READ

Content Skills Assessment: Reading Test

Started: Dec 20 at 4:40pm

Quiz Instructions

Directions:

Read each passage. Every sentence is numbered. Most of the questions following the passages refer to the sentences by number. For each question, select the best answer choice that is provided. In some cases, no correction is required. In those cases, select choice D, "It is correct as written."

Note: You must press the submit button for your work to be saved.

Flag question: Spacer

Passage 1 Text

How to Jumpstart a Car - Safely!

Jumpstarting a car seems simple enough, but incorrect procedures can result in damage to the car and injury to the driver. Consider safety first. Batteries release gases, which can be ignited by sparks. Never smoke or use matches while jumpstarting a car or handling a battery. Thousands of motorists have been hurt performing this task. As a result, most mechanics recommend the use of safety glasses and gloves.

Be sure the cable connectors to the dead battery are not damaged or broken and do not have frayed wires. Next, make sure the vehicle's battery cables are tight and undamaged and that the battery posts are clean. Sometimes cleaning off corrosion and tightening cables is all that is necessary to start a car. Scrape corrosion off with a small knife or wire brush. Do not let your bare hands come in contact with corrosion. Also, inspect the battery itself. If it's cracked or broken, you need a new one. On the other hand, if battery, cables, and connections seem fine, a jump may do the trick.

csa_reading_fig1.jpeg

1. Position the car with the "live" battery as close as possible to the car to be jumpstarted without letting the cars touch. Turn off both cars and make sure they are in park (or neutral, with the parking brake on, for standard transmissions).

2. Jumper cables have two clamps at each end, one red and one black. An incorrect battery connection can cause an explosion, so be sure to connect red to red and black to black. Connect the metal clamps of the red cable to the positive posts of each battery. These posts are marked "+" or "POS." Negative posts are marked "-" or "NEG." Do not allow metal clamps of the red and black cables to touch.

3. Be sure the ignition is off in the car with the dead battery. Connect the clamp from the black cable to the negative post on the car with the live battery. Connect the other end of the black cable to bare, unpainted metal on the frame of the car with the dead battery. This is safer than connecting the black cable to the negative post of the dead battery because connecting the second black clamp directly to the battery could cause a spark. Sparking can cause battery gases to explode. Also, be sure to keep the cable clear of the fan and fan belt.

4. Start the car with the live battery and rev the engine lightly for up to ten minutes to fully charge its battery. Then attempt to start the car with the dead battery.

5. If this is successful, keep both engines running. Remove the cables by first taking off the black grounding connection on the body of the car and then the other end of the black cable. Remove the two red cable ends last. Make sure that no objects are left under the hood of either car.

Do not turn off the engine of the car with the dead battery until you get to where you are going. If possible, run the car for thirty minutes to fully recharge its battery.

Important Warning: All of the information above is correct as far as the author knows. However, to be perfectly safe, read and follow all directions in your car or battery's owner's manual, or allow a trained professional to perform all maintenance.

Flag question: Question 1

According to information in the passage, which question should a motorist ask before trying to jump a car battery?

A. Is the old battery under warranty?

B How much does a new battery cost?

C. Does the old battery appear to be cracked or broken?

D. Did the battery give any warning signs before it died?

Flag question: Question 2

Which of the following is used in the graphic to identify one of the poles of the battery?

A. Pos (+)

B. Plus (+)

C. Proton

D. Positive

Flag question: Question 3

Which statement from the passage expresses an opinion?

A. Jumpstarting a car seems simple enough

B. Incorrect procedures can result in damage to the car

C. Thousands of motorists have been hurt performing this task

D. Most mechanics recommend the use of safety glasses and gloves

Flag question: Question 4

According to this passage, which of these steps in the process comes before the others?

