Reading Comprehension

Which of the following can be the best suited title of the passage?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question based on the passage.

PASSAGE – III:

The antithesis of nature and nurture is not a new one; it was met long ago by biologists and settled by them to their own satisfaction. The whole body of experimental and observational evidence in biology tends to show that the characters which the individual inherits from his ancestors remain remarkably constant in all ordinary conditions to which they may be subjected. Their constancy is roughly proportionate to the place of the animal in the scale of evolution; lower forms are more easily changed by outside influence, but as one ascends to the higher forms, which are more differentiated, it is found more and more difficult to effect any change in them. Their characters are more definitely fixed at birth. A student in biology, interested in the highest of all forms, is not likely to doubt that the differences in men are due much more to inherited nature than to any influences brought to bear after birth, even though these latter influences include such powerful ones as nutrition and education within ordinary limits.
The biological evidence does not lend itself readily to summary treatment, and we shall therefore examine the question by statistical methods. The problem of nature vs. nurture can not be solved in general terms; a moment's thought will show that it can be understood only by examining one trait at a time.
To ask whether nature in general contributes more to a man than nurture is futile; but it is not at all futile to ask whether the differences in a given human trait are more affected by differences in nature than by differences in nurture. It is easy to see that a verdict may be sometimes given to one side, sometimes to the other. Albinism in animals, is a trait which is known to be inherited, and which is very slightly affected by differences of climate, food supply, etc. Professor Morgan, for example, has found a strain of fruit flies whose offspring in cold weather are usually born with supernumerary legs. If this strain were bred only in the tropics, the abnormality would probably not be noticed; on the other hand, if it were bred only in cold regions, it would be set down as one characterized by duplication of limbs. The heredity factor would be the same in each case, the difference in appearance being due merely to temperature.
Mere inspection does not always tell whether some feature of an individual is more affected by changes in heredity or changes in surroundings. On seeing a swarthy man, one may suppose that he comes of a swarthy race, or that he is a fair-skinned man who has lived long in the desert. In the one case the swarthiness would be inheritable, in the other not. Which explanation is correct, can only be told by examining a number of such individuals under critical conditions, or by an examination of the ancestry.

Which of the following would the author not agree with? I. The highest of all forms is man. II. Heredity means the same as nature. III. The constancy of the behavioral traits in animals is roughly proportionate to the place of the animal in the scale of evolution. IV. Observation of a person's changed trait determines whether the change is brought about by nature or nurture.

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question based on the passage.

PASSAGE – III:

The antithesis of nature and nurture is not a new one; it was met long ago by biologists and settled by them to their own satisfaction. The whole body of experimental and observational evidence in biology tends to show that the characters which the individual inherits from his ancestors remain remarkably constant in all ordinary conditions to which they may be subjected. Their constancy is roughly proportionate to the place of the animal in the scale of evolution; lower forms are more easily changed by outside influence, but as one ascends to the higher forms, which are more differentiated, it is found more and more difficult to effect any change in them. Their characters are more definitely fixed at birth. A student in biology, interested in the highest of all forms, is not likely to doubt that the differences in men are due much more to inherited nature than to any influences brought to bear after birth, even though these latter influences include such powerful ones as nutrition and education within ordinary limits.
The biological evidence does not lend itself readily to summary treatment, and we shall therefore examine the question by statistical methods. The problem of nature vs. nurture can not be solved in general terms; a moment's thought will show that it can be understood only by examining one trait at a time.
To ask whether nature in general contributes more to a man than nurture is futile; but it is not at all futile to ask whether the differences in a given human trait are more affected by differences in nature than by differences in nurture. It is easy to see that a verdict may be sometimes given to one side, sometimes to the other. Albinism in animals, is a trait which is known to be inherited, and which is very slightly affected by differences of climate, food supply, etc. Professor Morgan, for example, has found a strain of fruit flies whose offspring in cold weather are usually born with supernumerary legs. If this strain were bred only in the tropics, the abnormality would probably not be noticed; on the other hand, if it were bred only in cold regions, it would be set down as one characterized by duplication of limbs. The heredity factor would be the same in each case, the difference in appearance being due merely to temperature.
Mere inspection does not always tell whether some feature of an individual is more affected by changes in heredity or changes in surroundings. On seeing a swarthy man, one may suppose that he comes of a swarthy race, or that he is a fair-skinned man who has lived long in the desert. In the one case the swarthiness would be inheritable, in the other not. Which explanation is correct, can only be told by examining a number of such individuals under critical conditions, or by an examination of the ancestry.

