The Kam Wah Chung & Co. Museum

To the casual observer, the Kam Wah Chung & Co. building, located in the eastern Oregon community of John Day, that is, (1) simply a small, unassuming structure made of rock and wood. To those with an interest in history, however, it’s a unique building that preserves a part of the legacy of the Chinese community in the nineteenth-century American West. (2)

Built in the 1860s, the Kam Wah Chung building first served as a trading post for travelers who attract (3) to the land east of the Cascade Mountains by news of gold strikes there.

In 1887, the original owner sold the building (4). The men combined their skills, organized a group of investors, and remains (5) in business together for more than fifty years.

Educated in the Chinese classics and fluent in English, Lung On was a skilled merchant who built a successful textile and import business. He also sold food and supplies to local miners. His partner, Doc Hay, established an herbal medicine clinic. Hay became famous throughout central and eastern Oregon when he would make (6) perceptive diagnoses and curing patients whose previous treatments (7) had failed. (8) Over time, the partners’ building evolved into a social, medical, and supply center, as well as a  post office, library, and herb shop. (9)

[1] Hay and On’s businesses prospered through the turn of the century, during the Great Depression, and beginning (10) the 1940s. [2] Because the climate in eastern Oregon is semi-arid, the artifacts left inside - including gold-mining tools, rare antique furniture, financial documents, and a thousand different herbs - were preserved. [3] Although On died in 1940, Hay continued to run Kam Wah Chung & Co. until 1948. [4] After Hay’s death, his nephew inherited the building and donated it to the city of John Day. [5] For almost twenty years, it remained locked. [6] The building was restored by the state of Oregon in the 1970s and has became (11) the Kam Wah Chung & Co. Museum. [7] Designated as being called a (12) National Historic Landmark in 2005, besides (13), it encapsulates an era. (14)

1.

A. NO CHANGE
B. is
C. it’s
D. DELETE the underlined portion.

2. Given that all the choices are true, which one most effectively introduces the historical and cultural significance of the Kam Wah Chung & Co. building?

F. NO CHANGE
G. has seven rooms: a front room, an herb shop, two bedrooms, a stockroom, a general store, and a kitchen and bunk room.
H. is cooperatively preserved and operated by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and the City of John Day.
J. has a kitchen that holds antique tables, a large woodstove, and a variety of Chinese teas and cooking utensils.

3.

A. NO CHANGE
B. will be attracted
C. were attracted
D. are attracted

4. At this point, the writer is considering adding the following accurate information: to two enterprising young Chinese immigrants, Ing “Doc” Hay and Lung On Should the writer make this addition here?

F. Yes, because it builds upon a claim made about Hay and On in the preceding sentence.
G. Yes, because it provides a logical link to the information that follows in the essay.
H. No, because it unnecessarily states information that’s implied later in the essay.
J. No, because it provides little information about Hay and On’s partnership.

5.

A. NO CHANGE
B. has remained
C. have remain
D. remained

6.

F. NO CHANGE
G. for making
H. as he made
J. and made

7.

A. NO CHANGE
B. who experienced that their previous treatments
C. being previous treatments which
D. of whom previous treatments

8. The writer is considering deleting the preceding sentence. Should the sentence be kept or deleted?

F. Kept, because it provides information that suggests why Hay’s work was particularly noteworthy.
G. Kept, because it presents examples of Hay’s most challenging and successful diagnoses.
H. Deleted, because it doesn’t make clear whether On was involved with Hay’s herbal medicine clinic.
J. Deleted, because it doesn’t fit logically in this paragraph about On’s accomplishments.

9. If the writer were to delete the preceding sentence, the paragraph would primarily lose a statement that:

A. demonstrates the scope of services eventually provided in the Kam Wah Chung & Co. building.
B. makes clear that the social aspect of Kam Wah
Chung & Co. was most important to visitors.
C. provides a summary of one regular visitor’s experiences at Kam Wah Chung & Co.
D. indicates for how long Hay and On’s businesses prospered. 

10.

F. NO CHANGE
G. as it entered
H. becoming
J. into 

11.

A. NO CHANGE
B. have become
C. became
D. become

12.

F. NO CHANGE
G. with the appropriation of
H. in being identified as a
J. a

13.

A. NO CHANGE
B. in conclusion,
C. in time,
D. DELETE the underlined portion.

14. For the sake of the logic and coherence of this paragraph, Sentence 2 should be placed:

F. where it is now.
G. before Sentence 1.
H. after Sentence 3.
J. after Sentence 5.

Question 15 asks about the preceding passage as a whole.

15. Suppose the writer’s goal had been to write a brief essay that outlined the steps the state of Oregon took to restore the Kam Wah Chung & Co. building. Would this essay accomplish that goal?

A. Yes, because it makes clear that the Kam Wah Chung & Co. building was renovated in the 1970s.
B. Yes, because it explains why the artifacts that were inside the Kam Wah Chung & Co. building were preserved.
C. No, because it instead focuses on describing the history of the Kam Wah Chung & Co. building and the building’s uses.
D. No, because it instead focuses on critiquing both On’s business philosophies and Hay’s medical diagnoses and treatments.

Answers

1. The best answer is B because it uses a simple present tense singular verb that agrees with the singular noun building. It also creates a complete sentence.

 2. The best answer is F because it mentions the "legacy of the Chinese community," which refers to the cultural significance of the building, and "the nineteenth-century American West," which refers to the building’s historical significance.

3. The best answer is C because it correctly uses the past tense verb were attracted, which is consistent with served.

4. The best answer is G because it provides a link to the information that follows by providing the names of the two young Chinese men who are referred to in the next sentence and the rest of the essay.

5. The best answer is D because it uses a plural past tense verb remained. The essay’s content calls for the past tense, and the sentence’s verb must agree with its subject, men.

6. The best answer is G because it creates a parallel structure in which making and curing (used later in the sentence) are in the same form. The preposition for correctly applies to both verbs.

7. The best answer is A because it uses the possessive pronoun whose, which clearly explains that the treatments were those of the patients.

8. The best answer is F because the preceding sentence discusses Hay’s medical expertise as the reason for his fame and noteworthiness.

9. The best answer is A because the preceding sentence lists six services that the building eventually provided. If the sentence were deleted, the paragraph would lose the details that indicate the scope of services.

10. The best answer is J because the word into is grammatical and clearly indicates a transition from the Great Depression to the 1940s.

11. The best answer is C because the past tense is called for in the sentence, and the verb form became aligns with was restored, a past tense verb used previously in the sentence.

12. The best answer is J because it is the only option that does not introduce a redundancy into the sentence.

13. The best answer is D because no transitional word or phrase is needed in the sentence. 

14. The best answer is J because sentence 2 explains why the artifacts left inside the building were preserved. It is logical to infer that they wouldn’t need to be preserved unless the building had been closed for a long time, which is exactly what sentence 5 states. Placing sentence 2 after sentence 5 makes the paragraph logical by putting the events in chronological order.

15. The best answer is C because the focus of the essay is on the historical role of the Kam Wah Chung & Co. building. The essay details how the building was founded, who used it, and for what purposes. The essay does not outline the steps the state of Oregon took to restore the building.