READING COMPREHENSION TEST

Test 1

Question Book

Structure of book

Number of questions Number of questions to be Time allowed

answered
50 50 30 minutes

INSTRUCTIONS

1. There are 50 questions in this sample set. You have 30 minutes to complete the real test
which contains 50 questions.
2. With each question there are five possible answers A, B, C, D or E. For each question you
are to choose the ONE answer you think is best. To show your answer, fill the oval for one
letter (A, B, C, D or E) on the separate answer sheet in the section headed Reading
Comprehension.
3. If you don’t know the answer to a question, make a guess or come back to it later. You
don’t lose marks if you get something wrong. It may be difficult to finish all the questions in
the time allowed, so don’t spend too long on any one question.
4. If you decide to change an answer, rub it out completely and mark your new answer
clearly.
5. If you want to work anything out you may write on the question booklet.
6. If you need the help of the supervisor during the test, raise your hand.

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1. Please read the following sentence.

The whale, swimming in its natural habitat was unaware of the surfer that was enjoying
himself in the waves.

If we change the start of this sentence to:

The surfer was enjoying himself in the waves while …

What would the appropriate ending be?

A: the whale remained unaware, swimming in its natural habitat.
B: the natural habitat of the whale was left unaware.
C: the whale swam unaware in the ocean?
D: the whale remained unaware, swimming in its natural habitat!
E: the whale leapt and played in the surrounding water.

2. The new singing group was an absolute sensation considering this was the first concert.

The word sensation in this sentence means:

A: let down B: failure C: hit D: disappointment E: feeling

Read the following paragraph to answer the Questions 3 & 4

The excitement built as we travelled further from home. I knew that today would be the day
that I finally got to ride a real horse. I had ridden ponies that were hooked to a metal carousel
and, of course, those old coin operated ponies in front of the grocer, but today would be very
different. Today I was riding a horse in a lesson. This meant I could walk, trot, and canter. As
mum turned the car into the stable drive, my stomach leapt into my throat. Standing out front,
fully saddled, was a beautiful black and white horse. The horse’s hair glistened in the
morning sun. I jumped out of the car and just stood watching the magnificent creature.

3. What emotion best describes how the main character in this passage is feeling?
A: Anticipation
B: Anger
C: Exaggeration
D: Determination
E: Elation

4. What is the most realistic outcome for this passage?

A: The main character will become so overwhelmed that the lesson will never happen.
B: The lesson will go as planned and the main character will enjoy the ride.
C: The lesson will go badly, resulting in a fall.
D: The main character will change her mind after seeing how large the horse is up
close.
E: The horse will escape and the lesson will be spent trying to catch the creature.

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Questions 5 - 7 relate to the following passage.

FLOWER FABLES.

The summer moon shone brightly down upon the sleeping earth, while far away from
mortal eyes danced the Fairy folk. Fire-flies hung in bright clusters on the dewy leaves, that
waved in the cool night-wind; and the flowers stood gazing, in very wonder, at the little
Elves, who lay among the fern-leaves, swung in the vine-boughs, sailed on the lake in lily
cups, or danced on the mossy ground, to the music of the hare-bells, who rung out their
merriest peal in honour of the night.

Under the shade of a wild rose sat the Queen and her little Maids of Honour, beside the
silvery mushroom where the feast was spread.

"Now, my friends," said she, "to while away the time till the bright moon goes down, let
us each tell a tale, or relate what we have done or learned this day. I will begin with you,
Sunny Lock," added she, turning to a lovely little Elf, who lay among the fragrant leaves of a
primrose.

With a gay smile, "Sunny Lock" began her story.

