Updated 2026-08-23easy

TOEFL Reading Practice #005 — The Shortcut That Lightning Always Takes

Free TOEFL Reading practice: The Shortcut That Lightning Always Takes. 11 questions with a full passage and answer key.

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How to use this practice: Read the passage once without a dictionary, then answer the questions on your own. Tap “Answer” under each question to reveal just the correct letter — no explanations, so you can keep testing yourself.
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Passage

Read the full passage. Bracketed letters like [A] mark the four positions for the insert-text question.

The Shortcut That Lightning Always Takes

¶1 Lightning is more common, and more dangerous, than most people think. Scientists estimate that lightning strikes the earth more than three million times every day. Around the world, it injures or kills tens of thousands of people every year. Yet lightning does not strike at random. It almost always hits the tallest object nearby. A tall, lone tree in an open field looks like natural shelter. In a storm, it is actually one of the most dangerous places to stand.

¶2 The reason lies in how a lightning bolt forms. Storm clouds build up a strong negative charge. The ground below builds up a matching positive charge. When the difference grows large enough, the charge finally jumps across the gap of air. It always takes the shortest path available. A tall tree, a hilltop, or a metal pole shortens that gap, because it reaches closer to the clouds than the flat ground around it. Scientists call this the path of least resistance. It is simply the shortest, easiest route the charge can take to the ground.

¶3 This simple rule explains things that once confused scientists. [A] Golfers face more risk than shoppers inside a mall. A raised golf club can become the tallest point on an open course. Sailboats with metal masts are struck at sea far more than the water around them. [B] Even inside a crowd in an open field, the tallest person is not the only one in danger. The charge can spread outward once it reaches that first target. [C] For years, this rule was only a theory built from scattered weather reports. [D] Only careful testing could finally confirm that it was true.

¶4 In the 1930s, engineers in New York City tested the idea directly. They set up cameras and recording instruments on one of the city's tallest buildings. For years, they studied every lightning strike that hit it. The building was struck about twenty-three times in an average year. Every strike hit the same point: its metal spire, the highest point around. The spire was simply the shortest path between the clouds and the ground. Lightning kept choosing it, strike after strike.

  • lightning: a sudden, bright flash of electricity in the sky during a storm
  • charge: a build-up of electrical energy inside an object
  • spire: a tall, pointed part at the top of a building
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Questions

11 questions — every TOEFL Reading question type, in test order.

Q1 · Vocabulary
The word estimate in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to
  1. A. state as an absolute fact
  2. B. make a careful guess based on limited information
  3. C. completely deny
  4. D. record on video
Answer
Correct: B
Q2 · Reference
The word It in paragraph 2 ("It always takes the shortest path available") refers to
  1. A. the charge
  2. B. the gap of air
  3. C. the ground
  4. D. the difference
Answer
Correct: A
Q3 · Essential Term
Based on the information in the passage, the term path of least resistance can best be explained as
  1. A. the general tendency of people to avoid difficult tasks
  2. B. the fact that lightning strikes the same tall building many times a year
  3. C. the shortest, most direct route that an electrical charge can take between two points
  4. D. the buildup of a negative charge inside a storm cloud
Answer
Correct: C
Q4 · Factual Information
According to paragraph 4, about how many times per year was the tested building struck by lightning?
  1. A. About twenty-three times
  2. B. About three million times
  3. C. Once every ten years
  4. D. Only during winter storms
Answer
Correct: A
Q5 · Negative Fact
According to paragraph 1, all of the following are true about lightning EXCEPT
  1. A. Lightning strikes the earth several million times a day
  2. B. Lightning almost always strikes the tallest object nearby
  3. C. Lightning strikes completely at random, with no clear pattern
  4. D. A tall, lone tree in an open field is a dangerous place to stand during a storm
Answer
Correct: C
Q6 · Sentence Simplification
Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in paragraph 2? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

Highlighted: "A tall tree, a hilltop, or a metal pole shortens that gap, because it reaches closer to the clouds than the flat ground around it."
  1. A. Flat ground is closer to the clouds than a tall tree or pole is, which shortens the gap the charge must cross.
  2. B. A tall tree, a hilltop, or a metal pole is closer to the clouds than flat ground is.
  3. C. Only metal poles, and no natural object such as a tree or hill, can ever shorten the gap between the clouds and the ground.
  4. D. Because a tall tree, hilltop, or pole is closer to the clouds than flat ground is, the gap the charge must jump across becomes shorter.
Answer
Correct: D
Q7 · Inference
Based on the information in paragraph 3, what can be inferred about a golfer who lowers a raised metal club during a storm?
  1. A. The golfer's risk of being struck decreases, because they are no longer creating the tallest point nearby
  2. B. The golfer's risk stays exactly the same, because golf clubs never affect the chance of a lightning strike
  3. C. The golfer's risk increases, because the ground beneath them becomes the tallest point instead
  4. D. The golfer becomes completely safe from lightning, because only metal objects are ever struck
Answer
Correct: A
Q8 · Rhetorical Purpose
The author describes the 1930s study on a tall New York City building in order to
  1. A. explain the history of skyscraper construction in the United States
  2. B. provide real, tested evidence for the path-of-least-resistance explanation given earlier
  3. C. compare the building directly to the golf courses and sailboats mentioned earlier
  4. D. argue that lightning is becoming more dangerous over time
Answer
Correct: B
Q9 · Paragraph Relation
How does paragraph 4 relate to the explanation given in paragraph 2?
  1. A. It argues that the explanation in paragraph 2 is incomplete
  2. B. It repeats the golf and sailboat examples from paragraph 3 in more detail
  3. C. It introduces a completely different explanation for why lightning strikes tall objects
  4. D. It provides a real, tested case that confirms the mechanism explained in paragraph 2
Answer
Correct: D
Q10 · Insert Text
Look at the four squares [■] in paragraph 3 that indicate where the following sentence could be added.

However, no single report could rule out simple chance.

Where would the sentence best fit?
  1. A. Square A
  2. B. Square B
  3. C. Square C
  4. D. Square D
Answer
Correct: D
Q11 · Prose Summary Select THREE · 2 pts
Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.

Lightning does not strike randomly; it follows a simple rule based on height, and a real study confirmed exactly how this works.

  1. A. Lightning always jumps along the shortest possible path between the clouds and the ground, a pattern scientists call the path of least resistance.
  2. B. Tall or raised objects, such as lone trees, golf clubs, and sailboat masts, are struck more often because they shorten this path.
  3. C. In the 1930s, engineers confirmed the pattern by studying repeated lightning strikes on a tall building in New York City.
  4. D. Lightning strikes the earth more than three million times every day around the world.
  5. E. Golfers face more danger than shoppers inside a shopping mall because they often carry metal clubs outdoors.
  6. F. Scientists have recently invented a way to prevent lightning from striking tall buildings.
Answer
Correct: A, B, C