(Test Your TOEFL Knowledge) – (2021 Edition)
“The Most Recent TOEFL Exam
Questions for 2021 Academic Year
Worldwide”
, The Moai Of Easter Island
[1] In the southeastern Pacific Ocean, on the piece of land known as Easter
Island (now a territory of Chile), stand several hundred massive stone
monoliths. These carvings, called “moai,” are recognizable by their oversized
heads, with their heavy brows, long noses, elongated ears, and protruding lips.
While they average four meters in height and 12.5 tonnes, the largest is almost
10 meters tall and the heaviest weighs a full 86 tons. The upright sculptures are
scattered around Easter Island, many installed on platforms called “ahu” along
the coast, while others are more inland and several stand near the main
volcanic quarry of Rano Raraku. The Rapa Nui people of the island built a
total of 887 of these impressive statues between the 12th and 16th centuries.
They were, it is said, symbols of religious and political
authority, embodiments of powerful chiefs or ancestors which faced inland
toward the island’s villages, perhaps watching over their creators, keeping
them safe.
[2] While the very creation of such monoliths – most out of volcanic
ash with stone hand chisels – is an impressive feat, what is more
remarkable (not to mention mysterious) is how they were transported to
their resting places. In the past, most researchers associated the building and
transportation of the moai with widespread deforestation on the island and
eventual collapse of the Rapa Nui civilization. This hypothesis is based, in
part, on the fact that the pollen record suddenly disappears at the same time as
the Rapa Nui people stopped constructing the moai and transporting them with
the help of wooden logs. How exactly would logs facilitate the movement of
the statues? Most proponents of this method believe that the people created
“rollers” by arranging parallel logs on which the prone statues were pulled, or
pushed. They would not have required an entire roadway of logs, since logs
from the back could be placed at the front, creating a moving platform of sorts.
To make it easier to roll, and keep in position, the statue would be placed on
two logs arranged in a V shape.
[3] One proponent of this idea of rolling the statues in a prone position is Jo
Anne Van Tilburg, of UCLA. Van Tilburg created sophisticated computer
models that took into account available materials, routes, rock, and manpower,
even factoring in how much the workers would have to have eaten. Her models
supported the idea that rolling prone statues was the most efficient method. As
, further evidence, Van Tilburg oversaw the movement of a moai replica by the
method she had proposed. They were successful, but evidence that it was
possible is not necessarily evidence that it actually happened.
[4] Van Tilburg was not the only one to have experimented with rolling the
statues. In the 1980s, archaeologist Charles Love experimented with rolling the
moai in an upright position, rather than prone, on two wooden runners. Indeed,
a team of just 25 men was able to move the statue a distance of 150 feet in a
mere two minutes. However, the route from the stone quarries where the
statues were built to the coast where they were installed was often uneven, and
Love’s experiments were hampered by the tendency of the statues to tip over.
While Love’s ideas were dismissed by many, the idea of the statutes tipping
over along the route was consistent with the many moai found on their sides or
faces beside the island’s ancient roads. And local legend held that the statues
“walked” to their destinations, which would seem to support an upright mode
of transportation. In fact, rolling was not the only possible way of transporting
the moai in an upright position.
[5] In the 1980s, Pavel Pavel and Thor Heyerdahl had experimented with
swiveling the statues forward. With one rope tied around the head and another
around the base, they were able to move a five-ton moai with only eight
people, and a nine-ton statue with 16. However, they abandoned their efforts
when their technique proved too damaging; as they shuffled the statues
forward, the bases were chipped away. This confounding factor led most to
believe that an upright, rope-assisted walking method was incorrect.
[6] But many now believe that they were, in fact, transported upright. In
2012, Carl Lipo of California State University Long Beach and Terry Hunt of
the University of Hawaii teamed up with archaeologist Sergio Rapu to refine
the upright walking idea. They found that the statues that appeared to
be abandonedin transit had bases with a curved front edge. This meant they
would naturally topple forward and would need to be modified once they
reached their destinations. But that curved edge also meant that they could
easily be rocked forward using a small team of people and three ropes attached
to the head. Indeed, their experiments demonstrated the feasibility of this
method, and their theory has gained traction.
Which of the following best expresses the essential information in the
highlighted sentence? Incorrect answer choices change the meaning in
important ways or leave out essential information.
