Chapter 5

Reading Drills

Use your new reading comprehension and test-taking skills on these two Reading drills, which contain passages on science and literature topics. Then check your responses against the answers and explanations provided at the end of the chapter.

Reading Drill 1

Questions 1–10 are based on the following passage.

This passage is adapted from Charles Anderson, “Conflict Minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo—Tin Processing Plants, a Critical Part of the Tin Supply Chain.” © 2015 by U.S. Geological Survey.

Tin is a metal often found in nature in its oxidized form, as the mineral called cassiterite. Cassiterite has been the primary source of tin throughout history, and remains the primary source of tin today. Small amounts of tin are also recovered from sulphide minerals such as stannite. Cassiterite is found in alluvial deposits and can also be found in lode deposits in association with other metallic minerals. Cassiterite is mined by the dredging of alluvial deposits, where the ore is broken up by either high-pressure water or an excavator, or hard-rock mining methods, usually from underground mines. Crushed ore is concentrated, usually in co-location with the mine, through a combination of flotation, gravity, and magnetic processes to produce a cassiterite concentrate containing 70–77 percent tin. Tin concentrate is then smelted by heating it in the presence of carbon to 1,200–1,300 degrees Celsius, reducing
the cassiterite to tin metal, and releasing carbon dioxide. Following the smelting process to produce tin metal, the remaining impurities are removed through a refining process, usually at a facility co-located with the smelter. Refining tin involves heating it to temperatures just past the tin melting point, allowing impurities to drop out as solids, and then skimming off the pure liquid tin. Refining is done by either heat treatment or electrolytic processes. Heat treatment uses carbon-based fuel as a main heat source, usually in a reverberatory furnace. Heat treatment is more widely used than electrolytic processes, but produces only 99.85 percent tin. Electrolytic processing involves inserting the smelted tin in an ionic solution and running an electrical current through it. The smelted tin is the anode, and the cathode collects the pure tin metal. Electrolytic processing is more expensive, but provides up to 99.9999 percent tin.
Tin is often found in everyday life. It is the primary component of solder. Solder is used to combine two pieces of metal, allowing an electrical charge to flow across the connection. Solder is used on every electronic circuit board, and it is difficult or expensive to replace. There are some substitutes available for tin, with lead being the most viable alternative. Solder has been made from lead and tin, but since the Safe Drinking Water Act, tin has become the primary metal in solder. Tin is also a primary component in food grade tin cans manufactured from tinplate. Tinplate is made by annealing molten tin onto a steel sheet. The resulting metal, formed into cans, is then used in canning food, where the tin prevents corrosion and leaching of steel into the food product. Tinplate accounts for about 25 percent of domestic tin consumption. Because tin is not harmful to humans, it is a preferred method of canning and preserving food for
long-term storage. Substitutes for tinplate include aluminum, plastic, and organic-coated steel. Tin is also used in chemicals and accounts for 35 percent of domestic consumption. The tin supply chain is complex and, often, opaque. Companies usually report products that they supply to the market place; however, they may not describe which of their plants use which starting materials or processes. As a result, plants reported for some multi-plant corporations may or may not consume or produce all of the tin materials reported. Some large companies have multiple plants, which may or may not have been described in sufficient detail to identify their location or the tin material that was processed. For example, information was not available on all tin producing companies, and many companies that were reported to have been tin suppliers could not be confirmed as such. Companies changed names, were referred to imprecisely, changed ownership, or went out of business.

1. Based on the passage, the author would most likely consider tin to be

A) expensive.

B) practical.

C) complicated.

D) synthetic.

2. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?

A) Lines 14–18 (“Crushed…tin”)

B) Lines 38–40 (“Electrolytic…tin”)

C) Lines 58–61 (“Because tin…storage”)

D) Lines 65–66 (“The tin…opaque”)

3. The overall structure of the passage could best be described as

A) a complete analysis of a naturally occurring element.

B) an overview of the steps and results of a process.

C) an introduction written for a geology course.

D) an explanation of the solution to a problem.

4. The most likely application of tin produced by means of electrolytic processing would be

A) plating for commonly produced canned goods, to be widely distributed.

B) miniature figurines designed to be painted and displayed.

C) small amounts of material intended for scientific analysis.

