Free TEAS 7 Reading Practice Test 8 — 30 Questions With Full Explanations
Test 8 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
Composting turns kitchen scraps and yard waste into dark, crumbly soil in a process driven entirely by living things. Bacteria and fungi do most of the work, breaking down plant matter the way they break down fallen leaves in a forest. For a pile to decompose quickly, it needs the right balance of two kinds of material: greens, which are wet and rich in nitrogen, such as fruit peels and grass clippings, and browns, which are dry and rich in carbon, such as dried leaves and shredded cardboard. Too many greens makes the pile slimy and smelly, while too many browns slows the process almost to a stop. The pile also needs oxygen, because the busiest decomposers are aerobic, and moisture, roughly the dampness of a wrung-out sponge. A well-tended pile heats up on its own as the microbes multiply, sometimes to more than fifty degrees Celsius, and that warmth is a signal that breakdown is proceeding well. Finished compost, called humus, holds water and nutrients in the soil, feeds earthworms, and reduces the need for chemical fertilizer. Gardeners often say the best soil is made, not bought, and the pile behind the shed is proof.
Passage P2
Maya had watched her uncle blow glass since she was small, but the first goblet she tried on her own came out lopsided, the bowl sagging toward the floor like a melted candle. Her uncle examined it without speaking, then set it on the cooling shelf beside the good pieces. The glass does not know what you want, he said at last. It knows only what you do. You pulled the bowl too soon, while the gather was still heavy. Heat the piece again, and let the shape find its own weight. On her second attempt Maya worked more slowly, turning the pipe in her hands and letting the soft glass settle before she opened the bowl. The result was still imperfect, tilted slightly, but it would hold water. Her uncle nodded and set it on the shelf with the first one. Keep both, he said. In twenty years you will look at them and remember that you learned patience, not glass. Maya did keep them, and he was right about the patience, though she often suspected he was also right that the glass remembered everything she did to it, including her hesitation.
Passage P3
To all kitchen staff: this memo updates the evening closing procedure and takes effect on the first of the month. After the last customer is served, begin by turning off the flat top and the fryers and allowing them to cool before any surface cleaning is attempted. Next, move all perishable items from the serving line into the walk-in cooler within thirty minutes of closing; never leave dairy, eggs, or prepared salads at room temperature overnight. Wash and sanitize every cutting board and utensil that touched raw meat, using the three-sink method: wash, rinse, then sanitize in the chemical bath for a full sixty seconds. At the end of the shift, wipe down all counters with the blue sanitizer cloths, never the red ones, which are reserved for raw meat areas. Finally, record the cooler temperature on the log sheet, initial the closing checklist, and lock the walk-in. Any item left unlogged in the morning will be treated as a missed step. Questions about this procedure should be directed to the shift supervisor before the first closing under the new rule.
Passage P4
Each kidney contains about a million tiny filters called nephrons, and together the two kidneys process roughly 180 liters of blood plasma every day. Blood enters a nephron through a tangled knot of capillaries called the glomerulus, where pressure forces water and small dissolved molecules out of the blood and into a collecting cup, the Bowman's capsule. Cells and large proteins are too big to pass, so they stay in the bloodstream. The filtered fluid, now called filtrate, then travels along a long tubule where the body reclaims what it still needs. Glucose, amino acids, and most of the water are reabsorbed back into the blood, which is why a healthy person's urine contains almost no sugar. Wastes that are not reabsorbed, chiefly urea from protein breakdown and excess salts, continue down the tubule and join the urine. The tubules also fine-tune the body's balance of sodium, potassium, and acid. When kidney function declines, wastes build up in the blood and fluid accumulates in the tissues, which is why advanced kidney disease produces swelling and fatigue long before other symptoms appear.
Passage P5
For centuries, ships moving between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans had to round the tip of South America, a journey of thousands of extra kilometers through the stormy Drake Passage. The idea of cutting a canal across the narrow Isthmus of Panama dates to the French attempt under Ferdinand de Lesseps in the 1880s, which collapsed after yellow fever and malaria killed thousands of workers. The United States took over the project in 1904, and its success rested on two changes: the decision to build a lock canal with a chain of artificial lakes rather than a sea-level cut, and an aggressive campaign against the mosquitoes that transmitted the diseases, led by the physician William Gorgas. The work was brutally hard; laborers drilled through rock, dredged mud, and operated enormous steam shovels in heat and rain, and thousands died in accidents and illness before the canal opened in 1914. The locks lift ships twenty-six meters to the level of Gatun Lake, and the canal shortened the sea voyage between New York and San Francisco by more than twelve thousand kilometers.
