Tag: reading section

Reading section is often the most difficult section, for students. What makes it more difficult is although you know the answer, it is very important that you answer it properly. After all, you are marked on the basis of what you have answered, rather than whether you knew the answer or not. For today, let us have a look at how to answer in reading section and gain all the marks.

1. STYLE MATTERS- Yes, the way you answer the question must be similar to the way it has been given in the example. For instance, if in the example the answer is given as 34%, your answer must be given as a number, followed by percentage. If you answer as simply 34 or 34 percent, chances are that you may lose some marks.
2. WORD LIMIT- Often in questions a word limit is given for answering the question. Even prepositions and articles are counted as words. Make sure you answer within the word limit, if you exceed it, you may lose some marks.
3. APPROPRIATE ANSWER- Often while reading a passage you may find details, that could fit in the question of an answer. Sometimes it so happens that the question is asking for just one of the options available in the passage. If you answer more than one,( just because they are given), you may surely lose marks.

So, go on, read the passage properly, but more importantly, answer them properly.

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History Of Natural Gas

[A]Natural gas is nothing new. In fact, most of the natural gas that is brought out from under the ground is millions and millions of years old. However, it was not until recently that methods for obtaining this gas, bringing it to the surface, and putting it to use were developed.

[B]Before there was an understanding of what natural gas was, it posed a mystery to man. Sometimes, lightning strikes would ignite natural gas that was escaping from under the earth’s crust. This would create a fire coming from the earth, burning the natural gas as it seeped out from underground. These fires puzzled most early civilizations, and were the root of myth and superstition. One of the most famous of these flames was found in ancient Greece, on Mount Parnassus around 1000 B.C. A goat herdsman came across what looked like a ‘burning spring’, a flame rising from a fissure in the rock. The Greeks, believing it to be of divine origin, built a temple on the flame. This temple housed a priestess who was known as the Oracle of Delphi, giving out prophecies she claimed were inspired by the flame.

[C]These types of springs became prominent in the religions of India, Greece, and Persia. Unable to explain where these fires came from, they were often regarded as divine, or supernatural. It wasn’t until about 500 B.C. that the Chinese discovered the potential to use these fires to their advantage. Finding places where gas was seeping to the surface, the Chinese formed crude pipelines out of bamboo shoots to transport the gas, where it was used to boil sea water, separating the salt and making it palatable.

[D]Britain was the first country to commercialize the use of natural gas. Around 1785, natural gas produced from coal was used to light houses, as well as streetlights.

[E]Manufactured natural gas of this type (as opposed to naturally occurring gas) was first brought to the United States in 1816, when it was used to light the streets of Baltimore, Maryland. However, this manufactured gas was much less efficient, and less environmentally friendly, than modern natural gas that comes from underground.

[F]Naturally occurring natural gas was discovered and identified in America as early as 1626, when French explorers discovered Native Americans igniting gases that were seeping into and around Lake Erie. The American natural gas industry got its beginnings in this area. In 1859, Colonel Edwin Drake (a former railroad conductor who adopted the title ‘Colonel’ to impress the townspeople) dug the first well. Drake hit oil and natural gas at 69 feet below the surface of the earth.

[G]Most historians characterize this well as the beginning of the natural gas industry in America. A two-inch diameter pipeline was built, running 5 and ½ miles from the well to the village of Titusville, Pennsylvania. The construction of this pipeline proved that natural gas could be brought safely and relatively easily from its underground source to be used for practical purposes.

[H]In 1821, the first well specifically intended to obtain natural gas was dug in Fredonia, New York by William Hart. After noticing gas bubbles rising to the surface of a creek, Hart dug a 27-foot well to try and obtain a larger flow of gas to the surface. Hart is regarded by many as the ‘father of natural gas’ in America. Expanding on Hart’s work, the Fredonia Gas Light Company was eventually formed, becoming being the first American natural gas company.

[I]During most of the 19th century, natural gas was used almost exclusively as a source of light. Without a pipeline infrastructure, it was difficult to transport the gas very far, or into homes to be used for heating or cooking. Most of the natural gas produced in this era was manufactured from coal, rather than coming from a well. Near the end of the 19th century, with the advent of electricity, natural gas lights were converted to electric lights. This led producers of natural gas to look for new uses for their product.

