Reading Practice Test 2

1. Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey certain laws or to pay taxes and fines and is a peaceful form of political protest. Just because something is the law doesn’t mean it is right. For example, segregation used to be legal in this country, and it was only changed by many years of dedicated civil disobedience by people who wanted to do what was right, not just what was legal. Civil disobedience makes the government more accountable and is sometimes the only way that laws that are deeply rooted in damaging customs (like segregation) can be changed. Some Americans that are famous for their civil disobedience are Rosa Parks, who refused to give her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery Alabama, and Martin Luther King Jr. who advocated peaceful civil disobedience as a way to advance the rights of black Americans. Our country is what it is today largely thanks to acts of civil disobedience by brave and thoughtful Americans.

Martin Luther King Jr. wanted to:

2. 0

Read the following short biography below and identify the main idea.If the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning is turn on a light, you can thank Thomas Edison. This inventor - who was born in Ohio but spent much of his time working in New Jersey - is famous for a variety of inventions, including the light bulb. But that's not all he contributed. Thomas Edison was known for inventing the phonograph, which was a machine that is able to record sound and play it back. It was the first of its kind back then! He also invented not just the light bulb, but the switches that we use to turn the lights on and off. Another one of his most famous inventions is the motion picture camera, which was used to make movies. These were groundbreaking inventions in his day!

What is the main idea of this biography?

3. DIRECTIONS: Identify the structure of each passage. After laying only a single egg, the female penguin heads out to sea and stays there until it is almost time for the egg to hatch. The male penguin incubates the egg, carrying it between his legs and under his feathers to keep it warm. Just before it is time for the egg to hatch, the female returns to land.

4. It is true that the powers of Europe may carry on maritime wars with the Union, but there is always greater facility and less danger in supporting a maritime than a continental war. Maritime warfare only requires one species of effort. A commercial people who consent to furnish its government with the necessary funds are sure to possess a fleet. And it is far easier to induce a nation to part with its money, almost unconsciously, than to reconcile it to sacrifices of men and personal efforts. Moreover, defeat by sea rarely compromises the existence or independence of the people which endures it. As for continental wars, it is evident that the nations of Europe cannot be formidable in this way to the American Union. It would be very difficult to transport and maintain in America more than 25,000 soldiers; an army which may be considered to represent a nation of about 2,000,000 men. The most populous nation of Europe contending in this way against the Union is in the position of a nation of 2,000,000 of inhabitants at war with one of 12,000,000. Add to this, that America has all its resources within reach, whilst the European is at 4,000 miles distance from his; and that the immensity of the American continent would of itself present an insurmountable obstacle to its conquest.

What evidence in the text supports your answer in question 1?

5. Read the text and answer the question. Goodbye Pencil, Hello KeyboardLook around a modern-day classroom today and you will certainly note many changes from the classrooms of the past. Overhead projectors and chalkboards have been replaced; desks rarely feature a piece of paper, but rather sport a computer monitor. In addition, the days of taking notes, filling out tests, and writing reports with a pen or pencil in hand is utterly obsolete, exchanged for keyboards.

In more than 40 states throughout the country, cursive writing and penmanship are no longer considered an essential part of the curriculum, and none of the major standardized tests require any type of handwriting. Instead, keyboarding skills have taken precedence. The ability to form clear curves and loops on the paper is now outdated; the ability to avoid the painfully slow “hunting and pecking” and type at least 50 words per minute has taken precedence.

The age-old tradition of handwriting is not going quietly in some parts of the nation as at least four states have gone to their legislatures with bills mandating instruction in cursive writing in public schools. Advocates of keeping penmanship skills as part of a curriculum point to a plethora of evidence to support their stance. According to their studies, handwriting training helps young students develop hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, and even improve overall memory retention. Additional studies have indicated that students who wrote by hand not only wrote faster than on a standard keyboard, but also wrote higher quality sentences.

Opponents to cursive in the classroom, however, point out that today’s generations of students have been keyboarding since before they attended kindergarten. This form of communication is part of how their brains operate, and many find the feel of a pen or pencil in their hands uncomfortable, unwieldy, and generally unpleasant. Keyboarding is quicker, freeing up precious time to work on other projects, and is, inarguably, the preferred communication method of the modern student.

What do advocates of keyboarding list as one of their main reasons?

6. Recently, a study discovered that the nation's healthy lunch initiative has not had a positive effect in schools.                , the study discovered that more students throw away uneaten fruits and opt to eat snacks brought from home.

Which transition word best connects the evidence with the analysis of the evidence?

7. Teachers should limit the amount of homework students are assigned each night. Students must complete multiple homework assignments from multiple classes each night, which can result in hours of homework to complete.                , students have extracurricular activities and other obligations when the school day ends.

Which transition best connects the two pieces of supporting evidence?

8. Which word/phrase in the sentence below is redundant and can be removed without changing the meaning of the sentence?The couple's abrupt decision to elope was sudden and surprised their families.

9. 1

Read the following short biography below and identify the main idea.The 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln was not born into a rich family. As a child, he lived in a one-room log cabin in Kentucky with his parents. When he was still a young boy, his father lost a lot of money, which created some financial troubles with his family. Consequently, the Lincolns had to move to Perry County, Indiana. They did not have an easy time due to their problems with money, but they survived. Abraham Lincoln's mother sadly passed away when he was only nine, and his father eventually remarried. Although young Abraham did not attend school for many years, he was able to educate himself by reading many books. Before becoming President, he worked a few different jobs, such as shopkeeper and head of the post office.

What is the main idea of this biography?

10. Read the text and answer the question. Goodbye Pencil, Hello KeyboardLook around a modern-day classroom today and you will certainly note many changes from the classrooms of the past. Overhead projectors and chalkboards have been replaced; desks rarely feature a piece of paper, but rather sport a computer monitor. In addition, the days of taking notes, filling out tests, and writing reports with a pen or pencil in hand is utterly obsolete, exchanged for keyboards.

In more than 40 states throughout the country, cursive writing and penmanship are no longer considered an essential part of the curriculum, and none of the major standardized tests require any type of handwriting. Instead, keyboarding skills have taken precedence. The ability to form clear curves and loops on the paper is now outdated; the ability to avoid the painfully slow “hunting and pecking” and type at least 50 words per minute has taken precedence.

The age-old tradition of handwriting is not going quietly in some parts of the nation as at least four states have gone to their legislatures with bills mandating instruction in cursive writing in public schools. Advocates of keeping penmanship skills as part of a curriculum point to a plethora of evidence to support their stance. According to their studies, handwriting training helps young students develop hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, and even improve overall memory retention. Additional studies have indicated that students who wrote by hand not only wrote faster than on a standard keyboard, but also wrote higher quality sentences.

Opponents to cursive in the classroom, however, point out that today’s generations of students have been keyboarding since before they attended kindergarten. This form of communication is part of how their brains operate, and many find the feel of a pen or pencil in their hands uncomfortable, unwieldy, and generally unpleasant. Keyboarding is quicker, freeing up precious time to work on other projects, and is, inarguably, the preferred communication method of the modern student.

Less than half of the states in the U.S have stopped teaching cursive as part of their curriculum.