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Verbal Test - 5

Description: Verbal Ability Test for MBA and MCA Entrance, SAT Preparation, Bank PO Exams, Law Preparation Test and Fashion Designing Entrance Test
Number of Questions: 50
Created by:
Tags: Verbal Test SAT Preparation Bank PO Exams Law Preparation Test Fashhion Designing Test MBA MCA CDS UPSC SSC Railway Exams Specific Details Main Idea Vocabulary in Context Inference
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Japan and Germany ______ for ______ in the foreign car market.

Directions: The sentence below has two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Beneath the sentence are five sets of words labelled from (1) to (5). Choose the set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

 

 

  1. contend; subservience

  2. complete; subjection

  3. strive; servitude

  4. vie; hegemony

  5. struggle; bondage


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

All options are fine for the first blank. But for the second blank, only hegemony would be correct as it means leadership. Hence, option (4) is correct.

Directions: Choose the correct option to fill in the blanks.

The veracity of Abraham Lincoln is ___, but it may be ___.

  1. remarkable; authentic

  2. extraordinary; veritable

  3. well-known; ascertained

  4. laudable; literal

  5. legendary; apocryphal


Correct Option: E
Explanation:

Both options (3) and (4) fit the first blank. For the second blank, the word ‘but’ makes it clear that 'ascertained' does not fit, so it has to be ‘apocryphal’, i.e. spurious or not genuine. Therefore, the answer is option (5).

Directions: The sentence below has one or two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Beneath the sentence are five words or sets of words labelled (1) through (5). Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

The review of the new movie was so ___, it makes me wonder whether the reviewer had some personal ___ against the director.

  1. reverent; spite

  2. venerating; animosity

  3. courteous; enmity

  4. vitriolic; grudge

  5. deferential; hatred


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

For the second blank, all options given are suitable. But for the first blank, only 'vitriolic' would fit in as it means 'extremely bitter or sarcastic'. All the other words given are synonyms of 'gracious' or 'courteous'. Hence, option (4) is correct.

She was ______ ignorant about the fact that her brother had been in an accident and was enjoying at the mall with her friends.

Directions: The sentence below has two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Beneath the sentence are five sets of words labelled from (1) to (5). Choose the set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

 

 

  1. dolefully

  2. sadistically

  3. blithely

  4. mechanically

  5. morosely


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The fact that she was enjoying tells us that she was cheerful.  Therefore the answer is 'blithely' i.e. option (3)

My brother suffers from the ______ that our mother loves him more than she loves me.

Directions: The sentence below has two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Beneath the sentence are five sets of words labelled from (1) to (5). Choose the set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

 

 

  1. syllogism

  2. delusion

  3. induction

  4. synthesis

  5. coherence


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

A 'delusion' is a false belief or option. All other option mean strong statements of truth. Hence, the answer is option (2).

Pizzas are ______ to Italy, where they were invented.

Directions: The sentence below has two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Beneath the sentence are five sets of words labelled from (1) to (5). Choose the set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

 

 

  1. prosaic

  2. alien

  3. preposterous

  4. natural

  5. indigenous


Correct Option: E
Explanation:

'Indigenous' here means native. Thus option (5) is the answer.

Ron has an ______ appetite for ice-creams, chocolates and cakes

Directions: The sentence below has two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Beneath the sentence are five sets of words labelled from (1) to (5). Choose the set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

 

 

  1. exhilarating

  2. insatiable

  3. profuse

  4. exuberant

  5. affluent


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

An 'appetite' can be 'insatiable' i.e. which cannot be satisfied. Hence option (2) is best suited.

Seeing the result, the teacher accused the whole class of being ______ of brains.

Directions: The sentence below has two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Beneath the sentence are five sets of words labelled from (1) to (5). Choose the set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

 

 

  1. prosperous

  2. opulent

  3. replete

  4. surcharged

  5. destitute


Correct Option: E
Explanation:

Accusation cannot be for a positive trait. 'Destitute of' means devoid of. Hence option (5) is the answer.

I ______ gazed at Henry's new car as it was the one I had always dreamt of owning.

Directions: The sentence below has two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Beneath the sentence are five sets of words labelled from (1) to (5). Choose the set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

 

 

  1. jovially

  2. felicitously

  3. wistfully

  4. mockingly


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The answer has to be a synonym of longingly i.e. 'wistfully'. Hence option (3) is correct.

After I had spent five difficult and stressful years in New York, the small town for me wasn't just beautiful, it was______.

Directions: The sentence below has two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Beneath the sentence are five sets of words labelled from (1) to (5). Choose the set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

 

 

  1. cloud nine

  2. utopia

  3. eureka

  4. rapture


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Option (2) is best suited here as utopia means a wonderful place or a paradise. So, the answer is option (2).

Terrorists commit ______ acts on an innocent population to make their point.

Directions: The sentence below has two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Beneath the sentence are five sets of words labelled from (1) to (5). Choose the set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

 

 

  1. wanton

  2. scrupulous

  3. punctilious

  4. unimpeachable

  5. staunch


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

'Wanton' i.e. deliberately cruel or malicious is the right choice. No other option is related. Therefore option (1) is correct.

The ______ child was a constant torment for the baby sister.

Directions: The sentence below has two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Beneath the sentence are five sets of words labelled from (1) to (5). Choose the set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

 

 

  1. docile

  2. acquiescent

  3. intractable

  4. pliable

  5. controllable


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

A child who is a torment has to be 'intractable' that is stubborn or hard to manage. All other options are opposite in meaning. Hence, Option (3) is correct.

John used a ______ to express his hunger when he said, “I m so hungry, I could eat an elephant!”

Directions: The sentence below has two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Beneath the sentence are five sets of words labelled from (1) to (5). Choose the set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

 

 

  1. litotes

  2. hyperbole

  3. distortion

  4. parabola


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

'Hyperbole' is a literary term for an ooverstatement or an exaggeration. Therefore option (2) is correct.

He was disqualified for ______ when he exceeded the 3 minute timing in the public speaking contest.

Directions: The sentence below has two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Beneath the sentence are five sets of words labelled from (1) to (5). Choose the set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

 

 

  1. taciturnity

  2. epigrammatism

  3. sententiousness

  4. verbosity

  5. aphorism


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

'Verbosity' means excessive talkativeness. All other options means the opposite. Thus option (4) is correct.

'No pain no gain' is a ______ dictum used by coaches everywhere.

Directions: The sentence below has two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Beneath the sentence are five sets of words labelled from (1) to (5). Choose the set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

 

 

  1. peerless

  2. hackneyed

  3. anomalous

  4. nonpareil


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

The best suited option here is 'Hackneyed' which means overused. Hence (2) is correct.

As it had not been watered for quite a few days, the ______ plant fell over and died.

Directions: The sentence below has two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Beneath the sentence are five sets of words labelled from (1) to (5). Choose the set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

 

 

  1. unruffled

  2. desiccated

  3. lustrous

  4. spasmodic

  5. tranquil


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Not been watered for to long, the would deformity be desiccated i.e. dehydrated. Thus option (2) is correct.

Fish are sometimes referred to as “______ of the deep”

Directions: The sentence below has two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Beneath the sentence are five sets of words labelled from (1) to (5). Choose the set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

 

 

  1. burgess

  2. citizen

  3. compatriot

  4. denizens


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

The answer is option (4) as denizen means an inhabitant or occupant.

As per Passage A, costly satellites could be replaced by

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

Passage - I
With only the sun for fuel, eight tiny electric motors lift a huge, remotely controlled airplane off a runway in Hawaii and pull it to more than 80- thousand feet. Planes like this could fly for months on end in the stratosphere. Ray Morgan, president of AeroVironment says, What we're trying to do is create what we call an atmospheric satellite, which operates and performs any of the functions as a satellite would do in space, but does it very close in, in the atmosphere. NASA is funding research with a former cold war spy plane prototype. Dick Swanson of Sun Power, Inc. says of the planes, ... A very light structure, but they still needed a lot of power to keep this thing up at high altitude, so the other piece of the puzzle is a very light weight, and very high performance solar cell. Dick Swanson's solar cell is super efficient and paper thin. Thousands on the wings of the pathfinder generate ten thousand watts. He says, The solar cell converts sunlight into electricity, or as AeroVironment likes to say, the plane is powered by its shadow. This plane is powered by conventional fan jets, and rather than stay in the stratosphere for months at a time, two would fly in shifts sending and receiving phone calls over a city. The pilots on board would be responsible for taking the plane off, going up to the location, where they would be flying around in circles. Before they leave station, a second plane comes up and assumes responsibility for wireless communications, then there's a hand off. Angel Technologies says a fleet of a thousand planes could provide telecommunications for three hundred cities around the world. Sky Station says several fleets of helium balloons, say two hundred fifty over every major city, could also send cell signals from the stratosphere. And if any of this seems far fetched, Consider the incentive. Planes and balloons would cost only a fraction of the fifty million dollar a launch cost of satellites, and give new companies a piece of the multi-billion dollar communications business.

Passage - II
AeroVironment has been flying solar-electric planes successfully for over two decades and is recognized as the world leader in the field. The aircraft developed under this program have proven the viability of solar-electric aircraft for high-altitude flight. Within two years, solar-electric airplanes incorporating energy storage for nighttime flight will be capable of continuous flight for up to six months at a time at altitudes over 60,000 feet. Applications for such aircraft include telecommunications, remote sensing and atmospheric measurement. The first unmanned solar airplane developed under the NASA program, the Pathfinder, flew to 71,500 feet in 1997. A modified Pathfinder, known as Pathfinder-Plus, flew to 82,000 feet, higher than any other propeller-driven aircraft. This record flight was the 39th consecutive successful flight test of the Pathfinder platform.
Building on Pathfinder’s success, AeroVironment built a next-generation aircraft with a 206-foot wingspan, called the Centurion. The wingspan was then further extended to 247 feet, and the aircraft was renamed the Helios Prototype. The Helios Prototype, which successfully completed initial low altitude flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base in 1999, was then equipped with high efficiency solar cells and underwent high-altitude flight testing in the summer of 2001 in Hawaii at the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai. On August 13, 2001 on its second high altitude flight, Helios flew to 96,863 feet, shattering the world altitude record for both propeller and jet-powered aircraft. In June and July of 2002, SkyTower/AeroVironment, in collaboration with the Japanese Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (CRL/TAO) and NASA, successfully completed several telecom tests in Kauai—the world’s first commercial applications transmitted from over 60,000 feet in the stratosphere.  The final test, a telecom demonstration scheduled for mid-July, provided an opportunity for participants to see this breakthrough technology first-hand. The commercial version of Helios, which is the ultimate evolution of the Pathfinder and Helios Prototype, will incorporate a fuel cell energy storage system to provide power for flying through the night. It will be capable of continuous flight for months at a time at altitudes of 50,000 to 70,000 feet. A full-size fuel cell and electrolyzer energy storage system for the Helios Prototype is now operating in AeroVironment's test facility. As part of the NASA ERAST program, a reduced weight version of this system will be integrated into the Helios aircraft to enable continuous multi-day flight operation.

 

  1. several fleets of helium balloons and planes

  2. fewer satellites launched in the atmosphere

  3. space stations places over several cities

  4. solar planes

  5. more number of satellites launched in the atmosphere


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

The last four lines of the passage A give us the answer (1).

The first unmanned solar airplane was finally modified into

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

Passage - I
With only the sun for fuel, eight tiny electric motors lift a huge, remotely controlled airplane off a runway in Hawaii and pull it to more than 80- thousand feet. Planes like this could fly for months on end in the stratosphere. Ray Morgan, president of AeroVironment says, What we're trying to do is create what we call an atmospheric satellite, which operates and performs any of the functions as a satellite would do in space, but does it very close in, in the atmosphere. NASA is funding research with a former cold war spy plane prototype. Dick Swanson of Sun Power, Inc. says of the planes, ... A very light structure, but they still needed a lot of power to keep this thing up at high altitude, so the other piece of the puzzle is a very light weight, and very high performance solar cell. Dick Swanson's solar cell is super efficient and paper thin. Thousands on the wings of the pathfinder generate ten thousand watts. He says, The solar cell converts sunlight into electricity, or as AeroVironment likes to say, the plane is powered by its shadow. This plane is powered by conventional fan jets, and rather than stay in the stratosphere for months at a time, two would fly in shifts sending and receiving phone calls over a city. The pilots on board would be responsible for taking the plane off, going up to the location, where they would be flying around in circles. Before they leave station, a second plane comes up and assumes responsibility for wireless communications, then there's a hand off. Angel Technologies says a fleet of a thousand planes could provide telecommunications for three hundred cities around the world. Sky Station says several fleets of helium balloons, say two hundred fifty over every major city, could also send cell signals from the stratosphere. And if any of this seems far fetched, Consider the incentive. Planes and balloons would cost only a fraction of the fifty million dollar a launch cost of satellites, and give new companies a piece of the multi-billion dollar communications business.

Passage - II
AeroVironment has been flying solar-electric planes successfully for over two decades and is recognized as the world leader in the field. The aircraft developed under this program have proven the viability of solar-electric aircraft for high-altitude flight. Within two years, solar-electric airplanes incorporating energy storage for nighttime flight will be capable of continuous flight for up to six months at a time at altitudes over 60,000 feet. Applications for such aircraft include telecommunications, remote sensing and atmospheric measurement. The first unmanned solar airplane developed under the NASA program, the Pathfinder, flew to 71,500 feet in 1997. A modified Pathfinder, known as Pathfinder-Plus, flew to 82,000 feet, higher than any other propeller-driven aircraft. This record flight was the 39th consecutive successful flight test of the Pathfinder platform.
Building on Pathfinder’s success, AeroVironment built a next-generation aircraft with a 206-foot wingspan, called the Centurion. The wingspan was then further extended to 247 feet, and the aircraft was renamed the Helios Prototype. The Helios Prototype, which successfully completed initial low altitude flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base in 1999, was then equipped with high efficiency solar cells and underwent high-altitude flight testing in the summer of 2001 in Hawaii at the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai. On August 13, 2001 on its second high altitude flight, Helios flew to 96,863 feet, shattering the world altitude record for both propeller and jet-powered aircraft. In June and July of 2002, SkyTower/AeroVironment, in collaboration with the Japanese Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (CRL/TAO) and NASA, successfully completed several telecom tests in Kauai—the world’s first commercial applications transmitted from over 60,000 feet in the stratosphere.  The final test, a telecom demonstration scheduled for mid-July, provided an opportunity for participants to see this breakthrough technology first-hand. The commercial version of Helios, which is the ultimate evolution of the Pathfinder and Helios Prototype, will incorporate a fuel cell energy storage system to provide power for flying through the night. It will be capable of continuous flight for months at a time at altitudes of 50,000 to 70,000 feet. A full-size fuel cell and electrolyzer energy storage system for the Helios Prototype is now operating in AeroVironment's test facility. As part of the NASA ERAST program, a reduced weight version of this system will be integrated into the Helios aircraft to enable continuous multi-day flight operation.

 

  1. centurion

  2. helios

  3. the commercial version of Helios

  4. the commercial version of Helios and Pathfinder

  5. pathfinder


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The last 5 to 6 lines of Passage B tell us about the commercial version of Helios which is the ultimate evolution of Helios and pathfinder. Thus the answer is (3).

What is the meaning closest to “viability” in Passage B?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

Passage - I
With only the sun for fuel, eight tiny electric motors lift a huge, remotely controlled airplane off a runway in Hawaii and pull it to more than 80- thousand feet. Planes like this could fly for months on end in the stratosphere. Ray Morgan, president of AeroVironment says, What we're trying to do is create what we call an atmospheric satellite, which operates and performs any of the functions as a satellite would do in space, but does it very close in, in the atmosphere. NASA is funding research with a former cold war spy plane prototype. Dick Swanson of Sun Power, Inc. says of the planes, ... A very light structure, but they still needed a lot of power to keep this thing up at high altitude, so the other piece of the puzzle is a very light weight, and very high performance solar cell. Dick Swanson's solar cell is super efficient and paper thin. Thousands on the wings of the pathfinder generate ten thousand watts. He says, The solar cell converts sunlight into electricity, or as AeroVironment likes to say, the plane is powered by its shadow. This plane is powered by conventional fan jets, and rather than stay in the stratosphere for months at a time, two would fly in shifts sending and receiving phone calls over a city. The pilots on board would be responsible for taking the plane off, going up to the location, where they would be flying around in circles. Before they leave station, a second plane comes up and assumes responsibility for wireless communications, then there's a hand off. Angel Technologies says a fleet of a thousand planes could provide telecommunications for three hundred cities around the world. Sky Station says several fleets of helium balloons, say two hundred fifty over every major city, could also send cell signals from the stratosphere. And if any of this seems far fetched, Consider the incentive. Planes and balloons would cost only a fraction of the fifty million dollar a launch cost of satellites, and give new companies a piece of the multi-billion dollar communications business.

Passage - II
AeroVironment has been flying solar-electric planes successfully for over two decades and is recognized as the world leader in the field. The aircraft developed under this program have proven the viability of solar-electric aircraft for high-altitude flight. Within two years, solar-electric airplanes incorporating energy storage for nighttime flight will be capable of continuous flight for up to six months at a time at altitudes over 60,000 feet. Applications for such aircraft include telecommunications, remote sensing and atmospheric measurement. The first unmanned solar airplane developed under the NASA program, the Pathfinder, flew to 71,500 feet in 1997. A modified Pathfinder, known as Pathfinder-Plus, flew to 82,000 feet, higher than any other propeller-driven aircraft. This record flight was the 39th consecutive successful flight test of the Pathfinder platform.
Building on Pathfinder’s success, AeroVironment built a next-generation aircraft with a 206-foot wingspan, called the Centurion. The wingspan was then further extended to 247 feet, and the aircraft was renamed the Helios Prototype. The Helios Prototype, which successfully completed initial low altitude flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base in 1999, was then equipped with high efficiency solar cells and underwent high-altitude flight testing in the summer of 2001 in Hawaii at the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai. On August 13, 2001 on its second high altitude flight, Helios flew to 96,863 feet, shattering the world altitude record for both propeller and jet-powered aircraft. In June and July of 2002, SkyTower/AeroVironment, in collaboration with the Japanese Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (CRL/TAO) and NASA, successfully completed several telecom tests in Kauai—the world’s first commercial applications transmitted from over 60,000 feet in the stratosphere.  The final test, a telecom demonstration scheduled for mid-July, provided an opportunity for participants to see this breakthrough technology first-hand. The commercial version of Helios, which is the ultimate evolution of the Pathfinder and Helios Prototype, will incorporate a fuel cell energy storage system to provide power for flying through the night. It will be capable of continuous flight for months at a time at altitudes of 50,000 to 70,000 feet. A full-size fuel cell and electrolyzer energy storage system for the Helios Prototype is now operating in AeroVironment's test facility. As part of the NASA ERAST program, a reduced weight version of this system will be integrated into the Helios aircraft to enable continuous multi-day flight operation.

