SSAT Reading Comprehension Sample Questions

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In this section, we will provide you with some sample questions from previous SSAT exams.

6. In which country does this passage take place?

France

United States

England

Brazil

7. Where does the road from Tunstall hamlet lead?

to the Moat House

to the church

to the King's castle

to the ocean

8. What is the most likely definition of 'yew'?

wheelbarrow

book

skyscraper

a kind of tree

9. Where is the church located in the village?

nearby

at one end

in the middle

underground

10. What does it mean that the 'slopes were crowned' with trees?

the trees were covered in jewels

the trees were round

there were trees on top of the hill

the slopes were extremely dangerous

1. In which month might this passage have occurred?

September

December

August

May

2. What did the people do when they heard the bell ring?

they screamed in terror

they ran away from it

they continued their work

they hurried towards it

3. What were the people probably doing before the bell began ringing?

farming

napping

waiting for the bell to ring

eating lunch

4. What does the author mean by a 'score of houses'?

10 houses

20 houses

15 houses

12 houses

5. Why were the people confused by the ringing of the bell?

because they had never heard it before

because it came at an unusual time

because they loved King Henry VI

because they had been asleep

Read the passage and answer the questions that follow. On a certain

afternoon, in the late springtime, the bell upon Tunstall Moat House was

heard ringing at an unaccustomed hour. Far and near, in the forest and

in the fields along the river, people began to desert their labors and

hurry towards the sound; and in Tunstall hamlet a group of poor

country-folk stood wondering at the summons.

Tunstall hamlet at that period, in the reign of old King Henry

VI., wore much the same appearance as it wears to-day. A score or so of

houses, heavily framed with oak, stood scattered in a long green valley

ascending from the river. At the foot, the road crossed a bridge, and

mounting on the other side, disappeared into the fringes of the forest

on its way to the Moat House, and further forth to Holywood Abbey.

Half-way up the village, the church stood among yews. On every side the

slopes were crowned and the view bounded by the green elms and greening

oak-trees of the forest.

Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was a Swiss developmental psychologist and

philosopher. Originally trained as a botanist, he developed one of the

most important theories of cognitive development in the field of

developmental psychology. He was born in the French-speaking part of

Switzerland. The son of a university professor, Jean was an

intellectually precocious child who was interested in the natural world

and the subject of biology. Piaget was growing up during a time when

Sigmund Freud’s theory and practice of psychoanalysis was developing and

becoming popular, which also influenced his interests.

After graduating from his university studies, Piaget moved to Paris

and taught at a school directed by Alfred Binet, who developed

standardized intelligence tests still used today. As he helped to score

Binet’s tests, Piaget noticed patterns of consistent errors made by

younger children but not by older children and adults. He formed a

hypothesis that young children thought differently than adults. This

was the germ of what would eventually become his theory of progressive,

distinct stages of cognitive development that people go through

universally as they grow.

Piaget went from France back to Switzerland in 1921, where he directed

the Rousseau Institute in Geneva. When he and his wife had three

children of their own, he studied their behavior and learning from their

births and through their childhoods. He used the techniques of direct

observation and the case study, a method of developing an in-depth,

multidimensional profile of each individual child. Piaget described

children as “little scientists” who learned through exploring,

interacting with, and acting upon their environments.

Piaget proposed in his theory that in learning, just as in biology,

humans adapt to their environments through processes of assimilation and

accommodation. He proposed that babies form mental constructs to

represent their world, which he called schemata. An infant assimilates

new information by fitting it into an existing schema. When it will not

fit, the child accommodates to it by modifying an existing schema or

forming a new one. Because of his emphasis on children’s roles in

actively constructing their own knowledge of reality, Piaget has been

called a great pioneer of constructivism, the theory that people build

knowledge based on interactions between their thoughts and experiences.

1. According to this passage, Piaget’s first scientific discipline was:

Botany.

Developmental psychology.

Philosophy.

Cognitive development.

None of these.

2. Piaget’s proposal of human adaptation to the environment was an application of a principle of:

Freudian psychoanalysis.

The biology he studied.

Binet’s intelligence test.

Direct child observation.

None of these.

3. What is correct about Piaget’s experience with Alfred Binet’s intelligence tests, according to the passage?

Piaget helped Alfred Binet by developing the intelligence tests.

Piaget found the tests were inappropriate for younger children.

Piaget felt younger children thought differently than adults did.

Piaget identified error patterns that invalidated the test results.

None of these

4. Piaget’s theory involved which of these?

A gradual and continuous progression of cognitive development

Completely different progression from one individual to the next

The premise that younger children make errors but adults do not

Universal progressive stages of development all humans undergo

None of these

5. The theory that humans build knowledge from interactions between their thoughts and experiences is called:

Biology.