Which of the following can be a parallel case as that of Arthur Duffy?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question based on the passage.

PASSAGE – III:

The antithesis of nature and nurture is not a new one; it was met long ago by biologists and settled by them to their own satisfaction. The whole body of experimental and observational evidence in biology tends to show that the characters which the individual inherits from his ancestors remain remarkably constant in all ordinary conditions to which they may be subjected. Their constancy is roughly proportionate to the place of the animal in the scale of evolution; lower forms are more easily changed by outside influence, but as one ascends to the higher forms, which are more differentiated, it is found more and more difficult to effect any change in them. Their characters are more definitely fixed at birth. A student in biology, interested in the highest of all forms, is not likely to doubt that the differences in men are due much more to inherited nature than to any influences brought to bear after birth, even though these latter influences include such powerful ones as nutrition and education within ordinary limits.
The biological evidence does not lend itself readily to summary treatment, and we shall therefore examine the question by statistical methods. The problem of nature vs. nurture can not be solved in general terms; a moment's thought will show that it can be understood only by examining one trait at a time.
To ask whether nature in general contributes more to a man than nurture is futile; but it is not at all futile to ask whether the differences in a given human trait are more affected by differences in nature than by differences in nurture. It is easy to see that a verdict may be sometimes given to one side, sometimes to the other. Albinism in animals, is a trait which is known to be inherited, and which is very slightly affected by differences of climate, food supply, etc. Professor Morgan, for example, has found a strain of fruit flies whose offspring in cold weather are usually born with supernumerary legs. If this strain were bred only in the tropics, the abnormality would probably not be noticed; on the other hand, if it were bred only in cold regions, it would be set down as one characterized by duplication of limbs. The heredity factor would be the same in each case, the difference in appearance being due merely to temperature.
Mere inspection does not always tell whether some feature of an individual is more affected by changes in heredity or changes in surroundings. On seeing a swarthy man, one may suppose that he comes of a swarthy race, or that he is a fair-skinned man who has lived long in the desert. In the one case the swarthiness would be inheritable, in the other not. Which explanation is correct, can only be told by examining a number of such individuals under critical conditions, or by an examination of the ancestry.

The following about the author can be true, except:

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question based on the passage.

PASSAGE – I

"It is a truly wonderful fact - the wonder of which we are apt to overlook from familiarity - that all animals and all plants throughout all time and space should be related to each other in group subordinate to group, in the manner which we everywhere behold - namely, varieties of the same species most closely related together, species of the same genus less closely and unequally related together, forming sections and sub-genera, species of distinct genera much less closely related, and genera related in different degrees, forming sub-families, families, orders, sub-classes, and classes.

The several subordinate groups in any class cannot be ranked in a single file, but seem rather to be clustered around points, and those around other points, and so on in almost endless cycles. On the view that each species has been independently created, I can see no explanation of this great fact in the classification of all organic beings; but, to the best of my judgment, it is explained through inheritance and the complex action of natural selection, entailing extinction and divergence of character.

The affinities of all the beings of the same class have sometimes been represented by a great tree. I believe this simile largely speaks the truth. The green and budding twigs may represent existing species; and those produced during each former year may represent the long succession of extinct species. At each period of growth all the growing twigs have tried to branch out on all sides, and overtop and kill the surrounding twigs and branches, in the same manner as species and groups of species have tried to overmaster other species in the great battle for life. The limbs divided into great branches, and these into lesser and lesser branches, were themselves once, when the tree was small, budding twigs; and this connection of the former and present buds by ramifying branches may well represent the classification of all extinct and living species in groups subordinate to groups.

