English Department S1/ Reading Skills

M. Benyoussef

READING COMPREHENSION

Multiple Choice Questions:

The following selections deal with such varied topics as the humanities, history, education,
science, and business. The objective of such variety is to expose the reader to vocabulary
from different fields of study. The selections also provide material for the reader to practice
answering multiple choice comprehension questions. They will give the reader the
opportunity to practice such reading techniques as focus on main ideas, focus on details as
well as inference of information that is not explicitly stated.

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Humanities
Selection 1:
Social life is essential to human existence. We remain in the company of other people
from the day we are born to the time of our death. People teach us to speak. They show us
how to relate to our surroundings. They give us the help and the support we need to achieve
personal security and mental well being. Alone, we are relatively frail, defenceless primates;
in groups, we are astonishingly adaptive and powerful. Yet despite these advantages, well-
organised human societies are difficult to achieve. Some species manage to produce social
organisation genetically. But people are not like bees or ants. We lack the genetically coded
directions for behaviour that makes these insects successful social animals. Although we
seem to inherit a general need for social approval, we also harbour individual interests and
ambitions that can block or destroy close social ties. To overcome these divisive tendencies,
human groups organise around several principles designed to foster co-operation and group
loyalty. Kinship is among the strongest of these.

Whether large or small, kinship systems always include families. Usually these consist of
at least an adult couple and their children. This nuclear family, as it is called, is characteristic
of American society, and it lasts only as long as its members continue to remain at home. In a
great many societies, the ideal family size is much larger than this. The Chinese family often
consists of a couple, their sons and their son's wives, and their grandchildren and any other
unattached children. Extended families of this sort provide a very different style of life than
do our small families.

QUESTIONS
1. What would be the best title for this passage?
a American and Chinese Family Structures
b Learning to Speak
c Kinship Systems

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 d Human and Insect Societies
2. How does the author illustrate some of his or her points?
a By analogy
b With recent theories
c Through contrast
d With historical examples
3. What does the author mainly intend to do in this passage?
a To define human social order
b To argue for larger families
c To encourage social organization
d To propose a new kinship system

4. The author believes that successful social grouping among humans can sometimes be
impeded by
a Kinship
b Nuclear families
c Individualism
d Loyalty
5. Who does the word "our" refer to in the last sentence?
a Humans
b Chinese
c Americans
d Students
6. What does the paragraph immediately following the passage probably discuss?
a Specific differences between nuclear and extended families
b Why small families are better than extended families
c How Chinese families spend their time
d How single people maintain family ties

Selection 2:
Culture is learned. At the moment of birth, the human being lacks a culture -a system of
beliefs, knowledge, patterns of customary behaviour. But from that moment until we die, each

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of us participates in a kind of universal schooling that teaches us our native culture. Laughing
and smiling are genetic responses, but the infant soon learns when to smile, when to laugh,
and even how to laugh. Crying is an inborn behaviour, but every infant soon learns the rules
for crying in a particular culture.
During the first few years of life, cultural learning proceeds at an intense and rapid rate.
Informally, without thinking about it, children in every society learn their native language,
kinship terms, family structure, how and when to eat, etiquette for everyday life, what goals
are worth achieving, and hundreds of other things. Culture is a kind of social heredity; passed
on from generation to the next, it is acquired through learning.
The customs we acquire as members of a society have a curious effect on us. Though we
find them hard to learn, with practice we conform and eventually we come to feel that these
customs are right and natural. In time, the explicit rules for customary behaviour fade from
awareness. Most people are not conscious of the culture that guides their behaviour.
Conformity is effortless; it feels comfortable and secure. For example, each of us speaks a
native language fluently, yet we are usually unable to state the rules of its grammar.
Similarly, people abide by the rest of their culture with confidence, yet they lack knowledge
of its structure. We say then that culture has a tacit, taken-for-granted quality.

