Read the passage and choose the correct answer:

On the provincial level, some women in Canada could vote beginning in 1916. Suffrage expanded to the federal level over the next few years: In 1917 nurses and women in the armed forces could vote, then women whose fathers, husbands, or sons were serving overseas. In 1918 legislation passed expanding suffrage to female citizens excluding Asian-Canadian women and First Nation women, who did not win the right to vote until the 1940s and 1960s, respectively.

Non-indigenous women in Australia got the right to vote beginning in 1895, when the state of South Australia passed colony- and state-wide suffrage, in addition to the right to stand for parliament. In 1899, state suffrage expanded to Western Australia. In 1902, non-indigenous women won the right to vote on the federal level with the passing of the Commonwealth Franchise Act. Indigenous Australians didn't get the federal right to vote until 1962.

Asian-Canadian women acquired suffrage in 1918.

A pioneering study by Donald Appleyard made the astounding discovery that a sudden increase in the volume of traffic through an area affects people in the way that a sudden increase in crime does. Appleyard observed this by finding three blocks of houses in San Francisco that looked much alike and had the same kind of middle-class and working-class residents, with approximately the same ethnic mix. The difference was that only 2,000 cars a day ran down Octavia Street (LIGHT street, in Appleyard’s terminology) while Gough Street (MEDIUM street) was used by 8,000 cars daily, and Franklin Street (HEAVY street) had around 16,000 cars a day. Franklin Street often had as many cars in an hour as Octavia had in a day.
Heavy traffic brought with it danger, noise, fumes and soot, directly, and trash secondarily. That is, the cars didn’t bring in much trash, but when trash accumulated, residents seldom picked it up. The cars, Appleyard determined, reduced the amount of territory residents felt responsible for. Noise was a constant intrusion into their homes. Many Franklin Street residents covered their doors and windows and spent most of their time in the rear of their houses. Most families with children had already left.
Conditions on Octavia Street were much different. Residents picked up trash. They sat on their front steps and chatted with neighbors. They had three times as many friends and twice as many acquaintances as the people on Franklin.
On Gough Street, residents said that the old feeling of community was disappearing as traffic increaseD. People were becoming more and more preoccupied with their own lives. A number of families had recently moved and more were considering. Those who were staying expressed deep regret at the destruction of their community.

In what order does the author present detailed discussions of the three streets?

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the correct answer for each of the blanks from 6 to 15

Revising for exams is not as easy as it looks. You will need to work out which routine suits you best, and then stick to it. Some people like studying at night when it’s quiet, whereas others find the early morning is a good time to get things done. You might enjoy (6)…….. to music while you revise, but this can be (7)……... Can you really concentrate (8)……….. two things at once? So think (9)……… you turn your radio on. Your (10)…….. is also important while you are revising. This may be a more than usually (11)………. period of your life, when you should take extra care to eat properly. No missed meals, or junk food, or (12)…….cups of coffee! Get plenty of exercise as well. If you have got fed up with (13)……. you’re doing, or find it hard to concentrate, go for a walk to clear your head. (14)……. exercise will help to keep your body fit and your brain working (15)………… Finally, you also need to take time off. Go out occasionally, see your friends, and make time to relax. Then you will return to your studies fresh and full of enthusiasm.

6...................

Read the passage and choose the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the word that best fits each blank.
Nearly 450.000 businesses are started in Britain every year. One-third of these stops trading during the first three years. Starting a business is never easy (3)_______ so many things are outside your control. If you are thinking about working for yourself, you must start by thinking about the qualities you need to (4)______a business. Be hard with yourself. If you have a weakness, it is better to find out now rather than later (5)________ your business could be in danger. Ask yourself whether you are a good (6)______. Is your health good? Are you good at making decisions? Do you have any practical experience of the business you want to start? Are you prepared to work long hours for very (7)_______money? If you cannot answer 'yes' to most of these questions, perhaps you should think again about starting up in business on your own.

4. ................

