TOEFL Primary Step 2 Test #54 - Reading

Some animals like cats and dogs have no home or owners. Some get lost and cannot find their way home.

They are ____ animals.

This is a room in your house where you can take a shower and wash your hands. It sometimes includes a toilet.

What is it?

You are walking on your toes with the heel of your foot lifted off the ground. You might do it in order not to make a noise.

You are _____.

This is a kind of vegetable. It has a round shape, pale flesh and thin skin that is usually brown, yellow, or red. It grows underground.

What is it?

This is a flammable liquid that is used to supply power to the engine of cars and other vehicles.

What is it?

This person collects and writes news reports for newspapers, magazines, television, or radio. 

Who is this?

This is the feeling that you have when you need to eat something.

What is it?

This is a flash, or several flashes, of very bright light in the sky caused by electricity. 

What is it?

You may think that you are better than someone else. For example, you think you are more successful than they are.

You are _____ them.

Read the email. Then answer the questions.

Dear Sir/Madam,

Re: order number 492JM 

I recently ordered some headphones from your online store. I received them this morning, but I'm afraid I'm not happy with them because they're damaged. Also, they are completely different from the headphones in the photo on the website. Those were purple and they came with a purple bag. I didn't receive the bag.

As a result, I'd like to return the headphones. Could you please send me the headphones that are in the photo on the website? If this is not possible, I would like to get a refund.

Yours sincerely,

Yasmin Jusseini

Why did Yasmin Jusseini write the email?

In what case will the writer want to get her money back?

Read the email. Then answer the questions.

Hello Adela,

My name's Elise and I am writing to you as part of the Link up project at my school. I'm your new e-pal and I'm very excited about writing to someone in South Africa.

I live in a small flat near the center of Antwerp with my parents, my brother Johan and my dog, Max. I enjoy playing hockey and I play for a local team and my school team. We're not very good and we are always losing matches, but we have fun playing. 

I'm attaching a photo of myself and my friends on our last school trip. I'm the dark-haired girl in the middle. My best friend Larissa is the tall one on my right. She is wearing a white T-shirt and jeans. She's quite shy, but we get on well together and she's got a very good sense of humor.

Please email me back and send me a photo. Tell me about your life and your friends.

Bye for now,

Elise 

How are Elise's hockey teams?

What is Elise's best friend like?

Read the poster. Then answer the questions.

Which event takes place in the afternoon?

The stories will be performed in some languages except ____.

Which of the following is TRUE?

Read the poster. Then answer the questions.

The program is suitable for ____.

When does the program start?

What will students do in the program?

Read the story and then choose the best answer to each question.

I couldn’t see our parrot, Archie, but I could hear him. “Yankee Doodle went to town,” he sang. It was his favorite song.

Archie was stuck in our maple tree in the backyard - again. This time, it was my brother Peter’s fault. He was carrying a tent into the yard, and he had left the door open. Archie flew out. His wings hurt, so he couldn’t get far. But the wind carried him like a kite into the big maple tree. He hopped to a very high branch, and there he sat, singing away.

“That bird is annoying,” Peter said as he ducked inside his tent.

Usually, whenever Archie escapes, Dad pulls his ladder from the garage. He climbs the ladder and tries to persuade Archie with grapes, Archie’s favorite food. But this time, Dad was gone. We were home alone, and we knew Dad wouldn’t want us to climb the ladder ourselves. But we weren’t sure what time he’d be back. Plus, we had to get Archie down before my sister Katya got home from her soccer tournament. She loved Archie and would cry and be unhappy if he wasn’t in his cage.

As the afternoon went on, Archie got hungry. “Time for dinner?” he asked in a sad voice, over and over. It was getting dark. I was just about to call the fire department when Dad pulled into the driveway. 

Whose fault was Archie's escape?

How were Archie's wings?

How would Katya feel if she got home and Archie was still in the tree? 

What will probably happen later?

Read the story and then choose the best answer to each question.

Dr. Brown, the dentist, didn’t have to ask his patient, Dewey, to open wide. The sleeping bear’s mouth was already open. Dewey was a Kodiak, the largest of all brown bears. He weighed in at 1,600 powerful pounds. His teeth were ten times the size of human teeth.  

