Reading Comprehension-Test 2

                           Reading Comprehension-Test 2

 Instruction: Read the following passages and then answer the questions that follow.

                                           Reading Passage-1

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There are many scientists who study the mental abilities of animals. As intelligent animals ourselves, we’re keen to learn whether other species share our skills, and how our vaunted smarts evolved. We see study after study about whether chimpanzees care about fairness, whether pigeons outsmart humans at a classic maths problem, whether cuttlefish can remember where, what and when, or whether (and how) parrots and crows use tools etc.

But animals are hard to work with. You need to design tests that objectively assess their mental skills without raising the spectre of anthropomorphism, and you need to carefully train them to perform those tests. These difficulties mean that researchers mostly resort to small experiments with just one species, often with their own bespoke tasks. This makes it very hard to compare species or pool the results of separate studies. If a lemur behaves differently to a monkey in separate experiments, is it because of some genuine biological difference, or some quirk of the respective studies?

These problems mean that the study of animal intelligence is rich but piecemeal. Each study adds a new piece to the jigsaw, but is everyone even solving the same puzzle?

Evan Maclean Brian Hare, and Charles Nunn from Duke University have had enough. international team of 58 scientists from 25 institutes in studying the evolution of one mental skill—self-control—in 567 animals from 36 species.

Chimpanzees, gorillas, baboons, marmosets, lemurs, squirrels, dogs, elephants, pigeons, parrots and more tried their hands (or trunks or beaks or snouts) at the same two tasks. “It was literally a mouse-to-elephant study,” says MacLean, “or at least a Mongolian-gerbil-to-elephant study.”

The team focused on self-control—the ability to stop doing that, put that down, eat that later. Animals exercise it when they stop themselves from mating in the presence of a dominant peer, when they forgo an existing source of food in favour of foraging somewhere new, or when they share resources with their fellows. In humans, a child's degree of self -control correlates with  their health, wealth, and mental state as adults. It’s important.

It’s also easy to measure. Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget did it in the 1950s when he repeatedly put a toy under a box in front of some infants, and then moved it to a second box. He found that babies under 10 months of age would keep on searching under Box A, despite what they had seen. They couldn’t resist their old habit to do something flexible and different; that ability only kicks in around our first birthday. MacLean, Hare and Nunn’s team gave this “A-not-B” test to their animals, using food rather than a toy.

But MacLean suspects that if other teams focused on these skills, they would find different results. Group size may become more important if researchers focused on tasks that looked at social learning—the ability to imitate and learn from others. Alternatively, diet may again win out if scientists looked at memory skills.

This new study doesn’t settle the debates. It just points to a way forward. Each of the scientists in the team could easily have published their own papers using the collected data, but they decided to combine their efforts into one publication. “We thought it would be most powerful if it came out together,” says MacLean. “There’s never been a data set this size. We’re certainly hoping that it’s a game-changer in the way we do comparative psychology.”

And even Dunbar says, “It’s good to see comparative studies of this kind being done at last, and it’s very worthy that they have done the same task on many species.”

Source: (Nationalgeographic)

Summary:

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Q1. According to the passage, which one(s) of the following point(s) is/are correct?

1. The current research on animal intelligence is centered on the evolution of self-control.
2. Research development in comparative psychology has answers to the questions of finding commonalities of animal intelligence.
3. It has become very hard to compare species or pool the results of separate studies.
4. Understanding animal intelligence helps us in understanding the human intelligence.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 A.Only 1 is correct.                                                                                                       B 1 and 2 are correct.                                                                                             C.Only 1, 3 and 4 are correct.                                                                             D.Only 1, 2 and 4 are correct.

Ans:

Q2. According to the passage, which one(s) of the following generalization(s) is/are valid?

1. The research on animal intelligence is opulent but fragmentary.
2. The researchers are going on their research in their unique manner with a result that their findings are not complimentary.
3. The present-day research is very narrowly focused and comprehensive in scope.
4. There is a consensus among the several researchers and each one is complementing another.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         A. Only 1 is correct.                                                                                                       B. Only 2 and 3 are correct.                                                                                      C. Only 1 and 2 are correct.                                                                                    D.Only 3 and 4 are correct.

