(C) improve

　　(D) discover

　　170. Even the most mundane beads may have traveled great distances and been exposed to many human experiences.

　　The word "mundane" is closest in meaning to which of following?

　　(A) carved

　　(B) beautiful

　　(C) ordinary

　　(D) heavy

　　171. The crossed mandibles enable the birds to exert a powerful biting force at the bill tips, which is critical for maneuvering them between the scales and spreading the scales apart. Next, the crossbill snakes its long tongue into the gap and draws out the seed.

　　The word "gap" is closest in meaning to which of following?

　　(A) opening

　　(B) flower

　　(C) mouth

　　(D) tree

　　172. Next, the crossbill snakes its long tongue into the gap and draws out the seed. Using the combined action of the bill and tongue, the birds cracks open and discards the woody seed covering and swallows the nutritious inner kernel.

　　The word "discards" is closest in meaning to which of following?

　　(A) eats

　　(B) breaks

　　(C) finds out

　　(D) gets rid of

　　173. As a rule, large billed crossbills are better at seeming seeds from large cones while small billed crossbills are more deft at removing the seeds from small, thin scaled cones.

　　The word "deft" is closest in meaning to which of following?

　　(A) hungry

　　(B) skilled

　　(C) tired

　　(D) pleasant

　　174. This bird has a large, robust bill, yet most of Newfoundland's conifers have small cones, the same kind of cones that the slender-billed white-wings rely on.

　　The word "robust" is closest in meaning to which of following?

　　(A) strong

　　(B) colorful

　　(C) unusual

　　(D) sharp

　　175. It was she, a Baltimore printer, who published the first official copies of the Declaration, the first copies that included the names of its signers and therefore heralded the support of all thirteen colonies.

　　The word "heralded" is closest in meaning to which of following?

　　(A) influenced

　　(B) announced

　　(C) rejected

　　(D) ignored

　　176. She was also the city's postmaster from 1775 to 1789 --- appointed by Benjamin Franklin --- and is considered to be the first woman to hold a federal position.

　　The word "position" is closest in meaning to which of following?

　　(A) job

　　(B) election

　　(C) document

　　(D) location

　　177. Galaxies are the major building blocks of the universe. A galaxy is a giant family of many millions of stars, and it is held together by its own gravitational field.

　　The word "major" is closest in meaning to which of following?

　　(A) intense

　　(B) principal

　　(C) lunge

　　(D) unique

　　178. The elliptical galaxies have a symmetricalelliptical or spheroidal shape with no obvious structure. Most of their member stars are very old and since elliptical are devoid of interstellar gas, no new stars are forming in them.

　　The word "symmetrical" is closest in meaning to which of following?

　　(A) proportionally balanced