Reading Test 34

 

 

            By the mid-nineteenth century, the term "icebox" had entered the American

            language, but ice was still only beginning to affect the diet of ordinary citizens in the

            United States. The ice trade grew with the growth of cities. Ice was used in hotels,

 Line     taverns, and hospitals, and by some forward-looking city dealers in fresh meat, fresh

 (5)       fish, and butter. After the Civil War(1861-1865), as ice was used to refrigerate freight     

            cars, it also came into household use. Even before 1880, half the ice sold in New York,

            Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and one-third of that sold in Boston and Chicago, went to

            families for their own use. This had become possible because a new household

            convenience, the icebox, a precursor of the modern refrigerator, had been invented.

 (10)          Making an efficient ice box was not as easy as we might now suppose. In the early 

            nineteenth century, the knowledge of the physics of heat, which was essential to a

            science of refrigeration, was rudimentary. The commonsense notion that the best

            icebox was one that prevented the ice from melting was of course mistaken, for it was

            the melting of the ice that performed the cooling. Nevertheless, early efforts to

 (15)      economize ice included wrapping the ice in blankets, which kept the ice from doing its  

            job. Not until near the end of the nineteenth century did inventors achieve the delicate

            balance of insulation and circulation needed for an efficient icebox.

                But as early as 1803, an ingenious Maryland farmer, Thomas Moore, had been on

            the right track. He owned a farm about twenty miles outside the city of Washington, for

 (20)      which the village of Georgetown was the market center. When he used an icebox of his

            own design to transport his butter to market, he found that customers would pass up the

            rapidly melting stuff in the tubs of his competitors to pay a premium price for his

            butter, still fresh and hard in neat, one-pound bricks. One advantage of his icebox,

            Moore explained, was that farmers would no longer have to travel to market at night in

 (25)      order to keep their produce cool.

 

 

 

 

 

Questions

 

 

 

            11. What does the passage mainly discuss?

               (A) The influence of ice on the diet

               (B) The development of refrigeration

               (C) The transportation of goods to market

               (D) Sources of ice in the nineteenth century

 

            12. According to the passage, when did the word "icebox" become part of

                the language of the United States?

               (A) In 1803

               (B) Sometime before 1850

               (C) During the Civil War

               (D) Near the end of the nineteenth century

 

            13. The phrase "forward-looking" in line 4 is closest in meaning to

               (A) progressive               (B) popular

               (C) thrifty                       (D) well-established

 

            14. The author mentions fish in line 5 because

               (A) many fish dealers also sold ice

               (B) fish was shipped in refrigerated freight cars

               (C) fish dealers were among the early commercial users of ice

               (D) fish was not part of the ordinary person's diet before the invention

                 of the icebox

 

            15. The word "it" in line 6 refers to

               (A) fresh meat

               (B) the Civil War

               (C) ice

               (D) a refrigerator

 

            16. According to the passage, which of the following was an obstacle to the

                development of the icebox?

               (A) Competition among the owners of refrigerated freight cars

               (B) The lack of a network for the distribution of ice

               (C) The use of insufficient insulation

               (D) Inadequate understanding of physics

 

            17. The word "rudimentary" in line 12 is closest in meaning to

               (A) growing

               (B) undeveloped

               (C) necessary

               (D) uninteresting

 

            18. According to the information in the second paragraph, an ideal

              icebox would

               (A) completely prevent ice from melting

               (B) stop air from circulating

               (C) allow ice to melt slowly

               (D) use blankets to conserve ice

 

            19. The author describes Thomas Moore as having been "on the right

                track" (line18 -19) to indicate that

               (A) the road to the market passed close to Moore's farm

               (B) Moore was an honest merchant

               (C) Moore was a prosperous farmer

               (D) Moore's design was fairly successful

 

            20. According to the passage, Moore's icebox allowed him to

               (A) charge more for his butter

               (B) travel to market at night

               (C) manufacture butter more quickly

               (D) produce ice all year round

 

            21. The "produce" mentioned in line 25 could include

               (A) iceboxes

               (B) butter

               (C) ice

               (D) markets

 

 

 

 

Please tally your answer with the below provided answers and then comment here how much you got!

 

 

 

Answers

 

11. B    12. B     13. A      14. C     15. C     16. D     17. B    18. C      19. D     20. A    21. B