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Chiba Entrance English study materials
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Chiba Entrance English practice questions

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Question 1Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage, then answer the question. When the town library announced it would stop opening on Sundays, many residents protested. Yet within a month, Sunday visits had simply shifted to Saturday, and borrowing overall rose slightly. The librarian added that the free day let staff run a repair workshop for damaged books. What is the main point of the passage?

  1. Residents have stopped using the library at weekends.
  2. The library should reopen on Sundays.
  3. The library staff opposed the decision from the start.
  4. The change caused little harm and even brought a benefit. Correct answer.

Explanation

The passage balances the initial protest against the outcome: visits moved to Saturday, borrowing rose, and staff gained time for repairs. The main point is therefore that the closure did not damage the library and produced an unexpected gain. Options that call for reopening, describe a collapse in use, or claim staff opposition contradict details in the text.

Question 2Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage, then answer the question. The mayor's plan was hardly modest: she proposed rebuilding the whole waterfront, planting three thousand trees and opening a new station within two years. Critics called the timetable 'fanciful'. In the passage, the word 'fanciful' most nearly means:

  1. carefully calculated
  2. imaginative but unrealistic Correct answer.
  3. widely supported
  4. copied from an earlier plan

Explanation

Context clues show the timetable is extremely ambitious, and critics are responding to that ambition with doubt. 'Fanciful' therefore describes something imaginative that is unlikely to be achieved. The other choices describe precision, popularity or origin, none of which fits a critic's disapproving judgement.

Question 3Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage, then answer the question. Dr. Aoki's early papers on coastal erosion were largely ignored. Only decades later did engineers return to them, finding that her measurements of the bay still matched the shoreline almost exactly. In the passage, the word 'them' refers to:

  1. her early papers Correct answer.
  2. the decades that passed
  3. the engineers who returned
  4. her measurements of the bay

Explanation

Pronoun reference is settled by grammar and meaning: engineers 'returned to' a thing that had been ignored, and the thing ignored was the papers. The measurements appear later in the sentence as what the engineers found inside those papers. Choosing the measurements confuses the object consulted with the evidence found within it.

Question 4Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage, then answer the question. For years the village festival was held on the first weekend of August. Last year it was moved to late July for the first time. Attendance doubled, but the oldest residents complained that the songs no longer felt part of the summer. The committee has not yet said what it will do next year. What can be inferred about the committee's situation?

  1. It must weigh attendance against tradition. Correct answer.
  2. It will certainly return to the August date.
  3. It cares nothing for the oldest residents.
  4. It intends to cancel the festival.

Explanation

The passage sets a clear gain, doubled attendance, against a clear cost, the loss felt by older residents. Since the committee has not announced its decision, the safe inference is that it faces a trade-off between the two. Any prediction that it will certainly revert, cancel, or ignore the complaints goes beyond what the text supports.

Question 5Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage, then answer the question. The report calls the new bridge 'an engineering triumph'. It says little about the cost overruns and nothing at all about the fishermen whose harbour was shortened by half. The author's attitude toward the report is best described as:

  1. amused by the report
  2. fully approving of it
  3. troubled by what it leaves out Correct answer.
  4. indifferent to the bridge

Explanation

The author grants the praise but then lists two significant matters the report passes over. That pattern of pointing to omissions signals a critical, uneasy attitude. Approval or indifference would not lead a writer to specify what a report fails to mention.

Question 6Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage, then answer the question. Some argue that remote work saves energy because employees stop commuting. This overlooks the heating and lighting of homes that would otherwise be empty during the day. The savings, in other words, may be smaller than they appear. The second sentence mainly serves to:

  1. define a term from the first sentence
  2. introduce a counterargument
  3. offer a statistic in support
  4. point out an overlooked factor Correct answer.

Explanation

The second sentence adds a consideration that the commuting argument has failed to count. It supplies no numbers and no definitions, and it weakens rather than counters the first sentence. Its function is to identify an omission in the original reasoning.

Question 7Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage, then answer the question. 'We can't keep patching the roof,' the engineer told the council. 'Sooner or later we must decide whether to build a new one or accept that the building has had its day.' The remark about patching the roof is best understood as:

  1. a proposal to hire more workers
  2. a warning that the roof will soon collapse
  3. a literal complaint about the repair budget
  4. a metaphor for repeated temporary repairs Correct answer.

