Passage D

Practice Tests
Practice Tests for the Florida State College Basic Skills Exit Test
Passage D

Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow.

31. Which sentence best states the main idea of this passage?

A. The central nervous system works 24 hours a day.

B. The spinal cord plays a critical role in the central nervous system.

C. The central nervous system controls the functions of the body.

D. The nervous system has two major parts: the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system.

32. According to the passage, the spinal cord

A. coordinates the activity of the brain.

B. is responsible for coordinating activities that don't involve the brain.

C. needs information from the brain to do its job.

D. is the main trunk line that houses the peripheral nervous system.

33. The author's primary purpose is to

A. explain the development of the central nervous system.

B. describe the functions of the different parts of the nervous system.

C. persuade the reader that the central nervous system is the most important system of the body.

D. emphasize the complexity of the central nervous system.

34. What is the relationship between the parts of the following sentence?

"The nervous system is subdivided into two major divisions: the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS)."

A. summary

B. classification

C. contrast

D. cause/effect

35. As used in line 15, the word stimulus most nearly means

A. something that is caused by an emotion.

B. something that is caused by a situation.

C. something that is caused by an occasion.

D. something that causes a reaction.

36. As used in line 20, the word regulating most nearly means

A. policing

B. controlling

C. stimulating

D. measuring

37. The tone of this passage is

A. subjective

B. sympathetic

C. informal

D. clinical

38. "For example, an organism whose spinal cord has been severed from its brain can still withdraw its limb from a painful stimulus."

One conclusion that could be drawn from this sentence in paragraph two is

A. A person needs the brain to send the signal to pull a hand away from a hot stove.

B. A person's muscles always react on their own accord.

C. A person whose spinal cord has been severed cannot move.

D. A person can pull a hand away from a hot stove without being directed by the brain.

39. Overall, the author uses an organizational pattern that

A. gives examples of injuries that damage the central nervous system.

B. provides a comparison of the two divisions of the central nervous system.

C. offers reasons for the way the system nervous system functions

D. classifies the different divisions and sub-divisions of the central nervous system.

40. This passage is based upon

A. fact

B. opinion