Updated 2026-08-23easy

TOEFL Reading Practice #009 — Why Gloves Don't Work on Every Touchscreen

Free TOEFL Reading practice: Why Gloves Don't Work on Every Touchscreen. 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.
1

Passage

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

Why Gloves Don't Work on Every Touchscreen

¶1 Tapping a smartphone screen with a bare finger works instantly, but the same tap through a glove often does nothing. The screen has not become less sensitive. It is simply built to sense touch in one particular way, and a glove does not match that way. Touchscreens fall into two main types, based on what they actually detect. One type senses pressure. The other senses electricity. Engineers call the first type a resistive touchscreen and the second a capacitive touchscreen.

¶2 A resistive touchscreen is built from two thin, flexible layers with a tiny gap of air between them. Each layer carries a weak electric current. When something presses down, the top layer bends and touches the bottom layer, so the screen detects that exact spot. Because this design only needs physical pressure to connect the two layers, almost any object can operate it — a bare finger, a plastic stylus, or a gloved hand. This makes resistive screens cheap and tough enough for gas pumps and older game consoles. However, they react a little slowly, and the extra layers make the picture look dimmer.

¶3 A capacitive touchscreen works the opposite way. [A] Instead of two layers, a single layer under the glass holds an even electrical charge across its surface. Human skin naturally conducts electricity. [B] When a bare finger touches the glass, it draws away a tiny bit of that charge. Sensors at the edges calculate exactly where the charge dropped, which tells the screen where the touch happened. [C] A plastic stylus or thick glove cannot conduct electricity, so it draws no charge, and the screen ignores it. Capacitive screens react instantly and can track two fingers at once, letting a picture be pinched and zoomed. [D] Most smartphones and tablets made today use this design.

¶4 The two designs trade one advantage for another. A resistive screen accepts almost any touch, but it reacts slowly and looks a little dull. A capacitive screen reacts instantly, but only a conductive touch — bare skin or a special glove — will work. That trade-off explains a small daily mystery: why the same glove unlocks one phone and fails on another.

  • stylus: a pen-shaped tool used to tap or write on a touchscreen
  • conduct: to allow electricity to pass through
  • sensor: a device that detects something, such as touch, and sends that information to a machine
2

Questions

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

Q1 · Vocabulary
The word sensitive in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to
  1. A. quick to detect small changes
  2. B. easily damaged
  3. C. expensive to repair
  4. D. brightly colored
Answer
Correct: A
Q2 · Reference
The word them in paragraph 2 ("...with a tiny gap of air between them") refers to
  1. A. the tiny gap of air
  2. B. the electric current
  3. C. the two flexible layers
  4. D. the screen's sensors
Answer
Correct: C
Q3 · Essential Term
Based on the information in the passage, the term capacitive touchscreen can best be explained as
  1. A. a touchscreen that detects touch only through firm physical pressure
  2. B. a touchscreen that works by lighting up whenever it is touched
  3. C. a touchscreen that requires a battery built into the finger touching it
  4. D. a touchscreen that detects touch by sensing a small loss of electrical charge when a conductive object touches it
Answer
Correct: D
Q4 · Factual Information
According to paragraph 2, what happens when something presses down on a resistive touchscreen?
  1. A. The bottom layer lifts up to meet the top layer at a random spot.
  2. B. The top layer bends and touches the bottom layer, and the screen detects that exact spot.
  3. C. A weak electric current stops flowing through both layers completely.
  4. D. The gap of air between the layers becomes permanently sealed.
Answer
Correct: B
Q5 · Negative Fact
According to paragraph 2, all of the following are true of a resistive touchscreen EXCEPT
  1. A. It produces a brighter picture than a capacitive touchscreen.
  2. B. It is built from two thin, flexible layers with a tiny gap of air between them.
  3. C. It can be operated by almost any object, including a gloved hand.
  4. D. It is commonly found in gas pumps and older game consoles.
Answer
Correct: A
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 this design only needs physical pressure to connect the two layers, almost any object can operate it — a bare finger, a plastic stylus, or a gloved hand."
  1. A. Even though this design needs an electrical charge, only bare fingers can make the two layers connect.
  2. B. This design can only be operated by a bare finger, because gloves and styluses damage the two layers.
  3. C. Since this screen only requires pressure to link its two layers, many different objects — from a bare finger to a gloved hand — can make it work.
  4. D. The two layers stay connected at all times, so pressing them together is not required.
Answer
Correct: C
Q7 · Inference
Based on the information in paragraph 4, what can be inferred about an ordinary wool glove that has no metal thread in it?
  1. A. It would work perfectly on a capacitive touchscreen because wool is a strong conductor.
  2. B. It would stop a resistive touchscreen from detecting any touch at all.
  3. C. It would only work on touchscreens that are plugged into a wall outlet.
  4. D. It would probably fail to operate a capacitive touchscreen because it does not conduct electricity.
Answer
Correct: D
Q8 · Rhetorical Purpose
The author mentions gas pumps and older game consoles in paragraph 2 in order to
  1. A. argue that resistive touchscreens are now outdated and no longer used anywhere
  2. B. give real-world examples of where a resistive touchscreen's toughness and flexibility with any kind of touch are useful
  3. C. compare the price of resistive touchscreens to capacitive touchscreens in detail
  4. D. explain how electrical current moves through a capacitive touchscreen
Answer
Correct: B
Q9 · Paragraph Relation
How does paragraph 4 relate to paragraphs 2 and 3?
  1. A. It summarizes the trade-offs between the two touchscreen types described in paragraphs 2 and 3.
  2. B. It argues that the explanation given in paragraph 3 is incorrect.
  3. C. It introduces a completely new type of touchscreen not mentioned before.
  4. D. It repeats the electrical charge mechanism from paragraph 3 in more detail.
Answer
Correct: A
Q10 · Insert Text
Look at the four squares [■] in paragraph 3 that indicate where the following sentence could be added.

This natural ability turns out to be the key to how the screen works.

Where would the sentence best fit?
  1. A. Square A
  2. B. Square B
  3. C. Square C
  4. D. Square D
Answer
Correct: B
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.

Resistive touchscreen Capacitive touchscreen

  1. A. Detects a touch through physical pressure that pushes two thin layers together
  2. B. Can be operated by almost any object, including a gloved hand
  3. C. Commonly used in gas pumps and older game consoles
  4. D. Detects a touch by sensing a tiny loss of electrical charge
  5. E. Works only with a conductive touch, such as bare skin
  6. F. Needs to be plugged into a wall outlet before it can detect any touch
  7. G. Only works properly when the room is completely dark
Answer
Correct: Resistive touchscreen: A, B, C · Capacitive touchscreen: D, E