Core Academic Skills Assessment Reading: Key Ideas and Details 3

Question 1

A passage about sleep research states: 'REM sleep is associated with vivid dreaming. Studies show that during REM, the brain processes emotional memories. Disrupting REM sleep impairs emotional regulation the following day.' Which title best captures the main idea?

Accepted Answer

REM Sleep and Its Critical Role in Emotional Memory Processing

Answer

The passage specifically focuses on REM sleep's function in processing emotional memories, making that the central idea.

Question 2

Passage: 'Critics praised the novel's vivid imagery and complex characters. However, some readers found the nonlinear timeline confusing. Despite mixed reviews, the book sold over two million copies.' Which sentence expresses a detail rather than the main idea?

Accepted Answer

Critics praised the novel's imagery and complex characters.

Answer

The praise for imagery and characters is a specific supporting detail, while the main idea is that the novel had mixed but ultimately commercially successful reception.

Question 3

Read: 'In 2019, over 8 million metric tons of plastic entered the ocean. Sea turtles often mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and consume them. Microplastics have been detected in fish tissue consumed by humans.' What is the most reasonable inference about the author's purpose?

Accepted Answer

To highlight the wide-ranging negative impact of plastic pollution on ecosystems and human health

Answer

The progression from ocean plastic volume, to wildlife impact, to human health effects signals the author's intent to show plastic pollution's broad harmful reach.

Question 4

A passage reads: 'Ancient Romans built roads so durable that some are still intact today. Engineers used layers of sand, gravel, and stone with a slightly curved surface to drain rainwater.' Which detail directly supports the claim that Roman roads were built to last?

Accepted Answer

Some Roman roads remain intact thousands of years later.

Answer

The fact that some roads remain intact today is direct evidence supporting the durability claim made in the first sentence.

Question 5

Read this passage: 'In the 1800s, doctors frequently washed their hands only after surgery, not before. Ignaz Semmelweis proposed that handwashing before procedures could save lives, but his idea was ridiculed. Only after Pasteur's germ theory gained acceptance did handwashing become standard.' What does the passage imply about scientific progress?

Accepted Answer

New medical ideas often face resistance before being validated by broader scientific understanding.

Answer

The passage shows that Semmelweis's correct idea was rejected until germ theory provided a framework for understanding it, implying resistance to new ideas is common.

Core Academic Skills Assessment Practice Test

Core Academic Skills Assessment Practice Test

Core Academic Skills Assessment Reading: Key Ideas and Details 3