Explanation

The following sentence makes the figurative meaning explicit: the choice is between a new roof and abandoning the building. 'Patching' therefore stands for a series of small, short-term fixes that never solve the underlying problem. Reading it literally misses the contrast between patching and building anew.

Question 8Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage, then answer the question. Advocates of the four-day school week point to lower costs and better attendance. Opponents reply that the evidence comes mostly from small rural districts, where families' childcare arrangements differ from those in cities. The opponents' reply suggests that the advocates have:

  1. built their case on evidence of limited scope Correct answer.
  2. overstated the cost of rural schools
  3. ignored attendance entirely
  4. misread the role of childcare in cities

Explanation

The opponents do not deny the findings; they question how far those findings travel. Because the studies come from small rural districts with distinctive childcare arrangements, the evidence may not apply to cities. That is an attack on the scope of the evidence, not on the accuracy of the numbers within it.

Question 9Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage, then answer the question. Historians once treated letters as mere decoration around the 'real' record of treaties and speeches. Recent work has reversed this: a single letter can show how a decision was actually reached, and by whom. Treaties, after all, are signed once the talking is done. The last sentence serves mainly to:

  1. claim that speeches are more reliable
  2. support the claim about how decisions were made Correct answer.
  3. argue that treaties are unimportant
  4. restate the older view of historians

Explanation

The final sentence explains why letters matter: the negotiation, which letters record, happens before the formal signing. That reasoning backs the recent claim that letters reveal the decision-making process. It does not dismiss treaties, and it does not return to the older view.

Question 10Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage, then answer the question. The new subway line was designed to reduce crowding on the east-west route. In practice, most of its passengers have come from buses rather than from the older line, and crowding there has barely changed. According to the passage, what has happened since the new line opened?

  1. Crowding on the east-west route has ended.
  2. Bus ridership has grown sharply.
  3. The older line has been closed.
  4. The east-west route is still crowded. Correct answer.

Explanation

The passage states that crowding on the east-west route 'has barely changed', so the intended relief did not occur. Passengers transferred from buses, which means bus ridership fell rather than rose. The older line remains in service and is simply not the source of the new line's riders.

Question 11Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage and answer the question. The museum's decision to stay open until nine on Thursdays was a gamble. Curators had no idea whether visitors would come after dark. Six months later, attendance in the Thursday evening slots rivals that of Saturday mornings, and the café turns a profit. Other museums have begun calling to ask how it was done. In the passage, the word 'gamble' most nearly means

  1. a risky undertaking Correct answer.
  2. a sure source of income
  3. a costly error
  4. a card game played for money

Explanation

The curators act without knowing whether anyone will come after dark, so the word names a risk taken on an uncertain outcome. Nothing in the passage concerns card playing, and the later profit shows the risk paid off rather than failed.

Question 12Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage and answer the question. When the city replaced every streetlight with an LED bulb, officials expected the electricity bill to fall by half. It fell by a third. Engineers later explained that the new lamps were brighter than the old ones, so the city added more of them along the ring road and kept them on longer in winter. The savings were real, but the plan had quietly changed. According to the passage, why did the bill fall less than expected?

  1. The price of LED bulbs rose sharply that year.
  2. The ring road was closed for part of the winter.
  3. More lamps were added and kept on longer. Correct answer.
  4. The new bulbs were dimmer than the old ones.

Explanation

Officials predicted a halving but got a one-third cut, and the passage attributes the gap to two extra consumption sources: additional lamps along the ring road and longer winter operating hours. Both ate into the expected saving.

Question 13Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage and answer the question. The vault holds more than nine hundred thousand samples, each a few hundred seeds sealed in foil at minus eighteen degrees. Visitors often call it a museum of plants. Its staff prefer a different word: insurance. The collection is drawn on only when a crop fails somewhere in the world and the variety can no longer be found in farmers' fields. Which sentence best states the main idea of the passage?

  1. Farmers now grow a single variety of each crop.
  2. It is a working backup for crops. Correct answer.
  3. Rare plants ought to be displayed to the public.
  4. Seed vaults cost far more than they return.

Explanation

The staff reject the word 'museum' and choose 'insurance', and the passage explains that seeds are withdrawn only when a crop fails and the variety is missing from fields. That is the function of a reserve supply rather than a display collection.