 

  1. Capable of performing hard tasks.

  2. Capable of performing unmanned tasks.

  3. Capable of growing.

  4. Capable of functioning adequately.


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

All the three Choices (3), (4) and (5) are meanings of viability but according to the passage, the closest meaning is (4) as the adequate functioning of the solar flyers.

The main purpose of both the passages combined is to

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

Passage - I
With only the sun for fuel, eight tiny electric motors lift a huge, remotely controlled airplane off a runway in Hawaii and pull it to more than 80- thousand feet. Planes like this could fly for months on end in the stratosphere. Ray Morgan, president of AeroVironment says, What we're trying to do is create what we call an atmospheric satellite, which operates and performs any of the functions as a satellite would do in space, but does it very close in, in the atmosphere. NASA is funding research with a former cold war spy plane prototype. Dick Swanson of Sun Power, Inc. says of the planes, ... A very light structure, but they still needed a lot of power to keep this thing up at high altitude, so the other piece of the puzzle is a very light weight, and very high performance solar cell. Dick Swanson's solar cell is super efficient and paper thin. Thousands on the wings of the pathfinder generate ten thousand watts. He says, The solar cell converts sunlight into electricity, or as AeroVironment likes to say, the plane is powered by its shadow. This plane is powered by conventional fan jets, and rather than stay in the stratosphere for months at a time, two would fly in shifts sending and receiving phone calls over a city. The pilots on board would be responsible for taking the plane off, going up to the location, where they would be flying around in circles. Before they leave station, a second plane comes up and assumes responsibility for wireless communications, then there's a hand off. Angel Technologies says a fleet of a thousand planes could provide telecommunications for three hundred cities around the world. Sky Station says several fleets of helium balloons, say two hundred fifty over every major city, could also send cell signals from the stratosphere. And if any of this seems far fetched, Consider the incentive. Planes and balloons would cost only a fraction of the fifty million dollar a launch cost of satellites, and give new companies a piece of the multi-billion dollar communications business.

Passage - II
AeroVironment has been flying solar-electric planes successfully for over two decades and is recognized as the world leader in the field. The aircraft developed under this program have proven the viability of solar-electric aircraft for high-altitude flight. Within two years, solar-electric airplanes incorporating energy storage for nighttime flight will be capable of continuous flight for up to six months at a time at altitudes over 60,000 feet. Applications for such aircraft include telecommunications, remote sensing and atmospheric measurement. The first unmanned solar airplane developed under the NASA program, the Pathfinder, flew to 71,500 feet in 1997. A modified Pathfinder, known as Pathfinder-Plus, flew to 82,000 feet, higher than any other propeller-driven aircraft. This record flight was the 39th consecutive successful flight test of the Pathfinder platform.
Building on Pathfinder’s success, AeroVironment built a next-generation aircraft with a 206-foot wingspan, called the Centurion. The wingspan was then further extended to 247 feet, and the aircraft was renamed the Helios Prototype. The Helios Prototype, which successfully completed initial low altitude flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base in 1999, was then equipped with high efficiency solar cells and underwent high-altitude flight testing in the summer of 2001 in Hawaii at the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai. On August 13, 2001 on its second high altitude flight, Helios flew to 96,863 feet, shattering the world altitude record for both propeller and jet-powered aircraft. In June and July of 2002, SkyTower/AeroVironment, in collaboration with the Japanese Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (CRL/TAO) and NASA, successfully completed several telecom tests in Kauai—the world’s first commercial applications transmitted from over 60,000 feet in the stratosphere.  The final test, a telecom demonstration scheduled for mid-July, provided an opportunity for participants to see this breakthrough technology first-hand. The commercial version of Helios, which is the ultimate evolution of the Pathfinder and Helios Prototype, will incorporate a fuel cell energy storage system to provide power for flying through the night. It will be capable of continuous flight for months at a time at altitudes of 50,000 to 70,000 feet. A full-size fuel cell and electrolyzer energy storage system for the Helios Prototype is now operating in AeroVironment's test facility. As part of the NASA ERAST program, a reduced weight version of this system will be integrated into the Helios aircraft to enable continuous multi-day flight operation.

 

  1. tell an interesting story

  2. appeal to the senses

  3. persuade

  4. give information

  5. highlight important points


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

Both the passages are giving us information about something. The first passage us about the new solar flyer while the second passage gives information about the Aerovironment and its work in making highly efficient aircrafts.

Why is psychotherapy difficult to mange successfully?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

There is a strong correlation between learning disabilities (LDs) and both DSM-IV Axis 1 psychiatric disorders and other measures of psychological distress such as lowered self-esteem and lack of social competence (Beitchman and Young, 1997; American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 1998). This is true whether one begins by studying a group of learning-disabled children (Maughan et al., 1996; Boetsch et al., 1997; Fergussen and Lynskey, 1997) or by studying a group identified as psychiatrically disturbed (Munir and Boulefard, 1995; Cohen, 1996). If the starting point of a study was children identified by the educational system as having emotional disturbance (ED), between 30% and 75% were additionally identified as having LDs (Fessier, Rosenberg, and Rosenberg, 1991; Duchnowski et al., 1993; Forness and Kavale, 1997). The most commonly associated psychiatric problem is an externalizing disorder-usually attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or a conduct disorder (CD), or both-although internalizing disorders (anxiety, depression) are also found. The type of psychiatric disorder (externalizing or internalizing) may be of importance in predicting which students will successfully complete treatment. CD worsens the prognosis, and internalizing disorders improve it (Mattison, Spitznagel, and Felix, 1998). Internalizing disorders in the young child may become externalizing disorders in adolescence. Externalizing disorders, especially CD, may progress to antisocial personality disorder in late adolescence or early adulthood. In all cases, psychotherapy can be difficult to institute or to manage successfully, because the youngsters tend to be defensive and fearful of criticism.
The Foundation Schools are programs in the greater Washington, D.C., area that provide therapeutic and educational help to students referred by the local public schools. These are students with emotional disorders severe enough to prevent them from benefiting from regular school. The youngsters referred to Foundation Schools' special education programs often have multiple and varying DSM-IV diagnoses. This was true in the case of the youngsters (Lakeisha and Arthur) in the first two case studies in this chapter. It should also be noted that both Lakeisha and Arthur had been given both internalizing and externalizing diagnoses at various points in their past.
Because reading disorders are the most-studied combined LD group, a brief review of the research in this area is useful. The relationships between reading disorders and behavior disorders is complicated and not completely worked out yet (Hinshaw, 1992; Moffitt, 1993; Beitchman, Brownlie, and Wilson, 1996; Maughan et al., 1996; Fergussen and Lynskey, 1997; Prior et al., 1999). Rutter (cited in Maughan and Yule, 1994) proposed three broad hypotheses to account for the reading-behavior problem links. First, the behavior problem may be primary and lead to reading problems by interfering with the child's learning. Second, the reading problem may be primary and lead to the behavior problem, perhaps through academic failure, frustration, and lowered self-esteem. Third, both difficulties may stem from a common root in genetic, temperamental, or environmental adversities. These models may interact in reciprocal and unidirectional ways, leading to the final result. Research has not settled which model is most accurate. Fergussen and Lynskey (1997) found that children with reading disabilities had early-onset conduct problems prior to the onset of reading problems. This supports the first model. The connection of reading disorder with ADHD (Lambert and Sandoval, 1980) and the observation that youngsters with ADHD show subpar preschool achievement tests (Mariani and Barkley, 1995) also tend to support the first model. Shaywitz (1996) has reported language delays and inattention to the sounds of words (trouble playing rhyming games with words or confusing words that sound alike) in preschool children at risk of dyslexia-second model. Hinshaw (1992) reported that the overlap of externalizing problems with cognitive and academic readiness deficits early in development suggest the influence of antecedent variables. Low socioeconomic status, family adversity, subaverage IQ, language deficits, and neurodevelopmental delays were explored as possible underlying factors-third model. Moffitt (1993) describes a neuropsychological model in which attention deficits, verbal deficits, and executive dysfunction interact with environmental responses to produce CD.

 

 

 

  1. Behavior disorders are complicated and not yet completely worked out.

  2. The youngsters are difficult to understand.

  3. Adolescents are going through a tough phase of their life.

  4. Youngsters tend to be defensive and fearful of criticism.


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

The sentence “psychotherapy can be difficult to institute or to manage successfully, because the youngsters tend to be defensive and fearful of criticism” gives us the answer (4).

Why are adolescents not eager for psychotherapy?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

The reasons some children perform at a lower academic level than intelligence and educational opportunity predict are still under study. We reference the relevant and conflicting research later, but clinically it is clear that learning disorders are associated with disturbed behavior and with psychiatric symptoms. It is our contention that youngsters with this group of difficulties require dynamically informed psychotherapeutic help if they are to utilize any academic approach. Without psychotherapy, they are often unmotivated and tend to avoid academics, using other techniques-often maladaptive-to maintain self-esteem. This tendency accelerates as they move into and through adolescence. It is also important to remember that some academic problems are primarily psychological inhibitions of curiosity (Blanchard, 1946; Buxbaum, 1964) or performance (Berger and Kennedy, 1975), and it is crucial that these are not confused with learning problems that have a cognitive origin. In addition, even in those instances in which there are cognitive problems, the final presentation is a complex interaction between neuropsychological deficits and emotional factors (Rothstein et al., 1988; Swanson, Harris, and Graham, 2003). In brief, learning problems can be the result of psychological conflict, or psychological conflict can occur secondary to neuropsychiatric deficiencies. Two of our case examples will illustrate these two possibilities, whereas the third will show how difficult it can be to make that differentiation with some adolescents.
Recent literature has contained very few essays addressing dynamic psychotherapeutic approaches to the adolescent population. Most treatment accounts describe cognitive models (Flavell, 1979), cognitive-behavioral models (Borkowski and Burke, 1996; Hallahan, Kauffman, and Lloyd, 1996), and task-analytic models (Rosenshine and Stevens, 1986). There is also some promise in computer-assisted instruction (Hall et al., 2000). There is objective evidence of success with many of these cognitive remediations, especially from the task-analytic approaches, even though a significant number of students do not respond (Torgenson, 2000). Simmerman and Swanson (2001) have pointed out procedural flaws in some studies but do not question the proven value of the procedures employed. It should also be noted that these approaches have been most successful with young children, suggesting that they may not be sufficient for adolescents. Garber (1992) describes the maneuvering and testing that these students display. After years of negative school experiences, they have taken refuge in a variety of defenses designed to hide their learning disability from others and from themselves. Garber (1992) says, The various maneuvers are means of dealing with an environment that may be ambiguous or confusing. The more intelligent the adolescent, the more complex the testing maneuver. These testing maneuvers, which try the patience of parents, teachers, and therapists, often obscure the learning-disabled adolescent's strengths and capabilities (p. 344). Palombo (2001) has provided a detailed description of the impact of learning disorders on the development of the sense of self and self-narratives. He also provides a thoughtful guide to treatment that recognizes the differential impact of the youngster's neuropsychological deficiencies as opposed to psychological issues on the development of transference. Arkowitz (2000) has suggested that dyslexia can lead to a generally over stimulated state by interfering with organizing, containing, and distinguishing among crucial features of affective experience (p. 1493). Needless to say, these adolescents are not eager for psychotherapy, viewing that prospect as a major threat to their precarious self-esteem. Still, other cognitive remedial approaches are impossible to implement when the adolescent is truant (if not from school, then often from the classroom), is unable to admit that remediation is needed, and actively avoids it. Although the effort to help adolescents with school problems is definitely multidisciplinary, the psychotherapist often has to prepare the student to accept help and also to coordinate the professional team, while maintaining the student's cooperation (Meeks and Dupont, 2003).

 

 

  1. Their minds cannot be explored easily.

  2. Their minds go through changes during puberty.

  3. Their self esteem is important to them.

  4. An adolescent mind is a complex web of questions and confusions.

  5. Adolescents are difficult to open up.


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The passage says that Adolescents view treatment as a threat to their precarious self esteem. Hence, the answer is (3).

“Both difficulties may stem from a common root”. How can this sentence be written without changing the meaning of the sentence?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

There is a strong correlation between learning disabilities (LDs) and both DSM-IV Axis 1 psychiatric disorders and other measures of psychological distress such as lowered self-esteem and lack of social competence (Beitchman and Young, 1997; American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 1998). This is true whether one begins by studying a group of learning-disabled children (Maughan et al., 1996; Boetsch et al., 1997; Fergussen and Lynskey, 1997) or by studying a group identified as psychiatrically disturbed (Munir and Boulefard, 1995; Cohen, 1996). If the starting point of a study was children identified by the educational system as having emotional disturbance (ED), between 30% and 75% were additionally identified as having LDs (Fessier, Rosenberg, and Rosenberg, 1991; Duchnowski et al., 1993; Forness and Kavale, 1997). The most commonly associated psychiatric problem is an externalizing disorder-usually attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or a conduct disorder (CD), or both-although internalizing disorders (anxiety, depression) are also found. The type of psychiatric disorder (externalizing or internalizing) may be of importance in predicting which students will successfully complete treatment. CD worsens the prognosis, and internalizing disorders improve it (Mattison, Spitznagel, and Felix, 1998). Internalizing disorders in the young child may become externalizing disorders in adolescence. Externalizing disorders, especially CD, may progress to antisocial personality disorder in late adolescence or early adulthood. In all cases, psychotherapy can be difficult to institute or to manage successfully, because the youngsters tend to be defensive and fearful of criticism.
The Foundation Schools are programs in the greater Washington, D.C., area that provide therapeutic and educational help to students referred by the local public schools. These are students with emotional disorders severe enough to prevent them from benefiting from regular school. The youngsters referred to Foundation Schools' special education programs often have multiple and varying DSM-IV diagnoses. This was true in the case of the youngsters (Lakeisha and Arthur) in the first two case studies in this chapter. It should also be noted that both Lakeisha and Arthur had been given both internalizing and externalizing diagnoses at various points in their past.
Because reading disorders are the most-studied combined LD group, a brief review of the research in this area is useful. The relationships between reading disorders and behavior disorders is complicated and not completely worked out yet (Hinshaw, 1992; Moffitt, 1993; Beitchman, Brownlie, and Wilson, 1996; Maughan et al., 1996; Fergussen and Lynskey, 1997; Prior et al., 1999). Rutter (cited in Maughan and Yule, 1994) proposed three broad hypotheses to account for the reading-behavior problem links. First, the behavior problem may be primary and lead to reading problems by interfering with the child's learning. Second, the reading problem may be primary and lead to the behavior problem, perhaps through academic failure, frustration, and lowered self-esteem. Third, both difficulties may stem from a common root in genetic, temperamental, or environmental adversities. These models may interact in reciprocal and unidirectional ways, leading to the final result. Research has not settled which model is most accurate. Fergussen and Lynskey (1997) found that children with reading disabilities had early-onset conduct problems prior to the onset of reading problems. This supports the first model. The connection of reading disorder with ADHD (Lambert and Sandoval, 1980) and the observation that youngsters with ADHD show subpar preschool achievement tests (Mariani and Barkley, 1995) also tend to support the first model. Shaywitz (1996) has reported language delays and inattention to the sounds of words (trouble playing rhyming games with words or confusing words that sound alike) in preschool children at risk of dyslexia-second model. Hinshaw (1992) reported that the overlap of externalizing problems with cognitive and academic readiness deficits early in development suggest the influence of antecedent variables. Low socioeconomic status, family adversity, subaverage IQ, language deficits, and neurodevelopmental delays were explored as possible underlying factors-third model. Moffitt (1993) describes a neuropsychological model in which attention deficits, verbal deficits, and executive dysfunction interact with environmental responses to produce CD.

 

 

 

  1. Both difficulties may be concatenated from a common root.

  2. Both difficulties may start from a common root.

  3. Both difficulties may be supplemented from a common root.

  4. Both difficulties may arise from a common root.


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

Stem from is similar to 'arising' from something. For example, “The problems of the adolescents might stem from a common factor, i.e. their upbringing”. Hence, option (4) is the answer.

It is necessary for the plane and the solar cells to be very light weight because

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

Passage - I
With only the sun for fuel, eight tiny electric motors lift a huge, remotely controlled airplane off a runway in Hawaii and pull it to more than 80- thousand feet. Planes like this could fly for months on end in the stratosphere. Ray Morgan, president of AeroVironment says, What we're trying to do is create what we call an atmospheric satellite, which operates and performs any of the functions as a satellite would do in space, but does it very close in, in the atmosphere. NASA is funding research with a former cold war spy plane prototype. Dick Swanson of Sun Power, Inc. says of the planes, ... A very light structure, but they still needed a lot of power to keep this thing up at high altitude, so the other piece of the puzzle is a very light weight, and very high performance solar cell. Dick Swanson's solar cell is super efficient and paper thin. Thousands on the wings of the pathfinder generate ten thousand watts. He says, The solar cell converts sunlight into electricity, or as AeroVironment likes to say, the plane is powered by its shadow. This plane is powered by conventional fan jets, and rather than stay in the stratosphere for months at a time, two would fly in shifts sending and receiving phone calls over a city. The pilots on board would be responsible for taking the plane off, going up to the location, where they would be flying around in circles. Before they leave station, a second plane comes up and assumes responsibility for wireless communications, then there's a hand off. Angel Technologies says a fleet of a thousand planes could provide telecommunications for three hundred cities around the world. Sky Station says several fleets of helium balloons, say two hundred fifty over every major city, could also send cell signals from the stratosphere. And if any of this seems far fetched, Consider the incentive. Planes and balloons would cost only a fraction of the fifty million dollar a launch cost of satellites, and give new companies a piece of the multi-billion dollar communications business.

Passage - II
AeroVironment has been flying solar-electric planes successfully for over two decades and is recognized as the world leader in the field. The aircraft developed under this program have proven the viability of solar-electric aircraft for high-altitude flight. Within two years, solar-electric airplanes incorporating energy storage for nighttime flight will be capable of continuous flight for up to six months at a time at altitudes over 60,000 feet. Applications for such aircraft include telecommunications, remote sensing and atmospheric measurement. The first unmanned solar airplane developed under the NASA program, the Pathfinder, flew to 71,500 feet in 1997. A modified Pathfinder, known as Pathfinder-Plus, flew to 82,000 feet, higher than any other propeller-driven aircraft. This record flight was the 39th consecutive successful flight test of the Pathfinder platform.
Building on Pathfinder’s success, AeroVironment built a next-generation aircraft with a 206-foot wingspan, called the Centurion. The wingspan was then further extended to 247 feet, and the aircraft was renamed the Helios Prototype. The Helios Prototype, which successfully completed initial low altitude flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base in 1999, was then equipped with high efficiency solar cells and underwent high-altitude flight testing in the summer of 2001 in Hawaii at the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai. On August 13, 2001 on its second high altitude flight, Helios flew to 96,863 feet, shattering the world altitude record for both propeller and jet-powered aircraft. In June and July of 2002, SkyTower/AeroVironment, in collaboration with the Japanese Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (CRL/TAO) and NASA, successfully completed several telecom tests in Kauai—the world’s first commercial applications transmitted from over 60,000 feet in the stratosphere.  The final test, a telecom demonstration scheduled for mid-July, provided an opportunity for participants to see this breakthrough technology first-hand. The commercial version of Helios, which is the ultimate evolution of the Pathfinder and Helios Prototype, will incorporate a fuel cell energy storage system to provide power for flying through the night. It will be capable of continuous flight for months at a time at altitudes of 50,000 to 70,000 feet. A full-size fuel cell and electrolyzer energy storage system for the Helios Prototype is now operating in AeroVironment's test facility. As part of the NASA ERAST program, a reduced weight version of this system will be integrated into the Helios aircraft to enable continuous multi-day flight operation.

