Just short of its 200th birthday, a landmark natural history museum shuts down

Study the questions and tasks

Work through the material below, or start the interactive practice above to complete an attempt. Try the exercises before opening any answer or transcript sections, then use them to review your work.

Practice level

B2. Try this level if you can follow the instructions and understand most of the language; choose an earlier level if you need more support.

Question formats

Single choice

How to approach this practice

Read the passage for its main idea, then return to the relevant sentence or paragraph for each question. Base answers on the passage.

1. Question 1 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What is the main purpose of the article?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. To describe a museum’s closure and its wider implications
   2. To compare Philadelphia with other American cities
   3. To explain how dinosaur skeletons are preserved
   4. To advertise the museum’s final exhibitions
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   To describe a museum’s closure and its wider implications

   It explains the museum’s closure, public response, and broader significance.

   The museum’s shutdown has added to wider concerns about declining support for cultural and scientific institutions.

2. Question 2 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What can be inferred about the museum’s final weeks?

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   1. The museum had completely lost public interest
   2. The closure encouraged people to visit urgently
   3. Visitors were mainly university researchers
   4. The museum postponed its closing date
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   The closure encouraged people to visit urgently

   The unusually high attendance shows that public interest remained strong.

   Attendance rose sharply during the museum’s final weeks, and revenue was more than 20 times higher than in September of the previous year.

3. Question 3 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What does “they” refer to in the sentence about children?

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   1. The museum’s former staff members
   2. The activists outside the building
   3. The families who returned
   4. The children visiting the museum
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   The families who returned

   The pronoun refers to families who returned to the museum.

   Some families returned because the museum had been part of their childhoods and they wanted their children to share the experience.

4. Question 4 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Why does the article mention the dinosaur skeleton?

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   1. To explain why attendance declined
   2. To highlight the museum’s pioneering status
   3. To introduce a new exhibition
   4. To describe the museum’s financial problems
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   To highlight the museum’s pioneering status

   This detail emphasizes the Academy’s historical and scientific importance.

   It was the first place in the world to display a dinosaur skeleton, beginning in 1868.

5. Question 5 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   How is the article mainly organized?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Chronologically, then toward wider consequences
   2. By comparing two competing museums
   3. From scientific methods to family activities
   4. By presenting arguments only from campaigners
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Chronologically, then toward wider consequences

   It moves from history and exhibits to closure, finances, and broader concerns.

   The museum announced on September 1 that it would close at the end of the month.

6. Question 6 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Which relationship does the article establish between attendance and revenue?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Falling attendance directly increased revenue
   2. Higher attendance improved revenue temporarily
   3. Revenue remained unchanged despite attendance
   4. Attendance fell because revenue increased
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Higher attendance improved revenue temporarily

   Higher final attendance produced much higher revenue but failed to save it.

   However, the late surge was not enough to prevent the closure.

7. Question 7 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What concern do campaigners express at the end?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Other museums may face comparable difficulties
   2. Museums should replace science with entertainment
   3. Universities should stop supporting cultural institutions
   4. Families no longer value educational experiences
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Other museums may face comparable difficulties

   They fear other financially pressured museums could experience similar closures.

   Campaigners have warned that the Academy’s fate could become a warning for other museums facing similar financial pressure.

What to review next

Find the words that support each answer. For a mistake, compare the question with the evidence and identify the detail or inference you missed.

A focused practice result shows how you did on these tasks. Use several activities across skills to decide what to study next; one practice score does not certify an overall CEFR level.

Before you practise: a worked example

Look for evidence in the text. Separate what the writer says from what you already know about the topic.

The library normally closes at six, but on Fridays it stays open until eight. When does it close on Friday?

The answer is eight. But introduces an exception to the normal closing time, so the first time mentioned is not the answer.

This teaching example is separate from the scored questions. After your test, compare any mistakes with the explanation and revisit the topic before trying again.