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PASSAGE In nearly all human populations a majority of individuals can taste the artificially synthesized chemical phenylthiocarbonide (PTC). However, the percentage varies dramatically–from as low as 60% in India to as high as 95% in Africa. That this polymorphism is observed in non-human primates as well indicates a long evolutionary history which, although obviously not acting on PTC, might reflect evolutionary selection for taste discrimination of other, more significant bitter substances, such as certain toxic plants. A somewhat more puzzling human polymorphism is the genetic variability in earwax, or cerumen, which is observed in two varieties. Among European populations 90% of individuals have a sticky yellow variety rather than a dry, gray one, whereas in northern China these numbers are approximately the reverse. Perhaps like PTC variability, cerumen variability is an incidental expression of something more adaptively significant. Indeed, the observed relationship between cerumen and odorous bodily secretions, to which non-human primates and, to a lesser extent humans, pay attention suggests that during the course of human evolution genes affecting body secretions, including cerumen, came under selective influence. Q.1 It can be inferred from the passage that human populations vary considerably in their A) ability to assimilate artificial chemicals B) vulnerability to certain toxins found in plants C) ability to discern bitterness in taste D) sensitivity to certain bodily odors   Q.2 Which of the following provides the most reasonable explanation for the assertion in the first paragraph that evolutionary history “obviously” did not act on PTC? A) PTC is not a naturally occurring chemical but rather has been produced only recently by scientists. B) Most humans lack sufficient taste sensitivity to discriminate between PTC and bitter chemicals occurring naturally. C) Variability among humans respecting PTC discrimination, like variability respecting earwax, cannot be explained in terms of evolutionary adaptivity. D) Unlike non-human primates, humans can discriminate intellectually between toxic and non-toxic bitter substances.   Q.3 Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage? A) Artificially synthesized chemicals might eventually serve to alter the course of evolution by desensitizing humans to certain tastes and odors. B) Some human polymorphisms might be explained as vestigial evidence of evolutionary adaptations that still serve vital purposes in other primates. C) Sensitivity to taste and to odors have been subject to far greater natural selectivity during the evolution of primates than previously thought. D) Polymorphism among human populations varies considerably from region to region throughout the world.   Q.4 It can be inferred from the passage that A) The amount of bodily odours and secretion that take place reduce at each stage of evolution. B) The extent of attention paid by non-human primates to body secretions is much higher than that of the more evolved human species. C) Artificially sythesized chemicals have impaired the extent of sensitivity that human beings have to body secretions. D) All of these   1) Ans. C2) Ans. A3) Ans. B4) Ans. B

PASSAGE The fictional world of Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison’s novel Sula, the African-American section of Medallion, Ohio, a community called the Bottom is a place where people and natural things are apt to go awry, to break from their prescribed boundaries, a place where bizarre and unnatural happenings and strange reversals of the ordinary are commonplace. The very naming of the setting of Sula is a turning upside-down of the expected; the Bottom is located high in the hills. The novel is filled with images of mutilation, both psychological and physical. A great part of the lives of the characters, therefore, is taken up with making sense of the world, setting boundaries, and devising methods to control what is essentially uncontrollable. One of the major devices used by the people of the Bottom is the seemingly universal one of creating a _______________; in this case, the title character Sula upon which to project both the evil they perceive outside themselves and the evil in their own hearts. Q.1 Which of the following words would best fit into the blank in the final sentence of the passage? A) scapegoat B) hero C) leader D) victim Q.2 Based on the description of the setting of the novel Sula, which of the following adjectives would most likely describe the behavior of many of its residents? A) furtive B) suspicious C) unkempt D) eccentric   1) A 2) D

