This lesson test asks one thing over and over in different forms: can you tell how a passage is put together? Its 30 original ASVAB-style questions present short paragraphs and ask you to identify the organizing pattern, name the role of a particular sentence, or reject an answer that overclaims what the text supports.
In 1871, the harbor town of Port Ellis voted to build a lighthouse on the rocky point north of its docks. Workers spent the following spring hauling granite blocks by barge, and by late summer the tower stood forty feet tall. The lens arrived from a foundry that autumn, and the keeper lit the lamp for the first time in December 1872. For the next sixty years, the light guided fishing boats home through fog and winter storms. In 1933 an electric beacon replaced the oil lamp, and the keeper's house became a small museum.
How is the passage mainly organized?
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Answer: A
Correct answer: Events are told in the order in which they happened. Each sentence moves later in time: the 1871 vote, the next spring's construction, the lens that autumn, the first lighting in 1872, sixty years of service and the 1933 change. Dates and time words mark this chronological order.
A (correct): Dates and words such as following spring, that autumn and the next sixty years move the account forward in time from 1871 to 1933.
B: No difficulty is weighed against competing fixes; the passage simply follows the lighthouse's history.
C: Only one lighthouse is discussed, so there is nothing being compared point by point.
D: The passage makes no broad claim; each sentence adds the next event in the lighthouse's story.
Question 2 of 30 · easy
Planting a young tree correctly gives it a strong start. Begin by digging a hole about twice as wide as the root ball but no deeper than the roots. Next, gently loosen any roots that circle the outside of the ball so they will spread into the new soil. Set the tree in the hole so the top of the root ball sits level with the ground, and then fill in around it with the soil you removed. Finally, water slowly and deeply, and spread a thin layer of mulch, keeping it a few inches away from the trunk.
Which pattern best describes how the passage is organized?
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Answer: D
Correct answer: The steps of a task are given in the order they should be done. The passage opens with a goal and then lists actions with the signal words begin, next, then and finally. Because the steps tell how to complete a task and each one prepares for the next, the organization is process order.
A: The passage never discusses disease; it explains how to plant a tree.
B: No single tree's past is described; the steps are instructions that apply to any young tree, so this is a process rather than a story.
C: Only one method is described, so there is no comparison of methods.
D (correct): Words such as begin, next, then and finally lead the reader through a job anyone can repeat, which is process order.
Question 3 of 30 · easy
Last winter, the county ran short of road salt in early January. Officials said a new delivery would not arrive until the end of the month. Because crews could no longer treat every street, many side roads stayed coated with ice for days. School buses were pulled from several hilly routes, and the local clinic reported a jump in patients with wrist and ankle injuries from falls.
According to the passage, what led to the side roads staying icy?
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Answer: B
Correct answer: The county ran out of road salt. The word because ties the icy roads to the crews' inability to treat streets, which came from the salt shortage. The bus changes and the injuries came afterward, so they are effects, not causes.
A: The passage never says crews picked certain routes; it says they could not treat every street because the salt ran out.
B (correct): The salt shortage meant crews could not treat every street, which is the stated cause of the icy side roads.
C: The injuries followed from the ice, so they are a result rather than the reason the roads stayed icy.
D: Pulling the buses was an effect of the icy roads, not the cause; this reverses the direction of the link.
Question 4 of 30 · easy
Drivers at a busy warehouse often waited more than an hour to unload because nearly every truck arrived in the morning. To fix this, the manager set up an online sign-up sheet that gave each driver a thirty-minute arrival window spread across the whole day. Within two months, the average wait had fallen to about fifteen minutes. Drivers also reported fewer late deliveries at their later stops.
What is the role of the second sentence in the passage?
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Answer: B
Correct answer: It describes the response to the problem. Sentence 1 names the problem (hour-long waits). Sentence 2 begins with To fix this and explains what the manager did, so its job is to give the response. Sentences 3 and 4 then report the results.
A: The problem, long unloading waits, is stated in the first sentence; the second sentence reacts to it.
B (correct): The phrase to fix this signals that the sign-up sheet is the manager's answer to the long waits named in the first sentence.
C: The results, a fifteen-minute wait and fewer late deliveries, come in the third and fourth sentences.
D: No broad rule is stated earlier for the sign-up sheet to illustrate; the sentence describes a specific fix.
Question 5 of 30 · easy
A watershed is the area of land that drains into a particular river, lake or bay. Rain that falls anywhere inside it eventually flows, over the surface or underground, toward the same outlet. Scientists often sort watersheds by size. The smallest drain a single creek and may cover only a few square miles. Medium-sized watersheds feed larger rivers and contain many smaller ones within them. The largest, such as the one that drains into the Mississippi River, stretch across parts of many states.
Which best describes the organization of the passage?
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Answer: D
Correct answer: A term is defined and then sorted into groups. The first two sentences define a watershed. The fourth sentence announces a grouping by size, and the remaining sentences describe small, medium and large watersheds. That is definition followed by classification.
A: The Mississippi is mentioned only as an instance of a large watershed, not compared with another river.
B: The passage does not explain why something happened; it defines a term and classifies it.
C: No task or sequence of steps is described; the passage explains a term and its types.
D (correct): The passage first explains what a watershed is and then classifies watersheds as small, medium or large.
Question 6 of 30 · easy
Many products that people use every day began as military projects. During World War II, a waterproof cloth tape was developed to seal ammunition boxes; today it is sold as duct tape. Research on radar equipment led an engineer to notice that microwaves could heat food, an idea that became the microwave oven. The satellite system that guides the maps on phones was first built by the Defense Department to help troops and ships find their positions.
What role do the second, third and fourth sentences play in the passage?
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Answer: D
Correct answer: They give specific examples that support the claim in the first sentence. The first sentence makes a broad statement about everyday products with military beginnings. Each following sentence names one such product, so the passage moves from a general claim to supporting examples.
A: Each case fits the opening claim, so the sentences support it rather than challenge it.
B: The sentences cover three separate products, not one continuous chain of events.
C: No how-to steps are given; each sentence names a different product.
D (correct): Duct tape, the microwave oven and satellite navigation are each a case of an everyday product with military roots.
Question 7 of 30 · easy
Canoes and kayaks are both narrow boats moved by paddle power, and both are popular on lakes and slow rivers. However, they differ in several ways. A canoe is usually open on top, and the paddler kneels or sits on a raised seat while using a paddle with one blade. A kayak is often closed, with the paddler sitting low inside it and using a paddle with a blade on each end. Because of its open design, a canoe can carry more gear, whereas a kayak tends to be faster and handles rough water better.
Which pattern organizes this passage?
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Answer: A
Correct answer: Comparison and contrast of two kinds of boats. The opening sentence names similarities, However introduces differences, and the rest contrasts the two boats' design, seating, paddles and strengths. Clue words such as both, however and whereas mark a compare-contrast structure.
A (correct): The passage shows how canoes and kayaks are alike and then how they differ, using both, however and whereas.
B: The passage gives no instructions; it describes the boats' design and uses.
C: No dates or historical sequence appear; the passage describes features of two boats.
D: No difficulty is presented and no fix is offered; the sentences simply compare the boats.
Question 8 of 30 · easy
The following parking rules take effect on March 1. Employees may park in any open space in Lot B. Spaces marked with a blue sign, however, are reserved for vehicles with a disability permit. Lot B also closes for sweeping every Tuesday from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., so anyone arriving during those hours must use the overflow lot behind the gym.
Which statement is supported by the passage?
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Answer: B
The general rule lets employees park anywhere in Lot B, but two exceptions limit it. One of them closes Lot B from 5 to 7 a.m. on Tuesdays, so a 6 a.m. Tuesday arrival must use the overflow lot.
A: It is Lot B, not the overflow lot, that closes for sweeping on Tuesday mornings.
B (correct): Lot B is closed for sweeping from 5 to 7 a.m. on Tuesdays, and 6 a.m. falls inside that window.
C: This ignores both exceptions: the blue-sign spaces and the Tuesday morning closing.
D: The permit rule applies only to the blue-sign spaces, not to the whole lot.
Question 9 of 30 · medium
The bridge reopened to traffic on a bright Saturday morning in June, two weeks ahead of schedule. Its troubles had begun the previous fall, when inspectors found deep cracks in two of its steel support beams. The state closed the bridge right away. Over the winter, engineers designed replacement beams, and a mill forged them in March. Crews spent April and May lifting out the damaged beams and bolting the new ones in place.
Which of these events happened first?
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Answer: B
Correct answer: Inspectors found cracks in two support beams. The passage opens with the outcome and then goes back in time. Rebuilding the real order from the time clues gives: cracks found (previous fall), bridge closed, beams designed (winter), forged (March), installed (April and May), reopened (June).
A: The beams were forged in March, months after the fall inspection.
