Reading Explorer 4, Third Edition

Extra Comprehension Questions

Reading 1A: The Visual Village

Choose the best answer for each question.

GIST
1. What could be another title for the passage?
a. High Tech vs. Low Tech c. Amateur vs. Professional Photography
b. Capturing Dramatic Moments d. The Age of Images

INFERENCE
2. Which of the following has had the greatest effect on people’s obsession with photography?
a. cell phones and apps c. new photography techniques
b. Internet scrapbooks d. high tech cameras

COHESION
3. In which position—[1], [2], [3], or [4]—should this sentence be added to paragraph G?
Such images may be more useful in conveying how the person behind the camera felt than in
documenting what was actually in front of the camera.

The question of the accuracy of images gets even trickier when photojournalists start
experimenting with camera apps—like Flickr or Instagram—which encourage the use of
filters. [1] Images can be colored, brightened, faded, and scratched to make photographs
more artistic, or to give them an antique look. [2] Photojournalists using camera apps to
cover wars and conflicts have created powerful images—but also controversy. [3] Critics
worry that antique-looking photographs romanticize war, while distancing us from those who
fight in them. [4]
a. [1] c. [3]
b. [2] d. [4]

REFERENCE
4. The word they in paragraph I, line 8 refers to ______.
a. some stories c. people in the media
b. new tools d. elections, governments, wars, and disasters

VOCABULARY
5. Which of these is a synonym for the word flowering in paragraph L?
a. decline c. fame
b. rebirth d. growth
Reading Explorer 4, Third Edition
Extra Comprehension Questions

Reading 1B: My Journey in Photographs

Choose the best answer for each question.

GIST
1. This passage could best be described as ______.
a. a how-to article
b. hard news
c. an autobiography
d. an opinion piece

VOCABULARY
2. The phrase make small talk in paragraph A could best be replaced by ______.
a. the word chat
b. the phrase tell jokes
c. the word interview
d. the phrase make friends

VOCABULARY
3. The word hooked in paragraph B is closest in meaning to ______.
a. excited c. inspired
b. confused d. addicted

INFERENCE
4. The author implies in paragraph B that she was ______ when she was offered a job at the
Worthington Daily Globe.
a. relieved c. uninterested
b. alarmed d. amazed

INFERENCE
5. It can be inferred from the information in paragraph D that the author felt that the Norwegian
farmer in Minnesota was ______.
a. warm and understanding
b. hard to get to know
c. a patient listener
d. anxious to share
Reading Explorer 4, Third Edition
Extra Comprehension Questions

Reading 2A: Living Light

Choose the best answer for each question.

VOCABULARY
1. The author uses the word veil in paragraph C in the context of this sentence to indicate that
some bioluminescent life forms use light for ______.
a. attraction c. protection
b. detection d. illumination

DETAIL
2. The author does not mention any ______ with bioluminescent abilities.
a. fungi c. bacteria
b. mammals d. birds

REFERENCE
3. The word Their in paragraph E, line 6 refers to ______.
a. certain shrimp and squid
b. predators swimming below
c. the upper levels of the sea
d. the bellies of certain creatures

INFERENCE
4. It can be inferred that, if the sun suddenly comes out from the clouds, certain types of
shrimp will ______.
a. dim themselves
b. dive deeper in the sea
c. appear to be brighter
d. swim away quickly

VOCABULARY
5. The word whirling in line 4 of the “Stars of the Sea” section indicates that the dinoflagellates
______.
a. move back and forth
b. swim rapidly
c. move up and down
d. spin around
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Extra Comprehension Questions

Reading 2B: Feathers of Love

Choose the best answer for each question.

DETAIL
1. Where does the Carola’s parotia perform its dance?
a. under a tree c. on a beach
b. on a lower branch d. in a treetop

COHESION
2. In which position—[1], [2], [3], or [4]—should this sentence be added to paragraph C?
These colors distinguish them as some of the world's most dramatic and attractive birds.

