📖 Reading Comprehension Set 2

Passage 1: The Human Brain

1. What is the central message of this passage?
2. The brain weighs three pounds
3. The human brain is extraordinarily complex and still not fully understood
4. Neurons are important cells
5. Scientists should study the brain more
6. What is brain plasticity?
7. The brain
8. The brain
9. The brain
10. The brain
11. What does
12. Related to space
13. Extremely large in number
14. Scientific
15. Accurate
16. What can we infer about stroke rehabilitation based on the passage?
17. It is impossible
18. Brain plasticity may help patients recover some lost functions
19. Only young people can recover
20. Stroke always damages the frontal lobe
21. Why does the author call the brain
22. Because it is located at the front of the head
23. To emphasize how much remains to be discovered about the brain
24. Because space exploration is over
25. To compare the brain to the ocean

Passage 2: The Silk Road

1. What is the main idea of this passage?
2. Silk was the most important trade good in history
3. The Silk Road facilitated transformative trade and cultural exchange across civilizations
4. Travel in ancient times was very dangerous
5. Ferdinand von Richthofen was an important explorer
6. When was the term
7. Ancient China
8. 1877
9. The 15th century
10. During World War II
11. What were
12. Types of silk
13. Roadside inns for travelers and their animals
14. Desert bandits
15. Mountain passes
16. Why does the author suggest cultural exchange was more significant than commercial exchange?
17. Trade goods weren
18. Ideas like religion and science shaped history more profoundly than goods
19. Merchants didn
20. Culture is always more important than money
21. How does the modern
22. It sells silk
23. It attempts to recreate trade networks linking Asia, Europe, and Africa
24. It studies ancient history
25. It builds inns for travelers

Passage 3: The Challenge

1. What is Jaylen
2. He doesn
3. He
4. He doesn
5. His sister is bothering him
6. What is the main theme of this story?
7. Practice makes perfect
8. Being authentic to yourself leads to success
9. Art competitions are unfair
10. Siblings should help each other more
11. What does
12. Bamboo is a better plant than oak
13. Being flexible and true to yourself is stronger than being rigid
14. Trees are very strong
15. You should grow bamboo instead of oak
16. Why did Jaylen
17. He had practiced more
18. He was drawing something true to himself rather than trying to impress
19. The pencil was better
20. His sister was watching him
21. How does Jaylen change throughout the story?
22. He gives up on art
23. He learns to value authenticity over trying to impress others
24. He becomes more competitive
25. He becomes angry at his sister
26. What is the central focus of this passage?
27. How CRISPR technology works
28. The promise and ethical challenges of genetic engineering technology
29. Why genetic diseases are harmful
30. The history of agricultural science
31. What does CRISPR allow scientists to do?
32. Create new elements
33. Precisely edit DNA by cutting and modifying genetic sequences
34. Clone entire organisms
35. Read people
36. What does
37. Scientific
38. Related to moral principles of right and wrong
39. Technical
40. Legal
41. Why was the scientific community concerned about the gene-edited babies?
42. The babies were not healthy
43. The action was considered premature and unethical
44. CRISPR doesn
45. The scientist didn
46. Why does the author end with a question?
47. The author doesn
48. To emphasize that society must make thoughtful decisions about using this technology
49. To confuse the reader
50. To show that CRISPR is dangerous

Passage 4: The Art of Debate

1. What is the main argument of this passage?
2. Debate is about winning arguments
3. Debate develops critical thinking and citizenship skills
4. The Greeks invented everything important
5. Competitive debate is harmful
6. What does
7. Using steel in construction
8. Addressing opponents
9. Making arguments louder
10. Avoiding difficult topics
11. According to the passage, what is a
12. A type of debater
13. An oversimplified or distorted version of an opposing view
14. A Greek philosopher
15. A research method
16. Why does the author say debaters develop
17. Debaters always lose
18. Arguing different positions reveals complexity and that reasonable people can disagree
19. Teachers force them to be humble
20. Humble people make better debaters
21. What criticism of debate does the author acknowledge?
22. Debate is too expensive
23. It can become performative, rewarding style over substance
24. Not enough people participate
25. The Greeks didn

Passage 5: Urban Farming: Growing Food in the City

1. What is the main point of this passage?
2. Traditional farming is becoming obsolete
3. Urban farming is growing as a meaningful complement to traditional agriculture
4. Rooftop farms are the best type of farming
5. Cities should stop buying rural produce
6. What are
7. Farms in desert climates
8. Urban areas with limited access to fresh, affordable food
9. Grocery stores without produce sections
10. Areas where nothing can grow
11. What does
12. Teaching
13. Cleaning up or correcting contamination
14. Growing plants
15. Building structures
16. Why does the author say urban farms will
17. Urban farms are better
18. Rural farms are needed for bulk production while urban farms work for fresh specialty items
19. Traditional farms are closing
20. Urban farms are cheaper
21. What does
22. Concrete is made from plants
23. Cities are increasingly incorporating agriculture and green spaces
24. Jungles are becoming cities
25. Flowers are growing in concrete