Reading Comprehension 4

Everyone has a favorite attraction at an amusement park, and I am no different. However, unlike most people who seem to prefer rollercoasters, my favorite ride is a little more gentle. Every time I go to Coney Island, Navy Pier, or the Santa Monica Pier, I absolutely have to ride the Ferris wheel. The Ferris wheel is simple and yet also quite complex. That is, riding it is easy, but how it works is complicated. A series of carts are attached to a wheel, which is attached to a rim. That rim rotates vertically around an axis, and gravity keeps the carts upright. As simple as the ride seems, only advanced engineers can make safe and fun Ferris wheels.

The word attraction most nearly means...

• sense

• park

• ride

• vision

Everyone has a favorite attraction at an amusement park, and I am no different. However, unlike most people who seem to prefer rollercoasters, my favorite ride is a little more gentle. Every time I go to Coney Island, Navy Pier, or the Santa Monica Pier, I absolutely have to ride the Ferris wheel. The Ferris wheel is simple and yet also quite complex. That is, riding it is easy, but how it works is complicated. A series of carts are attached to a wheel, which is attached to a rim. That rim rotates vertically around an axis, and gravity keeps the carts upright. As simple as the ride seems, only advanced engineers can make safe and fun Ferris wheels.

You can infer that Coney Island, Navy Pier, and the Santa Monica Pier are all examples of ____.

• Ferris wheels

• amusement parks

• vacation spots

• popular places people like to visit

Everyone has a favorite attraction at an amusement park, and I am no different. However, unlike most people who seem to prefer rollercoasters, my favorite ride is a little more gentle. Every time I go to Coney Island, Navy Pier, or the Santa Monica Pier, I absolutely have to ride the Ferris wheel. The Ferris wheel is simple and yet also quite complex. That is, riding it is easy, but how it works is complicated. A series of carts are attached to a wheel, which is attached to a rim. That rim rotates vertically around an axis, and gravity keeps the carts upright. As simple as the ride seems, only advanced engineers can make safe and fun Ferris wheels.

Which answer below is the best antonym for complex?

• impressive

• beautiful

• exciting

• simple

While the Ferris wheel is not as thrilling as a rollercoaster, it is still very exciting. The fact of being high in the air makes it so much more entertaining than a lot of rides. I mean, how often do you hang from that high up in daily life? Nevertheless, I have to admit, I don’t seek Ferris wheels out because of their excitement. Rather, I find them very relaxing. At the top of the Ferris wheel, you get beautiful sights of the park. You also get a sense of calm that you don’t get in the hustle and bustle of the park below. Additionally, Ferris wheels are also gorgeous to look at when they are lit up at night. In fact, the original Ferris wheel was designed as much to be seen as to be ridden.

What does the author like best about Ferris wheels?

• the impressive engineering and beauty of them

• the excitement and thrills they guarantee

• the beautiful sights and relaxation they allow

• the fact that most amusement parks have one

The first Ferris wheel was made by and named after George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. He designed it for the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. It was the tallest attraction there, standing 264 feet high. However, visitors to the fair were impressed by the size of the ride as well as the mechanics of it. In 1893, anything that was not turned by hand was considered a sight to see. And the wheel, which was a machine, was truly incredible to see. Further, as one visitor put it, the wheel was amazing because it seemed to be missing support. That is, it did not look like it could stand on its own. And yet it did and even rotated!

Ferris wheel technology has only improved since then. Most of today’s Ferris wheels are much larger than that first one. The largest in the world is the "Singapore Flyer," which stands slightly taller than twice what Ferris’s did! Today, the Ferris wheel is the most common amusement park ride. But that does not mean you should take them for granted. Instead, be thankful for Ferris’ invention. The next time you’re at an amusement park, don’t just look up at the impressive wheel in the sky on your way to a newer attraction. Take it for a spin!

