Free Sample SSAT Upper Level Reading Test

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Sample SSAT Upper Level Reading Test

This test is a non-timed test with 10 sample questions for you to try. Students can check the answer for each question.

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Check what happens first.

1 / 10

1) Decide whether the underlined event is the cause or the effect.
Peter broke the expensive lamp; therefore, his mother had to punish him.

Check what happens first.

2 / 10

2) Identify the underlined portion of the sentence as either the cause or the effect.
Fossils contain a radioactive element called carbon-14, which can be used to estimate the age of the fossil.

Check what happens first.

3 / 10

3) Identify the underlined portion of the sentence as either the cause or the effect.
In an effort to save birds of prey from hunters, the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Pennsylvania was created in 1934 as a refuge.

Check the connotation of the choices.

4 / 10

4) Read the passage and complete Blank 2.
Many people feel that it is cruel to keep animals in the zoo. Those who feel this way would explain that animals kept in   1   have a poor quality of life because they don't have the freedom that they would experience in the wild. However, supporters of zoos argue that the only way many endangered animals will replenish their numbers is with the  2    that they receive because they are in a safe environment. Fortunately, many zoos and wildlife parks are striving to create authentic living environments for their animals. One can see that both sides of the argument have relevancy.

Read the passage carefully.

5 / 10

5) Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.

Click here to Read Passage - Moths

Moths

Line Although the special coloring of moths will
hide them from most other insects and birds
that want to eat them, it will not protect
them from bats, since bats locate their prey
5. by hearing rather than by sight. Bats
continually make high-pitched noises that
reflect off a moth’s body as echoes. These
echoes inform the bats of their prey’s
location, and hunting bats follow these
10. echoes until they find the moth. To protect
themselves from bats, some species of moths
have developed defenses based on sound.
These moths have ears that allow them to
hear the sounds the bat makes. If the bat is
15. far enough away, the moth will hear it, but
the bat is too far from it to receive the echo
from the moth. The moth can then simply
swerve out of the bat’s path. But if the bat is
closer to the moth, the moth is in immediate
20. danger. In order to avoid the bat, it flies
wildly, moving in many directions and
avoiding any ordered pattern. This tactic
tends to confuse the bat. Other species of
moths use sound to avoid the bats by
25. producing high-pitched sounds of their own.
The many echoes from these sounds make it
difficult for the bats to find the moths.

According to the passage, some moths escape from bats by

 

Read the passage carefully.

6 / 10

6) Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.

Click here to Read Passage - Moths

Moths

Line Although the special coloring of moths will
hide them from most other insects and birds
that want to eat them, it will not protect
them from bats, since bats locate their prey
5. by hearing rather than by sight. Bats
continually make high-pitched noises that
reflect off a moth’s body as echoes. These
echoes inform the bats of their prey’s
location, and hunting bats follow these
10. echoes until they find the moth. To protect
themselves from bats, some species of moths
have developed defenses based on sound.
These moths have ears that allow them to
hear the sounds the bat makes. If the bat is
15. far enough away, the moth will hear it, but
the bat is too far from it to receive the echo
from the moth. The moth can then simply
swerve out of the bat’s path. But if the bat is
closer to the moth, the moth is in immediate
20. danger. In order to avoid the bat, it flies
wildly, moving in many directions and
avoiding any ordered pattern. This tactic
tends to confuse the bat. Other species of
moths use sound to avoid the bats by
25. producing high-pitched sounds of their own.
The many echoes from these sounds make it
difficult for the bats to find the moths.

Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about insects and birds that eat moths?

 

Read the passage carefully.

7 / 10

7) Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.

Click here to Read Passage - Moths

Moths

Line Although the special coloring of moths will
hide them from most other insects and birds
that want to eat them, it will not protect
them from bats, since bats locate their prey
5. by hearing rather than by sight. Bats
continually make high-pitched noises that
reflect off a moth’s body as echoes. These
echoes inform the bats of their prey’s
location, and hunting bats follow these
10. echoes until they find the moth. To protect
themselves from bats, some species of moths
have developed defenses based on sound.
These moths have ears that allow them to
hear the sounds the bat makes. If the bat is
15. far enough away, the moth will hear it, but
the bat is too far from it to receive the echo
from the moth. The moth can then simply
swerve out of the bat’s path. But if the bat is
closer to the moth, the moth is in immediate
20. danger. In order to avoid the bat, it flies
wildly, moving in many directions and
avoiding any ordered pattern. This tactic
tends to confuse the bat. Other species of
moths use sound to avoid the bats by
25. producing high-pitched sounds of their own.
The many echoes from these sounds make it
difficult for the bats to find the moths.