 

  1. they would be less expensive to build

  2. a lighter plane can fly at a higher altitude

  3. a heavier plane needs more energy to keep it flying

  4. this way their performance becomes way high


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

Dick Swanson's quote in the Passage A “A very light structure, but they still needed a lot of power to keep this thing up at high altitude, so the other piece of the puzzle is a very light weight, and very high performance solar cell., gives us the answer (3).

How do Adolescents deal with these cognitive problems?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

The reasons some children perform at a lower academic level than intelligence and educational opportunity predict are still under study. We reference the relevant and conflicting research later, but clinically it is clear that learning disorders are associated with disturbed behavior and with psychiatric symptoms. It is our contention that youngsters with this group of difficulties require dynamically informed psychotherapeutic help if they are to utilize any academic approach. Without psychotherapy, they are often unmotivated and tend to avoid academics, using other techniques-often maladaptive-to maintain self-esteem. This tendency accelerates as they move into and through adolescence. It is also important to remember that some academic problems are primarily psychological inhibitions of curiosity (Blanchard, 1946; Buxbaum, 1964) or performance (Berger and Kennedy, 1975), and it is crucial that these are not confused with learning problems that have a cognitive origin. In addition, even in those instances in which there are cognitive problems, the final presentation is a complex interaction between neuropsychological deficits and emotional factors (Rothstein et al., 1988; Swanson, Harris, and Graham, 2003). In brief, learning problems can be the result of psychological conflict, or psychological conflict can occur secondary to neuropsychiatric deficiencies. Two of our case examples will illustrate these two possibilities, whereas the third will show how difficult it can be to make that differentiation with some adolescents.
Recent literature has contained very few essays addressing dynamic psychotherapeutic approaches to the adolescent population. Most treatment accounts describe cognitive models (Flavell, 1979), cognitive-behavioral models (Borkowski and Burke, 1996; Hallahan, Kauffman, and Lloyd, 1996), and task-analytic models (Rosenshine and Stevens, 1986). There is also some promise in computer-assisted instruction (Hall et al., 2000). There is objective evidence of success with many of these cognitive remediations, especially from the task-analytic approaches, even though a significant number of students do not respond (Torgenson, 2000). Simmerman and Swanson (2001) have pointed out procedural flaws in some studies but do not question the proven value of the procedures employed. It should also be noted that these approaches have been most successful with young children, suggesting that they may not be sufficient for adolescents. Garber (1992) describes the maneuvering and testing that these students display. After years of negative school experiences, they have taken refuge in a variety of defenses designed to hide their learning disability from others and from themselves. Garber (1992) says, The various maneuvers are means of dealing with an environment that may be ambiguous or confusing. The more intelligent the adolescent, the more complex the testing maneuver. These testing maneuvers, which try the patience of parents, teachers, and therapists, often obscure the learning-disabled adolescent's strengths and capabilities (p. 344). Palombo (2001) has provided a detailed description of the impact of learning disorders on the development of the sense of self and self-narratives. He also provides a thoughtful guide to treatment that recognizes the differential impact of the youngster's neuropsychological deficiencies as opposed to psychological issues on the development of transference. Arkowitz (2000) has suggested that dyslexia can lead to a generally over stimulated state by interfering with organizing, containing, and distinguishing among crucial features of affective experience (p. 1493). Needless to say, these adolescents are not eager for psychotherapy, viewing that prospect as a major threat to their precarious self-esteem. Still, other cognitive remedial approaches are impossible to implement when the adolescent is truant (if not from school, then often from the classroom), is unable to admit that remediation is needed, and actively avoids it. Although the effort to help adolescents with school problems is definitely multidisciplinary, the psychotherapist often has to prepare the student to accept help and also to coordinate the professional team, while maintaining the student's cooperation (Meeks and Dupont, 2003).

 

 

  1. They take refuge in defenses created by them to hide their disabilities.

  2. They take refuge by becoming introverts.

  3. They become victims of more serious medical problems.

  4. They take refuge in a variety of defenses.


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

The passage says that Adolescents generally create a façade and create defenses to hide their learning abilities from others. This is similar to choice (1).

What is one hindrance in cognitive remediation?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

The reasons some children perform at a lower academic level than intelligence and educational opportunity predict are still under study. We reference the relevant and conflicting research later, but clinically it is clear that learning disorders are associated with disturbed behavior and with psychiatric symptoms. It is our contention that youngsters with this group of difficulties require dynamically informed psychotherapeutic help if they are to utilize any academic approach. Without psychotherapy, they are often unmotivated and tend to avoid academics, using other techniques-often maladaptive-to maintain self-esteem. This tendency accelerates as they move into and through adolescence. It is also important to remember that some academic problems are primarily psychological inhibitions of curiosity (Blanchard, 1946; Buxbaum, 1964) or performance (Berger and Kennedy, 1975), and it is crucial that these are not confused with learning problems that have a cognitive origin. In addition, even in those instances in which there are cognitive problems, the final presentation is a complex interaction between neuropsychological deficits and emotional factors (Rothstein et al., 1988; Swanson, Harris, and Graham, 2003). In brief, learning problems can be the result of psychological conflict, or psychological conflict can occur secondary to neuropsychiatric deficiencies. Two of our case examples will illustrate these two possibilities, whereas the third will show how difficult it can be to make that differentiation with some adolescents.
Recent literature has contained very few essays addressing dynamic psychotherapeutic approaches to the adolescent population. Most treatment accounts describe cognitive models (Flavell, 1979), cognitive-behavioral models (Borkowski and Burke, 1996; Hallahan, Kauffman, and Lloyd, 1996), and task-analytic models (Rosenshine and Stevens, 1986). There is also some promise in computer-assisted instruction (Hall et al., 2000). There is objective evidence of success with many of these cognitive remediations, especially from the task-analytic approaches, even though a significant number of students do not respond (Torgenson, 2000). Simmerman and Swanson (2001) have pointed out procedural flaws in some studies but do not question the proven value of the procedures employed. It should also be noted that these approaches have been most successful with young children, suggesting that they may not be sufficient for adolescents. Garber (1992) describes the maneuvering and testing that these students display. After years of negative school experiences, they have taken refuge in a variety of defenses designed to hide their learning disability from others and from themselves. Garber (1992) says, The various maneuvers are means of dealing with an environment that may be ambiguous or confusing. The more intelligent the adolescent, the more complex the testing maneuver. These testing maneuvers, which try the patience of parents, teachers, and therapists, often obscure the learning-disabled adolescent's strengths and capabilities (p. 344). Palombo (2001) has provided a detailed description of the impact of learning disorders on the development of the sense of self and self-narratives. He also provides a thoughtful guide to treatment that recognizes the differential impact of the youngster's neuropsychological deficiencies as opposed to psychological issues on the development of transference. Arkowitz (2000) has suggested that dyslexia can lead to a generally over stimulated state by interfering with organizing, containing, and distinguishing among crucial features of affective experience (p. 1493). Needless to say, these adolescents are not eager for psychotherapy, viewing that prospect as a major threat to their precarious self-esteem. Still, other cognitive remedial approaches are impossible to implement when the adolescent is truant (if not from school, then often from the classroom), is unable to admit that remediation is needed, and actively avoids it. Although the effort to help adolescents with school problems is definitely multidisciplinary, the psychotherapist often has to prepare the student to accept help and also to coordinate the professional team, while maintaining the student's cooperation (Meeks and Dupont, 2003).

 

 

  1. They do not go into the depth of the matter.

  2. They have some social flaws.

  3. They do not respond properly to the mindset of the children going onto young adults.

  4. They are not sufficient for adolescents.


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

The sentence “It should also be noted that these approaches have been most successful with young children, suggesting that they may not be sufficient for adolescents” gives us the answer (4).

Why is psychotherapy important to disabled children?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

The reasons some children perform at a lower academic level than intelligence and educational opportunity predict are still under study. We reference the relevant and conflicting research later, but clinically it is clear that learning disorders are associated with disturbed behavior and with psychiatric symptoms. It is our contention that youngsters with this group of difficulties require dynamically informed psychotherapeutic help if they are to utilize any academic approach. Without psychotherapy, they are often unmotivated and tend to avoid academics, using other techniques-often maladaptive-to maintain self-esteem. This tendency accelerates as they move into and through adolescence. It is also important to remember that some academic problems are primarily psychological inhibitions of curiosity (Blanchard, 1946; Buxbaum, 1964) or performance (Berger and Kennedy, 1975), and it is crucial that these are not confused with learning problems that have a cognitive origin. In addition, even in those instances in which there are cognitive problems, the final presentation is a complex interaction between neuropsychological deficits and emotional factors (Rothstein et al., 1988; Swanson, Harris, and Graham, 2003). In brief, learning problems can be the result of psychological conflict, or psychological conflict can occur secondary to neuropsychiatric deficiencies. Two of our case examples will illustrate these two possibilities, whereas the third will show how difficult it can be to make that differentiation with some adolescents.
Recent literature has contained very few essays addressing dynamic psychotherapeutic approaches to the adolescent population. Most treatment accounts describe cognitive models (Flavell, 1979), cognitive-behavioral models (Borkowski and Burke, 1996; Hallahan, Kauffman, and Lloyd, 1996), and task-analytic models (Rosenshine and Stevens, 1986). There is also some promise in computer-assisted instruction (Hall et al., 2000). There is objective evidence of success with many of these cognitive remediations, especially from the task-analytic approaches, even though a significant number of students do not respond (Torgenson, 2000). Simmerman and Swanson (2001) have pointed out procedural flaws in some studies but do not question the proven value of the procedures employed. It should also be noted that these approaches have been most successful with young children, suggesting that they may not be sufficient for adolescents. Garber (1992) describes the maneuvering and testing that these students display. After years of negative school experiences, they have taken refuge in a variety of defenses designed to hide their learning disability from others and from themselves. Garber (1992) says, The various maneuvers are means of dealing with an environment that may be ambiguous or confusing. The more intelligent the adolescent, the more complex the testing maneuver. These testing maneuvers, which try the patience of parents, teachers, and therapists, often obscure the learning-disabled adolescent's strengths and capabilities (p. 344). Palombo (2001) has provided a detailed description of the impact of learning disorders on the development of the sense of self and self-narratives. He also provides a thoughtful guide to treatment that recognizes the differential impact of the youngster's neuropsychological deficiencies as opposed to psychological issues on the development of transference. Arkowitz (2000) has suggested that dyslexia can lead to a generally over stimulated state by interfering with organizing, containing, and distinguishing among crucial features of affective experience (p. 1493). Needless to say, these adolescents are not eager for psychotherapy, viewing that prospect as a major threat to their precarious self-esteem. Still, other cognitive remedial approaches are impossible to implement when the adolescent is truant (if not from school, then often from the classroom), is unable to admit that remediation is needed, and actively avoids it. Although the effort to help adolescents with school problems is definitely multidisciplinary, the psychotherapist often has to prepare the student to accept help and also to coordinate the professional team, while maintaining the student's cooperation (Meeks and Dupont, 2003).

 

 

  1. Their problems increase through adolescence.

  2. They are unmotivated.

  3. They can grow up to be criminals.

  4. Their mind does not develop properly.


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

The sentence “Without psychotherapy, they are often unmotivated and tend to avoid academics” gives us the answer (2).

What kind of youngsters are referred to Foundation schools?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

There is a strong correlation between learning disabilities (LDs) and both DSM-IV Axis 1 psychiatric disorders and other measures of psychological distress such as lowered self-esteem and lack of social competence (Beitchman and Young, 1997; American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 1998). This is true whether one begins by studying a group of learning-disabled children (Maughan et al., 1996; Boetsch et al., 1997; Fergussen and Lynskey, 1997) or by studying a group identified as psychiatrically disturbed (Munir and Boulefard, 1995; Cohen, 1996). If the starting point of a study was children identified by the educational system as having emotional disturbance (ED), between 30% and 75% were additionally identified as having LDs (Fessier, Rosenberg, and Rosenberg, 1991; Duchnowski et al., 1993; Forness and Kavale, 1997). The most commonly associated psychiatric problem is an externalizing disorder-usually attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or a conduct disorder (CD), or both-although internalizing disorders (anxiety, depression) are also found. The type of psychiatric disorder (externalizing or internalizing) may be of importance in predicting which students will successfully complete treatment. CD worsens the prognosis, and internalizing disorders improve it (Mattison, Spitznagel, and Felix, 1998). Internalizing disorders in the young child may become externalizing disorders in adolescence. Externalizing disorders, especially CD, may progress to antisocial personality disorder in late adolescence or early adulthood. In all cases, psychotherapy can be difficult to institute or to manage successfully, because the youngsters tend to be defensive and fearful of criticism.
The Foundation Schools are programs in the greater Washington, D.C., area that provide therapeutic and educational help to students referred by the local public schools. These are students with emotional disorders severe enough to prevent them from benefiting from regular school. The youngsters referred to Foundation Schools' special education programs often have multiple and varying DSM-IV diagnoses. This was true in the case of the youngsters (Lakeisha and Arthur) in the first two case studies in this chapter. It should also be noted that both Lakeisha and Arthur had been given both internalizing and externalizing diagnoses at various points in their past.
Because reading disorders are the most-studied combined LD group, a brief review of the research in this area is useful. The relationships between reading disorders and behavior disorders is complicated and not completely worked out yet (Hinshaw, 1992; Moffitt, 1993; Beitchman, Brownlie, and Wilson, 1996; Maughan et al., 1996; Fergussen and Lynskey, 1997; Prior et al., 1999). Rutter (cited in Maughan and Yule, 1994) proposed three broad hypotheses to account for the reading-behavior problem links. First, the behavior problem may be primary and lead to reading problems by interfering with the child's learning. Second, the reading problem may be primary and lead to the behavior problem, perhaps through academic failure, frustration, and lowered self-esteem. Third, both difficulties may stem from a common root in genetic, temperamental, or environmental adversities. These models may interact in reciprocal and unidirectional ways, leading to the final result. Research has not settled which model is most accurate. Fergussen and Lynskey (1997) found that children with reading disabilities had early-onset conduct problems prior to the onset of reading problems. This supports the first model. The connection of reading disorder with ADHD (Lambert and Sandoval, 1980) and the observation that youngsters with ADHD show subpar preschool achievement tests (Mariani and Barkley, 1995) also tend to support the first model. Shaywitz (1996) has reported language delays and inattention to the sounds of words (trouble playing rhyming games with words or confusing words that sound alike) in preschool children at risk of dyslexia-second model. Hinshaw (1992) reported that the overlap of externalizing problems with cognitive and academic readiness deficits early in development suggest the influence of antecedent variables. Low socioeconomic status, family adversity, subaverage IQ, language deficits, and neurodevelopmental delays were explored as possible underlying factors-third model. Moffitt (1993) describes a neuropsychological model in which attention deficits, verbal deficits, and executive dysfunction interact with environmental responses to produce CD.

 

 

 

  1. Youngsters having Multiple DSM-IV diagnoses.

  2. Youngsters having internal disorders.

  3. Youngsters having External disorders.

  4. Youngsters having Attention deficit disorders.

  5. Youngsters having reading disorders.


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

The answer is clearly given in the passage in these lines, 'The youngsters referred to Foundation Schools' special education programs often have multiple and varying DSM-IV diagnoses'. Hence, (1) is the answer.

“There is also some promise in computer-assisted instruction”. How can this sentence be written without changing the meaning of the sentence?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

The reasons some children perform at a lower academic level than intelligence and educational opportunity predict are still under study. We reference the relevant and conflicting research later, but clinically it is clear that learning disorders are associated with disturbed behavior and with psychiatric symptoms. It is our contention that youngsters with this group of difficulties require dynamically informed psychotherapeutic help if they are to utilize any academic approach. Without psychotherapy, they are often unmotivated and tend to avoid academics, using other techniques-often maladaptive-to maintain self-esteem. This tendency accelerates as they move into and through adolescence. It is also important to remember that some academic problems are primarily psychological inhibitions of curiosity (Blanchard, 1946; Buxbaum, 1964) or performance (Berger and Kennedy, 1975), and it is crucial that these are not confused with learning problems that have a cognitive origin. In addition, even in those instances in which there are cognitive problems, the final presentation is a complex interaction between neuropsychological deficits and emotional factors (Rothstein et al., 1988; Swanson, Harris, and Graham, 2003). In brief, learning problems can be the result of psychological conflict, or psychological conflict can occur secondary to neuropsychiatric deficiencies. Two of our case examples will illustrate these two possibilities, whereas the third will show how difficult it can be to make that differentiation with some adolescents.
Recent literature has contained very few essays addressing dynamic psychotherapeutic approaches to the adolescent population. Most treatment accounts describe cognitive models (Flavell, 1979), cognitive-behavioral models (Borkowski and Burke, 1996; Hallahan, Kauffman, and Lloyd, 1996), and task-analytic models (Rosenshine and Stevens, 1986). There is also some promise in computer-assisted instruction (Hall et al., 2000). There is objective evidence of success with many of these cognitive remediations, especially from the task-analytic approaches, even though a significant number of students do not respond (Torgenson, 2000). Simmerman and Swanson (2001) have pointed out procedural flaws in some studies but do not question the proven value of the procedures employed. It should also be noted that these approaches have been most successful with young children, suggesting that they may not be sufficient for adolescents. Garber (1992) describes the maneuvering and testing that these students display. After years of negative school experiences, they have taken refuge in a variety of defenses designed to hide their learning disability from others and from themselves. Garber (1992) says, The various maneuvers are means of dealing with an environment that may be ambiguous or confusing. The more intelligent the adolescent, the more complex the testing maneuver. These testing maneuvers, which try the patience of parents, teachers, and therapists, often obscure the learning-disabled adolescent's strengths and capabilities (p. 344). Palombo (2001) has provided a detailed description of the impact of learning disorders on the development of the sense of self and self-narratives. He also provides a thoughtful guide to treatment that recognizes the differential impact of the youngster's neuropsychological deficiencies as opposed to psychological issues on the development of transference. Arkowitz (2000) has suggested that dyslexia can lead to a generally over stimulated state by interfering with organizing, containing, and distinguishing among crucial features of affective experience (p. 1493). Needless to say, these adolescents are not eager for psychotherapy, viewing that prospect as a major threat to their precarious self-esteem. Still, other cognitive remedial approaches are impossible to implement when the adolescent is truant (if not from school, then often from the classroom), is unable to admit that remediation is needed, and actively avoids it. Although the effort to help adolescents with school problems is definitely multidisciplinary, the psychotherapist often has to prepare the student to accept help and also to coordinate the professional team, while maintaining the student's cooperation (Meeks and Dupont, 2003).

