reading comprehension curriculum

It is exceedingly difficult to make people realize that an evil is an evil. For instance, we seize a man and deliberately do him a malicious injury: say, imprison him for years. One would not suppose that it needed any exceptional clearness of wit to recognize in this an act of diabolical cruelty. But in England such recognition provokes a share of surprise, followed by an explanation that the outrage is punishment or justice or something else that is all right or perhaps by a heated attempt to argue that we should all be robbed and murdered in our beds if such senseless villainies as sentences of imprisonment were not committed daily. It is useless to argue that even if this were true, which it is not, the alternative to adding crimes of our own to the crimes from which we suffer is not helpless submission.

Chickenpox is an evil; but if I were to declare that we must either submit to it or else repress it by seizing everyone who suffers from it and  punishing them by inoculation with smallpox, I should be laughed at; for though nobody could deny that the result would be to prevent chickenpox to some extent by making people avoid it much more carefully and to effect a further apparent prevention by making them conceal it very anxiously, yet people would have sense enough to see that the deliberate propagation of smallpox was  creation of evil, and must therefore be ruled out in favour  of purely humane and hygienic measures . Yet in the precisely parallel case of a man breaking into my house and stealing my diamonds I am expected as matter of courses to steal ten years of his life. If he tries to defeat that monstrous retaliation by shooting me, my survivors hang him. The net result suggested by the police statistics is that we inflict atrocious injuries on the burglars we catch in order to make the rest take effectual precautions against detection; so that instead of saving our diamonds from burglary we only greatly decrease our chances of ever getting them back, and increase our chances of being shot by the robber.

But the thoughtless wickedness with which we scatter sentences of imprisonment is as nothing compared to the stupid levity with which we tolerate poverty as if it were either a wholesome tonic for lazy people or else a virtue to be embraced as St. Francis embraced it. If a man is indolent. Let him be poor. If he is addicted to the fine arts or to pure science instead of to trade and finance, let him be poor. If he chooses to spend his wages on his beer and his family instead of saving it up for his old age, let him be poor. Let nothing be done for “the undeserving”. Let be poor. Serve him right! Also somewhat inconsistency- blessed is the poor!

17.   The passage is must probably intended to

A.      Serve as an introduction to a more detailed discussion of poverty

B.      Censure imprisonment as a punitive measure

C.      Analyze the possible repercussions of social evils

D.      Continue a prior discussion of strong measures against social evils

18.   It can be inferred from the passage that the author would agree with all the following except

A.      Most people don’t realize that by punishing offenders they are surrendering themselves to the vicious cycle of crime and punishment.

B.      Sentences of imprisonment have little success in reducing the crime rate in society.

C.      It would be ridiculous to inoculate people suffering from chicken pox with small pox.

D.      If criminals were not strongly punished for their misdeeds there would be no law and other order in society.

19.   The author’s argument about imprisonment would be most weakened by showing that

A.      Imprisonment is not widely regarded as an of cruelty

B.      Chicken pox and burglary are not analogous evils.

C.       Imprisonment does not cause malicious injury

D.      Sentences of imprisonment are given increasingly rarely

20.   The author apparently believes that people  at the time he wrote the passage were

A.      Inclined to consider poverty a social evil

B.      Anxious to take the right steps to ensure an orderly society

C.      Too ready to judge  other people unfairly

D.      Inconsistent in their attitude to poverty

 Answer:

reading comprehension questions for kindergarten 2025

Punctuated equilibrium is a much-used metaphor in the new economics. In nature it occurs when periods of relative calm and stability are interrupted by violent, stormy interludes. These often result in a dramatic restructuring and change – even, periodically, in the destruction and replacement of plant or animal species. Stephen Jay Gould, the writer of popular paleontological history has illustrated from his studies of fossils how evolution came about largely through such big, traumatic events, rather than by the Darwinian interpretation of gradual incremental adaptation.

