Every day it seems, new inventions surface that promise to add value to our day-to-day lives. But did you know, many of the inventions we interact with on a daily basis were developed completely by accident?

Take the microwave, for instance. This accidental invention was developed by engineer Percy Spencer who, upon experimenting with a microwave-emitting magnetron, found that the candy bar in his pocket had begun to melt. Spencer was then able to harness this radiation into the microwave we use today to make snack time a speedy process!

Perhaps one of the most well-known accidental inventions of today, the potato chip was born when a customer kept requesting that his french fries be sliced thinner and made crispier. Though chef George Crum responded with the chips as a joke, they quickly became a favorite snack around the world!

Even the match is a result of accidental invention. When pharmacist John Walker was stirring chemicals, he noticed that the end of his stirring stick had dried into a hardened lump. When attempting to scrape the dried residue off, a flame sparked, and so did Walker’s idea to turn this accident into a helpful tool!

So, the next time your science experiment doesn’t go as planned, or you burn what you have cooked on the stove, keep in mind that some of today’s most valued inventions were discovered when the inventor least expected it!

What is the main theme of the passage?

Every day it seems, new inventions surface that promise to add value to our day-to-day lives. But did you know, many of the inventions we interact with on a daily basis were developed completely by accident?

Take the microwave, for instance. This accidental invention was developed by engineer Percy Spencer who, upon experimenting with a microwave-emitting magnetron, found that the candy bar in his pocket had begun to melt. Spencer was then able to harness this radiation into the microwave we use today to make snack time a speedy process!

Perhaps one of the most well-known accidental inventions of today, the potato chip was born when a customer kept requesting that his french fries be sliced thinner and made crispier. Though chef George Crum responded with the chips as a joke, they quickly became a favorite snack around the world!

Even the match is a result of accidental invention. When pharmacist John Walker was stirring chemicals, he noticed that the end of his stirring stick had dried into a hardened lump. When attempting to scrape the dried residue off, a flame sparked, and so did Walker’s idea to turn this accident into a helpful tool!

So, the next time your science experiment doesn’t go as planned, or you burn what you have cooked on the stove, keep in mind that some of today’s most valued inventions were discovered when the inventor least expected it!

Which of the following would be the most appropriate title for this passage?

The animal kingdom is made up of creatures of all shapes, sizes, and colors. While we may see color as little more than decoration, animals use their colors in three key ways: to hide, to deceive, and to attract.

The first purpose of color in the animal kingdom, to hide, is perhaps the most commonly known. Animals use a variety of colorations to camouflage themselves or to obscure their shapes from predators. For instance, the owl is often colored and patterned to match the bark of its tree of choice to better blend into its surroundings when perched. The leafy seadragon, an aquatic example of a species employing color to hide, uses its blue-green coloration and leaf-like protrusions to blend into the aquatic foliage of its ecosystem. But perhaps no species is better known for its ability to use color to hide than the chameleon, which can change color to blend into its surroundings. In fact, the chameleon is so well-known for this trait that its name has become a term that is now generally used to refer to one who “changes to fit/blend in.”

Deception is the second function of color in animals. Animals have been known to use their colors and patterns to deceive potential predators and prey. The hemeroplanes triptolemus, otherwise known as the aptly named “snake mimic caterpillar,” uses large, eye-like colorations on its underbelly to flip over and appear snake-like and thus more intimidating to predators. The orchid mantis is another fascinating example of deception in the animal kingdom. Brightly colored in hues of pink and purple, the mantis contorts itself to appear flower-like as it awaits its prey. When pollinators come around expecting a flower to feed on, they are in for a surprise, as the mantis sits ready to strike.

Animals don’t always use their colors to become less pronounced or to hide their true forms from predators or prey. They can also use colors to attract. Bright colorations in animals are used to both attract mates, and to attract attention from and send a warning to potential predators. Many species of birds are known to use bright colorations to attract potential female mates. Additionally, poisonous creatures might be seen with bright colorations and patterns to warn potential predators to leave them be! In fact, many non-poisonous animals have taken this “attract attention” purpose and melded it with “deception” to use their bright coloration to appear poisonous and thus dangerous to predators - even though they are completely harmless!

When it comes to animal colorations, there’s more than meets the eye. With bright colors to attract a mate or ward off a foe, patterns to obscure one’s form and markings that can make even the most harmless bug look like a terrifying creature, animals use color in many ways to better their chances of survival in the wild.

