Practice for Regents Exam Reading Section

Objectives: Students will improve skills needed to do well on the Regents Reading Section. Students will think about the connections between money and happiness.

What the teacher needs to know to use this lesson: The new Regents English exam has a reading section that requires students to read a passage and answer 6 multiple-choice questions.

Give Your Students Directions

Put these directions on the board or read them slowly:

Read part story, “Is Happiness a Worthy Goal?” Then answer the multiple-choice questions.

Answer key: 1) 3 2) 2 3) 4 4) 1 5) 3 6) 4

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Happiness Is a Worthy Goal—Regents Practice

1 What is one of the main reasons the writer wrote the story?

(1) She wanted to tell people what makes her happy.
(2) She wanted to give instructions about achieving happiness.
(3) She wanted to help people understand that achieving happiness depends on many aspects of a person’s life.
(4) She wanted to tell people that searching for happiness never works.

2 What is the main point of the newspaper story referred to in this article?

(1) If you quit your job you will be happier.
(2) High-paying jobs don’t always make you happy.
(3) Happiness is easily achieved.
(4) You have to give up a lot to be happy.

3 What statement would the author agree with?

(1) How to achieve happiness is a mystery.
(2) Most people are born happy or unhappy.
(3) Having money makes her happy.
(4) Having a certain amount of money can help you be happy.

4 When the writer asks, “Are billionaires happier than millionaires?,” what point is she trying to make?

(1) After a certain level, having more money doesn’t make you happier.
(2) The research is unclear about the amount of money you need to be happy.
(3) The more money you have, the happier you are.
(4) Very rich people are happier than poor people.

5 The word “affluence” in the seventh paragraph means:

(1) influence
(2) poverty
(3) wealth
(4) power

6 What kind of evidence does the book mentioned in the article rely on?

(1) newspaper articles
(2) interviews with happy and unhappy people
(3) personal experiences of the author
(4) previously published studies