Fill in each numbered blank with one suitable word or phrase. In  the  1960s  the  women's  liberation  movement  (1)  _____  suddenly  into  the  public  consciousness  and  quickly  grew  into  (2)  _____ largest  social movement  in the history  of  the  United  States.  Women's  liberation movement  was  a  continuation  of  the  19-century  women's rights movement. The movement's major (3) _____ has included not only legal, economic, and political gains (4) _____ also has changed the  ways  in  which  people  live,  dress,  dream  of  their  future,  and  (5)  ___  a  living.  About  health,  for  example,  many  male  physicians and hospital  have  made  major  improvements  in  the  (6)  _____  of  women;  more  and  more  women  have  become  doctors  and  succeeded  (7) _____  their  medical  research;  and  diseases  such  as  breast  cancer,  which  affects  many  women,  now  receive  better funding  and  treatment, thanks to women's (8) ___. Feminists have insisted that violence against women become a political issue. The women's liberation movement has also made changes in education: curricula and (9) _____ have been written to promote equal opportunity for girls and women; more and more female students are admitted to universities and professional schools.The  women's  liberation  movement  brought  about  a  radical  change  in  society  (10)  _____  it  took  a  decade  for  the  movement  to  reach women's awareness.

(5)  _____

Read the following passage and Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions:
The goal of Internet-based encyclopedia Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org) is to give everyone on the planet access to information. Like other encyclopedias, Wikipedia contains lots of information: more than 2.5 million articles in 200 different languages covering just about every subject. Unlike other encyclopedias, however, Wikipedia is not written by experts, but by ordinary people. These writers are not paid and their names are not published. They contribute to Wikipedia simply because they want to share their knowledge.
Encyclopedias began in ancient times as collections of writings about all aspects of human knowledge. The word itself comes from ancient Greek, and means "a complete general education". Real popularity for encyclopedias came in the nineteenth century in Europe and the United States, with the publication of encyclopedias written for ordinary readers. With the invention of the CD- ROM, the same amount of information could be put on a few computer discs. Then with the Internet, it became possible to create an online encyclopedia that could be constantly updated, like Microsoft's Encarta. However, even Internet-based encyclopedias like Encarta were written by paid experts. At first, Wikipedia, the brainchild of Jimmy Wales, a businessman in Chicago, was not so different from these. In 2001, he had the idea for an Internet-based encyclopedia that would provide information quickly and easily to everyone. Furthermore, that information would be available free, unlike other Internet encyclopedias at that time.
But Wales, like everyone else, believed that people with special knowledge were needed to write the articles, and so he began by hiring experts. He soon changed his approach, however, as it took them a long time to finish their work. He decided to open up the encyclopedia in a radical new way, so that everyone would have access not only to the information, but also to the process of putting this information online. To do this, he used what is known as "Wiki" software (from the Hawaiian word for "fast"), which allows users to create or alter content on web page. The system is very simple: When you open the web site, you can simply search for information or you can log on to become a writer or editor of articles. If you find an article that interests you - about your hometown, for example - you can correct it or expand it. This process goes on until no one is interested in making any more changes.

We can say that Jimmy Wales________.

Even before the turn of the century, movies began to develop in two major directions: the realistic and the formalistic Realism and formalism are merely general, rather than absolute, terms. When used to suggest a tendency toward either polarity, such labels can be helpful, but in the end they are still just labels. Few films are exclusively formalist in style, and fewer yet are completely realist. There is also an important difference between realism and reality, although this distinction is often forgotten. Realism is a particular style, whereas physical reality is the source of all the raw materials of film, both realistic and formalistic. Virtually all movie directors go to the photographable world for their subject matter, but what they do with this material - how they shape and manipulate it - determines their stylistic emphasis.
Generally speaking, realistic films attempt to reproduce the surface of concrete reality with a minimum of distortion. In photographing objects and events, the filmmaker tries to suggest the copiousness of life itself. Both realist and formalist film directors must select (and hence emphasize) certain details from the chaotic sprawl of reality. But the element of selectivity in realistic films is less obvious. Realists, in short, try to preserve the illusion that their film world is unmanipulated, an objective mirror of the actual world. Formalists, on the other hand, make no such pretense. They deliberately stylize and distort their raw materials so that only the very naive would mistake a manipulated image of an object or event for the real thing.
We rarely notice the style in a realistic movie; the artist tends to be self-effacing. Some filmmakers are more concerned with what is being shown than how it is manipulated. The camera is used conservatively. It is essentially a recording mechanism that reproduces the surface of tangible objects with as little commentary as possible. A high premium is placed on simplicity, spontaneity, and directness. This is not to suggest that these movies lack artistry, however, for at its best the realistic cinema specializes in art that conceals art

How can one recognize the formalist style?

