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📖 10 questions · answers and rationales · free

TEAS reading practice questions

Free TEAS reading practice: short passages with the questions the test asks about them, main idea, inference, author's purpose, text structure and evidence, each with a rationale.

Tap an answer to check it, or open "Show the answer and rationale" under each question.

Question 1 of 10 · Key Ideas and Details

A notice in a hospital staff lounge reads: "Starting Monday, the north parking lot will be reserved for patients and visitors. Staff should park in the Fifth Street garage, where a shuttle will run to the main entrance every ten minutes from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m." What can be inferred about staff whose shift ends at 11 p.m.?

  1. They may have no shuttle back to the garage.
  2. They may park in the north lot after 8 p.m.
  3. They will start work earlier to catch the shuttle.
  4. They will be given reserved spaces near the door.
Show the answer and rationale

Answer: A

The shuttle stops at 8 p.m., so staff leaving at 11 p.m. will likely have no shuttle to their cars. The notice does not allow staff in the north lot at any hour, and it never mentions reserved spaces or changes to shift times.

📚 Learn it: Inferences and conclusions: reading between the lines

Question 2 of 10 · Craft and Structure

An article arguing for more funding for rural clinics opens with: "Imagine waking at 3 a.m. with a child burning with fever and no doctor within fifty miles." Why does the author most likely begin this way?

  1. To report the results of a study on rural doctors
  2. To show that rural children are sick more often
  3. To help readers feel the problem before the argument
  4. To explain how to treat a child's fever at home
Show the answer and rationale

Answer: C

Asking readers to imagine a frightening night makes the lack of nearby care feel personal, which prepares them to accept the argument that follows. The sentence gives no treatment advice, makes no claim about how often rural children get sick, and reports no study.

📚 Learn it: Author's purpose: why did the writer write this?

📄 Read the passage, then answer the questions below it

Bringing Back a Wetland

In the 1950s, the wetland along Marsh Creek was drained with ditches so the land could be farmed. In 2015, a conservation group bought the land, filled the ditches and replanted native grasses and shrubs. The goal was to restore what the wetland had once done for the surrounding area.

A healthy wetland works something like a sponge. During heavy rain, it holds water and releases it slowly, which lowers the peak of floods downstream. Its plants and the tiny organisms in its soil also remove nitrogen from farm runoff before the water reaches the creek.

Volunteers and scientists have monitored the site since the restoration. After heavy storms, the highest water level measured at the bridge downstream is now lower than it was before 2015. Nitrate levels in the creek just below the wetland are consistently lower than levels just above it. The number of bird species counted on the site each spring has risen from 14 to 37.

Some neighbors worried that a wetland would bring swarms of mosquitoes. So far, mosquito counts near the site have stayed about the same as before the restoration. Biologists credit the fish, frogs and dragonflies that now live in the wetland, all of which eat mosquito larvae.

Question 3 of 10 · Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Which conclusion is best supported by the monitoring results?

  1. Mosquitoes have disappeared from the area near the site.
  2. Farming near the creek has stopped completely since 2015.
  3. The restored wetland appears to be improving the creek.
  4. The restored wetland has ended all flooding on Marsh Creek.
Show the answer and rationale

Answer: C

Lower flood peaks, lower nitrate below the wetland and more bird species all point to improvement, and "appears" matches the strength of the evidence. The passage says flood peaks are lower, not that flooding ended; it does not say farming stopped; and mosquito counts stayed about the same.

📚 Learn it: Text evidence: make predictions and draw conclusions

Question 4 of 10 · Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

A town that often floods sits just downstream of another drained wetland. Based on the passage, what is the most likely effect if that wetland is restored?

  1. The town will receive less rain during heavy storms.
  2. The town's flood peaks after heavy rain may be lower.
  3. The town will need to drain more of its nearby land.
  4. The town's creek will carry more nitrogen than before.
Show the answer and rationale

Answer: B

The passage explains that a wetland holds water and releases it slowly, lowering flood peaks downstream, and the Marsh Creek data show that effect. A wetland cannot change rainfall, it removes nitrogen rather than adding it, and draining land is what destroyed the wetland in the first place.

📚 Learn it: Text evidence: make predictions and draw conclusions

Question 5 of 10 · Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Which detail best supports the claim that the wetland removes nitrogen from runoff?