"As I was painting the bright petals of a blue bell, it told me this tale."
[Link]

5. What type of narrator is being used to tell this part of the story?
A: Omniscient
B: First person
C: Second person
D: Third person
E: No narrator present

6. For the most part, quotation marks in a passage symbolise what?

A: A change of speakers
B: A pause in speaking
C: A new paragraph
D: A question
E: Dialogue

7. One item is personified in the final sentence. What item has been personified?
A: Painting
B: Blue bell
C: Petals
D: Sunny Lock
E: Tale

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8. The sentence below does not contain any punctuation. Choose the option with the correct
punctuation inserted.

finn paced rapidly as the others took turns getting food a drink and a tasty dessert

A: Finn paced rapidly as the others took turns getting food a drink, and a tasty dessert.
B: Finn paced rapidly as the others took turns getting food, a drink and a tasty dessert?
C: Finn paced rapidly as the others took turns getting food a drink and a tasty dessert.
D: Finn paced rapidly as the others took turns getting food, a drink, and a tasty dessert.
E: Finn paced rapidly, as the others took turns getting food a drink, and a tasty dessert!

9. The sentence below contains an underlined word. Mark the answer that is a synonym for
that word.
The young child tottered about the room exploring every corner.
A: Cruised
B: Crawled
C: Wobbled
D: Leaped
E: Danced

Questions 10 – 12 relate to the following passage

"Bless me! I've forgotten my spectacles. They are probably shut up in that volume of Herbert
on my table. Very awkward to find myself without them ten miles away. Thank you, John.
Don't neglect to water the lettuce, Nan, and don't overwork yourself, my little 'Martha.'
Come—"
At this juncture Solon suddenly went off, like "Mrs. Gamp," in a sort of walking
swoon, apparently deaf and blind to all mundane matters, except the refreshments awaiting
him ten miles away; and the benign old pastor disappeared, humming "Hebron" to the
creaking accompaniment of the bulgy chaise.
Laura retired to take her siesta; Nan made a small carbonaro of herself by sharpening
her sister's crayons, and Di, as a sort of penance for past sins, tried her patience over a piece
of knitting, in which she soon originated a somewhat remarkable pattern, by dropping every
third stitch, and seaming ad libitum. If John bad been a gentlemanly creature, with refined
tastes, he would have elevated his feet and made a nuisance of himself by indulging in a
"smoke;" but being only an uncultivated youth, with a rustic regard for pure air and
womankind in general, he kept his head uppermost, and talked like a man, instead of smoking
like a chimney.
"It will probably be six months before I sit here again, tangling your threads and
maltreating your needles, Nan. How glad you must feel to hear it!" he said, looking up from a
thoughtful examination of the hard-working little citizens of the Industrial Community settled
in Nan's work-basket.
"No, I'm very sorry; for I like to see you coming and going as you used to, years ago,
and I miss you very much when you are gone, John," answered truthful Nan, whittling away
in a sadly wasteful manner, as her thoughts flew back to the happy times when a little lad
rode a little lass in a big wheelbarrow, and never spilt his load,—when two brown heads
bobbed daily side by side to school, and the favourite play was "Babes in the Wood," with Di
for a somewhat peckish robin to cover the small martyrs with any vegetable substance that
lay at hand. Nan sighed, as she thought of these things, and John regarded the battered
thimble on his finger-tip with increased benignity of aspect as he heard the sound.
[Link]

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10. What activity seems to stress Di?
A: Knitting
B: Colouring
C: Gardening
D: Cooking
E: Napping

11. How could John be described based on this passage?

A: Lazy
B: Refined
C: Gentlemanly
D: Uneducated
E: Uncouth

12. How could Nan be described if only considering the last paragraph of the passage?
A: Hopeful
B: Reminiscent
C: Peckish
D: Determined
E: Unfortunate

Read the following poem to answer Questions 13 & 14

TO PENELOPE
THIS day, of all our days, has done
The worst for me and you:—
'T is just six years since we were one,
And five since we were two.
[Link]

13. If another line were to be added to this poem, which would make the most sense?
A: ‘T is four years since we were three
B: ‘T is a great day to be old
C: ‘T is simply great to be this young
D: ‘T is the day that is worst of all
E: ‘T is bad for all around

14. What mood does this poem seem to want to elicit?

A: Sadness
B: Depression
C: Humour
D: Excitement
E: Anger

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Read the following passage to answer Questions 15 - 17

THE CHILD'S WISH GRANTED

Do you remember, my sweet, absent son,

How in the soft June days forever done
You loved the heavens so warm and clear and high;
And when I lifted you, soft came your cry,—
"Put me 'way up—'way, 'way up in blue sky"?
I laughed and said I could not;—set you down,
Your gray eyes wonder-filled beneath that crown
Of bright hair gladdening me as you raced by.
Another Father now, more strong than I,
Has borne you voiceless to your dear blue sky.

