HESI A2
HESI A2 Version 4 Reading Comprehension Questions
Extract:
People of Hispanic origin were on the North American continent centuries before settlers arrived
from Europe in the early 1600s and the thirteen colonies joined together to form the United
States in the late 1700s. The first census of the new nation was conducted in 1790, and counted about four million people, most of whom were white. Of the white citizens, more than 80%
traced their ancestry back to England. There were close to 700,000 slaves and about 60,000 "free Negroes". Only a few Native American Indians who paid taxes were included in the census count, but the total Native American population was probably about one million. By 1815, the population of the United States was 8.4 million. Over the next 100 years, the
country took in about 35 million immigrants, with the greatest numbers coming in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In 1882, 40,000 Chinese arrived, and between 1900 and 1907, there were more
than 30,000 Japanese immigrants. But by far, the largest numbers of the new immigrants were
from central, eastern, and southern Europe. An enormous amount of racial and ethnic assimilation has taken place in the United States. In 1908, play-write Israel Zangwill first used the term "melting pot" to describe the concept of a place where many races melted in a crucible and re-formed to populate a new land. Some years during the first two decades of the 20th century, there were as many as one million new
immigrants per year, an astonishing 1 percent of the total population of the United States.
In 1921, however, the country began to limit immigration, and the Immigration Act of 1924
virtually closed the door. The total number of immigrants admitted per year dropped from as many as a million to only 150,000. A quota system was established that specified the number of
immigrants that could come from each country. It heavily favored immigrants from northern and western Europe and severely limited everyone else. This system remained in effect until 1965, although after World War II, several exceptions were made to the quota system to allow in
groups of refugees.
Question 1 of 5
Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: The correct answer is A. The passage discusses the implementation of the quota system in 1924 which heavily favored immigrants from northern and western Europe. This preference for specific regions suggests that preserving a developing 'American' culture, which was predominantly influenced by these regions, was a major factor leading to the introduction of the quota system. The passage does not indicate that racial and ethnic assimilation did not occur as planned, nor does it directly mention an increase in tensions if the quota system had not been introduced. Additionally, the quota system was not introduced to limit population growth but rather to control and regulate the influx of immigrants from different regions.
Extract:
About 6% of the earth is covered by rainforests. The largest rainforest in the world is the
Amazon Basin, which stretches over 2.3 million square miles in nine different South American countries. This area is double the length of all the other remaining rainforests in the world. Brazil contains 60%of the Amazonian rainforest, since it lies at the mouth of the river Amazon. This river is the second largest in the world and contains more than one-fifth of the world's fresh water. The Amazon rainforest is a type of wet broadleaf forest. The weather there is very humid and warm as it rains quite a bit. Because of the high rainfall, the forest is very rich and green. The
tree leaves are pointed and narrow so that the raindrops can easily drop off wet plants. This
tropical rainforest has more living species than the entire European continent. There are over 400 types of insects living in one single rain forest tree for a total of 2.5 million species. One square kilometer of rainforest may contain over 75,000 types of trees and approximately 438,000
different kinds of plants, which comes to a total of 90,000 tons of greenery overall. The Amazon rainforest is home to 2,000 birds and mammals, with one in every five birds in the world living there. Local farmers have lived off this rich and diverse land for thousands of years. They have been able to find food and water here without destroying the land. The Kayapo people of Brazil
farm in an environmentally-friendly way. Instead of chemicals, they use burned wood to enrich the soil, and plant banana trees, which attract wasps. These wasps then feed on leafcutter ants and get rid of these harmful insects. The rainforest also offers a lot of tropical fruits, such as bananas and coconuts, as food.
Cinnamon is made from the bark of a rainforest tree. Amazonian Indians use the fruit and stem
of the Buruti plant as a drink, to make bread and to build houses. Many other plants are used as medicine. But the Amazon rainforest is in very big danger of disappearing. 9,169 square miles of
forest have been cut down in 2003 in Brazil alone. An area of the size of a football field is burned down basically every minute, which means that the rain forest may be gone by the year 2030.The dangers related to this type of activity are obvious. Trees take in poisonous carbon
dioxide from the air and give off oxygen. There is more oxygen and less carbon dioxide around a
rainforest. When trees are cut down, however, the amount of carbon dioxide increases, and the
air gets warmer. This leads to global warming, which is extremely harmful to the environment. It
is estimated that the burning of Brazilian rainforests alone produces 200 million metric tons of carbon dioxide ayear. Another danger connected with destroying the rainforest is the disappearance of plants and animals. When trees are cut down, plants and animals have no more
food left and slowly die out. Killing wild animals is illegal in Brazil, but there is plenty of stealing going on. 38 million animals are stolen and sold illegally each year. The most hunted
animals are birds, especially parrots, followed by snakes and the jaguar.
Question 2 of 5
Which rainforest plant has more than one use?
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: The correct answer is D, the Buriti plant. The passage mentions that Amazonian Indians use the fruit and stem of the Buriti plant as a drink, to make bread, and to build houses. This plant demonstrates multiple uses within the rainforest ecosystem, making it the plant with more than one use among the options provided.
Extract:
"Don't be afraid." Sounds simple, but for some people it's not. Having the normal maction of being scared or frightened helps you to survive threats of all kinds, both physical and verbal. Most mild fears are outgrown during childhood; however, severe fears, called phoblas, are extreme and unreasonable. Phobias cause out-of-control feelings such as sickness, headaches, ulcers, and high blood pressure. Specific phoblas center around things, activities, or situations while people with social phoblas feel anxiety over social settings where they fear embarrassing situations.
Another type of phobia called panic disorder causes people to sweat, tremble, or even faint due to overwhelming panic which may occur at any time. By talking, breathing deeply, and visualizing, a person can gain control over debilitating phobias
Question 3 of 5
According to the passage, why is having a phobia not normal and good?
