examined the painting under a microscope, looking closely at the brushstrokes and the use of color. They cross-examined their findings with their knowledge about genuine Van Gogh paintings. However, they came to no definite conclusion.
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Experts debate whether the painting is _________.
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A tasteless
B scenic
C genuine
D accurate
C genuine
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Spanish is spoken by about 400 million people. It is spoken from Madrid to Manila to Mexico City. It may seem impossible to set rules of grammar for a language that is spoken so widely. However, a group of experts has attempted to do so. The Spanish Royal Academy has published its first collection of Spanish grammar rules in nearly 80 years. The book has nearly 4,000 pages. It addresses all of the variations in pronunciation, vocabulary, and sentence structure. It will replace the 1931 edition.
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The language is _________.
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A formal
B sincere
C repetitious
D complex
D complex
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It is no secret that the Internet is not always a safe place. Cyberspace often plays host to criminals trying to steal users' personal and financial information. A new study has found that even major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing are vulnerable to such Internet scams. To demonstrate this idea, researchers tested the search engines' ability to detect false information. First, they created a Web site claiming to belong to the Credit Union of Southern California, which is a real bank. The site was programmed to appear legitimate to search engines. The phony site got a No. 2 ranking on Yahoo's search engine. Even worse, it landed in the top slot on Bing.
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The site _________ search engines.
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A condemned
B revived
C reassured
D deceived
D deceived
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After the economic depression of the 1930s and World War II in the 1940s, a great demand for housing arose in the United States. The U.S. government helped resolve the situation by assisting with mortgages on nearly half of the houses built in the 1950s. This government guarantee encouraged more people to buy houses. It also eased the financial strain on home builders. Home builders could then buy large amounts of land and build "cookie-cutter" style houses. This trend of settling in mass-produced houses became known as "urban sprawl." More Americans moved away from the cities and to the suburbs. This, in turn, increased the number of people commuting to and from work.
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Homes became more _________.
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A attainable
B distinctive
C uncomfortable
D conservative
A attainable
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After Henry Hudson arrived at the island of Manhattan, Dutch settlers established a trading post there. In 1625, the settlers bought the land from Native Americans. They called the village New Amsterdam. Pieter Schaghen, a Dutch government representative, conducted the transaction. In a letter, he noted the island's name as "Manna Hatta." He paid 60 guilders worth of goods. Schaghen gave knives, pots, kettles, blankets, shells, and other trinkets as payment. This famous letter is in a Dutch museum today.
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The Dutch _________ with Native Americans.
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A celebrated
B migrated
C bartered
D perished
C bartered
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Blue whales may be returning to the oceans of Alaska and British Columbia. For much of the twentieth century, the species was endangered. By the 1930s, 99 percent of the blue whale's population had been killed. Whale hunting was banned in 1966. However, the species' comeback has been slow. Blue whales have rarely been seen in Alaskan waters. Some researchers believe that recent sightings prove the animals are re-establishing an old migration route. Other researchers remain unconvinced that the whales ever stopped traveling the waters. Blue whales once migrated in large numbers from Mexico and California to Alaska.
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The blue whale population is _________.
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A confused
B surrendering
C multiplying
D enclosed
C multiplying
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Fans of natural foods have crusaded for years to remove high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) from America's dinner tables, restaurants, and grocery stores. HFCS lurks in a wide range of food products, including most sodas and cereals. According to the latest food industry data, the campaign appears to be working. Between 2003 and 2008, use of HFCS dropped 11 percent in the United States. HFCS producers attributed the decline to a campaign arguing that the sweetener contributes to the rising rates of obesity in the United States. The sugars in HFCS, processed from corn starch, are easily broken down into simple sugars.
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People have become more _________ about eating HFCS.
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A sensitive
B compulsive
C imaginative
D deceptive
A sensitive
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A former lawyer, Erin Kenny elected to pursue a new career after reading a book called Last Child in the Woods. The author asserted that children benefit considerably from spending time in nature and that a modern lifestyle suffused with technology undermines their creativity and stunts their growth. This notion inspired Kenny to relinquish her old job and establish Cedarsong Forest School. She contends that preschool-age children should be encouraged to explore by themselves rather than passively receive instruction in mathematics or reading. Kenny and her assistant teacher leverage children's natural curiosity for instructional opportunities. In her school, the children, not the teachers, determine the agenda for each day.
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Kenny's school is _________.
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A unconventional
B resourceful
C disreputable
D overcrowded
A unconventional
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Between 1827 and 1838, John James Audubon embarked on an odyssey across America, illustrating indigenous birds with vibrant watercolors. People paid to receive a set of five life-size prints every month or two. Each delivery typically comprised one large, arresting bird—such as the hot-pink roseate spoonbill—along with four other species of more modest plumage. In sum, Audubon authored some 87 sets, totaling 435 unique illustrations. The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia had the remarkable collection bound into an enormous book now available for public viewing.
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The collection _________ the variety of the native population.
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A illuminates
B complements
C embellishes
D safeguards
A illuminates
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Dunta Robinson, a professional football player, played for the Houston Texans. During the first game of the 2009 football season, Robinson displayed a message written on his shoes. That message, which read "Pay Me Rick," had its origins in a contract dispute between Robinson and the team's general manager, Rick Smith. Robinson apologized for the escapade the following day. Despite Robinson's apology, the Texans fined him $25,000 for the stunt. Then, Robinson turned the negative experience into a positive one: He lobbied to have his money go toward the construction of a new YMCA facility. Today, the center benefits underprivileged children from some of Houston's poorest neighborhoods.
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The penalty _________ a benefit.
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A withdrew
B guaranteed
C postponed
D yielded
D yielded
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Each variety of crop seed possesses its own set of characteristics. Some varieties of apple seeds, for example, are more resistant to disease than others. Some yield fruit with higher nutritional value. Others are more adaptable to diverse climates. As time goes on, many seed varieties are lost. For example, at the turn of the century, the U.S. grew nearly 8,000 varieties of apples. Today, more than 95 percent of those varieties are no longer extant. This worries many experts, who have stressed that the world's variable conditions require us to store a large variety of seeds and that diversification may be necessary to support a rapidly growing world population.
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Experts warn against the _________ of seeds.
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A modernization
B hoarding
C uniformity
D alteration
C uniformity
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Grabbing a small object, such as an apple, may seem automatic and easy. But few people consider the complex biological mechanism underlying this simple act. Neurons in the brain instantly fire in patterns that send commands down the spinal cord. These commands are relayed to muscle tissue in the arm. The tissue contracts, raising the arm, extending an elbow, or flexing the wrist and fingers. For some people with spinal cord injuries, those commands are hindered by their damaged nervous systems. Their brains are no longer able to send messages throughout their bodies. For these people, these actions may require substantial effort or be completely impossible.
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This process is _________.
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A unprecedented
B excessive
C hazardous
D unconscious