option
list | question
stringlengths 11
354
| article
stringlengths 231
6.74k
| id
stringlengths 5
8
| label
int64 0
3
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
[
"fail to recognize any possible Euro-American influence on the folktales",
"do not pay enough attention to the features of a folktale that best reveal an African influence",
"overestimate the number of folktales brought from Africa by the slaves",
"do not consider the fact that a folktale can be changed as it is retold many times"
]
| The author claims that most studies of folktales told by Afro-American slaves are inadequate because the studies_ | Extended debate concerning the exact point of origin of individual folktales told by Afro-American slaves has unfortunately taken precedence over analysis of the tales meaning and function. Cultural continuities with Africa were not dependent on importation and perpetuation of specific folktales in their pristine form. It is in the place that tales occupied in the lives of the slaves and in the meaning slaves derived from them that the clearest resemblances to African tradition can be found. Afro-American slaves did not borrow tales indiscriminately from the Whites among whom they lives. Black people were most influenced by those Euro-American tales whose functional meaning and aesthetic appeal had the greatest similarity to the tales with deep roots in their ancestral homeland. Regardless of where slave tales came from, the essential point is that, with respect to language, delivery, details of characterization. and plot, slaves quickly made them their own. | 1945.txt | 1 |
[
"create a new field of study",
"discredit an existing field of study",
"change the focus of a field of study",
"transplant scholarly techniques from one field of study to another"
]
| The author's main purpose is to_ | Extended debate concerning the exact point of origin of individual folktales told by Afro-American slaves has unfortunately taken precedence over analysis of the tales meaning and function. Cultural continuities with Africa were not dependent on importation and perpetuation of specific folktales in their pristine form. It is in the place that tales occupied in the lives of the slaves and in the meaning slaves derived from them that the clearest resemblances to African tradition can be found. Afro-American slaves did not borrow tales indiscriminately from the Whites among whom they lives. Black people were most influenced by those Euro-American tales whose functional meaning and aesthetic appeal had the greatest similarity to the tales with deep roots in their ancestral homeland. Regardless of where slave tales came from, the essential point is that, with respect to language, delivery, details of characterization. and plot, slaves quickly made them their own. | 1945.txt | 2 |
[
"The means by which Blacks disseminated their folktales in nineteenth-century American",
"Specific regional differences in the styles of delivery used by the slaves in telling folktales",
"The functional meaning of Black folktales in the lives of White children raised by slaves",
"The specific way the slaves used folktales to impart moral teachings to their children"
]
| The passage suggests that the author would regard which of the following areas of inquiry as most likely to reveal the slaves' cultural continuities with Africa? | Extended debate concerning the exact point of origin of individual folktales told by Afro-American slaves has unfortunately taken precedence over analysis of the tales meaning and function. Cultural continuities with Africa were not dependent on importation and perpetuation of specific folktales in their pristine form. It is in the place that tales occupied in the lives of the slaves and in the meaning slaves derived from them that the clearest resemblances to African tradition can be found. Afro-American slaves did not borrow tales indiscriminately from the Whites among whom they lives. Black people were most influenced by those Euro-American tales whose functional meaning and aesthetic appeal had the greatest similarity to the tales with deep roots in their ancestral homeland. Regardless of where slave tales came from, the essential point is that, with respect to language, delivery, details of characterization. and plot, slaves quickly made them their own. | 1945.txt | 3 |
[
"Giving a cliche a new meaning",
"Pointedly refusing to define key terms",
"Alternately presenting generalities and concrete details",
"Juxtaposing statements of what is not the case and statements of what is the case"
]
| Which of the following techniques is used by the author in developing the argument in the passage? | Extended debate concerning the exact point of origin of individual folktales told by Afro-American slaves has unfortunately taken precedence over analysis of the tales meaning and function. Cultural continuities with Africa were not dependent on importation and perpetuation of specific folktales in their pristine form. It is in the place that tales occupied in the lives of the slaves and in the meaning slaves derived from them that the clearest resemblances to African tradition can be found. Afro-American slaves did not borrow tales indiscriminately from the Whites among whom they lives. Black people were most influenced by those Euro-American tales whose functional meaning and aesthetic appeal had the greatest similarity to the tales with deep roots in their ancestral homeland. Regardless of where slave tales came from, the essential point is that, with respect to language, delivery, details of characterization. and plot, slaves quickly made them their own. | 1945.txt | 3 |
[
"The increase in tuition and fees.",
"The ever-rising living expenses.",
"Changed immigration policies.",
"Universities' tightened budgets."
]
| What has caused the decline of the number of non-EU postgraduates in the UK? | The number of postgraduate students travelling from non-EU countries to study at UK universities has fallen for the first time in 16 years, fuelling fears that the government's immigration crackdown is discouraging thousands of the brightest students from continuing their studies in Britain.
Jo Beall, British Council director of education and society, said the fall would cause alarm among UK vice-chancellors. "The sector was expecting a decline in growth, but the actual reduction in postgraduate numbers is of real concern as international students make up the majority of numbers in many postgraduate courses and research teams in science, technology, engineering and mathematics."
"Attracting the brightest and most ambitious postgraduate and research students is critical if the UK is to maintain its quality reputation for research," Beall said.
Universities get a third of their tuition fee revenue from non-EU students. There is growing fear among vice-chancellors that this revenue-as well as the cultural, academic and economic benefit international students bring-is being put at risk.
Tim Westlake, director for the student experience at Manchester University, said students whose families relied on them working in the UK after their studies to gain experience and repay the fees were starting to look elsewhere.
Last month the home secretary. Theresa May. announced that embassy staff would interview more than 100 000 applicants in an attempt to prevent bogus ones entering the country. She also said immigrants were responsible for pushing up UK house prices. The comments followed the introduction of new limitations on students' right to work during and after their studies.
Beall said: "Government statistics for the first time provide real evidence that the changes to UK visa regulations may have discouraged many students from applying to the UK. and in particular postgraduate students who are so important to the UK's research output. The UK enjoys an excellent reputation around the world for the high quality of our education system, so the government needs to ensure that institutions have all the support they need to attract international students who make a tremendous academic, cultural and economic contribution to the UK." | 2555.txt | 2 |
[
"How to obtain financial support from the government.",
"How to keep the academic reputation of their institutions.",
"How to prevent bogus applicants entering their universities.",
"How to stimulate the creativity of their research teams."
]
| What is UK vice-chancellors' biggest concern? | The number of postgraduate students travelling from non-EU countries to study at UK universities has fallen for the first time in 16 years, fuelling fears that the government's immigration crackdown is discouraging thousands of the brightest students from continuing their studies in Britain.
Jo Beall, British Council director of education and society, said the fall would cause alarm among UK vice-chancellors. "The sector was expecting a decline in growth, but the actual reduction in postgraduate numbers is of real concern as international students make up the majority of numbers in many postgraduate courses and research teams in science, technology, engineering and mathematics."
"Attracting the brightest and most ambitious postgraduate and research students is critical if the UK is to maintain its quality reputation for research," Beall said.
Universities get a third of their tuition fee revenue from non-EU students. There is growing fear among vice-chancellors that this revenue-as well as the cultural, academic and economic benefit international students bring-is being put at risk.
Tim Westlake, director for the student experience at Manchester University, said students whose families relied on them working in the UK after their studies to gain experience and repay the fees were starting to look elsewhere.
Last month the home secretary. Theresa May. announced that embassy staff would interview more than 100 000 applicants in an attempt to prevent bogus ones entering the country. She also said immigrants were responsible for pushing up UK house prices. The comments followed the introduction of new limitations on students' right to work during and after their studies.
Beall said: "Government statistics for the first time provide real evidence that the changes to UK visa regulations may have discouraged many students from applying to the UK. and in particular postgraduate students who are so important to the UK's research output. The UK enjoys an excellent reputation around the world for the high quality of our education system, so the government needs to ensure that institutions have all the support they need to attract international students who make a tremendous academic, cultural and economic contribution to the UK." | 2555.txt | 1 |
[
"A substantial part of their revenue comes from non-EU students' tuition and fees.",
"Non-EU postgraduate students are usually highly motivated.",
"The number of UK postgraduate students has fallen sharply.",
"Some of the postgraduate programmers are specially designed for non-EU students."
]
| Why do UK universities try to attract postgraduate students from outside the EU? | The number of postgraduate students travelling from non-EU countries to study at UK universities has fallen for the first time in 16 years, fuelling fears that the government's immigration crackdown is discouraging thousands of the brightest students from continuing their studies in Britain.
Jo Beall, British Council director of education and society, said the fall would cause alarm among UK vice-chancellors. "The sector was expecting a decline in growth, but the actual reduction in postgraduate numbers is of real concern as international students make up the majority of numbers in many postgraduate courses and research teams in science, technology, engineering and mathematics."
"Attracting the brightest and most ambitious postgraduate and research students is critical if the UK is to maintain its quality reputation for research," Beall said.
Universities get a third of their tuition fee revenue from non-EU students. There is growing fear among vice-chancellors that this revenue-as well as the cultural, academic and economic benefit international students bring-is being put at risk.
Tim Westlake, director for the student experience at Manchester University, said students whose families relied on them working in the UK after their studies to gain experience and repay the fees were starting to look elsewhere.
Last month the home secretary. Theresa May. announced that embassy staff would interview more than 100 000 applicants in an attempt to prevent bogus ones entering the country. She also said immigrants were responsible for pushing up UK house prices. The comments followed the introduction of new limitations on students' right to work during and after their studies.
Beall said: "Government statistics for the first time provide real evidence that the changes to UK visa regulations may have discouraged many students from applying to the UK. and in particular postgraduate students who are so important to the UK's research output. The UK enjoys an excellent reputation around the world for the high quality of our education system, so the government needs to ensure that institutions have all the support they need to attract international students who make a tremendous academic, cultural and economic contribution to the UK." | 2555.txt | 0 |
[
"Their children could enjoy the UK's cultural benefits.",
"Their children could find well-paying jobs upon their return.",
"Their children could become established academically.",
"Their children could work in the UK after graduation."
]
| What were the expectations of some non-EU students' families? | The number of postgraduate students travelling from non-EU countries to study at UK universities has fallen for the first time in 16 years, fuelling fears that the government's immigration crackdown is discouraging thousands of the brightest students from continuing their studies in Britain.
Jo Beall, British Council director of education and society, said the fall would cause alarm among UK vice-chancellors. "The sector was expecting a decline in growth, but the actual reduction in postgraduate numbers is of real concern as international students make up the majority of numbers in many postgraduate courses and research teams in science, technology, engineering and mathematics."
"Attracting the brightest and most ambitious postgraduate and research students is critical if the UK is to maintain its quality reputation for research," Beall said.
Universities get a third of their tuition fee revenue from non-EU students. There is growing fear among vice-chancellors that this revenue-as well as the cultural, academic and economic benefit international students bring-is being put at risk.
Tim Westlake, director for the student experience at Manchester University, said students whose families relied on them working in the UK after their studies to gain experience and repay the fees were starting to look elsewhere.
Last month the home secretary. Theresa May. announced that embassy staff would interview more than 100 000 applicants in an attempt to prevent bogus ones entering the country. She also said immigrants were responsible for pushing up UK house prices. The comments followed the introduction of new limitations on students' right to work during and after their studies.
Beall said: "Government statistics for the first time provide real evidence that the changes to UK visa regulations may have discouraged many students from applying to the UK. and in particular postgraduate students who are so important to the UK's research output. The UK enjoys an excellent reputation around the world for the high quality of our education system, so the government needs to ensure that institutions have all the support they need to attract international students who make a tremendous academic, cultural and economic contribution to the UK." | 2555.txt | 3 |
[
"Allow promising international students to work in research teams.",
"Revise UK visa regulations to accommodate non-EU students.",
"Give universities adequate support to attract non-EU students.",
"Try to address the needs of international students in the UK."
]
| What does Beall suggest the UK government should do? | The number of postgraduate students travelling from non-EU countries to study at UK universities has fallen for the first time in 16 years, fuelling fears that the government's immigration crackdown is discouraging thousands of the brightest students from continuing their studies in Britain.
Jo Beall, British Council director of education and society, said the fall would cause alarm among UK vice-chancellors. "The sector was expecting a decline in growth, but the actual reduction in postgraduate numbers is of real concern as international students make up the majority of numbers in many postgraduate courses and research teams in science, technology, engineering and mathematics."
"Attracting the brightest and most ambitious postgraduate and research students is critical if the UK is to maintain its quality reputation for research," Beall said.
Universities get a third of their tuition fee revenue from non-EU students. There is growing fear among vice-chancellors that this revenue-as well as the cultural, academic and economic benefit international students bring-is being put at risk.
Tim Westlake, director for the student experience at Manchester University, said students whose families relied on them working in the UK after their studies to gain experience and repay the fees were starting to look elsewhere.
Last month the home secretary. Theresa May. announced that embassy staff would interview more than 100 000 applicants in an attempt to prevent bogus ones entering the country. She also said immigrants were responsible for pushing up UK house prices. The comments followed the introduction of new limitations on students' right to work during and after their studies.
Beall said: "Government statistics for the first time provide real evidence that the changes to UK visa regulations may have discouraged many students from applying to the UK. and in particular postgraduate students who are so important to the UK's research output. The UK enjoys an excellent reputation around the world for the high quality of our education system, so the government needs to ensure that institutions have all the support they need to attract international students who make a tremendous academic, cultural and economic contribution to the UK." | 2555.txt | 2 |
[
"Bright colors.",
"Circular patterns.",
"Stripes and angles.",
"Various shapes."
]
| What does a newborn baby like to see most'? | The newborn can see the difference betweenvarious shapes and patterns from birth. He preferspatterns to dull or bright solid colors and lookslonger at stripes and angles than at circularpatterns. Within three weeks, however, his preference shifts dramatically to the human face.
Why should a baby with so little visual experience attend more to a human face than to anyother kind of pattern'? Some scientists think this preference represents a built in advantagefor the human species. The object of prime importance to the physically helpless infant is ahuman being. Babies seem to have a natural tendency to the human face as potentiallyrewarding. Researchers also point out that the newborn wisely relies more on pattern than onoutline, size, or color. Pattern remains stable, while outline changes with point of view; size,with distance from an object; and brightness and color, with lighting.
Mothers have always claimed that they could see their newborns looking at them as theyheld them, despite what they have been told. The experts who thought that perception had to await physical development and the consequence of action were wrong for severalreasons. Earlier research techniques were less sophisticated than they are today. Physical skillswere once used to indicate perception of objects-skills like visual tracking and reaching for anobject, both of which the newborn does poorly. Then, too, assumptions that the newborn's eyeand brain were too immature for anything as sophisticated as pattern recognition causedopposing data to be thrown away. Since perception of form was widely believed to followperception of more "basic" qualities such as color and brightness, the possibility of itspresence from birth was rejected. | 4024.txt | 1 |
[
"he sees a human face more often than any other kind of pattern",
"he has an inherent ability to regard a human being as helpful",
"a human face is the most complex pattern he can see",
"a human face is often accompanied by a pleasant voice"
]
| The newborn pays more attention to a human face than any other kind of objectsbecause _ . | The newborn can see the difference betweenvarious shapes and patterns from birth. He preferspatterns to dull or bright solid colors and lookslonger at stripes and angles than at circularpatterns. Within three weeks, however, his preference shifts dramatically to the human face.
Why should a baby with so little visual experience attend more to a human face than to anyother kind of pattern'? Some scientists think this preference represents a built in advantagefor the human species. The object of prime importance to the physically helpless infant is ahuman being. Babies seem to have a natural tendency to the human face as potentiallyrewarding. Researchers also point out that the newborn wisely relies more on pattern than onoutline, size, or color. Pattern remains stable, while outline changes with point of view; size,with distance from an object; and brightness and color, with lighting.
Mothers have always claimed that they could see their newborns looking at them as theyheld them, despite what they have been told. The experts who thought that perception had to await physical development and the consequence of action were wrong for severalreasons. Earlier research techniques were less sophisticated than they are today. Physical skillswere once used to indicate perception of objects-skills like visual tracking and reaching for anobject, both of which the newborn does poorly. Then, too, assumptions that the newborn's eyeand brain were too immature for anything as sophisticated as pattern recognition causedopposing data to be thrown away. Since perception of form was widely believed to followperception of more "basic" qualities such as color and brightness, the possibility of itspresence from birth was rejected. | 4024.txt | 0 |
[
"care little about a human face",
"can't track their movements",
"can't see their faces",
"can easily perceive brightness"
]
| Contrary to what they believe, mothers have been told that newborns _ . | The newborn can see the difference betweenvarious shapes and patterns from birth. He preferspatterns to dull or bright solid colors and lookslonger at stripes and angles than at circularpatterns. Within three weeks, however, his preference shifts dramatically to the human face.
Why should a baby with so little visual experience attend more to a human face than to anyother kind of pattern'? Some scientists think this preference represents a built in advantagefor the human species. The object of prime importance to the physically helpless infant is ahuman being. Babies seem to have a natural tendency to the human face as potentiallyrewarding. Researchers also point out that the newborn wisely relies more on pattern than onoutline, size, or color. Pattern remains stable, while outline changes with point of view; size,with distance from an object; and brightness and color, with lighting.
Mothers have always claimed that they could see their newborns looking at them as theyheld them, despite what they have been told. The experts who thought that perception had to await physical development and the consequence of action were wrong for severalreasons. Earlier research techniques were less sophisticated than they are today. Physical skillswere once used to indicate perception of objects-skills like visual tracking and reaching for anobject, both of which the newborn does poorly. Then, too, assumptions that the newborn's eyeand brain were too immature for anything as sophisticated as pattern recognition causedopposing data to be thrown away. Since perception of form was widely believed to followperception of more "basic" qualities such as color and brightness, the possibility of itspresence from birth was rejected. | 4024.txt | 2 |
[
"ignored evidence contrary to their assumptions",
"believed that perception of form comes before perception of color and brightness",
"opposed throwing away effective data",
"proved that physical skills come after visual perception"
]
| In earlier researches on the newborn's perception, scientists _ . | The newborn can see the difference betweenvarious shapes and patterns from birth. He preferspatterns to dull or bright solid colors and lookslonger at stripes and angles than at circularpatterns. Within three weeks, however, his preference shifts dramatically to the human face.
Why should a baby with so little visual experience attend more to a human face than to anyother kind of pattern'? Some scientists think this preference represents a built in advantagefor the human species. The object of prime importance to the physically helpless infant is ahuman being. Babies seem to have a natural tendency to the human face as potentiallyrewarding. Researchers also point out that the newborn wisely relies more on pattern than onoutline, size, or color. Pattern remains stable, while outline changes with point of view; size,with distance from an object; and brightness and color, with lighting.
Mothers have always claimed that they could see their newborns looking at them as theyheld them, despite what they have been told. The experts who thought that perception had to await physical development and the consequence of action were wrong for severalreasons. Earlier research techniques were less sophisticated than they are today. Physical skillswere once used to indicate perception of objects-skills like visual tracking and reaching for anobject, both of which the newborn does poorly. Then, too, assumptions that the newborn's eyeand brain were too immature for anything as sophisticated as pattern recognition causedopposing data to be thrown away. Since perception of form was widely believed to followperception of more "basic" qualities such as color and brightness, the possibility of itspresence from birth was rejected. | 4024.txt | 2 |
[
"research techniques are of vital importance scientific investigation",
"the findings of earlier scientific researchers often prove wrong",
"newborns can perceive forms from birth",
"more often than not the claims of mothers are reliable"
]
| The main idea of the passage is that _ . | The newborn can see the difference betweenvarious shapes and patterns from birth. He preferspatterns to dull or bright solid colors and lookslonger at stripes and angles than at circularpatterns. Within three weeks, however, his preference shifts dramatically to the human face.
Why should a baby with so little visual experience attend more to a human face than to anyother kind of pattern'? Some scientists think this preference represents a built in advantagefor the human species. The object of prime importance to the physically helpless infant is ahuman being. Babies seem to have a natural tendency to the human face as potentiallyrewarding. Researchers also point out that the newborn wisely relies more on pattern than onoutline, size, or color. Pattern remains stable, while outline changes with point of view; size,with distance from an object; and brightness and color, with lighting.
Mothers have always claimed that they could see their newborns looking at them as theyheld them, despite what they have been told. The experts who thought that perception had to await physical development and the consequence of action were wrong for severalreasons. Earlier research techniques were less sophisticated than they are today. Physical skillswere once used to indicate perception of objects-skills like visual tracking and reaching for anobject, both of which the newborn does poorly. Then, too, assumptions that the newborn's eyeand brain were too immature for anything as sophisticated as pattern recognition causedopposing data to be thrown away. Since perception of form was widely believed to followperception of more "basic" qualities such as color and brightness, the possibility of itspresence from birth was rejected. | 4024.txt | 0 |
[
"presenting an argumentation.",
"explaining a phenomenon.",
"raising a question.",
"making a comparison"
]
| The author begins the passage by _ | A boy or a girl? That is usually the first question asked when a woman gives birth. Remarkably, the answer varies with where the mother lives. In rich countries the chances of its being a boy are about 5% higher than in poor ones. Equally remarkably, that figure has been falling recently. Several theories have been put forward to explain these observations. Some argue that smoking plays a role, others that diet may be important. Neither of these ideas has been supported by evidence from large studies. But new research points to a different factor: stress.
Strange as it might seem, the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001 shed light on the enigma. Studies noting the sex of babies conceived in New York during the week of the attacks found a drop in the ratio of males to females. That is consistent with earlier studies, which revealed a similar shift in women who became pregnant during floods and earthquakes and in time of war. Moreover, a study carried out eight years ago by researchers at the University of Aarhus, in Denmark, revealed that women who suffered the death of a child or spouse from some catastrophic illness around the time they conceived were much more likely to give birth to girls than to boys.
Taken together, these results suggest that acute stress to a woman at the time of conception shifts the sex ratio towards girls. However, Carsten Obel, a researcher at Aarhus who was not involved in the earlier study, wondered if the same might be true of chronic stress too. In a paper just published in Human Development, he shows that it is.
Dr Obel used a set of data collected between 1989 and 1992. During that period 8,719 expectant mothers were asked to fill in questionnaires that inquired, among other things, about their level of stress. Dr Obel found that the more stressed a mother had been, the less chance she had of having given birth to a boy. Only 47% of children born to women in the top quartile of stress were males. That compared with 52% for women in the bottom quartile. Dr Obel suspects the immediate cause is that male pregnancies are more likely to miscarry in response to stress than female pregnancies are, especially during the first three months. However, that is difficult to prove. More intriguing, though, is the ultimate cause, for he thinks it might be adaptive, rather than pathological.
That is because the chances are that a daughter who reaches adulthood will find a mate and thus produce grandchildren. A son is a different matter. Healthy, strapping sons are likely to produce lots of grandchildren, by several women-or would have done in the hunter-gatherer societies in which most human evolution took place. Weak ones would be marginalised and maybe even killed in the cut and thrust of male competition. If a mother's stress adversely affects the development of her fetus then selectively aborting boys, rather than wasting time and resources on bringing them to term, would make evolutionary sense.
That, in turn, would explain why women in rich countries, who are less likely to suffer from hunger and disease, are more likely to give birth to sons. That this likelihood is, nevertheless, falling suggests that rich women's lives may be more stressful than they used to be. | 3640.txt | 0 |
[
"the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001 exerted huge negative impact.",
"women are facing greater pressure than past.",
"women are under new pressure now which they seldom faced in the past.",
"male pregnancies are more easily to miscarry."
]
| The ratio of giving birth to a boy is falling in rich countries because _ | A boy or a girl? That is usually the first question asked when a woman gives birth. Remarkably, the answer varies with where the mother lives. In rich countries the chances of its being a boy are about 5% higher than in poor ones. Equally remarkably, that figure has been falling recently. Several theories have been put forward to explain these observations. Some argue that smoking plays a role, others that diet may be important. Neither of these ideas has been supported by evidence from large studies. But new research points to a different factor: stress.
Strange as it might seem, the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001 shed light on the enigma. Studies noting the sex of babies conceived in New York during the week of the attacks found a drop in the ratio of males to females. That is consistent with earlier studies, which revealed a similar shift in women who became pregnant during floods and earthquakes and in time of war. Moreover, a study carried out eight years ago by researchers at the University of Aarhus, in Denmark, revealed that women who suffered the death of a child or spouse from some catastrophic illness around the time they conceived were much more likely to give birth to girls than to boys.
Taken together, these results suggest that acute stress to a woman at the time of conception shifts the sex ratio towards girls. However, Carsten Obel, a researcher at Aarhus who was not involved in the earlier study, wondered if the same might be true of chronic stress too. In a paper just published in Human Development, he shows that it is.