Passage P6
Marie Curie was born in Warsaw in 1867, when Poland was under Russian rule and women were barred from university study. She saved money working as a governess, then moved to Paris, where she studied physics and mathematics at the Sorbonne, often cold and hungry but first in her class. With her husband Pierre she investigated a puzzling property of the element uranium: it gave off rays that fogged photographic plates even in darkness. In 1898 the couple announced the discovery of two new elements, polonium, named for her homeland, and radium, which they isolated from tons of raw ore in a drafty shed. In 1903 Curie shared the Nobel Prize in Physics, and in 1911 she won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the first person ever to win two Nobel Prizes. During the First World War she organized a fleet of mobile X-ray units, called petites Curies, that brought imaging to field hospitals. She died in 1934 of a blood disorder almost certainly caused by her lifelong exposure to radiation, a price paid while the danger was still unknown.
All 30 questions with answers
Question 1. Key Ideas & Details easy
Which statement best expresses the main idea of the passage about composting?
See passage P1 above.
- A. Composting turns kitchen scraps and yard waste into soil through the work of living organisms and the right balance of materials. (correct)
- B. Compost piles require expensive equipment before they can produce usable soil.
- C. Bacteria cannot survive in compost piles and do most of the work of breaking down waste.
- D. Finished compost is chemically identical to the fresh scraps it is made from.
Explanation: Every sentence describes how composting works, from the microbes and the ratio of greens to browns to the finished humus, so the main idea is that organisms and conditions turn waste into soil. The other options contradict the passage.
Question 2. Key Ideas & Details medium
According to the passage, fruit peels and grass clippings are classified as
See passage P1 above.
- A. browns, which are rich in carbon.
- B. greens, which are rich in nitrogen. (correct)
- C. greens, which are rich in carbon.
- D. browns, which are rich in nitrogen.
Explanation: The passage defines greens as wet and rich in nitrogen, naming fruit peels and grass clippings as examples, so those items are greens rich in nitrogen. The passage attaches carbon to the dry browns, not to these items.
Question 3. Key Ideas & Details medium
What does the heat produced by a well-tended pile indicate, according to the passage?
See passage P1 above.
- A. that the pile is too dry to decompose.
- B. that too many browns have been added.
- C. that microbes are multiplying and breakdown is proceeding well. (correct)
- D. that the pile has already finished decomposing.
Explanation: The passage states that a well-tended pile heats up as the microbes multiply and that warmth is a signal that breakdown is proceeding well. Dry piles, excess browns, and finished compost are not connected to heat in the passage.
Question 4. Craft & Structure hard
What purpose does the quotation from gardeners serve at the end of the passage?
See passage P1 above.
- A. It lists an additional step that gardeners must follow.
- B. It introduces a scientific disagreement among gardeners.
- C. It reports a measurement taken from the pile.
- D. It concludes with a reflective statement that reinforces the value of composting. (correct)
Explanation: The final sentence is a closing reflection, using a common saying to affirm that homemade compost is valuable and effective. It does not add a process step, report a measurement, or present a disagreement among gardeners.
Question 5. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas hard
A gardener's compost pile has become slimy and smells strongly. Based on the passage, the most likely cause is
See passage P1 above.
- A. finished humus that has been left in the bin too long.
- B. an excess of greens relative to browns. (correct)
- C. too little nitrogen in the pile.
- D. moving the pile out of direct sunlight.
Explanation: The passage says an oversupply of greens makes the pile slimy and smelly, so too many greens relative to browns is the stated cause. Finished humus, low nitrogen, and sunlight are not described as producing slime or odor.
Question 6. Key Ideas & Details easy
Why did Maya's first goblet turn out lopsided?
See passage P2 above.
- A. The furnace was hotter than usual on that day.
- B. Her uncle refused to show her how to begin.
- C. She pulled the bowl too soon, while the gather was still heavy. (correct)
- D. She used a piece of glass that had already cooled.
Explanation: The uncle tells Maya directly that she pulled the bowl too soon while the gather was heavy, and that is why the shape sagged. Nothing in the passage mentions furnace temperature, her uncle refusing to help, or using cooled glass.
Question 7. Key Ideas & Details easy
According to her uncle, what will Maya remember in twenty years when she looks at the goblets?
