English Reading Practice Test Level B1 - Test No. 11

Read the passage and answer these following question. Dissociative Identity Disorder Dissociative identity disorder is a psychological condition in which a person’s identity dissociates, or fragments, thereby creating distinct independent identities within one individual. Each separate personality can be distinct from the other personalities in a number of ways, including posture, manner of moving, tone and pitch of voice, gestures, facial expressions, and use of language. A person suffering from dissociative identity disorder may have a large number of independent personalities or perhaps only two or three.​ Two stories of actual women suffering from dissociative identity disorder have been extensively recounted in books and films that are familiar to the public. One of them is the story of a woman with 22 separate personalities known as Eve. In the 1950s, a book by Corbett Thigpen and a motion picture starring Joanne Woodward, each of which was titled The Three Faces of Eve, presented her story; the title referred to 3 faces, when the woman known as Eve actually experienced 22 different personalities, because only 3 of the personalities could exist at one time. Two decades later, Carolyn Sizemore, Eve’s 22nd personality, wrote about her experiences in a book entitled I’m Eve. The second well- known story of a woman suffering from dissociative personality disorder is the story of Sybil, a woman whose 16 distinct personalities emerged over a period of 40 years. A book describing Sybil’s experiences was written by Flora Rheta Schreiber and was published in 1973; a motion picture based on the book and starring Sally Field followed.​

Read the passage and answer these following question. Horatio Alger, Jr. Horatio Alger, Jr. (1832-1899) was the author of more than 100 books for boys in the second half of the nineteenth century that focused on the theme of success coming to those who work hard to achieve it. The son of a minister, Alger came from a prominent Massachusetts family. He graduated with honors from Harvard in 1852 and graduated from the Cambridge Divinity School eight years later. He served as a minister for a short time before moving to New York City in 1866 to devote his time to writing inspirational books for boys. In many of his books, he wrote about the poor and homeless children of the slums of New York City, seeing them as unfortunate pawns of society who, if only given the opportunity, could improve their lot. A general plotline that he followed often was of a poor boy who managed to achieve a respectable and successful life by working hard and taking advantage of opportunities presented. Though his writing style was characterized by simplicity and repetition, it was well received by his target audience; his books were enormously popular, selling millions of copies well into the first few decades of the twentieth century.

Read the passage and answer these following question. From a European perspective, the first explorers were engaged in the settlement and discovery of a “new world.” However, the history of the United States is but a recent episode in comparison with the history of the North American continent and its people. Between 54 million and 2 million years ago, the continent evolved into the form we know today. At least 15,000 to 20,000 years ago, nomadic hunters began to migrate from Asia across the Bering Strait. By the fifteenth century, when the European nations were “discovering” America, the country was inhabited by a minimum of two million natives. Most of the tribes had developed some kind of agriculture or fishing while remaining as hunters and retaining nomadic characteristics. They roamed the high western plains, hunted mountain valleys, and farmed along the rivers from coast to coast. There was considerable diversity and there were several hundred different languages among the wide-ranging tribes. Several tribes, such as the Iroquois, were very successful in achieving political unity and extending their influence. The native peoples were well adapted to their environment, and without the aid of the natives, the first European settlers might not have survived. Many native vegetables, such as maize and potatoes, became important Staples. Moreover, native trackers guided expeditions and taught hunters and explorers the ways of the land. For years, U.S. history began with Columbus, but today the cultures and contributions of the early inhabitants of the Americas are studied and acknowledged. The story of North America begins with the true origin of the continent and its peoples.