SSAT Elementary Level Reading : Prose Passages
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SSAT Elementary Level Reading
All SSAT Elementary Level Reading Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #12 : Identifying And Analyzing Main Idea And Theme In Science Passages
Adapted from A Catechism of Familiar Things: Their History and the Events Which Led to Their Discovery by the Benziger Brothers (1881)
Iron is one of the most useful and abundant metals, being found in all mineral earths, stones, plants, and animal fluids. Iron is found in great masses, in various states, in the bowels of the earth; it is usually, however, compounded with stone, from which it is separated by the action of fire. In some parts of the world, whole mountains are formed of iron; among these may be mentioned the Pilot Knob and the Iron Mountain, in Missouri, being unsurpassed by anything of the kind found elsewhere.
It is hard, fusible, not very malleable, but extremely ductile, and very tenacious; it is of a greyish color, and nearly eight times heavier than water. Without iron, society could make no progress in the cultivation of the ground, in mechanical arts or trades, in architecture or navigation; it is therefore of the greatest use to man.
The primary argument of this essay is that __________.
Without iron, mankind would be forced to rely on less useful metals, such as copper or bronze.
The wholesale destruction of the environment required to mine iron renders iron less useful than it otherwise would be.
The large amount of iron in the world is of great importance and benefit to mankind.
Iron is a durable and tough substance that has long been used to wage war and construct buildings.
Man has a complex relationship with iron.
The large amount of iron in the world is of great importance and benefit to mankind.
The author is making two points in this essay. Firstly, he says that there is a large quantity of iron in the world. This can be seen in excerpts such as “Iron is found in great masses, in various states, in the bowels of the earth." Secondly, he says that this great quantity of iron is of great importance and benefit to mankind. This second point can be seen in statements such as “Without iron, society could make no progress" and "it is therefore of the greatest use to man.” The correct answer is therefore the one that reflects the author’s two main points and the relationship between the two—there is a lot of iron, and mankind needs iron, so it is important that there is a lot of iron.
Example Question #151 : Prose 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.
The main idea of this passage is that __________.
The author has never successfully caught a cuttlefish.
Cuttlefish are very common in the rock pools near where the author lives.
Cuttlefish have many different abilities that help them to avoid capture.
The author is very interested in the habits of cuttlefish.
Cuttlefish are very small and agile creatures.
Cuttlefish have many different abilities that help them to avoid capture.
The main idea of this passage is that cuttlefish are very difficult to catch because they have many different skills that allow them to avoid capture. The author talks about their “chameleon-like power of changing their color,” their “long arms and suckers” with which “they could drag their bodies into very narrow crevices,” and their ability to dart “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.” The main thesis of the text is probably “Although common in the pools of water left by the retiring tide, these animals were not easily caught.” The other answer choices are common features of this text, but not the main idea of the passage.
Example Question #2 : Contemporary Life Passages
"Soccer" by Daniel Morrison (2014)
Soccer is considered by some Americans to be a European and Latin American sport. For numerous reasons, the sport has struggled to take hold professionally in the United States, but there is growing participation in the sport at the youth level. This can probably be attributed to the relative dangers faced by those playing soccer and those playing America’s traditional favorite youth sport—American football.
Young children who play American football are at high risk of several catastrophic injuries such as concussions, fractures and spinal damage. The universal concern among parents to protect the health of their children has lead many to encourage their child to take up soccer as opposed to American football. If this trend continues, which it almost certainly will as our society becomes more aware of the degree of damage done by repeated collisions in American football, it will not be long before the popularity of soccer spreads upwards to the professional level.
What is the main idea of this passage?
American parents are overly concerned about the health and well-being of their children.
The relative safety of playing soccer for young children will lead to an increased popularity of the sport professionally.
Soccer is a game for young children and is never going to be popular at the professional level.
Soccer is growing in popularity versus American football, but the author is unsure why this is the case.
Soccer cannot compete with the immense popularity of American football in the United States despite massive youth participation.
The relative safety of playing soccer for young children will lead to an increased popularity of the sport professionally.
The main idea of this passage is that soccer is a relatively safe game for American children compared to American football. The author clearly believes that the growing emphasis of American parents to protect the health of their children means that soccer will continue to grow in popularity at the professional level. This argument is stated by the author when he says “it will not be long before the popularity of soccer spreads upwards to the professional level" at the end of the passage.
