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:

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             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: 

2025 reading comprehension hesi a2 practice test

PASSAGE C

                 
 16. The grimmest aspect of all uncivil wars is the

                         A. monumental task involved in bulling civic structures and organization.

                          B. colossal destruction they leave behind.

                          C. difficulty involved in social pacification.

                          D. irreparable ecological damage they cause.

                  17. In the passage, the author has primarily

                            A. questioned the basis of a democratic ethic of violence.

                            B. admonished the US for indulging and encouraging military intervention to settle local conflicts.

                           C. condemned the use of violence to prevent or reduce violence in the world.

                           D. discussed the causes and effects of uncivil wars.

                18. the most demanding of the reconstruction process is the

                         A. Building civic structures.

                         B. restoration of the economy.

                        C. formation of armies.

                        D. growth of civility.

Answer: 

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PASSAGE C

Is it ever justified to use violence to prevent or to reduce violence? Are there circumstances in which the creation, or defense, of democracy should be attempted by violent means? More generally, is it plausible to speak of a democratic ethic of violence?

Such questions are back on the political agenda, in no small measure because even though all wars are nasty, some wars- uncivil wars like those in southern Sudan and Chechnya, Liberia and the Lebanon- have proved to be nastier than most. Marked by reckless and random killing without either mercy or Ruth, they produce a trail of destructive effects that ripple through the wider world. Uncivil wars show just how easily collective strife can erupt in otherwise peaceful and vibrant societies with an impressive history of viable pluralism and how this strife can degenerate into a random and reckless violence that has a logic all of its own. And, the darkest point of all, uncivil wars show how difficult it is to define and master the arts of social pacification and democracy- building. Once the unrestricted killing of anybody who can be harmed and killed has broken out.

If uncivil wars were confined to specific zones of the earth, always from the hubs ad spokes of the globalizing world as we know, it they would be of marginal interest to most people. But uncivil wars are not like that. They are not easily contained within geographic bounds. Uncivil wars are hunting and training grounds for gun-runners, mercenaries, profiteers and terrorists who operate on a global scale. Refugees stream from their infected battle zones, businesses disinvest from their wrecked economies; other non-governmental organizations are also forced to escape their clutches.  Represented to global audiences by news media 24 hours a day, all these effects help to explain why only the blind or callous, or foolish still regard them as far-away conflicts in far-away lands, and why military humanitarian ‘ intervention and hence post-war reconstruction have become chronic global problems of our time.

Intervention and post-war reconstruction are also now among the top items of the global political agenda, thanks to the latest fashions in military strategy. For the time being, the dominant pattern of foreign intervention has been set. Those carried out by American forces in Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan and Kosovo resemble hit-and-run affairs. Like metal hammer that pounds a wooden stake into the earth, their aim is to beat the enemy into submission, in the expectation that the earthly elements of time will dissolve the animosity that originally nurtured the local conflict. Such intervention bears a strange resemblance to nomads’ strikes against their adversaries. Armed to  the teeth, the attackers travel light, they rely on their ability to swoop down on their victims, using weapons like stealth bombers and cruise missiles- the contemporary equivalent of nineteenth century gunboats – to inflict the maximum harms, then to retreat, all the while supposing that the violated will not or cannot retaliate.

Measured in farms of the power to build democratic institutions and peaceful ways of life, this American – style or Washington backed strategy of quick intervention is deeply flawed. With the outbreak of ‘peace’ US troops in Baghdad found themselves forced to conduct high- alert patrols through the streets dressed in full combat gear, pistols in hand. Every short-term occupier was potentially a target, including the young American military officers- in the absence of broad global support for the invasion – Which had been left to organize schools, purity drinking water, repair power plants and pick up the rubbish, often without knowing what they were doing. On democratic grounds, American –style military intervention is also easy to shame. The disproportion between military casualties and the violence heaped upon civilians is staggering. So high are the levels of protection of the invading armies that their violence is felt by observers and victims alike to have a terrorist quality about it.

There is another difficulty; the power to force others into submission does not translate spontaneously into the power of the survivors to form stable democratic governments and law-enforced civil societies. The psychic traumas, damaged tissues of sociability and ecological and infrastructural damage inflicted by both the war of intervention and all the senseless sanctification of cruelty that came before it are left untreated. In some quarters of the victors’ camp, nobody gives a damn about that; when the job is done, the vanquished are tacitly written off (as Kipling once put it) as ‘lesser breeds without the Law.’ From the standpoint of the survivors on the ground, however, things look rather different. In the aftermath of uncivil war and outside military intervention, it is as if the worldly power to act stops flowing through people’s veins. The content of their worlds disintegrates. People feel numbed. They suffer muted anguish and pain. Reckless, indiscriminate killing saps people’s trust in themselves and others; it mutilates their capacity for self- organization ; t frustrates their ability to make short term decisions and long- term plans through households, partnerships, neighborhoods and other social associations and networks.

