(D) subtracted the number of red pencils from the number of blue pencils
36. The word "They" in line 17 refers to (A) mathematicians (B) children (C) pencils (D) studies
37. The word "prerequisite" in line 19 is closest in meaning to (A) reason (B) theory (C) requirement (D) technique
38. The word "itself" in line 20 refers to (A) the total (B) the concept of abstract numbers (C) any class of objects (D) setting a table
39. With which of the following statements would the author be LEAST likely to agree? (A) Children naturally and easily learn mathematics . (B) Children learn to add before they learn to subtract. (C) Most people follow the same pattern of mathematical development (D) Mathematical development is subtle and gradual.
40. Where in the passage does the author give an example of a hypothetical experiment ? (A) Lines 3-6 (B) Lines 7-9 (C) Lines 11-14 (D) Lines 17-20
Botany, the study of plants, occupies a peculiar position in the history of human knowledge.
For many thousands of years it was the one field of awareness about which humans had anything more than the vaguest of insights. It is impossible to know today just what our Stone Age ancestors knew about plants, but from what we can observe of preindustrial societies that still exist, a detailed learning of plants and their properties must be extremely ancient. This is logical. Plants are the basis of the food, oyramid for all living things, even for other plants. They have always been enormously important to the welfare of people, not only for food, but also for clothing, weapons, tools, dyes, medicines, shelter, and a great many other purposes. Tribes living today in the jungles of the Amazon recognize literally hundreds of plants and know many properties of each. To them botany, as such, has no name and is probably not even recognized as a special branch of "knowledge" at all .