Example Question #2 : Contemporary Life Passages
"The Dangers of Sugar" by Daniel Morrison (2014)
Sugar is a highly addictive substance that plays a dangerous role in the health and well-being of people around the world. It is particularly threatening to American health, as it is placed in everything from carbonated sodas to beef jerky and vegetable juice. The average American consumes seventy-five pounds of sugar every year—that is roughly the weight of a elementary school child. Many health experts believe that sugar is the number one contributing factor in the high rates of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes that can be found in the contemporary United States.
Why does the author believe that sugar is “particularly threatening to American health”?
Because it is found in so many different products in the United States
Because it is especially addictive to American people
Because it is grown and harvested in the United States
Because the government refuses to ban or regulate sugar consumption
Because it is consumed by such a large percentage of the population
Because it is found in so many different products in the United States
Answering this question first requires understanding what “particularly threatening” means. Something that is “threatening” looks like it could cause harm. When the author says “particularly,” he means that Americans are more threatened by sugar than people in other countries. The reason the author gives for this is that, in America, sugar “is placed in everything from carbonated sodas to beef jerky and vegetable juice.” So, you can say that sugar is “particularly threatening to American health” because “it is found in so many different products in the United States.”
Example Question #3 : Contemporary Life Passages
"The Dangers of Sugar" by Daniel Morrison (2014)
Sugar is a highly addictive substance that plays a dangerous role in the health and well-being of people around the world. It is particularly threatening to American health, as it is placed in everything from carbonated sodas to beef jerky and vegetable juice. The average American consumes seventy-five pounds of sugar every year—that is roughly the weight of a elementary school child. Many health experts believe that sugar is the number one contributing factor in the high rates of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes that can be found in the contemporary United States.
What is the author’s main point in this passage?
That sugar has only recently been understood as bad for you
That sugar consumption is dangerously high in the United States
That sugar is produced from the maple-tree
That the United States eats more sugar than any other country
That sugar is unhealthy
That sugar consumption is dangerously high in the United States
It is true that in the second paragraph the author talks about how too much sugar “is unhealthy” and he does seem to suggest that “the United States eats more sugar than any other country.” Both of these factor as parts of the author’s main point, which is “that sugar consumption is dangerously high in the United States.” This is shown by excerpts such as “The average American consumes seventy-five pounds of sugar every year - that is roughly the weight of a elementary school child.” And, “Many health experts believe that sugar is the number one contributing factor in the high rates of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes that can be found in the contemporary United States.”
Example Question #81 : Science Passages
Adapted from "America the Old World" by L. Agassiz in Wonders of Earth, Sea, and Sky (1902, ed. Edward Singleton Holden)
There is, perhaps, no part of the world where the early geological periods can be studied with so much ease and precision as in the United States. Along their northern borders, between Canada and the United States, there runs the low line of hills known as the Laurentian Hills. Insignificant in height, nowhere rising more than fifteen hundred or two thousand feet above the level of the sea, these are nevertheless some of the first mountains that broke the uniform level of the earth's surface and lifted themselves above the waters. Their low stature, as compared with that of other more lofty mountain ranges, is in accordance with an invariable rule, by which the relative age of mountains may be estimated. The oldest mountains are the lowest, while the younger and more recent ones tower above their elders, and are usually more torn and dislocated also. So it is known the Alps, Rockies, and Himalayas are considerably younger than the Appalachian mountains.
How do we know that the Appalachians are older than the Alps?
Because the Appalachians contain fossils from a much earlier period than the Alps.
Because the Appalachians are much taller than the Alps.
Because the Alps are much taller than the Appalachians.
Because the Alps are closer to the sea.
Because geologists have studied rock samples from both.
Because the Alps are much taller than the Appalachians.
Answering this question requires understanding the main idea of the passage, namely that the taller a mountain range is, generally speaking, the younger it is. So if the Appalachians are not as tall as the Alps, then we know the Appalachians are older than the Alps.
