ASVAB — All Questions

The human body loses water constantly through breathing, sweating, and digestion. To stay healthy, this lost water must be replaced by drinking fluids and eating foods that contain water. According to the passage, why must people drink fluids?

• a.To replace water the body loses✓
• b.To improve eyesight
• c.To build stronger muscles
• d.To gain more energy

The passage states the body constantly loses water and that this loss must be replaced. The correct choice restates that idea directly. The other options are not mentioned in the passage.

Recycling reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills. It also saves energy, because making products from recycled materials often uses less power than making them from raw materials. One benefit of recycling mentioned in the passage is that it:

• a.saves energy✓
• b.raises product prices
• c.creates more landfills
• d.uses more raw materials

The passage says recycling saves energy since recycled materials often require less power. That matches the correct choice. The remaining options contradict the passage.

A good study routine includes setting a regular time and place. Studying in the same spot each day helps the brain associate that location with focus, making it easier to concentrate. The passage suggests that studying in the same place each day helps a person to:

• a.avoid taking notes
• b.finish homework faster
• c.concentrate more easily✓
• d.study fewer subjects

The passage explains that a consistent location helps the brain associate it with focus, making concentration easier. The correct answer restates this. The other choices are not supported.

Firefighters wear heavy protective suits made of flame-resistant material. These suits shield the wearer from intense heat, but they are also very hot and tiring to work in. According to the passage, one drawback of the protective suits is that they:

• a.cannot be cleaned
• b.are hot and tiring to wear✓
• c.are too thin
• d.catch fire easily

The passage notes that although the suits protect against heat, they are hot and tiring to work in. That is the drawback described. The other options are not stated.

Bees play a vital role in agriculture. As they move from flower to flower collecting nectar, they carry pollen between plants, allowing many crops to produce fruit. The passage indicates that bees help crops by:

• a.eating harmful insects
• b.keeping the ground warm
• c.carrying pollen between plants✓
• d.watering the soil

The passage states bees carry pollen from flower to flower, which allows crops to produce fruit. That matches the correct choice. The other answers are not mentioned.

Reading aloud to young children builds their vocabulary. Hearing new words in context helps children understand meanings and remember the words later. According to the passage, hearing words in context helps children to:

• a.speak more quietly
• b.read silently
• c.write neatly
• d.understand and remember words✓

The passage says that hearing new words in context helps children grasp meanings and recall the words later. The correct option restates this. The others are not supported.

Regular exercise strengthens the heart. A stronger heart pumps blood more efficiently, which can lower a person's resting heart rate over time. The passage states that a stronger heart:

• a.requires more oxygen
• b.pumps blood more efficiently✓
• c.shrinks in size
• d.beats faster at rest

The passage explains that a stronger heart pumps blood more efficiently and can lower the resting heart rate. That matches the correct choice, while the others contradict the passage.

Many plants close their leaves or flowers at night. This response helps protect the plant from cold temperatures and reduces water loss during dark hours. According to the passage, closing at night helps plants by:

• a.attracting more insects
• b.growing taller quickly
• c.reducing water loss✓
• d.producing more seeds

The passage says that closing at night protects plants from cold and reduces water loss. The correct answer reflects this. The remaining choices are not mentioned.

A budget is a plan for spending money. By listing income and expenses, a budget helps a person avoid spending more than they earn. The main purpose of a budget, according to the passage, is to:

• a.borrow more money
• b.increase a person's income
• c.plan spending and avoid overspending✓
• d.eliminate all expenses

The passage defines a budget as a spending plan that lists income and expenses to prevent overspending. The correct choice captures this purpose. The others are not stated.

Sea turtles travel thousands of miles across the ocean but often return to the same beach where they hatched to lay their eggs. Scientists believe they use the Earth's magnetic field to navigate. According to the passage, sea turtles are believed to navigate using:

• a.ocean water temperature
• b.the position of the moon
• c.the Earth's magnetic field✓
• d.the sound of waves

The passage states that scientists believe sea turtles use the Earth's magnetic field to find their way. That matches the correct choice. The other options are not mentioned.

