Task 1 : Reading Comprehension Part 1

Questions 1-10 refer to the following passage.

The first two decades of this century were dominated by the microbe hunters. These hunters had tracked down one after another of the microbes responsible for the most dreaded scourges of many centuries: tuberculosis, cholera, diphtheria. But there, remained some terrible diseases for which no microbe could be incriminated: scurvy, pellagra, rickets, beriberi. Then it was discovered that these diseases were caused by the lack of vitamins, a trace substance in the diet. The diseases could be prevented or cured by consuming foods that contained the vitamins. And so in the decades of the 1920’s and 1930’s, nutrition became a science and the vitamin hunters replaced the microbe hunters.
In the 1940’s and 1950’s, biochemists strived to learn why each of the vitamins was essential for health. They discovered that key enzymes in metabolism depend on one or another of the vitamins as coenzymes to perform the chemistry that provides cells with energy for growth and function. Now, these enzyme hunters occupied center stage.
You are aware that the enzyme hunters have been replaced by a new breed of hunters who are tracking genes-the blueprints for each of the enzymes-and are discovering the defective genes that cause inherited diseases-diabetes, cystic fibrosis. These gene hunters, or genetic engineers, use recombinant DNA technology to identify and clone genes and introduce them into bacterial cells and plants to create factories for the massive production of hormones and vaccines for medicine and for better crops for agriculture. Biotechnology has become a multibillion-dollar industry.
In view of the inexorable progress in science, we can expect that the gene hunters will be replaced in the spotlight. When and by whom? Which kind of hunter will dominate the scene in the last decade of our waning century and in the early decades of the next? I wonder whether the hunters who will occupy the spotlight will be neurobiologists who apply the techniques of the enzyme and gene hunters to the functions of the brain: What to call them? The head hunters. I will return to them later.

1. What is the main topic of the passage?
(A)  The microbe hunters
(B)  The potential of genetic engineering
(C)  The progress of modem medical research
(D)  The discovery of enzymes

Answer : (C)  The progress of modem medical research

2. The word “which” in line 4 refers to
(A)  diseases
(B)  microbe
(C)  cholera
(D)  diphtheria

Answer : (A)  diseases

3. The word “incriminated” in line 4 is closest in meaning to
(A)  investigated
(B)  blamed
(C)  eliminated
(D)  produced

Answer : (B)  blamed

4. Which of the following can be cured by a change in diet?
(A)  Tuberculosis
(B)  Cholera
(C)  Cystic fibrosis
(D)  Pellagra

Answer : (D)  Pellagra

5. The word “strived” in line 9 is closest in meaning to
(A)  failed
(B)  tried
(C)  experimented
(D)  studied

Answer : (B)  tried

6. How do vitamins influence health?
(A)  They are necessary for some enzymes to function.
(B)  They protect the body from microbes.
(C)  They keep food from spoiling.
(D)  They are broken down by cells to produce energy.

Answer : (A)  They are necessary for some enzymes to function.

7. In the third paragraph, the author compares cells that have been genetically altered by biotechnicians to
(A)  gardens
(B)  factories
(C)  hunters
(D)  spotlights

Answer : (B)  factories

8. The word “them” in line 16 refers to
(A)  cells and plants
(B)  hormones
(C)  genes
(D)  gene hunters or genetic engineers

Answer : (C)  genes

9. The phrase “occupy the spotlight” in line 22 is closest in meaning to
(A)  receive the most attention
(B)  go the furthest
(C)  conquer territory
(D)  lighten the load

Answer : (A)  receive the most attention

10. The author implies that the most important medical research topic of the future will be
(A)  the functions of the brain
(B)  inherited diseases
(C)  the operation of vitamins
(D)  the structure of genes

Answer : (A)  the functions of the brain

Question 11-20

In the mid-nineteenth century, the United States had tremendous natural resources that could be exploited in order to develop heavy industry. Most of the raw materials that are valuable in the manufacture of machinery, transportation facilities, and consumer goods lay ready to be worked into wealth. Iron, coal, and oil-the basic ingredients of industrial growth-were plentiful and needed only the application of technical expertise, organizational skill, and labor.
One crucial development in this movement toward industrialization was the growth of the railroads. The railway network expanded rapidly until the railroad map of the United States looked like a spider’s web, with the steel filaments connecting all important sources of raw materials, their places of manufacture, and their centers of distribution. The railroads contributed to the industrial growth not only by connecting these major centers, but also by themselves consuming enormous amounts of fuel, iron, and coal.
Many factors influenced emerging modes of production. For example, machine tools, the tools used to make goods, were steadily improved in the latter part of the nineteenth century-always with an eye to speedier production and lower unit costs. The products of the factories were rapidly absorbed by the growing cities that sheltered the workers and the distributors. The increased urban population was nourished by the increased farm production that, in turn, was made more productive by the use of the new farm machinery. American agricultural production kept up with the urban demand and still had surpluses for sale to the industrial centers of Europe.

