Reading Comprehension Related

What effect does your voice have on others? Does it persuade or irritate, attract or repel? One of
the worst qualities is harshness. If you ever get the feeling that people are uncomfortable when you speak, it may be that your harsh tones are jarring their eardrums. Your voice will sound
unpleasant if it is shrill, grating, hard, piercing, brassy, to loud, or too nasal. Harsh voice qualities usually come from too much tension in the throat and jaw. Tension tightens muscles and blocks the relaxed voice tones essential to a pleasing impression. Because tension occurs in higher pitched voices, women tend to have shriller voices than men, which usually makes them
less desirable public speakers, newscasters, or political candidates.

What is the main idea presented in this paragraph?

• A. Some men possess harsh voices.
• B. Harsh voices are often associated with relaxed individuals.
• C. Women are perceived as less appealing political candidates due to their shriller voices.
• D. Not everyone is bothered by a harsh voice.

The Game of Bridge
The ebb and flow of laughter and silence fills the room as
four old friends gather to engage in a round of Bridge
playing. For the beginner, Bridge can be complicated, but
with time, effort, and a good teacher, even the novice can
become proficient.
Composed of two main parts, bidding and playing, Bridge
requires the player's undivided attention. The dealer deals
the entire deck of playing cards evenly between the for
players, with each person receiving thirteen cards. In the
bidding portion of the game, the four suits of cards in the
deck are ranked highest to lowest as follows:
spades, hearts, diamonds, and finally clubs. However,
during play all the suits of cards are considered equals,
and they go from highest to lowest from the ace being
high to the two cards being low. The highest number of
tricks wins. A trick is one card played by each player for a
total of four. After the lead player lays down his/her card,
the other players follow suit, if possible. The highest card
within the four "same suit" cards played wins the trick
and picks up all four cards. If a player cannot follow suit,
he/she plays any card, but to make the game more
interesting and challenging, one suit is named a trump suit
which means that if a player plays a card from the trump
suit, it always wins the trick. If two cards from the trump
suit are played, the highest card within the trump suit
wins the trick. Obviously, the team with the most tricks
wins the hand.

Throughout this passage, the word 'suit' means

• A. A set of clothing to be worn together
• B. Any of the four sets into which a deck of cards is divided
• C. To be convenient or right for
• D. To request or appeal persistently

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.

Why did the author write the passage?

• A. to outline the ways immigration has been restricted
• B. to emphasize the impact of migrants from Europe
• C. to explain and give examples of the concept of a 'melting pot'
• D. to summarize the main features of immigration

A Bit About Bicycles: Children begin to taste freedom on bicycles. Historians believe that bicycles began around 3500 B.C. in the Middle East although it took 53 centuries before bicycles were fashioned in the way we know them today.
With over 1500 moving parts, bicycles are complex yet simple machines and amazingly the basic design has not changed since the 1880s. A few tweaks have been added, such as gears and hand-operated brakes, but bicycles remain a steady source of exercise and entertainment for both children and adults. Some forms of bicycling are mountain biking and BMX biking which is similar to cross-country motorcycle racing.
In many countries around the world, bicycles are a necessary part of daily existence. Bicycling in China is imperative if you want to go places, due to the vast population in a relatively small area. Bicycles are coming back in high demand all over the world.

After reading this article, the reader learns that

• A. bicycles break down because of the moving parts.
• B. bicycles are only found in China.
• C. bicycling is gaining in popularity all over the world.
• D. BMX bicycling is dangerous.

Nurseries
If you thought nurseries were just for babies, well, think again! Being special kinds of farms, nurseries are used to raise plants in mass quantities. Plants, trees, and shrubs are typically grown in nurseries and then sold to farmers and gardeners to plant in homes, businesses and farms. Most nurseries are found in the more rural parts the country because much land is required to have a viable nursery. If a nursery sells plants to others, it must obtain a special permit from the local city or county, which keeps the competition fair and does not saturate the market with a large number of nurseries selling similar products.
Also on the grounds of nurseries are greenhouses which are made of glass or plastic panes that protect the plants from weather elements that may harm them and cause them not to grow and develop. The glass panels in greenhouses allow for sunlight to enter and moisture to be trapped inside. This creates a tropical environment which allows orchids and poinsettias to grow. It ensures that vegetables and fruits will grow large, which makes them valuable to farmers.

What does 'panel' mean?

• A. A type of decorative fabric used for clothing
• B. A strip of board or other material that forms a section of a wall or door
• C. A tool used for gardening
• D. A piece of software for editing photos