Category: READING COURSE

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Simple, Moderate and Complex Reading material

College student ‘murdered’ # Practice Reading

A woman who disappeared (cease to be visible) 31 years ago in Germany and was registered (enter or record on an official list or directory)dead after a man confessed (admit that one has committed a crime or done something wrong)to her murder (the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another), was found two weeks ago living in Dusseldorf, the International Business Times reported.

In 1984, Petra Pazsitka, a 24-year-old computer science student, failed to show up at her brother’s birthday celebration, setting off a massive police search. Pazsitka was living in student housing (a university dormitory or a place where students live while studying) at the time in the German city of Braunschweig.

Detectives elicited (evoke or draw out (a reaction, answer, or fact) from someone) help from a popular (liked or admired by many people or by a particular person or group) German crime show called “Aktenzeichen XY,” and later a suspect (have an idea or impression of the existence, presence, or truth of (something) without certain proof) in the rape (unlawful sexual intercourse or any other sexual penetration of the vagina, anus, or mouth of another person, with or without force, by a sex organ, other body part, or foreign object, without the consent of the victim) and murder of a 14-year-old girl confessed to killing Pazsitka, according to NBC News.

Pazsitka’s body was never found, and the case was closed in 1989.

But things changed two weeks ago when a woman who called herself “Mrs. Schneider” summoned (to call upon to do something specified) police in Dusseldorf, Germany, to report a burglary (the felony of breaking into and entering the house of another at nightwith intent to steal, extended by statute to cover the breaking into andentering of any of various buildings, by night or day).

When police arrived and requested ID from the 55-year-old woman to complete the report, she revealed (to make known; disclose; divulge) herself to be Pazsitka, and produced an expired (to come to an end; terminate, as a contract, guarantee, or offer) identification (an act or instance of identifying; the state of being identified)card to prove she was the missing student, IBTimes reported.

Pazsitka then confessed (an act or instance of identifying; the state of being identified)to cops (police officers) that she had devised (an act or instance of identifying; the state of being identified) a plan to move into an apartment she had been secretly renting (a payment made periodically by a tenant to a landlord in return for the use of land, a building, an apartment, an office, or other property.)and had saved 20,000 euros ($22,000) to create a new life.

A spokesperson (a person who speaks for another or for a group)for Braunschweig and Wolfsburg Police reportedly said: “As to the motive (the goal or object of a person’s actions) of her disappearance (a ceasing to be seen or to exist), she gave no explanation ( a statement made to clarify something and make it understandable) and expressly (for the particular or specific purpose) said that she continues to want no contact with the public or her family.”

Source : TIME

Read this passage again and again, until you grasp all the words of this passage. Once you are confident, go check out the quiz related to this passage by clicking HERE.

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Cybertheft Agreement With China # Practice Reading

Somber (gloomily dark; shadowy; dimly lighted) against a backdrop (to provide a setting or background for) of grand pageantry (spectacular display; pomp), President Barack Obama laid out a fresh threat (an indication or warning of probable trouble) of sanctions (authoritative permission or approval, as for an action) against China for alleged (declared or stated to be as described; asserted) cybercrimes (criminal activity or a crime that involves the Internet, a computersystem, or computer technology) on Friday, even as he and Chinese President Xi Jinping reached an agreement (the act of agreeing or of coming to a mutual arrangement) not to conduct (personal behavior; way of acting; bearing or deportment) or support such hacking (replacement of a single course of stonework by two or more lower courses). “It has to stop,” Obama declared (publicly avowed or professed; self-confessed).

The president, in a Rose Garden news conference (a meeting for consultation or discussion) with Xi, was clear that he’ll be wary (arising from or characterized by caution)until the Chinese follow through on promised (an express assurance on which expectation is to be based) efforts to stop cyberespionage, saying, “The question now is: Are words followed by action?”

As for the possibility (the state or fact of being possible) of sanctions, against either individuals (a single human being, as distinguished from a group), businesses or state-run companies, he said: “We will apply those, and whatever other tools we have in our tool kit, to go after cybercriminals (A cybercriminal is an individual who commits cybercrimes, where he/she makes use of the computer either as a tool or as a target or as both) either retrospectively (directed to the past; contemplative of past situations, events, etc)or prospectively (of or in the future).”

Obama said the agreement was progress (forward or onward movement towards a destination) — but he added that “I have to insist (to lay emphasis in assertion) our work is not yet done.”

Xi, for his part, agreed that the two countries would not “knowingly support” cybertheft and promised to abide by “norms of behavior” in cyberspace.

“Confrontation (an open conflict of opposing ideas, forces, etc) and friction (dissension or conflict between persons, nations, etc., because of differing ideas, wishes, etc)are not the right choice for both sides,” Xi said, speaking through a translator (a person who translates).

Both countries claim they don’t engage (to occupy the attention or efforts of (a person or persons))in cybertheft (Stealing of financial and/or personal information through the use of computers for making its fraudulent or other illegal use) of commercial (prepared, done, or acting with sole or chief emphasis on salability,profit, or success) secrets, one of the deep differences that have threatened (to utter a threat against; menace) ties between the world’s two largest economies (the disposition or regulation of the parts or functions of any organic whole; an organized system or method).

