At the University of Maryland, a historic campus farm remains a classroom

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

C2. 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.

   Which statement best captures the article’s central argument?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. The farm preserves a historical link while continuing to support student learning.
   2. The farm has replaced the university’s other forms of education.
   3. The university’s agricultural history is more important than its present.
   4. The farm’s programs are fully documented and widely organized.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   The farm preserves a historical link while continuing to support student learning.

   The article emphasizes the farm’s historical and educational roles together.

   The farm’s significance, then, lies in the coexistence of inheritance and use.

2. Question 2 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What can be inferred from the farm’s continued educational use?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. The farm’s historical value depends on its becoming a museum.
   2. The site connects institutional history with students’ current experience.
   3. Students learn there only about the university’s history.
   4. The farm’s original purpose has remained entirely unchanged.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   The site connects institutional history with students’ current experience.

   Continued use gives historical association a present-day function.

   A place associated with the university’s agricultural beginnings continues to have an educational purpose, linking the institution’s history to student experience today.

3. Question 3 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What does “That general idea” refer to?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. The university’s agricultural-school origins
   2. The farm’s specific student activities
   3. Learning through direct activity or observation
   4. The organization of the farm’s programs
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Learning through direct activity or observation

   The phrase points back to the described approach to learning.

   The term “experiential learning” describes this broader approach: learners engage with a subject through direct activity or observation.

4. Question 4 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Why does the article mention that specific student activities are not established?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. To distinguish a general explanation from verified site-specific details
   2. To imply that students do not learn at the farm
   3. To argue that experiential learning is ineffective
   4. To show that the university has no agricultural history
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   To distinguish a general explanation from verified site-specific details

   The qualification marks the boundary of what the account supports.

   That general idea helps explain why a farm can function as a classroom, although the specific activities students undertake at this site are not established here.

5. Question 5 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   How does the final paragraph develop the article’s conclusion?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. It shifts from the farm to a broader critique of universities.
   2. It concludes that the farm’s historical role has ended.
   3. It summarizes the coexistence of historical connection and current learning.
   4. It introduces evidence about the farm’s founding date.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   It summarizes the coexistence of historical connection and current learning.

   It restates the dual role while clarifying the account’s limits.

   The central point is therefore straightforward: in College Park, the University of Maryland’s farm is both a historical remnant and a living classroom.

6. Question 6 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Which relationship between the farm’s past and present does the article stress?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. The present role erases the historical connection.
   2. The historical connection and present role reinforce one another.
   3. The farm’s past is relevant only to faculty.
   4. The farm’s present use is unrelated to its history.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   The historical connection and present role reinforce one another.

   Its past remains visible through the site’s current educational purpose.

   Its continued use gives the site a connection to the institution’s past as well as a role in its present.

7. Question 7 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What is the function of the phrase “In general” at the start of the third paragraph?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. It introduces a universal rule about every campus farm.
   2. It shifts to a general context before qualifying site-specific claims.
   3. It signals that the earlier paragraphs were hypothetical.
   4. It introduces a chronology of the university’s farm.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   It shifts to a general context before qualifying site-specific claims.

   It signals a broader observation beyond confirmed facts about this site.

   In general, campus farms can make agriculture a subject encountered in a physical setting rather than only through classroom discussion.

8. Question 8 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What does “the site” refer to in the fourth paragraph?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. The University of Maryland as a whole
   2. The agricultural-school roots
   3. The campus farm in College Park
   4. The classroom discussion of agriculture
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   The campus farm in College Park

   The noun refers to the campus farm under discussion.

   The site need not represent the whole university or define every student’s education to matter.

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.