TOEFL Practice Test

ing in the second paragraph could best be replaced by the word: 
a. Altering 
b. Boring 
c. Bringing 
d. Doing 
16. What are glass fibers woven into cloth for? 
a. Draperies 
b. Cars and boats 
c. Glasses 
d. Glue 
17. The word fed in the fourth paragraph means: 
a. To give food to 
b. To minister to 
c. To support 
d. To supply 
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18. The word they in the second sentence of the first paragraph refers to: 
a. Human hair 
b. Weight 
c. Glass fibers 
d. Yarn 
19. The word it in the fourth paragraph refers to: 
a. Molten glass 
b. Glass wool 
c. Spinning drum 
d. Holes 
20. The following sentence would best complete which paragraph? “This 
improvement in technology is expected to continue.” 
a. Paragraph 1 
b. Paragraph 2 
c. Paragraph 3 
d. Paragraph 4 
21. A signal of what can be made to travel along fiber for very long distances? 
a. Heat 
b. Wave 
c. Wool 
d. Light 
22. The word spray in the fourth paragraph could best be replaced by the word: 
a. Shower 
b. Blow 
c. Spit 
d. Force 
For centuries, people have searched for a way to replace dead and decaying teeth 
with comfortable false teeth. Many materials have been used to make a set of false teeth. 
The teeth themselves should be made from a hard and durable material. They should be 
secured to a soft material, making them easy to wear. In the last two decades, dentists 
succeeded in making durable false teeth that are comfortable, too. 
Two thousand years ago, the Etruscans made teeth out of animal bone and gold. 
These materials were used-with varying degrees of success-up to the 1700’s. When 
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George Washington was president, ivory from animals such as elephants became a 
popular material for false teeth. Doctors and inventors also tried silver, peal, and agate, 
but teeth made from these materials were very expensive. Perhaps the most successful 
material was porcelain, invented by a Frenchman about two hundred years ago. White, 
strong, and resistant to decay, porcelain is still used today for making single teeth. 
Besides finding a material for the teeth, inventors also had to find a way to secure 
them in a person’s mouth. People tried wire, springs, and many kinds of glue to 
accomplish this. In most cases, however, discomfort and a likelihood of the teeth falling 
out plagued the person who wore them. 
Around 1844, an American dentist named Horace Wells used laughing gas to put 
people to sleep before working on their teeth. This innovation made dental work a lot 
less painful. Soon after, an inventor created the first form of rubber. This was important 
to dentistry because teeth could be attached to the rubber, and the rubber could be molded 
to fit the shape of the mouth. With these two developments, dentist could work without 
causing pain and could fit teeth more carefully. False teeth have become more available 
and comfortable since then, and dentists have continued to improve the making and use 
of false teeth. 
23. What is the main topic of this passage? 
a. Horace Wells 
b. False teeth 
c. Gold and bone 
d. The Etruscans 
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24. The word they in the first paragraph refers to: 
a. Teeth 
b. Materials 
c. People 
d. Dentists 
25. The word varying in the second paragraph cold best be replaced by the word: 
a. Constant 
b. Changeless 
c. Fluctuating 
d. Stable 
26. Porcelain was invented after the first use of: 
a. Rubber for holding for holding teeth in place 
b. Laughing gas 
c. Ivory for making teeth 
d. Electric drills 
27. When did Horace Wells begin using laughing gas? 
a. 1700 
b. Two-thousand years ago 
c. 1834 
d. 1844 
28. The word besides in the third paragraph means: 
a. In addition to 
b. Stand next to 
c. Anyway 
d. Together 
29. The word them in the third paragraph refers to: 
a. Teeth 
b. Inventors 
c. People 
d. Wire 
30. When was rubber found to be a useful material for false teeth? 
a. After laughing gas was used to put patients to sleep 
b. While George Washington was president 
c. Before a Frenchman invented porcelain 
d. While the Etruscans were making teeth of bone and gold 
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31. The following sentence would best complete which paragraph? “It is 
unimaginable what will come next.” 
a. Paragraph 1 
b. Paragraph 2 
c. Paragraph 3 
d. Paragraph 4 
32. The word molded in the fourth paragraph means: 
a. Formed into a shape 
b. To form an organic growth 
c. To make an ornament 
d. The fitting of a shoe 
33. The word resistant in the second paragraph could best be replaced by the word: 
a. Prone 
b. Insusceptible 
c. Hearty 
d. Sassy 
The lens on a camera has only two tasks. First, it must gather in as much light as 
possible in order to activate the sensitive chemicals on the film. Second, it must organize 
the light rays so that they form a sharp image on the film. These may sound like simple 
tasks, but they are not. 
One of the sharpest lenses is merely a pinhole in a sheet of cardboard, metal, 
plastic, or a similar material. If the pinhole is tiny enough, the image can be quite sharp, 
but then very little light is admitted. For most purposes, even the most sensitive film 
would take too long to record an image. 
