Irrelevant Sentences Advanced Level Test – Quiz (Online Exercise With Answers) 2

(Please read the following set of sentences carefully and identify the sentence that does not directly contribute to the main topic or is unrelated to the other sentences. This sentence may introduce a different subject or provide information that is not relevant to the main idea. Choose the option that best represents the irrelevant sentence.)

(I) Texas is famous for its cattle farms, but another kind of farm is growing much faster: ostrich farms. (II) Ten years ago, ostrich farms were rare, but there are now over 2,000 in Europe. (III) It's easy to see why so many farmers in Texas are interested in ostriches these days. (IV) A pair of young adult ostriches are worth around $40,000. (V) An ostrich egg may be worth up to $1,500, which makes it really profitable.

(I) In general, style is the way a writer picks words and puts them together. (II) The style usually tells you whom the writer expects to read the work. (III) If the sentences are long and the words are difficult, the writer expects an educated reader. (IV) Some writers pick words with deep emotional appeal in order to urge their readers to act. (V) If the language is rich in slang expressions and current phrases, the writer is talking to a more general group.

(I) Many observers have pointed out that students are not very efficient career planners. (II) Career planning does not necessarily follow routine or logical steps. (III) Each of us places weight on different factors and may consider certain phases of career planning at different times. (IV) Thus, career planning includes gathering information about ourselves and about occupations, estimating the probable outcomes of various courses of action. (V) And finally, such planning leads us to choose alternatives that we find attractive and feasible.

(I) Outlining is a more organized form of note-taking. (II) In an outline, a system of numbering and indenting entries helps to organize and label the levels of importance of ideas. (III) Another way to help you interpret what you read is to develop skills in generalizing. (IV) The main ideas are placed at the left margin in an outline and numbered with Roman numerals. (V) Supporting ideas, indented under the main ideas, are marked with capital letters.

(I) In a general sense, sociology can be considered a science. (II) Like other scientific disciplines, it engages in an organized, systematic study of phenomena in order to enhance understanding. (III) All scientists, whether studying mushrooms or murderers, attempt to collect precise information through methods of study which are objective. (IV) They rely on a careful recording of observations and accumulation of data. (V) Of course, there is a great difference between psychology and astronomy.

(I) The Egyptians were one of the first settled civilizations. (II) They wrote down what they knew, so ideas could be passed on. (III) The Egyptians' religious practices both helped and hindered scientific advances. (IV) This writing, combined with plentiful archaeological remains, makes it easier for historians to know about Egyptian medicine. (V) By means of the remains, the progress in surgery and anatomy made by the Egyptians has been revealed.

(I) Scientists believe that the first Americans came from Northeast Asia. (II) These people were probably hunters from what is now northern China, Japan, or Siberia. (III) Many thousands of years ago, they crossed over from Asia to what is now Alaska. (IV) Anthropologists found the teeth of some very early Indians. (V) From there, they spread all through North and South America.

(I) Sao Paulo is the largest city in Brazil and also the largest city in South America. (II) Many very poor people in Sao Paulo do not have any place to live. (III) The official population of the city is 10 million, but the real population is probably more like 13 million. (IV) This is partly because the city is growing very quickly. (V) Every year hundreds of thousands of people move there.

(I) For many years, alligator skin was popular in the United States for making fashionable leather shoes and purses. (II) From 1870 to 1965 at least ten million alligators were killed in the United States for leather. (III) Then, in 1967, the government made laws against hunting alligators. (IV) After that, the alligator population began to grow again. (V) Alligators are often confused with crocodiles, which have longer, narrower snouts.

(I) The Los Angeles Lakers are a championship basketball team. (II) Their home court is the Crypto.com Arena, a modern stadium in downtown Los Angeles, not far from Hollywood. (III) Among their fans are many big names in the entertainment industry, including Jack Nicholson and Leonardo DiCaprio. (IV) Most basketball teams are based in large cities. (V) Whenever the Lakers play home games, they can be sure of a few movie stars to cheer for them.

(I) In many parts of the world, people take naps in the middle of the day. (II) This is especially the case in warmer climates, where the heat makes work difficult in the early afternoon. (III) Researchers are now saying that naps are good for everyone in any climate. (IV) First of all, a daily nap means a more rested body and mind and many health benefits. (V) A nap that lasts too long will also make it difficult for you to sleep at night.

(I) One of the oldest themes in literature is the love triangle. (II) This theme has inspired some of the world's classics. (III) However, it has also inspired some very poor writing. (IV) The ending is almost always tragic. (V) Romeo and Juliet, fortunately, falls into the first category.

