The library's 'summer reading challenge' was simple: read ten books and get a certificate. But this year, they added a new rule: at least three of the books had to be from a genre the student had never tried before. The librarians reported a surge in the checkout of books from the history, poetry, and science fiction sections by young readers.
The passage suggests that the new rule was...
- unpopular and caused fewer students to participate.
- ineffective at changing students' reading habits.
- successful in encouraging students to explore new topics. (correct answer)
- designed to make the challenge much more difficult.
Explanation: When you encounter reading comprehension questions that ask what a passage "suggests," you're looking for conclusions you can reasonably draw from the evidence provided, even if not explicitly stated. The passage gives us clear evidence about the new rule's impact: librarians reported "a surge in the checkout of books from the history, poetry, and science fiction sections by young readers." This directly indicates that students responded to the requirement by exploring genres they hadn't tried before. The word "surge" suggests a significant increase, pointing to the rule's success in achieving its apparent goal of broadening reading habits. Choice A is incorrect because there's no evidence of unpopularity or decreased participation. The passage only mentions positive outcomes. Choice B contradicts the evidence entirely—the surge in diverse genre checkouts shows the rule was quite effective at changing reading habits. Choice D focuses on difficulty, but the passage doesn't suggest the rule made the challenge harder to complete, only that it encouraged different book selections. The correct answer is C because the evidence (increased checkouts of previously unexplored genres) directly supports the conclusion that the new rule successfully encouraged exploration of new topics. For HSPT reading questions asking what a passage "suggests" or "implies," always look for concrete evidence in the text that supports your conclusion. Avoid answers that contradict the evidence or introduce ideas not supported by the passage. The key is connecting the dots between what's stated and what logically follows.