 

 

  1. There is also some future in computer-assisted instruction.

  2. There is also some hope in computer-assisted instruction.

  3. There is also some effort in computer-assisted instruction.

  4. There is also some precariousness involved in computer-assisted instruction.


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

The passage talks about some treatments for the Learning Disabled Adolescent and computer assisted instructions have certain evidence of success associated with it. Hence, (2) is the answer.

What is the meaning of “cognitive problems”?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

The reasons some children perform at a lower academic level than intelligence and educational opportunity predict are still under study. We reference the relevant and conflicting research later, but clinically it is clear that learning disorders are associated with disturbed behavior and with psychiatric symptoms. It is our contention that youngsters with this group of difficulties require dynamically informed psychotherapeutic help if they are to utilize any academic approach. Without psychotherapy, they are often unmotivated and tend to avoid academics, using other techniques-often maladaptive-to maintain self-esteem. This tendency accelerates as they move into and through adolescence. It is also important to remember that some academic problems are primarily psychological inhibitions of curiosity (Blanchard, 1946; Buxbaum, 1964) or performance (Berger and Kennedy, 1975), and it is crucial that these are not confused with learning problems that have a cognitive origin. In addition, even in those instances in which there are cognitive problems, the final presentation is a complex interaction between neuropsychological deficits and emotional factors (Rothstein et al., 1988; Swanson, Harris, and Graham, 2003). In brief, learning problems can be the result of psychological conflict, or psychological conflict can occur secondary to neuropsychiatric deficiencies. Two of our case examples will illustrate these two possibilities, whereas the third will show how difficult it can be to make that differentiation with some adolescents.
Recent literature has contained very few essays addressing dynamic psychotherapeutic approaches to the adolescent population. Most treatment accounts describe cognitive models (Flavell, 1979), cognitive-behavioral models (Borkowski and Burke, 1996; Hallahan, Kauffman, and Lloyd, 1996), and task-analytic models (Rosenshine and Stevens, 1986). There is also some promise in computer-assisted instruction (Hall et al., 2000). There is objective evidence of success with many of these cognitive remediations, especially from the task-analytic approaches, even though a significant number of students do not respond (Torgenson, 2000). Simmerman and Swanson (2001) have pointed out procedural flaws in some studies but do not question the proven value of the procedures employed. It should also be noted that these approaches have been most successful with young children, suggesting that they may not be sufficient for adolescents. Garber (1992) describes the maneuvering and testing that these students display. After years of negative school experiences, they have taken refuge in a variety of defenses designed to hide their learning disability from others and from themselves. Garber (1992) says, The various maneuvers are means of dealing with an environment that may be ambiguous or confusing. The more intelligent the adolescent, the more complex the testing maneuver. These testing maneuvers, which try the patience of parents, teachers, and therapists, often obscure the learning-disabled adolescent's strengths and capabilities (p. 344). Palombo (2001) has provided a detailed description of the impact of learning disorders on the development of the sense of self and self-narratives. He also provides a thoughtful guide to treatment that recognizes the differential impact of the youngster's neuropsychological deficiencies as opposed to psychological issues on the development of transference. Arkowitz (2000) has suggested that dyslexia can lead to a generally over stimulated state by interfering with organizing, containing, and distinguishing among crucial features of affective experience (p. 1493). Needless to say, these adolescents are not eager for psychotherapy, viewing that prospect as a major threat to their precarious self-esteem. Still, other cognitive remedial approaches are impossible to implement when the adolescent is truant (if not from school, then often from the classroom), is unable to admit that remediation is needed, and actively avoids it. Although the effort to help adolescents with school problems is definitely multidisciplinary, the psychotherapist often has to prepare the student to accept help and also to coordinate the professional team, while maintaining the student's cooperation (Meeks and Dupont, 2003).

 

 

  1. Problems related with the mind or intelligence.

  2. Problems related to psychotherapeutic disorders.

  3. Problems that require medical attention.

  4. Problems that cannot be treated.


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

As the passage talks about psychological problems and emotional deficits, we can infer that cognitive problems are problems related to the mind.

What do you infer about “vanguard ideology” from the passage?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

According to the history of Islam, around the year 610 A.D., in a cave in the Arabian city of Mecca, a young orphan named Muhammad heard a voice ordering him to recite revelations that would be dictated to him. Over a period of 22 years, Muhammad acted as a “transmitter” for the words of God, or “Allah,” which were recorded in writing and are collectively known as the Qur’an. Islam is based on the belief that the Qur’an is the direct word of God. Muslims, people who follow the Islamic faith, must observe the “five pillars” of Islam: the profession of faith in God and in the prophet Muhammad, prayer conducted five times a day, giving alms to the poor, fasting during the holy month of Ramadan, and undertaking the hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca. In addition, the Shari‘ah, Islam’s legal-ethical system, provides Muslims with a blueprint for human conduct regarding matters such as family life and money.
The second-largest religion in existence (behind Christianity) and the dominant religion in more than twenty countries, Islam is believed to be practiced by over one fifth of the world’s population. As Islam’s influence continues to grow throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and in the West—where some say it is the fastest-growing religion— scholars of diverse nations and faiths have offered their perspectives about the impact of this development. One of the most controversial opinions has come from American professor Samuel P. Huntington, author of the 1996 book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order. Huntington proposes that Islam and the West are embroiled in a “clash of civilizations” in which “dedicated Islamic militants exploit the open societies of the West and plant car bombs at selected targets [and] Western military professionals exploit the open skies of Islam and drop smart bombs at selected targets.” In Huntington’s view, this conflict between Islam and the West promises to end in violence.
Those who agree with Huntington maintain that the values of Islam and the West are inherently incompatible. For example, unlike Western societies, which tend toward secular governments, many societies in which Muslims are the majority support the integration of religion and government— a philosophy that is often referred to as “political Islam.” Some Westerners regard political Islam as a dangerous movement whose goal is to gain power, dismantle other religions, and suppress human rights—as illustrated by Afghanistan, where self-proclaimed Islamic rulers have denied women basic rights such as access to health care; and Algeria and Sudan, where Christians have suffered persecution. Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, contends that political Islam is by nature undemocratic and power-seeking:
To build a new Muslim society, fundamentalists proclaim their intent to do whatever they must; they openly flaunt an extremist sensibility. . . . If that means destruction and death for the enemies of true Islam, so be it. . . . Seeing Islam as the basis of a political system touching every aspect of life, fundamentalists are totalitarian. Whatever the problem, “Islam is the solution.” . . . Fundamentalists are revolutionary in outlook, extremist in behavior, totalitarian in ambition. . . . Like communism and fascism, Islam offers a vanguard ideology; a complete program to improve man and create a new society; complete control over that society; and cadres, ready, even eager, to spill blood.
On the other side of the debate are Graham E. Fuller and Ian O. Lesser, authors of A Sense of Siege: the Geopolitics of Islam and the West, who challenge the notion that Islam is an “ideology.” They maintain that, just as the West reflects a vast diversity of beliefs and values, “Islam [cannot] be treated as a single, cohesive, coherent, comprehensive, monolithic entity.” Those who agree with Fuller and Lesser argue that ominous claims such as those offered by Huntington and Pipes only serve to reemphasize prevalent stereotypes of Muslims as religious “fanatics”—stereotypes that lead to incidents of anti-Arab violence in Western countries—and encourage non-Muslims to adopt an “us-versus-them” attitude toward Islam. In reality, asserts Muslim activist Amira Elazhary Sonbol, “Anyone looking for [old-fashioned] American values can find them in Islam. It stresses family unity, caring for your mother and father, as well as bringing up children in the faith.”
Still, both Muslims and non-Muslims agree that some radical groups operating in the name of Islam have instigated acts of terrorism against Western nations. Osama bin Laden, a Saudi Arabian millionaire and supporter of radical Islamic groups, is suspected to be the mastermind and financier behind countless acts of anti-Western terrorism, including the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. Oliver B. Revell, former senior FBI official in charge of counter-terrorist investigations, warns that Islamic militants “are ultimately committed to waging holy war, both in the Middle East and the world at large against all of their opposition. And that means us.”
However, claims Middle East scholar Antony T. Sullivan, many Westerners neglect to consider what drives Islamic terrorism in the first place. If some Muslims are hostile toward the West, he contends, that hostility “has much to do with Western policy before and during the Gulf War, as well as long-standing American policy toward Israel and Lebanon.” In fact, in the view of many Muslims—including Muslim-Americans—the United States pursues foreign policies that either neglect or antagonize followers of Islam. For example, U.S. attacks on Iraq, which were viewed by many Americans as necessary to counter dictator Saddam Hussein, were seen by Muslims as an attack on innocent Muslim civilians.
Differing perspectives about an event’s significance are common in the debate over how the religion of Islam is changing social and political systems throughout the world. In Islam: Opposing Viewpoints, an array of scholars, political analysts, and journalists offer contrasting views about Islam in the following chapters: Are the Values of Islam and the West in Conflict? What Is the Status of Women Under Islam? Does Islam Promote Terrorism? And What Policies Should the U.S. Take Toward Islam? The authors in this anthology examine conflicting perceptions of Islam’s values and con.

 

 

  1. An ideology under which people consider themselves to be dictators.

  2. An ideology in which people consider themselves forerunners for the ways of the world.

  3. An ideology commanding respect for the Islamic religion.

  4. An ideology commanding respect for the Shariah Law.


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

These lines from fourth para, 'Islam's ideology involves a complete program to improve man and create a new society; complete control over that society; and cadres, ready, even eager, to spill blood. They want to in forerunners in the society they make and create' explicates option (4) as the answer.

What is the legal system of Islam called?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

According to the history of Islam, around the year 610 A.D., in a cave in the Arabian city of Mecca, a young orphan named Muhammad heard a voice ordering him to recite revelations that would be dictated to him. Over a period of 22 years, Muhammad acted as a “transmitter” for the words of God, or “Allah,” which were recorded in writing and are collectively known as the Qur’an. Islam is based on the belief that the Qur’an is the direct word of God. Muslims, people who follow the Islamic faith, must observe the “five pillars” of Islam: the profession of faith in God and in the prophet Muhammad, prayer conducted five times a day, giving alms to the poor, fasting during the holy month of Ramadan, and undertaking the hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca. In addition, the Shari‘ah, Islam’s legal-ethical system, provides Muslims with a blueprint for human conduct regarding matters such as family life and money.
The second-largest religion in existence (behind Christianity) and the dominant religion in more than twenty countries, Islam is believed to be practiced by over one fifth of the world’s population. As Islam’s influence continues to grow throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and in the West—where some say it is the fastest-growing religion— scholars of diverse nations and faiths have offered their perspectives about the impact of this development. One of the most controversial opinions has come from American professor Samuel P. Huntington, author of the 1996 book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order. Huntington proposes that Islam and the West are embroiled in a “clash of civilizations” in which “dedicated Islamic militants exploit the open societies of the West and plant car bombs at selected targets [and] Western military professionals exploit the open skies of Islam and drop smart bombs at selected targets.” In Huntington’s view, this conflict between Islam and the West promises to end in violence.
Those who agree with Huntington maintain that the values of Islam and the West are inherently incompatible. For example, unlike Western societies, which tend toward secular governments, many societies in which Muslims are the majority support the integration of religion and government— a philosophy that is often referred to as “political Islam.” Some Westerners regard political Islam as a dangerous movement whose goal is to gain power, dismantle other religions, and suppress human rights—as illustrated by Afghanistan, where self-proclaimed Islamic rulers have denied women basic rights such as access to health care; and Algeria and Sudan, where Christians have suffered persecution. Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, contends that political Islam is by nature undemocratic and power-seeking:
To build a new Muslim society, fundamentalists proclaim their intent to do whatever they must; they openly flaunt an extremist sensibility. . . . If that means destruction and death for the enemies of true Islam, so be it. . . . Seeing Islam as the basis of a political system touching every aspect of life, fundamentalists are totalitarian. Whatever the problem, “Islam is the solution.” . . . Fundamentalists are revolutionary in outlook, extremist in behavior, totalitarian in ambition. . . . Like communism and fascism, Islam offers a vanguard ideology; a complete program to improve man and create a new society; complete control over that society; and cadres, ready, even eager, to spill blood.
On the other side of the debate are Graham E. Fuller and Ian O. Lesser, authors of A Sense of Siege: the Geopolitics of Islam and the West, who challenge the notion that Islam is an “ideology.” They maintain that, just as the West reflects a vast diversity of beliefs and values, “Islam [cannot] be treated as a single, cohesive, coherent, comprehensive, monolithic entity.” Those who agree with Fuller and Lesser argue that ominous claims such as those offered by Huntington and Pipes only serve to reemphasize prevalent stereotypes of Muslims as religious “fanatics”—stereotypes that lead to incidents of anti-Arab violence in Western countries—and encourage non-Muslims to adopt an “us-versus-them” attitude toward Islam. In reality, asserts Muslim activist Amira Elazhary Sonbol, “Anyone looking for [old-fashioned] American values can find them in Islam. It stresses family unity, caring for your mother and father, as well as bringing up children in the faith.”
Still, both Muslims and non-Muslims agree that some radical groups operating in the name of Islam have instigated acts of terrorism against Western nations. Osama bin Laden, a Saudi Arabian millionaire and supporter of radical Islamic groups, is suspected to be the mastermind and financier behind countless acts of anti-Western terrorism, including the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. Oliver B. Revell, former senior FBI official in charge of counter-terrorist investigations, warns that Islamic militants “are ultimately committed to waging holy war, both in the Middle East and the world at large against all of their opposition. And that means us.”
However, claims Middle East scholar Antony T. Sullivan, many Westerners neglect to consider what drives Islamic terrorism in the first place. If some Muslims are hostile toward the West, he contends, that hostility “has much to do with Western policy before and during the Gulf War, as well as long-standing American policy toward Israel and Lebanon.” In fact, in the view of many Muslims—including Muslim-Americans—the United States pursues foreign policies that either neglect or antagonize followers of Islam. For example, U.S. attacks on Iraq, which were viewed by many Americans as necessary to counter dictator Saddam Hussein, were seen by Muslims as an attack on innocent Muslim civilians.
Differing perspectives about an event’s significance are common in the debate over how the religion of Islam is changing social and political systems throughout the world. In Islam: Opposing Viewpoints, an array of scholars, political analysts, and journalists offer contrasting views about Islam in the following chapters: Are the Values of Islam and the West in Conflict? What Is the Status of Women Under Islam? Does Islam Promote Terrorism? And What Policies Should the U.S. Take Toward Islam? The authors in this anthology examine conflicting perceptions of Islam’s values and con.

 

 

  1. Hajj

  2. Shariah

  3. Quran

  4. Muttawein


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

The sentence “, the Shari'ah, Islam's legal-ethical system, provides Muslims with a blueprint for human conduct regarding matters such as family life and money” gives us the answer (2).

As per Passage A, the mission of the solar flyer was to prove that

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

Passage - I
With only the sun for fuel, eight tiny electric motors lift a huge, remotely controlled airplane off a runway in Hawaii and pull it to more than 80- thousand feet. Planes like this could fly for months on end in the stratosphere. Ray Morgan, president of AeroVironment says, What we're trying to do is create what we call an atmospheric satellite, which operates and performs any of the functions as a satellite would do in space, but does it very close in, in the atmosphere. NASA is funding research with a former cold war spy plane prototype. Dick Swanson of Sun Power, Inc. says of the planes, ... A very light structure, but they still needed a lot of power to keep this thing up at high altitude, so the other piece of the puzzle is a very light weight, and very high performance solar cell. Dick Swanson's solar cell is super efficient and paper thin. Thousands on the wings of the pathfinder generate ten thousand watts. He says, The solar cell converts sunlight into electricity, or as AeroVironment likes to say, the plane is powered by its shadow. This plane is powered by conventional fan jets, and rather than stay in the stratosphere for months at a time, two would fly in shifts sending and receiving phone calls over a city. The pilots on board would be responsible for taking the plane off, going up to the location, where they would be flying around in circles. Before they leave station, a second plane comes up and assumes responsibility for wireless communications, then there's a hand off. Angel Technologies says a fleet of a thousand planes could provide telecommunications for three hundred cities around the world. Sky Station says several fleets of helium balloons, say two hundred fifty over every major city, could also send cell signals from the stratosphere. And if any of this seems far fetched, Consider the incentive. Planes and balloons would cost only a fraction of the fifty million dollar a launch cost of satellites, and give new companies a piece of the multi-billion dollar communications business.

Passage - II
AeroVironment has been flying solar-electric planes successfully for over two decades and is recognized as the world leader in the field. The aircraft developed under this program have proven the viability of solar-electric aircraft for high-altitude flight. Within two years, solar-electric airplanes incorporating energy storage for nighttime flight will be capable of continuous flight for up to six months at a time at altitudes over 60,000 feet. Applications for such aircraft include telecommunications, remote sensing and atmospheric measurement. The first unmanned solar airplane developed under the NASA program, the Pathfinder, flew to 71,500 feet in 1997. A modified Pathfinder, known as Pathfinder-Plus, flew to 82,000 feet, higher than any other propeller-driven aircraft. This record flight was the 39th consecutive successful flight test of the Pathfinder platform.
Building on Pathfinder’s success, AeroVironment built a next-generation aircraft with a 206-foot wingspan, called the Centurion. The wingspan was then further extended to 247 feet, and the aircraft was renamed the Helios Prototype. The Helios Prototype, which successfully completed initial low altitude flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base in 1999, was then equipped with high efficiency solar cells and underwent high-altitude flight testing in the summer of 2001 in Hawaii at the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai. On August 13, 2001 on its second high altitude flight, Helios flew to 96,863 feet, shattering the world altitude record for both propeller and jet-powered aircraft. In June and July of 2002, SkyTower/AeroVironment, in collaboration with the Japanese Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (CRL/TAO) and NASA, successfully completed several telecom tests in Kauai—the world’s first commercial applications transmitted from over 60,000 feet in the stratosphere.  The final test, a telecom demonstration scheduled for mid-July, provided an opportunity for participants to see this breakthrough technology first-hand. The commercial version of Helios, which is the ultimate evolution of the Pathfinder and Helios Prototype, will incorporate a fuel cell energy storage system to provide power for flying through the night. It will be capable of continuous flight for months at a time at altitudes of 50,000 to 70,000 feet. A full-size fuel cell and electrolyzer energy storage system for the Helios Prototype is now operating in AeroVironment's test facility. As part of the NASA ERAST program, a reduced weight version of this system will be integrated into the Helios aircraft to enable continuous multi-day flight operation.

