The Galapagos Islands are in the Pacific Ocean, off the western coast of South America.
They are a rocky, lonely spot, but they are also one of the most unusual places in the world. One reason is
that they are the home of some of the last giant tortoises left on earth. Weighing hundreds of pounds,
these tortoises, or land turtles, wander slowly around the rocks and sand of the islands. Strangely, each of
these islands has its own particular kinds of tortoises. There are seven different kinds of tortoises on the
eight islands, each kind being slightly different from the other. Hundreds of years ago, thousands of
tortoises wandered around these islands. However, all that changed when people started landing there.
When people first arrived in 1535, their ships had no refrigerators. This meant that fresh food was always
a problem for the sailors on board.
The giant tortoises provided a solution to this problem. Ships would anchor off the islands, and crews
would row ashore and seize as many tortoises as they could. Once the animals were aboard the ship, the
sailors would roll the tortoises onto their backs. The tortoises were completely helpless once on their
backs, so they could only lie there until used for soups and stews. Almost 100,000 tortoises were carried
off in this way. The tortoises faced other problems, too. Soon after the first ships, settlers arrived bringing
pigs, goats, donkeys, dogs and cats. All of these animals ruined life for the tortoises.
Donkey and goats ate all the plants that the tortoises usually fed on, while the pigs. Dogs and cats
consumed thousands of baby tortoises each year. Within a few years, it was hard to find any tortoise
eggs-or even any baby tortoises. By the early 1900s, people began to worry that the last of the tortoises
would soon die out. No one, however, seemed to care enough to do anything about the problem. More
and more tortoises disappeared, even though sailors no longer needed them for food. For another fifty
years, this situation continued. Finally, in the 1950s, scientist decided that something must be done. The
first part of their plan was to get rid of as many cats, dogs and other animals as they could.
Next, they tried to make sure that more baby tortoises would be born. To do this, they started looking for
wild tortoise eggs. They gathered the eggs and put them in safe containers. When the eggs hatched, the
scientists raised the tortoises in special pens. Both the eggs and tortoises were numbered so that the
scientists knew exactly which kinds of tortoises they had-and which island they came from. Once the
tortoises were old enough and big enough to take care of themselves, the scientists took them back to
their islands and set them loose. This slow, hard work continues today, and, thanks to it, the number of
tortoises is now increasing every year.
What happened soon after people brought animals to the islands?

• A. Tortoise eggs were kept in safe containers.
• B. The tortoises continued to wander freely.
• C. The tortoises fought with the other animals.
• D. Scientists took away as many animals as they could.
• E. The animals ate the tortoises' food and eggs.

The Andean cordillera is made up of many interwoven mountain ranges, which include high intermundane
plateaus, basins, and valleys. The Northern Andes contain several broad ecosystems falling into four
altitudinal belts. Its northern subregion is distinguished by higher humidity and by greater climatic
symmetry between eastern and western flanks. The Central Andes are characterized by a succession of
agricultural zones with varied climatic conditions along the mountains' flanks and by large, highaltitude
plateaus, variously called puna or altiplano, which do not occur in the Northern Andes. The soil fertility of
the northern altiplano is generally good. The western Central Andean ranges are relatively arid with
desert-like soils, whereas the eastern ranges are more humid and have more diverse soils. The eastern
slopes of the Central Andes in many ways are similar to the wet forests of the Northern Andes. Unlike the
Northern Andes, however, these slopes have a dry season. In regions of gentle topography, such as the
Amazon basin, regional climatic variation can be determined from a few widely spaced measurements.
Regional projections in the Andean cordillera are quite difficult by comparison. For example, while air
temperature generally decreases with increasing altitude, variability of mountain topography can produce
much lower than expected air temperatures. Nevertheless, some general climatic patterns are discernible.
For example, with increasing distance south of the equator the seasonality of precipitation increases,
whereas the total annual amount generally decreases. Humidity commonly increases with increasing
altitude, but only to some intermediate altitude, above which it declines. The variability of mountain terrain
also affects precipitation, such that conditions of extreme wetness and aridity may exist in close proximity.
Related to this temperature gradient is a pattern of greater rainfall at the valley heads, and less rain at
lower altitudes, resulting in part from mountain rainshadow effect. The weather patterns of the Andean
cordillera and Amazon basin in general reflect movements of highand low-pressure cells associated with
the Intertropical Convergence Zone, a low-pressure trough that moves further north and south on a
seasonal basis. Precipitation is high throughout the year in the highlands and on the coast in the Northern
Andes. Coastal aridity increases south of central Ecuador, culminating in the Atacama desert of northern
Chile. In the Central Andes, highland precipitation is seasonal, and amounts are approximately half those
measured in the Northern Andes. The aridity of the Central Andean coastal zone is the result of the drying
effect of the cold Pacific Humboldt current and the southern Pacific high-pressure cell. Much of the
southern portion of the Central Andes in Bolivia is also arid. The dry season causes soil moisture deficits
and diminished stream flow part of each year.
The passage is primarily concerned with

• A. examining the effects of topography on the climate and vegetation of the An dean cordillera
• B. comparing the climate and topography of the Northern Andes to those of the Central Andes
• C. providing alternative explanations for the climatic diversity among different regions of the An dean
  cordillera
• D. describing the climate and topography of various regions of the An dean cordillera
• E. discussing the factors affecting the climate of the An dean cordillera

HAVOC : DEVASTATION

• A. farce: sham
• B. surplus: shortage
• C. timidity:audacity
• D. clarification:mystification
• E. turmoil:order

The first person in the group starts off by naming anything that is geographical. It could be a city, state,
country, river, lake, or any proper geographical term. For example, the person might say,"Boston." The
second person has ten seconds to think of how the word ends and come up with another geographical
term starting with that letter. The second participant might say, "Norway," since the geographical term has
to start with "N." The third person would have to choose a word beginning with " Y." If a player fails to think
of a correct answer within the time limit, that player is out of the game. The last person to survive is the
champion.
The person trying to answer needs-

• A. to know geography only
• B. no time limit
• C. to ignore the last letters of words
• D. to be a good speller
• E. to know something about spelling and geography