Of the many twigs which flourished when the tree was a mere bush, only two or three, now grown into great branches, yet survive and bear all the other branches; so with the species which lived during long-past geological periods, very few now have living and modified descendants. From the first growth of the tree, many a limb and branch has decayed and dropped off; and these lost branches of various sizes may represent those whole orders, families, and genera, which have now no living representatives, and which are known to us only from having been found in a fossil state. As we here and there see a thin, straggling branch springing from a fork low down in a tree, and which by some chance has been favored and is still alive on its summit, so we occasionally see an animal like the Ornithorhynchus or Lepidosiren, which in some small degree connects by its affinities two large branches of life, and which has apparently been saved from fatal competition by having inhabited a protected station. As buds give rise by growth to fresh buds, and these, if vigorous, branch out and overtop on all sides many a feebler branch, so by generation I believe it has been with the great Tree of Life, which fills with its dead and broken branches the crust of the earth, and covers the surface with its ever-branching and beautiful ramification."

It may also be noted that there is a significant correspondence between the rival theories as to the main facts employed. Apparently every capital fact in the one view is a capital fact in the other. The difference is in the interpretation.

How can one determine whether it is nature or nurture that is responsible for the change in a particular trait?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question based on the passage.

PASSAGE – III:

The antithesis of nature and nurture is not a new one; it was met long ago by biologists and settled by them to their own satisfaction. The whole body of experimental and observational evidence in biology tends to show that the characters which the individual inherits from his ancestors remain remarkably constant in all ordinary conditions to which they may be subjected. Their constancy is roughly proportionate to the place of the animal in the scale of evolution; lower forms are more easily changed by outside influence, but as one ascends to the higher forms, which are more differentiated, it is found more and more difficult to effect any change in them. Their characters are more definitely fixed at birth. A student in biology, interested in the highest of all forms, is not likely to doubt that the differences in men are due much more to inherited nature than to any influences brought to bear after birth, even though these latter influences include such powerful ones as nutrition and education within ordinary limits.
The biological evidence does not lend itself readily to summary treatment, and we shall therefore examine the question by statistical methods. The problem of nature vs. nurture can not be solved in general terms; a moment's thought will show that it can be understood only by examining one trait at a time.
To ask whether nature in general contributes more to a man than nurture is futile; but it is not at all futile to ask whether the differences in a given human trait are more affected by differences in nature than by differences in nurture. It is easy to see that a verdict may be sometimes given to one side, sometimes to the other. Albinism in animals, is a trait which is known to be inherited, and which is very slightly affected by differences of climate, food supply, etc. Professor Morgan, for example, has found a strain of fruit flies whose offspring in cold weather are usually born with supernumerary legs. If this strain were bred only in the tropics, the abnormality would probably not be noticed; on the other hand, if it were bred only in cold regions, it would be set down as one characterized by duplication of limbs. The heredity factor would be the same in each case, the difference in appearance being due merely to temperature.
Mere inspection does not always tell whether some feature of an individual is more affected by changes in heredity or changes in surroundings. On seeing a swarthy man, one may suppose that he comes of a swarthy race, or that he is a fair-skinned man who has lived long in the desert. In the one case the swarthiness would be inheritable, in the other not. Which explanation is correct, can only be told by examining a number of such individuals under critical conditions, or by an examination of the ancestry.

The following can be inferred from the passage, except:

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question based on the passage.

PASSAGE – I

"It is a truly wonderful fact - the wonder of which we are apt to overlook from familiarity - that all animals and all plants throughout all time and space should be related to each other in group subordinate to group, in the manner which we everywhere behold - namely, varieties of the same species most closely related together, species of the same genus less closely and unequally related together, forming sections and sub-genera, species of distinct genera much less closely related, and genera related in different degrees, forming sub-families, families, orders, sub-classes, and classes.

The several subordinate groups in any class cannot be ranked in a single file, but seem rather to be clustered around points, and those around other points, and so on in almost endless cycles. On the view that each species has been independently created, I can see no explanation of this great fact in the classification of all organic beings; but, to the best of my judgment, it is explained through inheritance and the complex action of natural selection, entailing extinction and divergence of character.