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: The correct answer is A: 'Phobias are extreme and unreasonable.' The passage distinguishes between normal fears that help with survival and phobias, which are described as extreme and unreasonable. Phobias cause out-of-control feelings and physical symptoms, leading to severe reactions that are not proportionate to the actual threat. Therefore, phobias are considered abnormal and detrimental, contrasting with the normal and beneficial function of fear.
Extract:
It is a well-known fact that it takes the Earth approximately 365 days to orbit the Sun. At the same time, the Earth revolves or spins around itself over the course of 24 hours, which explains why we experience day and night. One half of the Earth is always facing the Sun, while the other half is facing away. As a result, different time zones divide the globe. Moving suddenly from one time zone to another, such as when flying from Asia to North America, can cause jet lag. People often feel tired, wake up suddenly during the night, and cannot return to sleep. It takes time to adjust to a new time zone. Another important factor to consider is the slight tilt of the Earth toward the Sun. The Earth does not stand straight but leans slightly to one side. Therefore, when it revolves around the Sun, the middle part of the Earth is always closer to the Sun and receives more heat. This area is called the equator, and the regions above and below it are known as the tropics. Countries located in the tropics receive a consistent amount of daylight throughout the year, with the Sun rising at 6 AM and setting at 6 PM. In contrast, the tips of the Earth, or the poles, receive hardly any light because they are so far from the Sun. There are two main seasons at the poles: 6 months of summer, when the Sun is always shining (even at night), and 6 months of winter, characterized by constant darkness. Between the tropics and the poles lies the temperate zone, where there are four distinct seasons. The Sun rises and sets at different times throughout the year. In spring and summer, it gets light earlier; in fall and winter, it gets dark earlier. People living in temperate zones take advantage of this variation to maximize their daylight exposure. At the beginning of spring, countries in Europe and North America readjust their clocks by moving them an hour ahead. As a result, the Sun does not set around 7 or 8 PM as usual, but an hour later. This practice is called Daylight Savings Time (DST) and lasts until the beginning of fall, when people move their clocks back one hour to Standard or Regular Time. It is believed that Benjamin Franklin first suggested the introduction of Daylight Savings Time in the 18th century, but the first serious proposal came in 1907 from William Willet. However, his idea was shelved by the British government, which deemed it unnecessary. Daylight Savings Time was first implemented by the German government in 1916 in order to save energy during World War I. Shortly after, the United Kingdom followed suit, with the United States doing the same in 1918. The law was unpopular, as people had to wake up earlier, leading many to experience a feeling similar to jet lag. However, the energy crisis of the 1970s forced the U.S. to establish Daylight Savings Time as law. Studies showed that the introduction of Daylight Savings Time in the spring saved the U.S. 10,000 barrels of oil per day between 1974 and 1975. It also prevented 2,000 traffic injuries and 50 traffic-related deaths, saving the country $28 million. Currently, Americans switch to Daylight Savings Time on the first Sunday in April and revert to Standard Time on the last Sunday in October. As of 2007, the time adjustments occur even earlier in March and November.
Question 4 of 5
Was Daylight Savings Time popular in the beginning?
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Daylight Savings Time was not popular in the beginning. When it was first introduced, people experienced negative effects such as feeling tired due to having to adjust their sleep schedules. The rationale mentions that the law was very unpopular, people had to wake up earlier, and many experienced a feeling like jetlag. These challenges led to people not liking Daylight Savings Time initially.
Extract:
The Moon has been worshipped by primitive peoples and has inspired humans to create everything from lunar calendars to love sonnets. But what do we really know about it? The most accepted theory about the Moon's origin is that it was formed from the debris of a massive collision with the young Earth about 4.6 billion years ago. A huge body, perhaps the size of Mars, struck the Earth, throwing out an immense amount of debris that coalesced and cooled in orbit around the Earth. The development of Earth is inextricably linked to the Moon; the Moon's gravitational influence upon the Earth is the primary cause of ocean tides. In fact, the Moon has more than twice the effect on the tides than the Sun. The Moon makes one rotation and completes a revolution around the Earth every 27 days, 7 hours, and 43 minutes. This synchronous rotation is caused by an uneven distribution of mass in the Moon (essentially, it is heavier on one side than the other) and has allowed the Earth's gravity to keep one side of the Moon permanently facing Earth. The average distance from Earth to the Moon is about 384,403 km. The Moon has no atmosphere; without it, the Moon has no protection from meteorite impacts, resulting in a surface covered with impact craters, both large and small. The Moon also has no active tectonic or volcanic activity, so the erosive effects of atmospheric weathering, tectonic shifts, and volcanic upheavals that tend to erase and reform the Earth’s surface features are not at work on the Moon. In fact, even tiny surface features, such as the footprint left by an astronaut in the lunar soil, are likely to last for millions of years unless obliterated by a chance meteorite strike. The surface gravity of the Moon is about one-sixth that of Earth's. Therefore, a person weighing 82 kilograms on Earth would only weigh 14 kilograms on the Moon. The geographical features of the Earth most similar to those of the Moon are places such as the Hawaiian volcanic craters and the huge meteor crater in Arizona. However, the climate of the Moon is very different from either Hawaii or Arizona; in fact, the temperature on the Moon ranges from 123 degrees Celsius to -233 degrees Celsius.
Question 5 of 5
In the provided text, the word 'massive' in line 4 is closest in meaning to
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The word 'massive' in the context of the text is used to describe the size of the body that collided with the Earth to form the Moon. In this context, 'massive' means extremely large or enormous, which aligns most closely with the choice 'Huge.' The collision was not described as dense, impressive, or unavoidable in relation to its size, making 'Huge' the most appropriate synonym.