In the dense jungle of New Guinea is nature’s most absurd theater, the special mating game
of the birds of paradise. [1] To attract females, males’ feathers resemble costumes worthy
of the stage. [2] The bright reds, yellows, and blues stand out sharply against the green of
the forest. [3] It seems that the more extreme the male’s costume and colors, the better his
chance of attracting a mate. [4]
a. [1] c. [3]
b. [2] d. [4]

INFERENCE
3. The author implies that if birds of paradise had more predators, they would ______.
a. not have such colorful feathers c. live on other islands
b. not live in groups d. perform their dances more often

REFERENCE
4. The word them in the last line of paragraph E refers to ______.
a. soft red feathers c. male birds’ wings
b. female Carola’s parotia birds d. female Goldie’s birds

DETAIL
5. Which of the following questions can NOT be answered by information in the passage?
a. What has replaced much of the forests where birds of paradise lived?
b. Why is the environment of New Guinea perfect for birds of paradise?
c. Why were birds of paradise hunted in the early 1900s?
d. What do female birds of paradise look like?
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Extra Comprehension Questions

Reading 3A: How Safe Is Our Food?

Choose the best answer for each question.

DETAIL
1. Around half a million ______.
a. people in the U.S. get sick every year from something that they ate
b. patients are in the hospital because of food poisoning
c. children are killed annually by contaminated food and water
d. people in the U.S. died from eating unhealthy food
INFERENCE
2. About 100 billion people have lived on the earth. This suggests that there are about ______
billion bacteria living in the typical person’s intestines.
a. 100 c. 1,000
b. 200 d. 20,000
DETAIL
3. Which of the following statements about factory farms is NOT true?
a. Animals have little room to move. c. They house large numbers of animals.
b. Only cattle are raised there. d. Infections spread easily there.
COHESION
4. In which position—[1], [2], [3], or [4]—should this sentence be added to paragraph H?
In fact, over 40 percent of all fresh fruit consumed in the U.S. comes from Mexico, Chile,
Guatemala, Costa Rica, and other foreign countries, traveling hundreds, even thousands, of
miles to reach our grocery-store shelves.

The mango outbreak had a larger lesson: We no longer eat only food that is in season or that
is grown locally. [1] Instead, we demand our strawberries, peaches, mangoes, and lettuce
year-round. [2] As a result, we are depending more and more on imports. [3] Eating food
grown elsewhere in the world means depending on the soil, water, and sanitary conditions in
those places, and on the way in which their workers farm, harvest, process, and transport the
food. [4]
a. [1] c. [3]
b. [2] d. [4]
VOCABULARY
5. The word Consequently in paragraph J can NOT be replaced by ______.
a. Thus c. So
b. Therefore d. Nevertheless
Reading Explorer 4, Third Edition
Extra Comprehension Questions

Reading 3B: The Battle for Biotech

Choose the best answer for each question.

MAIN IDEA
1. Which of the following is the main idea of this passage?
a. GE may benefit humankind, but there may be some risks.
b. Genes from animals may now be inserted into plants.
c. GE has been practiced by farmers and breeders for thousands of years.
d. More and more biotech foods are coming on the market every year.

VOCABULARY
2. Another word in the passage that has the same meaning as altered in paragraph B can be
found in ______.
a. paragraph A, line 6
b. paragraph B, line 9
c. paragraph C, line 5
d. paragraph C, line 11

DETAIL
3. What was one GE food that potentially could have harmed humans?
a. lettuce
b. fish
c. soybeans
d. corn

DETAIL
4. ______ warned that GE foods are being rushed to market too quickly.
a. Professor Marion Nestle
b. the World Health Organization
c. Channapatna Pakesh
d. Allison Snow

INFERENCE
5. The author would probably NOT agree with the idea that GE may ______.
a. actually help the environment
b. be safer for people than non-GE foods
c. help relieve world hunger
d. pollute water and harm animals
Reading Explorer 4, Third Edition
Extra Comprehension Questions

Reading 4A: Design by Nature: Biomimetics

Choose the best answer for each question.

GIST
1. What could be another title for the passage?
a. What Can Be Learned from the Thorny Devil
b. Borrowing Clues from Nature
c. A New Form of Engineering
d. Robots Imitating Animals

INFERENCE
2. As Parker finished the experiment in the Australian desert, he was ______.
a. excited
b. confused
c. worried
d. exhausted

DETAIL
3. Insects were NOT studied in the development of ______.
a. solar panels
b. painless needles
c. efficient car design
d. cell phones

DETAIL
4. One of the few bio-inspired products that has been profitable was developed by ______.
a. Mark Cutkosky
b. Ronald Fearing
c. Andrew Parker
d. George de Mestral

DETAIL
5. According to the author, the main reason that there are not more successful bio-inspired
products is because ______.
a. the study of nature is very complicated
b. biomimetic research takes a long time
c. bio-inspired products are not very popular
d. biomimetic research is very expensive
Reading Explorer 4, Third Edition
Extra Comprehension Questions

Reading 4B: Weaving the Future

Choose the best answer for each question.