The affinities of all the beings of the same class have sometimes been represented by a great tree. I believe this simile largely speaks the truth. The green and budding twigs may represent existing species; and those produced during each former year may represent the long succession of extinct species. At each period of growth all the growing twigs have tried to branch out on all sides, and overtop and kill the surrounding twigs and branches, in the same manner as species and groups of species have tried to overmaster other species in the great battle for life. The limbs divided into great branches, and these into lesser and lesser branches, were themselves once, when the tree was small, budding twigs; and this connection of the former and present buds by ramifying branches may well represent the classification of all extinct and living species in groups subordinate to groups.

Of the many twigs which flourished when the tree was a mere bush, only two or three, now grown into great branches, yet survive and bear all the other branches; so with the species which lived during long-past geological periods, very few now have living and modified descendants. From the first growth of the tree, many a limb and branch has decayed and dropped off; and these lost branches of various sizes may represent those whole orders, families, and genera, which have now no living representatives, and which are known to us only from having been found in a fossil state. As we here and there see a thin, straggling branch springing from a fork low down in a tree, and which by some chance has been favored and is still alive on its summit, so we occasionally see an animal like the Ornithorhynchus or Lepidosiren, which in some small degree connects by its affinities two large branches of life, and which has apparently been saved from fatal competition by having inhabited a protected station. As buds give rise by growth to fresh buds, and these, if vigorous, branch out and overtop on all sides many a feebler branch, so by generation I believe it has been with the great Tree of Life, which fills with its dead and broken branches the crust of the earth, and covers the surface with its ever-branching and beautiful ramification."

It may also be noted that there is a significant correspondence between the rival theories as to the main facts employed. Apparently every capital fact in the one view is a capital fact in the other. The difference is in the interpretation.

The example of 'fruit flies' is given to explain that

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question based on the passage.

PASSAGE – III:

The antithesis of nature and nurture is not a new one; it was met long ago by biologists and settled by them to their own satisfaction. The whole body of experimental and observational evidence in biology tends to show that the characters which the individual inherits from his ancestors remain remarkably constant in all ordinary conditions to which they may be subjected. Their constancy is roughly proportionate to the place of the animal in the scale of evolution; lower forms are more easily changed by outside influence, but as one ascends to the higher forms, which are more differentiated, it is found more and more difficult to effect any change in them. Their characters are more definitely fixed at birth. A student in biology, interested in the highest of all forms, is not likely to doubt that the differences in men are due much more to inherited nature than to any influences brought to bear after birth, even though these latter influences include such powerful ones as nutrition and education within ordinary limits.
The biological evidence does not lend itself readily to summary treatment, and we shall therefore examine the question by statistical methods. The problem of nature vs. nurture can not be solved in general terms; a moment's thought will show that it can be understood only by examining one trait at a time.
To ask whether nature in general contributes more to a man than nurture is futile; but it is not at all futile to ask whether the differences in a given human trait are more affected by differences in nature than by differences in nurture. It is easy to see that a verdict may be sometimes given to one side, sometimes to the other. Albinism in animals, is a trait which is known to be inherited, and which is very slightly affected by differences of climate, food supply, etc. Professor Morgan, for example, has found a strain of fruit flies whose offspring in cold weather are usually born with supernumerary legs. If this strain were bred only in the tropics, the abnormality would probably not be noticed; on the other hand, if it were bred only in cold regions, it would be set down as one characterized by duplication of limbs. The heredity factor would be the same in each case, the difference in appearance being due merely to temperature.
Mere inspection does not always tell whether some feature of an individual is more affected by changes in heredity or changes in surroundings. On seeing a swarthy man, one may suppose that he comes of a swarthy race, or that he is a fair-skinned man who has lived long in the desert. In the one case the swarthiness would be inheritable, in the other not. Which explanation is correct, can only be told by examining a number of such individuals under critical conditions, or by an examination of the ancestry.