[J]In 1885, Robert Bunsen invented what is now known as the Bunsen burner. He managed to create a device that mixed natural gas with air in the right proportions, creating a flame that could be safely used for cooking and heating. The invention of the Bunsen burner opened up new opportunities for the use of natural gas in America, and throughout the world. The invention of temperature-regulating thermostatic devices allowed for better use of the heating potential of natural gas, allowing the temperature of the flame to be adjusted and monitored.

Without any way to transport it effectively, natural gas discovered pre-WWII was usually just allowed to vent into the atmosphere, or burnt, when found alongside coal and oil, or simply left in the ground when found alone.

[K]One of the first major pipelines was constructed in 1891. This pipeline was 120 miles long, and carried natural gas from wells in central Indiana to the city of Chicago. However, this early pipeline was not very efficient at transporting natural gas. It wasn’t until the 1920s that significant effort was put into building a pipeline infrastructure. After World War II, new welding techniques, along with advances in pipe rolling and metallurgy, further improved pipeline reliability. This post-war pipeline construction boom lasted well into the ‘60s, and allowed for the construction of thousands of miles of pipeline in America.

[L]Once the transportation of natural gas was possible, new uses for natural gas were discovered. These included using natural gas to heat homes and operate appliances such as water heaters, ovens, and cooktops. Industry began to use natural gas in manufacturing and processing plants. Also, natural gas was used to heat boilers used to generate electricity. The expanded transportation infrastructure had made natural gas easy to obtain, and it was becoming an increasingly popular energy choice.

QUESTIONS 1-5

Do the following statements agree with the information given in reading passage 1?

In boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE             if the statement agrees with the information.

FALSE           if the statement contradicts with the information.

NOT GIVEN  if there is no information on this.

1. Natural gas is an invention of human beings.
2. The divine energies in early periods produced flames, marking their presence.
3. China was the first country to use the possibilities of fire as an asset.
4. The only country to make a business out of natural gas was Britain.
5. United States first used the natural gas in 1817.
6. Native Americans kindled natural gas occurring around the Lake Erie during the 15^th century.

questions 7-13

Reading passage 1 has ten paragraphs.

Given below are some facts that you can either comprehend/ are directly given in the paragraphs.

Match the paragraph number with the correct facts.

Write your answers in the answer sheet in boxes 7-13.

7. pipeline gets built between titusville and Pennsylvania.

8. Different ways to use natural gas get invented.

9.Bunsen Burner gets invented.

10. Electricity invention shifts the use of natural gas.

11. William Hart is declared the father of natural gas.

12.Natural Gas is wasted without the presence of pipeline.

13. Electricity generation with natural gas.

ANSWERS

1. false

2. false

3. true

4. false

5. false

6. true

7. G

8. L

9. J

10. I

11. H

12.K

13.L

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Look at the contents page from a magazine on the following page.

Answer questions 1-3 by matching the heading given in the advertisement with the content provided.

Write your answers in the boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet.

 

 

1. This exercise help in strengthening the spine and the lower back.

2. It helps in opening the energy centers of the upper body.

3. This exercise helps in improving the circulation in body.

Question 4-10 Complete the notes below in NO MORE THAN THREE words.

When performing weeping willow, one begins in a standing position, the (4)_____ are kept together, the legs are straight with the (5)________ facing inwards. It has to be made sure that a (6)____________ is maintained throughout. The abdominals are then contracted and one slowly lowers the (7)______ until a stretch in the hamstring is felt. The arms are wrapped around the calves and interlocking of (8)________ is done. The forehead is pressed to the knees and the (9)_____ are contracted again. The torso is raised back and the process is repeated after switching the (10)_________ at the bottom of the move.

 

ANSWERS

1. cross your heart
2. wall flower
3. gliding swan
4. feet
5. palm
6. flat back position
7. torso
8. hands
9. abs
10. hand grip

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SECTION THREE                                        QUESTIONS 28-40

The reading passage below describes some of the better ways to pay for the college. From the information given, answer the questions 28-40.