QUESTIONS
1. What does the passage mainly discuss?
a Rules for a particular culture
b Culture and its structure
c Why we learn culture so slowly
d How we acquire culture
2. According to the passage, why do we accept our own culture so effortlessly?
a Because it is a genetic response
b Because we learn it informally from society
c Because it is unique
d Because we are curious
3. According to the passage, when do we begin to learn culture?
a After the first few years of life
b From the moment of birth
c As soon as we become aware of culture itself
d When we start school

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4. The author implies that when people feel comfortable in their culture, they
a feel no need for etiquette
b rarely conform to cultural expectations
c usually cannot explain the culture structure
d advance socially at a fast pace
5. How long does a person participate in the learning of his native culture, according to the
passage?
a Throughout infancy
b Until middle age
c All his / her life
d During childhood

Selection 3:
In a study reported recently in the Harvard Medical School Mental Health Letter, adults
who had been raised with harsh physical discipline were found to be almost three times as
likely to develop depression or alcoholism as were those whose parents had brought them up
with gentler rules.
Researchers interviewed a group of 200 St. Louis residents about their psychiatric history
and the parental discipline they'd experienced as elementary school children. One hundred of
the subjects either had suffered a major episode of depression or had a history of alcohol
abuse; the other half of the study group had no psychiatric diagnosis at all.
Of those with a history depression or alcoholism, 40 percent said they had been beaten by
their parents. Only 14 percent of the others told of receiving harsh, unfair, or inconsistent
punishment.
In general, the study also revealed mothers are milder disciplinarians than fathers. But in
households where one parent does all the disciplining - whether the mother or the father -
punishment is likely to be more severe.
“Parents should try to be more lenient in their day-to-day handling of misbehaviour”,
suggests Julia Cohen, a family therapist. “If discipline overwhelms the quality of the parent's
relationship with a child, it puts the emphasis on control rather than on fostering the growth of
the child.”
QUESTIONS
1. What is the author’s main point?
a Alcoholic adults consistently have a history of physical abuse.

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b More research needs to be done on the effect of parental alcoholism on children.
c Physical abuse toward children can affect their mental health as adults.
d Children raised with little discipline tend to experience depression and alcoholism as
adults.
2. It can be inferred from the passage that
a fathers are far more physical disciplinarians than mothers.
b most parents discipline in a physical manner.
c control is more important than nurturing after a certain age.
d children of alcoholics experience physical abuse more than children of
non-alcoholic parents.

3. Which of the following does the author mention as a possible cause of mental
depression or alcoholism?
a Psychiatric diagnosis
b Harsh physical abuse
c Alcoholic parents
d Misbehaviour in elementary schools
4. Why does the author mention the family therapist?
a To contradict to the research
b To state a rationale for harsh physical abuse
c To illustrate how to discipline properly
d To support the author's thesis
5. In the first sentence, the phrase "physical discipline" could best be replaced by
which of the following?
a Exercise
b Teachers
c Therapeutic exercises
d Beatings

Selection 4:

We now define psychology as the study of human behaviour by scientific methods.

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normal and abnormal activities of the whole organism, even those of the mentally retarded
and mentally ill. The purposes of studying behaviour are to explore the roles of behaviour in
self-discovery and the varied beneficent behavioural patterns the individual can develop. The
aims of applied psychology are the description, prediction, and control of human activities in
order that we may understand and intelligently direct our lives and influence the lives of
others.

QUESTIONS

1. The main purpose of this passage is to

2. The primary difference between the ordinary use of the term "behaviour" and its special
sense here is that the
a ordinary use is broader
b ordinary use is narrower
c special sense is more useful
d special sense is more correct

3. The writer's use of the term "self-discovery" in line 5 suggests that he or she
a wants people to examine their own behaviour
b wants humans to develop better behavioural patterns
c plans to delineate a new theory
d believes that psychology has its limits.

