ASVAB Paragraph Comprehension Practice Test 714503 Results

Your Results Global Average
Questions 5 5
Correct 0 2.72
Score 0% 54%

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
Old folk songs that have been passed down among generations of speakers of the language.
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.

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 Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control (ACC) is one of the largest and most progressive animal control agencies in the United States. The ACC operates six animal shelters serving all unincorporated County areas and 50 contract cities. The ACC covers more than 3,200 square miles of cities, deserts, beaches, and mountains; from the Antelope Valley in the north to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in the south; as far east as the border of San Bernardino County and west all the way to Thousand Oaks. The ACC provides animal control and rescue services 24 hours a day, seven days a week in our service area.
According to this passage:
34% Answer Correctly
Animal Care and Control operates within and outside of Los Angeles County.
The ACC handles only domestic animals.
Services are provided to any city or unincorporated area within the 3,200 miles covered by the Agency.
The ACC provides control and rescue services for some cities.

Solution
The passage states that the ACC serves 50 contract cities within Los Angeles County, not any city, and does not state that the ACC handles only domestic animals.

3
In 2011, the Ohio Turnpike raised its limit to 70 and recorded its lowest traffic fatality rate ever that year. The higher speed limit attracts travelers to use the safer, limited-access, divided highways of the interstates from more traditional roads. That makes both types of roads safer.
Why does increasing the speed limit on interstates make traditional roads safer?
62% Answer Correctly
Drivers attracted by the high speed limits of the interstates are reckless and getting them off the traditional roads makes those roads safer.
More travelers choose to use interstates which reduces the number of cars on traditional roads.
After this change there are more police patrolling traditional roads.
Only the safest drivers still choose to drive traditional roads because they don't want to drive as fast.

Solution
More travelers using safer interstates increases their safety and reduces traffic on traditional roads. This reduction of travelers on traditional roads make those road safer because there are fewer vehicles on them. None of the other answers relate to the information given in the paragraph.

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
confident
denying
skeptical

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
Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. Short track speed skating takes place on a smaller rink, normally the size of an ice hockey rink. Distances are shorter than in long track racing, with the longest Olympic race being 3000 meters. Races are usually held as knockouts, with the best two in heats of four or five qualifying for the final race, where medals are awarded. Disqualifications and falls are not uncommon. The sport originates from pack-style events held in North America and was officially sanctioned in the 1970s, becoming an Olympic sport in 1992. Although this form of speed skating is newer, it is growing faster than long track speed skating, largely because short track can be done on an ice hockey rink rather than a long-track oval.
What does the author cite as the reason that short track speed skating is growing faster than long-track speed skating?
64% Answer Correctly
Short track speed skating can be played in a more accessible venue.
Short track speed skating is newer and appeals to younger skaters.
Short track speed skating is more exiting due to frequent disqualifications and falls.
Short track speed skating is more exiting because of the shorter tracks and knockout race format.

Solution
The author states that short track speed skating is growing faster than long track speed skating "largely because short track can be done on an ice hockey rink rather than a long-track oval" which implies that the ability to be played in a more accessible venue is fueling its growth.