Reading Comprehension

Choose the word most similar in meaning to the word 'impending', as used in the passage.

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and select the most suitable answer according to the underlined word per corresponding number in the passage.

But with almost routine ways now available to test DNA samples for the presence of specific mutant genes, there is increased anxiety that an individual's genetic heritage may be vulnerable to unwanted prying. The DNA from a single human hair for example may be sufficient to alert a prospective employer or health insurer to a person's genetic predisposition to disease. Broad privacy laws must therefore be enacted to forbid genetic tests without the informed consent of the individual involved. But even with such laws, dilemmas will arise when individuals do not realise the significance of the proposed genetic screening. These tests warn of impending disease, but do not cure. And how many people would want to have certain knowledge that they will contract a disease for which there is no cure?

Choose the word most similar in meaning to the word 'primordial', as used in the passage.

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and select the most suitable answer according to the underlined word per corresponding number in the passage.

There is nothing like a tropical rain forest for replacing arrogance with awe. Who could enter these primordial places, these untamed Edens, and not be wonderstruck? Dark and mysterious even in daytime, rain forests inspire respect. They are one of Nature's last frontiers, alive with flora and fauna seen rarely or never by human beings, and peculated by a handful of indigenous tribes that have had little or no contact with the outside world. Vast, fecund and biologically diverse, rain forests are bountiful and seemingly inexhaustible ecosystems that have supplied the human race with a staggering treasure trove including timber, fruit, spices and medicines. Although much more bounty lies in wait, the pace of discovery in the rain forest is naturally slow.
The English naturalist and author Gerald Durrell assailed those who would ravage the rain forests loggers, ranchers and miners, for acting "with the savage, unthinking ferocity of a troupe of drunken apes in art gallery". But, he added, "Whereas pictures can be repainted, tropical rain forests can't be recreated". Indeed, what could replace the wondrous electric fish of the Amazon
River, the poison-sweating frogs of Panama, or the host of plants and animals whose secrets and potential benefits have yet to be fathomed?
This treetop world enchants Andrew Mitchell, an Oxford-based naturalist and author who is program director for Earth Watch, an organisation that matches volunteer members of the public with scientific and conservation projects worldwide. Mitchell has extensively explored the rain forests of Asia and Latin America, making perilous climbs into the canopy, which he describes as the "penthouse where the trees have their sex lives". The canopy is physically and biologically the most active part of any rain forest.

Choose the word most similar in meaning to the word 'perilous', as used in the passage.

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and select the most suitable answer according to the underlined word per corresponding number in the passage.

There is nothing like a tropical rain forest for replacing arrogance with awe. Who could enter these primordial places, these untamed Edens, and not be wonderstruck? Dark and mysterious even in daytime, rain forests inspire respect. They are one of Nature's last frontiers, alive with flora and fauna seen rarely or never by human beings, and peculated by a handful of indigenous tribes that have had little or no contact with the outside world. Vast, fecund and biologically diverse, rain forests are bountiful and seemingly inexhaustible ecosystems that have supplied the human race with a staggering treasure trove including timber, fruit, spices and medicines. Although much more bounty lies in wait, the pace of discovery in the rain forest is naturally slow.
The English naturalist and author Gerald Durrell assailed those who would ravage the rain forests loggers, ranchers and miners, for acting "with the savage, unthinking ferocity of a troupe of drunken apes in art gallery". But, he added, "Whereas pictures can be repainted, tropical rain forests can't be recreated". Indeed, what could replace the wondrous electric fish of the Amazon
River, the poison-sweating frogs of Panama, or the host of plants and animals whose secrets and potential benefits have yet to be fathomed?
This treetop world enchants Andrew Mitchell, an Oxford-based naturalist and author who is program director for Earth Watch, an organisation that matches volunteer members of the public with scientific and conservation projects worldwide. Mitchell has extensively explored the rain forests of Asia and Latin America, making perilous climbs into the canopy, which he describes as the "penthouse where the trees have their sex lives". The canopy is physically and biologically the most active part of any rain forest.

Choose the word most similar in meaning to the word 'peculated', as used in the passage.

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and select the most suitable answer according to the underlined word per corresponding number in the passage.