Constructivism.

Cognitive development.

Developmental psychology.

None of these.

Jean Piaget’s theory states that infants are in a sensorimotor stage

of cognitive development, wherein they get information through their

senses, engage in motor activities, and receive feedback from the

environment about the effects of their motor actions. He formed these

ideas by watching his own children, and those of his university

professor colleagues, as they learned about their surroundings through

trial and error and discovery.

Piaget called his second stage the preoperational stage, from around

ages 2-7 years. Children are acquiring motor skills at this time.

Their thought is characterized by egocentrism, thinking everything

revolves around them with an inability to assume others’ viewpoints.

Animism—attributing human characteristics and behaviors to inanimate

objects—and magical thinking—the belief that their thoughts or actions

cause unrelated external events—are typical. Children are not yet

capable of thinking logically or of conservation, the ability to retain

mentally such properties as amount, number, or volume despite changes in

shape, appearance, or arrangement.

In the following stage of concrete operations which lasts until

around age 11, children begin to think logically and perform what Piaget

termed mental operations; but they can only do these relative to

concrete objects they can see, touch, and manipulate. They can thus

learn simple arithmetic and science. They no longer think

egocentrically. They can solve conservation problems involving concrete

materials, first realizing that quantities of solids or liquids are the

same even when their shapes or the shapes of their containers are

changed; and that the number of objects remains constant even when they

are arranged differently. However, they are not yet capable of thinking

abstractly or performing entirely mental operations.

In Piaget’s stage of formal operations, which begins just before

puberty and continues into adolescence and adulthood, youngsters develop

the ability to perform wholly mental operations and to consider logical

arguments and philosophical ideas. They understand abstract concepts

such as justice, democracy, truth, and beauty, and can consider moral

issues. In fact, Piaget also developed a theory of moral development

accompanying his theory of cognitive development. This influenced later

developmental psychologists like Lawrence Kohlberg, who used it as a

basis for his own developmental theory of moral reasoning, which

expanded on the foundations that Piaget had provided.

6. According to this passage, _________are in Piaget’s preoperational stage of cognitive development.

Toddlers

Infants

Teens

Adults

Unknown

7. If a child believes that his disobedience caused a thunderstorm, this is most specifically an example of what Piaget termed:

Animism.

Magical thinking.

Egocentrism.

Conservation.

None of these.

8. Which of these is correct about the stage of concrete operations, according to this passage?

Children can think abstractly during this stage.

Children still think egocentrically in this stage.

Children can think logically during this stage.

Children cannot perform mental operations.

None of these is available from the passage.

9. In a classic Piagetian experiment, a researcher pours

liquid into a tall, narrow beaker, and transfers it to a short, wide

beaker in front of a student, asking the student which beaker holds more

liquid. The student says the amount of liquid is the same regardless

of which beaker holds it. Of Piaget’s stages, which is the earliest one

in which this student is likely to be?

Sensorimotor

Preoperational

Concrete operations

Formal operations

This is not available

10. According to the passage, which is true regarding Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory?

It is a cognitive theory that opposes Piaget’s theory.

It is a theory which is unrelated to Piaget’s theory.

It focuses primarily upon cognitive development.

It expands on Piaget’s moral development theory.

It cannot be known which is true from the passage.

Question 1.

Answer Key

1. D. The author states that this occurred in 'late springtime.'

2. D. The narrator states that the people hurried towards the ringing of the bell.

3. A. The people went to the moat house from the fields and forests.

4. B. The word score can mean 20.

5. B. The first sentence of the passage mentions that this was an 'unaccustomed hour' for the bell to ring.

6. C. King Henry VI was a King of England.

7. A. The author states that the road disappeared into the forest 'on its way to the moat house.'

8. D. A yew is a kind of tree.

9. C. The author states that the church was positioned 'half-way up the village.'

10. C. The word crowned can mean covering the top of.

Question 2 & 3

1. A: The second sentence states that Piaget was

originally trained as a botanist. While the first sentence identifies

him as a developmental psychologist and philosopher (B), and the second

sentence states that his theory of cognitive development (D) is one of

the most important in the field of developmental psychology, these

fields are not identified as his first discipline.