[A]HARD as it may be to believe with Donald Trump hogging the headlines, America’s presidential primary campaigns are proposing serious ideas for how to deal with real economic problems. High among them is how to fix the country’s broken system of university finance. Hillary Clinton has come up with intriguing plans, but the ideas of Marco Rubio are the more radical. And radicalism is what the system badly needs.
America is home to the world’s best universities. But taken as a whole, its higher-education system is marred by soaring costs, stratospheric student debt and patchy performance. Tuition fees have doubled in real terms in the past 20 years. Student debt has trebled in the past decade, to $1.2 trillion. A recent study of academic achievement at college found that 45% of America’s students made no discernible academic progress in their first two years. Sorting out this mess demands three things: reforms that bear down on costs, that encourage students to make more informed choices about their future and that match repayments to borrowers’ ability to pay.
[B] Mrs Clinton’s plan meets the third of those aims, and nods at the first. She proposes capping the repayment of college loans at a maximum of 10% of income over 20 years. If a loan is not paid off by then the government will pick up the tab. The estimated bill for her scheme, which would push America further towards a model used in Britain and Australia, comes to $350 billion over ten years. Income-based loan repayments make sense. But if government still picks up the tab for defaults, there is little pressure on colleges to curb costs and students to choose wisely. Mrs Clinton’s answer is to make subsidies to colleges contingent on reducing costs.
[C] Mr Rubio deals with the three reform priorities more comprehensively. He wants to encourage the take-up of online education platforms to curb costs and has good ideas for how to spread information on the earnings associated with particular degrees. But his boldest proposal is to link repayment of university funding to income by using equity financing, an idea floated by Milton Friedman in 1955.

[D]Under Mr Rubio’s plan, private investors would pay for a student’s education in return for a claim on a chunk of his future earnings. Just as dividends accruing to a shareholder depend on a firm’s profits, so a student’s subsequent payments to the investor would rise and fall with his income. Equity financing would lead to more informed choices because investors would be less willing to fund courses and colleges that offer low returns. And it would squeeze costs because unpopular courses would have to trim their spending.
The logic is impeccable. Nonetheless, the idea of equity financing for college is controversial. There are silly criticisms, for instance that any equity contract on human capital is tantamount to indentured servitude. In fact, these contracts would be less constraining than a student loan that imposes fixed payment obligations and cannot be discharged in America’s bankruptcy courts. It is possible—and sensible—to set caps on the period in which income is shared, the percentage of earnings that can be given away and the total amount paid out.
Marco to market
[E]The more substantive problems involve information asymmetries and moral hazard. Prospective students know better than any investor what they plan to do with their lives. A lawyer who financed his study by issuing equity could, on graduating, afford to choose whether to join a well-paying law firm or to become a public defender without having that decision influenced by the need to repay a mound of debt. From society’s point of view, that freedom to choose has benefits: a debt-laden graduate is less likely to take a risk on setting up a new company and more likely to head for Wall Street instead. But from the investor’s perspective, the risk that students might offer low returns would need to be compensated for by other students pursuing more remunerative paths.
[F]People who think they will do well in later life also have an incentive to opt for the certainty of fixed debt repayments rather than face the possibility of handing over big chunks of future income. Again, there are potential solutions: some fintech startups have experimented with models of future income that enable students with better earnings potential to give up a smaller share of income in return for the same amount of funding as those with dimmer prospects.
[G]Resolving these difficulties will take time and ingenuity. And whatever happens, it makes sense to have a combination of debt and equity, and of private and public money, in the mix. That’s why Mrs Clinton’s proposals are a sensible start, but Mr Rubio’s ideas are worth serious debate.

Questions 28-34

Reading passage 5 has seven sections, A-G

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter A-G in boxes 28-40 on your answer sheet.

28.  Choice must lie with the student

29. solutions to fiscal concerns

30. Higher pays in later years makes the difference

31. Promotion of online education takes place

32. War between Rubio and Clinton ideas.

33. America on the way of Australia

34. Independent lenders pay the loan

Questions 35-40

Do the following statements agree with the information given in reading passage 5?

In boxes 35-40 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE             if the statement agrees with the information.

FALSE           if the statement contradicts with the information.

NOT GIVEN  if there is no information on this.

35. The American higher education often involves high student debts.

36. Mr. Rubio’s plans are similar to the ones in Australia and Britain.

37. Online education has come up as a solution to debts.

38. Hilary Clinton suggests individual investors to pay the students loans.

39. Investors if invest, take away the freedom to choose from students.

40. A debate between Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton is about to happen.

ANSWERS

28. E

29. A

30. F

31. C

32. G

33. B

34. D

35. True

36. False

37. True

38. False

39. True

40. Not given

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