Just as optical fibers have transformed communication, they are also revolutionizing medicine. These ultrathin, flexible fibers have opened a window into the living tissues of the body. By inserting optical fibers through natural openings or small incisions and threading  them along the body's established pathways, physicians can look into the lungs, intestines,  heart and other areas that were formerly inaccessible to   them.
The basic fiber-optics system is called fiberscope, which consists of  two  bundles  of fibers. One, the illuminating bundle, carries light to the tissues. Is is coupled to  a  high- intensity light source. Light enters the cores of the high-purity silicon glass and travels along the fibers. A lens at the end of the bundle collects the light and  focuses  it into the other  bundle, the imaging bundle. Each fiber in the bundle transmits only a tiny fraction of the total image. The reconstructed image can be viewed through an eyepiece or displayed on a television screen.
During the last five years, improved methods of fabricating optical fibers have led to a reduction in fiberscope diameter and an increase in the number of fibers, which in turn has increased resolution. Optical fibers can also be used to deliver laser light. By use of laser beams, physicians can perform surgery inside the body, sometimes eliminating the need for invasive procedures in which healthy tissue must be cut through to reach the site of disease. Many of these procedures do not require anesthesia and can be performed in a physician's office. These techniques have reduced the risk and the cost of medical care.

Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word formerly?

Choose the item among A, B, C or D that best answers the question about the passage:

"Until the 19thcentury, the denial of equal rights to women met with only occasional protest and drew little attention from most people. Because most women lacked the educational and economic resources that would enable them to challenge the prevailing social order, women generally accepted their inferior status as their only option. At this time, women shared these disadvantages with the majority of working class men, as many social, economic, and political rights were restricted to the wealthy elite. In the 19th century, as governments in Europe and North America began to draft new laws guaranteeing equality among men, significant numbers of women - and some men - began to demand that women be accorded equal rights as well.
 At the same time, the Industrial Revolution in Europe and North America further divided the roles of men and women. Before the Industrial Revolution most people worked in farming or crafts-making, both of which took place in or near the home. Men and women usually divided the numerous tasks among themselves and their children. Industrialization led male workers to seek employment outside of the home in factories and other large-scale enterprises. The growing split between home and work reinforced the idea that women’s “rightful place” was in the home, while men belonged in the public world of employment and politics.
 Organized efforts by women to achieve greater rights occurred in two major waves. The first wave began around the mid-19th century, when women in the United States and elsewhere campaigned to gain suffrage - that is, the right to vote. This wave lasted until the 1920s, when several countries granted women suffrage."

1. Why did the denial of equal rights to women draw little attention from the society until the 19th century?

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the correct answer for each of the blanks from 6 to 15

 
Revising for exams is not as easy as it looks. You will need to work out which routine suits you best, and then stick to it. Some people like studying at night when it’s quiet, whereas others find the early morning is a good time to get things done. You might enjoy (6)…….. to music while you revise, but this can be (7)……... Can you really concentrate (8)……….. two things at once? So think (9)……… you turn your radio on. Your (10)…….. is also important while you are revising. This may be a more than usually (11)………. period of your life, when you should take extra care to eat properly. No missed meals, or junk food, or (12)…….cups of coffee! Get plenty of exercise as well. If you have got fed up with (13)……. you’re doing, or find it hard to concentrate, go for a walk to clear your head. (14)……. exercise will help to keep your body fit and your brain working (15)………… Finally, you also need to take time off. Go out occasionally, see your friends, and make time to relax. Then you will return to your studies fresh and full of enthusiasm.

