ASVAB Paragraph Comprehension Practice Test 616174 Results

Your Results Global Average
Questions 5 5
Correct 0 2.59
Score 0% 52%

Review

1
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
skeptical
confident
hopeful
denying

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".

2
A perennial stream or perennial river is a stream or river (channel) that has continuous flow in parts of its stream bed all year round during years of normal rainfall. "Perennial" streams are contrasted with "intermittent" streams which normally cease flowing for weeks or months each year, and with "ephemeral" channels that flow only for hours or days following rainfall.
Which of the following is the correct order of stream type from the least amount of time flowing to the most amount of time flowing over the course of a year?
57% Answer Correctly
perennial, intermittent, ephemeral
perennial, ephemeral, intermittent
ephemeral, perennial, intermittent
ephemeral, intermittent, perennial

Solution
Ephemeral streams flow for hours or days, intermittent streams flow for weeks or months, and perennial streams flow continuously throughout the year.

3
Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. The extreme opposite of endemism is cosmopolitan distribution.
Based on this passage, which of the following statements is false?
47% Answer Correctly
An organism that is endemic to Australia can be found in India.
An organism that is indigenous to Australia can be found in India.
Endemism requires an organism be unique to a defined geographic location.
An organism that is endemic cannot have a cosmopolitan distribution.

Solution
You don't necessarily need to know the definitions of the words in a paragraph to figure out the correct answer. Just go through the answers one by one and logically compare the answer to the the paragraph and eliminate the answers that aren't supported by the facts.

4
Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that began in the United States around 1870. Pragmatism is a rejection of the idea that the function of thought is to describe, represent, or mirror reality. Instead, pragmatists develop their philosophy around the idea that the function of thought is as a instrument or tool for prediction, action, and problem solving. Pragmatists contend that most philosophical topics - such as the nature of knowledge, language, concepts, meaning, belief, and science - are all best viewed in terms of their practical uses and successes rather than in terms of representative accuracy.
Pragmatism would best be described as a philosophy that focuses on:
59% Answer Correctly
Imagination and planning for the future.
Practicality and present problem solving.
Describing and understanding the nature of reality.
Reflection and learning from the past.

Solution
According to this passage, pragmatists focus on present problem solving and the practical uses of philosophy.

5
The Marion County Board of Supervisors has appointed a newly established Workforce Investment Board (WIB) , which will implement the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. WIB’s mandate is to provide key policy decisions affecting the local workforce development system, and to identify and certify the areas within Marion County where WorkSource Texas Centers are located to be designated as Workforce Investment Areas.
According to this passage:
51% Answer Correctly
WorkSource Texas Centers are unique to areas within Marion County.
The Workforce Investment Act will put into practice the Workforce Investment Board.
County Board of Supervisors passed the Workforce Investment Act.
WIB is chiefly responsible for providing decisions related to policy.

Solution
The passage states that the WIB is mandated to "provide key policy decisions".