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

　　(A) large

　　(B) basic

　　(C) new

　　(D) urban

　　9. The new accessibility of land around the periphery of almost every major city sparked an explosion of real estate development and fueled what we now know as urban sprawl. Between 1890 and 1920, for example, some 250,000 new residential lots were recorded within the borders of Chicago, most of them located in outlying areas.

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

　　(A) brought about

　　(B) surrounded

　　(C) sent out

　　(D) followed

　　10. Anxious to take advantage of the possibilities of commuting, real estate developers added 800,000 potential building sites to the Chicago region in just thirty years- lots that could have housed five to six million people.

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

　　(A) certain

　　(B) popular

　　(C) improved

　　(D) possible

11. The quality of preservation is outstanding, but what is even more impressive is the number of ichthyosaur fossils containing preserved embryos.

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

　　(A) extensive

　　(B) surprising

　　(C) vertical

　　(D) excellent

　　12. Ichthyosaurs with embryos have been reported from 6 different levels of the shale in a small area around Holzamden, suggesting that a specific site was used by large numbers of ichthyosaurs repeatedly over time.

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

　　(A) example

　　(B) location

　　(C) development

　　(D) characteristic

　　13. The quality of preservation is almost unmatched, and quarry operations have been carried out carefully with an awareness of the value of the fossils. But these factors do not account for the interesting question of how there came to be such a concentration of pregnant ichthyosaurs in a particular place very close to their time of giving birth.

　　The phrase "account for " is closest in meaning to which of following?

　　(A) record

　　(B) describe

　　(C) equal

　　(D) explain

　　14. In the seventeenth century the organ, the clavichord, and the harpsichord became the chief instruments of the keyboard group, a supremacy they maintained until the piano supplanted them at the end of the eighteenth century.

　　The words "a supremacy" in line 9 are closest in meaning to

　　(A) a suggestion

　　(B) an improvement

　　(C) a dominance

　　(D) a development

　　15. A series of mechanical improvements continuing well into the nineteenth century, including the introduction of pedals to sustain tone or to soften it, the perfection of a metal frame, and steel wire of the finest quality, finally produced an instrument capable of myriadtonal effects from the most delicate harmonies to an almost orchestral fullness of sound, from a liquid, singing tone to a sharp, percussive brilliance.

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