Dr Obel used a set of data collected between 1989 and 1992. During that period 8,719 expectant mothers were asked to fill in questionnaires that inquired, among other things, about their level of stress. Dr Obel found that the more stressed a mother had been, the less chance she had of having given birth to a boy. Only 47% of children born to women in the top quartile of stress were males. That compared with 52% for women in the bottom quartile. Dr Obel suspects the immediate cause is that male pregnancies are more likely to miscarry in response to stress than female pregnancies are, especially during the first three months. However, that is difficult to prove. More intriguing, though, is the ultimate cause, for he thinks it might be adaptive, rather than pathological.
That is because the chances are that a daughter who reaches adulthood will find a mate and thus produce grandchildren. A son is a different matter. Healthy, strapping sons are likely to produce lots of grandchildren, by several women-or would have done in the hunter-gatherer societies in which most human evolution took place. Weak ones would be marginalised and maybe even killed in the cut and thrust of male competition. If a mother's stress adversely affects the development of her fetus then selectively aborting boys, rather than wasting time and resources on bringing them to term, would make evolutionary sense.
That, in turn, would explain why women in rich countries, who are less likely to suffer from hunger and disease, are more likely to give birth to sons. That this likelihood is, nevertheless, falling suggests that rich women's lives may be more stressful than they used to be. | 3640.txt | 1 |
[
"47% of children born to women in the top quartile of stress were males while 52% in the bottom quartile.",
"Women in rich countries are more likely to give birth to boys.",
"Women selectively abort boys rather than waste time and resources on bringing them to term for fear of male competition.",
"Women who suffer from calamity in conception are more likely to give birth to girls."
]
| Which of the following can explain Dr Obel's opinion that the ultimat cause is adaptive rather than pathological? | A boy or a girl? That is usually the first question asked when a woman gives birth. Remarkably, the answer varies with where the mother lives. In rich countries the chances of its being a boy are about 5% higher than in poor ones. Equally remarkably, that figure has been falling recently. Several theories have been put forward to explain these observations. Some argue that smoking plays a role, others that diet may be important. Neither of these ideas has been supported by evidence from large studies. But new research points to a different factor: stress.
Strange as it might seem, the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001 shed light on the enigma. Studies noting the sex of babies conceived in New York during the week of the attacks found a drop in the ratio of males to females. That is consistent with earlier studies, which revealed a similar shift in women who became pregnant during floods and earthquakes and in time of war. Moreover, a study carried out eight years ago by researchers at the University of Aarhus, in Denmark, revealed that women who suffered the death of a child or spouse from some catastrophic illness around the time they conceived were much more likely to give birth to girls than to boys.
Taken together, these results suggest that acute stress to a woman at the time of conception shifts the sex ratio towards girls. However, Carsten Obel, a researcher at Aarhus who was not involved in the earlier study, wondered if the same might be true of chronic stress too. In a paper just published in Human Development, he shows that it is.
Dr Obel used a set of data collected between 1989 and 1992. During that period 8,719 expectant mothers were asked to fill in questionnaires that inquired, among other things, about their level of stress. Dr Obel found that the more stressed a mother had been, the less chance she had of having given birth to a boy. Only 47% of children born to women in the top quartile of stress were males. That compared with 52% for women in the bottom quartile. Dr Obel suspects the immediate cause is that male pregnancies are more likely to miscarry in response to stress than female pregnancies are, especially during the first three months. However, that is difficult to prove. More intriguing, though, is the ultimate cause, for he thinks it might be adaptive, rather than pathological.
That is because the chances are that a daughter who reaches adulthood will find a mate and thus produce grandchildren. A son is a different matter. Healthy, strapping sons are likely to produce lots of grandchildren, by several women-or would have done in the hunter-gatherer societies in which most human evolution took place. Weak ones would be marginalised and maybe even killed in the cut and thrust of male competition. If a mother's stress adversely affects the development of her fetus then selectively aborting boys, rather than wasting time and resources on bringing them to term, would make evolutionary sense.
That, in turn, would explain why women in rich countries, who are less likely to suffer from hunger and disease, are more likely to give birth to sons. That this likelihood is, nevertheless, falling suggests that rich women's lives may be more stressful than they used to be. | 3640.txt | 2 |
[
"they agree that giving birth to daughters is beneficial in the evolutionary sense.",
"sons are likely to produce lots of grandchildren with several women.",
"they think it is a better practice for a daughter to produce grandchildren with only one mate.",
"they think bringing sons to term is wasting time and resources."
]
| Women in the hunter-gatherer societies are more likely to give birth to daughters because _ | A boy or a girl? That is usually the first question asked when a woman gives birth. Remarkably, the answer varies with where the mother lives. In rich countries the chances of its being a boy are about 5% higher than in poor ones. Equally remarkably, that figure has been falling recently. Several theories have been put forward to explain these observations. Some argue that smoking plays a role, others that diet may be important. Neither of these ideas has been supported by evidence from large studies. But new research points to a different factor: stress.
Strange as it might seem, the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001 shed light on the enigma. Studies noting the sex of babies conceived in New York during the week of the attacks found a drop in the ratio of males to females. That is consistent with earlier studies, which revealed a similar shift in women who became pregnant during floods and earthquakes and in time of war. Moreover, a study carried out eight years ago by researchers at the University of Aarhus, in Denmark, revealed that women who suffered the death of a child or spouse from some catastrophic illness around the time they conceived were much more likely to give birth to girls than to boys.
Taken together, these results suggest that acute stress to a woman at the time of conception shifts the sex ratio towards girls. However, Carsten Obel, a researcher at Aarhus who was not involved in the earlier study, wondered if the same might be true of chronic stress too. In a paper just published in Human Development, he shows that it is.
Dr Obel used a set of data collected between 1989 and 1992. During that period 8,719 expectant mothers were asked to fill in questionnaires that inquired, among other things, about their level of stress. Dr Obel found that the more stressed a mother had been, the less chance she had of having given birth to a boy. Only 47% of children born to women in the top quartile of stress were males. That compared with 52% for women in the bottom quartile. Dr Obel suspects the immediate cause is that male pregnancies are more likely to miscarry in response to stress than female pregnancies are, especially during the first three months. However, that is difficult to prove. More intriguing, though, is the ultimate cause, for he thinks it might be adaptive, rather than pathological.
That is because the chances are that a daughter who reaches adulthood will find a mate and thus produce grandchildren. A son is a different matter. Healthy, strapping sons are likely to produce lots of grandchildren, by several women-or would have done in the hunter-gatherer societies in which most human evolution took place. Weak ones would be marginalised and maybe even killed in the cut and thrust of male competition. If a mother's stress adversely affects the development of her fetus then selectively aborting boys, rather than wasting time and resources on bringing them to term, would make evolutionary sense.
That, in turn, would explain why women in rich countries, who are less likely to suffer from hunger and disease, are more likely to give birth to sons. That this likelihood is, nevertheless, falling suggests that rich women's lives may be more stressful than they used to be. | 3640.txt | 3 |
[
"acute stress is more likely to cause women to choose aborting boys than chronic stress.",
"stress to a woman at the time of conception, whether acute or chronic, will shift the sex ratio towards girls.",
"more girls will be born in the future because today's women, in both rich and poor countries, suffer from increasing pressure.",
"chronic stress is more decisive in influencing the women's pregnancies."
]
| From this passage, we may draw a conclusion that _ | A boy or a girl? That is usually the first question asked when a woman gives birth. Remarkably, the answer varies with where the mother lives. In rich countries the chances of its being a boy are about 5% higher than in poor ones. Equally remarkably, that figure has been falling recently. Several theories have been put forward to explain these observations. Some argue that smoking plays a role, others that diet may be important. Neither of these ideas has been supported by evidence from large studies. But new research points to a different factor: stress.
Strange as it might seem, the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001 shed light on the enigma. Studies noting the sex of babies conceived in New York during the week of the attacks found a drop in the ratio of males to females. That is consistent with earlier studies, which revealed a similar shift in women who became pregnant during floods and earthquakes and in time of war. Moreover, a study carried out eight years ago by researchers at the University of Aarhus, in Denmark, revealed that women who suffered the death of a child or spouse from some catastrophic illness around the time they conceived were much more likely to give birth to girls than to boys.
Taken together, these results suggest that acute stress to a woman at the time of conception shifts the sex ratio towards girls. However, Carsten Obel, a researcher at Aarhus who was not involved in the earlier study, wondered if the same might be true of chronic stress too. In a paper just published in Human Development, he shows that it is.
Dr Obel used a set of data collected between 1989 and 1992. During that period 8,719 expectant mothers were asked to fill in questionnaires that inquired, among other things, about their level of stress. Dr Obel found that the more stressed a mother had been, the less chance she had of having given birth to a boy. Only 47% of children born to women in the top quartile of stress were males. That compared with 52% for women in the bottom quartile. Dr Obel suspects the immediate cause is that male pregnancies are more likely to miscarry in response to stress than female pregnancies are, especially during the first three months. However, that is difficult to prove. More intriguing, though, is the ultimate cause, for he thinks it might be adaptive, rather than pathological.
That is because the chances are that a daughter who reaches adulthood will find a mate and thus produce grandchildren. A son is a different matter. Healthy, strapping sons are likely to produce lots of grandchildren, by several women-or would have done in the hunter-gatherer societies in which most human evolution took place. Weak ones would be marginalised and maybe even killed in the cut and thrust of male competition. If a mother's stress adversely affects the development of her fetus then selectively aborting boys, rather than wasting time and resources on bringing them to term, would make evolutionary sense.
That, in turn, would explain why women in rich countries, who are less likely to suffer from hunger and disease, are more likely to give birth to sons. That this likelihood is, nevertheless, falling suggests that rich women's lives may be more stressful than they used to be. | 3640.txt | 1 |
[
"A fat boy students who is clever and studies hard",
"A thin girl students who is not clever and does not study hard",
"A thin boy students who is clever and studied hard",
"A fat girl students who is both clever and hardworking"
]
| Which of the following persons would produce the least heat? | Along the way， Pittsburgh University has learned a great deal about some of its heat producers. The harder a student studies， the more heat his body gives off. Boy students send out more heat than girl students， and the larger a student， the more heat he produces. It sounds rather reasonable to draw the following conclusion that the hottest prospect for the Pittsburgh University would be a hardworking， overweight boy student who is very clever in the university. | 3764.txt | 1 |
[
"the person who produces the most heat",
"the person who suffers most from heat",
"the person who takes in the most heat",
"the person who bears the most heat"
]
| In the last sentence， the "hottest prospect" refers to | Along the way， Pittsburgh University has learned a great deal about some of its heat producers. The harder a student studies， the more heat his body gives off. Boy students send out more heat than girl students， and the larger a student， the more heat he produces. It sounds rather reasonable to draw the following conclusion that the hottest prospect for the Pittsburgh University would be a hardworking， overweight boy student who is very clever in the university. | 3764.txt | 0 |
[
"People are fairly interested in climbing nowadays.",
"It is impossible to build up one's body by climbing.",
"People can only learn the skill of climbing outdoors.",
"It is always easy to see holding places in climbing."
]
| What can we infer from the passage? | People believe that climbing can do good to health. Where can you learn the skill of climbing then? If you think that you have to go to the mountains to learn how to climb，you're wrong. Many Americans are learning to climb in city gyms. Here，people are learning on special climbing walls.The climbing wall goes straight up and has small holding places for hands and feet.
How do people climb the wall? To climb，you need special shoes and a harnessaround your chest to hold you.There are ropestied to your harness.The ropes hold you in place so that you don't fall.A beginner's wall is usually about 15 feet high，and you climb straight up.There are small pieces of metal that stick out for you to stand on and hold on to.Sometimes it's easy to see the new piece of metal.Sometimes, it's not.The most difficult part is to control your fear. It's normal for humans to be afraid of falling, so it's difficult not to feel
fear. But when you move away from the wall，the harness and the ropes hold you，and you begin to feel safe.You move slowly until you reach the top.
Climbing attracts people because it's good exercise for almost everyone. You use your whole body，especially your arms and legs. This sport gives your body a complete workout. When you climb，both your mind and your body can become stronger. | 3464.txt | 0 |
[
"to tie ropes to your harness",
"to control your fear",
"to move away from the wall",
"to climb straight up"
]
| The most difficult thing to do in wall climbing is. | People believe that climbing can do good to health. Where can you learn the skill of climbing then? If you think that you have to go to the mountains to learn how to climb，you're wrong. Many Americans are learning to climb in city gyms. Here，people are learning on special climbing walls.The climbing wall goes straight up and has small holding places for hands and feet.
How do people climb the wall? To climb，you need special shoes and a harnessaround your chest to hold you.There are ropestied to your harness.The ropes hold you in place so that you don't fall.A beginner's wall is usually about 15 feet high，and you climb straight up.There are small pieces of metal that stick out for you to stand on and hold on to.Sometimes it's easy to see the new piece of metal.Sometimes, it's not.The most difficult part is to control your fear. It's normal for humans to be afraid of falling, so it's difficult not to feel
fear. But when you move away from the wall，the harness and the ropes hold you，and you begin to feel safe.You move slowly until you reach the top.
Climbing attracts people because it's good exercise for almost everyone. You use your whole body，especially your arms and legs. This sport gives your body a complete workout. When you climb，both your mind and your body can become stronger. | 3464.txt | 1 |
[
"To tell people where to find gyms.",
"To prove the basic need for climbing.",
"To encourage people to climb mountains.",
"To introduce the sport of wall climbing."
]
| Why does the author write this passage? | People believe that climbing can do good to health. Where can you learn the skill of climbing then? If you think that you have to go to the mountains to learn how to climb，you're wrong. Many Americans are learning to climb in city gyms. Here，people are learning on special climbing walls.The climbing wall goes straight up and has small holding places for hands and feet.
How do people climb the wall? To climb，you need special shoes and a harnessaround your chest to hold you.There are ropestied to your harness.The ropes hold you in place so that you don't fall.A beginner's wall is usually about 15 feet high，and you climb straight up.There are small pieces of metal that stick out for you to stand on and hold on to.Sometimes it's easy to see the new piece of metal.Sometimes, it's not.The most difficult part is to control your fear. It's normal for humans to be afraid of falling, so it's difficult not to feel
fear. But when you move away from the wall，the harness and the ropes hold you，and you begin to feel safe.You move slowly until you reach the top.
Climbing attracts people because it's good exercise for almost everyone. You use your whole body，especially your arms and legs. This sport gives your body a complete workout. When you climb，both your mind and your body can become stronger. | 3464.txt | 3 |
[
"that girls who had Planet Health were less obese than those who had not.",
"that girls who had Planet Health were of a healthier lifestyle than those who had not.",
"that girls who had Planet Health were more confident than those who had not.",
"that girls who had Planet Health were more used to control weight in positive means than those who had not."
]
| The study published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine shows _ | Kids heading back to enlightened schools this fall may find nutrition and exercise on the agenda even in math class. In an effort to reverse the alarming increase of obesity in children, some schools have found ways to encourage healthful lifestyle changes without emphasizing the negative-too much body weight. Planet Health, developed by Harvard University researchers and now used in hundreds of schools throughout the country, integrates obesity prevention lessons into the science, math, and social studies curricula, for example. Students come to appreciate the importance of reducing TV time by calculating during math class the amount of their lifetime they've spent in front of the set. In gym, they decide on goals for subbing in physical activity instead.
The program costs only about $15 per student annually, a bargain, considering the payoffs: A 2005 study published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine found that middle-school girls who had Planet Health in their schools were half as likely to purge or use diet pills as those in schools without it. "It really focuses on the positive, and that's why we think it's protective against these dangerous behaviors," says study author Bryn Austin, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.
A second program adopted by 7,000 elementary schools nationwide, the Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH), similarly puts the focus on good health habits instead of weight. In class, students use a traffic-light system to identify "go," "slow," and "whoa" foods and take breaks to do jumping jacks. In the cafeteria, fruits, vegetables, low-fat milk, and whole-grain starches are labeled with green-light tags, and pizza gets a yellow light. Gym activities are designed to keep students constantly moving. "Every kid gets a ball to dribble or a hula hoop; there's no lining up and waiting to take a turn," says Phil Nader, professor of pediatrics emeritus at the University of California-San Diego, who helped develop CATCH.
A three-year study comparing CATCH schools with others without the program found that CATCH increased the proportion of gym class spent in motion, from 40 percent to 50 percent, and reduced the consumption of fat in schools from 39 percent of total calories to 32 percent. A second study found that the program prevented the growth in number of overweight students that normally occurs from grade 3 to grade 5. CATCH students in El Paso, Texas (with one of the highest obesity rates in the nation), held the line between those grades, but in schools without the program, the share of overweight girls increased from 26 percent to 40 percent and of overweight boys from 29 percent to 39 percent.
Glen Cove Elementary School, near El Paso in Ysleta, was one of the first schools to adopt CATCH, and parents there have learned to eat better and exercise more along with their kids. "We have a day where everyone comes to fly kites and Wellness Wednesdays where family members run around for 20 minutes with their kids," says physical education teacher Ben Avalos, who brought the program to Glen Cove in 1998. "Parents also tell me their kids have gotten them to throw out the 'whoa' foods in the house." Avalos uses walking sticks, pogo sticks, and Chinese yo-yos in gym class-and nobody relaxes on the sidelines. | 3441.txt | 3 |
[
"fast.",
"stop.",
"pause.",
"no."
]
| The word "whoa" (Line 3, Paragraph 3) most probably means _ | Kids heading back to enlightened schools this fall may find nutrition and exercise on the agenda even in math class. In an effort to reverse the alarming increase of obesity in children, some schools have found ways to encourage healthful lifestyle changes without emphasizing the negative-too much body weight. Planet Health, developed by Harvard University researchers and now used in hundreds of schools throughout the country, integrates obesity prevention lessons into the science, math, and social studies curricula, for example. Students come to appreciate the importance of reducing TV time by calculating during math class the amount of their lifetime they've spent in front of the set. In gym, they decide on goals for subbing in physical activity instead.
The program costs only about $15 per student annually, a bargain, considering the payoffs: A 2005 study published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine found that middle-school girls who had Planet Health in their schools were half as likely to purge or use diet pills as those in schools without it. "It really focuses on the positive, and that's why we think it's protective against these dangerous behaviors," says study author Bryn Austin, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.
A second program adopted by 7,000 elementary schools nationwide, the Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH), similarly puts the focus on good health habits instead of weight. In class, students use a traffic-light system to identify "go," "slow," and "whoa" foods and take breaks to do jumping jacks. In the cafeteria, fruits, vegetables, low-fat milk, and whole-grain starches are labeled with green-light tags, and pizza gets a yellow light. Gym activities are designed to keep students constantly moving. "Every kid gets a ball to dribble or a hula hoop; there's no lining up and waiting to take a turn," says Phil Nader, professor of pediatrics emeritus at the University of California-San Diego, who helped develop CATCH.
A three-year study comparing CATCH schools with others without the program found that CATCH increased the proportion of gym class spent in motion, from 40 percent to 50 percent, and reduced the consumption of fat in schools from 39 percent of total calories to 32 percent. A second study found that the program prevented the growth in number of overweight students that normally occurs from grade 3 to grade 5. CATCH students in El Paso, Texas (with one of the highest obesity rates in the nation), held the line between those grades, but in schools without the program, the share of overweight girls increased from 26 percent to 40 percent and of overweight boys from 29 percent to 39 percent.
Glen Cove Elementary School, near El Paso in Ysleta, was one of the first schools to adopt CATCH, and parents there have learned to eat better and exercise more along with their kids. "We have a day where everyone comes to fly kites and Wellness Wednesdays where family members run around for 20 minutes with their kids," says physical education teacher Ben Avalos, who brought the program to Glen Cove in 1998. "Parents also tell me their kids have gotten them to throw out the 'whoa' foods in the house." Avalos uses walking sticks, pogo sticks, and Chinese yo-yos in gym class-and nobody relaxes on the sidelines. | 3441.txt | 1 |
[
"dangerous",
"yellow-light",
"highly-nutritious",
"less healthy"
]
| In the CATCH, Pizza is a kind of _ food. | Kids heading back to enlightened schools this fall may find nutrition and exercise on the agenda even in math class. In an effort to reverse the alarming increase of obesity in children, some schools have found ways to encourage healthful lifestyle changes without emphasizing the negative-too much body weight. Planet Health, developed by Harvard University researchers and now used in hundreds of schools throughout the country, integrates obesity prevention lessons into the science, math, and social studies curricula, for example. Students come to appreciate the importance of reducing TV time by calculating during math class the amount of their lifetime they've spent in front of the set. In gym, they decide on goals for subbing in physical activity instead.
The program costs only about $15 per student annually, a bargain, considering the payoffs: A 2005 study published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine found that middle-school girls who had Planet Health in their schools were half as likely to purge or use diet pills as those in schools without it. "It really focuses on the positive, and that's why we think it's protective against these dangerous behaviors," says study author Bryn Austin, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.
A second program adopted by 7,000 elementary schools nationwide, the Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH), similarly puts the focus on good health habits instead of weight. In class, students use a traffic-light system to identify "go," "slow," and "whoa" foods and take breaks to do jumping jacks. In the cafeteria, fruits, vegetables, low-fat milk, and whole-grain starches are labeled with green-light tags, and pizza gets a yellow light. Gym activities are designed to keep students constantly moving. "Every kid gets a ball to dribble or a hula hoop; there's no lining up and waiting to take a turn," says Phil Nader, professor of pediatrics emeritus at the University of California-San Diego, who helped develop CATCH.
A three-year study comparing CATCH schools with others without the program found that CATCH increased the proportion of gym class spent in motion, from 40 percent to 50 percent, and reduced the consumption of fat in schools from 39 percent of total calories to 32 percent. A second study found that the program prevented the growth in number of overweight students that normally occurs from grade 3 to grade 5. CATCH students in El Paso, Texas (with one of the highest obesity rates in the nation), held the line between those grades, but in schools without the program, the share of overweight girls increased from 26 percent to 40 percent and of overweight boys from 29 percent to 39 percent.
Glen Cove Elementary School, near El Paso in Ysleta, was one of the first schools to adopt CATCH, and parents there have learned to eat better and exercise more along with their kids. "We have a day where everyone comes to fly kites and Wellness Wednesdays where family members run around for 20 minutes with their kids," says physical education teacher Ben Avalos, who brought the program to Glen Cove in 1998. "Parents also tell me their kids have gotten them to throw out the 'whoa' foods in the house." Avalos uses walking sticks, pogo sticks, and Chinese yo-yos in gym class-and nobody relaxes on the sidelines. | 3441.txt | 3 |
[
"were not growing weight from grade 3 to grade 5.",
"were perceived from normal weight growth from grade 3 to grade 5.",
"were not growing weight from grade3 to grade 5.",
"were losing to overweight from grade 3 to grade5."
]
| According to the second study of comparing CATCH schools with others without the program, CATCH students in EL Pasco _ | Kids heading back to enlightened schools this fall may find nutrition and exercise on the agenda even in math class. In an effort to reverse the alarming increase of obesity in children, some schools have found ways to encourage healthful lifestyle changes without emphasizing the negative-too much body weight. Planet Health, developed by Harvard University researchers and now used in hundreds of schools throughout the country, integrates obesity prevention lessons into the science, math, and social studies curricula, for example. Students come to appreciate the importance of reducing TV time by calculating during math class the amount of their lifetime they've spent in front of the set. In gym, they decide on goals for subbing in physical activity instead.
The program costs only about $15 per student annually, a bargain, considering the payoffs: A 2005 study published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine found that middle-school girls who had Planet Health in their schools were half as likely to purge or use diet pills as those in schools without it. "It really focuses on the positive, and that's why we think it's protective against these dangerous behaviors," says study author Bryn Austin, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.
A second program adopted by 7,000 elementary schools nationwide, the Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH), similarly puts the focus on good health habits instead of weight. In class, students use a traffic-light system to identify "go," "slow," and "whoa" foods and take breaks to do jumping jacks. In the cafeteria, fruits, vegetables, low-fat milk, and whole-grain starches are labeled with green-light tags, and pizza gets a yellow light. Gym activities are designed to keep students constantly moving. "Every kid gets a ball to dribble or a hula hoop; there's no lining up and waiting to take a turn," says Phil Nader, professor of pediatrics emeritus at the University of California-San Diego, who helped develop CATCH.
A three-year study comparing CATCH schools with others without the program found that CATCH increased the proportion of gym class spent in motion, from 40 percent to 50 percent, and reduced the consumption of fat in schools from 39 percent of total calories to 32 percent. A second study found that the program prevented the growth in number of overweight students that normally occurs from grade 3 to grade 5. CATCH students in El Paso, Texas (with one of the highest obesity rates in the nation), held the line between those grades, but in schools without the program, the share of overweight girls increased from 26 percent to 40 percent and of overweight boys from 29 percent to 39 percent.
