Free TEAS 7 Reading Practice Test 4 — 30 Questions With Full Explanations
Test 4 of this set covers key ideas & details, craft & structure, integration. Answer all 30 questions, then read the explanation for each one - including why each wrong option fails. Take it interactively with instant scoring: Reading practice. Every question is original and written to the published blueprint split for the Reading section (45 questions on exam day).
Passages
Passage P1
Thunderstorms begin inside a tall cloud whose top rises far above the freezing level. Inside that cloud, rising air carries water droplets upward, where they freeze into ice crystals and small hailstones. As the crystals and hailstones collide and rub against one another, they exchange electric charge: the lighter ice crystals carry positive charge to the top of the cloud, while the heavier hailstones leave negative charge concentrated near the bottom. The separation of charge builds an electric field between the cloud, the ground, and other clouds. When the field grows strong enough to overcome the resistance of the air, a jagged channel of ionized air, the lightning bolt, carries current in a series of rapid steps. The bolt heats the air around it to roughly five times the temperature of the sun's surface, and that sudden expansion of superheated air explodes outward as thunder. Because light travels almost instantly while sound crawls along at about a third of a kilometer per second, the delay between the flash and the rumble tells a listener how far away the storm is.
Passage P2
The owl was the size of a coffee cup, a fledgling that had tumbled from a nest in the old cottonwood and lay shivering in the grass, one wing bent at an angle no bird should manage. Theo's father, a wildlife rescuer, examined it with careful hands and pronounced it lucky: no broken bones, only a torn flight feather. 'We cannot keep it,' he said. 'Our job is to make it strong enough to refuse us.' For three weeks they fed the owlet scraps of chicken and watched it grow fierce. It learned to grip a branch, then to hop, then to fly short bursts across the yard. The night before the release, Theo sat in the dark and watched the owl preen its new feather. 'What if it comes back?' he asked. His father shrugged. 'Then we have a very spoiled owl.' In the morning they carried the crate to the cottonwood. The owl blinked at the open door, took a long look at the yard, and lifted off through the branches without once looking back. Theo stood watching until the gray shape vanished into the trees, and he felt proud of a thing he had only helped let go.
Passage P3
A library is the cheapest investment a city can make in its own future, and we are underfunding ours. For the price of a single highway interchange, a library system can stay open seven days a week and serve every age group in the city. The people who use libraries are not a narrow slice of the population: toddlers come for story time, students for quiet desks and research databases, job seekers for public computers, and retirees for book clubs and company. When budget cuts shorten library hours, the first people to lose are the ones with no other options, the child whose home has no internet and the adult who must print a resume somewhere. Supporters of cutting library budgets say streaming services have made books obsolete, but a library is far more than a building full of books; it is the only public place where anyone can sit, read, learn, and connect without spending a dollar. We can afford to keep the doors open. We cannot afford to tell a child that the last free door in the neighborhood is closed.
Passage P4
In the eighteenth century, smallpox was among the most feared diseases in the world, killing roughly three of every ten people it infected and scarring many of the survivors. Physicians noticed that people who had survived the disease never caught it again, and some practiced inoculation, deliberately giving a mild case to a healthy person, a risky procedure that could itself spread the disease. In 1796 a country doctor named Edward Jenner tested a safer idea. He had heard country stories that milkmaids who caught cowpox, a mild disease of cattle, seemed protected from smallpox. Jenner took fluid from a milkmaid's cowpox sore and scratched it into the arm of a young boy, who developed a mild illness and, when later exposed to smallpox, did not become sick. Jenner called the procedure vaccination, from the Latin word for cow. His method spread across Europe and beyond, replacing the riskier inoculation, and over the next two centuries vaccination drove smallpox out of every country until 1980, when the disease was declared eradicated, the first disease ever wiped out by human effort.
