Free TEAS 7 Reading Practice Test 5 — 30 Questions With Full Explanations
Test 5 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
The Global Positioning System begins far above the earth. A constellation of about thirty satellites circles the planet, each carrying an atomic clock that keeps time to within a few billionths of a second. The satellites broadcast continuous radio signals that carry the time the signal left the satellite and the satellite's position. A receiver on the ground listens for signals from several satellites at once. Because radio waves travel at a fixed speed, the receiver can calculate its distance from each satellite by comparing the time the signal was sent with the time it arrived. If the receiver knows its distance from three satellites, the three distances fix its location, and a fourth satellite corrects for small errors in the receiver's own clock. That is why a device needs a clear view of the sky: walls, roofs, and dense tree cover block the weak signals. The system was built for military navigation, but it now guides ships, tractors, delivery vans, and hikers, and it sets the time on everything from power grids to banking networks.
Passage P2
Rosa had cleaned the museum at night for eleven years, and she knew the building the way a sailor knows a ship. She could tell, just from the echo, whether the marble hall was empty or whether a guard had stepped in behind her. Her favorite room was the clock gallery, where the pendulums swung in silence after closing, and she sometimes stopped her polishing to watch them, calling their motion a conversation no one else heard. One winter night she found a small note taped under the reading lamp of the library room, asking that the lamp be left on for the student who studied there after hours. The next night she left it on, and the night after that, and soon leaving notes back and forth became her quiet ritual. She never learned the student's name, and that seemed right to her. Some friendships, she decided, were best kept in the dark, guarded by the soft light of a lamp no one was supposed to need.
Passage P3
To all warehouse staff: Beginning Monday, the new load-limit rule applies to every forklift in the building. A pallet that presses the yellow line on the mast is over the rated capacity, and it must be split into two loads before it moves. Do not carry passengers under any circumstances, even on short runs; the second seat was removed for a reason. When stacking, place the heaviest pallets at the bottom of the rack and leave a hand's width of clearance below the sprinkler heads. Back into an aisle only when the aisle is marked clear, and sound the horn once at every blind corner. If a load shifts while you are moving, stop immediately, lower the forks, and fix the pallet before continuing. Anyone who spots a cracked fork or a leaking hose should tag the machine out of service at once. The full policy is posted beside the time clock, and questions go to the shift supervisor before the start of the shift.
Passage P4
Antibiotics are among the most successful drugs ever discovered, yet they are slowly losing their power. When a bacterium divides, it copies its genetic material, and that copying occasionally produces a mutation, a small change in the new copy. Most mutations are harmless, but a rare one can make a bacterium resistant to an antibiotic, meaning the drug no longer harms it. If that bacterium survives and multiplies, its descendants inherit the resistance, and the population of resistant cells grows. The more often antibiotics are used, the more chances bacteria have to encounter them and evolve protection; the drugs do not create resistance on purpose, they simply select for it by killing the vulnerable cells and leaving the few resistant survivors to reproduce. Taking antibiotics for a viral infection speeds this process because the drugs kill harmless bacteria in the body while doing nothing to stop the virus, exposing bacterial populations to the drug without any benefit. For this reason, prescribers now urge patients to finish the full course and to refuse antibiotics for colds.
Passage P5
The demand for women's voting rights in the United States grew out of the antislavery movement, where women had organized petitions and speeches only to be told that politics was not their place. In 1848, reformers met at Seneca Falls, New York, and issued a declaration of rights that included a demand for the ballot, a demand considered so radical that even some supporters tried to delete it. For the next seventy years the campaign advanced by inches: some western states allowed women to vote in state elections, yet federal law still barred them from national races. Suffragists marched, picketed the White House, endured arrest, and went on hunger strikes, while opponents argued that voting would corrupt women or that their husbands already represented them. The turning point came during the First World War, when the contributions of women workers made the old arguments harder to defend. In 1920 the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified, and in the presidential election that followed, more than eight million women cast ballots for the first time.
