tailieunhanh - Peterson’s master toefl reading skills part 5

The reading review chapter begins with a bulleted overview, listing the topics to be covered in the chapter. This will allow you to quickly target the areas in which you are most interested. Tips draw your attention to valuable concepts, advice, and shortcuts for tackling the reading passages. | Chapter 2 Practice Test 1 Diagnostic 19 PRACTICE TEST 1 DIAGNOSTIC 50 Questions Time 25 Minutes Directions Each passage is followed by a series of questions. Answer the questions based on the information you gathered from the passage. Choose the best answer to each question and answer each question based on what is stated or implied in the passage. QUESTIONS 1-10 REFER TO THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE. The cabildo which is Spanish for municipal council was the fundamental unit of local government in colonial Spanish America. Following a tradition going 5 back to the Romans the Spanish considered the city to be of paramount importance with the surrounding countryside directly subordinate to it. In local affairs each municipality in 10 Hispanic America was governed by its cabildo or council in a manner reminiscent of Castilian towns in the late Middle Ages. A council s members and magistrates together with the local judge ap- 15 pointed by the king enjoyed considerable prestige and power. The size of a council varied but was always small. The cabildos of important cities such as Lima and Mexico had about 12 members. 20 The cabildo was in charge of all ordinary aspects of municipal government . policing sanitation taxation the supervision of building price and wage regulation and the administration of 25 justice. To assist them in these responsibilities the city councilors appointed various officials such as tax collectors inspectors of weights and measures and the markets and peace officers. In spite 30 of royal decrees to promote honest and efficient city government the cabildos were often corrupt and rapacious. By the mid-sixteenth century appointments to cabildos were ordinarily made 35 by the Spanish crown and sometimes became hereditary. Occasionally the propertied class in a city elected some of the councilors. Sometimes citizens were asked to attend a open town meeting on 40 important matters. Such open meetings became very important to the movement for the .