D) solder sold worldwide as part of a campaign to market lead-free products.

5. Between the first and second paragraphs, the focus shifts from

A) meticulous attention to detail to broad, assumptive generalizations.

B) scientific analysis of the properties and uses of a material to industrial processes.

C) detailed description of a series of steps to implementation of a result.

D) overview of a specific cycle to its role in the mining industry.

6. What can most reasonably be inferred about the Safe Drinking Water Act from the passage?

A) It specified the nature and percentage of the components of solder.

B) It may have impacted what elements a company chose to use in making solder.

C) It promoted tin over lead for all applications.

D) It prompted shifts in the manufacture and distribution of canned goods.

7. The author indicates that the demand for tin in part exists because

A) tin can be found in nature.

B) tin of nearly 100% purity can be produced.

C) tin is the best conductor of electricity.

D) of tin’s impact on an individual’s health.

8. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?

A) Lines 1–2 (“Tin is…cassiterite”)

B) Lines 38–40 (“Electrolytic…tin”)

C) Lines 42–44 (“Solder…connection”)

D) Lines 58–61 (“Because tin…storage”)

9. As used in line 66, “opaque” most nearly means

A) dark.

B) wide.

C) impenetrable

D) dense.

10. The sentence in lines 79–81 (“Companies changed…business”) primarily serves to

A) indicate a continuation of an existing chain.

B) describe the many uses for a product.

C) show the sole difficulty in answering a question.

D) support an earlier statement through an example.

Reading Drill 2

Questions 1–11 are based on the following passage.

This passage is an excerpt from the 1854 book Walden by Henry David Thoreau, which details Thoreau’s experiences living in a cabin alone for two years.

I think that I love society as much as most, and am ready enough to fasten myself like a bloodsucker for the time to any full-blooded man that comes in my way. I am naturally no hermit, but might possibly sit out the sturdiest frequenter of the bar-room, if my business called me thither. I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society. When visitors came in larger and unexpected numbers there was but the third chair for them all, but they generally economized the room by standing up. It is surprising how many great men and women a small house will contain. I have had twenty-five or thirty souls, with their bodies, at once under my roof, and yet we often parted without being aware that we had come very near to one another. One inconvenience I sometimes experienced in so small a house, the difficulty of getting to a sufficient distance from my guest when we began to utter the big thoughts in big words. You want room for your thoughts to get into
sailing trim and run a course or two before they make their port. The bullet of your thought must have overcome its lateral and ricochet motion and fallen into its last and steady course before it reaches the ear of the hearer, else it may plow out again through the side of his head. Also, our sentences wanted room to unfold and form their columns in the interval. Individuals, like nations, must have suitable broad and natural boundaries, even a considerable neutral ground, between them. I have found it a singular luxury to talk across the pond to a companion on the opposite side. In my house we were so near that we could not begin to hear—we could not speak low enough to be heard; as when you throw two stones into calm water so near that they break each other’s undulations. As the conversation began to assume a loftier and grander tone, we gradually shoved our chairs farther apart till they touched the wall in opposite corners, and then commonly there was not room enough. My “best” room, however, my withdrawing
room, always ready for company, on whose carpet the sun rarely fell, was the pine wood behind my house. Thither in summer days, when distinguished guests came, I took them, and a priceless domestic swept the floor and dusted the furniture and kept the things in order. If one guest came he sometimes partook of my frugal meal, and it was no interruption to conversation to be stirring a hasty-pudding, or watching the rising and maturing of a loaf of bread in the ashes, in the meanwhile. But if twenty came and sat in my house there was nothing said about dinner, though there might be bread enough for two, more than if eating were a forsaken habit; but we naturally practised abstinence; and this was never felt to be an offence against hospitality, but the most proper and considerate course. The waste and decay of physical life, which so often needs repair, seemed miraculously retarded in such a case, and the vital
vigor stood its ground. I could entertain thus a thousand as well as twenty; and if any ever went away disappointed or hungry from my house when they found me at home, they may depend upon it that I sympathized with them at least. So easy is it, though many housekeepers doubt it, to establish new and better customs in the place of the old. You need not rest your reputation on the dinners you give. As for men, they will hardly fail one anywhere. I had more visitors while I lived in the woods than at any other period in my life; I mean that I had some. I met several there under more favorable circumstances than I could anywhere else. But fewer came to see me on trivial business. In this respect, my company was winnowed by my mere distance from town. I had withdrawn so far within the great ocean of solitude, into which the rivers of society empty, that for the most part, so far as my needs were concerned, only the finest sediment was deposited around me.