Passage P5
Every autumn the same drama plays out across the temperate forests, yet the chemistry behind it is rarely told. Leaves are green because they are full of chlorophyll, the pigment that captures sunlight for photosynthesis. Chlorophyll is expensive for a tree to build, so as days shorten and nights cool, deciduous trees begin to break it down and salvage its nitrogen, storing it in the trunk and roots. As the green fades, pigments that were hidden all summer become visible: carotenoids, which give carrots their orange color, and anthocyanins, which are produced fresh as the sugars in the leaf are trapped by the closing veins and react to form reds and purples. The variety of color depends on weather: warm, sunny autumn days and cool, frost-free nights favor brilliant reds, while cloudy, wet autumns produce yellower displays, because the extra light and trapped sugar drive more anthocyanin production. Eventually the leaf separates from the branch along a layer of weak cells, and the wind does the rest.
Passage P6
The clock had stood in the hallway for three generations, and when the chime went flat, it was Rosa who noticed. Her grandmother claimed the clock had never been right since the war, but Rosa's grandfather, a watchmaker before he retired, said a clock that struck eleven at half past nine was not mysterious, only neglected. 'It wants cleaning, not patience,' he told them, and Rosa asked to help. Together they lifted the weights, laid the works on newspaper, and brushed years of dust from the brass gears. Rosa learned the names of the parts, the escape wheel, the anchor, the pendulum, and how a tiny length of wire could cost the clock a minute a week. When they hung the weights again and set the pendulum swinging, the clock ticked with a steady, confident beat, and at ten o'clock it struck ten. The old man smiled at Rosa. 'Keep it wound,' he said, 'and it will outlast us both.' Rosa wound it every Sunday after that, and the clock kept the family's time.
Passage P7
Building more bike lanes is the fastest way to make our streets safer for everyone, and the objections to them crumble on inspection. Drivers complain that a bike lane removes a lane of car traffic, but a single bicycle takes far less road space than a car, and every person who rides instead of drives is one less vehicle squeezing through the intersection. Merchants worry that cyclists never stop to shop, yet studies in cities with protected lanes show that people who arrive by bike visit local shops more often, not less, because parking is easier and trips are shorter. The safety argument is the strongest: protected lanes separate riders from motor traffic, and cities that add them see injuries to cyclists fall sharply while drivers' travel times barely change. Opponents say the lanes are used only in good weather and sit empty in winter, but the same is true of sidewalks, and no one proposes removing those. A street designed for bikes is a street designed for people, and that is a design worth paying for.
All 30 questions with answers
Question 1. Key Ideas & Details hard
Which statement captures the main idea of the passage?
See passage P1 above.
- A. Lightning strikes only the tallest objects on the ground.
- B. Thunderstorms are harmless because rain cools the air.
- C. Hailstones are formed when lightning heats the cloud.
- D. Thunderstorms generate lightning when separated electric charges discharge through the air, and thunder follows from the bolt's heat. (correct)
Explanation: The passage traces charge separation, the build-up of the electric field, the stepped discharge of lightning, and the heating that produces thunder, so D states the main idea. A is unsupported, since the passage never limits strikes to tall objects. B is contradicted, since storms produce dangerous lightning. C reverses the passage, which says collisions of crystals and hailstones build charge, not the reverse.
Question 2. Key Ideas & Details easy
According to the passage, where does negative charge collect inside a thunderstorm cloud?
See passage P1 above.
- A. At the very top of the cloud.
- B. In the air around the cloud.
- C. On the ground beneath the cloud.
- D. Near the bottom of the cloud. (correct)
Explanation: The passage says the lighter ice crystals carry positive charge to the top of the cloud, while the heavier hailstones leave negative charge concentrated near the bottom, so D is the stated location. A is where the positive charge collects. B and C describe regions outside the cloud that never hold the negative charge.
Question 3. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas medium
A listener sees a lightning flash and counts five seconds before hearing thunder. Based on the passage, what can the listener conclude?
See passage P1 above.
- A. The storm is roughly one and a half kilometers away. (correct)
- B. The storm is directly overhead.
- C. The lightning struck within a few meters of the listener.
- D. The storm is moving away from the listener.
