Improve Reading Test Scores
Reading
comprehension tests gauge whether you can interpret information contained in a
reading passage. They donot measure what you've learned
somewhere else. If you understand what's expected on these tests, you'll have a
decided edge. If you've always had trouble with reading comprehension tests,
the following suggestions may help you. These tips may seem strange, but if nothing else
has worked for you, try them.
Strategy 1: If the instructions tell you to read the passage first and
then answer the question, try reading the questions first instead.
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If the questions ask for specific
factual material contained in the reading, it doesn't always pay to read the
entire passage carefully. Skim it to find the facts and then move on. You can
save lots of time that way.
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Reading comprehension questions
often ask you to make conclusions or draw inferences about what the author
said in the passage. To supply such answers, you will have
to read the entire passage. But if you've read the questions first, you'll
have a better idea of what you're looking for.
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Strategy 2: Reading comprehension tests are timed tests, so use your
time to answer first as many of the easiest questions as possible.
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Reading selections are usually
arranged with the easier ones first, followed by the more difficult ones
last. If a passage looks difficult after reading it, don't
skip to the next one and plan to come back later. Skipping aroundafter you've
already read the passages wastes your time.
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Skim to locate the easiest
questions. If you're good at finding factual references, but poor at forming
conclusions, do factual passages first. As you read the questions, when you
find "inferential" or "conclusive" questions, mark them
for later and then skim the next set of questions. (If you don't know these
words, look them up. You need to understand these types of questions.)
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Strategy 3: Check your answers.
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After you've chosen an answer,
compare it to the sentence that gave you the answer. Be sure that the answer
covers all parts of the question. Be sure you've checked the
answer you intended to check - don't lose points by finding the correct
answer and then checking the wrong one.
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Strategy 4: Don't Add Any Facts
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Base your answers entirely on
facts contained in the reading passage. Even if you know something about the
subject, remember that this is a test of your ability to read and understand
a given passage. Trying
to applying your outside knowledge may cost you points.
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Strategy 5: Forget Your Own Conclusions
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Remind yourself that you're being
tested on your understanding of the words, sentences, facts, and ideas in the
passage -- nothing more. If you think the author's facts or conclusions are
wrong, forget it -- and answer questions based only on what the author says.
If you know something about the subject, read carefully so you don't lose
points by jumping to conclusions based on your own preconceptions. Be sure you can point to the reading passage that supports
the conclusions reached in the answer you've selected.
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Reading Main Idea
Practice Questions
1.
Americans have always been interested in their Presidents' wives. Many First
Ladies have been remembered because of the ways they have influenced their
husbands. Other First Ladies have made the history books on their own.
At
least two First Ladies, Bess Truman and Lady Bird Johnson, made it their
business to send signals during their husbands' speeches. When Lady Bird
Johnson thought her husband was talking too long, she wrote a note and sent it
up to the platform. It read, “It's time to stop!” And he did. Once Bess Truman
didn't like what her husband was saying on television, so she phoned him and
said,” If you can't talk more politely than that in public, you come right
home.”
Abigail
Fillmore and Eliza Johnson actually taught their husbands, Millard Fillmore and
Andrew Johnson, the thirteenth and seventeenth Presidents. A schoolteacher,
Abigail eventually married her pupil, Millard. When Eliza Johnson married
Andrew, he could not read or write, so she taught him herself.
It
was First Lady Helen Taft's idea to plant the famous cherry trees in
Washington, D. C. Each spring these blossoming trees attract thousands of
visitors to the nation's capital. Mrs. Taft also influenced the male members of
her family and the White House staff in a strange way: she convinced them to
shave off their beards!
Shortly
after President Wilson suffered a stroke, Edith Wilson unofficially took over
most of the duties of the Presidency until the end of her husband's term.
Earlier, during World War I, Mrs. Wilson had had sheep brought onto the White
House lawn to eat the grass. The sheep not only kept the lawn mowed but
provided wool for an auction sponsored by the First Lady. Almost $100,000 was
raised for the Red Cross.
Dolly
Madison saw to it that a magnificent painting of George Washington was not
destroyed during the War of 1812. As the British marched toward Washington, D.
