SSAT Elementary Level Reading : Literal Understanding in Nonfiction Passages
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SSAT Elementary Level Reading
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Example Questions
Example Question #81 : Literal Understanding In Nonfiction Passages
Penguins - The flightless wonders
Molly Kubik, 2016
The penguin is very special bird. Everyone knows that most birds love to fly, but not the penguin! Penguins are unique. They are very different from other birds. Penguins have feathers, but even their feathers are different from other birds. The penguin's feathers grow all over their body like hair grows on a mammal's body. Other birds have rows of feathers, which helps them fly, but you won't see an penguin in a tree like an eagle or a hawk. Penguins have heavy, solid bones, so they are too heavy to fly, but they are great swimmers. They can swim faster than most birds and many sea creatures. The penguin lives by the ocean, and you are most likely to see them swimming quickly through the ocean waters as they hunt for fish. Penguins eat a lot of fish. It is one of their main sources of food. Their thick, strong, muscular wings, and flippers make the penguin a great swimmer. Penguins are not good at walking on land, which is one reason that they spend so much of their time in the water. A penguin can spend months in the ocean without taking a break!
According to the passage, the major difference between the penguin and the eagle is __________________.
The penguin is heavier than the eagle
The eagle is more aggressive than the penguin
The eagle has bigger wings than the penguin
The eagle can fly and the penguin cannot
The eagle can fly and the penguin cannot
The passage states, "other birds have rows of feathers, which helps them fly, but you won't see a penguin in a tree like an eagle or a hawk. Penguins have heavy, solid bones, so they are too heavy to fly, but they are great swimmers." This is the only answer that is explicitly compares the eagle and the penguin. The other answers can be inferred by the reader, but are not explicitly stated by the passage.
Example Question #221 : Prose Passages
Penguins - The flightless wonders
Molly Kubik, 2016
The penguin is very special bird. Everyone knows that most birds love to fly, but not the penguin! Penguins are unique. They are very different from other birds. Penguins have feathers, but even their feathers are different from other birds. The penguin's feathers grow all over their body like hair grows on a mammal's body. Other birds have rows of feathers, which helps them fly, but you won't see an penguin in a tree like an eagle or a hawk. Penguins have heavy, solid bones, so they are too heavy to fly, but they are great swimmers. They can swim faster than most birds and many sea creatures. The penguin lives by the ocean, and you are most likely to see them swimming quickly through the ocean waters as they hunt for fish. Penguins eat a lot of fish. It is one of their main sources of food. Their thick, strong, muscular wings, and flippers make the penguin a great swimmer. Penguins are not good at walking on land, which is one reason that they spend so much of their time in the water. A penguin can spend months in the ocean without taking a break!
According to the passage, why does the penguin spend more time in the water than on the land?
The penguin's thick feathers make walking hard because it overheats easily
The penguin likes to swim better
The penguin is too heavy to walk
The penguin walks very slowly because it has flippers that are better for swimming than walking
The penguin walks very slowly because it has flippers that are better for swimming than walking
The passage states, "Their thick, strong, muscular wings, and flippers make the penguin a great swimmer. Penguins are not good at walking on land, which is one reason that they spend so much of their time in the water." The other answers could be inferred by the reader as reasons why the penguin doesn't spend much time on land, but it is not explicitly stated by the passage.
Example Question #222 : Prose Passages
Egypt
Molly Kubik, 2016
Egypt is a country in northern Africa. Egypt is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. The capital of Egypt is Cairo. Cairo is the largest city in Africa, and has been a very important place throughout Egypt's history. Cairo is a modern city. If you visit, you will see large buildings and many cars. Egypt has a very rich history. Long ago, the ancient Egyptians were a very advanced civilization. They were very intelligent people who built pyramids, invented ways to farm in the desert, invented a way of writing, and set up many schools. Ancient Egyptian writing was very advanced. Ancient Egyptians used hieroglyphics to write, which are small pictures that tell a written story. Although is very difficult to live in the desert, the ancient Egyptians were very resourceful and were able to create a prosperous civilization. Like the ancient Egyptians and modern day Egyptians mainly live near the Nile River. Modern day Egypt sometimes has problems. Over 82 million people live in Egypt. Some people live in poverty. Many poor people need jobs, homes, and education. There have been problems with wars. Egypt is working very hard to solve these problems. They are working hard to make their schools better, and are helping students to learn more. Egypt has a wonderful history, and it will have a great future too because people are working hard to make Egypt a great place.