B (correct): The phrase the previous fall places the inspection before every other event; it set the rest in motion.
C: The reopening, two weeks ahead of schedule, is mentioned first, but it happened last, in June, after all the repairs.
D: The closing came right away after the cracks were found, so it followed the inspection.
Question 10 of 30 · medium
A survey of 2,000 office workers found that people who kept plants on their desks rated their job satisfaction higher, on average, than people who did not. The survey did not record whether workers bought their plants before or after they began to enjoy their jobs, and it did not compare offices with different amounts of sunlight or different pay levels. Even so, several garden shops have started advertising that desk plants make workers happier.
Which statement is best supported by the passage?
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Answer: D
The survey shows only that plant owners tended to report higher satisfaction. The passage then names missing checks (timing, sunlight, pay), which means a cause-and-effect link was not proven. The shops' advertising goes beyond the evidence.
A: Sunlight was not measured at all, so the survey could not show that it was the cause.
B: The passage says the order of buying and enjoying was not recorded, so this reverse claim is unsupported too.
C: This repeats the garden shops' advertising claim; the passage points out that the survey could not rule out other explanations.
D (correct): The passage reports that the two went together and then lists what the survey did not check, so cause was never established.
Question 11 of 30 · medium
It is true that self-checkout lanes can frustrate shoppers when a scanner misreads an item or a warning light calls for help. Some customers also miss chatting with a cashier. Even so, our store's records show that self-checkout has cut the average wait at the front of the store nearly in half during busy hours. For most shoppers, saving time matters more than an occasional glitch, so the store should keep the machines and add one more attendant to help when problems come up.
Which statement best describes the author's position on self-checkout lanes?
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Answer: C
Correct answer: The author favors keeping them while admitting that they have drawbacks. The first two sentences admit problems (a concession). Even so signals the turn to the author's own view, backed by the shorter waits, and the last sentence recommends keeping the machines with extra help. Admitting a drawback is not the same as agreeing with critics.
A: The author never proposes removing cashiers and even suggests adding an attendant.
B: This mistakes the opening concession for the author's view; the author goes on to argue for keeping them.
C (correct): The author concedes the frustrations, then uses Even so to turn to the time savings and recommends keeping the machines.
D: The final sentence clearly says the store should keep the machines, which is a stated position.
Question 12 of 30 · medium
Two portable generators are popular with campers this year. The Model K weighs 48 pounds, runs about eight hours on a tank of fuel and sells for $650. It is loud, though, and some campgrounds limit the hours when it may run. The Model R weighs only 35 pounds. It runs about five hours on a tank, but it is quiet enough to use near tents, and it sells for $890.
How does the writer organize the comparison of the two generators?
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Answer: A
Correct answer: All the details about one generator are given before the details about the other. After an opening sentence, the next two sentences cover only the Model K and the last two cover only the Model R. Covering everything about one item and then everything about the other is block organization, not point-by-point.
A (correct): The Model K's weight, run time, price and noise come first, and then the Model R is covered as a separate block.
B: That would be point-by-point order; here the writer finishes the Model K before turning to the Model R.
C: No problem is set up; the passage simply describes two products side by side.
D: No dates or invention history appear, so the order is not chronological.
Question 13 of 30 · medium
Our base should move its physical training sessions from midafternoon to early morning. Last summer, the clinic treated 31 cases of heat illness during afternoon sessions but only 4 during the morning sessions. This difference suggests that the cooler morning air lowers the strain on the body during hard exercise. Morning training would also leave the afternoons free for classroom work.
What is the role of the third sentence in the passage?
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Answer: A
Correct answer: It explains why the clinic's numbers support the writer's claim. Sentence 1 is the claim, sentence 2 gives the evidence (31 versus 4 cases), and sentence 3 begins with This difference suggests, explaining why the evidence supports the claim. That makes it the reasoning. Sentence 4 adds a further benefit.
A (correct): By linking the gap in cases to cooler morning air, the sentence connects the evidence to the recommendation, which is the job of reasoning.
B: The figures of 31 and 4 cases appear in the second sentence, which is the evidence.
C: The sentence does not concede anything; it strengthens the argument by interpreting the data.
D: The claim, that training should move to the morning, is stated in the first sentence.
Question 14 of 30 · medium
Visitors who enter the museum's main hall first see the skeleton of a whale hanging from the high glass ceiling. Directly beneath it, a wide floor map shows the ocean currents of the world. Along the left wall, tall cases hold shells and corals arranged by the depth at which they live, while the right wall is lined with windows looking into a tank of live sea turtles. At the far end of the hall, a staircase leads down to a darker room where deep-sea creatures glow under dim blue light.
Which pattern organizes the passage?
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Answer: C
Correct answer: Spatial order, showing where things are as a visitor moves through the hall. The passage moves from the ceiling to the floor, then to the left and right walls, and finally to the far end and down the stairs. Location words like beneath, along and at the far end show spatial order, while the detail about depth is only an embedded fact.
A: The glowing creatures are mentioned, but the passage never explains the reason they glow.
B: Arranging shells and corals by depth is a detail of one display, not the plan of the whole passage.
C (correct): Words such as beneath, along the left wall, the right wall and at the far end guide the reader through the room's layout.
D: No dates or events in the museum's past are given; the passage describes a layout.
Question 15 of 30 · medium
A bicycle may look simple, but it is a system of parts that work together. The frame is its backbone, holding every other part in place and carrying the rider's weight. The drivetrain, made up of the pedals, chain and gears, turns leg power into forward motion. The brakes, either pads that squeeze the wheel rim or calipers that grip a metal disc, let the rider slow down safely. Finally, the wheels and tires support the bike and grip the road.
How is this passage organized?
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Answer: A
Correct answer: It presents the whole machine first and then describes its parts. The first sentence introduces the bicycle as a whole system, and the frame, drivetrain, brakes and wheels follow one by one. Moving from the full system to its components is whole-to-part order; the word Finally marks the last item, not a step.
A (correct): The opening sentence calls the bicycle a system, and each later sentence explains one part of that system.
B: That is part-to-whole order; here the whole bicycle is introduced first, before any part.
C: Only one bicycle is discussed, so nothing is being compared.
D: Finally only ends the list of parts; no assembly actions are described.
Question 16 of 30 · medium
Many people assume that all birds can fly, since wings seem to be made for flight. It is true that most birds fly, from tiny hummingbirds to large eagles. The ostrich, however, has wings yet cannot leave the ground; it depends on its long, powerful legs to run from danger. Penguins cannot fly either, although they use their wings to swim swiftly through the water.
What is the main job of the sentence about the ostrich?
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Answer: D
Correct answer: It shows that the belief in the first sentence is too broad. The first sentence states a common belief, and however signals a turn. The ostrich is a single case that does not fit the rule, so its job is to show that the belief overreaches. The penguin sentence adds a second counterexample.
A: The ostrich does not fly, so it works against the belief rather than for it.
B: The sentence does not give a reason for flight; it presents a bird that cannot fly.
C: The sentence describes one bird's abilities; it does not give a definition.
D (correct): A bird with wings that cannot fly is a counterexample, so it limits the claim that all birds can fly.
Question 17 of 30 · medium
A county fire chief wants every home to have working smoke alarms. To make her case at town meetings, she often tells the story of a family on Elm Street who escaped a kitchen fire at 2 a.m. because their alarm woke them. She also cites a national study of thousands of home fires, which found that the death rate was far lower in homes with working alarms than in homes without them.
Compared with the story of the Elm Street family, what does the national study mainly add to the chief's argument?
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Answer: A
Correct answer: Broad evidence that alarms save lives across many fires, not just in one case. The Elm Street story illustrates the point with a single case. The national study supplies data from thousands of fires, which is evidence that the pattern holds widely. An example shows what an idea looks like; evidence helps prove it is true.
A (correct): The study covers thousands of fires, so it offers proof beyond a single story.
B: The study is not about one household; it measures results across thousands of fires.
C: The study's finding supports the chief, since homes with working alarms had a far lower death rate.
D: The passage never gives installation steps; the study reports death rates.
Question 18 of 30 · medium
During last week's cold snap, temperatures stayed below zero for three straight nights. Pipes in several unheated garages froze and split, and two homes suffered water damage when the ice thawed. The city's water department reports that most of the damage occurred where pipes ran along outside walls. Homeowners should wrap exposed pipes with foam insulation before the next freeze and let a faucet drip on the coldest nights.
Which of these is a recommendation made in the passage?
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Answer: B
Correct answer: Homeowners should wrap exposed pipes before the next freeze. The first three sentences report what the cold caused and where the damage happened. Only the last sentence uses should to tell readers what to do, so the advice to wrap exposed pipes is the recommendation.
A: This describes a result of the frozen pipes, not advice.
B (correct): The word should marks advice about what people ought to do, which is a recommendation.
