The peregrine falcon is a beautiful wild bird. It is also one of the fastest. In 1978, the peregrine falcon was placed on the endangered species list. The main reason the peregrine falcon was dying out was the use of pesticides. 
Which of the following is NOT a supporting detail? 

Soccer is known in some countries as football. It is a popular sport across the world, with over 200 countries playing the sport. It is estimated that over 250 million people, both men and women, play soccer. The sport has been part of the Olympic games from 1900 to 1928 and from 1936 to today.
 What is the main idea?

Which sentence suggests that Joanna rode her bike to school?

READING COMPREHENSION 
Opera refers to a dramatic art form, originating in Europe, in which the emotional content is conveyed to the audience as much through music, both vocal and instrumental, as it is through the lyrics. By contrast, in musical theater an actor's dramatic performance is primary, and the music plays a lesser role. The drama in opera is presented using the primary elements of theater such as scenery, costumes, and acting. However, the words of the opera, or libretto, are sung rather than spoken. The singers are accompanied by a musical ensemble ranging from a small instrumental ensemble to a full symphonic orchestra.

It is pointed out in the reading that opera ----.

Dolphins are regarded as the friendliest creatures in the sea and stories of them helping drowning sailors have been common since Roman times. The more we learn about dolphins, the more we realize that their society is more complex than people previously imagined. They look after other dolphins when they are ill, care for pregnant mothers and protect the weakest in the community, as we do. Some scientists have suggested that dolphins have a language but it is much more probable that they communicate with each other without needing words. Could any of these mammals be more intelligent than man? Certainly the most common argument in favor of man's superiority over them that we can kill them more easily than they can kill us is the least satisfactory. On the contrary, the more we discover about these remarkable creatures, the less we appear superior
It is clear from the passage that dolphins ----.

Naval architects never claim that a ship is unsinkable, but the sinking of the passenger-and-car ferry Estonia in the Baltic surely should have never have happened. It was well designed and carefully maintained. It carried the proper number of lifeboats. It had been thoroughly inspected the day of its fatal voyage. Yet hours later, the Estonia rolled over and sank in a cold, stormy night. It went down so quickly that most of those on board, caught in their dark, flooding cabins, had no chance to save themselves: Of those who managed to scramble overboard, only 139 survived. The rest died of hypothermia before the rescuers could pluck them from the cold sea. The final death toll amounted to 912 souls. However, there were an unpleasant number of questions about why the Estonia sank and why so many survivors were men in the prime of life, while most of the dead were women, children and the elderly.
One can understand from the reading that ---

Erosion of America's farmland by wind and water has been a problem since settlers first put the prairies and grasslands under the plow in the nineteenth century. By the 1930s, more than 282 million acres of farmland were damaged by erosion. After 40 years of conservation efforts, soil erosion has accelerated due to new demands placed on the land by heavy crop production. In the years ahead, soil erosion and the pollution problems it causes are likely to replace petroleum scarcity as the nation's most critical natural resource problem.
As we understand from the reading, today, soil erosion in America ----.

Soccer is known in some countries as football. It is a popular sport across the world, with over 200 countries playing the sport. It is estimated that over 250 million people, both men and women, play soccer. The sport has been part of the Olympic games from 1900 to 1928 and from 1936 to today.
 What is the main idea?

Floods can cause tremendous damage.  They can ruin houses, roads and buildings. Floods can take down trees and cause mudslides. It often leaves mud, sand and debris behind.  It can take months to clean up after a flood.
 What is the main idea?

(1) Despite the relative reluctance of Americans to adopt it, soccer is the most popular sport in the world and has been for several decades.  (2) Soccer, which is called "football" in most places, has few rules compared with such sports as baseball. (3) Also, in contrast to baseball and American football, soccer games have few pauses in the action.  (4) Soccer scores aren't as high as scores are in American sports, but many people consider that an exciting feature of the game, because the occasional goals are that much more thrilling.
Which of the following is the main idea of the passage?

(1) College tuitions are soaring, leaving many parents wondering if they will be able to afford higher education for their children.  (2) Cutbacks in government aid combined with skyrocketing tuition are making it unfeasible even for families of moderate wealth to fully fund their children's educations.  (3) In America, people say that you can be anything you want to be.  (4) But getting an education is crucial if you hope to achieve the American dream.
With which of the following statements would the author of this passage most likely agree?

