Reading Passage for HSPT - 43

Read each passage carefully and then answer the questions about it. For each question, decide on the basis of the passage which one of the choices best answers the question.

Passage 1

The following passage is adapted from a work of narrative fiction.

    The telegram arrived on a Thursday, slipped under the door of our apartment while Mother was at the cannery and I was supposed to be minding my younger brother. Instead, I had left (5) Leo with Mrs. Kowalski next door and taken the streetcar to the library, where I spent the morning copying passages from a book about falconry into my composition notebook. When I returned, the yellow envelope lay on the floor like (10) a leaf that had blown in from some distant autumn.     I knew what it was before I picked it up. Everyone in the neighborhood knew what those envelopes meant in the spring of 1944. I held it (15) against the window, trying to read the words through the paper, but the light only showed dark blocks of text that refused to resolve into meaning. My hands shook as I set it on the kitchen table, precisely in the center, (20) where Mother would see it the moment she walked in.     For three hours I sat in the chair by the window, watching the street below. I watched Mr. Chen sweep the sidewalk in front of his grocery. I watched the (25) Donnelly twins chase each other around the fire hydrant. I watched everything except the yellow rectangle on the table behind me, which seemed to grow larger and heavier with each passing minute, until it felt as though the entire apartment had been (30) built around it, with the walls and floor and ceiling all leaning inward toward that terrible center of gravity.

1. The main purpose of the passage is to

1. describe the narrator’s fascination with falconry and books
2. portray a moment of anxious anticipation before receiving difficult news
3. criticize the narrator for neglecting responsibility toward a younger sibling
4. explain the historical significance of telegrams during wartime

2. The narrator’s visit to the library suggests that he or she is

1. avoiding responsibilities at home
2. preparing for a school assignment on falconry
3. meeting someone in secret
4. unable to afford books

3. As used in line 9, the word leaf most nearly means

1. a part of a plant
2. a page in a book
3. something light and ominous
4. something green and natural

4. The detail that “everyone in the neighborhood knew what those envelopes meant” (lines 11-12) suggests that

1. telegrams were a common form of communication in 1944
2. the community had experienced wartime losses before
3. the narrator had received telegrams previously
4. the neighborhood was particularly close-knit and gossipy

5. The narrator’s attempt to read the telegram through the paper (lines 14-16) primarily reveals

1. a lack of patience
2. curiosity mixed with fear
3. disrespect for privacy
4. confidence in his or her abilities

6. The tone of the final paragraph (lines 21-30) can best be described as

1. angry and resentful
2. tense and oppressive
3. nostalgic and wistful
4. detached and indifferent

7. The image of the apartment being “built around” the telegram (lines 28-30) suggests that

1. the apartment is poorly constructed
2. the telegram has become the focus of the narrator’s entire world
3. the narrator is imagining structural changes to the building
4. the table is located in the exact center of the room

Passage 2

The following passage is adapted from a general-audience science article.

    For centuries, cartographers believed that the ocean floor was a vast, featureless plain, as uniform and monotonous as a desert of mud. This assumption persisted until the mid-twentieth century, when (5) advances in sonar technology allowed scientists to map the seafloor with unprecedented accuracy. What they discovered revolutionized geology: beneath the waves lay mountain ranges taller than the Himalayas, valleys deeper than the Grand Canyon, and a globe-encircling (10) system of ridges that produces new oceanic crust in a process unmatched anywhere on Earth’s surface.     The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, perhaps the most studied of these underwater mountain chains, runs like a seam down the center of the Atlantic Ocean. At the ridge’s (15) crest, magma wells up from the Earth’s mantle, cools upon contact with seawater, and solidifies into fresh basaltic rock. This newly formed crust then spreads outward in both directions, driven by convective currents in the mantle below. The process, known (20) as seafloor spreading, occurs at a rate of only a few centimeters per year-roughly the speed at which human fingernails grow-yet over millions of years it has been sufficient to split entire continents and rearrange the face of the planet.     Evidence for (25) seafloor spreading comes from multiple sources. Magnetic striping patterns in oceanic crust, symmetrical on either side of mid-ocean ridges, record reversals in Earth’s magnetic field and demonstrate that rock farther from the ridge is progressively older. Dating of seafloor samples confirms this pattern: (30) the oldest oceanic crust, found near continental margins, is less than two hundred million years old, a fraction of the age of the oldest continental rocks, which exceed four billion years.

