Reading Comprehension Related

Photosynthesis is a process used by plants, algae, and certain bacteria to convert light energy into chemical energy stored in sugar molecules. This process is fundamental to life on Earth as it provides the primary source of energy for nearly all organisms. The energy is captured from sunlight by a pigment in the plants called chlorophyll, which gives plants their green color.
During photosynthesis, carbon dioxide from the air and water from the soil react in the presence of light to form sugars and oxygen. The oxygen is released into the atmosphere, which is crucial for the survival of most life forms on Earth. The sugars produced are used by the plant for energy and growth, storing excess energy as starch.
The process occurs in two main stages: the light-dependent reactions and the Calvin cycle. In the light-dependent reactions, energy from sunlight is absorbed by chlorophyll and converted into stored chemical energy in the form of ATP and NADPH. The Calvin cycle uses the ATP and NADPH produced in the light-dependent reactions to convert carbon dioxide into glucose.
Photosynthesis not only sustains plant life but also maintains the atmospheric oxygen levels and is a key factor in the carbon cycle, helping to regulate Earth's climate.

What would likely happen if chlorophyll was absent in plants?

• A. The rate of photosynthesis would increase
• B. Plants would not be able to capture light energy effectively
• C. Plants would produce more oxygen
• D. The Calvin cycle would be more efficient

What effect does your voice have on others? Does it persuade or irritate, attract or repel? One of
the worst qualities is harshness. If you ever get the feeling that people are uncomfortable when you speak, it may be that your harsh tones are jarring their eardrums. Your voice will sound
unpleasant if it is shrill, grating, hard, piercing, brassy, to loud, or too nasal. Harsh voice qualities usually come from too much tension in the throat and jaw. Tension tightens muscles and blocks the relaxed voice tones essential to a pleasing impression. Because tension occurs in higher pitched voices, women tend to have shriller voices than men, which usually makes them
less desirable public speakers, newscasters, or political candidates.

Which statement from the selection presents a fact rather than an opinion?

• A. One of the worst voice qualities is harshness.
• B. Harsh voice qualities usually come from too much tension in the throat and jaw.
• C. Your voice will sound unpleasant if it is shrill, grating, hard, piercing, brassy, too loud, or too nasal.
• D. Because tension occurs in higher pitched voices, women tend to have shriller voices than men, which usually makes them less desirable as public speakers, newscasters, or political candidates.

Health Care's Numbers Game: The game of health care is a risky one. Today emergency rooms are acting as primary care physicians for thousands of patients. This trend produces a vicious cycle of hospitals raising emergency room costs and passing that increase along to paying patients, who in turn pass it along to insurance companies, who in turn raise rates so even more people cannot afford the premium or the co-payment.
For years, indigent people have used emergency rooms for very minor illnesses rather than seeing an outside doctor, but now emergency rooms are seeing people with insurance, but who cannot afford the co-payment or the deductible for the office visit.
If we don't change the way the healthcare game is played, we're all going to lose.

According to the passage, why are more and more people using emergency rooms for minor illnesses?

• A. Patients want to continue the cycle of healthcare already established.
• B. The insurance companies require hospital visits for all illnesses.
• C. The doctors in emergency rooms are more skilled.
• D. They cannot afford the co-payment or deductible required by insurance.

Considered the most influential architect of his time, Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) was born in the small rural community of Richland Center, Wisconsin. He entered the University of
Wisconsin at the age of 15 as a special student, studying engineering because the school had no course in architecture. At the age of 20 he then went to work as a draughtsman in Chicago in order to learn the traditional, classical language of architecture. After marrying into a wealthy
business family at the age of 21, Wright set up house in an exclusive neighborhood in Chicago, and after a few years of working for a few architectural firms, set up his own architectural office. For twenty years he brought up a family of six children upstairs and ran a thriving architectural
practice of twelve or so draughts men downstairs. Here, in an idyllic American suburb, with
giant oaks, sprawling lawns, and no fences, Wright built some sixty rambling homes by the year 1900. He became the leader of a style known as the "Prairie" school - houses with low-pitched roofs and extended lines that blended into the landscape and typified his style of "organic
architecture".
By the age of forty-one, in 1908, Wright had achieved extraordinary social and professional success. He gave countless lectures at major universities and started his Taliesin Fellowship - a visionary social workshop. In 1938 he appeared on the cover of Time magazine, and later, on a
two-cent stamp. The most spectacular buildings of his mature period were based on forms borrowed from nature, and the intentions were clearly romantic, poetic, and intensely personal. Examples of these buildings are Tokyo's Imperial Hotel (1915-22: demolished 1968), and New
York City's Guggenheim Museum (completed 1959). He continued working until his death in 1959, at the age of 92, although in his later years, he spent as much time giving interviews and
being a celebrity, as he did in designing buildings. Wright can be considered an essentially
idiosyncratic architect whose influence was immense but whose pupils were few.

Why did Frank Lloyd Wright first work as a draughtsman?

• A. To live above his shop for twenty years and employ draughtsmen
• B. To learn the traditional, classical language of architecture
• C. Because that was his area of study at the University of Wisconsin
• D. Because it was the typical work of new employees in architectural firms

The ability to see at a distance, in good light, does not diminish as a result of aging to the extent
that other visual acuities do. Myopia, or nearsightedness, is more common to younger eyes,
while presbyopia, or farsightedness, more commonly afflicts people as they age. The word
presbyopia comes from Greek presbys, "old man," and opia, "eye," and names a condition in
which, because the lens of the eye hardens slightly and loses elasticity as a person ages, one
cannot as easily focus sharply on nearby objects. This condition leads to the familiar habit of
lifting up one's glasses and bringing an object or reading material close to the face so that the
eyes can more easily focus on it. The function of the lens is to accommodate different focal
points so that sensory data can be correctly directed to the retina for interpretation into images by
the brain. Corrective lenses, particularly bifocals or progressive lenses, adjust for the focal point
aberration. In essence, they do the work that the eye can no longer do for itself.

In the context of the passage, what does the word "accommodate" mean?

• A. Arrange lodging for
• B. Contain
• C. Make allowances for
• D. Excuse