Example Question #152 : Prose Passages
Adapted from Early European History by Hutton Webster (1917)
The Phoenicians were a Syrian people whose country was a narrow stretch of coast, about one hundred and twenty miles in length, seldom more than twelve miles in width, between the Lebanon Mountains and the sea. This tiny land could not support a large population. As the Phoenicians increased in numbers, they were obliged to betake themselves to the sea. The Lebanon cedars furnished soft, white wood for shipbuilding, and the deeply indented coast offered excellent harbors. Thus, the Phoenicians became preeminent sailors. Their great cities, Sidon and Tyre, established colonies throughout the Mediterranean and had an extensive commerce with every region of the known world.
Why could the Phoenician land not support a large population?
Because it was a very small country
Because it was not very fertile
Because the people suffered under a cruel dictator
All of these answers
Because the Phoenicians were always attacking one another
Because it was a very small country
The author states that the reason why the Phoenician land could not support a large population is because “their country was a narrow stretch of coast, about one hundred and twenty miles in length, seldom more than twelve miles in width, between the Lebanon Mountains and the sea. This tiny land could not support a large population.”
Example Question #153 : Prose Passages
Adapted from Early European History by Hutton Webster (1917)
The Phoenicians were a Syrian people whose country was a narrow stretch of coast, about one hundred and twenty miles in length, seldom more than twelve miles in width, between the Lebanon Mountains and the sea. This tiny land could not support a large population. As the Phoenicians increased in numbers, they were obliged to betake themselves to the sea. The Lebanon cedars furnished soft, white wood for shipbuilding, and the deeply indented coast offered excellent harbors. Thus, the Phoenicians became preeminent sailors. Their great cities, Sidon and Tyre, established colonies throughout the Mediterranean and had an extensive commerce with every region of the known world.
Which of these is NOT one of the reasons why the Phoenicians became "preeminent sailors"?
They had a coastline perfectly designed for harbors.
They lived in a very small, coastal country.
They had access to excellent Lebanese cedar for shipbuilding.
Their population was growing beyond the capacity of their lands.
All of these answers are reasons why the Phoenicians became "preeminent sailors."
All of these answers are reasons why the Phoenicians became "preeminent sailors."
The author talks about how the Phoenicians lived in a small, coastal country, so when their population grew too large, they took to the sea. The author also mentions the availability of Lebanese wood to help build ships and the perfect design of the coastline for constructing natural harbors. All of the answer choices played a part in making the Phoenicians "preeminent sailors."
Example Question #11 : Nonfiction Passages
Adapted from A Catechism of Familiar Things: Their History and the Events Which Led to Their Discovery by the Benziger Brothers (1881)
The olive tree was a great favorite with the ancient Greeks, and scarcely an ancient custom existed with which the olive was not in some way associated: at their marriages and festivals, all parts of their dwellings, especially the doors, were ornamented with them, and the same custom prevails at the present day, both in public and private rejoicings. It was also scarcely less a favorite with the Romans, although it was not held in the same sacred light as amongst the Greeks. The olive-branch has likewise been universally considered the emblem of plenty, and as such, is found on the coins of those countries of which it is not a native.
This passage is primarily about __________.
The universal popularity of the olive tree.
The use of olives in ancient Rome.
The distaste for olives felt by ancient Romans.
The ancient Greek love of olive trees.
The use of olives in religious ceremonies.
The universal popularity of the olive tree.
The majority of this passage talks about the love of the olive tree among the ancient Greeks. However, the passage is also about the popularity of the olive tree in ancient Rome and in countries in which the olive is not native. The overarching theme is that the olive tree is “universally popular.”
Example Question #3 : 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.
What “useful” function do the Euphrates and Tigris rivers fulfill?
They allow the people of Armenia to travel easily to Persia.
They provide drinking water for the people of Egypt.
They allow trade to flourish up and down Western Asia.
They provide drinking water for the slaves building the ancient pyramids.
They allow food to grow in the dry environments of Western Asia.
They allow food to grow in the dry environments of Western Asia.
In context, the author says, “They perform a very useful service. They turn the arid regions of Western Asia into a fertile garden.” If you understand that “arid” means dry and “fertile” means allowing food or life to grow in large amounts, then it is clear that the author is saying that the “useful function” of the two rivers is that they allow food to grow in the otherwise dry area of Western Asia. This can also be understood by reading the beginning of the next paragraph, where the author says “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.”
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