  1. Native grasses and shrubs were replanted on the land.
  2. Bird species counted each spring rose from 14 to 37.
  3. The highest water level at the downstream bridge is lower.
  4. Nitrate is lower just below the wetland than above it.
Show the answer and rationale

Answer: D

Comparing nitrate above and below the wetland shows that the level drops as water passes through, which directly supports the claim. Replanting, bird counts and flood levels are real results or actions, but they do not measure nitrogen.

📚 Learn it: Text evidence: make predictions and draw conclusions

Question 6 of 10 · Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

A neighbor argues that the restoration should be undone because wetlands bring swarms of mosquitoes. Which information from the passage most directly counters this argument?

  1. A wetland works something like a sponge in heavy rain.
  2. Mosquito counts have stayed about the same as before.
  3. A conservation group bought the land in 2015.
  4. The land had been drained for farming in the 1950s.
Show the answer and rationale

Answer: B

The neighbor's claim depends on mosquitoes increasing, and monitoring found counts about the same, with predators eating larvae. The history of draining, the purchase in 2015 and the sponge comparison do not address mosquitoes at all.

📚 Learn it: Evaluating an argument: claim, evidence and reasoning

Question 7 of 10 · Key Ideas and Details

Read the paragraph: "Census takers in the 1800s traveled on foot and on horseback, often for weeks, to count every household in their districts. They wrote names, ages and jobs by hand in large ledgers. Errors were common: families were missed, names were misspelled, and some people gave false ages. Even so, historians rely heavily on these records, because they are often the only written trace of ordinary families from that time." Which sentence best states the main idea?

  1. Though often flawed, early census records are valuable to historians.
  2. Census takers in the 1800s traveled for weeks to reach every home.
  3. Many people in the 1800s gave census takers false ages.
  4. Modern census methods are far more accurate than older ones.
Show the answer and rationale

Answer: A

The paragraph describes how census records were made and their errors, then turns with "Even so" to their value to historians, which is its main point. The travel and the false ages are supporting details, and modern methods are never discussed.

📚 Learn it: Main idea and summary: what is the whole text about?

📄 Read the passage, then answer the questions below it

Ad: Nursing Assistant Certificate Program

Start Your Health Care Career in Just 8 Weeks!

Harbor City Community College's Nursing Assistant Certificate Program prepares you to take the state certification exam in only eight weeks. Classes meet Monday through Thursday evenings, from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., so you can keep your day job while you train.

• 60 hours of classroom instruction and 40 hours of supervised clinical practice
• Small groups: no more than 12 students per instructor in clinicals
• Tuition: $1,250, including the textbook and one set of scrubs

"This program changed my life. I passed my exam on the first try and was hired two weeks later!" (Marisol T., Class of 2024)

Nursing assistant work is a rewarding field, and there has never been a better time to join it. Don't let another year slip by wishing you had started.

The spring session begins March 2. Seats fill fast, so enroll today!

Question 8 of 10 · Craft and Structure · Select all that apply

Which statements from the advertisement are OPINIONS? Select all that apply.

  1. Classes meet Monday through Thursday evenings.
  2. Nursing assistant work is a rewarding field.
  3. The spring session begins March 2.
  4. There has never been a better time to join the field.
  5. Tuition is $1,250, including the textbook and one set of scrubs.
Show the answer and rationale

Answer: B, D

Whether this is the best time to join, and whether the work is "rewarding," are judgments people could disagree with. The tuition, the start date and the class schedule can all be checked with the college, so they are facts.

📚 Learn it: Fact, opinion and bias: can it be proven?

Question 9 of 10 · Craft and Structure

The line "Don't let another year slip by wishing you had started" tries to persuade mainly by appealing to readers'

  1. sense of humor
  2. loyalty to their college
  3. trust in published research
  4. fear of later regret
Show the answer and rationale

Answer: D

The line pictures a future of wishing you had acted, which plays on fear of regret to push readers to enroll now. It cites no research, it is not a joke, and it does not appeal to loyalty to the school.

📚 Learn it: Fact, opinion and bias: can it be proven?

Question 10 of 10 · Craft and Structure

As used in the ad, a "rewarding" field is one that is

  1. known for cash prizes
  2. satisfying and worthwhile
  3. popular with young people
  4. easy and requires little effort
Show the answer and rationale

Answer: B

Calling work rewarding means it brings a sense of satisfaction and value. Cash prizes take the word too literally, and nothing in the ad says the work is easy or mainly popular with young people.

📚 Learn it: Word meaning from context: use the clues around the word

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