Free TEAS 7 Reading Practice Test 7 — 30 Questions With Full Explanations
Test 7 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
Most caves begin with rain, a surprising fact because water seems too soft to carve rock. Rain absorbs carbon dioxide from the air and from decaying plants in the soil, becoming a weak carbonic acid. Seeping through cracks in limestone, this dilute acid slowly dissolves the rock and widens the cracks into passages. Where dissolving happens faster, large chambers open beneath the water table; where the water table later drops, the chambers empty and become dry. Cave decoration comes next. Water carrying dissolved calcium carbonate drips from the ceiling, and each drop leaves behind a grain of mineral. Stalactites grow downward from the ceiling like stone icicles, while stalagmites rise from the floor where the drops land. A stalactite may grow only a millimeter in a decade, so the largest ones are older than most human cities. The same process can take a few thousand years or as many as several million. Either way, a cave is a slow photograph of weather working on stone.
Passage P2
On the last day of April, the bookshop closed for good, and Iris was the only one who seemed to mind. Mrs. Hale had run the shop for forty years, and the new owners of the building wanted a coffee bar instead. For three weeks Iris had come after school to help sort the shelves, and on the final afternoon she found a letter tucked inside an old novel no one had ever bought. The letter was dated 1962 and signed with a name that matched the handwriting on a photograph Mrs. Hale kept beside the register. Mrs. Hale read it without speaking, then folded it carefully and put it back inside the book. Some things, she said quietly, belong to the people they were written for. She gave Iris the novel anyway, and Iris kept it on her nightstand long after the coffee bar opened, mostly to remind herself that a quiet room full of old books could still hold a small piece of someone's life.
Passage P3
To all building staff: This memo updates the fire safety procedure and applies to every floor. If you discover a fire, shout a warning, then call the emergency line from a phone outside the affected room. Do not attempt to fight a large fire; use a fire extinguisher only on a small, contained blaze when the exit is clear behind you. When you hear the alarm, stop what you are doing, turn off any equipment if it is safe to do so, and leave by the nearest stairwell. Never use the elevator during an alarm, because it may stop between floors. Close doors behind you as you leave, since that slows the spread of smoke, and stay low if the corridor is filled with smoke because cleaner air sits near the floor. Walk instead of running, and report to your assembly point in the parking lot, where supervisors count everyone. Do not re-enter the building until the fire marshal declares it safe. The whole drill takes about four minutes, and every practice run imprints the route so that an emergency feels familiar rather than frightening.
Passage P4
The sense of taste begins on the tongue, where clusters of cells called taste buds sit inside small bumps. Each taste bud holds receptor cells that respond to one of five basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami, the savory taste of proteins. When food dissolves in saliva, chemicals reach the buds, receptors fire, and signals travel along nerves to the brain. Yet the tongue alone cannot tell the difference between an apple and a pear, which is where smell comes in. As you chew, aromatic molecules drift up the back of the throat into the nose, and the brain blends the taste signals with these smell signals. That is why food seems bland when you have a stuffy nose, and why a hot meal tastes different from the same meal cold, since heat releases more aromas. Taste buds also turn over quickly, replacing themselves every week or two, which is why a burnt tongue recovers in days. Bitter is the most sensitive of the five tastes, a chemical warning system that helped early humans avoid toxic plants.
Passage P5
From 1892 to 1924, more than twelve million immigrants entered the United States through Ellis Island, a small island in New York Harbor. Most travelers came in steerage, the cheapest class of ship passage, and the crossing could take one to two weeks. At the island, lines of passengers climbed the stairs to the Great Hall, where doctors watched for signs of illness as people walked past, a screening so quick it was called the six-second physical. Each adult was asked roughly thirty questions, including name, occupation, and whether they could read, and inspectors compared the answers with the ship's manifest list. Legal and medical checks had to be passed quickly, because a steerage passenger could not afford to wait while money ran out. About two percent of arrivals were detained, often for medical treatment, and fewer than two percent were turned away. Most processing took three to five hours, and afterward ferries carried people to the mainland. The island closed in 1954 after immigration laws changed in the 1920s, and in 1990 it reopened as a museum.
