Reading Comprehension Home Exercise – 01, PASSAGE D

PASSAGE D

 

19.       The author states that the research described in the first paragraph was undertaken in order to

A.      Determine the age of an actual meteor stream

B.      Identify the various structural features of meteor streams

C.      Explore the nature of a particularly interesting meteor stream

D.      Test the hypothesis that meteor streams become broader as they age

20.        It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following would most probably be observed during the Earth’s passage through a meteor stream if the conventional theories were correct?

A.      Meteor activity would gradually increase to a single, intense peak, and then gradually decline.

B.      Meteor activity would be steady throughout the period of the meteor shower.

C.      Meteor activity would rise to a peak at the beginning and at the end of the meteor shower.

D.      Random bursts of very high meteor activity would be interspersed with periods of very little activity.

21.       According to the passage, why do the dust particles in a meteor stream eventually surround a comet’s original orbit?

A.      They are ejected by the comet at differing velocities.

B.      Their orbits are uncontrolled by planetary gravitational fields.

C.      They become part of the meteor at different times.

D.      Their velocity slows over time.

22.       The passage suggests that which of the following is a prediction concerning meteor streams that can be derived from both the conventional theories and the new computer – derived theory?

A.      Dust particles in a meteor stream will usually be distributed evenly throughout any cross section of the stream.

B.      The orbits of most meteor streams should cross the orbit of the Earth at some point and give rise to a meteor shower.

C.      Over time the distribution of dust in a meteor stream will usually become denser at the outside edges of the stream than at the centre.

D.      Meteor showers caused by older meteor streams should be, on average longer in duration than those caused by very young meteor streams.

23.       It can be inferred from the last paragraph of the passage that which of the following must be true of the Earth as it orbits the Sun?

A.      Most meteor streams it encounters are more than 2,000 years old.

B.      When passing through a meteor stream, it usually passes near to the stream’s centre.

C.      It crosses the Geminid meteor stream once every year.

D.      It usually takes over a day to cross the actual Geminid meteor stream.

24.       Which of the following is an assumption underlying the last sentence of the passage?

A.      In each of the years between 1970 and 1979, the Earth took exactly 19 hours to cross the Geminid meteor stream.

B.      The comet associated with the Geminid meteor stream has totally disintegrated.

C.      The Geminid meteor stream should continue to exist for at least 5, 000 years.

D.      The computer-model Geminid meteor stream provides an accurate representation of the development of the actual Geminid stream.

Answers and Explanations

Reading Comprehension Home Exercise – 01, PASSAGE D

A meteor stream is composed of dust particles that have been ejected from a parent comet at a variety of velocities. These particles follow the same orbit as the parent comet; butt due to their differing velocities they slowly gain on or fall behind the disintegrating comet until a shroud of dust surrounds the entire cometary orbit. Astronomers have hypothesized that a meteor stream should broaden with time as the dust particles’ individual orbits are perturbed by planetary gravitational fields. A recent computer –modeling experiment tested this hypothesis by tracking the influence of planetary gravitation over a projected 5000 –ear- period on the positions of a group of hypothetical dust particles. In the model, the particles were randomly distributed throughout a computer simulation of the orbit of an actual meteor stream, the Geminid. The researcher found, as expected, that the computer – model stream broadened with time. Conventional theories, however, predicated that his distribution of particles would be increasingly dense toward the centre of a meteor stream. Surprisingly the computer-model meteor stream gradually came to resemble a thick walled hollow pipe.

Whenever the Earth passes through a meteor stream, a meteor shower occurs. Moving at a little over 1,500.000 miles per day around its orbit, the Earth would take, on average, just over a day to cross the hollow, computer –model Geminid stream if the stream were 5,000 years old. Two brief periods of peak meteor activity during the shower would be observed, one as the Earth entered the thick-walled “ pipe” and one as it exited. There is no reason why the Earth should always pass- through the stream’s exact centre, so the time interval between the two bursts of activity would vary from one year to the next.

Has the predicted twin-peaked activity been observed for the actual yearly Geminid meteor shower? The Geminid data between 1970 and 1979 show just such a bifurcation a secondary burst of meteor activity being clearly visible at an average of 19 hours (1,200,000 miles) after the first burst. The time intervals between the bursts suggest the actual Geminid stream is about 3, 000 years old.

17.       The primary focus of the passage is on which of the following?

A.      Comparing two scientific theories and contrasting the predictions that each would make concerning a natural phenomenon

B.      Describing a new theoretical model and noting that it explains the nature of observations made of  particular natural phenomenon

C.      Evaluating the results of a particular scientific experiment and suggesting further areas for research

D.      Explaining how two different natural phenomena are related and demonstrating a way to measure them.

18.        According to the passage, which of the following is an accurate statement concerning meteor streams?

A.      Meteor streams and comets start out with similar orbits, but only those of meteor streams are perturbed by planetary gravitation.