DETAIL
1. Which of the following questions can NOT be answered from information in the passage?
a. Why are polymers useful in the manufacture of textiles?
b. Where was Alex Soza when he dreamed up the idea of a floating jacket?
c. Why do some companies refuse to share information about their products?
d. What is the name of the fabric that can protect firefighters and race car drivers?

REFERENCE
2. The word They in paragraph E, line 7 refers to ______.
a. Nexia scientists c. high-tech textiles
b. goats d. spiders

VOCABULARY
3. Which of the following sentences uses the word elements as it is used in paragraph F?
a. Salt is made up of two elements: sodium and chlorine.
b. There are several elements of this poem that I don’t fully understand.
c. Exterior house paint must be able to stand up to the elements.
d. It was once believed that there are four elements: earth, air, fire, and water.

PARAPHRASE
4. Which of the sentences (a, b, c, or d) is closest in meaning to the following sentence?
While there are many interesting clothing innovations in the pipeline, few have hit the market.
a. Not many high-tech clothing products are on sale now, though many are being
developed.
b. When more innovative clothing styles are invented, they will easily be marketed.
c. Although lots of creative textiles have been developed, they have not been marketed
well.
d. Many interesting clothes are petroleum products, but few of them have been sold.

DETAIL
5. Which person was involved in the development of a fabric that can be used to clean up
spilled oil?
a. Alex Soza c. Jeff Turner
b. Ian Scott d. Hugues Vinchon
Reading Explorer 4, Third Edition
Extra Comprehension Questions

Reading 5A: The DNA Trail

Choose the best answer for each question.

PURPOSE
1. The main point of this passage is to explain ______.
a. how the spread of humanity across the earth can be traced through DNA
b. why ancient people moved from continent to continent
c. what steps scientists took to develop the DNA technologies used to study ancient
humans
d. how the earliest humans survived life in Africa

VOCABULARY
2. Which of the following would NOT be considered an artifact (paragraph B)?
a. a hunting weapon c. a footprint in the mud
b. a piece of pottery d. a leather sandal

DETAIL
3. Which of the following is NOT controlled by the 0.1 percent of the human genome that is not
identical throughout the world?
a. the color of one’s hair
b. the size of one’s feet
c. the functions of one’s brain
d. the color of one’s skin

VOCABULARY
4. Which of the following sentences uses the word rough as it is used in paragraph D?
a. It was a rough winter with lots of cold and snow.
b. The reporter made a rough estimate of the size of the crowd.
c. He hadn’t shaved, so his face felt rough.
d. There were not many facilities on the island, so we had to rough it.

DETAIL
5. According to the passage, which of these migrations occurred most recently?
a. Africa to the Middle East
b. the Middle East to Europe
c. Southeast Asia to Australia
d. Asia to North America
Reading Explorer 4, Third Edition
Extra Comprehension Questions

Reading 5B: Fantastic Voyage

Choose the best answer for each question.

GIST
1. The main focus of this passage is ______.
a. the colonies of the Lapita in the South Pacific
b. tacking and other sailing techniques of the Lapita
c. the expansion of the Lapita and Polynesians across the Pacific
d. the Hawaiki Nui Va’a, a major Polynesian canoe race

DETAIL
2. The Lapita were the ______ of the Polynesians.
a. descendants
b. rivals
c. allies
d. ancestors

VOCABULARY
3. The word comparable is close in meaning to a word in ______.
a. paragraph A, line 3
b. paragraph C, line 6
c. paragraph D, line 3
d. paragraph D, line 4

DETAIL
4. Which of the following is true about El Niño?
a. It can occur anywhere in the world.
b. It influences weather only in the Pacific.
c. It is caused by the trade winds.
d. It occurred often during the periods of Lapita exploration.