“The Most Recent TOEFL Exam
Questions for 2021 Academic Year
Worldwide”
, The Moai Of Easter Island
[1] In the southeastern Pacific Ocean, on the piece of land known as Easter
Island (now a territory of Chile), stand several hundred massive stone
monoliths. These carvings, called “moai,” are recognizable by their oversized
heads, with their heavy brows, long noses, elongated ears, and protruding lips.
While they average four meters in height and 12.5 tonnes, the largest is almost
10 meters tall and the heaviest weighs a full 86 tons. The upright sculptures are
scattered around Easter Island, many installed on platforms called “ahu” along
the coast, while others are more inland and several stand near the main
volcanic quarry of Rano Raraku. The Rapa Nui people of the island built a
total of 887 of these impressive statues between the 12th and 16th centuries.
They were, it is said, symbols of religious and political
authority, embodiments of powerful chiefs or ancestors which faced inland
toward the island’s villages, perhaps watching over their creators, keeping
them safe.
[2] While the very creation of such monoliths – most out of volcanic
ash with stone hand chisels – is an impressive feat, what is more
remarkable (not to mention mysterious) is how they were transported to
their resting places. In the past, most researchers associated the building and
transportation of the moai with widespread deforestation on the island and
eventual collapse of the Rapa Nui civilization. This hypothesis is based, in
part, on the fact that the pollen record suddenly disappears at the same time as
the Rapa Nui people stopped constructing the moai and transporting them with
the help of wooden logs. How exactly would logs facilitate the movement of
the statues? Most proponents of this method believe that the people created
“rollers” by arranging parallel logs on which the prone statues were pulled, or
pushed. They would not have required an entire roadway of logs, since logs
from the back could be placed at the front, creating a moving platform of sorts.
To make it easier to roll, and keep in position, the statue would be placed on
two logs arranged in a V shape.
[3] One proponent of this idea of rolling the statues in a prone position is Jo
Anne Van Tilburg, of UCLA. Van Tilburg created sophisticated computer
models that took into account available materials, routes, rock, and manpower,
even factoring in how much the workers would have to have eaten. Her models
supported the idea that rolling prone statues was the most efficient method. As
, further evidence, Van Tilburg oversaw the movement of a moai replica by the
method she had proposed. They were successful, but evidence that it was
possible is not necessarily evidence that it actually happened.
[4] Van Tilburg was not the only one to have experimented with rolling the
statues. In the 1980s, archaeologist Charles Love experimented with rolling the
moai in an upright position, rather than prone, on two wooden runners. Indeed,
a team of just 25 men was able to move the statue a distance of 150 feet in a
mere two minutes. However, the route from the stone quarries where the
statues were built to the coast where they were installed was often uneven, and
Love’s experiments were hampered by the tendency of the statues to tip over.
While Love’s ideas were dismissed by many, the idea of the statutes tipping
over along the route was consistent with the many moai found on their sides or
faces beside the island’s ancient roads. And local legend held that the statues
“walked” to their destinations, which would seem to support an upright mode
of transportation. In fact, rolling was not the only possible way of transporting
the moai in an upright position.
[5] In the 1980s, Pavel Pavel and Thor Heyerdahl had experimented with
swiveling the statues forward. With one rope tied around the head and another
around the base, they were able to move a five-ton moai with only eight
people, and a nine-ton statue with 16. However, they abandoned their efforts
when their technique proved too damaging; as they shuffled the statues
forward, the bases were chipped away. This confounding factor led most to
believe that an upright, rope-assisted walking method was incorrect.
[6] But many now believe that they were, in fact, transported upright. In
2012, Carl Lipo of California State University Long Beach and Terry Hunt of
the University of Hawaii teamed up with archaeologist Sergio Rapu to refine
the upright walking idea. They found that the statues that appeared to
be abandonedin transit had bases with a curved front edge. This meant they
would naturally topple forward and would need to be modified once they
reached their destinations. But that curved edge also meant that they could
easily be rocked forward using a small team of people and three ropes attached
to the head. Indeed, their experiments demonstrated the feasibility of this
method, and their theory has gained traction.
Which of the following best expresses the essential information in the
highlighted sentence? Incorrect answer choices change the meaning in
important ways or leave out essential information.
