Last Updated on March 20, 2025
HSPT Reading Practice Test 2025 (62 Questions Answers): You can try the HSPT (High School Placement Test) Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary Practice Test with review questions and answers for free. In addition, you can download a printable PDF for better HSPT test prep.
Comprehension (40 questions): These questions test your ability to understand what you read. You will be asked to read a passage and answer questions about it. Some questions will test your ability to identify facts in the passage, some will ask you to conclude what you read, and some will ask you to say what the author intended in writing the passage.
Vocabulary (22 questions): These questions will ask you to read a short phrase in which one of the words is underlined. You will choose the word that means the same or about the same as the underlined word from four possible choices.
HSPT Reading Practice Test 2025
For questions 113 through 152, read each passage carefully. Please answer the questions that follow ONLY based on their preceding passage.
Greyhounds
Greyhound racing is the sixth most popular spectator sport in the United States. Over the last decade, a growing number of greyhounds have been adopted to live out their retirement as household pets, once their racing career is over.
Many people hesitate to adopt a retired racing greyhound because they think only very old dogs are available. Actually, even champion racers only work until they are about three-and-a-half years old. Since greyhounds usually live to between twelve and fifteen years old, their retirement is much longer than their racing careers.
People worry that a greyhound will be more nervous and active than other breeds and will need large space to run. These are false impressions. Greyhounds have naturally sweet, mild dispositions, and while they love to run, they are sprinters rather than distance runners. With a few laps around a fencedin backyard everyday, they are sufficiently exercised.
Greyhounds do not make good watchdogs, but they are very good with children, get along well with other dogs (and usually cats as well), and are affectionate and loyal. They are intelligent, wellbehaved dogs, usually housebroken in only a few days. A retired racing greyhound is a wonderful pet for almost anyone
Q113. Based on the tone of the passage, the author’s main purpose is to
- (A) teach prospective owners how to transform their racing greyhound into a good pet.
- (B) encourage people in the dog-racing business to stop racing greyhounds.
- (C) encourage people to adopt retired racing greyhounds as pets.
- (D) objectively present the pros and cons of adopting a racing greyhound.
Q114. The passage promotes the idea that a greyhound is a good pet particularly for people who
- (A) do not have children.
- (B) live in apartments.
- (C) do not usually like dogs.
- (D) already have another dog or cat.
Q115. Which of the following is implied by the passage?
- (A) The public is more aware of greyhounds than they used to be.
- (B) Greyhounds are more competitive than other dogs.
- (C) Greyhound racing should not be allowed.
- (D) People who own pet rabbits should not adopt greyhounds.
Q116. The word impressions, as underlined and used in the passage, most nearly means
- (A) beliefs.
- (B) questions.
- (C) fictions.
- (D) troubles.
Q117. The phrase sweet, mild dispositions, as underlined and used in the passage, most nearly means
- (A) appetites for sugary foods.
- (B) pleasing faces.
- (C) happy but unintelligent natures.
- (D) easygoing temperaments.
Q118. The passage suggests that more people would adopt retired racing greyhounds if they realized that the dogs
- (A) were housebroken.
- (B) were long-distance runners.
- (C) were only about three-and-a-half years old.
- (D) loved to be in groups of other dogs.
Q119. According to the author, greyhounds could best be described as
- (A) loving and devoted.
- (B) shy and retiring.
- (C) nervous but passive.
- (D) watchful and independent.
Q120. Families who adopt a greyhound might expect their dog to live
- (A) about three or four years.
- (B) to about the age of five.
- (C) to about the age of ten.
- (D) up to the age of fifteen.
Q121. One drawback of adopting a greyhound is that
- (A) greyhounds are not good with children.
- (B) greyhounds are old when they retire from racing.
- (C) the greyhound’s sensitivity makes it temperamental.
- (D) greyhounds are not good watchdogs.
Q122. A retired racing greyhound available for adoption will most likely be
- (A) happy to be retiring.
- (B) easily housebroken.
- (C) a champion.
- (D) high-strung.
Q123. The passage describes an ecosystem as
- (A) a community of animals, plants, and bacteria that interact with one another.
- (B) any human activity that can do great damage to the environment.
- (C) microscopic bacteria that provide food for plants and animals.
- (D) a system that provides economic and social protection for a group of people.
Q124. According to the passage, one way ecosystems can be destroyed is by
- (A) tiny bacteria.
- (B) plants and soils.
- (C) land development.
- (D) ecosystem management.
Q125. In the second paragraph, the author mainly argues in favor of
- (A) protecting ecosystems.
- (B) the building of more new homes.
- (C) protecting local businesses.
- (D) stopping all land development.
Q126. Based on the passage, which of the following is NOT an organism?
- (A) a small animal
- (B) water
- (C) a plant
- (D) microscopic bacteria
Q127. As it is underlined and used in the passage, the word components most nearly means
- (A) pollutants.
- (B) regions.
- (C) interactions.
- (D) elements.
Q128. The author uses the underlined term ecosystem management to mean
- (A) planning carefully to protect the environment.
- (B) controlling the number of animals in one area.
- (C) the amount of soil, water, and nutrients in one ecosystem.
- (D) the people who live and work in a region.
Q129. The statement “one species may serve as food for another” is an example of
- (A) a habitat.
- (B) social well-being.
- (C) an interaction.
- (D) a chemical component.
Q130. The author of this passage most likely believes that ecosystems
- (A) can be harmed by people.
- (B) will soon die out.
- (C) should not include people.
- (D) are less important than affordable housing.
Q131. The main purpose of the first paragraph is to
- (A) show how delicate ecosystems are.
- (B) provide a definition of the term ecosystem.
- (C) give the author’s opinion regarding the future of ecosystems.
- (D) show how humans interfere with the plant world.
See also:
- FREE HSPT Practice Test 2025 Official Study Guide [PDF]
- Verbal Skills Practice Test
- Quantitative Skills Practice Test
- Reading Practice Test
- Math Practice Test
- Language Skills Practice Test