Glen Cove Elementary School, near El Paso in Ysleta, was one of the first schools to adopt CATCH, and parents there have learned to eat better and exercise more along with their kids. "We have a day where everyone comes to fly kites and Wellness Wednesdays where family members run around for 20 minutes with their kids," says physical education teacher Ben Avalos, who brought the program to Glen Cove in 1998. "Parents also tell me their kids have gotten them to throw out the 'whoa' foods in the house." Avalos uses walking sticks, pogo sticks, and Chinese yo-yos in gym class-and nobody relaxes on the sidelines. | 3441.txt | 2 |
[
"The school adopt CATCH in order to change lifestyle of the school children's family.",
"The school applied CATCH to the school children's parents.",
"The school wanted to help children to form good health habits with the help of their parents.",
"The CATCH school children also teaches their family how to live healthily"
]
| Which one of the following statements is TRUE of Glen Cove Elmentary School? | Kids heading back to enlightened schools this fall may find nutrition and exercise on the agenda even in math class. In an effort to reverse the alarming increase of obesity in children, some schools have found ways to encourage healthful lifestyle changes without emphasizing the negative-too much body weight. Planet Health, developed by Harvard University researchers and now used in hundreds of schools throughout the country, integrates obesity prevention lessons into the science, math, and social studies curricula, for example. Students come to appreciate the importance of reducing TV time by calculating during math class the amount of their lifetime they've spent in front of the set. In gym, they decide on goals for subbing in physical activity instead.
The program costs only about $15 per student annually, a bargain, considering the payoffs: A 2005 study published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine found that middle-school girls who had Planet Health in their schools were half as likely to purge or use diet pills as those in schools without it. "It really focuses on the positive, and that's why we think it's protective against these dangerous behaviors," says study author Bryn Austin, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.
A second program adopted by 7,000 elementary schools nationwide, the Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH), similarly puts the focus on good health habits instead of weight. In class, students use a traffic-light system to identify "go," "slow," and "whoa" foods and take breaks to do jumping jacks. In the cafeteria, fruits, vegetables, low-fat milk, and whole-grain starches are labeled with green-light tags, and pizza gets a yellow light. Gym activities are designed to keep students constantly moving. "Every kid gets a ball to dribble or a hula hoop; there's no lining up and waiting to take a turn," says Phil Nader, professor of pediatrics emeritus at the University of California-San Diego, who helped develop CATCH.
A three-year study comparing CATCH schools with others without the program found that CATCH increased the proportion of gym class spent in motion, from 40 percent to 50 percent, and reduced the consumption of fat in schools from 39 percent of total calories to 32 percent. A second study found that the program prevented the growth in number of overweight students that normally occurs from grade 3 to grade 5. CATCH students in El Paso, Texas (with one of the highest obesity rates in the nation), held the line between those grades, but in schools without the program, the share of overweight girls increased from 26 percent to 40 percent and of overweight boys from 29 percent to 39 percent.
Glen Cove Elementary School, near El Paso in Ysleta, was one of the first schools to adopt CATCH, and parents there have learned to eat better and exercise more along with their kids. "We have a day where everyone comes to fly kites and Wellness Wednesdays where family members run around for 20 minutes with their kids," says physical education teacher Ben Avalos, who brought the program to Glen Cove in 1998. "Parents also tell me their kids have gotten them to throw out the 'whoa' foods in the house." Avalos uses walking sticks, pogo sticks, and Chinese yo-yos in gym class-and nobody relaxes on the sidelines. | 3441.txt | 3 |
[
"More young voters are going to the polls than before.",
"The young generation supports traditionally liberal causes.",
"Young voters played a decisive role in Obama's election.",
"Young people in America are now more diverse ideologically."
]
| What is the finding of a new study by CIRCLE? | A new study from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University shows that today's youth vote in larger numbers than previous generations, and a 2008 study from the Center for American Progress adds that increasing numbers of young voters and activists support traditionally liberal causes. But there's no easy way to see what those figures mean in real life. During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama assembled a racially and ideologically diverse coalition with his message of hope and change; as the reality of life under a new administration settles in, some of those supporters might become disillusioned. As the nation moves further into the Obama presidency, will politically engaged young people continue to support the president and his agenda, or will they gradually drift away?
The writers of Generation O (short for Obama), a new Newsweek blog that seeks to chronicle the lives of a group of young Obama supporters, want to answer that question. For the next three months, Michelle Kremer and 11 other Obama supporters, ages 19 to 34, will blog about life across mainstream America, with one twist: by tying all of their ideas and experiences to the new president and his administration, the bloggers will try to start a conversation about what it means to be young and politically active in America today. Malena Amusa, a 24-year-old writer and dancer from St. Louis sees the project as a way to preserve history as it happens. Amusa, who is traveling to India this spring to finish a book, then to Senegal to teach English, has ongoing conversations with her friends about how the Obama presidency has changed their daily lives and hopes to put some of those ideas, along with her global perspective, into her posts. She's excited because, as she puts it, "I don't have to wait [until] 15 years from now" to make sense of the world.
Henry Flores, a political-science professor at St. Mary's University, credits this younger generation's political strength to their embrace of technology. "[The Internet] exposes them to more thinking," he says, "and groups that are like-minded in different parts of the country start to come together." That's exactly what the Generation O bloggers are hoping to do. The result could be a group of young people that, like their boomer parents, grows up with a strong sense of purpose and sheds the image of apathy they've inherited from Generation X (60 70 ). It's no small challenge for a blog run by a group of ordinary-if ambitious-young people, but the members of Generation O are up to the task. | 1045.txt | 0 |
[
"How Obama is going to live up to young people's expectations.",
"Whether America is going to change during Obama's presidency.",
"Whether young people will continue to support Obama's policy.",
"How Obama's agenda is going to affect the life of Americans."
]
| What is a main concern of the writers of Generation O? | A new study from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University shows that today's youth vote in larger numbers than previous generations, and a 2008 study from the Center for American Progress adds that increasing numbers of young voters and activists support traditionally liberal causes. But there's no easy way to see what those figures mean in real life. During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama assembled a racially and ideologically diverse coalition with his message of hope and change; as the reality of life under a new administration settles in, some of those supporters might become disillusioned. As the nation moves further into the Obama presidency, will politically engaged young people continue to support the president and his agenda, or will they gradually drift away?
The writers of Generation O (short for Obama), a new Newsweek blog that seeks to chronicle the lives of a group of young Obama supporters, want to answer that question. For the next three months, Michelle Kremer and 11 other Obama supporters, ages 19 to 34, will blog about life across mainstream America, with one twist: by tying all of their ideas and experiences to the new president and his administration, the bloggers will try to start a conversation about what it means to be young and politically active in America today. Malena Amusa, a 24-year-old writer and dancer from St. Louis sees the project as a way to preserve history as it happens. Amusa, who is traveling to India this spring to finish a book, then to Senegal to teach English, has ongoing conversations with her friends about how the Obama presidency has changed their daily lives and hopes to put some of those ideas, along with her global perspective, into her posts. She's excited because, as she puts it, "I don't have to wait [until] 15 years from now" to make sense of the world.
Henry Flores, a political-science professor at St. Mary's University, credits this younger generation's political strength to their embrace of technology. "[The Internet] exposes them to more thinking," he says, "and groups that are like-minded in different parts of the country start to come together." That's exactly what the Generation O bloggers are hoping to do. The result could be a group of young people that, like their boomer parents, grows up with a strong sense of purpose and sheds the image of apathy they've inherited from Generation X (60 70 ). It's no small challenge for a blog run by a group of ordinary-if ambitious-young people, but the members of Generation O are up to the task. | 1045.txt | 2 |
[
"Their own interpretation of American politics.",
"Policy changes to take place in Obama's administration.",
"Obama's presidency viewed from a global perspective.",
"Their lives in relation to Obama's presidency."
]
| What will the Generation O bloggers write about in their posts? | A new study from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University shows that today's youth vote in larger numbers than previous generations, and a 2008 study from the Center for American Progress adds that increasing numbers of young voters and activists support traditionally liberal causes. But there's no easy way to see what those figures mean in real life. During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama assembled a racially and ideologically diverse coalition with his message of hope and change; as the reality of life under a new administration settles in, some of those supporters might become disillusioned. As the nation moves further into the Obama presidency, will politically engaged young people continue to support the president and his agenda, or will they gradually drift away?
The writers of Generation O (short for Obama), a new Newsweek blog that seeks to chronicle the lives of a group of young Obama supporters, want to answer that question. For the next three months, Michelle Kremer and 11 other Obama supporters, ages 19 to 34, will blog about life across mainstream America, with one twist: by tying all of their ideas and experiences to the new president and his administration, the bloggers will try to start a conversation about what it means to be young and politically active in America today. Malena Amusa, a 24-year-old writer and dancer from St. Louis sees the project as a way to preserve history as it happens. Amusa, who is traveling to India this spring to finish a book, then to Senegal to teach English, has ongoing conversations with her friends about how the Obama presidency has changed their daily lives and hopes to put some of those ideas, along with her global perspective, into her posts. She's excited because, as she puts it, "I don't have to wait [until] 15 years from now" to make sense of the world.
Henry Flores, a political-science professor at St. Mary's University, credits this younger generation's political strength to their embrace of technology. "[The Internet] exposes them to more thinking," he says, "and groups that are like-minded in different parts of the country start to come together." That's exactly what the Generation O bloggers are hoping to do. The result could be a group of young people that, like their boomer parents, grows up with a strong sense of purpose and sheds the image of apathy they've inherited from Generation X (60 70 ). It's no small challenge for a blog run by a group of ordinary-if ambitious-young people, but the members of Generation O are up to the task. | 1045.txt | 3 |
[
"Their embrace of radical ideas.",
"Their desire to change America.",
"Their utilization of the Internet.",
"Their strong sense of responsibility."
]
| What accounts for the younger generation's political strength according to Professor Henry Flores? | A new study from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University shows that today's youth vote in larger numbers than previous generations, and a 2008 study from the Center for American Progress adds that increasing numbers of young voters and activists support traditionally liberal causes. But there's no easy way to see what those figures mean in real life. During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama assembled a racially and ideologically diverse coalition with his message of hope and change; as the reality of life under a new administration settles in, some of those supporters might become disillusioned. As the nation moves further into the Obama presidency, will politically engaged young people continue to support the president and his agenda, or will they gradually drift away?
The writers of Generation O (short for Obama), a new Newsweek blog that seeks to chronicle the lives of a group of young Obama supporters, want to answer that question. For the next three months, Michelle Kremer and 11 other Obama supporters, ages 19 to 34, will blog about life across mainstream America, with one twist: by tying all of their ideas and experiences to the new president and his administration, the bloggers will try to start a conversation about what it means to be young and politically active in America today. Malena Amusa, a 24-year-old writer and dancer from St. Louis sees the project as a way to preserve history as it happens. Amusa, who is traveling to India this spring to finish a book, then to Senegal to teach English, has ongoing conversations with her friends about how the Obama presidency has changed their daily lives and hopes to put some of those ideas, along with her global perspective, into her posts. She's excited because, as she puts it, "I don't have to wait [until] 15 years from now" to make sense of the world.
Henry Flores, a political-science professor at St. Mary's University, credits this younger generation's political strength to their embrace of technology. "[The Internet] exposes them to more thinking," he says, "and groups that are like-minded in different parts of the country start to come together." That's exactly what the Generation O bloggers are hoping to do. The result could be a group of young people that, like their boomer parents, grows up with a strong sense of purpose and sheds the image of apathy they've inherited from Generation X (60 70 ). It's no small challenge for a blog run by a group of ordinary-if ambitious-young people, but the members of Generation O are up to the task. | 1045.txt | 2 |
[
"They are politically conservative.",
"They reject conventional values.",
"They dare to take up challenges.",
"They are indifferent to politics."
]
| What can we infer from the passage about Generation X? | A new study from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University shows that today's youth vote in larger numbers than previous generations, and a 2008 study from the Center for American Progress adds that increasing numbers of young voters and activists support traditionally liberal causes. But there's no easy way to see what those figures mean in real life. During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama assembled a racially and ideologically diverse coalition with his message of hope and change; as the reality of life under a new administration settles in, some of those supporters might become disillusioned. As the nation moves further into the Obama presidency, will politically engaged young people continue to support the president and his agenda, or will they gradually drift away?
The writers of Generation O (short for Obama), a new Newsweek blog that seeks to chronicle the lives of a group of young Obama supporters, want to answer that question. For the next three months, Michelle Kremer and 11 other Obama supporters, ages 19 to 34, will blog about life across mainstream America, with one twist: by tying all of their ideas and experiences to the new president and his administration, the bloggers will try to start a conversation about what it means to be young and politically active in America today. Malena Amusa, a 24-year-old writer and dancer from St. Louis sees the project as a way to preserve history as it happens. Amusa, who is traveling to India this spring to finish a book, then to Senegal to teach English, has ongoing conversations with her friends about how the Obama presidency has changed their daily lives and hopes to put some of those ideas, along with her global perspective, into her posts. She's excited because, as she puts it, "I don't have to wait [until] 15 years from now" to make sense of the world.
Henry Flores, a political-science professor at St. Mary's University, credits this younger generation's political strength to their embrace of technology. "[The Internet] exposes them to more thinking," he says, "and groups that are like-minded in different parts of the country start to come together." That's exactly what the Generation O bloggers are hoping to do. The result could be a group of young people that, like their boomer parents, grows up with a strong sense of purpose and sheds the image of apathy they've inherited from Generation X (60 70 ). It's no small challenge for a blog run by a group of ordinary-if ambitious-young people, but the members of Generation O are up to the task. | 1045.txt | 3 |
[
"he second paragraph relies on different evidence in drawing a conclusion similar to that expressed in the first paragraph.",
"The second paragraph provides further elaboration on why an assertion made at the end of the first paragraph proves to be true in most cases.",
"The second paragraph provides additional information in support of a hypothesis stated in the first paragraph.",
"The second paragraph provides an example of a case in which the assumption described in the first paragraph is unwarranted."
]
| Which of the following best describes the relationship of the second paragraph to the first? | One explanation for the tendency of animals to be more vigilant in smaller groups than in larger ones assumes that the vigilant behavior-looking up, for example-is aimed at predators. If individuals on the edge of a group are more vigilant because they are at greater risk of being captured, then individuals on average would have to be more vigilant in smaller groups, because the animals on the periphery of a group form a greater proportion of the whole group as the size of the group diminishes
. However, a different explanation is necessary in cases where the vigilant behavior is not directed at predators. J. Krebs has discovered that great blue herons look up more often when in smaller flocks than when in larger ones, solely as a consequence of poor feeding conditions. Krebs hypothesizes that the herons in smaller flocks are watching for herons that they might follow to better feeding pools, which usually attract larger numbers of the birds. | 1916.txt | 3 |
[
"The larger the group of animals, the higher the probability that individuals in the interior of the group will exhibit vigilant behavior.",
"Vigilant behavior exhibited by individuals in small groups is more effective at warding off predators than the same behavior exhibited by individuals in larger groups.",
"Vigilant behavior is easier to analyze in species that are preyed upon by many different predators than in species that are preyed upon by relatively few of them.",
"The term \"vigilant,\" when used in reference to the behavior of animals, does not refer exclusively to behavior aimed at avoiding predators."
]
| It can be inferred from the passage that the author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which of the following assertions about vigilant behavior? | One explanation for the tendency of animals to be more vigilant in smaller groups than in larger ones assumes that the vigilant behavior-looking up, for example-is aimed at predators. If individuals on the edge of a group are more vigilant because they are at greater risk of being captured, then individuals on average would have to be more vigilant in smaller groups, because the animals on the periphery of a group form a greater proportion of the whole group as the size of the group diminishes
. However, a different explanation is necessary in cases where the vigilant behavior is not directed at predators. J. Krebs has discovered that great blue herons look up more often when in smaller flocks than when in larger ones, solely as a consequence of poor feeding conditions. Krebs hypothesizes that the herons in smaller flocks are watching for herons that they might follow to better feeding pools, which usually attract larger numbers of the birds. | 1916.txt | 3 |
[
"The avoidance of predators is more important to an animal's survival than is the quest for food.",
"Vigilant behavior aimed at predators is seldom more beneficial to groups of animals than to individual animals.",
"Different species of animals often develop different strategies for dealing with predators.",
"Similar behavior in different species of animals does not necessarily serve the same purpose"
]
| The passage provides information in support of which of the following assertions? | One explanation for the tendency of animals to be more vigilant in smaller groups than in larger ones assumes that the vigilant behavior-looking up, for example-is aimed at predators. If individuals on the edge of a group are more vigilant because they are at greater risk of being captured, then individuals on average would have to be more vigilant in smaller groups, because the animals on the periphery of a group form a greater proportion of the whole group as the size of the group diminishes
. However, a different explanation is necessary in cases where the vigilant behavior is not directed at predators. J. Krebs has discovered that great blue herons look up more often when in smaller flocks than when in larger ones, solely as a consequence of poor feeding conditions. Krebs hypothesizes that the herons in smaller flocks are watching for herons that they might follow to better feeding pools, which usually attract larger numbers of the birds. | 1916.txt | 3 |
[
"taken apart",
"taken away",
"taken off",
"taken over"
]
| The word "dismantled" in the first paragraph most probably means | When you take your car-or, indeed, any piece of machinery-to be repaired, it is generally an advantage to ask for an estimate. You should make sure an estimate is clearly listed so that you can check it afterwards. Then you cannot be charged for unnecessary work. Sometimes the repair cannot be accurately estimated until some parts have been dismantled. If so, authorize this amount of work first and ask for an accurate estimate after it has been done.
Wages and methods of costing differ from garage to garage. Some garages pay their mechanics a flat rate per hour and pay one time and a half for overtime. Others add a fixed percentage per hour to the hourly rate. They pay for the overtime at the same rate.
Garages which have an incentive scheme pay the mechanic a part, usually thirty per cent or thirty-three and one-third per cent, of what the customer is charged. They don't usually pay attention to the time the mechanic has taken. The charge to the customer is based on manufacturer's suggested time-schedules for work. For example, if the time allowed is three hours and the mechanic takes two and a half, the customer is charged for three hours. The mechanic receives thirty per cent of the total amount charged, not thirty per cent of the charge for the two and a half hours he actually worked on the job.
Labor charged to customers covers not only the cost of wages but also overheads ( ). To get the cost per hour of the overheads, divide the cost of running the workshop itself by the number of hours of work available. Then add to this an amount for profit. | 1476.txt | 0 |
[
"you will always obtain a lower price",
"you will get better service",
"you will not have to pay for unnecessary work",
"you will not have to pay any overtime"
]
| It is important to obtain a clearly listed-estimate so that _ . | When you take your car-or, indeed, any piece of machinery-to be repaired, it is generally an advantage to ask for an estimate. You should make sure an estimate is clearly listed so that you can check it afterwards. Then you cannot be charged for unnecessary work. Sometimes the repair cannot be accurately estimated until some parts have been dismantled. If so, authorize this amount of work first and ask for an accurate estimate after it has been done.
Wages and methods of costing differ from garage to garage. Some garages pay their mechanics a flat rate per hour and pay one time and a half for overtime. Others add a fixed percentage per hour to the hourly rate. They pay for the overtime at the same rate.
Garages which have an incentive scheme pay the mechanic a part, usually thirty per cent or thirty-three and one-third per cent, of what the customer is charged. They don't usually pay attention to the time the mechanic has taken. The charge to the customer is based on manufacturer's suggested time-schedules for work. For example, if the time allowed is three hours and the mechanic takes two and a half, the customer is charged for three hours. The mechanic receives thirty per cent of the total amount charged, not thirty per cent of the charge for the two and a half hours he actually worked on the job.
Labor charged to customers covers not only the cost of wages but also overheads ( ). To get the cost per hour of the overheads, divide the cost of running the workshop itself by the number of hours of work available. Then add to this an amount for profit. | 1476.txt | 2 |
[
"at an hourly rate",
"according to the skill needed",
"in a number of different ways",
"by a percentage of the total overheads"
]
| Mechanics are paid_ . | When you take your car-or, indeed, any piece of machinery-to be repaired, it is generally an advantage to ask for an estimate. You should make sure an estimate is clearly listed so that you can check it afterwards. Then you cannot be charged for unnecessary work. Sometimes the repair cannot be accurately estimated until some parts have been dismantled. If so, authorize this amount of work first and ask for an accurate estimate after it has been done.
Wages and methods of costing differ from garage to garage. Some garages pay their mechanics a flat rate per hour and pay one time and a half for overtime. Others add a fixed percentage per hour to the hourly rate. They pay for the overtime at the same rate.
Garages which have an incentive scheme pay the mechanic a part, usually thirty per cent or thirty-three and one-third per cent, of what the customer is charged. They don't usually pay attention to the time the mechanic has taken. The charge to the customer is based on manufacturer's suggested time-schedules for work. For example, if the time allowed is three hours and the mechanic takes two and a half, the customer is charged for three hours. The mechanic receives thirty per cent of the total amount charged, not thirty per cent of the charge for the two and a half hours he actually worked on the job.
Labor charged to customers covers not only the cost of wages but also overheads ( ). To get the cost per hour of the overheads, divide the cost of running the workshop itself by the number of hours of work available. Then add to this an amount for profit. | 1476.txt | 2 |
[
"Labor charges.",
"Overheads.",
"The estimate.",
"The profit."
]
| According to the passage, which of the following does the customer not have to pay for? | When you take your car-or, indeed, any piece of machinery-to be repaired, it is generally an advantage to ask for an estimate. You should make sure an estimate is clearly listed so that you can check it afterwards. Then you cannot be charged for unnecessary work. Sometimes the repair cannot be accurately estimated until some parts have been dismantled. If so, authorize this amount of work first and ask for an accurate estimate after it has been done.
Wages and methods of costing differ from garage to garage. Some garages pay their mechanics a flat rate per hour and pay one time and a half for overtime. Others add a fixed percentage per hour to the hourly rate. They pay for the overtime at the same rate.
Garages which have an incentive scheme pay the mechanic a part, usually thirty per cent or thirty-three and one-third per cent, of what the customer is charged. They don't usually pay attention to the time the mechanic has taken. The charge to the customer is based on manufacturer's suggested time-schedules for work. For example, if the time allowed is three hours and the mechanic takes two and a half, the customer is charged for three hours. The mechanic receives thirty per cent of the total amount charged, not thirty per cent of the charge for the two and a half hours he actually worked on the job.
Labor charged to customers covers not only the cost of wages but also overheads ( ). To get the cost per hour of the overheads, divide the cost of running the workshop itself by the number of hours of work available. Then add to this an amount for profit. | 1476.txt | 2 |
[
"He is unable to estimate it.",
"He can charge a percentage of the total workshop costs.",
"He can use the manufacturer's schedules.",
"He can ask the customer."
]
| How can a mechanic estimate the cost of a job? | When you take your car-or, indeed, any piece of machinery-to be repaired, it is generally an advantage to ask for an estimate. You should make sure an estimate is clearly listed so that you can check it afterwards. Then you cannot be charged for unnecessary work. Sometimes the repair cannot be accurately estimated until some parts have been dismantled. If so, authorize this amount of work first and ask for an accurate estimate after it has been done.
Wages and methods of costing differ from garage to garage. Some garages pay their mechanics a flat rate per hour and pay one time and a half for overtime. Others add a fixed percentage per hour to the hourly rate. They pay for the overtime at the same rate.
Garages which have an incentive scheme pay the mechanic a part, usually thirty per cent or thirty-three and one-third per cent, of what the customer is charged. They don't usually pay attention to the time the mechanic has taken. The charge to the customer is based on manufacturer's suggested time-schedules for work. For example, if the time allowed is three hours and the mechanic takes two and a half, the customer is charged for three hours. The mechanic receives thirty per cent of the total amount charged, not thirty per cent of the charge for the two and a half hours he actually worked on the job.
Labor charged to customers covers not only the cost of wages but also overheads ( ). To get the cost per hour of the overheads, divide the cost of running the workshop itself by the number of hours of work available. Then add to this an amount for profit. | 1476.txt | 2 |
[
"it pass through a narrow range of orbits which are equivalent of a keyhole.",
"it is forced to deviate from its original course when passing through the keyhole.",
"it passes below the altitude of communications satellites because of earth's gravitation.",
"it comes round the earth seven years later."
]
| Apophis would probably hit on the earth when _ | The dinosaurs fell victim to an asteroid smashing into the Earth, but people have no plans to allow such a calamity to befall them. For the past decade or so, astronomers have been watching the skies to identify dangerous flying objects. One lump of rock, called Apophis, the Greek name for an Egyptian god of destruction, alarmed astronomers when it was first spotted in 2004. They now think it is extremely unlikely to hit the planet. Even so, a private company has just unveiled plans to visit it, in case Apophis does decide to pop in on Earth sometime soon.
