Reading Comprehension

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Over the last few decades, medical experts have changed their thinking on the health effects of some common foods and beverages. Higher-fat foods and some alcoholic beverages like red wine and beer, once viewed as top threats to a healthy lifestyle, are now seen by many as less harmful and even as having some health benefits. But there is perhaps no topic that the medical community has reversed its
thinking on more often than coffee. Since long before the advent of modern medicine, public opinion regarding the health effects of coffee has been diverse and ever-changing. Opinion on coffee's health effects can be traced back several centuries. In the 1600s, doctors in England touted coffee as a cure for alcoholism, but some women complained that coffee was making their husbands impotent. They may have been correct, as caffeine is a
diuretic and can irritate the prostate (dehydration and prostatitis can both lead to erectile dysfunction). In the late 1700s, coffeehouses began opening all over colonial America, where coffee was seen as a healthy stimulant that helped the colonists work longer hours. But by the early 1900s, public concern grew as coffee consumption was blamed for a variety of common ailments, such as nervousness, indigestion, and insomnia. In the 1970s, medical journals published studies that linked coffee consumption with high blood pressure and an increased risk of heart attacks. In 2001, a meta-study indicated that coffee was responsible for a 20% increase in risk for urinary tract cancer. But starting in 2007, to the surprise of many, meta-studies began to show positive health effects of coffee consumption. A 2007 study showed that coffee was viewed by many as "practically a health food." However, CNN also warned that given the long history of flip-flops on the health effects of coffee, medical and public opinion on coffee could easily turn negative again.

What is the definition of the term insomnia as mentioned in the third paragraph?

  • A. Difficulty sleeping.
  • B. Double vision.
  • C. Dizziness.
  • D. Drowsiness.
Correct Answer: A

Rationale: Insomnia, as mentioned in the passage, is described as one of the common ailments attributed to coffee consumption. The term refers to the difficulty or trouble in falling asleep or staying asleep, which aligns with choice A, 'Difficulty sleeping.' Insomnia is characterized by a persistent problem with sleep patterns, leading to inadequate or poor-quality sleep, rather than symptoms like double vision, dizziness, or drowsiness.

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Factory: Care in planning and management is needed if a factory is to run well. Work areas should be large, clean, well lighted and airy. Work should move in a straight line from one machine to another. This allows materials in different stages of production to advance smoothly. As orders increase, some factories hire consultants to redeploy their operation flow and streamline workstations and equipment within the plant. Using a factory management system can double production as well as improve the rate of on-time deliveries. Careful planning and execution can also contribute to harmonious relations between labor and management.

The paragraph suggests that the purpose of a factory layout is for

  • A. maintenance of machinery.
  • B. safety and profit.
  • C. meeting government regulations.
  • D. compliance with insurance company requirements.
Correct Answer: B

Rationale: The correct answer is B: safety and profit. The paragraph mentions that a well-planned factory layout includes factors like large work areas, cleanliness, good lighting, and smooth material flow. These aspects contribute to both safety and profit in a factory setting. Safety is enhanced by having well-lit and clean work areas, while efficient material flow and streamlined operations lead to increased productivity and profitability.

Summary:
A: Incorrect. The paragraph does not focus on maintenance of machinery; rather, it emphasizes the overall planning and management of the factory layout.
C: Incorrect. Meeting government regulations is not explicitly mentioned in the paragraph.
D: Incorrect. Compliance with insurance company requirements is not discussed in the paragraph.