 

  1. a vehicle can be powered by solar energy

  2. planes could fly in the stratosphere for many months at a time

  3. a solar plane can fly

  4. a fleet can provide telecommunication for 300 cities


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

The sentence in Passage A “This plane is powered by conventional fan jets, and rather than stay in the stratosphere for months at a time, two would fly in shifts sending and receiving phone calls over a city” gives us the correct answer (2).

According to the passage, why are there clashes between the Islamic and the western countries?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

According to the history of Islam, around the year 610 A.D., in a cave in the Arabian city of Mecca, a young orphan named Muhammad heard a voice ordering him to recite revelations that would be dictated to him. Over a period of 22 years, Muhammad acted as a “transmitter” for the words of God, or “Allah,” which were recorded in writing and are collectively known as the Qur’an. Islam is based on the belief that the Qur’an is the direct word of God. Muslims, people who follow the Islamic faith, must observe the “five pillars” of Islam: the profession of faith in God and in the prophet Muhammad, prayer conducted five times a day, giving alms to the poor, fasting during the holy month of Ramadan, and undertaking the hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca. In addition, the Shari‘ah, Islam’s legal-ethical system, provides Muslims with a blueprint for human conduct regarding matters such as family life and money.
The second-largest religion in existence (behind Christianity) and the dominant religion in more than twenty countries, Islam is believed to be practiced by over one fifth of the world’s population. As Islam’s influence continues to grow throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and in the West—where some say it is the fastest-growing religion— scholars of diverse nations and faiths have offered their perspectives about the impact of this development. One of the most controversial opinions has come from American professor Samuel P. Huntington, author of the 1996 book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order. Huntington proposes that Islam and the West are embroiled in a “clash of civilizations” in which “dedicated Islamic militants exploit the open societies of the West and plant car bombs at selected targets [and] Western military professionals exploit the open skies of Islam and drop smart bombs at selected targets.” In Huntington’s view, this conflict between Islam and the West promises to end in violence.
Those who agree with Huntington maintain that the values of Islam and the West are inherently incompatible. For example, unlike Western societies, which tend toward secular governments, many societies in which Muslims are the majority support the integration of religion and government— a philosophy that is often referred to as “political Islam.” Some Westerners regard political Islam as a dangerous movement whose goal is to gain power, dismantle other religions, and suppress human rights—as illustrated by Afghanistan, where self-proclaimed Islamic rulers have denied women basic rights such as access to health care; and Algeria and Sudan, where Christians have suffered persecution. Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, contends that political Islam is by nature undemocratic and power-seeking:
To build a new Muslim society, fundamentalists proclaim their intent to do whatever they must; they openly flaunt an extremist sensibility. . . . If that means destruction and death for the enemies of true Islam, so be it. . . . Seeing Islam as the basis of a political system touching every aspect of life, fundamentalists are totalitarian. Whatever the problem, “Islam is the solution.” . . . Fundamentalists are revolutionary in outlook, extremist in behavior, totalitarian in ambition. . . . Like communism and fascism, Islam offers a vanguard ideology; a complete program to improve man and create a new society; complete control over that society; and cadres, ready, even eager, to spill blood.
On the other side of the debate are Graham E. Fuller and Ian O. Lesser, authors of A Sense of Siege: the Geopolitics of Islam and the West, who challenge the notion that Islam is an “ideology.” They maintain that, just as the West reflects a vast diversity of beliefs and values, “Islam [cannot] be treated as a single, cohesive, coherent, comprehensive, monolithic entity.” Those who agree with Fuller and Lesser argue that ominous claims such as those offered by Huntington and Pipes only serve to reemphasize prevalent stereotypes of Muslims as religious “fanatics”—stereotypes that lead to incidents of anti-Arab violence in Western countries—and encourage non-Muslims to adopt an “us-versus-them” attitude toward Islam. In reality, asserts Muslim activist Amira Elazhary Sonbol, “Anyone looking for [old-fashioned] American values can find them in Islam. It stresses family unity, caring for your mother and father, as well as bringing up children in the faith.”
Still, both Muslims and non-Muslims agree that some radical groups operating in the name of Islam have instigated acts of terrorism against Western nations. Osama bin Laden, a Saudi Arabian millionaire and supporter of radical Islamic groups, is suspected to be the mastermind and financier behind countless acts of anti-Western terrorism, including the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. Oliver B. Revell, former senior FBI official in charge of counter-terrorist investigations, warns that Islamic militants “are ultimately committed to waging holy war, both in the Middle East and the world at large against all of their opposition. And that means us.”
However, claims Middle East scholar Antony T. Sullivan, many Westerners neglect to consider what drives Islamic terrorism in the first place. If some Muslims are hostile toward the West, he contends, that hostility “has much to do with Western policy before and during the Gulf War, as well as long-standing American policy toward Israel and Lebanon.” In fact, in the view of many Muslims—including Muslim-Americans—the United States pursues foreign policies that either neglect or antagonize followers of Islam. For example, U.S. attacks on Iraq, which were viewed by many Americans as necessary to counter dictator Saddam Hussein, were seen by Muslims as an attack on innocent Muslim civilians.
Differing perspectives about an event’s significance are common in the debate over how the religion of Islam is changing social and political systems throughout the world. In Islam: Opposing Viewpoints, an array of scholars, political analysts, and journalists offer contrasting views about Islam in the following chapters: Are the Values of Islam and the West in Conflict? What Is the Status of Women Under Islam? Does Islam Promote Terrorism? And What Policies Should the U.S. Take Toward Islam? The authors in this anthology examine conflicting perceptions of Islam’s values and con.

 

 

  1. The Islamic people are fundamentalists.

  2. The Religions are on different extremes.

  3. The values of both the religions are discordant.

  4. The Western society is more open.

  5. The Islamic society is politically religious.


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

Some philosophers believe that the values of Islam and the West are inherently incompatible as given in this line from third para, 'Those who agree with Huntington maintain that the values of Islam and the West are inherently incompatible', which is similar to discordant. Hence, the answer is (3).

Which Islamic value is similar to Old American value?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

According to the history of Islam, around the year 610 A.D., in a cave in the Arabian city of Mecca, a young orphan named Muhammad heard a voice ordering him to recite revelations that would be dictated to him. Over a period of 22 years, Muhammad acted as a “transmitter” for the words of God, or “Allah,” which were recorded in writing and are collectively known as the Qur’an. Islam is based on the belief that the Qur’an is the direct word of God. Muslims, people who follow the Islamic faith, must observe the “five pillars” of Islam: the profession of faith in God and in the prophet Muhammad, prayer conducted five times a day, giving alms to the poor, fasting during the holy month of Ramadan, and undertaking the hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca. In addition, the Shari‘ah, Islam’s legal-ethical system, provides Muslims with a blueprint for human conduct regarding matters such as family life and money.
The second-largest religion in existence (behind Christianity) and the dominant religion in more than twenty countries, Islam is believed to be practiced by over one fifth of the world’s population. As Islam’s influence continues to grow throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and in the West—where some say it is the fastest-growing religion— scholars of diverse nations and faiths have offered their perspectives about the impact of this development. One of the most controversial opinions has come from American professor Samuel P. Huntington, author of the 1996 book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order. Huntington proposes that Islam and the West are embroiled in a “clash of civilizations” in which “dedicated Islamic militants exploit the open societies of the West and plant car bombs at selected targets [and] Western military professionals exploit the open skies of Islam and drop smart bombs at selected targets.” In Huntington’s view, this conflict between Islam and the West promises to end in violence.
Those who agree with Huntington maintain that the values of Islam and the West are inherently incompatible. For example, unlike Western societies, which tend toward secular governments, many societies in which Muslims are the majority support the integration of religion and government— a philosophy that is often referred to as “political Islam.” Some Westerners regard political Islam as a dangerous movement whose goal is to gain power, dismantle other religions, and suppress human rights—as illustrated by Afghanistan, where self-proclaimed Islamic rulers have denied women basic rights such as access to health care; and Algeria and Sudan, where Christians have suffered persecution. Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, contends that political Islam is by nature undemocratic and power-seeking:
To build a new Muslim society, fundamentalists proclaim their intent to do whatever they must; they openly flaunt an extremist sensibility. . . . If that means destruction and death for the enemies of true Islam, so be it. . . . Seeing Islam as the basis of a political system touching every aspect of life, fundamentalists are totalitarian. Whatever the problem, “Islam is the solution.” . . . Fundamentalists are revolutionary in outlook, extremist in behavior, totalitarian in ambition. . . . Like communism and fascism, Islam offers a vanguard ideology; a complete program to improve man and create a new society; complete control over that society; and cadres, ready, even eager, to spill blood.
On the other side of the debate are Graham E. Fuller and Ian O. Lesser, authors of A Sense of Siege: the Geopolitics of Islam and the West, who challenge the notion that Islam is an “ideology.” They maintain that, just as the West reflects a vast diversity of beliefs and values, “Islam [cannot] be treated as a single, cohesive, coherent, comprehensive, monolithic entity.” Those who agree with Fuller and Lesser argue that ominous claims such as those offered by Huntington and Pipes only serve to reemphasize prevalent stereotypes of Muslims as religious “fanatics”—stereotypes that lead to incidents of anti-Arab violence in Western countries—and encourage non-Muslims to adopt an “us-versus-them” attitude toward Islam. In reality, asserts Muslim activist Amira Elazhary Sonbol, “Anyone looking for [old-fashioned] American values can find them in Islam. It stresses family unity, caring for your mother and father, as well as bringing up children in the faith.”
Still, both Muslims and non-Muslims agree that some radical groups operating in the name of Islam have instigated acts of terrorism against Western nations. Osama bin Laden, a Saudi Arabian millionaire and supporter of radical Islamic groups, is suspected to be the mastermind and financier behind countless acts of anti-Western terrorism, including the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. Oliver B. Revell, former senior FBI official in charge of counter-terrorist investigations, warns that Islamic militants “are ultimately committed to waging holy war, both in the Middle East and the world at large against all of their opposition. And that means us.”
However, claims Middle East scholar Antony T. Sullivan, many Westerners neglect to consider what drives Islamic terrorism in the first place. If some Muslims are hostile toward the West, he contends, that hostility “has much to do with Western policy before and during the Gulf War, as well as long-standing American policy toward Israel and Lebanon.” In fact, in the view of many Muslims—including Muslim-Americans—the United States pursues foreign policies that either neglect or antagonize followers of Islam. For example, U.S. attacks on Iraq, which were viewed by many Americans as necessary to counter dictator Saddam Hussein, were seen by Muslims as an attack on innocent Muslim civilians.
Differing perspectives about an event’s significance are common in the debate over how the religion of Islam is changing social and political systems throughout the world. In Islam: Opposing Viewpoints, an array of scholars, political analysts, and journalists offer contrasting views about Islam in the following chapters: Are the Values of Islam and the West in Conflict? What Is the Status of Women Under Islam? Does Islam Promote Terrorism? And What Policies Should the U.S. Take Toward Islam? The authors in this anthology examine conflicting perceptions of Islam’s values and con.

 

 

  1. Strong Social system.

  2. Strong Democratic values.

  3. Strong family unity.

  4. Strong political leadership.


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The sentence “Anyone looking for [old-fashioned] American values can find them in Islam. It stresses family unity, caring for your mother and father, as well as bringing up children in the faith” gives us the answer (2).

What is the meaning closest to the word “fleet” highlighted in Passage A?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

Passage - I
With only the sun for fuel, eight tiny electric motors lift a huge, remotely controlled airplane off a runway in Hawaii and pull it to more than 80- thousand feet. Planes like this could fly for months on end in the stratosphere. Ray Morgan, president of AeroVironment says, What we're trying to do is create what we call an atmospheric satellite, which operates and performs any of the functions as a satellite would do in space, but does it very close in, in the atmosphere. NASA is funding research with a former cold war spy plane prototype. Dick Swanson of Sun Power, Inc. says of the planes, ... A very light structure, but they still needed a lot of power to keep this thing up at high altitude, so the other piece of the puzzle is a very light weight, and very high performance solar cell. Dick Swanson's solar cell is super efficient and paper thin. Thousands on the wings of the pathfinder generate ten thousand watts. He says, The solar cell converts sunlight into electricity, or as AeroVironment likes to say, the plane is powered by its shadow. This plane is powered by conventional fan jets, and rather than stay in the stratosphere for months at a time, two would fly in shifts sending and receiving phone calls over a city. The pilots on board would be responsible for taking the plane off, going up to the location, where they would be flying around in circles. Before they leave station, a second plane comes up and assumes responsibility for wireless communications, then there's a hand off. Angel Technologies says a fleet of a thousand planes could provide telecommunications for three hundred cities around the world. Sky Station says several fleets of helium balloons, say two hundred fifty over every major city, could also send cell signals from the stratosphere. And if any of this seems far fetched, Consider the incentive. Planes and balloons would cost only a fraction of the fifty million dollar a launch cost of satellites, and give new companies a piece of the multi-billion dollar communications business.

Passage - II
AeroVironment has been flying solar-electric planes successfully for over two decades and is recognized as the world leader in the field. The aircraft developed under this program have proven the viability of solar-electric aircraft for high-altitude flight. Within two years, solar-electric airplanes incorporating energy storage for nighttime flight will be capable of continuous flight for up to six months at a time at altitudes over 60,000 feet. Applications for such aircraft include telecommunications, remote sensing and atmospheric measurement. The first unmanned solar airplane developed under the NASA program, the Pathfinder, flew to 71,500 feet in 1997. A modified Pathfinder, known as Pathfinder-Plus, flew to 82,000 feet, higher than any other propeller-driven aircraft. This record flight was the 39th consecutive successful flight test of the Pathfinder platform.
Building on Pathfinder’s success, AeroVironment built a next-generation aircraft with a 206-foot wingspan, called the Centurion. The wingspan was then further extended to 247 feet, and the aircraft was renamed the Helios Prototype. The Helios Prototype, which successfully completed initial low altitude flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base in 1999, was then equipped with high efficiency solar cells and underwent high-altitude flight testing in the summer of 2001 in Hawaii at the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai. On August 13, 2001 on its second high altitude flight, Helios flew to 96,863 feet, shattering the world altitude record for both propeller and jet-powered aircraft. In June and July of 2002, SkyTower/AeroVironment, in collaboration with the Japanese Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (CRL/TAO) and NASA, successfully completed several telecom tests in Kauai—the world’s first commercial applications transmitted from over 60,000 feet in the stratosphere.  The final test, a telecom demonstration scheduled for mid-July, provided an opportunity for participants to see this breakthrough technology first-hand. The commercial version of Helios, which is the ultimate evolution of the Pathfinder and Helios Prototype, will incorporate a fuel cell energy storage system to provide power for flying through the night. It will be capable of continuous flight for months at a time at altitudes of 50,000 to 70,000 feet. A full-size fuel cell and electrolyzer energy storage system for the Helios Prototype is now operating in AeroVironment's test facility. As part of the NASA ERAST program, a reduced weight version of this system will be integrated into the Helios aircraft to enable continuous multi-day flight operation.

 

  1. A huge number.

  2. A group of vehicles.

  3. Unmanned vehicles.

  4. Someone who is a leader.


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

A group of vehicles under a single command is called fleet. Hence the answer is (2).

“Actions people take now will have a significant and lasting legacy”. What do you understand by legacy in relevance to the passage?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

The term “biodiversity”—short for biological diversity—was first used in the 1980s by scientists to refer to the richness of biological variation on Earth or within a particular region. In their book Saving Nature’s Legacy, ecologists Reed Noss and Allen Cooperrider define biodiversity as the variety of life and its processes. It includes the variety of living organisms, the genetic differences among them, the…ecosystems in which they occur, and the ecological and evolutionary processes that keep them functioning, yet ever changing and adapting.
As this definition suggests, biodiversity exists on several levels. Perhaps the most common definition of the term refers to the variety of different species on the planet or in a given habitat. Approximately 1.7 million species of plants, animals, fungi, microbes, and other forms of life have been identified and named by biologists, but estimates of the total number of species on this planet vary greatly, from ten million to one hundred million. Scientists are engaged in several efforts around the world to identify and number undiscovered species, and many environmental laws, such as the Endangered Species Act, focus on preventing their disappearance or extinction.
The concept of biodiversity also extends to different levels of biological organization. Genetic diversity refers to the genetic variation within the same species. This can cover distinct populations of the same species (rice, for instance, exists in thousands of distinct varieties) or genetic variation within the same population (cheetahs in Africa, for example, lack genetic diversity in that all members are very similar in their genetic makeup). Scientists also refer to ecosystem diversity, noting the presence on Earth of a wide variety of natural habitats that contain differing varieties of life and ways in which species interact with each other. The World Resources Institute states that “the breadth of the concept [of biodiversity] reflects the interrelatedness of genes, species, and ecosystems.”
Biodiversity at all levels is an important environmental resource. “Our lives depend on biodiversity in ways that are not often appreciated,” writes scientist Anthony C. Janetos. He and other observers have described several different ways in which humans rely on biodiversity. On a utilitarian level, humans depend on other species for food, clothing, wood, medicines, and other necessities and comforts of living. Domesticated strains of crop plants and animals are continually interbred with their wild “cousins” to introduce new genetic combinations that can improve yields, drought tolerance, and disease and pest resistance. Endangered species of plants or animals may have properties yet to be discovered that could provide important medicines. In addition to such direct benefits, the world’s diverse living creatures working in concert provide important ecological “services” such as air and water purification, climate regulation, erosion control, and providing oxygen in the atmosphere that humans need to breathe. “Biodiversity keeps the planet habitable,” concludes biologist Peter Raven. Some ecologists also stress the aesthetic value of a natural world rich with an abundance of varied and often beautiful life-forms.
These important benefits conferred by biodiversity may be at risk, some believe. “Biologists who explore biodiversity see it vanishing before their eyes,” writes Edward O. Wilson. Conservationists have classified eight thousand species as endangered, and the true number of species nearing extinction may be much higher. Scientists such as Denis Saunders of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) estimate that seventy-thousand species become extinct each year—almost two hundred species a day. Many argue that the world could possibly lose 50 percent of its species over the next century. These extinctions are primarily blamed on the pressures exerted by a human population that has grown from less than 1.75 billion in 1900 to more than 6 billion in 2000. Human activities such as hunting, fishing, logging, the conversion of natural habitat into farmland and urban areas, and the spread of non-native species into fragile ecological areas are all blamed for species extinction and declining biodiversity. “In both direct and indirect ways,” writes ecologist R. Edward Grumbine, “human activities are causing a biodiversity crisis—the largest mass extinction in 65 million years.”
Despite widespread agreement within the scientific community on the importance of biodiversity, some areas of contention remain. One concerns the extent of the extinction crisis. Extinction, most biologists agree, is a natural phenomenon that has occurred throughout world history; the question is whether contemporary extinction rates are abnormally high. Some scientists have argued that dramatic estimates in the thousands of species becoming extinct every year are speculative guesses without supporting data and that the number of documented extinctions remains relatively small. “The world is not losing species very rapidly yet,” argues science writer Dennis T. Avery. Moreover, Avery and others contend that most known extinctions have taken place on islands, which have small populations that are highly vulnerable to extinction and therefore do not necessarily demonstrate the existence of a biodiversity crisis elsewhere.
Disagreement also exists regarding the ramifications of species loss. People who may be concerned about the fate of the panda or blue whale may feel less sense of loss if an undiscovered species of beetle in the tropical rainforest becomes extinct—a far more likely scenario. In many cases, another species may simply replace the ecological niche or function of a species that became extinct. “Losing a species may be tragic,” writes author Mark L. Plummer, “but the result is rarely, if ever, catastrophic.” Conservationists retort that the cumulative ramifications of loss of biodiversity may very well damage the resiliency of ecosystems.
A third area of controversy revolves around proposed remedies for preventing loss of biodiversity. Since human activities are believed to be the main threat to biodiversity, most proposed solutions—such as setting aside land as wildlife habitat, banning hunting of animals, restricting logging—inevitably result in restrictions on human activities and create economic burdens. Many conservationists believe that these are costs that humanity must shoulder. But some observers argue that due to the scientific uncertainty as to the extent and ramifications of loss of biodiversity, broad conservation measures attempting to restrict human activities might not be warranted or should at least be weighed against other social goals. “Species are menaced to improve roads to hospitals, build university campuses, create affordable housing, make the raw material for newspapers and magazines, and create a host of other social goods,” argues Plummer. “When we alter or cancel these projects to benefit nature, we make life harder for human beings.”
Humanity faces some critical choices about whether and how to preserve global biodiversity. Many scientists believe the twenty-first century will be a crucial time in determining the fate of many of this planet’s species and those actions people take now will have a significant and lasting legacy. The various contributors to Biodiversity: Current Controversies discuss the causes, repercussions, and solutions to declining biodiversity. It is hoped that the articles that follow will shed light on one of the truly global issues of our time.

