[jyl]

Reading over that sample, it occurs to me that how you read is also a factor.

Personally, I speed read everything. My eye skims from noun or verb to the next noun or verb, typically ignoring adverbs, adjectives, connectors, flowery or atmospheric or introspective passages, anything boring or overly detailed, etc. Anything that isn't immediately interesting to me or clearly important to me, I ignore.

Yes, I can force myself to read word-by-word but normally you'd have to pay me to bother.

I read the sample text in my usual casual way - skimming it - and found myself answering the questions with only what I already know about weather, because the text was so boring that my mind glazed over.

When we are kids in school, we are forced to read things carefully because we know we'll get tested on it. As adults, I think many of us don't do that, unless we have to for our work/personal needs.