Question 14Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage and answer the question. 'The Vertical Farm' arrives with impressive photographs and a cover promising to 'solve hunger'. What follows is thinner. The author visits three greenhouses, all in one country, and generalizes freely from them. Nowhere does he discuss the electricity such farms consume, a question any reader will have by page forty. The reviewer's tone toward the book is best described as

  1. warmly enthusiastic
  2. mildly amused
  3. openly hostile
  4. generally skeptical Correct answer.

Explanation

The reviewer concedes the photographs and cover but calls the content thin, criticizes a narrow sample of three sites and names a missing topic. The stance is doubtful and critical without being angry or admiring.

Question 15Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage and answer the question. Letters written by hand were once the only way to keep in touch across distance. Today they survive mainly as objects of study. A historian reading a diary learns as much from a crossed-out word as from a finished sentence: the correction shows where the writer hesitated, and the ink shows whether the entry was written in one sitting. Typing leaves none of these traces. The author mentions the crossed-out word mainly in order to

  1. explain why people stopped writing by hand
  2. show how handwriting records hesitation Correct answer.
  3. criticize historians who study typed documents
  4. prove that diaries are more reliable than letters

Explanation

The crossed-out word is offered as evidence that a manuscript preserves information a finished typed text cannot, namely the visible sign of the writer's doubt. The ink and 'one sitting' details serve the same illustrative purpose.

Question 16Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage and answer the question. Researchers recorded birdsong at twenty sites, half beside busy roads and half in quiet valleys. The birds near roads sang higher notes and began earlier in the morning. The team stresses that this is a pattern, not a proven cause: traffic noise may simply mask low notes, pushing the singers that remain toward a pitch that carries. The researchers would most likely agree that

  1. quiet valleys hold more species than roadside sites
  2. birds near roads are in better health than other birds
  3. low notes are easily masked by traffic noise Correct answer.
  4. the pattern proves that traffic has changed the species

Explanation

The team presents the masking of low notes as the plausible mechanism and explicitly labels the finding a pattern rather than a proven cause. Only the masking claim follows from what the passage actually asserts.

Question 17Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage and answer the question. 'A model is not a forecast,' the climatologist said. 'It is an argument written in numbers. If the assumptions are wrong, the numbers will be wrong in ways that no amount of computing power can repair.' Which option best restates the climatologist's point?

  1. Forecasts are more reliable than models.
  2. Climatologists disagree about the numbers.
  3. A model is only as sound as its assumptions. Correct answer.
  4. Computers will soon make models accurate.

Explanation

Calling a model 'an argument written in numbers' and saying computing power cannot repair wrong assumptions makes the quality of those assumptions the deciding factor in the model's value.

Question 18Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage and answer the question. The island now receives four times the visitors it did in 1990. Restaurants and guesthouses have prospered, and the village school has re-opened. So why do so many residents speak of the change with unease? Ask the families who must drive an hour for drinking water, or the fishermen whose moorings are now a car park. The question in the third sentence serves mainly to

  1. suggest that tourism has brought no benefits
  2. signal that the benefits come with costs Correct answer.
  3. introduce the fishermen as characters in a story
  4. praise the island's economic growth

Explanation

The paragraph first lists gains, then poses the question and answers it with water shortages and lost moorings. The question therefore pivots a positive account toward its drawbacks.

Question 19Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage and answer the question. The council's consultants say the bypass will cut journey times and remove heavy trucks from the village high street. A residents' group replies that the time saved will soon be spent on new journeys that the road itself makes possible - a phenomenon planners call 'induced demand'. The residents' group implies that

  1. drivers ignore posted speed limits
  2. the consultants have miscalculated the cost
  3. the road may create new traffic Correct answer.
  4. the village high street should be closed

Explanation

Induced demand means the time saved is used for trips that would not otherwise have happened, so the relief the bypass offers may be temporary. The group accepts the time saving but disputes its lasting effect.