Which of the following would be the least appropriate title for this passage?

The animal kingdom is made up of creatures of all shapes, sizes, and colors. While we may see color as little more than decoration, animals use their colors in three key ways: to hide, to deceive, and to attract.

The first purpose of color in the animal kingdom, to hide, is perhaps the most commonly known. Animals use a variety of colorations to camouflage themselves or to obscure their shapes from predators. For instance, the owl is often colored and patterned to match the bark of its tree of choice to better blend into its surroundings when perched. The leafy seadragon, an aquatic example of a species employing color to hide, uses its blue-green coloration and leaf-like protrusions to blend into the aquatic foliage of its ecosystem. But perhaps no species is better known for its ability to use color to hide than the chameleon, which can change color to blend into its surroundings. In fact, the chameleon is so well-known for this trait that its name has become a term that is now generally used to refer to one who “changes to fit/blend in.”

Deception is the second function of color in animals. Animals have been known to use their colors and patterns to deceive potential predators and prey. The hemeroplanes triptolemus, otherwise known as the aptly named “snake mimic caterpillar,” uses large, eye-like colorations on its underbelly to flip over and appear snake-like and thus more intimidating to predators. The orchid mantis is another fascinating example of deception in the animal kingdom. Brightly colored in hues of pink and purple, the mantis contorts itself to appear flower-like as it awaits its prey. When pollinators come around expecting a flower to feed on, they are in for a surprise, as the mantis sits ready to strike.

Animals don’t always use their colors to become less pronounced or to hide their true forms from predators or prey. They can also use colors to attract. Bright colorations in animals are used to both attract mates, and to attract attention from and send a warning to potential predators. Many species of birds are known to use bright colorations to attract potential female mates. Additionally, poisonous creatures might be seen with bright colorations and patterns to warn potential predators to leave them be! In fact, many non-poisonous animals have taken this “attract attention” purpose and melded it with “deception” to use their bright coloration to appear poisonous and thus dangerous to predators - even though they are completely harmless!

When it comes to animal colorations, there’s more than meets the eye. With bright colors to attract a mate or ward off a foe, patterns to obscure one’s form and markings that can make even the most harmless bug look like a terrifying creature, animals use color in many ways to better their chances of survival in the wild.

Which of the following best describes the main idea of the passage?

What is the main idea of this text?

Adapted from White Fang by Jack London (1906)

Dark spruce forest frowned on either side the frozen waterway. The trees had been stripped by a recent wind of their white covering of frost, and they seemed to lean toward each other, black and ominous, in the fading light. A vast silence reigned over the land. The land itself was a desolation, lifeless, without movement, so lone and cold that the spirit of it was not even that of sadness. There was a hint in it of laughter, but of a laughter more terrible than any sadness -- a laughter that was mirthless as the smile of the Sphinx, a laughter cold as the frost and partaking of the grimness of infallibility. It was the masterful and incommunicable wisdom of eternity laughing at the futility of life and the effort of life. It was the Wild, the savage, frozen-hearted Northland Wild.

But there was life, abroad in the land and defiant. Down the frozen waterway toiled a string of wolfish dogs. Their bristly fur was rimed with frost. Their breath froze in the air as it left their mouths, spouting forth in spumes of vapor that settled upon the hair of their bodies and formed into crystals of frost. Leather harness was on the dogs, and leather traces attached them to a sled which dragged along behind. On the sled, securely lashed, was a long and narrow oblong box. There were other things on the sled -- blankets, an axe, and a coffee-pot and frying-pan; but prominent, occupying most of the space, was the long and narrow oblong box.

In advance of the dogs, on wide snowshoes, toiled a man. At the rear of the sled toiled a second man. On the sled, in the box, lay a third man whose toil was over, -- a man whom the Wild had conquered and beaten down until he would never move nor struggle again.

But at front and rear, unawed and indomitable, toiled the two men who were not yet dead. Their bodies were covered with fur and soft-tanned leather. Eyelashes and cheeks and lips were so coated with the crystals from their frozen breath that their faces were not discernible. This gave them the seeming of ghostly masques, undertakers in a spectral world at the funeral of some ghost. But under it all they were men, penetrating the land of desolation and mockery and silence, puny adventurers bent on colossal adventure, pitting themselves against the might of a world as remote and alien and pulseless as the abysses of space.

They travelled on without speech, saving their breath for the work of their bodies. On every side was the silence, pressing upon them with a tangible presence.

