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The first English attempts to colonize North America were controlled by individuals rather than companies. Sir Humphrey Gilbert was the first Englishman to send colonists to the New World. His initial expedition, which sailed in 1578 with a patent granted by Queen Elizabeth was defeated by the Spanish. A second attempt ended in disaster in 1583 when Gilbert and his ship were lost in a storm.

In the following year, Gilbert’s half brother, Sir Water Raleigh, having obtained a renewal of the patent, sponsored an expedition that explored the coast of the region that he named “Virginia.” Under Raleigh’s direction efforts were then made to establish a colony on Roanoke Island in 1585 and 1587. The survivors of the first settlement on Roanoke returned to England in 1586, but the second group of colonists disappeared without leaving a trace.

The failure of the Gilbert and Raleigh ventures made it clear that the tasks they had undertaken were too big for any one colonizer. Within a short time, the trading company had supplanted the individual promoter of colonization.

Q. Which of the following statements can be supported by this text?

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The crisis begins in the womb with unplanned parenthood. Women with unplanned pregnancies are less likely to seek prenatal care. In the U.S. 80% of teenage pregnancies and 56% of all pregnancies are unplanned. The problems continue after birth where unplanned pregnancies and unstable partnerships often go hand in hand. Since 1950, the number of single-parent families has nearly tripled. More than 25 percent of all births today are to unmarried mothers. As the number of single parent families grows and more women enter the workforce, infants and toddlers are increasingly in the care of people other than their parents. Most disturbingly, recent statistics show that American parents are increasingly neglecting or abusing their children. In only four years from 1987-1991, the number of children in foster care increased by over 50 percent. Babies under the age of one are the fastest growing category of children entering foster care. The crisis affects children under the age of three most severely, the report says. Yet, it is this period from infancy through preschool years that sets the stage for a child’s future.

Q. What can be the possible reasons for the increasing neglect and abuse of children?

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Exposure to high levels of noise can cause permanent hearing loss. Neither surgery nor a hearing aid can help correct this type of hearing loss. Short-term exposure to loud noise can also cause a temporary change in hearing (your ears may feel stuffed up) or a ringing in your ears (tinnitus). These short-term problems may go away within a few minutes or hours after leaving the noise. However, repeated exposures to loud noise can lead to permanent tinnitus and/or hearing loss.

Loud noise can create physical and psychological stress, reduce productivity, interfere with communication and concentration, and contribute to workplace accidents and injuries by making it difficult to hear warning signals. The effects of noise-induced hearing loss can be profound, limiting your ability to hear high-frequency sounds, understand speech, and seriously impairing your ability to communicate.

When sound waves enter the outer ear, the vibrations impact the ear drum and are transmitted to the middle and inner ear. In the middle ear, three small bones called the malleus (or hammer), the incus (or anvil), and the stapes (or stirrup) amplify and transmit the vibrations generated by the sound to the inner ear. The inner ear contains a snail-like structure called Cochlea which is filled with fluid and lined with cells with very fine hairs. These microscopic hairs move with the vibrations and convert the sound waves into nerve impulses–the result is the sounds we hear. Exposure to loud noise can destroy these hair cells and cause hearing loss!

Q: Which of the following statements about health can be supported by the text?

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Forces other than damaging winds are also at work inside tornadoes. Sometimes, as the writhing, twisting funnel passes over a house, the walls and ceiling burst apart as if a bomb had gone off inside. This explosion is caused by the low air pressure at the center of a tornado.

The pressure at the center of a tornado is usually 13 pounds per square inch. However, inside the house, the air pressure is normal, about 15 pounds per square inch. The difference of 2 pounds per square inch between the inside and outside pressure may not seem like much. But suppose a tornado funnel passes over a small building that measures 20 by 10 by 10 feet. On each square inch of the building, there is 2 pounds of pressure from the inside that is not balanced by air pressure outside the building. On the ceiling, that adds up to an unbalanced pressure of 57, 600 pounds. The pressure on the four walls adds up to 172,800 pounds.