History
Selection 5

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 Perhaps fifteen to twenty thousand years ago man first trod American soil, crossing from Siberia to
Alaska via the Bering Strait. We can guess at the habits of the first invaders of this continent by
comparing them with their fellow men who lived at the same period in Western Europe. This is a very
hazardous experiment, as the mere fact that two peoples are contemporaneous does not imply that they
are on the same cultural level. However, in all probability, there was a general resemblance between
Upper Palaeolithic man of western Europe and the invader of America, and so he may serve as our
type. He lived either out in the open or in the entrances of caves, and dressed in the skins of the
animals he slew with his stone- or bone-pointed spear, propelled by a spear-thrower. He employed
flint for his weapons, but had not yet learned to polish hard stone. He had no pottery, agriculture, or
domestic animals, and depended entirely on hunting for his food.
Probably the first immigrants drifted across in small bands, and their descendants travelled
southward, populating in the course of thousands of years all of the American continents. Their
remains found in caves in Brazil and Chile demonstrate that they had exceedingly long heads and low,
retreating foreheads. Broad-headed people followed by the same route in sufficient numbers to swamp
their predecessors. Later arrivals undoubtedly brought with them new arts and crafts, new religious
conceptions, and new forms of social organisation.
QUESTIONS
1. What does the passage mainly discuss?
a The influence of ancient Europe in America
b Aggression in prehistoric America
c Contrasts between prehistoric Europeans and Americans
d The population of ancient America
2. How many migrations to the Americas does the writer refer to?
a Only one
b Three
c Fifteen
d Thousands
3. The author considers his comparison of ancient Europeans to American migrants to be
a inexact
b sensitive
c comprehensive
d intuitive
4. In line 12, the word "bands" means
a orchestras
b vehicles

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 c groups
d areas
5. According to the passage, what evidence is there of the physical attributes of the
first immigrants?
a Careful inspection of their arts and crafts gives clues.
b There is no tangible evidence.
c Educated guesses are based on the customs of the people.
d Their skeletons have been found.

Education
Selection 6
Many teachers today believe that they teach thinking skills. In most instances, however,
what they actually do involves putting students into situations where they are simply made to
think and expected to do it as best they can. Most methods teachers customarily use to "
teach " thinking are indirect rather than direct. These methods are based on the questionable
assumption that by doing thinking, students automatically learn how to engage in such
thinking
Educational researchers have pointed out time and again that learning how to think is not
an automatic by-product of studying certain subjects, assimilating the products of someone
else's thinking, or simply being asked to think about a subject or topic. Nor do youngsters
learn how to engage in critical thinking effectively by themselves. There is little reason to
believe that competence in critical thinking can be an incidental outcome of instruction
directed, or that appears to be directed, at other ends. By concentrating on the detail of the
subject matter being studied, most common approaches to teaching critical thinking so
obscure the skills of how to engage in thinking that students fail to master them.
If we want to improve student proficiency in thinking, we must use more direct methods of
instruction than we now use. First, we must establish as explicit goals of instruction, the
attitude, skill, and knowledge components of critical thinking. Second, we must employ
direct, systematic instruction in these skills prior to, during, and following student
introduction to and use of these skills in our classrooms.

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QUESTIONS
1. The author believes that the teaching of thinking is inadequate today because
a the students ask few questions
b it is taught indirectly
c students are not put into "thinking" situations
d the concept is too complicated to communicate
2. According to the passage, who points out that thinking must be taught?
a Critics
b The youngsters themselves
c Educational researchers
d Most parents
3. How many steps does the author suggest to teach thinking?
a 2
b 3
c 4
d 5
4. With which of the following statements would the writer disagree?
a Critical thinking is a natural by -product of academic achievement.
b Uses of critical thinking should be taught before their application.
c The ability to think critically must be consciously cultivated.
d Critical thinking skills must be constantly reinforced.
5. The paragraph immediately following this passage probably discusses
a ways to impart the attitude, skills and knowledge components of critical
thinking
b after-class activities to reinforce critical thinking
c ways to concentrate attention on details of a subject area
d teaching critical thinking by using indirect methods
Selection 7
When we try to teach children anything from how to count to how to take a bath, we can
experience the frustrations of having youngsters, occasionally or often, reject these efforts. Parents
who think teaching is a matter of imposing some learning on children often end up feeling frustrated.
Children, in turn, are often frustrated by parents who think teaching is a matter of imposing some
learning on them. Children may be " born learners ", though they certainly won't display this all the
time. Many parents are not " born teachers "at any time.

