SSAT Practice Test (Upper Level: Reading)

Question 1

Except for one, all of the following types of archaeological evidence were discussed. Which is not included:

Accepted Answer

carbon dating.

Answer

flint.

Answer

fossils.

Answer

extinct animal remains.

Question 2

What is the passage's major point?

Accepted Answer

Vaccines help the immune system function properly.

Answer

Traditional vaccines contain altered microbes.

Answer

The nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were a dark period for medicine.

Answer

You have probably never had diphtheria.

Question 3

Which title best captures the essence of the passage's ideas?

Accepted Answer

“Recognizing Colors”

Answer

“Blue Hills”

Answer

“The Summer Sky”

Answer

“Artists vs. Farmers”

Question 4

________ is the finest word to define the author's attitude toward dogs.

Accepted Answer

reverential

Answer

disparaging

Answer

conditionally affectionate

Answer

apathetic

Answer

disrespectful

Question 5

____________ was a turning point in scientific theories concerning the age of humanity's existence on Earth.

Accepted Answer

the discovery in France of the remains of extinct animals and humans together in an unflooded area.

Answer

evidence left by the Greeks, Romans, and early Britons.

Answer

new theories about the Flood and its effects on humanity.

Answer

new theological research of the Bible.

Question 6

Which of the following statements is not a fact from the passage?

Accepted Answer

The symptoms of disease do not emerge until the body has learned how to fight the microbe.

Answer

The immune system typically needs a week to learn how to fight a new disease.

Answer

Vaccines contain microbe parts or altered microbes.

Answer

A hundred years ago, children were at the greatest risk of dying from now-treatable diseases.

Question 7

The sky is usually ________ at the zenith.

Accepted Answer

violet-blue.

Answer

violet-red.

Answer

yellow-orange.

Answer

greenish-blue.

Question 8

The word "encounter" in the second paragraph very certainly means __________

Accepted Answer

contact

Answer

exercise

Answer

fortune

Answer

avoidance

Question 9

Early in the nineteenth century,

Accepted Answer

most people believed that humanity's existence was 6,000 to 7,000 years old.

Answer

small bands of Romans roamed the earth.

Answer

geologists dated humanity's early existence to 1859.

Answer

elves made flints in caves.

Question 10

What does the word virulent signify when it's used in the third paragraph?

Accepted Answer

malicious

Answer

contagious

Answer

annoying

Answer

tiny