DETAIL
5. The author does not mention ______ as clues explorers used to find land.
a. advice from islanders
b. clouds
c. coconuts and pieces of wood
d. smoke from volcanoes
Reading Explorer 4, Third Edition
Extra Comprehension Questions

Reading 6A: How Money Made Us Modern

Choose the best answer for each question.

PURPOSE
1. The author’s main purpose in writing this passage was to ______.
a. describe the accounting system of Sumer
b. trace the evolution of money
c. explain how the global economy functions
d. compare fiat money and commodity money

DETAIL
2. The author says that all of the following have been used as currency EXCEPT ______.
a. animal skins
b. seashells
c. teeth
d. bricks of gold

DETAIL
3. Where were coins first used?
a. Lydia
b. Corinth
c. Sumer
d. China

DETAIL
4. Which person provides a description of fiat money?
a. Kabir Sehgal
b. Parag Khanna
c. Lloyd Thomas
d. Glyn Davies

SCANNING
5. In which section of the article does the author point out a drawback of commodity money?
a. The Rise of Gold (paragraphs C–E)
b. The Birth of Trade (paragraphs F–H)
c. Notes and Bills (paragraphs I–K)
d. Toward Virtual Money (paragraphs L–N)
Reading Explorer 4, Third Edition
Extra Comprehension Questions

Reading 6B: The Rise of Virtual Money

Choose the best answer for each question.

MAIN TOPIC
1. The main topic of this passage is ______.
a. a history of various currencies
b. the operation of a blockchain network
c. the crimes committed by Silk Road
d. a relatively new form of payment

VOCABULARY
2. The word anonymous in paragraph D is closest in meaning to ______.
a. unnamed
b. safe
c. hidden
d. popular

REFERENCE
3. The word it in paragraph F, line 6 refers to ______.
a. Bitcoin
b. the Internet
c. Silk Road
d. the FBI

DETAIL
4. The author would probably NOT use which of the following words to describe Bitcoin
transactions?
a. quick
b. risky
c. inexpensive
d. confidential

INFERENCE
5. In 2018, a Bitcoin was worth about U.S. ______.
a. $12
b. $400
c. $4,000
d. $20,000
Reading Explorer 4, Third Edition
Extra Comprehension Questions

Reading 7A: A Crowd in Harmony

Choose the best answer for each question.

DETAIL
1. Which of the following is NOT true about the Kumbh Mela?
a. The next one is scheduled to be held in 2025.
b. Ceremonial bathing begins when it is still dark.
c. Not all the participants are voluntarily taking part.
d. Some people float burning lamps in the river.

INFERENCE
2. The author shifts the focus of the passage from specific to the more general in ______.
a. paragraph C
b. paragraph E
c. paragraph F
d. paragraph H

VOCABULARY
3. In which of the following sentences is the word critical used as it is used in paragraph E?
a. The movie was not a critical success, but it was very popular with movie-goers.
b. Her advisor was critical of Su-Mi’s choice of topic for her thesis, but she refused to
change it.
c. Scientists say that getting enough sleep is critical to one’s overall health.
d. After Howard’s motorcycle accident, he was taken to City Hospital in critical condition.

DETAIL
4. Which of the following is NOT given as an effect on participants who had taken part in a
Kumbh?
a. They were more religious.
b. They were somewhat healthier.
c. They were more relaxed.
d. They were more vigorous.

DETAIL
5. Another large religious gathering took place in ______.
a. London c. Rio de Janeiro
b. Chicago d. Karbala
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Extra Comprehension Questions

Reading 7B: Our Online Behavior

Choose the best answer for each question.

INFERENCE
1. The author would probably NOT agree with which of the following statements?
a. People are becoming more and more aggressive.
b. The Internet is the main reason humanity is divided.
c. Political and social divisions are becoming wider and wider.
d. Over the centuries, the human brain has grown larger.

VOCABULARY
2. The word volatile in paragraph A is closest in meaning to ______.
a. confusing
b. suspicious
c. explosive
d. valuable

REFRENCE
3. The word This in paragraph F, line 7 refers to ______.
a. our behavior
b. our environment
c. an expression
d. an experience

VOCABULARY
4. An antonym for the word subtle in paragraph G is ______.
a. obvious
b. modern
c. polite
d. descriptive

DETAIL
5. Which of the following is NOT true about the people who were harassed online?
a. Some of them responded to the harasser face-to-face.
b. The majority of them ignored the fact that they were harassed.
c. Less than half of them made some sort of response to the harassment.
d. The most popular choice for those who made a response was to unfriend or block the
harasser.
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Extra Comprehension Questions

Reading 8A: Who Killed the Emperor?

