Based on the information in the talk, indicate whether each sentence below describes the alternate, opposite, or basal leaf arrangement. This question is worth 2 points.

• Opposite: The plant’s leaves are paired on the opposite sides of the stem: The bee plant’s leaves are paired on opposite sides of the stem.
• Basal: All of the plant’s leaves are at ground level: Notice how all the leaves are at ground level, at the stem’s base.
• Alternate: Each leaf is attached at a different level on the stem: …the one called alternate, each leaf is attached at a different level on the stem.
• Opposite: The leaves are attached at the same level on the stem, but on different sides: …they’re attached at the same level of the stem, but on opposite sides.

Question 1. Listen to part of a talk in a business class.

Each kind of insurance protects its policyholder against possible financial loss. Life insurance pays your family a certain sum upon your death. The purpose of life insurance is to provide your family with financial security, an immediate estate that will allow them to maintain the household after you die. Health insurance protects you against large medical expenses. When you pay premiums to your insurance company, you can ensure payment of your medical bills. Another kind, property–liability insurance, is sometimes called casualty insurance because it covers the cost of accidents—like automobile accidents, fire, and theft. If you’re like most people, your home is the largest single investment you make in your life. This is why most homeowners have some type of property–liability insurance.

1. Which of the following best describes the organization of the talk?
   
   Questions 2 through 3. Listen to part of a talk given by an academic adviser.
   A bachelor’s degree in engineering is the generally accepted educational requirement for most entry–level engineering jobs. In a typical four–year engineering program, the first two years are spent studying basic sciences—mathematics, physics, chemistry, and introductory engineering—and the humanities, social sciences, and English. The last two years are devoted to specialized engineering courses. Some programs offer a general engineering curriculum, letting students choose a specialty in graduate school or to acquire one later on the job.

Several engineering schools have formal arrangements with liberal arts colleges … programs, for example, where a student spends three years in a liberal arts college studying a pre–engineering subject and a couple years in an engineering school, and then … well then receives a bachelor’s degree from each school.

Now most engineers have some training beyond the bachelor’s degree. An advanced degree is desirable for promotion, or is necessary to keep up with new technology. Graduate training is essential for most teaching and research positions.

Now a number of colleges and universities offer five–year master’s degree programs offering an accelerated, intensive program of study. Some schools—particularly the state technical schools—have five– or six–year cooperative programs where students coordinate classroom study with
practical work experience. These programs are popular because, in addition to gaining useful job experience, students can finance part of their education.

2. What is the speaker mainly discussing?
3. How does the speaker organize the information that he presents?

Questions 4 through 5. Listen to part of a talk in a health class.

W: RSI—repetitive strain injury—is probably the fastest–growing job–related illness. We hear about RSI so much today because of high–speed keyboard technology. Repetitive strain injury—also called repetitive motion syndrome—is a real problem for people who sit at the computer all day. RSI is brought on by doing the same movements with the arms and hands over and over again, all day long. This type of injury … RSI … it’s … uh … been a problem for a long time for violinists, typists, mechanics, construction workers—anyone whose job involves repeated wrist movements.

M: My mother used to work in the lab at St. Peter’s, and she got something like that. She worked there for around fifteen years—and it got to the point where she couldn’t handle the instruments anymore. You could hear her fingers crack and pop when she
moved them.

W: Hmm. Your mother may have had RSI—a serious case, from the sound of it. RSI affects different people differently. Some people get an inflammation of the sheathing around the tendons in the hand called tendonitis. The inflammation makes your fingers painful and hard to straighten. It’s possible your mother’s problem was tendonitis. A more serious condition that a lot of workers develop is carpal tunnel syndrome. That’s when the nerves that go through the wrist to the hand are pinched by swollen tissue. The swelling causes a numbness or tingling sensation in the hand, and pain shoots up from the wrist—either up the arm or down into the hand. The pain can be so bad at night it wakes you
up.

4. What aspect of RSI does the instructor mainly discuss?
5. How does the instructor develop the topic of RSI?
   
   Questions 6 through 8. Listen to part of a lecture in a geography class.
   Avalanches are a constant threat on mountain highways. The Rogers Pass stretch of the Trans–Canada is at risk of being buried in snow from November to April every year. This is why the highway now has a sophisticated defense system. The best way … it’s important to control an avalanche when it’s small … so a slide is set off while it’s still small, before it builds up into a serious danger.

A team of snow technicians monitors the snowpack. They sort of “read” the snow and try to predict when it’s likely to
slide. They study data from the weather stations in the mountains. As the danger increases, they drop explosives onto test slopes to see if the snow can be made to slide.

It’s kind of tricky trying to decide just when the snow will slide. The weight of the snow, together with the force of
gravity, is what starts an avalanche. The technicians don’t want to wait till it’s too late, but if they’re too early, before conditions are just right, the snow won’t release.

