Read the announcement and answer the questions.
The school regrets to announce that this year's sports day, scheduled for Friday, April 4, will not be held. According to the weather service, a severe storm front is moving into this area. It should reach our city by Thursday night, and it will remain here for a few days. The storm is expected to drop several inches of rain once it begins. The weather service also anticipates that the conditions will be ideal for tornadoes to form. Due to the seriousness of the weather, the administration has decided to put off sports day until a later time.
Once the new date is determined, the administration will announce it. It will most likely be held on April 11 or 18. We apologize for postponing the event, but, considering that most sports day activities are held outdoors, we feel that we have no choice in this matter.
Sports day was originally scheduled to last from one to three in the afternoon. Since teachers may not have prepared lesson plans for classes during that time, they may feel free to watch movies or to do other similar activities in their classes. It is not compulsory for teachers to lecture during those periods.
What would be the best title for the announcement?
In paragraph 1, the word "it" refers to ______.
In paragraph 1, the word "anticipates" is closest in meaning to ______.
According to the announcement, what will the weather be like on Friday?
What does the author imply about sports day?
According to the announcement, what may teachers do with their classes on Friday afternoon?
In paragraph 3, the phrase "compulsory for" is closest in meaning to _____.
Read the newspaper article and answer the questions.
Local student and Centerville High School junior Sally Barton has been winning prizes and awards ever since she started attending elementary school several years ago. But this semester, she has simply outdone herself with her academic performance.
When the fall semester began, Ms. Barton dedicated herself to preparing for the city's spelling bee. She won first place in that contest, which qualified her for the state spelling bee, held one week later. Ms. Barton emerged as the winner of it as well.
One month later, she entered an essay in the school's essay-writing contest. Writing about her life as an immigrant, Ms. Barton captured first place. When her essay was submitted to the regional contest, she suffered her only setback of the semester: She came in second place.
"I was a little disappointed that I wasn't victorious in that particular contest," she commented. "But I'm still proud of my achievements."
When asked what she plans to do next, Ms. Barton commented, "I'm on my school's math team, and we have a big tournament coming up. With luck, our team will do well."
Which headline best summarizes the article?
What does the author point out by writing that "she has simply outdone herself" in paragraph 1?
In paragraph 2, the word "it" refers to _____.
In paragraph 3, the word "setback" is closest in meaning to _____.
Based on the article, what is probably true about Sally Barton?
What does Sally Barton say she is going to do next?
Read the passage and answer the questions.
There are several ways in which people have managed to achieve flight. One of the first methods was by using hot-air balloons. These days, helicopters are also a way that some people fly. However, at present, more people fly on airplanes than use any other method of flying.
Modern-day airplanes are mostly jets. These planes have engines that propel them through the air at velocities that can exceed the speed of sound. There is another way that airplanes can fly though: They can use propellers.
A propeller is a device with blades. The number of blades varies, but it is normally three or four. The propeller is attached to a drive shaft. It, in turn, is connected to an engine, which makes both the shaft and the propeller spin. This spinning helps the plane get aloft.
One reason that propellers are effective concerns the shapes of their blades. They are not flat; instead, they are made at angles. This is known as the propeller's pitch. The pitch allows the propeller to behave like a wing. In doing so, the propeller can create a lift as well as thrust. These two factors enable a propeller first to move an airplane forward and then to help it get off the ground.
The first airplanes relied upon propellers to fly. In fact, it was not until a few decades after the Wright brothers' initial flight that advanced jet airplanes were made. Even today, there are still many airplanes that have propellers. They are not as fast as jets, but they are able to get people and cargo from one place to another swifter than any type of land transportation.
The author uses jets as an example of _____.
In paragraph 2, the word "propel" is closest in meaning to _____.
Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as a characteristic of propellers?
How do propellers enable airplanes to fly?
In paragraph 5, the word "initial" is closest in meaning to _____.
Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about the Wright brothers?
Reading the passage and answer the questions.
Otters are semi-aquatic mammals. They live on land, but they enjoy spending a great deal of time in the water. There are thirteen species of otters. They are found mostly in North and South America, Europe, and Asia. An otter has a long body, a short snout, and a long tail. Its four legs are fairly short, and it has webbed feet. Its webbed feet are what enable an otter to swim so well. An otter's fur is either brown or gray in color, and the fur around its face is much lighter than the fur around the rest of its body.
Otters reach maturity fairly quickly and begin to mate when they are two years of age. Female otters can give birth to a litter of one to five babies every year. Otters build dens, which are typically holes in the ground and are located near some source of water. These dens are where female otters give birth to their babies.
When they are first born, otters are dependent upon their mothers. But they grow rapidly and learn how to swim when they are only two months old. This is about the same amount of time their fur coats need to grow completely. Otters are natural swimmers, so it does not take much effort for them to learn to swim. Despite swimming well, the babies stay with their mothers until they are about a year old. Then, once they become able to hunt for themselves, they set off to live their own lives. Most otters can survive in the wild for between ten and fifteen years.
Otters are predatory carnivores that consume fish and crustaceans. They have also been known to eat reptiles, amphibians, and birds even though those are not their first choices. But they are efficient hunters that rarely starve due to their ability to catch a wide range of prey.
