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.
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.
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).
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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.
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)
D) (25% correct)
8) (Random name) has a retangular garden that is (random number) feet by (random number) feet. If he needs 2 Ounces of soil for each square foot in his garden, and each ounce of soil costs $1.50, how much will he spend to fill up his garden?
A) (25% correct)
B) (25% correct)
C) (25% correct)
D) (25% correct)
9) On Black Friday, Sarah goes to her local store and buys a PC, a drone, and a keyboard for $(random number). At checkout, she gets a 30% discount on her total purchase. How much did she end up paying for her items?
A) (25% correct)
B) (25% correct)
C) (25% correct)
D) (25% correct)
10) Two numbers add up to (random multiple of 3) if one number is twice the size of the other number, what is the value of the larger number?
A) (25% correct)
B) (25% correct)
C) (25% correct)
D) (25% correct)
Heroes were an important part of Greek mythology, but the characteristics that Greeks admired in a hero are not necessarily identical to those we admire today. Greek heroes are not always what modern readers might think of as “good role models.” Their actions may strike us as morally dubious.
For example, consider the encounter between the legendary Greek hero Odysseus and the Cyclops. The Cyclops was one of a race of giants who lived by themselves on a remote, rarely visited island. The name Cyclops means “round eye,” because these giants had only one eye in the middle of their forehead. They lived in caves, tended flocks of sheep, and ate the produce of their fields; they were shepherds.
Odysseus visited the island as part of his exploration to look for supplies. He brought with him a flask of wine. Although he was regarded as an intruder by the Cyclops, he helped himself to the giant’s supplies without permission. The Cyclops became very angry. To ease the anger, Odysseus served him some wine. The Cyclops enjoyed the wine and asked for more. Later, when the Cyclops is in a wine-induced stupor, Odysseus attacks him in the eye. Later Odysseus brags to his comrades about blinding the one-eyed creature.
This does not mean the Greeks admired thievery and bragging, however. What they admired about Odysseus, in this instance, was his capacity for quick thinking. Odysseus was also known for pulling off great feats with panache and self-confidence.
Not all Greek heroes were admired for the same reasons. Some, such as Odysseus, were admired for their resourcefulness and intelligence, whereas others, such as Herakles, were known for their strength and courage. Some were not particularly resourceful but depended on help to accomplish their tasks.
Whether or not a given action or quality was admired depended upon its ultimate results. Being headstrong might succeed in one instance but lead to failure in another. The Greeks held the characters in their legends accountable for their actions, and a hero might be punished as well as rewarded.
11) (Random Name) is Amy's younger sister. Sarah is Amy's older sister. When Amy was (random multiple of 3) Sarah was double Amy's age and (Random Name) was 1/3 Amy's age. If (Random Name) is now (Random number), how old is Sarah?
A) (25% correct)
B) (25% correct)
C) (25% correct)
D) (25% correct)
12) If a rectangular swimming pool is (random number) feet long, (random number) feet wide, and (random number) feet deep, what is the volume of the pool?
A) (25% correct)
B) (25% correct)
C) (25% correct)
D) (25% correct)
13) (Random name) has $(random number) in his checking account. He pays one bill for $1,237, goes out with friends and spends $439, and then finally, receives a direct deposit of $2,400. How much money does he have in his checking account now?
A) (25% correct)
B) (25% correct)
C) (25% correct)
D) (25% correct)
14) Andrew is trying to climb onto the roof of his house to clean his gutters. He lays out a ladder that makes and angle of (random number) with the ground and the ladder. What is the angle the ladder makes with his house?
A) (25% correct)
B) (25% correct)
C) (25% correct)
D) (25% correct)
15) In a recent election, John received (random number)% of the votes, Chloe received (random number)% of the votes, Angelina received (random number)% of the votes, and Brian received the remaining votes. If there were 25,000 votes in total, how many votes did Brian receive?
