Reading Comprehension

Dong Thap University
Foreign Language Department






Reading Comprehension 4
Exercises on Prefixes, Roots and Suffixes














Dong Thap, 15th Feb, 2011

Table of Content
Vocabulary Practice Section....................................................................................3
* Part 1: Getting the meaning of the word from the context......................................3
* Part 2: Getting the meaning of the word from the word structure...........................6
Reading Comprehension Section............................................................................11
* Passage 1..................................................................................................................11
* Passage 2...................................................................................................................14
* Passage 3...................................................................................................................17
* Passage 4...................................................................................................................20
* Passage 5...................................................................................................................23
Vocabulary Practice Answer Key and Explanation................................................26
* Part 1: Getting the meaning of the word from the context.........................................26
* Part 2: Getting the meaning of the word from the word structure..............................27
Reading Comprehension Answer Key and Explanation..........................................28
References......................................................................................................................30
Appendix 1..................................................................................................................... 31











Vocabulary Practice Section

*Part 1: Getting the meaning of the word from the context

1. Both a person’s heredity and his environment help to shape his character.
A. relatives
B. education
C. nationality
D. surroundings
2. His natural intelligence and his experience enable him to cope with the problem.
A. grow
B. play
C. deal
D. stay
3. Many businesses provide a kind of retirement benefit which is paid until the death of the former employee.
A. patent
B. subsidy
C. pension
D. bargain
4. Gradually, the sound of the music and laughter died down.
A. became louder
B. became softer
C. became more irritating
D. became more cheerful
5. The speaker demonstrated his knowledge of the subject by his excellent lecture.
A. corrected
B. created
C. repeated
D. showed
6. Smoking is prohibited in many university classrooms in the United States.
A. permitted
B. taught
C. banned
D. revoked
7. The patient handed the doctor his fee.
A. medicine
B. money
C. bag
D. instrument
8. One symptom of the disease is a high fever.
A. symbol
B. sign
C. cause
D. pain
9. When he was director of the company, his first accomplishment was to bring about better working conditions.
A. achievement
B. accumulation
C. defeat
D. job
10. Picasso was a well-known cubist painter.
A. artistic
B. colorful
C. knowledgeable
D. celebrated


11. The ___________ expenses of products increase the final cost of the item.
A. transportation
B. transport
C. transportable
D. transported
12. The company president is an ____________ individual.
A. assert
B. assertion
C. assertiveness
D. assertive
13. Jenny is ___________ mature to make her own decisions.
A. sufficiency
B. sufficiently
C. suffice
D. sufficient
14. Many publishers _____________ their newspaper directly to homes in their area.
A. distribute
B. distribution
C. distributing
D. distributor
15. Business letters do not always have to be impersonal and _______________.
A. formal
B. informal
C. formality
D. informality
16. Nowadays chemicals are ____________ into some fruits to reduce decay.
A. injected
B. injection
C. injecting
D. injects

17. Although we live far away from each other, we always remain ____________ friends.
A. intimacy
B. intimately
C. intimate
D. intimates
18. Our district had a campaign to ____________ smoking among teenagers.
A. encourage
B. discourage
C. not encourage
D. discouraged
19. ___________ exercise is essential for good health.
A. Regularity
B. Irregular
C. Regular
D. Regularly
20. The 23rd mascot eagle is the _____________ of elegance, strength and pride.
A. symbolic
B. symbolize
C. symbol
D. symbolizes

* Part 2: Getting the meaning of the word from the word structure

1. When the doctor gave his patient a medicine with harmful side effects, the patient sued for malpractice.
A. friendship
B. bad
C. goodness
D. exercise

2.