Getting enough sleep improves memory. During deep sleep, the brain organizes and stores information learned during the day, making it easier to recall later. The passage explains that during deep sleep the brain:

• a.forgets the day's events
• b.stops all activity
• c.organizes and stores information✓
• d.grows new bones

The passage says the brain organizes and stores the day's information during deep sleep, aiding recall. The correct answer restates this. The other choices are unsupported.

Traffic roundabouts can reduce accidents at intersections. Because vehicles move in the same direction around a circle, dangerous head-on and right-angle collisions are far less likely. According to the passage, roundabouts reduce accidents because vehicles:

• a.use fewer lanes
• b.stop more often
• c.travel much faster
• d.move in the same direction✓

The passage explains that roundabouts keep vehicles moving in the same direction, reducing head-on and right-angle crashes. The correct choice restates this reason. The others are not stated.

Salt has long been used to preserve food. It draws moisture out of meat and fish, creating conditions in which the bacteria that cause spoilage cannot easily grow. The passage indicates that salt preserves food by:

• a.raising the temperature
• b.drawing out moisture✓
• c.adding vitamins
• d.adding color

The passage says salt draws moisture out of food, making it hard for spoilage bacteria to grow. That matches the correct answer. The other options are not mentioned.

Volunteering benefits both the community and the volunteer. Besides helping others, volunteers often gain new skills and build friendships that improve their own lives. According to the passage, one way volunteering benefits the volunteer is by:

• a.reducing their taxes
• b.increasing their salary
• c.helping them gain new skills✓
• d.giving them free housing

The passage states that volunteers often gain new skills and build friendships. The correct choice reflects a benefit to the volunteer. The other options are not supported by the text.

A crew chief keeps a maintenance log for every aircraft in the squadron. The log records not only repairs but also the hours flown since each part was installed. Because parts are replaced on a schedule tied to flight hours rather than to the calendar, an aircraft that flies rarely may keep a part far longer than one flown daily. According to the passage, replacement of parts is scheduled by

• a.hours flown✓
• b.repair history
• c.squadron size
• d.calendar date

The passage states that parts are replaced on a schedule tied to flight hours rather than to the calendar. Repairs are recorded in the log but are not what sets the schedule.

Sea fog forms when warm, moist air drifts over water that is colder than the air. The water chills the lowest layer of air until the moisture in it condenses into droplets. This is why fog is common where a warm current meets a cold one, and why it often burns off once the sun warms the air above the dew point. The passage indicates that sea fog requires

• a.water warmer than the air
• b.a steady offshore wind
• c.rain earlier in the day
• d.air warmer than the water✓

The first sentence says fog forms when warm, moist air drifts over colder water. Wind and rain are not mentioned as requirements.

Many people believe that a heavier bat will always drive a baseball farther. In practice, a bat that is too heavy slows a batter's swing enough to cancel the advantage. The best bat for any given player is the heaviest one that the player can still swing at full speed. The main point of the passage is that

• a.the right bat weight varies✓
• b.heavier bats hit the ball farther
• c.light bats suit most players
• d.swing speed is not important

The passage rejects the blanket rule about heavy bats and concludes that the right weight depends on the individual batter's swing speed.

The first lighthouses burned wood in open baskets, and their keepers spent the night hauling fuel up the tower stairs. Oil lamps replaced the baskets, and lenses were added to gather the light into a narrow beam. Modern towers use electric lamps and need no keeper at all. Each step made the light stronger and the labor of tending it smaller. The passage is mainly about

• a.the daily life of a keeper
• b.why lighthouses were built
• c.the danger of rocky coasts
• d.lighthouse light over time✓

Each sentence traces a stage in how the light itself was produced, from wood fires to electric lamps. The keeper's labor is mentioned only in support of that history.

A supervisor who corrects a worker in front of the whole crew may win the argument and lose the worker. Criticism delivered privately is far more likely to be acted on, because the worker is not defending his standing in front of others at the same time. The passage suggests that public criticism fails mainly because it

• a.takes too much of the day
• b.goes unheard by the whole crew
• c.is usually factually wrong
• d.forces the worker to save face✓

The passage explains that a publicly corrected worker is simultaneously defending his standing before others, which is what blocks the correction from being acted on.

