ASVAB Paragraph Comprehension Practice Test 3
- Main Idea, Details and Inference 3
- 10 questions
- 13 minutes
Read each passage closely, then answer the question from what the passage states or clearly suggests. If you have to add facts of your own to make an option fit, it is probably wrong.
Tap an option to mark your answer. You can change your mind, or tap the same option again to leave the question blank. The correct answers and explanations appear when you finish the test.Tap an option to answer; tap it again to leave the question blank.
Your result
- 0 correct
- 0 wrong
- 0 blank
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Question 1
Many drivers believe that letting a car idle for ten minutes on a cold morning protects the engine. Modern fuel-injected engines, however, usually need well under a minute before they can be driven gently. Long idling wastes fuel, and the engine actually warms up faster when the car is driven at moderate speed.
The main idea of the passage is that
Correct answer: A
The passage corrects the belief that a ten-minute idle is needed and explains that a short warm-up and gentle driving are better. It never compares the fuel use of old and new engines.
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Question 2
The sergeant's instructions were explicit: every recruit would turn in the signed form by 0800, and there would be no exceptions.
As used in the passage, explicit most nearly means
Correct answer: D
The instructions give an exact deadline and rule out exceptions, so nothing is left unclear. "Politely suggested" does not fit an order that allows no exceptions.
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Question 3
Visitors may take photographs in every gallery of the museum except the rare-books room, where the light from a camera flash could damage old paper. Tripods are not allowed anywhere in the building, and phones must be silenced in the theater.
According to the passage, photographs are not allowed in
Correct answer: B
The rare-books room is the only stated exception for photographs. The rule about the theater concerns silencing phones, not taking pictures.
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Question 4
Jenna's neighbor asked her to feed his cat while he was away. On Monday the food bowl was still nearly full when she arrived, and the cat did not come out to greet her. On Tuesday the bowl was untouched again, and she noticed that the kitchen window had been left open a few inches.
Jenna most likely suspects that
Correct answer: C
The untouched food, the missing cat and the open window together suggest the cat left the house. If the neighbor had come home and fed the cat, it would still be inside.
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Question 5
Keep a space heater at least three feet away from anything that can burn, such as curtains, bedding and furniture. Plug it directly into a wall outlet rather than an extension cord, and turn it off whenever you leave the room or go to sleep.
The passage is mainly written to
Correct answer: C
Every sentence gives a safety instruction: distance from things that burn, the right outlet and when to switch the heater off. The passage does not explain how heaters work or try to sell one.
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Question 6
The main bridge into town was closed for repairs for six weeks last spring. During that time, shops on the east side of the river reported fewer customers, while the gas station beside the only other bridge, eight miles to the north, had its busiest month in years.
The gas station most likely had a busy month because
Correct answer: B
With the main bridge closed, traffic had to use the northern bridge, which brought more drivers past the station. The passage says the east-side shops had fewer customers, not that they closed.
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Question 7
Each squad leader is responsible for checking that every member's canteen is full before the march begins. Medics will carry extra water, but they will give it only to soldiers who show signs of heat illness.
According to the passage, who checks the canteens before the march?
Correct answer: D
The first sentence gives this job to each squad leader. The medics carry extra water but do not check canteens.
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Question 8
Map reading is a skill that GPS has not made useless. Phones lose their signal in deep valleys and remote forests, and batteries tend to die at the worst possible moment. A paper map and a compass need neither a signal nor a charge.
The author's main point is that
Correct answer: A
The author argues that because GPS can fail, knowing how to use a map and compass still matters. Saying GPS is useless in every situation goes much further than the passage does.
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Question 9
When the fire alarm sounds, employees must stop work, leave through the nearest marked exit and go to the meeting area in the north parking lot. Supervisors take attendance there. No one may go back into the building until the fire department says it is safe.
According to the passage, what happens in the north parking lot?
Correct answer: B
The passage says supervisors take attendance at the meeting area. Nothing is said about training or work assignments there.
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Question 10
The old truck looked shabby, with faded paint and a cracked windshield, but its engine started on the first try every morning, even in the coldest weeks of January.
The passage suggests that the truck was
Correct answer: D
The faded paint and cracked windshield show wear, yet the engine always starts, even in deep cold. That combination points to a dependable truck. Being hard to start in cold weather is the opposite of what the passage says.
Questions you leave blank are not counted as wrong.
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