What such traumatic events do is move the patterns of growth closer to the ‘edge of chaos,’ a term originally coined to describe the areana in nature where revitalization takes place, caught between equilibrium and chaos. Hurricanes, typhoons and catastrophic forest fires are simple examples of traumatic events that operate on the edge of chaos; violent weather changes disturb the oceans and the atmosphere, cleaning and replenishing them with oxygen, carbon dioxide and other nutrients as well as clearing out dead or insecure plant life. “Major environmental disturbances such as asteroid impacts or radical shifts in weather can trigger the proliferation new species and accelerated adaptation within species,’ writes pascale in his latest book. Surfing the Edge of Chaos, based on his Santa Fe work. Fires as ecologists find that a stretch of prairie or savannah is essential for the regeneration of biodiversity. Some plants typical of the habitat are simply doing not reappear in the controlled re-growth, and the reason has proved to be the absence of fire.

Relating these findings to business activities offers some obvious parallels: booms and busts in the stock market, or massive technology shifts that put old- economy models under severe strain and soon break them and reinvent them, or render them obsolete. Not surprisingly, the edge of chaos has become a phrase beloved of the business guru industry; though it is often just another way of describing the forces that periodically unnerve old, complacent industries. Not long ago, market hurricanes in the shape of ‘category killer’ entrants such as Wal- Mart and Toys ‘‘r’ us sent traditional retailers into a tailspin from which many had barely started to recover before they were hit again by the Force 12 arrival of e-commerce. Apple’s personal computer was a business earthquake that erupted under the mighty market leader IBM, forcing radical change in an organization that had been accustomed to decades of dominant equilibrium.

Every standard text on change advocates radical, in the sense of root- and- branch, treatment, rather than allowing resistance to build and undermine the process. Niccolo Machiavelli, the Renaissance master of manipulative diplomacy, understood this when he advised the new rulers of a captured state to take the most difficult, ruthless decisions first.

Historically, says Eric Beinhocker, ‘the equilibrium view of strategy has focused on how to be a good competitor, not a good evolver. There are tensions and trade-offs between the two. Yet the most successful companies do not simply strike a middle ground, but manage to excel at competing and evolving simultaneously, despite the tensions. Among the essentials of successful evolution is what Beinhocker describes as ‘being both focused and robust’, or in another academic paper, as populations of robust strategies’.

This phrase relates to nature’s tendency to foster a flock of alternative survival plans in order to test the fittest for any future environment. In business terms, the Californian venture capital enterprise idealab does is by backing does it by backing hosts of potential start-ups. It can tolerate those that fail to make the grade because it is more than compensated by the few that make it big. Capital One, the credit card- issuing virtual bank, follows a similar strategy in ties scatter-gun marketing, offering low entry borrowing terms to huge numbers of people, only a fraction of whom will prove profitable customers for the bank. Bill Gates flummoxed both customers and competitors by simultaneously investing in Windows and in its principal rival technologies, but he was effectively hedging his bets by fostering a population of alternative strategies.

Robust strategies, says Beinhocker, differ from scenario analysis because they do not attempt to identify the most or least likely future. Instead to quote Francis Crick, the co-discoverer of DNA, they accept that ‘evolution is cleverer than you are. in effect, the concept ‘ makes a  company more like a market, with a population of strategies that cover a broad array of possibilities and evolve over time, some success ding and some failing.’

                               19.  Which of the following is not an example of the concept of “edge of chaos” as discussed above?

A.      Hurricane

B.      Typhoon

C.      Cyclone

D.      Forest fire

A.      C  and B

B.      D only

C.      C   and D

D.      B   only

20. It can be made out from the article that it must have been a part of

A.      A book on evolutionary biology

B.      An interdisciplinary study on business and biology

C.      A  research paper on evolution

D.      A book on business change

               

Answer:

19.    C please refer to the 2^nd paragraph

20.   D    overall, the author talks of business change by using principles derived from other areas of knowledge.

reading comprehension course

PASSAGE D

An ear of corn on a corn plant is protected by a husk, and at the end of the ear, emerging form the husk, you can see a bunch of silk-like threads. What is the purpose of these threads? Well, each thread is attached to a kernel of corn inside the husk, and each kernel of corn, if it is fertilized by pollen, can become a seed that can grow into a new corn plant. How does pollen reach the kernel? It travels through the silk- like thread, which is a hollow tube.