Passage P6
Lewis Latimer was born in 1848 to parents who had escaped slavery, and he began his working life as an office boy at a patent law firm in Boston, where he taught himself mechanical drawing by watching the draftsmen. His skill earned him a promotion to head draftsman, and in 1876 he drew the patent figures for Alexander Graham Bell's telephone application, work that helped secure the patent just hours before a rival filing. Latimer later joined a lighting company in New York, where he wrote the first popular book on electric lighting and supervised the installation of electric streetlights in New York, Philadelphia, and London. His most lasting contribution was the carbon filament, a cheap, long-lasting thread inside the light bulb that made electric light practical for ordinary homes. He also held patents for a device that improved railroad cars and for a method of making carbon filaments more reliably. Latimer never stopped learning; he took night classes in French and drafting throughout his career, and he continued inventing until his death in 1928.
All 30 questions with answers
Question 1. Key Ideas & Details easy
What central point does the passage make about GPS receivers and satellites?
See passage P1 above.
- A. A receiver finds its location by measuring how long satellite radio signals take to arrive. (correct)
- B. Satellites can locate a receiver only when the receiver sends signals back to them.
- C. Radio waves travel at different speeds depending on the weather.
- D. The system was designed mainly for hikers and delivery drivers.
Explanation: The passage explains that receivers measure how long satellite signals take to arrive and that radio waves travel at a fixed speed, so travel time fixes distance. The other options reverse the flow of signals or add details the passage never states.
Question 2. Key Ideas & Details medium
According to the passage, why does a GPS receiver need a clear view of the sky?
See passage P1 above.
- A. Because the satellites are visible only at night.
- B. Because walls, roofs, and dense tree cover block the weak satellite signals. (correct)
- C. Because the receiver's clock needs sunlight to stay accurate.
- D. Because open air makes the radio waves travel faster.
Explanation: The passage states that walls, roofs, and dense tree cover block the weak signals, which is why a clear view of the sky is needed. Night visibility, sunlight for the clock, and faster open-air travel are ideas the passage does not contain.
Question 3. Key Ideas & Details medium
How does a receiver calculate its distance from a satellite?
See passage P1 above.
- A. By sending a signal to the satellite and timing the reply.
- B. By comparing the satellite's altitude with its speed in orbit.
- C. By measuring how long the signal took to arrive, since radio waves travel at a fixed speed. (correct)
- D. By reading the distance from a map stored on the satellite.
Explanation: The passage says the receiver compares the time the signal was sent with the time it arrived, and because radio waves travel at a fixed speed, that comparison yields distance. The other methods describe signal exchange and maps that the passage never mentions.
Question 4. Craft & Structure medium
Why does the author mention ships, tractors, and banking networks at the end of the passage?
See passage P1 above.
- A. To argue that GPS should be reserved for military use.
- B. To prove that GPS signals work well indoors.
- C. To list the only devices that make use of GPS.
- D. To show how widely GPS now supports everyday life. (correct)
Explanation: The closing sentence lists ships, tractors, delivery vans, hikers, power grids, and banking networks as current uses, which demonstrates how far the system has spread beyond its military origin. The other purposes are not supported by the sentence.
Question 5. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas hard
Which statement is best supported by the passage?
See passage P1 above.
- A. A receiver that can hear only one satellite cannot determine its position. (correct)
- B. A receiver needs at least ten satellites to determine its position.
- C. The system works best inside large concrete buildings.
- D. Satellite clocks are accurate only near the equator.
Explanation: The passage says three distances fix a receiver's location and a fourth corrects clock error, so a single satellite cannot supply enough information. The other options contradict the passage's account of the number of satellites, indoor weakness, and clock accuracy.
Question 6. Key Ideas & Details easy
Which statement best captures what the passage is about?
See passage P2 above.
- A. The difficulty of keeping a large museum clean.
- B. The quiet friendship Rosa forms with an unseen student through exchanged notes. (correct)
- C. The way museum guards greet visitors after hours.
- D. The reason the clock gallery must be locked at night.
Explanation: The passage centers on the notes left under the reading lamp and the quiet ritual Rosa builds with a student she never meets. Cleaning difficulties, guard greetings, and the clock gallery's lock are not what the passage is about.
