SSAT Reading Comprehension Practice Test 29

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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
  • E. appeal for action to protect the environment

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 records exist for eruptions that occurred more than 123 years ago
  • E. no one suspected that Mount St. Helens could erupt

3. As used in line 6, "rising" most nearly means

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

4. The statement that "Many geologists weren't surprised by Mount St. Helens' awakening," (lines 12–13) 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
  • E. the heat rising from the volcanic ash had provided an important clue to the 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
  • E. presentation of details in spatial order

6. By calling the landscape "a gray wasteland" (line 41), 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 sun could not penetrate the forest
  • E. the landscape had been stripped bare and covered in volcanic ash