The process of evolution of a particular species to its present day varieties can also be equated with

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question based on the passage.

PASSAGE – I

"It is a truly wonderful fact - the wonder of which we are apt to overlook from familiarity - that all animals and all plants throughout all time and space should be related to each other in group subordinate to group, in the manner which we everywhere behold - namely, varieties of the same species most closely related together, species of the same genus less closely and unequally related together, forming sections and sub-genera, species of distinct genera much less closely related, and genera related in different degrees, forming sub-families, families, orders, sub-classes, and classes.

The several subordinate groups in any class cannot be ranked in a single file, but seem rather to be clustered around points, and those around other points, and so on in almost endless cycles. On the view that each species has been independently created, I can see no explanation of this great fact in the classification of all organic beings; but, to the best of my judgment, it is explained through inheritance and the complex action of natural selection, entailing extinction and divergence of character.

The affinities of all the beings of the same class have sometimes been represented by a great tree. I believe this simile largely speaks the truth. The green and budding twigs may represent existing species; and those produced during each former year may represent the long succession of extinct species. At each period of growth all the growing twigs have tried to branch out on all sides, and overtop and kill the surrounding twigs and branches, in the same manner as species and groups of species have tried to overmaster other species in the great battle for life. The limbs divided into great branches, and these into lesser and lesser branches, were themselves once, when the tree was small, budding twigs; and this connection of the former and present buds by ramifying branches may well represent the classification of all extinct and living species in groups subordinate to groups.

Of the many twigs which flourished when the tree was a mere bush, only two or three, now grown into great branches, yet survive and bear all the other branches; so with the species which lived during long-past geological periods, very few now have living and modified descendants. From the first growth of the tree, many a limb and branch has decayed and dropped off; and these lost branches of various sizes may represent those whole orders, families, and genera, which have now no living representatives, and which are known to us only from having been found in a fossil state. As we here and there see a thin, straggling branch springing from a fork low down in a tree, and which by some chance has been favored and is still alive on its summit, so we occasionally see an animal like the Ornithorhynchus or Lepidosiren, which in some small degree connects by its affinities two large branches of life, and which has apparently been saved from fatal competition by having inhabited a protected station. As buds give rise by growth to fresh buds, and these, if vigorous, branch out and overtop on all sides many a feebler branch, so by generation I believe it has been with the great Tree of Life, which fills with its dead and broken branches the crust of the earth, and covers the surface with its ever-branching and beautiful ramification."

It may also be noted that there is a significant correspondence between the rival theories as to the main facts employed. Apparently every capital fact in the one view is a capital fact in the other. The difference is in the interpretation.

Which of the following statements would the author most certainly agree with? I. Copper and silver are the only two metals that show heterogeneity of characteristics when taken in a small volume. II. Below fifty to thirty millionths of a milimetre, the properties of matter become constant. III. Heterogeneity of properties of matter is a universal phenomenon. IV. Heterogeneous character of matter taken in small mass has been established by researchers.

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question based on the passage.

The first observers who noticed that the volume of a body could be diminished by compression or cold, or augmented by heat, and who saw a soluble solid body mix completely with the water which dissolved it, must have been compelled to suppose that matter was not dispersed continuously throughout the space it seemed to occupy. They were thus brought to consider it discontinuous, and to admit that a substance having the same composition and the same properties in all its parts – in a word, perfectly homogeneous - ceases to present this homogeneity when considered within a sufficiently small volume.

Modern experimenters have succeeded by direct experiments in placing in evidence this heterogeneous character of matter when taken in small mass. Thus, for example, the superficial tension, which is constant for the same liquid at a given temperature, no longer has the same value when the thickness of the layer of liquid becomes extremely small. Newton noticed that a dark zone is seen to form on a soap bubble at the moment when it becomes so thin that it must burst. Professor Reinold and Sir Arthur Rücker have shown that this zone is no longer exactly spherical; and from this we must conclude that the superficial tension, constant for all thicknesses above a certain limit, commences to vary when the thickness falls below a critical value, which these authors estimate, on optical grounds, at about fifty millionths of a millimetre.