The pale light of the short sunless day was beginning to fade, when a faint far cry arose on the still air. It soared upward with a swift rush, till it reached its topmost note, where it persisted, palpitant and tense, and then slowly died away. It might have been a lost soul wailing, had it not been invested with a certain sad fierceness and hungry eagerness.

A second cry arose, piercing the silence with needlelike shrillness. Both men located the sound. It was to the rear, somewhere in the snow expanse they had just traversed. A third and answering cry arose, also to the rear and to the left of the second cry.

"They're after us, Bill," said the man at the front.

"Meat is scarce," answered his comrade. "I ain't seen a rabbit sign for days.”

At the fall of darkness they swung the dogs into a cluster of spruce trees on the edge of the waterway and made a camp. The coffin, at the side of the fire, served for seat and table. The wolf-dogs, clustered on the far side of the fire, snarled and bickered among themselves, but evinced no inclination to stray off into the darkness.

- - -

"Henry," said Bill, munching with deliberation the beans he was eating, "How many dogs 've we got, Henry?"

"Six."

"Well, Henry . . ." Bill stopped for a moment, in order that his words might gain greater significance. "As I was sayin', Henry, we've got six dogs. I took six fish out of the bag. I gave one fish to each dog, an', Henry, I was one fish short."

"You counted wrong."

"We've got six dogs," the other reiterated dispassionately. "took out six fish. One Ear didn't get no fish. I come back to the bag afterward an' got 'm his fish."

"We've only got six dogs," Henry said.

"Henry," Bill went on, "I won't say they was all dogs, but there was seven of 'm that got fish."

Henry stopped eating to glance across the fire and count the dogs.

"There's only six now," he said.

"I saw the other one run off across the snow," Bill announced with cool positiveness. "I saw seven.”

Bill opened his mouth to speak, but changed his mind. Instead, he pointed toward the wall of darkness that pressed about them from every side. There was no suggestion of form in the utter blackness; only could be seen a pair of eyes gleaming like live coals. Henry indicated with his head a second pair, and a third. A circle of the gleaming eyes had drawn about their camp.

Which of the following is NOT true?

“Stone Trees”

Have you ever seen a stone tree? While the idea of a stone tree may sound fantastic, fallen trees can turn to stone in very specific circumstances, producing what scientists call “petrified wood.” “Petra” means stone in ancient Greek, so something “petrified” has been turned to stone. You may have heard the word “petrified” used to describe someone so scared that they have frozen as if turned to stone, but scientists use the word literally to refer to actual stone. Petrified trees are stone trees, not scared trees!

A Type of Fossil

Like ancient skeletons of dinosaurs and other organisms preserved in the earth, petrified wood is a type of fossil; however, there is a big difference between petrified wood and most fossils. Most fossils are imprints of creatures or partial remains of them, such as their skeletons. In contrast, the process of petrification recreates an entire preserved tree in stone. It’s very cool to see a petrified tree close-up, because it is still precisely life-size; you can get an idea of how big the tree was when it was alive, and even see individual tree cells that have been preserved. You can even count the tree rings in some petrified trees and estimate how old the tree grew to be before it was petrified.

From Tree to Stone

In order for a tree to become petrified wood, it must have died and been buried a very long time ago. This has to have happened in a specific environment, though, or petrified wood would not be so rare. The tree has to be buried in such a way that oxygen cannot get to its bark and wood. If oxygen can get to the tree, it will rot instead of turn to stone. 

The environment has to have two more specific characteristics to produce petrified wood: there has to be water in the ground around the tree, and that water has to contain minerals. If mineral-containing water is present, water will go into and out of the tree’s cells and, over time, the minerals in the water will accumulate in the tree’s cells. When the tree’s cells eventually decay, the minerals are left. Petrified wood can be a rainbow of different colors, with each color corresponding to different elements in the tree’s preserving environment that affect the color of the minerals that form its stone.

Petrified wood is found all over the world, and there are even entire forests of petrified trees that you can travel to go see today. One national park in the United States, Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, is famous for its many petrified trees. The next time you see a tree, remember, after a few million years in the right environment, it could turn to stone!

In what way does petrified wood differ from dinosaur fossils?

You likely hear the name “Napoleon Bonaparte” and immediately think of the short in stature and short in temper French emperor. But have you heard about his most embarrassing surrender? No, not Waterloo! Not Laon or the battle of La Rothiere either! Napoleon's most laughable defeat came well before his loss at Waterloo, in the summer of 1807.