C: This is a finding from the water department, not a statement of what should be done.
D: This reports what happened because of the cold, so it is a consequence.
Question 19 of 30 · medium
In January, a county road department set a goal of repairing 400 potholes by the end of March. Officials hoped the faster schedule would cut down on damaged tires and complaint calls. Crews worked through the winter, but heavy snow kept them off the roads for nearly three weeks. By March 31, they had filled 310 potholes. The department says it will hire a second crew in the spring to clear the backlog.
Which statement is supported by the passage?
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Answer: A
Correct answer: The department fell short of its goal by 90 potholes. The objective was 400 repairs, but the outcome by March 31 was 310. The shortfall is
400 − 310 = 90
potholes. The second crew is only a plan, so the passage does not say whether the backlog was cleared.
A (correct): The goal was 400 and crews filled 310 by March 31, and 400 minus 310 is 90.
B: Four hundred was the objective, not the outcome; the crews actually filled 310.
C: The passage says the snow stopped work for nearly three weeks, not for the whole winter.
D: The passage only says the department will hire a second crew, so this treats a plan as a completed result.
Question 20 of 30 · medium
(1) The town's only grocery store closed in May after its owner retired. (2) Many residents, especially older ones without cars, must now ride a bus for forty minutes to buy fresh food. (3) A group of volunteers responded by starting a weekly farmers market in the school parking lot. (4) Local growers now sell vegetables, eggs and bread there every Saturday morning.
Where would this sentence fit best in the passage?
"As a result, many of these riders now buy fewer fresh vegetables and more canned goods."
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Answer: C
Correct answer: After sentence 2. The new sentence has two links to satisfy: these riders must refer to people already named, and As a result must follow its cause. Sentence 2 introduces the residents who ride the bus for forty minutes, so the sentence belongs right after it.
A: Sentence 1 mentions no riders, so these riders would have nothing to point back to.
B: At the end, these riders would follow a sentence about growers and the market, which breaks the link to the bus trip.
C (correct): These riders needs the bus riders named in sentence 2, and the long ride is the cause the new sentence's result follows from.
D: Placing it here would split the volunteers' response from the details of the market in sentence 4.
Question 21 of 30 · medium
Our unit should replace its paper maintenance logs with tablets. First, digital logs cannot be smudged, torn or lost in the rain, so records would stay complete. Second, supervisors could check the status of every vehicle from one screen instead of walking from bay to bay. Third, the tablets would flag overdue service automatically, which would help prevent breakdowns in the field.
Which best describes the organization of the passage?
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Answer: C
Correct answer: A recommendation followed by a list of reasons supporting it. The opening sentence makes a recommendation with should. The words first, second and third then list three separate reasons (complete records, easier checks, automatic alerts). Because the items are reasons, not events or steps, the passage is not chronological or process order.
A: The passage argues for a change; it does not explain why something already happened.
B: The numbered items are benefits of tablets, not actions a reader carries out one after another.
C (correct): The first sentence states what the unit should do, and first, second and third introduce reasons for doing it.
D: First, second and third number reasons, not stages in time, and no events are described as having happened.
Question 22 of 30 · medium
The new radar unit arrived at the airfield in March, along with a thick operator's manual. Technicians spent two weeks mounting its antenna on the control tower and testing the wiring. When the system was finally switched on, it picked up aircraft nearly twice as far away as the old unit could. This improvement has given controllers more time to plan the order of landings during busy periods.
In the last sentence, what does "This improvement" refer to?
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Answer: D
Correct answer: The new radar detecting aircraft at about twice the old distance. This improvement points back to the closest earlier idea that makes sense as a gain. The third sentence says the new system detects aircraft nearly twice as far away as the old one, and that longer range is what gives controllers more planning time.
A: Mounting the antenna was an installation step; it did not by itself give controllers more time.
B: The manual is mentioned in the first sentence and is never described as an improvement.
C: Testing was work done before the system was switched on, not a gain in performance.
D (correct): The sentence just before it describes the system picking up aircraft nearly twice as far away, which is the improvement.
Question 23 of 30 · hard
Last year, a city's help line received 1,200 calls complaining about missed trash pickups. This year, after the city switched to a new hauling company, the number of such calls fell to 900. City officials have pointed to the drop as proof that residents are now more satisfied with trash service overall. During the same year, however, the city also cut the help line's hours from twelve per day to eight.
Which conclusion is best supported by the passage?
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Answer: D
The change is
1,200 − 900 = 300
calls, and
300 ÷ 1,200 = 0.25
a 25 percent drop. The number counts complaint calls only, and the help line was open fewer hours, so the officials' claim about overall satisfaction overreads the statistic.
A: The figures count complaint calls, not actual missed pickups, and the passage does not prove the hauler caused the drop.
B: Dividing 300 by the new total of 900 uses the wrong base, and the satisfaction claim goes beyond what the calls measured.
C: The shorter hours are a possible factor, but the passage never says they are the only reason.
D (correct): The drop of 300 calls out of 1,200 is 25 percent, and the shorter help-line hours give another possible reason for fewer calls.
Question 24 of 30 · hard
Flooding has closed River Road at least four times in each of the past three springs, forcing commuters onto a detour that adds twenty minutes to the drive. Last month, the county board approved a plan to raise the lowest stretch of the road by three feet and to install larger drainage pipes beneath it. Construction is scheduled to begin in July, once the river level drops. Engineers expect the project to keep the road open during all but the most severe floods.
Which statement does the passage support?
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Answer: C
Correct answer: The county has approved a plan to reduce flood closures, but the work has not yet been done. The passage moves from a problem (repeated closures) to an approved response, but the response is still in the future: work is scheduled for July and the engineers' statement is an expectation. So the only supported statement is that a plan exists and has not yet been carried out.
A: This treats a planned project as a finished fix; construction is not scheduled to begin until July.
B: The engineers only expect the road to stay open in all but the most severe floods, which is a limited prediction.
C (correct): The plan was approved last month and construction is only scheduled to start in July.
D: The passage says the board approved the plan and never mentions cost.
Question 25 of 30 · hard
Critics of the city's new bike-share program argue that it wastes money, since many of the bikes sit unused at stations on the edge of town. They point out that the program cost $2 million to launch. These critics are right that some stations see little use. Yet the program's own figures show that riders took more than 150,000 trips in its first year, many of them to jobs and classes downtown. Moving the quiet stations closer to the center would answer the critics' concern without scrapping a service that thousands of people rely on.
Which statement best describes the author's own view?
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Answer: B
Correct answer: The program is worth keeping, although some of its stations should be moved. The first two sentences report the critics' opinion. The author then concedes one point (some stations see little use), turns with Yet to the 150,000 trips, and closes by proposing to move the quiet stations rather than scrap the program. That final proposal reveals the author's own stance.
A: The author suggests moving the outer stations toward the center, not adding more of them.
B (correct): The author grants that some stations are little used but argues from the trip figures that the service should stay, with quiet stations relocated.
C: The author relies on the trip figures as evidence and never questions them.
D: That is the critics' position, which the author reports and then answers.
Question 26 of 30 · hard
A tourniquet is a band tightened around an arm or leg to stop heavy bleeding, and versions of it have been used for centuries. Applying a modern one correctly takes only a few steps. First, place the band two to three inches above the wound, never directly over a joint. Next, pull the strap tight and twist the rod until the bleeding stops. Then lock the rod in place so it cannot unwind. Finally, note the time the tourniquet was applied so that medical staff know how long it has been on.
Which best describes how the passage as a whole is organized?
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Answer: B
Correct answer: A brief introduction followed by the steps of a process. The opening sentence introduces the device, and the second announces that a few steps follow. First, next, then and finally then lay out actions that must be done in order. The historical note and the instruction to record the time are details inside a process structure, not signs of chronological order.
A: The mention of centuries is a passing detail; the passage never traces events through time.
B (correct): After a sentence that identifies the device, the passage lists actions in the order a person must do them.
C: The first sentence explains the term, but no groups or types of tourniquets are sorted afterward.
D: The passage tells how to stop bleeding; it does not explain what causes it.
Question 27 of 30 · hard
Ferries on Lake Harmon have long been painted with standard marine paint. Because the lake's waves throw sand and grit against the hulls, the paint wears through within two seasons, and crews must haul each boat out of the water to scrape and repaint it. Every haul-out keeps a ferry out of service for about ten days.
Last year, the ferry company tested a hard ceramic coating on two of its boats. After a full season, the coated hulls showed almost no wear, while the painted ones already needed touch-ups. The coating costs more up front, but the company now plans to apply it to the rest of its fleet as each boat comes in for regular service.
How does the second paragraph relate to the first?