Passage P6
Bessie Coleman was born in 1892 in Texas, the tenth of thirteen children of parents who worked as sharecroppers. She walked four miles to a segregated school, saved money for a year and a half of college, and then moved to Chicago, where she worked as a manicurist. Aviation fascinated her, but American flight schools of that era refused to train women, and especially Black women. Her answer was to learn French and travel to Paris, where she earned her pilot's license in 1921, becoming the first Black woman in the world to do so. She returned home as a barnstormer, performing loops and figure eights at air shows across the country, and she refused to appear at any event that barred Black spectators. She planned to open a flight school for Black students, but in 1926, at age thirty-four, she died when a test flight crashed. Her example outlived her: by the 1940s Black aviators had formed a club that bore her name, and a generation of pilots she never met called her their inspiration.
All 30 questions with answers
Question 1. Key Ideas & Details easy
What is the main idea of the passage about how caves form?
See passage P1 above.
- A. Caves are created and decorated by the slow chemical action of water on limestone. (correct)
- B. Rainwater is too weak to have any effect on solid rock.
- C. Stalagmites are more common than stalactites in most caves.
- D. Most caves were carved by fast-moving underground rivers.
Explanation: The passage explains that acid rainwater slowly dissolves limestone to open passages and chambers, and that dripping water later builds stalactites and stalagmites. The other options contradict the passage or raise points it never makes, making the slow chemical action the central idea.
Question 2. Key Ideas & Details medium
According to the passage, rainwater is able to dissolve limestone because it
See passage P1 above.
- A. falls from a great height with great force.
- B. contains carbon dioxide absorbed from the air and soil. (correct)
- C. is warmer than the rock that it touches.
- D. carries grains of sand that scrape the stone.
Explanation: The passage states that rain absorbs carbon dioxide from the air and from decaying plants in the soil, becoming a weak carbonic acid that dissolves limestone. Falling force, warmth, and sand are not part of the explanation the passage gives for the dissolving.
Question 3. Craft & Structure medium
The phrase 'a slow photograph of weather working on stone' is used to convey that a cave
See passage P1 above.
- A. was formed suddenly during a single violent storm.
- B. contains ancient images painted by early humans.
- C. records the effects of weather over a very long time. (correct)
- D. looks exactly the same in every season of the year.
Explanation: Calling a cave a slow photograph compares it to an image built up gradually, reinforcing the idea that acid rain and dripping water leave their marks on rock over thousands or millions of years. The other options describe sudden creation or human art, which the passage does not support.
Question 4. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas hard
Which new finding, if real, would most weaken the claim that stalactites grow extremely slowly?
See passage P1 above.
- A. Caves formed in limestone are found on every continent.
- B. Dripping water inside one cave contains more minerals in winter than in summer.
- C. Some cave ceilings have no stalactites hanging from them at all.
- D. Stalactites in one cave were measured to grow noticeably thicker within a single year. (correct)
Explanation: The passage supports the slow-growth claim with the example of a millimeter per decade, so measurable thickening within a single year would directly contradict that rate. The other options concern location, water chemistry, or the absence of stalactites, none of which speak to growth speed.
Question 5. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas medium
Based on the passage, which location would be the best place to find a newly forming cave?
See passage P1 above.
- A. A region of thick limestone layers that receives heavy rainfall. (correct)
- B. A desert plateau that receives almost no rain at all.
- C. A valley where the bedrock is made of hard volcanic rock.
- D. A coastal plain built almost entirely of loose sand.
Explanation: The passage says caves form where acid rainwater seeps through limestone, so plentiful rain falling on thick limestone is the right combination of ingredients. The other settings lack the necessary rainfall or the necessary rock type for the process described.
Question 6. Key Ideas & Details easy
Why did the bookshop close at the end of April?
See passage P2 above.
- A. Mrs. Hale could no longer read or write well enough to run it.
- B. Iris stopped coming after school to help sort the shelves.
- C. The shop had been closed for several years before the story begins.
- D. The new owners of the building planned to open a coffee bar there. (correct)
Explanation: The passage says Mrs. Hale had run the shop for forty years and that the new owners of the building wanted a coffee bar instead, which is why the shop closed. The other options blame Iris, imply the shop was already closed, or question Mrs. Hale's abilities, none of which the passage supports.
Question 7. Key Ideas & Details medium
When did Iris find the letter inside the novel?
See passage P2 above.
- A. Years before the shop closed for good.
- B. During her very first visit to the bookshop.