A) (25% correct)
B) (25% correct)
C) (25% correct)
D) (25% correct)
...In his history published in 1552, Francisco Lopez de Gomara wrote: “The greatest event
since the creation of the world (excluding the incarnation and death of He who created it)
is the discovery of the Indies.” From this assessment, Christopher Columbus emerged from the shadows, reincarnated as not a footnote in history, but instead as a myth and symbol. He came to epitomize the explorer and discoverer; the man of vision and audacity; the hero who overcame opposition and adversity to change history.
By the end of the sixteenth century, English explorers and writers acknowledged the primacy and inspiration of Columbus on the history of European colonization. He was celebrated in poetry and plays, especially by the Italians. And by the beginning of the 17th century, Spain, the country with which Columbus made his voyages for, began to mythologize him as well. In a popular play, Lope de Vega, in 1614, the playwrights portrayed Columbus as a dreamer up against the stolid forces of entrenched tradition; a man of singular purpose who triumphed against all odds; the embodiment of that spirit driving humans to explore and claim the world around them.
After this initial mytholigification of Columbus, he wasn't studied much until the early 19th century when historians began looking back to try to piece together the history of the Americas. Historians cannot control the popularizers of history; and oftentimes, there is more embellishment in history than there is truth, and in post-Revolutionary America, the few historians who studied Columbus were probably not disposed to try. to seperate the two. Even if they had the tools to do so, there was little information available on which to assess the real Columbus and distinguish the man from the myth. With the discovery and publication of new Columbus documents by Martin Fernandez de Navarrete in 1825, this was less of an excuse, and yet the material only provided more ammunition to those who would embellish the symbolic Columbus through the nineteenth century.
In the mid-19th century, Washington Irving mined the new documents to create a hero in the romantic mold favored in the century’s literature. Irving’s Columbus was “a man of great and inventive genius” and his “ambition was lofty and noble, inspiring him with high thoughts, and an anxiety to distinguish himself by great achievements.” This may have been true, but an effusive Irving got carried away. He said that Columbus’s “conduct was characterized by the grandeur of his views and the magnanimity of his spirit . . . . Instead of ravaging the newly found countries . . . he sought to colonize and cultivate them, to civilize the natives.” A statement which, upon some pushback, Irving acknowledged may not have been completely true. And that Columbus may have had some faults, such as his part in enslaving and killing people. But ultimately offering the palliating explanation that these were mostly “errors of the times.”
A few years later, William H. Prescott, a leading American historian of the conquest period, said of Columbus that “the finger of the historian will find it difficult to point to a single blemish in his moral character.” Writers and orators of the nineteenth century ascribed to Columbus all the human virtues that were most prized in that time of geographic and industrial expansion, heady optimism, and an unquestioning belief in progress as the dynamic of history. They had essentially mythologized him into perfection. Making it extraordinarily difficult to find out who the "real Columbus" was and the faults, if any, he may have had that would reduce him from a myth to a man...
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16) A circular pool has a circumference of (random multiple of 3.14) m and a depth of (random number meters). If a basketball has a volume of 0.007 cubic meters, how many basketballs will it take to fill up this pool?
A) (25% correct)
B) (25% correct)
C) (25% correct)
D) (25% correct)
17) Angela is saving up to buy herself a new car. She makes $1,200 a week and saves (random number)% of it towards her new car. She currently has $(random number) saved up in her checking account. If the car costs $(random number * 1000), how many weeks will it take for her to be able to able to buy the car?
A) (25% correct)
B) (25% correct)
C) (25% correct)
D) (25% correct)
18) As a result of shortage, Max's favorite game increased from $(random number) to $(random number). Approximately how many percent did this game increase?
A) (25% correct)
B) (25% correct)
C) (25% correct)
D) (25% correct)
19) If x + 3y = 7 and 8x + 12y = 68, what is the value of x - 9y?