Explanation: The passage says sound travels about a third of a kilometer per second, so a five-second delay means roughly one and a half kilometers, A. B would require thunder to arrive almost instantly. C would produce a nearly immediate rumble. D cannot be determined, since the passage gives no way to judge the storm's direction of travel from a single flash.
Question 4. Craft & Structure medium
How does the passage organize its explanation of thunderstorms?
See passage P1 above.
- A. It compares thunderstorms in two different climates.
- B. It follows a chain of events from cloud formation to the flash and the rumble. (correct)
- C. It argues that lightning is the most dangerous weather hazard.
- D. It narrates one person's experience inside a storm.
Explanation: The passage moves step by step from rising droplets through freezing, charge exchange, discharge, superheating, and the sound of thunder, which is a causal chain, B. A is wrong because no climates are compared. C is wrong because the passage makes no argument about danger. D is wrong because no personal experience is narrated.
Question 5. Key Ideas & Details easy
Which sentence best states what the passage is mainly about?
See passage P2 above.
- A. A family caring for an injured owl until it can fly free. (correct)
- B. The dangers of keeping wild owls as pets.
- C. A father's career as a wildlife rescuer.
- D. The nesting habits of owls in cottonwood trees.
Explanation: The passage follows the owlet from its discovery, through three weeks of care and training, to its release at the cottonwood, so A is the main subject. B is contradicted, since the father insists the owl must not be kept. C is too broad and never developed. D is unsupported, since nesting habits are not described.
Question 6. Craft & Structure medium
The author's description of the owl 'the size of a coffee cup' most likely serves to...
See passage P2 above.
- A. show that the owl was too small to survive care.
- B. emphasize how tiny and vulnerable the fledgling was. (correct)
- C. argue that young owls make good pets.
- D. suggest that the family drank coffee by the nest.
Explanation: Comparing the fledgling to a coffee cup makes its small size vivid and underscores its helplessness when found injured in the grass, so B is the purpose. A is contradicted by the successful recovery. C is contradicted by the father's rule against keeping it. D misreads the comparison literally, since no coffee drinking is mentioned.
Question 7. Key Ideas & Details medium
According to the passage, what happens first in the owl's recovery?
See passage P2 above.
- A. Theo's father examines the owl and finds no broken bones. (correct)
- B. The owlet learns to fly short bursts across the yard.
- C. The owl preens its new flight feather.
- D. The owl takes off through the branches of the cottonwood.
Explanation: The passage opens with the father examining the fledgling and pronouncing it lucky with only a torn flight feather, so A comes first. B and C describe the later weeks of learning and preening. D is the release at the end of the story.
Question 8. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas easy
What does the father most likely mean by saying, 'Our job is to make it strong enough to refuse us'?
See passage P2 above.
- A. The owl should learn to scare away strangers.
- B. The owl will attack anyone who feeds it.
- C. The family must teach the owl to catch coffee cups.
- D. Their goal is to help the owl become independent so it can live in the wild. (correct)
Explanation: The father is explaining that the family's purpose is to restore the owl's health so it no longer needs them, which is D. A misreads 'refuse us' as aggression rather than independence. B is unsupported. C is a literal joke reading of the earlier simile and has no support in the text.
Question 9. Craft & Structure medium
From which point of view is this passage told?
See passage P2 above.
- A. First person, with the owl narrating its own recovery.
- B. Second person, speaking directly to the reader.
- C. Third person, following Theo's experiences and feelings. (correct)
- D. First person, with the father telling his rescue stories.
Explanation: The narrator uses 'Theo' and 'his' while revealing Theo's questions and his pride at the end, so the point of view is third person centered on Theo, C. A is wrong, since the owl never narrates. B is wrong, since the reader is never addressed as 'you.' D is wrong, since the father does not speak in the first person throughout.
Question 10. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas medium
Which group of people does the author say is hurt first when library hours are cut?
See passage P3 above.
- A. Retirees looking for company and book clubs.
- B. Students preparing for summer reading.
- C. Children without home internet and adults who need to print a resume. (correct)
- D. Tourists visiting the city's landmarks.