- C. On the final afternoon before the shop closed. (correct)
- D. After the coffee bar had already opened in the building.
Explanation: The passage says Iris found the letter on the final afternoon while helping sort the shelves, before the shop closed for good at the end of April. The other options place the discovery at a different point in the story, all of which contradict the stated timing.
Question 8. Craft & Structure hard
The detail that the letter was dated 1962 is included mainly to show that
See passage P2 above.
- A. the novel had been a bestseller during that year.
- B. the letter belonged to Mrs. Hale's past. (correct)
- C. Iris was skilled at sorting very old books.
- D. the coffee bar opened during the 1960s.
Explanation: The date places the letter decades in the past, and the signature matching the photograph beside the register ties it to Mrs. Hale's earlier life, suggesting it was written when she was younger. The other options connect the date to the novel's sales, Iris's skills, or the coffee bar, none of which the passage states.
Question 9. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas medium
Which statement best explains why Iris kept the novel after the coffee bar opened?
See passage P2 above.
- A. It reminded her that old books can hold pieces of people's lives. (correct)
- B. The novel itself was extremely rare and valuable.
- C. Mrs. Hale had asked her to return it every month.
- D. She planned to sell it to the new coffee bar owners.
Explanation: The passage says Iris kept the novel to remind herself that a quiet room full of old books could still hold a small piece of someone's life, a lesson the hidden letter proved. The other options give motives such as value or obligation that the passage never mentions.
Question 10. Craft & Structure hard
The detail that Mrs. Hale 'read it without speaking' mainly suggests that
See passage P2 above.
- A. she was annoyed with the person who wrote the letter.
- B. the letter had private meaning for her. (correct)
- C. she could not understand the language of the letter.
- D. the letter was too long to finish reading quickly.
Explanation: Reading in silence and then folding the letter away while saying that some things belong to the people they were written for shows the letter touched something personal in Mrs. Hale's own history. The other options assign reactions such as annoyance, confusion, or impatience that the passage gives no evidence for.
Question 11. Key Ideas & Details easy
According to the memo, a fire extinguisher should be used only when
See passage P3 above.
- A. the alarm has been sounding for more than five minutes.
- B. the smoke is thick enough to hide the exit.
- C. the fire is small and the exit behind you is clear. (correct)
- D. the building has already been fully evacuated.
Explanation: The memo limits extinguisher use to small, contained blazes when the exit is clear behind the user, and it tells staff not to attempt large fires. The other options describe conditions that would make using an extinguisher unsafe or unnecessary according to the procedure.
Question 12. Key Ideas & Details medium
What does the memo say staff should do right after they hear the alarm?
See passage P3 above.
- A. Report to the assembly point in the parking lot.
- B. Open every door they pass to check for smoke.
- C. Close the windows and lock the office door.
- D. Stop what they are doing and leave by the nearest stairwell. (correct)
Explanation: The memo instructs staff to stop what they are doing, turn off equipment if it is safe, and leave by the nearest stairwell when the alarm sounds. Reporting to the assembly point comes only after leaving the building, so it is not the first step listed.
Question 13. Key Ideas & Details medium
Why does the memo tell staff to close doors behind them as they leave?
See passage P3 above.
- A. To slow the spread of smoke through the building. (correct)
- B. To keep the offices warm during the winter.
- C. To prevent noise from reaching other floors.
- D. To make rooms easier for the fire marshal to inspect.
Explanation: The memo says closing doors behind you slows the spread of smoke, which protects escape routes and other floors. Keeping warm, reducing noise, and helping later inspections are not reasons given anywhere in the stated procedure.
Question 14. Craft & Structure medium
The closing sentence about emergencies feeling 'familiar rather than frightening' primarily serves to
See passage P3 above.
- A. compare the alarm sound to a loud musical instrument.
- B. encourage staff to take the evacuation drill seriously. (correct)
- C. warn staff that large fires are extremely dangerous.
- D. explain why the assembly point is in the parking lot.
Explanation: By arguing that practice makes an emergency feel familiar instead of frightening, the memo gives staff a reason to value the drill as preparation rather than treat it as a nuisance. That purpose is persuasive, not a description of fire danger, alarm sounds, or the assembly point.
Question 15. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas hard
Based on the memo, in which situation would using the elevator be acceptable?
See passage P3 above.
- A. When you are on the top floor and the fire is below you.