2. B: The first sentence of the fourth paragraph in

the passage states that Piaget proposed in his theory that “just as in

biology, humans adapt to their environments…” Freudian psychoanalysis

(A) is named earlier in the passage as an influence on Piaget’s

interests, but not as including a principle he applied to environmental

adaptation. Binet’s intelligence test (C) is identified as an

instrument Piaget helped Binet to score, and as a source for his

hypothesis that children think differently than adults, but not as a

source for his proposal of adaptation through assimilation and

accommodation. Direct child observation (D) is identified as a method

Piaget used to study children, not as containing a principle he applied

regarding adaptation.

3. C: The passage states that Piaget helped Binet

to score his intelligence tests, but not that he helped by actually

developing the tests (A). The passage says that Piaget identified error

patterns in younger children’s test results, but not that these

patterns made the tests inappropriate for younger children (B) or that

they invalidated the results (D). Rather, these patterns he noticed

helped him to form his hypothesis that children thought differently than

adults (C).

4. D: Piaget’s theory involved progressive stages

of development which all humans universally undergo, as the passage

states. His theory did not involve gradual and continuous progression

(A), because he formulated distinct stages of cognitive development.

Gradual and continuous development would preclude separate stages. The

statement that this progression through stages was universal means that

it was not completely different for each individual (B). The passage

never says Piaget’s theory had a premise that younger children make

errors but adults do not (C). It only says Piaget noticed consistent

patterns of certain errors by younger children but not by adults on

Binet’s tests and he concluded from these that younger children think

differently than adults.

5. B: The theory that humans build knowledge from

interactions between their ideas and their experiences is known as

constructivism. This information is given in the last sentence of the

passage. Biology (A) is not the name of this theory; it is the

scientific field of Piaget’s early interest, which influenced his own

theory. It was from biology that he applied the idea that in learning,

humans also adapt mentally to their environments through assimilation

and accommodation. Cognitive development (C) is the area on which

Piaget’s own theory is focused. Developmental psychology (D) is the

disciplinary field wherein Piaget’s and other theories of cognitive

development are categorized.

6. A: The second paragraph of the passage

identifies the preoperational stage as being approximately from ages 2-7

years. This age range would include toddlers. Infants (A) are

identified in the first paragraph of the passage as being in the

sensorimotor stage of cognitive development. Teens (C) and adults (D)

are identified in the last (fourth) paragraph as being in Piaget’s stage

of formal operations. This information is given, so it is not unknown

(E).

7. B: Magical thinking is defined in the second

paragraph as believing one’s thoughts or actions cause unrelated

external events. In the same paragraph, animism (A) is defined as

attributing human characteristics and behaviors to inanimate objects.

Egocentrism (C) is defined in the same paragraph as thinking the world

revolves around oneself, and the inability to assume others’ viewpoints.

While animism and magical thinking are characteristics of the

egocentrism Piaget found typical of the preoperational stage, the

example is most specifically of magical thinking, so egocentrism is not

the most specific answer choice. Conservation (D) is defined in the

second and third paragraphs as the ability to retain mentally the

properties of objects despite changes in their appearance, shape, or

arrangement. Conservation with concrete materials is identified as

developing in the concrete operations stage, while the first three

answer choices are characteristics of the preoperational stage.

8. C: The third paragraph of the passage indicates

that children can first think logically during the stage of concrete

operations. However, this logic only applies to concrete objects; the

passage also states that they cannot yet think abstractly during this

stage (A). This paragraph also says that children no longer think

egocentrically in this stage (B). The passage indicates that the

concrete operations stage is the period when children can first perform

mental operations (D). All of this information is available from the

passage (E).

9. C: The passage identifies the stage of concrete

operations as the first one wherein a person achieves conservation, as

long as it involves concrete materials. Students in this stage can

understand that the volume of liquid remains the same regardless of the

shape of its container, as in the example. The passage states they

cannot perform wholly mental operations until the stage of formal

operations (D), but the experiment described uses concrete materials, so

the earliest stage when a student could answer correctly is concrete

operations (C). The sensorimotor stage (A) is identified as that of

infants and the preoperational (B) of children around 2-7 years; both

are described as stages wherein logical thought has not yet developed.

This information is available (E) from the passage for application to

the experiment described in the question.

10. D: The end of the passage states that

Kohlberg’s theory of moral reasoning expands on the foundations Piaget

provided in his theory of moral development. Kohlberg’s theory is also a

cognitive theory, but it is based on Piaget’s theory and does not

oppose it (A). Being based on Piaget’s work, Kohlberg’s theory is not

unrelated to it (B). Kohlberg’s theory is identified in the passage as a

theory of moral reasoning; this is its primary focus, not cognitive

development (C) overall. It is not true that this answer cannot be

known from the passage (E).

Begin Scripting your content here.

Reading Comprehension Sample Q. 1

Sample Q. 2

Sample Q. 3

Answers

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