15 The word "overtaxed" in line 14 is closest in meaning to
(A) well prepared
(B) plentifully supplied
(C) heavily burdened
(D) charged too much
16 The public school 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
17 According to the passage, why did teachers leave the teaching profession after the outbreak of the war?
(A) The needed to be retrained
(B) They were dissatisfied with the curriculum.
(C) Other jobs provided higher salaries.
(D) Teaching positions were scarce.
18 The word "inadequate" in line 20 is closest in meaning to
(A) deficient
(B) expanded
(C) innovative
(D) specialized
19 The "custodial rhetoric" mentioned in line 21 refers to
(A) raising a family
(B) keeping older individuals in school
(C) running an orderly house hold
(D) maintaining discipline in the classroom
20 The word "inevitably" in line 25 is closest in meaning to
(A) unwillingly
(B) impartially
(C) irrationally
(D) unavoidably
21 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
22 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 23-32
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 year. In fact, writes 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.