 

 

  1. Effect which can be seen in coming generations.

  2. Affect which can be seen in coming generations.

  3. Philosophy passed down from generation to generation.

  4. A Mindset affecting generations to come.


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

These lines, 'Certain critical actions have to be taken to preserve Biodiversity. These actions are going to decide the fate of biodiversity In the future. Legacy is basically passed down from generation to generation. It could be a material thing to something philosophical like values' points out that the nearest choice would be choice (3).

What do you understand by the word “totalitarian” in reference to the passage?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

According to the history of Islam, around the year 610 A.D., in a cave in the Arabian city of Mecca, a young orphan named Muhammad heard a voice ordering him to recite revelations that would be dictated to him. Over a period of 22 years, Muhammad acted as a “transmitter” for the words of God, or “Allah,” which were recorded in writing and are collectively known as the Qur’an. Islam is based on the belief that the Qur’an is the direct word of God. Muslims, people who follow the Islamic faith, must observe the “five pillars” of Islam: the profession of faith in God and in the prophet Muhammad, prayer conducted five times a day, giving alms to the poor, fasting during the holy month of Ramadan, and undertaking the hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca. In addition, the Shari‘ah, Islam’s legal-ethical system, provides Muslims with a blueprint for human conduct regarding matters such as family life and money.
The second-largest religion in existence (behind Christianity) and the dominant religion in more than twenty countries, Islam is believed to be practiced by over one fifth of the world’s population. As Islam’s influence continues to grow throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and in the West—where some say it is the fastest-growing religion— scholars of diverse nations and faiths have offered their perspectives about the impact of this development. One of the most controversial opinions has come from American professor Samuel P. Huntington, author of the 1996 book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order. Huntington proposes that Islam and the West are embroiled in a “clash of civilizations” in which “dedicated Islamic militants exploit the open societies of the West and plant car bombs at selected targets [and] Western military professionals exploit the open skies of Islam and drop smart bombs at selected targets.” In Huntington’s view, this conflict between Islam and the West promises to end in violence.
Those who agree with Huntington maintain that the values of Islam and the West are inherently incompatible. For example, unlike Western societies, which tend toward secular governments, many societies in which Muslims are the majority support the integration of religion and government— a philosophy that is often referred to as “political Islam.” Some Westerners regard political Islam as a dangerous movement whose goal is to gain power, dismantle other religions, and suppress human rights—as illustrated by Afghanistan, where self-proclaimed Islamic rulers have denied women basic rights such as access to health care; and Algeria and Sudan, where Christians have suffered persecution. Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, contends that political Islam is by nature undemocratic and power-seeking:
To build a new Muslim society, fundamentalists proclaim their intent to do whatever they must; they openly flaunt an extremist sensibility. . . . If that means destruction and death for the enemies of true Islam, so be it. . . . Seeing Islam as the basis of a political system touching every aspect of life, fundamentalists are totalitarian. Whatever the problem, “Islam is the solution.” . . . Fundamentalists are revolutionary in outlook, extremist in behavior, totalitarian in ambition. . . . Like communism and fascism, Islam offers a vanguard ideology; a complete program to improve man and create a new society; complete control over that society; and cadres, ready, even eager, to spill blood.
On the other side of the debate are Graham E. Fuller and Ian O. Lesser, authors of A Sense of Siege: the Geopolitics of Islam and the West, who challenge the notion that Islam is an “ideology.” They maintain that, just as the West reflects a vast diversity of beliefs and values, “Islam [cannot] be treated as a single, cohesive, coherent, comprehensive, monolithic entity.” Those who agree with Fuller and Lesser argue that ominous claims such as those offered by Huntington and Pipes only serve to reemphasize prevalent stereotypes of Muslims as religious “fanatics”—stereotypes that lead to incidents of anti-Arab violence in Western countries—and encourage non-Muslims to adopt an “us-versus-them” attitude toward Islam. In reality, asserts Muslim activist Amira Elazhary Sonbol, “Anyone looking for [old-fashioned] American values can find them in Islam. It stresses family unity, caring for your mother and father, as well as bringing up children in the faith.”
Still, both Muslims and non-Muslims agree that some radical groups operating in the name of Islam have instigated acts of terrorism against Western nations. Osama bin Laden, a Saudi Arabian millionaire and supporter of radical Islamic groups, is suspected to be the mastermind and financier behind countless acts of anti-Western terrorism, including the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. Oliver B. Revell, former senior FBI official in charge of counter-terrorist investigations, warns that Islamic militants “are ultimately committed to waging holy war, both in the Middle East and the world at large against all of their opposition. And that means us.”
However, claims Middle East scholar Antony T. Sullivan, many Westerners neglect to consider what drives Islamic terrorism in the first place. If some Muslims are hostile toward the West, he contends, that hostility “has much to do with Western policy before and during the Gulf War, as well as long-standing American policy toward Israel and Lebanon.” In fact, in the view of many Muslims—including Muslim-Americans—the United States pursues foreign policies that either neglect or antagonize followers of Islam. For example, U.S. attacks on Iraq, which were viewed by many Americans as necessary to counter dictator Saddam Hussein, were seen by Muslims as an attack on innocent Muslim civilians.
Differing perspectives about an event’s significance are common in the debate over how the religion of Islam is changing social and political systems throughout the world. In Islam: Opposing Viewpoints, an array of scholars, political analysts, and journalists offer contrasting views about Islam in the following chapters: Are the Values of Islam and the West in Conflict? What Is the Status of Women Under Islam? Does Islam Promote Terrorism? And What Policies Should the U.S. Take Toward Islam? The authors in this anthology examine conflicting perceptions of Islam’s values and con.

 

 

  1. Extreme dictatorship.

  2. Bound by Islamic law.

  3. Views against western form of government.

  4. Extremist thoughts.


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

The passage tells us the view of Huntington and people who maintain his view that Islamic people openly flaunt an extremist sensibility. . . . If that means destruction and death for the enemies of true Islam, so be it; and vanguard ideology as explained in second question of this passage gives us the inference of an extreme dictatorship. Hence, (1) is the right answer.

How is the importance of biodiversity concatenated by Peter Raven?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

The term “biodiversity”—short for biological diversity—was first used in the 1980s by scientists to refer to the richness of biological variation on Earth or within a particular region. In their book Saving Nature’s Legacy, ecologists Reed Noss and Allen Cooperrider define biodiversity as the variety of life and its processes. It includes the variety of living organisms, the genetic differences among them, the…ecosystems in which they occur, and the ecological and evolutionary processes that keep them functioning, yet ever changing and adapting.
As this definition suggests, biodiversity exists on several levels. Perhaps the most common definition of the term refers to the variety of different species on the planet or in a given habitat. Approximately 1.7 million species of plants, animals, fungi, microbes, and other forms of life have been identified and named by biologists, but estimates of the total number of species on this planet vary greatly, from ten million to one hundred million. Scientists are engaged in several efforts around the world to identify and number undiscovered species, and many environmental laws, such as the Endangered Species Act, focus on preventing their disappearance or extinction.
The concept of biodiversity also extends to different levels of biological organization. Genetic diversity refers to the genetic variation within the same species. This can cover distinct populations of the same species (rice, for instance, exists in thousands of distinct varieties) or genetic variation within the same population (cheetahs in Africa, for example, lack genetic diversity in that all members are very similar in their genetic makeup). Scientists also refer to ecosystem diversity, noting the presence on Earth of a wide variety of natural habitats that contain differing varieties of life and ways in which species interact with each other. The World Resources Institute states that “the breadth of the concept [of biodiversity] reflects the interrelatedness of genes, species, and ecosystems.”
Biodiversity at all levels is an important environmental resource. “Our lives depend on biodiversity in ways that are not often appreciated,” writes scientist Anthony C. Janetos. He and other observers have described several different ways in which humans rely on biodiversity. On a utilitarian level, humans depend on other species for food, clothing, wood, medicines, and other necessities and comforts of living. Domesticated strains of crop plants and animals are continually interbred with their wild “cousins” to introduce new genetic combinations that can improve yields, drought tolerance, and disease and pest resistance. Endangered species of plants or animals may have properties yet to be discovered that could provide important medicines. In addition to such direct benefits, the world’s diverse living creatures working in concert provide important ecological “services” such as air and water purification, climate regulation, erosion control, and providing oxygen in the atmosphere that humans need to breathe. “Biodiversity keeps the planet habitable,” concludes biologist Peter Raven. Some ecologists also stress the aesthetic value of a natural world rich with an abundance of varied and often beautiful life-forms.
These important benefits conferred by biodiversity may be at risk, some believe. “Biologists who explore biodiversity see it vanishing before their eyes,” writes Edward O. Wilson. Conservationists have classified eight thousand species as endangered, and the true number of species nearing extinction may be much higher. Scientists such as Denis Saunders of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) estimate that seventy-thousand species become extinct each year—almost two hundred species a day. Many argue that the world could possibly lose 50 percent of its species over the next century. These extinctions are primarily blamed on the pressures exerted by a human population that has grown from less than 1.75 billion in 1900 to more than 6 billion in 2000. Human activities such as hunting, fishing, logging, the conversion of natural habitat into farmland and urban areas, and the spread of non-native species into fragile ecological areas are all blamed for species extinction and declining biodiversity. “In both direct and indirect ways,” writes ecologist R. Edward Grumbine, “human activities are causing a biodiversity crisis—the largest mass extinction in 65 million years.”
Despite widespread agreement within the scientific community on the importance of biodiversity, some areas of contention remain. One concerns the extent of the extinction crisis. Extinction, most biologists agree, is a natural phenomenon that has occurred throughout world history; the question is whether contemporary extinction rates are abnormally high. Some scientists have argued that dramatic estimates in the thousands of species becoming extinct every year are speculative guesses without supporting data and that the number of documented extinctions remains relatively small. “The world is not losing species very rapidly yet,” argues science writer Dennis T. Avery. Moreover, Avery and others contend that most known extinctions have taken place on islands, which have small populations that are highly vulnerable to extinction and therefore do not necessarily demonstrate the existence of a biodiversity crisis elsewhere.
Disagreement also exists regarding the ramifications of species loss. People who may be concerned about the fate of the panda or blue whale may feel less sense of loss if an undiscovered species of beetle in the tropical rainforest becomes extinct—a far more likely scenario. In many cases, another species may simply replace the ecological niche or function of a species that became extinct. “Losing a species may be tragic,” writes author Mark L. Plummer, “but the result is rarely, if ever, catastrophic.” Conservationists retort that the cumulative ramifications of loss of biodiversity may very well damage the resiliency of ecosystems.
A third area of controversy revolves around proposed remedies for preventing loss of biodiversity. Since human activities are believed to be the main threat to biodiversity, most proposed solutions—such as setting aside land as wildlife habitat, banning hunting of animals, restricting logging—inevitably result in restrictions on human activities and create economic burdens. Many conservationists believe that these are costs that humanity must shoulder. But some observers argue that due to the scientific uncertainty as to the extent and ramifications of loss of biodiversity, broad conservation measures attempting to restrict human activities might not be warranted or should at least be weighed against other social goals. “Species are menaced to improve roads to hospitals, build university campuses, create affordable housing, make the raw material for newspapers and magazines, and create a host of other social goods,” argues Plummer. “When we alter or cancel these projects to benefit nature, we make life harder for human beings.”
Humanity faces some critical choices about whether and how to preserve global biodiversity. Many scientists believe the twenty-first century will be a crucial time in determining the fate of many of this planet’s species and those actions people take now will have a significant and lasting legacy. The various contributors to Biodiversity: Current Controversies discuss the causes, repercussions, and solutions to declining biodiversity. It is hoped that the articles that follow will shed light on one of the truly global issues of our time.

 

 

  1. Biodiversity makes the species safer.

  2. Biodiversity increases the life span of species.

  3. Biodiversity makes the biosystem more stable.

  4. Biodiversity keeps the planet habitable.


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

The sentence “Biodiversity keeps the planet habitable, concludes biologist Peter Raven” gives us the answer (4).

'Some people have challenged the notion that Islam is an ideology'. Which of the following in relevance to this sentence is untrue?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

According to the history of Islam, around the year 610 A.D., in a cave in the Arabian city of Mecca, a young orphan named Muhammad heard a voice ordering him to recite revelations that would be dictated to him. Over a period of 22 years, Muhammad acted as a “transmitter” for the words of God, or “Allah,” which were recorded in writing and are collectively known as the Qur’an. Islam is based on the belief that the Qur’an is the direct word of God. Muslims, people who follow the Islamic faith, must observe the “five pillars” of Islam: the profession of faith in God and in the prophet Muhammad, prayer conducted five times a day, giving alms to the poor, fasting during the holy month of Ramadan, and undertaking the hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca. In addition, the Shari‘ah, Islam’s legal-ethical system, provides Muslims with a blueprint for human conduct regarding matters such as family life and money.
The second-largest religion in existence (behind Christianity) and the dominant religion in more than twenty countries, Islam is believed to be practiced by over one fifth of the world’s population. As Islam’s influence continues to grow throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and in the West—where some say it is the fastest-growing religion— scholars of diverse nations and faiths have offered their perspectives about the impact of this development. One of the most controversial opinions has come from American professor Samuel P. Huntington, author of the 1996 book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order. Huntington proposes that Islam and the West are embroiled in a “clash of civilizations” in which “dedicated Islamic militants exploit the open societies of the West and plant car bombs at selected targets [and] Western military professionals exploit the open skies of Islam and drop smart bombs at selected targets.” In Huntington’s view, this conflict between Islam and the West promises to end in violence.
Those who agree with Huntington maintain that the values of Islam and the West are inherently incompatible. For example, unlike Western societies, which tend toward secular governments, many societies in which Muslims are the majority support the integration of religion and government— a philosophy that is often referred to as “political Islam.” Some Westerners regard political Islam as a dangerous movement whose goal is to gain power, dismantle other religions, and suppress human rights—as illustrated by Afghanistan, where self-proclaimed Islamic rulers have denied women basic rights such as access to health care; and Algeria and Sudan, where Christians have suffered persecution. Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, contends that political Islam is by nature undemocratic and power-seeking:
To build a new Muslim society, fundamentalists proclaim their intent to do whatever they must; they openly flaunt an extremist sensibility. . . . If that means destruction and death for the enemies of true Islam, so be it. . . . Seeing Islam as the basis of a political system touching every aspect of life, fundamentalists are totalitarian. Whatever the problem, “Islam is the solution.” . . . Fundamentalists are revolutionary in outlook, extremist in behavior, totalitarian in ambition. . . . Like communism and fascism, Islam offers a vanguard ideology; a complete program to improve man and create a new society; complete control over that society; and cadres, ready, even eager, to spill blood.
On the other side of the debate are Graham E. Fuller and Ian O. Lesser, authors of A Sense of Siege: the Geopolitics of Islam and the West, who challenge the notion that Islam is an “ideology.” They maintain that, just as the West reflects a vast diversity of beliefs and values, “Islam [cannot] be treated as a single, cohesive, coherent, comprehensive, monolithic entity.” Those who agree with Fuller and Lesser argue that ominous claims such as those offered by Huntington and Pipes only serve to reemphasize prevalent stereotypes of Muslims as religious “fanatics”—stereotypes that lead to incidents of anti-Arab violence in Western countries—and encourage non-Muslims to adopt an “us-versus-them” attitude toward Islam. In reality, asserts Muslim activist Amira Elazhary Sonbol, “Anyone looking for [old-fashioned] American values can find them in Islam. It stresses family unity, caring for your mother and father, as well as bringing up children in the faith.”
Still, both Muslims and non-Muslims agree that some radical groups operating in the name of Islam have instigated acts of terrorism against Western nations. Osama bin Laden, a Saudi Arabian millionaire and supporter of radical Islamic groups, is suspected to be the mastermind and financier behind countless acts of anti-Western terrorism, including the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. Oliver B. Revell, former senior FBI official in charge of counter-terrorist investigations, warns that Islamic militants “are ultimately committed to waging holy war, both in the Middle East and the world at large against all of their opposition. And that means us.”
However, claims Middle East scholar Antony T. Sullivan, many Westerners neglect to consider what drives Islamic terrorism in the first place. If some Muslims are hostile toward the West, he contends, that hostility “has much to do with Western policy before and during the Gulf War, as well as long-standing American policy toward Israel and Lebanon.” In fact, in the view of many Muslims—including Muslim-Americans—the United States pursues foreign policies that either neglect or antagonize followers of Islam. For example, U.S. attacks on Iraq, which were viewed by many Americans as necessary to counter dictator Saddam Hussein, were seen by Muslims as an attack on innocent Muslim civilians.
Differing perspectives about an event’s significance are common in the debate over how the religion of Islam is changing social and political systems throughout the world. In Islam: Opposing Viewpoints, an array of scholars, political analysts, and journalists offer contrasting views about Islam in the following chapters: Are the Values of Islam and the West in Conflict? What Is the Status of Women Under Islam? Does Islam Promote Terrorism? And What Policies Should the U.S. Take Toward Islam? The authors in this anthology examine conflicting perceptions of Islam’s values and con.