There is nothing like a tropical rain forest for replacing arrogance with awe. Who could enter these primordial places, these untamed Edens, and not be wonderstruck? Dark and mysterious even in daytime, rain forests inspire respect. They are one of Nature's last frontiers, alive with flora and fauna seen rarely or never by human beings, and peculated by a handful of indigenous tribes that have had little or no contact with the outside world. Vast, fecund and biologically diverse, rain forests are bountiful and seemingly inexhaustible ecosystems that have supplied the human race with a staggering treasure trove including timber, fruit, spices and medicines. Although much more bounty lies in wait, the pace of discovery in the rain forest is naturally slow.
The English naturalist and author Gerald Durrell assailed those who would ravage the rain forests loggers, ranchers and miners, for acting "with the savage, unthinking ferocity of a troupe of drunken apes in art gallery". But, he added, "Whereas pictures can be repainted, tropical rain forests can't be recreated". Indeed, what could replace the wondrous electric fish of the Amazon
River, the poison-sweating frogs of Panama, or the host of plants and animals whose secrets and potential benefits have yet to be fathomed?
This treetop world enchants Andrew Mitchell, an Oxford-based naturalist and author who is program director for Earth Watch, an organisation that matches volunteer members of the public with scientific and conservation projects worldwide. Mitchell has extensively explored the rain forests of Asia and Latin America, making perilous climbs into the canopy, which he describes as the "penthouse where the trees have their sex lives". The canopy is physically and biologically the most active part of any rain forest.

Choose the word most similar in meaning to the word 'staggering', as used in the passage.

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and select the most suitable answer according to the underlined word per corresponding number in the passage.

There is nothing like a tropical rain forest for replacing arrogance with awe. Who could enter these primordial places, these untamed Edens, and not be wonderstruck? Dark and mysterious even in daytime, rain forests inspire respect. They are one of Nature's last frontiers, alive with flora and fauna seen rarely or never by human beings, and peculated by a handful of indigenous tribes that have had little or no contact with the outside world. Vast, fecund and biologically diverse, rain forests are bountiful and seemingly inexhaustible ecosystems that have supplied the human race with a staggering treasure trove including timber, fruit, spices and medicines. Although much more bounty lies in wait, the pace of discovery in the rain forest is naturally slow.
The English naturalist and author Gerald Durrell assailed those who would ravage the rain forests loggers, ranchers and miners, for acting "with the savage, unthinking ferocity of a troupe of drunken apes in art gallery". But, he added, "Whereas pictures can be repainted, tropical rain forests can't be recreated". Indeed, what could replace the wondrous electric fish of the Amazon
River, the poison-sweating frogs of Panama, or the host of plants and animals whose secrets and potential benefits have yet to be fathomed?
This treetop world enchants Andrew Mitchell, an Oxford-based naturalist and author who is program director for Earth Watch, an organisation that matches volunteer members of the public with scientific and conservation projects worldwide. Mitchell has extensively explored the rain forests of Asia and Latin America, making perilous climbs into the canopy, which he describes as the "penthouse where the trees have their sex lives". The canopy is physically and biologically the most active part of any rain forest.

Choose the word most similar in meaning to the word 'indigenous', as used in the passage.

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and select the most suitable answer according to the underlined word per corresponding number in the passage.

There is nothing like a tropical rain forest for replacing arrogance with awe. Who could enter these primordial places, these untamed Edens, and not be wonderstruck? Dark and mysterious even in daytime, rain forests inspire respect. They are one of Nature's last frontiers, alive with flora and fauna seen rarely or never by human beings, and peculated by a handful of indigenous tribes that have had little or no contact with the outside world. Vast, fecund and biologically diverse, rain forests are bountiful and seemingly inexhaustible ecosystems that have supplied the human race with a staggering treasure trove including timber, fruit, spices and medicines. Although much more bounty lies in wait, the pace of discovery in the rain forest is naturally slow.
The English naturalist and author Gerald Durrell assailed those who would ravage the rain forests loggers, ranchers and miners, for acting "with the savage, unthinking ferocity of a troupe of drunken apes in art gallery". But, he added, "Whereas pictures can be repainted, tropical rain forests can't be recreated". Indeed, what could replace the wondrous electric fish of the Amazon
River, the poison-sweating frogs of Panama, or the host of plants and animals whose secrets and potential benefits have yet to be fathomed?
This treetop world enchants Andrew Mitchell, an Oxford-based naturalist and author who is program director for Earth Watch, an organisation that matches volunteer members of the public with scientific and conservation projects worldwide. Mitchell has extensively explored the rain forests of Asia and Latin America, making perilous climbs into the canopy, which he describes as the "penthouse where the trees have their sex lives". The canopy is physically and biologically the most active part of any rain forest.