If windows are open in the building, some of the inside air will rush out through them. This will balance the pressure inside and outside the building. But if the windows are shut tightly, the enormous inside pressure may cause the building to burst.

Unfortunately, heavy rain and hail often occur in thunderstorms that later produce tornadoes. So people frequently shut all windows to protect their property. This may cause far worse damage later. For the same reason, tornado cellars must have an air vent. Otherwise, the cellar door might be blown out when a tornado passes over it.

Q. Which of the following statements can be supported by the information given in the passage?

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In Asia and much of the Third World, trees are still destroyed in an old-fashioned way: they are cut down for fuel and cropland. In Europe, there is a new and potentially more deadly culprit. The German call it ‘Waldsterben’, the dying forest syndrome. But the disease is far more than a German phenomenon. Since it was first observed by German scientists in the autumn of 1980, the mysterious malady has raced across Europe, blighting woods in countries as far apart as Sweden and Italy.

Explanations for the epidemic range from a cyclic change in the environment to a baffling form of tree cancer. But the most convincing evidence points to air pollution. Indeed, saving the rapidly deteriorating forests of Europe will probably require a two-pronged strategy: an offensive campaign that includes the breeding of pollution-immune trees and a defensive scheme that calls for reductions in toxic emissions. But both will require more money than is currently being spent on such measures, as well as total commitment to protecting the environment.

Question. Why do you think the narrator calls the reasons for cutting the trees in the third world countries, ‘old fashioned’?

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A rain forest is a thick jungle which gets an unusually large amount of rain. Rainforests cover about 6% of the earth’s surface. They hold about one-half of the world’s plant and animal types. The four layers of a rain forest are the emergent layer, canopy layer, understory layer and forest floor.

The emergent layer is made up of very tall trees up to 200 feet high. They are usually evergreens. There is good sunlight there. The canopy layer forms a roof over the 2 remaining layers. Animals like snakes, toucans, and tree frogs live in this layer. Not much sun reaches the next layer, the understory layer. Plants then have to grow larger leaves to try to reach the sun. Jaguars, leopards and many insects live here. The final layer, the forest floor, has almost no plants. Many leaves decay quickly there due to the darkness. Giant anteaters live in this layer.

Rainforests are found in five major areas of the world. Central America is famous for its brightly colored birds. The Amazon jungle in South America is the world’s largest rain forest. It has the greatest variety of plants and animals of any other place on earth. Central Africa contains the world’s second largest rainforest. The rainforests of Asia stretch from India in the west to the islands of Java and Borneo in the Pacific Ocean in the east. Australia’rainforeststs are very dense and lush.

The plants that live in the rainforests provide shelter and food for the animals. They also participate in gas exchanges and provide much of the world’s oxygen supply. Plants compete for sunlight on the ground so some plants live on the branches of other plants. Aerial plants can get food from the air itself using air roots.

Some interesting animals live in the rain-forest. Toucans are colorful birds with short and thick necks. The bright colors on their bill help attract a mate. Their bills are sharp and can tear off pieces of big fruit. They eat lizards and small birds and live in holes in trees. Toucans live in the canopy layer in South and Central America. They are important because they help to scatter the seed from the fruit they eat.

Question. Which of the following statements are supported by information given in the text?

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Opera refers to a dramatic art form, originating in Europe, in which the emotional content is conveyed to the audience as much through music, both vocal and instrumental, as it is through the lyrics. By contrast, in musical theater an actor’s dramatic performance is primary, and the music plays a lesser role. The drama in opera is presented using the primary elements of theater such as scenery, costumes, and acting. However, the words of the opera, or libretto, are sung rather than spoken. The singers are accompanied by a musical ensemble ranging from a small instrumental ensemble to a full symphonic orchestra.

Question. Which of the following statements about Opera can be supported from this text?