8.......................

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.

   Many people believe that watching television has resulted in lower reading standards in schools. However, the link between television and printed books is not as simple as that. In many cases, television actually encourages people to read; for example, when a book is turned into a TV series, its sales often go up. One study of this link examined six-year-old children who were viewing a special series of 15-minute programs at school. The series was designed to encourage love of books, as well as to develop the basic mechanical skills of reading. Each program is an animated film of a children's book. The story is read aloud and certain key phrases from the book appear on the screen, beneath the picture. Whenever a word is read, it is also highlighted on the TV screen.

   One finding was that watching these programs was very important to the children. If anything prevented them from seeing a program, they were very disappointed. What's more, they wanted to read the books which the different parts of the series were based on.

   The programs also gave the children more confidence when looking at these books. As a result of their familiarity with the stories, they would sit in pairs and read the stories aloud to each other. On each occasion, the children showed great sympathy when discussing a character in a book because they themselves had been moved when watching the character on television.

Who were the subjects of the study?

Choose the item among A, B, C or D that best answers the question about the passage:

"Until the 19thcentury, the denial of equal rights to women met with only occasional protest and drew little attention from most people. Because most women lacked the educational and economic resources that would enable them to challenge the prevailing social order, women generally accepted their inferior status as their only option. At this time, women shared these disadvantages with the majority of working class men, as many social, economic, and political rights were restricted to the wealthy elite. In the 19th century, as governments in Europe and North America began to draft new laws guaranteeing equality among men, significant numbers of women - and some men - began to demand that women be accorded equal rights as well.
 At the same time, the Industrial Revolution in Europe and North America further divided the roles of men and women. Before the Industrial Revolution most people worked in farming or crafts-making, both of which took place in or near the home. Men and women usually divided the numerous tasks among themselves and their children. Industrialization led male workers to seek employment outside of the home in factories and other large-scale enterprises. The growing split between home and work reinforced the idea that women’s “rightful place” was in the home, while men belonged in the public world of employment and politics.
 Organized efforts by women to achieve greater rights occurred in two major waves. The first wave began around the mid-19th century, when women in the United States and elsewhere campaigned to gain suffrage - that is, the right to vote. This wave lasted until the 1920s, when several countries granted women suffrage."

3.  When did the women’s movement start in Western countries?

Many ants forage across the countryside in large numbers and undertake mass migrations; these activities proceed because one ant lays a trail on the ground for the others to follow. As a worker ant returns home after finding a source of food, it marks the route by intermittently touching its stinger to the ground and depositing a tiny amount of trail pheromone – a mixture of chemicals that delivers diverse messages as the context changes. These trails incorporate no directional information and may be followed by other ants in either direction. 
Unlike some other messages, such as the one arising from a dead ant, a food trail has to be kept secret from members of other species. It is not surprising then that ant species use a wide variety of compounds as trail pheromones. Ants can be extremely sensitive to these signals. Investigators working with the trail pheromone of the leafcutter ant Atta texana calculated that one milligram of this substance would suffice to lead a column of ants three times around Earth. 
The vapor of the evaporating pheromone over the trail guides an ant along the way, and the ant detects this signal with receptors in its antennae. A trail pheromone will evaporate to furnish the highest concentration of vapor right over the trail, in what is called a vapor space. In following the trail, the ant moves to the right and left, oscillating from side to side across the line of the trail itself, bringing first one and then the other antenna into the vapor space. As the ant moves to the right, its left antenna arrives in the vapor space. The signal it receives causes it to swing to the left, and the ant then pursues this new course until its right antenna reaches the vapor space. It then swings back to the right, and so weaves back and forth down the trail.

What does the passage mainly discuss?' 

