Reading Comprehension

Passage 1:  Samuel Morse

Samuel Morse is known as the inventor of Morse Code and one of the inventors of the telegraph. However, what is not as known is that he was originally a prominent painter. Morse studied electrical engineering in college at Yale, and then he proceeded to France to learn from famous artists of his day. He went on to paint several portraits and pictures that even today still are displayed in art galleries and museums. In 1825, Morse was in Washington, D.C., painting a portrait of the Marquis de Lafayette when tragedy occurred. Morse received a message from a messenger on horseback that had arrived to communicate to him that is wife was sick back their home in Connecticut. The critical message had taken several days to reach him from Connecticut. Morse immediately returned home as quickly as he could, but his wife had already perished by the time he arrived. From that moment, Morse gave up painting and dedicated his life to discovering methods to transmit messages over long distances in a quicker way.

Morse may not have invented the telegraph if:

One of the main themes of the passage is that:

A takeaway from the passage is that:

Which of the following is not a fact from the passage?

What can you infer may have been Morse's underlying assumption that caused him to invent the telegraph?

Passage 2:  The Wheel

The wheel has been used by humans since nearly the beginning of civilization and is considered one of the most important mechanical inventions of all time. Most primitive technologies since the invention of the wheel have been based on its principles, and since the industrial revolution, the wheel has been a basic element of nearly every machine constructed by humankind. No one knows the exact time and place of the invention of the wheel, but its beginnings can be seen across many ancient civilizations.

According to the passage, the wheel:

One of the main themes of the passage is that:

Per the passage, the wheel was invented:

The passage would advocate that:

By reading the passage, you can infer what about the civilization in which the the wheel was invented?

Passage 3:  Tectonic Plates

A recent research study suggests that thick crustal plugs and weakened mineral grains may explain a range of relatively speedy moves among tectonic plates around the world, from Hawaii to East Timor. Scientists have long believed that all tectonic plates were pulled by subducting slabs, which results from the cold, top layer of the Earth's rocky surface becoming heavy and eventually sinking into the deeper mantle. However, this does not account for sudden plate shifts. Such abrupt movement requires that slabs detach from their plates, but doing this quickly is difficult since the slabs should be too cold and stiff to detach.

According to the study, there are other supplemental factors contributing to this. Thick crust from continents or oceanic plateau is swept into the subduction zone, plugging it up and prompting the slab to break off. The detachment process is then accelerated when mineral grains in the necking slab start to shrink, causing the slab to weaken rapidly. The result is tectonic plates that abruptly shift horizontally, or continents suddenly bobbing up.

Scientists are experiencing a philosophical shift in how they view:

Which of the following does the passage list for the acceleration of moves of tectonic plates around the world?

Which of the following captures the overall meaning of the passage?

Which of the following statements from the passage are true?

After reading this passage, which of the following statements is most likely false?

Passage 4:  iPhone

In November 2007, Time Magazine named the Apple iPhone its invention of the year. The slender, 4.8-ounce device, originally available in a 4GB, $499 model and an 8GB, $599 model was a vast hit with consumers. The iPhone went on sale in parts of Europe in late 2007 and in parts of Asia in 2008. In July 2008, Apple launched its online App Store, enabling people to download software applications that let owners use their iPhones for games, social networking, travel planning and an ever-growing list of other activities. Apple went on to regularly incorporate new technologies and features into their handsets including a 2011 release of the iPhone 4S which featured Siri, a new digital assistant which attempted to interpret natural human speech.

We can reasonably conclude from the information in the passage that:

The passage implies:

An inaccurate takeaway from the passage could be:

From the passage, we can infer that the App Store:

Which of these statements is not true:

Passage 5:  Amelia Earhart

In the modern era, one of the most intriguing mysteries has been the disappearance of airplanes in flight. Of these tragic instances, the most well-known and documented was the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. In 1937, on the second last stage of her historic flight around the world, she had radioed her position as she and her navigator searched desperately for their destination, a tiny island in the Pacific named Howland Island. Unfortunately, the plane never landed on this island. Many questions arose after this disappearance. Did the plane crash and sink after running out of fuel? Did Earhart have enough fuel to set down on some other island on her radioed course? Or did she end up somewhere else entirely?

There are many theories as to her disappearance. Decades after she vanished, many are continuing to search for her remains and research new possibilities as she was the best-known American woman pilot in the world. Over history, there are two main theories that have developed about Amelia Earhart’s fate. There were reports of distress calls from the Phoenix Islands made on Earhart’s radio frequency for days after she vanished. Theorist say the plane could have broadcast only if it were on land, not in the water. However, many have dismissed these claims of the radio frequencies. Prominent Earhart researcher, Elgen Long, claims that Earhart’s airplane ran out of gas within fifty-two miles of the island and is sitting somewhere in a 6,000-square-mile area, at a depth of 17,000 feet. Regardless, to this day, the mystery of this famous American pilot has not been solved.

The passage implies:

One of the main themes of the passage is that:

Which of the following in the passage could be assumed?

According to the passage:

Which of the following is a logical follow-up question to the narrative above?