PARAGRAPH COMPREHENSION EXAM QUESTIONS

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PARAGRAPH COMPREHENSION EXAM QUESTIONS

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Question 1: International Falls, Minnesota, a city on the U.S. and Canadian border, earned the legal right to call itself the "Icebox of the Nation" after battling the ski town of Fraser, Colorado, for the title. After learning that Fraser had been using the slogan, which their own town had claimed since 1948, International Falls officials headed for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and successfully obtained a registration certificate. The legal victory is about more than simple bragging rights. International Falls uses the icebox moniker to market itself as the country's best location for cold-weather testing projects.The passage implies that the "Icebox of the Nation" slogan

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brings both dollars and recognition to International Falls.Question 2: The trickster is a character in many folk tales who is considered clever, lascivious, gluttonous, vain, and deceptive. Most trickster tales are humorous, although some are not.Often, tricksters are underdogs who make up in brains what they lack in brawn. Usually any good that results from a trickster's actions is inadvertent.According to the paragraph, the trickster is always

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Cunning Question 3: After conquering his rivals, the king of the state of Qin established China's first empire in 221 BC and took the title of First Emperor, or Qin Shihuang. To centralize power, Qin Shihuang divided the country into provinces, administered by prudently selected ministers. To prevent dissent, he confiscated all weapons belonging to private citizens. He then moved thousands of nobles to the capital where he could keep them under observation. To unify the country, he standardized the Chinese script, weights and measures, and coinage. To avert

northern barbarian incursions, he used conscript laborers to construct the Great Wall.Moreover, in order to silence criticism, he executed scholars and burned most of the classic Chinese texts.Fearful of being assassinated, Qin Shihuang died while searching for the elixir of immortality, and his dynasty quickly disintegrated.The passage implies that the reign of Qin Shihuang was

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productive but tyrannical.Question 4: In response to concerns at many universities that professors spend too much time publishing and not enough time educating their students, some schools are establishing rules that set strict limits on the amount of material that a full-time professor may publish over a certain time period. This policy will come back to haunt these schools, because a professor's prestige within the larger academic community is often directly related to the significance of a professor's published work. As a result, many excellent, prospective candidates will opt not to accept full-time positions, which in turn may lead to a shortage of high-quality, full-time professors at those universities.Based on the passage, the author's main point is

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restrictions on publishing by professors will likely have a negative effect on universities.Question 5: One of a group of talented, and sometimes ruthless, entrepreneurs, Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish immigrant, worked his way up from modest beginnings to become one of the richest people in 19th century America. In 1873 he organized his own steel company in Pittsburg, and it soon dominated the industry. In 1901 he sold his holdings in the company for $480 million to banker J. P. Morgan. Carnegie believed that the wealthy are merely trustees of their money and are obligated to use their resources for the benefit of society. Convinced that the best way to improve the lives of others was to provide them with access to knowledge, Carnegie funded thousands of public libraries. By the time of his death in 1919, he had given away most of his fortune to support a variety of philanthropic causes.Which of the following phrases best characterizes the tone of this passage?

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admiring of Carnegie for donating a large part of his wealth Question 6: In 1885, Saint Paul, Minnesota, was one of the fastest growing urban centers in the United States and had become the nation's third largest city. Despite its popularity, a news reporter from New York called Saint Paul "another Siberia, unfit for human habitation in the winter." Determined to counter this impression of their city, community leaders created a winter festival to celebrate winter and show that its residents didn't hibernate during the cold winter months. The following year, the inaugural Saint Paul Winter Carnival included parades, skiing, a giant snow slide, snow and ice sculptures, and the main attraction of the event--an ice castle.Since that first year, there hasn't always been an ice castle because of the cost. But in 2004, an

ice castle was built that covered five acres and reached eight stories high. The locals like to think of the carnival as "The Coolest Celebration on Earth." The passage impli

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was created to influence public opinion.Question 7: Similar to how snow falls from above on a winter's day, marine snow falls from the ocean's sunlit surface waters to animals at the deepest depths of the world's oceans. Marine snow is composed of organic material, such as decaying plant and animal matter, and of inorganic material, such as sand and soot. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists have studied the composition of the marine "snowflakes" and found them to have high carbon content. Without the light necessary for organisms that use photosynthesis to produce their own food, the ocean's bottom-dwelling scavengers eagerly devour this carbon-rich material from above for their sustenance provided the flakes do not break apart or are not consumed by organisms at a shallower depth.Based on the passage, marine snow is a good source of food for creatures at or near the ocean's floor because these organisms

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Can only consume small particles of food Question 8: The two men wanted to do a musical version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet set in the gritty streets of New York City. In their rendition of the story, the conflict would be between two neighborhood gangs, rather than the families portrayed in Shakespeare's play.Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins had talked about it and worked on it since 1949, when Robbins first called Bernstein with the idea. Bernstein's musical, Candide, had interrupted the show's development in 1956, but the following year they finally saw their creation, West Side Story, open on Broadway in New York. West Side Story, beginning with the pre-New York opening in Washington, D.C., was a triumph, and went on to become a classic.According to the passage, which of the following best describes the creation of West Side Story from beginning to end?

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Robbins' phone call, Candide interruption, opening in Washington, D.C., opening in New York Question 9: After hearing reports on the dangers of mercury vapor from silver fillings, many people have decided to have these fillings replaced with a nonmetal material. While researchers note that mercury levels are slightly higher in people with silver fillings than in people without silver fillings, it would take at least 100 fillings to reach an unsafe level of mercury.The passage implies that people with normal numbers of silver fillings

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Are not at risk for mercury vapor

Question 10: Anne Bradstreet, considered one of the first poets to write English verse in the American colonies, was born in England in 1612 to a well-connected Puritan family. At a time when few women were formally educated, she had private tutors and access to an extensive library. At the age of eighteen, she and her husband, Simon Bradstreet, sailed to the New World to escape religious persecution. The journey was arduous, and life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony was difficult due to a lack of food and primitive living conditions. Over the years, Anne Bradstreet had eight children, contracted numerous illnesses, and survived a fire.Remarkably, she still found time to compose verse. In 1650, a collection of her poems was printed in England to popular acclaim. While there is no surviving portrait of Bradstreet and her grave is unmarked, she lives on through her lyrics..Which of the following phrases best characterizes the tone

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admiring of Anne Bradstreet's accomplishment