C., she remained behind to rescue the painting, even after the guards had left.
The painting is the only object from the original White House that was not
burned.
One
of the most famous First Ladies was Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of President
Franklin D. Roosevelt. She was active in political and social causes throughout
her husband's tenure in office. After his death, she became famous for her
humanitarian work in the United Nations. She made life better for thousands of
needy people around the world.
What
is the main idea of this passage?
A.
The Humanitarian work of the First Ladies is critical in American government.
B. Dolly Madison was the most influential president's wife.
C. Eleanor Roosevelt transformed the First Lady image.
D. The First Ladies are important in American culture.
E. The First Ladies are key supporters of the Presidents.
B. Dolly Madison was the most influential president's wife.
C. Eleanor Roosevelt transformed the First Lady image.
D. The First Ladies are important in American culture.
E. The First Ladies are key supporters of the Presidents.
2.
Of the many kinds of vegetables grown all over the world, which remains the
favorite of young and old alike? Why, the potato, of course.
Perhaps
you know them as “taters,” “spuds,” or “Kennebees,” or as “chips,” “Idahoes,”
or even “shoestrings.” No matter, a potato by any other name is still a potato-
the world's most widely grown vegetable. As a matter of fact, if you are an
average potato eater, you will put away at least a hundred pounds of them each
year.
That's
only a tiny portion of the amount grown every year, however. Worldwide, the
annual potato harvest is over six billion bags- each bag containing a hundred
pounds of spuds, some of them as large as four pounds each. Here in the United
States, farmers fill about four hundred million bags a year. That may seem like
a lot of “taters,” but it leaves us a distant third among world potato growers.
Polish farmers dig up just over 800 million bags a year, while the Russians
lead the world with nearly 1.5 billion bags.
The
first potatoes were grown by the Incas of South America, more than four hundred
years ago. Their descendants in Ecuador and Chile continue to grow the
vegetable as high as fourteen thousand feet up in the Andes Mountains. ( That's
higher than any other food will grow.) Early Spanish and English explorers
shipped potatoes to Europe, and they found their way to North America in the
early 1600s.
People
eat potatoes in many ways-baked, mashed, and roasted, to name just three.
However, in the United States most potatoes are devoured in the form of French
fries. One fast-food chain alone sells more than $1 billion worth of fries each
year. No wonder, then, that the company pays particular attention to the way
its fries are prepared.
Before
any fry makes it to the people who eat at these popular restaurants, it must
pass many separate tests. Fail any one and the spud is rejected. To start with,
only russet Burbank potatoes are used. These Idaho potatoes have less water
content than other kinds, which can have as much as eighty percent water. Once
cut into “shoestrings” shapes, the potatoes are partly fried in a secret blend
of oils, sprayed with liquid sugar to brown them, steam dried at high heat,
then flash frozen for shipment to individual restaurants.
Before
shipping, though, every shoestring is measured. Forty percent of a batch must
be between two and three inches long. Another forty percent has to be over
three inches. What about the twenty percent that are left in the batch? Well, a
few short fries in a bag are okay, it seems.
So,
now that you realize the enormous size and value of the potato crop, you can
understand why most people agree that this part of the food industry is no
“small potatoes.”
What
is the main idea of this passage?
A.
Potatoes from Ireland started the Potato Revolution.
B. The average American eats 50 lbs of potatoes a year.
C. French fries are made from potatoes.
D. Potatoes are a key vegetable in America.
E. The various terms for potatoes have a long history.
B. The average American eats 50 lbs of potatoes a year.
C. French fries are made from potatoes.
D. Potatoes are a key vegetable in America.
E. The various terms for potatoes have a long history.
3.
What does the word patent mean to you? Does it strike you as being
something rather remote from your interests? If it does, stop and think a
moment about some of the commonplace things that you use every day, objects
that you take for granted as part of the world around you. The telephone,
radio, television, the automobile, and the thousand and one other things (even
the humble safety pin) that enrich our lives today once existed only as ideas
in the minds of men. If it had not been possible to patent their ideas and thus
protect them against copying by others, these inventions might never have been
fully developed to serve mankind.