Concrete gains strength for weeks after it is poured, but it gains that strength only while it stays damp. A slab left to dry in hot sun may reach less than half the strength of one kept wet for a week. Crews therefore cover fresh slabs with plastic sheeting or spray them at intervals. According to the passage, covering a fresh slab is done to

• a.protect it from traffic
• b.keep the surface level
• c.speed up the pour
• d.keep the concrete damp✓

The passage says concrete gains strength only while it stays damp, and that sheeting and spraying are the crew's response to that fact.

Bamboo is a grass, not a tree, though some species grow taller than a four-story building. Because a grass stem is hollow and jointed, bamboo bends far more than a solid trunk of the same thickness, which is one reason it survives storms that break hardwoods. The passage explains that bamboo survives storms because it

• a.bends instead of breaking✓
• b.grows back very quickly
• c.has unusually deep roots
• d.is shorter than hardwoods

The passage attributes the survival to the hollow, jointed stem that lets bamboo bend more than a solid trunk. Root depth and regrowth are not discussed.

A clerk was told to file the invoices by vendor, then by date within each vendor. She filed them by date alone, reasoning that it would be faster to find a recent invoice that way. When the accounting office asked for every invoice from one supplier, the whole file had to be searched. The passage best illustrates that

• a.dates are poor labels
• b.orders can have a reason✓
• c.clerks resent extra work
• d.filing wastes office time

The clerk's shortcut looked reasonable until the request that the original instruction anticipated arrived. The passage is about the hidden reason behind the order.

Salt lowers the temperature at which water freezes, which is why crews spread it on winter roads. Below about minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit, however, salt loses most of its effect, and crews switch to sand. Sand does not melt anything; it simply gives tires something to grip. According to the passage, sand is used on very cold roads because

• a.salt loses its effect✓
• b.sand melts ice faster
• c.sand is much less costly
• d.salt damages the pavement

The passage says salt loses most of its effect below about minus 10 degrees, which is why crews switch to sand. Sand is described as providing grip rather than melting.

The word budget once meant a leather pouch. An English official who presented the year's finances was said to open his budget, meaning that he opened the bag holding his papers. Over time the name of the bag came to mean the plan inside it. In this passage, the word budget originally referred to

• a.a public speech
• b.a yearly report
• c.a leather bag✓
• d.a tax collector

The first sentence states directly that budget once meant a leather pouch, and the rest explains how the meaning shifted to the plan.

Night vision depends on rod cells, which sit mostly around the edge of the retina rather than at its center. That is why a dim star is easier to see when you look slightly to one side of it than when you stare straight at it. Sailors and astronomers both learn this trick early. The passage suggests that to see a faint object at night you should

• a.stare directly at it
• b.use a brighter light
• c.look slightly aside✓
• d.close one eye first

Because rod cells cluster away from the center of the retina, the passage says a dim star is easier to see when you look slightly to one side.

Apprenticeship differs from classroom training in one important way: the apprentice produces real work from the first week. The work is slow and closely supervised at first, and the employer accepts that cost in exchange for a worker trained to the shop's own methods. According to the passage, the employer's return on an apprenticeship is

• a.lower insurance premiums
• b.a worker trained to its methods✓
• c.a shorter training period
• d.cheap labor from the very first day

The passage names the exchange explicitly: the employer accepts early inefficiency in return for a worker trained to the shop's own methods.

A rip current is a narrow channel of water flowing away from the beach. Swimmers who try to fight one head-on tire quickly, because the current can move faster than a person can swim. Swimming parallel to the shore takes the swimmer out of the narrow channel within a short distance. The passage indicates that a swimmer caught in a rip current should

• a.dive beneath the current
• b.swim parallel to the shore✓
• c.swim straight toward dry land
• d.float until it weakens

The passage contrasts fighting the current head-on with swimming parallel to the shore, which leaves the narrow channel quickly.