Egypt is located in which part of Africa?
Northern Africa
Western Africa
Eastern Africa
Southern Africa
Northern Africa
The passage states "Egypt is a country in Africa." This answer is the only answer that is supported by the passage. The reader might have answered Eastern or Western Africa because they are familiar with a map of Africa, but this is not stated in the passage. The most correct answer according to the passage is Northern Africa.
Example Question #82 : Literal Understanding In Nonfiction Passages
Egypt
Molly Kubik, 2016
Egypt is a country in northern Africa. Egypt is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. The capital of Egypt is Cairo. Cairo is the largest city in Africa, and has been a very important place throughout Egypt's history. Cairo is a modern city. If you visit, you will see large buildings and many cars. Egypt has a very rich history. Long ago, the ancient Egyptians were a very advanced civilization. They were very intelligent people who built pyramids, invented ways to farm in the desert, invented a way of writing, and set up many schools. Ancient Egyptian writing was very advanced. Ancient Egyptians used hieroglyphics to write, which are small pictures that tell a written story. Although is very difficult to live in the desert, the ancient Egyptians were very resourceful and were able to create a prosperous civilization. Like the ancient Egyptians and modern day Egyptians mainly live near the Nile River. Modern day Egypt sometimes has problems. Over 82 million people live in Egypt. Some people live in poverty. Many poor people need jobs, homes, and education. There have been problems with wars. Egypt is working very hard to solve these problems. They are working hard to make their schools better, and are helping students to learn more. Egypt has a wonderful history, and it will have a great future too because people are working hard to make Egypt a great place.
How does the passage describe schools in Egypt?
Schools in Ancient Egypt were terrible, but schools in modern day Egypt are much better
Schools in Ancient Egypt and modern Egypt have always been excellent
Schools in Ancient Egypt were very good. Schools in modern day Egypt have had some problems, which are getting fixed
Schools in Egypt have always been bad
Schools in Ancient Egypt were very good. Schools in modern day Egypt have had some problems, which are getting fixed
The passage mentions that Ancient Egyptians were leaders who set up schools and taught hieroglyphics. The passage also mentions that schools in modern day Egypt have had problems, which they are working to fix.
Example Question #51 : How To Locate And Analyze Details In Nonfiction Passages
The wonders of Natural Gas
Molly Kubik, 2016
Energy is all around us. We use energy every day to when we cook, light our homes, and use electronics. Natural gas is a form of energy. When the gas burns, it creates heat energy that humans can use. When gas burns, it makes energy. That energy is heat. People use natural gas for many things. When you take a shower, you water was most likely heated by natural gas. Some people use natural gas to power their cars, and other people use natural gas in their stove when they cook. Even farmers use natural gas! Some farms use fertilizer that is made from natural gas. This helps the farmer's crops grow better. Natural gas is a cleaner form of energy than coal. It does not pollute the environment as much. Natural gas is a very useful energy resource.
Which statement best describes the main idea of the passage?
Humans would have a hard time without natural gas
Natural gas is a very important and useful natural resource
Natural gas can be dangerous
Natural gas is a great resource, but it is expensive
Natural gas is a very important and useful natural resource
This passage discusses how important and useful natural gas is. It lists the many activities that humans use natural gas for.
