ISEE Middle Level Reading Comprehension Practice Test 36

1. The primary purpose of this passage is to

• A. offer general information about volcanoes
• B. describe a specific volcanic eruption
• C. offer specific advice about what to do when a volcano erupts
• D. provide historical background about volcanoes

2. The first sentence implies that

• A. Mount St. Helens had never before erupted
• B. Mount St. Helens erupts every 123 years
• C. Mount St. Helens last erupted in 1857
• D. no one suspected that Mount St. Helens could erupt

3. As used in line 9, "rising" most nearly means

• A. ascending
• B. approaching
• C. maturing
• D. advancing

4. The statement that "Many geologists weren't surprised by Mount St. Helens' awakening," (lines 17–18) primarily suggests that

• A. geologists were able to predict when Mount St. Helens would erupt
• B. the assumptions geologists had made about Mount St. Helens were being proven
• C. the longer a volcano remains dormant, the more likely it is to become active
• D. nothing is surprising to geologists

5. The author describes the events of May 18, 1980, mainly by means of

• A. scientific analysis
• B. detached and impartial observation
• C. vivid language and dramatic images
• D. presentation of facts in chronological order

6. By calling the landscape "a gray wasteland" (line 59), the author implies that

• A. the landscape was covered with a blanket of dirty snow
• B. the landscape was littered with garbage and other waste matter
• C. the trees were all covered with gray ash
• D. the landscape had been stripped bare and covered in volcanic ash