Explanation: The passage says the first people to lose when hours are cut are the ones with no other options, naming the child whose home has no internet and the adult who must print a resume somewhere, so C is the supported group. A and B are library users but are not singled out as first to lose. D never appears.
Question 11. Craft & Structure medium
The author's main purpose in this passage is most likely to...
See passage P3 above.
- A. persuade readers to support keeping libraries fully funded. (correct)
- B. explain how libraries catalog their books.
- C. describe the history of public libraries in the city.
- D. compare libraries with streaming services in detail.
Explanation: The passage argues that libraries are a cheap investment, that cuts hit the most vulnerable first, and that the doors should stay open, which is persuasion, A. B is wrong because no cataloging process is described. C is wrong because no history is given. D is wrong because streaming services are mentioned once to answer an objection, not compared in detail.
Question 12. Key Ideas & Details easy
According to the passage, which of the following is a use people make of libraries?
See passage P3 above.
- A. Storing their bicycles between rides.
- B. Testing new highway interchanges.
- C. Holding garage sales on weekends.
- D. Printing resumes and using public computers. (correct)
Explanation: The passage says job seekers come for public computers and that an adult must print a resume somewhere, so D lists uses named in the text. A, B, and C never appear in the passage and belong to other contexts, so they cannot be supported.
Question 13. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas hard
Which of the following conclusions about the author's views is best supported by the passage?
See passage P3 above.
- A. The author believes books are becoming obsolete.
- B. The author believes libraries should charge small fees to stay open.
- C. The author believes libraries provide essential services beyond lending books. (correct)
- D. The author believes highway construction is more important than libraries.
Explanation: The author calls the library the only public place where anyone can read and connect for free and answers the streaming objection by listing its non-book services, so C is supported. A is the opposite, since the author defends the institution. B is unsupported, since the author emphasizes free access. D is contradicted, since the author argues libraries deserve more of the city's money.
Question 14. Key Ideas & Details easy
According to the passage, what did physicians notice about people who survived smallpox?
See passage P4 above.
- A. They remained contagious for the rest of their lives.
- B. They never caught the disease again. (correct)
- C. They were more likely to catch the disease a second time.
- D. They could never be safely vaccinated.
Explanation: The passage states that physicians noticed people who had survived the disease never caught it again, and this observation led to inoculation, so B is the explicit detail. A and C are the opposite of the observation. D is unsupported, since vaccination later replaced the riskier practice.
Question 15. Key Ideas & Details hard
Which of the following events happened first in the passage's account?
See passage P4 above.
- A. Jenner tested fluid from a milkmaid's cowpox sore.
- B. Some physicians practiced inoculation by giving mild cases deliberately. (correct)
- C. Vaccination spread across Europe and beyond.
- D. Smallpox was declared eradicated in 1980.
Explanation: The passage says physicians practiced inoculation before presenting Jenner's 1796 test, so B is earliest. A follows B in the account, since Jenner's experiment replaced the riskier inoculation. C and D come later still, with eradication in 1980 at the end.
Question 16. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas medium
What conclusion is best supported by the passage's account of Jenner's experiment?
See passage P4 above.
- A. Cowpox and smallpox are caused by completely unrelated fluids.
- B. The boy in the experiment had already survived smallpox.
- C. Exposure to cowpox could protect a person from smallpox. (correct)
- D. Vaccination was immediately accepted everywhere without debate.
Explanation: Jenner drew on milkmaids' stories that cowpox protected against smallpox, and his vaccinated boy stayed healthy when later exposed, so the account supports C. A is contradicted by the very mechanism Jenner tested. B is wrong, since the boy was chosen because he had not had smallpox. D is unsupported, since the passage only says the method spread; it does not claim instant universal acceptance.
Question 17. Craft & Structure hard
The author's statement that smallpox was 'the first disease ever wiped out by human effort' serves mainly to...
See passage P4 above.
- A. argue that all diseases can be easily eradicated.
- B. suggest that scientists should stop vaccinating.
- C. compare smallpox with cowpox in detail.
