Updated 2026-08-23easy

TOEFL Reading Practice #006 — Venomous or Poisonous? The Question Everyone Gets Wrong

Free TOEFL Reading practice: Venomous or Poisonous? The Question Everyone Gets Wrong. 11 questions with a full passage and answer key.

Read inEnglish한국어Español日本語हिन्दी
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.
1

Passage

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

Venomous or Poisonous? The Question Everyone Gets Wrong

¶1 Nature holds many animals and plants that can make a person sick. Most people call all of them poisonous, and that habit feels natural. Scientists disagree with it, because the real difference has nothing to do with how dangerous something is. The real difference is how the danger reaches the body. Scientists sort these organisms into two separate groups. One group delivers its danger on purpose. The other group simply carries danger and waits. Scientists call the first group venomous and the second group poisonous.

¶2 A venomous animal delivers its danger on purpose, through a bite or a sting. Snakes, bees, and scorpions all belong to this group. Each one carries a special body part built only for delivery. A snake uses hollow fangs, and a bee uses a sharp stinger. Because a venomous animal must push its danger through one of these body parts, the harm cannot reach a person who never makes contact with them. No bite or sting means no harm at all.

¶3 A poisonous organism works in the opposite way. [A] It has no fangs, no stinger, and no plan to attack. Its danger simply sits inside its skin, its leaves, or its whole body, waiting. [B] The poison dart frog carries its danger in colorful skin. A person only needs to touch that skin to be harmed. [C] Certain mushrooms and the poison ivy plant work the same way. A hungry animal can eat the wrong mushroom, and a hiker can brush against poison ivy. Neither one needs to be bitten to be harmed. [D] This organism never chooses the moment. It only reacts once something else makes contact first.

¶4 The two groups call for different kinds of caution. A person should stay far from a venomous animal's mouth or stinger, since the danger only appears during an attack. A person should avoid touching or eating a poisonous organism at all, since no attack is needed. Knowing which word actually fits an organism can help someone react the right way.

  • scorpion: a small animal with a poisonous sting in its tail
  • fang: a long, sharp tooth used for biting
  • stinger: a sharp, pointed body part some insects use to attack
2

Questions

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

Q1 · Vocabulary
The word habit in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to
  1. A. a rare, one-time action
  2. B. the usual way people do something
  3. C. a scientific test
  4. D. a strong feeling of fear
Answer
Correct: B
Q2 · Reference
The word It in paragraph 3 ("It has no fangs, no stinger, and no plan to attack.") refers to
  1. A. A poisonous organism
  2. B. A venomous animal
  3. C. A bite or a sting
  4. D. Its danger
Answer
Correct: A
Q3 · Essential Term
Based on the information in the passage, the term venomous can best be explained as
  1. A. being extremely dangerous to touch
  2. B. causing harm only after being eaten
  3. C. the injury caused by an animal attack
  4. D. delivering danger on purpose through a bite or a sting
Answer
Correct: D
Q4 · Factual Information
According to paragraph 2, what happens if a person never makes contact with a venomous animal's fangs or stinger?
  1. A. The person still receives a mild form of the harm
  2. B. The venom enters the body through the skin automatically
  3. C. The person is not harmed at all, since no bite or sting occurred
  4. D. The animal changes into a poisonous organism instead
Answer
Correct: C
Q5 · Negative Fact
According to paragraph 1, all of the following are true EXCEPT
  1. A. Most people usually call every dangerous organism poisonous
  2. B. The real difference between the two groups is how dangerous each organism is
  3. C. Scientists sort these organisms into two separate groups
  4. D. One group delivers its danger on purpose, while the other waits
Answer
Correct: B
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: "Because a venomous animal must push its danger through one of these body parts, the harm cannot reach a person who never makes contact with them."
  1. A. A venomous animal pushes its danger through certain body parts.
  2. B. Because a person avoids contact with an animal's fangs or stinger, the animal cannot deliver danger through them.
  3. C. A venomous animal will always harm a person nearby, even without any physical contact.
  4. D. Since a venomous animal has to send its danger through a bite or a sting, a person who avoids contact with those body parts stays safe.
Answer
Correct: D
Q7 · Inference
Based on the information in paragraph 3, what can be inferred about a person who sees a poison dart frog but never touches it?
  1. A. The person would still be poisoned just by looking at the frog
  2. B. The person would not be harmed, since the frog's danger only works through touching or eating it
  3. C. The frog would actively jump toward the person and bite them
  4. D. The person would need medical help right away, no matter what
Answer
Correct: B
Q8 · Rhetorical Purpose
The author mentions the poison dart frog, certain mushrooms, and the poison ivy plant in order to
  1. A. give real examples of organisms that belong to the poisonous group
  2. B. argue that plants are more dangerous than animals
  3. C. explain how mushrooms grow in the wild
  4. D. compare frogs and snakes in detail
Answer
Correct: A
Q9 · Paragraph Relation
How does paragraph 4 relate to paragraphs 2 and 3?
  1. A. It argues that the classification described earlier is incorrect
  2. B. It repeats the description of fangs and stingers in more detail
  3. C. It draws a practical conclusion about how to stay safe from each group, based on the distinction explained earlier
  4. D. It introduces a third, completely new category of danger
Answer
Correct: C
Q10 · Insert Text
Look at the four squares [■] in paragraph 3 that indicate where the following sentence could be added.

In each of these cases, the organism itself never moves toward its victim.

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 · Schematic Table 3 pts
Directions: Complete the table by matching the phrases below to the category they belong to. Two of the answer choices will NOT be used. This question is worth 3 points.

Venomous Poisonous

  1. A. Delivers its danger on purpose, through a bite or a sting
  2. B. Needs a special body part, such as fangs or a stinger, to push danger into another body
  3. C. Cannot harm a person who never makes contact with its fangs or stinger
  4. D. Can harm a person simply through touching or eating it, without any attack
  5. E. Has no fangs, no stinger, and no plan to attack
  6. F. Lives only in rainforests near the equator
  7. G. Loses its danger completely after its first attack
Answer
Correct: Venomous: A, B, C · Poisonous: D, E