“We’ll have to work fast,” Dr. Brown told his team of assistants. “We have three hours until the bear wakes up. And I see that he’s got four bad teeth.”

Dr. Brown worked with tools to remove one of Dewey’s bad teeth. All went smoothly for the first hour. Then the power went out. The machine that kept Dewey asleep stopped working. If the bear woke up, he could hurt himself or others in the room.

The zookeeper ran down the long hallway of the bear house. She found the electricity box and tried to restore the power, but nothing happened. Everyone in Dewey’s room stared at the huge wild animal, their hearts pounding.

Suddenly, the zookeeper tried a switch she had overlooked. The machine keeping Dewey asleep began working. Now Dr. Brown had less than an hour to fix three more teeth. He and his assistants worked quickly. They finished with only minutes to spare before they got out of the room, locked it, and allowed the dizzy bear to wake up. 

Which character was a possible danger to the others? 

How many teeth of the bear that the dentist needed to work on?

How did people feel around Dewey when the power went out? 

Dr. Brown had to deal with the three teeth of the bear in _____.

Read the passage and answer the questions.

The Rarest Beef

If you like hamburgers, you’d probably love a Kobe burger. Kobe beef comes from a rare type of cattle, called Wagyu. Technically, these cattle are raised only in the Kobe region of Japan. Kobe beef is prized for its flavor, tenderness, and delicate texture.

Wagyu cattle are raised on small farms in the lush green countryside of Japan, where farmland is scarce and, therefore, expensive. The cows have a special diet and are treated well. They even receive massages as a way to relax them and stimulate their muscles. Compared to typical cattle farms, which tend to be crowded, Kobe farms are like paradise for the cattle. As you might have guessed, Kobe beef is expensive.

A Kobe steak can cost $100 per pound. By comparison, most American-raised beef costs less than $10 per pound. 

Source: Daily Reading Comprehension Grade 5

Where is Kobe beef from?

Kobe beef tastes different because _____. 

Kobe beef costs about _____ common American-raise beef.

Read the passage and answer the questions.

Imagine a long line of dancers performing a difficult high kick at exactly the same time. That was the vision of Russell Markert, who came up with the idea for the Rockettes back in 1925. The Rockettes, an all-female dance group, have become very successful with their high kicks. They have performed at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City since its opening in 1932.

The goal of the Rockettes is for all of the dancers to make the same movements at the exact same time, as if they were one person rather than 36. This task requires a lot of practice, skill, and cooperation. The Rockettes perform in more than 200 shows over a two-month period. The schedule requires a huge commitment from the dancers.

Over the years, more than 3,000 women have danced as Rockettes. They say that performing with the group is a dream come true, despite the long hours of practice and the demanding schedule. They love it when the audience stands and cheers. 

Source: Daily Reading Comprehension Grade 5

According to the passage, what are the Rockettes best known for? 

How many dancers of the Rockettes give a high-kick performance at the same time?

What is the difficulty of practicing with Rockettes?

Read the passage and answer the questions.

Brain Freeze

Have you ever eaten ice cream on a hot day and suddenly felt a sharp pain in your head? If so, you had a very common experience that some people call a “brain freeze.”

Brain freezes are caused when cold food or drink touches the roof of your mouth. Nerves in your mouth send a signal to your brain. Your brain then turns the signal into a sharp pain. However, the pain does not go to your mouth where the cold is—it stays in your head.

Most brain freezes last for less than 30 seconds. But if you want to make it go away quicker, you can try a couple of tricks. When you start to get a brain freeze, push your tongue against the roof of your mouth. This sometimes warms up your mouth so that the nerves don’t send the signal that causes a headache. You can also try preventing brain freeze from the start by eating and drinking more slowly. If you take smaller bites or sips and wait longer between them, your mouth won’t get as cold. Of course, sometimes a cold drink or an ice cream cone on a hot day is just too good to enjoy slowly! 

Source: Daily Reading Comprehension Grade 4

You get a brain freeze when _____.

According to the passage, which of the following is a way to cure a brain freeze? 

Why does eating or drinking slowly help prevent brain freezes?