- B. When the smoke alarm stops sounding on its own.
- C. Never during an alarm. (correct)
- D. When a supervisor rides with you.
Explanation: The memo states plainly that staff should never use the elevator during an alarm because it may stop between floors. Every option that begins during an alarm is therefore covered by that absolute rule, making 'never during an alarm' the only acceptable reading.
Question 16. Key Ideas & Details medium
According to the passage, which of the five basic tastes is the most sensitive?
See passage P4 above.
- A. Sweet.
- B. Salty.
- C. Sour.
- D. Bitter. (correct)
Explanation: The passage states that bitter is the most sensitive of the five tastes and describes it as a chemical warning system that helped early humans avoid toxic plants. The other four tastes are listed but are never described as the most sensitive, so they cannot be the correct answer.
Question 17. Key Ideas & Details medium
Why does food taste bland when a person has a stuffy nose?
See passage P4 above.
- A. Aromatic molecules cannot reach the nose, so the brain receives fewer smell signals. (correct)
- B. Taste buds stop working entirely during a cold.
- C. Saliva production increases and washes the flavor away.
- D. The tongue becomes too warm to detect sweet foods.
Explanation: The passage explains that the brain blends taste signals with smell signals, and that food seems bland when the nose is blocked because aromatic molecules cannot reach it. The other options describe effects on taste buds, saliva, or temperature that the passage never attributes to a stuffy nose.
Question 18. Craft & Structure hard
The author calls bitter 'a chemical warning system' mainly to explain why
See passage P4 above.
- A. some foods are sweetened with extra sugar.
- B. bitter perception is so sensitive. (correct)
- C. taste buds replace themselves every week or two.
- D. hot meals release more aromas than cold meals.
Explanation: The passage links the warning-system idea directly to sensitivity, saying that bitter's role in warning early humans away from toxic plants explains why it is the most sensitive of the five tastes. The other options are details about sweetness, bud replacement, or heat that serve different points.
Question 19. Craft & Structure easy
How is the passage organized overall?
See passage P4 above.
- A. As an argument that smell matters more than taste.
- B. As a list of the five basic tastes only.
- C. As an explanation of how taste works and what affects it. (correct)
- D. As a chronological history of taste research.
Explanation: The passage walks through how taste buds and smell work together, then adds related influences such as temperature and the rapid replacement of taste buds. It never argues one sense is superior, limits itself to a list, or narrates a history of research.
Question 20. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas medium
Based on the passage, which meal would most likely be tasted most strongly?
See passage P4 above.
- A. A cold sandwich eaten while the nose is blocked.
- B. A plain cracker eaten immediately after waking up.
- C. A sweet dessert eaten while the tongue is still recovering from a burn.
- D. A hot, aromatic dish eaten while the nose is clear. (correct)
Explanation: The passage says heat releases more aromas and that the brain blends smell with taste, so a hot aromatic dish eaten with a clear nose combines both advantages. The other choices include a blocked nose, a healing tongue, or a plain food, all conditions the passage says weaken flavor.
Question 21. Key Ideas & Details easy
What is the main idea of the passage about Ellis Island?
See passage P5 above.
- A. Ellis Island processed millions of immigrants through quick legal and medical screenings. (correct)
- B. Steerage passengers were treated better than first-class passengers.
- C. The island closed because no immigrants wanted to enter anymore.
- D. Doctors at Ellis Island rejected most of the arriving passengers.
Explanation: The passage describes how millions of immigrants were inspected quickly through medical and legal checks at Ellis Island between 1892 and 1924. The other options contradict the numbers in the passage, which say only about two percent were detained and fewer than two percent were turned away.
Question 22. Key Ideas & Details medium
Why did the legal and medical checks at Ellis Island have to be completed quickly?
See passage P5 above.
- A. Because the ferry to the mainland left every hour on the hour.
- B. Because most passengers had little money and could not afford long delays. (correct)
- C. Because the Great Hall closed at sunset every day.
- D. Because inspectors were paid for each passenger they processed.
Explanation: The passage states that a steerage passenger could not afford to wait while money ran out, so checks had to be passed quickly. Ferry schedules, closing hours, and payment methods are reasons that never appear anywhere in the passage.
Question 23. Craft & Structure hard
The phrase 'six-second physical' is used to emphasize
See passage P5 above.