Choose the word most similar in meaning to the word 'fathomed', as used in the passage.

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and select the most suitable answer according to the underlined word per corresponding number in the passage.

There is nothing like a tropical rain forest for replacing arrogance with awe. Who could enter these primordial places, these untamed Edens, and not be wonderstruck? Dark and mysterious even in daytime, rain forests inspire respect. They are one of Nature's last frontiers, alive with flora and fauna seen rarely or never by human beings, and peculated by a handful of indigenous tribes that have had little or no contact with the outside world. Vast, fecund and biologically diverse, rain forests are bountiful and seemingly inexhaustible ecosystems that have supplied the human race with a staggering treasure trove including timber, fruit, spices and medicines. Although much more bounty lies in wait, the pace of discovery in the rain forest is naturally slow.
The English naturalist and author Gerald Durrell assailed those who would ravage the rain forests loggers, ranchers and miners, for acting "with the savage, unthinking ferocity of a troupe of drunken apes in art gallery". But, he added, "Whereas pictures can be repainted, tropical rain forests can't be recreated". Indeed, what could replace the wondrous electric fish of the Amazon
River, the poison-sweating frogs of Panama, or the host of plants and animals whose secrets and potential benefits have yet to be fathomed?
This treetop world enchants Andrew Mitchell, an Oxford-based naturalist and author who is program director for Earth Watch, an organisation that matches volunteer members of the public with scientific and conservation projects worldwide. Mitchell has extensively explored the rain forests of Asia and Latin America, making perilous climbs into the canopy, which he describes as the "penthouse where the trees have their sex lives". The canopy is physically and biologically the most active part of any rain forest.

Choose the word most similar in meaning to the word 'domain', as used in the passage.

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and select the most suitable answer according to the underlined word per corresponding number in the passage.

A woman’s role has been circumscribed within a narrow domain where she is in just the lead role of a wife and a mother. Her individuality remains secluded. Comparatively no man’s mission is to be a father or a husband alone. Why does the society have such double standards? If both sexes share the responsibility of upbringing their children why woman alone is assigned to play the key role? She is considered menial to a man, though not morally or legally. Her supreme duty is to love, marry and rear children. There are many such females who do not get all this in succession, but that does not declare a woman’s defeat in her individuality. The growing sensationalism has excited the issue further. Literature and media all portray love so passionately and woman at the central position of this emotion. This leads to an exaggeration of the sentiment and display of feminism. A life, hence, devoid of love seems a failure and deprivation of marriage a shortcoming. But is it that the emotion (love) we recall so often present in all the marriages?

Choose the word most similar in meaning to the word 'feminism', as used in the passage.

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and select the most suitable answer according to the underlined word per corresponding number in the passage.

A woman’s role has been circumscribed within a narrow domain where she is in just the lead role of a wife and a mother. Her individuality remains secluded. Comparatively no man’s mission is to be a father or a husband alone. Why does the society have such double standards? If both sexes share the responsibility of upbringing their children why woman alone is assigned to play the key role? She is considered menial to a man, though not morally or legally. Her supreme duty is to love, marry and rear children. There are many such females who do not get all this in succession, but that does not declare a woman’s defeat in her individuality. The growing sensationalism has excited the issue further. Literature and media all portray love so passionately and woman at the central position of this emotion. This leads to an exaggeration of the sentiment and display of feminism. A life, hence, devoid of love seems a failure and deprivation of marriage a shortcoming. But is it that the emotion (love) we recall so often present in all the marriages?

Choose the word most similar in meaning to the word 'secluded', as used in the passage.