A. Attempt to start the car with the dead battery

B. Make sure the ignition is off in the car with the dead battery

C. Rev the engine in the car with the live battery for up to ten minutes

D. Connect the clamp from the black cable to the negative post of the live battery

Flag question: Question 5

Which term best describes the boldfaced information at the end of the passage?

A. A tip

B. A note

C. A reminder

D. A disclaimer

Flag question: Question 6

The passage warns about the risk of an explosion of gases released by the car's.

A. battery

B. fuel line

C. fuel filter

D. carburetor

Flag question: Spacer

Passage 2

Excerpt from Uncle Valentine by Willa Cather II

For ten days after his letter came we waited and waited for Valentine. Everyone was restless-except Uncle Jonathan, who often told us that he enjoyed anticipation as much as realization. Uncle Morton, Valentine's much older brother, used to stumble in of an evening, when we were all gathered in the big hall after dinner, to announce the same news about boats that he had given us the evening before, wave his long thin hands a little, and boast in a husky voice about his gifted brother. Aunt Charlotte put her impatience to some account by rehearsing us industriously in the part songs we were working up for Valentine. She called us her sextette, and she trained us very well. Several of us were said to have good voices. My aunt used to declare that she liked us better when we were singing than at any other time, and that drilling us was the chief pleasure she got out of having such a large family.

Aunt Charlotte was the person who felt all that went on about her-and all that did not go on-and understood it. I find that I did not know her very well then. It was not until years afterward, not until after her death, indeed, that I began really to know her. Recalling her quickly, I see a dark, full-figured woman, dressed in dark, rich materials; I remember certain velvet dresses, brown, claret-colored, deep violet, which especially became her, and certain fur hats and capes and coats. Though she was a little overweight, she seemed often to be withdrawing into her clothes, not shrinking, but retiring behind the folds of her heavy cloaks and gowns and soft barricades of fur. She had to do with people constantly, and her house was often overflowing with guests, but she was by nature very shy. I now believe that she suffered all her life from a really painful timidity, and had to keep taking herself in hand. I have said that she was dark; her skin and hair and eyes were all brown. Even when she was out in the garden her face seemed always in shadow.

As a child I understood that my aunt had what we call a strong nature; still, deep and, on the whole, happy. Whatever it is that enables us to make our peace with life, she had found it. She cared more for music than for anything else in the world, and after that for her family and her house and her friends. She was very intelligent, but she had entirely too much respect for the opinions of others. Even in music she was often dominated by people who were much less discerning than she, but more aggressive. If her preference was disputed or challenged, she easily gave up. She knew what she liked, but she was apt to be apologetic about it. When she mentioned a composition or an artist she admired, or spoke the name of a person or place she loved, I remember a dark, rich color used to come into her voice, and sometimes she uttered the name with a curious little intake of the breath.

Aunt Charlotte's real life went on very deep within her, I suspect, though she seemed so open and cordial, and not especially profound. No one ever thought of her as intellectual, though people often spoke of her wonderful taste; of how, without effort, she was able to make her garden and house exactly right. Our old friends considered taste as something quite apart from intelligence, instead of the flower of it. She read little, it is true; what other people learned from books she learned from music-all she needed to give her a rich enjoyment of art and life. She played the piano extremely well; it was not an accomplishment with her, but a way of living. The rearing of six little girls did not seem to strain her patience much. She allowed us a great deal of liberty and demanded her own in return. We were permitted to have our own thoughts and feelings, and even Elizabeth and Betty Jane understood that it is a great happiness to be permitted to be glad or sorry in one's own way.

(First published in Woman's Home Companion, February - March 1925)

Flag question: Question 7

Which choice best describes this passage?

A. A melodramatic outburst

B. A realistic slice of past life

C. An action-packed tale of long ago

D. A satirical parody of social customs

Flag question: Question 8

Based on knowing the author and the date of publication (given at the end of the passage), which inference about the location of the setting is most likely correct?