(I) While shopping malls have changed American life, not all of their effects have been positive. (II) That is because you can almost always find whatever you like. (III) First of all, they've taken away customers from smaller shops in the area and forced them to close. (IV) They are usually far from any town centre, so people must use cars to get there. (V) In addition, malls are harmful to the environment because they cover large areas with buildings instead of trees.

(I) Rafting is a sport that almost anyone can do. (II) Maine contains large areas of wilderness. (III) There you can enjoy a new and exciting sport: white water rafting. (IV) In the past, this sport was practised only in the western states. (V) But now, several outdoor travel companies offer weekend rafting trips.

(I) It may be possible in the future to choose the sex of your child. (II) Researchers in France believe that they've found a way to influence the sex of the unborn child. (III) Malnutrition also leads to an unhealthy pregnancy. (IV) However, other researchers are doubtful about this. (V) They say that the process is really much more complex than the French think.

(I) There are various factors that cause the decrease in educational standards. (II) Some people say that overcrowding and lack of discipline are major factors. (III) Others say that too much importance has been given to subjects like art and drama. (IV) For many teachers, on the other hand, the problem is not of falling standards but of rising expectations of parents and employers. (V) Schools must take the demands of employers and parents into consideration.

(I) Monarch butterflies are often seen in swarms of hundreds of thousands, for the Monarch is one of the many butterflies that migrate. (II) Some travel from Canada to Florida and back again, a distance of more than 2,000 miles. (III) Great flocks move southward in autumn. (IV) The Monarch is found in many parts of the world apart from North America. (V) Smaller numbers – only those few that survive – return in spring.

(I) Few people realise that dolphins are part of the whale clan. (II) Porpoises also belong to the whale family and are very much like dolphins. (III) In fact, many people do not realise that dolphins aren't fish. (IV) Fish breathe through gills and spawn but the dolphin does neither. (V) Dolphins, like all members of the whale clan, are mammals and they breathe air.

(I) When a computer stops working or is replaced, one of three things can happen to it. (II) It might be fixed up and given to someone else who can use it. (III) It could be taken apart and the various parts could be recycled. (IV) Computer technology is growing faster nowadays. (V) The greatest possibility is that it might be sent to the dump.

(I) The biggest obstacle now facing bicycles of all kinds is the unpriced free-for-all on most roads. (II) On the walls of a factory in West London are some of the oddest-looking bicycles ever made. (III) They are the prototypes that Andrew Ritchie welded together from scrap metal and spare parts when trying to make a bike that would fold. (IV) Twenty years and tens of thousands of sales later, the Brompton is the trendiest bike in London and selling fast in Japan and America too. (V) Brompton-toters can travel into town by train or bus, unfold them and then speed through metropolitan traffic.

(I) In the past, black always stood for what was feared or hated. (II) For the Christians of the Middle Ages, it was the colour of night and of death. (III) It was the colour of the Devil, of witches and black magic. (IV) Many common expressions, such as 'black sheep' and 'blacklist', still reflect this negative meaning. (V) Since black was worn by monks and nuns and by the clergy, it was associated with piety and self-sacrifice.

(I) The yew tree is one of three conifers native to Britain and one tree in Scotland may be the oldest tree in Europe. (II) The way to decide how old a yew tree is is to measure its width. (III) The use of the term “native” in this context means that the trees were already growing in the British Isles when the first inhabitants arrived. (IV) Since then these trees have always had great religious significance. (V) People have long followed the custom of planting them in holy places set aside for burial such as churchyards.

(I) Memories of our first history lessons at school tend to run to extremes. (II) The enthusiastic few recalled them as a window opening out onto an endlessly fascinating past illuminated by colourful personalities and full of interesting events. (III) The National Curriculum changed the way that history was taught in schools. (IV) For the vast majority, however, they were characterised by boring sequences of names and dates to be memorised. (V) Therefore, as soon as the course was over, they were conveniently forgotten.

(I) The kidnap had clearly been planned meticulously. (II) As I was taking my usual evening stroll with the dog, a rather well-dressed man came up to me and asked me to direct him to the local church hall. (III) I was just turning round to point up the road when a wet cloth was pressed over my nose. (IV) In the USA people are mostly kidnapped for ransom rather than for any other reason. (V) That was the last I knew until I came to in the back of a large van of some kind.

(I) That the great boom in television’s popularity is destroying “the art of conversation” seems to be at best irrelevant, and at worst demonstrably false. (II) The average man or woman spends about a third of his or her life asleep, and a further third at work. (III) In the remaining time, people are free to occupy themselves in any way they see fit. (IV) In our great-grandfathers’ days, the choice of entertainment was strictly limited in leisure time. (V) But nowadays there is an enormous variety of things to do whenever you’re free.