Reading Comprehension
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Some species of sharks grow to an enormous size, often weighing from one to four thousand pounds each. The skin of the shark is rough, and is used for polishing wood, ivory, &c.; that of one species is manufactured into an article called shagreen: spectacle-cases are made of it. The white shark is the sailor's worst enemy: he has five rows of wedge-shaped teeth, which are notched like a saw: when the animal is at rest they are flat in his mouth, but when about to seize his prey they are erected by a set of muscles which join them to the jaw. His mouth is so situated under the head that he is obliged to turn himself on one side before he can grasp any thing with those enormous jaws.
Adapted from Stories of the Ocean by Volney Beckner (1852)
According to the passage, all of the following statements about sharks are true EXCEPT .
Sharks have one row of teeth
Sharks can weigh up to four thousand pounds
Sharks have rough skin
Shark skin has been used to polish wood
Explanation
The answer is "sharks have one row of teeth." This is the correct answer because it is the only fact listed which is incorrect according to the passage. Since the question asks us to find the one statement that is not true, it is the best choice. We know that it is not true based on these lines: "The white shark is the sailor's worst enemy: he has five rows of wedge-shaped teeth." Instead of one row of teeth, sharks have five. All of the other answer choices are stated directly in the passage as facts, so the best choice is "sharks have one row of teeth."
Some species of sharks grow to an enormous size, often weighing from one to four thousand pounds each. The skin of the shark is rough, and is used for polishing wood, ivory, &c.; that of one species is manufactured into an article called shagreen: spectacle-cases are made of it. The white shark is the sailor's worst enemy: he has five rows of wedge-shaped teeth, which are notched like a saw: when the animal is at rest they are flat in his mouth, but when about to seize his prey they are erected by a set of muscles which join them to the jaw. His mouth is so situated under the head that he is obliged to turn himself on one side before he can grasp any thing with those enormous jaws.
Adapted from Stories of the Ocean by Volney Beckner (1852)
According to the passage, all of the following statements about sharks are true EXCEPT .
Sharks have one row of teeth
Sharks can weigh up to four thousand pounds
Sharks have rough skin
Shark skin has been used to polish wood
Explanation
The answer is "sharks have one row of teeth." This is the correct answer because it is the only fact listed which is incorrect according to the passage. Since the question asks us to find the one statement that is not true, it is the best choice. We know that it is not true based on these lines: "The white shark is the sailor's worst enemy: he has five rows of wedge-shaped teeth." Instead of one row of teeth, sharks have five. All of the other answer choices are stated directly in the passage as facts, so the best choice is "sharks have one row of teeth."
Some species of sharks grow to an enormous size, often weighing from one to four thousand pounds each. The skin of the shark is rough, and is used for polishing wood, ivory, &c.; that of one species is manufactured into an article called shagreen: spectacle-cases are made of it. The white shark is the sailor's worst enemy: he has five rows of wedge-shaped teeth, which are notched like a saw: when the animal is at rest they are flat in his mouth, but when about to seize his prey they are erected by a set of muscles which join them to the jaw. His mouth is so situated under the head that he is obliged to turn himself on one side before he can grasp any thing with those enormous jaws.
Adapted from Stories of the Ocean by Volney Beckner (1852)
According to the passage, all of the following statements about sharks are true EXCEPT .
Sharks have one row of teeth
Sharks can weigh up to four thousand pounds
Sharks have rough skin
Shark skin has been used to polish wood
Explanation
The answer is "sharks have one row of teeth." This is the correct answer because it is the only fact listed which is incorrect according to the passage. Since the question asks us to find the one statement that is not true, it is the best choice. We know that it is not true based on these lines: "The white shark is the sailor's worst enemy: he has five rows of wedge-shaped teeth." Instead of one row of teeth, sharks have five. All of the other answer choices are stated directly in the passage as facts, so the best choice is "sharks have one row of teeth."
