Core Academic Skills Assessment

FREE Core Academic Skills (Reading) Questions and Answers

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Which of the following was the Neolithic Revolution's foundation, according to the passage?
Clay was the first substance that humanstotally transformed by heating. Soft, doughy clayis remarkable because in a hot kiln or oven, itLinechanges color and becomes a hard,(5)heat-resistant ceramic material that can holdliquids. Along with the discovery that grains couldbe cultivated, the advent of ceramics led to whatsome scientists have called the Neolithic (NewStone Age) Revolution, laying the agricultural(10)basis for the first cities of the ancient world.
A method for creating ceramics was firstdiscovered roughly 26,000 years ago, whenartisans at a site in what is now theCzech Republic mixed clay with loess, rich soil(15)left behind by retreating glaciers, and then fired itin ovens. The discovery of how to produce a ceramic by firing clay was a milestone in humanity's quest to utilize nature. Up to that time, craftspeople had(20)transformed stone, bone, and wood into tools and weapons by altering their shape, not their intrinsic properties. With ceramics produced from clay, humans learned that the physical properties of materials could be dramatically improved. In(25)prehistoric times, as is frequently the case today, most advances involving materials were based on this simple concept.

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The author talks about children as imitators of Seuss in order to
By harnessing the artistic sophistication offirst-rate picture books to the pedagogicimperatives of the early grades, children's authorLineDr. Seuss (1904-1991) changed the culture of(5)classroom literacy forever. The idea, which nowseems obvious, was that children would bestlearn to read using absorbing, entertaining bookscomposed of simple, limited vocabulary. Some ofSeuss's most ebullient wordplay—his purest(10)nonsense—can be found in Beginner Books likeGreen Eggs and Ham and the deliciously simpleHop on Pop.
While Seuss's first Beginner Books introduce very young children to reading by using a(15)controlled vocabulary, his longer full-size books like If I Ran the Circus and Dr. Seuss's SleepBook initiated kids to the pleasures of a language with a profusion of made-up words. The Seussian lexicon, with its "Collapsible Frinks"(20)and "Zizzer-Zoof seeds," is frequently and unsuccessfully copied by ambitious children's book authors. But Seuss's best imitators are children themselves, who learn to master phonetic patterns of their native tongue by(25)babbling forth streams of plausible but nonexistent words. Seuss's verses lodge in his readers' heads and, like all great poetry, enlarge their sense of what language—their language—can do.

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DNA, the double-helix molecule found in each life-form, is packed with millions of pieces of genetic information and can be thought of as a very long, very detailed sentence that exactly describes all of the life-form's characteristics. Not only can scientists now identify the individual "word" in a DNA "sentence," but they can also write new stories. For example, a gene from a cold-water fish can be spliced into a vegetable to increase the vegetable's cold-weather hardiness.
Which of the following best describes the way in which the information in the passage is conveyed?

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Which of the following is the topic of the passage?
Clay was the first substance that humanstotally transformed by heating. Soft, doughy clayis remarkable because in a hot kiln or oven, itLinechanges color and becomes a hard,(5)heat-resistant ceramic material that can holdliquids. Along with the discovery that grains couldbe cultivated, the advent of ceramics led to whatsome scientists have called the Neolithic (NewStone Age) Revolution, laying the agricultural(10)basis for the first cities of the ancient world.
A method for creating ceramics was firstdiscovered roughly 26,000 years ago, whenartisans at a site in what is now theCzech Republic mixed clay with loess, rich soil(15)left behind by retreating glaciers, and then fired itin ovens. The discovery of how to produce a ceramic by firing clay was a milestone in humanity's quest to utilize nature. Up to that time, craftspeople had(20)transformed stone, bone, and wood into tools and weapons by altering their shape, not their intrinsic properties. With ceramics produced from clay, humans learned that the physical properties of materials could be dramatically improved. In(25)prehistoric times, as is frequently the case today, most advances involving materials were based on this simple concept.

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In the paragraph, which of the following effects of heating clay is NOT mentioned?
Clay was the first substance that humanstotally transformed by heating. Soft, doughy clayis remarkable because in a hot kiln or oven, itLinechanges color and becomes a hard,(5)heat-resistant ceramic material that can holdliquids. Along with the discovery that grains couldbe cultivated, the advent of ceramics led to whatsome scientists have called the Neolithic (NewStone Age) Revolution, laying the agricultural(10)basis for the first cities of the ancient world.
A method for creating ceramics was firstdiscovered roughly 26,000 years ago, whenartisans at a site in what is now theCzech Republic mixed clay with loess, rich soil(15)left behind by retreating glaciers, and then fired itin ovens. The discovery of how to produce a ceramic by firing clay was a milestone in humanity's quest to utilize nature. Up to that time, craftspeople had(20)transformed stone, bone, and wood into tools and weapons by altering their shape, not their intrinsic properties. With ceramics produced from clay, humans learned that the physical properties of materials could be dramatically improved. In(25)prehistoric times, as is frequently the case today, most advances involving materials were based on this simple concept.