Source :TIME

Read this again and again until you understand the passage entirely and grasp the vocabulary. Once you are sure, check out the quiz related to this passage.

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I Have A Dream # Practice Reading

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident (not needing to be demonstrated or explained; obvious.), that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former (having previously been a particular thing) slaves ((especially in the past) a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them) and the sons of former slave owners (a person who owns something) will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood (an association or community of people linked by a common interest, religion, or trade)…

… I have  a dream hat my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged (form an opinion or conclusion about) by the colour of their skin but by the content (a state of satisfaction) of their character,

I have a dream today!

The power of conviction (a formal declaration by the verdict of a jury or the decision of a judge in a court of law that someone is guilty of a criminal offence) that rings through Martin Luther King’s words cannot fail to bring tears to the eyes. And we understand why these words were so prophetic (accurately predicting what will happen in the future), so world-changing, in the wake of these words, the US Government passed the civil rights act and voting rights for the Africans-Americans in the mid-60s. At least in law, if not fully in spirit, Martin Luther King’s dream has come true.

Visionaries (a person with original ideas about what the future will or could be like)are dreamers of dreams. With narrowed (become or make more limited in extent or scope)eyes they look into the distant (far away in space or time) shore (the land along the edge of a sea, lake, or other large body of water)and see things that others cannot. Then like divers (to go below the surface of the water, as a submarine)who bring up pearls for our delectation (delight), they show us what they see. And by doing so, they take us to the next step.

Question Time

There are two columns given, the first column has the words and the second columns the meaning.

Match the word with their correct meaning, and make sure that you don’t cheat, or else there will be no benefit.

 

COLUMN 1 COLUMN 2
1. self-evident  (i)become or make more limited in extent or scope
 2. slaves  (ii) delight
 3. brother hood  (iii)(a formal declaration by the verdict of a jury or the decision of a judge in a court of law that someone is guilty of a criminal offence
 4. content  (iv)a state of satisfaction
 5.prophetic  (v)the land along the edge of a sea, lake, or other large body of water
 6.narrowed  (vi) obvious
 7. shore  (vii)form an opinion or conclusion about
8. divers  (viii)an association or community of people linked by a common interest, religion, or trade
9.

delectation

  (ix)far away in space or time
10. distant  (x)far away in space or time
11.

visionaries

  (xi)accurately predicting what will happen in the future
12. conviction  (xii)a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them
13. judged  (xiii)a person with original ideas about what the future will or could be like
14. owners  (xiv)having previously been a particular thing
15. former  (xv)to go below the surface of the water, as a submarine.

ANSWER

  1. vi
  2. xii
  3. viii
  4. iv
  5. xi
  6. i
  7. v
  8. xv
  9. ii
  10. ix
  11. xiii
  12. iii
  13. vii
  14. x
  15. xiv

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India Turns To Israel # Practice Reading

India turns to Israel for armed drones as Pakistan, China build fleets

India has accelerated(increase in rate, amount, or extent) plans to buy drones(A drone, in a technological context, is an unmanned aircraft) from Israel that can be armed, defence  (the action of defending from or resisting attack) sources said, allowing the military (relating to or characteristic of soldiers or armed forces) to carry out strikes (a refusal to work organized by a body of employees as a form of protest, typically in an attempt to gain a concession or concessions from their employer) overseas (in or to a foreign country, especially one across the sea) with less risk to personnel (people employed in an organization or engaged in an organized undertaking such as military service).

The news comes weeks after long-time rival Pakistan first reported using a home-made drone in combat (fighting between armed forces) when it attacked (take aggressive military action against (a place or enemy forces) with weapons or armed force) militants (vigorously active, combative and aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in ‘militant reformers) on its soil, raising (lift or move to a higher position or level) the prospect (the possibility or likelihood of some future event occurring) of a new front in the nuclear-armed neighbours’ (a person living next door to or very near to the speaker or person referred to) standoff (a deadlock between two equally matched opponents in a dispute or conflict) over Kashmir that has twice spilled into war.

The plan to acquire (buy or obtain (an asset or object) for oneself) Israeli Herons was first conceived ( to be of the opinion that; think) three years ago, but in January the wrote to the government ( the group of people with the authority to govern a country or state; a particular ministry in office) asking for speedy delivery (the act of transferring to another), the sources said, as Pakistan and China develop their own drone warfare (engagement in or the activities involved in war or conflict) capabilities (the power or ability to do something).

India has already deployed (move (troops) into position for military action) Israeli unmanned (not having or needing a crew or staff) aerial vehicles (UAVs) along the rugged ((of ground or terrain) having a broken, rocky, and uneven surface) mountains of J&K for surveillance (close observation, especially of a suspected spy or criminal.), as well as on the disputed (argue) border with China where the two armies have faced off against each other.

Source- Google News

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