1.       This story is mainly about=

1.       Threads

2.       New corm plants

3.       The purpose of corn’s silk like threads.

4.       Kernels of corn.

2.        The part of corn that we eat is –

1.       Silk-like threads.

2.       Kernels.

3.       New corn plants

4.       Husks.

                3.       Pollen makes it possible for kernels to become

           1.       Silk-like threads.   2. Seeds    3. Husks.    4. A hollow tube.

               4.       Pollen travels in _

1.       A kernel.

2.       The ear of com.

3.       A hollow tube.

4.       The covering of the ear.

Answer:

reading comprehension esl

PASSAGE D

 Greyhound racing is the sixth most popular spectator sport in the United States. Over the last decade, a growing number of racers have been adopted to spend their retirement as household pets, once their racing careers are over. Many people hesitate to adopt a retired racing greyhound because they think only very old-dogs are available. Actually even chamion racers only work until they are about three- and a half years old. Because greyhounds usually live to be 12 to 15 years old, their retirement is much longer and active than other breeds and will need a large space to run. These are false impression. Greyhounds have naturally sweet, mild dispositions, and while they love to run they are sprinters rather than distance runners and are sufficiently exercised with a few daily laps around a fenced –in- backyard. Greyhounds do not make good watchdogs, but they are very good with children get along well with other dogs (and usually cats as well) , and are affectionate and loyal. They are intelligent, well- behaved dogs, usually housebroken in only a few days. A retried racing greyhound is wonderful pet for almost anyone.

                  20.   Based on the tone of the passage the author’s main purpose is to

A.      Teach prospective owners how to transform their racing greyhound into a good pet.

B.      Show how the greyhound’s nature makes it equally good as racer and pet.

C.      Encourage people to adopt retired racing greyhounds.

D.      Objectively present the pros and cons of adopting a racing greyhound

                21.    According to the passage, adopting a grey hound is a good idea for people who

A.      Do not have children

B.      Live in apartments

C.      Do not usually like dogs.

D.      Already have another dog or a cat.

22. Which of the following is implied by the passage?

A.      The public is more aware of greyhounds than they used to be.

B.      Greyhounds are more competitive than the other dogs.

C.      Greyhound racing should not be allowed.

D.      People who own pet rabbits should not adopt greyhounds.

                23.  One drawback of adopting a greyhound is that

A.      Greyhounds are not good with children

B.      Greyhounds are old when they retire from racing.

C.      The greyhound’s sensitivity makes it temperamental.

D.      Greyhounds are not good watch dogs.

24.   This passage is most like an advertisement because it

A.      Uses statistics to prove its point.

B.      Does not present information to substantiate its claims

C.      Says nothing negative about greyhounds.

D.      Encourages people to do something.

                25.   According to the passage, a retired racing grey hound available for adoption will most likely be

A.      Happy to be retiring.

B.      Easily housebroken.

C.      A champion, or else it would have been euthanized.

D.      A good company for all at home.

Answer:

2025 reading comprehension test free

Most large corporations in the United State were once run by individual capitalists who owned enough stock to dominate the board of directors and dictate company policy. Because putting such large amounts of stock on the market would only depress its value, they could not sell out for a quick profit and instead had to concentrate on improving the long –term productivity of their companies. Today, with few exceptions, the stock of large United States corporations is held by large institutions – pension funds, for example – and because these institutions are prohibited by antitrust laws from owning a majority of a company’s stock and form actively influencing a company’s decision-making, they can enhance their wealth only by buying and selling stock in anticipation of fluctuations in its value . A minority shareholder is necessarily a short term trader. As a result, United States productivity is unlikely to improve unless shareholders and the managers of the companies in which they invest are encouraged to enhance long-term productivity (and hence long-term profitability), rather than simply to maximize short –term profits.