Ans:

Q3. According to the passage, how the aspect of self-control is different in humans from animals?

1. Animals are not as strong as humans when it comes to self-control.
2. In humans, it can be observed that, a child's degree of self-control correlates with several factors as adults.
3. Like humans, animals exercise similar degree of self-control.
4. The mechanism of self- control is fixed by nature in animals whereas in human it is not so.

Ans:

Q4. According to the passage, which one of the following factor becomes important when researchers concentrate on the animal's ability to learn in social contexts?

1. Memory skills
2. Memory skills and group activities.
3. The interest and willingness to learn from others.
4. Group size

Ans:

                                       Reading Passage-2

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Active faults and their relevant tectonic features are discussed in order to clarify the neotectonics of the Himalayan collision. Active faults have been discovered by means of interpretation of topographic maps and aerial photographs, as well as by field studies.

The frontal zone of the Himalaya is most active at present. Active faulting has been taking place along the Main Boundary Fault (MBF), the Himalayan Front Fault (HFF), and their associated faults. These active faults generally form a north-dipping imbricated thrust zone. Consistent uplift of the Lesser Himalaya has continued along these faults during late Quaternary time. Cumulative uplift by active faulting is estimated to be as much as 1,500 m at an average rate of 3 to 4 m/1,000 yr during the last 400,000 to 500,000 yr. However, regional disparity in the sense of vertical displacement is seen in the Nepal Himalaya, where apparent slip along the active fault traces on the MBF is down to the north, commonly manifested as north-facing reverse scarplets on pressure ridges. Strike-slip displacements are also observed along several discontinuous faults trending northeast and northwest on the HFF. In the central Bhutan Himalaya, northward down throw has accumulated to form an uphill-facing fault escarpment along the HFF.

Active faults within the Himalayan Range mainly reactivate major faults such as the Main Central Thrust (MCT) and the Ban Gad fault. They extend northwest-southeast, oblique to the Himalayan Front, and are characterized by right-lateral displacement with northward down throw. No active north-over-south thrusting is recognized along sinuous traces of the MCT in the Nepal Himalaya.

Under the present stress field, the mode of active faulting is closely related to fault strike. Along northwest-southeast– and northeast-southwest–trending faults, lateral displacement with northward drop prevails, and right-lateral slip along the former faults and left-lateral slip along the latter is the rule. Conversely, dip-slip faulting is observed mainly along the east-west–trending faults on the MBF and HFF.

Active faulting does not contribute to the uplift of the Himalaya except along the Himalayan Front. The active faults in the Himalayan Range are arranged right-stepping echelon; they extend to form a large right-lateral fault system with the Karakorum fault, which is conjugate with the Altyn Tagh Fault. Active faulting along these faults causes eastward drift, resulting in normal faulting in the eastern Himalaya and southern part of the Tibetan Plateau.

Source: (https://specialpapers.gsapubs.org/content/232/243.abstract)

Summary:

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Q5. According to the passage, which one of the following results in normal faulting in the eastern Himalayas?

1. Similar patterns in Tibetan Plateau
2. Extension of the active faults in the Himalayan range.
3. Active faulting along the faults causing eastward drift.
4. Right-lateral fault system.

Ans:

Q6. According to the passage, where exactly did the consistent uplift of the lesser Himalayas continue?

1. Along the main boundary fault, Himalayan boundary fault and their associated faults.
2. Up-hill facing fault.
3. Along any sort of fault.
4. Along north-dipping imbricated thrust zone.

Ans:

Q7. According to the passage, how is it possible to get the data related to active faults?