8. The primary purpose of this passage is to

1. compare oceanic mountain ranges to terrestrial ones
2. explain the discovery and mechanism of seafloor spreading
3. argue that sonar technology revolutionized all scientific fields
4. describe the history of cartography from ancient times to the present

9. According to the passage, what did cartographers believe about the ocean floor before the mid-twentieth century?

1. It contained mountain ranges taller than those on land
2. It was flat and without significant features
3. It was impossible to map accurately
4. It was continuously changing due to volcanic activity

10. As used in line 8, the word uniform most nearly means

1. consistent in appearance
2. official in dress
3. military in nature
4. identical in size

11. The comparison of seafloor spreading to fingernail growth (lines 20-21) serves to

1. emphasize the extreme slowness of the process
2. suggest that the process is insignificant
3. illustrate the biological basis of geological phenomena
4. demonstrate that scientists use everyday analogies

12. The passage indicates that magnetic striping patterns in oceanic crust

1. prove that Earth’s magnetic field has never changed
2. show symmetry on either side of mid-ocean ridges
3. are found only in the Atlantic Ocean
4. contradict the theory of seafloor spreading

13. Based on the passage, one can infer that continental crust

1. spreads at the same rate as oceanic crust
2. is destroyed more rapidly than oceanic crust
3. is generally much older than oceanic crust
4. contains the same magnetic striping as oceanic crust

14. The author organizes the passage by

1. presenting a historical misconception, describing a discovery, and providing supporting evidence
2. comparing two competing theories and arguing for one
3. defining technical terms and then applying them to a case study
4. describing a problem and proposing multiple solutions

Passage 3

The following passage is adapted from a historical speech.

    I stand before you today not as a conqueror, but as a petitioner. I come not with sword in hand, but with a plea for justice that has been too long denied. For seventy years, the women of this nation have labored, (5) have borne children, have built homes, have paid taxes, and have obeyed laws they had no voice in creating. We have been told that our sphere is the home, yet when we seek to protect that home through the ballot, we are turned away. We have been called the guardians (10) of morality, yet we are denied the very instrument by which morality might be enshrined in law.     Some say that women are too delicate for the rough business of politics, too pure to soil themselves in the polling place. I ask you: are we too delicate (15) to work fourteen hours in a mill? Are we too pure to scrub floors, to empty chamber pots, to nurse the sick and dying? The logic that grants us strength enough for labor but not for citizenship is no logic at all-it is prejudice dressed in the (20) garments of chivalry.     Others claim that giving women the vote will destroy the family. I say to you that nothing destroys the family so surely as powerlessness. When a woman cannot secure fair wages, when she cannot protect her children through law, when she (25) stands voiceless before the institutions that govern her life, the family is already imperiled. The vote is not a threat to domestic harmony-it is its necessary foundation.

15. The main argument of the speech is that

1. women have been denied the right to vote despite fulfilling all civic obligations
2. women are morally superior to men in all respects
3. the family structure has been destroyed by industrialization
4. political participation requires physical strength and endurance

16. As used in line 3, the word petitioner most nearly means

1. one who begs for money
2. one who requests something formally
3. one who files legal paperwork
4. one who complains frequently

17. The speaker’s reference to women as “guardians of morality” (lines 9-10) is used to

1. praise women for their superior ethical nature
2. highlight a contradiction in the arguments against women’s suffrage
3. suggest that only women should make moral decisions
4. criticize women for focusing too much on moral issues

18. The rhetorical questions in lines 14-17 primarily serve to

1. request information the speaker does not know
2. express genuine confusion about social customs
3. expose the inconsistency in arguments against women’s voting rights
4. suggest that women should not work in mills

19. The speaker characterizes the argument that women are too delicate for politics as

1. a sincere expression of concern for women’s welfare
2. prejudice disguised as courtesy
3. a logical position based on biological differences
4. an argument made only by women themselves

20. The tone of the passage can best be described as

1. bitter and vengeful
2. timid and apologetic
3. passionate and persuasive
4. scholarly and detached

Answer Key

1. Ans: (B) – portray a moment of anxious anticipation before receiving difficult news
Explanation: This is a Main Idea question. The entire passage focuses on the narrator’s discovery of a telegram and the three hours spent waiting in dread for the mother to return (lines 21-30), building tension around what the telegram likely contains. Choice (A) is too narrow, as the falconry detail is merely a minor element in the opening. Choice (D) is incorrect because the passage does not explain the historical significance but rather uses it as a known backdrop.