The reason for the trip is that the orbits of asteroids are difficult to predict. Apophis is expected to sweep close enough to the Earth in 2029 to pass below the altitude of communications satellites. Depending on its exact path, it could pass through what is known as a keyhole-a narrow range of orbits-that would deflect it and cause it to crash into the planet when it comes round again exactly seven years later.
Hence the bid to launch a probe by Astrium, a spacecraft subsidiary of EADS, a European aerospace and defence giant. It would study the way in which Apophis is drifting because of the effects of sunlight and that would enable astronomers to plot its course more accurately. The probe would also map the details of Apophis's surface and determine its thermal properties, which would help identify the composition of the asteroid. Such information could prove invaluable if it became necessary to nudge the projectile from its path.
The idea is to launch the mission, called Apex, in 2013 and for it to rendezvous with the asteroid in January 2014. The probe would spend three years stalking Apophis so that, if it did appear to be heading towards the keyhole, action could be taken to divert it well before 2029. Improbable though astronomers think this particular impact may be, it would be good to know more about nearby asteroids so that when one does threaten to strike, its route can be changed. Apophis is some 350 metres across, considerably larger than the object that is thought to have flattened 2,000 square kilometres of Siberian forest as it vaporised in the atmosphere above Tunguska in 1908.
Smashing such an object to smithereens, a technique championed by Hollywood films, would be silly because the Earth would be pelted with lots of smaller bits of debris that could prove just as destructive, particularly near a city. Better to knock it off course or tow it away using the gravitational attraction of a spacecraft sent to divert it. The success of this approach would depend not only on the path the asteroid is expected to take, but also on how the material that forms it is bound together.
Astrium's plans have been submitted to the Planetary Society, a group of space enthusiasts that has stumped up $50,000 in prize money to inspire interest in a mission to Apophis. Given that the actual cost for such a mission would be more like $50m, both the American space agency, NASA, and its European counterpart are taking a close interest. It is they, after all, who would be footing most of the bill. | 3573.txt | 1 |
[
"investigating.",
"tracking.",
"approaching.",
"foregoing."
]
| The word "stalking" (Line 2, Paragraph 4) most probably means _ | The dinosaurs fell victim to an asteroid smashing into the Earth, but people have no plans to allow such a calamity to befall them. For the past decade or so, astronomers have been watching the skies to identify dangerous flying objects. One lump of rock, called Apophis, the Greek name for an Egyptian god of destruction, alarmed astronomers when it was first spotted in 2004. They now think it is extremely unlikely to hit the planet. Even so, a private company has just unveiled plans to visit it, in case Apophis does decide to pop in on Earth sometime soon.
The reason for the trip is that the orbits of asteroids are difficult to predict. Apophis is expected to sweep close enough to the Earth in 2029 to pass below the altitude of communications satellites. Depending on its exact path, it could pass through what is known as a keyhole-a narrow range of orbits-that would deflect it and cause it to crash into the planet when it comes round again exactly seven years later.
Hence the bid to launch a probe by Astrium, a spacecraft subsidiary of EADS, a European aerospace and defence giant. It would study the way in which Apophis is drifting because of the effects of sunlight and that would enable astronomers to plot its course more accurately. The probe would also map the details of Apophis's surface and determine its thermal properties, which would help identify the composition of the asteroid. Such information could prove invaluable if it became necessary to nudge the projectile from its path.
The idea is to launch the mission, called Apex, in 2013 and for it to rendezvous with the asteroid in January 2014. The probe would spend three years stalking Apophis so that, if it did appear to be heading towards the keyhole, action could be taken to divert it well before 2029. Improbable though astronomers think this particular impact may be, it would be good to know more about nearby asteroids so that when one does threaten to strike, its route can be changed. Apophis is some 350 metres across, considerably larger than the object that is thought to have flattened 2,000 square kilometres of Siberian forest as it vaporised in the atmosphere above Tunguska in 1908.
Smashing such an object to smithereens, a technique championed by Hollywood films, would be silly because the Earth would be pelted with lots of smaller bits of debris that could prove just as destructive, particularly near a city. Better to knock it off course or tow it away using the gravitational attraction of a spacecraft sent to divert it. The success of this approach would depend not only on the path the asteroid is expected to take, but also on how the material that forms it is bound together.
Astrium's plans have been submitted to the Planetary Society, a group of space enthusiasts that has stumped up $50,000 in prize money to inspire interest in a mission to Apophis. Given that the actual cost for such a mission would be more like $50m, both the American space agency, NASA, and its European counterpart are taking a close interest. It is they, after all, who would be footing most of the bill. | 3573.txt | 1 |
[
"The object threatened but failed to destroy 2,000 square kilometers of Siberian forest.",
"The object dissolved in the air because it was too small to hit upon the earth.",
"The object turned out to be Apophis which visited the Earth seven years ago.",
"The route of the object was thought by scientists to be impossible to head towards the Earth."
]
| Which one of the following statements is TURE of the case of the object in 1908? | The dinosaurs fell victim to an asteroid smashing into the Earth, but people have no plans to allow such a calamity to befall them. For the past decade or so, astronomers have been watching the skies to identify dangerous flying objects. One lump of rock, called Apophis, the Greek name for an Egyptian god of destruction, alarmed astronomers when it was first spotted in 2004. They now think it is extremely unlikely to hit the planet. Even so, a private company has just unveiled plans to visit it, in case Apophis does decide to pop in on Earth sometime soon.
The reason for the trip is that the orbits of asteroids are difficult to predict. Apophis is expected to sweep close enough to the Earth in 2029 to pass below the altitude of communications satellites. Depending on its exact path, it could pass through what is known as a keyhole-a narrow range of orbits-that would deflect it and cause it to crash into the planet when it comes round again exactly seven years later.
Hence the bid to launch a probe by Astrium, a spacecraft subsidiary of EADS, a European aerospace and defence giant. It would study the way in which Apophis is drifting because of the effects of sunlight and that would enable astronomers to plot its course more accurately. The probe would also map the details of Apophis's surface and determine its thermal properties, which would help identify the composition of the asteroid. Such information could prove invaluable if it became necessary to nudge the projectile from its path.
The idea is to launch the mission, called Apex, in 2013 and for it to rendezvous with the asteroid in January 2014. The probe would spend three years stalking Apophis so that, if it did appear to be heading towards the keyhole, action could be taken to divert it well before 2029. Improbable though astronomers think this particular impact may be, it would be good to know more about nearby asteroids so that when one does threaten to strike, its route can be changed. Apophis is some 350 metres across, considerably larger than the object that is thought to have flattened 2,000 square kilometres of Siberian forest as it vaporised in the atmosphere above Tunguska in 1908.
Smashing such an object to smithereens, a technique championed by Hollywood films, would be silly because the Earth would be pelted with lots of smaller bits of debris that could prove just as destructive, particularly near a city. Better to knock it off course or tow it away using the gravitational attraction of a spacecraft sent to divert it. The success of this approach would depend not only on the path the asteroid is expected to take, but also on how the material that forms it is bound together.
Astrium's plans have been submitted to the Planetary Society, a group of space enthusiasts that has stumped up $50,000 in prize money to inspire interest in a mission to Apophis. Given that the actual cost for such a mission would be more like $50m, both the American space agency, NASA, and its European counterpart are taking a close interest. It is they, after all, who would be footing most of the bill. | 3573.txt | 0 |
[
"it is only a fictitious technique that people created for Hollywood films.",
"the smithereens may smash result in fatal damage to human habitats.",
"lots of dangerous debris would fly around the earth under the gravitational atrraction.",
"the asteroid would change its orbit and pose threat to the Earth when the object is smashed."
]
| The technique of smashing the object to smithereens would be silly because _ | The dinosaurs fell victim to an asteroid smashing into the Earth, but people have no plans to allow such a calamity to befall them. For the past decade or so, astronomers have been watching the skies to identify dangerous flying objects. One lump of rock, called Apophis, the Greek name for an Egyptian god of destruction, alarmed astronomers when it was first spotted in 2004. They now think it is extremely unlikely to hit the planet. Even so, a private company has just unveiled plans to visit it, in case Apophis does decide to pop in on Earth sometime soon.
The reason for the trip is that the orbits of asteroids are difficult to predict. Apophis is expected to sweep close enough to the Earth in 2029 to pass below the altitude of communications satellites. Depending on its exact path, it could pass through what is known as a keyhole-a narrow range of orbits-that would deflect it and cause it to crash into the planet when it comes round again exactly seven years later.
Hence the bid to launch a probe by Astrium, a spacecraft subsidiary of EADS, a European aerospace and defence giant. It would study the way in which Apophis is drifting because of the effects of sunlight and that would enable astronomers to plot its course more accurately. The probe would also map the details of Apophis's surface and determine its thermal properties, which would help identify the composition of the asteroid. Such information could prove invaluable if it became necessary to nudge the projectile from its path.
The idea is to launch the mission, called Apex, in 2013 and for it to rendezvous with the asteroid in January 2014. The probe would spend three years stalking Apophis so that, if it did appear to be heading towards the keyhole, action could be taken to divert it well before 2029. Improbable though astronomers think this particular impact may be, it would be good to know more about nearby asteroids so that when one does threaten to strike, its route can be changed. Apophis is some 350 metres across, considerably larger than the object that is thought to have flattened 2,000 square kilometres of Siberian forest as it vaporised in the atmosphere above Tunguska in 1908.
Smashing such an object to smithereens, a technique championed by Hollywood films, would be silly because the Earth would be pelted with lots of smaller bits of debris that could prove just as destructive, particularly near a city. Better to knock it off course or tow it away using the gravitational attraction of a spacecraft sent to divert it. The success of this approach would depend not only on the path the asteroid is expected to take, but also on how the material that forms it is bound together.
Astrium's plans have been submitted to the Planetary Society, a group of space enthusiasts that has stumped up $50,000 in prize money to inspire interest in a mission to Apophis. Given that the actual cost for such a mission would be more like $50m, both the American space agency, NASA, and its European counterpart are taking a close interest. It is they, after all, who would be footing most of the bill. | 3573.txt | 1 |
[
"the Planetary Society which is supported by NASA.",
"the American and European space agencies.",
"space enthusiasts who donate prize money.",
"a private company called Astrium."
]
| Astrium's plans would be sponsored by _ | The dinosaurs fell victim to an asteroid smashing into the Earth, but people have no plans to allow such a calamity to befall them. For the past decade or so, astronomers have been watching the skies to identify dangerous flying objects. One lump of rock, called Apophis, the Greek name for an Egyptian god of destruction, alarmed astronomers when it was first spotted in 2004. They now think it is extremely unlikely to hit the planet. Even so, a private company has just unveiled plans to visit it, in case Apophis does decide to pop in on Earth sometime soon.
The reason for the trip is that the orbits of asteroids are difficult to predict. Apophis is expected to sweep close enough to the Earth in 2029 to pass below the altitude of communications satellites. Depending on its exact path, it could pass through what is known as a keyhole-a narrow range of orbits-that would deflect it and cause it to crash into the planet when it comes round again exactly seven years later.
Hence the bid to launch a probe by Astrium, a spacecraft subsidiary of EADS, a European aerospace and defence giant. It would study the way in which Apophis is drifting because of the effects of sunlight and that would enable astronomers to plot its course more accurately. The probe would also map the details of Apophis's surface and determine its thermal properties, which would help identify the composition of the asteroid. Such information could prove invaluable if it became necessary to nudge the projectile from its path.
The idea is to launch the mission, called Apex, in 2013 and for it to rendezvous with the asteroid in January 2014. The probe would spend three years stalking Apophis so that, if it did appear to be heading towards the keyhole, action could be taken to divert it well before 2029. Improbable though astronomers think this particular impact may be, it would be good to know more about nearby asteroids so that when one does threaten to strike, its route can be changed. Apophis is some 350 metres across, considerably larger than the object that is thought to have flattened 2,000 square kilometres of Siberian forest as it vaporised in the atmosphere above Tunguska in 1908.
Smashing such an object to smithereens, a technique championed by Hollywood films, would be silly because the Earth would be pelted with lots of smaller bits of debris that could prove just as destructive, particularly near a city. Better to knock it off course or tow it away using the gravitational attraction of a spacecraft sent to divert it. The success of this approach would depend not only on the path the asteroid is expected to take, but also on how the material that forms it is bound together.
Astrium's plans have been submitted to the Planetary Society, a group of space enthusiasts that has stumped up $50,000 in prize money to inspire interest in a mission to Apophis. Given that the actual cost for such a mission would be more like $50m, both the American space agency, NASA, and its European counterpart are taking a close interest. It is they, after all, who would be footing most of the bill. | 3573.txt | 1 |
[
"elementary schools",
"enthusiastic workers",
"the attractive premium system",
"a special way of thinking"
]
| According to the author, the great outburst of major inventions in early America was in a large part due to . | What accounts for the great outburst of major inventions in early America -- breakthroughs such as the telegraph, the steamboat and the weaving machine?
Among the many shaping factors, I would single out the country's excellent elementary schools: a labor force that welcomed the new technology; the practice of giving premiums to inventors; and above all the American genius for nonverbal, "spatial" thinking about things technological.
Why mention the elementary schools? Because thanks to these schools our early mechanics, especially in the New England and Middle Atlantic states, were generally literate and at home in arithmetic and in some aspects of geometry and trigonometry.
Acute foreign observers related American adaptiveness and inventiveness to this educational advantage. As a member of a British commission visiting here in 1853 reported, "With a mind prepared by thorough school discipline, the American boy develops rapidly into the skilled workman."
A further stimulus to invention came from the "premium" system, which preceded our patent system and for years ran parallel with it. This approach, originated abroad, offered inventors medals, cash prizes and other incentives.
In the United States, multitudes of premiums for new devices were awarded at country fairs and at the industrial fairs in major cities. Americans flocked to these fairs to admire the new machines and thus to renew their faith in the beneficence of technological advance.
Given this optimistic approach to technological innovation, the American worker took readily to that special kind of nonverbal thinking required in mechanical technology. As Eugene Ferguson has pointed out, "A technologist thinks about objects that cannot be reduced to unambiguous verbal descriptions: they are dealt with in his mind by a visual, nonverbal process... The designer and the inventor... are able to assemble and manipulate in their minds devices that as yet do not exist."
This nonverbal "spatial" thinking can be just as creative as painting and writing. Robert Fulton once wrote, "The mechanic should sit down among levers, screws, wedges, wheels, etc., like a poet among the letters of the alphabet, considering them as an exhibition of his thoughts, in which a new arrangement transmits a new idea."
When all these shaping forces -- schools, open attitudes, the premium system, a genius for spatial thinking -- interacted with one another on the rich U.S. mainland, they produced that American characteristic, emulation. Today that word implies mere imitation. But in earlier times it meant a friendly but competitive striving for fame and excellence. | 1272.txt | 3 |
[
"benefited a lot from their mathematical knowledge",
"shed light on disciplined school management",
"was brought about by privileged home training",
"owed a lot to the technological development"
]
| It is implied that adaptiveness and inventiveness of the early American mechanics . | What accounts for the great outburst of major inventions in early America -- breakthroughs such as the telegraph, the steamboat and the weaving machine?
Among the many shaping factors, I would single out the country's excellent elementary schools: a labor force that welcomed the new technology; the practice of giving premiums to inventors; and above all the American genius for nonverbal, "spatial" thinking about things technological.
Why mention the elementary schools? Because thanks to these schools our early mechanics, especially in the New England and Middle Atlantic states, were generally literate and at home in arithmetic and in some aspects of geometry and trigonometry.
Acute foreign observers related American adaptiveness and inventiveness to this educational advantage. As a member of a British commission visiting here in 1853 reported, "With a mind prepared by thorough school discipline, the American boy develops rapidly into the skilled workman."
A further stimulus to invention came from the "premium" system, which preceded our patent system and for years ran parallel with it. This approach, originated abroad, offered inventors medals, cash prizes and other incentives.
In the United States, multitudes of premiums for new devices were awarded at country fairs and at the industrial fairs in major cities. Americans flocked to these fairs to admire the new machines and thus to renew their faith in the beneficence of technological advance.
Given this optimistic approach to technological innovation, the American worker took readily to that special kind of nonverbal thinking required in mechanical technology. As Eugene Ferguson has pointed out, "A technologist thinks about objects that cannot be reduced to unambiguous verbal descriptions: they are dealt with in his mind by a visual, nonverbal process... The designer and the inventor... are able to assemble and manipulate in their minds devices that as yet do not exist."
This nonverbal "spatial" thinking can be just as creative as painting and writing. Robert Fulton once wrote, "The mechanic should sit down among levers, screws, wedges, wheels, etc., like a poet among the letters of the alphabet, considering them as an exhibition of his thoughts, in which a new arrangement transmits a new idea."
When all these shaping forces -- schools, open attitudes, the premium system, a genius for spatial thinking -- interacted with one another on the rich U.S. mainland, they produced that American characteristic, emulation. Today that word implies mere imitation. But in earlier times it meant a friendly but competitive striving for fame and excellence. | 1272.txt | 0 |
[
"they are both winners of awards",
"they are both experts in spatial thinking",
"they both abandon verbal description",
"they both use various instruments"
]
| A technologist can be compared to an artist because . | What accounts for the great outburst of major inventions in early America -- breakthroughs such as the telegraph, the steamboat and the weaving machine?
Among the many shaping factors, I would single out the country's excellent elementary schools: a labor force that welcomed the new technology; the practice of giving premiums to inventors; and above all the American genius for nonverbal, "spatial" thinking about things technological.
Why mention the elementary schools? Because thanks to these schools our early mechanics, especially in the New England and Middle Atlantic states, were generally literate and at home in arithmetic and in some aspects of geometry and trigonometry.
Acute foreign observers related American adaptiveness and inventiveness to this educational advantage. As a member of a British commission visiting here in 1853 reported, "With a mind prepared by thorough school discipline, the American boy develops rapidly into the skilled workman."
A further stimulus to invention came from the "premium" system, which preceded our patent system and for years ran parallel with it. This approach, originated abroad, offered inventors medals, cash prizes and other incentives.
In the United States, multitudes of premiums for new devices were awarded at country fairs and at the industrial fairs in major cities. Americans flocked to these fairs to admire the new machines and thus to renew their faith in the beneficence of technological advance.
Given this optimistic approach to technological innovation, the American worker took readily to that special kind of nonverbal thinking required in mechanical technology. As Eugene Ferguson has pointed out, "A technologist thinks about objects that cannot be reduced to unambiguous verbal descriptions: they are dealt with in his mind by a visual, nonverbal process... The designer and the inventor... are able to assemble and manipulate in their minds devices that as yet do not exist."
This nonverbal "spatial" thinking can be just as creative as painting and writing. Robert Fulton once wrote, "The mechanic should sit down among levers, screws, wedges, wheels, etc., like a poet among the letters of the alphabet, considering them as an exhibition of his thoughts, in which a new arrangement transmits a new idea."
When all these shaping forces -- schools, open attitudes, the premium system, a genius for spatial thinking -- interacted with one another on the rich U.S. mainland, they produced that American characteristic, emulation. Today that word implies mere imitation. But in earlier times it meant a friendly but competitive striving for fame and excellence. | 1272.txt | 1 |
[
"Inventive Mind",
"Effective Schooling",
"] Ways of Thinking",
"Outpouring of Inventions"
]
| The best title for this passage might be . | What accounts for the great outburst of major inventions in early America -- breakthroughs such as the telegraph, the steamboat and the weaving machine?
Among the many shaping factors, I would single out the country's excellent elementary schools: a labor force that welcomed the new technology; the practice of giving premiums to inventors; and above all the American genius for nonverbal, "spatial" thinking about things technological.
Why mention the elementary schools? Because thanks to these schools our early mechanics, especially in the New England and Middle Atlantic states, were generally literate and at home in arithmetic and in some aspects of geometry and trigonometry.
Acute foreign observers related American adaptiveness and inventiveness to this educational advantage. As a member of a British commission visiting here in 1853 reported, "With a mind prepared by thorough school discipline, the American boy develops rapidly into the skilled workman."
A further stimulus to invention came from the "premium" system, which preceded our patent system and for years ran parallel with it. This approach, originated abroad, offered inventors medals, cash prizes and other incentives.
In the United States, multitudes of premiums for new devices were awarded at country fairs and at the industrial fairs in major cities. Americans flocked to these fairs to admire the new machines and thus to renew their faith in the beneficence of technological advance.
Given this optimistic approach to technological innovation, the American worker took readily to that special kind of nonverbal thinking required in mechanical technology. As Eugene Ferguson has pointed out, "A technologist thinks about objects that cannot be reduced to unambiguous verbal descriptions: they are dealt with in his mind by a visual, nonverbal process... The designer and the inventor... are able to assemble and manipulate in their minds devices that as yet do not exist."
This nonverbal "spatial" thinking can be just as creative as painting and writing. Robert Fulton once wrote, "The mechanic should sit down among levers, screws, wedges, wheels, etc., like a poet among the letters of the alphabet, considering them as an exhibition of his thoughts, in which a new arrangement transmits a new idea."
When all these shaping forces -- schools, open attitudes, the premium system, a genius for spatial thinking -- interacted with one another on the rich U.S. mainland, they produced that American characteristic, emulation. Today that word implies mere imitation. But in earlier times it meant a friendly but competitive striving for fame and excellence. | 1272.txt | 0 |
[
"will be carried into 1990s",
"at least have brought the nation to the knowledge of the necessity of school reforms",
"have brought about real changes in education",
"were not encouraged by government"
]
| According to the author, the reform efforts of the eighties_ . | School reform proposals in the first half of the 1980s brought hope that at least the country would wake up to the need for serious improvement in our public schools. At the same time, there was skepticism as to whether the reform would last long enough to bring about real change-a fear that the enthusiasm would fade, leaving the schools much the same as before. We can say two things about this skepticism: The reform movement has had more staying power than many had hoped for, and the worry still persists-how much has really changed, and will there be enough enthusiasm to carry the movement into the 1990s?
The pessimist would have to say that this cannot go on forever-people will surely tire of this constant clamor for school reform that seems to produce disappointing results and turn their attention elsewhere. A more optimistic view could look at several factors which, though less visible than the continued failure in so many schools, nevertheless might cause reform not only to continue but to increase in the nineties.
The most important basis for optimism is that the political force that has been driving educational reform in the eighties is still as strong as ever-they fear that continued educational failure will lead to economic decline and a lowered standard of living. Reform movements of the past have been based either on educational ideas that did not necessarily have widespread support or on national "emergencies" whose urgency faded within a few years.
It's true that the connection of these economic fears to education would not necessarily have to last. If experts came along with other explanations and ways for improvement of American economic position, the interest in education might indeed decrease. On the contrary, however, more and more people are seeing that our failure to prepare our young people for productive and responsible adulthood has terrible economic as well as social consequences and that "investing in our youth" has to be an important component of America's success in the world economy of the future. | 1455.txt | 1 |
[
"power that will reduce the level of education",
"power that will prevent reform",
"power that will lead to success",
"power that fails to cause changes"
]
| "Staying power "(in Line 8) refers to_ . | School reform proposals in the first half of the 1980s brought hope that at least the country would wake up to the need for serious improvement in our public schools. At the same time, there was skepticism as to whether the reform would last long enough to bring about real change-a fear that the enthusiasm would fade, leaving the schools much the same as before. We can say two things about this skepticism: The reform movement has had more staying power than many had hoped for, and the worry still persists-how much has really changed, and will there be enough enthusiasm to carry the movement into the 1990s?
The pessimist would have to say that this cannot go on forever-people will surely tire of this constant clamor for school reform that seems to produce disappointing results and turn their attention elsewhere. A more optimistic view could look at several factors which, though less visible than the continued failure in so many schools, nevertheless might cause reform not only to continue but to increase in the nineties.
The most important basis for optimism is that the political force that has been driving educational reform in the eighties is still as strong as ever-they fear that continued educational failure will lead to economic decline and a lowered standard of living. Reform movements of the past have been based either on educational ideas that did not necessarily have widespread support or on national "emergencies" whose urgency faded within a few years.
It's true that the connection of these economic fears to education would not necessarily have to last. If experts came along with other explanations and ways for improvement of American economic position, the interest in education might indeed decrease. On the contrary, however, more and more people are seeing that our failure to prepare our young people for productive and responsible adulthood has terrible economic as well as social consequences and that "investing in our youth" has to be an important component of America's success in the world economy of the future. | 1455.txt | 2 |
[
"\"words are more than actions\"",
"reform movement might produce disappointing results",
"school reform could turn people's attention elsewhere",
"all of these"
]
| Viewed in the light of pessimists, school reform cannot go on forever probably because | School reform proposals in the first half of the 1980s brought hope that at least the country would wake up to the need for serious improvement in our public schools. At the same time, there was skepticism as to whether the reform would last long enough to bring about real change-a fear that the enthusiasm would fade, leaving the schools much the same as before. We can say two things about this skepticism: The reform movement has had more staying power than many had hoped for, and the worry still persists-how much has really changed, and will there be enough enthusiasm to carry the movement into the 1990s?