Choose the best answer for each question.

DETAIL
1. Which of the following questions can NOT be answered by information in the passage?
a. When did Napoleon die on St. Helena?
b. When did Napoleon last lead an army?
c. When did Napoleon arrive on St. Helena?
d. When did Napoleon begin to feel ill?

PARAPHRASE
2. When the author says that the British and French royalists “wanted him out of the way once
and for all,” he means that they wanted Napoleon ______.
a. to be moved to another island
b. to be put in prison in Britain or France
c. to lose the title of emperor
d. to be put to death

DETAIL
3. Which person believes the climate on St. Helena had something to do with the way
Napoleon died?
a. Ben Weider c. Pascal Kintz
b. David Jones d. Steven Karch

INFERENCE
4. If true, which of the following supports the idea that Napoleon’s death involved arsenic?
a. Napoleon ate almost nothing but seafood while on St. Helena.
b. There is no evidence that the royalists plotted against Napoleon.
c. Napoleon was not the father of the Countess of Montholon’s youngest child.
d. The hair that was tested was not actually Napoleon’s hair.

DETAIL
5. Which of the following believes that the mystery will never be solved?
a. François de Candé-Montholon c. Paul Fornes
b. Jean-François Lemaire d. Jean Tulard
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Extra Comprehension Questions

Reading 8B: In the Crime Lab

Choose the best answer for each question.

INFERENCE
1. Which of the following is NOT a real person?
a. Marcella Fierro
b. Patricia Cornwell
c. Kay Scarpetta
d. Alphonse Poklis

VOCABULARY
2. The word umpteen in paragraph C is closest in meaning to ______.
a. numerous
b. careful
c. deliberate
d. few

INFERENCE
3. Alphonse Poklis would probably NOT agree with which of these statements?
a. Less blood is needed to detect morphine today.
b. Morphine is easier to detect in a body than cyanide.
c. Mass spectrometry has increased sensitivity.
d. Nearly any poison can be detected with enough research.

SCANNING
4. Alphonse Poklis explains what he thinks of poisoners in ______.
a. paragraph D
b. paragraph E
c. paragraph G
d. paragraph H

INFERENCE
5. Alphonse Poklis probably does not answer the interviewer’s question in paragraph H
because ______.
a. he isn’t sure which poisons he would use
b. he doesn’t consider himself to be an expert on poisons
c. he doesn’t think any poison would be perfect
d. he doesn’t want to give information to possible poisoners
Reading Explorer 4, Third Edition
Extra Comprehension Questions

Reading 9A: Virtually Immortal

Choose the best answer for each question.

DETAIL
1. The water at the bottom of the stepwell ______.
a. flowed there from the Saraswati River
b. fell during sudden summer storms
c. gradually pushed there through the earth
d. was the result of seasonal floods

DETAIL
2. When was the Rani ki Vav constructed?
a. In the 1000s
b. In the 1100s
c. In the 1200s
d. In the 1900s

REFERENCE
3. The word this in paragraph E, line 2 refers to ______.
a. the Standing Stones of Stenness project
b. the process of digital documentation
c. the Rani ki Vav project
d. Mount Rushmore

DETAIL
4. What does the author say about the schoolboys mentioned in paragraph E?
a. They were there to help open crates.
b. They were fascinated by Lyn Wilson.
c. They lived close to Rani ki Vav.
d. The guard allowed them to look in the boxes.

DETAIL
5. Which of the following is NOT a god or goddess portrayed by a statue in Rani ki Vav?
a. Naga Kanya
b. Shiva
c. Vishnu
d. Brahma
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Reading 9B: Lure of the Lost City

Choose the best answer for each question.

PURPOSE
1. The author’s purpose is to describe ______.
a. the search for ruins in La Mosquitia
b. how lidar technology functions
c. the artifacts found in La Mosquitia
d. the vegetation and animal life in La Mosquitia

DETAIL
2. Which of these expeditions first brought back artifacts from the Mosquitia region?
a. The first expedition sponsored by the Museum of the American Indian.
b. The second expedition sponsored by the Museum of the American Indian.
c. The third expedition sponsored by the Museum of the American Indian.
d. The expedition described in detail in the passage.