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and select the most suitable answer according to the underlined word per corresponding number in the passage.

A woman’s role has been circumscribed within a narrow domain where she is in just the lead role of a wife and a mother. Her individuality remains secluded. Comparatively no man’s mission is to be a father or a husband alone. Why does the society have such double standards? If both sexes share the responsibility of upbringing their children why woman alone is assigned to play the key role? She is considered menial to a man, though not morally or legally. Her supreme duty is to love, marry and rear children. There are many such females who do not get all this in succession, but that does not declare a woman’s defeat in her individuality. The growing sensationalism has excited the issue further. Literature and media all portray love so passionately and woman at the central position of this emotion. This leads to an exaggeration of the sentiment and display of feminism. A life, hence, devoid of love seems a failure and deprivation of marriage a shortcoming. But is it that the emotion (love) we recall so often present in all the marriages?

Choose the word most similar in meaning to the word 'circumscribed', as used in the passage.

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and select the most suitable answer according to the underlined word per corresponding number in the passage.

A woman’s role has been circumscribed within a narrow domain where she is in just the lead role of a wife and a mother. Her individuality remains secluded. Comparatively no man’s mission is to be a father or a husband alone. Why does the society have such double standards? If both sexes share the responsibility of upbringing their children why woman alone is assigned to play the key role? She is considered menial to a man, though not morally or legally. Her supreme duty is to love, marry and rear children. There are many such females who do not get all this in succession, but that does not declare a woman’s defeat in her individuality. The growing sensationalism has excited the issue further. Literature and media all portray love so passionately and woman at the central position of this emotion. This leads to an exaggeration of the sentiment and display of feminism. A life, hence, devoid of love seems a failure and deprivation of marriage a shortcoming. But is it that the emotion (love) we recall so often present in all the marriages?

Choose the word most similar in meaning to the word 'menial', as used in the passage.

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and select the most suitable answer according to the underlined word per corresponding number in the passage.

A woman’s role has been circumscribed within a narrow domain where she is in just the lead role of a wife and a mother. Her individuality remains secluded. Comparatively no man’s mission is to be a father or a husband alone. Why does the society have such double standards? If both sexes share the responsibility of upbringing their children why woman alone is assigned to play the key role? She is considered menial to a man, though not morally or legally. Her supreme duty is to love, marry and rear children. There are many such females who do not get all this in succession, but that does not declare a woman’s defeat in her individuality. The growing sensationalism has excited the issue further. Literature and media all portray love so passionately and woman at the central position of this emotion. This leads to an exaggeration of the sentiment and display of feminism. A life, hence, devoid of love seems a failure and deprivation of marriage a shortcoming. But is it that the emotion (love) we recall so often present in all the marriages?

Choose the word most similar in meaning to the word 'accolade', as used in the passage.

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and select the most suitable answer according to the underlined word per corresponding number in the passage.

Three years ago, a little-known craftsman from the dusty backstreets of southern China's Guangzhou city caught the world of classical musicians off guard. Zhu Ming-Jiang was awarded a gold medal from the prestigious Violin Society of America - its highest accolade - for an instrument handcrafted in the tradition of Italian masters of the 17th century, the great age of violinmakers. Seasoned music critics were aghast. China was one of the world’s biggest exporters of violins, but its instruments were notorious for their inferiority and sold by the truckload primarily because they were cheap. That general picture won't change overnight, since Zhu makes just 10 violins a year, but at least China can now lay claim to producing a contemporary equivalent to the famed Stradivarius.
Zhu's life has been full of surprising turns. The second son of two accountants, Zhu was forced as a teenager to abandon his education and like tens of thousands of other intellectual young Chinese during the 1960s and 70s, was sent to the countryside to be "re-educated" by tillers. "I wanted to be a carpenter, even a painter", says Zhu. "But I was labouring in fields of sugarcane and looking for a way out”. Zhu seized his chance to escape the rural backwaters of Panyu County just south of Guangzhou two years later in 1976 when China set up the Guangzhou Musical Instruments School. He was one of the 25 students chosen nationwide because he had shown promise as a sculptor of wood, an essential skill in the delicate crafting of musical instruments.
Zhu rapidly improved his skills and by 1986 he had graduated from the school and was working for the Guangzhou Musical Instruments Research Institute. Zhu's craft gained international recognition because senior Communist Party cadres often entered his violins in international competitions. They also flitted abroad to collect the prizes giving him little opportunity to enjoy the acclaim. By that time Zhu was secretly making violins at home because he wanted to use his own name in competitions and he felt that many of the violins produced by the institute were of poor quality.

