ASVAB Paragraph Comprehension Practice Test 301175 Results

Your Results Global Average
Questions 5 5
Correct 0 3.17
Score 0% 63%

Review

1
In linguistics, the comparative method is a technique for studying the development of languages by performing a feature-by-feature comparison of two or more languages with common descent from a shared ancestor, as opposed to the method of internal reconstruction, which analyzes the internal development of a single language over time.
Which of the following would be the most useful for someone using the comparative method in linguistics when studying a particular language?
66% Answer Correctly
An ancient text written in the language.
Two editions of the same text written one-hundred years apart.
The same text written in two different dialects of the language.
Old folk songs that have been passed down among generations of speakers of the language.

Solution
The wrong answers all provide insight into how a single language has changed over time while the text written in two different dialects offers an opportunity to compare languages that share a common ancestor.

2
The Criminal Grand Jury of Los Angeles County attends hearings brought by the District Attorney’s Office . The objective of this jury is to determine, on the basis of evidence presented by the District Attorney’s Office, whether certain persons should be charged with crimes an d required to stand trial in Superior Court. The Criminal Grand Jury is an accusatory body and not a trial jury; therefore, the burden of proof is much lower. Specifically, the Criminal Grand Jury must decide if there is a strong suspicion the individual committed the alleged crime.
According to this passage:
67% Answer Correctly
The Criminal Grand Jury is responsible for deciding if the alleged perpetrator of a crime should stand trial.
The District Attorney presents its case to the Criminal Grand Jury in Superior Court.
The burden of proof is held to a stricter standard during the review of evidence.
When a strong suspicion is determined, the Grand Jury recommends the charged individuals punishment.

Solution
The passage states that the Criminal Grand Jury weighs evidence to determine whether certain persons should be required to stand trial in the Superior Court.

3
"In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." - Desiderius Erasmus
What does this proverb mean?
61% Answer Correctly
Even someone with minor ability is considered special by those with no ability at all.
It is more advantageous to be able to see, even a little bit, than to be blind.
It would be easy for someone who can see to become king in a land of people who cannot see.
Someone who can see will be able to take advantage of others who cannot see.

4
On Monday, after a long quarter-century, West Virginians said goodbye to their state's 6 percent food tax. Now to see what, if any, business we've been missing. In 1989, retailers warned that sales in West Virginia would go down if legislators imposed a 6 percent tax on food. "Whatever they put on would be passed on to the consumer," Charles Forth, who owned supermarkets in both West Virginia and Ohio, told the newspaper in February 1989. "Six percent is $6 on $100. That will make a difference when people are already hurting and trying to make ends meet." It's a lot easier to drive customers away than to win them back, a fact legislators should bear in mind when it comes to taxation.
The author is _______________ that eliminating the 6 percent food tax will bring customers back to West Virginia stores.
45% Answer Correctly
hopeful
skeptical
denying
confident

Solution
The author cites a local retailer who predicted that sales in West Virginia would go down if the food tax was implemented and, although no facts are given to indicate that sales did in fact go down, the tone of the paragraph implies that the perception is that they have. The author is skeptical that eliminating the food tax will bring customers back claiming "It's a lot easier to drive customers away than to win them back".

5
Conan of Aquilonia is a collection of four linked fantasy short stories written by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter featuring Robert E. Howard's seminal sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. The stories were originally published in Fantastic for August 1972, July 1973, July 1974, and February, 1975. The collected stories were intended for book publication by Lancer Books, but this edition never appeared due to Lancer's bankruptcy. The first book edition was issued in paperback by Ace Books in May 1977 and the first British edition was published by Sphere Books in October 1978.
Which publication did not publish content from this series of short stories?
78% Answer Correctly
Ace Books
Lancer Books
Sphere Books
Fantastic

Solution
The Lancer Books edition of Conan of Aquilonia never appeared due to Lancer's bankruptcy.