1. The main narrative point of view of the passage is of

A) a man adjusting to life in a big city after growing up on a farm.

B) a discussion of visitors to a small house away from city life.

C) a sailor discussing the pond on which he grew up and how it affected his friendships.

D) a man discussing the potential of big thoughts and their need to be expressed.

2. The passage suggested which of the following about the author?

A) He enjoyed living in the country near a pond.

B) He had more visitors to his home in the country than at any other time in his life.

C) He felt that having more than three people in his house was too many.

D) He needed to throw dinner parties to entice guests to come from town to his home.

3. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous answer?

A) Lines 7–11 (“I had three…for them all”)

B) Lines 33–35 (“I have found…opposite side”)

C) Lines 72–73 (“You need…you give”)

D) Lines 75–76 (“I had more…in my life”)

4. As used in line 11, “economized” most nearly means

A) wasted.

B) used efficiently.

C) squandered.

D) purchased.

5. It can be inferred from the passage that “big thoughts” (line 21) must

A) become violent before settling down.

B) bounce around and break out of one’s head.

C) be mulled over and formulated before being heard.

D) have time to move around before being heard.

6. In the context of the passage, the phrase “as when you throw two stones into calm water so near that they break each other’s undulations” (lines 37–39) is best described as

A) a reference to the author’s childhood days when he threw stones into a lake.

B) an analogy used to elaborate on a previous statement.

C) a way to expand on the reasons national boundaries are always changing.

D) a reason that the author and his companion had to continually move their chairs to be heard.

7. As used in line 27, “plow” most nearly means

A) push.

B) furrow.

C) cultivate.

D) walk.

8. What happens when the author does not have enough food for his guests?

A) He shares.

B) He turns them away.

C) He buys more food.

D) They refrain from eating.

9. The passage suggests that housekeepers most likely

A) are stuck in their ways and unable to change.

B) feel that traditions should not change.

C) believe there is a certain protocol that must be followed when hosting guests.

D) feel that pudding and bread are not a suitable meal.

10. What does the author mean when he said that “only the finest sediment was deposited” (lines 84–85) on him?

A) He was living far from town and his visitors were of a higher caliber.

B) He was covered in a fine dust while living in the woods.

C) The pond near his home frequently flooded, leaving sediment in his “best” room.

D) Many people came to see him about the dirty business of trivial matters.

11. What choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?

A) Lines 48–50 (“a priceless…order”)

B) Lines 70–72 (“though many…old”)

C) Lines 75–77 (“I had more…some”)

D) Line 79 (“But fewer…business”)

CHAPTER DRILL ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS

Reading Drill 1

1. B Because this is a general question followed by a “best evidence” question, Parallel POE lets you use the answer choices for the next question to help with this one. Remember to look at the lines given in the “best evidence” question and see if they support any of these answer choices. Choice (A) initially looks like it could be supported by (B) from the next question, so keep that pair as well. Choice (B) in this question is supported by (C) in the next question, so keep that pair. Neither (C) nor (D) in this question has support in the “best evidence” question, so eliminate those two. When you consider your remaining pairs of choices more carefully, you see that the author refers to the process of electrolytic processing as expensive, not the tin itself. Therefore, you can eliminate (A), which also eliminates (B) from the next question. The answer here is (B).

2. C Because this is a “best evidence” question following a general question, Parallel POE lets you use the answer choices for this question to help with the previous one. Remember to look at the lines given in the “best evidence” question to see if they support any of these answer choices. Choice (A) does not support any of the answer choices in the previous question, so you can eliminate (A). Choice (B) initially looks like it could support (A) in the previous question, so keep that pair. Choice (C) supports (B) in the previous question, so keep that pair as well. Choice (D) does not support any of the answers to the previous question, so you can eliminate (D). When you consider your remaining pairs of choices more carefully, you see that the author refers to the process of electrolytic processing as expensive, not the tin itself. Therefore, you can eliminate (B), which also eliminates (A) from the previous question. Choice (C) is correct.

