=== Bar Codes: A Linear History ===
In 1948, graduate students, Norman Woodland and Bernard Silver, took on a problem that had troubled retailers for years: how to keep track of store inventories. Inspired by the dots and dashes of Morse code, however, Woodland and Silver created a system of lines that could encode data. Called a symbology, the pattern created by the spacing and widths of the lines encodes information by representing different characters. The first bar code was composed of four white lines set at specific distances from each other on a black background. The first line was always present. Depending on the presence or absence of the remaining three lines, up to seven different arrangements were susceptible and, therefore, seven different encodings. Today, twenty-nine white lines making more than half a billion encodings possible. To create a bar code scanner, Woodland and Silver adapted technology from an optical movie sound system. Their prototype scanner used a 500-watt bulb, a photomultiplier tube (a device that detects light), and an oscilloscope (a device that translates electronic signals into readable information). Although successful, the concoction was both large and costly. For example, progress stalled until the 1970s, when laser technology (both more compact and less expensive) became available. In today’s scanners, a laser sends light back and forth across a bar code. While the black lines absorb the light, the white lines reflect it back at a fixed mirror inside the scanner. In the 1940s, Woodland and Silver were graduate students at the Drexel Institute of Technology in Philadelphia. Bar code equipment has been available for retail use since 1970. Bar codes themselves have advanced as well, being that there are one- and two-dimensional bar codes using numeric and alphanumeric symbologies. Bar codes are used not only for a pack of gum or an airline ticket, but also for research. In one study, for instance, tiny bar codes were placed on bees tracking their activities. Shaping the way we gather, track, and share information, we have almost certainly exceeded even Woodland and Silver’s expectations.
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a basket won best of nation— C. Market, the largest Indian art festival, in the nation show. The creator of the piece, thirty-three-year-old D. Market, the largest Indian art festival in the nation Passamaquoddy Indian Jeremy Frey from Princeton, Maine, thebasket sold at auction for $16,000. 48. F. NO CHANGE 48 G. looked on as the [2] H. as his J. his [C] Frey describes his baskets as “cutting-edge traditional.” [D] He primarily weaves a classic material, wood from the brown ash tree, but, unlike most contemporary basketmakers, 49. A. NO CHANGE B. but, unlike most, contemporary basketmakers 49 he harvests, cuts, pounds, dries, and dyes the wood C. but unlike, most contemporary basketmakers, D. but, unlike most contemporary basketmakers himself. Then creating highly elaborate versions 50. F. NO CHANGE G. Going on to create 50 of the sturdy utility baskets that have been used H. Frey creates J. Creating by generations of Passamaquoddy fishermen from 51. If the writer were to delete the underlined portion, the essay would primarily lose: 51 Maine. He honors tradition, but he highlights A. an indication that Frey honors Passamaquoddy cul- tural heritage by creating baskets that look nearly artistic design. For example, his baskets feature identical to traditional pieces. B. a mention of a physical characteristic of the earli- est baskets used by Passamaquoddy fishermen. C. a detail that connects Frey’s basketry work to long-standing Passamaquoddy traditions. D. a point revealing that Frey’s baskets are used by Passamaquoddy fishermen today. complex weaving onareas that are often hidden 52 and therefore typically not embellished. Many being referred to in the sentence and about Frey’s manner of weaving those parts? traditional baskets have basic, woven lids. F. NO CHANGE G. a remarkable level of detail on certain sections, the H. intricately woven interiors and bottoms, J. characteristic interiors and bottoms, www.actexam.net 10 GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE. ACT-Z04 1 1 Frey’s porcupine quilllids are often decorated 53. Which placement of the underlined portion makes clear that the art that decorates the lid, not the lid itself, is made of porcupine quill? A. Where it is now B. After the word are C. After the word often D. After the word with with art inlaid on birch bark; as far as lids go, 54. F. NO CHANGE G. bark, which is not exactly formulating a lid 54 I wouldn’t say that’s basic.And while braids of through a conventional ideology. H. bark; this is just part of his really artistic way. 54 J. bark. grass arecustomarily woven into ash baskets 55. A. NO CHANGE B. has been 55 C. is seen D. is to make them better, Frey incorporates braided 56. Which choice provides the clearest and most specific reason that grass is woven into ash baskets? 