Question 20Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage and answer the question. The translator kept the original's long, looping sentences, even where English would have preferred two short ones. Reviewers split: some call the result faithful, others unreadable. Yet every translation is a series of such choices, and to smooth those sentences would also have been an interpretation - one that presents a different author. The passage suggests that the translator's decision was

  1. unusual, because translators normally follow the target language
  2. reasonable, since smoothing alters the book Correct answer.
  3. pointless, because the novel sold poorly
  4. careless, because reviewers found it unreadable

Explanation

The final sentence argues that every translation involves choices and that smoothing would itself be an interpretation presenting a different author. That reasoning defends the translator's decision rather than condemning it.

Question 21Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage, then answer. Facing rising landfill fees, Marlow began collecting food scraps in March. Officials expected the compost pilot to cut waste by a fifth. By November, participation had reached only twelve percent, though those who joined diverted nearly half their kitchen waste. The council will decide in January whether to expand the service townwide or end it. What does the passage suggest about the pilot's results?

  1. It diverted almost all household waste from the landfill.
  2. It was abandoned before the November review.
  3. It cut landfill fees more than officials had predicted.
  4. It reduced total waste less than expected because few households joined. Correct answer.

Explanation

The passage separates low participation from high diversion among participants. Because only twelve percent of households joined, the townwide reduction was likely below the expected fifth.

Question 22Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage, then answer. At the regional robotics contest, Team Kite's machine failed twice in practice. Their mentor shrugged: 'A robot that never fails has never been tested.' In the final, Kite's simple claw completed every task while fancier designs jammed. Judges praised the team's debugging log, which recorded each repair. What is the mentor's main point?

  1. The final round is easier than practice sessions.
  2. Practice failures are useful evidence for improving a design. Correct answer.
  3. Teams should avoid complex designs in competitions.
  4. Judges care more about logs than about winning.

Explanation

The mentor reframes failure as a necessary part of testing a machine. Team Kite's log and final performance show that practice failures helped them diagnose and repair weaknesses.

Question 23Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage, then answer. The city launched a late-night bus on two routes. After six months, ridership remained thin on weeknights, though Friday and Saturday runs filled quickly. Transit officials say they will keep the service but shift one bus to the weekend. 'We followed the demand,' a spokesperson said. As used in the passage, 'thin' most nearly means...

  1. poor in quality
  2. narrow in width
  3. low in number Correct answer.
  4. weak in sound

Explanation

The context contrasts weeknight ridership with weekend runs that filled quickly, so 'thin' describes few passengers. The word refers to the number of riders, not to physical width, quality, or sound.

Question 24Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage, then answer. The Harbor Gazette will end print delivery in June and move entirely online. The editor calls the change 'a necessary bet on the future,' noting that printing costs have doubled while digital subscriptions grew by a third. Critics reply that older readers and people with unreliable internet will lose access. The paper plans free computer classes at the library but has not promised home delivery of devices. What is the author's attitude toward the change?

  1. balanced, noting gains and losses Correct answer.
  2. openly hostile
  3. indifferent to readers
  4. wholly enthusiastic

Explanation

The passage reports the editor's financial rationale and the critics' access concerns without adopting either side. It also notes a partial remedy, which supports a balanced rather than one-sided attitude.

Question 25Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage, then answer. A middle school weighed cafeteria waste for a week. Students scraped leftovers into clear bins, and the display showed that untouched fruit made up the largest share. The school then moved fruit to the entrance and allowed half portions. Waste fell by a quarter. What best explains the drop?

  1. The audit lasted long enough to change the menu.
  2. Clear bins made students eat faster.
  3. The school stopped serving fruit altogether.
  4. Visible waste and smaller portions changed student choices. Correct answer.

Explanation

The audit made discarded food visible and identified untouched fruit as the main problem. Moving fruit and permitting half portions then reduced waste by changing what students took and threw away.

Question 26Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage, then answer. Residents near Elm Street planted a shallow rain garden beside the sidewalk. It is not a pond: the soil and plants hold storm water for a few hours, then let it soak away. After one heavy storm, the basement flooding that usually followed was absent. The city now offers grants for similar gardens. What can be inferred about the rain garden?

  1. It slowed runoff enough to reduce basement flooding. Correct answer.
  2. It failed during the heaviest storm.
  3. It replaced the neighborhood's storm drains.
  4. It stores water permanently to prevent flooding.

Explanation

The passage says the garden holds storm water temporarily and then lets it soak away. The absence of the usual basement flooding after a heavy storm implies that runoff was slowed.