A) (25% correct)
B) (25% correct)
C) (25% correct)
D) (25% correct)
20) If a = (x + 1)(x + 2) and b = (x + 2)(x + 4), what is 2a - 3b?
A) (x + 2)(x + 10)
B) (x - 2)(x + 10)
C) -(x + 2)(x - 10)
D) -(x + 2)(x + 10)
. . . Why should one suppose that a culture like Europe’s, steeped as it was in the ardor of wealth, the habit of violence, and the pride of intolerance, dispirited and adrift after a century and more of disease and famine and death beyond experience, would be able to come upon new societies in a fertile world, innocent and defenseless, and not displace and subdue, and if necessary destroy, them? Why should one suppose that such a culture would pause there to observe, to learn, to borrow and accept the wisdom and the ways of a foreign, heathen people? People half naked and befeathered, ignorant of cities and kings and metal and laws, and unschooled in all that the Ancients held virtuous. Was not Europe in its groping era of discovery in the fifteenth century in fact in search of salvation, as its morbid sonnets said, or of that regeneration which new lands and new peoples and of course new riches would be presumed to provide?
And there was salvation there in the New World. Though this salvation was not of a kind the Europeans then understood. They thought first that exploitation was salvation; and they went at that with a vengeance. In the process finding new foods and medicines and treasures. But this wasn't the salvation they ultimately found. Their colonization, settlement, and expansion into this new world was their salvation; However, they couldn't quite see it.
The salvation there, had the Europeans known where and how to look for it, was obviously in the integrative tribal ways, the nurturant communitarian values, the rich interplay with nature that made up the
Indian cultures — as it made up, for that matter, the cultures of ancient peoples everywhere, not excluding Europe. It was there especially in the Indian consciousness, in what Calvin Martin has termed “the biological outlook on life,” in which patterns and concepts and the large teleological
constructs of culture that are not human-centered but come from the sense of being at one with nature, biocentric, ecocentric. This was their salvation. Being one with their new world.
However one may cast it, an opportunity there certainly was once, a chance for the people of Europe to find a new anchorage in a new country, in what they dimly realized was the land of paradise, a land of nuts and honey, and thus find, finally, a way to redeem the world an themselves from the turmoil of the last 4 centuries. But all they ever found was half a world of nature’s treasures and nature’s peoples that could be taken, and they took them, never knowing, never learning the true regenerative power there. However, that opportunity was lost. Theirs was indeed a conquest of paradise, but as is inevitable with any war against the world of nature, those who win will have lost — once again lost, and this time perhaps forever . . .
21) Triangle ABC is an isosceles triangle with a smallest angle of (random number) degrees. What is the measure of the largest angle in this triangle?
A) (25% correct)
B) (25% correct)
C) (25% correct)
D) (25% correct)
22) If a square garden has an area of (random number squared) square meters, what is the perimeter of the garden?
A) (25% correct)
B) (25% correct)
C) (25% correct)
D) (25% correct)
23) If the radius of Circle A is three times as large as circle B, how much larger is the area of Circle A as compared with Circle B?
A) 3 times
B) 6 times
C) 9 times
D) 2 times
24) If three consecutive even numbers add up to (random even number), what is the value of the largest number?
A) (25% correct)
B) (25% correct)
C) (25% correct)
D) (25% correct)
25) There are (random number) people in a meeting room for the launch of a new company. If all (random number) people shake hands with everyone in the room, how many handshakes were exchanged in all?
A) (25% correct)
B) (25% correct)
C) (25% correct)
D) (25% correct)
...Early in the day, Dorothea had returned from the infant school and was taking her usual place in the pretty sitting-room which divided the bedrooms of the sisters. She was focused on finishing a plan for some buildings (a kind of work which she delighted in) when Celia, who had been watching her with a hesitating desire to propose something, said — “Dorothea dear, if you don’t mind — if you are not very busy — suppose we looked at mama's jewels today and divide them? It is exactly six months today since uncle gave them to you, and you have not looked at them yet.”
