Reading passages

297 -We can assume from the passage that before the experimental flight in 1926, ---- .
A) many others had tried to do a similar thing
B) the director of the Smithsonian Institution was not hopeful of any success
C) other scientists had attempted to do it
D) no one believed that it would be successful
E) Goddard had made other trials but had failed

In 1920, after some thirty -nine years of problems with disease, high costs and politics, the Panama Canal was officially opened. This linked the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by allowing ships to pass through the fifty -mile canal zone instead of travelling some seven thousand miles around Cape Horn. It takes a ship approximately eight hours to complete the trip through the canal, and costs a tenth of what it would cost the average ship to round the Horn. More than fifteen thousand ships use the canal annually.

298-The passage gives us the information that ----- .
A) the Panama Canal was built in order to combat certain diseases
B) there were more political problems than problems with disease during the construction of the canal
C) the Panama Canal is built at the narrowest point between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans D) it took a little less than four decades to build the Panama Canal
E) the Panama Canal has been used by about fifteen thousand ships since its construction


299 -The Panama Canal ----- .
A) provides a cheaper and shorter alternative route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
B) reduces the distance between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by 90 per cent
C) is seven thousand miles from Cape Horn
D) makes it possible to cover fifteen thousand miles in eight hours
E) was begun in 1920, despite opposition from the natives


300 -We can infer from the passage that before the Panama Canal opened, ---- .
A) there was a lot of disease in the region which has now been eliminated
B) fifteen thousand ships a year went around Cape Horn
C) there was no connection by sea between the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean
D) there were too few ships to make such a project profitable
E) the journey by ship from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean took much longer

A fire extinguisher, even a small one, located near the kitchen is a wise investment. But be sure that the extinguisher is rated to put out kitchen fires. What the extinguisher is designed to do is stated on the outside. Rather than bother trying to determine which one is best for you, just get an extinguisher that is rated to control all three primary types of fires: (1) ordinary combustibles such as paper and wood; (2) flammable liquids, such as fat, gasoline and grease; and (3) electric fires. Read the directions carefully. Teach everyone in the family how to operate the extinguisher, and do not buy one that is too heavy for a child of nine or ten to lift.