TEAS Reading Questions Related

What outdoorsy, family adventure can you have on a hot, summer day? How about spelunking? If you live in an area that is anywhere near is guided, lit cave, find out the hours of operation and hit the road towards it as soon as you can. Hitch up the double jogging stroller and make your way out into the wilderness, preferably with a guide, and discover the wonders of the cool, dark earth even while it is weltering hot in the outside world. It will be 58 degrees in that cave, and you can explore inside for as long as you please. Best part? The absolutely awesome naps that the kids will take after such an exciting adventure! Be sure to bring the following items: - Bottled water - Light-up tennis shoes if you have them (they look fabulous in the dark) - Flashlights or glow sticks just for fun - Jackets - Changes of clothes in case of getting muddy and/or dirty

Given the style of writing for the passage, which of the following magazines would be the best fit for this article?

• A. Scientific Spelunking
• B. Family Fun Days
• C. Adventures for Men
• D. Mud Magazine

Eventually, his son King Charles II would be crowned, and this Charles is believed to have converted secretly to the Catholic Church. Charles II died without a legitimate heir, and his brother James ascended to the throne as King James II. James was recognized to be a practicing Catholic, and his commitment to Catholicism would prove to e his downfall. James's wife Mary Beatrice lost a number of children during their infancy, and when she became pregnant again in 1687 the public became concerned. If James had a son, that son would undoubtedly be raised a Catholic, and the English people would not stand for this. Mary gave birth to a son, but the story quickly circulated that the royal child had died and the child named James's heir was a foundling smuggled in. James, his wife, and his infant son were forced to flee; and James's Protestant daughter Mary was crowned the queen. In spite of a strong resemblance to the ing, the young James was generally rejected among the English and the Lowland Scots, who referred to him as "the Pretender." But in the Highlands the Catholic princeling was welcomed. He inspired a group known as Jacobites, to reflect the Latin version of his name. His own son Charles, known affectionately as Bonnie Price Charlie, would eventually raise an army and attempt to recapture what he believed to be his throne. The movement was soundly defeated at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, and England and Scotland have remained ostensibly Protestant ever since.

What is the author's likely purpose in writing this passage about Queen Victoria?

• A. To persuade the reader to appreciate the accomplishments of Queen Victoria, especially when placed against the failures of her forebears.
• B. To introduce the historical impact of the Victorian Era by introducing the queen who gave that era its name.
• C. To explain how small events in history led an unlikely princess to become the queen of England.
• D. To indicate the role that King George III's many sons played in changing the history of England.

In the United States, the foreign language requirement for high school graduation is decided at the state level. This means the requirement varies, with some states deciding to forego a foreign language requirement altogether (www.ncssfl.org). It is necessary that these states reconsider their position and amend their requirements to reflect compulsory completion of a course of one or more foreign languages. Studying a foreign language has become increasingly important for the global economy. As technology continues to make international business relations increasing easy, people need to keep up by increasing their communication capabilities. High school graduates with foreign language credits have been shown to have an increased college acceptance rate. In addition, students who have mastered more than one language typically find themselves in greater demand when they reach the job market. Students who did not study a foreign language often find themselves unable to obtain a job at all.

What is the main idea of this passage?

• A. Studying a foreign language will help graduating students find jobs after high school.
• B. Studying a foreign language should be a mandatory requirement for high school graduation.
• C. Studying a foreign language helps students gain an understanding of other cultures.
• D. Studying a foreign language is essential if a student hopes to get into college.

The area known as the Bermuda Triangle has become such a part of popular culture that it can be difficult to separate fact from fiction. The interest first began when five Navy planes vanished in 1945, officially resulting from "causes or reasons unknown." The explanations about other accidents in the Triangle range from the scientific to the supernatural. Researchers have never been able to find anything truly mysterious about what happens in the Bermuda Triangle, if there even is a Bermuda Triangle. What is more, one of the biggest challenges in considering the
phenomenon is deciding how much area actually represents the Bermuda Triangle. Most consider
the Triangle to stretch from Miami out to Puerto Rico and to include the island of Bermuda.
Others expand the area to include all of the Caribbean islands and to extend eastward as far as the
Azores, which are closer to Europe than they are to North America.
The problem with having a larger Bermuda Triangle is that it increases the odds of accidents.
There is near-constant travel, by ship and by plane, across the Atlantic, and accidents are expected
to occur. In fact, the Bermuda triangle happens to fall within one of the busiest navigational
regions in the world, and the reality of greater activity creates the possibility for more to go wrong.
Shipping records suggest that there is not a greater than average loss of vessels within the
Bermuda Triangle, and many researchers have argued that the reputation of the Triangle makes
any accidents seem out of the ordinary. In fact, most accidents fall within the expected margin of
error. The Increase in ships from East Asia no doubt contributes to an increase in accidents. And
as for the story of the Navy planes that disappeared within the Triangle, many researchers now
conclude that it was the result of mistakes on the part of the pilots who were flying into storm
clouds and simply got lost.

Which of the following sentences is most representative of a summary sentence for this passage?

• A. The problem with having a larger Bermuda Triangle is that it increases the odds of accidents.
• B. The area that is called the Bermuda Triangle happens to fall within one of the busiest navigational regions in the world, and the reality of greater activity creates the possibility for more to go wrong.
• C. One of the biggest challenges in considering the phenomenon is deciding how much area actually represents the Bermuda Triangle.
• D. Researchers have never been able to find anything truly mysterious about what happens in the Bermuda Triangle, if there even is a Bermuda Triangle.

How are Hypotheses Confirmed? Most scientists agree that while the scientific method is an invaluable methodological tool, it is not a failsafe method for arriving at object ruth. It is a debatable, for example, whether a hypothesis can actually be confirmed by experience. When a hypothesis is of the form "All x and y," it is commonly believed that a piece of evidence that is both x and y confirms the hypothesis. For example, for the hypothesis "All monkeys are hairy," a particular monkey that is hairy is thought to be a confirming piece of evidence for the hypothesis. A problem arises when one encounters evidence that disproves a hypothesis: while no scientist would argue that one piece of evidence proves a hypothesis, it is possible for one piece of evidence to disprove a hypothesis. To return to the monkey example, one hairless monkey out of one billion hairy monkeys disproves the hypothesis "All monkeys are hairy." Single pieces of evidence then, seem to affect to given hypothesis in radically different ways. For this reason, the confirmation of hypotheses is better described as probabilistic. Hypotheses that can only be proven or disproven based on evidence need to be based on probability because sample sets for such hypotheses are too large. Int eh monkey example, every single monkey in the history of monkeys would need to be examined before the hypothesis could be proven or disproven. By making confirmation a function of probability, one may make provisional or working conclusions the tallow for the possibility of given hypothesis being disconfirmed in the future. Int he monkey case, then, encountering a hairy monkey would slighting rise the probability that "all monkeys are hairy," while encountering a hairless monkey would slightly decrease the probability that "all monkeys are hairy." This method of confirming hypotheses is both counterintuitive and controversial, but it allows for evidence to equitably affect hypotheses and it does not require infinite sample sets for confirmation or disconfirmation.

A synonym for disconfirmed would be:

• A. proven
• B. dissipated
• C. distilled
• D. disproven