The Earth’s Hardest Comprehension Questions
Comprehension Problems
Marta Suplicy
- 1. Based on the above passage, the author contends that individuals who want to achieve extraordinary things
- l. need to go to Harvard University.
- m. need to revert to techniques utilized by other successful individuals in the past.
- n. need to let their parents and grandparents help them along the way.
- o. need to avoid confrontational situations in life.
- p. need to be persistent and need to be willing to take the offensive in achieving their goals.
- 2. The author implies in lines 11-13 that political advertising was utilized by Suplicy’s adversaries to
- v. encourage people to vote for Marta Suplicy.
- w. primarily misinform voters.
- x. show what the actual positions each political candidate has.
- y. present positive images of rival candidates.
- z. make sure that voters focus only on the real issues.
- 3. Marta Suplicy and Senator Hillary Clinton are similar in what ways?
- l. Both were ignorant women with little education.
- m. Both candidates were supported heavily by businessmen.
- n. Both women knew how to fight back using the media and were very charming.
- o. Both women were easily frightened by the media.
- p. Both women were admired by their political opponents.
- 4. The “inchoate rise of a Brazilian form of feminism,” mentioned in lines 20-24 refers to
- v. the feminist movement; it was focused and highly regarded by opponents.
- w. Paulistas who would not vote for a powerful, media-savvy female politician.
- x. he old guard, like Boss Tweed, who would choose who would represent Sao Paulo.
- y. a liberalization of Paulistas attitudes towards female politicians that went largely ignored by the old guard.
- z. peoples votes not being counted fairly by crooked politicians.
- 5. According to the passage, the “old guard” most likely represents
- l. powerful right-wing forces in a democracy who protect their self-interests first.
- m. Nero-like men who live by the saying “do as I say and not as I do”.
- n. corpulent men who are above the law of man and God.
- o. old security officers who are forced to work after retirement.
- p. Cannot be determined from the information provided.
New York City Real Estate
- 6. What is the antithesis of the argument made by the xenophobic press about Japanese investment?
- v. Japanese investors often made investment decisions by themselves.
- w. The Rockefeller family was misled by its advisors.
- x. Newspapers always tell the truth.
- y. New York City real estate cannot be owned by foreigners.
- z. Japanese companies made investment decisions based on prudent evaluation of potential profits.
- 7. What is the main idea of this passage?
- l. Japanese investors often made shrewd investments in the United States.
- m. Japanese investments were often wrongly portrayed in the press.
- n. Lawyers and advisors are paid first.
- o. New York City real estate is a risk-free investment.
- p. Media companies are in the business of selling advertising, not news.
- 8. The Japanese invested in US real estate primarily
- v. to make the United States into a colony.
- w. to sell Hondas and Toyotas to the tenants.
- x. because they wanted to get office space for their corporate headquarters.
- y. to take advantage of the high investment returns available only in the U.S.
- z. because it was a risky investment.
- 9. Joe Six Pack, in the above passage, represents
- l. a real estate investment banker.
- m. an immigrant from England.
- n. an astro-physicist.
- o. a beverage vendor.
- p. an average resident of New York City.
- 10. Investing money that you borrowed at 1% and making a positive return on your borrowed funds in excess of 10% is an example of
- v. a bad investment.
- w. an investment with very high returns.
- x. an average investment.
- y. an investment that Joe Six Pack has available to him.
- z. an investment that the Rockefellers would not make.
Japanese Business Practices
- 11. What is the main idea of this passage?
- l. Japan is an easy market for American business to penetrate.
- m. Foreign corporations in Japan face few hurdles.
- n. Japanese zaibatsu have limited influence in Japan.
- o. American companies put the customer first.
- p. The Japanese market is highly complex and has its own rules that American companies must adhere to in order to be successful.
- 12. The author contends that US corporations have difficulty doing business in Japan because
- v. they cannot adhere to or accept Japanese rules of trade.
- w. they cannot speak Japanese.
- x. they can make more money in Singapore.
- y. the Japanese prefer cheaper Taiwanese goods.
- z. the Japanese use the metric system.
- 13. The zaibatsu will only trust the foreign corporation if it meets all of the following except:
- l. build large infrastructure in Japan
- m. share manufacturing data
- n. put the corporation first over the customer
- o. do business with the zaibatsu’s subsidiaries
- p. share customer and trade data
- 14. The reader can infer from the last paragraph that American companies typically
- v. believe Japanese return policies to be too generous.
- w. never replace defective goods.
- x. view defective goods as the customer’s responsibility.
- y. never manufacture defective goods.
- z. view the customer as an adversary after the sale.
- 15. By “American companies have to dig a very large expensive hole and then spend many years trying to climb out,” the author is describing
- l. a horticultural procedure.
- m. construction of a building’s foundation in Tokyo.
- n. Japanese zaibatsu experience in penetrating the American market.
- o. the very large investment needed by American corporations and the many years it will take to make a positive investment return in Japan.
- p. the procedure that American corporations face in drilling for oil in the Bay of Bengal.
Science Challenges Accepted Beliefs
- 16. Based on the passage, geocentric theory stated
- v. that man evolved from lower forms of hominids.
- w. that a large explosion occurred billions of years ago causing primordial matter to form.
- x. that creation science was a clever way to inject religion into the public education system.
- y. that the planet Venus was the center of the known universe.
- z. that the sun revolved around the earth.
- 17. Which of the following statements would not reflect the viewpoints of someone who has accepted the validity behind heliocentric theory?
- l. Humanity is not the center of the universe.
- m. Man is the most important species, due to his place in the center of the universe.
- n. The sun is at the center of our planetary system
- o. The planets revolve around the sun.
- p. The sun exerts tremendous energy on the planets that circle around it.
- 18. The passage implies that scientists who discover new theories that circumvent existing religious beliefs will encounter
- v. adulation from their fellow scientists.
- w. respect and admiration from those whose theories have been disproved.
- x. censure and often severe punishment from very powerful non-scientists.
- y. vast fortunes made available to them due to the nature of the patent system.
- z. tenure opportunities from major European universities.
- 19. The writer implies in lines 13 through 17 that human society determines scientific fact from fiction based on
- l. what they can actually see with their eyes and what they can understand with their limited scientific knowledge.
- m. committees of lettered scientists who evaluate their steeped understanding of various sciences.
- n. detailed evaluation of scientific data.
- o. deferring to those who are eminently qualified to review the data.
- p. careful review of an unbiased report which reflects all the facts of the situation.
- 20. The main idea of the passage above is that
- v. scientific research is not affected by the opinions of powerful megalomaniacs.
- w. all scientific endeavor must be certified as non-heretical by the Roman Catholic Church.
- x. Copernicus, in publishing his views on heliocentric theory, took a grave personal risk in order to expand humanity’s knowledge-base.
- y. organized religion is a major proponent of advanced scientific research.
- z. organized religion leaves science to the scientists.
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