If
there were no patent protection there would be little incentive to invent and
innovate, for once the details of an invention became known, hordes of
imitators who did not share the inventor's risks and expenses might well flood
the market with their copies of his product and reap much of the benefit of his
efforts. The technological progress that has made America great would wither
rapidly under conditions such as these.
The
fundamental principles in the U. S. patent structure came from England. During
the glorious reign of Queen Elizabeth I in England, the expanding technology
was furthered by the granting of exclusive manufacturing and selling privileges
to citizens who had invented new processes or tools- a step that did much to
encourage creativity. Later, when critics argued that giving monopoly rights to
one person infringed on the rights of others, an important principle was added
to the patent structure: The Lord Chief Justice of England stated that society
had everything to gain and nothing to lose by granting exclusive privileges to
an inventor, because a patent for an invention was granted for something new
that society never had before.
Another
basic principle was brought into law because certain influential people in
England had managed to obtain monopoly control over such age-old products as
salt, and had begun charging as much as the traffic would bear. The public
outcry became so great that the government was forced to decree that monopoly
rights could be awarded only to those who created or introduced something
really unique. These principles are the mainstays of our modern patent system
in the United States.
In
colonial times patent law was left up to the separate states. The
inconsistency, confusion, and unfairness that resulted clearly indicated the
need for a uniform patent law, and the men who drew up the Constitution
incorporated one. George Washington signed the first patent law on April
10,1790, and less than four months later the first patent was issued to a man
named Samuel Hopkins for a chemical process, an improved method of making
potash for use in soapmaking.
In
1936 the Patent Office was established as a separate bureau. From the staff of
eight that it maintained during its first year of operation it has grown into
an organization of over 2500 people handling more than 1600 patent applications
and granting over 1000 every week.
The
Patent Office in Washington, D. C., is the world's largest library of
scientific and technical data, and this treasure trove of information is open
for public inspection. In addition to more than 3 million U. S. patents, it
houses more than 7 million foreign patents and thousands of volumes of
technical literature. Abraham Lincoln patented a device to lift steam vessels
over river shoals, Mark Twain developed a self-pasting scrapbook, and
millionaire Cornelius Vanderbilt invented a shoe-shine kit.
A
patent may be granted for any new and useful process, machine, article of
manufacture, or composition of matter ( a chemical compound or combinations of
chemical compounds), or any distinct and new variety; of plant, including
certain mutants and hybrids.
The
patent system has also helped to boost the wages of the American worker to an
unprecedented level; he can produce more and earn more with the computer, adding
machines, drill press or lathe. Patented inventions also help keep prices down
by increasing manufacturing efficiency and by stimulating the competition that
is the foundation of our free enterprise system.
The
decades of history have disclosed little need for modification of the patent
structure. Our patent laws, like the Constitution from which they grew, have
stood the test of time well. They encouraged the creative processes, brought
untold benefits to society as a whole, and enabled American technology to
outstrip that of the rest of the civilized world.
What
is the main idea of this passage?
A.
The patent system encourages free enterprise.
B. The Constitution protects the patent system.
C. The patent system in England has been influential in American patent development.
D. Patents are important tools for inventors.
E. Patented inventions protect the inventor, free enterprise, and the creative process.
B. The Constitution protects the patent system.
C. The patent system in England has been influential in American patent development.
D. Patents are important tools for inventors.
E. Patented inventions protect the inventor, free enterprise, and the creative process.
4.
Most people think it's fine to be “busy as a beaver.” Little do they know.
Beavers may work hard, but often they don't get much done.
Beavers
are supposed to be great tree cutters. It is true that a beaver can gnaw
through a tree very quickly. (A six-inch birch takes about ten minutes.) But
then what? Often the beaver does not make use of the tree. One expert says that
beavers waste one out of every five trees they cut.
For
one thing, they do not choose their trees wisely. One bunch of beavers cut down
a cottonwood tree more than one hundred feet tall. Then they found that they
could not move it.
In
thick woods a tree sometimes won't fall down. It gets stuck in the other trees.
Of course, doesn't think to cut down the trees that are in the way. So a good
tree goes to waste.