Question 7. Key Ideas & Details medium
According to the passage, how does Rosa know when a guard has stepped into the marble hall?
See passage P2 above.
- A. She smells the polish on the floor.
- B. She hears the museum alarm.
- C. She hears the change in the echo. (correct)
- D. She sees the guard's flashlight beam.
Explanation: The passage says Rosa could tell from the echo whether the marble hall was empty or a guard had stepped in. Polish smell, the alarm, and a flashlight beam are details the passage does not provide.
Question 8. Craft & Structure hard
Which word best describes the tone of the passage?
See passage P2 above.
- A. Playful and mocking.
- B. Angry and accusing.
- C. Dry and technical.
- D. Tender and reflective. (correct)
Explanation: The passage describes Rosa's lonely night work with gentle language about friendship and soft lamp light, so the tone is tender and reflective rather than mocking, angry, or technical. Each of the other choices names a different emotional register.
Question 9. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas medium
What can be inferred from Rosa's decision never to learn the student's name?
See passage P2 above.
- A. She values the private rhythm of the exchange more than knowing who the student is. (correct)
- B. She dislikes the student and wants to avoid conversation.
- C. She plans to report the student to the night supervisor.
- D. She hopes the student will stop using the library.
Explanation: Rosa chooses not to learn the student's name and calls the arrangement a quiet ritual, which shows she treasures the mystery itself. Dislike, reporting, and hoping the student leaves all contradict the warm tone of the passage.
Question 10. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas hard
The passage says the pendulums made a conversation no one else heard. What does this image most suggest about Rosa?
See passage P2 above.
- A. She believes the clocks are out of order.
- B. She finds companionship in the quiet building even though she works alone. (correct)
- C. She is afraid to enter the clock gallery.
- D. She thinks the night guards talk too loudly.
Explanation: Rosa watches the silent pendulums and calls them a conversation, and she later treasures the secret note exchange, showing she finds company in the empty building. The other choices attach fear or mechanical failure to a passage about companionship.
Question 11. Key Ideas & Details easy
According to the memo, what should an employee do if a load shifts while the forklift is moving?
See passage P3 above.
- A. Speed up to reach the rack before the load falls.
- B. Sound the horn twice and keep moving.
- C. Stop immediately, lower the forks, and fix the pallet before continuing. (correct)
- D. Ask a coworker to hold the load in place.
Explanation: The memo says that if a load shifts, the operator must stop immediately, lower the forks, and fix the pallet before continuing. Speeding up, honking, and asking a coworker to hold the load are all contrary to the stated rule.
Question 12. Key Ideas & Details medium
What tells an operator that a pallet is over the rated capacity?
See passage P3 above.
- A. The pallet is taller than the driver's cab.
- B. The forks begin to wobble.
- C. The pallet weighs more than ten pounds.
- D. The pallet presses the yellow line on the mast. (correct)
Explanation: The memo states that a pallet pressing the yellow line on the mast is over the rated capacity. Height of the cab, wobbling forks, and a ten-pound weight are markers the memo never uses to judge capacity.
Question 13. Craft & Structure medium
How is the memo organized?
See passage P3 above.
- A. As a series of direct rules and procedures for warehouse staff. (correct)
- B. As a story about a near accident in the warehouse.
- C. As a question-and-answer interview with a supervisor.
- D. As a budget report on warehouse equipment.
Explanation: The memo moves from the load-limit rule through passengers, stacking, backing, shifting loads, and equipment damage, presenting each as a direct instruction. It contains no story, interview, or budget report structure.
Question 14. Craft & Structure easy
What is the overall purpose of the memo?
See passage P3 above.
- A. To announce a change in the warehouse pay schedule.
- B. To state the safety rules for operating forklifts in the warehouse. (correct)
- C. To apologize for a temporary closing of the warehouse.
- D. To advertise a forklift training class for the public.
Explanation: Every sentence of the memo states a rule about forklift operation, from load limits to horn use to tagging damaged machines, so its purpose is to state safety rules. Pay, closings, and public training classes are absent.
Question 15. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas hard
Which employee action would the memo most clearly forbid?
See passage P3 above.