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For centuries in England, coin production was considered an act of sovereignty and therefore a prerogative of the king. Counterfeiting was an act of treason. Despite this long-standing precedent, the majority of the British colonies in North America—in true revolutionary style—produced coins in direct violation of this rule. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was the first of the settlements to defy this edict when in 1652 the colony authorized the production of its own silver coins.
In the third sentence of the passage, "direct" most nearly means

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Which of the following questions can be best fully answered using the information in the passage?
A ready-made clothing industry did not begin to develop until the early decades of the nineteenth century. At first only the cheapest Line grades of clothes could be bought in stores.(5)Shops in New Bedford, Massachusetts, for example, supplied sailors with the clothing they needed quickly when they had just returned from a long voyage or when they were hastily preparing to sail again. Sailors put these(10)store‑bought clothes in their sea chests, generally known as "slop chests" (after the OldNorse word for the loose smock or the baggy breeches of the kind sailors wore). The clothes they bought were therefore called "sailor slops,"(15)and the places where these were sold were called "slop shops." "Slop clothes" or "slops" became a synonym for ready‑made clothes. Cheap ready-made clothing was also in demand in upstart Western towns for newly arrived(20)miners who had no household to make clothes for them.

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Which of the following, if accurate, would most undermine the third paragraph's author's claims?
Clay was the first substance that humanstotally transformed by heating. Soft, doughy clayis remarkable because in a hot kiln or oven, itLinechanges color and becomes a hard,(5)heat-resistant ceramic material that can holdliquids. Along with the discovery that grains couldbe cultivated, the advent of ceramics led to whatsome scientists have called the Neolithic (NewStone Age) Revolution, laying the agricultural(10)basis for the first cities of the ancient world.
A method for creating ceramics was firstdiscovered roughly 26,000 years ago, whenartisans at a site in what is now theCzech Republic mixed clay with loess, rich soil(15)left behind by retreating glaciers, and then fired itin ovens. The discovery of how to produce a ceramic by firing clay was a milestone in humanity's quest to utilize nature. Up to that time, craftspeople had(20)transformed stone, bone, and wood into tools and weapons by altering their shape, not their intrinsic properties. With ceramics produced from clay, humans learned that the physical properties of materials could be dramatically improved. In(25)prehistoric times, as is frequently the case today, most advances involving materials were based on this simple concept.

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With its Roman nose, gray-tinted coat, and lethal jaws, the Florida panther was once a figure of mythological power that roamed throughout the southeastern United States. But in the twentieth century, hunting and development isolated the panthers in the vast undeveloped swamps and forests of south Florida, and by 1967 there were barely 30 of them left.
Which of the following inferences about the Florida panther can be made based on the passage?

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Which of the following actions does the author do in the highlighted text (lines 15–17)?
PASSAGE 1
In the last decade, many people in the marketing-research and advertising industries have underlined the importance of emotion andLine its role in advertising. Robert Heath has(5) asserted, "We always form an attitude about a decision through emotion and subconscious rational processing before we start to consciously and actively think about it." Heath has proposed that television advertising is not goal driven but(10) stimulus driven and that our feelings that inform sub- and semi-conscious thinking when we watch television ads covertly influence attitudinal change to the brand and, ultimately, a purchase decision.
PASSAGE 2
(15) Emotion in advertising is important to shaping perception; however, emotion should not be pursued at the expense of all else. One of marketers' key objectives is to shape brand representations—that is, to ensure that positive(20) associations come to mind—and so marketers bias consumers' judgments toward their brands. Neuroscientists have found that information about objects is stored in three main networks: knowledge (concrete information associated with(25) an object), experience (actions associated with the object), and emotions (the value of the object along multiple dimensions). The brain needs input from all three to form a representation of an object or concept.

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Which of the following statements about the passage is most accurate?
The links between genes, living habits, and health are of increasing interest to researchers, and this association appears to be especially Line complex in the way people gain weight. Experts(5)believe that perhaps 30 or 40 genes can increase the tendency to obesity. But these genes operate in concert with each other as well as with people's dietary habits. Doctors may someday routinely look for genes that increase(10)the risk of obesity, and drugs may be developed to target specific genetic profiles. Still, people's eating and exercise habits are probably much more important than their genes in determining whether they are obese.