2. Ans: (A) – avoiding responsibilities at home
Explanation: This is an Inference question. The narrator states that he or she “was supposed to be minding my younger brother” but instead left Leo with a neighbor and went to the library (lines 3-6), directly indicating the avoidance of responsibility. Choice (B) is not supported, as there is no mention of a school assignment. Choice (C) is incorrect because there is no indication of meeting anyone.

3. Ans: (C) – something light and ominous
Explanation: This is a Vocabulary in Context question. The telegram envelope is compared to “a leaf that had blown in from some distant autumn” (lines 8-9), suggesting both its physical lightness and the sense of foreboding associated with autumn and loss. Choice (A) takes the literal meaning of leaf but ignores the metaphorical context. Choice (B) is a different meaning of leaf entirely and does not fit the comparison.

4. Ans: (B) – the community had experienced wartime losses before
Explanation: This is an Inference question. The phrase indicates that yellow telegram envelopes had become familiar symbols of bad news in the neighborhood during wartime 1944 (lines 11-13), implying prior experiences with such notifications. Choice (A) is too broad and misses the specific wartime significance. Choice (C) is not supported, as the passage does not indicate the narrator personally received previous telegrams.

5. Ans: (B) – curiosity mixed with fear
Explanation: This is an Inference question. The narrator tries to read the telegram but finds the text unreadable through the paper, and the passage notes “My hands shook” (line 17), showing both the desire to know and the fear of knowing. Choice (A) ignores the element of fear present in the shaking hands. Choice (D) reverses the actual situation, as the narrator is unable to read through the paper and is clearly not confident.

6. Ans: (B) – tense and oppressive
Explanation: This is a Tone/Mood question. The final paragraph describes the telegram growing “larger and heavier” and the walls “leaning inward toward that terrible center of gravity” (lines 26-30), creating an atmosphere of increasing psychological pressure and dread. Choice (A) is incorrect because there is no anger or resentment expressed. Choice (D) is the opposite of the intense emotional involvement shown.

7. Ans: (B) – the telegram has become the focus of the narrator’s entire world
Explanation: This is an Extended Reasoning question. The metaphor of the apartment being built around the telegram, with everything “leaning inward toward that terrible center of gravity” (lines 28-30), conveys how completely the telegram has dominated the narrator’s consciousness and perception. Choice (A) takes the image literally rather than metaphorically. Choice (D) focuses on a physical detail that is not the point of the figurative language.

8. Ans: (B) – explain the discovery and mechanism of seafloor spreading
Explanation: This is an Author’s Purpose question. The passage describes how sonar revealed the ocean floor’s features (lines 4-10), explains the process of seafloor spreading at mid-ocean ridges (lines 11-22), and provides supporting evidence (lines 23-31). Choice (A) is too narrow, as comparison is only a minor supporting detail. Choice (C) is too broad and inaccurate, as the passage focuses only on ocean floor mapping.

9. Ans: (B) – It was flat and without significant features
Explanation: This is a Detail/Fact question. The passage explicitly states that cartographers believed the ocean floor was “a vast, featureless plain, as uniform and monotonous as a desert of mud” (lines 2-4). Choice (A) contradicts the passage, as this is what scientists discovered later, not what was believed before. Choice (D) is not mentioned as a prior belief.

10. Ans: (A) – consistent in appearance
Explanation: This is a Vocabulary in Context question. The word “uniform” is used alongside “featureless” and “monotonous” to describe the believed appearance of the ocean floor (line 3), indicating consistency or sameness throughout. Choice (B) refers to clothing and is a completely different meaning. Choice (C) is unrelated to the geological context.

11. Ans: (A) – emphasize the extreme slowness of the process
Explanation: This is an Author’s Purpose question. The passage states the process occurs “at a rate of only a few centimeters per year-roughly the speed at which human fingernails grow” (lines 20-21), using a familiar slow process to illustrate the geological rate. Choice (B) contradicts the passage, which goes on to say this slow rate has been “sufficient to split entire continents” (line 22). Choice (C) incorrectly suggests a biological connection where none exists.

