UNIVERSITY OF BALAMAND

Issam Fares Faculty of Technology

English Department

ENGT 103 - Spring 2019/2020

General English I
Test I
Instructor: Dr. Berta Gerges

Name: ____________________________________ ID: ____________________

Total marks = ______ /50

Time: 60 minutes

There are TWO sections:

Section A: Reading Comprehension (17 pts)

Section B: Structure and Written Expression (33 pts)
SECTION A: READING COMPREHENSION (17 pts, 1 each)

In the Reading Comprehension section, you will read TWO passages. Each one is followed by a
number of questions about it. You are to choose the one best answer, a, b, c or d, to each
question. Answer all questions about the information in a passage on the basis of what
is stated or implied in the passages.

MARK THE ANSWERS IN RED OR BOLD BLACK.

PASSAGE 1:
Around the year 1500, hunting people occupied the entire northern third of North
America. They lived well from the animals with whom they shared these lands. Hunters of sea
mammals had colonized the Arctic coasts of Canada and Greenland between Line four and five
thousand years before. Land-hunting people had lived throughout much
(5) of the northern interior for at least 12,000 years.
Northern North America is part of a larger circumpolar ecological domain that continues
across the narrow Bering Strait into Siberia and northern Europe. The overall circumpolar
environment in the 1500's was not very different from the environment of the present. This vast
landmass had a continental climate and was dominated by cold
(10) arctic air throughout a long winter and spring season. Summer temperature ranged from
near freezing to the mid-20's Celsius, while winter temperature were often as low as 40 degrees
below zero Celsius.
Geographers divide the overall circumpolar domain into two zones, the Arctic and, below
it, the Subarctic. They refer to the landforms of these areas as tundra and taiga,
(15) respectively.
Temperatures in the northern lands were below freezing for eight or nine months of the
year. Subsurface soil in the Arctic's tundra remained permanently frozen. Even when summer
temperatures were above freezing and the top inches of earth became saturated with water, the
soil below remained frozen into a permafrost, as hard as rock.
(20) When water flowed upon the surface of permanently frozen tundra, it made overland travel
extremely difficult. Summer travel in the boggy lands, or muskeg country, of the Subarctic's
taiga was also slow and arduous. Tracking animals was more difficult than it was during the
winter when the swampy ground was frozen solid and covered with snow. In both tundra and
taiga, hordes of mosquitoes and biting flies bred in the
(25) standing pools of water. Clothing lost its thermal efficiency when it became damp.
Northern people looked forward to the turn of the season to bring the easier traveling conditions
associated with cold weather. In the Arctic, they could haul food and supplies by dogsled while
in the Subarctic, people could travel quickly and efficiently by snowshoes and toboggan.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) The hunting people of North America
(B) The circumpolar environment of the sixteenth century
(C) Animals that inhabit the Arctic coast
(D) The geography of Canada and Greenland
2. The word “domain” in line 6 is closest in meaning to
(A) temperature
(B) period
(C) region
(D) process
3. Which of the following terms is used to describe the landforms of the Arctic region?
(A) Subarctic
(B) Taiga
(C) Tundra
(D) Muskeg

4. For how many months of the year were temperatures below freezing in the circumpolar
region?
(A) 4-5 months (B) 6 months
(C) 8-9 months (D) 12 months

5. The word “saturated”in line 19 is closest in meaning to

(A) enriched (B) dissolved
(C) removed (D) soaked

6. All of the following are mentioned as having made travel in the summer difficult
EXCEPT
(A) insects (B) wet clothing
(C) swampy lands (D) lack of supplies

7. Where in the passage does the author mention a means by which people traveled in the
northern lands?
(A) Lines 2-4 (B) Lines 6-7 (C) Lines 20-21 (D) Lines 27-29