- A. Splitting an overweight pallet into two smaller loads.
- B. Tagging a forklift with a cracked fork out of service.
- C. Carrying a second worker on the forks of a forklift. (correct)
- D. Sounding the horn once before passing a blind corner.
Explanation: The memo says passengers must never be carried even on short runs and that the second seat was removed, so carrying a coworker is clearly forbidden. Splitting loads, tagging cracked forks, and honking at corners are all required or allowed.
Question 16. Key Ideas & Details medium
Which statement best summarizes the passage's central claim?
See passage P4 above.
- A. Antibiotics no longer exist in modern medicine.
- B. Mutations in bacteria almost never change resistance.
- C. Viruses are the main cause of bacterial infections.
- D. Antibiotics become less effective because resistant bacteria survive and multiply. (correct)
Explanation: The passage explains that rare mutations let some bacteria survive antibiotics and that those survivors multiply while vulnerable cells die, so resistance grows. The other options deny resistance, deny mutations, or blame viruses for bacterial infections.
Question 17. Key Ideas & Details medium
According to the passage, why does taking antibiotics for a viral infection speed up the development of resistance?
See passage P4 above.
- A. The drug kills harmless bacteria while doing nothing to stop the virus. (correct)
- B. Viruses use the antibiotic as a source of food.
- C. The antibiotic makes the virus multiply more slowly.
- D. The infection becomes more painful and lasts longer.
Explanation: The passage says antibiotics for a viral infection kill harmless bacteria while doing nothing to stop the virus, giving bacterial populations exposure without benefit. The other options describe food, slower viruses, and pain that the passage never claims.
Question 18. Craft & Structure hard
In the passage, the phrase select for it most nearly means
See passage P4 above.
- A. to choose the correct drug from a shelf.
- B. to favor the survival of some organisms over others. (correct)
- C. to measure the number of bacteria in a sample.
- D. to remove all bacteria from the body.
Explanation: The passage says drugs kill vulnerable cells and leave the few resistant survivors to reproduce, which is exactly favoring the survival of some organisms over others. Choosing drugs from a shelf, counting bacteria, and removing all bacteria do not match.
Question 19. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas hard
Which statement best contrasts how antibiotics affect vulnerable bacteria and resistant bacteria?
See passage P4 above.
- A. Resistant bacteria are killed, while vulnerable bacteria multiply.
- B. Both types are killed at exactly the same rate.
- C. Vulnerable bacteria are killed, while resistant bacteria survive and multiply. (correct)
- D. Neither type of bacterium is affected by the drug.
Explanation: The passage contrasts vulnerable cells being killed with resistant survivors being left to reproduce, the mechanism that grows resistance. The other options reverse the effect, claim equal rates, or claim the drug affects neither group.
Question 20. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas medium
Based on the passage, which practice would the author most likely support?
See passage P4 above.
- A. Taking antibiotics for every cold to feel better faster.
- B. Sharing leftover antibiotics with family members.
- C. Stopping the antibiotic as soon as symptoms improve.
- D. Taking antibiotics only for illnesses caused by bacteria. (correct)
Explanation: The passage warns that antibiotics do nothing for viral colds and urges patients to refuse them, so the author would support taking antibiotics only for bacterial illnesses. The other options describe the misuse the passage criticizes.
Question 21. Key Ideas & Details easy
Which statement best summarizes what the passage describes?
See passage P5 above.
- A. The long campaign that won American women the right to vote. (correct)
- B. The founding of the major American political parties.
- C. The causes and effects of the First World War.
- D. The duties of elected officials in state government.
Explanation: The passage tells how a demand born in 1848 grew through decades of marches and protests into the Nineteenth Amendment and the first national votes for women. Political parties, the war's causes, and officials' duties are not its subject.
Question 22. Key Ideas & Details medium
According to the passage, what demand made at Seneca Falls was considered so radical that even some supporters tried to delete it?
See passage P5 above.
- A. The demand for shorter working hours.
- B. The demand for the ballot. (correct)
- C. The demand for free public education.
- D. The demand for equal pay in factories.