15. The poem refers to a crown upon his

head. Of what is this crown likely 16. What has happened to the child in
made? the poem?
A: Clouds A: He has learned to fly
B: Sunlight B: He has died
C: Metal C: He has gotten lost
D: Jewels D: He has been thrown into the clouds
E: Hair E: He has run away

17. What did the child request when

playing with his father?
A: He wanted his father to fly also.
B: He wanted to visit his mother.
C: He wanted to learn to fly.
D: He wanted to be put up into the sky.
E: He wanted to stay on the ground.

18. The sentence below is missing all punctuation. Choose the option that would best
punctuate the sentence.

laura decided to help out by mowing the lawn but the weather took a turn for the worse
and did not allow that to happen

A: Laura decided to help out by mowing the lawn. But the weather took a turn for the worse
and did not allow that to happen!
B: Laura decided to help out by mowing the lawn but the weather took a turn for the worse
and did not allow that to happen.
C: Laura decided to help out by mowing the lawn, but the weather took a turn for the worse
and did not allow that to happen.
D: Laura decided to help out by mowing the lawn, but the weather took a turn for the worse
and did not allow that to happen?
E: None of the above are correct

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19. The following sentence contains an underlined word. Mark the synonym for that word.

The llama was noticed ambling across the street as if it did so daily.

A: Galloping
B: Crawling
C: Strolling
D: Dancing
E: Sleeping

Questions 20 – 23 relate to the following passage

Shipwrecked
Afterwards the boys looked back on the ensuing five minutes as a dream rather than a reality.
The cruiser grounded with an impetus that set pans rattling in galley, lifted again and once
more thumped her stern down, as she did so swinging her stern slowly around in a last frantic
effort to pull clear. Then the boat careened, a sea washed clean across the deck and, with her
keel forward of the engine firmly imbedded in the sand, she lay still save for the tremors that
shook her when the angry surf rushed in across her beam.
There was confusion enough, but on the whole the six alarmed boys behaved sensibly. Steve,
wet to his waist, turned off the engine and banged shut the chart-box even as he shouted his
orders. "Life preservers, fellows! Han, get the big cable from the locker. Keep your heads
now!"
Clinging like a leech to the canted roof of the forward cabin, Steve himself worked along
with the rope and, half-drowned in rain and surf, made it fast to the cleat. The others,
struggling into life-belts, clung to the stanchions or whatever they could find. Steve crawled
back with the coil, drenched and breathless.
"We've got to get off, fellows," he said. "It's only a dozen yards to the beach and we can
make it all right. Close every hatch. Ossie, fetch a can of biscuits. See that the lid's tight."
Wave after wave struck on the starboard beam and fell hissing across the boat. The side
curtains were ripped from the stanchions and fluttered wildly about them.
"Going to swim for it?" asked Joe above the roar of waves and tempest.
"Yes! We've got to. The boat would swamp in an instant. I'll start ahead with the line. You
fellows wait and then follow it in."
"Better let me go along," said Joe, his hands formed into a speaking-trumpet.
"No need. I'll make it."
"Look out for back-tow!"
The other nodded. He had pulled off his coat and unlaced his shoes and now he dropped these
things through the forward hatch and wrapped the big rope around his waist. "Better not try to
swim with your coats, fellows," he instructed. "Nor shoes. Don't take any chances. Last man
off see that this hatch is shut tight." He crawled around the stanchions on the starboard side
and crept along to the bow, the others, huddled together on the sloping bridge, watching
anxiously. Then he slipped from sight. Once they saw his head, or thought they saw it, a

