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Paragraph Comprehension Sample Test

This is a sample question to help you get familiar with the format of the test

You will see a passage on your page like this one:

Black holes are among some of the most massive celestial bodies in the Milky Way galaxy. They are the "dark stars" of the night sky who contribute to our celestial neighborhood in a number of significant ways. One of which being directing traffic throughout galaxies and creating steller neighborhoods. In fact, an example of this is a massive blackhole located at the center of our own galaxy. At the center of our Milky Way lies a massive Black Hole which goes by the name of Sagittarius A*. This blackhole alone comprises nearly 1/400th the mass of the total milky way galaxy; with a mass of approximately 4 million solar masses! Scientists believe that this blackhole may be responsible for the star patterns me see in the milky way as well as the infamous spiral structure the galaxy is known for...

Below the paragraph you will be presented with a question like this:

1) Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

After reading the question, select the answer you believe to be the most correct response. Select the black buttons below to record your response.

Responses are only final when you select the "Next Section" button.

A) Sagittarius A* is among the smallest black holes

B) Black holes are often very bright

C) Black holes are unimportant in galaxies

D) Black Holes are more massive than planets

Select the "Next Section" button to reveal the answer.

D is the correct answer!

We recommend grabbing some scrap paper and taking this exam on a computer.

If you're ready to begin, click the start test button to start.

The evidence is growing and is more convincing than ever! People of all ages who are generally inactive can improve their health and well-being by becoming active at a moderate intensity on a regular basis. Regular physical activity substantially reduces the risk of dying of coronary heart disease, the nation’s leading cause of death, and decreases the risk of stroke, colon cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure. It also helps to control weight; contributes to healthy bones, muscles, and joints; reduces falls among older adults; helps to relieve the pain of arthritis; reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression; and is associated with fewer hospitalizations, physician visits, and medications. Moreover, physical activity need not be strenuous to be beneficial; people of all ages benefit from participating in regular, moderate-intensity physical activity, such as 30 minutes of brisk walking five or more times a week.

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Despite the proven benefits of physical activity, more than 50 percent of American adults do not get enough physical activity to provide health benefits. Twenty-five percent of adults are not active at all in their leisure time. Activity decreases with age and is less common among women than men and among those with lower income and less education. Furthermore, there are racial and ethnic differences in physical activity rates, particularly among women. Insufficient physical activity is not limited to adults. More than a third of young people in grades 9–12 do not regularly engage in vigorous-intensity physical activity. Daily participation in high school physical education classes dropped from 42 percent in 1991 to 32 percent in 2001.

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Physical activity can bring you many health benefits. People who enjoy participating in moderate-intensity or vigorous-intensity physical activity on a regular basis benefit by lowering their risk of developing coronary heart disease, stroke, non-insulin-dependent (type 2) diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure, and colon cancer by 30–50 percent. Additionally, active people have lower premature death rates than people who are the least active.

1) On this project, Nico and Alexandra were (allies).

A) (25% correct)

B) (25% correct)

C) (25% correct)

D) (25% correct)

2) (Random Name)'s took 5 tests this year and had these scores: (random number 1), (random number 2), (random number 3), (random number 4), (random number 5). What (Random Name)'s average score on these 5 tests?

A) (25% correct)

B) (25% correct)

C) (25% correct)

D) (25% correct)

3) A box of chocolate has 50 pieces of chocolate. (Random number) of these peices have nuts in them. What percentage of pieces do not have nuts in them?

A) (25% correct)

B) (25% correct)

C) (25% correct)

D) (25% correct)

4) (Random name)'s teacher assigns (random number) pages of reading each week. If (Random name) starts reading on Sunday and reads (random number) of pages a day, what day will she finish her reading for the week?

A) (25% correct)

B) (25% correct)

C) (25% correct)

D) (25% correct)

5) (Random name) deposits $(random number * 1000) in their savings account. If they earns (random number)% on their savings account each year, how much money will (Random name) have in 2 years?

A) Military officials scouted the west to protect the US western border 

B) (25% correct)

C) (25% correct)

D) (25% correct)

During the first decade of the nineteenth century, the geographic image of western North America began to change dramatically. Based on the observations of the explorers Meriwether Lewis and George Rogers Clark, information gathered from native people, and Clark’s own cartographic imagination, this image evolved from an almost empty interior with a hypothetical single mountain range serving as a western continental divide to an intricate one showing a labyrinth of mountains and rivers. A continent that had once seemed empty and simple was now becoming full and complex.

 

The Lewis and Clark expedition established the precedent for army exploration in the West. Major Stephen H. Long’s Scientific Expedition (1819–1820) advanced that tradition, this time centering attention on the central and southern Great Plains and the Front Range of the Rockies. For the first time, an American exploring party included professional scientists (a zoologist and a botanist) and two skilled artists. While not every future American expedition took along such skilled observers, the pattern was set for increasingly scientific exploration.

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It would take another 50 years after Lewis and Clark to complete the cartographic image of the West we know today. Other explorers and mapmakers followed, each revealing new geographic and scientific details about specific parts of the western landscape. But this revealing process was not a simple one. New knowledge did not automatically replace old ideas; some old notions—especially about river passages across the West—persisted well into the nineteenth century. In the decades after Lewis and Clark, the company of western explorers expanded to include fur traders, missionaries, and government topographers, culminating in the 1850s with the Army’s Corps of Topographical Engineers surveying the southwestern and northwestern boundaries of the United States as well as the potential routes for a transcontinental railroad. By the time of the Civil War, an ocean-to-ocean American empire with borders clearly defined was a fact of continental life.

6) (Random Name) runs (random number) miles in (random number) minutes. To the nearest mile per hour, how fast did they run?

A) (25% correct)

B) (25% correct)

C) (25% correct)

D) (25% correct)

7) (Random Name) started a diet so that he could lose some weight before going to boot camp this summer. (Random Name) is currently (random number) lbs and wants to hit a goal of (random smaller number). If he is going to bootcamp in (random number) weeks, to the nearest tenth, much weight does he need to lose each week to reach his goal?

A) (25% correct)

B) (25% correct)

C) (25% correct)