TOEIC : Details
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for TOEIC
All TOEIC Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #31 : Reading Comprehension
Some species of sharks grow to an enormous size, often weighing from one to four thousand pounds each. The skin of the shark is rough, and is used for polishing wood, ivory, &c.; that of one species is manufactured into an article called shagreen: spectacle-cases are made of it. The white shark is the sailor's worst enemy: he has five rows of wedge-shaped teeth, which are notched like a saw: when the animal is at rest they are flat in his mouth, but when about to seize his prey they are erected by a set of muscles which join them to the jaw. His mouth is so situated under the head that he is obliged to turn himself on one side before he can grasp any thing with those enormous jaws.
Adapted from Stories of the Ocean by Volney Beckner (1852)
According to the passage, all of the following statements about sharks are true EXCEPT ___________________.
Shark skin has been used to polish wood
Sharks have rough skin
Sharks can weigh up to four thousand pounds
Sharks have one row of teeth
Sharks have one row of teeth
The answer is "sharks have one row of teeth." This is the correct answer because it is the only fact listed which is incorrect according to the passage. Since the question asks us to find the one statement that is not true, it is the best choice. We know that it is not true based on these lines: "The white shark is the sailor's worst enemy: he has five rows of wedge-shaped teeth." Instead of one row of teeth, sharks have five. All of the other answer choices are stated directly in the passage as facts, so the best choice is "sharks have one row of teeth."
Example Question #32 : Reading Comprehension
The natives of Australia were always few in number. Australia produced no grain of any sort naturally; neither wheat, oats, barley nor maize. It produced practically no edible fruit, excepting a few berries, and one or two nuts, the outer rind of which was eatable. There were no useful roots such as the potato, the turnip, or the yam, or the taro. The native animals were few and just barely eatable, the kangaroo, and the koala being the principal ones. In birds alone was the country well supplied, and they were more beautiful of plumage than useful as food. Even the fisheries were infrequent, for the coast line is unbroken by any great bays, and there is thus less sea frontage to Australia than to any other of the continents, and the rivers are few in number.
Adapted from Peeps at Many Lands: Australia by Frank Fox (1911)
Based on the passage, which of the following statements is true?
Australia is well known for its potatoes
Australian natives mostly ate bread
Australia has more rivers than any other country
Australia has many birds
Australia has many birds
The correct answer is "Australia has many birds." This answer can be found in the following lines: "In birds alone was the country well supplied." If birds are well-supplied, that means there are many of them. The other statements are all incorrect and can be disproved by lines from the text ("There were no useful roots such as the potato," "Australia produced no grain of any sort naturally; neither wheat, oats, barley nor maize," and "the rivers are few in number). For those reasons, the best choice is "Australia has many birds."
Certified Tutor
Certified Tutor
All TOEIC Resources