56 cedar bark to create striking new textures. F. NO CHANGE G. for the sake of the objects, H. for a useful purpose, [3] J. to strengthen them, Now that he’s a nationally recognized artist of who 57. A. NO CHANGE B. being whom 57 has rejuvenated the art of basketry, Frey feels his role C. whom D. who is to inspire. He’s on the board of the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance, a group that works to help preserve itby reaching out to young members of Native 58. F. NO CHANGE G. this art 58 communities in the state. His other goal is to continue to H. that J. DELETE the underlined portion. stand out. The woven grass bracelets he saw on a recent 59. A. NO CHANGE B. distinguish himself from other weavers so as a 59 trip to Hawaii have influenced how he shapes the bases weaver he is set apart from them. C. remain to be someone who gets noticed. D. keep on being fully distinct. of some of his newer baskets, as he finds yet another way Question 60 asks about the preceding passage spectacularly his own. as a whole. 60. The writer is considering adding the following sen- tence to the essay: The black stripes were woven flat, sharply set- ting off the white stripes, which were woven to form raised columns of perfectly even points that seemed to cascade down the piece. If the writer were to add this sentence, it would most logically be placed at: F. Point A in Paragraph 1. G. Point B in Paragraph 1. H. Point C in Paragraph 2. J. Point D in Paragraph 2. www.actexam.net 11 GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE. ACT-Z04 1 1 PASSAGE V The Flow of Time Nine hundred years ago, Emperor Zhezong of China, 61. A. NO CHANGE 61 B. ago, Emperor Zhezong, of China ordered the design and construction of a clock C. ago, Emperor Zhezong of China D. ago Emperor Zhezong of China, built to keep time more accurately than other clocks. 62. F. NO CHANGE G. to keep time more accurately than clocks that had 62 previously come before it. H. more accurate at keeping time correctly than any other clock of the time. J. more accurate than any other. This would be no simple timepiece and because 63. A. NO CHANGE 63 B. timepiece. Because C. timepiece, because D. timepiece because Chinese dynasties continuedto astrology, they relied 64. F. NO CHANGE G. adhered 64 on complicated clocks that not only kept time but also H. linked J. fixed helped track stars, planets, the sun, and the moon. An eminent scientist and bureaucrat named Su Song lead 65. A. NO CHANGE B. imminent scientist and bureaucrat named Su Song 65 Zhezong’s ambitious project. lead C. imminent scientist and bureaucrat named Su Song led D. eminent scientist and bureaucrat named Su Song led Using his expertise in calendrical science, 66. Given that all the choices are accurate, which one best indicates that Su Song relied on engineering achieve- 66 ments from earlier times? F. NO CHANGE G. Building on centuries of Chinese clock-making knowledge, H. While authoring his treatise on astronomical clockwork, J. After first crafting a working small-scale wooden model, Su Song created a spectacular timepiece housed within 67. A. NO CHANGE B. secured between 67 an ornate forty-foot-tall tower. At the tower’s top sat an C. encased around D. nestled among armillary sphere, or a nest of metal rings representing 68. F. NO CHANGE G. sphere— 68 celestial reference points such as the horizon and H. sphere: J. sphere, the sun’s path—that rotated in sync with the earth, enabling precise astronomical observations. Inside the tower, a sphere depicting the sky revolved to display the stars that were overhead. www.actexam.net 12 GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE. ACT-Z04 1 1 Besides,below the star sphere, the tower’s open 69. A. NO CHANGE B. Sooner or later, 69 sides exposed a detailed model of a five-story pagoda. C. Lastly, D. Thus, Automated figurines would appear in the pagoda’s doorways and ring bells to announcehours, sunsets, 70. Which of the following alternatives to the underlined portion would NOT be acceptable? 70 seasons, and other chronological events. F. bells, which served to announce G. bells, they announced H. bells that announced J. bells, announcing The clock’s inner workings wereequally remarkable. 71. A. NO CHANGE B. reveals themselves as being 71 Hidden in the tower, a waterwheel eleven feet in diameter C. was shown to be D. has proved powered the entire clock. Therefore, waterwould pour at 72. F. NO CHANGE G. In other words, water 72 a constant rate into one of the wheel’s thirty-six buckets. H. For example, water J. Water When the bucket was full, the water’s weight pulled it down, rotating the waterwheel. Then a stop mechanism halted the wheel and positioned the next bucket for filling. Chinese clockmakers had long used waterwheels, but 73. A. NO CHANGE B. nevertheless, 73 Su Song’s stop mechanism, which regulated the inertia C. regardless, D. DELETE the underlined portion. of the waterwheel, represented significant innovation. Unfortunately, after Su Song’s clock ran for thirty years, invaders stole it. Later the clock vanished altogether. It would be a few hundred years until with the refinement of mechanical clocks in Europe 74. F. NO CHANGE G. until—with the refinement of mechanical clocks in 74 Europe— H. until with the refinement (of mechanical clocks in Europe) J. until, with the refinement, of mechanical clocks in Europe other clocks approached the complexity of Su Song’s 75. A. NO CHANGE B. eventually became able to draw anywhere near to 75 masterpiece. the complexity C. grew to attain such a high degree as that D. could even fathom coming within reach END OF TEST 1 STOP! DO NOT TURN THE PAGE UNTIL TOLD TO DO SO. www.actexam.net 13 ACT-Z04 2 2