EXERCISE 1: Practice Skimming for General Information
Skim the passage in 30 seconds. DO NOT spend more than this amount of time on
your first reading of the passage. Then, read each question, and circle the correct
answer.
(Questions 1-3)
Sometimes called puma, panther, or mountain lion, the agile cougar has
a greater natural range than any other mammal in the Western
Hemisphere except humans. However, long viewed as a threat to
livestock, it has been intensively hunted since the arrival of European
colonists to the Americas and was almost extinct by the early twentieth
century. While protective measures have been implemented in the
United States, humans continue to destroy the cougar`s habitat, further
endangering this solitary cat.
EXERCISE 2: Practice Scanning for Details
Allow yourself ONE minute to do this exercise. Read the questions below about the
passage in Exercise 1. Then, using the related words in bold print below, QUICKLY
scan the passage to find the answer to each question, Circle the correct answer.
(Questions 4-6)
EXERCISE 3: More Practice Skimming
Skim this passage in 45 seconds. DO NOT spend more than this amount of time
on your first reading of the passage. Then, read each question, and circle the
correct answer.
In marine habitats, a number of small creatures are involve in a “cleaning
symbiosis”. At least six species of small shrimp, frequently brightly colored, crawl
over fish, picking off parasites and cleaning injured areas. This is not an accidental
occurrence, because fish are observed to congregate around these shrimp and
stay motionless while being inspected. Several species of small fish (wrasses) are
also cleaners, nearly all of them having appropriate adaptions such as long snouts,
tweezer-like teeth, and bright coloration. Conspicuous coloration probably
communicates that these animals are not prey.
(Questions 7-9)
EXERCISE 4: More Practice Scanning
Allow yourself two minutes to do this exercise. Read the questions below about the
passage in Exercise 1C. Then, using the related words in bold print below, scan
the passage to answer each questions. Circle the answer when you find it in the
passage.
(Questions 10,11)
EXERCISE 5: More Practice Scanning
Skim this passage in 60n seconds. Do not spend more than this amount of time on
the first reading of the passage. Then read each question, and circle the correct
answer.
The northern lights, or the aurora borealis, is one of nature`s most
dazzling spectacles. When it appears, there is often a crackling sound
coming from the sky. A huge, luminous arc lights up the night, and this
arc is constantly in motion. Sometimes, the brilliant rays of light spread
upward in the shape of a fan. At other times, they flash here and there
like giant searchlights, or move up and down so suddenly that they have
been called “the merry dancers.” Farther north the aurora frequently
looks like fiery draperies which hang from the sky and sway to and fro
while flames of red, orange, green, and blue play up and down the
moving folds.
According to scientific measurements, this discharge of light takes place
from 50 to 100 miles above the earth. But it doesn ́t reach its greatest
brilliance at the North Pole. It is seen at its best around the Hudson Bay
region in Canada, in northern Scotland, and in southern Norway and
Sweden. It may sometimes be seen even in the United States as it
flashes across the northern sky.
Science is still not certain regarding exactly what these light are and what causes
them. But it is believed that the rays are due to discharges of electricity in the rare
upper atmosphere. The displays seem to center about the earth ́s magnetic poles,
and electrical and magnetic disturbances often occur when the lights are especially
brilliant.
(Questions 12-16)