The labor that ran the factories and built the railways was recruited in part from American farm areas where people were being displaced by farm machinery, in part from Asia, and in part from Europe. Europe now began to send tides of immigrants from eastern and southern Europe-most of whom were originally poor farmers but who settled in American industrial cities. The money to finance this tremendous expansion of the American economy still came from European financiers for the most part, but the Americans were approaching the day when their expansion could be financed in their own “money market.”

13. What does the passage mainly discuss?
(A)  The history of railroads in the United States
(B)  The major United States industrial centers
(C)  Factors that affected industrialization in the United States
(D)  The role of agriculture in the nineteenth century

Answer : (C)  Factors that affected industrialization in the United States

14. The word “ingredients” in line 4 is closest in meaning to
(A)  minerals
(B)  products
(C)  methods
(D)  components

Answer : (D)  components

15.Why does the author mention “a spider’s web” in line 8?
(A)  To emphasize the railroad’s consumption of oil and coal
(B)  To describe the complex structure of the railway system
(C)  To explain the problems brought on by railway expansion
(D)  To describe the difficulties involved in the distribution of raw materials

Answer : (B)  To describe the complex structure of the railway system

16. The word “themselves” in line 10 refers to
(A)  sources
(B)  centers
(C)  railroads
(D)  places

Answer : (C)  railroads

17. According to the passage, all of the following were true of railroads in the United States in the nineteenth century EXCEPT that
(A)  they connected important industrial cities
(B)  they were necessary to the industrialization process
(C)  they were expanded in a short time
(D)  they used relatively small quantities of natural resources

Answer : (D)  they used relatively small quantities of natural resources

18. According to the passage, what was one effect of the improvement of machine tools?
(A)  Lower manufacturing costs
(B)  Better distribution of goods
(C)  More efficient transportation of natural resources
(D)  A reduction in industrial jobs

Answer : (A)  Lower manufacturing costs

19. According to the passage, who were the biggest consumers of manufactured products?
(A)  Railway workers
(B)  Farmers
(C)  City dwellers
(D)  Europeans

Answer : (C)  City dwellers

20. The word “nourished” in line 16 is closest in meaning to
(A)  protected
(B)  fed
(C)  housed
(D)  paid

Answer : (B)  fed

Question 21-25

Awarded the Nobel prize for physics in 1918, German physics Max Planck is best remembered as the originator of the quantum theory. His work helped user in a new era in theoretical physics and revolutionized the scientific community’s understanding of atomic and sub-atomic processes.

Planck intriduced an idea that led to the quantum theory, which became the foundation of twentieth century physics. In December 1900, Plnck worked out an equation that described the distribution of radiation accurately over the range of low to high frequencies. He had developed a theory which depended on a model of matter that seemed very strange at the time. The model required the emission of electromagnetic radiation in small chunks or particles. These particles were later called quantums. The energy associated with each quatum is measured by multiplying the frequency of the radiation, v, by a universal constant, h. Thus, energy, or E, equals hv. The constant, h, is known as Planck’s constant. It is now recognized as one of the fundamental constant of the world.

Planck announced his finding in 1900, but it was years before teh full consequences of his revolutionary quantum theory were recognized. Throughout his life, Planck made significant contributions to optics, thermodynamics and stastistical mechanics, physical chemistry, and other fields. In 1930, He was elected president of the Kaiser Wilhelm society, which was renamed the Max II. Though deeply opposed to the fascist regime of Adolf Hitler, Planck remained in Germany throughout teh war. He died in Gottingen on October 4, 1947.

21.    In which of the following fields did Max Planck NOT make a significant contribution?
(A) Optics
(B) Thermodynamics
(C) Stastistical mechanics
(D) Biology

22.    The word “revolutionary” as used in line 13, means…
(A) Dangerous
(B) Extremist
(C) Momentous
(D) Militarist

23.    It can inferred from the passage that Planck’s work led to the development of which of the following?
(A) The rocket
(B) The atomic bomb
(C) The internal combustion engine
(D) The computer

24.    The particles of electromagnetic radiation given off by matter are known as…
(A) Quantums
(B) Atoms
(C) Electrons
(D) Valences

25.  The word “universal”, as used in line 10 most nearly means…
(A) Planetary
(B) Cosmic
(C) Worldwide

(D) Always present


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