TOEFL Exercise 1 (Structure Questions)

Choose the letter of the word or group of words that best completes the sentence.

1. Mark Twain _____ the years after the Civil War the “Gilded Age.”

(A) called

(B) calling

(C) he called

(D) his calls

2. Early ____ toes instead of hooves on their feet.

(A) horses

(B) had horses

(C) horses had

(D) horses having

3. ______ grow close to the ground in the short Arctic summer.

(A) Above tundra plants

(B) Tundra plants

(C) Tundra plants are found

(D) For tundra plants

4. In 1867, ____ Alaska from the Russians for $7.2 million.

(A) purchased the United States

(B) to purchase the United States

(C) the United States’ purchase of

(D) the United States purchased

5. Between 1725 and 1750, New England witnessed an increase in the specialization of _____.

(A) occupations

(B) occupies

(C) they occupied

(D) it occupied them

6. The large carotid artery ____ to the main parts of the brain.

(A) carrying blood

(B) blood is carried

(C) carries blood

(D) blood carries

7. _____ radio as the first practical system of wireless telegraphy.

(A) Marconi’s development

(B) The development by Marconi

(C) Developing Marconi

(D) Marconi developed

8. In 1975, the first successful space probe to ____ beginning to send information back to Earth.

(A) Venus

(B) Venus the

(C) Venus was

(D) Venus it was

9. The two biggest resort _____ Arkansas are Hot Springs and Eureka Springs.

(A) in

(B) towns in

(C) towns are

(D) towns are in

10. NASA’S Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center _________ control center for the Mercury Gemini, and Apollo space flights.

(A) it was at the

(B) it was the

(C) was the

(D) the

11. The first _____ appeared during the last period of the dinosaurs’ reign.

(A) flowers are plants

(B) plants have flowers

(C) plants flowers

(D) flowering plants

12. The earliest medicines _____ from plants of various sorts.

(A) obtaining

(B) they obtained

(C) were obtained

(D) they were obtained

13. Simple sails were made from canvas _____ over a frame.

(A) a stretch

(B) stretched

(C) was stretched

(D) it was stretched

14. Pluto’s moon, Charon, _____ in a slightly elliptical path around the planet.

(A) moving

(B) is moving

(C) it was moving

(D) in its movement

15. Techniques of breath control form an essential part of any _____ program to improve the voice.

(A) it trains

(B) train

(C) trains

(D) training

16. Robert E. Lee ____ the Confederate army to General Grant in 1865 at the Appomattox Courthouse.

(A) surrendered

(B) he surrendered

(C) surrendering

(D) surrender

17. The pituitary gland, _____ the brain, releases hormones to control other glands.

(A) found below

(B) it is found below

(C) its foundation below

(D) finds itself below

18. At around two years of age, many children regularly produce sentences _____ three or four words.

(A) are containing

(B) containing

(C) contain.

(D) contains planet.

19. Multinational companies ________ it increasingly important to employ internationally acceptable brand names.

(A) finding

(B) are finding

(C) they find

(D) they are finding

20. The cornea is located under the conjunctiva, on ______ of the eye.

(A) the part is exposed

(B) exposed the part

(C) the exposed part

(D) exposes the part

21. _____ first settled the Hawaiian Islands between A.D. 300 and 750.

(A) The Polynesians

(B) The Polynesians arrived

(C) Because of the Polynesians

(D) It was the Polynesians

22. In 1066, a bright comet _____ in the sky attracted much attention.

(A) was appearing

(B) appears

(C) it appeared

(D) appearing

23. In some daguerreotype cameras, _____ through a hole in the back of the box.

(A) the objects view

(B) the object was viewed

(C) from the view of the object

(D) viewed the object

24. In the Stone Age, stone tools _____ with other rock materials.

(A) polishing

(B) they polished

(C) for polish

(D) were polished

25. The first steamship to cross the Atlantic ____ Savannah, in 1819.

(A) was the

(B) it was the

(C) the

(D) in it the

26. The Earth’s plates meet each other at cracks in the Earth _____ faults.

(A) were called

(B) calls

(C) called

(D) it was called

27. The first plant-like organisms probably _____ in the sea, perhaps 3 billion years ago.

(A) life

(B) living

(C) lived

(D) it was living

28. In male pattern baldness, ______strongly influences the degree of hair loss.

(A) heredity

(B) inherited

(C) inherits

(D) heredity has

29. In Watch the Skies, Curtis Peebles ______attempt to explain America’s belief in flying saucers.

(A) makes a fascinating

(B) making a fascinating

(C) fascination with making

(D) fascination made a

30. The irregular coastline of _____ a succession of bays and inlets, with the hook of the Cape Cod peninsula in the southeast.

(A) Massachusetts

(B) Massachusetts is

(C) Massachusetts it is

(D) Massachusetts on

Source: TOEFL Exercise 1 

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