About 6% of the earth is covered by rainforests. The largest rainforest in the world is the
Amazon Basin, which stretches over 2.3 million square miles in nine different South American countries. This area is double the length of all the other remaining rainforests in the world. Brazil contains 60%of the Amazonian rainforest, since it lies at the mouth of the river Amazon. This river is the second largest in the world and contains more than one-fifth of the world's fresh water. The Amazon rainforest is a type of wet broadleaf forest. The weather there is very humid and warm as it rains quite a bit. Because of the high rainfall, the forest is very rich and green. The
tree leaves are pointed and narrow so that the raindrops can easily drop off wet plants. This
tropical rainforest has more living species than the entire European continent. There are over 400 types of insects living in one single rain forest tree for a total of 2.5 million species. One square kilometer of rainforest may contain over 75,000 types of trees and approximately 438,000
different kinds of plants, which comes to a total of 90,000 tons of greenery overall. The Amazon rainforest is home to 2,000 birds and mammals, with one in every five birds in the world living there. Local farmers have lived off this rich and diverse land for thousands of years. They have been able to find food and water here without destroying the land. The Kayapo people of Brazil
farm in an environmentally-friendly way. Instead of chemicals, they use burned wood to enrich the soil, and plant banana trees, which attract wasps. These wasps then feed on leafcutter ants and get rid of these harmful insects. The rainforest also offers a lot of tropical fruits, such as bananas and coconuts, as food.
Cinnamon is made from the bark of a rainforest tree. Amazonian Indians use the fruit and stem
of the Buruti plant as a drink, to make bread and to build houses. Many other plants are used as medicine. But the Amazon rainforest is in very big danger of disappearing. 9,169 square miles of
forest have been cut down in 2003 in Brazil alone. An area of the size of a football field is burned down basically every minute, which means that the rain forest may be gone by the year 2030.The dangers related to this type of activity are obvious. Trees take in poisonous carbon
dioxide from the air and give off oxygen. There is more oxygen and less carbon dioxide around a
rainforest. When trees are cut down, however, the amount of carbon dioxide increases, and the
air gets warmer. This leads to global warming, which is extremely harmful to the environment. It
is estimated that the burning of Brazilian rainforests alone produces 200 million metric tons of carbon dioxide ayear. Another danger connected with destroying the rainforest is the disappearance of plants and animals. When trees are cut down, plants and animals have no more
food left and slowly die out. Killing wild animals is illegal in Brazil, but there is plenty of stealing going on. 38 million animals are stolen and sold illegally each year. The most hunted
animals are birds, especially parrots, followed by snakes and the jaguar.

Which rainforest plant has more than one use?

  • A. The banana
  • B. The coconut
  • C. Cinnamon
  • D. The Buriti plant
Correct Answer: D

Rationale: The correct answer is D, the Buriti plant. The passage mentions that Amazonian Indians use the fruit and stem of the Buriti plant as a drink, to make bread, and to build houses. This plant demonstrates multiple uses within the rainforest ecosystem, making it the plant with more than one use among the options provided.

The White Elephant: Centuries ago, In Siam, now known as Thailand, it was the custom of the rulers to give a white elephant to those who displeased them. The recipient could not give the elephant to anyone else, as it was a gift from the ruler, who would be greatly displeased should the recipient not receive the gift graciously or care for the elephant in a grand style. This monetary burden could be a major liability to the recipient and in many cases the entire family became impoverished.
This is the origin of the term 'white elephant' as it is used today to denote an unwanted gift. The parlor game of gift exchange played during the holiday season is an offshoot of this. In this game, everyone brings a wrapped gift and the gifts are exchanged by drawing numbers and picking a gift in turn. The second person can choose a new gift or steal the first one. It is all in good fun, and people enjoy giving silly gifts and 'stealing' someone else's gift.

How did the people regard a white elephant?

  • A. If a village elder received a white elephant, the entire village shared in the supply of meat.
  • B. The people of Siam vied for the honor of receiving the king's gift of a white elephant.
  • C. People tried very hard not to offend the king so they would not receive a white elephant.
  • D. White elephants were highly prized as they were very hard workers in the cane fields.
Correct Answer: C

Rationale: The correct answer is C because the passage states that receiving a white elephant was considered a burden, leading to potential impoverishment. This implies that people tried hard not to offend the ruler to avoid receiving such a gift. Option A is incorrect as it contradicts the negative consequences associated with receiving a white elephant. Option B is incorrect as the passage does not mention people actively seeking to receive a white elephant. Option D is incorrect as there is no mention of white elephants being valued for their work abilities in the passage.