A. It is a large, European city

B. It is a small Midwestern town

C. It is a fishing village in New England

D. It is a plantation in the agricultural South

Flag question: Question 9

What is this excerpt mainly about?

A. Uncle Morton's habits

B. Uncle Valentine's visit

C. Aunt Charlotte's personality

D. The narrator's hopes and fears

Flag question: Question 10

Which character trait does the author seem to admire most?

A. Quiet strength

B. Creative brilliance

C. Social conservatism

D. Flamboyant showmanship

Flag question: Question 11

What are the characters in the excerpt preparing for Uncle Valentine?

A. A garden

B. A painting

C. A new home

D. A musical performance

Flag question: Question 12

From the first sentence of the third paragraph, readers can tell that this excerpt has elements of -

A. irony

B. allegory

C. flashback

D. foreshadowing

Flag question: Spacer

Passage 3

The Census by Dr. William H. Troy, PhD

In 1780, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson conducted the first census of the U.S. population. This survey of all the households in the nation was - and still is - required by the Constitution. In Jefferson's day, census takers on horseback counted 3.9 million people in the newly created United States. Every ten years since then, the Census Bureau has repeated the process - although census takers no longer rely on horses to do the job!

This Decennial Census, as it is called, is used to determine how many congressional districts are needed. However, the Census now supplies a lot of other data besides population figures. It also gathers information on such topics as household income, home ownership, employment, and educational level. These facts are used to help decide whether new schools should be built or where to place new highways. The statistics also help people study trends and make predictions for the future.

One trend we see in the 2000 Census is that Americans have more years of education now than ever before. Questions about people's educational level have been on the Census since 1840, so it is possible to look at changes over a long period. In 1940, for example, only about 24 percent of the population age 25 and over had finished high school, and only one person out of 20 had a bachelor's degree. The 2000 Census revealed that 80 percent of people over age 25 had a high school diploma or higher. Almost one-quarter had at least a bachelor's degree. As Figure 1 shows, most of this change took place during the decades between 1960 and 1980.

Fig. 1: Population 25 Years and Older

Who Have Completed High School or College: 1940-2000

(in percent of U.S. population)

Year Bachelor's Degree or more High School Grad or more

1940 4.6 24.5

1950 6.2 34.3

1960 7.7 41.1

1970 10.7 52.3

1980 16.2 66.5

1990 20.3 75.2

2000 24.4 80.4

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Fig. 2: High School Graduates, With Projections to 2013

The Department of Education uses Census data and other surveys to come up with its own projections for planning purposes. For example, Figure 2 follows population trends to predict how many people in the U.S. will graduate high school over the next few years.

csa_reading_fig2.jpeg

Source: U.S. Department of Education

Figure 2 takes a general look at high school graduation rates, but Census information can get very specific. Their statistics show significant differences in these rates and in post-high school enrollment rates between different groups of people. For example, Figure 3 shows changes in the number of men and women enrolled in institutions that grant degrees - community colleges, four-year colleges, and universities.

While this graph shows enrollment based on gender, the Census Bureau and the Department of Education also create tables and graphs that show enrollment based on geography and on race or ethnic group. Educators, planners, and civic leaders use this information to try to make sure that all students have the same educational opportunities.

Figure 3: Enrollment in Degree-Granting Institutions by Sex

csa_reading_fig3.jpeg

Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics

Flag question: Question 13

Which fact most strongly suggests that data presented in this passage are reliable?

A. They include dates and numbers

B. The author holds an advanced degree

C. Their sources are government agencies

D. The data were collected as recently as 2000

Flag question: Question 14

Which trend is indicated by the data in Figure 3?

A. The number of male college students has decreased since 1998

B. The average age of college students has been steadily increasing since 1988

C. The gap between the number of male and female college students is growing

D. The cost of a college education increased dramatically between 1988 and 2000

Flag question: Question 15

The first three paragraphs of this passage are best described as -

A. current events

B. statistical data

C. editorial commentary

D. background information

Flag question: Question 16

Which question can best be answered by using information from Figure 2?

