Heat Deaths Highlight the Particular Risks Facing Americans in Manufactured Homes

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.

   What is the article’s central purpose?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. To compare several national disaster-response systems
   2. To explain why manufactured homes are universally unsafe
   3. To reframe heat exposure as a domestic as well as outdoor danger
   4. To identify one location with unusually high temperatures
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   To reframe heat exposure as a domestic as well as outdoor danger

   It reframes heat exposure as a domestic as well as outdoor danger.

   The story therefore shifts the focus of heat safety from public spaces alone to the homes people ordinarily regard as secure.

2. Question 2 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What inference about indoor safety is best supported?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Indoor temperatures are always lower than outdoor temperatures
   2. Residential shelter may not provide sufficient heat relief
   3. Outdoor recreation is the primary source of heat mortality
   4. Manufactured homes are safer than conventional housing
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Residential shelter may not provide sufficient heat relief

   Residential shelter may fail to provide sufficient relief during extreme heat.

   For people living in manufactured homes, the boundary between outdoor heat and indoor safety may therefore be less reliable than many readers expect.

3. Question 3 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Why does the article emphasize manufactured housing?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. To identify a particularly vulnerable subgroup
   2. To establish a precise geographic hotspot
   3. To dispute the scale of national heat deaths
   4. To recommend replacing all mobile homes
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   To identify a particularly vulnerable subgroup

   It identifies a particularly vulnerable subgroup within the wider national population.

   This distinction matters because it identifies a particular residential group within the broader population exposed to dangerous heat.

4. Question 4 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What does “This focus” refer to in the final sentence?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. The absence of dramatic natural disasters
   2. The focus on homes alongside public spaces
   3. The identification of a single location
   4. The comparison between work and recreation
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   The focus on homes alongside public spaces

   It refers to directing heat-safety attention toward homes as well as public spaces.

   This focus does not diminish the wider national danger; it clarifies where concern may be especially urgent.

5. Question 5 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   How is the article organized overall?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Chronologically, from past warnings to future forecasts
   2. By contrasting two competing scientific explanations
   3. From broad danger to specific risk and qualified implications
   4. By presenting personal testimony followed by policy proposals
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   From broad danger to specific risk and qualified implications

   It moves from national danger to subgroup risk, implications, framing, and limitations.

   It does, however, make a clear factual point: heat deaths occur across the United States each year, and residents of manufactured housing warrant particular attention when temperatures become dangerously high.

6. Question 6 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Which claim is explicitly limited by the supplied information?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Heat kills thousands nationally each year
   2. Manufactured-housing residents deserve particular attention
   3. Every manufactured home presents identical danger
   4. Heat can become deadly inside homes
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Every manufactured home presents identical danger

   The article withholds both a single location and precise causal factors.

   NPR’s account does not establish that every manufactured home presents the same level of danger, nor does the supplied information identify a single location or explain the precise factors behind the heightened risk.

7. Question 7 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What contrast structures the article’s opening?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. National policy and local enforcement
   2. Outdoor hazard and indoor lethality
   3. Temporary shelter and permanent housing
   4. Natural disasters and economic downturns
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Outdoor hazard and indoor lethality

   The opening contrasts heat’s familiar outdoor image with its possible indoor lethality.

   Heat is often discussed as an outdoor hazard, but a new NPR report emphasizes that it can become deadly inside the home.

8. Question 8 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What does the article imply about conventional heat warnings?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. They already address every relevant exposure setting
   2. They may overlook domestic exposure
   3. They focus exclusively on manufactured housing
   4. They exaggerate the national mortality figures
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   They may overlook domestic exposure

   They may overlook people exposed in ordinary domestic settings.

   Public warnings may naturally direct attention toward outdoor work, travel, or recreation.

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.