Questions 1-10

The word laser was coined as an acronym for Light 

Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Ordinary 

light, from the Sun or a light bulb, is emitted spontaneously, 

when atoms or molecules get rid of excess energy by themselves, 

without any outside intervention. Stimulated emission 

is different because it occurs when an atom or molecule holding 

onto excess energy has been stimulated to emit it as light.

Albert Einstein was the first to suggest the existence of 

stimulated emission in a paper published in 1917. However , 

for many years physicists thought that atoms and molecules 

always were much more likely to emit light spontaneously and 

that stimulated emission thus always would be much weaker. 

It was not until after the Second World War that physicists 

began trying to make stimulated emission dominate. They 

sought ways by which one atom or molecule could stimulate 

many other to emit light , amplifying it to much higher 
powers. 

The first to succeed was Charles H.Townes, then at 

Colombia University in New York . Instead of working with 

light , however, he worked with microwaves, which have a 

much longer wavelength, and built a device he called a 

"maser" for Microwave Amplification by the Stimulated 

Emission of Radiation. Although he thought of the key idea in 

1951, the first maser was not completed until a couple of years 

later. Before long, many other physicists were building masers 

and trying to discover how to produce stimulated emission at 

even shorter wavelength. 

The key concepts emerged about 1957. Townes and 

Arthur Schawlow, then at Bell Telephone Laboratories, wrote 

a long paper outlining the conditions needed to amplify 

stimulated emission of visible light waves. At about the same time, 

similar ideas crystallized in the mind of Gordon Gould, then a 

37- year-old graduate student at Columbia, who wrote them 

down in a series of notebooks. Townes and Schawlow 
published their ideas in a scientific journal, Physical Review 

Letter, but Gould filed a patent application. Three decades later,

people still argue about who deserves the credit for the concept 

of the laser.

1.The word "coined" in line 1 could best be replaced by

(A) created

(B) mentioned

(C) understood

(D) discovered

2.The word "intervention" in line 5 can best be replaced by

(A) need

(B) device

(C) influence

(D) source

3.The word "it" in line 6 refers to 

(A) light bulb

(B) energy

(C) molecule

(D) atom

4.Which of the following statements best describes a laser?

(A) A device for stimulating atoms and molecules to emit light.

(B) An atom in a high-energy state.

(C) A technique for destroying atoms or molecules.

(D) An instrument for measuring light waves.

5.Why was Towne’s early work with stimulated emission done with microwaves?

(A) He was not concerned with light amplification.

(B) It was easier to work with longer wavelengths.
(C) His partner Schawlow had already begun work on the laser.

(D) The laser had already been developed.

6.In his research at Columbia University, Charles Townes worked with all of the following EXCEPT

(A) stimulated emission

(B) microwaves

(C) light amplification

(D) a maser

7.In approximately what year was the first maser built?

(A) 1917

(B) 1951

(C) 1953

(D) 1957

8.The word "emerged" in line 28 is closest in meaning to 

(A) increased

(B) concluded

(C) succeeded

(D) appeared

9.The word "outlining" in line 30 is closest in meaning to

(A) assigning

(B) studying

(C) checking

(D) summarizing

10.Why do people still argue about who deserves the credit for the concept of the laser?

(A) The researchers’ notebooks were lost.

(B) Several people were developing the idea at the same time.

(C) No one claimed credit for the development until recently.

(D) The work is still incomplete.

Questions 11-21

Panel painting, common in thirteenth -and fourteenth 
-century Europe , involved a painstaking , laborious process. 

Wooden planks were joined, covered with gesso to prepare the 

surface for painting , and then polished smooth with special 

tools. On this perfect surface, the artist would sketch a 

composition with chalk, refine it with inks, and then begin the 

deliberate process of applying thin layers of egg tempera paint 

(egg yolk in which pigments are suspended) with small brushes. 

The successive layering of these meticulously applied paints 

produced the final, translucent colors.

Backgrounds of gold were made by carefully applying 

sheets of gold leaf, and then embellishing of decorating the 

gold leaf by punching it with a metal rod on which a pattern 

had been embossed. Every step in the process was slow and 

deliberate . The quick-drying tempera demanded that the artist 

know exactly where each stroke be placed before the brush met 

the panel, and it required the use of fine brushes. It was,
therefore , an ideal technique for emphasizing the hard linear 

edges and pure, fine areas of color that were so much a part of 

the overall aesthetic of the time. The notion that an artist 

could or would dash off an idea in a fit of spontaneous 

inspiration was completely alien to these deliberately produced works. 