(1) Becky wanted to supplement her income, so she decided to buy items at garage sales and then sell them in an online auction.  (2) She woke up early on Saturday morning and traveled around the city, stopping at nearly two dozen garage sales.  (3) She spent $250 at the sales.  (4) After spending just a few hours setting up the auctions online, Becky sat back and watched. (5) When the auction concluded three days later, Becky had sold all of her items for a total of $1,565.
In sentence 1, the word "supplement" means

(1) Becky wanted to supplement her income, so she decided to buy items at garage sales and then sell them in an online auction.  (2) She woke up early on Saturday morning and traveled around the city, stopping at nearly two dozen garage sales.  (3) She spent $250 at the sales.  (4) After spending just a few hours setting up the auctions online, Becky sat back and watched. (5) When the auction concluded three days later, Becky had sold all of her items for a total of $1,565.
Which of the following conclusions can be made based on the information in the passage?

(1) On March 4, 1865, with the end of the Civil War in sight, Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address.  (2) An excerpt from that speech:  With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
The term "inaugural address" in sentence 1 means

(1) On March 4, 1865, with the end of the Civil War in sight, Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address.  (2) An excerpt from that speech:  With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
In the first sentence of the inaugural address, the phrase "the work we are in" most likely refers to which of the following?

(1) A year ago, the majority of the workers at BigMoneyCorp commuted to work every day. (2) A company study showed that the average worker spent one hour and twenty minutes traveling from the suburbs of Atlanta to the city. (3) In response, the CEO moved the headquarters to the suburbs. (4) In the year since the move, BigMoneyCorp's profit margins have improved. (5) Furthermore, company employees have requested fewer sick days and personal days in the one year since the move than they had in the five years prior to the move.
Based on the passage above, what factors might be responsible for the increased popularity at BigMoneyCorp?

(1) If sports build character,  as conventional wisdom suggests, why do we always read about athletes getting arrested?  (2) Some people cite the extravagant lifestyles of professional athletes; others suggest that years of special treatment make athletes believe that they are above the law.  (3) Researchers at Baylor University's sport management department have another theory. (4) They have discovered that the percentage of professional athletes who get arrested is actually smaller than the percentage of doctors who get arrested. (5) Lawyers, teachers, and accountants also get arrested with greater frequency than do athletes. (6) This study suggests that the media frenzy that follows the arrest of an athlete causes the mistaken public perception that most athletes are criminals.
The study discussed in the passage indicates that

(1) If sports build character,  as conventional wisdom suggests, why do we always read about athletes getting arrested?  (2) Some people cite the extravagant lifestyles of professional athletes; others suggest that years of special treatment make athletes believe that they are above the law.  (3) Researchers at Baylor University's sport management department have another theory. (4) They have discovered that the percentage of professional athletes who get arrested is actually smaller than the percentage of doctors who get arrested. (5) Lawyers, teachers, and accountants also get arrested with greater frequency than do athletes. (6) This study suggests that the media frenzy that follows the arrest of an athlete causes the mistaken public perception that most athletes are criminals.
In sentence 6, the word "frenzy" means

(1) Archaeologists are scientists who study ancient cultures. (2)Archaeologists have been studying the ancient life and cultures of North America for many years. (3) Despite the years and years of research they've done, experts are still unable to determine when humans began living in America.  (4) They do know, however, that by about 1000 B.C.E. , farming villages have been established in eastern North America.
Which of the following conclusions can be made based on the passage?

(1) To answer the questions that have perplexed us through the ages - How was the world created? What causes weather? Why do seasons change? What happens after we die? - we have always turned to mythology.  (2) Myths are stories that provide answers to otherwise unanswerable questions.  (3) Thousands of years ago, stories we now study as literature were accepted as the truth about all the mysteries of nature and the universe. (4) Ancient man did not have the benefit of science and history, so ancient mythology should not strike us as unbelievable or far-fetched.  (5) Moreover, many of our modern religious beliefs may be considered nothing more than mythology by future generations.
Which of the following statements can be inferred based on the passage?