Question 27Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage, then answer. The organizer's newsletter called the bike-share trial 'a runaway success,' citing 40,000 rides. The city's own report gives the same figure but notes that half the rides occurred during one festival week. What is the function of the second sentence?

  1. It argues that festivals should not be counted at all.
  2. It explains how the bike-share system was funded.
  3. It repeats the newsletter's claim in simpler terms.
  4. It qualifies the first sentence by putting the figure in context. Correct answer.

Explanation

The second sentence accepts the same number but adds a detail that changes its meaning. By showing that half the rides came from one week, it qualifies the newsletter's triumphant claim.

Question 28Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage, then answer. Two studies measured summer street temperatures where young trees had been planted. One found a 2°C drop beneath a dense canopy; the other found no cooling where trees were widely spaced and rarely watered. Together, the studies suggest that...

  1. temperature drops depend only on the season studied.
  2. watering trees makes them grow faster than spacing does.
  3. young trees never cool city streets.
  4. canopy density and care matter more than planting alone. Correct answer.

Explanation

One study found cooling under a dense canopy, while the other found none with sparse, poorly watered trees. The contrast indicates that how trees are spaced and cared for affects their cooling benefit.

Question 29Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage, then answer. A language app reports that users who finish its daily 'streak' challenge renew more often. It concludes that the challenge creates loyalty. A critic replies that people who choose a daily challenge may already be more committed than those who skip it. The critic's objection is that the app...

  1. has measured renewal in the wrong currency.
  2. assumes all users face the same challenge.
  3. mistakes a self-selected group's trait for an effect of the challenge. Correct answer.
  4. ignores users who never downloaded the app.

Explanation

The critic points out that users who opt into the challenge may differ from those who do not. Their pre-existing commitment, not the challenge itself, could explain the higher renewal rate.

Question 30Reading comprehension of long English passages

Read the passage, then answer. A repair café keeps broken lamps and toasters out of landfill, volunteers say. A council survey found that 70 percent of repaired items still worked a year later, but it counted only items brought back for a second check. What is the main limitation of the survey?

  1. It failed to record whether items were repaired at all.
  2. It may overstate durability because only returning items were counted. Correct answer.
  3. It relied on volunteers to repair every item.
  4. It compared lamps with toasters unfairly.

Explanation

The survey counted only items that came back for a second check, so items that failed and were discarded may be missing. That selection can make the repaired goods appear more durable than they really are.

Question 31Reading comprehension of long English passages

The Riverton tool library opened in a former hardware store. For twenty dollars a year, members borrow a drill, a ladder or a sewing machine for a week. Last year the library lent out 2,300 items, and its director insists the aim was never to compete with local shops: 'We lend what people need twice a decade, not twice a week.' As used in the passage, 'compete' most nearly means:

  1. qualify for a prize or award
  2. take part in an organised contest
  3. rival the town's shops for sales Correct answer.
  4. argue a case in public

Explanation

The director is answering the worry that a cheap lending service might take business away from hardware stores, so 'compete' carries its commercial sense of contending for the same customers. The quotation that follows, which separates rarely needed objects from everyday purchases, confirms that reading rather than any sporting or debating sense.

Question 32Reading comprehension of long English passages

When the copper mine closed, the town of Kestrel Point lost 200 jobs and gained something it had not expected: near-total darkness. Its streets had never been brightly lit, and the surrounding desert was already empty. In 2019 a section of the night sky above the town was officially protected, and the guesthouses that once housed miners now book out for stargazing weekends. According to the passage, what did Kestrel Point gain after the mine closed?

  1. protection for part of its night sky Correct answer.
  2. a new copper-processing plant
  3. a newly installed network of bright streetlights
  4. two hundred additional mining jobs

Explanation

The passage states that in 2019 a section of the sky above the town was officially protected, and that this protection followed the mine's closure. The jobs moved in the opposite direction, and the text says the streets had never been brightly lit, so only the sky designation counts as a gain.

Question 33Reading comprehension of long English passages

The zoo's amphibian house was built for visitors, but it has become a nursery. Keepers noticed that a rare Andean frog bred only in the tanks nearest the public walkway, where the glass fogged over each morning. They reproduced the fog with a timer and a nozzle. Last spring 143 tadpoles hatched, more than in any previous year, and forty will be released into a protected valley in Colombia. What did the keepers do after noticing where the frogs bred?