Some
people think that beavers can make a tree fall the way they want it to. Not
true. (In fact, a beaver sometimes gets pinned under a falling tree.) When
beavers cut a tree near a stream, it usually falls into the water. But they do
not plan it that way. The fact is that most trees lean toward the water to
start with.
Now
what about dam building? Most beaver dams are wonders of engineering. The best
ones are strongly built of trees, stones, and mud. They are wide at the bottom
and narrow at the top.
Beavers
think nothing of building a dam more than two hundred feet long. One dam, in
Montana, was more than two thousand feet long. The largest one ever seen was in
New Hampshire. It stretched four thousand feet. It made a lake large enough to
hold forty beaver homes.
So
beavers do build good dams. But they don't always build them in the right
places. They just don't plan. They will build a dam across the widest part of
the stream. They don't try to find a place where the stream is narrow. So a lot
of their hard work is wasted.
Beavers
should learn that it's not enough to be busy. You have to know what you're
doing, too. For example, there was one Oregon beaver that really was a worker.
It decided to fix a leak in a man-made dam. After five days of work it gave up.
The leak it was trying to block was the lock that boats go through.
What
is the main idea of this passage?
A.
Beavers may be hard working animals, but they don't always choose the most
efficient mechanisms.
B. Beavers are excellent dam builders.
C. New Hampshire was the site of the largest beaver dam.
D. Beavers are well developed tree cutters.
E. Beavers are poor surveyors of aquatic environments in some cases.
B. Beavers are excellent dam builders.
C. New Hampshire was the site of the largest beaver dam.
D. Beavers are well developed tree cutters.
E. Beavers are poor surveyors of aquatic environments in some cases.
5.
The raisin business in America was born by accident. It happened in 1873 in the
San Joaquin Valley of California. Many farmers raised grapes in this valley.
That year, just before the grape harvest, there was a heat wave. It was one of
the worst heat waves ever known. It was so hot the grapes dried on the vines.
When they were picked, California had its first raisin crop.
People
were surprised to find how good raisins were. Everybody wanted more. So the San
Joaquin farmers went into the raisin business. Today, of course, they do not
let the grapes dry on the vines. They treat them with much more care.
In
late August the grapes start to ripen. They are tested often for sweetness. The
growers wait until the sugar content is twenty-one percent. Then they know the
grapes are ripe enough to be picked.
Skilled
workers come to the vineyards. They pick the bunches of grapes by hand. The
workers fill their flat pans with grapes. They gently empty the pans onto
squares of paper. These squares lie between the long rows of vines. They sit in
the sun.
Here
the grapes stay while the sun does its work. It may take two weeks or longer.
The grapes are first dried on one side. When they have reached the right color,
they are turned to dry on the other side. The grapes are dried until only
fifteen percent of the moisture is left. Then they have turned into raisins.
The
raisins are rolled up in the paper on which they have dried. Trucks take them
from the fields. They are poured into big boxes called sweatboxes. Each box
holds one hundred and sixty pounds of raisins. Here, any raisins that are a bit
too dry take moisture from those that have a bit too much. After a while they
are all just moist enough.
The
big boxes are trucked next to the packaging plant. They are emptied onto a
conveyor belt that shakes the raisins gently. This knocks them from their
stems. A blast of air whisks the stems away. The water bath is next. Then the
plump brown raisins have a last inspection. They are again checked for moisture
and sugar. Then they go on a belt to packing machines. Here they are poured
into packages, which are automatically weighed and sealed. The raisins are now
ready for market.
What
is the main idea of this passage?
A.
The creation of raisins in America was an accident.
B. The process of raisin development requires multiple steps.
C. Raisins on the grocery store shelf undergo a brief fermentation process.
D. Raisins are cleaned thoroughly at the packing plant.
E. California has been the leader in American raisin development.
B. The process of raisin development requires multiple steps.
C. Raisins on the grocery store shelf undergo a brief fermentation process.
D. Raisins are cleaned thoroughly at the packing plant.
E. California has been the leader in American raisin development.
6.