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 To be a good teacher, patience is essential, but it's not enough. A good teacher needs to be able
to work up and down a scale of greater and lesser difficulty. For example, let's say you're reading a
book about trucks to your child. With a very young child, first you might ask your child to point to the
bigger truck. Then you prompt your child to move to " yes " and " no " responses. The next move is to
whole -sentence answers and finally to your asking, " Tell me about this truck "
Creativity and intelligence thrive on discussion. Sometimes adults, who need the practice least, do
most of the talking, while children sit by passively. This is unfortunate, because it is the interplay of
discussion and experience that encourages children to use their minds actively to formulate ideas.
Probably the best teaching tip is, " Don't talk too much!"
A good teacher keeps explanations short and backs them up with tangible demonstrations. If you
are teaching measurement, actually measure a room. If you are teaching science, let children relive the
drama and excitement of discovery.
QUESTIONS
1. The best title for the passage would be
a The Uses of Natural Intelligence
b Methods to Ensure Learning
c The Importance of Children's Play
d Discussion Topics for Today's Teacher
2. How does the author recommend that teachers present material to the child?
a Infrequently
b Uncritically
c Progressively
d Subliminally
3. Which of the following does the author believe to be an essential quality needed by an
effective teacher?
a A sense of authority
b Patience
c A sense of humour
d Expressiveness

Selection 8
I was drawn to the computer because it has a number of obvious advantages as a teaching
tool-speed of operation, memory capacity, and flexibility- and some not -so-obvious
advantages, like the opportunity it offers to limit the errors that can be made in the
presentation of material. It can help teachers serve the greatest number of children by making

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maximum use of their time. I wasn't looking for something " teacher-proof ", because the role
of the adult, of the teacher in the classroom, is critically important to the success of any
educational system. I didn't envision a sterile room where children are taught in isolation,
surrounded by whirring technology.
What I did see was the shift away from methods of teaching centred on and solely
dependent upon the quality of a teacher. Teaching remains an excessively labour - intensive
activity. There is nothing inherently wrong in a school where the only technology is the
teacher, a book, a piece of chalk, and a blackboard; but large classes, transient student
populations, insufficient operating budgets, and erratic use of technology limit teachers'
effectiveness.
On the other hand, I was also keenly aware that the computer industry and some educators
were making outrageous predictions about the future of computers and education. There was
talk of the awesome power of the computer and the ability of the high -tech revolution to
create massive changes in education. In the face of these blustery arguments, I tried to keep in
mind what John Dewey said many years ago: " Beware of the argument that proves too
much".

QUESTIONS
1. Which of the following would be the best title for the selection?
a Why Students Enjoy Computers
b Modern Educational Methods
c Why Teach with Computers
d Classroom Techniques versus Technology
2. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
a The advantages of computers are more extensive than we realise.
b A teacher's performance determines the degree of success in a classroom.
c Children seem to do best when they are left on their own with computers.
d No teacher needs to be present when computers are used in class.
3. The author of this passage probably works in the field of
a payroll services
b computer marketing
c psychological counselling
d teacher training
4. The word "their " in line 4 refers to

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 a children
b errors
c computers
d teachers
5. The author of the passage believes that
a early expectations for computers in schools were overblown
b computers should give a teacher more free time
c a school with minimal supplies is by definition deficient
d today's teachers are more effective than those in the past

Science
Selection 9
The human tongue is like a squid tentacle. It 's not as long, usually, but it is almost as
manoeuvrable and, more significantly, both violate one of the widely repeated teachings of elementary
biology.
Beginning texts often claim that skeletons are necessary for muscles to produce useful motion. The
biceps, for example, move the lower arm by contracting and pulling a tendon that runs from the
muscle, which is in the upper arm, around the elbow to the lower arm. Without the upper arm bone as
braced framework, the contracting biceps would simply shrivel the arm lengthwise.
If that's so, how can the utterly boneless squids and octopuses move their arms so precisely,
grabbing swimming shrimps in less than a tenth of a second?
William Kier, a professor at the University of North Carolina, pursued this curiosity and discovered
a previously unrecognised mechanical principle that operates not only in soft-bodied invertebrates but
also in vertebrate tongues and in elephants' trunks.
When a muscle flexes, it shortens in length but grows in thickness, maintaining a constant volume.
Kier found that while bulging, a muscle generates a powerful force that pushes in a direction
perpendicular to the pulling force of the muscle contracting.
Vertebrates generally waste this bulging force but Kier found that invertebrates such as the octopus
use it to provide the braced framework over which other muscles work. The insides of a tentacle, like
the inside of a tongue, has muscles running in three directions--lengthwise, side-ways (at right angles
to the lengthwise muscles), and helically around the outside of the organ.
No matter which way the animal wants to extend or bend the tentacle or tongue, sets of muscles
contract to create a bulging, rigid framework and then pull over that framework.
QUESTIONS