Changing Time: I have a major problem with Daylight Saving Time (DST). I really wish they would abolish the practice of changing the time on us every year. 'Spring ahead, Fall back' should disappear from our language.
Although an early goal of DST was to reduce evening usage of incandescent lighting, formerly a primary use of electricity, modern heating and cooling usage patterns greatly differ, and research about how DST currently affects energy use is limited and often contradictory. The reason for the time shift has become irrelevant.
DST's occasional clock shifts present other challenges. They complicate timekeeping and can disrupt meetings, travel, billing, recordkeeping, medical devices, and heavy equipment. Many computer-based systems can adjust their clocks automatically, but this can be limited and error-prone, particularly when DST rules change.
I vote to abolish DST. Can I count on your vote?

To what word or phrase does the word 'they' in the third paragraph refer?

  • A. Clock shifts.
  • B. Computer-based systems.
  • C. DST's.
  • D. Challenges.
Correct Answer: A

Rationale: The correct answer is A: Clock shifts. In the third paragraph, the word 'they' refers to the subject of the previous sentence, which is "occasional clock shifts." This is evident from the context that follows, discussing how the clock shifts complicate timekeeping and disrupt various aspects. Choices B, C, and D are incorrect because 'they' does not directly refer to computer-based systems (B), DST's (C), or challenges (D) in the given paragraph. The key to identifying the correct answer lies in understanding the pronoun reference and its connection to the context provided in the surrounding sentences, which clearly point to clock shifts as the subject referred to by 'they.'

The Moon has been worshipped by primitive peoples and has inspired humans to create everything from lunar calendars to love sonnets. But what do we really know about it? The most accepted theory about the Moon's origin is that it was formed from the debris of a massive collision with the young Earth about 4.6 billion years ago. A huge body, perhaps the size of Mars, struck the Earth, throwing out an immense amount of debris that coalesced and cooled in orbit around the Earth. The development of Earth is inextricably linked to the Moon; the Moon's gravitational influence upon the Earth is the primary cause of ocean tides. In fact, the Moon has more than twice the effect on the tides than the Sun. The Moon makes one rotation and completes a revolution around the Earth every 27 days, 7 hours, and 43 minutes. This synchronous rotation is caused by an uneven distribution of mass in the Moon (essentially, it is heavier on one side than the other) and has allowed the Earth's gravity to keep one side of the Moon permanently facing Earth. The average distance from Earth to the Moon is about 384,403 km. The Moon has no atmosphere; without it, the Moon has no protection from meteorite impacts, resulting in a surface covered with impact craters, both large and small. The Moon also has no active tectonic or volcanic activity, so the erosive effects of atmospheric weathering, tectonic shifts, and volcanic upheavals that tend to erase and reform the Earth’s surface features are not at work on the Moon. In fact, even tiny surface features, such as the footprint left by an astronaut in the lunar soil, are likely to last for millions of years unless obliterated by a chance meteorite strike. The surface gravity of the Moon is about one-sixth that of Earth's. Therefore, a person weighing 82 kilograms on Earth would only weigh 14 kilograms on the Moon. The geographical features of the Earth most similar to those of the Moon are places such as the Hawaiian volcanic craters and the huge meteor crater in Arizona. However, the climate of the Moon is very different from either Hawaii or Arizona; in fact, the temperature on the Moon ranges from 123 degrees Celsius to -233 degrees Celsius.

In the provided text, the word 'massive' in line 4 is closest in meaning to

  • A. Dense
  • B. Impressive
  • C. Huge
  • D. Unavoidable
Correct Answer: C

Rationale: The word 'massive' in the context of the text is used to describe the size of the body that collided with the Earth to form the Moon. In this context, 'massive' means extremely large or enormous, which aligns most closely with the choice 'Huge.' The collision was not described as dense, impressive, or unavoidable in relation to its size, making 'Huge' the most appropriate synonym.

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