In a factory that runs three shifts, the machines never cool down. Tools that would last a year in a single-shift shop wear out in four months, and a breakdown on the night shift costs as much as one at noon. Maintenance in such a plant is scheduled rather than waited for. The passage explains that maintenance is scheduled in three-shift plants because

• a.night crews are less skilled
• b.spare parts are scarce
• c.machines are more complex
• d.wear accumulates far faster✓

The passage gives continuous running and the resulting rapid tool wear as the reason maintenance cannot simply wait for failures.

Sourdough bread rises without commercial yeast. A baker keeps a starter, a mixture of flour and water in which wild yeast and bacteria live, and feeds it with fresh flour. The bacteria produce the acids that give the bread its tang, and the yeast produces the gas that lifts the loaf. According to the passage, the sour taste comes from

• a.bacteria in the starter✓
• b.the flour that is used
• c.the yeast in the starter
• d.a long slow bake time

The passage divides the work: the bacteria make the acids that give the tang, while the yeast makes the gas that lifts the loaf.

Anyone who has moved a heavy chest alone knows that pushing it is harder than sliding it on a rug. The rug does not make the chest lighter. It replaces the grip between wood and floor with a much smaller grip between rug and floor. The passage says the rug helps because it

• a.spreads the load
• b.reduces friction✓
• c.protects the floor
• d.reduces weight

The passage states that the rug does not make the chest lighter and that it replaces a large grip with a much smaller one, which is a description of reduced friction.

Written safety rules are often blamed for slowing work down. In fact most were written after an injury, and each one marks a specific accident that someone did not walk away from. A rule that seems pointless usually seems that way because the accident behind it has been forgotten. The author's attitude toward safety rules is best described as

• a.scornful
• b.alarmed
• c.positive✓
• d.undecided

The author answers the criticism by explaining that each rule records a real injury, which is a defense of the rules rather than a complaint about them.

A carpenter measuring a long wall in stages will accumulate a small error at every mark. Measuring from a single fixed end each time avoids this, because each mark is then taken from the same starting point and no error is passed along. The passage recommends measuring from one fixed end in order to

• a.save some measuring time
• b.avoid accumulated error✓
• c.mark the wall more lightly
• d.use a much shorter tape

The passage contrasts staged measurement, which passes each small error along, with measuring from a single fixed point, which does not.

Aluminum resists corrosion not because it is unreactive but because it is extremely reactive. It combines with oxygen almost instantly, and the thin oxide layer that forms seals the metal underneath. Scratch the surface and a new layer forms in seconds. According to the passage, aluminum is protected by

• a.a layer of its own oxide✓
• b.its low reactivity
• c.a coat of applied paint
• d.the density of the metal

The passage says the thin oxide layer formed when aluminum meets oxygen seals the metal underneath and reforms when scratched.

The clerk's report contained no errors of fact, yet the committee sent it back twice. Figures appeared in one order in the tables and another in the summary, and two sections used different names for the same account. Accuracy, the chairman noted, is not the same thing as clarity. The report was returned because it was

• a.inaccurate
• b.unsubstantiated
• c.inconsistent✓
• d.incomplete

The passage states the facts were correct but that the ordering and the naming disagreed between sections, which is an inconsistency rather than an error.

Desert animals rarely drink. Many get all the water they need from their food, and some produce water inside their own bodies by breaking down fat. The kangaroo rat can live its whole life without taking a single drink. According to the passage, some desert animals obtain water by

• a.digging for shallow wells
• b.breaking down body fat✓
• c.licking dew from plants
• d.storing rain in burrows

The passage names two sources, food and the breakdown of fat inside the body. Dew and stored rain are not mentioned.

A ship's compass is thrown off by the iron in the ship itself. Navigators correct for this with small magnets and iron spheres placed near the compass, adjusted until the error nearly disappears. The remaining error is written on a card and consulted on every heading. The passage indicates that compass error on a steel ship is

• a.ignored in everyday practice
• b.eliminated altogether
• c.different for each crew
• d.reduced and then recorded✓

The correction reduces the error until it nearly disappears, and what remains is written on a card for use on every heading.