Efforts to build or re-build civil society out of the ruins of war start from this point, so also do the difficulties. The crafting of peaceful social relations is undoubtedly an essential antidote to the ruins left behind by uncivil war. Yet talk of the need for a civil society is no all- purpose magic wand. New constitutions and some rudiments of government can be created within a few months. Standing armies take longer to form, perhaps two or three years, but not quite as long as viable market institutions, which take at least a decade. The most arduous civil society institution, like professional associations, trade unions, neighboourhood organizations and self- help and civil liberties networks- none of which resemble naturally occurring substances. 

The delicate resource called civility cannot be agreed and written by means of round- table meetings, constitutional conventions, truth commissions or covenants (like the 1989 Tariff Accord that is credited with marking the rebirth of the Lebanese republic). Civility can neither be planned not legislated from above, nor produced though rational agreement and public controversy. Nor can it be produced like pizzas and fast foods, or like automobiles or microchips, on assembly lines. It takes time to grow.

                 13. The author’s tone in the sentence, “with the outbreak of ‘ peace’ ….. pistols in hands”, can be best described as

                        A. sarcastic.

                        B. Ironic.

                        C. supercilious.

                        D. cynical.

                  14. According to the passage, American-style interventions seem like terrorist acts due to the

                          A. large –scale loss of civilian lives and property.

                          B. brutal use of deadly weapons.

                          C.    Enormous protection that the forces enjoy even as they attack unarmed civilians.

                          D. fear psychosis that they cause.

                  15. In the statement, “ in some quarters of the victors’ camp, nobody gives a damn about that, “ what does “that’ stand for?

                          A. Psychic traumas that people suffer.

                         B.  Infrastructural and environmental damage.

                        C. healing the psychological wounds suffered by the victims.

                         D.  The restoration process.

                    

Answer:

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 Reading Comprehension Home Exercise- 03, 

PASSAGE B

4.       The passage’s description of the issue raised by unconditional guarantees for health care or legal services most clearly implies that which of the following is true?

A.      The legal and medical professions have standards of practice that would be violated by attempts to fulfill such unconditional guarantees.

B.      The result of a lawsuit or medical procedure cannot necessarily be determined in advance by the   professionals handing a client’s case.

C.      The dignity of the legal and medical professions is undermined by any attempts at marketing or professional services, including unconditional guarantees.

D.      Clients whose lawsuits or medical procedures have unsatisfactory outcomes cannot be adequate compensated by financial settlement alone.

5.       Which of the following hypothetical situations best exemplifies the potential problem noted in the second sentence of the second paragraph?

A.      A physician’s unconditional guarantee of satisfaction encourages patients to sue for malpractice if they are unhappy with the treatment they receive.

B.      A lawyer’s unconditional guarantee of satisfaction makes clients suspect that the lawyer needs to find new clients quickly to increase the firm’s income.

C.      A business consultant’s unconditional guarantee of satisfaction is undermined when the consultant fails to provide all of the services that are promised.

D.      An architect’s unconditional guarantee of satisfaction makes clients wonder how often the architect’s buildings fail to please clients.

6.       The passage most clearly implies which of the following about the professional service firms.

A.      They are unlikely to have offered unconditional guarantees of satisfaction in the past.

B.      They are usually profitable enough to be able to compensate clients according to the terms of an unconditional guarantee.

C.      They usually practice in fields in which the outcomes are predictable.

D.      Their clients are usually already satisfied with the quality of service that is delivered.

 answer:

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PASSAGE B

 Seeking a competitive advantage, some professional service firms (for example. Films providing advertising, accounting or health care services) have considered offering unconditional guarantees of satisfaction. Such guarantees specify what clients can expect and what the firm will do it fails to fulfill these expectations. Particularly with first-time clients, an unconditional guarantee can be an effective marking tool if the client is very cautious, the firm’s fees are high, the negative consequences of bad service are grave, or business is difficult to obtain through referrals and word-of –mouth.

However, an unconditional guarantee can sometimes hinder marketing efforts. With its implication that failure is possible, the guarantee may, paradoxically, cause clients to doubt the service firm’s ability to deliver the promised level of service. It may conflict with a firm’s desire to appear sophisticated, or may even suggest that a film is begging for business. In legal and health care services, it may mislead clients by suggesting that lawsuits or medical procedures will have guaranteed outcomes. Indeed, professional service firms with outstanding reputations and performance to match have little to gain from offering unconditional guarantees. And any firm that implements an unconditional guarantee without undertaking a commensurate commitment to quality of service is merely employing a potentially costly marketing gimmick.