Since the return of the old- style capitalist is unlikely, today’s short –term traders must be remade into tomorrow’s long-term capitalistic investors. The legal limits that now prevent financial instructions’ from acquiring a dominant shareholding position in a corporation should be removed and such institutions encouraged to take a more active role in the operations of the companies in which they invest. In addition, any institution that holds 20 percent or more of a company’s stock should be forced to give the public one day’s notice of the intent to sell those shares. Unless the announced sale could be explained to the public on grounds other than anticipated future losses, the value of the stock would plummet and, like the old- time capitalists, major investors could cut their losses only by helping to restore their companies’ productivity. Such measures would force financial institutions to become capitalists whose success depends not on trading shares at the propitious moment, but on increasing the productivity of the companies in which they invest.

             19. In the passage, the author is primarily concerned with doing which of the following?

A.       comparing two different approaches to a problem

B.      Describing a problem and proposing a solution

C.      Defending as established  method

D.      Presenting data and drawing conclusions from the data

                20. It can be inferred from the passage hat which of the following is true of majority shareholders in a corporation?

A.      They make the corporation’s operational management decisions.

B.      They are not allowed to own more than 50 percent of the corporation’s stock.

C.      They cannot make quick profits by selling off large amounts of their stock in the corporation

D.      They are more interested in profits than in productivity.

                  21. According to the passage, the purpose of the requirement suggested would be which of the following?

A.       To encourage institutional stockholders to sell stock that they believe will decrease in value.

B.      To discourage institutional stockholders from intervening in the operation of a company whose stock they own

C.      To discourage short- term profit taking by institutional stockholders

D.      To encourage a company’s employees to take an active role I the ownership of stock in the company.

Answer:

reading comprehension elementary 2025

             22. The author suggests that which of the following is a true statement about people who typify the “old –style capitalist”?

A.      They now rely on outdated management techniques.

B.      They seldom engaged in short term trading of the stock they owned.

C.      They did not influence the investment policies of the corporations in which they invested.

D.      They now play a very small role in the stock market as a result of antitrust legislation.

 

             23.  It can be inferred that the author makes which of the following assumptions about the businesses once controlled by individual capitalists?

A.      These businesses were less profitable that are businesses today.

B.      Improving long-term productivity led to increased profits.

C.      Each business had only a few stockholders.

D.      There was no short- term trading in the stock of these businesses.

            24. The author suggests that the role of large institutions as stockholders differs from that of the “old –style” capitalist “in part because large institutions.

A.      Invest in the stock of so many companies that they cannot focus attention on the affairs of any single corporation

B.      Are prohibited by law form owning a majority  of a corporation’s stock

C.      Are influenced by brokers who advise against long- term ownership of stocks

D.      Are able to put large amounts of stock on the market without depressing the stock’s values

            25. The primary function of the second paragraph of the passage is to

A.      Identify problems

B.      Warm of consequences

C.      Explain effects

D.      Recommend actions

Answer: 

Reading Comprehension Home Exercise – 01, PASSAGE D

PASSAGE D

 

19.       The author states that the research described in the first paragraph was undertaken in order to

A.      Determine the age of an actual meteor stream

B.      Identify the various structural features of meteor streams

C.      Explore the nature of a particularly interesting meteor stream

D.      Test the hypothesis that meteor streams become broader as they age

20.        It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following would most probably be observed during the Earth’s passage through a meteor stream if the conventional theories were correct?

A.      Meteor activity would gradually increase to a single, intense peak, and then gradually decline.

B.      Meteor activity would be steady throughout the period of the meteor shower.

C.      Meteor activity would rise to a peak at the beginning and at the end of the meteor shower.

D.      Random bursts of very high meteor activity would be interspersed with periods of very little activity.

21.       According to the passage, why do the dust particles in a meteor stream eventually surround a comet’s original orbit?

A.      They are ejected by the comet at differing velocities.

B.      Their orbits are uncontrolled by planetary gravitational fields.

C.      They become part of the meteor at different times.

D.      Their velocity slows over time.

22.       The passage suggests that which of the following is a prediction concerning meteor streams that can be derived from both the conventional theories and the new computer – derived theory?

