Reading Comprehension Practice Test

Questions 1 through 7 refer to the following passage:

In the 16th century, an age of great marine and terrestrial exploration, Ferdinand Magellan led
the first expedition to sail around the world. As a young Portuguese noble, he served the king
of Portugal, but he became involved in the quagmire of political intrigue at court and lost the
king's favor. After he was dismissed from service by the king of Portugal, he offered to serve
the future Emperor Charles V of Spain.

A papal decree of 1493 had assigned all land in the New World west of 50 degrees W
longitude to Spain and all the land east of that line to Portugal. Magellan offered to prove that
the East Indies fell under Spanish authority. On September 20, 1519, Magellan set sail from
Spain with five ships. More than a year later, one of these ships was exploring the topography
of South America in search of a water route across the continent. This ship sank, but the
remaining four ships searched along the southern peninsula of South America. Finally they
found the passage they sought near 50 degrees S latitude. Magellan named this passage the
Strait of All Saints, but today it is known as the Strait of Magellan.

One ship deserted while in this passage and returned to Spain, so fewer sailors were
privileged to gaze at that first panorama of the Pacific Ocean. Those who remained crossed
the meridian now known as the International Date Line in the early spring of 1521 after 98
days on the Pacific Ocean. During those long days at sea, many of Magellan's men died of
starvation and disease.

Later, Magellan became involved in an insular conflict in the Philippines and was killed in a
tribal battle. Only one ship and 17 sailors under the command of the Basque navigator Elcano
survived to complete the westward journey to Spain and thus prove once and for all that the
world is round, with no precipice at the edge.

1. The 16th century was an age of great ______ exploration.

A. cosmic
B. land
C. mental
D. common man
E. None of the above

2. Magellan lost the favor of the king of Portugal when he became involved in a political
________.

A. entanglement
B. discussion
C. negotiation
D. problem
E. None of the above
3. The Pope divided New World lands between Spain and Portugal according to their
location on one side or the other of an imaginary geographical line 50 degrees west of
Greenwich that extends in a _________ direction.

A. north and south

4. One of Magellan's ships explored the _________ of South America for a passage
across the continent.

A. coastline
B. mountain range
C. physical features
D. islands
E. None of the above

5. Four of the ships sought a passage along a southern ______.

A. coast
B. inland
C. body of land with water on three sides
D. border
E. Answer not available

6. The passage was found near 50 degrees S of ________.

A. Greenwich
B. The equator
C. Spain
D. Portugal
E. Madrid

7. In the spring of 1521, the ships crossed the _______ now called the International Date
Line.

A. imaginary circle passing through the poles

Marie Curie was one of the most accomplished scientists in history. Together with her
husband, Pierre, she discovered radium, an element widely used for treating cancer, and
studied uranium and other radioactive substances. Pierre and Marie's amicable collaboration
later helped to unlock the secrets of the atom.

Marie was born in 1867 in Warsaw, Poland, where her father was a professor of physics. At
an early age, she displayed a brilliant mind and a blithe personality. Her great exuberance for
learning prompted her to continue with her studies after high school. She became disgruntled,
however, when she learned that the university in Warsaw was closed to women. Determined
to receive a higher education, she defiantly left Poland and in 1891 entered the Sorbonne, a
French university, where she earned her master's degree and doctorate in physics.

Marie was fortunate to have studied at the Sorbonne with some of the greatest scientists of her
day, one of whom was Pierre Curie. Marie and Pierre were married in 1895 and spent many
productive years working together in the physics laboratory. A short time after they
discovered radium, Pierre was killed by a horse-drawn wagon in 1906. Marie was stunned by
this horrible misfortune and endured heartbreaking anguish. Despondently she recalled their
close relationship and the joy that they had shared in scientific research. The fact that she had
two young daughters to raise by herself greatly increased her distress.

Curie's feeling of desolation finally began to fade when she was asked to succeed her husband
as a physics professor at the Sorbonne. She was the first woman to be given a professorship at
the world-famous university. In 1911 she received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for isolating
radium. Although Marie Curie eventually suffered a fatal illness from her long exposure to
radium, she never became disillusioned about her work. Regardless of the consequences, she
had dedicated herself to science and to revealing the mysteries of the physical world.

8. The Curies' _________ collaboration helped to unlock the secrets of the atom.

A. friendly
B. competitive
C. courteous
D. industrious
E. chemistry

9. Marie had a bright mind and a ______ personality.

A. strong
B. lighthearted
C. humorous
D. strange
E. envious

10. When she learned that she could not attend the university in Warsaw, she felt
_________.

A. hopeless
B. annoyed
C. depressed
D. worried
E. None of the above

11. Marie _________ by leaving Poland and traveling to France to enter the Sorbonne.

A. challenged authority
B. showed intelligence
C. behaved
D. was distressed
E. Answer not available

12. _________ she remembered their joy together.

A. Dejectedly
B. Worried
C. Tearfully
D. Happily
E. Irefully

13. Her _________ began to fade when she returned to the Sorbonne to succeed her
husband.

A. misfortune
B. anger
C. wretchedness
D. disappointment
E. ambition

14. Even though she became fatally ill from working with radium, Marie Curie was
never _________.

A. troubled
B. worried
C. disappointed
D. sorrowful
E. disturbed