DETAIL
3. What was Theodore Morde’s profession?
a. reporter
b. archeologist
c. film maker
d. anthropologist

DETAIL
4. When did the expedition organized by Elkins take place?
a. 1940
b. 1990
c. 2010
d. 2015

VOCABULARY
5. The word weird in paragraph K is closest in meaning to ______.
a. huge
b. strange
c. carved
d. cracked
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Extra Comprehension Questions

Reading 10A: Living Longer

Choose the best answer for each question.

GIST
1. The passage focuses mainly on the effect of ______ on the length of lifespan.
a. diet
b. exercise
c. stature
d. genes

DETAIL
2. A year or so after this passage was written, there might be as many as ______ centenarians
living in Molochio.
a. four
b. six
c. eight
d. ten

DETAIL
3. What does the author say about the Laron people mentioned in the passage?
a. They all live in Ecuador.
b. None of them have ever developed cancer.
c. They often live to an advanced age.
d. They appear to be older than their age.

DETAIL
4. Which person has done research with healthy elderly people?
a. Victor Rivera
b. Eric Topol
c. Domenico Romeo
d. Salvatore Caruso

DETAIL
5. The oldest person mentioned in the passage was ______.
a. from Calabria
b. one of the Laron people
c. one of the “wellderly”
d. a Japanese-American from Oahu
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Extra Comprehension Questions

Reading 10B: In Search of Longevity

Choose the best answer for each question.

COHESION
1. In which position—[1], [2], [3], or [4]—should this sentence be added to paragraph A?
These areas where people live long lives are known as “blue zones.”

A long, healthy life is no accident. [1] It begins with good genes inherited from your family,
but it also depends on good habits. [2] So what’s the formula for success? In a study funded
in part by the U.S. National Institute on Aging, scientists focused on groups living in several
regions where exceptional longevity is the norm: Sardinia, Italy; Loma Linda, California; and
the islands of Okinawa, Japan. [3] Groups living in these three areas offer three sets of
guidelines to follow. [4]
a. [1] c. [3]
b. [2] d. [4]

DETAIL
2. When Tonino Tola talks with the author, he is ______.
a. milking cows c. walking six kilometers
b. relaxing with family d. chopping wood

DETAIL
3. The village of Silanus is located ______.
a. on the peak of a mountain
b. on the coast of Sardinia
c. near a mountain range
d. on a small island near Sardinia

DETAIL
4. The oldest person mentioned in this passage is ______.
a. Tonino Tola c. Filippo
b. Marge Jetton d. Ushi Okushima

VOCABULARY
5. The word undoubtedly in paragraph L is closest in meaning to ______.
a. certainly c. probably
b. unpredictably d. surprisingly
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Extra Comprehension Questions

Reading 11A: Saving Water

Choose the best answer for each question.

DETAIL
1. The number of official wells in La Mancha increased by ______ between 1960 and the
present.
a. 1,500 c. 21,000
b. 19,500 d. 48,500

COHESION
2. In which position—[1], [2], [3], or [4]—should this sentence be added to paragraph D?
Children are particularly susceptible to diseases spread by drinking or cooking with
contaminated water, with about 5,000 children dying each day from preventable waterborne
diseases.
The United Nations recently outlined the extent of the water crisis. [1] Due to water scarcity,
5 billion people will face severe water shortages by 2050 if consumption continues at current
rates. [2] Today, lack of access to clean water means that an estimated 2.1 billion people
drink water that is unsafe. [3] More than 3 million people die each year from diseases related
to unclean water. [4]
a. [1] c. [3]
b. [2] d. [4]

DETAIL
3. Rajendra Singh offers to ______.
a. help locate a good site for the dam c. make advice and materials available
b. provide workers to build the johad d. arrange one-third of the project

VOCABULARY
4. The word catastrophe in paragraph I is closest in meaning to ______.
a. disaster c. disappointment
b. surprise d. success

DETAIL
5. Which of the following is NOT one of the steps Neil Macleod took to ease the water crisis in
Durban, South Africa?
a. installing smaller toilets c. building a new dam
b. recycling waste water d. fixing water pipes
Reading Explorer 4, Third Edition
Extra Comprehension Questions

Reading 11B: Technology as Trash

Choose the best answer for each question.

