Core Academic Skills Assessment Reading 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A passage describes a character who 'laughed loudly at the funeral.' What can the reader infer about this character?
- The character was grief-stricken
- The character's behavior was socially unconventional or disrespectful (Correct answer)
- The character did not know the deceased
- The character was trying to comfort others
Correct answer: The character's behavior was socially unconventional or disrespectful
Laughing at a funeral violates social norms, implying the character is unconventional or acting disrespectfully.
Question 2: Which transition word best signals a contrast between two ideas?
- Furthermore
- Therefore
- Nevertheless (Correct answer)
- Consequently
Correct answer: Nevertheless
'Nevertheless' indicates a contrast or concession, showing that one idea holds despite the other.
Question 3: A student reads: 'The author's diction — her precise word choices — shapes the reader's emotional response.' What does 'diction' mean as used here?
- The speed at which an author writes
- An author's choice and use of words (Correct answer)
- The grammatical structure of sentences
- The organization of paragraphs
Correct answer: An author's choice and use of words
The appositive phrase 'her precise word choices' defines diction directly in the sentence.
Question 4: Two passages discuss the same historical event. Passage 1 is written by a general who fought in the war; Passage 2 is written by a modern historian. Which statement best describes how these sources differ?
- Passage 1 is more reliable because the author was present
- Passage 2 may offer more analytical distance, while Passage 1 provides firsthand perspective but possible bias (Correct answer)
- Passage 2 is always more accurate because it is more recent
- Both passages have the same level of objectivity
Correct answer: Passage 2 may offer more analytical distance, while Passage 1 provides firsthand perspective but possible bias
Firsthand accounts offer insider perspective but can be biased, while later historical analysis benefits from distance and broader evidence.
Question 5: A passage states: 'The results were not insignificant.' What does this double negative communicate?
- The results were completely insignificant
- The results were somewhat significant (Correct answer)
- The results had no value
- The author is uncertain about the results
Correct answer: The results were somewhat significant
A double negative ('not insignificant') equals a weak positive, meaning the results were somewhat or moderately significant.
Question 6: An author describes a new drug using only statistics from a single clinical trial with 30 participants. What is the main limitation of this evidence?
- Clinical trials are not scientific
- A single small trial may not produce generalizable results (Correct answer)
- Statistics are never reliable
- The drug has not been invented yet
Correct answer: A single small trial may not produce generalizable results
A single small-sample study lacks the statistical power and replication needed to draw broad conclusions.
Question 7: Which question requires a reader to make an inference rather than locate a directly stated fact?
- What year was the Declaration of Independence signed?
- How many chapters does the book contain?
- Why might the character feel reluctant to return home based on the details in the passage? (Correct answer)
- What is the title of the article?
Correct answer: Why might the character feel reluctant to return home based on the details in the passage?
Inferring a character's motivation from implied details requires reading between the lines, unlike retrieving explicitly stated information.
Core Academic Skills Assessment Reading 5
A passage describes a character who 'laughed loudly at the funeral.' What can the reader infer about this character?