The natives of Australia were always few in number. Australia produced no grain of any sort naturally; neither wheat, oats, barley nor maize. It produced practically no edible fruit, excepting a few berries, and one or two nuts, the outer rind of which was eatable. There were no useful roots such as the potato, the turnip, or the yam, or the taro. The native animals were few and just barely eatable, the kangaroo, and the koala being the principal ones. In birds alone was the country well supplied, and they were more beautiful of plumage than useful as food. Even the fisheries were infrequent, for the coast line is unbroken by any great bays, and there is thus less sea frontage to Australia than to any other of the continents, and the rivers are few in number.
Adapted from Peeps at Many Lands: Australia by Frank Fox (1911)
Which of the following can you infer from this passage?
Survival was difficult for most native Australians
Native Australians had a great deal of time for leisure
Birds were used for medicinal purposes
Australian insects were a main source of nutrition
Explanation
The correct answer is "survival was difficult for most native Australians." We can tell from the details in the passage that there was little food and few resources which would help a population survive. We also know that natives were few in number. From these clues, we are able to infer that survival was difficult. The answer choice suggesting that the natives had a lot of leisure time contradicts the idea that survival was difficult, so it is incorrect. The other answer choices have no support from the passage, and so the best choice is "survival was difficult for most native Australians."
The natives of Australia were always few in number. Australia produced no grain of any sort naturally; neither wheat, oats, barley nor maize. It produced practically no edible fruit, excepting a few berries, and one or two nuts, the outer rind of which was eatable. There were no useful roots such as the potato, the turnip, or the yam, or the taro. The native animals were few and just barely eatable, the kangaroo, and the koala being the principal ones. In birds alone was the country well supplied, and they were more beautiful of plumage than useful as food. Even the fisheries were infrequent, for the coast line is unbroken by any great bays, and there is thus less sea frontage to Australia than to any other of the continents, and the rivers are few in number.
Adapted from Peeps at Many Lands: Australia by Frank Fox (1911)
Which of the following can you infer from this passage?
Survival was difficult for most native Australians
Native Australians had a great deal of time for leisure
Birds were used for medicinal purposes
Australian insects were a main source of nutrition
Explanation
The correct answer is "survival was difficult for most native Australians." We can tell from the details in the passage that there was little food and few resources which would help a population survive. We also know that natives were few in number. From these clues, we are able to infer that survival was difficult. The answer choice suggesting that the natives had a lot of leisure time contradicts the idea that survival was difficult, so it is incorrect. The other answer choices have no support from the passage, and so the best choice is "survival was difficult for most native Australians."
Pauline looked through the picket fence and scowled.
"Oh, those poor little rabbits!" she whispered to herself. "I don't believe that boy has fed them this morning. And now he's gone off to play ball. It is a shame!" She glanced under the grape arbor, where some chickweed was growing luxuriantly, and for a minute she hesitated. The next, she was down among the chickweed, pulling it up by the handful.
She approached the fence again, looked cautiously around, to make sure nobody was in sight, and then thrust the green stuff between the pickets.
That first time of Pauline's feeding the rabbits was followed by a second and a third, and finally it came to be a common thing for her to peer through the fence to see if they were supplied with food, and if not to carry them a good meal.
Adapted from Dew Drops by Emma C. Dowd (1914)
Based on the passage, what inference can be made about Pauline?
She is caring
She is smart
She is unhelpful
She is greedy
Explanation
The correct answer is "She is caring." From the passage, the reader can infer that Pauline is caring. We can come to this conclusion from her words ("Oh, those poor little rabbits!" she whispered to herself. "I don't believe that boy has fed them this morning. And now he's gone off to play ball. It is a shame!") and her actions (feeding the rabbits). None of the clues in the passage point to her being greedy, unhelpful, or smart.
The natives of Australia were always few in number. Australia produced no grain of any sort naturally; neither wheat, oats, barley nor maize. It produced practically no edible fruit, excepting a few berries, and one or two nuts, the outer rind of which was eatable. There were no useful roots such as the potato, the turnip, or the yam, or the taro. The native animals were few and just barely eatable, the kangaroo, and the koala being the principal ones. In birds alone was the country well supplied, and they were more beautiful of plumage than useful as food. Even the fisheries were infrequent, for the coast line is unbroken by any great bays, and there is thus less sea frontage to Australia than to any other of the continents, and the rivers are few in number.