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Answer: D
Correct answer: It describes a response to the problem in the first paragraph and reports early results. Paragraph 1 states a problem and its cost: paint wears through and each repaint takes a ferry out of service. Paragraph 2 gives a response (the ceramic coating), a result from two test boats and a plan for the remaining boats. That is problem followed by response and partial evaluation.
A: Nothing in the second paragraph challenges the description of the worn paint; it builds on it.
B: The cause, sand and grit thrown by waves, is already given in the first paragraph; the second paragraph turns to a fix.
C: Only two boats were tested, and coating the rest is a plan, so the passage does not say the whole fleet is fixed.
D (correct): The first paragraph presents worn paint and lost service days; the second describes the coating test and how the coated hulls held up.
Question 28 of 30 · hard
A small study suggests that playing certain video games may sharpen a pilot's ability to track several moving objects at once. Researchers had 24 flight students play a fast-paced action game for thirty minutes a day over six weeks. Afterward, those students scored higher on a radar-tracking test than a similar group of students who did not play. The researchers caution that the study was short, that the students knew they were being tested, and that no one has yet checked whether the gains carry over to real cockpits.
Which statement best matches what the passage supports?
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Answer: C
Correct answer: The study gives early evidence of a possible benefit that has not been confirmed in actual flying. The passage follows a claim-evidence-qualification path. The claim is hedged (suggests, may), the evidence is one small six-week trial, and the final sentence lists limits, including that real-cockpit effects are untested. The best answer keeps both the result and the hedge.
A: No recommendation appears; the researchers instead warn about the study's limits.
B: The players scored higher than the comparison group, so the study did find a difference on the test.
C (correct): The hedged words suggests and may, plus the researchers' cautions, show the finding is promising but unproven in real cockpits.
D: The researchers say the effect on real cockpits has not been checked, and the study measured test scores, not safety.
Question 29 of 30 · hard
Over the past decade, the number of honeybee colonies kept in one farming valley has dropped sharply. Beekeepers there name several reasons: a mite that feeds on young bees, a run of unusually wet springs that kept bees from gathering food, and the loss of wildflower meadows to new housing. The decline has in turn affected local growers. Almond and apple orchards now rent hives from outside the valley at higher prices, and some smaller farms have switched to crops that do not need bees for pollination.
Which statement correctly describes a relationship in the passage?
Show the answer
Answer: A
The second sentence lists three causes of the decline: mites, wet springs and lost meadows. The phrase in turn introduces effects: higher hive rental costs for orchards and crop changes on small farms. Only the statement that keeps multiple causes and the correct direction of cause and effect fits.
A (correct): The passage names multiple causes of the decline and then says orchards must rent hives at higher prices as a result.
B: The beekeepers list three reasons, so naming only the mite ignores the other causes.
C: This reverses the link; the crop switches came after the decline, as one of its effects.
D: The meadows were lost to new housing, and that loss is listed as a cause of the decline, not a result.
Question 30 of 30 · hard
Checklists can prevent costly mistakes, even among experts. Consider an aircraft mechanic with twenty years of experience who, during a routine inspection, followed a written checklist and caught a loose fuel line that he had overlooked the day before. Hospitals that adopted surgical checklists have reported similar drops in errors. The lesson is not that experienced workers are careless, but that memory slips during routine tasks, and a simple list fills the gap.
The story about the aircraft mechanic is used mainly to illustrate which idea?
Show the answer
Answer: C
Correct answer: A checklist can catch mistakes that even skilled experts miss. The first sentence states the point: checklists prevent mistakes even among experts. The mechanic story is one case of that point, and the hospital sentence is another. The closing sentence rules out the idea that experts are careless, so the example illustrates the value of the checklist itself.
A: The passage compares no error rates; the hospitals are a second case of checklists helping.
B: This shifts the example's target to mechanics in general; the story is about what a checklist did, not about a common failure of mechanics.
C (correct): The story supports the opening claim that checklists prevent errors among experts, since an experienced mechanic caught his own oversight by using one.
D: The last sentence states that the lesson is not that experienced workers are careless.
Changing the air filter in a home furnace takes only a few minutes. First, switch the furnace off at the thermostat so the blower does not start while the panel is open. Next, open the filter door and pull out the old filter. Before throwing it away, read the size printed on its cardboard frame so that the new filter will fit. Then insert the new filter with the arrow on its edge pointing toward the blower. Finally, close the door and turn the furnace back on.
According to the passage, what should be done right after the old filter is removed?
Show the answer
Answer: C
Correct answer: Read the size printed on the old filter's frame. The passage follows process order, marked by first, next, before, then and finally. After the old filter comes out, the very next step is to read the size printed on its frame, before it is thrown away and before the new filter goes in.
A: Turning the furnace off is the first step, done before the filter door is even opened.
B: Inserting the new filter comes after the size has been checked, so it is not the step right after removal.
C (correct): The passage says to check the printed size before throwing the old filter away, right after pulling it out.
D: This is the final step of the process, not the one that follows removing the old filter.
Practice 2 of 38 · hard
Rescuers found the missing hiker just before dark on Sunday, sitting beside a small fire near Granite Lake. She had set out alone early Friday morning, planning a two-day loop. On Saturday afternoon, she twisted her ankle on a rocky slope and could no longer walk far. When she did not return Saturday night, her brother called the park rangers. By Sunday afternoon, a helicopter crew had spotted smoke rising from her fire and radioed its location to a ground team.
Which list gives the events in the order in which they actually happened?
Show the answer
Answer: B
The passage opens with the final outcome and then goes back in time. Rebuild the sequence from the time clues: Friday morning she set out, Saturday afternoon she was hurt, Saturday night her brother called the rangers, Sunday afternoon the helicopter spotted the smoke, and just before dark on Sunday she was found.
A: This follows the order of the sentences, but the passage opens with the outcome, which actually happened last.
B (correct): This follows the time clues: Friday morning, Saturday afternoon, Saturday night, Sunday afternoon and Sunday before dark.
C: The brother called Saturday night, after the ankle injury on Saturday afternoon, so these two events are reversed.
D: The helicopter search came on Sunday, after the brother's Saturday-night call had alerted the rangers.
Practice 3 of 38 · easy
The dew point is the temperature to which air must cool before the water vapor in it begins to condense into liquid. On a clear night, grass often cools to that temperature, and tiny drops form on the blades by morning. A cold glass of iced tea on a humid day gathers water on its outside for the same reason. Weather forecasters watch the dew point closely, because when it is high, the air feels sticky and fog is more likely.
What is the role of the first sentence in the passage?
Show the answer
Answer: D
Correct answer: It defines the term that the rest of the passage explains. The first sentence explains what the term dew point means. The sentences after it give everyday cases (wet grass, a sweating glass) and a reason forecasters care, all building on that definition.
A: The grass example comes in the second sentence; the first sentence states a general meaning, not a single case.
B: No problem or fix appears in the first sentence; it simply explains a term.
C: The passage does not list steps, and the first sentence opens the passage rather than closing a sequence.
D (correct): The opening sentence tells what dew point means, and the later sentences give cases and uses that depend on that meaning.
Practice 4 of 38 · hard
In cold climates, many homeowners find water stains on their ceilings after a snowy week. The cause is often an ice dam, a ridge of ice that builds up along the lower edge of a roof. Heat escaping from the living space warms the upper roof and melts the snow there. The meltwater runs down to the colder edge, refreezes and blocks the water behind it, which then seeps under the shingles.
Roofing experts say the most lasting cure is to keep the roof cold. Adding insulation to the attic floor keeps household heat from reaching the roof, and vents near the peak carry away any warm air that does get through. Homeowners who make both changes usually see far fewer ice dams the next winter.
Which best describes how the passage as a whole is organized?
Show the answer
Answer: A
Correct answer: It describes a problem, explains its cause and then presents a remedy. Look at what each paragraph does. The first describes a problem (ceiling stains) and explains its cause (ice dams formed by escaping heat). The second presents a remedy and its usual result. The brief definition of ice dam is only one detail inside that larger problem-and-solution frame.
A (correct): The first paragraph covers the stains and the ice dams that cause them, and the second paragraph gives the insulation and venting fix.
B: The passage does define ice dam briefly, but it never classifies ice dams into types, and the definition is only one detail.
C: The passage explains a general process that happens in many homes, not a time-ordered story of one particular week.
D: No roofing materials are compared; the passage discusses insulation and vents as parts of one solution.
Practice 5 of 38 · easy
The base tool room lends power tools to members of the auto hobby shop. Tools must be returned by closing time on the day they are checked out. The one exception is for members who have reserved a lift bay for an overnight job; they may keep their tools until 9 a.m. the next day. Anyone who returns a tool late loses borrowing privileges for two weeks.
According to the passage, who may keep a tool past closing time?
Show the answer
Answer: C
Correct answer: A member who has reserved a lift bay for an overnight job. The passage states a general rule (return tools by closing time) and then a single exception: members with a reserved lift bay for an overnight job may keep tools until 9 a.m. the next morning.
