Reading Comprehension Related

Eating
Consumption of food is a universal necessity. Different
cultures have developed different methods to accomplish
the task. It is interesting to discover these differences and
learn new ways to do things.
European cultures developed cutlery (knives, forks, and
spoons) to enable people to efficiently eat their food.
Correct use of this toolā€™s changes with the times-what was
polite in 1800 may not be considered proper manners
today.
China developed the chopstick as an efficient tool for
eating. Mastery of the use of chopsticks can be difficult
for the person not raised in the culture. The attempts of a
novice to use chopsticks can be very amusing to the
watcher, but frustrating for the hungry diner.
Space travel has created new challenges for consuming
food. Squeeze bottles and other unique packaging have
enabled space travelers to get their needed nutrition.
Chopsticks and forks do not work well in space.

What statement from this extract is correct?

• A. China developed chopsticks for eating utensils
• B. Space travel can be tiring
• C. European methods of eating are superior
• D. China developed chopsticks for eating utensils

People of Hispanic origin were on the North American continent centuries before settlers arrived
from Europe in the early 1600s and the thirteen colonies joined together to form the United
States in the late 1700s. The first census of the new nation was conducted in 1790, and counted about four million people, most of whom were white. Of the white citizens, more than 80%
traced their ancestry back to England. There were close to 700,000 slaves and about 60,000 "free Negroes". Only a few Native American Indians who paid taxes were included in the census count, but the total Native American population was probably about one million. By 1815, the population of the United States was 8.4 million. Over the next 100 years, the
country took in about 35 million immigrants, with the greatest numbers coming in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In 1882, 40,000 Chinese arrived, and between 1900 and 1907, there were more
than 30,000 Japanese immigrants. But by far, the largest numbers of the new immigrants were
from central, eastern, and southern Europe. An enormous amount of racial and ethnic assimilation has taken place in the United States. In 1908, play-write Israel Zangwill first used the term "melting pot" to describe the concept of a place where many races melted in a crucible and re-formed to populate a new land. Some years during the first two decades of the 20th century, there were as many as one million new
immigrants per year, an astonishing 1 percent of the total population of the United States.
In 1921, however, the country began to limit immigration, and the Immigration Act of 1924
virtually closed the door. The total number of immigrants admitted per year dropped from as many as a million to only 150,000. A quota system was established that specified the number of
immigrants that could come from each country. It heavily favored immigrants from northern and western Europe and severely limited everyone else. This system remained in effect until 1965, although after World War II, several exceptions were made to the quota system to allow in
groups of refugees.

According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

• A. A quota system was in place from 1908.
• B. A peak period of immigration was in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
• C. Slaves were not counted in the first census.
• D. Only those who paid taxes were included in the first census.

About 6% of the earth is covered by rainforests. The largest rainforest in the world is the
Amazon Basin, which stretches over 2.3 million square miles in nine different South American countries. This area is double the length of all the other remaining rainforests in the world. Brazil contains 60%of the Amazonian rainforest, since it lies at the mouth of the river Amazon. This river is the second largest in the world and contains more than one-fifth oftheworldĆ¢ā‚¬ā„¢sfresh water. The Amazon rainforest is a type of wet broadleaf forest. The weather there is very humid and warm as it rains quite a bit. Because of the high rainfall, the forest is very rich and green. The
tree leaves are pointed and narrow so that the raindrops can easily drop off wet plants. This
tropical rainforest has more living species than the entire European continent. There are over 400 types of insects living in one single rain forest tree for a total of 2.5 million species. One square kilometer of rainforest may contain over 75,000 types of trees and approximately 438,000
different kinds of plants, which comes to a total of 90,000 tons of greenery overall. The Amazon rainforest is home to 2,000 birds and mammals, with one in every five birds in the world living there. Local farmers have lived off this rich and diverse land for thousands of years. They have been able to find food and water here without destroying the land. The Kayapo people of Brazil
farm in an environmentally-friendly way. Instead of chemicals, they use burned wood to enrich the soil, and plant banana trees, which attract wasps. These wasps then feed on leafcutter ants and get rid of these harmful insects. The rainforest also offers a lot of tropical fruits, such as bananas and coconuts, as food.
Cinnamon is made from the bark of a rainforest tree. Amazonian Indians use the fruit and stem
of the Buruti plant as a drink, to make bread and to build houses. Many other plants are used as medicine. But the Amazon rainforest is in very big danger of disappearing. 9,169 square miles of
forest have been cut down in 2003 in Brazil alone. An area of the size of a football field is burned down basically every minute, which means that the rain forest may be gone by the year 2030.The dangers related to this type of activity are obvious. Trees take in poisonous carbon
dioxide from the air and give off oxygen. There is more oxygen and less carbon dioxide around a
rainforest. When trees are cut down, however, the amount of carbon dioxide increases, and the
air gets warmer. This leads to global warming, which is extremely harmful to the environment. It
is estimated that the burning of Brazilian rainforests alone produces 200 million metric tons of carbon dioxide ayear. Another danger connected with destroying the rainforest is the disappearance of plants and animals. When trees are cut down, plants and animals have no more
food left and slowly die out. Killing wild animals is illegal in Brazil, but there is plenty of stealing going on. 38 million animals are stolen and sold illegally each year. The most hunted
animals are birds, especially parrots, followed by snakes and the jaguar.