See passage P2 above.
- A. how to move more quickly at the furnace.
- B. how to choose a better grade of glass.
- C. how to keep pieces off the cooling shelf.
- D. that she learned patience, not glass. (correct)
Explanation: The uncle says plainly that in twenty years Maya will look at the goblets and remember that she learned patience, not glass. Speed, glass quality, and the cooling shelf are not mentioned as the lesson he predicts.
Question 8. Craft & Structure medium
What is the main function of the uncle's first speech in the passage?
See passage P2 above.
- A. It explains why the goblet failed and tells Maya how to correct it. (correct)
- B. It criticizes Maya for wasting materials from the furnace.
- C. It announces that Maya should give up glassblowing.
- D. It compares glassblowing to cooking.
Explanation: The uncle answers Maya's mistake by naming its cause, pulling too soon while the glass was heavy, and giving the remedy, reheating and letting the shape settle. He does not scold her, urge her to quit, or compare the craft to cooking.
Question 9. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas medium
Which statement best captures the meaning of the uncle's remark that the glass remembers everything she did to it?
See passage P2 above.
- A. Glass stores images of the maker like a photograph.
- B. The finished piece reveals every choice the maker made while working. (correct)
- C. Glass must be reheated in order to forget past mistakes.
- D. Maya's hesitation caused permanent damage to the blowing pipe.
Explanation: The remark is a metaphor for how the goblet reflects Maya's working choices, such as pulling too soon or hesitating, which is why the first piece came out lopsided. It does not mean literal photography, forgetting, or damage to the pipe.
Question 10. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas hard
Which detail most strongly supports the conclusion that the uncle values Maya's learning process over the finished product?
See passage P2 above.
- A. He examines the first goblet without speaking at first.
- B. He sets the good pieces high on the cooling shelf.
- C. He tells Maya to keep both imperfect goblets as reminders of what they taught her. (correct)
- D. He watches silently while Maya works at the furnace.
Explanation: Keeping the failed and imperfect goblets as reminders of the lesson shows that the uncle prizes what Maya learned more than a flawless result. Examining the piece silently does not show this, and the shelf and his watching are neutral details.
Question 11. Key Ideas & Details easy
According to the memo, what must staff do before cleaning the flat top and the fryers?
See passage P3 above.
- A. move all perishables into the walk-in cooler.
- B. record the temperature on the log sheet.
- C. wash the cutting boards that touched raw meat.
- D. allow the equipment to cool first. (correct)
Explanation: The memo instructs staff to turn off the flat top and fryers and allow them to cool before attempting any surface cleaning. The other actions are required later in the procedure, not before cleaning the equipment.
Question 12. Craft & Structure medium
What is the primary purpose of the memo?
See passage P3 above.
- A. to update the evening closing procedure for kitchen staff. (correct)
- B. to describe the benefits of a newly introduced menu.
- C. to announce a change in hiring rules.
- D. to compare two types of cleaning cloth.
Explanation: The first sentence states that the memo updates the evening closing procedure, and every following instruction belongs to that closing routine. Menus, hiring, and comparing cloths are topics the memo never discusses.
Question 13. Craft & Structure medium
In the instruction about wiping down counters, the word 'which' refers to
See passage P3 above.
- A. the blue sanitizer cloths.
- B. the red cloths. (correct)
- C. the cutting boards.
- D. the counters.
Explanation: The sentence reads that staff should never use the red ones, which are reserved for raw meat areas, so the relative clause attaches to the red cloths. The blue cloths, boards, and counters are the objects of different clauses.
Question 14. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas hard
A worker completes the closing steps but forgets to initial the checklist. Based on the memo, which outcome is most likely?
See passage P3 above.
- A. The walk-in cooler will lock automatically.
- B. The worker will be required to clean the flat top again.
- C. The unlogged item will be treated as a missed step in the morning. (correct)
- D. Nothing will happen because the checklist is optional.
Explanation: The memo closes by warning that any item left unlogged in the morning will be treated as a missed step, so an uninitialed checklist would draw that result. Automatic locking, re-cleaning the flat top, and an optional checklist are unsupported.
Question 15. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas hard
Which action does the memo require staff to complete within thirty minutes of closing?
See passage P3 above.
- A. washing the utensils that touched raw meat.
- B. wiping down all counters with the blue cloths.
- C. recording the cooler temperature on the log sheet.
