California Basic Educational Skills Test - Reading: CBEST-SECTION-2

Ever since human beings began their conscious sojourn on this planet, they have puzzled over the riddle of evil and debated its source. Two concepts have predominated in the debate. The first of these holds that evil is an active force, a force of darkness as substantial and powerful as that of light. In terms of the individual human being, this force might be seen as the "Shadow" side of the personality, the feared side that the individual may deny but that is still a real and integral part of her or him. The second of the two concepts holds that evil is essentially ___________, the absence of good, that darkness is not a thing in itself but rather the absence of light. In terms of the individual human being, this doctrine says that evil arises from a lack, a deprivation, from what John A. Sanford calls "a mutilation of the soul." On the basis of above passage please answer the following question. Which of the following phrases would best fit into the blank in the third sentence of the passage?

A. perplexing

B. passive

C. capricious

D. ephemeral

E. artificial

The Sami are an indigenous people living in the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russias Kola peninsula. Originally, the Sami religion was animistic; that is, for them, nature and natural objects had a conscious life, a spirit.

One was expected to move quietly in the wilderness and avoid making a disturbance out of courtesy to these spirits. Ghengis Khan is said to have declared that the Sami were one people he would never try to fight again. Since the

Sami were not warriors and did not believe in war, they simply disappeared in times of conflict. They were known as "peaceful retreaters."

On the basis of above passage please answer the following question

Based on the tone of the passage, which of the following words best describes the authors attitude toward the Sami people?

A. admiring

B. pitying

C. contemptuous

D. patronizing

E. perplexed

OConnell Street is the main thoroughfare of Dublin City. Although it is not a particularly long street, Dubliners will tell the visitor proudly that it is the widest street in all of Europe. This claim usually meets with protests, especially from French tourists, claiming the Champs Elysees of Paris as Europes widest street. But the witty Dubliner will not relinquish bragging rights easily and will trump the French visitor with a fine distinction: the Champs Elysees is a boulevard; OConnell is a street. Divided by several important monuments running the length of its center, the street is named for Daniel OConnell, an Irish patriot. _______________ ____________________________.OConnell stands high above the unhurried crowds of shoppers, business people, and students on a sturdy column, surrounded by four serene angels seated at each corner of the monuments base. Further up the street is the famous General Post Office that the locals affectionately call "the GPO." During the 1916 rebellion, the GPO was taken over and occupied by the Irish rebels to British rule, sparking weeks of armed combat in the citys center. To this day, the angels of OConnells monument bear the marks of the fighting: one sits reading calmly, apparently unaware of the bullet hole dimpling her upper arm; another, reaching out to stroke the ears of a huge bronze Irish wolfhound, has survived what should be a mortal wound to her heart. On the basis of above passage please answer the following question What is the best definition for the word "trump" as it is used in the first paragraph of the passage?

A. to trumpet loudly, to blare or drown out

B. to trample

C. to get the better of by using a key or hidden resource

D. to devise a fraud, to employ trickery

E. to use a particular suit of cards