PASSAGE 2:
The Alaska pipeline starts at the frozen edge of the Arctic Ocean. It stretches southward across
the largest and northernmost state in the United States, ending at a remote ice-free seaport village
nearly 800 miles from where it begins. It is massive in size and extremely complicated to
operate. The steel pipe crosses windswept plains and endless miles of delicate tundra that tops
the frozen ground. It weaves through crooked canyons, climbs sheer mountains, plunges over
rocky crags, makes its way through thick forests, and passes over or under hundreds of rivers and
streams. The pipe is 4 feet in diameter, and up to 2 million barrels (or 84 million gallons) of
crude oil can be pumped through it daily. Resting on H-shaped steel racks called "bents," long
sections of the pipeline follow a zigzag course high above the frozen earth. Other long sections
drop out of sight beneath spongy or rocky ground and return to the surface later on. The pattern
of the pipeline's up-and-down route is determined by the often-harsh demands of the arctic and
subarctic climate, the tortuous lay of the land, and the varied compositions of soil, rock, or
permafrost (permanently frozen ground). A little more than half of the pipeline is elevated above
the ground. The remainder is buried anywhere from 3 to 12 feet, depending largely upon the type
of terrain and the properties of the soil. One of the largest in the world, the pipeline cost
approximately $8 billion and is by far the biggest and most expensive construction project ever
undertaken by private industry. In fact, no single business could raise that much money, so 8
major oil companies formed a consortium in order to share the costs. Each company controlled
oil rights to particular shares of land in the oil fields and paid into the pipeline-construction fund
according to the size of its holdings. Today, despite enormous problems of climate, supply
shortages, equipment breakdowns, labor disagreements, treacherous terrain, a certain amount of
mismanagement, and even theft, the Alaska pipeline has been completed and is operating.
1. The passage primarily discusses the pipeline's
A. operating costs
B. employees
C. consumers
D. construction
2. The word "it" in line 3 refers to
A. pipeline
B. ocean
C. state
D. village
3. According to the passage, 84 million gallons of oil can travel through the pipeline each
A. day
B. week
C. month
D. year
4. The phrase "Resting on" in line 8 is closest in meaning to
A. Consisting of
B. Supported by
C. Passing under
D. Protected with
5. The author mentions all of the following as important in determining the pipeline's route
EXCEPT the
A. climate
B. lay of the land itself
C. local vegetation
D. kind of soil and rock
6. The word "undertaken" in line 17 is closest in meaning to
A. removed
B. selected
C. transported
D. attempted

7. How many companies shared the costs of constructing the pipeline?

A. 3
B. 4
C. 8
D. 12
8. The word "particular" in line 29 is closest in meaning to
A. unusual
B. specific
C. exceptional
D. equal
 9. Which of the following determined what percentage of the construction costs each
member of the consortium would pay?
A. How much oil field land each company owned
B. How long each company had owned land in the oil fields
C. How many people worked for each company
D. How many oil wells were located on the company's land
10. Where in the passage does the author provide a term for an earth covering that always
remains frozen?
A. Line 3
B. Line 13
C. Line 19
D. Line 32

SECTION B: STRUCTURE AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION (33 pts, 1 each)

Exercise 1 - Choose the best answer.

 Among bees_______ a highly elaborate form of communication.

A. Occur

B. Occurs

C. It occurs

D. They occur

 __________ heated by solar energy have special collectors on the roofs to trap sunlight.

A. A home is

B. Homes are

C. A home

D. Homes  

 There are many frequently mentioned reasons why one out of four

arrests _____________ a juvenile.

A. involving

B. involve

C. were involving
 D. are involving

 
 Each number in a binary system ____________ from only two symbols.

A. forming

B. formed

C. are formed

D. is formed

Exercise 2 - The four parts of the following sentences are marked as A, B, C and D. Identify
the ONE part that must be changed in order for the sentence to be correct.
MARK THE MISTAKE IN RED OR IN BOLD.