Celia’s face had the shadow of a pouting expression in it, the full presence of the pout being kept back by an habitual awe of Dorothea. To her relief, Dorothea’s eyes were full of laughter as she looked up. “What a wonderful little almanac you are, Celia! Is it six calendar months or lunar months?”
“It is the last day of September now, and it was the first of April when uncle gave them to you.”
“Well, dear, we should never wear them, you know...” Dorothea spoke in a half caressing, half explanatory tone.
Celia's face colored, and looking very grave, responded softly, “I think, we are wanting in respect to mamma’s memory, to put them away and take no notice of them. But,” she added, after hesitating a little, “necklaces are quite usual now; and Madame Poinçon, who was stricter in some things even than you are, used to wear ornaments. And with Christians generally, there must surely be women in heaven now who wore jewels...”
"You would like to wear them?” Dorothea exclaimed, an air of astonished discovery animating her whole person. “Of course, then, let us have them out. Why did you not tell me before? But the keys, where are the keys?” She pressed her hands against the sides of her head and seemed to despair of her memory.
“They are here,” said Celia, with whom this explanation had been long meditated and prearranged.
The casket was soon open before them, and the various jewels spread out on the table. It was no great collection, but a few of the ornaments were really of remarkable beauty, the finest being a necklace of purple amethysts set in exquisite gold, and a pearl cross with five brilliants in it. Dorothea immediately took up the necklace, held it in her hands for a moment, then fastened it round her sister’s neck.
The necklace fit as closely as a bracelet, but the circle suited the style of Celia’s head and neck; and in the pier-glass opposite from where she stood, she let out a radiant smile.
“There, Celia! You can wear this necklace with your Indian muslin. But this cross you must only wear with your dark dresses. Understood?” Celia was trying not to smile with pleasure as she nodded her head. “O Dorothy, you must keep the cross yourself.”
“No, no, dear, no,” said Dorothea, putting up her hand dismissively.
“Yes. Indeed you must! It would suit you. Especially in your black dresses.”
Dorothea shuddered, “Not for the world, not for the world. A cross is the last thing I would wear as a trinket.”
“Then you will think it wicked of me to wear it,” said Celia, uneasily.
“No, dear, no,” said Dorothea, stroking her sister’s cheek. “Souls have complexions too: what will suit one will not suit another.”
26) Brandon runs twice as fast downhill as he does uphill and 2/3 as fast uphill as he does on level ground. If he is running a 72 mile race with 24 miles uphill, 24 miles downhill, and 24 miles on flat ground, how long will it take him to complete this race if his speed on level ground is (random multiple of 4) mph?
A) (25% correct)
B) (25% correct)
C) (25% correct)
D) (25% correct)
27) (Random Name) went to the grocery store and bought her items for a total of $(random number). If she used a 15% off coupon, then a $10 off coupon, and finally, a $15 off coupon, how much did she pay for groceries if her tax was (random number)%?
A) (25% correct)
B) (25% correct)
C) (25% correct)
D) (25% correct)
28) If Andrew needs 3 potatoes for every 6 carrots in his soup, as well as 3 onions for every 2 potatoes, if he has 18 potatoes, what is the total number of of onions and carrots he would need so that he uses every potato?
A) 54
B) 44
C) 64
D) 24
29) A baker uses 7 eggs to make a cake. If he has (random number) of eggs, how many cakes can he bake?
A) (25% correct)
B) (25% correct)
C) (25% correct)
D) (25% correct)
30) John invested $(random number * 1000) into the stock market. At the end of the first week, he had lost 20 of his investment. By the end of the second week, he had tripled the amount he amount he had at the end of the first week. Finally, by the end of the third week, he had lost half of his investment from the end of the second week. What was his investment amount at the end of the 3 weeks?
A) (25% correct)
B) (25% correct)
C) (25% correct)
D) (25% correct)
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