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions: 
Until recently, most American entrepreneurs were men. Discrimination against women in business, the demands of caring for families, and lack of business training had kept the number of women entrepreneurs small. Now, however, businesses owned by women account for more than $40 billion in annual revenues, and this figure is likely to continue rising throughout the 1990s. As Carolyn Doppelt Gray, an official of the Small Business Administration, has noted, “The 1970s was the decade of women entering management, and the 1980s turned out to be the decade of the woman entrepreneur". What are some of the factors behind this trend? For one thing, as more women earn advanced degrees in business and enter the corporateworld, they are finding obstacles. Women are still excluded from most executive suites. Charlotte Taylor, a management consultant, had noted, "In the 1970s women believed if they got an MBA and worked hard they could become chairman of the board. Now they've found out that isn't going to happen, so they go out on their own".
In the past, most women entrepreneurs worked in "women's" fields: cosmetics and clothing, for example. But this is changing. Consider ASK Computer Systems, a $22-million-a-year computer software business, it was founded in 1973 by Sandra Kurtzig, who was then a housewife with degrees in math and engineering. When Kurtzig founded the business, her first product was software that let weekly newspapers keep tabs on their newspaper carriers-and her office was a bedroom at home, with a shoebox under the bed to hold the company's cash, After she succeeded with the newspaper software system, she hired several bright computer-science graduates to develop additional programs. When these were marketed and sold, ASK began to grow. It now has 200 employees, and Sandra Kurtzig owns $66.9 million of stock.
Of course, many women who start their own businesses fail, just as men often do. They still face hurdles in the business world, especially problems in raising money; the banking and finance world is still dominated by men, and old attitudes die hard. Most businesses owned by women are still quite small But the situation is changing; there are likely to be many more Sandra Kurtzigs in the years ahead.

In the paragraph 1, "that" refers to________.

Choose the letter A, B, C or D to complete the passage below

When people think of domestic abuse, they often focus __________ (1) domestic violence. But domestic abuse includes any attempt by one person in __________ (2) intimate relationship or marriage to dominate and control the other. Domestic violence and abuse are used for one purpose and one purpose only: __________ (3) and maintain total control over you. An abuser doesn’t “play fair.” Abusers use fear, guilt, shame, and intimidation to wear you down and keep you under __________ (4) thumb.

__________ (5) violence and abuse can happen to anyone; it does not discriminate. Abuse happens within heterosexual relationships and in same-sex partnerships. It __________ (6) within all age ranges, ethnic backgrounds, and economic levels. And __________ (7) women are more often victimized, men also experience abuse—especially verbal and emotional. The bottom line is that abusive behavior is never __________ (8), whether from a man, woman, teenager, or an older adult. You deserve to feel valued, respected, and safe.

Domestic abuse often escalates __________ (9) threats and verbal assault to violence. And while physical injury may pose the most obvious danger, the emotional and psychological consequences of domestic abuse are also severe. Emotionally abusive relationships can destroy your self-worth, __________ (10) to anxiety and depression, and make you feel helpless and alone. No one should have to endure this kind of pain—and your first step to breaking free is recognizing that your relationship is abusive.

(5).........................

In the last third of the nineteenth century a new housing form was quietly being developed.   In 1869 the Stuyvesant, considered New York's first apartment house was built on East Eighteenth Street. The building was financed by the developer Rutherfurd Stuyvesant and designed by Richard Morris Hunt, the first American architect to graduate from the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. Each man had lived in Paris, and each understood the economics and social potential of this Parisian housing form. But the Stuyvesant was at best a limited success.  In spite of  Hunt's  inviting façade, the living space was awkwardly arranged. Those who could afford them  were  quite  content  to remain in the more sumptuous, single-family homes, leaving the Stuyvesant to newly  married  couples and bachelors.
The fundamental problem with the Stuyvesant and the other early apartment buildings that quickly followed, in the 1870's and early 1880's was that they were confined to the typical New   York building lot. That lot was a rectangular area 25 feet wide by 100 feet deep-a shape perfectly suited for a row house The lot could also accommodate a rectangular tenement, though it could not yield the square, well-lighted, and logically arranged rooms that great apartment buildings require. Put even with the awkward interior configurations of the early apartment buildings, the idea caught on. It met the needs of a large and growing population that wanted something better than tenements but could not afford or did not want row  houses.
So while the city's newly emerging social leadership  commissioned  their  mansions, apartment houses and hotels began to sprout in multiple lots, thus breaking the initial space  constraints. In the closing decades of the nineteenth century,  large apartment houses  began dotting  the developed portions of New York City, and by the opening decades of the twentieth century, spacious buildings, such as the Dakota and the Ansoniafinally transcended the tight confinement of row house building lots. From there it was only a small step to building luxury apartment houses on  the newly created Park Avenue, right next to the fashionable Fifth Avenue   shopping area.

