The Swirling Vortex of Doom (Reading)

Click the link below for the reading passage:

The Swirling Vortex of Doom


1) What can be inferred from the paragraph 1?

A) It is unusual for a such a large lake to be so shallow.
B) It is uncommon to have difficulty loosening a stuck drill when the water is not deep.
C) The workers expected the rig to collapse after they heard the popping sounds.
D) Nature reserves are not protected from natural resource exploitation in the United States.


2) The word "precariously" (paragraph 1, line 10) is closest in meaning to:

A) Unexpectedly
B) Hazardously
C) Destructively
D) Remarkably


3) It was surprising that the drilling platform sunk into the lake because

A) the platform cost $5 million dollars.
B) the whole series of events happened with little warning.
C) there was an expansive whirlpool at its centre.
D) the lake was not deep enough to accommodate the structure.


4) The word "penetrated" (paragraph 4, line 1) is closest in meaning to:

A) pierced
B) disrupted
C) annihilated
D) overburdened


5) The word "it" (paragraph 6, line 3) refers to:

A) power
B) destruction
C) whirlpool
D) surface


6) All of the following is true of the miners' escape EXCEPT:

A) All of the miners got away without casualty.
B) They used motorized vehicles and an elevator to hasten their departure.
C) The flood of water spreading through the mine delayed the escape.
D) The evacuation warning consisted of an siren and flashing lights.


7) Which of the following best expresses the essential information in the sentence?

"The sucking force was so strong that it reversed the flow of a 12-mile-long canal which led out to the Gulf of Mexico, and dragged 11 barges from that canal into the swirling vortex, where they disappeared into the flooded mines below." (paragraph 6)

A) The barges redirected the water from the canal towards the vortex and into the mines.
B) Barges from a nearby canal were pulled towards the whirlpool and swallowed by the drill hole.
C) The barges were pulled into the lake along with the canal and together were absorbed by the mines.
D) The canal, barges and whirlpool were all sucked into the mines below the lake.


8) Each of the following is true of the aftermath of the disaster EXCEPT:

A) The ecosystem of the lake had been permanently altered.
B) The drilling rig was unrecoverable.
C) The mining company received a large enough legal settlement to restart their operation elsewhere.
D) No one took responsibility for the incident.