Coral reefs cover less than one percent of the ocean floor but shelter roughly a quarter of all marine species. The coral animal builds a stone skeleton, and generations of skeletons stack into a structure full of crevices. It is the crevices, more than the coral itself, that make the reef so crowded. The passage attributes the variety of reef life mainly to

• a.the many hiding places✓
• b.the warmth of the water
• c.the clarity of the water
• d.the coral animal's diet

The final sentence says it is the crevices, more than the coral itself, that make the reef so crowded.

A driver who brakes hard for every red light burns more fuel than one who lifts off the accelerator early and coasts. Braking turns motion into heat and throws it away. Coasting converts the same motion into distance covered. The passage explains that hard braking wastes fuel because it

• a.wastes energy as heat✓
• b.requires a lower gear
• c.wears the brake pads
• d.shortens the trip time

The passage says braking turns motion into heat and throws it away, while coasting converts the same motion into distance.

The Roman army marched on roads built for its own supply wagons, not for trade. Merchants used them anyway, and towns grew where the roads crossed. Within two centuries the network built to move soldiers had reshaped where ordinary people lived. The passage suggests that the roads' most lasting effect was

• a.on military victories
• b.on settlement patterns✓
• c.on wagon design
• d.on Roman legal practice

The passage ends by noting that the network reshaped where ordinary people lived, which is the lasting effect it identifies.

A thermos keeps coffee hot with a vacuum between two walls of glass or steel. Heat cannot travel by conduction or convection through a vacuum because there is nothing there to carry it. The silvered surfaces handle the third route by reflecting radiant heat back inside. According to the passage, the silvering of a thermos deals with

• a.escaping steam
• b.radiant heat✓
• c.convected heat
• d.conducted heat

The vacuum stops conduction and convection; the passage assigns the silvering to the third route, radiant heat.

New employees are often told to ask questions freely, and then find that the people they must ask are the busiest in the building. A better practice is to name one person whose job explicitly includes answering them, so that the newcomer is not weighing his own confusion against someone else's deadline. The passage recommends that an employer

• a.shorten the training period
• b.assign a designated helper✓
• c.hire more experienced staff
• d.reduce the questions asked

The passage proposes naming one person whose job explicitly includes answering a newcomer's questions.

Standard time zones did not exist until the railroads demanded them. Before that each town set its clocks by the local noon, so a traveler moving west found the clock behind him at every stop. Timetables were impossible to print until the country agreed on shared time. According to the passage, time zones were adopted because of

• a.railroad timetables✓
• b.shipping routes
• c.telegraph service
• d.astronomical research

The passage says the railroads demanded standard time and that timetables could not be printed until the country agreed on shared time.

A good tourniquet is applied tightly enough to stop the bleeding entirely. One applied halfway may block the veins returning blood to the heart while leaving the arteries open, so that the limb keeps filling and the bleeding grows worse rather than better. The passage warns that a loosely applied tourniquet may

• a.damage the nerves
• b.increase the bleeding✓
• c.slip out of its position
• d.become contaminated

The passage explains that blocking the veins while leaving the arteries open makes the bleeding worse rather than better.

For fifty years the standard advice was to keep a wound dry and open to the air. Studies then showed that cells rebuilding skin move faster across a moist surface, and covered wounds began to be seen as healing better than uncovered ones. The advice reversed on the strength of evidence. The passage is mainly concerned with

• a.the structure of skin
• b.the cost of bandages
• c.a change in advice✓
• d.the causes of infection

The passage traces how the standard recommendation reversed once evidence about moist healing appeared.

Before a machine is serviced, its power source is switched off, locked in the off position, and tagged with the name of the worker doing the job. Only that worker may remove the lock. A tag by itself is easy to overlook, and a switch that is merely turned off can be turned back on by someone who does not know a mechanic is inside the machine. The lock removes that possibility instead of relying on anyone noticing the tag. The paragraph is mainly about

• a.why a lock, not just a tag, guards a mechanic✓
• b.how a machine is taken apart and then repaired
• c.what a mechanic does after the power is cut off
• d.who may sign the tag on a machine being serviced

The paragraph gives one reason for every step it lists: the switch can be flipped back by someone who does not know a mechanic is inside, so the lock removes that possibility instead of relying on anyone noticing the tag. Repair work is the setting, not the subject.