3. B The passage discusses the nature of tin, the procedures of mining for tin, the uses of tin, and the supply chain of tin. While the nature of tin is discussed in extreme detail, the supply chain is described as complex, and the passage provides only a broad overview of some of the obstacles in determining the exact chain. Thus, the passage reviews several elements of tin in varying degrees of detail. Choice (A) is incorrect because the analysis of the supply chain is not complete. Choice (B) matches the prediction and is therefore correct. Choice (C) is also incorrect; while the passage could be used for a geology course, it does not provide any information to describe the passage. Choice (D) can be eliminated because it does not match the prediction.

4. C According to the passage, electrolytic processing is more expensive, but produces up to 99.9999 percent tin, which indicates that tin produced in this fashion would be less common (since it is more expensive), and appeals most to those who required a purer form of tin. Choice (A) is incorrect because commonly produced items do not match the predicted answer. Choice (B) can be eliminated because there is no indication that the figurines would benefit from a purer form of tin. Choice (C) is correct because it matches both the small quantity and the appeal of a purer form of tin. Choice (D) is incorrect; an item sold worldwide does not match the predicted answer.

5. C The first paragraph discusses how tin is found in nature, mined, and processed into an industrial form. The second paragraph discusses the uses of tin. Choice (A) is incorrect because assumptive generalizations do not match the specific numbers provided in the second paragraph. Choice (B) can be eliminated because industrial processes would be a better fit for the discussion in the first paragraph about refining tin; the second paragraph mainly details the uses for tin. Choice (C) may be vague, but it matches the prediction and is therefore the correct answer. Choice (D) is incorrect because it does not match the prediction.

6. B The passage states that Solder has been made from lead and tin, but since the Safe Drinking Water Act, tin has become the primary metal in solder. This suggests that the Safe Drinking Water Act may have caused the change from solder being made with both lead and tin to primarily tin. Choice (A) is incorrect because specified is extreme. Similarly, eliminate (C) because all applications is too extreme. Choice (D) does not match the prediction, so it is incorrect. Choice (B) is the correct answer, as it matches the prediction.

7. D According to the passage, Because tin is not harmful to humans, it is a preferred method of canning and preserving food. Choices (A) and (B) can be eliminated because they do not match the predicted answer. Choice (C) is tempting, as the passage indicates a demand for tin in solder, but the best is extreme and unsupported by the passage. Choice (D) is the correct answer because the impact on an individual’s health can be not harmful.

8. D Based on the previous question, tin has a high demand because it is not harmful to humans. Choices (A), (B), and (C) are incorrect because they do not match the previous answer’s prediction. Only (D) matches the predicted answer.

9. C According to the passage, companies…may not describe which of their plants use which starting materials, plants…may or may not consume and (or) produce all of the tin materials reported, and companies that were reported to have been tin suppliers could not be confirmed as such, among other descriptions of what results in an extremely difficult—if not impossible—trail to follow. Therefore, a phrase to use in place of opaque is “very difficult to understand.” Choices (A), (B), and (D) are incorrect because they do not match the prediction. Only (C) matches the predicted answer, as impenetrable can mean “inaccessible to knowledge” or something that can’t be known.

10. D The final paragraph discusses the complex nature of the tin supply chain and lists a number of reasons why the tin supply chain is difficult—if not impossible—to follow. The sentence companies changed names, were referred to imprecisely, changed ownership, or went out of business provides another example to support the idea that the tin supply chain is complex. Choices (A) and (B) do not match the prediction and are therefore incorrect. Choice (C) may be tempting, but sole is too extreme; eliminate (C). Choice (D) matches the predicted answer because the earlier statement is that the tin supply chain is complex. The answer is (D).

Reading Drill 2

1.B The main narrative point of view in this passage is from a man who is living in a house next to a pond (I have found it a singular luxury to talk across the pond), which is near the woods (the pine wood behind my house). Choice (A) is incorrect because the narrator is not in the city. Choice (C) is incorrect because there is no evidence that the author was a sailor. Choice (D) is also incorrect; although the author does discuss thoughts in the third paragraph, it is not the main subject of the passage. Therefore, (B) is the correct answer.