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darker blot in the grey-green welter. Joe was already creeping toward the bow, and, having
reached it, he crouched there, blinded by rain and spray, and waited for the rope to tauten. It
seemed a long while before he waved an arm to the watchers behind and swung himself off.
They saw his hands travel along the rope a moment and then he was smothered up in the
spume.
One by one the others followed without misadventure save when Han slipped on the deck and
would have rolled across and plunged over the further side had he not fortunately caught the
iron support of the searchlight in front of the funnel. Phil was the last to go. With a final look
about the deck as he clung to an awning pipe, he followed Ossie. The latter was swinging
himself hand-over-hand by the rope with the waves surging to his shoulders. Then Phil saw
him strike out and the waters hid him. The beach was visible at moments from the bow, and
once Phil, as he prepared to swing himself off, thought he saw figures there. Then he, too,
was battling. The waves swept him under the rope and would have wrenched him from it had
he not clung on desperately. Holding to it with his right hand, he sought to find it with his left
and so draw himself on, but the surf swirled him about dizzily and he gave up the attempt.
Instead, almost drowned in the smother, he used his left arm and his legs for swimming,
edging his right hand along the cable as best he could, and presently, although none too soon,
felt the churning gravel beneath his stockinged feet. But when he tried to stand, the receding
water swept his legs from under him so unexpectedly and forcibly that he lost his grasp of the
rope. He went down and felt the water tugging him back, swam mightily and was lifted to the
top of an in-rushing breaker, filled his lungs with air and felt blindly for the rope. Then hands
seized him and Joe and Han, clinging to the cable, dragged him ashore.

20. Why was it best for the swimmers to take off their coats and shoes?
A: They did not wish to get them wet.
B: They always followed the orders of the captain.
C: The salt water would ruin the coats.
D: The extra clothes would weight them down.
E: None of the above are true.

21. How did the boys feel about what had happened to the ship?
A: Shocked
B: Overwhelmed
C: Awestruck
D: Fearful
E: Intimidated

22. What single food was taken from the ship?

A: Bag of apples
B: Loaf of bread
C: Can of biscuits
D: Cans of soup
E: Bottles of water

23. In context, what did the phrase ‘the boat would swamp in an instant’ appear to mean?
A: The boat would break in half soon
B: The boat would move into the swamp soon
C: The boat would take on small amounts of water
D: The boat would be covered in seaweed
E: The boat would be underwater

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24. What does the following idiom suggest?

A rolling stone gathers no moss.

A: Moving rocks do not allow moss to grow on them

B: Someone who does not settle cannot make something of himself/herself
C: A famous rock bands will never go stagnant
D: One must continually move so as not to grow moldy
E: None of the above are accurate

Questions 25 – 27 relate to the following passage

Arthur had a box of paints given him for Christmas, and he had learned to colour pictures
very prettily; so just as he was finishing the dress of a gorgeous Japanese lady such a happy
thought came to him that he nearly spilled some yellow paint all over Miss Matsuki's gay
pink dress, in his haste to find mother and tell her about it.

“I want to make my valentines all myself this year,” he exclaimed excitedly as soon as the
valentines, same's Aunt Frances did last year?”

“Why, I think you could, dear,” mother answered.

“'Course I don't mean I could make quite such lovely flowers as she did,” Arthur went on,
“but I think it would be lots more fun to do it myself than to buy them.”

“So do I, Arthur,” mother said, “and I think if you look through those papers in the lower
drawer you'll find some pictures to cut out that would make pretty valentines. Then you could
color them with your paints and paste them on a sheet of note paper.”

“But, mother, don't valentines have some verses written on them besides the pictures? Aunt
Frances' did. Where can I get those?”

“Perhaps I could write those for you,” mother laughed, “if I tried real hard.”

“Could you really write verses?” Arthur asked in round-eyed wonder. “Then we'll have some
lovely valentines, won't we? I'll make one for you, and one for father, and Alice and John and
Clifton and Barbara and oh, lots of folks.”

“Well, I guess you better get to work right away, if you've such a lot to do,” advised mother,
“and I had better begin on the poetry.”
[Link]

25. What made Arthur feel he could make valentines?

A: Arthur had seen his aunt make valentines.
B: Arthur had learned to paint and felt he could make valentines.
C: Arthur’s mother made him create valentines.
D: Arthur could not afford to buy valentines.
E: Arthur felt that homemade valentines were much nicer.

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26. Read the following line and decide which emotion Arthur’s mother was displaying.
“Perhaps I could write those for you,” mother laughed, “if I tried real hard.”

