READING COMPREHENSION
This test measures your ability to understand what you read. You may be asked to:
? identify the relationship between sentences
? distinguish between the main and secondary ideas
? make inferences
DIRECTIONS: Read the statement or passage and then choose the best answer to the question. Answer the question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the statement or passage.1. Myths are stories, the products of fertile imagination, sometimes simple, often containing profound truths. They are not meant to be taken too literally.
Details may sometimes appear childish, but most myths express a culture's most serious beliefs about human beings, eternity, and God.
The main idea of this passage is that myths
(a) are created primarily to entertain young children
(b) are purposely written for the reader
(c) provide the reader with a means of escape from reality
(d) illustrate the values that are considered important to a society
2. Australia has many strange beasts, one of the oddest of which is the koala. Perfectly adapted to one specific tree, the eucalyptus, this living teddy bear does not need anything else, not even a drink! The moisture in the leaves is just right for the koala, making it the only land animal that doesn't need water to supplement its food (from That Astounding Creator Nature by Jean George).
The passage indicates that the koala
(a) is a member of the bear family that does not need moisture to live
(b) gets all of its nourishment from the eucalyptus tree
(c) adapts itself to any surroundings
(d) is the only animal that does not need food to live
3. It is early summer.
August's long-awaited vacation time still seems ages away, but by the same toke, its torpor-producing heat and mildew-generating humidity have not yet arrived. Instead, these cool, end-of-June days practically insist on getting the picnic season under way immediately. But, alas, there is a difficulty: alfresco dining has a bad name among us. Tenth-rate hot dogs, carbonized chicken parts, and beef a-la-charcoal are principally what comes to mind when we hear the words "outdoor food" (from A Spanish Picnic by Robert Capon).
The passage suggests that the author believes that
(a) picnicking in August is long-awaited
(b) August is better than June for a picnic
(c) there are some negative aspects to eating outside
(d) picnicking is better alfresco
4.
In embarking on the fight for independence, America faced formidable obstacles. The Continental Congress did not have the authority to pass binding legislation or to impose taxes. The new nation had no army and no navy, and its population numbered only 2.5 million people, 20 percent of whom were slaves. Britain, by contrast, was a mighty power of 11 million people with the world's best navy and a well-disciplined army.
Fifty thousand troops were in North America in 1778, and Britain hired thirty thousand German soldiers to supplement its forces during the war (from An American History by Rebecca Brooks Gruver).
What is the main point of the passage?
(a) Britain was a great power whose population outnumbered that of America.(b) America's military forces were less experienced than Britain's military.(c) America's Continental Congress had limited authority.(d) As America was about to engage in its struggle for autonomy, it was faced with arduous barriers.
DIRECTIONS: Two underlined sentences are followed by a question or statement about them. Read each pair of sentences and then choose the best answer to the question or the best completion of the statement.5. The Midwest is experiencing its worst drought in fifteen years.
Corn and soybean prices are expected to be very high this year.
What does the second sentence do?
(a) It restates the idea found in the first.(b) It states a result or effect of the statement in the first sentence.(c) It gives an example of the statement in the first sentence.
(d) It analyzes the statement made in the first sentence.6. The American prison system functions primarily to exact retribution. In Japan, the courts are less concerned with sending people to jail than they are with rehabilitating them.
What does the second sentence do?
(a) It supports an idea found in the first sentence.(b) It analyzes an idea stated in the first sentence.
(c) It states a contrast to the statement in the first sentence.(d) It exemplifies an idea found in the first sentence.
READING COMPREHENSION | SENTENCE
SENTENCE SKILLS
This test measures your understanding of sentence structure--of how sentences are put together and what makes them complete and clear. You may be asked to:
? choose the most appropriate word or phrase to substitute for the underlined portion of the sentence
? identify sentences which have the same meaning
? recognize incomplete sentences
? recognize relationships of coordination and subordination
? follow the logic of a sentence
DIRECTIONS: Select the best version of the bold part of the sentence. The first choice is the same as the original sentence.
If you think the original sentence is best, choose the first answer.1. Ms. Rose planning to teach a course in biology next summer.
(a) planning
(b) plans
(c) with a plan
(d) are planning
2.
The professor listing only four journals on psychology.
(a) listing
(b) are listing
(c) with a list
(d) listed
DIRECTIONS: Follow the directions for rewriting the sentences below. Keep in mind that your new sentence should be well written and should have essentially the same meaning as the sentence given.3. Being a female jockey, she was often interviewed.
Rewrite, beginning with: She was often interviewed .
. .The next words will be
(a) on account of she was
(b) by her being
(c) because she was
(d) being as she was
4. Copies of the proposed rules were provided by the president of the college to the members of the committee.
Rewrite, beginning with: The president of the college . . .The next words will be
(a) to the members of the committee
(b) providing proposed rules from
(c) provided copies of the proposed
(d) proposed copies of the rules
5.
Having no air conditioning, her condo is very hot.
Rewrite, beginning with: Her condo is very hot . . .The next words will be
(a) on account of it has
(b) because it has
(c) by it being
(d) being as it is
6. The praise of the other officers was earned by the young sergeant who solved the murder.
Begin with: Having solved the murder . . .The new sentence will include
(a) earned the praise
(b) earning the praise
(c) praising of
(d) praised the young sergeant
CORRECT ANSWERS