  1. They opened the amphibian house to the public.
  2. They copied the foggy conditions with a timer and a nozzle. Correct answer.
  3. They released forty tadpoles into a Colombian valley.
  4. They moved the frogs to a quieter tank.

Explanation

The passage says the keepers noticed the fogging glass in the tanks by the walkway and then reproduced that fog mechanically. Releasing tadpoles is a plan for the coming year, not the response to the observation, and the house was already open to visitors.

Question 34Reading comprehension of long English passages

Two firms moved 300 employees into open-plan floors. Six months later, a survey found that workers rated their colleagues as more approachable but reported finishing fewer tasks that required sustained attention. The researchers noted that headphones were the most common personal item on every desk, and concluded that open plans redistribute conversation rather than remove it. The detail about the headphones is included mainly to suggest that employees

  1. had been issued equipment by their managers
  2. preferred listening to music rather than talking
  3. were blocking out noise to concentrate Correct answer.
  4. had been told not to speak to one another

Explanation

The survey links the new layout with less work needing sustained attention, and the headphones are offered as the workers' own remedy against surrounding talk. Their popularity therefore implies a need to shut sound out, which supports the conclusion that conversation was redistributed rather than eliminated.

Question 35Reading comprehension of long English passages

Nadia Okonjo's memoir opens with a confession that is also a warning: she has 'never met a rule I could not improve.' The early chapters, about a childhood spent moving between Lagos and Leeds, are vivid and funny. The later ones, on her years as a civil servant, are harder going: page after page of meetings, each described as a breakthrough. Readers who stay will find brilliance, but they will have to work for it. The reviewer's attitude toward the memoir as a whole is best described as

  1. openly hostile to the author's project
  2. entirely indifferent to the book's merits
  3. admiring, yet aware of its flaws Correct answer.
  4. warmly enthusiastic about every chapter

Explanation

The reviewer praises the vivid, funny early chapters and promises brilliance to readers who persist, which is admiration. At the same time the later chapters are called 'harder going' and repetitive, so the praise is bounded by a clear reservation.

Question 36Reading comprehension of long English passages

A six-month trial of a four-day week at a software company reported that output stayed flat and staff turnover fell. The report, however, also shows that the firm hired two extra project managers in month two and that the trial ran over a quiet period for sales. The authors present these facts in an appendix, not in the summary. Why does the writer mention the two project managers and the quiet sales period?

  1. to prove that a four-day week never raises output
  2. to criticise the project managers' performance
  3. to hint that other factors may explain the results Correct answer.
  4. to show that the trial was carefully designed

Explanation

Extra managers and an unusually slack sales season could each account for steady output and lower turnover, independently of the shorter week. By noting that these details sit in an appendix rather than the summary, the writer signals that the headline findings may have less straightforward causes.

Question 37Reading comprehension of long English passages

The health agency's new poster shows a plate of vegetables under the slogan 'Eat like your grandmother did.' Focus groups loved it. But the agency's own nutritionists pointed out that grandmothers in the 1960s ate more salt, more butter and far more offal than modern guidelines allow. The slogan survives because it sells a feeling, not a diet. The nutritionists' comment is included to

  1. point to a gap between the slogan and the evidence Correct answer.
  2. argue that the whole campaign should be dropped
  3. explain why focus groups responded warmly
  4. show that older recipes tend to be healthier

Explanation

The comment contrasts the nostalgic slogan with the actual composition of 1960s cooking, which exceeded current limits on salt and fat. That contrast exposes a discrepancy between what the poster implies and what the dietary evidence supports, while the final sentence explains why the slogan was kept anyway.

Question 38Reading comprehension of long English passages

When the university began posting recordings of lectures online, attendance in the largest first-year course fell by a third, and the average exam mark rose by two points. The dean called this 'a clear win for flexible learning.' A statistician on the committee replied that students who skip lectures are also the ones most likely to skip revision, and that the two-point gain is within the normal year-to-year range. The statistician's reply mainly challenges the dean by

  1. questioning whether attendance really fell
  2. pointing out that the course was unusually large
  3. arguing that lecture recordings harm grades
  4. offering alternative explanations for the figures Correct answer.