A. What will the number of high school graduates in the U.S. be in 2008?

B. How many people will probably graduate high school in the U.S. in 2010?

C. How many high school graduates will go on to earn college degrees in 2012?

D. By how much did the percentage of U.S. high school graduates increase between 2003 and 2013?

Flag question: Question 17

According to Figure 1, what percentage of the U.S. population had completed high school in 1990?

A. 20.3%

B. 24.5%

C. 75.2%

D. 80.4%

Flag question: Question 18

Which choice best describes Figure 2?

A. Chart

B. Table

C. Bar graph

D. Line graph

Flag question: Spacer

Passage 4

Four Famous Poems

An Old Japanese Poem

by Miura Chora (1729-1780)

1 Get out of my road,

2 and allow me to plant these

3 bamboos, Mr. Toad.

I'm Nobody! Who are you?

by Emily Dickinson(1729-1780)

1 I'm Nobody! Who are you?

2 Are you-Nobody-Too?

3 Then there's a pair of us!

4 Don't tell! they'd advertise-you know!

5 How dreary-to be-Somebody!

6 How public-like a Frog-

7 To tell one's name-the livelong June-

8 To an admiring Bog!

Sonnet XLIII

by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, from Sonnets from the Portuguese

1 How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

2 I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

3 My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

4 For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

5 I love thee to the level of everyday's

6 Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.

7 I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;

8 I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.

9 I love thee with the passion put to use

10 In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.

11 I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

12 With my lost saints,--I love thee with the breath,

13 Smiles, tears, of all my life!--and, if God choose,

14 I shall but love thee better after death.

from A Book of Nonsense

by Edward Lear

1 There was an Old Man with a beard,

2 Who said, 'It is just as I feared!

3 Two Owls and a Hen,

4 Four Larks and a Wren,

5 Have all built their nests in my beard!'

Flag question: Question 19

Which choice best describes the tone of the poem by Edward Lear?

A. Ironic

B. Formal

C. Sarcastic

D. Lighthearted

Flag question: Question 20

What does the poem by Emily Dickinson's suggest about her philosophy of life?

A. She admires the beauty of nature

B. She trusts the wisdom of the people

C. She cherishes human companionship

D. She cherishes privacy and anonymity

Flag question: Question 21

Which choice best describes the rhyme scheme in the Edward Lear poem?

A. AABBA

B. AABBB

C. AABBC

D. ABABA

Flag question: Question 22

Above all else, the sonnet by Elizabeth Barrett Browning is about -

A. Love

B. Faith

C. Grace

D. Honor

Flag question: Question 23

Which term best describes the "Old Japanese Poem"?

A. Lyric

B. Haiku

C. Ballad

D. Limerick

Flag question: Question 24

According to line 8 of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's sonnet, what is one thing that men turn from?

A. Right

B. Praise

C. Passion

D. Freedom

Flag question: Spacer

Passage 5

Paul Revere's Ride

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1860)

1 LISTEN, my children, and you shall hear

Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,

On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five;

Hardly a man is now alive

5 Who remembers that famous day and year,

He said to his friend, "If the British march

By land or sea from the town tonight,

Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch

Of the North Church tower, as a signal light -

10 One, if by land, and two, if by sea;

And I on the opposite shore will be,

Ready to ride and spread the alarm

Through every Middlesex village and farm,

For the country folk to be up and to arm."

15 Then he said "Good-night!" and with muffled oar

Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,

Just as the moon rose over the bay,

Where swinging wide at her moorings lay

The Somerset, British man-of-war;

20 A phantom ship, with each mast and spar

Across the moon like a prison bar,

And a huge black hulk, that was magnified

By its own reflection in the tide.