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1. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
a The Human Tongue versus the Squid Tentacle
b Vertebrates and Invertebrates
c Muscles: Using the Bulging Force
d The Principles of Mechanics
2. According to the passage, what violation of biology does the human tongue have in common with
the squid tentacle?
a They are capable of manoeuvrability but are boneless
b They exploit muscles in three different directions.
c They produce movement by alternately pulling and contracting a
muscle.
d They utilise a mechanical principle that operates in vertebrates and
invertebrates.
3. In the second paragraph, the word "skeletons " could best be replaced by
which of the following?
a Specimens
b Basic systems
c Bones
d Proteins
4. At what point in the passage does the author first discuss supportive research?
a Second paragraph
b Third paragraph
c Fourth paragraph
d Sixth paragraph
5. Where in the passage does the author offer a comparison of the insides of
the tentacle and tongue?
a First paragraph
b Second paragraph
c Third paragraph
d Sixth paragraph
BUSINESS
Selection 10
A revolution is under way in the store-dominated world of retailing. The instigators are non-store
retailers who are appearing in new forms, proliferating in numbers, and gaining market share from
store -based retailers. Although accurate sales figures for this non-store growth are hard to come by,

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one source estimates that non-store annual sales are expanding from; three to five times faster than
those of traditional store outlets. Here are some examples of the rise of non-store retailing:
• The increasing volume of telephone -and mail -generated orders received by traditional store
retailers;
• The increased popularity of in- flight shopping catalogues of major airline companies;
• The expanding selection of merchandise offerings made to credit customers by major credit card
companies.
It is expected that this trend toward non-store retailing will accelerate rapidly with the development
of telecommunication retail systems. Consumers with accounts at the telecommunication
merchandiser will shop at home for a variety of products and services. Using an in -home video
display catalogue, they will order products from a participating retailer. When the order is received
on its computer, this retailer will assemble the goods from a fully automated warehouse.
Simultaneously, funds will be transferred from the customer's to the retailer's bank account.
Customers will choose between picking up the order at a nearby distribution point or having it
delivered to their door. There will be no fee for picking up the order. However, there may be a
delivery charge of approximately $5.The charge will depend on the amount of the order and delivery
time requirements.
Most people will move steadily toward the convenience of telecommunication shopping, though the
other types of shopping will never completely disappear.
QUESTIONS
1. With which of the following is the passage mainly concerned?
a Shopping using an in -home video display catalogue
b The trend toward non-traditional shopping
c The importance of telecommunication in the future
d Reasons for using telecommunication retail systems
2. According to the passage, which sentence is true?
a Telecommunication shopping is less expensive.
b In the future, shopping will become convenient for consumers.
c The success of non-store retailing will depend on the delivery charge.
d Traditional store outlets will always be considered the most reliable way of shopping
3. Which of the following best describes the author's purpose?
a Persuasive
b Critical
c Informative
d Laudatory

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4. According to the passage, a consumer will need which of the following to shop from a
telecommunication retailer?
a A major credit card
b An account with the merchandiser
c A VCR
d An in -flight shopping catalogue
5. Which of the following will probably be true of non-traditional shopping?
a It will grow very slowly in the immediate future.
b Cash will rarely be used in transactions.
c Store -based retailers will have it halted.
d Goods and services will be quite limited.

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 Multiple Choice Questions:
Vocabulary and Comprehension

Key

Humanities
Education
Selection 1 Social Life
Selection 6
1. C
1. B
2. C
2. C
3. A
3. A
4. C
4. A
5. C
5. A
6. A
Selection 7
Selection 2 Culture Is Learned
1.B
1. D
2.C
2. B
3.B
3. B
Selection 8
4. C
1. C
5. C
2. B
Selection 3 In a Study…
3. D
1. C
4. D
2. A
5. A
3. B
Selection 9
4. D
1. C
5. D
2. A
Selection 4 ….Psychology…
3. C
1. A
4. C
2. B
5. D
3. A
Selection 10
Selection 5 Perhaps ……
1. B
1. D
2. B
2. B
3. C
3. A
4. B
4. C
5. B
5. D