In 1976, Sichan Siv was crawling through the jungle, trying to escape from
Cambodia. By 1989, however, Siv was working in the White House, in Washington
D. C., as an advisor to the President of the United States. How did this
strange journey come about?
Like
millions of Cambodians, Siv was a victim of a bloody civil war. One of the
sides in this war was the Cambodian government. The other was a group called
the Khmer Rouge. When the Khmer Rouge won the war, the situation in Cambodia
got worse. Many people were killed, while others were forced into hard labor.
Sometimes entire families were wiped out.
Siv
came from a large family that lived in the capital of Cambodia. After finishing
high school, Siv worked for a while with a Cambodian airline company. Later, he
taught English. After that, he took a job with CARE, an American group that was
helping victims of the war.
Siv
had hope to leave Cambodia before the Khmer Rouge took over the country.
Unfortunately, he was delayed. As a result, he and his family were taken from
their homes and forced to labor in rice fields. After a while, Siv managed to
escape. He rode an old bicycle for miles, trying to reach Thailand where he
would be free and safe. For three weeks he slept on the ground and tried to
hide from the soldiers who were looking for him. Caught at last, he was afraid
he would be killed. Instead, he was put into a labor camp, where he worked
eighteen hours each day without rest. After several months, he escaped again;
this time he made it. The journey, however, was a terrifying one. After three
days of staggering on foot through mile after mile of thick bamboo, Siv finally
made his way to Thailand.
Because
he had worked for an American charity group, Siv quickly found work in a
refugee camp. Soon he was on his way to the states. He arrived in June of 1976
and got a job-first picking apples and then cooking in a fast-food restaurant.
Siv, however, wanted more than this; he wanted to work with people who, like
himself, had suffered the hardship of leaving their own countries behind. Siv
decided that the best way to prepare for this kind of work was to go to
college. He wrote letters to many colleges and universities. They were
impressed with his school records from Cambodia, and they were impressed with
his bravery. Finally, in 1980, he was able to study at Columbia University in
New York City. After finishing his studies at Columbia, Siv took a job with the
United Nations. He married an American woman and became a citizen. After
several more years, he felt that he was very much a part of his new country.
In
1988, Siv was offered a job in the White House working for President Reagan's
closest advisors. It was a difficult job, and he often had to work long hours.
However the long hard work was worth it, because Siv got the opportunity to
help refugees in his work.
What
is the main idea of this passage?
A.
Persistence and courage are global ideas.
B. Siv covered a large area during his life.
C. Siv persevered to become an American citizen
D. Siv overcame numerous challenges to come to American and help others.
E. Siv persevered to become an American citizen.
B. Siv covered a large area during his life.
C. Siv persevered to become an American citizen
D. Siv overcame numerous challenges to come to American and help others.
E. Siv persevered to become an American citizen.
7.
When you want to hang the American flag over the middle of a street, suspend it
vertically with the blue field, called the union, to the north and east-west
street. When the flag is displayed with another banner from crossed staffs, the
American flag is on the right. Place the staff of the American flag in front of
the other staff. Raise the flag quickly and lower it slowly and respectfully.
When flying the flag at half-mast, hoist it to the top of the pole for a moment
before lowering it to mid-pole. When flying the American flag with banners from
states or cities, raise the nation's banner first and lower it last. Never
allow the flag to touch the ground.
What
is the main idea of this passage?
A.
The American flag is the symbol of American freedom.
B. The American flag has fifty stars.
C. Placing the American flag inappropriately will draw government intervention.
D. American flag should be flown differently in certain situations.
","The flag should be lowered quickly and respectfully.
B. The American flag has fifty stars.
C. Placing the American flag inappropriately will draw government intervention.
D. American flag should be flown differently in certain situations.
","The flag should be lowered quickly and respectfully.
8.
What if someone told you about a kind of grass that grows as tall as the tallest
trees? A grass that can be made as strong as steel? A grass from which houses,
furniture, boats, and hundreds of other useful things can be made? A grass that
you would even enjoy eating? Would you believe that person? You should, for
that grass is bamboo, the “wood” of 1,001 uses.