B.      Meteor streams grow as dust particles are attracted by the gravitations fields of comets.

C.      Meteor streams are composed of dust particles derived from comets.

D.      Comets may be composed of several kinds of materials, while meteor streams consist only of large dust particles.

Answers and Explanations 

Reading Comprehension Home Exercise – 01,PASSAGE C

PASSAGE C

The communities of ants are sometimes very large, numbering even up to 500,000 individuals; and it is a lesson to us that no one has ever yet seen a quarrel between any two ants belonging to the same community. On the other hand, it must be admitted that they are in hostility not only with most other insects, including ants of different species, but even with those of the same species if belonging to different communities. I have over and over again introduced ants from one of my nests into another nest of the same species: and they were invariably attacked, seized by a leg or an antenna, and dragged out.

It is evident, therefore, that the ants of each community all recognize one another which is very remarkable. But more than this, I several times divided a nest into two halves and found that even after separation of a year and nine months they recognized one another and were perfectly friendly, while they at once attacked ants from a different nest, although of the same species.

It has been suggested that the ants of each nest have some sign or password by which they recognize one another. To test this I made some of them insensible. First I tried chloroform; but this was fatal to them, and I did not consider the test satisfactory. I decided therefore to intoxicate them. This was less easy than I had expected. None of my ants would voluntarily degrade themselves by getting drunk. However I got over the difficulty by putting them into whiskey for a few moments. I took fifty specimens- twenty five prevent from one nest and twenty five percent from another, made them dead drunk, marked each with a spot of paint, and put them of a table close to where other ants from one of the nests were feeding. The table was surrounded as usual with a moat of water to prevent team from straying. The ants that were feeding soon noticed those that I had made drunk. They seemed quite astonished to find their comrades in such a disgraceful condition, and as much at a loss to know what to do with their drunkards as we were.

 After a while, however, they carried them all away; the strangers they took to the edge of the moat and dropped into the water, while they bore their friends home into the nest, where by degrees they slept off the effects of the spirits. Thus it is evident that they know there friends even when incapable of giving any sign or password.

12.       A good title for this passage might be:

A.      Nature’s Mysteries

B.      Human Qualities in the Insect world

C.      Drunken Ants

D.      Communication in Ant Communities

13.       Attitudes of ants toward strangers of the same species may be categorized as:

a.       Indifferent

b.      Curious

c.       Hostile

d.      Passive

Answers and Explanations

Reading Comprehension Home Exercise – 01, PASSAGE B

PASSAGE B

 

9.       According to the passage, which of the following is true

1.       There is a relationship the availability of credit and the prevalence of child labour

2.       The impact of credit on child labour is most evident in developed financial markets

3.       Suggestions for reducing child labour include school subsidies and withdrawal of trade sanctions

4.       There is  a significant variation in the effect of income volatility among the low credit group and high credit group countries

                 A.      a, b, c

                 B.      b, c, d

                 C.      a, c, d

                 D.      a, b, d

10.       LIO defines “working “ as

                A.      Working for wages/ salary

                B.      Only full- time work

               C.      Both (a) and (b) are wrong

               D.      Both (a)  and (b) are correct

11.       Which of the following statements are correct?

              A.      Development of financial markets is related to child labour

               B.      Poor countries have less developed financial markets

               C.      Policy makers are interested in studying the impact of financial markets on child labour

                D.      All the above

Answers and Explanations

Reading Comprehension Home Exercise – 01, PASSAGE B

Child labour is a troubling phenomenon and the focus of an intense political and policy debate, with proposals ranging from legislative bans and schooling subsidies in poor countries to trade sanctions against countries where child labour exists. Now an NBER Working Paper by Rajeev Dehejia and Roberta Gatti draws attention to the relationship between child labour in poor countries and the availability of credit. In Child Labour: The role of income Variability and Access to Credit across Countries (NBER Working paper No.9018), the researchers suggest that extending access to borrowing may be an effective way of reducing child labour in poor countries.

In 1995, according to data from the International Labour Organization (ILO), there were 120 million children engaged in full-time paid work. The incidence of child labour was 2.3 percent of the work force among countries in the upper quartile of GDP per capita and 34 percent among countries in the lowest quartile of GDP per capita.Clearly; there is an established link between child labour and poverty. However, Dehejia and Gatti ask whether specific policy proposals might help to combat child poverty, independent of the more complicated challenge of promoting higher economic growth rates.

They begin with the theoretical link between child labour and financial development. Putting children to work raises current family income, but by interfering with the development of human capital among children, it reduces families’ future income. The child cam makes an immediate contribution to household income, but this comes with a long-term cost. In addition to schooling, the researchers note, time spent at play contributes to a child’s cognitive development (and thus is an investment in the child’s future.)

The key economic variable that allows households to make the optimal trade –off between current and future income is access to credit. If households can borrow against future income, they can smooth earnings shocks without sending their children to work. If they cannot borrow, parents may choose an inefficiently high level of labour for their children.

Reading Comprehension Home Exercise – 01

Reading Comprehension Home Exercise – 01

 

4.       Which of the following can most reasonably be concluded about the mosquito Aedes albopictus on the basis of information given in the passage?

A.      It is native to the United States.

B.      It can proliferate only in Asia.

C.      It transmits the dengue virus

D.      It caused an epidemic of dengue hemorrhagic fever in the 1950’s

5.       Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?