The pessimist would have to say that this cannot go on forever-people will surely tire of this constant clamor for school reform that seems to produce disappointing results and turn their attention elsewhere. A more optimistic view could look at several factors which, though less visible than the continued failure in so many schools, nevertheless might cause reform not only to continue but to increase in the nineties.
The most important basis for optimism is that the political force that has been driving educational reform in the eighties is still as strong as ever-they fear that continued educational failure will lead to economic decline and a lowered standard of living. Reform movements of the past have been based either on educational ideas that did not necessarily have widespread support or on national "emergencies" whose urgency faded within a few years.
It's true that the connection of these economic fears to education would not necessarily have to last. If experts came along with other explanations and ways for improvement of American economic position, the interest in education might indeed decrease. On the contrary, however, more and more people are seeing that our failure to prepare our young people for productive and responsible adulthood has terrible economic as well as social consequences and that "investing in our youth" has to be an important component of America's success in the world economy of the future. | 1455.txt | 3 |
[
"The government wanted to continue the school reform into the 1900s.",
"There was continued failure in so many schools.",
"Many pessimists were uncertain whether the school reform could last long.",
"Continued educational failure might lead to economic decline and a lowered standard of living."
]
| Why has the political force been driving educational reform in the eighties? | School reform proposals in the first half of the 1980s brought hope that at least the country would wake up to the need for serious improvement in our public schools. At the same time, there was skepticism as to whether the reform would last long enough to bring about real change-a fear that the enthusiasm would fade, leaving the schools much the same as before. We can say two things about this skepticism: The reform movement has had more staying power than many had hoped for, and the worry still persists-how much has really changed, and will there be enough enthusiasm to carry the movement into the 1990s?
The pessimist would have to say that this cannot go on forever-people will surely tire of this constant clamor for school reform that seems to produce disappointing results and turn their attention elsewhere. A more optimistic view could look at several factors which, though less visible than the continued failure in so many schools, nevertheless might cause reform not only to continue but to increase in the nineties.
The most important basis for optimism is that the political force that has been driving educational reform in the eighties is still as strong as ever-they fear that continued educational failure will lead to economic decline and a lowered standard of living. Reform movements of the past have been based either on educational ideas that did not necessarily have widespread support or on national "emergencies" whose urgency faded within a few years.
It's true that the connection of these economic fears to education would not necessarily have to last. If experts came along with other explanations and ways for improvement of American economic position, the interest in education might indeed decrease. On the contrary, however, more and more people are seeing that our failure to prepare our young people for productive and responsible adulthood has terrible economic as well as social consequences and that "investing in our youth" has to be an important component of America's success in the world economy of the future. | 1455.txt | 3 |
[
"economy is declining",
"experts did not come along with ways for improvement",
"the educational ideas have not been widely accepted in the whole country",
"America succeeded in the world economy"
]
| One of the reasons of failure in school reforms might be that_ . | School reform proposals in the first half of the 1980s brought hope that at least the country would wake up to the need for serious improvement in our public schools. At the same time, there was skepticism as to whether the reform would last long enough to bring about real change-a fear that the enthusiasm would fade, leaving the schools much the same as before. We can say two things about this skepticism: The reform movement has had more staying power than many had hoped for, and the worry still persists-how much has really changed, and will there be enough enthusiasm to carry the movement into the 1990s?
The pessimist would have to say that this cannot go on forever-people will surely tire of this constant clamor for school reform that seems to produce disappointing results and turn their attention elsewhere. A more optimistic view could look at several factors which, though less visible than the continued failure in so many schools, nevertheless might cause reform not only to continue but to increase in the nineties.
The most important basis for optimism is that the political force that has been driving educational reform in the eighties is still as strong as ever-they fear that continued educational failure will lead to economic decline and a lowered standard of living. Reform movements of the past have been based either on educational ideas that did not necessarily have widespread support or on national "emergencies" whose urgency faded within a few years.
It's true that the connection of these economic fears to education would not necessarily have to last. If experts came along with other explanations and ways for improvement of American economic position, the interest in education might indeed decrease. On the contrary, however, more and more people are seeing that our failure to prepare our young people for productive and responsible adulthood has terrible economic as well as social consequences and that "investing in our youth" has to be an important component of America's success in the world economy of the future. | 1455.txt | 2 |
[
"counteract self-serving and confusing uses of the term",
"establish a compromise among those who have defined the term in different ways",
"increase comprehension of the term by providing concrete examples",
"avoid possible misinterpretations resulting from the more common uses of the term"
]
| The author's primary purpose in defining power is to | My objective is to analyze certain forms of knowledge, not in terms of repression or law, but in terms of power. But the word power is apt to lead to misunderstandings about the nature, form, and unity of power. By power, I do not mean a group of institutions and mechanisms that ensure the subservience of the citizenry. I do not mean, either, a mode of subjugation that, in contrast to violence, has the form of the rule. Finally, I do not have in mind a general system of domination exerted by one group over another, a system whose effects, through successive derivations, pervade the entire social body, The sovereignty of the state, the form of law, or the overall unity of a domination are only the terminal forms power takes.
It seems to me that power must be understood as the multiplicity of force relations that are immanent in the social sphere; as the process that, through ceaseless struggle and confrontation, transforms, strengthens, or reverses them; as the support that these force relations find in one another, or on the contrary, the disjunctions and contradictions that isolate them from one another; and lastly, as the strategies in which they take effect, whose general design or institutional crystallization is embodied in the state apparatus, in the formulation of the law, in the various social hegemonies.
Thus, the viewpoint that permits one to understand the exercise of power, even in its more "peripheral" effects, and that also makes it possible to use its mechanisms as a structural framework for analyzing the social order, must not be sought in a unique source of sovereignty from which secondary and descendent forms of power emanate but in the moving substrate of force relations that, by virtue of their inequality, constantly engender local and unstable states of power. If power seems omnipresent, it is not because it has the privilege of consolidating everything under its invincible unity, but because it is produced from one moment to the next, at every point, or rather in every relation from one point to another. Power is everywhere, not because it embraces everything, but because it comes from everywhere. And if power at times seems to be permanent, repetitions, inert, and self-reproducing, it is simply because the overall effect that emerges from all these mobilities is a concatenation that rests on each of them and seeks in turn to arrest their movement. One needs to be nominalistic, no doubt, power is not an institution,. and not a structure; neither is it a certain strength we are endowed with; it is the name that one attributes to a complex strategic situation in a particular society. | 1959.txt | 3 |
[
"Law is the protector of power.",
"Law is the source of power.",
"Law sets bounds of power.",
"Law is a product of power."
]
| According to the passage, which of the following best describes the relationship between law and power? | My objective is to analyze certain forms of knowledge, not in terms of repression or law, but in terms of power. But the word power is apt to lead to misunderstandings about the nature, form, and unity of power. By power, I do not mean a group of institutions and mechanisms that ensure the subservience of the citizenry. I do not mean, either, a mode of subjugation that, in contrast to violence, has the form of the rule. Finally, I do not have in mind a general system of domination exerted by one group over another, a system whose effects, through successive derivations, pervade the entire social body, The sovereignty of the state, the form of law, or the overall unity of a domination are only the terminal forms power takes.
It seems to me that power must be understood as the multiplicity of force relations that are immanent in the social sphere; as the process that, through ceaseless struggle and confrontation, transforms, strengthens, or reverses them; as the support that these force relations find in one another, or on the contrary, the disjunctions and contradictions that isolate them from one another; and lastly, as the strategies in which they take effect, whose general design or institutional crystallization is embodied in the state apparatus, in the formulation of the law, in the various social hegemonies.
Thus, the viewpoint that permits one to understand the exercise of power, even in its more "peripheral" effects, and that also makes it possible to use its mechanisms as a structural framework for analyzing the social order, must not be sought in a unique source of sovereignty from which secondary and descendent forms of power emanate but in the moving substrate of force relations that, by virtue of their inequality, constantly engender local and unstable states of power. If power seems omnipresent, it is not because it has the privilege of consolidating everything under its invincible unity, but because it is produced from one moment to the next, at every point, or rather in every relation from one point to another. Power is everywhere, not because it embraces everything, but because it comes from everywhere. And if power at times seems to be permanent, repetitions, inert, and self-reproducing, it is simply because the overall effect that emerges from all these mobilities is a concatenation that rests on each of them and seeks in turn to arrest their movement. One needs to be nominalistic, no doubt, power is not an institution,. and not a structure; neither is it a certain strength we are endowed with; it is the name that one attributes to a complex strategic situation in a particular society. | 1959.txt | 3 |
[
"Restatement of central ideas",
"Provision of concrete examples",
"Analysis and classification",
"Comparison and contrast"
]
| Which of the following methods is NOT used extensively by the author in describing his own conception of power? | My objective is to analyze certain forms of knowledge, not in terms of repression or law, but in terms of power. But the word power is apt to lead to misunderstandings about the nature, form, and unity of power. By power, I do not mean a group of institutions and mechanisms that ensure the subservience of the citizenry. I do not mean, either, a mode of subjugation that, in contrast to violence, has the form of the rule. Finally, I do not have in mind a general system of domination exerted by one group over another, a system whose effects, through successive derivations, pervade the entire social body, The sovereignty of the state, the form of law, or the overall unity of a domination are only the terminal forms power takes.
It seems to me that power must be understood as the multiplicity of force relations that are immanent in the social sphere; as the process that, through ceaseless struggle and confrontation, transforms, strengthens, or reverses them; as the support that these force relations find in one another, or on the contrary, the disjunctions and contradictions that isolate them from one another; and lastly, as the strategies in which they take effect, whose general design or institutional crystallization is embodied in the state apparatus, in the formulation of the law, in the various social hegemonies.
Thus, the viewpoint that permits one to understand the exercise of power, even in its more "peripheral" effects, and that also makes it possible to use its mechanisms as a structural framework for analyzing the social order, must not be sought in a unique source of sovereignty from which secondary and descendent forms of power emanate but in the moving substrate of force relations that, by virtue of their inequality, constantly engender local and unstable states of power. If power seems omnipresent, it is not because it has the privilege of consolidating everything under its invincible unity, but because it is produced from one moment to the next, at every point, or rather in every relation from one point to another. Power is everywhere, not because it embraces everything, but because it comes from everywhere. And if power at times seems to be permanent, repetitions, inert, and self-reproducing, it is simply because the overall effect that emerges from all these mobilities is a concatenation that rests on each of them and seeks in turn to arrest their movement. One needs to be nominalistic, no doubt, power is not an institution,. and not a structure; neither is it a certain strength we are endowed with; it is the name that one attributes to a complex strategic situation in a particular society. | 1959.txt | 1 |
[
"Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.",
"The highest proof of virtue is to possess boundless power without abusing it.",
"To love knowledge is to love power.",
"It is from the people and their deeds that power springs."
]
| With which of the following statements would the author be most likely to agree? | My objective is to analyze certain forms of knowledge, not in terms of repression or law, but in terms of power. But the word power is apt to lead to misunderstandings about the nature, form, and unity of power. By power, I do not mean a group of institutions and mechanisms that ensure the subservience of the citizenry. I do not mean, either, a mode of subjugation that, in contrast to violence, has the form of the rule. Finally, I do not have in mind a general system of domination exerted by one group over another, a system whose effects, through successive derivations, pervade the entire social body, The sovereignty of the state, the form of law, or the overall unity of a domination are only the terminal forms power takes.
It seems to me that power must be understood as the multiplicity of force relations that are immanent in the social sphere; as the process that, through ceaseless struggle and confrontation, transforms, strengthens, or reverses them; as the support that these force relations find in one another, or on the contrary, the disjunctions and contradictions that isolate them from one another; and lastly, as the strategies in which they take effect, whose general design or institutional crystallization is embodied in the state apparatus, in the formulation of the law, in the various social hegemonies.
Thus, the viewpoint that permits one to understand the exercise of power, even in its more "peripheral" effects, and that also makes it possible to use its mechanisms as a structural framework for analyzing the social order, must not be sought in a unique source of sovereignty from which secondary and descendent forms of power emanate but in the moving substrate of force relations that, by virtue of their inequality, constantly engender local and unstable states of power. If power seems omnipresent, it is not because it has the privilege of consolidating everything under its invincible unity, but because it is produced from one moment to the next, at every point, or rather in every relation from one point to another. Power is everywhere, not because it embraces everything, but because it comes from everywhere. And if power at times seems to be permanent, repetitions, inert, and self-reproducing, it is simply because the overall effect that emerges from all these mobilities is a concatenation that rests on each of them and seeks in turn to arrest their movement. One needs to be nominalistic, no doubt, power is not an institution,. and not a structure; neither is it a certain strength we are endowed with; it is the name that one attributes to a complex strategic situation in a particular society. | 1959.txt | 3 |
[
"concerned and sympathetic",
"scientific and detached",
"suspicious and cautious",
"reproachful and disturbed"
]
| The author's attitude toward the various kinds of compulsion employed by social institutions is best described as | My objective is to analyze certain forms of knowledge, not in terms of repression or law, but in terms of power. But the word power is apt to lead to misunderstandings about the nature, form, and unity of power. By power, I do not mean a group of institutions and mechanisms that ensure the subservience of the citizenry. I do not mean, either, a mode of subjugation that, in contrast to violence, has the form of the rule. Finally, I do not have in mind a general system of domination exerted by one group over another, a system whose effects, through successive derivations, pervade the entire social body, The sovereignty of the state, the form of law, or the overall unity of a domination are only the terminal forms power takes.
It seems to me that power must be understood as the multiplicity of force relations that are immanent in the social sphere; as the process that, through ceaseless struggle and confrontation, transforms, strengthens, or reverses them; as the support that these force relations find in one another, or on the contrary, the disjunctions and contradictions that isolate them from one another; and lastly, as the strategies in which they take effect, whose general design or institutional crystallization is embodied in the state apparatus, in the formulation of the law, in the various social hegemonies.
Thus, the viewpoint that permits one to understand the exercise of power, even in its more "peripheral" effects, and that also makes it possible to use its mechanisms as a structural framework for analyzing the social order, must not be sought in a unique source of sovereignty from which secondary and descendent forms of power emanate but in the moving substrate of force relations that, by virtue of their inequality, constantly engender local and unstable states of power. If power seems omnipresent, it is not because it has the privilege of consolidating everything under its invincible unity, but because it is produced from one moment to the next, at every point, or rather in every relation from one point to another. Power is everywhere, not because it embraces everything, but because it comes from everywhere. And if power at times seems to be permanent, repetitions, inert, and self-reproducing, it is simply because the overall effect that emerges from all these mobilities is a concatenation that rests on each of them and seeks in turn to arrest their movement. One needs to be nominalistic, no doubt, power is not an institution,. and not a structure; neither is it a certain strength we are endowed with; it is the name that one attributes to a complex strategic situation in a particular society. | 1959.txt | 1 |
[
"differing natures and directions of the forces that create them",
"rigid structural framework in which they operate",
"unique source from which they emanate",
"pervasive nature and complexity of the mechanisms by which they operate"
]
| According to the passage, states of power are transient because of the | My objective is to analyze certain forms of knowledge, not in terms of repression or law, but in terms of power. But the word power is apt to lead to misunderstandings about the nature, form, and unity of power. By power, I do not mean a group of institutions and mechanisms that ensure the subservience of the citizenry. I do not mean, either, a mode of subjugation that, in contrast to violence, has the form of the rule. Finally, I do not have in mind a general system of domination exerted by one group over another, a system whose effects, through successive derivations, pervade the entire social body, The sovereignty of the state, the form of law, or the overall unity of a domination are only the terminal forms power takes.
It seems to me that power must be understood as the multiplicity of force relations that are immanent in the social sphere; as the process that, through ceaseless struggle and confrontation, transforms, strengthens, or reverses them; as the support that these force relations find in one another, or on the contrary, the disjunctions and contradictions that isolate them from one another; and lastly, as the strategies in which they take effect, whose general design or institutional crystallization is embodied in the state apparatus, in the formulation of the law, in the various social hegemonies.
Thus, the viewpoint that permits one to understand the exercise of power, even in its more "peripheral" effects, and that also makes it possible to use its mechanisms as a structural framework for analyzing the social order, must not be sought in a unique source of sovereignty from which secondary and descendent forms of power emanate but in the moving substrate of force relations that, by virtue of their inequality, constantly engender local and unstable states of power. If power seems omnipresent, it is not because it has the privilege of consolidating everything under its invincible unity, but because it is produced from one moment to the next, at every point, or rather in every relation from one point to another. Power is everywhere, not because it embraces everything, but because it comes from everywhere. And if power at times seems to be permanent, repetitions, inert, and self-reproducing, it is simply because the overall effect that emerges from all these mobilities is a concatenation that rests on each of them and seeks in turn to arrest their movement. One needs to be nominalistic, no doubt, power is not an institution,. and not a structure; neither is it a certain strength we are endowed with; it is the name that one attributes to a complex strategic situation in a particular society. | 1959.txt | 0 |
[
"essentially the same from one society to another even though its outward manifestation may seem different",
"usually the result of misunderstandings that impede social progress",
"an inevitable feature of the social order of any state",
"wrongly blamed for disrupting the stability of society"
]
| It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes the conflict among social forces to be | My objective is to analyze certain forms of knowledge, not in terms of repression or law, but in terms of power. But the word power is apt to lead to misunderstandings about the nature, form, and unity of power. By power, I do not mean a group of institutions and mechanisms that ensure the subservience of the citizenry. I do not mean, either, a mode of subjugation that, in contrast to violence, has the form of the rule. Finally, I do not have in mind a general system of domination exerted by one group over another, a system whose effects, through successive derivations, pervade the entire social body, The sovereignty of the state, the form of law, or the overall unity of a domination are only the terminal forms power takes.
It seems to me that power must be understood as the multiplicity of force relations that are immanent in the social sphere; as the process that, through ceaseless struggle and confrontation, transforms, strengthens, or reverses them; as the support that these force relations find in one another, or on the contrary, the disjunctions and contradictions that isolate them from one another; and lastly, as the strategies in which they take effect, whose general design or institutional crystallization is embodied in the state apparatus, in the formulation of the law, in the various social hegemonies.
Thus, the viewpoint that permits one to understand the exercise of power, even in its more "peripheral" effects, and that also makes it possible to use its mechanisms as a structural framework for analyzing the social order, must not be sought in a unique source of sovereignty from which secondary and descendent forms of power emanate but in the moving substrate of force relations that, by virtue of their inequality, constantly engender local and unstable states of power. If power seems omnipresent, it is not because it has the privilege of consolidating everything under its invincible unity, but because it is produced from one moment to the next, at every point, or rather in every relation from one point to another. Power is everywhere, not because it embraces everything, but because it comes from everywhere. And if power at times seems to be permanent, repetitions, inert, and self-reproducing, it is simply because the overall effect that emerges from all these mobilities is a concatenation that rests on each of them and seeks in turn to arrest their movement. One needs to be nominalistic, no doubt, power is not an institution,. and not a structure; neither is it a certain strength we are endowed with; it is the name that one attributes to a complex strategic situation in a particular society. | 1959.txt | 2 |
[
"sprayed with pesticides",
"facing an infrared scanner",
"in poor physical condition",
"exposed to excessive sun rays"
]
| Plants will emit an increased amount of heat when they are _ . | Even plants can run a fever, especially when they're under attack by insects or disease. But unlike humans, plants can have their temperature taken from 3,000 feet away-straight up. A decade ago, adapting the infrared scanning technology developed for military purposes and other satellites, physicist Stephen Paley came up with a quick way to take the temperature of crops to determine which ones are under stress. The goal was to let farmers precisely target pesticide spraying rather than rain poison on a whole field, which invariably includes plants that don't have pest problems.
Even better, Paley's Remote Scanning Services Company could detect crop problems before they became visible to the eye. Mounted on a plane flown at 3,000 feet at night, an infrared scanner measured the heat emitted by crops. The data were transformed into a color-coded map showing where plants were running "fevers". Farmers could then spot-spray, using 50 to 70 percent less pesticide than they otherwise would.
The bad news is that Paley's company closed down in 1984, after only three years. Farmers resisted the new technology and long-term backers were hard to find. But with the renewed concern about pesticides on produce, and refinements in infrared scanning, Paley hopes to get back into operation. Agriculture experts have no doubt the technology works. "This technique can be used on 75 percent of agricultural land in the United States," says George Oerther of Texas A&M. Ray Jackson, who recently retired from the Department of Agriculture, thinks remote infrared crop scanning could be adopted by the end of the decade. But only if Paley finds the financial backing which he failed to obtain 10 years ago. | 3075.txt | 2 |
[
"estimate the damage to the crops",
"draw a color-coded map",
"measure the size of the affected area",
"locate the problem area"
]
| In order to apply pesticide spraying precisely, we can use infrared scanning to _ . | Even plants can run a fever, especially when they're under attack by insects or disease. But unlike humans, plants can have their temperature taken from 3,000 feet away-straight up. A decade ago, adapting the infrared scanning technology developed for military purposes and other satellites, physicist Stephen Paley came up with a quick way to take the temperature of crops to determine which ones are under stress. The goal was to let farmers precisely target pesticide spraying rather than rain poison on a whole field, which invariably includes plants that don't have pest problems.
Even better, Paley's Remote Scanning Services Company could detect crop problems before they became visible to the eye. Mounted on a plane flown at 3,000 feet at night, an infrared scanner measured the heat emitted by crops. The data were transformed into a color-coded map showing where plants were running "fevers". Farmers could then spot-spray, using 50 to 70 percent less pesticide than they otherwise would.
The bad news is that Paley's company closed down in 1984, after only three years. Farmers resisted the new technology and long-term backers were hard to find. But with the renewed concern about pesticides on produce, and refinements in infrared scanning, Paley hopes to get back into operation. Agriculture experts have no doubt the technology works. "This technique can be used on 75 percent of agricultural land in the United States," says George Oerther of Texas A&M. Ray Jackson, who recently retired from the Department of Agriculture, thinks remote infrared crop scanning could be adopted by the end of the decade. But only if Paley finds the financial backing which he failed to obtain 10 years ago. | 3075.txt | 3 |
[
"resorting to spot-spraying",
"consulting infrared scanning experts",
"transforming poisoned rain",
"detecting crop problems at an early date"
]
| Farmers can save a considerable amount of pesticide by _ . | Even plants can run a fever, especially when they're under attack by insects or disease. But unlike humans, plants can have their temperature taken from 3,000 feet away-straight up. A decade ago, adapting the infrared scanning technology developed for military purposes and other satellites, physicist Stephen Paley came up with a quick way to take the temperature of crops to determine which ones are under stress. The goal was to let farmers precisely target pesticide spraying rather than rain poison on a whole field, which invariably includes plants that don't have pest problems.
Even better, Paley's Remote Scanning Services Company could detect crop problems before they became visible to the eye. Mounted on a plane flown at 3,000 feet at night, an infrared scanner measured the heat emitted by crops. The data were transformed into a color-coded map showing where plants were running "fevers". Farmers could then spot-spray, using 50 to 70 percent less pesticide than they otherwise would.
The bad news is that Paley's company closed down in 1984, after only three years. Farmers resisted the new technology and long-term backers were hard to find. But with the renewed concern about pesticides on produce, and refinements in infrared scanning, Paley hopes to get back into operation. Agriculture experts have no doubt the technology works. "This technique can be used on 75 percent of agricultural land in the United States," says George Oerther of Texas A&M. Ray Jackson, who recently retired from the Department of Agriculture, thinks remote infrared crop scanning could be adopted by the end of the decade. But only if Paley finds the financial backing which he failed to obtain 10 years ago. | 3075.txt | 0 |
[
"the lack of official support",
"its high cost",
"the lack of financial support",
"its failure to help increase production"
]
| The application of infrared scanning technology to agriculture met with some difficulties due to _ . | Even plants can run a fever, especially when they're under attack by insects or disease. But unlike humans, plants can have their temperature taken from 3,000 feet away-straight up. A decade ago, adapting the infrared scanning technology developed for military purposes and other satellites, physicist Stephen Paley came up with a quick way to take the temperature of crops to determine which ones are under stress. The goal was to let farmers precisely target pesticide spraying rather than rain poison on a whole field, which invariably includes plants that don't have pest problems.
Even better, Paley's Remote Scanning Services Company could detect crop problems before they became visible to the eye. Mounted on a plane flown at 3,000 feet at night, an infrared scanner measured the heat emitted by crops. The data were transformed into a color-coded map showing where plants were running "fevers". Farmers could then spot-spray, using 50 to 70 percent less pesticide than they otherwise would.