1. By means of physical observation.
2. By means of interpretation of topographic maps.
3. Aerial Photographs and Field studies.
4. By analyzing the cumulative data made with the help of the analysis of topographic maps and comparing them to aerial survey and field studies.                                                                                                                                          A.Only 4 is correct.                                                                                                      B. Only 1, 2 and 3 are correct.                                                                                  C. Only 1, 3 are correct.                                                                                                D. Only 1 is correct.

Ans:

Q8. According to the passage, where is the no active north-over-south thrusting is recognized?

1. Along sinuous traces of the MCT in the Nepal Himalayas.
2. Along the HFF.
3. Along the dip-sip faulting in the MCT and HCF.
4. Along the sinuous traces of Bhutan Himalayas.

Ans:

                                      Reading Passage-3

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Today we continue to have a highly inefficient indirect tax structure. There are multiple taxes on goods and service having adverse cascading effect on cost of products and services. Increased complexity led to high compliance cost and litigation. Continuation of Central Sales Tax and reduced input tax credit on inter-state transfers kept the Indian market fragmented. Uncertainty on tax treatment of business activities and denial of full credit for input taxes is discouraging new investment. At the central level, excise duty has a multi rate structure and the rates for individual products keep changing from time to time. Central sales tax and different VAT rates being charged by states on the same goods continue to fragment Indian market. The current indirect tax structure makes Indian industry uncompetitive due to the cascading effect of multiple taxes and high compliance cost.

India's economic growth this year has fallen sharply and there is stagnation in Indian exports. Inefficient domestic indirect tax structure is one of the contributors. In the present global economic environment, there is an urgent need to replace the existing tax structure by rational Goods and Service Tax covering all tradable goods and services. GST will make Indian economy competitive and accelerate its growth. It will remove the cascading effect of taxes from cost of products. It is expected that rational a GST structure will reduce overall cost of indigenous products and services by about 10 per cent resulting in higher exports and reduced inflationary impact. A simplified GST structure will reduce compliance and litigation cost. Inbuilt check through seamless credit mechanism will improve tax compliance, widen tax base which would lead to higher tax: GDP ratio and buoyancy in tax revenue. GST is expected to boost GDP growth by at least 1 per cent apart from attracting higher investment for future growth.

Source: (https://www.businessworld.in)

Summary:

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Q 9. According to the passage, what has contributed to the sluggishness of the Indian exports?

1. High compliance cost
2. Uncompetitive nature of the Indian industry.
3. Inefficient domestic indirect tax structure.
4. Inability to attract higher investment.                                                                                                                                                                                                               A. Only 3 and 4 are correct.                                                                                         B. Only 3 is correct.                                                                                                       C. Only 1 and 2 are correct.                                                                                      D. Only 1, 3 and 4 are correct.

Ans:

Q10. According to the passage, what are the overall advantages of GST for Indian economy?

1. It will increase tax base and improve tax compliance.
2. It will increase GDP growth by attracting higher investment.
3. It will make Indian industry highly competitive.
4. Different VAT rates charged by different states will give place to common taxation.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   A. Only 4 is correct.                                                                                                       B. Only 1 and 4 are correct.                                                                                       C. Only 1 and 3 is correct.                                                                                     D.Only 2 is correct.

Ans:

Q11. According to the passage, how a scientific GST organization could reduce overall cost of local products and services?

1. By streamlining the entire Indian Tax system.
2. By increased exports and reduced inflationary effect.
3. By its simplified structure, GST will reduce compliance and litigation cost.
4. By removing the cascading effect of taxes from cost of products.                                                                                                                                                               A. Only 2 and 4 are correct.                                                                                         B.Only 1 and 2 are correct.                                                                                 C.Only 1, 3 and 4 are correct.                                                                                   D. Only 3 and 4 are correct.

Ans:

Q12. According to the passage, what is depressing new investment in Indian economy?

1. Lack of certainty on tax treatment of business activities.
2. Multiple tax systems at central and state levels.
3. The multi rate structure of the excise duty.
4. The denial of full credit for input tax.                                                                                                                                                                                                               A. Only 1, 3 and 4 are correct.                                                                                     B.Only 2 and 4 are correct.                                                                                       C. Only 1 and 4 are correct.                                                                                      D. Only 3 and 4 are correct.