- D. emphasize the historical importance of vaccination. (correct)
Explanation: Placing eradication in 1980 with the claim that it was the first disease wiped out by human effort highlights how monumental the achievement was, so D is the purpose. A overgeneralizes, since the passage describes only smallpox. B is the opposite of the passage's appreciation of vaccination. C is wrong, since cowpox appears briefly as a tool, not a comparison subject.
Question 18. Key Ideas & Details medium
According to the passage, how did Jenner get the material for his first vaccination?
See passage P4 above.
- A. From a survivor of smallpox.
- B. From a boy who had recovered from cowpox.
- C. From a milkmaid's cowpox sore. (correct)
- D. From a hospital in London.
Explanation: The passage says Jenner took fluid from a milkmaid's cowpox sore and scratched it into the arm of a young boy, so C is the stated source. A is wrong, since the fluid came from cowpox, not smallpox. B reverses the roles, since the boy received the material. D never appears.
Question 19. Key Ideas & Details medium
Which statement best states the passage's main idea?
See passage P5 above.
- A. Leaves change color because the temperature drops below freezing at night.
- B. Trees stop losing leaves once their sugar is used up.
- C. Autumn leaf color appears when chlorophyll breaks down and other pigments become visible or form fresh. (correct)
- D. Carotenoids are pigments produced only in the autumn.
Explanation: The passage explains that trees break down chlorophyll, revealing carotenoids and producing anthocyanins, which creates autumn color, so C is the main idea. A is an oversimplification, since frost-free nights favor color and chlorophyll breakdown is triggered by shortening days. B is unsupported. D is wrong, since carotenoids are present all summer and merely hidden.
Question 20. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas hard
Based on the passage, a region that has a cloudy, wet autumn would most likely show leaves that are...
See passage P5 above.
- A. mostly red and purple.
- B. more yellow than red. (correct)
- C. still full of chlorophyll.
- D. colorless and gray.
Explanation: The passage says cloudy, wet autumns produce yellower displays because sunlight and trapped sugar drive anthocyanin production, so B follows. A describes the effect of warm, sunny days with cool frost-free nights. C is contradicted, since chlorophyll breaks down in autumn regardless. D is unsupported, since yellow pigments still appear.
Question 21. Craft & Structure medium
The author calls the changing colors 'the same drama' that plays out across the forests. This word choice suggests that autumn color is...
See passage P5 above.
- A. a rare accident of unusual weather.
- B. a competition between rival trees.
- C. a danger that humans should avoid.
- D. a regular and striking seasonal event. (correct)
Explanation: Calling the yearly change a 'drama' that 'plays out' emphasizes that it is a recurring spectacle, so D captures the effect. A is wrong because the passage describes the change as annual. B misreads 'drama' as conflict between trees. C is unsupported, since nothing in the passage warns of danger.
Question 22. Key Ideas & Details easy
According to the passage, what eventually separates the leaf from the branch?
See passage P5 above.
- A. A layer of weak cells at the base of the leaf. (correct)
- B. The wind blowing the branch loose.
- C. The weight of the trapped sugar.
- D. The cold cracking the stem.
Explanation: The passage says the leaf separates from the branch along a layer of weak cells, so A is the stated mechanism, while the wind merely carries the leaf away afterward. B misstates the wind's role. C and D introduce causes never mentioned in the passage.
Question 23. Craft & Structure hard
Which of the following best describes the author's purpose in this passage?
See passage P6 above.
- A. To instruct readers on how to become watchmakers.
- B. To argue that old clocks should be replaced with new ones.
- C. To tell a short story about a family repairing an heirloom clock. (correct)
- D. To explain the physics of pendulums in technical terms.
Explanation: The passage narrates Rosa noticing the faulty chime, helping her grandfather clean the works, and winding the clock every Sunday, which is a short narrative, C. A is wrong because no career instructions are given. B is wrong because the family restores rather than replaces the clock. D is wrong because the pendulum is named within a story, not explained technically.