INFERENCE
1. Which of the following would NOT be considered a form of e-waste?
a. cracked monitor cases c. plastic covered wires
b. old car tires d. obsolete laptops

REFERENCE
2. The word them in the last line of paragraph A refers to ______.
a. children c. people in the scrap market
b. arms full of wire d. small fires

SEQUENCE
3. The final thing to happen to computer and monitor cases is that they are ______.
a. broken into pieces c. burned
b. thrown into a lagoon d. swept into the sea

DETAIL
4. Which of the following is given as a dangerous component in e-waste?
a. mercury c. copper
b. gold d. tin

COHESION
5. In which position—[1], [2], [3], or [4]—should this sentence be added to paragraph G?
Or as environmentalist Lillygol Sedaghat puts it, “Our trash doesn’t disappear, it goes
somewhere and affects someone.”

Since the developed world is sending large quantities of materials containing lead to
developing nations, it’s to be expected that those countries will make use of them in their
manufacturing processes. [1] “It’s not at all surprising things are coming full circle and now
we’re getting contaminated products back,” says Weidenhamer. [2] In a global economy, it’s
no longer possible to get rid of something by sending it to other countries. [3] As the old
saying goes, “What goes around comes around.” [4]
a. [1] c. [3]
b. [2] d. [4]
Reading Explorer 4, Third Edition
Extra Comprehension Questions

Reading 12A: Planet Hunters

Choose the best answer for each question.

INFERENCE
1. What does the author say about the planets “hot Saturn” and “hot Jupiter?”
a. Both are far from their stars. c. Both travel slowly around their stars.
b. Both orbit stars other than the sun. d. Both orbit the same sun.
COHESION
2. In which position—[1], [2], [3], or [4]—should this sentence be added to this section of
paragraph B?
These planets—also known as rogue stars--probably come in all sizes, from small rocky
planets to huge gas giants, but since they are so hard to spot, all the rogue planets
discovered so far have been gas giants.

Circling another star 150 light-years out is a “hot Jupiter,” whose upper atmosphere is being
blown away by the star’s solar winds. [1] Astronomers have also found five planets orbiting a
pulsar—the remains of a once mighty star shrunk into an atomic city-size nucleus that spins.
[2] Some worlds have fallen into their suns. [3] Others have been thrown out of their systems
to become “floaters” that wander in eternal darkness. [4]
a. [1] c. [3]
b. [2] d. [4]
DETAIL
3. How many methods of detecting exo-planets does the author mention?
a. two c. four
b. three d. five
INFERENCE
4. Which of the following newspaper headlines would contradict information in the passage?
a. “Earthlike Rocky Planet Recently Found in the Habitable Zone”
b. “Astronomers Discover a Planet Using the Doppler Method”
c. “Mass Extinction Once Nearly Wiped Out Life on Earth”
d. “Super Earth Discovered Orbiting a Red Dwarf”
DETAIL
5. What does the author say about the “red edge”?
a. It is the easiest way to detect and analyze an exo-planet.
b. Even if it is not detected, there may still be life on that planet.
c. If it is detected, then there is animal life on that planet.
d. It indicates that there is methane and oxygen in the atmosphere.
Reading Explorer 4, Third Edition
Extra Comprehension Questions

Reading 12B: The Threat from Space

Choose the best answer for each question.

VOCABULARY
1. The word Meanwhile in paragraph B is closest in meaning to ______.
a. After that
b. Therefore
c. At the same time
d. Later

DETAIL
2. The author does not mention an asteroid falling ______.
a. in the Gulf of Mexico
b. near the present site of Washington, D.C.
c. in the Indian Ocean
d. in Siberia

INFERENCE
3. Which of the following does the author NOT describe with a comparison?
a. the asteroid Apophis
b. the impact of Titan in the Gulf of Mexico
c. the size of the team planning to deflect asteroids
d. the rock that barely missed Earth in 1989

DETAIL
4. Which person is in favor of using spacecraft to protect the Earth from asteroids?
a. Ed Lu
b. David Morrison
c. Vadim Simonenko
d. David Tholen

VOCABULARY
5. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word deflect in paragraph L?
a. explode
b. divert
c. tow
d. bounce