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TOEFL Directory > TOEFL writing > TOEFL Reading Class Unit 2_Passage 8_Question 78-88
TOEFL Reading Class Unit 2_Passage 8_Question 78-88
You have about 15 minutes to finish this passage.
First,use about 3-4 minutes to read the passage, try to understand the main idea of this passage.
Don't read it so slowly or try to remember all details.You need to do "fast reading",and "scan" the passage.
Second, read questions 1-11, and with questions you go back the passage again and look for correct answers.
Questions 78-88
Passage 8
There was no known public national census anywhere before the eighteenth century. Any figures indicating a nation's military and economic power were guarded as state secrets, like the maps of newly discovered passages through dangerous waters to distant ports. The ancient population counts among the Egyptians, Greeks, Hebrews, Persians, Romans, and Japanese were apparently aimed toward taxable people and property, and men of military age. A different kind of accounting was the goal in the earliest recorded comprehensive census of a population and its food supply, which was taken in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1449, when the town was threatened by a siege. The town council ordered a full count of all the mouths to be fed and an inventory of the food supply, but the results were kept secret and did not become public until two centuries later.
Public numbers are a modern by-product of new ways of thinking about government, wealth, and security. Representative governments have required periodic public censuses of population in order to determine representation. The framers of the Constitution of the United States pioneered in this area by providing for a national census every ten years. Established in 1790, the United States census is the oldest continuous periodic census done by a nation and has served as a model for the institution elsewhere. The proposal for a ten-year census was not the first census proposal made in the United States. In 1776 during the American Revolution, the committee working on a preliminary body of laws for the new nation proposed the requirement of a census every three years. These early lawmakers understood the importance of the census even then. Today, the periodic United States census is used to determine the number of members from each state in the House of Representatives, one of the two houses of the United States Congress.
78. The author mentions maps of newly discovered passages in the passage as examples of
a) information sources contributing to the first censuses
b) early evidence of careful record keeping
c) information kept secret by some nations
d) the only surviving records of early civilizations
79. The word its in the passage refers to
a) property
b) age
c) census
d) population
80. The Nuremberg census mentioned in the first paragraph was conducted in order to
a) assess the town's ability to survive the siege
b) make plans for future building projects
c) assess the amount of damage caused to the town by the siege
d) make plans for attacking another town
81. Click on the sentence in the passage that implies that early censuses did not include the entire population.
82. What is the second paragraph mainly about?
a) The census in world history
b) The beginnings of the United States census
c) The establishment of the United States Constitution
d) The measurement of economic power through the ages
83. The word periodic in the passage is closest in meaning to
a) regular
b) final
c) limited
d) necessary
84. The word elsewhere in the passage is closest in meaning to
a) in other places
b) otherwise
c) as well
d) immediately
85. It can be inferred that the United States census is taken
a) every year
b) every three years
c) every ten years
d) at inconsistent intervals
86. Click on the sentence in the passage that states the first year in which the United States census was taken.
87. Click on the sentence in paragraph 2 that mentions the specific way in which the census influences representation in the United States government.
88. The following sentence can be added to the passage.
Although the purposes for which these early censuses were used can only be surmised, a later example was associated with a known historical incident.
Where would it best fit in the passage?
Ⓐ There was no known public national census anywhere before the eighteenth century. Ⓑ Any figures indicating a nation's military and economic power were guarded as state secrets, like the maps of newly discovered passages through dangerous waters to distant ports. Ⓒ The ancient population counts among the Egyptians, Greeks, Hebrews, Persians, Romans, and Japanese were apparently aimed toward taxable people and property, and men of military age. Ⓓ A different kind of accounting was the goal in the earliest recorded comprehensive census of a population and its food supply, which was taken in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1449, when the town was threatened by a siege. Ⓔ The town council ordered a full count of all the mouths to be fed and an inventory of the food supply, but the results were kept secret and did not become public until two centuries later. Ⓕ
Ⓖ Public numbers are a modern by-product of new ways of thinking about government, wealth, and security. Ⓗ Representative governments have required periodic public censuses of population in order to determine representation. Ⓘ The framers of the Constitution of the United States pioneered in this area by providing for a national census every ten years. Ⓙ Established in 1790, the United States census is the oldest continuous periodic census done by a nation and has served as a model for the institution elsewhere. Ⓚ The proposal for a ten-year census was not the first census proposal made in the United States. Ⓛ In 1776 during the American Revolution, the committee working on a preliminary body of laws for the new nation proposed the requirement of a census every three years. Ⓜ These early lawmakers understood the importance of the census even then. Ⓝ Today, the periodic United States census is used to determine the number of members from each state in the House of Representatives, one of the two houses of the United States Congress. Ⓞ
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