- D. moving perishable items from the serving line into the walk-in cooler. (correct)
Explanation: The memo explicitly sets a thirty-minute deadline for moving perishable items into the walk-in cooler and forbids leaving dairy, eggs, or salads out overnight. The other tasks are required but no time limit is attached to them.
Question 16. Key Ideas & Details easy
Which statement best expresses the main idea of the passage about how the kidneys work?
See passage P4 above.
- A. The kidneys filter blood and reclaim needed substances while allowing wastes to leave the body in urine. (correct)
- B. The kidneys manufacture most of the blood that circulates through the body.
- C. Healthy urine normally contains large amounts of glucose.
- D. Kidney disease produces no symptoms until the kidneys stop completely.
Explanation: The passage walks through filtration at the glomerulus, reabsorption in the tubules, and the removal of wastes in urine, so the main idea is that kidneys filter and reclaim while excreting waste. The other options directly contradict the text.
Question 17. Key Ideas & Details medium
According to the passage, which substances are too large to pass through the glomerulus?
See passage P4 above.
- A. water and small dissolved molecules.
- B. cells and large proteins. (correct)
- C. glucose and amino acids.
- D. urea and excess salts.
Explanation: The passage states that cells and large proteins are too big to pass the filter and stay in the bloodstream, while water, small molecules, glucose, amino acids, urea, and salts either pass through or are handled later. Cells and large proteins are the ones blocked.
Question 18. Craft & Structure medium
How does the passage organize information about the kidney?
See passage P4 above.
- A. as a comparison of two rival theories of kidney disease.
- B. as a chronological history of kidney research.
- C. as a step-by-step description of the path fluid takes through the nephron. (correct)
- D. as a persuasive argument for donating kidneys.
Explanation: The passage follows the filtrate in order: entry at the glomerulus, collection in the capsule, travel along the tubule, reabsorption, and waste removal. It never compares theories, narrates history, or argues for donation.
Question 19. Craft & Structure medium
Why does the passage end with a description of swelling and fatigue?
See passage P4 above.
- A. to explain how kidney disease is treated in hospitals.
- B. to list the organs that surround the kidneys.
- C. to describe how nephrons are counted.
- D. to connect declining kidney function with the symptoms of swelling and fatigue. (correct)
Explanation: The last sentence links reduced kidney function to a buildup of wastes and fluid, producing swelling and fatigue, so it explains the outward signs of advanced disease. Treatment, surrounding organs, and counting nephrons are not discussed.
Question 20. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas hard
A patient's urine sample contains a large amount of glucose. Based on the passage, which part of the kidney is most likely failing?
See passage P4 above.
- A. the tubules, which normally reabsorb glucose back into the blood. (correct)
- B. the Bowman's capsule, which normally produces urine directly.
- C. the glomerulus, which normally filters glucose out of the blood.
- D. the ureters, which normally add glucose to the urine.
Explanation: Because the passage says glucose and amino acids are reabsorbed in the tubule, sugar in urine points to a tubule problem. The capsule collects filtrate rather than producing urine, the glomerulus lets glucose pass rather than removing it, and ureters carry urine without adding sugar.
Question 21. Key Ideas & Details medium
Which statement best expresses the main idea of the passage about the building of the canal?
See passage P5 above.
- A. The Panama Canal was never completed because of disease and engineering failure.
- B. A canal across the Isthmus of Panama shortened sea travel once locks and mosquito control overcame earlier failures. (correct)
- C. Ships still prefer the long route around South America despite the canal.
- D. The canal was completed by the French company in the 1880s.
Explanation: The passage moves from the long sea route, to the failed French attempt, to the successful American project with locks and mosquito control, so the main idea is that the canal shortened the voyage after those problems were solved. The other options contradict the text.
Question 22. Key Ideas & Details medium
According to the passage, why did the French attempt to build the canal fail?
See passage P5 above.
- A. The canal was completed but immediately abandoned by shippers.
- B. Laborers could not drill through the rock of the isthmus.
- C. Yellow fever and malaria killed thousands of workers. (correct)
- D. Ships quickly grew too large for the locks.
Explanation: The passage says the French effort collapsed after yellow fever and malaria killed thousands of workers. The canal was not completed by the French, rock drilling was later accomplished, and locks were part of the American design, not the French failure.
Question 23. Key Ideas & Details medium
Which two changes does the passage credit for the success of the American project?
See passage P5 above.