Despite Napoleon's great renown as a brilliant military leader, he once retreated frantically from an army of ….bunnies! You heard that right! Shortly after Napoleon’s Treaties of Tilsit was penned, the emperor planned to celebrate with his fellow military men the best way he knew how - a hunt! Napoleon ordered the chief of staff, Alexandre Berthier, to organize an extravagant rabbit hunt for Napoleon and his men.

Not to be outdone, Berthier collected what was estimated to be between hundreds and thousands of rabbits for the hunt. However, while Berthier assumed that, like wild rabbits, these village-raised rabbits would scurry at the sight of Napoleon and his men, exactly the opposite was true. When the day came and the hunting party was ready for the chase, the bunnies were released. But instead of running for the woods, the swarm of rabbits came straight for Napoleon and his men. Though the men initially attempted to fight back, they were overwhelmed by the hoard and fled to their coaches on a panicked retreat. It was not until the coaches sped away, rabbits still hopping aboard even as they attempted to retreat, that Napoleon was able to escape the furry army.

Embarrassed in front of the military peers and subordinates who once respected him, Napoleon fled home from a battle he never anticipated, and one he would never fully recover from the battle of the bunnies.

According to the context of the passage, “Waterloo,” “Laon“ and “La Rothiere” are

You likely hear the name “Napoleon Bonaparte” and immediately think of the short in stature and short in temper French emperor. But have you heard about his most embarrassing surrender? No, not Waterloo! Not Laon or the battle of La Rothiere either! Napoleon's most laughable defeat came well before his loss at Waterloo, in the summer of 1807.

Despite Napoleon's great renown as a brilliant military leader, he once retreated frantically from an army of ….bunnies! You heard that right! Shortly after Napoleon’s Treaties of Tilsit was penned, the emperor planned to celebrate with his fellow military men the best way he knew how - a hunt! Napoleon ordered the chief of staff, Alexandre Berthier, to organize an extravagant rabbit hunt for Napoleon and his men.

Not to be outdone, Berthier collected what was estimated to be between hundreds and thousands of rabbits for the hunt. However, while Berthier assumed that, like wild rabbits, these village-raised rabbits would scurry at the sight of Napoleon and his men, exactly the opposite was true. When the day came and the hunting party was ready for the chase, the bunnies were released. But instead of running for the woods, the swarm of rabbits came straight for Napoleon and his men. Though the men initially attempted to fight back, they were overwhelmed by the hoard and fled to their coaches on a panicked retreat. It was not until the coaches sped away, rabbits still hopping aboard even as they attempted to retreat, that Napoleon was able to escape the furry army.

Embarrassed in front of the military peers and subordinates who once respected him, Napoleon fled home from a battle he never anticipated, and one he would never fully recover from the battle of the bunnies.

Which of the following is not a term used to describe the bunnies that attacked Napoleon and his men?

You likely hear the name “Napoleon Bonaparte” and immediately think of the short in stature and short in temper French emperor. But have you heard about his most embarrassing surrender? No, not Waterloo! Not Laon or the battle of La Rothiere either! Napoleon's most laughable defeat came well before his loss at Waterloo, in the summer of 1807.

Despite Napoleon's great renown as a brilliant military leader, he once retreated frantically from an army of ….bunnies! You heard that right! Shortly after Napoleon’s Treaties of Tilsit was penned, the emperor planned to celebrate with his fellow military men the best way he knew how - a hunt! Napoleon ordered the chief of staff, Alexandre Berthier, to organize an extravagant rabbit hunt for Napoleon and his men.

Not to be outdone, Berthier collected what was estimated to be between hundreds and thousands of rabbits for the hunt. However, while Berthier assumed that, like wild rabbits, these village-raised rabbits would scurry at the sight of Napoleon and his men, exactly the opposite was true. When the day came and the hunting party was ready for the chase, the bunnies were released. But instead of running for the woods, the swarm of rabbits came straight for Napoleon and his men. Though the men initially attempted to fight back, they were overwhelmed by the hoard and fled to their coaches on a panicked retreat. It was not until the coaches sped away, rabbits still hopping aboard even as they attempted to retreat, that Napoleon was able to escape the furry army.

Embarrassed in front of the military peers and subordinates who once respected him, Napoleon fled home from a battle he never anticipated, and one he would never fully recover from the battle of the bunnies.

In paragraph three of the passage, the author cites that Berthier was “Not to be outdone” most probably in order to