Why was the Stuyvesant a limited success?

Choose the option among A, B, C or D that best fits the blank space in the following passage: 

"The status of women’s rights today (1)….. dramatically in different countries and, in some cases, am ong groups within the same country, such as ethnic groups or economic classes.
 In recent decades women around the world have made strides in political participation. (2)….. the 1980s women could vote virtually everywhere in the world, except for a few Muslim countries. As of mid-2005, when women in Kuwait won suffrage, women could vote in all countries (3)…. Men could vote except Saudi Arabia. The right to vote usually included the right to (4)….. for elected office. In 2005 there were 12 female national leaders in the world, including 8 heads of (5)…… (3 monarchs and 5 presidents) and 4 heads of government (prime ministers). In 2005 women made (6)….. almost 16 percent of legislative bodies worldwide, compared to 11 percent in 1999 and 9 percent in 1987. Despite these advancements, women’s role in governmental decision-making remains (7) …...
 Many disparities persist between women’s legal rights and their economic status. Women today constitute nearly 70 percent of the world’s poor, (8) …..  international efforts to compensate women and men (9)…..  in the workplace. While women made up about 32 percent of the world’s labor force in 1990, the percentage of women in positions to make important decisions was far lower. In 2002 women held only 15.7 percent of corporate (10)…… positions in the 500 largest companies in the United States - an increase of 7 percentage points since 1995. In the mid-1990s women comprised only 1 percent of executives in the 1,000 largest corporations outside the United States."

4. The right to vote usually included the right to (4)….. for elected office.

Fill in each numbered blank with one suitable word or phrase. In  the  1960s  the  women's  liberation  movement  (1)  _____  suddenly  into  the  public  consciousness  and  quickly  grew  into  (2)  _____ largest  social movement  in the history  of  the  United  States.  Women's  liberation movement  was  a  continuation  of  the  19-century  women's rights movement. The movement's major (3) _____ has included not only legal, economic, and political gains (4) _____ also has changed the  ways  in  which  people  live,  dress,  dream  of  their  future,  and  (5)  ___  a  living.  About  health,  for  example,  many  male  physicians and hospital  have  made  major  improvements  in  the  (6)  _____  of  women;  more  and  more  women  have  become  doctors  and  succeeded  (7) _____  their  medical  research;  and  diseases  such  as  breast  cancer,  which  affects  many  women,  now  receive  better funding  and  treatment, thanks to women's (8) ___. Feminists have insisted that violence against women become a political issue. The women's liberation movement has also made changes in education: curricula and (9) _____ have been written to promote equal opportunity for girls and women; more and more female students are admitted to universities and professional schools.The  women's  liberation  movement  brought  about  a  radical  change  in  society  (10)  _____  it  took  a  decade  for  the  movement  to  reach women's awareness.