A: Anger
B: Humour
C: Confidence
D: Love
E: Excitement

27. Where had the paints come from that Arthur used?
A: His grandparents
B: Found in the closet
C: Bought with allowance
D: Birthday gift
E: Christmas gift

Questions 28 – 31 are based on the passage below

At the beginning of the 20th century, springs that produced naturally hot "mineral water"
were (and still are) quite popular. In 1903, it was discovered that many of these springs had
radioactive water, so the natural conclusion was that radioactivity was good for you.

Soon these hot springs were being advertised as radium spas, and an entire industry was built
on the supposedly curative powers of radiation. Reputable medical journals stated that radium
slowed aging and cured insanity. Once the U.S. surgeon general announced that radium could
cure everything from malaria to diarrhea, the hucksters were off to the races.

So how did it work? Drinking radiated water carried the powerful life force of radioactive
energy throughout your body, where it charged cells and rid the body of its waste.

There was no fancier way to be healthy in the 1920s than to take a long soak in a radioactive
bath at a radium spa. Some enterprising souls began marketing radiating water crocks that
allowed consumers to radiate their own water. Items like the Revigator and the Radium
Emanator were embraced by Americans -- the Revigator sold several hundred thousand units
in 1929 alone. These handy and chic household devices could quickly make your water
radioactive, enabling you to drink the six or so daily glasses of it as recommended by the
manufacturers.

Before long, you could purchase radioactive beauty cream, toothpaste and ear plugs. When
well-known proponents of the water began falling ill and dropping dead, the radium craze
began its decline.

28. Why did people in the early 20th

century believe that radium was good a. I only
for their health? b. II only
I. Because of its association with an c. II and III
acknowledged healthy product d. I and II
II. Because respected doctors supported e. I, II and III
its use
III. Because radium had seemingly
improved health in many case studies

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29. We can infer from the passage that 30. According to the passage, which was
a. Doctors were more selfish and money not a product that could be bought in
hungry in the early 20th century than they “radioactive form”?
are today a. Beauty cream
b. People waited for definite proof before b. Toothpaste
parting with their money on products with c. Taps
reported health benefits d. Water
c. Unscrupulous people took advantage of e. None of these
the willingness to believe radium was
healthy in order to make a profit 31. In the 1920s, the attitude to radium
d. While there are some health benefits of appears to have been
radium, there are not as many as were a. That it was an indication of
widely believed in the early 20th century sophistication and class
e. None of these b. That it was something only the very
wealthy should bother with
c. That it was an old fashioned but
successful way of improving one’s health
d. That it should be consumed on special
occasions
e. None of these

Question 32 – 34 are based on the excerpt below

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

There is a place where the sidewalk ends

And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black

And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,

And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

32. What is the speaker’s attitude towards the city?

a. He likes being there, but enjoys nature too
b. He believes it is oppressive and harsh
c. He believes it is lively and fulfilling
d. He believes it is a good place to escape to
e. None of these

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33. What does the speaker believe about children?
a. They are too young to understand what is good for them
b. They are trapped in the world adults created for them
c. They need to be protected and rescued
d. They possess an admirable innocence and lack of complication
e. None of these

34. This poem is a metaphor for

a. Death
b. Growing up
c. Failure
d. Fitting in
e. None of these.

Questions 35 – 38 are based on the passage below

(Excerpt from How to Make Rugs by Candace Wheeler.

