Choosing the Best Title Practice Test

Read the passage, then answer: Which of the following titles best summarizes the main idea of the passage?

For centuries, sailors crossing wide oceans rely on the sun, stars, and careful notes. They can measure direction fairly well, but knowing exact east-west position is much harder. This problem is called finding longitude. If a ship misjudges it, the crew may miss an island, strike rocks, or run out of supplies before reaching land.

Many leaders offer prizes for a good solution. Scientists suggest using the moon’s position, but the calculations are slow and difficult on a rocking ship. What sailors truly need is a way to compare local time on the ship with the time at a known starting point. The difference between those times can reveal longitude.

A clockmaker named John Harrison believes a strong, accurate sea clock can solve the problem. Yet building such a clock is not simple. Changes in temperature, salty air, and constant motion can make a clock lose or gain minutes. Harrison spends years testing new designs, replacing parts, and improving balance and springs.

At last, his timekeepers perform well on sea voyages. When captains can trust the clock, they can calculate longitude with much greater confidence. Ships begin to travel safer routes, and maps become more reliable.

Harrison’s work shows how patience and careful design can change history. A tool small enough to fit in a cabin helps protect crews, cargo, and lives across the ocean.

Read the passage, then answer: Which of the following would make the most suitable title for this passage?

Aisha’s class visits a museum with a new exhibit about ancient writing. At the entrance, a guide shows them clay tablets marked with tiny wedge shapes. The guide explains that these marks are cuneiform, one of the earliest writing systems, used thousands of years ago.

At first, Aisha thinks the symbols look like random scratches. Then the guide demonstrates how a scribe presses a reed into soft clay to make each mark. The angle of the reed creates different shapes. Once the tablet dries, the message can last for centuries.

The exhibit includes a game where students try writing their names using wedge marks. Aisha discovers that writing is not only about letters. It is about recording ideas so they can travel through time. She imagines a merchant tracking goods, a farmer counting grain, or a student practicing words.

Before leaving, Aisha reads a sign that says writing changes civilizations. It allows laws, stories, and plans to be shared beyond one person’s memory.

On the bus ride home, Aisha notices how often she writes without thinking. The museum makes her see writing as an invention that connects people across generations.