A straight ladder leaned against a wall should stand one foot out from the base of the wall for every four feet of height to the point where it rests. Set closer than that, the ladder is likely to tip backward as the climber nears the top; set farther out, the feet may slide. The rule is easy to check from the ground: pace off the distance to the wall, then compare it with the height of the resting point. According to the passage, a ladder set too close to the wall is likely to

• a.tip backward as the climber nears the top✓
• b.slide outward at the feet as weight is added
• c.be too short to reach the resting point
• d.press too hard against the wall it leans on

The passage splits the two errors between the two directions: set closer than the rule allows, the ladder tips backward; set farther out, the feet may slide. Sliding feet is a real hazard the paragraph names, but it belongs to a ladder placed too far out, not too close.

A second copy of a file on the same hard drive feels like insurance, and against a file deleted by mistake it is. It is no help at all against the failure it is most often expected to cover. When the drive itself fails, both copies go with it, and the same is true of a fire or a theft that takes the whole machine. A copy counts as a backup only when it sits on separate hardware, and ideally in a separate building. The author wrote this paragraph mainly to

• a.warn readers against deleting files by mistake
• b.compare the cost of two storage devices
• c.correct a widespread misunderstanding about backups✓
• d.explain the many ways a hard drive can fail

Every sentence works on one belief: that a second copy on the same drive is a backup. The paragraph grants the small case that belief covers, names the failures it does not, and ends with the corrected rule. Drive failure is the evidence used to correct the belief, not the topic itself.

Light reaches an observer almost instantly, while sound travels roughly one mile every five seconds. Counting the seconds between a lightning flash and the thunder that follows it therefore gives the distance to the strike: a count of fifteen puts the lightning about three miles away. The count also tells whether a storm is closing in, since a shrinking gap between flash and thunder means each strike is nearer than the one before it. According to the passage, the count works as a measure of distance because

• a.light covers the distance almost instantly✓
• b.thunder is made after the flash fades
• c.sound loses speed over a long distance
• d.the flash and the sound leave at different moments

A stated-detail question is answered by the sentence that supplies the reason, and the first one does: light reaches an observer almost instantly, so the whole gap belongs to the sound. A sound that lost speed as it went would make a fixed seconds-per-mile rate useless.

For most of the last century, forest managers put out every fire they could reach. Grass, brush and fallen limbs built up under the trees year after year with nothing to thin them. When a fire finally escaped control it had far more fuel than any fire a century earlier, and it burned hot enough to kill mature trees that once survived regular light fires. Managers now set small fires on purpose in cool weather to take the fuel out before a summer fire finds it. Which title best fits this paragraph?

• a.The Right Season for Clearing Out Forest Brush
• b.Why Mature Trees Grow Slowly in a Forest
• c.Putting Out Fires Made the Next One Worse✓
• d.How Forest Fires Are Fought in Hot Weather

The paragraph traces one chain end to end: suppression left fuel, the fuel made escaped fires hotter, and managers now burn deliberately to undo it. A title has to cover that whole chain. Cool-weather burning is the response named in the last sentence, not what the paragraph is about.

A tsunami sometimes announces itself by pulling the water off the beach, exposing sand and rocks that are normally under several feet of sea. The sight draws people out to look. The water that withdrew is the trough ahead of the wave, and it returns as a wall moving faster than anyone can run on wet sand. Anyone who sees the sea retreat without warning should move inland and uphill at once, and should not wait for an official alarm. The main purpose of this paragraph is to

• a.compare a tsunami with an ordinary storm wave
• b.warn readers about a sight that looks harmless✓
• c.explain how the sea floor shapes a wave's height
• d.describe how coastal alarm systems are operated

The paragraph names an inviting sight, says what it actually is, and closes with an instruction to move at once without waiting for an alarm. That shape is a warning. Alarms come up only in the advice not to wait for one, which is not the same as describing how they work.