The subject of Home Industries is beginning to attract the attention of those who are
interested in political economy and the general welfare of the country, and thoughtful people
are asking themselves why, in all the length and breadth of America, there are no well-
established and prosperous domestic manufactures. We have no articles of use or luxury
made in homes which are objects of commercial interchange or sources of family profit. To
this general statement there are but few exceptions, and curiously enough these are, for the
most part, in the work of our native Indians.
A stranger in America, wishing—after the manner of travellers—to carry back something
characteristic of the country, generally buys what we call “Indian curiosities”—moccasins,
baskets, feather-work, and the one admirable and well-established product of Indian
manufacture, the Navajo blanket. But these hardly represent the mass of our people.
When we contrast this want of production with the immense home product of Europe, Asia,
parts of Africa, and South America—and even certain islands of the Southern Seas—we
cannot help feeling a sort of dismay at the contrast. To account for the cessation of these
household industries, it is only necessary to notice the drift of certain periods in the short
history of America’s settlement and development.
The decline of domestic manufactures in New England and the Middle States was coincident
with two rapidly increasing movements. In short, the abundant acreage of Western lands,
fertile beyond the dreams of New England or Old World tillers, threw the entire business of
production or family support upon the man. The profit of his easily acquired farm land was so
great and certain that it became almost a reproach to him to have his womenkind busy
themselves with other than necessary household duties.
The cotton and woolen mills stood ready to supply the needed material for clothing, and it
was positive economy to push the spinning-wheel out of sight under the garret eaves and
chop up the bulky loom for firewood. The wife and daughters might reputably cook and clean
for the men whose business it was to cover the black acres with golden wheat, but spinning
and weaving were decidedly unfashionable occupations. Even the emigrants from countries
where the spinning and weaving habit was an inheritance as well as a necessity, were
governed by the custom of the country, and devoted the entire energy of the family to the
raising of crops.

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35. The main purpose of this article is 37. We can infer that the author believes
a. To praise residents of New England and most “Indian curiosities” are
the Middle States for their hard work a. Too ‘foreign’ for most Americans and
b. To criticise American farmers for failing travellers to be interested in
to manufacture rugs on a commercial level b. Superior in make and design to those
c. To recommend the development of an produced in Europe and Asia
American craft manufacturing industry c. Completely worthless, with no value to
d. To encourage the production of anyone outside the Native American
domestic crafts for commercial sale culture
e. None of these d. Usually worthy, but not an accurate
representation of American culture
36. Which is not a reason given for the e. None of these
decline in the production of crafts
discussed in this article? 38. Which of the following is the best
a. Tools previously used to make these example of the kind of product the
products were considered non-essential author is endorsing in this article?
and repurposed a. Rugs weaved by local American
b. Man believed that women making crafts workers in factories
reflected poorly on their ability to provide b. Jumpers knitted by grandmothers for
for their family their children and grandchildren
c. There was not a market for the kinds of c. Tables and chairs built in local
crafts most easily produced workshops
d. The American landscape required all d. Blankets knitted by women at home to
attention to be redirected to farming be sold at weekend markets
e. None of these e. None of these

39. Do not in an instant what an age cannot recompense

What does this sentence suggest?
a. Be careful, but not overly so
b. Spend time on tasks, rather than rushing through them
c. Think through all of the possible consequences before acting
d. Dedicate yourself to one cause, rather than many
e. None of these.

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Questions 40 – 44 are based on the excerpt below

(Excerpt from [Link]

[Link])
No Vaccine, No School says AMA Chief
Jonathan Sway and Amy Corderoy
Unvaccinated children should be held back from school and groups spreading anti-
vaccination messages should be punished, according to the federal president of the Australian
Medical Association.
Dr Steve Hambleton said a report released on Thursday detailing national immunisation rates
raised concerns about parents in certain areas not following vaccination guidelines.
''We should certainly make it difficult for [unvaccinated] children to get to school,'' said Steve
Hambleton, responding to new national statistics on immunisation rates.
''And we should certainly have plans available to send all those children home if there are
outbreaks.''
There is also a worrying undercurrent of vaccine objectors who believe conspiracy websites
and reject public health guidelines.
These vaccine objectors ''should be ashamed of themselves'' for spreading misinformation
and should be sanctioned, Dr Hambleton said.
''We need to look at the groups providing those anti-vaccination messages and we need to
make sure we stop them . . . They are putting the community in danger.''
It is well known that fewer people are vaccinated in poorer neighbourhoods but Dr
Hambleton said that ''perversely'' the data revealed there had been a reduction in vaccination
rates in wealthier suburbs.
''These are parents who have got information, good information available and yet they are not
vaccinating their children,'' Dr Hambleton said.
Experts say wealthy families are unswayed by government tax benefits linked to
immunisation, and often forgo finishing their children's vaccine schedule because of things
such as overseas holidays.
Authority chief executive Diane Watson said there were about 77,000 children who were not
fully immunised, and 32 local communities at risk of outbreak.
''These are remote areas, regional areas and urban areas . . . they are in high-income
communities, low-income communities,'' she said. ''We do know these children are at
increased risk of catching diseases such as measles and whooping cough.''
Rates in many indigenous communities were particularly worrying. In NSW, immunisation
rates were at risky levels for children at age one, two and five in the coastal areas of the
Richmond Valley, including Byron Bay and Lennox Heads.