PASSAGE My favourite news story and this actually was a news story was about the noise level in Toronto restaurants. It seems many Toronto restaurants are noisy. You cant go there and have a quiet conversation anymore. They play the background music too loud and many of the walls, ceilings and floors dont contain sound-absorbing material but instead reflect noise, whether music or their own conversations, back onto patrons. Apparently, its getting to the point where and here I must say I expected to hear about an imminent hearing-impairment crisis among Toronto servers or passers-by (second-hand noise, you know) or an upcoming investigation by the citys tireless health and safety commissioner, but, no, the main reported consequence of allegedly higher noise levels in Toronto restaurants is that some patrons (though we dont know who or how many) have decided to stay away from the noisier places. Another example: the Great Canadian Anti-Salt Crusade. You read here (in April 2007) how a new Statistics Canada survey of Canadians salt use we use too much of it for our own good: is anyone surprised? seemed destined to lead to a national campaign to start managing Canadians intake of the deadly chemical. Now, three years later, a federal government interdepartmental task force on salt is indeed moving us toward greater governmental oversight of our eating habits. The CBCs Ottawa radio outlet is helping out by signing up a four-person panel of just plain folk it found via Twitter and following their salt consumption over the next few weeks. I bet a tub of MSG the panel ends up being shocked by how much salt is in our prepared foods and concluding the government needs to regulate the industry much more strictly. At the very least, we can expect Government of Canada ads aimed at increasing our Salt-Awareness. (Quebec is a world leader in this sort of thing: We have had TV ads urging us to spend more time with our kids. If things are so far gone in a society that people have to get their parenting skills from TV ads, theres really no hope for it.) Perhaps you heard Cross-Country Check-ups recent show on the camping crisis. It seems Canadians arent camping as much as we used to. Why are the numbers down? And what can we do about it? A current employee of Parks Canada assured listeners their government was on top of the situation, particularly with respect to worryingly low camping statistics among residents of the countrys major urban centres. There is now a pilot program called Camping 101 that introduces new campers us big-city types and new immigrants from countries with no camping heritage to simple camping techniques such as how to safely start a campfire, toast a marshmallow, and apply bug repellant. How thoughtful! From cradle to grave via campsite, your government and its attendant broadcast corporation are working tirelessly for you. Worry, worry, worry. Since Woodward, Bernstein and Watergate journalism schools have taught students their job is not to be interesting, entertaining and possibly even amusing but rather, in their role as a sub-genre of social worker, to get to the bottom of crises and conspiracies. If you’re going to do that around the clock, you eventually get down to salt, noise and camping crises. Fortunately, there is a solution to endlessly escalating media worry about smaller and smaller problems. Like those restaurant patrons, we can simply stop listening Q.1 Which of the following best describes the tone of the passage? A) Cautionary B) Sarcastic C) Derogatory D) Critical Q.2 Which one of these is not a characteristic of the various news stories discussed by the author? A) They arise out of the journalists need to be entertaining. B) They deal with issues that the author considers trivial. C) They are a result of practices taught in journalism schools. D) They portray issues as crises. Q.3 Which of the following cannot be inferred from the passage? A) Woodward, Bernstein and Watergate are all names related to some conspiracy. B) The author supports the Canadian governments efforts to bring people back to campsites. C) The author recommends not paying too much attention to news stories such as those discussed in the passage. D) Canadians intake of salt is high and it carries certain risks. Q.4 Which of the following would be a suitable title for the passage? A) What is worrying the news media? B) Alarming news stories C) Major issues in Canada today D) How to deal with trivial news stories?     1) B2) A3) B4) A Ads By Adsplay

PASSAGE There is something irksome about a recent story in the New York Times that declared that “E-Books Make Readers Feel Less Isolated”. Being a bookworm is uncool, the story alleges, but carrying around an e-reader makes reading seem chic. Strangers constantly ask about it, Michael Hughes, a communications associate at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, said of his iPad, which he uses to read a mix of novels and nonfiction. Its almost like having a new baby. The problem here is not with the e-book. I’m in favour of any mode of literature delivery. If the only way I could consume Tolstoy was by having a trail of ants marching across my desk, each hoisting a piece of rice inscribed with the relevant word, that would be grand. Also, amazing. Also, impractical. Rather, I’m intrigued by the notion that e-readers make reading less antisocial. Doesn’t reading necessitate not socialising? Indeed, isn’t that part of the appeal? I was always under the impression that books served a dual purpose: not only do they offer a world to enter, but also they offer an affordable means of escape from the world we’re in. What a nice cloak a book can be on the subway or the train, or while sitting at a bar, enjoying the buzz of humanity while absorbed in something else. I’m reminded of Anne Tyler’s “The Accidental Tourist”, in which books are recommended as props for travellers who would rather avoid idle chatter with strangers. Jonathan Franzen had something powerful to say about this in Lev Grossman’s cover story about him in Time. Though few would hold Mr Franzen up as a beacon of joyful, social living (the man describes writing as “miserable work” and counts bird-watching as one of his few indulgences), he is convincing in his case for the importance of the sustained concentration demanded by reading. “We are so distracted by and engulfed by the technologies we’ve created, and by the constant barrage of so-called information that comes our way, that more than ever to immerse yourself in an involving book seems socially useful… The place of stillness that you have to go to to write, but also to read seriously, is the point where you can actually make responsible decisions, where you can actually engage productively with an otherwise scary and unmanageable world.” Books require a certain quiet, a solitude that is all the more valuable for the way it can be achieved in public. The constant barrage of information Mr Franzen describes makes the insularity of a good book all the more valuable, like an antidote. Still, few may be inspired to follow Mr Franzen’s approach for keeping the siren song of the internet at bay. “What you have to do,” he explained, “is you plug in an Ethernet cable with superglue, and then you saw off the little head of it.” Q.1 According to the passage, which of the following cannot be inferred as a role/function of books? A) Providing solitude even in the middle of a crowd. B) Allowing an individual to escape the world. C) Providing access to information and ideas. D) Creating a space for introspection and engagement with the world. Q.2 Why does the author mention the instance of reading Tolstoy through a trail of ants? A) To highlight the fact that the mode of delivery of literature is not important. B) To prove that e-books can be equally effective as a mode of literature delivery. C) To demonstrate an impractical mode of literature delivery. D) To give an example of a mode of literature delivery that the author considers grand. Q.3 Which one of these best expresses the central theme of the passage? A) The impact of technological innovations on reading. B) New forms of reading books. C) The nature of the process of reading. D) The importance of reading. Q.4 The author calls a good book, an antidote. What is it an antidote to? A) Distracting technology B) Too much information C) The public D) Insularity   1) C2) A3) D4) B