- A. sea-level construction and steam shovels.
- B. a shorter route through the Drake Passage.
- C. Gatun Lake and a widened Drake Passage.
- D. a lock canal and mosquito control. (correct)
Explanation: The passage names exactly two changes behind the American success: building a lock canal with artificial lakes instead of a sea-level cut, and the campaign against disease-carrying mosquitoes. Sea-level construction and the Drake Passage were part of the problem, not the solution.
Question 24. Craft & Structure hard
Which description best matches the way the passage is organized?
See passage P5 above.
- A. as a problem-and-solution account, from the long sea route to the canal that shortened it. (correct)
- B. as a comparison of two modern canals built in the twentieth century.
- C. as a biography of the canal's chief engineer.
- D. as a set of instructions for operating the locks.
Explanation: The passage opens with the problem of the long voyage, then presents the failures and the two solutions that finally worked, closing with the canal's opening and its effect. It compares no other canal, tells no single engineer's life story, and gives no operating instructions.
Question 25. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas hard
Based on the passage, a ship traveling from New York to San Francisco in 1915 most likely
See passage P5 above.
- A. still sailed around South America to avoid paying tolls.
- B. could pass through the canal, which had opened the year before. (correct)
- C. used the canal only for cargo and never for passengers.
- D. was lifted more than twelve thousand meters by the locks.
Explanation: The canal opened in 1914 and the locks lift ships twenty-six meters, so a 1915 voyage could use it. The passage gives no reason ships avoided tolls, says nothing about passengers, and the twelve thousand figure is kilometers of distance saved, not a lift height.
Question 26. Key Ideas & Details easy
Which statement best expresses the main idea of the passage about Marie Curie?
See passage P6 above.
- A. Marie Curie spent her working life studying music and literature.
- B. Marie Curie's discoveries were made entirely by her husband Pierre.
- C. Marie Curie overcame barriers to become a pioneering scientist who won two Nobel Prizes. (correct)
- D. Marie Curie refused to use X-ray equipment during the war.
Explanation: The passage follows Curie from barred university study to the Sorbonne, her element discoveries, two Nobel Prizes, and wartime X-ray work, so the main idea is her achievements despite obstacles. The other options contradict the text.
Question 27. Key Ideas & Details medium
Why did Curie name one of the new elements polonium?
See passage P6 above.
- A. in honor of the university where she studied.
- B. because the element glowed in the dark.
- C. because she isolated it in Paris.
- D. in honor of her homeland, Poland. (correct)
Explanation: The passage states that polonium was named for her homeland, Poland, where she was born in Warsaw. The university, glowing, and Paris are not given as reasons for the name.
Question 28. Craft & Structure medium
What is the function of the detail that Curie was often cold and hungry but first in her class?
See passage P6 above.
- A. It emphasizes how much she sacrificed and how well she performed as a student. (correct)
- B. It proves that the Sorbonne provided free meals to its students.
- C. It explains why she left Poland and moved to Paris.
- D. It shows that she preferred chemistry to physics.
Explanation: The detail pairs hardship, being cold and hungry, with achievement, ranking first, which underscores her sacrifice and success. It says nothing about free meals, does not explain her move, and does not rank her preference between the sciences.
Question 29. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas medium
Which detail best supports the claim that Curie's work came before knowledge of its dangers?
See passage P6 above.
- A. She shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903.
- B. She died in 1934 of a blood disorder almost certainly caused by lifelong radiation exposure. (correct)
- C. She organized mobile X-ray units during the First World War.
- D. She isolated radium from tons of raw ore in a drafty shed.
Explanation: The passage says she died of a disorder almost certainly caused by exposure to radiation, a price paid while the danger was still unknown, so her illness and death show the harm predated awareness of it. The prizes, X-ray units, and isolation describe her work, not the timing of the hazard.
Question 30. Integration of Knowledge & Ideas hard
Based on the passage, which statement about Curie's honors is accurate?
See passage P6 above.
- A. She won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry before the Nobel Prize in Physics.
- B. She refused the 1911 prize because of her health.
- C. She was the first person ever to win two Nobel Prizes. (correct)
- D. She won both prizes jointly with Pierre in 1903.
Explanation: The passage states that Curie won the Physics prize in 1903 and the Chemistry prize in 1911, making her the first person ever to win two Nobel Prizes. The chemistry prize came later, nothing says she refused it, and only the first prize was shared with Pierre.