12. Ans: (B) – show symmetry on either side of mid-ocean ridges
Explanation: This is a Detail/Fact question. The passage directly states that “Magnetic striping patterns in oceanic crust, symmetrical on either side of mid-ocean ridges, record reversals in Earth’s magnetic field” (lines 24-26). Choice (A) contradicts the passage, which mentions the patterns record “reversals” in the magnetic field. Choice (D) is the opposite of what the passage indicates, as the patterns provide evidence for seafloor spreading.

13. Ans: (C) – is generally much older than oceanic crust
Explanation: This is an Inference question. The passage states that the oldest oceanic crust is “less than two hundred million years old” while “the oldest continental rocks…exceed four billion years” (lines 29-31), allowing the inference that continental crust is significantly older. Choice (A) is not supported, as spreading rates are discussed only for oceanic crust. Choice (B) reverses the relationship, as older continental rocks suggest continental crust is preserved longer.

14. Ans: (A) – presenting a historical misconception, describing a discovery, and providing supporting evidence
Explanation: This is a Structure/Organization question. The first paragraph presents the old belief about a featureless ocean floor and the discovery that changed it (lines 1-10), the second paragraph describes the seafloor spreading mechanism (lines 11-22), and the third provides evidence from magnetic patterns and rock dating (lines 23-31). Choice (B) is incorrect because the passage does not present competing current theories. Choice (D) is wrong because no problem-solution structure exists.

15. Ans: (A) – women have been denied the right to vote despite fulfilling all civic obligations
Explanation: This is a Main Idea question. The speaker emphasizes that women have “labored, have borne children, have built homes, have paid taxes, and have obeyed laws” yet lack voting rights (lines 3-6), and this injustice is the central argument throughout. Choice (B) overstates the claim; the speaker argues for equality, not superiority. Choice (C) is mentioned only as a counterargument the speaker refutes, not her main argument.

16. Ans: (B) – one who requests something formally
Explanation: This is a Vocabulary in Context question. The speaker says “I stand before you today not as a conqueror, but as a petitioner” and comes “with a plea for justice” (lines 1-3), indicating someone making a formal request or appeal. Choice (A) is too narrow and carries connotations of begging for money not present here. Choice (D) suggests mere complaining rather than the formal, dignified appeal described.

17. Ans: (B) – highlight a contradiction in the arguments against women’s suffrage
Explanation: This is an Author’s Purpose question. The speaker notes that women are “called the guardians of morality, yet we are denied the very instrument by which morality might be enshrined in law” (lines 9-11), exposing the inconsistency of praising women’s morality while denying them political power. Choice (A) misses that the speaker is citing others’ claims, not making her own. Choice (C) goes beyond what the speaker argues.

18. Ans: (C) – expose the inconsistency in arguments against women’s voting rights
Explanation: This is an Author’s Purpose question. The questions “are we too delicate to work fourteen hours in a mill? Are we too pure to scrub floors…?” (lines 14-16) follow the claim that women are too delicate for politics, revealing the illogic of this position. Choice (A) misunderstands rhetorical questions, which are not genuine requests for information. Choice (D) misreads the purpose; the speaker uses mill work to expose hypocrisy, not to oppose women working.

19. Ans: (B) – prejudice disguised as courtesy
Explanation: This is an Inference question. The speaker explicitly states that the logic denying women citizenship “is no logic at all-it is prejudice dressed in the garments of chivalry” (lines 18-20), directly characterizing protective-sounding arguments as disguised bias. Choice (A) is the opposite of what the speaker argues. Choice (C) contradicts the speaker’s rejection of this position as illogical.

20. Ans: (C) – passionate and persuasive
Explanation: This is a Tone/Mood question. The speaker uses powerful rhetoric, rhetorical questions, and forceful arguments throughout, showing deep conviction while attempting to convince the audience, as in “I ask you” (line 13) and “I say to you” (line 21). Choice (A) is too extreme; while the speaker is forceful, there is no bitterness or desire for revenge. Choice (B) is the opposite of the confident, assertive tone present throughout.