The bad news is that Paley's company closed down in 1984, after only three years. Farmers resisted the new technology and long-term backers were hard to find. But with the renewed concern about pesticides on produce, and refinements in infrared scanning, Paley hopes to get back into operation. Agriculture experts have no doubt the technology works. "This technique can be used on 75 percent of agricultural land in the United States," says George Oerther of Texas A&M. Ray Jackson, who recently retired from the Department of Agriculture, thinks remote infrared crop scanning could be adopted by the end of the decade. But only if Paley finds the financial backing which he failed to obtain 10 years ago. | 3075.txt | 2 |
[
"the desire of farmers to improve the quality of their produce",
"growing concern about the excessive use of pesticides on crops",
"the forceful promotion by the Department of Agriculture",
"full support from agricultural experts"
]
| Infrared scanning technology may be brought back into operation because of _ . | Even plants can run a fever, especially when they're under attack by insects or disease. But unlike humans, plants can have their temperature taken from 3,000 feet away-straight up. A decade ago, adapting the infrared scanning technology developed for military purposes and other satellites, physicist Stephen Paley came up with a quick way to take the temperature of crops to determine which ones are under stress. The goal was to let farmers precisely target pesticide spraying rather than rain poison on a whole field, which invariably includes plants that don't have pest problems.
Even better, Paley's Remote Scanning Services Company could detect crop problems before they became visible to the eye. Mounted on a plane flown at 3,000 feet at night, an infrared scanner measured the heat emitted by crops. The data were transformed into a color-coded map showing where plants were running "fevers". Farmers could then spot-spray, using 50 to 70 percent less pesticide than they otherwise would.
The bad news is that Paley's company closed down in 1984, after only three years. Farmers resisted the new technology and long-term backers were hard to find. But with the renewed concern about pesticides on produce, and refinements in infrared scanning, Paley hopes to get back into operation. Agriculture experts have no doubt the technology works. "This technique can be used on 75 percent of agricultural land in the United States," says George Oerther of Texas A&M. Ray Jackson, who recently retired from the Department of Agriculture, thinks remote infrared crop scanning could be adopted by the end of the decade. But only if Paley finds the financial backing which he failed to obtain 10 years ago. | 3075.txt | 1 |
[
"gave birth to a new generation of upper class consumers",
"gave rise to the dominance of the new egoism",
"led to the reform of the retailing system",
"resulted in the worship of consumerism"
]
| The emergence of the affluent society after World War II _ . | Early in the age of affluencethat followed World War II, an American retailing analyst named Victor Lebow proclaimed, "Our enormously productive economy... demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption...We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever increasing rate."
Americans have responded to Lebow's call, and much of the world has followed.
Consumption has become a central pillar of life in industrial lands and is even embedded in social values.
Opinion surveys in the world's two largest economies-Japan and the United
States-show consumerist definitions of success becoming ever more prevalent.
Overconsumption by the world's fortunate is an environmental problem unmatched in severity by anything but perhaps population growth. Their surging exploitation of resources threatens to exhaust or unalterably spoil forests, soils, water, air and climate.
Ironically, high consumption may by a mixed blessing in human terms, too.
The time-honored values of integrity of character, good work, friendship, family and community have often been sacrificed in the rush to riches.
Thus many in the industrial lands have a sense that their world, of plenty is somehow hollow-that, misled by a consumerist culture, they have been fruitlessly attempting to satisfy what are essentially social. psychological and spiritual needs with material things.
Of course,. the opposite of overconsumption-poverty-is no solution to either environmental or human problems. It is infinitely worse for people and bad for the natural world too. Dispossessed peasants slash-and-burn their way into the rain forests of Latin American, and hungry nomads turn their herds out onto fragile African grassland, reducing it co desert.
If environmental destruction results when people have either too little or too much, we arc left to wonder how much is enough. What level of consumption can the earth support? When does having more cease to add noticeably to human satisfaction? | 196.txt | 3 |
[
"the conversion of the sale of goods into rituals",
"the people's desire for a rise in their living standards",
"the imbalance that has existed between production and consumption",
"the concept that one's success is measured by how much they consume"
]
| Apart from enormous productivity, another important impetus co high consumption is _ . | Early in the age of affluencethat followed World War II, an American retailing analyst named Victor Lebow proclaimed, "Our enormously productive economy... demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption...We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever increasing rate."
Americans have responded to Lebow's call, and much of the world has followed.
Consumption has become a central pillar of life in industrial lands and is even embedded in social values.
Opinion surveys in the world's two largest economies-Japan and the United
States-show consumerist definitions of success becoming ever more prevalent.
Overconsumption by the world's fortunate is an environmental problem unmatched in severity by anything but perhaps population growth. Their surging exploitation of resources threatens to exhaust or unalterably spoil forests, soils, water, air and climate.
Ironically, high consumption may by a mixed blessing in human terms, too.
The time-honored values of integrity of character, good work, friendship, family and community have often been sacrificed in the rush to riches.
Thus many in the industrial lands have a sense that their world, of plenty is somehow hollow-that, misled by a consumerist culture, they have been fruitlessly attempting to satisfy what are essentially social. psychological and spiritual needs with material things.
Of course,. the opposite of overconsumption-poverty-is no solution to either environmental or human problems. It is infinitely worse for people and bad for the natural world too. Dispossessed peasants slash-and-burn their way into the rain forests of Latin American, and hungry nomads turn their herds out onto fragile African grassland, reducing it co desert.
If environmental destruction results when people have either too little or too much, we arc left to wonder how much is enough. What level of consumption can the earth support? When does having more cease to add noticeably to human satisfaction? | 196.txt | 3 |
[
"Because poverty still exists in an affluent society.",
"Because moral values are sacrificed in pursuit of material satisfaction.",
"Because overconsumption won't last long due to unrestricted population growth.",
"Because traditional rituals are often neglected in the process of modernization."
]
| Why does the author say high consumption is a mixed blessing? | Early in the age of affluencethat followed World War II, an American retailing analyst named Victor Lebow proclaimed, "Our enormously productive economy... demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption...We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever increasing rate."
Americans have responded to Lebow's call, and much of the world has followed.
Consumption has become a central pillar of life in industrial lands and is even embedded in social values.
Opinion surveys in the world's two largest economies-Japan and the United
States-show consumerist definitions of success becoming ever more prevalent.
Overconsumption by the world's fortunate is an environmental problem unmatched in severity by anything but perhaps population growth. Their surging exploitation of resources threatens to exhaust or unalterably spoil forests, soils, water, air and climate.
Ironically, high consumption may by a mixed blessing in human terms, too.
The time-honored values of integrity of character, good work, friendship, family and community have often been sacrificed in the rush to riches.
Thus many in the industrial lands have a sense that their world, of plenty is somehow hollow-that, misled by a consumerist culture, they have been fruitlessly attempting to satisfy what are essentially social. psychological and spiritual needs with material things.
Of course,. the opposite of overconsumption-poverty-is no solution to either environmental or human problems. It is infinitely worse for people and bad for the natural world too. Dispossessed peasants slash-and-burn their way into the rain forests of Latin American, and hungry nomads turn their herds out onto fragile African grassland, reducing it co desert.
If environmental destruction results when people have either too little or too much, we arc left to wonder how much is enough. What level of consumption can the earth support? When does having more cease to add noticeably to human satisfaction? | 196.txt | 1 |
[
"cannot thrive on a fragile economy",
"will not aggravate environmental problems",
"cannot satisfy human spiritual needs",
"will not alleviate poverty in wealthy countries"
]
| According to the passage, consumerist culture _ . | Early in the age of affluencethat followed World War II, an American retailing analyst named Victor Lebow proclaimed, "Our enormously productive economy... demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption...We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever increasing rate."
Americans have responded to Lebow's call, and much of the world has followed.
Consumption has become a central pillar of life in industrial lands and is even embedded in social values.
Opinion surveys in the world's two largest economies-Japan and the United
States-show consumerist definitions of success becoming ever more prevalent.
Overconsumption by the world's fortunate is an environmental problem unmatched in severity by anything but perhaps population growth. Their surging exploitation of resources threatens to exhaust or unalterably spoil forests, soils, water, air and climate.
Ironically, high consumption may by a mixed blessing in human terms, too.
The time-honored values of integrity of character, good work, friendship, family and community have often been sacrificed in the rush to riches.
Thus many in the industrial lands have a sense that their world, of plenty is somehow hollow-that, misled by a consumerist culture, they have been fruitlessly attempting to satisfy what are essentially social. psychological and spiritual needs with material things.
Of course,. the opposite of overconsumption-poverty-is no solution to either environmental or human problems. It is infinitely worse for people and bad for the natural world too. Dispossessed peasants slash-and-burn their way into the rain forests of Latin American, and hungry nomads turn their herds out onto fragile African grassland, reducing it co desert.
If environmental destruction results when people have either too little or too much, we arc left to wonder how much is enough. What level of consumption can the earth support? When does having more cease to add noticeably to human satisfaction? | 196.txt | 2 |
[
"human spiritual needs should match material affluence",
"there is never an end to satisfying people's material needs",
"whether high consumption should be encouraged is still an issue",
"how to keep consumption at a reasonable level remains a problem"
]
| It can be inferred from the passage that _ . | Early in the age of affluencethat followed World War II, an American retailing analyst named Victor Lebow proclaimed, "Our enormously productive economy... demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption...We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever increasing rate."
Americans have responded to Lebow's call, and much of the world has followed.
Consumption has become a central pillar of life in industrial lands and is even embedded in social values.
Opinion surveys in the world's two largest economies-Japan and the United
States-show consumerist definitions of success becoming ever more prevalent.
Overconsumption by the world's fortunate is an environmental problem unmatched in severity by anything but perhaps population growth. Their surging exploitation of resources threatens to exhaust or unalterably spoil forests, soils, water, air and climate.
Ironically, high consumption may by a mixed blessing in human terms, too.
The time-honored values of integrity of character, good work, friendship, family and community have often been sacrificed in the rush to riches.
Thus many in the industrial lands have a sense that their world, of plenty is somehow hollow-that, misled by a consumerist culture, they have been fruitlessly attempting to satisfy what are essentially social. psychological and spiritual needs with material things.
Of course,. the opposite of overconsumption-poverty-is no solution to either environmental or human problems. It is infinitely worse for people and bad for the natural world too. Dispossessed peasants slash-and-burn their way into the rain forests of Latin American, and hungry nomads turn their herds out onto fragile African grassland, reducing it co desert.
If environmental destruction results when people have either too little or too much, we arc left to wonder how much is enough. What level of consumption can the earth support? When does having more cease to add noticeably to human satisfaction? | 196.txt | 3 |
[
"plead for the abolishment of uniforms",
"show that uniforms are not possible in a democratic society",
"advocate stronger governmental controls on the wearing of uniforms",
"convince the reader that uniforms have more disadvantages than advantages"
]
| The author's primary purpose in writing this passage was to _ . | No one should be forced to wear a uniform. under any circumstance. Uniforms are demanding to the human spirit and totally unnecessary in a democratic society. Uniforms tell the world that the person who wears one has no value as an individual but only lives to function as a part of a whole. The individual in a uniform. loses all self-worth
There are those who my that wearing a uniform. gives a person a sense of identification with a larger, more important concept. But what could be more important than the individual himself？ If an organization must rely on the dress style. and its buttons to inspire its members, it tends to show its weakness in market competition and is going to the dogs. Some argue that the practice of making persons wear uniforms, say in a school, so as to eliminate all envy and competition in the matter of dress. A poor student who cannot afford good-quality clothing is not to be belittled by a well-dressed student. But these arguments conveniently ignore such critical concepts as freedom of choice, motivation, and individuality. But why should one strive to be better if all others were to wear the same style. of clothing？ It acted as if everyone in, society were demanded to buy the same model car, or have the same type of daily food. When this happened, all incentive to improve one's life is removed. Why would parents bother to work much hard, wishing that their children could enjoy a better life than they do when they are certain that their children are going to be forced to have exactly the same life as they do now？
Uniforms also hurt the economy. Right now, billions of dollars are spent on the fashion industry yearly. Thousands of persons are employed in designing, creating and marketing different types of clothing. If everyone were forced to wear uniforms, artistic personnel would be unnecessary. Sales persons would be superfluous as well; why bother to sell the only items that are available？ The wearing of uniforms would destroy the fashion industry, which in turn would have a ripple effect on such industries as advertising and promotion. Without advertising, newspapers, magazines, and television would not be able to remain in business. One entire information and entertainment industry would collapse. | 3965.txt | 3 |
[
"To show that freedom of choice is absolute.",
"To show that the government has interfered too much in the lives of individual.",
"To suggest what would happen if uniforms became compulsory.",
"To predict the way the society will be in the next few generations."
]
| Why does the author discuss forcing everyone to buy the same car or eat the same food? | No one should be forced to wear a uniform. under any circumstance. Uniforms are demanding to the human spirit and totally unnecessary in a democratic society. Uniforms tell the world that the person who wears one has no value as an individual but only lives to function as a part of a whole. The individual in a uniform. loses all self-worth
There are those who my that wearing a uniform. gives a person a sense of identification with a larger, more important concept. But what could be more important than the individual himself？ If an organization must rely on the dress style. and its buttons to inspire its members, it tends to show its weakness in market competition and is going to the dogs. Some argue that the practice of making persons wear uniforms, say in a school, so as to eliminate all envy and competition in the matter of dress. A poor student who cannot afford good-quality clothing is not to be belittled by a well-dressed student. But these arguments conveniently ignore such critical concepts as freedom of choice, motivation, and individuality. But why should one strive to be better if all others were to wear the same style. of clothing？ It acted as if everyone in, society were demanded to buy the same model car, or have the same type of daily food. When this happened, all incentive to improve one's life is removed. Why would parents bother to work much hard, wishing that their children could enjoy a better life than they do when they are certain that their children are going to be forced to have exactly the same life as they do now？
Uniforms also hurt the economy. Right now, billions of dollars are spent on the fashion industry yearly. Thousands of persons are employed in designing, creating and marketing different types of clothing. If everyone were forced to wear uniforms, artistic personnel would be unnecessary. Sales persons would be superfluous as well; why bother to sell the only items that are available？ The wearing of uniforms would destroy the fashion industry, which in turn would have a ripple effect on such industries as advertising and promotion. Without advertising, newspapers, magazines, and television would not be able to remain in business. One entire information and entertainment industry would collapse. | 3965.txt | 2 |
[
"The person who wears a uniform has no self-worth.",
"Wearing a uniform gives a person a sense of identification with a larger concept.",
"Uniforms will hurt one entire information and entertainment industry.",
"Envy and competition are incentive to improve one's life."
]
| Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the author? | No one should be forced to wear a uniform. under any circumstance. Uniforms are demanding to the human spirit and totally unnecessary in a democratic society. Uniforms tell the world that the person who wears one has no value as an individual but only lives to function as a part of a whole. The individual in a uniform. loses all self-worth
There are those who my that wearing a uniform. gives a person a sense of identification with a larger, more important concept. But what could be more important than the individual himself？ If an organization must rely on the dress style. and its buttons to inspire its members, it tends to show its weakness in market competition and is going to the dogs. Some argue that the practice of making persons wear uniforms, say in a school, so as to eliminate all envy and competition in the matter of dress. A poor student who cannot afford good-quality clothing is not to be belittled by a well-dressed student. But these arguments conveniently ignore such critical concepts as freedom of choice, motivation, and individuality. But why should one strive to be better if all others were to wear the same style. of clothing？ It acted as if everyone in, society were demanded to buy the same model car, or have the same type of daily food. When this happened, all incentive to improve one's life is removed. Why would parents bother to work much hard, wishing that their children could enjoy a better life than they do when they are certain that their children are going to be forced to have exactly the same life as they do now？
Uniforms also hurt the economy. Right now, billions of dollars are spent on the fashion industry yearly. Thousands of persons are employed in designing, creating and marketing different types of clothing. If everyone were forced to wear uniforms, artistic personnel would be unnecessary. Sales persons would be superfluous as well; why bother to sell the only items that are available？ The wearing of uniforms would destroy the fashion industry, which in turn would have a ripple effect on such industries as advertising and promotion. Without advertising, newspapers, magazines, and television would not be able to remain in business. One entire information and entertainment industry would collapse. | 3965.txt | 1 |
[
"indispensable",
"available",
"surplus",
"supplementary"
]
| The word " superfluous" (Para. 3) most probably means _ . | No one should be forced to wear a uniform. under any circumstance. Uniforms are demanding to the human spirit and totally unnecessary in a democratic society. Uniforms tell the world that the person who wears one has no value as an individual but only lives to function as a part of a whole. The individual in a uniform. loses all self-worth
There are those who my that wearing a uniform. gives a person a sense of identification with a larger, more important concept. But what could be more important than the individual himself？ If an organization must rely on the dress style. and its buttons to inspire its members, it tends to show its weakness in market competition and is going to the dogs. Some argue that the practice of making persons wear uniforms, say in a school, so as to eliminate all envy and competition in the matter of dress. A poor student who cannot afford good-quality clothing is not to be belittled by a well-dressed student. But these arguments conveniently ignore such critical concepts as freedom of choice, motivation, and individuality. But why should one strive to be better if all others were to wear the same style. of clothing？ It acted as if everyone in, society were demanded to buy the same model car, or have the same type of daily food. When this happened, all incentive to improve one's life is removed. Why would parents bother to work much hard, wishing that their children could enjoy a better life than they do when they are certain that their children are going to be forced to have exactly the same life as they do now？
Uniforms also hurt the economy. Right now, billions of dollars are spent on the fashion industry yearly. Thousands of persons are employed in designing, creating and marketing different types of clothing. If everyone were forced to wear uniforms, artistic personnel would be unnecessary. Sales persons would be superfluous as well; why bother to sell the only items that are available？ The wearing of uniforms would destroy the fashion industry, which in turn would have a ripple effect on such industries as advertising and promotion. Without advertising, newspapers, magazines, and television would not be able to remain in business. One entire information and entertainment industry would collapse. | 3965.txt | 2 |
[
"the positive effects of wearing uniforms",
"more negative effects of wearing uniforms",
"alternative to wearing uniforms",
"the legal rights of those not wishing to wear uniforms"
]
| The next paragraph in this passage might discuss _ . | No one should be forced to wear a uniform. under any circumstance. Uniforms are demanding to the human spirit and totally unnecessary in a democratic society. Uniforms tell the world that the person who wears one has no value as an individual but only lives to function as a part of a whole. The individual in a uniform. loses all self-worth
There are those who my that wearing a uniform. gives a person a sense of identification with a larger, more important concept. But what could be more important than the individual himself？ If an organization must rely on the dress style. and its buttons to inspire its members, it tends to show its weakness in market competition and is going to the dogs. Some argue that the practice of making persons wear uniforms, say in a school, so as to eliminate all envy and competition in the matter of dress. A poor student who cannot afford good-quality clothing is not to be belittled by a well-dressed student. But these arguments conveniently ignore such critical concepts as freedom of choice, motivation, and individuality. But why should one strive to be better if all others were to wear the same style. of clothing？ It acted as if everyone in, society were demanded to buy the same model car, or have the same type of daily food. When this happened, all incentive to improve one's life is removed. Why would parents bother to work much hard, wishing that their children could enjoy a better life than they do when they are certain that their children are going to be forced to have exactly the same life as they do now？
Uniforms also hurt the economy. Right now, billions of dollars are spent on the fashion industry yearly. Thousands of persons are employed in designing, creating and marketing different types of clothing. If everyone were forced to wear uniforms, artistic personnel would be unnecessary. Sales persons would be superfluous as well; why bother to sell the only items that are available？ The wearing of uniforms would destroy the fashion industry, which in turn would have a ripple effect on such industries as advertising and promotion. Without advertising, newspapers, magazines, and television would not be able to remain in business. One entire information and entertainment industry would collapse. | 3965.txt | 1 |
[
"to reduce the cost of printing 2-or-3-cent stamps",
"to help save the consumers' cost on first-class mailing",
"to respond to the complaints about rising postal rates",
"to compete with online bill paying"
]
| The main purpose of introducing a "forever stamp" is _ . | The bad news: Stamp prices are expected to rise 2 cents in May to 41 cents, the Postal Regulatory Commission announced yesterday. The good news: With the introduction of a "forever stamp," it may be the last time Americans have to use annoying 2-or-3-cent stamps to make up postage differences.
Beginning in May, people would be able to purchase the stamps in booklets of 20 at the regular rate of a first-class stamp. As the name implies, "forever stamps" will keep their first-class mailing value forever, even when the postage rate goes up.
The new "forever stamp" is the United States Postal Service's (USPS) answer to the complaints about frequent rate increases. The May increases will be the fifth in a decade. Postal rates have risen because of inflation , competition from online bill paying, and the rising costs of employee benefits, including healthcare, says Mark Saunders, a spokesman for USPS.
The USPS expects some financial gain from sales of the "forever stamp" and the savings from not printing as many 2-or-3-cent stamps. "It's not your grandfather's stamp," says Mr. Saunders. "It could be your great-grandchildren's stamp."
Other countries, including Canada, England, and Finland use similar stamps.
Don Schilling, who has collected stamps for 50 years, says he's interested in the public's reaction. "This is an entirely new class of stamps." Mr. Schilling says. He adds that he'll buy the stamps because he will be able to use them for a long period of time, not because they could make him rich - the volume printed will be too large for collectors. "We won't be able to send our kids to college on these," he says, laughing.
The USPS board of governors has yet to accept the Postal Regulatory Commission's decision, but tends to follow its recommendations. No plans have been announced yet for the design of the stamps. | 3381.txt | 2 |
[
"could be collected by one's great-grandchildren",
"might be very precious in great-grandchildren's hands",
"might have been inherited from one's great-grandfathers",
"could be used by one's great-grandchildren even decades later"
]
| By saying "It could be your great-grandchildren's stamp", Mr. Saunders means that forever stamps _ . | The bad news: Stamp prices are expected to rise 2 cents in May to 41 cents, the Postal Regulatory Commission announced yesterday. The good news: With the introduction of a "forever stamp," it may be the last time Americans have to use annoying 2-or-3-cent stamps to make up postage differences.
Beginning in May, people would be able to purchase the stamps in booklets of 20 at the regular rate of a first-class stamp. As the name implies, "forever stamps" will keep their first-class mailing value forever, even when the postage rate goes up.
The new "forever stamp" is the United States Postal Service's (USPS) answer to the complaints about frequent rate increases. The May increases will be the fifth in a decade. Postal rates have risen because of inflation , competition from online bill paying, and the rising costs of employee benefits, including healthcare, says Mark Saunders, a spokesman for USPS.
The USPS expects some financial gain from sales of the "forever stamp" and the savings from not printing as many 2-or-3-cent stamps. "It's not your grandfather's stamp," says Mr. Saunders. "It could be your great-grandchildren's stamp."
Other countries, including Canada, England, and Finland use similar stamps.
Don Schilling, who has collected stamps for 50 years, says he's interested in the public's reaction. "This is an entirely new class of stamps." Mr. Schilling says. He adds that he'll buy the stamps because he will be able to use them for a long period of time, not because they could make him rich - the volume printed will be too large for collectors. "We won't be able to send our kids to college on these," he says, laughing.
The USPS board of governors has yet to accept the Postal Regulatory Commission's decision, but tends to follow its recommendations. No plans have been announced yet for the design of the stamps. | 3381.txt | 3 |
[
"The investment in forever stamps will bring adequate reward.",
"America will be the first country to issue forever stamps.",
"The design of the \"forever stamp\" remains to be revealed.",
"2-or-3-cent stamps will no longer be printed in the future."
]
| Which of the following is true according to the passage? | The bad news: Stamp prices are expected to rise 2 cents in May to 41 cents, the Postal Regulatory Commission announced yesterday. The good news: With the introduction of a "forever stamp," it may be the last time Americans have to use annoying 2-or-3-cent stamps to make up postage differences.
Beginning in May, people would be able to purchase the stamps in booklets of 20 at the regular rate of a first-class stamp. As the name implies, "forever stamps" will keep their first-class mailing value forever, even when the postage rate goes up.
The new "forever stamp" is the United States Postal Service's (USPS) answer to the complaints about frequent rate increases. The May increases will be the fifth in a decade. Postal rates have risen because of inflation , competition from online bill paying, and the rising costs of employee benefits, including healthcare, says Mark Saunders, a spokesman for USPS.
The USPS expects some financial gain from sales of the "forever stamp" and the savings from not printing as many 2-or-3-cent stamps. "It's not your grandfather's stamp," says Mr. Saunders. "It could be your great-grandchildren's stamp."
Other countries, including Canada, England, and Finland use similar stamps.
Don Schilling, who has collected stamps for 50 years, says he's interested in the public's reaction. "This is an entirely new class of stamps." Mr. Schilling says. He adds that he'll buy the stamps because he will be able to use them for a long period of time, not because they could make him rich - the volume printed will be too large for collectors. "We won't be able to send our kids to college on these," he says, laughing.