A: The time of checkout does not create an exception; the rule says tools are due back by closing that day.
B: The passage says nothing about a good record earning extra time; the only exception is the overnight lift-bay reservation.
C (correct): The passage names this as the one exception to the closing-time rule.
D: Losing privileges is the penalty for a late return, not a reason to keep a tool longer.
Practice 6 of 38 · medium
Some instructors argue that auto mechanics classes should move entirely online to save travel time and classroom costs. It is true that videos and online quizzes can teach the names of engine parts and the steps of common repairs quite well. Still, a student cannot learn the feel of a properly torqued bolt or the sound of a failing bearing from a screen. For that reason, hands-on shop hours should remain a required part of every mechanics program.
What is the role of the second sentence in the passage?
Show the answer
Answer: D
Correct answer: It admits a point in favor of online classes before the writer limits it. The phrase it is true that marks a concession. The writer grants that online tools can teach some things, then turns with still to limit that point and argue for keeping shop hours. The writer's own main claim comes in the last sentence.
A: The main claim is in the last sentence, that hands-on shop hours should remain required.
B: Admitting one strength of online lessons is not agreement; the writer goes on to argue against going fully online.
C: No study or results are reported; the sentence is the writer's concession about what online tools can teach.
D (correct): The words it is true that grant that online lessons teach some content well, and still then qualifies that point.
Practice 7 of 38 · medium
The new handheld radios issued to the security team offer several improvements. First, they are sealed against rain and dust, so they keep working during outdoor patrols in bad weather. Second, a single charge now lasts a full twelve-hour shift. Third, each radio has an emergency button that sends the user's location to the dispatch desk. Supervisors say these features should make long night patrols safer.
Which best describes the list that begins with the word "First"?
Show the answer
Answer: C
Correct answer: It lists features of the radios, not events in the order they happened. The items after first, second and third are features of the radios, not stages in time. The numbering ranks or counts improvements; nothing in the list says one event happened before another.
A: The items are features, not instructions; none of them tells the user what to do in sequence.
B: The word first is tempting, but the list contains no dates or stages of development.
C (correct): Weather sealing, battery life and an emergency button are qualities of the radios, so the list is not chronological.
D: The passage never says why the radios were bought; it lists what they can do.
Practice 8 of 38 · medium
Each summer, heavy rains wash fertilizer from nearby farm fields into Clearwater Lake. The fertilizer feeds a rapid growth of algae that turns the water bright green. When the algae die, bacteria break them down and use up much of the oxygen in the water in the process. Last August, oxygen levels fell so low that hundreds of fish died along the north shore.
Which statement correctly describes a cause-and-effect link in the passage?
Show the answer
Answer: A
Correct answer: Low oxygen in the water led to the fish deaths. Follow the arrows in the order the passage gives them: rain carries fertilizer into the lake, fertilizer feeds the algae, decaying algae use up oxygen, and low oxygen kills the fish. Any statement that runs one of these arrows backward is wrong.
A (correct): The passage says oxygen fell so low that fish died, so low oxygen is the cause and the deaths are the effect.
B: This reverses the link; the oxygen dropped first, and the fish died as a result.
C: This reverses the link; fertilizer washing in is what fed the algae.
D: The algae grew because of fertilizer; low oxygen came later, when bacteria broke down the dead algae.
Practice 9 of 38 · medium
Many people believe that lightning never strikes the same place twice. The saying is often used to comfort someone after bad luck. Weather records tell a different story. Tall towers and skyscrapers are hit again and again, and one well-known skyscraper in New York City is struck many times in a typical year. Lightning tends to seek out the tallest object in an area, so a place that was struck once is likely to be struck again.
What is the main job of the sentence about the New York skyscraper?
Show the answer
Answer: D
Correct answer: It gives a case that shows the common belief is false. The passage opens with a common belief and then challenges it. A single building struck many times a year is a counterexample, a case that does not fit the belief, so its job is to show the belief is wrong.
A: The skyscraper is struck again and again, which disproves the belief rather than backing it up.
B: The sentence gives no definition; it reports how often one building is hit.
C: The explanation of why lightning returns comes in the last sentence; this sentence provides the example that challenges the saying.
D (correct): A building hit repeatedly each year directly contradicts the idea that lightning never strikes the same place twice.
Practice 10 of 38 · medium
Two years ago, the command set a goal of cutting fuel use across its fleet of supply trucks by 15 percent. Mechanics adjusted engines, drivers were trained to avoid long idling, and routes were redrawn to skip backtracking. At the end of the second year, fuel use was down 9 percent from where it started. Officials now plan to fit the trucks with low-resistance tires, which they expect will close the remaining gap next year.
Which statement is supported by the passage?
Show the answer
Answer: A
Correct answer: Fuel use fell 9 percent, which was short of the 15 percent goal. Separate the objective from the outcome and the outcome from the forecast. The goal was 15 percent, the actual result was 9 percent, and the tires are only a plan with an expected benefit. So fuel use fell, but not as far as the goal.
A (correct): The passage gives the goal as 15 percent and the result after two years as 9 percent.
B: The 15 percent figure is the objective; the actual outcome was only 9 percent.
C: The tires are a plan that officials expect to help next year, so this treats a forecast as a result.
D: Six percent is the gap between the goal and the result; the actual drop was 9 percent.
Practice 11 of 38 · easy
In March, the copier on the second floor jammed during a rush order for the training office. In April, it stopped printing in color two days before a briefing. In May, it overheated and shut down twice in one afternoon, and a repair technician needed a week to get the right part. After three breakdowns in three months, it is clear that the office needs a more reliable copier.
What does the last sentence of the passage do?
Show the answer
Answer: B
Correct answer: It draws a general conclusion from the specific cases described before it. The first three sentences describe specific breakdowns. The last sentence pulls them together into a general conclusion: the office needs a more reliable copier. This is the pattern of examples first and a general point at the end.
A: The last sentence reports no new breakdown; it sums up the three already described.
B (correct): After three separate breakdowns are described, the last sentence states the broad point they support.
C: No repair steps are listed; the sentence states a conclusion about reliability.
D: Nothing in the sentence concedes anything; it states the writer's own conclusion.
Practice 12 of 38 · hard
City planners have proposed widening Route 40 from four lanes to six. Supporters on the council say the extra lanes will end the rush-hour backups that now add twenty minutes to many commutes. They point out that traffic on the route has grown every year for a decade.
Studies of widened highways in other cities, however, have found that new lanes tend to fill up within a few years, as people who once avoided the road begin using it again. For about the same cost, the city could add express bus lanes, which in two nearby towns cut average commute times by eight to ten minutes. Before spending on more lanes, the council should test the bus plan.
How does the second paragraph relate to the first?
Show the answer
Answer: A
Correct answer: It challenges the plan in the first paragraph with evidence and proposes a different approach. The first paragraph presents a proposal and the supporters' reasons. The second opens with however, offers evidence from other cities that weakens the supporters' claim, and then proposes a different approach. So it challenges the first paragraph's view and offers an alternative.
A (correct): The word however turns the passage, the studies cast doubt on widening, and the bus lanes are offered instead.
B: The studies show widened roads filling up again, which undercuts the plan rather than supporting it.
C: The second paragraph contains no construction steps; it argues against widening for now.
D: The writer doubts that widening will last and recommends testing buses first instead of widening, so there is no agreement.
Practice 13 of 38 · hard
After the base fitness center extended its hours to stay open until 11 p.m., the number of weekly visits rose from 600 to 750. The center's manager told the base newspaper that the change "proves more service members are working out." The center counts a visit each time someone scans an ID card at the front door, so a person who comes four times in a week is counted four times.
Which conclusion is best supported by the passage?
Show the answer
Answer: B
Correct answer: Weekly visits rose 25 percent, but the count does not show how many different people came. The increase is
750 - 600 = 150
visits, and
150/600 = 25 percent
Because the center counts scans, not separate people, the same members could simply be coming more often, so the figure alone does not show that more people are exercising.
A: The percent is right, but this repeats the manager's overreach; a scan count cannot show how many separate people exercised.
B (correct): The rise is 150 out of 600, or 25 percent, and visits are counted per scan, so repeat visitors are counted more than once.
C: The caution is sound, but the percent uses the wrong base; 150 divided by 750 is 20 percent, while the rise from 600 is 25 percent.
D: The passage says nothing about fitness test scores, so this adds an effect the figures do not measure.
Practice 14 of 38 · medium
A new graduate is weighing two job offers. On pay, the warehouse job offers $19 an hour, while the hospital job offers $17. On schedule, the warehouse requires rotating night shifts, whereas the hospital job keeps a steady day schedule. On benefits, both employers offer health insurance, but only the hospital helps pay for further schooling. On travel, the warehouse is a ten-minute drive, and the hospital is a forty-minute bus ride.