Explanation

The statistician accepts the numbers but proposes other reasons for them: ordinary variation between years, and the likelihood that the students now absent are a self-selected group. This undercuts the dean's assumption that the recordings themselves caused the improvement.

Question 39Reading comprehension of long English passages

I have never been a jealous man. That is what I told the inspector, and it is true in the way that a locked door is true: it is a fact about the door, not the room. Elena kept her letters in the blue tin; I knew because I had opened it. Twice, before the wedding, and once - but the inspector did not ask about the third time, and I did not volunteer it. What does the narrator's comparison of his truthfulness to 'a locked door' imply?

  1. He is describing an actual door in his house
  2. He cannot remember whether the claim is true
  3. It is literally true but hides the truth behind it Correct answer.
  4. He believes the inspector has already searched the house

Explanation

The narrator separates the accuracy of a sentence from what the sentence leaves out, just as a locked door says nothing about the room behind it. The unfinished account of the third opening of the tin shows that he is withholding material, so his technically true statement is still misleading.

Question 40Reading comprehension of long English passages

A council report argues that converting the high street's empty upper floors into flats will revive the shops below, because 'people who live within a minute's walk of a shop use it.' The report cites three towns where new flats and new cafés opened in the same year. Critics note that in each of those towns the council had also cut parking charges for the high street. Which point would most weaken the report's argument?

  1. The flats would be costly to build and rather small
  2. Cafés employ fewer staff than the shops they replace
  3. Empty upper floors are common in many towns nationwide
  4. The three towns changed other conditions at the same time Correct answer.

Explanation

The report's evidence is a pattern across three towns, and its conclusion depends on flats causing the revival. If those towns simultaneously cut parking charges, the revival may be explained by that change instead, which removes the support the examples were meant to give.

Question 41Reading comprehension of long English passages

The community fridge on Oak Street is open daily from eight to eight. Volunteers restock it with bread and produce donated by two supermarkets. A sign on the door asks visitors to take only what they need and to leave the shelves tidy. According to the passage, where does the fridge's food come from?

  1. From the city council's surplus program
  2. From volunteers who cook hot meals on site
  3. From farmers who sell it at a discount
  4. From two supermarkets that donate it Correct answer.

Explanation

The passage states directly that volunteers restock the fridge with bread and produce donated by two supermarkets. No cooking, council program, or farm sales are mentioned, so the donated supermarket goods are the only source described.

Question 42Reading comprehension of long English passages

The public library's seed cabinet offers packets free of charge. Borrowers are asked to return seeds from their best plants at harvest, though returns are optional. Last year 340 packets went out and 90 came back. What can be inferred about the seed cabinet's return rule?

  1. Borrowers are not obliged to bring seeds back Correct answer.
  2. Packets are sold at cost rather than given away
  3. Borrowers must pay a deposit before taking seeds
  4. Only experienced gardeners may use the cabinet

Explanation

Because returns are described as optional and the library still gives packets free of charge, borrowers face no requirement to return seed. The low return figure (90 of 340) is consistent with a voluntary system rather than an enforced one.

Question 43Reading comprehension of long English passages

For years the island ferry ran hourly in summer. This year the operator added a 6 a.m. crossing and cut the midday wait to forty minutes, keeping the same number of boats. Ticket revenue rose 12 percent, mostly from day-trippers. Which explanation for the revenue rise does the passage support?

  1. The new timetable made day trips easier to plan Correct answer.
  2. The operator replaced its boats with larger ones
  3. The operator ran a summer advertising campaign
  4. The operator lowered ticket prices for families

Explanation

The added early crossing and shorter midday wait changed the timetable, and the passage attributes the gain mainly to day-trippers, who benefit from more convenient sailings. No price cut, larger vessel, or advertising is reported, and the fleet size stayed the same.

Question 44Reading comprehension of long English passages

Volunteers fenced off a stretch of foredune and planted beach grass. Within two seasons the sand had piled nearly a meter higher, and storm wash reached the boardwalk only once. Officials now call the grass "a living seawall." The phrase "a living seawall" suggests that the grass

  1. was planted by engineers using concrete blocks
  2. is a temporary substitute until a real wall is funded
  3. protects the shore much as a built barrier would Correct answer.
  4. has made the boardwalk unnecessary for visitors

Explanation

The image of a seawall follows evidence that the grass trapped sand and limited storm wash, so the phrase presents the plants as a natural barrier doing a wall's job. Nothing in the passage mentions concrete, a future wall, or closing the boardwalk.

