STEP (Standardized Test of English Proficiency) · Reading and Vocabulary

Reading Comprehension

30 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

Practise Reading Comprehension now

Random questions from this topic, one at a time. You see the answer and the explanation straight after each one.

All 30 questions

  1. According to the passage, why were books rare before the fifteenth century?
  2. What was the key feature of Gutenberg's press?
  3. What happened within fifty years of the invention?
  4. Why were some rulers and church leaders worried?
  5. The word 'movable' in the passage most nearly means
  6. What is desalination?
  7. How does reverse osmosis remove salt?
  8. What is one problem of desalination mentioned in the passage?
  9. Why must the leftover salty water be released carefully?
  10. What are engineers trying to achieve?
  11. Why are bees important besides producing honey?
  12. How does pollen move from one flower to another?
  13. About how much of our food depends on pollination by insects?
  14. Which of these is given as a cause of falling bee populations?
  15. What do scientists advise farmers to do?
  16. What made it easier for people to work from home?
  17. Which benefit of working from home is mentioned?
  18. What problem can arise because of blurred boundaries?
  19. What is a hybrid model?
  20. The word 'isolated' in the passage is closest in meaning to
  21. What did the caravans carry?
  22. What was the purpose of the oases?
  23. Why did some towns grow rich?
  24. Why did the caravan routes decline?
  25. The word 'linking' in the passage means
  26. What was unusual about the first bicycle-like machines?
  27. Why did the bicycle become more dangerous in the 1860s?
  28. What was special about the safety bicycle?
  29. According to many historians, what effect did cycling have on women?
  30. The word 'basis' in the passage is closest in meaning to

Keep practising

More STEP (Standardized Test of English Proficiency) topics

All STEP (Standardized Test of English Proficiency) practice →

Reading Comprehension in other exams

Ready for the full STEP (Standardized Test of English Proficiency) test?

Take a mock testSTEP (Standardized Test of English Proficiency) hub