40. The concern raised in this article is 41. Dr Hambelton’s attitude is

that a. Concerned but accepting of the reasons
a. Parents are refusing to have their behind the parents’ decisions
children tested for infectious diseases b. Appalled at parents spreading
b. Parents are sending their children to misinformation about this issue
school when they are ill c. Objective, refusing to take a side
c. Parents are refusing to vaccinate their d. Frustrated and disturbed by the trend
children, putting them and others at risk e. None of these
d. Parents are uneducated about the health
risks children encounter at school
e. None of these

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42. Who is the primary intended 43. Which of the following is true,
audience of this article? according to the passage?
a. Members of indigenous communities a. All parents who don’t have their
b. Members of wealthy neighbourhoods children vaccinated are selfish
c. Government legislators b. This issue has been caused largely by
d. Readers of the local newspaper distortion of the facts
e. None of these c. Children from remote or low income
communities are more susceptible to
disease outbreak
d. Children who are not vaccinated are sent
home from school during disease
outbreaks
e. None of these
44. The main persuasive device used in
this article is
a. Research evidence
b. Generalisation
c. Expert opinion
d. Emotive language
e. None of these

Questions 45 – 47 are based on the excerpt below

Aesop’s Fable – The Monkey and the Dolphin

A Sailor, bound on a long voyage, took with him a Monkey to amuse him while on
shipboard. As he sailed off the coast of Greece, a violent tempest arose, in which the ship was
wrecked, and he, his Monkey and all the crew were obliged to swim for their lives. A
Dolphin saw the Monkey contending with the waves, and supposing him to be a man (whom
he is always said to befriend), came and placed himself under him, to convey him on his back
in safety to the shore. When the Dolphin arrived with his burden in sight of land not far from
Athens, he demanded of the Monkey if he were an Athenian, who answered that he was, and
that he was descended from one of the noblest families in that city.

The Dolphin then inquired if he knew the Piræus (the famous harbor of Athens). The
Monkey, supposing that a man was meant, and being obliged to support his previous lie,
answered that he knew him very well, and that he was an intimate friend, who would, no
doubt, be very glad to see him. The Dolphin, indignant at these falsehoods, dipped
the Monkey under the water, and drowned him.

45. The moral of this fable is that

a. Make sure you get your story straight before embarking on a lie
b. Lies will always be found out
c. It is too difficult to maintain a lie
d. Never lie to a dolphin
e. None of these

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46. The word “obliged” most nearly means
a. Grateful
b. Assisted
c. Requested
d. Necessitated
e. None of these

47. The Dolphin in this fable is best described as

a. Cunning/wise
b. Trusting/violent
c. Gullible/proud
d. Cautious/vengeful
e. None of these

48. Choose the option which best corrects the errors in this sentence.
The principle entered the room and the students become silent.
a. The principal entered the room, and the students became silent.
b. The principle enters the room and the students, become silent.
c. The principal enters the room, and the students became silent.
d. The principal entered the room and the students became, silent.
e. None of these

49. Choose the option which will best correct the errors in this sentence.
Please lie everything accept the flowers on the table. Then go and lay down.
a. Please lay everything except the flowers on the table. They go and lie down.
b. Please lie everything except the flowers on the table. Then go and lie down.
c. Please lay everything accept the flowers on the table. Then go and lay down.
d. Correct as is.
e. None of these

50. The purpose of the psychiatrist is to mitigate the suffering of the patient.
In this sentence, mitigate most nearly means
a. make milder
b. beautify
c. increase
d. banish
e. None of these

END OF EXAMINATION. WELL DONE!

IF YOU STILL HAVE TIME LEFT, PLEASE CHECK OVER YOUR ANSWERS

© SPECTRUM TUITION PTY LTD 65