The USPS board of governors has yet to accept the Postal Regulatory Commission's decision, but tends to follow its recommendations. No plans have been announced yet for the design of the stamps. | 3381.txt | 2 |
[
"With forever stamps, there will be no need to worry about rate changes.",
"Postal workers will benefit most from the sales of forever stamps.",
"The inflation has become a threat to the sales of first-class stamps.",
"New interest will be aroused in collecting forever stamps."
]
| What can be concluded from the passage? | The bad news: Stamp prices are expected to rise 2 cents in May to 41 cents, the Postal Regulatory Commission announced yesterday. The good news: With the introduction of a "forever stamp," it may be the last time Americans have to use annoying 2-or-3-cent stamps to make up postage differences.
Beginning in May, people would be able to purchase the stamps in booklets of 20 at the regular rate of a first-class stamp. As the name implies, "forever stamps" will keep their first-class mailing value forever, even when the postage rate goes up.
The new "forever stamp" is the United States Postal Service's (USPS) answer to the complaints about frequent rate increases. The May increases will be the fifth in a decade. Postal rates have risen because of inflation , competition from online bill paying, and the rising costs of employee benefits, including healthcare, says Mark Saunders, a spokesman for USPS.
The USPS expects some financial gain from sales of the "forever stamp" and the savings from not printing as many 2-or-3-cent stamps. "It's not your grandfather's stamp," says Mr. Saunders. "It could be your great-grandchildren's stamp."
Other countries, including Canada, England, and Finland use similar stamps.
Don Schilling, who has collected stamps for 50 years, says he's interested in the public's reaction. "This is an entirely new class of stamps." Mr. Schilling says. He adds that he'll buy the stamps because he will be able to use them for a long period of time, not because they could make him rich - the volume printed will be too large for collectors. "We won't be able to send our kids to college on these," he says, laughing.
The USPS board of governors has yet to accept the Postal Regulatory Commission's decision, but tends to follow its recommendations. No plans have been announced yet for the design of the stamps. | 3381.txt | 0 |
[
"They are more likely to survive serious diseases today.",
"Their average life span has been considerably extended.",
"They have lived long enough to read this article.",
"They are sure to enjoy a longer and happier life."
]
| Why does the author congratulate his male readers at the beginning of the passage? | If you're a male and you're reading this, congratulations: you're a survivor. According to statistics, you're more than twice as likely to die of skin cancer than a woman, than nine times more likely to die of AIDS. Assuming you make it to the end of your natural term, about 78 years for men in Australia, you'll die on average five years before a woman.
There're many reasons for this-typically, men take more risks than women and are more likely to drink and smoke-but perhaps more importantly, men don't go to the doctor.
"Men aren't seeing doctors as often as they should," says Dr. Gullotta. "This is particularly so for the over-40s, when diseases tend to strike."
Gullotta says a healthy man should visit the doctor every year or two. For those over45, it should be at least once a year.
Two months ago Gullotta saw a 50-year-old man who had delayed doing anything about his smoker's cough for a year.
"When I finally saw him it had already spread and he has since died from lung cancer," he says. "Earlier detection and treatment may not have cured him, but it would have prolonged his life."
According to a recent survey, 95%of women aged between 15and early 40s see a doctor once a year, compared to 70% of men in the same age group.
"A lot of men think they're invincible ," Gullotta says. "They only come in when a friend drops dead on the golf course and they think, ‘Geez, if it could happen to him, …'"
Then there's the ostrich approach. "Some men are scared of what might be there and would rather not know," says Dr, Ross Cartmill.
"Most men get their cars serviced more regularly than they service their bodies," Cartmill says. He believes most diseases that commonly affect men could be addressed by preventive check-ups.
Regular check-ups for men would inevitable place strain on the public purse, Cartmill says. "But prevention is cheaper in the long run than having to treat the diseases. Besides, the ultimate cost far greater; it's called premature death." | 1565.txt | 0 |
[
"Men drink and smoke much more than women.",
"Men don't seek medical care as often as women",
"Men aren't as cautious as women in face of danger.",
"Men are more likely to suffer from fatal diseases."
]
| What does the author state is the most important reason men die five years earlier on average than women? | If you're a male and you're reading this, congratulations: you're a survivor. According to statistics, you're more than twice as likely to die of skin cancer than a woman, than nine times more likely to die of AIDS. Assuming you make it to the end of your natural term, about 78 years for men in Australia, you'll die on average five years before a woman.
There're many reasons for this-typically, men take more risks than women and are more likely to drink and smoke-but perhaps more importantly, men don't go to the doctor.
"Men aren't seeing doctors as often as they should," says Dr. Gullotta. "This is particularly so for the over-40s, when diseases tend to strike."
Gullotta says a healthy man should visit the doctor every year or two. For those over45, it should be at least once a year.
Two months ago Gullotta saw a 50-year-old man who had delayed doing anything about his smoker's cough for a year.
"When I finally saw him it had already spread and he has since died from lung cancer," he says. "Earlier detection and treatment may not have cured him, but it would have prolonged his life."
According to a recent survey, 95%of women aged between 15and early 40s see a doctor once a year, compared to 70% of men in the same age group.
"A lot of men think they're invincible ," Gullotta says. "They only come in when a friend drops dead on the golf course and they think, ‘Geez, if it could happen to him, …'"
Then there's the ostrich approach. "Some men are scared of what might be there and would rather not know," says Dr, Ross Cartmill.
"Most men get their cars serviced more regularly than they service their bodies," Cartmill says. He believes most diseases that commonly affect men could be addressed by preventive check-ups.
Regular check-ups for men would inevitable place strain on the public purse, Cartmill says. "But prevention is cheaper in the long run than having to treat the diseases. Besides, the ultimate cost far greater; it's called premature death." | 1565.txt | 1 |
[
"it could happen to me, too",
"I should avoid playing golf",
"I should consider myself lucky",
"it would be a big misfortune"
]
| Which of the following best completes the sentence "Geez, if it could happen to him, …" (Line2, Para. 8)? | If you're a male and you're reading this, congratulations: you're a survivor. According to statistics, you're more than twice as likely to die of skin cancer than a woman, than nine times more likely to die of AIDS. Assuming you make it to the end of your natural term, about 78 years for men in Australia, you'll die on average five years before a woman.
There're many reasons for this-typically, men take more risks than women and are more likely to drink and smoke-but perhaps more importantly, men don't go to the doctor.
"Men aren't seeing doctors as often as they should," says Dr. Gullotta. "This is particularly so for the over-40s, when diseases tend to strike."
Gullotta says a healthy man should visit the doctor every year or two. For those over45, it should be at least once a year.
Two months ago Gullotta saw a 50-year-old man who had delayed doing anything about his smoker's cough for a year.
"When I finally saw him it had already spread and he has since died from lung cancer," he says. "Earlier detection and treatment may not have cured him, but it would have prolonged his life."
According to a recent survey, 95%of women aged between 15and early 40s see a doctor once a year, compared to 70% of men in the same age group.
"A lot of men think they're invincible ," Gullotta says. "They only come in when a friend drops dead on the golf course and they think, ‘Geez, if it could happen to him, …'"
Then there's the ostrich approach. "Some men are scared of what might be there and would rather not know," says Dr, Ross Cartmill.
"Most men get their cars serviced more regularly than they service their bodies," Cartmill says. He believes most diseases that commonly affect men could be addressed by preventive check-ups.
Regular check-ups for men would inevitable place strain on the public purse, Cartmill says. "But prevention is cheaper in the long run than having to treat the diseases. Besides, the ultimate cost far greater; it's called premature death." | 1565.txt | 0 |
[
"A casual attitude towards one's health conditions.",
"A new therapy for certain psychological problems.",
"Refusal to get medical treatment for fear of the pain involved.",
"Unwillingness to find out about one's disease because of fear."
]
| What does Dr. Ross Cartmill mean by "the ostrich approach" (Line 1, Para. 9) | If you're a male and you're reading this, congratulations: you're a survivor. According to statistics, you're more than twice as likely to die of skin cancer than a woman, than nine times more likely to die of AIDS. Assuming you make it to the end of your natural term, about 78 years for men in Australia, you'll die on average five years before a woman.
There're many reasons for this-typically, men take more risks than women and are more likely to drink and smoke-but perhaps more importantly, men don't go to the doctor.
"Men aren't seeing doctors as often as they should," says Dr. Gullotta. "This is particularly so for the over-40s, when diseases tend to strike."
Gullotta says a healthy man should visit the doctor every year or two. For those over45, it should be at least once a year.
Two months ago Gullotta saw a 50-year-old man who had delayed doing anything about his smoker's cough for a year.
"When I finally saw him it had already spread and he has since died from lung cancer," he says. "Earlier detection and treatment may not have cured him, but it would have prolonged his life."
According to a recent survey, 95%of women aged between 15and early 40s see a doctor once a year, compared to 70% of men in the same age group.
"A lot of men think they're invincible ," Gullotta says. "They only come in when a friend drops dead on the golf course and they think, ‘Geez, if it could happen to him, …'"
Then there's the ostrich approach. "Some men are scared of what might be there and would rather not know," says Dr, Ross Cartmill.
"Most men get their cars serviced more regularly than they service their bodies," Cartmill says. He believes most diseases that commonly affect men could be addressed by preventive check-ups.
Regular check-ups for men would inevitable place strain on the public purse, Cartmill says. "But prevention is cheaper in the long run than having to treat the diseases. Besides, the ultimate cost far greater; it's called premature death." | 1565.txt | 3 |
[
"They may increase public expenses.",
"They will save money in the long run.",
"They may cause psychological strains on men.",
"They will enable men to live as long as wome"
]
| What does Cartmill say about regular check-ups for men? | If you're a male and you're reading this, congratulations: you're a survivor. According to statistics, you're more than twice as likely to die of skin cancer than a woman, than nine times more likely to die of AIDS. Assuming you make it to the end of your natural term, about 78 years for men in Australia, you'll die on average five years before a woman.
There're many reasons for this-typically, men take more risks than women and are more likely to drink and smoke-but perhaps more importantly, men don't go to the doctor.
"Men aren't seeing doctors as often as they should," says Dr. Gullotta. "This is particularly so for the over-40s, when diseases tend to strike."
Gullotta says a healthy man should visit the doctor every year or two. For those over45, it should be at least once a year.
Two months ago Gullotta saw a 50-year-old man who had delayed doing anything about his smoker's cough for a year.
"When I finally saw him it had already spread and he has since died from lung cancer," he says. "Earlier detection and treatment may not have cured him, but it would have prolonged his life."
According to a recent survey, 95%of women aged between 15and early 40s see a doctor once a year, compared to 70% of men in the same age group.
"A lot of men think they're invincible ," Gullotta says. "They only come in when a friend drops dead on the golf course and they think, ‘Geez, if it could happen to him, …'"
Then there's the ostrich approach. "Some men are scared of what might be there and would rather not know," says Dr, Ross Cartmill.
"Most men get their cars serviced more regularly than they service their bodies," Cartmill says. He believes most diseases that commonly affect men could be addressed by preventive check-ups.
Regular check-ups for men would inevitable place strain on the public purse, Cartmill says. "But prevention is cheaper in the long run than having to treat the diseases. Besides, the ultimate cost far greater; it's called premature death." | 1565.txt | 1 |
[
"His abuses of presidential power.",
"The characteristics of his administration.",
"A growing chorus of outrage to his recent actions.",
"His authorization of tapping of telephone calls."
]
| What led to the challenge to President George Bushes power? | Begin with the fuss over wiretapping.According to Robert Byrd, a Democratic senator from West Virginia, George Bush has assumed unchecked power that is reserved only for kings and potentates.Barbara Boxer of California says there is no excuse for Mr Bushs actions.A growing chorus of outrage, including Congressman John Lewis and John Dean (of Watergate fame), has suggested impeachment.Over at the Nation, Jonathan Schell argues that Bushes abuses of presidential power are the most extensive in American history.The administration is not a dictatorship, he concedes, before adding that it does manifest the characteristics of one in embryonic form."
And the proof of dictatorship? On more than 30 different occasions, Mr Bush authorised the tapping of telephone calls made by American citizens.Tapping domestic telephone calls without getting a warrant is illegal.But Mr Bush claims that his constitutional powers as commander-in-chief allowed him to do so because all these calls were international ones.He maintains that going to the courts would have been cumbersome and that his first priority was to prevent another terrorist attack.
You can pick at this reasoning--for instance, there are retrospective warrants that might have donethe trick.But it is hard to claim that Mr Bush is being outlandish on any of these scores.John Schmidt, an associate attorney-general under Bill Clinton, thinks Mr Bush has the constitutional power to approve such taps; General Michael Hayden, the deputy director of national intelligence, has argued that the programme has been successful in detecting and preventing attacks inside the United States.
That assertion is for Congress to probe, but the real argument here is surely one of nuance: it has to do with how much freedom you should reasonably curtail in the name of security.Mr Bush may have crossed a line, but he has hardly smashed through it.Most European countries have more intrusive surveillance regimes than Americas.As for impeachment, the prospect of having to defend Mr Bush against the charge that he went a tad too far trying to avert a terrorist attack is the sort of thing Karl Rove salivates about.[353 words] | 1197.txt | 3 |
[
"he has constitutional power to do so",
"the prevention of terrorism is the top priority",
"international calls might be made by terrorists",
"no warrant is needed for tapping telephone calls"
]
| Bush's excuse for wiretapping is that | Begin with the fuss over wiretapping.According to Robert Byrd, a Democratic senator from West Virginia, George Bush has assumed unchecked power that is reserved only for kings and potentates.Barbara Boxer of California says there is no excuse for Mr Bushs actions.A growing chorus of outrage, including Congressman John Lewis and John Dean (of Watergate fame), has suggested impeachment.Over at the Nation, Jonathan Schell argues that Bushes abuses of presidential power are the most extensive in American history.The administration is not a dictatorship, he concedes, before adding that it does manifest the characteristics of one in embryonic form."
And the proof of dictatorship? On more than 30 different occasions, Mr Bush authorised the tapping of telephone calls made by American citizens.Tapping domestic telephone calls without getting a warrant is illegal.But Mr Bush claims that his constitutional powers as commander-in-chief allowed him to do so because all these calls were international ones.He maintains that going to the courts would have been cumbersome and that his first priority was to prevent another terrorist attack.
You can pick at this reasoning--for instance, there are retrospective warrants that might have donethe trick.But it is hard to claim that Mr Bush is being outlandish on any of these scores.John Schmidt, an associate attorney-general under Bill Clinton, thinks Mr Bush has the constitutional power to approve such taps; General Michael Hayden, the deputy director of national intelligence, has argued that the programme has been successful in detecting and preventing attacks inside the United States.
That assertion is for Congress to probe, but the real argument here is surely one of nuance: it has to do with how much freedom you should reasonably curtail in the name of security.Mr Bush may have crossed a line, but he has hardly smashed through it.Most European countries have more intrusive surveillance regimes than Americas.As for impeachment, the prospect of having to defend Mr Bush against the charge that he went a tad too far trying to avert a terrorist attack is the sort of thing Karl Rove salivates about.[353 words] | 1197.txt | 1 |
[
"The press",
"John Schmidt",
"Michael Hayden",
"Jonathan Schell"
]
| _ least supports Bushes authorization of wiretapping. | Begin with the fuss over wiretapping.According to Robert Byrd, a Democratic senator from West Virginia, George Bush has assumed unchecked power that is reserved only for kings and potentates.Barbara Boxer of California says there is no excuse for Mr Bushs actions.A growing chorus of outrage, including Congressman John Lewis and John Dean (of Watergate fame), has suggested impeachment.Over at the Nation, Jonathan Schell argues that Bushes abuses of presidential power are the most extensive in American history.The administration is not a dictatorship, he concedes, before adding that it does manifest the characteristics of one in embryonic form."
And the proof of dictatorship? On more than 30 different occasions, Mr Bush authorised the tapping of telephone calls made by American citizens.Tapping domestic telephone calls without getting a warrant is illegal.But Mr Bush claims that his constitutional powers as commander-in-chief allowed him to do so because all these calls were international ones.He maintains that going to the courts would have been cumbersome and that his first priority was to prevent another terrorist attack.
You can pick at this reasoning--for instance, there are retrospective warrants that might have donethe trick.But it is hard to claim that Mr Bush is being outlandish on any of these scores.John Schmidt, an associate attorney-general under Bill Clinton, thinks Mr Bush has the constitutional power to approve such taps; General Michael Hayden, the deputy director of national intelligence, has argued that the programme has been successful in detecting and preventing attacks inside the United States.
That assertion is for Congress to probe, but the real argument here is surely one of nuance: it has to do with how much freedom you should reasonably curtail in the name of security.Mr Bush may have crossed a line, but he has hardly smashed through it.Most European countries have more intrusive surveillance regimes than Americas.As for impeachment, the prospect of having to defend Mr Bush against the charge that he went a tad too far trying to avert a terrorist attack is the sort of thing Karl Rove salivates about.[353 words] | 1197.txt | 3 |
[
"freedom must be sacrificed to certain extent to safeguard security",
"even Congress has no more power to wiretap than the President",
"Mr Bush has been successful in fighting against terrorism",
"Mr Bush went too far trying to avert another terrorist attack"
]
| The author believes that_ | Begin with the fuss over wiretapping.According to Robert Byrd, a Democratic senator from West Virginia, George Bush has assumed unchecked power that is reserved only for kings and potentates.Barbara Boxer of California says there is no excuse for Mr Bushs actions.A growing chorus of outrage, including Congressman John Lewis and John Dean (of Watergate fame), has suggested impeachment.Over at the Nation, Jonathan Schell argues that Bushes abuses of presidential power are the most extensive in American history.The administration is not a dictatorship, he concedes, before adding that it does manifest the characteristics of one in embryonic form."
And the proof of dictatorship? On more than 30 different occasions, Mr Bush authorised the tapping of telephone calls made by American citizens.Tapping domestic telephone calls without getting a warrant is illegal.But Mr Bush claims that his constitutional powers as commander-in-chief allowed him to do so because all these calls were international ones.He maintains that going to the courts would have been cumbersome and that his first priority was to prevent another terrorist attack.
You can pick at this reasoning--for instance, there are retrospective warrants that might have donethe trick.But it is hard to claim that Mr Bush is being outlandish on any of these scores.John Schmidt, an associate attorney-general under Bill Clinton, thinks Mr Bush has the constitutional power to approve such taps; General Michael Hayden, the deputy director of national intelligence, has argued that the programme has been successful in detecting and preventing attacks inside the United States.
That assertion is for Congress to probe, but the real argument here is surely one of nuance: it has to do with how much freedom you should reasonably curtail in the name of security.Mr Bush may have crossed a line, but he has hardly smashed through it.Most European countries have more intrusive surveillance regimes than Americas.As for impeachment, the prospect of having to defend Mr Bush against the charge that he went a tad too far trying to avert a terrorist attack is the sort of thing Karl Rove salivates about.[353 words] | 1197.txt | 0 |
[
"despises",
"discusses",
"appreciates",
"approves of"
]
| The author_ Mr Bushes authorization of wiretapping in many occasions. | Begin with the fuss over wiretapping.According to Robert Byrd, a Democratic senator from West Virginia, George Bush has assumed unchecked power that is reserved only for kings and potentates.Barbara Boxer of California says there is no excuse for Mr Bushs actions.A growing chorus of outrage, including Congressman John Lewis and John Dean (of Watergate fame), has suggested impeachment.Over at the Nation, Jonathan Schell argues that Bushes abuses of presidential power are the most extensive in American history.The administration is not a dictatorship, he concedes, before adding that it does manifest the characteristics of one in embryonic form."
And the proof of dictatorship? On more than 30 different occasions, Mr Bush authorised the tapping of telephone calls made by American citizens.Tapping domestic telephone calls without getting a warrant is illegal.But Mr Bush claims that his constitutional powers as commander-in-chief allowed him to do so because all these calls were international ones.He maintains that going to the courts would have been cumbersome and that his first priority was to prevent another terrorist attack.
You can pick at this reasoning--for instance, there are retrospective warrants that might have donethe trick.But it is hard to claim that Mr Bush is being outlandish on any of these scores.John Schmidt, an associate attorney-general under Bill Clinton, thinks Mr Bush has the constitutional power to approve such taps; General Michael Hayden, the deputy director of national intelligence, has argued that the programme has been successful in detecting and preventing attacks inside the United States.
That assertion is for Congress to probe, but the real argument here is surely one of nuance: it has to do with how much freedom you should reasonably curtail in the name of security.Mr Bush may have crossed a line, but he has hardly smashed through it.Most European countries have more intrusive surveillance regimes than Americas.As for impeachment, the prospect of having to defend Mr Bush against the charge that he went a tad too far trying to avert a terrorist attack is the sort of thing Karl Rove salivates about.[353 words] | 1197.txt | 1 |
[
"decline.",
"extinction.",
"increase.",
"migration."
]
| The word "proliferation" in the passage (paragraph 1) is closest in meaning to | It was not until the Cambrian period, beginning about 600 million years ago, that a great proliferation of macroscopic species occurred on Earth and produced a fossil record that allows us to track the rise and fall of biodiversity. Since the Cambrian period, biodiversity has generally risen, but there have been some notable exceptions. Biodiversity collapsed dramatically during at least five periods because of mass extinctions around the globe. The five major mass extinctions receive most of the attention, but they are only one end of a spectrum of extinction events.Collectively, more species went extinct during smaller events that were less dramatic but more frequent. The best known of the five major extinction events, the one that saw the demise of the dinosaurs, is the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction
Starting about 280 million years ago, reptiles were the dominant large animals in terrestrial environments. In popular language this was the era "when dinosaurs ruled Earth," when a wide variety of reptile species occupying many ecological niches. However, no group or species can maintain its dominance indefinitely, and when, after over 200 million years, the age of dinosaurs came to a dramatic end about 65 million years ago, mammals began to flourish, evolving from relatively few types of small terrestrial animals into the myriad of diverse species, including bats and whales, that we know today. Paleontologists label this point in Earth's history as the end of the Cretaceous period and the beginning of the Tertiary period, often abbreviated as the K-T boundary. This time was also marked by changes in many other types of organisms. Overall, about 38 percent of the families of marine animals were lost, with percentages much higher in some groups Ammonoid mollusks went from being very diverse and abundant to being extinct. An extremely abundant set of planktonic marine animals called foraminifera largely disappeared, although they rebounded later. Among plants, the K-T boundary saw a sharp but brief rise in the abundance of primitive vascular plants such as ferns, club mosses, horsetails, and conifers and other gymnosperms. The number of flowering plants (angiosperms) was reduced at this time, but they then began to increase dramatically.
What caused these changes? For many years scientists assumed that a cooling of the climate was responsible, with dinosaurs being particularly vulnerable because, like modern reptiles, they were ectothermic (dependent on environmental heat, or cold-bloodeD. It is now widely believed that at least some species of dinosaurs had a metabolic rate high enough for them to be endotherms (animals that maintain a relatively consistent body temperature by generating heat internally). Nevertheless, climatic explanations for the K-T extinction are not really challenged by the ideas that dinosaurs may have been endothermic, because even endotherms can be affected by a significant change in the climate.
Explanations for the K-T extinction were revolutionized in 1980 when a group of physical scientists led by Luis Alvarez proposed that 65 million years ago Earth was stuck by a 10-kilometer-wide meteorite traveling at 90,000 kilometers per hour. They believed that this impact generated a thick cloud of dust that enveloped Earth, shutting out much of the incoming solar radiation and reducing plant photosynthesis to very low levels. Short-term effects might have included huge tidal waves and extensive fires. In other words, a series of events arising from a single cataclysmic event caused the massive extinctions. Initially, the meteorite theory was based on a single line of evidence. At locations around the globe, geologists had found an unusually high concentration of iridium in the layer of sedimentary rocks that was formed about 65 million years ago. Iridium is an element that is usually uncommon near Earth's surface, but it is abundant in some meteorites.Therefore, Alvarez and his colleagues concluded that it was likely that the iridium in sedimentary rocks deposited at the K-T boundary had originated in a giant meteorite or asteroid. Most scientist came to accept the meteorite theory after evidence came to light that a circular formation, 180 kilometers in diameter and centered on the north coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, was created by a meteorite impact about 65 million years ago. | 3700.txt | 2 |
[
"Biodiversity levels were steady, as indicated by the fossil record.",
"Levels of biodiversity could not be tracked.",
"The most dramatic extinction episode occurred.",
"Few microscopic species existed."