Bamboo
may look like wood, but it is part of the family of plants that includes wheat,
oats, and barley. It is a kind of grass. This grass is not just a material for
making useful products. Young bamboo is eaten, often mixed with other
vegetables, in many Asian foods.
Bamboo
grows in many parts of the world. In the United States it grows in an area from
Virginia west to Indiana and south to Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. Most
bamboo, however, is found in warm, wet climates, especially in Asia and on the
islands of the South Pacific Ocean.
In
most Asian countries, bamboo is nearly as important as rice. Many Asians live
in bamboo houses. They sit on bamboo chairs and sleep on bamboo mats. They
fence their land with bamboo and use the wood for cages for chickens and pigs.
Bamboo
is used to build large buildings as well as homes. When it is glued in layers,
it becomes as strong as steel. On some islands in the South Pacific, bamboo is
even used for water pipes. This extraordinary material has many other uses. It
is used to make musical instruments, such as flutes and recorders. Paper made
from bamboo has been highly prized by artists for thousands of years.
Bamboo
is light and strong, and it bends without breaking. It is cheap, floats on
water, almost never wears out, and is easy to grow. Nothing else on earth grows
quite so fast as bamboo. At times you can even see it grow! Botanists have
recorded growths of more than three feet in just twenty-four hours! Bamboo is
hollow and has a strong root system that almost never stops growing and
spreading. In fact, only after it flowers, an event that may happen only once
every thirty years, will bamboo die.
There
are more than a thousand kinds of bamboo. The smallest is only three inches
tall and one-tenth of an inch across. The largest reaches more than two hundred
feet in height and seven inches in diameter. No wonder, then, that the lives of
nearly half the people on earth would change enormously if there were no longer
any bamboo. No wonder, too, that to many people bamboo is a symbol of happiness
and good fortune.
What
is the main idea of this passage?
A.
Bamboo has at least 2,000 uses.
B. Bamboo grows at an amazing rate and is found primarily in Asia.
C. Bamboo is an amazing grass that can be used in multiple ways.
D. There are at least a 1,000 types of bamboo.
E. Bamboo could be considered a flower in some cases.
B. Bamboo grows at an amazing rate and is found primarily in Asia.
C. Bamboo is an amazing grass that can be used in multiple ways.
D. There are at least a 1,000 types of bamboo.
E. Bamboo could be considered a flower in some cases.
9.
Every year since 1986, some of the world's most daring runners have gathered in
the desert of Morocco. They are there to take part in one of the most difficult
races in the world. The Marathon of the Sands, as it is called, covers over 125
miles of desert and mountain wilderness. The runners complete the course in
fewer than seven days, and they run with their food, clothing, and sleeping
bags on their backs.
The
Marathon of the Sands was founded in 1986 by Patrick Bauer. His idea was to
give the runners, who come from all over the world, a special kind of
adventure. Most of the runners in this race have found that they form deep
friendships with the other runners during their days and nights in the desert.
Facing terrible heat and complete exhaustion, they learn much about themselves
and each other.
For
most of the runners, though, the challenge of the race is the main reason for
coming. On the first day, for example, they run fifteen miles across a desert
of sand, rocks, and thorny bushes. Few runners finish the day without blistered
and raw feet. They also suffer from a lack of water. (They are allowed less
than nine quarts of water during each day of the race.) Most of all, they are
exhausted when they arrive at the campsite for the night.
The
second day, the runners are up at 6:00 A. M. Within a few hours, it is 100
degrees F, but the runners do not hesitate. They must cover eighteen miles that
day. That night, they rest. They must be ready for the next day's run.
On
the third day, the runners must climb giant sand dunes- the first they have
faced. Dust and sand mix with the runners' sweat. Soon their faces are caked
with mud. After fifteen miles of these conditions, the runners finally reach
their next camp.
The
race continues like this for four more days. The fourth and fifth days are the
worst. On the fourth day, the runners pass through a level stretch and a
beautiful, tree-filled oasis, but then, on this and on the next day, they cross
more than twenty-one miles of rocks and sand dunes. The temperature soars to
125 degrees F, and many runners cannot make it. Helicopters rush fallen runners
to medical help. Runners who make it to the end of the fifth day know that the
worst is over.
