PARCC Advanced Reading Practice Questions Story 4
20. What happened first?
20. A: The fourth paragraph describes sailors' carrying tortoises off to their ships, where they subsequently turned them onto their backs (C), rendering them helpless, and then used them for food (B). Settlers brought other animals to the Galapagos Islands (D) "soon after" (fifth paragraph) the sailors took them. The passage never mentions the sailors' eating pigs (E) at all.
21. What happened soon after people brought animals to the islands?
21. C: The passage describes (fifth paragraph) animals' eating the tortoises' food and eggs. Tortoise eggs were kept in safe containers (A) many years later, in the 1950s (penultimate and last paragraphs), once scientists began to rebuild the depleted tortoise population. Scientists gathered tortoise eggs but did not take away tortoises (B); sailors many years earlier did. The tortoises did not fight with other animals (D) or continue to wander freely (E), as more and more disappeared.
22. When did people start to do something to save the tortoises?
22. B: The passage indicates (sixth and seventh/last paragraphs) that scientists started working to save tortoises in the 1950s. The 1500s (A) was when sailors first visited the Galapagos and began decimating the tortoise population by eating them. The early 1900s (C) is described as when people began to worry about tortoise extinction, not when scientists began to do something about it. The 1960s (D) and 1400s (E) are never mentioned.
23. What happens right after the tortoise eggs hatch?
23. D: The passage describes scientists raising newly hatched tortoise eggs in special pens. They only return them to their islands (A) once they have grown old and big enough to care for themselves. The scientists got rid of excessive cats, dogs, and other animals (B) to decrease their predation on tortoises before gathering, incubating, and hatching tortoise eggs. Sailors first used tortoises for food (C) hundreds of years ago. The passage never mentions their encouraging villagers to help (E).
24. What happened last?
24. B: Tortoise numbers began growing thanks to the scientists' efforts. The number of tortoises began to decrease (E) and tortoises began disappearing (A) first. Years later, scientists removed other animals (C) that had been preying on tortoises. After gathering and hatching eggs and raising tortoises, scientists returned them to their islands (D) and tortoise numbers began increasing.
