Subskill #8 Construct Meaning: Summary/Paraphrase Part I

Study the tables below and then answer the questions. These tables were taken from

Changes in Ethnicity of Students and Faculty, 1992 to 2001

Table II

Number of AA Students

By Race/Ethnicity and Year (Fall Term)

Race/Ethnicity / 1992 / 1996 / 2001
Asian / 5,340 / 6,336 / 7,193
African American / 23,848 / 28,188 / 40,304
Hispanic / 32,669 / 38,729 / 53,019
Amer. Indian / 900 / 1,078 / 1,001
White / 139,535 / 125,943 / 131,914
Total / 202,292 / 200,274 / 233,431

Table III

Number of Certificate Students

By Race/Ethnicity and Year (Fall Term)

Race/Ethnicity / 1992 / 1996 / 2001
Asian / 242 / 365 / 352
African American / 2,381 / 3,050 / 3,640
Hispanic / 1,245 / 1,282 / 2,056
Amer. Indian / 63 / 105 / 80
White / 7,677 / 10,112 / 11,065
Total / 11,608 / 14,914 / 17,193

Table IV

Number of AS Students

By Race/Ethnicity and Year (Fall Term)

Race/Ethnicity / 1992 / 1996 / 2001
Asian / 1,337 / 1,578 / 1,736
African American / 9,180 / 10,151 / 11,161
Hispanic / 8,104 / 7,761 / 7,858
Amer. Indian / 317 / 406 / 303
White / 46,670 / 41,796 / 39,476
Total / 65,608 / 61,692 / 60,534

Now choose the best answer for each question.

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Subskill #8 Construct Meaning: Summary/Paraphrase Part I

  1. Which of the following statements best summarizes the ethnic distribution of AA students in Table II?
  1. The number of White AA students decreased from 1996 to 2001.
  2. The number of Hispanic, African American, and Asian AA students increased from 1992 to 2001.
  3. The number of American Indian AA students decreased from 1992 to 1996.
  4. The total number of AA students decreased from 1992 to 2001.
  1. Which of the following statements best summarizes the ethnic distribution of Certificate students in Table III?
  1. The number of Asian and American Indian Certificate students increased from 1992 to 1996, but decreased from 1996 to 2001.
  2. The number of White and African American Certificate students decreased from 1996 to 2001.
  3. The number of Asian and Hispanic Certificate students increased from 1992 to 1996, but decreased from 1996 to 2001.
  4. The total number of Certificate students decreased from 1992 to 2001.
  1. Which of the following statements best summarizes the ethnic distribution of AS students in Table IV?
  1. The number of American Indian AS students remained constant from 1992 to 2001.
  2. The number of Hispanic AS students outnumbers the number of African American AS students.
  3. The number of Asian AS students steadily decreased from 1992 to 2001.
  4. The total number of AS students decreased from 1992 to 2001.
  1. Which of the following statements best summarizes the results of Tables II, III, and IV?
  1. The number of African American AA, Certificate, and AS students increased from 1992 to 2001.
  2. The number of Asian AA, Certificate, and AS students decreased from 1992 to 2001.
  3. The number of Hispanic AA, Certificate, and AS students increased from 1992 to 2001.
  4. The number of White AA, Certificate, and AS students increased from 1992 to 2001.

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Subskill #8 Construct Meaning: Summary/Paraphrase Part I

Vocational Preparatory InstructionReading

Subskill #8 Construct Meaning: Summary/Paraphrase Part I

  1. Which of the following statements best summarizes the data trends of AA, Certificate, and AS students?
  1. The number of AS students increased from 1992 to 2001.
  2. The number of Certificate students decreased from 1992 to 1996, but increased from 1996 to 2001.
  3. The number of AA students decreased from 1992 to 1996, but increased from 1996 to 2001.
  4. The number of Certificate students decreased from 1992 to 2001.

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Subskill #8 Construct Meaning: Summary/Paraphrase Part I

Read the passage below and then answer the questions. This excerpt was taken from

Bill Gates, the son of a lawyer, developed an early interest in computers and wrote his first piece of softwarea tic-tac-toe programwhen only 13. He entered Harvard University, in 1973, but soon dropped out along with an old school friend, Paul Allen, to write and sell software. Gates later noted that, even at this early time, he feared that if he remained at Harvard to complete his education, "the revolution would happen without him."

Gates and Allen had already worked out a version of BASIC to run on the newly available Intel 8008 chip. In 1975, the Altair 8800 was produced in kit form by MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems). Gates realized that to broaden the PC's appeal, it had to be programmed in BASIC rather than in machine code. Gates and Allen moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, the home of MITS, established Microsoft, and began to write software.

There were copyright disputes with MITS, litigation followed, and, in 1978, Gates and Allen moved Microsoft to their home town of Seattle. The key moment in their fortune came in 1980, when IBM came to Seattle shopping for an operating system for their newly planned PC. Gates passed them over to Gary Kildall, owner of the operating system CP/M. IBM failed to reach an agreement with Kildall and consequently returned to Microsoft with an invitation to develop an operating system.

Gates and Allen realized that they needed an operating system in a hurry. They knew that a local company, Seattle Computer, owned by Rod Brock, had such a system known as 86-DOS. Gates bought the system outright for $50,000. He had, in fact, purchased one of the most commercially successful properties of the century. Renamed MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System), more than 100 million copies have been sold.

Subsequently, Microsoft went on to develop a graphical user interface (GUI), in which the operator uses a mouse and icons. The program was introduced to compete with the successful system used on the Apple Macintosh computer. Microsoft's system, called "Windows," was first introduced in 1983; Windows 3 followed, in 1990, and Windows 95, in 1995. Gates' success has made him one of the richest men in the world. He has described both his plans and his vision of the future in his book The Road Ahead (1995)

Now choose the best answer for each question.

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Subskill #8 Construct Meaning: Summary/Paraphrase Part I

  1. Which of the following statements best summarizes paragraph #1?
  1. Bill Gates would be an unsuccessful dropout.
  2. Bill Gates feared a Harvard education would make him a lawyer.
  3. It was evident at an early age that Bill Gates would have a future in computers.
  4. Bill Gates invented Tic Tac Toe.
  1. Which of theses is a proverb Gary Kildall would probably use about doing business with IBM?
  1. A penny saved is a penny earned.
  2. Hindsight is 20/20.
  3. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
  4. Little pitchers have big ears.
  1. From the fourth paragraph, we can surmise that…
  1. Bill Gates had exceptional business acumen.
  2. Bill Gates developed 86-DOS.
  3. Bill Gates sold 86-DOS for $50,000.
  4. Bill Gates bought Seattle Computer in a hurry.
  1. Which of these best summarizes paragraph #5?
  1. Apple Macintosh is better than Microsoft.
  2. Microsoft utilizes the same GUI as Apple.
  3. Microsoft’s system was first introduced in 1990.
  4. Microsoft still successfully competes with Apple Macintosh.
  1. Which of these best summarizes the passage.
  1. Bill Gates’ success is a combination of intelligence and good business sense.
  2. It was easy for Bill Gates to be a success because of a Harvard degree.
  3. The computer revolution happened without Bill Gates.
  4. The development of “Windows” is the only reason Microsoft is a success.

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Subskill #8 Construct Meaning: Summary/Paraphrase Part I

Answer Key
  1. B
  1. A
  1. D
  1. A
  1. C
  1. C
  1. B
  1. A
  1. D
  1. A

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