Question 24. Key Ideas & Details medium
According to the passage, what does Rosa learn can make the clock lose a minute a week?
See passage P6 above.
- A. A dusty set of brass gears.
- B. A crooked pendulum.
- C. A loose weight.
- D. A tiny length of wire. (correct)
Explanation: The passage says Rosa learned how a tiny length of wire could cost the clock a minute a week, so D is the stated detail. A is what the dust and cleaning addressed, but the passage ties the minute a week specifically to the wire. B and C never appear.
Question 25. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas hard
What does the grandmother's claim that the clock 'had never been right since the war' most likely represent in the passage?
See passage P6 above.
- A. Proof that the clock is beyond repair.
- B. A warning that the family should buy a new clock.
- C. A belief that the clock's problem was mysterious rather than fixable. (correct)
- D. An order to leave the clock unwound.
Explanation: The grandmother treats the faulty striking as an unsolvable mystery linked to the past, while the grandfather shows the cause is ordinary neglect that cleaning fixes, so her claim represents a belief that the fault was mysterious, C. A is disproved by the successful repair. B is contradicted by the repair. D never happens, since Rosa winds the clock.
Question 26. Key Ideas & Details medium
Which of the following actions does Rosa take after the clock is repaired?
See passage P6 above.
- A. She throws away the old weights.
- B. She sells the recipe book from 1962.
- C. She moves the clock to the attic.
- D. She winds the clock every Sunday. (correct)
Explanation: The passage ends with Rosa winding the clock every Sunday after that, so D is the action she takes after the repair. A and C contradict the story's respect for the clock. B confuses this passage with the baker's recipe book from another story and never happens here.
Question 27. Key Ideas & Details medium
Which of the following best states the main point of the passage?
See passage P7 above.
- A. Protected bike lanes make streets safer and benefit riders and nearby businesses despite common objections. (correct)
- B. Bike lanes are a waste of money because few people ride bicycles.
- C. Drivers should have priority over cyclists on all city streets.
- D. Cycling should be allowed only in good weather months.
Explanation: The passage answers objections about traffic, business, and winter use and argues that protected lanes reduce injuries, so A states the main idea. B is the position of the opponents the author refutes. C is the opposite of the author's view. D is an objection the author dismisses by comparing lanes to sidewalks.
Question 28. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas medium
Which evidence does the passage give for the claim that cyclists help local businesses?
See passage P7 above.
- A. Bicycles take less road space than cars.
- B. Protected lanes reduce cyclist injuries sharply.
- C. Sidewalks are also empty in winter.
- D. People who arrive by bike visit local shops more often. (correct)
Explanation: The passage says studies in cities with protected lanes show people who arrive by bike visit local shops more often, so D supports the business claim. A supports the traffic-space argument. B supports the safety argument. C answers the winter-use objection rather than the business claim.
Question 29. Craft & Structure hard
How does the author respond to the objection that bike lanes sit empty in winter?
See passage P7 above.
- A. By admitting the lanes waste money in cold months.
- B. By proposing that lanes be removed during winter.
- C. By pointing out that sidewalks are also unused by some people in winter, yet no one removes them. (correct)
- D. By promising to repave the lanes every spring.
Explanation: The passage counters the winter objection by noting that the same criticism applies to sidewalks, which no one proposes removing, so C is the response. A concedes the objection, which the author does not do. B proposes exactly what the author resists. D is unsupported, since no maintenance promise appears.
Question 30. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas hard
Which statement about the author's position is best supported by the passage?
See passage P7 above.
- A. The author believes car travel times will rise sharply with new lanes.
- B. The author believes cyclists should pay for their own lanes.
- C. The author believes bike lanes should replace sidewalks.
- D. The author believes bike lanes are a worthwhile public investment. (correct)
Explanation: The author calls streets designed for bikes a design worth paying for and cites falling injuries with barely changed driver times, so D is supported. A is contradicted, since the passage says driver travel times barely change. B is unsupported, since the author asks the city to pay. C is contradicted, since the author compares lanes to sidewalks as parallel facilities, not replacements.