A.      Dust particles in a meteor stream will usually be distributed evenly throughout any cross section of the stream.

B.      The orbits of most meteor streams should cross the orbit of the Earth at some point and give rise to a meteor shower.

C.      Over time the distribution of dust in a meteor stream will usually become denser at the outside edges of the stream than at the centre.

D.      Meteor showers caused by older meteor streams should be, on average longer in duration than those caused by very young meteor streams.

23.       It can be inferred from the last paragraph of the passage that which of the following must be true of the Earth as it orbits the Sun?

A.      Most meteor streams it encounters are more than 2,000 years old.

B.      When passing through a meteor stream, it usually passes near to the stream’s centre.

C.      It crosses the Geminid meteor stream once every year.

D.      It usually takes over a day to cross the actual Geminid meteor stream.

24.       Which of the following is an assumption underlying the last sentence of the passage?

A.      In each of the years between 1970 and 1979, the Earth took exactly 19 hours to cross the Geminid meteor stream.

B.      The comet associated with the Geminid meteor stream has totally disintegrated.

C.      The Geminid meteor stream should continue to exist for at least 5, 000 years.

D.      The computer-model Geminid meteor stream provides an accurate representation of the development of the actual Geminid stream.

Answers and Explanations

Reading Comprehension Home Exercise – 01, PASSAGE D

A meteor stream is composed of dust particles that have been ejected from a parent comet at a variety of velocities. These particles follow the same orbit as the parent comet; butt due to their differing velocities they slowly gain on or fall behind the disintegrating comet until a shroud of dust surrounds the entire cometary orbit. Astronomers have hypothesized that a meteor stream should broaden with time as the dust particles’ individual orbits are perturbed by planetary gravitational fields. A recent computer –modeling experiment tested this hypothesis by tracking the influence of planetary gravitation over a projected 5000 –ear- period on the positions of a group of hypothetical dust particles. In the model, the particles were randomly distributed throughout a computer simulation of the orbit of an actual meteor stream, the Geminid. The researcher found, as expected, that the computer – model stream broadened with time. Conventional theories, however, predicated that his distribution of particles would be increasingly dense toward the centre of a meteor stream. Surprisingly the computer-model meteor stream gradually came to resemble a thick walled hollow pipe.

Whenever the Earth passes through a meteor stream, a meteor shower occurs. Moving at a little over 1,500.000 miles per day around its orbit, the Earth would take, on average, just over a day to cross the hollow, computer –model Geminid stream if the stream were 5,000 years old. Two brief periods of peak meteor activity during the shower would be observed, one as the Earth entered the thick-walled “ pipe” and one as it exited. There is no reason why the Earth should always pass- through the stream’s exact centre, so the time interval between the two bursts of activity would vary from one year to the next.

Has the predicted twin-peaked activity been observed for the actual yearly Geminid meteor shower? The Geminid data between 1970 and 1979 show just such a bifurcation a secondary burst of meteor activity being clearly visible at an average of 19 hours (1,200,000 miles) after the first burst. The time intervals between the bursts suggest the actual Geminid stream is about 3, 000 years old.

17.       The primary focus of the passage is on which of the following?

A.      Comparing two scientific theories and contrasting the predictions that each would make concerning a natural phenomenon

B.      Describing a new theoretical model and noting that it explains the nature of observations made of  particular natural phenomenon

C.      Evaluating the results of a particular scientific experiment and suggesting further areas for research

D.      Explaining how two different natural phenomena are related and demonstrating a way to measure them.

18.        According to the passage, which of the following is an accurate statement concerning meteor streams?

A.      Meteor streams and comets start out with similar orbits, but only those of meteor streams are perturbed by planetary gravitation.

B.      Meteor streams grow as dust particles are attracted by the gravitations fields of comets.

C.      Meteor streams are composed of dust particles derived from comets.

D.      Comets may be composed of several kinds of materials, while meteor streams consist only of large dust particles.

Answers and Explanations