Sometimes the meaning of glowing water is ominous. Off
the Pacific Coast of North America, it may mean that the sea is
filled with a minute plant that contains a poison of strange
and terrible virulence. About four days after this minute
plant comes to alter the coastal plankton, some of the fishes
and shellfish in the vicinity become toxic. This is because in
their normal feeding, they have strained the poisonous
plankton out of the water.

6. The paragraph preceding the one in the passage most probably discussed the

A) phenomena of the Pacific coastline
B) poisons that affect man
C) toxic plants in the sea
D) characteristics of plankton
E) phenomena of the sea

(A) Most people choose this answer. If the first sentence of the passage were not present, Choice A might be correct. But since the second sentence (and not the first) deals with the Pacific Coast, it is unlikely that the paragraph preceding the one in the passage would deal with the Pacific Coastline, because there would be no continuity in the subject matter. Because the first sentence reads "Sometimes the meaning of glowing water is ominous," and the next sentence is specifically about the Pacific Coast of North America, it is probable that the "phenomena of the sea" is discussed in the preceding paragraph. Choice E is correct. See Reading Comprehension Strategy 2, p. 136, to practice with the strategy.

(B) Because we are discussing things about "water," it is unlikely that the paragraph preceding would be about poisons that affect man. Since the first sentence reads "Sometimes the meaning of glowing water is ominous," and the next sentence is specifically about the Pacific Coast of North America, it is probable that the "phenomena of the sea" is discussed in the preceding paragraph. Choice E is correct. SeeReading Comprehension Strategy 2, p. 136,to practice with the strategy.

(C) Since toxic plants are discussed later on in the passage, it is unlikely that "toxic plants in the sea" would be discussed before the passage, especially because the passage is introduced by "Sometimes the meaning of glowing water is ominous." Because the first sentence reads "Sometimes the meaning of glowing water is ominous," and the next sentence is specifically about the Pacific Coast of North America, it is probable that the "phenomena of the sea" is discussed in the preceding paragraph. Choice E is correct. See Reading Comprehension Strategy 2, p. 136, to practice with the strategy.

(D) Since plankton are discussed later on in the passage, it is unlikely that they would be introduced before the passage. Because the first sentence reads "Sometimes the meaning of glowing water is ominous," and the next sentence is specifically about the Pacific Coast of North America, it is probable that the "phenomena of the sea" is discussed in the preceding paragraph. Choice E is correct. See Reading Comprehension Strategy 2, p. 136, to practice with the strategy.

(E) Right! Since the first sentence reads "Sometimes the meaning of glowing water is ominous," and the next sentence is specifically about the Pacific Coast of North America, it is probable that the "phenomena of the sea" is discussed in the preceding paragraph. See Reading Comprehension Strategy 2, p. 136, to practice with the strategy.