According to the passage, the Ferris wheel was originally designed for

• Coney Island

• the world’s fair

• amusement parks

• Singapore

Everyone has a favorite attraction at an amusement park, and I am no different. However, unlike most people who seem to prefer rollercoasters, my favorite ride is a little more gentle. Every time I go to Coney Island, Navy Pier, or the Santa Monica Pier, I absolutely have to ride the Ferris wheel. The Ferris wheel is simple and yet also quite complex. That is, riding it is easy, but how it works is complicated. A series of carts are attached to a wheel, which is attached to a rim. That rim rotates vertically around an axis, and gravity keeps the carts upright. As simple as the ride seems, only advanced engineers can make safe and fun Ferris wheels.

The first Ferris wheel was made by and named after George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. He designed it for the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. It was the tallest attraction there, standing 264 feet high. However, visitors to the fair were impressed by the size of the ride as well as the mechanics of it. In 1893, anything that was not turned by hand was considered a sight to see. And the wheel, which was a machine, was truly incredible to see. Further, as one visitor put it, the wheel was amazing because it seemed to be missing support. That is, it did not look like it could stand on its own. And yet it did and even rotated!

• describe the author’s favorite amusement park rides

• explain the original design of Ferris wheels and how they work today

• describe the history of Ferris wheels and why they are so popular

• explain the history of Ferris wheels and why the author likes them

Rats are nocturnal (active at night), and out in the night the brown rat’s eyes are small and black and shiny; when a flashlight shines into them in the dark, the eyes of a rat light up like the eyes of a deer. Though it forages* in darkness, the brown rat has poor eyesight. It makes up for this with, first of all, an excellent sense of smell. . . . They have an excellent sense of taste, detecting the most minute amounts of poison, down to one part per million. A brown rat has strong feet, the two front paws each equipped with four claw like nails, the rear paws even longer and stronger. It can run and climb with squirrel-like agility. It is an excellent swimmer, surviving in rivers and bays, in sewer streams and toilet bowls.

What does the end of paragraph 2 mainly emphasize (make important) about rats?

• Rats are nocturnal (active at night)

• They have a strange diet.

• Their eyes

• their physical abilities

Though the rat forages in darkness, the brown rat has poor eyesight. It makes up for this with, first of all, an excellent sense of smell. . . . They have an excellent sense of taste, detecting the most minute amounts of poison, down to one part per million.

How does the rat find its food?

• it uses smell and taste

• its eyesight

• the darkness

• poison

Rats, like mice, seem to be attracted to wires—to utility wires, computer wires, wires in vehicles, in addition to gas and water pipes. One rat expert theorizes that wires may be attractive to rats because of their resemblance to vines and the stalks of plants; cables are the vines of the city. By one estimate, 26 percent of all electric-cable breaks and 18 percent of all phone-cable disruptions are caused by rats. According to one study, as many as 25 percent of all fires of unknown origin are rat-caused. Rats chew electrical cables.

In this passage, what is the most likely reason the author states, “cables are the vines of the city”?

• to show why rats enjoy chewing on cables

• to show rats like to eat vines and plants

• to explain how cables and vines are like

• to explain how rats can not tell the differences between cables and vines

Rats also inhabit or live in subways, as most people in New York City and any city with a subway system are well aware. Every once in a while, there are reports of rats boarding trains, but for the most part rats stay on the tracks—subway workers I have talked to refer to rats as “track rabbits.” People tend to think that the subways are filled with rats, but in fact rats are not everywhere in the system; they live in the subways according to the supply of discarded human food and sewer leaks. Sometimes, rats use the subway purely for nesting purposes; they find ways through the walls of the subway stations leading from the tracks to the restaurants and stores on the street—the vibrations of subway trains tend to create rat-size cracks and holes. Many subway rats tend to live near stations that are themselves near fast-food restaurants.

In this passage, what can be inferred about rats?

• Rats are like rabbits.

• Rats like living in or near subways.

• Rats are like people.

• Rats are not afraid to be around humans.