(1) To answer the questions that have perplexed us through the ages - How was the world created? What causes weather? Why do seasons change? What happens after we die? - we have always turned to mythology.  (2) Myths are stories that provide answers to otherwise unanswerable questions.  (3) Thousands of years ago, stories we now study as literature were accepted as the truth about all the mysteries of nature and the universe. (4) Ancient man did not have the benefit of science and history, so ancient mythology should not strike us as unbelievable or far-fetched.  (5) Moreover, many of our modern religious beliefs may be considered nothing more than mythology by future generations.
In sentence 1, the word "perplexed" means

(1) Many people complain that major league baseball players make too much money. (2) Players' salaries, however, should be judged not against the average in other fields, but against the cream of the crop in other fields. (3) Major league players, the most talented men in their field, should be judged against the most talented businessmen, doctors, and lawyers, many of whom have immense yearly salaries. (4) People in the upper echelon of their field can expect to earn more than their less talented peers.
In sentence 4, the word "echelon" means

(1) Many people complain that major league baseball players make too much money. (2) Players' salaries, however, should be judged not against the average in other fields, but against the cream of the crop in other fields. (3) Major league players, the most talented men in their field, should be judged against the most talented businessmen, doctors, and lawyers, many of whom have immense yearly salaries. (4) People in the upper echelon of their field can expect to earn more than their less talented peers.
The author of the passage displays which of the following attitudes toward major league baseball players and their salaries?

(1) Music videos have changed the way teenagers listen to music. (2) Thirty years ago, teens listened to music on the radio or on their eight-track tape players. (3) There were no visual images associated with the songs. (4) As a result, teens were free to interpret songs however they wanted. (5) Today, the music videos that accompany songs show interpretations of songs made by the artists and their producers. (6) When teens see the music videos, they have no choice but to associate songs with the images in videos.
With which of the following statements would the author of this paragraph most likely agree?

(1) Many children who love reading dream of writing books of their own one day.  (2) For the most part, their dreams are dashed. (3) Publishers reject ninety-eight percent of all manuscript submissions. (4) For every book you see at your local bookstore, there are forty-nine other books out there that never got published. (5) The odds of becoming a published author are very slim.
(6) Despite the discouraging statistics, aspiring writers should take heart. (7) Some of the most successful authors swear that their best-selling works were rejected ten, fifteen, and even twenty times before a publisher finally took a chance on the manuscript. (8) These authors say that if a manuscript is good, it will get noticed eventually. (9) For those who dream of publishing and think they have the chops, established authors who faced down rejection should serve as inspirations.
Which of the following statements is true of the passage?

(1) Many children who love reading dream of writing books of their own one day.  (2) For the most part, their dreams are dashed. (3) Publishers reject ninety-eight percent of all manuscript submissions. (4) For every book you see at your local bookstore, there are forty-nine other books out there that never got published. (5) The odds of becoming a published author are very slim.
(6) Despite the discouraging statistics, aspiring writers should take heart. (7) Some of the most successful authors swear that their best-selling works were rejected ten, fifteen, and even twenty times before a publisher finally took a chance on the manuscript. (8) These authors say that if a manuscript is good, it will get noticed eventually. (9) For those who dream of publishing and think they have the chops, established authors who faced down rejection should serve as inspirations.
In the passage, the word "manuscript" means

(1) The city has made plans to close an area recreation center, pool, and playground. (2) They blame liability for the closure.  (3) The Pleasant Valley Neighborhood Association opposes the closing and is planning a protest at City Hall.  (4) The association has petitioned the city for an alternative recreation center of some kind, but the mayor's office has been unresponsive. (5) If the city continues with its plan to shut down the center, neighborhood parents would have to drive several miles to find a similar recreational facility. (6) However, many residents of the neighborhood are unable to do this for economic reasons.
Which of the following conclusions can be made based on the passage?

(1) The city has made plans to close an area recreation center, pool, and playground. (2) They blame liability for the closure.  (3) The Pleasant Valley Neighborhood Association opposes the closing and is planning a protest at City Hall.  (4) The association has petitioned the city for an alternative recreation center of some kind, but the mayor's office has been unresponsive. (5) If the city continues with its plan to shut down the center, neighborhood parents would have to drive several miles to find a similar recreational facility. (6) However, many residents of the neighborhood are unable to do this for economic reasons.
In sentence 4, the phrase "has been unresponsive" means