(6)  _____

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions: 
Until recently, most American entrepreneurs were men. Discrimination against women in business, the demands of caring for families, and lack of business training had kept the number of women entrepreneurs small. Now, however, businesses owned by women account for more than $40 billion in annual revenues, and this figure is likely to continue rising throughout the 1990s. As Carolyn Doppelt Gray, an official of the Small Business Administration, has noted, “The 1970s was the decade of women entering management, and the 1980s turned out to be the decade of the woman entrepreneur". What are some of the factors behind this trend? For one thing, as more women earn advanced degrees in business and enter the corporateworld, they are finding obstacles. Women are still excluded from most executive suites. Charlotte Taylor, a management consultant, had noted, "In the 1970s women believed if they got an MBA and worked hard they could become chairman of the board. Now they've found out that isn't going to happen, so they go out on their own".
In the past, most women entrepreneurs worked in "women's" fields: cosmetics and clothing, for example. But this is changing. Consider ASK Computer Systems, a $22-million-a-year computer software business, it was founded in 1973 by Sandra Kurtzig, who was then a housewife with degrees in math and engineering. When Kurtzig founded the business, her first product was software that let weekly newspapers keep tabs on their newspaper carriers-and her office was a bedroom at home, with a shoebox under the bed to hold the company's cash, After she succeeded with the newspaper software system, she hired several bright computer-science graduates to develop additional programs. When these were marketed and sold, ASK began to grow. It now has 200 employees, and Sandra Kurtzig owns $66.9 million of stock.
Of course, many women who start their own businesses fail, just as men often do. They still face hurdles in the business world, especially problems in raising money; the banking and finance world is still dominated by men, and old attitudes die hard. Most businesses owned by women are still quite small But the situation is changing; there are likely to be many more Sandra Kurtzigs in the years ahead.

The expression "keep tabs on" is closest meaning to________.

DISAPPEARING ALASKAN SEALS
On a winter afternoon, a dozen male Northern fur seals are on an island off south-western Alaska. To look at them, fighting for territory on the rocks, it’s hard to imagine that they are at the (27)____________of a baffling scientific mystery: why is this species beginning to disappear? These seals- which can weigh up to 270 kilograms-have an important and symbolic (28)_________in Alaska’s history. Their soft and luxurious fur, the coveted prize during the huge commercial sea harvests that were legal here in the Bering Sea through the early 20th century, was once so valuable it (29)_________Alaska’s economy. Starting in the 1950s, for reasons that are (30)_______because the harvests by then tended to be fairly small, the seal population began a slow decline . But lately it has been falling drastically, declining at an alarming (31)________of 6 per cent a year since 1998. From a (32)_________ of more than 2 million in Alaska in 1948, their numbers have fallen to about 1 million.
So (33)________, no one has been able to establish a precise cause for this, although theories (34)___________. The seals' food supply may be (35)________, or another species may be (36)________on the seals- perhaps killer whales, which no longer have as many great whales to eat because of harvesting of those mammals. Some people have suggested that the decline can be (37)______to entanglement in fishing nets ,but scientists say they doubt that this alone could (38)_________the recent population decline.
(27)....................................

In addition to their military role, the forts of the nineteenth century provided numerous other benefits for the American West. The establishment of these posts opened new roads and provided for the protection of daring adventurers and expeditions as well as established settlers. Forts also served as bases where enterprising entrepreneurs could bring commerce to the West, providing supplies and refreshments to soldiers as well as to pioneers. Posts like Fort Laramie provided supplies for wagon trains traveling the natural highways toward new frontiers. Some posts became stations for the pony express; still others, such as Fort Davis, were stagecoach stops for weary travelers. All of these functions, of course, suggest that the contributions of the forts to the civilization and development of the West extended beyond patrol duty.
 Through the establishment of military posts, yet other contributions were made to the development of western culture. Many posts maintained libraries or reading rooms, and some – for example, Fort Davis – had schools. Post chapels provided a setting for religious services and weddings. Throughout the wilderness, post bands provided entertainment and boosted morale. During the last part of the nineteenth century, to reduce expenses, gardening was encouraged at the forts, thus making experimental agriculture another activity of the military. The military stationed at the various forts also played a role in civilian life by assisting in maintaining order, and civilian officials often called on the army for protection.
 Certainly, among other significant contributions the army made to the improvement of the conditions of life was the investigation of the relationships among health, climate, and architecture. From the earliest colonial times throughout the nineteenth century, disease ranked as the foremost problem in defense. It slowed construction of forts and inhibited their military functions. Official documents from many regions contained innumerable reports of sickness that virtually incapacitated entire garrisons. In response to the problems, detailed observations of architecture and climate and their relationships to the frequency of the occurrence of various diseases were recorded at various posts across the nation by military surgeons.

Which of the following would a traveler be LEAST likely to obtain at Fort Laramie?