1. An alien exploring Earth would probably give priority to the planet's dominant, most-distinctive feature-the ocean. Humans have a bias toward land that sometimes gets in the way of truly examining global issues.

　　The word "bias" is closest in meaning to which of following?

　　(A) concern

　　(B) disadvantage

　　(C) attitude

　　(D) prejudice

　　2. The prevailing winds in the Great Basin are from the west. Warm, moist air from the Pacific Ocean is forced upward as it crosses the Sierra Nevada.

　　The word "prevailing" is closest in meaning to which of following?

　　(A) most frequent

　　(B) occasional

　　(C) gentle

　　(D) most dangerous

　　3. There seem to have been several periods within the last tens of thousands of years when water accumulated in these basins. The rise and fall of the lakes were undoubtedly linked to the advances and retreats of the great ice sheets that covered much of the northern part of the North American continent during those times.

　　The word "accumulated" is closest in meaning to which of following?

　　(A) dried

　　(B) flooded

　　(C) collected

　　(D) evaporated

　　4. All living creature, especially human beings, have their peculiarities, but everything about the little sea cucumber seems unusual. What else can be said about a bizarre animal that, among other eccentricities, eats mud, feeds almost continuously day and night but can live without eating for long periods, and can be poisonous but is considered supremely edible by gourmets?

　　The phrase "bizarre" is closest in meaning to which of following?

　　(A) odd

　　(B) marine

　　(C) simple

　　(D) rare

　　5. Its major enemies are fish and crabs, when attacked, it squirts all its internal organs into the water. It also casts off attached structures such as tentacles. The sea cucumber will eviscerate and regenerate itself if it is attacked or even touched; it will do the same if the surrounding water temperature is too high or if the water becomes too polluted.

　　The phrase "casts off" is closest in meaning to which of following?

　　(A) grows again

　　(B) grabs

　　(C) gets rid of

　　(D) uses as a weapon

　　1 D

　　2 A

　　3 C

　　4 A

　　5 C

　　1. Objects in the universe show a variety of shapes: round planets (some with rings) , tailed comets, wispy cosmic gas and dust clouds, ringed nebulae, pinwheel-shaped spiral galaxies, and so on. But none of the shapes on this list describes the largest single entities in the universe.

　　The word "entities" is closest in meaning to which of following?

　　(A) factors

　　(B) processes

　　(C) objects

　　(D) puzzles

　　2. Stone carvers engraved their motifs of skulls and crossbones and other religious icons of death into the gray slabs that we still see standing today in old burial grounds.

　　The word "motifs" is closest in meaning to which of following?

　　(A) tools

　　(B) prints

　　(C) signatures

　　(D) designs

　　1 C

　　2 D