While otters are predators, they are also prey animals. Wolves, large snakes, alligators, and crocodiles hunt them when they are on land or in shallow water. Further out at sea, killer whales frequently hunt them. Humans, who desire otters for their pelts, hunt otters, too. In fact, human hunters have taken a toll on otter populations in places around the world. While some people hunt otters, many more simply enjoy watching them. Otters are some of the most playful animals on the planet. They seem to have a zest for life when they swim and play on land.
What is the best title for this passage?
Why does the author mention North and South America, Europe, and Asia?
According to the passage, all of the following are physical characteristics of otters EXCEPT _____.
Which of the following statements does paragraph 2 support?
In paragraph 3, the phrase "dependent upon" is closest in meaning to _____.
What can be inferred from the article about baby otters?
In paragraph 4, the word "those" refers to _____.
The author uses killer whales as an example of _____.
What does the author point out by writing that "human hunters have taken a toll on otter populations" in paragraph 5?
Which animal is NOT mentioned as a predator of otters?
Read the passage and answer the questions.
Journalism is a field in which reporters gather news items and bring them to the attention of the public. For the most part, journalists do this by writing articles. After the invention of the camera, though, a new type of journalist came about: the photojournalist.
A photojournalist is a person who takes photographs of important events. These pictures are then published in newspapers, journals, and magazines and also on the Internet. One of the most famous photojournalists of the 1900s was Henri Cartier-Bresson, a Frenchman. He gained fame for his photographs of street life and took pictures of various historical events as well. Dorothea Lange was an American photojournalist. She became famous for the pictures she took during the Great Depression in the United States in the 1930s. Eddie Adams gained renown for his pictures taken during the Vietnam War. His most famous picture shows a North Vietnamese prisoner about to be executed by a policeman. It had an emotional effect on many Americans and turned a lot of them against the war.
Some pictures taken by photojournalists have become iconic and are recognized around the world. In this way, the pictures that some photojournalists take can be more influential than the articles that journalists write. Due to the influence of photojournalists in modern society, a large number of people have entered the field. Thus several different branches of photojournalism have arisen. Some practitioners focus on taking photographs of wars and natural disasters These individuals often put their lives at risk by entering dangerous areas in search of the perfect snapshot.
Others focus on staged events, such as special ceremonies and award shows. These usually involve people taking pictures of people who are posing. The third type of photojournalist is paparazzi. These are individuals who follow celebrities around in the hope of snapping good pictures of them to sell. In some cases, photographs taken by paparazzi can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Nowadays, most photojournalists either work for news organizations or are employed as freelancers. Those who are independent sell their snapshots to the highest bidders. In addition, thanks to the pervasiveness of digital cameras and cell phone cameras, even regular people can be photojournalists. In recent years, some of the best and most candid photographs were taken by people who were not professionally employed as photojournalists.
Which title best summarizes the main idea of the passage?
Why does the author talk about Dorothea Lange?
Which of the following is true regarding Eddie Adams?
In paragraph 3, the word "influential" is closest in meaning to _____.
Based on the passage, what is probably true about some people who become photojournalists?
What does the author say about paparazzi?
In paragraph 5, the word "pervasiveness" is closest in meaning to _____.
Read the passage and answer the questions.
The Age of Exploration originated in Europe in the fifteenth century. At that time, European sailors started sailing to places far from their homes. First, they went down the coast of Africa. Later, they went into the Indian Ocean and made it to various ports in Asia. Near the end of the century, they sailed all the way to the Americas in the New World. Eventually, they managed to travel around the entire world.
The first expedition that managed to circumnavigate the globe was led by Ferdinand Magellan. While Magellan was a Portuguese sailor, he sailed under the Spanish flag since his journey was funded by the king of Spain. When he departed on September 20, 1519, he had five ships and nearly 300 men.
The expedition first moved west and crossed the Atlantic Ocean. After the ships reached the New World, they sailed south along the east coast of South America. Magellan was looking for a way to enter the Pacific Ocean. In November 1520, Magellan and his men finally discovered a passage to the Pacific. During the search, though, Magellan lost one of his ships when it crashed into a beach and got wrecked. There was also a mutiny attempt by some of his crew members.
With his remaining ships, Magellan sailed west across the Pacific Ocean. They traveled to the Mariana Islands, landed on Guam, and then sailed toward the Philippine Islands. During their journey across the Pacific, Magellan and his men became the first Europeans to see most of that part of the world.
When the ships reached the Philippines, Magellan's role in the journey came to an end. On an island there, Magellan's men got into a dispute with some of the natives. There was a fight, and Magellan was killed in the middle of it. He died on April 27, 1521.
By this time, Magellan's crew had three ships, but they only had enough men to sail on two of them. So they burned one and sailed the other two south to Indonesia. There, they engaged in trade with the natives, so they acquired some spices to take back to Europe. However, the Portuguese were at war with Spain at that time, so one ship was captured by them. The last remaining ship crossed the Indian Ocean. It rounded Africa and sailed north to Spain. It arrived home on September 6, 1522. Only eighteen of the original crew made it home alive.
What is the passage mainly about?
Which is NOT mentioned as a place that Europeans visited during the Age of Exploration?
In paragraph 2, the word "circumnavigate" is closest in meaning to _____.
According to the passage, what happened to Magellan's expedition while his ships were near South America?
What does the author point out by writing that the crew engaged in trade in paragraph 6?
In paragraph 6, the word "them" refers to _____.