Rose English Fantasy

026. Some botanists hypothesized that the living cells of plants acted as pumps. But many experiments demonstrated that the stems of plants in which all the cells are killed can still move water to appreciable heights.
The word "demonstrated" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) ignored
(B) showed
(C) disguised
(D) distinguished

027. As water is lost from the surface of the leaves, a negative pressure, or tension, is created. The evaporated water is replaced by water moving from inside the plant in unbroken columns that extend from the top of a plant to its roots. The same forces that create surface tension in any sample of water are responsible for the maintenance of these unbroken columns of water.
The word "extend" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) stretch
(B) branch
(C) increase
(D) rotate

028. By opening vast areas of unoccupied land for residential expansion, the omnibuses, horse railways, commuter trains, and electric trolleys pulled settled regions outward two to four times more distant from city centers than they were in the premodern era.
The word "vast" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) large
(B) basic
(C) new
(D) urban

029. The new accessibility of land around the periphery of almost every major city sparked an explosion of real estate development and fueled what we now know as urban sprawl. Between 1890 and 1920, for example, some 250,000 new residential lots were recorded within the borders of Chicago, most of them located in outlying areas.
The word "sparked" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) brought about
(B) surrounded
(C) sent out
(D) followed

030. Anxious to take advantage of the possibilities of commuting, real estate developers added 800,000 potential building sites to the Chicago region in just thirty years-lots that could have housed five to six million people.
The word "potential" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) certain
(B) popular
(C) improved
(D) possible

031. The quality of preservation is outstanding, but what is even more impressive is the number of ichthyosaur fossils containing preserved embryos.
The word "outstanding" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) extensive
(B) surprising
(C) vertical
(D) excellent

032. Ichthyosaurs with embryos have been reported from 6 different levels of the shale in a small area around Holzamden, suggesting that a specific site was used by large numbers of ichthyosaurs repeatedly over time.
The word "site" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) example
(B) location
(C) development
(D) characteristic

033. The quality of preservation is almost unmatched, and quarry operations have been carried out carefully with an awareness of the value of the fossils. But these factors do not account for the interesting question of how there came to be such a concentration of pregnant ichthyosaurs in a particular place very close to their time of giving birth.
The phrase "account for " is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) record
(B) describe
(C) equal
(D) explain

034. In the seventeenth century the organ, the clavichord, and the harpsichord became the chief instruments of the keyboard group, a supremacy they maintained until the piano supplanted them at the end of the eighteenth century.
The words "a supremacy" in line 9 are closest in meaning to
(A) a suggestion
(B) an improvement
(C) a dominance
(D) a development

035. A series of mechanical improvements continuing well into the nineteenth century, including the introduction of pedals to sustain tone or to soften it, the perfection of a metal frame, and steel wire of the finest quality, finally produced an instrument capable of myriad tonal effects from the most delicate harmonies to an almost orchestral fullness of sound, from a liquid, singing tone to a ship, percussive brilliance.
The word "myriad" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) noticeable
(B) many
(C) loud
(D) unusual

036. Each one was virtually a stone town, which is why the Spanish would later call them pueblos, the Spanish word for towns. These pueblos represent one of the Anasazis' supreme achievements. At least a dozen large stone houses took shape below the bluffs of Chiaco Canyon in northwest New Mexico.
The word "supreme" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) most common
(B) most outstanding
(C) most expensive
(D) most convenient

037. They functioned as sanctuaries where the elders met to plan festivals, perform ritual dances, settle pueblo affairs, and impart tribal lore to the younger generation.
The word "settle" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) sink
(B) decide
(C) clarify
(D) locate

038. Then, to connect the pueblos and to give access to the surrounding tableland, the architects laid out a system of public roads with stone staircases for ascending cliff faces.
The word "ascending" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) arriving at
(B) carving
(C) connecting
(D) climbing

039. Within a very short time, however, the incongruity of playing lively music to a solemn film became apparent, and film pianists began to take some care in matching their pieces to the mood of the film.
The word "solemn" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) simple
(B) serious
(C) short
(D) silent

040. Certain films had music especially composed for them. The most famous of these early special scores was that composed and arranged for D. W. Griffith's film Birth of a Nation, which was released in 1915.
The word "composed" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) selected
(B) combined
(C) played
(D) created
The word "scores" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) totals
(B) successes
(C) musical compositions
(D) groups of musicians

041. The Earth comprises three principal layers: the dense, iron-rich core, the mantle made of silicate rocks that are semimolten at depth, and the thin, solid-surface crust.
The word "comprises" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) adapts to
(B) benefits from
(C) consists of
(D) focuses on

042. These plates move over the semimolten lower mantle to produce all of the major topographical features of the Earth. Active zones where intense deformation occurs are confined to the narrow, interconnecting boundaries of contact of the plates.
The word "intense" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) surface
(B) sudden
(C) rare
(D) extreme

043. New oceanic crust is formed along one or more margins of each plate by material issuing from deeper layers of the Earth's crust, for example, by volcanic eruptions of lava at midocean ridges.
The word "margins" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) edges
(B) peaks
(C) interiors
(D) distances

044. If at such a spreading contact the two plates support continents, a rift is formed that will gradually widen and become flooded by the sea. The Atlantic Ocean formed like this as the American and Afro-European plates move in opposite directions.
The word "support" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) separate
(B) create
(C) reduce
(D) hold

045. Coincident with concerns about the accelerating loss of species and habitats has been a growing appreciation of the importance of biological diversity, the number of species in a particular ecosystem, to the health of the Earth and human well-being.
The word "appreciation" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) ignorance
(B) recognition
(C) tolerance
(D) forgiveness

046. An alien exploring Earth would probably give priority to the planet's dominant, most-distinctive feature-the ocean. Humans have a bias toward land that sometimes gets in the way of truly examining global issues.
The word "bias" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) concern
(B) disadvantage
(C) attitude
(D) prejudice

047. The prevailing winds in the Great Basin are from the west. Warm, moist air from the Pacific Ocean is forced upward as it crosses the Sierra Nevada.
The word "prevailing" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) most frequent
(B) occasional
(C) gentle
(D) most dangerous

048. There seem to have been several periods within the last tens of thousands of years when water accumulated in these basins. The rise and fall of the lakes were undoubtedly linked to the advances and retreats of the great ice sheets that covered much of the northern part of the North American continent during those times.
The word "accumulated" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) dried
(B) flooded
(C) collected
(D) evaporated

049. All living creature, especially human beings, have their peculiarities, but everything about the little sea cucumber seems unusual. What else can be said about a bizarre animal that, among other eccentricities, eats mud, feeds almost continuously day and night but can live without eating for long periods, and can be poisonous but is considered supremely edible by gourmets?
The phrase "bizarre" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) odd
(B) marine
(C) simple
(D) rare

050. Its major enemies are fish and crabs, when attacked, it squirts all its internal organs into the water. It also casts off attached structures such as tentacles. The sea cucumber will eviscerate and regenerate itself if it is attacked or even touched; it will do the same if the surrounding water temperature is too high or if the water becomes too polluted.
The phrase "casts off" is closest in meaning to which of following?
(A) grows again
(B) grabs
(C) gets rid of
(D) uses as a weapon