Meanwhile, his friend, through alley and street,

25 Wanders and watches with eager ears,

Till in the silence around him he hears

The muster of men at the barrack door,

The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet,

And the measured tread of the grenadiers,

30 Marching down to their boats on the shore.

Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church,

By the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread,

To the belfry chamber overhead,

And startled the pigeons from their perch

35 On the somber rafters, that round him made

Masses and moving shapes of shade -

By the trembling ladder, steep and tall,

To the highest window in the wall,

Where he paused to listen and look down

40 A moment on the roofs of the town,

And the moonlight flowing over all.

Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead,

In their night encampment on the hill,

Wrapped in silence so deep and still

45 That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread,

The watchful night wind, as it went

Creeping along from tent to tent,

And seeming to whisper, "All is well!"

A moment only he feels the spell

50 Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread

Of the lonely belfry and the dead;

For suddenly all his thoughts are bent

On a shadowy something far away,

Where the river widens to meet the bay -

55 A line of black that bends and floats

On the rising tide, like a bridge of boats.

Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride,

Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride

On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.

60 Now he patted his horse's side,

Now gazed at the landscape far and near,

Then, impetuous, stamped the earth,

And turned and tightened his saddle girth;

But mostly he watched with eager search

65 The belfry tower of the Old North Church,

As it rose above the graves on the hill,

Lonely and spectral and somber and still.

And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height

A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!

70 He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,

But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight

A second lamp in the belfry burns!

A hurry of hoofs in a village street,

A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,

75 And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark

Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet:

That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light,

The fate of a nation was riding that night;

And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight,

80 Kindled the land into flame with its heat.

He has left the village and mounted the steep,

And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,

Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides;

And under the alders that skirt its edge,

85 Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,

Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.

It was twelve by the village clock,

When he crossed the bridge into Medford town.

He heard the crowing of the cock,

90 And the barking of the farmer's dog,

And felt the damp of the river fog,

That rises after the sun goes down.

It was one by the village clock,

When he galloped into Lexington.

95 He saw the gilded weathercock

Swim in the moonlight as he passed,

And the meetinghouse windows, blank and bare,

Gaze at him with a spectral glare,

As if they already stood aghast

100 At the bloody work they would look upon.

It was two by the village clock,

When be came to the bridge in Concord town.

He heard the bleating of the flock,

And the twitter of birds among the trees,

105 And felt the breath of the morning breeze

Blowing over the meadows brown.

And one was safe and asleep in his bed

Who at the bridge would be first to fall,

Who that day would be lying dead,

110 Pierced by a British musket ball.

You know the rest. In the books you have read,

How the British regulars fired and fled -

How the farmers gave them ball for ball,

From behind each fence and farmyard wall,

115 Chasing the redcoats down the lane,

Then crossing the fields to emerge again

Under the trees at the turn of the road,

And only pausing to fire and load.

120 So through the night rode Paul Revere;

And so through the night went his cry of alarm

To every Middlesex village and farm -

A cry of defiance and not of fear,

A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,

And a word that shall echo forevermore!

125 For, borne on the night wind of the Past,

Through all our history, to the last,

In the hour of darkness and peril and need,

The people will waken and listen to hear

The hurrying hoof beats of that steed,

130 And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

Flag question: Question 25

The speaker in this poem switches point of view several times. Which line begins a stanza in which the speaker switches back to Paul Revere's point of view?

A. Line 15

B. Line 24

C. Line 57

D. Line 73

Flag question: Question 26

From line 6 until the end of the poem, the speaker retells events in a way that is best described as -

A. a flashback

B. an epiphany

C. an oxymoron

D. foreshadowing

Flag question: Question 27

Which lines from the poem include an extended metaphor?

A. Lines 6-14

B. Lines 24-30

C. Lines 42-48

D. Lines 87-92

Flag question: Question 28

This poem is mainly about a man who rides through the night to -

A. come to the rescue of a friend

B. avoid having to serve in the army

C. spread the word that a war is starting

D. flee from soldiers who are trying to catch him