The sounds bats hear when hunting are

 

The passage is about the author's opinion on what is the most valuable quality a traveler can possess.

8 / 10

8) Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.

Click here to Read Passage -Travel

Travel

1 Many people have asked me what, all
2 things considered, is the most valuable quality
3 a wilderness traveler can possess. I have
4 always replied unhesitatingly; for, no matter
5 how useful or desirable attributes such as
6 patience, courage, strength, endurance, good
7 nature, and ingenuity may prove to be,
8 undoubtedly a person with them, but without a
9 sense of direction, is practically helpless in the
10 wilds. Therefore, I should name a sense of
11 direction as the prime requisite for those who
12 would become true foresters, those who would
13 depend on themselves rather than on guides.
14 The faculty is largely developed, of course, by
15 practice, but it must be inborn. Some people
16 possess it; others do not—just as some people
17 are naturally musical while others have no ear
18 for music at all. It is a sort of extra, having
19 nothing to do with criteria of intelligence or
20 mental development: like the repeater
21 movement in a watch. A highly educated or
22 cultured person may lack it, while the roughest
23 may possess it. Some who have never been in
24 the woods or mountains acquire a fair facility
25 at picking a way in the space of a vacation, but I
26 have met a few who have spent their lives on
27 the prospect trail, and who are still, and always
28 will be, as helpless as the newest city dweller. It
29 is a gift, a talent. If you have its germ, you can
30 become a traveler of the wide and lonely
31 places. If not, you may as well resign yourself to
32 guides.

The primary purpose of the passage is to

Select which is NOT implied by the author. The author emphasized, among other qualities, the most valuable quality a traveler can possess. Without it, people should resign to guides.

9 / 10

9) Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.

Click here to Read Passage -Travel

Travel

1 Many people have asked me what, all
2 things considered, is the most valuable quality
3 a wilderness traveler can possess. I have
4 always replied unhesitatingly; for, no matter
5 how useful or desirable attributes such as
6 patience, courage, strength, endurance, good
7 nature, and ingenuity may prove to be,
8 undoubtedly a person with them, but without a
9 sense of direction, is practically helpless in the
10 wilds. Therefore, I should name a sense of
11 direction as the prime requisite for those who
12 would become true foresters, those who would
13 depend on themselves rather than on guides.
14 The faculty is largely developed, of course, by
15 practice, but it must be inborn. Some people
16 possess it; others do not—just as some people
17 are naturally musical while others have no ear
18 for music at all. It is a sort of extra, having
19 nothing to do with criteria of intelligence or
20 mental development: like the repeater
21 movement in a watch. A highly educated or
22 cultured person may lack it, while the roughest
23 may possess it. Some who have never been in
24 the woods or mountains acquire a fair facility
25 at picking a way in the space of a vacation, but I
26 have met a few who have spent their lives on
27 the prospect trail, and who are still, and always
28 will be, as helpless as the newest city dweller. It
29 is a gift, a talent. If you have its germ, you can
30 become a traveler of the wide and lonely
31 places. If not, you may as well resign yourself to
32 guides.

Lines 3‐10 (“I….wilds”) imply that the author believes all the following EXCEPT

 

Synonymous to something inborn just as some people are naturally musical while others have no ear for music at all.

10 / 10

10) Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.

Click here to Read Passage -Travel

Travel

1 Many people have asked me what, all
2 things considered, is the most valuable quality
3 a wilderness traveler can possess. I have
4 always replied unhesitatingly; for, no matter
5 how useful or desirable attributes such as
6 patience, courage, strength, endurance, good
7 nature, and ingenuity may prove to be,
8 undoubtedly a person with them, but without a
9 sense of direction, is practically helpless in the
10 wilds. Therefore, I should name a sense of
11 direction as the prime requisite for those who
12 would become true foresters, those who would
13 depend on themselves rather than on guides.
14 The faculty is largely developed, of course, by
15 practice, but it must be inborn. Some people
16 possess it; others do not—just as some people
17 are naturally musical while others have no ear
18 for music at all. It is a sort of extra, having
19 nothing to do with criteria of intelligence or
20 mental development: like the repeater
21 movement in a watch. A highly educated or
22 cultured person may lack it, while the roughest
23 may possess it. Some who have never been in
24 the woods or mountains acquire a fair facility
25 at picking a way in the space of a vacation, but I
26 have met a few who have spent their lives on
27 the prospect trail, and who are still, and always
28 will be, as helpless as the newest city dweller. It
29 is a gift, a talent. If you have its germ, you can
30 become a traveler of the wide and lonely
31 places. If not, you may as well resign yourself to
32 guides.

As used in line 24, the word “facility” most nearly means

 

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