IBEW reading comprehension practice

Question 1

At the start of her shift at the Birch Lane project, first-year apprentice Lena found her name on the posted schedule. Her assignment was to help Omar prepare materials for work in the west wing. She picked up an empty cart, ready to leave, but Omar pointed to a note beneath the assignment. The west wing was not yet available to their crew. Lena had found her task without noticing the condition attached to it. Omar asked her to read the entire entry. Along with the location and assignment, it listed a backup task: sorting labeled boxes in the supply room. The west-wing assignment was provisional, meaning it would remain on the schedule for now but could change when the supervisor received more information. Before entering that wing, Lena needed confirmation from the supervisor. Until then, the supply room was where she should work. Lena returned the cart and checked the supply-room entry. It named the shelves she and Omar would organize and identified boxes that should remain untouched. She repeated the instructions to Omar, who confirmed that she had understood them. Then she wrote the west-wing materials on a separate list and kept it in her pocket. She could use that list if the supervisor approved the original assignment later. When the supervisor announced that the west wing would remain unavailable, Lena was already working on the correct shelves. She did not need to abandon a cart of materials or undo work. At the next morning's schedule, she looked beyond her name first. She checked the notes, the limits of the assignment, and the task she could do if the original plan changed. Which statement best expresses the main idea of the passage?

1. An apprentice learns that planning work requires reading a schedule's conditions as well as its assignments.
2. A crew avoids schedule changes by preparing all its materials before starting work.
3. An apprentice discovers that organizing supplies is more useful than preparing materials.
4. A supervisor expects apprentices to choose their own assignments when work areas are unavailable.

Question 2

At the start of her shift at the Birch Lane project, first-year apprentice Lena found her name on the posted schedule. Her assignment was to help Omar prepare materials for work in the west wing. She picked up an empty cart, ready to leave, but Omar pointed to a note beneath the assignment. The west wing was not yet available to their crew. Lena had found her task without noticing the condition attached to it. Omar asked her to read the entire entry. Along with the location and assignment, it listed a backup task: sorting labeled boxes in the supply room. The west-wing assignment was provisional, meaning it would remain on the schedule for now but could change when the supervisor received more information. Before entering that wing, Lena needed confirmation from the supervisor. Until then, the supply room was where she should work. Lena returned the cart and checked the supply-room entry. It named the shelves she and Omar would organize and identified boxes that should remain untouched. She repeated the instructions to Omar, who confirmed that she had understood them. Then she wrote the west-wing materials on a separate list and kept it in her pocket. She could use that list if the supervisor approved the original assignment later. When the supervisor announced that the west wing would remain unavailable, Lena was already working on the correct shelves. She did not need to abandon a cart of materials or undo work. At the next morning's schedule, she looked beyond her name first. She checked the notes, the limits of the assignment, and the task she could do if the original plan changed. According to the passage, what did Lena need before entering the west wing?

1. A completed list of the west-wing materials.
2. Confirmation from the supervisor.
3. An empty cart from the supply room.
4. Permission to move the untouched boxes.

Question 3

On a summer afternoon in the town of Millbrook, a groundskeeper named Dana watched dark clouds pile up over the ballfield. She knew what was building inside them. Lightning begins in a storm cloud, where strong rising air carries water droplets and bits of ice upward while other particles fall. As these particles bump into one another, they trade electric charge. Over time, the cloud becomes divided. One region holds mostly positive charge, and another, often near the bottom, holds mostly negative charge. The ground below responds to this. Charges in the earth shift under the storm, so the surface beneath the cloud gathers the opposite charge. Air normally resists the flow of electricity. When the difference in charge grows large enough, however, that resistance breaks down. A faint path of charged air begins to reach downward from the cloud in short steps. This is where height matters. A tree, tower, or flagpole rises closer to the cloud, and charge collects at its tip. From that point, an upward streamer may reach toward the path coming down. When the two meet, they form a complete channel, and a powerful current rushes through it. The flash you see is that channel heating the air so quickly that it glows. The sudden expansion of the heated air produces thunder. This process explains why lightning tends to strike tall, isolated objects. A tall object standing by itself, with nothing nearby to compete with it, offers a shorter route through the resistant air. Dana cleared the field early. She knew that a person standing alone in an open space would become the highest point around. Lightning does not always strike the tallest object, but height makes a strike more likely. Which statement best expresses the main idea of the passage?

1. Lightning always strikes the tallest object in an area.
2. Groundskeepers should clear open fields whenever storm clouds begin to gather.
3. Lightning forms when charge separates in a storm cloud, and tall objects are struck more often because they offer a shorter path for the discharge.
4. Thunder is caused by air that expands suddenly after being heated by lightning.