Ans: 

                                       Reading Passage-4

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The aging of India's population will lead to increases in the preva-lence of chronic conditions such as diabetes and hyperten-sion. By one measure, nearly one-half (45 percent) of India's disease burden is projected to be borne by older adults in 2030, when the population age groups with high levels of chronic conditions will represent a much greater share of the total population. Early results from the pilot phase of the Longitudinal Aging Study in India illustrate the health risks faced by older Indians. Thirteen percent of older Indians sampled have some type of disability that affects at least one activity of daily living. More than one-quarter are underweight and nearly one-third have undiagnosed hyper-tension. Nearly 60 percent live in dwellings lacking access to an improved sewer system. The majority of households use poor-quality cooking fuel, and the resulting smoke produced contributes to indoor air pollution and tends to have a particularly negative impact on older persons who spend more time indoors.

More than four in five older Indians live in multigenerational households with their children. But surveys find that the share of older Indians living with only a spouse or alone doubled between the early 1990s and the mid-2000s. A number of trends may explain these changes in living arrangements, including declining fertility leaving fewer chil-dren available to care for older parents, rural-to-urban migra-tion for employment that separates families, and changing social expectations regarding intra-family obligations.

Despite India's recent rapid economic growth, the majority of older Indians remain poor. Less than 11 percent of them have a pension of any sort, according to national surveys. Saving is diffi-cult or impossible for a majority of Indians because earnings are low, some economic activity in the informal sector does not involve currency exchange, and a large share of the aging population lives in a rural area where banking is unavailable. With little old-age income support and few savings, labor force participation remains high among those ages 60 and older, particularly among rural Indians. Evidence suggests that not only does a large share of the elderly earn income, they also support their adult children who often live in homes and work on farms owned by their parents.

Source (www.prb.org/Publications)

Summary:

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Q 13. According to the passage, which one(s) of the following points is/are correct?

1. Most of the Indian urban old are earning far more than their counterparts in villages.
2. The labour force participation among the post-middle age groups is insignificant in rural India.
3. Statistics suggest that the number of old people living alone or with spouse has been increasing.
4. The recent rapid economic growth of India helped in improving the economic condition of the older Indians in a considerable manner.                                                                                                                                                             A.Only 3 is correct.                                                                                               B.Only 3 and 4 are correct.                                                                                     C.Only 1 is correct.                                                                                                     D.All are correct.

Ans:

 Q14. According to the passage, what is true about the status of India's disease burden?

1. India's disease burden has come down due to the timely intervention of the government.
2. India's disease burden is mostly borne by the older people.
3. The rural-to-urban migra-tion for employment has been playing a crucial role in the increased burden of adults of disease bearing.
4. With little old-age income support and few savings, Indian senior adults aren't able to bear the burden of diseases.

Ans:

Q15. According to the passage, why saving has been a challenge or impossible among the rural poor?

1. As their incomes are low, their savings are low.
2. Some economic activity in the informal sector doesn't give monetary returns.
3. The rural India isn't adequately equipped with banking systems.
4. By the force of habit, rural old people continue to work even in their sixties.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     A. Only 3 and 4 are correct.                                                                                      B. Only 1, 2 and 4 are correct.                                                                              C.Only 1,2 and 3 are correct.                                                                                    D. All are correct.

Ans:

Q16. According to the passage, what will be the direct consequence of the aging of India's population?

1. It causes several socio-economic issues with far reaching consequences.
2. It will lead to an increase in the incidence of several diseases.
3. It will increase the population of uncared, unsupported and unhealthy people.
4. It will disturb the demographic structure of India.

Ans:

Answers:

1. C 2.C      3. B       4.D       5. C       6.A      7. B       8.A       9.B       10.D

11.A      12.C     13.A     14.B      15.C      16.B

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------? Prepared by M V L Narasimham Naresh