1.       The primary function of the passage as a whole is to

A.      Account for the popularity of a practice

B.      Evaluate the utility of a practice

C.      Demonstrate how to institute a practice

D.      Weigh the ethics of using a strategy

2.       All of the following are mentioned in the passage as circumstances in which professional service firms can benefit  from offering an unconditional guarantee EXCEPT:

A.      The firm is having difficulty retaining its clients of long standing.

B.      The firm is having difficulty getting business through client recommendations.

C.      The firm charges substantial fees for its services.

D.      The adverse effects of poor performance by the firm are significant for the client.

3.       Which of the following is cited in the passage as a goal of some professional service firms in offering unconditional guarantees of satisfaction?

A.      A limit on the firm’s liability

B.      Successful competition against other firms

C.      Ability to justify fee increases

D.      Attainment of an outstanding reputation  in a field

Answer:

reading comprehension multiple choice

PASSAGE A

1.       “… to be sure, this generally happens when one eats cake, but Alice had got so much into the way of expecting nothing but out- of- the- way things to happen, that it seemed quite dull stupid for life to go on in the common way.” This statement closest in meaning to this sentence is

A.      Alice’s life was going to change after eating the cake.

B.      Alice’s life was dull and stupid.

C.      Alice expected the cake to work magic, because she had become used to expecting the unexpected, and disliked normal results.

D.      Alice wanted the cake to work magic because her life was dull and stupid

2.       “And she tried to fancy what the flame of a candle is like after the candle is blown out, for she could not remember ever having seen such a thing.” The word “fancy’ here means.

A.      Elaborate

B.      Like

C.      Imagine

D.      Inclination

3.       “Come, there’s no use in crying like that!’ said Alice to herself, rather sharply, ‘I advise you to leave off this minute!” Choose the most appropriate way of putting this sentence.

A.      Alice admonished herself.

B.      Alice denounced herself.

C.      Alice decried herself.

D.      Alice felicitated herself.

Answer:

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PASSAGE A

“What a curious feeling!” said Alice, “I must be shutting up like a telescope, “ And so it was indeed: she was now only ten inches high, and her face brightened up at the thought that she was now the right size for going through the little door into that lovely garden. First, however, she waited for a few minutes to see if she was going to shrink any further: she felt a little nervous about this: “for might end, you know, “said Alice to herself, “in my going out altogether, like a candle is like after the candle is blown out, for she could not remember ever having seen such a thing.

After a while, finding that nothing more happened, she decided on going into the garden at once: but alas for poor Alice”  When she got to the door, she found she had for gotten the little golden key, and when she went back to the table for it, she found she could not possibly reach it: she could see it quite plainly trough the glass, and she tried her best to climb up one of the legs of the table, but it was too slippery; and when she had tired herself out with trying , the poor little thing sat down and cried.

“Come, there’s no use in crying like that!” said Alice to herself, rather sharply, “I advise you to leave off this minute!” She generally gave herself very good advice (though she very seldom followed it) and sometimes she scolded herself so severely as to bring tears into her eyes; and once she remembered trying to box her own ears for having cheated herself in a game of croquet she was playing against herself, for this curious child was very fond of pretending to be two people. “But it‘s no use now, “though poor Alice, “to pretend to be two people! Why, there am hardly enough of me left to make ONE respectable person!”

Soon her eye fell on a little glass box that was lying under the table:  she opened it, and found in it a very small cake, on which the words “EAT ME” were beautifully marked in currants. “Well, I’ll eat it, “said Alice, “and if it makes me grow larger, I can reach the key; and if it makes me grow smaller, I can creep under the door: so either way I’ll get into the garden, and I don’t care which happens!”

She ate a little bit, and said anxiously to herself, “Which way? Which way? “ holding her hand on the top of her head to feel which way it was growing and she was quite surprised to find that she remained the same size: to be sure, this generally happens when one eats cake, but Alice had got so much into the way of expecting nothing but out –of-the –way things to happen, that it seemed quite dull and stupid for life to go on in the common way.

So she set to work, and very soon finished off the cake.

1.       On the basis of the passage, which of these words do you think most appropriately describes lice?

A.      adventurous

B.      timid

C.      enterprising

D.      optimistic

2.       Which of these statements best sums up the passage?

A.      One should not try everything that looks inviting.

B.      One should be adventurous and take life as it comes.

C.      One should never stop trying.

D.      One should pretend to be two people.

3.       “What a curious feeling!” said Alice, “I must be shutting up like a telescope?” The word curious here means.

A.      Strange

B.      New

C.      Exhilarating

D.      Dull

Answer: