Reading Section Directions

In this section, you will be able to demonstrate your ability to understand academic
passages in English. You will read and answer questions about two passages. In the
actual test, you will have 36 minutes total to read both passages and respond to the
questions. A clock will indicate how much time is remaining.
In the actual test, some passages may include an underlined word or phrase that
you can select to see a definition, an explanation, or an illustration.
You can skip questions and go back later. In this practice test, you can review the
correct answer for each question by reviewing the answer key.

Reading Practice Set 1

Examining the Problem of Bycatch

1. A topic of increasing relevance to the conservation of marine life is

bycatch—fish and other animals that are unintentionally caught in the process
of fishing for a targeted population of fish. Bycatch is a common occurrence in
longline fishing, which utilizes a long heavy fishing line with baited hooks
placed at intervals, and in trawling, which utilizes a fishing net (trawl) that is
dragged along the ocean floor or through the mid-ocean waters. Few fisheries
employ gear that can catch one species to the exclusion of all others.
Dolphins, whales, and turtles are frequently captured in nets set for tunas and
billfishes, and seabirds and turtles are caught in longline sets. Because
bycatch often goes unreported, it is difficult to accurately estimate its extent.
Available data indicate that discarded biomass (organic matter from living
things) amounts to 25–30 percent of official catch, or about 30 million metric
tons.
2. The bycatch problem is particularly acute when trawl nets with small mesh
sizes (smaller-than-average holes in the net material) are dragged along the
bottom of the ocean in pursuit of groundfish or shrimp. Because of the small
mesh size of the shrimp trawl nets, most of the fishes captured are either
juveniles (young), smaller than legal size limits, or undesirable small species.
Even larger mesh sizes do not prevent bycatch because once the net begins
to fill with fish or shrimp, small individuals caught subsequently are trapped
without ever encountering the mesh. In any case, these incidental captures
are unmarketable and are usually shoveled back over the side of the vessel
dead or dying.
3. The bycatch problem is complicated economically and ecologically. Bycatch is
a liability to shrimp fishers, clogging the nets and increasing fuel costs
because of increased drag (resistance) on the vessel. Sorting the catch
requires time, leading to spoilage of harvested shrimp and reduced time for
 fishing. Ecologically, high mortality rates among juvenile fishes could
contribute to population declines of recreational and commercial species.
Evidence to this effect exists for Gulf of Mexico red snapper and Atlantic
Coast weakfish. Because the near-shore areas where shrimp concentrate are
also important nursery grounds for many fish species, shrimp trawling could
have a profound impact on stock size.
4. Once the dead or dying bycatch is returned to the ecosystem, it is consumed
by predators, detritivores (organisms that eat dead plant and animal matter),
and decomposers (organisms that break down dead or decaying organic
matter), which could have a positive effect on sport fish, seabird, crab, and
even shrimp populations. Available evidence indicates that 40– 60 percent of
the 30 metric tons of catch discarded annually by commercial fishing vessels,
and even more of the non catch waste (organisms killed but never brought to
the surface), does not lie unused on the bottom of the sea. It becomes
available to midwater and ocean-bottom scavengers, transferring material into
their food web and making energy available to foragers (organisms that
search for food) that is normally tied up in ocean-bottom, deep-ocean,
midwater, and open-ocean species.
5. Overfishing and over discarding may thus contribute to a syndrome known as
“fishing down of food webs,” whereby we eliminate apex (top) predators and
large species while transforming the ocean into a simplified system
increasingly dominated by microbes, jellyfish, ocean-bottom invertebrates,
plankton, and planktivores. The strongest evidence for the fishing down
phenomenon exists in global catch statistics that show alarming shifts in
species composition from high-value, near-bottom species to lower-value,
open-ocean species. In the last three decades of the twentieth century, the
global fishing fleet doubled in size and technology advanced immeasurably.
Despite increased effort and technology, total catch stabilized, but landing
rates (rates at which species are caught) of the most valuable species fell by
25 percent.
6. Conservation organizations have condemned the obvious and extreme waste
associated with bycatch. Public concern over high mortality rates of
endangered marine turtles captured in shrimp trawls led to the development of
turtle exclusion devices (TEDs) in the 1980s. TEDs were incorporated into the
shrimp net design with the purpose of directing turtles out of nets without
unacceptably reducing shrimp catches. Marine engineers and fishers also
developed shrimp net designs that incorporate bycatch reduction devices
(BRDs), taking advantage of behavioral differences between shrimp and fish,
or between different fishes, in order to separate fishes.
Directions: Now answer the questions.

1. Why does the author provide the information that “Available data indicate that
discarded biomass (organic matter from living things) amounts to 25–30
percent of official catch, or about 30 million metric tons”?

(A) To disprove the claim that it is difficult to accurately estimate the extent of
the bycatch problem

(B) To illustrate the extreme effectiveness of the longline and trawling

methods

(C) To suggest that uncertainty about the true extent of bycatch does not
leave in doubt that it is a problem

(D) To indicate that data about bycatch are available only from fisheries
having the right kind of gear

2. According to paragraph 1, which of the following is true about the impact of

various methods of fishing on the problem of bycatch?

(A) Almost all commercial fishing methods capture fish and animals that the
fishers do not want.

(B) Switching from trawling to longline fishing would save seabirds and turtles
from being unintentionally caught.

(C) Longline fishing is particularly dangerous for dolphins and whales.

(D) Trawling on the ocean floor produces less bycatch than does trawling
through mid-ocean waters.

3. The word “acute” in the passage is closest in meaning to

(A) common

(B) severe

(C) complicated

(D) noticeable

4. According to paragraph 2, why have larger mesh sizes not provided a

practical solution to bycatch in shrimp fishing?
 (A) Larger openings increase the risk that nets will get tangled or damaged as
they are being hauled over the sides of the vessel.

(B) Openings large enough to prevent the capture of juvenile and other
undesirable fish would also release the shrimp.

(C) Large mesh sizes are more likely to result in fish getting stuck partway
through, causing more deaths within the catch.

(D) When nets grow full, they still trap fish that cannot reach the mesh
openings.

5. According to paragraph 3, which of the following is NOT a problem associated

with bycatch in shrimp fishing?

(A)Shrimp fishers have to buy more fuel because of the added weight of the
extra fish in their nets.

(B)The population of recreational and commercial species declines because

much of the bycatch is their prey, resulting in a food shortage for them.

(C)Shrimp fishers must spend time sorting the shrimp from the bycatch, and
some shrimp spoil during this time.

(D)The populations of some species of fish are reduced because so many of

their young are caught in shrimp nets.

6. According to paragraph 4, how does bycatch sometimes benefit sport fish,

seabird, crab, andeven shrimp populations?

(A)The discarded fish provide these species with a significant amount of food
that would otherwise be unavailable to them.

(B)Fishing eliminates up to 40 to 60 percent of the predators of these species,

most of which are caught unintentionally.

(C)These fish and other animals may be caught unintentionally in

overcrowded locations and then released into more favorable environments.

(D)Many of the competitors of these species are eliminated by fishing, leaving

them with access to more food and other resources.
7. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the
highlighted sentence in paragraph 5? Incorrect choices change the meaning
in important ways or leave out essential information.

(A)Overfishing and over discarding of jellyfish, ocean-bottom invertebrates,

plankton, and planktivores are transforming the ocean in a process known as
fishing down of food webs.

(B)Overdiscarding bycatch simplifies the food web by favoring the kinds of

predators that feed on such prey as jellyfish, ocean-bottom invertebrates, and
planktivores.

(C)Fishing down of food webs may occur if overfishing and bycatch disposal
result in the disappearance of species at the top of the food web and the
dominance of species near the bottom.

(D)Overfishing and over discarding is a syndrome that affects not only top
predators and large species but also microbes, jellyfish, ocean-bottom
invertebrates, plankton, and planktivores.

8. What does paragraph 5 suggest is the reason why landing rates of the most
valuable species fell 25 percent in the last three decades of the twentieth
century?

(A) Changes in technology led many fishers to shift from a focus on

near-bottom species to lower-value open-ocean species.

(B) Around the world, the number of people and ships involved in the fishing
trade declined because of changes in the demand for fish.

(C) The total amount of fish in the ocean decreased significantly, leading to a
steady decrease in global total catch.

(D) The most valuable species make up a much smaller percentage of the
total sea population than they used to.

9. In the paragraph below, there is a missing sentence. Look at the paragraph

and indicate (A, B, C and D) where the following sentence could be added to
the passage.

Turtles were not the only marine species to benefit from new catch
techniques.

Where would the sentence best fit?

 Conservation organizations have condemned the obvious and extreme waste
associated with bycatch. (A) Public concern over high mortality rates of
endangered marine turtles captured in shrimp trawls led to the development of
turtle exclusion devices (TEDs) in the 1980s. (B) TEDs were incorporated into
the shrimp net design with the purpose of directing turtles out of nets without
unacceptably reducing shrimp catches. (C) Marine engineers and fishers also
developed shrimp net designs that incorporate bycatch reduction devices
(BRDs), taking advantage of behavioral differences between shrimp and fish,
or between different fishes, in order to separate fishes. (D)

A. Option A
B. Option B
C. Option C
D. Option D

10. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is

provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the 3 answer choices
that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not
belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in
the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2
points.
Write your answer choices in the spaces where they belong. You can either
write the letter of your answer choice or you can copy the sentence.

Many fish and other animals are unintentionally caught during commercial
fishing, a problem known as bycatch.

Answer choices

(A) Bycatch occurs in both longline fishing and trawling and affects a range of
species, although marine engineers have developed net devices that have
lessened the problem for some species.

(B) Female fish are especially likely to become bycatch when they are near
the ocean bottom spawning their eggs, which decreases the populations of
commercially desirable fish such as salmon and tuna.
(C) Trawling with small mesh nets for shrimp results in large amounts of
bycatch, especially of small, young, or unwanted species of fish, causing a
range of problems for shrimp fishers and the ecosystem.

(D) Efforts are being made to come up with productive uses for bycatch, such
as providing food for fish farms or being used in agricultural products such as
animal feed and fertilizers.

(E) When bycatch is disposed of in the ocean, the extra food is eaten by
predators, detrivores, and decomposers but may ultimately cause the most
valuable species to decline.

(F) Much of the equipment designed to prevent bycatch has so far proven to
be largely ineffective, with TEDs failing to significantly reduce the number of
sea turtles captured in fishing nets.