Reading Comprehension Practice Questions


Directions: Read the following paragraphs and answer the questions that accompany them. Circle the correct answer, which you believe most accurately satisfies the requirements of each question. The answer key is located at the end of this test.

Passage One - Paragraph A

Lightning is an electrical discharge that occurs in a thunderstorm. It can be seen in the form of a bright streak (or bolt) from the sky. Lightning occurs when an electrical charge is built up within a cloud, due to static electricity generated by supercooled water droplets colliding with ice crystals near the freezing level. When a large enough charge is built up, a large discharge will occur and can be seen as lightning. The temperature of a lightning bolt can be five times hotter than the surface of the sun. Although the lightning is extremely hot, the duration is short and 90% of strike victims survive. Contrary to the popular idea that lightning does not strike twice in the same spot, some people have been struck by lightning over three times, and skyscrapers like the Empire State Building have been struck numerous times in the same storm. The loud bang that is heard is the super heated air around the lightning bolt expanding at the speed of sound. Because sound travels slower than light the flash is seen before the bang, although both occur at the same moment.

1. What can be inferred from paragraph A?
A: Lightning is caused by an electrical discharge in the clouds.
B: Lightning is not as hot as the temperature of the sun's surface.
C: The sound made by lightning occurs when the electricity strikes an object.
D: The sound of lightning is heard before the lightning can be seen.

2. Being struck by lightning means:
A: Instant death.
B: Less than a fifty percent chance of survival.
C: A ninety percent chance of surviving the strike.
D: An eighty percent chance of survival.

3. Lightning is caused by:
A: Static electricity generated by cool water droplets and ice crystals colliding in the clouds.
B: Friction from the clouds rubbing together.
C: Extreme heat in the clouds caused by solar energy.
D: Warm and cold air mixing together.

Paragraph B
Warm air has a lower density than cool air, so warm air rises within cooler air, similar to hot air balloons. Clouds form as warm air carrying moisture rises within cooler air. As the warm air rises, it cools. The moist water vapor begins to condense. When the moisture condenses, this releases energy that keeps the air warmer than its surroundings, so that it continues to rise. If enough instability is present in the atmosphere, this process will continue long enough for cumulonimbus clouds to form, which support lightning and thunder. All thunderstorms, regardless of type, go through three stages: the cumulus stage, the mature stage, and the dissipation stage. Depending on the conditions present in the atmosphere, these three stages can take anywhere from 20 minutes to several hours to occur.

4. The idea that can be inferred from paragraph B is:
A: Warm air is denser than cool air
B: All thunderstorms will go through three stages.
C: Thunderstorms may occur without clouds present.
D: The stages of a thunderstorm are finished in just a few minutes.

5. When warm air rises through colder air, it results in:
A: Evaporation.
B: Humidity.
C: Clear skies.
D: Condensation.