 A large (A) number of automobile (B) part are now (C) made of plastic (D) instead of

steel.
 Although a kangaroo (A) normally uses (B) its large feet and strong legs (C)
for hopping, (D) but it can also swim.
 When a (A) severe ankle (B) injury forced (C) herself to give up reporting in 1926,
Margaret Mitchell (D) began writing her novel, Gone with the Wind.
 The pineapple, a fruit (B) grow in tropical climates (C) throughout the world, (D)
is native to parts of South America.
 Canals are (A) artificial waterways, often constructed (B) either to transport heavy loads
or to (C) delivering water (D) to cities and farms.
 Anne Elizabeth McDowell is (A) best (B) remembered for a (C)
weekly journal, Woman's Advocate, (D) who she launched in January 1855.
 A ray of light passing (A) through (B) the center of a thin lens (C) keep its (D)
original direction.

Exercise 3 - Choose the word or phrase that best completes the following
incomplete sentences.

 ------------- greyhound, can achieve speeds up to

thirty-six miles per hour.

(A) The

(B) The fastest

(C) The fastest dog
(D) The fastest dog, the
  The greenhouse effect occurs -------- heat radiating from the Sun.

(A) when does the

Earth’s atmosphere
trap
(B) does the Earths
atmosphere trap
(C) when the
Earth’s atmosphere
traps
(D) the Earth's atmosphere traps

 The Rose Bowl, -------------- place on New Year’s Day, is the oldest
postseason collegiate football game in the United States.

(A) takes
(B) which takes
(C) it takes
(D) took

 Experiments_______represent a giant step into the medicine of the future.

(A) using gene therapy

(B) use gene therapy
(C) they use
(D) gene therapy uses

 --------------- off the Hawaiian coastline are living, others are dead.

(A) Coral reefs

(B) Some types of coral reefs
(C) There are many types of coral reefs
(D) While some types of coral reefs

 People who reverse the letters of words --------------------- to

read suffer from dyslexia.

(A) if they tried

(B) when trying

(C) when tried
(D) if he tries
  When
----------------
----the
conference?

(A) the doctor

attended

(B) did the doctor attend

(C) the doctor will attend
(D) the doctor’s attendance

 The president ----------------------- the election by a landslide.

(A) has won

(B) was won
(C) yesterday
(D) fortunately

 The child ------------------- playing in the yard is my son.

(A) now
(B) is
(C) he
(D) was

 You will get a good grade on the exam

provided ------------------------

(A) studying

(B) study
(C) to study
(D) you study

 ------------------------ was on television made me angry.

(A) It
(B) The story
(C) What
(D) That
  The gift ------------------ selected for the bride was rather expensive.

(A) because
(B) was
(C) since
(D) we

 ------------------ on several different television programs, the witness

gave conflicting accounts of what had happened.

(A) He appeared

(B) Who appeared

(C) Appearing
(D) Appears

 On the second level of the parking

lot -----------------------------

(A) is empty

(B) are empty

(C) some empty stalls are
(D) are some empty stalls

 Only in extremely dangerous situations ---------------------------- stopped.

(A) will be the printing presses

(B) the printing presses will be
(C) that the printing presses will be
(D) will the printing presses be

 The results of the current experiment appear to be more consistent

than----------------- the results of any previous tests.

(A) them
(B) were
(C) they were
(D) were they
  ------------ varieties of dogs at the show, including
spaniels, poodles, and collies. (A) The several

(B) Those
(C) Several
(D) There were several

 The report would have been accepted ------------------------ in checking its

accuracy.

(A) if more care

(B) more care had been taken
(C) had taken more care
(D) had more care been taken

 In Roman numerals, --------------------------- symbols for numeric values

(A) are letters of the alphabet

(B) letters of the alphabet are
(C) which uses letters of the alphabet
(D) in which letters of the alphabet are

 Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood is neither

journalistically accurate ------------------

(A) a piece of fiction

(B) nor a fictitious work

(C) or written in a fictitious way
(D) nor completely fictitious

 A baby’s development is influenced by both

heredity and ----------------------

(A) by environmental factors

(B) environmentally
(C) the influence of the environment
(D) environment
  Because bone loss occurs earlier in women than --------------, the effects
of osteoporosis are more apparent in women.

(A) men do
(B) in men
(C) as men
(D) similar to men

GOODLUCK 😊