From experiments on capillarity, Prof. Quincke has obtained similar results with regard to layers of solids. But it is not only capillary properties which allow this characteristic to be revealed. All the properties of a body are modified when taken in small mass; M. Meslin proves this in a very ingenious way as regards optical properties, and Mr Vincent in respect of electric conductivity. M. Houllevigue, who, in a chapter of his excellent work, Du Laboratoire à l'Usine, has very clearly set forth the most interesting considerations on atomic hypotheses, has recently demonstrated that copper and silver cease to combine with iodine as soon as they are present in a thickness of less than thirty millionths of a millimetre. It is this same dimension likewise that is possessed, according to M. Wiener, by the smallest thicknesses it is possible to deposit on glass. These layers are so thin that they cannot be perceived, but their presence is revealed by a change in the properties of the light reflected by them.

Thus, below fifty to thirty millionths of a millimetre the properties of matter depend on its thickness. There are then, no doubt, only a few molecules to be met with and it may be concluded, in consequence, that the discontinuous elements of bodies - that is, the molecules - have linear dimensions of the order of magnitude of the millionth of a millimetre. Considerations regarding more complex phenomena, for instance the phenomena of electricity by contact, and also the kinetic theory of gases, bring us to the same conclusion.

The idea of the discontinuity of matter forces itself upon us for many other reasons. All modern chemistry is founded on this principle; and laws like the law of multiple proportions, introduce an evident discontinuity to which we find analogies in the law of electrolysis. The elements of bodies we are thus brought to regard might, as regards solids at all events, be considered as immobile; but this immobility could not explain the phenomena of heat, and, as it is entirely inadmissible for gases, it seems very improbable it can absolutely occur in any state. We are thus led to suppose that these elements are animated by very complicated movements, each one proceeding in closed trajectories in which the least variations of temperature or pressure cause modifications.

Which of the following statements can be derived from the passage? I. The physical characteristics of a larva depend on its mode of living. II. Some of the beetles can be carnivores. III. Larva of some beetles is very close to its adults while some vary a lot. IV. The structural resemblance of the larva of a beetle to its adult is comparable to larva of a butterfly to its adult.

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question based on the passage.

PASSAGE – II:

Beetles are, as a rule, remarkable among insects for the firm consistency of their chitinous cuticle, the various pieces (sclerites) of which are fitted together with admirable precision. In some families of beetles the larva also is furnished with complete chitinous armour, the sclerites, both dorsal and ventral, of the successive body-segments being hard and firm, while the relatively long legs possess well-defined segments and are often spiny. Such a larva is evidently far less unlike its parent beetle than a caterpillar is unlike a butterfly. Perhaps of all beetle larvae, the woodlouse-like grub of a carrion-beetle (Silpha) or of a semi-aquatic dascillid such as Helodes shows the least amount of difference from the typical adult, on account of the conspicuous jointed feelers. The larval glow-worm, however, is of the same woodlouse-like aspect, and in this case, where the female never acquires wings, but becomes mature in a form which does not differ markedly from that of the larva, the exceptional resemblance is closer still. In all beetle-grubs the legs are simplified, there being only one segment (a combined shin and foot) below the knee-joint, whereas in the adult there is a shin followed by five, four, or at least three distinct tarsal segments. The foot of an adult beetle bears two claws at its tip, while the larval foot in the great majority of families has only one claw. In one section of the order, however, the Adephaga comprising the predaceous terrestrial and aquatic beetles, the larval foot has like that of the adult, two claws.