Question 45Reading comprehension of long English passages

When the Museum of Industry dropped its admission fee and asked visitors to pay what they wished, attendance doubled. Donations per visitor fell, but the total rose. The director notes that the new visitors also spent more in the cafe and shop. What is the main point the director makes about the change?

  1. Doubling attendance forced the museum to cut staff
  2. Total income grew even though the average gift shrank Correct answer.
  3. The museum shop has become its main attraction
  4. Free entry always raises the average donation

Explanation

The director combines three facts: attendance doubled, the average donation dropped, yet total donations and cafe and shop spending rose. Together these mean overall income increased despite smaller individual gifts, which is the point being made.

Question 46Reading comprehension of long English passages

The gym's new pricing charges less between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Within three months, midday attendance rose 60 percent while evening attendance fell slightly. Staff say the change eased crowding without any new equipment. The pricing change is described as successful mainly because it

  1. allowed the gym to reduce its opening hours
  2. persuaded more people to join the gym
  3. moved visits from busy hours to quiet ones Correct answer.
  4. raised the price paid by evening users

Explanation

Midday use rose while evening use dipped slightly, and staff say crowding eased, so the discount shifted demand into quieter hours rather than adding members. The passage reports no membership growth, shorter hours, or higher evening prices.

Question 47Reading comprehension of long English passages

The firm's "no email after six" rule is popular, and the memo announcing it is earnest. Yet the rule covers only internal mail, so the inbox still fills overnight with clients' messages. Good manners, it seems, have been mistaken for a solution. The final sentence implies that the policy is

  1. harsh enough to annoy the firm's clients
  2. a model that rival firms should copy
  3. too costly for the firm to maintain
  4. courteous in tone but not a real remedy Correct answer.

Explanation

Calling the rule "good manners" that were "mistaken for a solution" concedes it is polite while denying it solves the problem, since client mail still arrives overnight. The tone is skeptical about effectiveness, not about cost, harshness, or imitation by others.

Question 48Reading comprehension of long English passages

Last week we reported that the cafeteria would close for repairs in May. In fact, the closure begins in June and lasts two weeks, not four. We regret the error. The notice posted at the cafeteria entrance, which our reporter did not read before publication, states both dates. The detail about the posted notice serves mainly to

  1. warn readers that the notice is unreliable
  2. prove that the cafeteria will soon close
  3. persuade students to eat somewhere else
  4. show how the newspaper's mistake occurred Correct answer.

Explanation

The notice is introduced as something the reporter failed to read before publication, which explains the origin of the wrong dates. It functions as an account of the error, not as evidence for the closure itself or as a warning about the notice.

Question 49Reading comprehension of long English passages

After the city added a five-cent charge for carryout bags, a count of bags found on the riverbank fell from 1,200 to 300 in a year. Surveys show most shoppers now bring their own. Retailers report the fee costs them little to administer. Which conclusion is best supported by the passage?

  1. Shoppers widely resent having to pay the fee
  2. The charge removed bag litter from the riverbank
  3. Retailers earn a profit from the five-cent charge
  4. The charge cut bag litter at little cost to shops Correct answer.

Explanation

The passage documents a large drop in riverbank bags and states that administering the fee costs retailers little, which supports the combined claim of less litter and low cost. The remaining 300 bags rule out elimination, and no resentment or retailer profit is reported.

Question 50Reading comprehension of long English passages

Every Saturday a retired teacher named Mio parks a cargo bike outside the market and unfolds its wooden sides. Inside are forty paperbacks. Children take one, leave one, and she stamps a star on a card. In two years the bike has never been empty, and Mio says the stars matter more than the books. Which best states the main idea of this passage about Mio's cargo bike?

  1. A campaign to replace screens with printed books
  2. A small swap that rewards children who join in Correct answer.
  3. A teacher's attempt to earn money after retiring
  4. A market's plan to attract more families

Explanation

The passage centres on an exchange that refills itself, since each child who takes a book also leaves one, so the collection never empties. The stars Mio stamps are given for taking part, not for buying, and the final sentence stresses that participation matters more than the stock itself.