How does the writer organize the comparison of the two jobs?
Show the answer
Answer: B
Correct answer: Feature by feature, giving both jobs' details on each point before moving on. Each sentence takes one feature (pay, schedule, benefits, travel) and gives both jobs' details before moving to the next feature. That is point-by-point comparison, not block order, which would describe one job completely before the other.
A: That would be block order, but here every sentence mentions both jobs.
B (correct): Pay, schedule, benefits and travel are each handled in turn for both jobs, which is point-by-point order.
C: No interviews or dates are described; the sentences are organized by feature.
D: The passage never reports a choice or presents a problem and a fix; it only sets out the comparison.
Practice 15 of 38 · medium
Over the past twenty years, the public beach at Cooper's Point has grown about forty feet narrower. Geologists point to several reasons. Stronger winter storms now strip sand from the shore more often than in the past. A stone jetty built at the harbor to the north blocks the sand that currents once carried down the coast. In addition, sand dredged from the river mouth is now hauled away for construction rather than left near the beach.
Which best describes how the passage is organized?
Show the answer
Answer: C
Correct answer: It explains several causes of a single effect. The passage names one effect, a narrower beach, and then gives three causes: stronger storms, the jetty and the removal of dredged sand. It never proposes or describes a fix, so it is cause-and-effect, not problem-and-solution.
A: The shrinking beach is a problem, but the passage reports no response or fix, only the reasons it is happening.
B: No term is defined or classified; the passage explains why something is happening.
C (correct): The narrowing beach is the effect, and storms, the jetty and hauled-away sand are the causes the geologists list.
D: The passage mentions twenty years only as background; its sentences are arranged as reasons, not as dated events.
Practice 16 of 38 · medium
(1) Some common household cleaners can become dangerous when they are combined. (2) For this reason, safety experts advise using only one cleaning product at a time and rinsing a surface well before switching to another. (3) They also recommend opening a window or running a fan while cleaning in a small room. (4) Anyone who feels dizzy or short of breath while cleaning should move to fresh air right away.
Where would this sentence fit best in the passage?
"For example, mixing chlorine bleach with a glass cleaner that contains ammonia gives off a harmful gas."
Show the answer
Answer: D
Correct answer: After sentence 1. A sentence that begins with for example needs a general claim right before it that it illustrates. Sentence 1 says some cleaners become dangerous when combined, and the bleach-and-ammonia case is exactly such a combination. Placed there, it also leads naturally into the advice in sentence 2.
A: Sentence 2 gives advice, not a general claim about danger, so an example of a harmful mixture would come too late and interrupt the advice.
B: Sentence 3 is about ventilation; an example of mixing two cleaners does not illustrate it.
C: Sentence 4 tells what to do if someone feels sick, so ending with an example of the original danger would break the passage's order.
D (correct): Sentence 1 makes the general claim about dangerous combinations, and the bleach example illustrates it directly.
Practice 17 of 38 · medium
In the spring of last year, a late frost swept through an apple-growing valley just after the trees had blossomed. The cold killed most of the young flowers, so many orchards produced less than half their usual crop that fall. With fewer apples to pick, growers hired far fewer seasonal workers than in past years. Cider mills that depend on local fruit had to buy apples from other states at higher prices, and several raised the prices of their products. Roadside fruit stands, normally busy through October, closed weeks early.
Which best describes how the passage is organized?
Show the answer
Answer: B
Correct answer: A single event is described, followed by several of its effects. The first sentence names one event, the late frost. Every sentence after it reports something that followed from that event: a smaller crop, fewer hired workers, higher cider prices and early stand closings. One cause leading to several effects is a cause-effect structure.
A: The passage never says anyone tried to fix the damage; it only reports what the frost led to.
B (correct): The frost is the one cause, and the small crop, fewer jobs, higher cider prices and early closings are the results that follow from it.
C: This reverses the pattern: there is one cause (the frost) and many effects, not many causes and one effect.
D: Past years are mentioned only in passing; the passage does not compare two seasons feature by feature.
Practice 18 of 38 · easy
The town of Millbrook did not have a paid fire department until 1923. Before then, volunteers answered alarms by running to a shed that held a hand-pulled pump. In 1908, the town bought its first horse-drawn engine, which let crews reach fires on the far side of the river. After a fire destroyed three stores on Main Street in 1921, residents voted to hire full-time firefighters. The new department moved into a brick station two years later, and its first motor truck arrived in 1925.
According to the passage, which of these events happened first?
Show the answer
Answer: A
Correct answer: The town bought a horse-drawn fire engine. Use the dates as time clues: horse-drawn engine 1908, store fire and vote 1921, paid department 1923, motor truck 1925. The earliest of the listed events is the 1908 purchase of the horse-drawn engine.
A (correct): The passage dates this purchase to 1908, earlier than every other event listed here.
B: This vote came after the 1921 store fire, well after the 1908 engine purchase.
C: This fire happened in 1921, thirteen years after the town bought its horse-drawn engine.
D: The truck arrived in 1925, making it the latest of these events, not the earliest.
Practice 19 of 38 · medium
The wooden posts that hold up the old fishing pier at Gull Harbor are rotting at an unusual rate. Engineers who studied the pier found that the posts were cut from a type of pine that was never treated to resist moisture. Twice each day, the rising tide soaks the lower part of every post, and each low tide leaves the wood exposed to the air. This constant cycle of wetting and drying lets fungi grow deep inside the timber. Tiny shipworms, which bore into soft wood, have added to the damage by opening channels that let even more water in.
Which best describes how the passage is organized?
Show the answer
Answer: C
Correct answer: A problem is stated, and the causes behind it are explained. The first sentence states a problem, and every later sentence explains a reason for it. Because no one responds to the problem, this is cause-effect, not problem-solution; a passage becomes problem-solution only when it describes a fix.
A: No repair plan or response appears; the engineers only explain what is causing the rot.
B: The passage does not trace the pier's life over time; it explains why the posts are failing now.
C (correct): The opening names the rotting posts, and the rest explains why: untreated wood, tidal wetting and drying, fungi and shipworms.
D: Only one kind of wood is discussed, so there is no comparison.
Practice 20 of 38 · medium
A fault is a crack in Earth's crust along which blocks of rock have moved past each other. Geologists group faults into three main types according to the direction of that movement. In a normal fault, the block resting on top of the sloping crack slides downward, which usually happens where the crust is being pulled apart. In a reverse fault, that upper block is pushed upward, a sign that the crust is being squeezed. In a strike-slip fault, the blocks grind sideways past each other with little up-or-down motion.
Which best describes how the passage is organized?
Show the answer
Answer: C
Correct answer: It defines a term and then sorts that term into types. The first sentence tells what a fault is, which is a definition. The second announces that faults are grouped by direction of movement, and the last three sentences describe each group. A definition followed by sorting into groups is definition and classification.
A: Words like slides and pushed describe movement within each type, not a series of steps in forming a fault.
B: No particular earthquake is described; the passage discusses faults in general.
C (correct): Sentence 1 defines a fault, sentence 2 names the basis for grouping (direction of movement), and the rest describe each of the three types.
D: Faults are compared only with one another; no other kind of rock formation is mentioned.
Practice 21 of 38 · medium
Residents of base housing have two choices for laundry. Shared laundry rooms sit on the ground floor of each building. They are free to use, but residents must bring their own detergent, and on weekends every machine is often taken by mid-morning. Because the rooms close at 10 p.m., people who work late shifts find them hard to use.
The laundry service near the commissary works differently. For a fee of about $15 a bag, staff wash, dry and fold clothes and have them ready the next day. The service supplies its own soap and never has a wait, and its drop box is open around the clock, although the service itself closes on federal holidays.
How does the writer organize the comparison?
Show the answer
Answer: D
Correct answer: By describing everything about one setup before turning to the other. In block organization, the writer covers all the features of item A and then all the features of item B. Here the first paragraph gives the laundry rooms' cost, supplies, crowding and hours, and the second gives the same features for the paid service. A point-by-point passage would instead switch between the two setups on each feature.
A: That would be point-by-point order; here the writer finishes one setup entirely before discussing the other.
B: Wash, dry and fold are mentioned only to describe the service, not to teach a process.
C: The passage never says the base created the service to solve crowding; it simply presents two existing setups.
D (correct): The first paragraph covers only the laundry rooms and the second covers only the service, which is block organization.
Practice 22 of 38 · easy
Desert plants have developed clever ways to survive with very little water. The saguaro cactus stores rainwater in its thick, pleated stem, which swells after a storm. Many desert shrubs drop their leaves during dry spells so that less moisture escapes into the air. Some wildflowers sprout, bloom and scatter their seeds within a few weeks after a rare rain.
What is the role of the second sentence?