On
the sixth day, heat and rocks punish the racers terribly. In the Valley of Dra,
the wind picks up and, as the desert heat is thrust against them with great
force, they grow more and more exhausted.
The
seventh day is the last, with only twelve miles to be covered. The dusty,
tired, blistered runners set out at daybreak. Near the finish line, children
race along with the runners, for everybody has caught the excitement. The ones
who have run the whole marathon know they have accomplished what most people
could not even dream of. “During the hard moments,” says one contestant who has
raced here twice, “I'd think, ‘Why am I here?' Then I'd realize I was there to
find my limits.”
What
is the main idea of this passage?
A.
The Marathon of the Sands race tests the limits of human endurance.
B. The runners run at their own pace.
C. The race causes the strong to stumble and the weak to not finish.
D. The seventh day is the hardest day of the race.
E. Every runner runs the race to find their human limits.
B. The runners run at their own pace.
C. The race causes the strong to stumble and the weak to not finish.
D. The seventh day is the hardest day of the race.
E. Every runner runs the race to find their human limits.
10.
High in the Andes Mountains in Peru stands the ancient city of Machu Picchu. No
one knows why this great city was built, nor is it likely that we will ever
know. Nevertheless, the deserted city of Machu Picchu is important for what it
reveals about the ancient Inca people of South America.
The
Incas once ruled a great empire that covered a large part of the South American
continent. The empire was more than five hundred years old when the first Spanish
explorers, looking for gold, went to that continent in the sixteenth century.
The
Incas were an advanced people. They were skillful engineers who paved their
roads and built sturdy bridges. They plowed the land in such a way that rains
would not wash away valuable soil. They dug ditches to carry water into dry
areas for farming.
Even
though they did not know about the wheel, the Incas were able to move huge
stone blocks- some as heavy as ten tons- up the sides of mountains to build
walls. The blocks were fitted so tightly, without cement of any kind, that it
would be impossible to slip a knife blade between them! The walls have stood
firm through great storms and earthquakes that have destroyed many modern
buildings.
The
Incas were great artists, too. Today, Incan dishes and other kinds of pottery
are prized for their wonderful designs. Since both gold and silver were in
great supply, the Incas created splendid objects from these precious metals.
While
it is true that the Incas had no written language, they kept their accounts by
using a system of knotted strings of various lengths and colors. The sizes of
the knots and the distances between them represented numbers.
At
its height, the Incan empire included as many as thirty million people. The
emperor ruled them with an iron hand. He told his subjects where to live, what
to plant, how long they should work-even whom they could marry. Since he owned
everything, the emperor gave what he wished when he wished- and in the amount
he wished -to his people.
In 1533
Spanish explorers led by Francisco Pizarro murdered the emperor of the Incas.
Earlier, the heir to the Incan empire had also been killed. The Incas, who had
always been entirely dependent on their emperor, now had no recognized leader.
The Spaniards easily conquered the empire and plundered its riches.
Have
the Incas disappeared from South America? Not at all. In Peru alone, once the
center of that great empire, eighty percent of the twenty million people are
descendants of the Inca people. Evidence of the Incan empire can be found in
many other places in South America as well. You can even visit Machu Picchu.
The remains of this ancient city still stand high in the mountains of Peru, an
awesome tribute to this once powerful empire.
What
is the main idea of this passage?
A.
The Incas once inhabited the ancient city of Machu Picchu.
B. Peru was the primary country of the Incas.
C. The Incan empire can be found in ancient cities and was plundered by the Spanish.
D. Spanish conquerors destroyed the Incan empire in the thirteenth century.
E. Machu Picchu was the capital of the Incan empire.
B. Peru was the primary country of the Incas.
C. The Incan empire can be found in ancient cities and was plundered by the Spanish.
D. Spanish conquerors destroyed the Incan empire in the thirteenth century.
E. Machu Picchu was the capital of the Incan empire.
Answer
Key
1. D
2. D
3. E
4. A
5. B
6. D
7. D
8. C
9. A
10. C
1. D
2. D
3. E
4. A
5. B
6. D
7. D
8. C
9. A
10. C
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