(1) John was nice looking, and he did well in school. (2) However, John was also known
for having a volatile personality. (3) One day, when his track coach criticized him, John
lost his temper. (4) He stormed back to the locker room muttering under his breath.
(5) When the incident was reported to his parents, John was grounded for a week.
(6) He was also required to write a letter of apology to his coach.
Which two sentences in the paragraph help you define the word volatile?
A. 2 and 3 C. 4 and 6
B. 3 and 4 D. 1 and 6
Which of the following groups of words best defines the word volatile?
A. Moody and thoughtful C. Anxious and depressed
B. Temperamental and impulsive D. Bad-tempered and mea
Read the following paragraph. The sentences are numbered to help you answer
the question.
(1) Many historians consider Abraham Lincoln one of the great presidents of the United
States. (2) He led the nation through a great civil war and signed the Emancipation
Proclamation in 1863. (3) However, Lincoln’s critics point out that he freed the slaves only
in the states that had broken away from the Union. (4) Therefore, it’s clear that Lincoln
was more interested in hurting the South than in freeing the slaves.
Which sentence most clearly expresses opinion rather than fact?
A. 1 C. 3
B. 2 D. 4
You can use trick sentences or rhymes as mnemonic devices to recall information. For
example, you can recall this rhyme: “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” The rhyming
of “2” and “blue” should help you remember that Columbus arrived in the New World in 1492.
Or you can use the sentence “Every good boy does fine” to remember the notes of the
treble clef in music notation. Simply name the first letter of each word in the “nonsense
sentence” to remember E,G,B,D, and F—in that order.You can also recall information by
using acronyms. An acronym condenses information into an abbreviation expressed as
a set of capital letters. For example, WHO stands for the World Health Organization. To
recall the names of the Great Lakes, you can associate the names of the lakes with the
acronym HOMES to remember Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior.
Which of the following best expresses the main idea of this paragraph?
A. Mnemonic devices are silly sentences while acronyms are abbreviations.
B. You can use mnemonic devices to recall information.
C. Mnemonic devices are usually rhymes while acronyms require definitions.
D. Acronyms are easier to recall than mnemonic devices, but both are useful.
Lucas was a voracious reader, absorbing novels, biographies, and popular science books.
His standardized test scores were all quite high. He also got along fine with other kids
during recess, laughing and playing like a perfectly normal twelve-year-old. But when the
bell rang for class, his facial expression changed. An observer might have been reminded
of a prisoner returning to his cell. In class, Lucas was one of those kids who slouched at
his desk in the back of the room, gazing out a window or trying to find ways to allay his
boredom. To that end, he often drew pictures of spaceships. He also drew pictures of
dragons attacking spaceships. When truly inspired, he drew pictures of alien monsters
attacking dragons, thus allowing his spaceships to escape to distant galaxies. Indeed, the
inside of his desk was a dense clutter of these fanciful sketches. By late afternoon, too
drowsy for dragons, alien monsters, or spaceships, Lucas would gaze hopefully at the
white clock on the wall, willing the second hand to move faster, faster. Of course, it never
moved faster, and, inevitably, he would only become more and more impatient with the
painfully slow movement of the hour hand.
The main idea we can get from this paragraph is that
A. Lucas was obsessed with science fiction.
B. Lucas was irresponsible, but artistic.
C. Lucas was smart and creative, but bored with school.
D. Lucas was poorly adjusted and possibly mentally ill.
The word voracious, found in the first sentence of the paragraph, probably means
that Lucas
A. was a rapid reader. C. read a lot of science fiction.
B. read a lot of books. D. was a rapid but careless reader.
The word allay, as used in the paragraph, is best associated with
A. avoiding. C. despising.
B. preferring. D. detesting.
OMG! I’m all over this game;-)