Show the answer
Answer: B
Correct answer: It gives an example that supports the opening claim. The first sentence makes a broad claim, and each sentence after it names one specific plant or group of plants that illustrates it. That makes the second sentence an example supporting the general statement.
A: The main idea is the broad claim in the first sentence; the second sentence is one specific case of it.
B (correct): The saguaro is one particular plant that shows the general point that desert plants have ways to save water.
C: Nothing in the passage challenges the saguaro detail; it fits the writer's point.
D: The first sentence is a general statement, not an event, so the cactus detail is not its effect.
Practice 23 of 38 · hard
A trucking company recently compared the records of its 300 long-haul drivers. Drivers who said they listened to audiobooks on the road had received, on average, fewer speeding tickets over the past two years than drivers who said they did not. The company newsletter reported the finding under the headline "Audiobooks Make Safer Drivers." The comparison, however, did not take into account the drivers' ages, years of experience or usual routes, and the company did not ask drivers when they had started listening.
Which statement is best supported by the passage?
Show the answer
Answer: D
Correct answer: The records show a link between audiobooks and fewer tickets, not a proven cause. The passage shows only that two things occurred together: audiobook listening and fewer tickets. Its last sentence lists factors the comparison ignored, which signals that the headline overclaims. The best-supported answer describes a link without claiming causation and keeps the measure (tickets) unchanged.
A: This repeats the newsletter's headline; the passage points out that other factors were not checked, so no cause was proven.
B: The comparison never measured experience or music, so this adds a claim the passage does not make.
C: The records counted speeding tickets, not accidents; this changes what the figure measured.
D (correct): The passage reports that the two went together but notes that age, experience, routes and timing were not examined.
Practice 24 of 38 · medium
(1) Our delivery company should switch its city routes to electric vans. (2) It is true that an electric van costs more to buy than a diesel van, and charging stations would have to be installed at the depot. (3) Even so, electric vans need far less upkeep, since they have no oil to change and fewer moving parts to wear out. (4) Over a van's working life, those savings, along with lower fuel costs, should more than make up for the higher purchase price.
What is the main role of sentence 2?
Show the answer
Answer: A
Correct answer: It admits a drawback before the writer answers it. Sentence 1 makes a claim, sentence 2 concedes a point on the other side (higher price, charging stations), and sentence 3 begins with Even so to answer that concession. A concession admits a drawback without abandoning the writer's position.
A (correct): The phrase It is true that grants a point against the plan, and Even so in sentence 3 turns back to the writer's side.
B: The recommendation to switch to electric vans is in sentence 1, not sentence 2.
C: Sentence 2 lists added costs, which cut against the savings argument rather than support it.
D: The switch has not happened yet; the passage is a proposal, so there is no outcome to report.
Practice 25 of 38 · hard
Last spring, the housing office on an Army post set a goal of completing every routine repair request within three days. To get there, it hired two more technicians and began letting residents file requests online instead of by phone. By the end of the summer, the average wait for a routine repair had fallen from six days to four. The office now plans to add a weekend shift, which managers say should close the remaining gap by next spring.
Which statement is best supported by the passage?
Show the answer
Answer: D
Correct answer: The office shortened the average wait but had not yet met its goal. Separate the objective (three days) from the outcome (an average of four days). The outcome shows improvement but falls short of the objective, and the weekend shift is a plan, not a result. Only the statement that keeps both facts in view is supported.
A: The goal was three days, but the average wait reached only four, so the passage treats the goal as not yet met.
B: The weekend shift is only planned; this treats a proposal as a completed fix.
C: The office made two changes at once, and the passage never says which one mattered more.
D (correct): The wait fell from six days to four, which is progress, yet still short of the three-day target the office set.
Practice 26 of 38 · easy
Hikers on the Ridge Loop trail kept taking a wrong turn at a fork where two paths looked almost the same. Rangers often had to go out after dark to search for people who had followed the wrong branch. To fix this, the park's trail crew put up a large sign at the fork and painted bright blue marks on trees along the correct path. In the year since, rangers have not had to search for a single hiker who went astray at that spot.
Which best describes how the passage is organized?
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Answer: D
Correct answer: A problem is described, then a response and its result. The first two sentences set up a difficulty, the third begins To fix this and describes what the crew did, and the last reports how well it worked. Problem, response and result is the problem-solution pattern.
A: No one hiker's trip is followed; the passage describes a repeated problem affecting many hikers.
B: Only one trail is discussed, and its two branches are not compared on a list of features.
C: The sentences after the first do not give examples; they describe a response and its effect.
D (correct): Hikers getting lost is the problem, the sign and blue marks are the response, and no searches in a year is the result.
Practice 27 of 38 · hard
The cargo plane touched down safely at 4:10 p.m. with one of its two engines shut off. About forty minutes earlier, while climbing out over the coast, the crew had heard a loud bang and watched the left engine's temperature gauge jump. The pilot shut that engine down and turned back toward the airfield. Investigators later found that a bird had been pulled into the engine shortly after takeoff. That morning, before the flight, a ground mechanic had reported a worn seal on the same engine, but the part was judged safe to fly until the next scheduled check.
Which of these events happened first?
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Answer: B
Correct answer: A mechanic reported a worn seal on the left engine. The passage opens with the outcome and then moves back in time. Rebuild the order from the time clues: the mechanic's report (that morning, before the flight), then the bang during the climb, the engine shutdown, the landing at 4:10 p.m., and finally the investigation (later).
A: The bang came after takeoff, but the mechanic's report was made that morning, before the flight began.
B (correct): The time clue That morning, before the flight places this report ahead of every event in the air.
C: The word later shows the investigation came after the flight, even though it is told before the mechanic's report.
D: The landing is told first, but it was the final event of the flight; sentence order is not event order.
Practice 28 of 38 · easy
At the Lakeview community pool, children under age 12 must be watched by an adult at all times. The only exception is for children who have passed the lifeguards' deep-water swim test. These children receive a green wristband and may swim without an adult nearby. The wristband must be worn whenever the child is in the water, and lifeguards may ask any child without one to leave the pool until an adult arrives.
According to the rules, which child may swim without an adult nearby?
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Answer: A
Correct answer: A 10-year-old wearing the green wristband from the swim test. The rule requires an adult for every child under 12, with one exception: a child who passed the deep-water test and wears the green wristband. Only the 10-year-old with the wristband meets that exception.
A (correct): This child is under 12 but meets the exception: the test was passed and the wristband is being worn.
B: Lessons are not the lifeguards' test, so the exception does not apply and an adult must watch her.
C: A 10-year-old is not an adult, so this child still needs adult supervision.
D: The rule makes no exception for shallow water; only passing the swim test removes the adult requirement.
Practice 29 of 38 · easy
At the head of the campsite, a flat gravel pad holds the tent. Just below it, a picnic table sits in the shade of two tall pines. Farther down the slope, a stone fire ring is set well back from the trees. Beyond the fire ring, a narrow path winds down to the edge of the creek, where campers can fill their water jugs.
Which pattern does the passage mainly follow?
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Answer: D
Correct answer: Spatial order. Look at the signal words: at the head, just below, farther down the slope and beyond. They describe locations, moving from the top of the campsite down to the creek. That is spatial order.
A: The passage does not explain why anything happened; it tells where each feature of the campsite is.
B: No events take place over time; the order follows the slope, not a clock or calendar.
C: The features are not weighed against each other for likenesses or differences.
D (correct): The description moves in one direction, from the top of the site down to the creek, using place words like below, farther down and beyond.
Practice 30 of 38 · hard
Cooks often repeat the rule that water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit. At sea level, that figure is accurate. In a mountain town more than a mile above sea level, however, the air presses down less heavily on the water, and it begins to boil at a noticeably lower temperature. Because boiling water there is not as hot, foods such as pasta and dried beans take longer to cook. For this reason, many recipes include special directions for high altitudes.
What is the main role of the third sentence?
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Answer: B
Correct answer: It presents a case showing that the rule in the first sentence is too broad. The first sentence states a broad rule, and the word however in the third sentence signals a turn. The mountain town is a case where the rule fails, which makes it a counterexample. A counterexample limits a general claim; it does not support it.
A: The mountain town does not fit the rule, so it limits the rule rather than supporting it.
B (correct): Water boiling below 212 degrees in a high town is a counterexample, proving the rule holds only under certain conditions.
C: The sentence describes what happens to water at high altitude; it does not tell anyone what to do.
D: Longer cooking times are the result described in the fourth sentence, not the third.
Practice 31 of 38 · easy
Many older homes have windows made of a single pane of glass. In winter, heat passes easily through the thin glass, and cold drafts leak in around the frames. Some homeowners deal with this by adding storm windows, a second layer of glass mounted outside the original window. This extra layer traps a pocket of still air that slows the loss of heat.