Furthermore, making these paintings was so time-consuming 

that it demanded assistance. All such work was done 

by collective enterprise in the workshops. The painter or 

master who is credited with having created painting may have 

designed the work and overseen its production, but it is highly 

unlikely that the artist’s hand applied every stroke of the 

brush. More likely, numerous assistants, who had been 

trained to imitate the artist’s style, applied the paint. The 

carpenter’s shop probably provided the frame and perhaps supplied 

the panel, and yet another shop supplied the gold. Thus, 

not only many hands , but also many shops were involved in
the final product.

In spite of problems with their condition, restoration,

and preservation many panel paintings have survived, and

today many of them are housed in museum collections.

11.What aspect of panel paintings does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) Famous examples

(B) Different styles

(C) Restoration

(D) Production

12.According to the passage, what was the first step in making a panel painting?

(A) Mixing the paint

(B) Preparing the panel

(C) Buying the gold leaf

(D) Making ink drawings

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

(A) chalk

(B) composition

(C) artist

(D) surface

14.The word "deliberate" in line 7 is closest in meaning to

(A) decisive

(B) careful

(C) natural

(D) unusual

15.Which of the following processes produced the translucent colors found on panel paintings?

(A) Joining wooden planks to form large sheets.

(B) Polishing the gesso.

(C) Applying many layers of paint.

(D) Covering the background with gold leaf.

16.Whar characteristic of tempera paint is mentioned in the passage?
(A) It dries quickly.

(B) It is difficult to make.

(C) It dissolves easily.

(D) It has to be applied directly to wood.

17.The word "demanded" in line 24 is closest in meaning to

(A) ordered

(B) reported

(C) required

(D) questioned

18.The "collective enterprise" mentioned in line 25 includes all of the following EXCEPT

(A) supplying the gold leaf

(B) building the panels

(C) applying the paint

(D) selling the painting

19.The word "imitate" in line 30 is closest in meaning to

(A) copy

(B) illustrate

(C) promote

(D) believe in

20.The author mentions all of the following as problems with the survivals of panel painting EXCEPT

(A) condition

(B) theft

(C) preservation

(D) restoration

21.The word "them" in line 37 refers to

(A) problems

(B) condition, restoration, preservation

(C) panel paintings

(D) museum collections

Questions 22-32

Crows are probably the most frequently met and easily 

identifiable members of the native fauna of the United States.
The great number of tales, legends, and myths about these 

birds indicates that people have been exceptionally interested in 

them for a long time. On the other hand, when it comes to 

substantive -- particularly behavioral -- information, crows 

are less well known than many comparably common species 

and, for that matter, not a few quite uncommon ones: the 

endangered California condor, to cite one obvious example. 

There are practical reasons for this.

Crows are notoriously poor and aggravating subjects for 

field research. Keen observers and quick learners, they are 

astute about the intentions of other creatures, including 

researchers, and adept at avoiding them. Because they are so 

numerous, active, and monochromatic, it is difficult to 

distinguish one crow from another. Bands, radio transmitters, or 

other identifying devices can be attached to them , but this of 

course requires catching live crows, who are among the wariest 

and most untrappable of birds. 
Technical difficulties aside , crow research is daunting 

because the ways of these birds are so complex and various.

As preeminent is generalists, members of this species 

ingeniously exploit a great range of habitats and resources, and 

they can quickly adjust to changes in their circumstances. 

Being so educable, individual birds have markedly different interests 

and inclinations, strategies and scams. For example, one 

pet crow learned how to let a dog out of its kennel by pulling 

the pin on the door. When the dog escaped, the bird went into 

the kennel and ate its food.

22.What is the main topic of the passage?

(A) The ways in which crows differ from other common birds.

(B) The myths and legends about crows.

(C) The characteristics that make crows difficult to study. 

(D) The existing methods for investigating crow behavior.

23.According to the first paragraph, what evidence is there that crows have interested people for a long time?

(A) The large number of stories about crows