Adapted from Peeps at Many Lands: Australia by Frank Fox (1911)
Which of the following can you infer from this passage?
Survival was difficult for most native Australians
Native Australians had a great deal of time for leisure
Birds were used for medicinal purposes
Australian insects were a main source of nutrition
Explanation
The correct answer is "survival was difficult for most native Australians." We can tell from the details in the passage that there was little food and few resources which would help a population survive. We also know that natives were few in number. From these clues, we are able to infer that survival was difficult. The answer choice suggesting that the natives had a lot of leisure time contradicts the idea that survival was difficult, so it is incorrect. The other answer choices have no support from the passage, and so the best choice is "survival was difficult for most native Australians."
Pauline looked through the picket fence and scowled.
"Oh, those poor little rabbits!" she whispered to herself. "I don't believe that boy has fed them this morning. And now he's gone off to play ball. It is a shame!" She glanced under the grape arbor, where some chickweed was growing luxuriantly, and for a minute she hesitated. The next, she was down among the chickweed, pulling it up by the handful.
She approached the fence again, looked cautiously around, to make sure nobody was in sight, and then thrust the green stuff between the pickets.
That first time of Pauline's feeding the rabbits was followed by a second and a third, and finally it came to be a common thing for her to peer through the fence to see if they were supplied with food, and if not to carry them a good meal.
Adapted from Dew Drops by Emma C. Dowd (1914)
Based on the passage, what inference can be made about Pauline?
She is caring
She is smart
She is unhelpful
She is greedy
Explanation
The correct answer is "She is caring." From the passage, the reader can infer that Pauline is caring. We can come to this conclusion from her words ("Oh, those poor little rabbits!" she whispered to herself. "I don't believe that boy has fed them this morning. And now he's gone off to play ball. It is a shame!") and her actions (feeding the rabbits). None of the clues in the passage point to her being greedy, unhelpful, or smart.
Pauline looked through the picket fence and scowled.
"Oh, those poor little rabbits!" she whispered to herself. "I don't believe that boy has fed them this morning. And now he's gone off to play ball. It is a shame!" She glanced under the grape arbor, where some chickweed was growing luxuriantly, and for a minute she hesitated. The next, she was down among the chickweed, pulling it up by the handful.
She approached the fence again, looked cautiously around, to make sure nobody was in sight, and then thrust the green stuff between the pickets.
That first time of Pauline's feeding the rabbits was followed by a second and a third, and finally it came to be a common thing for her to peer through the fence to see if they were supplied with food, and if not to carry them a good meal.
Adapted from Dew Drops by Emma C. Dowd (1914)
Based on the passage, what inference can be made about Pauline?
She is caring
She is smart
She is unhelpful
She is greedy
Explanation
The correct answer is "She is caring." From the passage, the reader can infer that Pauline is caring. We can come to this conclusion from her words ("Oh, those poor little rabbits!" she whispered to herself. "I don't believe that boy has fed them this morning. And now he's gone off to play ball. It is a shame!") and her actions (feeding the rabbits). None of the clues in the passage point to her being greedy, unhelpful, or smart.
Paris is the culinary center of the world. All the great missionaries of good cookery have gone forth from it, and its cuisine was, is, and ever will be the supreme expression of one of the greatest arts in the world. Most of the good cooks come from the south of France, most of the good food comes from the north. They meet at Paris, and thus the Paris cuisine, which is that of the nation and that of the civilized world, is created.
Adapted from The Gourmet's Guide to Europe, by Lieut.-Col. Newnham-Davis and Agernon Bastard (1903)
With which of the following statements would the author most likely agree?
Parisian cuisine has spread around the world
Italian bread is better than French bread
France's cuisine may someday be surpassed by another nation
Chefs trained in northern France are likely to be better than those trained in the south
Explanation
The best answer is "Parisian cuisine has spread around the world. " This is because of the line that says "All the great missionaries of good cookery have gone forth from it," the word "missionary" meaning that people have started in Paris and taken the food elsewhere, including foreign countries. All of the other statements are at odds with things the author claims in the passage.