When the time is right, they close the road and remove all traffic from the pass. Most closures last two to four hours.
Then the army comes in. A ten–man artillery crew operates a mobile 105 mm howitzer, firing shells into the slopes. This sends out shock waves that trigger the avalanches. Slides are set off, one by one. The technicians direct the action, telling the troops where to aim the gun. Visibility can be awful. Then they have to check and see if the avalanche has released well enough. Sometimes they drive their trucks below the slide path—kind of dangerous work—and they listen to the snow come down. Sometimes, if the slide is bigger than they expected, they might have to make a speedy getaway.

6. What is the lecture mainly about?
7. Which of the following best describes the organization of the lecture?
8. According to the lecture, which of the following statements describe steps in achieving a controlled avalanche?

Question 1. Listen to part of a talk in an art class.

If you are unsure of drawing directly in pen and ink, start off with a light pencil sketch. This will allow you to make sure that your proportions are correct and that you are happy with the composition. Take a few minutes to study your subject—this chair and violin. Notice how the straight lines of the chair differ from the curves of the violin. Once you are ready to begin drawing, define the shape of the chair with clean straight lines. Then add contrast by drawing the outline of the violin with gently curved lines. You may have to apply more pressure to the nib when drawing curved lines to allow the ink to flow easily. When you have drawn the outlines of both objects, add in the finer details, such as the seat of the chair and the violin strings. Suggest the texture of the woven seat by using light and dark strokes of the pen.

1. Which of the following best describes the organization of the talk?

Question 2. Listen to part of a talk in a music class.

Drums can be divided according to shape. Some of the types are tubular, vessel, and frame drums.

One of the most common tubular drums is the long drum. A lot of long drums are cylindrical—they have the same diameter from top to bottom—like this Polynesian drum. This drum was carved from a length of tree trunk and has a single–skin head.

For vessel drums, we have the kettledrum. Kettledrums have a single membrane stretched over a pot or vessel body.
Vessel drums come in a variety of sizes, from the very large drums of Africa to the very compact and portable drums like this one from Hawaii.

The third type I want you to see is the frame drum. A frame drum consists of one or two membranes stretched over a simple frame, which is usually made of thin wood. The frame is shallow, which adds little resonance when the skin is beaten. A lot of frame drums—like this Turkish tar—have metal jingles attached to the rim.

2. How does the speaker develop the topic of drums?

Questions 3 through 4. Listen to part of a talk in a film class.

The part of filmmaking that most people know about is the production phase—when the film is actually being shot. But a lot of the real work is done before and after the filming. The film’s producers are in charge of the whole project. The producer hires a director to make the creative decisions. The producer and the director work together to plan the film. They hire writers to develop a script for the film. Then, from the script comes the storyboard, an important step in the planning. The storyboard is like a picture book, with a small picture for each camera shot. Under each picture, there’s a summary of the action and sometimes a bit of dialogue.

Then comes the production, when the filming takes place. During production, the director and crew concentrate on getting the perfect camera shot. The director may ask for several takes of the same shot, sometimes changing the script for each take. After the filming is done, there’s still a lot to do. This is the post–production phase and includes editing the film. The editor’s job is to cut up the various film sequences and then put them together in the right order so the story is told in the best way. The editor works closely with the director, as well
as various artists and technicians. This is when the sound and special effects are added—the final result being the finished movie you see in the theater.

3. What is the talk mainly about?
4. How does the professor organize the information that he presents?
   
   Questions 5 through 7. Listen to part of a talk in a botany class.
   There are several common leaf arrangements in wildflowers. In the usual arrangement, the one called alternate,
   each leaf is attached at a different level on the stem. This poppyis a good example. See how … uh … there’s a leaf here, on the right side, and above that a leaf on the left here, and above that, one on the right again … and so on, alternating right and left, all the way up the stem.
   Another type is the opposite arrangement. Notice the difference between the alternate leaves on the poppy and the
   opposite leaves on this bee plant. The bee plant’s leaves are paired on opposite sides of the stem. See how they’re attached at the same level of the stem, but on opposite sides.
   And here we have yet another kind. This one’s called basal, and our example is the amaryllis. Notice how all the leaves are at ground level, at the stem’s base. The amaryllis … this particular plant, and all other members of the amaryllis family … uh … it has narrow basal leaves and a long, leafless stalk.
   I have some lovely samples to share with you today. I’d like you all to come up and examine the contents of … uh … these two tables. Many of them are specimens of the sunflower family, which includes several species with alternate and opposite leaves. Take a good look and see if you can identify the three types of arrangements. It’s okay to handle … but let me ask you to please handle with care, as some of them are quite delicate.
5. How does the instructor organize the information that she presents?
6. Based on the information in the talk, indicate whether each sentence below describes the alternate, opposite, or basal leaf arrangement.
7. What will the students probably do next?