A glass lens is much better because it lets in much more light and focuses it on the 
film. Yet simple glass lenses are sharpest only in their centers. As more of the lens is 
used, the image suffers in sharpness. 
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One reason a simple lens can cause problems is that it is shaped like a section of a 
sphere. Spherical lenses do not focus perfectly on flat film, so the image is slightly 
distorted, especially at the edges. Another reason is that the lens can act partly like a 
prism. This means that some of the colors in the image will not focus properly, and the 
image will be fuzzy. 
One solution is to block off all but the sharp-focusing center of the lens. If you 
block off the edges of the lens, however, less light will get to the film. Early lenses had 
to compromise between sharpness and light-gathering power. 
Very sharp lenses that admit as much light as possible can be built by making 
them with several separate lenses, or elements. A multiple-element lens has from two to 
nine separate lenses. Some elements are cemented together, and some have a gap 
between them. Furthermore, the elements are often made of different kinds of glass, each 
with a different ability to bend light rays. Some of the elements are there just for 
correcting problems caused by the other elements! The results are worth it, though: 
pictures can be taken in many different light conditions, and they have a sharpness you 
can almost feel. 
34. The word it in the first paragraph refers to: 
a. Camera 
b. Lens 
c. Film 
d. Chemicals 
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35. The word distorted in the fourth paragraph means: 
a. Out of a proper or natural relation 
b. Clean and in shape 
c. Purified, as one 
d. Proper 
36. In what ways does an image suffer if too large an area of the spherical lens is 
used? 
a. The edges of the image become fuzzy 
b. Too much light is admitted 
c. Too little light is admitted 
d. Colors change 
37. What is the main disadvantage of a simple lens that is made sharp by using just 
the center? 
a. With less light-gathering power, the lens is utterly useless. 
b. With less light-gathering power, the lens is useful only in bright light. 
c. With more light-gathering power, the lens is useful only in dim light. 
d. With more light-gathering power, the lens is utterly useless. 
38. The word sharpest in the third paragraph is closest in meaning to: 
a. Having clear form and detail 
b. Terminating in an edge or a point 
c. Intellectually penetrating; astute 
d. Having a thin edge or a fine point suitable for or capable of cutting or 
piercing 
39. The word it in the fourth paragraph refers to: 
a. Glass lens 
b. Prism 
c. Simple lens 
a. Flat film 
40. The word sensitive in the second paragraph could best be replaced by the word: 
a. Delicate 
b. Irritable 
c. Reactive 
d. Psychic 
41. The word ability in the sixth paragraph could best be replaced by the word: 
a. Ignorance 
b. Weakness 
c. Ineptness 
d. Capacity 
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42. The meaning of the word solution as used in the fifth paragraph is closest in 
meaning to: 
a. A homogeneous mixture of two or more substances, which may be solids, 
liquids, gases, or a combination of these 
b. The answer to or disposition of a problem 
c. The state of being dissolved 
d. Release; deliverance; discharge 
43. What is the minimum number of lenses in multiple-element lens? 
a. Nine 
b. Two 
c. Ninety-two 
d. Twenty-nine 
44. The word fuzzy in the fourth paragraph means: 
a. Clear 
b. Unclear 
c. Exact 
d. Precise 
45. The word admitted in the sixth paragraph is closest in meaning to: 
a. To permit to enter 
b. To have room for; accommodate 
c. To grant to be real, valid, or true; acknowledge 
d. To make acknowledgment 
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Answer Key 
Section 1: Listening Section 2: Structure Section 3: Reading 
1. a. 1. c. 1. a. 
2. d. 2. a. 2. a. 
3. b. 3. d. 3. b. 
4. c. 4. a. 4. d. 
5. c. 5. a. 5. d. 
6. d. 6. a. 6. c. 
7. b. 7. a. 7. a. 
8. d. 8. c. 8. b. 
9. a. 9. b. 9. d. 
10. c. 10. c. 10. c. 
11. b. 11. d. 11. a. 
12. a. 12. c. 12. a. 
13. b. 13. c. 13. a. 
14. a. 14. d. 14. c. 
15. c. 15. c. 15. a. 
16. a. 16. b. 16. a. 
17. a. 17. a. 17. d. 
Listening Part B 18. b. 18. c. 
18. d. 19. b. 19. c. 
19. d. 20. c. 20. b. 
20. b. 21. d. 21. d. 
21. b. 22. a. 22. a. 
22. a. 23. c. 23. b. 
23. a. 24. d. 24. a. 
24. c. 25. a. 25. c. 
25. c. 26. c. 
26. a. 27. d. 
27. c. 28. a. 
28. c. 29. a. 
29. b. 30. a. 
30. a. 31. d. 
31. c. 32. a. 
32. a. 33. b. 
33. d. 34. b. 
34. a. 35. a. 
35. c. 36. a. 
36. b. 37. b. 
37. b. 38. a. 
38. b. 39. c. 
39. a. 40. a. 
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40. a. 41. d. 
41. b. and d. 42. b. 
42. a. 43. b. 
43. b. 44. b. 
44. a. 45. a. 
45. d.