Example Question #1 : How To Differentiate Between Literal And Figurative Language In Nonfiction Passages
Adapted from "Sea-slugs and Cuttlefish" by Charles Darwin in A Book of Natural History (1902, ed. David Starr Jordan)
I was much interested, on several occasions, by watching the habits of a cuttlefish. Although common in the pools of water left by the retiring tide, these animals were not easily caught. By means of their long arms and suckers, they could drag their bodies into very narrow crevices; and when thus fixed, it required great force to remove them. At other times they darted, with the rapidity of an arrow, from one side of the pool to the other, at the same instant discoloring the water with a dark chestnut-brown ink. These animals also escape detection by a very extraordinary, chameleon-like power of changing their color. They appear to vary their tints according to the nature of the ground over which they pass: when in deep water, their general shade was brownish-purple, but when placed on the land, or in shallow water, this dark tint changed into one of a yellowish green.
This cuttlefish displayed its chameleon-like power both during the act of swimming and whilst remaining stationary at the bottom. I was amused by the various arts to escape detection used by one individual, which seemed fully aware that I was watching it. Remaining for a time motionless, it would then stealthily advance an inch or two, like a cat after a mouse; sometimes changing its color, it proceeded, till having gained a deeper part, it darted away, leaving a dusky train of ink to hide the hole into which it had crawled.
What does the author compare to “like a cat after a mouse"?
The stealthy movement of the cuttlefish
The attempts of the cuttlefish to hunt its prey
The movement of the water that traps the cuttlefish
His own attempts to avoid the cuttlefish
His own attempts to catch a cuttlefish
The stealthy movement of the cuttlefish
In context, the author says, "Remaining for a time motionless, it would then stealthily advance an inch or two, like a cat after a mouse." Although the expression “like a cat after a mouse” seems to indicate something hunting something else, the author is actually using it merely to describe the “stealthy” movement of the cuttlefish. The cuttlefish is moving slowly, an inch at a time, much like a cat that is hunting a mouse.
Example Question #1 : Analyzing Tone, Style, And Figurative Language In History Passages
Adapted from The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Van Loon (1921)
I am going to take you to the top of the highest pyramid and I am going to ask that you imagine yourself possessed of the eyes of a hawk. Way, way off, in the distance, far beyond the yellow sands of the desert, you will see something green and shimmering. It is a valley situated between two rivers. It is the land of mystery and wonder which the Greeks called Mesopotamia—the "country between the rivers."
The names of the two rivers are the Euphrates and the Tigris. They begin their course amidst the snows of the mountains of Armenia and slowly they flow through the southern plain until they reach the muddy banks of the Persian gulf. They perform a very useful service. They turn the arid regions of Western Asia into a fertile garden.
The valley of the Nile had attracted people because it had offered them food upon fairly easy terms. The "land between the rivers" was popular for the same reason. It was a country full of promise and both the inhabitants of the northern mountains and the tribes which roamed through the southern deserts tried to claim this territory as their own and most exclusive possession. The constant rivalry between the mountaineers and the desert-nomads led to endless warfare. Only the strongest and the bravest could hope to survive, and that will explain why Mesopotamia became the home of very strong people.
When the author says he is “going to ask that you imagine yourself possessed of the eyes of a hawk,” he most nearly means __________.
He wants you to act like you can see back into the past.
He wants you to pretend you can see over very long distances.
He wants you to act like you know what goes on inside the mind of a bird.
He wants you to act as if you are as noble and wise as a hawk.
He wants you to pretend you can comprehend what it is like to fly.
He wants you to pretend you can see over very long distances.
When the author says he is “going to ask that you imagine yourself possessed of the eyes of a hawk,” he means he wants you to “pretend you can see over very long distances.” Hawks have very good vision over long distances, and the author is creating a scenario whereby his audience is standing atop a pyramid in Egypt and looking all the way, across hundreds of miles, at the plains of Mesopotamia. This is most clearly shown in the sentence that follows the underlined text, where the author says, “Way, way off, in the distance, far beyond the yellow sands of the desert, you will see something green and shimmering.” The key phrase is “way, way off, in the distance."
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