What does the sentence 'people of Brazil farm in an environmentally friendly way' mean in paragraph 3?

• A. They do not poison the soil when farming.
• B. They use natural chemicals to enrich the soil.
• C. They plant and preserve banana trees.
• D. They do not kill insects even if they are harmful.

ALL THE JAZZ
Jazz has been called "the art of expression set to music", and "America's great contribution to music". It has functioned as popular art and enjoyed periods of widespread public response, in the "jazz age" of the 1920s, in the "swing era" of the late 1930s and in the peak popularity of modern jazz in the late 1950s. The standard legend about Jazz is that it originated around the end of the 19th century in New Orleans and moved up the Mississippi River to Memphis, St. Louis, and finally to Chicago. It welded together the elements of Ragtime, marching band music, and the Blues. However, the influences of what led to those early sounds goes back to tribal African drum beats and European musical structures. Buddy Bolden, a New Orleans barber and cornet player, is generally considered to have been the first real Jazz musician, around 1891. What made Jazz significantly different from the other earlier forms of music was the use of improvisation. Jazz displayed a break from traditional music where a composer wrote an entire piece of music on paper, leaving the musicians to break their backs playing exactly what was written on the score. In a Jazz piece, however, the song is simply a starting point, or sort of skeletal guide for the Jazz musicians to improvise around. Many of the early Jazz musicians were bad sight readers and some couldn't even read music at all. These early musicians couldn't make money very much and were stuck working menial jobs to make a living. The second wave of New Orleans Jazz musicians included such memorable players as Joe Oliver, Kid Ory, and Jelly Roll Morton. These men formed small bands and took the music of earlier musicians, improved its complexity, and gained greater success. This music is known as "hot Jazz" due to the enormously fast speeds and rhythmic drive. Downloaded by Abdul Hamid (a.ahamid2181@gmail.com) lOMoARcPSD|10672023 HESI A2 V2 Grammar, Vocab, Reading, & Math Questions with Answers). A young cornet player by the name of Louis Armstrong was discovered by Joe Oliver in New Orleans. He soon grew up to become one of the greatest and most successful musicians of all time, and later one of the biggest stars in the world. The impact of Armstrong and other talented early Jazz musicians changed the way we look at music

What is the derivation of the word 'Jazz'?

• A. East coast slang
• B. West coast slang
• C. Southern dialect
• D. Northern jargon

Facts about the One Dollar Bill
As Americans, we should all know some statistics about our currency.
The one dollar bill is a fascinating document with a varied historical beginning. Consisting of a cotton and linen blend with minute
red and blue silk fibers woven through it, the one dollar bill debuted in 1957. Due to the fact that the bill is constructed of material,
laundering it does not cause any permanent harm. A special blend of ink created from a secret formula is used to write on the dollar bill,
which acts as a deterrent to counterfeiters.
By sharing these important facts with others, a common understanding and appreciation of the one dollar bill is established.

Why is making counterfeit copies of the one dollar bill difficult?

• A. Americans don't know enough about the one dollar bill.
• B. The intricate designs on the seals are hard to copy.
• C. The formula for the ink used is kept a secret.
• D. The paper used is a special blend of materials.