Reading Comprehension Sample Questions

Read the following paragraph to answer the next two questions (Questions 1&2).

Tailgating another vehicle is unsafe and illegal. Many rear-end collisions are caused by drivers following too close to the vehicle in front of them. The rules state that a driver must keep sufficient distance from the vehicle in front in order to stop safely and avoid a collision. Drivers should allow a minimum two seconds’ gap between their vehicle and the one ahead. At sixty kilometers an hour, this equates to thirty-three meters; at a hundred it equates to fifty-five meters. More distance is needed to safely stop in rain or poor visibility.

1.  Tailgating another vehicle is unsafe because:

A: all rear end collisions are caused by drivers following too close to the vehicle in front.

B: it may not allow sufficient time and space to stop and avoid a collision.

C: it is against the road rules.

D: it is a reckless practice.

E: None of these.

2.  ‘More distance is needed to safely stop in rain or poor visibility.’ We can infer from this that:

A: people drive faster in rain and poor visibility.

B: the writer is merely calculating on the safe side.

C: braking is more hazardous in rain and poor visibility.

D: the road rules state that this must be so.

E: All of these.

Read the following paragraphs to answer the next four questions (Questions 3 & 4).

Among predatory dinosaurs, few flesh-eaters were bigger, faster and nastier than the "tyrant lizard" of popular imagination, the Tyrannosaurus Rex. At least, that is what we have been led to believe.  Now research suggests that, far from being the Ferrari of dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus Rex, whose ferocious reputation has fascinated generations of schoolchildren, was in fact a cumbersome creature with a usual running speed of twenty-five kilometers an hour. This is a mere snail's pace compared with modern animals such as the cheetah.  Unlike some of the predators of today's African savannah, which can change direction almost immediately, the dinosaur would have had to turn slowly or risk tumbling over. And while a human can spin forty-five degrees in a twentieth of a second, a Tyrannosaurus would have taken as much as two seconds, as it would have been hampered by its long tail. Thankfully, however, all its prey, such as triceratops, would have been afflicted with the same lack of speed and agility.

The findings were reached after researchers used computer modelling and biomechanical calculations to work out the dinosaur's speed, agility and weight. They based their calculations on measurements taken from a fossil dinosaur representative of an average Tyrannosaurus and concluded the creatures probably weighed between six and eight tons.  Calculations of the leg muscles suggest that the animal would have had a top speed of forty kilometers an hour, which is nothing compared to a cheetah’s one hundred kilometers an hour. It is sobering to reflect, though, that an Olympic sprinter runs at about thirty-five kilometers an hour, not sufficient to outrun a Tyrannosaurus, should Man have been around at that time!

3.  Being known as the ‘Ferrari of dinosaurs’ means Tyrannosaurus Rex:

A: wore shoes.

B: was a quick and agile creature.

C: was a hunting machine.

D: was the most ferocious of dinosaurs.

E: None of these.

4.  The overall theme of the passage is:

A: Because it was cumbersome, Tyrannosaurus Rex was lucky to survive.

B: Tyrannosaurus Rex’s speed and agility were still superior to those of other dinosaurs.

C: Tyrannosaurus Rex’s fierce reputation is now laid to rest.

D: Compared to modern predatory animals, Tyrannosaurus Rex was slow and cumbersome.

E: None of these.