Critical Reading Practice Test 3: Sample Questions Answers (PDF): Useful for any standardized exam in the United States You can download this practice in PDF (editable and printable) files. In addition, you can also use our Critical Reading Practice Test as a worksheet.
Table of Contents
| Practice Test Name | Critical Reading Test |
| Test Type | Critical Reading Practice Test 3 |
| Question Type | Multiple Choice |
| Passage Type | Critical Reading Passages |
| Difficulty Level | High School |
| Printable/Editable File Available | Yes PDF & DOC |
| Total Question | 15 |
| Total Passages | Two |
Directions: Questions follow the two passages below. Using only the stated or implied information in each passage and in its introduction, if any, answer the questions.
Questions 1-15 are based on the following passages.
The two passages that follow are taken from recent historical studies of Christopher Columbus.
1. In lines 18–23 of the first paragraph, the reference to the play by Lope de Vega serves to
I. give an example of Columbus’s reputation in Spain.
II. demonstrate how widespread Columbus’s reputation had become.
III. exemplify how Columbus was already a myth and symbol of the discoverer.
The sentence on Lope de Vega’s play does all three. It gives an example of a play by a Spanish playwright using Columbus as a hero; it shows that Columbus’s reputation had reached to the popular theater; and it gives an example of Columbus in his symbolic role as the “embodiment of that spirit driving humans to explore and discover.”
2. In Passage 1 (line 28), the word “disposed” means
The best of the five definitions here is “inclined.” Although the verb “dispose” can mean to arrange or to give away, the context here makes clear that the meaning is something like not inclined to struggle against the myth of Columbus, and the next sentence, as well as the rest of the paragraph, confirms this meaning.
3. In Passage 1 (line 40), the phrase “romantic mold” most nearly means
The nouns used for “mold” here — pattern, manner, model, shape, or style — are all adequate; “romantic” here is best defined by idealized. The word is explained further by the phrase “favored in the century’s literature,” and the quotations from Irving that follow depict an idealized rather than a visionary, fictitious, or escapist hero
4. Of the following words used in the third paragraph of Passage 1, which most clearly reveals a judgment of the modern author as opposed to that of Washington Irving?
Since “ambition” and “magnanimity” are direct quotations from Irving, neither is possible. The word “mined” expresses no judgment, and “palliating” refers neutrally to Irving’s inadequate explanation. The use of “Perhaps,” the only word in its sentence, expresses the author’s reluctance to accept Irving’s assessment of Columbus.
5. The major purpose of Passage 1 is to
The first paragraph surveys Columbus’s reputation in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; the second, third, and fourth deal with the nineteenth century. Although the last paragraph predicts a reevaluation in the twentieth century, the passage does not deal with the hostile criticism of the explorer.
6. With which of the following generalizations would the author of Passage 1 be most likely to agree?
I. The values of a historical period are usually reflected by the heroes people of that time choose to idolize.
II. What people believe about historical figures is usually what they want to believe.
III. Written history is usually a record of the truth as it is known at the time of writing.
The fourth paragraph explains how the nineteenth-century Columbus reflected what that period most valued, and the last paragraph refers to people creating “the Columbus they want to believe in.” The account of nineteenthcentury historians’ indifference to the Columbus documents discovered in 1825 contradicts the notion that history is truth as it is known at the time of writing.
7. The questions of the first paragraph of Passage 2 (lines 76–97) serve chiefly to
Each of the questions reveals more of the author’s ideas about the Europeans at the time of Columbus’s voyages. The passage goes on to show
how these limitations led to the exploitation of the New World. The paragraph does not defend or justify their actions.
8. In Passage 2 (lines 90–91), the phrase “unschooled in all that the Ancients held virtuous” is used to
I. reflect the European view of the American natives.
II. reveal a significant foundation of European culture in the period.
III. give a reason for the European contempt for the native Americans.
All three are accurate descriptions of the effects of the phrase. The phrase “a foreign, heathen people, half naked and befeathered, ignorant of cities and kings and metal and laws, and unschooled in all that the Ancients held virtuous” is the European view of the native Americans as superior, contemptuous of their ignorance of Greece and Rome, which had become important to Europe in the age of discovery. The point of view of this phrase is that of the fifteenth-century European, not that of the twentieth-century author.
9. Which of the following does Passage 2 present as discovered and understoodby the Europeans in America?
The second paragraph refers to new foods and medicines found in the New World.
10. According to Passage 2, a “biological outlook on life” would be best defined as one in which
The passage presents the biological outlook as one in which humans have a sense of being at one with nature, where humans’ relation to earth and all its life forms is more important than their relation to other humans. Choices B and E are just what the biological outlook is not. Choices C and D are concerned with economic rather than ecological well-being.
11. The major purpose of Passage 2 is to
The passage argues that, properly understood, the discovery might have brought regeneration to Europe, but the Europeans, tragically, could only exploit and destroy the new-found lands. The passage does criticize this European failure, but this criticism is not its real point. The passage does not describe the benefits of the discovery A, and it is by no means objective E.
12. Of the five paragraphs in Passage 1, which one best prepares the reader for the contents of Passage 2?
The last paragraph of Passage 1 refers to “a major reassessment of Columbus’s reputation,” and Passage 2 presents a view of the consequences of Columbus’s voyages totally unlike the heroic adulation of the first four paragraphs of the first passage
13. Compared to Passage 1, Passage 2 may be described by all the following EXCEPT
Passage 2 presents a highly personal, highly emotional, judgmental, philosophical view of Columbus’s discovery. But it is not more historical than Passage 1. In fact, it presents only the view of its twentieth-century author, and Passage 1 samples opinions from several periods.
14. Compared to that of Passage 1, the prose of Passage 2 makes greater use of all the following EXCEPT
The style of Passage 2 is characterized by its use of words in series, repetition, parallel phrases, and rhetorical questions. It does not use understatement. Some readers, no doubt, would argue that it depends on overstatement.
15. Which of the following aptly describes a relationship between Passage 1 and Passage 2?
I. Passage 1 predicts a reevaluation of Columbus’s accomplishments, and Passage 2 makes that reevaluation.
II. Passage 1 calls attention to the way the image of Columbus in each period reflects the values of that period, and Passage 2 presents
an image that reflects late twentieth-century ideas.
III. Passage 1 focuses on the reputation of Columbus, and Passage 2 emphasizes his unique character.
The first two statements are just, but although Passage 1 focuses on Columbus’s reputation, Passage 2 does not even mention Columbus by
name. The second passage does reevaluate the discovery of America. The second passage also presents an interpretation of the voyages of discovery that reflects the late twentieth-century concern for the wisdom of ancient cultures, ecology, and the dangers of warring against nature.
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Sample Reading Tests