]
| Paragraph 1 supports which of the following statements about life on Earth before the Cambrian period? | It was not until the Cambrian period, beginning about 600 million years ago, that a great proliferation of macroscopic species occurred on Earth and produced a fossil record that allows us to track the rise and fall of biodiversity. Since the Cambrian period, biodiversity has generally risen, but there have been some notable exceptions. Biodiversity collapsed dramatically during at least five periods because of mass extinctions around the globe. The five major mass extinctions receive most of the attention, but they are only one end of a spectrum of extinction events.Collectively, more species went extinct during smaller events that were less dramatic but more frequent. The best known of the five major extinction events, the one that saw the demise of the dinosaurs, is the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction
Starting about 280 million years ago, reptiles were the dominant large animals in terrestrial environments. In popular language this was the era "when dinosaurs ruled Earth," when a wide variety of reptile species occupying many ecological niches. However, no group or species can maintain its dominance indefinitely, and when, after over 200 million years, the age of dinosaurs came to a dramatic end about 65 million years ago, mammals began to flourish, evolving from relatively few types of small terrestrial animals into the myriad of diverse species, including bats and whales, that we know today. Paleontologists label this point in Earth's history as the end of the Cretaceous period and the beginning of the Tertiary period, often abbreviated as the K-T boundary. This time was also marked by changes in many other types of organisms. Overall, about 38 percent of the families of marine animals were lost, with percentages much higher in some groups Ammonoid mollusks went from being very diverse and abundant to being extinct. An extremely abundant set of planktonic marine animals called foraminifera largely disappeared, although they rebounded later. Among plants, the K-T boundary saw a sharp but brief rise in the abundance of primitive vascular plants such as ferns, club mosses, horsetails, and conifers and other gymnosperms. The number of flowering plants (angiosperms) was reduced at this time, but they then began to increase dramatically.
What caused these changes? For many years scientists assumed that a cooling of the climate was responsible, with dinosaurs being particularly vulnerable because, like modern reptiles, they were ectothermic (dependent on environmental heat, or cold-bloodeD. It is now widely believed that at least some species of dinosaurs had a metabolic rate high enough for them to be endotherms (animals that maintain a relatively consistent body temperature by generating heat internally). Nevertheless, climatic explanations for the K-T extinction are not really challenged by the ideas that dinosaurs may have been endothermic, because even endotherms can be affected by a significant change in the climate.
Explanations for the K-T extinction were revolutionized in 1980 when a group of physical scientists led by Luis Alvarez proposed that 65 million years ago Earth was stuck by a 10-kilometer-wide meteorite traveling at 90,000 kilometers per hour. They believed that this impact generated a thick cloud of dust that enveloped Earth, shutting out much of the incoming solar radiation and reducing plant photosynthesis to very low levels. Short-term effects might have included huge tidal waves and extensive fires. In other words, a series of events arising from a single cataclysmic event caused the massive extinctions. Initially, the meteorite theory was based on a single line of evidence. At locations around the globe, geologists had found an unusually high concentration of iridium in the layer of sedimentary rocks that was formed about 65 million years ago. Iridium is an element that is usually uncommon near Earth's surface, but it is abundant in some meteorites.Therefore, Alvarez and his colleagues concluded that it was likely that the iridium in sedimentary rocks deposited at the K-T boundary had originated in a giant meteorite or asteroid. Most scientist came to accept the meteorite theory after evidence came to light that a circular formation, 180 kilometers in diameter and centered on the north coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, was created by a meteorite impact about 65 million years ago. | 3700.txt | 1 |
[
"Dinosaurs were the only species of reptile that existed during the whole of the Cretaceous period.",
"Dinosaurs won the battle for food resources over mammals during the Cretaceous period.",
"Dinosaurs survived extinction during the Cretaceous period, whereas many other animal species did not.",
"Dinosaurs were the physically and ecologically dominant animals during the Cretaceous period."
]
| According to paragraph 2, why are dinosaurs popularly said to have "ruled Earth" during the Cretaceous period? | It was not until the Cambrian period, beginning about 600 million years ago, that a great proliferation of macroscopic species occurred on Earth and produced a fossil record that allows us to track the rise and fall of biodiversity. Since the Cambrian period, biodiversity has generally risen, but there have been some notable exceptions. Biodiversity collapsed dramatically during at least five periods because of mass extinctions around the globe. The five major mass extinctions receive most of the attention, but they are only one end of a spectrum of extinction events.Collectively, more species went extinct during smaller events that were less dramatic but more frequent. The best known of the five major extinction events, the one that saw the demise of the dinosaurs, is the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction
Starting about 280 million years ago, reptiles were the dominant large animals in terrestrial environments. In popular language this was the era "when dinosaurs ruled Earth," when a wide variety of reptile species occupying many ecological niches. However, no group or species can maintain its dominance indefinitely, and when, after over 200 million years, the age of dinosaurs came to a dramatic end about 65 million years ago, mammals began to flourish, evolving from relatively few types of small terrestrial animals into the myriad of diverse species, including bats and whales, that we know today. Paleontologists label this point in Earth's history as the end of the Cretaceous period and the beginning of the Tertiary period, often abbreviated as the K-T boundary. This time was also marked by changes in many other types of organisms. Overall, about 38 percent of the families of marine animals were lost, with percentages much higher in some groups Ammonoid mollusks went from being very diverse and abundant to being extinct. An extremely abundant set of planktonic marine animals called foraminifera largely disappeared, although they rebounded later. Among plants, the K-T boundary saw a sharp but brief rise in the abundance of primitive vascular plants such as ferns, club mosses, horsetails, and conifers and other gymnosperms. The number of flowering plants (angiosperms) was reduced at this time, but they then began to increase dramatically.
What caused these changes? For many years scientists assumed that a cooling of the climate was responsible, with dinosaurs being particularly vulnerable because, like modern reptiles, they were ectothermic (dependent on environmental heat, or cold-bloodeD. It is now widely believed that at least some species of dinosaurs had a metabolic rate high enough for them to be endotherms (animals that maintain a relatively consistent body temperature by generating heat internally). Nevertheless, climatic explanations for the K-T extinction are not really challenged by the ideas that dinosaurs may have been endothermic, because even endotherms can be affected by a significant change in the climate.
Explanations for the K-T extinction were revolutionized in 1980 when a group of physical scientists led by Luis Alvarez proposed that 65 million years ago Earth was stuck by a 10-kilometer-wide meteorite traveling at 90,000 kilometers per hour. They believed that this impact generated a thick cloud of dust that enveloped Earth, shutting out much of the incoming solar radiation and reducing plant photosynthesis to very low levels. Short-term effects might have included huge tidal waves and extensive fires. In other words, a series of events arising from a single cataclysmic event caused the massive extinctions. Initially, the meteorite theory was based on a single line of evidence. At locations around the globe, geologists had found an unusually high concentration of iridium in the layer of sedimentary rocks that was formed about 65 million years ago. Iridium is an element that is usually uncommon near Earth's surface, but it is abundant in some meteorites.Therefore, Alvarez and his colleagues concluded that it was likely that the iridium in sedimentary rocks deposited at the K-T boundary had originated in a giant meteorite or asteroid. Most scientist came to accept the meteorite theory after evidence came to light that a circular formation, 180 kilometers in diameter and centered on the north coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, was created by a meteorite impact about 65 million years ago. | 3700.txt | 3 |
[
"Dinosaurs.",
"Foraminifera.",
"Ferns.",
"Ammonoid mollusks."
]
| According to paragraph 2, which of the following species initially increased in number at the K-T boundary? | It was not until the Cambrian period, beginning about 600 million years ago, that a great proliferation of macroscopic species occurred on Earth and produced a fossil record that allows us to track the rise and fall of biodiversity. Since the Cambrian period, biodiversity has generally risen, but there have been some notable exceptions. Biodiversity collapsed dramatically during at least five periods because of mass extinctions around the globe. The five major mass extinctions receive most of the attention, but they are only one end of a spectrum of extinction events.Collectively, more species went extinct during smaller events that were less dramatic but more frequent. The best known of the five major extinction events, the one that saw the demise of the dinosaurs, is the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction
Starting about 280 million years ago, reptiles were the dominant large animals in terrestrial environments. In popular language this was the era "when dinosaurs ruled Earth," when a wide variety of reptile species occupying many ecological niches. However, no group or species can maintain its dominance indefinitely, and when, after over 200 million years, the age of dinosaurs came to a dramatic end about 65 million years ago, mammals began to flourish, evolving from relatively few types of small terrestrial animals into the myriad of diverse species, including bats and whales, that we know today. Paleontologists label this point in Earth's history as the end of the Cretaceous period and the beginning of the Tertiary period, often abbreviated as the K-T boundary. This time was also marked by changes in many other types of organisms. Overall, about 38 percent of the families of marine animals were lost, with percentages much higher in some groups Ammonoid mollusks went from being very diverse and abundant to being extinct. An extremely abundant set of planktonic marine animals called foraminifera largely disappeared, although they rebounded later. Among plants, the K-T boundary saw a sharp but brief rise in the abundance of primitive vascular plants such as ferns, club mosses, horsetails, and conifers and other gymnosperms. The number of flowering plants (angiosperms) was reduced at this time, but they then began to increase dramatically.
What caused these changes? For many years scientists assumed that a cooling of the climate was responsible, with dinosaurs being particularly vulnerable because, like modern reptiles, they were ectothermic (dependent on environmental heat, or cold-bloodeD. It is now widely believed that at least some species of dinosaurs had a metabolic rate high enough for them to be endotherms (animals that maintain a relatively consistent body temperature by generating heat internally). Nevertheless, climatic explanations for the K-T extinction are not really challenged by the ideas that dinosaurs may have been endothermic, because even endotherms can be affected by a significant change in the climate.
Explanations for the K-T extinction were revolutionized in 1980 when a group of physical scientists led by Luis Alvarez proposed that 65 million years ago Earth was stuck by a 10-kilometer-wide meteorite traveling at 90,000 kilometers per hour. They believed that this impact generated a thick cloud of dust that enveloped Earth, shutting out much of the incoming solar radiation and reducing plant photosynthesis to very low levels. Short-term effects might have included huge tidal waves and extensive fires. In other words, a series of events arising from a single cataclysmic event caused the massive extinctions. Initially, the meteorite theory was based on a single line of evidence. At locations around the globe, geologists had found an unusually high concentration of iridium in the layer of sedimentary rocks that was formed about 65 million years ago. Iridium is an element that is usually uncommon near Earth's surface, but it is abundant in some meteorites.Therefore, Alvarez and his colleagues concluded that it was likely that the iridium in sedimentary rocks deposited at the K-T boundary had originated in a giant meteorite or asteroid. Most scientist came to accept the meteorite theory after evidence came to light that a circular formation, 180 kilometers in diameter and centered on the north coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, was created by a meteorite impact about 65 million years ago. | 3700.txt | 2 |
[
"To argue that there was a significant climate at the time that endothermic dinosaurs became extinct.",
"To argue that climate change caused some dinosaurs to evolve as endotherms.",
"To support the view that at least some of the dinosaurs that became extinct were endotherms.",
"To defend climate change as possible explanation for the extinction of dinosaurs."
]
| Why does the author note that "even endotherms can be affected by a significant change in the climate"(paragraph 3)? | It was not until the Cambrian period, beginning about 600 million years ago, that a great proliferation of macroscopic species occurred on Earth and produced a fossil record that allows us to track the rise and fall of biodiversity. Since the Cambrian period, biodiversity has generally risen, but there have been some notable exceptions. Biodiversity collapsed dramatically during at least five periods because of mass extinctions around the globe. The five major mass extinctions receive most of the attention, but they are only one end of a spectrum of extinction events.Collectively, more species went extinct during smaller events that were less dramatic but more frequent. The best known of the five major extinction events, the one that saw the demise of the dinosaurs, is the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction
Starting about 280 million years ago, reptiles were the dominant large animals in terrestrial environments. In popular language this was the era "when dinosaurs ruled Earth," when a wide variety of reptile species occupying many ecological niches. However, no group or species can maintain its dominance indefinitely, and when, after over 200 million years, the age of dinosaurs came to a dramatic end about 65 million years ago, mammals began to flourish, evolving from relatively few types of small terrestrial animals into the myriad of diverse species, including bats and whales, that we know today. Paleontologists label this point in Earth's history as the end of the Cretaceous period and the beginning of the Tertiary period, often abbreviated as the K-T boundary. This time was also marked by changes in many other types of organisms. Overall, about 38 percent of the families of marine animals were lost, with percentages much higher in some groups Ammonoid mollusks went from being very diverse and abundant to being extinct. An extremely abundant set of planktonic marine animals called foraminifera largely disappeared, although they rebounded later. Among plants, the K-T boundary saw a sharp but brief rise in the abundance of primitive vascular plants such as ferns, club mosses, horsetails, and conifers and other gymnosperms. The number of flowering plants (angiosperms) was reduced at this time, but they then began to increase dramatically.
What caused these changes? For many years scientists assumed that a cooling of the climate was responsible, with dinosaurs being particularly vulnerable because, like modern reptiles, they were ectothermic (dependent on environmental heat, or cold-bloodeD. It is now widely believed that at least some species of dinosaurs had a metabolic rate high enough for them to be endotherms (animals that maintain a relatively consistent body temperature by generating heat internally). Nevertheless, climatic explanations for the K-T extinction are not really challenged by the ideas that dinosaurs may have been endothermic, because even endotherms can be affected by a significant change in the climate.
Explanations for the K-T extinction were revolutionized in 1980 when a group of physical scientists led by Luis Alvarez proposed that 65 million years ago Earth was stuck by a 10-kilometer-wide meteorite traveling at 90,000 kilometers per hour. They believed that this impact generated a thick cloud of dust that enveloped Earth, shutting out much of the incoming solar radiation and reducing plant photosynthesis to very low levels. Short-term effects might have included huge tidal waves and extensive fires. In other words, a series of events arising from a single cataclysmic event caused the massive extinctions. Initially, the meteorite theory was based on a single line of evidence. At locations around the globe, geologists had found an unusually high concentration of iridium in the layer of sedimentary rocks that was formed about 65 million years ago. Iridium is an element that is usually uncommon near Earth's surface, but it is abundant in some meteorites.Therefore, Alvarez and his colleagues concluded that it was likely that the iridium in sedimentary rocks deposited at the K-T boundary had originated in a giant meteorite or asteroid. Most scientist came to accept the meteorite theory after evidence came to light that a circular formation, 180 kilometers in diameter and centered on the north coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, was created by a meteorite impact about 65 million years ago. | 3700.txt | 3 |
[
"collected.",
"produced.",
"spread.",
"added."
]
| The word "generated"(paragraph 4) in the passage is closest in meaning to | It was not until the Cambrian period, beginning about 600 million years ago, that a great proliferation of macroscopic species occurred on Earth and produced a fossil record that allows us to track the rise and fall of biodiversity. Since the Cambrian period, biodiversity has generally risen, but there have been some notable exceptions. Biodiversity collapsed dramatically during at least five periods because of mass extinctions around the globe. The five major mass extinctions receive most of the attention, but they are only one end of a spectrum of extinction events.Collectively, more species went extinct during smaller events that were less dramatic but more frequent. The best known of the five major extinction events, the one that saw the demise of the dinosaurs, is the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction
Starting about 280 million years ago, reptiles were the dominant large animals in terrestrial environments. In popular language this was the era "when dinosaurs ruled Earth," when a wide variety of reptile species occupying many ecological niches. However, no group or species can maintain its dominance indefinitely, and when, after over 200 million years, the age of dinosaurs came to a dramatic end about 65 million years ago, mammals began to flourish, evolving from relatively few types of small terrestrial animals into the myriad of diverse species, including bats and whales, that we know today. Paleontologists label this point in Earth's history as the end of the Cretaceous period and the beginning of the Tertiary period, often abbreviated as the K-T boundary. This time was also marked by changes in many other types of organisms. Overall, about 38 percent of the families of marine animals were lost, with percentages much higher in some groups Ammonoid mollusks went from being very diverse and abundant to being extinct. An extremely abundant set of planktonic marine animals called foraminifera largely disappeared, although they rebounded later. Among plants, the K-T boundary saw a sharp but brief rise in the abundance of primitive vascular plants such as ferns, club mosses, horsetails, and conifers and other gymnosperms. The number of flowering plants (angiosperms) was reduced at this time, but they then began to increase dramatically.
What caused these changes? For many years scientists assumed that a cooling of the climate was responsible, with dinosaurs being particularly vulnerable because, like modern reptiles, they were ectothermic (dependent on environmental heat, or cold-bloodeD. It is now widely believed that at least some species of dinosaurs had a metabolic rate high enough for them to be endotherms (animals that maintain a relatively consistent body temperature by generating heat internally). Nevertheless, climatic explanations for the K-T extinction are not really challenged by the ideas that dinosaurs may have been endothermic, because even endotherms can be affected by a significant change in the climate.
Explanations for the K-T extinction were revolutionized in 1980 when a group of physical scientists led by Luis Alvarez proposed that 65 million years ago Earth was stuck by a 10-kilometer-wide meteorite traveling at 90,000 kilometers per hour. They believed that this impact generated a thick cloud of dust that enveloped Earth, shutting out much of the incoming solar radiation and reducing plant photosynthesis to very low levels. Short-term effects might have included huge tidal waves and extensive fires. In other words, a series of events arising from a single cataclysmic event caused the massive extinctions. Initially, the meteorite theory was based on a single line of evidence. At locations around the globe, geologists had found an unusually high concentration of iridium in the layer of sedimentary rocks that was formed about 65 million years ago. Iridium is an element that is usually uncommon near Earth's surface, but it is abundant in some meteorites.Therefore, Alvarez and his colleagues concluded that it was likely that the iridium in sedimentary rocks deposited at the K-T boundary had originated in a giant meteorite or asteroid. Most scientist came to accept the meteorite theory after evidence came to light that a circular formation, 180 kilometers in diameter and centered on the north coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, was created by a meteorite impact about 65 million years ago. | 3700.txt | 1 |
[
"widespread.",
"sudden.",
"numerous.",
"subsequent."
]
| The word "extensive"(paragraph 4) in the passage is closest in meaning to | It was not until the Cambrian period, beginning about 600 million years ago, that a great proliferation of macroscopic species occurred on Earth and produced a fossil record that allows us to track the rise and fall of biodiversity. Since the Cambrian period, biodiversity has generally risen, but there have been some notable exceptions. Biodiversity collapsed dramatically during at least five periods because of mass extinctions around the globe. The five major mass extinctions receive most of the attention, but they are only one end of a spectrum of extinction events.Collectively, more species went extinct during smaller events that were less dramatic but more frequent. The best known of the five major extinction events, the one that saw the demise of the dinosaurs, is the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction
Starting about 280 million years ago, reptiles were the dominant large animals in terrestrial environments. In popular language this was the era "when dinosaurs ruled Earth," when a wide variety of reptile species occupying many ecological niches. However, no group or species can maintain its dominance indefinitely, and when, after over 200 million years, the age of dinosaurs came to a dramatic end about 65 million years ago, mammals began to flourish, evolving from relatively few types of small terrestrial animals into the myriad of diverse species, including bats and whales, that we know today. Paleontologists label this point in Earth's history as the end of the Cretaceous period and the beginning of the Tertiary period, often abbreviated as the K-T boundary. This time was also marked by changes in many other types of organisms. Overall, about 38 percent of the families of marine animals were lost, with percentages much higher in some groups Ammonoid mollusks went from being very diverse and abundant to being extinct. An extremely abundant set of planktonic marine animals called foraminifera largely disappeared, although they rebounded later. Among plants, the K-T boundary saw a sharp but brief rise in the abundance of primitive vascular plants such as ferns, club mosses, horsetails, and conifers and other gymnosperms. The number of flowering plants (angiosperms) was reduced at this time, but they then began to increase dramatically.
What caused these changes? For many years scientists assumed that a cooling of the climate was responsible, with dinosaurs being particularly vulnerable because, like modern reptiles, they were ectothermic (dependent on environmental heat, or cold-bloodeD. It is now widely believed that at least some species of dinosaurs had a metabolic rate high enough for them to be endotherms (animals that maintain a relatively consistent body temperature by generating heat internally). Nevertheless, climatic explanations for the K-T extinction are not really challenged by the ideas that dinosaurs may have been endothermic, because even endotherms can be affected by a significant change in the climate.
Explanations for the K-T extinction were revolutionized in 1980 when a group of physical scientists led by Luis Alvarez proposed that 65 million years ago Earth was stuck by a 10-kilometer-wide meteorite traveling at 90,000 kilometers per hour. They believed that this impact generated a thick cloud of dust that enveloped Earth, shutting out much of the incoming solar radiation and reducing plant photosynthesis to very low levels. Short-term effects might have included huge tidal waves and extensive fires. In other words, a series of events arising from a single cataclysmic event caused the massive extinctions. Initially, the meteorite theory was based on a single line of evidence. At locations around the globe, geologists had found an unusually high concentration of iridium in the layer of sedimentary rocks that was formed about 65 million years ago. Iridium is an element that is usually uncommon near Earth's surface, but it is abundant in some meteorites.Therefore, Alvarez and his colleagues concluded that it was likely that the iridium in sedimentary rocks deposited at the K-T boundary had originated in a giant meteorite or asteroid. Most scientist came to accept the meteorite theory after evidence came to light that a circular formation, 180 kilometers in diameter and centered on the north coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, was created by a meteorite impact about 65 million years ago. | 3700.txt | 0 |
[
"tidal waves.",
"fires.",
"insufficient solar radiation.",
"iridium."
]
| According to paragraph 4, all of the following contributed to the massive extinctions of the K-T period EXCEPT: | It was not until the Cambrian period, beginning about 600 million years ago, that a great proliferation of macroscopic species occurred on Earth and produced a fossil record that allows us to track the rise and fall of biodiversity. Since the Cambrian period, biodiversity has generally risen, but there have been some notable exceptions. Biodiversity collapsed dramatically during at least five periods because of mass extinctions around the globe. The five major mass extinctions receive most of the attention, but they are only one end of a spectrum of extinction events.Collectively, more species went extinct during smaller events that were less dramatic but more frequent. The best known of the five major extinction events, the one that saw the demise of the dinosaurs, is the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction
Starting about 280 million years ago, reptiles were the dominant large animals in terrestrial environments. In popular language this was the era "when dinosaurs ruled Earth," when a wide variety of reptile species occupying many ecological niches. However, no group or species can maintain its dominance indefinitely, and when, after over 200 million years, the age of dinosaurs came to a dramatic end about 65 million years ago, mammals began to flourish, evolving from relatively few types of small terrestrial animals into the myriad of diverse species, including bats and whales, that we know today. Paleontologists label this point in Earth's history as the end of the Cretaceous period and the beginning of the Tertiary period, often abbreviated as the K-T boundary. This time was also marked by changes in many other types of organisms. Overall, about 38 percent of the families of marine animals were lost, with percentages much higher in some groups Ammonoid mollusks went from being very diverse and abundant to being extinct. An extremely abundant set of planktonic marine animals called foraminifera largely disappeared, although they rebounded later. Among plants, the K-T boundary saw a sharp but brief rise in the abundance of primitive vascular plants such as ferns, club mosses, horsetails, and conifers and other gymnosperms. The number of flowering plants (angiosperms) was reduced at this time, but they then began to increase dramatically.
What caused these changes? For many years scientists assumed that a cooling of the climate was responsible, with dinosaurs being particularly vulnerable because, like modern reptiles, they were ectothermic (dependent on environmental heat, or cold-bloodeD. It is now widely believed that at least some species of dinosaurs had a metabolic rate high enough for them to be endotherms (animals that maintain a relatively consistent body temperature by generating heat internally). Nevertheless, climatic explanations for the K-T extinction are not really challenged by the ideas that dinosaurs may have been endothermic, because even endotherms can be affected by a significant change in the climate.
Explanations for the K-T extinction were revolutionized in 1980 when a group of physical scientists led by Luis Alvarez proposed that 65 million years ago Earth was stuck by a 10-kilometer-wide meteorite traveling at 90,000 kilometers per hour. They believed that this impact generated a thick cloud of dust that enveloped Earth, shutting out much of the incoming solar radiation and reducing plant photosynthesis to very low levels. Short-term effects might have included huge tidal waves and extensive fires. In other words, a series of events arising from a single cataclysmic event caused the massive extinctions. Initially, the meteorite theory was based on a single line of evidence. At locations around the globe, geologists had found an unusually high concentration of iridium in the layer of sedimentary rocks that was formed about 65 million years ago. Iridium is an element that is usually uncommon near Earth's surface, but it is abundant in some meteorites.Therefore, Alvarez and his colleagues concluded that it was likely that the iridium in sedimentary rocks deposited at the K-T boundary had originated in a giant meteorite or asteroid. Most scientist came to accept the meteorite theory after evidence came to light that a circular formation, 180 kilometers in diameter and centered on the north coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, was created by a meteorite impact about 65 million years ago. | 3700.txt | 3 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.