- A. how thorough the medical examination was.
- B. the exact number of doctors working in the Great Hall.
- C. the speed of the medical screening. (correct)
- D. the cost of a doctor's visit in the year 1900.
Explanation: The nickname emphasizes that doctors judged arriving passengers as they walked past, an observation short enough to last only seconds. The passage pairs the phrase with the idea of watching people walk by, not with thoroughness, a count of doctors, or the cost of visits.
Question 24. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas hard
Which statement is best supported by the information in the passage?
See passage P5 above.
- A. Most immigrants who reached Ellis Island were eventually permitted to enter. (correct)
- B. The majority of arrivals were detained for medical treatment.
- C. Nearly all steerage passengers were turned away.
- D. Immigrants had to prove they could read English fluently.
Explanation: The passage says about two percent of arrivals were detained and fewer than two percent were turned away, so well over ninety percent were admitted, which supports the claim that most immigrants entered. The other statements contradict or greatly exceed the numbers the passage gives.
Question 25. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas medium
Based on the passage, the main reason Ellis Island closed in 1954 was that
See passage P5 above.
- A. immigration laws changed during the 1920s, so the island no longer played its old role. (correct)
- B. the Great Hall was destroyed by a fire.
- C. steerage class was eliminated because it was too expensive.
- D. all arriving immigrants were processed on the mainland after 1930.
Explanation: The passage ties the closing directly to changes in immigration law during the 1920s, which ended the island's role as the main entry point for newcomers. A fire, the cost of steerage, and mainland processing are reasons that never appear in the passage.
Question 26. Key Ideas & Details easy
Why did Bessie Coleman travel to France to earn her pilot's license?
See passage P6 above.
- A. France was the only country in the world with flight schools.
- B. American flight schools refused to train women, especially Black women. (correct)
- C. Her sharecropper parents had always lived in Europe.
- D. Flying airplanes was illegal in the United States in 1921.
Explanation: The passage says American flight schools of that era refused to train women and especially Black women, so Coleman learned French and traveled to Paris instead. The other options claim France was the only option, place her family in Europe, or call flying illegal, none of which the passage supports.
Question 27. Key Ideas & Details medium
What did Bessie Coleman do that made her the first Black woman pilot in the world?
See passage P6 above.
- A. She opened a flight school in Chicago before learning to fly.
- B. She refused to fly in any air show outside the state of Texas.
- C. She learned French and earned her license in Paris in 1921. (correct)
- D. She taught herself to fly using a borrowed military plane.
Explanation: The passage states that Coleman learned French, traveled to Paris, and earned her pilot's license there in 1921, becoming the first Black woman in the world to do so. The other options are either unmentioned or contradict the order of events in her career.
Question 28. Craft & Structure hard
The detail that Coleman refused to perform at any event that barred Black spectators mainly shows that she
See passage P6 above.
- A. preferred flying in small towns to flying in big cities.
- B. was afraid of performing in front of large crowds.
- C. wanted to save money on event admission tickets.
- D. demanded equal treatment even when it cost her work. (correct)
Explanation: Because turning down segregated events could mean losing paying shows, the detail shows Coleman put her principles above income and convenience. The other options read the refusal as caution, preference for small towns, or thrift, interpretations the passage never supports.
Question 29. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas medium
Which detail best supports the claim that Coleman's example inspired other Black aviators?
See passage P6 above.
- A. Black aviators later formed a club that bore her name. (correct)
- B. She was the tenth of thirteen children.
- C. She worked as a manicurist in Chicago.
- D. Her parents worked as sharecroppers in Texas.
Explanation: Naming a pilots' club after Coleman is direct evidence that later aviators honored her, and the passage adds that a generation of pilots she never met called her their inspiration. The other details describe her childhood and jobs, which show her background rather than her influence.
Question 30. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas hard
Based on the passage, which of the following was NOT an obstacle that Bessie Coleman faced?
See passage P6 above.
- A. Growing up poor as the child of sharecroppers.
- B. Losing her position at the flight school she planned to open. (correct)
- C. Being refused training by American flight schools.
- D. Learning a new language in order to train abroad.
Explanation: The flight school Coleman planned was never opened because she died before founding it, so losing a position there is not something the passage describes. Poverty in childhood, refusal at American schools, and learning French are all obstacles the passage explicitly states.