In the last sentence, what does "This extra layer" refer to?
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Answer: C
Correct answer: The storm window added outside the original. To resolve a reference word, look at the closest earlier noun that makes sense. The sentence before describes storm windows as a second layer of glass mounted outside the original, so This extra layer refers to the storm window.
A: The single pane is the original glass, not something extra that was added.
B: The frame is mentioned only as the place where drafts leak in, not as a layer.
C (correct): The sentence just before defines a storm window as a second layer of glass, which This extra layer points back to.
D: The air pocket is what the layer traps, so it cannot be the layer itself.
Practice 32 of 38 · hard
(1) Until recently, the city of Fairview sent all of its leaves and grass clippings to the landfill along with household trash. (2) This yard waste took up a large share of the landfill's remaining space. (3) Two years ago, the city opened a composting site and began collecting yard waste separately from trash. (4) The finished compost is now sold to local garden centers, and the money helps pay for the program.
The following sentence belongs in the passage: "As a result, the amount of material buried at the landfill each year has dropped by nearly a fifth." Where does it fit best?
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Answer: B
Correct answer: After sentence 3. A sentence beginning with As a result must come directly after the sentence that names its cause. The drop in buried material is caused by collecting yard waste separately and composting it, which sentence 3 describes. Placing the new sentence after sentence 4 would wrongly make selling compost the cause.
A: Sending yard waste to the landfill would add to the buried material, so it cannot be the cause of a drop.
B (correct): Sentence 3 names the change that keeps yard waste out of the landfill, which is the cause that As a result needs right before it.
C: Sentence 2 describes the problem of lost space; nothing has changed yet, so a drop in buried material cannot follow from it.
D: Sentence 4 is about selling compost to garden centers, and selling compost is not what reduces landfill material.
Practice 33 of 38 · medium
(1) The motor pool should require drivers to check tire pressure before every trip. (2) Last year, 18 of the 25 flat tires reported at the motor pool happened on vehicles whose tires were later found to be under-inflated. (3) This pattern suggests that low pressure makes tires flex and heat up more, leaving them more likely to fail on the road. (4) A pressure check takes less than two minutes per vehicle.
Which sentence mainly explains why the evidence supports the writer's claim?
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Answer: A
Correct answer: Sentence 3. In a claim-evidence-reasoning passage, the claim states the position (sentence 1), the evidence gives facts or data (sentence 2), and the reasoning explains why the evidence supports the claim. Sentence 3, with the phrase This pattern suggests, does that explaining.
A (correct): Beginning with This pattern suggests, it connects the flat-tire data to the claim by explaining how low pressure leads to failures.
B: Sentence 2 supplies the numbers, which makes it evidence; it does not explain why those numbers matter.
C: Sentence 1 states the claim, the position the writer wants readers to accept.
D: Sentence 4 adds a practical point about cost in time; it does not link the data to the claim.
Practice 34 of 38 · hard
After a distribution center installed large convex mirrors at its blind corners, the number of forklift near-miss reports filed by workers fell from 50 in the first half of the year to 35 in the second half. The safety manager wrote in a memo that the mirrors had "made our forklift drivers 30 percent safer." Near-miss reports are filed voluntarily, however, and the center did not track how many hours the forklifts ran in each half of the year.
Which statement is best supported by the information in the passage?
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Answer: A
Correct answer: The number of near-miss reports filed fell by 30 percent. Find what the number actually counted: voluntary near-miss reports. The change is 50 minus 35, or 15 reports, and the percent decrease is that change divided by the starting value.
5050−35=5015=30%
The memo overreads the statistic: fewer reports does not prove drivers are safer, especially when reporting is voluntary and forklift hours were not tracked.
A (correct): The reports dropped by 15 from a starting count of 50, and 15 divided by 50 is 30 percent.
B: This repeats the manager's claim; the figure counts voluntary reports, not how safely drivers actually operated.
C: The drop was 15 reports, not 15 percent; the change must be divided by the starting value of 50.
D: This divides 15 by the new value 35 instead of the original 50, and it treats reports as if they were actual near misses.
Practice 35 of 38 · medium
Lithium-ion batteries power many phones, laptops and cameras. If one is crushed, overheated or poorly made, it can short out and catch fire, and the heat may spread to nearby batteries. A fire inside a checked suitcase can burn for some time before anyone on the plane notices. Spare batteries should therefore be packed in carry-on bags, with tape over any exposed metal terminals.
Which idea from the passage is a recommendation rather than a description of what can happen?
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Answer: D
Correct answer: Spare batteries should be packed in carry-on bags. A consequence tells what happens as a result; a recommendation tells what someone should do. Words such as should, must and ought mark a recommendation, and only the statement about packing spare batteries in carry-on bags uses one. The word therefore also shows it is drawn from the dangers described before it.
A: This describes a possible consequence of damage; it does not tell anyone what to do.
B: This is another possible consequence, a further effect of a battery fire, not advice.
C: This explains a danger that follows from where the bag is stored; it is a consequence, not advice.
D (correct): The word should signals advice about what travelers ought to do, which makes this a recommendation.
Practice 36 of 38 · medium
For centuries, ship navigators found their position with paper charts, a compass and a sextant, a tool that measures the angle between the horizon and the sun or a star. Working out a position this way took careful math and a clear sky, and an error of a few minutes in timing could put a ship miles off course.
Today, most ships rely on satellite navigation, which shows a vessel's position on a screen within seconds, day or night. Even so, many navies and merchant fleets still train their officers to use a sextant. Satellite signals can be jammed or lost, and a navigator who knows the older method can still guide the ship to port.
How does the second paragraph relate to the first?
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Answer: C
Correct answer: It contrasts a modern method with the older one and explains why the older one is still taught. The first paragraph describes the traditional method and its difficulties. The second introduces satellite navigation as a contrast, then qualifies that shift with Even so, explaining that sextant training continues because satellite signals can be lost. The answer must cover both parts of the second paragraph without adding a claim about accuracy.
A: Satellite navigation is not one of the older tools; it is a different method set against them.
B: The timing errors are explained in the first paragraph itself; the second turns to a new method.
C (correct): The second paragraph presents satellite navigation, then uses Even so to explain why sextant skills remain useful as a backup.
D: The passage never says the sextant is more accurate; it is kept as a backup when satellite signals fail.
Practice 37 of 38 · medium
Some homeowners insist that gas-powered lawn mowers are the only serious choice, since they run as long as there is fuel in the tank and cut thick grass with ease. Battery mowers did struggle with heavy lawns when they first appeared. Newer models, though, carry larger batteries that can mow a typical suburban yard on a single charge, and they start with the push of a button. They are also far quieter and need no oil changes or spark plugs. For most yards, a battery mower is now the more practical tool.
Which statement best expresses the author's own view?
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Answer: A
Correct answer: Battery mowers are now the better choice for most yards. Separate reported views from the author's view. The first sentence gives what some homeowners believe, the second concedes a past weakness, and though turns to the author's side. The final sentence states the author's own conclusion in favor of battery mowers.
A (correct): The closing sentence states the author's conclusion that a battery mower is now the more practical tool for most yards.
B: This is the view the author reports from some homeowners and then argues against.
C: The author admits early models struggled, but the word though introduces the claim that newer models do not.
D: The author does not call them equal; the last sentence clearly favors battery mowers.
Practice 38 of 38 · medium
Whetstones have been used to sharpen blades for well over two thousand years, and the basic method has changed little. Before you begin, soak a water stone for about ten minutes so that it does not clog with bits of metal. Set it on a damp towel to keep it from sliding. Hold the blade at a low, steady angle and draw it across the stone from heel to tip, about ten times on each side. Finish on the stone's fine-grit face to polish the edge, then rinse and dry the knife.
Which best describes how the passage is organized?
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Answer: C
Correct answer: Process order, explaining the steps for sharpening a blade. Focus on the framework, not a passing detail. After a brief historical note, the passage gives repeatable steps marked by before you begin, then and finish. Instructions that anyone can follow in order make this process order, and the date in the opening does not make it chronological.
A: The history is mentioned only in the first sentence as a minor detail; it does not organize the passage.
B: No other sharpening tool is mentioned, so nothing is compared.
C (correct): Nearly every sentence gives a step the reader can repeat, in the order needed: soak, set, sharpen, finish.
D: The passage never explains what makes a blade dull; it tells how to sharpen one.
About this test
After each question you get an explanation that points to the wording in the passage that settles the answer. Read those explanations even when you choose correctly, because they show the evidence habit the Paragraph Comprehension subtest rewards. Your result is a practice accuracy figure for this lesson only.
Use the misses as a map. If cause-effect items tripped you up, return to the cause-effect and correlation sections of the lesson; if sentence-role items did, revisit the first-, middle- and final-sentence sections. Sixteen further practice questions tied to this lesson are also available once you want another round.
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