Explanation: The passage says the ballot demand at Seneca Falls was considered so radical that even some supporters tried to delete it. Working hours, public education, and factory pay are reforms the passage never mentions.
Question 23. Craft & Structure medium
How does the passage trace the development of the suffrage movement?
See passage P5 above.
- A. As a comparison of two rival political parties.
- B. As a list of voting laws in different states.
- C. Chronologically, from its origins to the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. (correct)
- D. As a debate between two leading reformers.
Explanation: The passage moves from 1848 and Seneca Falls through seventy years of campaigning to the First World War and the 1920 amendment, a purely chronological account. It does not compare parties, list state laws, or stage a debate.
Question 24. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas hard
Which view does the passage most clearly support?
See passage P5 above.
- A. Suffragists should have resorted to violence to win the vote.
- B. The Nineteenth Amendment went too far and should be repealed.
- C. Most women were not interested in casting ballots.
- D. The arguments against women's voting grew weaker as women's contributions became harder to ignore. (correct)
Explanation: The passage notes that women's war work made old arguments harder to defend, which supports the idea that those arguments weakened over time. Violence, repeal of the amendment, and women's indifference all contradict the passage.
Question 25. Craft & Structure hard
What is the author's main purpose in writing this passage?
See passage P5 above.
- A. To describe the history of the struggle for women's suffrage in the United States. (correct)
- B. To argue that presidential elections are too expensive to run.
- C. To explain how constitutional amendments are enforced in court.
- D. To compare voting rights in the United States with those in Europe.
Explanation: The author traces the movement's origins, setbacks, tactics, and final victory, which is a historical account of the struggle. The passage does not discuss election costs, court enforcement, or European voting systems.
Question 26. Key Ideas & Details easy
What does the passage focus on overall?
See passage P6 above.
- A. The history of the telephone and its inventors.
- B. The life and inventions of Lewis Latimer. (correct)
- C. The way patents are examined and approved.
- D. The founding of the first patent office in Boston.
Explanation: The passage follows Latimer from his start as an office boy through his drawings, his lighting work, and his patents to his death, so it is a biography of his life and inventions. The other options name general topics rather than his story.
Question 27. Key Ideas & Details medium
According to the passage, how did Latimer first learn mechanical drawing?
See passage P6 above.
- A. By attending a famous school of fine arts.
- B. By studying books in the British Museum library.
- C. By watching the draftsmen while he worked as an office boy at a patent law firm. (correct)
- D. By working as a night watchman in a machine shop.
Explanation: The passage says Latimer taught himself mechanical drawing by watching the draftsmen while he was an office boy at a patent law firm in Boston. Art school, museum books, and night watchman work are not mentioned.
Question 28. Craft & Structure hard
In the passage, the term head draftsman most nearly means
See passage P6 above.
- A. a person who supervises the office mail room.
- B. a person who sells copies of patent documents.
- C. a person who inspects completed buildings.
- D. a person in charge of preparing technical drawings. (correct)
Explanation: The passage says Latimer's skill earned him a promotion to head draftsman, the person in charge of preparing the technical drawings the firm produced. Mail supervision, selling patent papers, and inspecting buildings are different jobs.
Question 29. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas medium
What can be inferred from the fact that Latimer took night classes in French and drafting throughout his career?
See passage P6 above.
- A. He kept learning new skills for his entire working life. (correct)
- B. He disliked his work at the lighting company.
- C. He planned to move permanently to France.
- D. He wanted to become a schoolteacher.
Explanation: The passage says Latimer never stopped learning and took night classes in French and drafting throughout his career, which shows a lifelong commitment to gaining skills. The other options assign motives the passage never states.
Question 30. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas medium
Which statement best describes Latimer's most lasting contribution as presented in the passage?
See passage P6 above.
- A. His telephone application ended all rival patent filings.
- B. His carbon filament helped make electric light practical for ordinary homes. (correct)
- C. His book on railroad cars replaced the use of steam engines.
- D. His streetlights were installed only in London.
Explanation: The passage calls the carbon filament his most lasting contribution and says it made electric light practical for ordinary homes. The telephone work aided one filing, the railroad device was another patent, and the streetlights reached three cities.