TOEFL IBT Reading Practice Test 69 from The Collection of TOEFL Reading Comprehension
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Reading Directions: This section measures your ability to understand academic passages in English.
The Reading section is divided into separately timed parts.
Most questions are worth 1 point, but the last question for each passage is worth more than 1 point. The directions for the last question indicate how many points you may receive. You will now begin the Reading section. There are three passages in the section. You should allow 20 minutes to read each passage and answer the questions about it. You should allow 60 minutes to complete the entire section.
Reading Practice Test 69 from The Collection of TOEFL Reading Comprehension
Passage 1:
Researchers have found that migrating animals use a variety of inner compasses to help them navigate. Some steer by the position of the Sun. Others navigate by the stars. Some use the Sun as their guide during the day, and then switch to star aviation by night. One study shows that the homing pigeon uses the Earth’s magnetic fields as a guide in finding its way home, and there are indications that various other animals, from insects to mollusks, can also make use of magnetic compasses. It is of course very useful for a migrating bird to be able to switch to a magnetic compass when clouds cover the Sun otherwise it would just have to land and wait for the Sun to come out again.
Even with the Sun or stars to steer by the problems of navigation are more complicated than they might seem at first. For example a worker honeybee that has found a rich source of nectar and pollen flies rapidly home to the hive to report. A naturalist has discovered that the bee scout delivers her report through a complicated dance in the hive, in which she tells the other workers not only how far a way the food is, but also what direction to fly in relation to the Sun. But the Sun does not stay in one place all day. As the workers start out to gather the food the Sun may already have changed its position in the sky somewhat. In later trips during the day the Sun will seem to move farther and farther toward the west. Yet the worker bees seem to have no trouble at all in finding the food source. Their inner clocks tell them just where the Sun will be, and they change their course correspondingly.
1. What is the main idea of the passage?
(A) Bees communicate with each other by dancing
(B) Animals have internal steering devices
(C) The Sun is necessary for ‘animal navigation
(D) The Earth’s magnetic fields guide pigeons home
2. The author mentions all of the following natural phenomena that help animals navigate EXCEPT
(A) the Sun
(B) the stars
(C) magnetic fields
(D) wind direction
3. What makes it necessary for a bird to rely on a magnetic compass when navigating?
(A) The possibility of bad weather
(B) The constant motion of the Sun
(C) Its patterns of migration
(D) Its need to constantly change homes
4. In line 10, the word “rich” means
(A) wealthy
(B) abundant
(C) comical
(D) meaningful
5. According to the passage what information does the dance of the scout bee communicate to the other worker bees?
(A) The time of day
(B) What the weather is like
(C) How far away the food is
(D) Which flowers the scout has found
6. What enables the bees to steer by the Sun even though the Sun’s position is not fixed’:
(A) They are equipped with biological time clocks
(B) The fly in formation behind the scout bee
(C) They have excellent eyesight
(D) They have long memories
7. Which of the following is an example of an animal using an inner compass as described in the passage?
(A) Mother chimpanzees caring for and grooming their young
(B) Turtles traveling miles through the sea to lay eggs on an island
(C) Wolves fighting each other for territorial rights
(D) Lions stalking their prey without having seen it