 

 

  1. Some people are of the understanding that Islam is vast diversity of beliefs and values.

  2. Islam should not be treated as a monolithic and coherent entity.

  3. Islamic people are thought of stereotype religious fanatics.

  4. Islam is a comprehensive and cohesive religion.


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

It is given in the passage that Islam should 'not' be treated as a comprehensive and cohesive religion. That makes (4) the right choice.

What is the meaning of 'utilitarian” according to the passage?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

The term “biodiversity”—short for biological diversity—was first used in the 1980s by scientists to refer to the richness of biological variation on Earth or within a particular region. In their book Saving Nature’s Legacy, ecologists Reed Noss and Allen Cooperrider define biodiversity as the variety of life and its processes. It includes the variety of living organisms, the genetic differences among them, the…ecosystems in which they occur, and the ecological and evolutionary processes that keep them functioning, yet ever changing and adapting.
As this definition suggests, biodiversity exists on several levels. Perhaps the most common definition of the term refers to the variety of different species on the planet or in a given habitat. Approximately 1.7 million species of plants, animals, fungi, microbes, and other forms of life have been identified and named by biologists, but estimates of the total number of species on this planet vary greatly, from ten million to one hundred million. Scientists are engaged in several efforts around the world to identify and number undiscovered species, and many environmental laws, such as the Endangered Species Act, focus on preventing their disappearance or extinction.
The concept of biodiversity also extends to different levels of biological organization. Genetic diversity refers to the genetic variation within the same species. This can cover distinct populations of the same species (rice, for instance, exists in thousands of distinct varieties) or genetic variation within the same population (cheetahs in Africa, for example, lack genetic diversity in that all members are very similar in their genetic makeup). Scientists also refer to ecosystem diversity, noting the presence on Earth of a wide variety of natural habitats that contain differing varieties of life and ways in which species interact with each other. The World Resources Institute states that “the breadth of the concept [of biodiversity] reflects the interrelatedness of genes, species, and ecosystems.”
Biodiversity at all levels is an important environmental resource. “Our lives depend on biodiversity in ways that are not often appreciated,” writes scientist Anthony C. Janetos. He and other observers have described several different ways in which humans rely on biodiversity. On a utilitarian level, humans depend on other species for food, clothing, wood, medicines, and other necessities and comforts of living. Domesticated strains of crop plants and animals are continually interbred with their wild “cousins” to introduce new genetic combinations that can improve yields, drought tolerance, and disease and pest resistance. Endangered species of plants or animals may have properties yet to be discovered that could provide important medicines. In addition to such direct benefits, the world’s diverse living creatures working in concert provide important ecological “services” such as air and water purification, climate regulation, erosion control, and providing oxygen in the atmosphere that humans need to breathe. “Biodiversity keeps the planet habitable,” concludes biologist Peter Raven. Some ecologists also stress the aesthetic value of a natural world rich with an abundance of varied and often beautiful life-forms.
These important benefits conferred by biodiversity may be at risk, some believe. “Biologists who explore biodiversity see it vanishing before their eyes,” writes Edward O. Wilson. Conservationists have classified eight thousand species as endangered, and the true number of species nearing extinction may be much higher. Scientists such as Denis Saunders of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) estimate that seventy-thousand species become extinct each year—almost two hundred species a day. Many argue that the world could possibly lose 50 percent of its species over the next century. These extinctions are primarily blamed on the pressures exerted by a human population that has grown from less than 1.75 billion in 1900 to more than 6 billion in 2000. Human activities such as hunting, fishing, logging, the conversion of natural habitat into farmland and urban areas, and the spread of non-native species into fragile ecological areas are all blamed for species extinction and declining biodiversity. “In both direct and indirect ways,” writes ecologist R. Edward Grumbine, “human activities are causing a biodiversity crisis—the largest mass extinction in 65 million years.”
Despite widespread agreement within the scientific community on the importance of biodiversity, some areas of contention remain. One concerns the extent of the extinction crisis. Extinction, most biologists agree, is a natural phenomenon that has occurred throughout world history; the question is whether contemporary extinction rates are abnormally high. Some scientists have argued that dramatic estimates in the thousands of species becoming extinct every year are speculative guesses without supporting data and that the number of documented extinctions remains relatively small. “The world is not losing species very rapidly yet,” argues science writer Dennis T. Avery. Moreover, Avery and others contend that most known extinctions have taken place on islands, which have small populations that are highly vulnerable to extinction and therefore do not necessarily demonstrate the existence of a biodiversity crisis elsewhere.
Disagreement also exists regarding the ramifications of species loss. People who may be concerned about the fate of the panda or blue whale may feel less sense of loss if an undiscovered species of beetle in the tropical rainforest becomes extinct—a far more likely scenario. In many cases, another species may simply replace the ecological niche or function of a species that became extinct. “Losing a species may be tragic,” writes author Mark L. Plummer, “but the result is rarely, if ever, catastrophic.” Conservationists retort that the cumulative ramifications of loss of biodiversity may very well damage the resiliency of ecosystems.
A third area of controversy revolves around proposed remedies for preventing loss of biodiversity. Since human activities are believed to be the main threat to biodiversity, most proposed solutions—such as setting aside land as wildlife habitat, banning hunting of animals, restricting logging—inevitably result in restrictions on human activities and create economic burdens. Many conservationists believe that these are costs that humanity must shoulder. But some observers argue that due to the scientific uncertainty as to the extent and ramifications of loss of biodiversity, broad conservation measures attempting to restrict human activities might not be warranted or should at least be weighed against other social goals. “Species are menaced to improve roads to hospitals, build university campuses, create affordable housing, make the raw material for newspapers and magazines, and create a host of other social goods,” argues Plummer. “When we alter or cancel these projects to benefit nature, we make life harder for human beings.”
Humanity faces some critical choices about whether and how to preserve global biodiversity. Many scientists believe the twenty-first century will be a crucial time in determining the fate of many of this planet’s species and those actions people take now will have a significant and lasting legacy. The various contributors to Biodiversity: Current Controversies discuss the causes, repercussions, and solutions to declining biodiversity. It is hoped that the articles that follow will shed light on one of the truly global issues of our time.

 

 

  1. Practically applicable.

  2. Morally correct.

  3. Ethically correct.

  4. Consequentialism.


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

These lines, 'Humans depend on other species for food, clothing, wood, medicines, and other necessities and comforts of living. Domesticated strains of crop plants and animals are continually interbred with their wild “cousins” to introduce new genetic combinations and the world's diverse living creatures working in concert provide important ecological “services” such as air and water purification. This shows the practically useful ways by which everybody in nature is interdependent'. Thus the answer is (1). Choice (5) is another form of explaining the term utilitarian but is irrelevant to the passage.

The third model has all of the following characteristics except:

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

There is a strong correlation between learning disabilities (LDs) and both DSM-IV Axis 1 psychiatric disorders and other measures of psychological distress such as lowered self-esteem and lack of social competence (Beitchman and Young, 1997; American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 1998). This is true whether one begins by studying a group of learning-disabled children (Maughan et al., 1996; Boetsch et al., 1997; Fergussen and Lynskey, 1997) or by studying a group identified as psychiatrically disturbed (Munir and Boulefard, 1995; Cohen, 1996). If the starting point of a study was children identified by the educational system as having emotional disturbance (ED), between 30% and 75% were additionally identified as having LDs (Fessier, Rosenberg, and Rosenberg, 1991; Duchnowski et al., 1993; Forness and Kavale, 1997). The most commonly associated psychiatric problem is an externalizing disorder-usually attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or a conduct disorder (CD), or both-although internalizing disorders (anxiety, depression) are also found. The type of psychiatric disorder (externalizing or internalizing) may be of importance in predicting which students will successfully complete treatment. CD worsens the prognosis, and internalizing disorders improve it (Mattison, Spitznagel, and Felix, 1998). Internalizing disorders in the young child may become externalizing disorders in adolescence. Externalizing disorders, especially CD, may progress to antisocial personality disorder in late adolescence or early adulthood. In all cases, psychotherapy can be difficult to institute or to manage successfully, because the youngsters tend to be defensive and fearful of criticism.
The Foundation Schools are programs in the greater Washington, D.C., area that provide therapeutic and educational help to students referred by the local public schools. These are students with emotional disorders severe enough to prevent them from benefiting from regular school. The youngsters referred to Foundation Schools' special education programs often have multiple and varying DSM-IV diagnoses. This was true in the case of the youngsters (Lakeisha and Arthur) in the first two case studies in this chapter. It should also be noted that both Lakeisha and Arthur had been given both internalizing and externalizing diagnoses at various points in their past.
Because reading disorders are the most-studied combined LD group, a brief review of the research in this area is useful. The relationships between reading disorders and behavior disorders is complicated and not completely worked out yet (Hinshaw, 1992; Moffitt, 1993; Beitchman, Brownlie, and Wilson, 1996; Maughan et al., 1996; Fergussen and Lynskey, 1997; Prior et al., 1999). Rutter (cited in Maughan and Yule, 1994) proposed three broad hypotheses to account for the reading-behavior problem links. First, the behavior problem may be primary and lead to reading problems by interfering with the child's learning. Second, the reading problem may be primary and lead to the behavior problem, perhaps through academic failure, frustration, and lowered self-esteem. Third, both difficulties may stem from a common root in genetic, temperamental, or environmental adversities. These models may interact in reciprocal and unidirectional ways, leading to the final result. Research has not settled which model is most accurate. Fergussen and Lynskey (1997) found that children with reading disabilities had early-onset conduct problems prior to the onset of reading problems. This supports the first model. The connection of reading disorder with ADHD (Lambert and Sandoval, 1980) and the observation that youngsters with ADHD show subpar preschool achievement tests (Mariani and Barkley, 1995) also tend to support the first model. Shaywitz (1996) has reported language delays and inattention to the sounds of words (trouble playing rhyming games with words or confusing words that sound alike) in preschool children at risk of dyslexia-second model. Hinshaw (1992) reported that the overlap of externalizing problems with cognitive and academic readiness deficits early in development suggest the influence of antecedent variables. Low socioeconomic status, family adversity, subaverage IQ, language deficits, and neurodevelopmental delays were explored as possible underlying factors-third model. Moffitt (1993) describes a neuropsychological model in which attention deficits, verbal deficits, and executive dysfunction interact with environmental responses to produce CD.

 

 

 

  1. Language deficit.

  2. Sub average IQ.

  3. Reading deficit.

  4. Neurodevelopmental delays.

  5. Low socioeconomic status.


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

Reading Deficit is a characteristic of the first model as explained in these lines of the last paragraph, 'Fergussen and Lynskey (1997) found that children with reading disabilities had early-onset conduct problems prior to the onset of reading problems. This supports the first model'. That gives us the answer as (3).

What according to the passage is the most commonly associated Psychiatric problem?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

There is a strong correlation between learning disabilities (LDs) and both DSM-IV Axis 1 psychiatric disorders and other measures of psychological distress such as lowered self-esteem and lack of social competence (Beitchman and Young, 1997; American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 1998). This is true whether one begins by studying a group of learning-disabled children (Maughan et al., 1996; Boetsch et al., 1997; Fergussen and Lynskey, 1997) or by studying a group identified as psychiatrically disturbed (Munir and Boulefard, 1995; Cohen, 1996). If the starting point of a study was children identified by the educational system as having emotional disturbance (ED), between 30% and 75% were additionally identified as having LDs (Fessier, Rosenberg, and Rosenberg, 1991; Duchnowski et al., 1993; Forness and Kavale, 1997). The most commonly associated psychiatric problem is an externalizing disorder-usually attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or a conduct disorder (CD), or both-although internalizing disorders (anxiety, depression) are also found. The type of psychiatric disorder (externalizing or internalizing) may be of importance in predicting which students will successfully complete treatment. CD worsens the prognosis, and internalizing disorders improve it (Mattison, Spitznagel, and Felix, 1998). Internalizing disorders in the young child may become externalizing disorders in adolescence. Externalizing disorders, especially CD, may progress to antisocial personality disorder in late adolescence or early adulthood. In all cases, psychotherapy can be difficult to institute or to manage successfully, because the youngsters tend to be defensive and fearful of criticism.
The Foundation Schools are programs in the greater Washington, D.C., area that provide therapeutic and educational help to students referred by the local public schools. These are students with emotional disorders severe enough to prevent them from benefiting from regular school. The youngsters referred to Foundation Schools' special education programs often have multiple and varying DSM-IV diagnoses. This was true in the case of the youngsters (Lakeisha and Arthur) in the first two case studies in this chapter. It should also be noted that both Lakeisha and Arthur had been given both internalizing and externalizing diagnoses at various points in their past.
Because reading disorders are the most-studied combined LD group, a brief review of the research in this area is useful. The relationships between reading disorders and behavior disorders is complicated and not completely worked out yet (Hinshaw, 1992; Moffitt, 1993; Beitchman, Brownlie, and Wilson, 1996; Maughan et al., 1996; Fergussen and Lynskey, 1997; Prior et al., 1999). Rutter (cited in Maughan and Yule, 1994) proposed three broad hypotheses to account for the reading-behavior problem links. First, the behavior problem may be primary and lead to reading problems by interfering with the child's learning. Second, the reading problem may be primary and lead to the behavior problem, perhaps through academic failure, frustration, and lowered self-esteem. Third, both difficulties may stem from a common root in genetic, temperamental, or environmental adversities. These models may interact in reciprocal and unidirectional ways, leading to the final result. Research has not settled which model is most accurate. Fergussen and Lynskey (1997) found that children with reading disabilities had early-onset conduct problems prior to the onset of reading problems. This supports the first model. The connection of reading disorder with ADHD (Lambert and Sandoval, 1980) and the observation that youngsters with ADHD show subpar preschool achievement tests (Mariani and Barkley, 1995) also tend to support the first model. Shaywitz (1996) has reported language delays and inattention to the sounds of words (trouble playing rhyming games with words or confusing words that sound alike) in preschool children at risk of dyslexia-second model. Hinshaw (1992) reported that the overlap of externalizing problems with cognitive and academic readiness deficits early in development suggest the influence of antecedent variables. Low socioeconomic status, family adversity, subaverage IQ, language deficits, and neurodevelopmental delays were explored as possible underlying factors-third model. Moffitt (1993) describes a neuropsychological model in which attention deficits, verbal deficits, and executive dysfunction interact with environmental responses to produce CD.

 

 

 

  1. Neurodevelopmental problems.

  2. Dyslexic problems.

  3. Dysfunctional disorder.

  4. Attention deficit disorders.


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

The sentence “The most commonly associated psychiatric problem is an externalizing disorder-usually attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder” gives us the answer (4).

`The first paragraph gives the definition of Biodiversity. What can be inferred from the definition?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

The term “biodiversity”—short for biological diversity—was first used in the 1980s by scientists to refer to the richness of biological variation on Earth or within a particular region. In their book Saving Nature’s Legacy, ecologists Reed Noss and Allen Cooperrider define biodiversity as the variety of life and its processes. It includes the variety of living organisms, the genetic differences among them, the…ecosystems in which they occur, and the ecological and evolutionary processes that keep them functioning, yet ever changing and adapting.
As this definition suggests, biodiversity exists on several levels. Perhaps the most common definition of the term refers to the variety of different species on the planet or in a given habitat. Approximately 1.7 million species of plants, animals, fungi, microbes, and other forms of life have been identified and named by biologists, but estimates of the total number of species on this planet vary greatly, from ten million to one hundred million. Scientists are engaged in several efforts around the world to identify and number undiscovered species, and many environmental laws, such as the Endangered Species Act, focus on preventing their disappearance or extinction.
The concept of biodiversity also extends to different levels of biological organization. Genetic diversity refers to the genetic variation within the same species. This can cover distinct populations of the same species (rice, for instance, exists in thousands of distinct varieties) or genetic variation within the same population (cheetahs in Africa, for example, lack genetic diversity in that all members are very similar in their genetic makeup). Scientists also refer to ecosystem diversity, noting the presence on Earth of a wide variety of natural habitats that contain differing varieties of life and ways in which species interact with each other. The World Resources Institute states that “the breadth of the concept [of biodiversity] reflects the interrelatedness of genes, species, and ecosystems.”
Biodiversity at all levels is an important environmental resource. “Our lives depend on biodiversity in ways that are not often appreciated,” writes scientist Anthony C. Janetos. He and other observers have described several different ways in which humans rely on biodiversity. On a utilitarian level, humans depend on other species for food, clothing, wood, medicines, and other necessities and comforts of living. Domesticated strains of crop plants and animals are continually interbred with their wild “cousins” to introduce new genetic combinations that can improve yields, drought tolerance, and disease and pest resistance. Endangered species of plants or animals may have properties yet to be discovered that could provide important medicines. In addition to such direct benefits, the world’s diverse living creatures working in concert provide important ecological “services” such as air and water purification, climate regulation, erosion control, and providing oxygen in the atmosphere that humans need to breathe. “Biodiversity keeps the planet habitable,” concludes biologist Peter Raven. Some ecologists also stress the aesthetic value of a natural world rich with an abundance of varied and often beautiful life-forms.
These important benefits conferred by biodiversity may be at risk, some believe. “Biologists who explore biodiversity see it vanishing before their eyes,” writes Edward O. Wilson. Conservationists have classified eight thousand species as endangered, and the true number of species nearing extinction may be much higher. Scientists such as Denis Saunders of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) estimate that seventy-thousand species become extinct each year—almost two hundred species a day. Many argue that the world could possibly lose 50 percent of its species over the next century. These extinctions are primarily blamed on the pressures exerted by a human population that has grown from less than 1.75 billion in 1900 to more than 6 billion in 2000. Human activities such as hunting, fishing, logging, the conversion of natural habitat into farmland and urban areas, and the spread of non-native species into fragile ecological areas are all blamed for species extinction and declining biodiversity. “In both direct and indirect ways,” writes ecologist R. Edward Grumbine, “human activities are causing a biodiversity crisis—the largest mass extinction in 65 million years.”
Despite widespread agreement within the scientific community on the importance of biodiversity, some areas of contention remain. One concerns the extent of the extinction crisis. Extinction, most biologists agree, is a natural phenomenon that has occurred throughout world history; the question is whether contemporary extinction rates are abnormally high. Some scientists have argued that dramatic estimates in the thousands of species becoming extinct every year are speculative guesses without supporting data and that the number of documented extinctions remains relatively small. “The world is not losing species very rapidly yet,” argues science writer Dennis T. Avery. Moreover, Avery and others contend that most known extinctions have taken place on islands, which have small populations that are highly vulnerable to extinction and therefore do not necessarily demonstrate the existence of a biodiversity crisis elsewhere.
Disagreement also exists regarding the ramifications of species loss. People who may be concerned about the fate of the panda or blue whale may feel less sense of loss if an undiscovered species of beetle in the tropical rainforest becomes extinct—a far more likely scenario. In many cases, another species may simply replace the ecological niche or function of a species that became extinct. “Losing a species may be tragic,” writes author Mark L. Plummer, “but the result is rarely, if ever, catastrophic.” Conservationists retort that the cumulative ramifications of loss of biodiversity may very well damage the resiliency of ecosystems.
A third area of controversy revolves around proposed remedies for preventing loss of biodiversity. Since human activities are believed to be the main threat to biodiversity, most proposed solutions—such as setting aside land as wildlife habitat, banning hunting of animals, restricting logging—inevitably result in restrictions on human activities and create economic burdens. Many conservationists believe that these are costs that humanity must shoulder. But some observers argue that due to the scientific uncertainty as to the extent and ramifications of loss of biodiversity, broad conservation measures attempting to restrict human activities might not be warranted or should at least be weighed against other social goals. “Species are menaced to improve roads to hospitals, build university campuses, create affordable housing, make the raw material for newspapers and magazines, and create a host of other social goods,” argues Plummer. “When we alter or cancel these projects to benefit nature, we make life harder for human beings.”
Humanity faces some critical choices about whether and how to preserve global biodiversity. Many scientists believe the twenty-first century will be a crucial time in determining the fate of many of this planet’s species and those actions people take now will have a significant and lasting legacy. The various contributors to Biodiversity: Current Controversies discuss the causes, repercussions, and solutions to declining biodiversity. It is hoped that the articles that follow will shed light on one of the truly global issues of our time.

