Practice mode Reading Comprehension

According to the passage about James Watt, what was the main problem he found with the Newcomen engine?

Read the passage: James Watt is often wrongly credited with inventing the steam engine. In fact, steam engines designed by Thomas Newcomen had been pumping water out of mines since the early eighteenth century. In the 1760s, while repairing a model of a Newcomen engine at the University of Glasgow, Watt realised that it wasted a great deal of fuel. The engine's cylinder had to be heated and then cooled with every stroke. Watt's solution was a separate condenser, a chamber where the steam could be cooled while the cylinder stayed hot. He patented the idea in 1769. His engines used far less coal than Newcomen's, which helped steam power spread to factories during the Industrial Revolution.

Correct answer D. It wasted a great deal of fuel.

Explanation

The passage states that while repairing a model, Watt realised that it wasted a great deal of fuel because the cylinder was heated and cooled with every stroke.

Report a problem

Answer checked 11 October 2026 How we write and check questions

Tip: press A, B, C or D to answer, and N for the next question.

More Reading Comprehension questions

See all

Question 01 Reading Comprehension

What can be inferred from the passage about why medical trials include a placebo group?

Read the passage: When new medicines are tested, researchers usually divide volunteers into two groups. One group receives the real drug, while the other receives a placebo, a dummy pill that looks identical but contains no active ingredient. In the best-designed trials, neither the volunteers nor the doctors giving the pills know who is receiving which. This matters because people who believe they are being treated often report feeling better, even when they have taken only a sugar pill. This improvement, known as the placebo effect, can be surprisingly strong for symptoms such as pain. A new medicine is considered effective only if it produces clearly better results than the placebo.

Correct answer B. Without one, improvement caused by patients' expectations could be mistaken for the drug's effect.

Open question

Question 02 Reading Comprehension

According to the passage about Mr Aslam’s solar panels in Gujranwala, why does he clean them every two weeks?

Read the passage: Mr Aslam, a retired teacher in Gujranwala, installed six solar panels on his roof last year after growing tired of power cuts during the summer. The panels are connected to a set of batteries, so the fans and lights keep running even when the electricity supply fails. On sunny days the system produces more power than his household needs, and the spare energy charges the batteries for the evening. He cleans the dust off the panels every two weeks with a soft cloth and water, because he noticed that dirty panels produced noticeably less power. His only regret, he says, is that he did not install the system years earlier, when his children were still living at home.

Correct answer A. Dirty panels produce noticeably less power.

Open question

Question 03 Reading Comprehension

What is the passage about microplastics mainly about?

Read the passage: Microplastics are pieces of plastic smaller than five millimetres across. Some are made deliberately small, but most form when larger items such as bottles and bags break into fragments under sunlight and waves. Washing clothes made from synthetic fabrics releases tiny fibres, and car tyres shed particles as they wear down on roads. Rain and rivers carry these particles into the sea. Scientists have now found microplastics almost everywhere they have looked, from deep ocean trenches to Arctic sea ice. Small sea creatures often mistake them for food, and the particles can pass up the food chain. Researchers are still studying what effects this may have on wildlife and on the people who eat seafood.

Correct answer D. Where tiny plastic particles come from and how widely they have spread

Open question

Question 04 Reading Comprehension

What can be inferred from the passage about the dodo of Mauritius?

Read the passage: The dodo was a large, flightless bird that lived only on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. For thousands of years it had no natural predators there, so it nested on the ground and showed little fear of other animals. Dutch sailors arrived on the island in 1598. They hunted the birds for food, but the greater threat came from the animals they brought with them. Rats, pigs and monkeys raided the dodos' ground nests and ate their eggs. Within less than a century of the sailors' arrival, the dodo had disappeared completely. Its fate is now often used as an example of how quickly human activity can wipe out a species.

Correct answer D. Its lack of fear left it poorly prepared for the dangers that arrived with humans.

Open question

According to the passage about James Watt, what was the main problem he found with the Newcomen engine?

Discussion

Have a question about this answer? Cancel reply