A.      A paradox is states, discussed, and left unresolved.

B.      Two opposing explanations are presented, argued, and reconciled.

C.      A theory is proposed and is then following by descriptions of three experiments that support the theory.

D.      A generalization is stated and is then followed by three instances that support the generalization.

6.       Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the author’s assertion about the cause of the Lyme disease outbreak in the United States?

A.      The deer population was smaller in the late nineteenth century than in the mid twentieth century.

B.      Interest in outdoor recreation began to grow in the late nineteenth century.

C.      In recent years the suburbs have stopped growing.

D.      Outdoor recreation enthusiasts routinely take measures to protect themselves against Lyme disease.

Answers and Explanations:

Reading Comprehension Home Exercise – 01

Although genetic mutations in bacteria and viruses can lead to epidemics, some epidemics are caused by bacteria and viruses that have undergone no significant genetic change. In analyzing the latter, scientists have discovered the importance of social and ecological factors to epidemics. Poliomyelitis, for example, emerged as an epidemic in the United States in the twentieth century; by then, modern sanitation was able to delay exposure to polio until adolescence of adulthood, at which time polio infection produced paralysis. Previously, infection had occurred during infancy, when it typically provided lifelong immunity without paralysis. Thus, the hygiene that helped prevent typhoid epidemics indirectly fostered a paralytic polio epidemic. Another example is Lyme disease, which is caused by bacteria that are transmitted by deer ticks. It occurred only sporadically during the late nineteen century but has recently become prevalent in parts of the United States, largely due to an increase in the deer population that occurred simultaneously with the growth of the suburbs and increased outdoor recreational activities in the deer’s habitat. Similarly an outbreak of dengue hemorrhagic fever became an epidemic in Asia in the 1950’s because of ecological changes that caused Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that transmits the dengue virus, to proliferate. The stage is now set in the United States for a dengue epidemic because of the inadvertent introduction and wide dissemination of another mosquito, Aedes albopicuts.

1.       The passage suggests that a lack of modern sanitation would make which of the following most likely to occur?

A.      An  outbreak of Lyme disease

B.      An outbreak of dengue hemorrhagic fever

C.      An epidemic of typhoid

D.      An epidemic of paralytic polio among infants

2.       According to the passage, the outbreak of dengue hemorrhagic fever in the 1950’s occurred for which of the following reasons?

A.      The mosquito Aedes aegypti was newly introduced into Asia.

B.      The mosquito Aedes aegypti became more numerous.

C.      The mosquito Aedes albopictus became infected with the dengue virus.

D.      Individuals who would normally acquire immunity to the dengue virus as infants were not infected until later in life.

3.       It can be inferred from the passage that Lyme disease has become prevalent in parts of the United States because of which of the following?

A.      The inadvertent introduction of Lyme disease bacteria to the United States

B.      The inability of modern sanitation methods to eradicate Lyme disease bacteria

C.      A genetic mutation in Lyme disease bacteria that makes them more virulent

D.      An increase in the number of humans who encounter deer ticks

Answers and Explanations:

Reading Comprehension Home Exercise – 01

Although genetic mutations in bacteria and viruses can lead to epidemics, some epidemics are caused by bacteria and viruses that have undergone no significant genetic change. In analyzing the latter, scientists have discovered the importance of social and ecological factors to epidemics. Poliomyelitis, for example, emerged as an epidemic in the United States in the twentieth century; by then, modern sanitation was able to delay exposure to polio until adolescence of adulthood, at which time polio infection produced paralysis. 

Previously, infection had occurred during infancy, when it typically provided lifelong immunity without paralysis. Thus, the hygiene that helped prevent typhoid epidemics indirectly fostered a paralytic polio epidemic. Another example is Lyme disease, which is caused by bacteria that are transmitted by deer ticks. It occurred only sporadically during the late nineteen century but has recently become prevalent in parts of the United States, largely due to an increase in the deer population that occurred simultaneously with the growth of the suburbs and increased outdoor recreational activities in the deer’s habitat. Similarly an outbreak of dengue hemorrhagic fever became an epidemic in Asia in the 1950’s because of ecological changes that caused Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that transmits the dengue virus, to proliferate. The stage is now set in the United States for a dengue epidemic because of the inadvertent introduction and wide dissemination of another mosquito, Aedes albopicuts.

1.       The passage suggests that a lack of modern sanitation would make which of the following most likely to occur?

A.      An  outbreak of Lyme disease

B.      An outbreak of dengue hemorrhagic fever

C.      An epidemic of typhoid

D.      An epidemic of paralytic polio among infants

2.       According to the passage, the outbreak of dengue hemorrhagic fever in the 1950’s occurred for which of the following reasons?

A.      The mosquito Aedes aegypti was newly introduced into Asia.

B.      The mosquito Aedes aegypti became more numerous.

C.      The mosquito Aedes albopictus became infected with the dengue virus.

D.      Individuals who would normally acquire immunity to the dengue virus as infants were not infected until later in life.

3.       It can be inferred from the passage that Lyme disease has become prevalent in parts of the United States because of which of the following?