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The primary focus of both passages is the
Passage 1
In the last decade, many people in the marketing-research and advertising industries have underlined the importance of emotion andLine its role in advertising. Robert Heath has(5) asserted, "We always form an attitude about a decision through emotion and subconscious rational processing before we start to consciously and actively think about it." Heath has proposed that television advertising is not goal driven but(10) stimulus driven and that our feelings that inform sub- and semi-conscious thinking when we watch television ads covertly influence attitudinal change to the brand and, ultimately, a purchase decision.
Passage 2
(15) Emotion in advertising is important to shaping perception; however, emotion should not be pursued at the expense of all else. One of marketers' key objectives is to shape brand representations—that is, to ensure that positive(20) associations come to mind—and so marketers bias consumers' judgments toward their brands. Neuroscientists have found that information about objects is stored in three main networks: knowledge (concrete information associated with(25) an object), experience (actions associated with the object), and emotions (the value of the object along multiple dimensions). The brain needs input from all three to form a representation of an object or concept.

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Stone, bone, and wood are mentioned by the author as examples of materials in line 20.
Clay was the first substance that humanstotally transformed by heating. Soft, doughy clayis remarkable because in a hot kiln or oven, itLinechanges color and becomes a hard,(5)heat-resistant ceramic material that can holdliquids. Along with the discovery that grains couldbe cultivated, the advent of ceramics led to whatsome scientists have called the Neolithic (NewStone Age) Revolution, laying the agricultural(10)basis for the first cities of the ancient world.
A method for creating ceramics was firstdiscovered roughly 26,000 years ago, whenartisans at a site in what is now theCzech Republic mixed clay with loess, rich soil(15)left behind by retreating glaciers, and then fired itin ovens. The discovery of how to produce a ceramic by firing clay was a milestone in humanity's quest to utilize nature. Up to that time, craftspeople had(20)transformed stone, bone, and wood into tools and weapons by altering their shape, not their intrinsic properties. With ceramics produced from clay, humans learned that the physical properties of materials could be dramatically improved. In(25)prehistoric times, as is frequently the case today, most advances involving materials were based on this simple concept.

Correct! Wrong!

When the target ad is the sole stimulus that participants are exposed to, there is strong evidence that the number of exposures to an advertising message affects how compelling it is. When the target ad is presented in a congested setting that also contains other advertising and program material, the repetition effect is far less effective.
Which of the following situations, given the facts in the passage, will an increase in one's exposure to an advertisement most reliably affect its capacity to persuade?

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The passage claims that the Anasazi communities in Chaco Canyon used their surplus production to
According to some scholars, humansocioeconomic strategies can be divided into"efficient" systems, with little to no growth inLinepopulation and production, and "power" systems,(5)marked by population expansion, highproduction, and surpluses. In the AmericanSouthwest, the earlier Anasazi, a group ofancestral Pueblo Native Americans, formed"efficient," small-scale agrarian communities with(10)relatively small population growth and low energyproduction and consumption. They built smalldomestic structures, farmed lightly on thelandscape, and moved hearth and family whenthe need arose.
(15) In contrast, the later Anasazi communities ofChaco Canyon farmed more intensively andproduced surplus foods. This surplus supportedthe construction of "great houses," multistorystructures exalting a flourishing class of leaders.(20)This emergent class of social elite was able tomanipulate the economic surplus and labors ofits agrarian cohorts, who lived in small, humblehomesteads scattered around each "greathouse." (25) Most archaeologists believe that favorable weather conditions during the ninth century fostered this shift in Anasazi society from one of efficiency to one of power. Over the next two centuries, surplus corn and free trade fueled an(30)economic expansion that came crashing down with a series of serious droughts. Chaco Canyon can be described as an experiment in power politics and overheated economic growth, ananomalous blip in the otherwise efficient and(35)environmentally conservative Anasazi habitation of the Southwest.

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Lines 7-8 of the text refer to "patterns of work" to highlight one instance where
During the Middle Ages, the flexibility of aEuropean civilization not yet fully formed was evident in the place it accorded women; for Lineal though they nowhere approached equality with(5)men, medieval women were far more visible, vocal, and powerful than their sisters in antiquity.This was particularly true regarding patterns of work. A less rigid gender division of labor probably allowed an emerging Europe to tap the(10)energy and skill of its women more fully than other established civilizations of the time.

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