Choose the word most similar in meaning to the word 'notorious', as used in the passage.

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and select the most suitable answer according to the underlined word per corresponding number in the passage.

Three years ago, a little-known craftsman from the dusty backstreets of southern China's Guangzhou city caught the world of classical musicians off guard. Zhu Ming-Jiang was awarded a gold medal from the prestigious Violin Society of America - its highest accolade - for an instrument handcrafted in the tradition of Italian masters of the 17th century, the great age of violinmakers. Seasoned music critics were aghast. China was one of the world’s biggest exporters of violins, but its instruments were notorious for their inferiority and sold by the truckload primarily because they were cheap. That general picture won't change overnight, since Zhu makes just 10 violins a year, but at least China can now lay claim to producing a contemporary equivalent to the famed Stradivarius.
Zhu's life has been full of surprising turns. The second son of two accountants, Zhu was forced as a teenager to abandon his education and like tens of thousands of other intellectual young Chinese during the 1960s and 70s, was sent to the countryside to be "re-educated" by tillers. "I wanted to be a carpenter, even a painter", says Zhu. "But I was labouring in fields of sugarcane and looking for a way out”. Zhu seized his chance to escape the rural backwaters of Panyu County just south of Guangzhou two years later in 1976 when China set up the Guangzhou Musical Instruments School. He was one of the 25 students chosen nationwide because he had shown promise as a sculptor of wood, an essential skill in the delicate crafting of musical instruments.
Zhu rapidly improved his skills and by 1986 he had graduated from the school and was working for the Guangzhou Musical Instruments Research Institute. Zhu's craft gained international recognition because senior Communist Party cadres often entered his violins in international competitions. They also flitted abroad to collect the prizes giving him little opportunity to enjoy the acclaim. By that time Zhu was secretly making violins at home because he wanted to use his own name in competitions and he felt that many of the violins produced by the institute were of poor quality.

Choose the word most similar in meaning to the word 'contemporary', as used in the passage.

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and select the most suitable answer according to the underlined word per corresponding number in the passage.

Three years ago, a little-known craftsman from the dusty backstreets of southern China's Guangzhou city caught the world of classical musicians off guard. Zhu Ming-Jiang was awarded a gold medal from the prestigious Violin Society of America - its highest accolade - for an instrument handcrafted in the tradition of Italian masters of the 17th century, the great age of violinmakers. Seasoned music critics were aghast. China was one of the world’s biggest exporters of violins, but its instruments were notorious for their inferiority and sold by the truckload primarily because they were cheap. That general picture won't change overnight, since Zhu makes just 10 violins a year, but at least China can now lay claim to producing a contemporary equivalent to the famed Stradivarius.
Zhu's life has been full of surprising turns. The second son of two accountants, Zhu was forced as a teenager to abandon his education and like tens of thousands of other intellectual young Chinese during the 1960s and 70s, was sent to the countryside to be "re-educated" by tillers. "I wanted to be a carpenter, even a painter", says Zhu. "But I was labouring in fields of sugarcane and looking for a way out”. Zhu seized his chance to escape the rural backwaters of Panyu County just south of Guangzhou two years later in 1976 when China set up the Guangzhou Musical Instruments School. He was one of the 25 students chosen nationwide because he had shown promise as a sculptor of wood, an essential skill in the delicate crafting of musical instruments.
Zhu rapidly improved his skills and by 1986 he had graduated from the school and was working for the Guangzhou Musical Instruments Research Institute. Zhu's craft gained international recognition because senior Communist Party cadres often entered his violins in international competitions. They also flitted abroad to collect the prizes giving him little opportunity to enjoy the acclaim. By that time Zhu was secretly making violins at home because he wanted to use his own name in competitions and he felt that many of the violins produced by the institute were of poor quality.