 

 

  1. Biodiversity includes a variety of living organisms.

  2. Biodiversity exists on several levels.

  3. Biodiversity includes processes that keep functioning.

  4. Biodiversity is at risk.

  5. Biodiversity is interdependent with human needs.


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

It is concluded in the first line of the second paragraph that Biodiversity exists on several levels. Hence, the answer (2).

Which law focuses on saving animals from extinction?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

The term “biodiversity”—short for biological diversity—was first used in the 1980s by scientists to refer to the richness of biological variation on Earth or within a particular region. In their book Saving Nature’s Legacy, ecologists Reed Noss and Allen Cooperrider define biodiversity as the variety of life and its processes. It includes the variety of living organisms, the genetic differences among them, the…ecosystems in which they occur, and the ecological and evolutionary processes that keep them functioning, yet ever changing and adapting.
As this definition suggests, biodiversity exists on several levels. Perhaps the most common definition of the term refers to the variety of different species on the planet or in a given habitat. Approximately 1.7 million species of plants, animals, fungi, microbes, and other forms of life have been identified and named by biologists, but estimates of the total number of species on this planet vary greatly, from ten million to one hundred million. Scientists are engaged in several efforts around the world to identify and number undiscovered species, and many environmental laws, such as the Endangered Species Act, focus on preventing their disappearance or extinction.
The concept of biodiversity also extends to different levels of biological organization. Genetic diversity refers to the genetic variation within the same species. This can cover distinct populations of the same species (rice, for instance, exists in thousands of distinct varieties) or genetic variation within the same population (cheetahs in Africa, for example, lack genetic diversity in that all members are very similar in their genetic makeup). Scientists also refer to ecosystem diversity, noting the presence on Earth of a wide variety of natural habitats that contain differing varieties of life and ways in which species interact with each other. The World Resources Institute states that “the breadth of the concept [of biodiversity] reflects the interrelatedness of genes, species, and ecosystems.”
Biodiversity at all levels is an important environmental resource. “Our lives depend on biodiversity in ways that are not often appreciated,” writes scientist Anthony C. Janetos. He and other observers have described several different ways in which humans rely on biodiversity. On a utilitarian level, humans depend on other species for food, clothing, wood, medicines, and other necessities and comforts of living. Domesticated strains of crop plants and animals are continually interbred with their wild “cousins” to introduce new genetic combinations that can improve yields, drought tolerance, and disease and pest resistance. Endangered species of plants or animals may have properties yet to be discovered that could provide important medicines. In addition to such direct benefits, the world’s diverse living creatures working in concert provide important ecological “services” such as air and water purification, climate regulation, erosion control, and providing oxygen in the atmosphere that humans need to breathe. “Biodiversity keeps the planet habitable,” concludes biologist Peter Raven. Some ecologists also stress the aesthetic value of a natural world rich with an abundance of varied and often beautiful life-forms.
These important benefits conferred by biodiversity may be at risk, some believe. “Biologists who explore biodiversity see it vanishing before their eyes,” writes Edward O. Wilson. Conservationists have classified eight thousand species as endangered, and the true number of species nearing extinction may be much higher. Scientists such as Denis Saunders of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) estimate that seventy-thousand species become extinct each year—almost two hundred species a day. Many argue that the world could possibly lose 50 percent of its species over the next century. These extinctions are primarily blamed on the pressures exerted by a human population that has grown from less than 1.75 billion in 1900 to more than 6 billion in 2000. Human activities such as hunting, fishing, logging, the conversion of natural habitat into farmland and urban areas, and the spread of non-native species into fragile ecological areas are all blamed for species extinction and declining biodiversity. “In both direct and indirect ways,” writes ecologist R. Edward Grumbine, “human activities are causing a biodiversity crisis—the largest mass extinction in 65 million years.”
Despite widespread agreement within the scientific community on the importance of biodiversity, some areas of contention remain. One concerns the extent of the extinction crisis. Extinction, most biologists agree, is a natural phenomenon that has occurred throughout world history; the question is whether contemporary extinction rates are abnormally high. Some scientists have argued that dramatic estimates in the thousands of species becoming extinct every year are speculative guesses without supporting data and that the number of documented extinctions remains relatively small. “The world is not losing species very rapidly yet,” argues science writer Dennis T. Avery. Moreover, Avery and others contend that most known extinctions have taken place on islands, which have small populations that are highly vulnerable to extinction and therefore do not necessarily demonstrate the existence of a biodiversity crisis elsewhere.
Disagreement also exists regarding the ramifications of species loss. People who may be concerned about the fate of the panda or blue whale may feel less sense of loss if an undiscovered species of beetle in the tropical rainforest becomes extinct—a far more likely scenario. In many cases, another species may simply replace the ecological niche or function of a species that became extinct. “Losing a species may be tragic,” writes author Mark L. Plummer, “but the result is rarely, if ever, catastrophic.” Conservationists retort that the cumulative ramifications of loss of biodiversity may very well damage the resiliency of ecosystems.
A third area of controversy revolves around proposed remedies for preventing loss of biodiversity. Since human activities are believed to be the main threat to biodiversity, most proposed solutions—such as setting aside land as wildlife habitat, banning hunting of animals, restricting logging—inevitably result in restrictions on human activities and create economic burdens. Many conservationists believe that these are costs that humanity must shoulder. But some observers argue that due to the scientific uncertainty as to the extent and ramifications of loss of biodiversity, broad conservation measures attempting to restrict human activities might not be warranted or should at least be weighed against other social goals. “Species are menaced to improve roads to hospitals, build university campuses, create affordable housing, make the raw material for newspapers and magazines, and create a host of other social goods,” argues Plummer. “When we alter or cancel these projects to benefit nature, we make life harder for human beings.”
Humanity faces some critical choices about whether and how to preserve global biodiversity. Many scientists believe the twenty-first century will be a crucial time in determining the fate of many of this planet’s species and those actions people take now will have a significant and lasting legacy. The various contributors to Biodiversity: Current Controversies discuss the causes, repercussions, and solutions to declining biodiversity. It is hoped that the articles that follow will shed light on one of the truly global issues of our time.

 

 

  1. Biodiversity in danger “act”.

  2. Law of biodiversity.

  3. Endangered species act.

  4. Law of animal saving.


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The sentence “many environmental laws, such as the Endangered Species Act, focus on preventing their disappearance or extinction” gives us the answer (3).

The police ______ the ______ crowd by spraying the demonstrators with fire hoses and firing bullets over their heads.

Directions: The sentence below has two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Beneath the sentence are five sets of words labelled from (1) to (5). Choose the set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

 

 

  1. disseminated; docile

  2. scattered; tractable

  3. dissipated; riotous

  4. Squandered; complying

  5. dispersed; complaisant


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

All the options for the first blank are relevant. But for the second blank, we infer from the ‘statement’ that the crowd has to be riotous. Thus, option (3) is correct.

What is the difference between Internal and External disorders?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

There is a strong correlation between learning disabilities (LDs) and both DSM-IV Axis 1 psychiatric disorders and other measures of psychological distress such as lowered self-esteem and lack of social competence (Beitchman and Young, 1997; American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 1998). This is true whether one begins by studying a group of learning-disabled children (Maughan et al., 1996; Boetsch et al., 1997; Fergussen and Lynskey, 1997) or by studying a group identified as psychiatrically disturbed (Munir and Boulefard, 1995; Cohen, 1996). If the starting point of a study was children identified by the educational system as having emotional disturbance (ED), between 30% and 75% were additionally identified as having LDs (Fessier, Rosenberg, and Rosenberg, 1991; Duchnowski et al., 1993; Forness and Kavale, 1997). The most commonly associated psychiatric problem is an externalizing disorder-usually attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or a conduct disorder (CD), or both-although internalizing disorders (anxiety, depression) are also found. The type of psychiatric disorder (externalizing or internalizing) may be of importance in predicting which students will successfully complete treatment. CD worsens the prognosis, and internalizing disorders improve it (Mattison, Spitznagel, and Felix, 1998). Internalizing disorders in the young child may become externalizing disorders in adolescence. Externalizing disorders, especially CD, may progress to antisocial personality disorder in late adolescence or early adulthood. In all cases, psychotherapy can be difficult to institute or to manage successfully, because the youngsters tend to be defensive and fearful of criticism.
The Foundation Schools are programs in the greater Washington, D.C., area that provide therapeutic and educational help to students referred by the local public schools. These are students with emotional disorders severe enough to prevent them from benefiting from regular school. The youngsters referred to Foundation Schools' special education programs often have multiple and varying DSM-IV diagnoses. This was true in the case of the youngsters (Lakeisha and Arthur) in the first two case studies in this chapter. It should also be noted that both Lakeisha and Arthur had been given both internalizing and externalizing diagnoses at various points in their past.
Because reading disorders are the most-studied combined LD group, a brief review of the research in this area is useful. The relationships between reading disorders and behavior disorders is complicated and not completely worked out yet (Hinshaw, 1992; Moffitt, 1993; Beitchman, Brownlie, and Wilson, 1996; Maughan et al., 1996; Fergussen and Lynskey, 1997; Prior et al., 1999). Rutter (cited in Maughan and Yule, 1994) proposed three broad hypotheses to account for the reading-behavior problem links. First, the behavior problem may be primary and lead to reading problems by interfering with the child's learning. Second, the reading problem may be primary and lead to the behavior problem, perhaps through academic failure, frustration, and lowered self-esteem. Third, both difficulties may stem from a common root in genetic, temperamental, or environmental adversities. These models may interact in reciprocal and unidirectional ways, leading to the final result. Research has not settled which model is most accurate. Fergussen and Lynskey (1997) found that children with reading disabilities had early-onset conduct problems prior to the onset of reading problems. This supports the first model. The connection of reading disorder with ADHD (Lambert and Sandoval, 1980) and the observation that youngsters with ADHD show subpar preschool achievement tests (Mariani and Barkley, 1995) also tend to support the first model. Shaywitz (1996) has reported language delays and inattention to the sounds of words (trouble playing rhyming games with words or confusing words that sound alike) in preschool children at risk of dyslexia-second model. Hinshaw (1992) reported that the overlap of externalizing problems with cognitive and academic readiness deficits early in development suggest the influence of antecedent variables. Low socioeconomic status, family adversity, subaverage IQ, language deficits, and neurodevelopmental delays were explored as possible underlying factors-third model. Moffitt (1993) describes a neuropsychological model in which attention deficits, verbal deficits, and executive dysfunction interact with environmental responses to produce CD.

 

 

 

  1. External disorders go on to become internal disorders.

  2. External disorders and antisocial disorders are different from internal disorders.

  3. Internal disorders may progress to become external disorders in the future.

  4. Both are types of psychiatric disorders.

  5. One disorder is commonly found while the other is rare.


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The passage explains that internal disorders become external disorders as young children become adolescents in these lines from the first paragraph, 'Internalizing disorders in the young child may become externalizing disorders in adolescence. Externalizing disorders, especially CD, may progress to antisocial personality disorder in late adolescence or early adulthood. In all cases, psychotherapy can be difficult to institute or to manage successfully, because the youngsters tend to be defensive and fearful of criticism'. This is similar to choice (3).

Which of the following is causing a crisis in biodiversity?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

The term “biodiversity”—short for biological diversity—was first used in the 1980s by scientists to refer to the richness of biological variation on Earth or within a particular region. In their book Saving Nature’s Legacy, ecologists Reed Noss and Allen Cooperrider define biodiversity as the variety of life and its processes. It includes the variety of living organisms, the genetic differences among them, the…ecosystems in which they occur, and the ecological and evolutionary processes that keep them functioning, yet ever changing and adapting.
As this definition suggests, biodiversity exists on several levels. Perhaps the most common definition of the term refers to the variety of different species on the planet or in a given habitat. Approximately 1.7 million species of plants, animals, fungi, microbes, and other forms of life have been identified and named by biologists, but estimates of the total number of species on this planet vary greatly, from ten million to one hundred million. Scientists are engaged in several efforts around the world to identify and number undiscovered species, and many environmental laws, such as the Endangered Species Act, focus on preventing their disappearance or extinction.
The concept of biodiversity also extends to different levels of biological organization. Genetic diversity refers to the genetic variation within the same species. This can cover distinct populations of the same species (rice, for instance, exists in thousands of distinct varieties) or genetic variation within the same population (cheetahs in Africa, for example, lack genetic diversity in that all members are very similar in their genetic makeup). Scientists also refer to ecosystem diversity, noting the presence on Earth of a wide variety of natural habitats that contain differing varieties of life and ways in which species interact with each other. The World Resources Institute states that “the breadth of the concept [of biodiversity] reflects the interrelatedness of genes, species, and ecosystems.”
Biodiversity at all levels is an important environmental resource. “Our lives depend on biodiversity in ways that are not often appreciated,” writes scientist Anthony C. Janetos. He and other observers have described several different ways in which humans rely on biodiversity. On a utilitarian level, humans depend on other species for food, clothing, wood, medicines, and other necessities and comforts of living. Domesticated strains of crop plants and animals are continually interbred with their wild “cousins” to introduce new genetic combinations that can improve yields, drought tolerance, and disease and pest resistance. Endangered species of plants or animals may have properties yet to be discovered that could provide important medicines. In addition to such direct benefits, the world’s diverse living creatures working in concert provide important ecological “services” such as air and water purification, climate regulation, erosion control, and providing oxygen in the atmosphere that humans need to breathe. “Biodiversity keeps the planet habitable,” concludes biologist Peter Raven. Some ecologists also stress the aesthetic value of a natural world rich with an abundance of varied and often beautiful life-forms.
These important benefits conferred by biodiversity may be at risk, some believe. “Biologists who explore biodiversity see it vanishing before their eyes,” writes Edward O. Wilson. Conservationists have classified eight thousand species as endangered, and the true number of species nearing extinction may be much higher. Scientists such as Denis Saunders of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) estimate that seventy-thousand species become extinct each year—almost two hundred species a day. Many argue that the world could possibly lose 50 percent of its species over the next century. These extinctions are primarily blamed on the pressures exerted by a human population that has grown from less than 1.75 billion in 1900 to more than 6 billion in 2000. Human activities such as hunting, fishing, logging, the conversion of natural habitat into farmland and urban areas, and the spread of non-native species into fragile ecological areas are all blamed for species extinction and declining biodiversity. “In both direct and indirect ways,” writes ecologist R. Edward Grumbine, “human activities are causing a biodiversity crisis—the largest mass extinction in 65 million years.”
Despite widespread agreement within the scientific community on the importance of biodiversity, some areas of contention remain. One concerns the extent of the extinction crisis. Extinction, most biologists agree, is a natural phenomenon that has occurred throughout world history; the question is whether contemporary extinction rates are abnormally high. Some scientists have argued that dramatic estimates in the thousands of species becoming extinct every year are speculative guesses without supporting data and that the number of documented extinctions remains relatively small. “The world is not losing species very rapidly yet,” argues science writer Dennis T. Avery. Moreover, Avery and others contend that most known extinctions have taken place on islands, which have small populations that are highly vulnerable to extinction and therefore do not necessarily demonstrate the existence of a biodiversity crisis elsewhere.
Disagreement also exists regarding the ramifications of species loss. People who may be concerned about the fate of the panda or blue whale may feel less sense of loss if an undiscovered species of beetle in the tropical rainforest becomes extinct—a far more likely scenario. In many cases, another species may simply replace the ecological niche or function of a species that became extinct. “Losing a species may be tragic,” writes author Mark L. Plummer, “but the result is rarely, if ever, catastrophic.” Conservationists retort that the cumulative ramifications of loss of biodiversity may very well damage the resiliency of ecosystems.
A third area of controversy revolves around proposed remedies for preventing loss of biodiversity. Since human activities are believed to be the main threat to biodiversity, most proposed solutions—such as setting aside land as wildlife habitat, banning hunting of animals, restricting logging—inevitably result in restrictions on human activities and create economic burdens. Many conservationists believe that these are costs that humanity must shoulder. But some observers argue that due to the scientific uncertainty as to the extent and ramifications of loss of biodiversity, broad conservation measures attempting to restrict human activities might not be warranted or should at least be weighed against other social goals. “Species are menaced to improve roads to hospitals, build university campuses, create affordable housing, make the raw material for newspapers and magazines, and create a host of other social goods,” argues Plummer. “When we alter or cancel these projects to benefit nature, we make life harder for human beings.”
Humanity faces some critical choices about whether and how to preserve global biodiversity. Many scientists believe the twenty-first century will be a crucial time in determining the fate of many of this planet’s species and those actions people take now will have a significant and lasting legacy. The various contributors to Biodiversity: Current Controversies discuss the causes, repercussions, and solutions to declining biodiversity. It is hoped that the articles that follow will shed light on one of the truly global issues of our time.

 

 

  1. Increasing extinction of species.

  2. Cumulative ramifications.

  3. Human activities.

  4. Endangerment of species.

  5. Increasing irregularity in climate.


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

It is explained in the latter part of the passage that human activities like fishing, logging etc are causing a crisis in biodiversity.

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