2. B Because this is a general paired question, you can use the answer choices in the next question to help with this question. Remember, the correct answer for Q3 will support the correct answer for Q2. Check the answer choices in Q3 to see which should be kept or eliminated. (3A) might initially seem to support (2C), so connect those two answer choices. (3B) can connect to (2A), so draw that line as well. (3C) does not support any of the choices for this question, so eliminate (C). (3D) supports (2B). Because (2D) is not supported by any of the answer choices for Q3, eliminate (D). Now go back and reread the question to make additional POE decisions. The (2A)-(3B) set does not address the author’s enjoyment of living near the pond, so eliminate it. The (2C)-(3A) pair does not answer the question, so eliminate that one as well. The remaining set of (2B) and (3D) answers the question, so those are your correct answers.

3. D (See explanation above.)

4. B The author notes that if there are more than three people in the room, they economized the space by standing, showing that they were making the most of the room available by using a method that allows more people to exist in the same amount of space. He further notes, I have had twenty-five or thirty souls, with their bodies, at once under my roof, and yet we often parted without being aware that we had come very near to one another. This again shows that there were many people in a small space. Choices (A), (C), and (D) do not match the prediction and can be eliminated, making (B) correct.

5. D The author says that big thoughts must have room to move around before being heard. He says that he enjoys talking across the pond because there is enough room for thoughts to be heard. There is no evidence in the passage that the big thoughts need to be violent, so eliminate (A). Eliminate (B) because the author does not state that big thoughts need to break out of the receiver’s head, only that they could if they are not given enough time to develop. Choice (C) is incorrect because it is not supported by the text; the author is not literally saying that thoughts need more time to reach the hearer. Choice (D) matches the text most closely and is the correct answer.

6. B The phrase in the question is used to provide a common experience by which the author can give more detail to his explanation of what happens when speaking inside his house. Words do not literally bump into one another. The author has made no reference to his childhood in this passage, so eliminate (A). While national boundaries are mentioned in this paragraph, they are just another analogy by which the author is describing his experience; therefore, (C) is incorrect. The reason that the author moves his chair is due to the conversation, not the analogy by which the author is trying to bring clarity to his ideas; thus, (D) is incorrect. Choice (B) most closely matches the prediction from the text, so it is correct.

7. A The author notes that the ideas need to bounce around and settle, or they will plow and push their way out of the listener’s head. Choice (A) is the correct answer because it matches the prediction from the text; the other answer choices do not.

8. D The author states that when more than a few guests are present, they treat eating as a forsaken habit and practice abstinence. Choice (A) is incorrect because the author shares his food only when there is enough to feed each guest adequately. Choice (B) is incorrect because there is no mention of the author ever turning away a guest, and (C) is incorrect because there is no mention of the author purchasing food in this passage. Choice (D) best matches the prediction from the text and is therefore the correct answer.

9. B The passage mentions that the author was unable to feed large groups of visitors to his home, and that in such cases all guests, including the author, refrained from eating. He mentions the ease by which he has established a new custom. He also states that housekeepers may doubt the ease by which the social convention was changed. This prediction most closely matches (B), so it is the correct answer. Choice (A) is incorrect because the author makes no such statement about housekeepers. Choice (C) is incorrect because the author does not state that the housekeepers have a certain way in which to serve guests, only that they would doubt establishing new and better customs in place of the old. Choice (D) is incorrect because although the author is preparing pudding and bread for a guest, there is no mention of what the housekeepers would think of the meal.

10. A The author mentions that because his house was located far from the town, he had fewer visitors coming to discuss trivial matters; therefore, (D) is incorrect. The sentence that discusses sediment is figurative, so any literal reference to dirt or dust can be eliminated: get rid of (B) and (C). Choice (A) best matches the information in the last paragraph of the passage, in which the author addresses the number of visitors he has received and how fewer guests came to see him about trivial business. Therefore, (A) is the correct answer.

11. D Remember, with specific paired questions, as long as you use the text to support your answer for the first question, you have an actual two-for-one deal. You used the reference But fewer came to see me on trivial business, to answer Q10, so you know the answer to this question is (D)! Done.