Some adephagous larvae, notably those of the large carnivorous water-beetles (Dyticus), often destructive to tadpoles and young fish, have completely armoured bodies as well as long jointed legs. More commonly, as with most of the well-known Ground-beetles (Carabidae), the cuticle is less consistently hard, firm sclerites segmentally arranged alternating with considerable tracts of cuticle which remain feebly chitinised and flexible. Most of the adephagous larvae have a pair of stiff processes on the ninth abdominal segment, and the insect, from its general likeness to a bristle-tail of the genus Campodea, is often called a campodeiform larva. From such as these, a series of forms can be traced among larvae of beetles, showing an increasing divergence from the imago. The well-known wireworms--grubs of the Click-beetles (Elateridae)--that eat the roots of farm crops, have well-armoured bodies, but their shape is elongate, cylindrical, worm-like; and their legs are relatively short, the build of the insect being adapted for rapid motion through the soil. The grubs of the Chafers (Scarabaeidae) have somewhat stout bodies, for the most part, pale and flexible; suited for root-eaters, but they are less active in their habits than the wireworms, and the cuticlegs are hard and horny.

The following statements can be derived from the passage, except:

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question based on the passage.

PASSAGE – II:

Beetles are, as a rule, remarkable among insects for the firm consistency of their chitinous cuticle, the various pieces (sclerites) of which are fitted together with admirable precision. In some families of beetles the larva also is furnished with complete chitinous armour, the sclerites, both dorsal and ventral, of the successive body-segments being hard and firm, while the relatively long legs possess well-defined segments and are often spiny. Such a larva is evidently far less unlike its parent beetle than a caterpillar is unlike a butterfly. Perhaps of all beetle larvae, the woodlouse-like grub of a carrion-beetle (Silpha) or of a semi-aquatic dascillid such as Helodes shows the least amount of difference from the typical adult, on account of the conspicuous jointed feelers. The larval glow-worm, however, is of the same woodlouse-like aspect, and in this case, where the female never acquires wings, but becomes mature in a form which does not differ markedly from that of the larva, the exceptional resemblance is closer still. In all beetle-grubs the legs are simplified, there being only one segment (a combined shin and foot) below the knee-joint, whereas in the adult there is a shin followed by five, four, or at least three distinct tarsal segments. The foot of an adult beetle bears two claws at its tip, while the larval foot in the great majority of families has only one claw. In one section of the order, however, the Adephaga comprising the predaceous terrestrial and aquatic beetles, the larval foot has like that of the adult, two claws.

Some adephagous larvae, notably those of the large carnivorous water-beetles (Dyticus), often destructive to tadpoles and young fish, have completely armoured bodies as well as long jointed legs. More commonly, as with most of the well-known Ground-beetles (Carabidae), the cuticle is less consistently hard, firm sclerites segmentally arranged alternating with considerable tracts of cuticle which remain feebly chitinised and flexible. Most of the adephagous larvae have a pair of stiff processes on the ninth abdominal segment, and the insect, from its general likeness to a bristle-tail of the genus Campodea, is often called a campodeiform larva. From such as these, a series of forms can be traced among larvae of beetles, showing an increasing divergence from the imago. The well-known wireworms--grubs of the Click-beetles (Elateridae)--that eat the roots of farm crops, have well-armoured bodies, but their shape is elongate, cylindrical, worm-like; and their legs are relatively short, the build of the insect being adapted for rapid motion through the soil. The grubs of the Chafers (Scarabaeidae) have somewhat stout bodies, for the most part, pale and flexible; suited for root-eaters, but they are less active in their habits than the wireworms, and the cuticlegs are hard and horny.

What is the tone of the passage?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question based on the passage.

PASSAGE – II:

Beetles are, as a rule, remarkable among insects for the firm consistency of their chitinous cuticle, the various pieces (sclerites) of which are fitted together with admirable precision. In some families of beetles the larva also is furnished with complete chitinous armour, the sclerites, both dorsal and ventral, of the successive body-segments being hard and firm, while the relatively long legs possess well-defined segments and are often spiny. Such a larva is evidently far less unlike its parent beetle than a caterpillar is unlike a butterfly. Perhaps of all beetle larvae, the woodlouse-like grub of a carrion-beetle (Silpha) or of a semi-aquatic dascillid such as Helodes shows the least amount of difference from the typical adult, on account of the conspicuous jointed feelers. The larval glow-worm, however, is of the same woodlouse-like aspect, and in this case, where the female never acquires wings, but becomes mature in a form which does not differ markedly from that of the larva, the exceptional resemblance is closer still. In all beetle-grubs the legs are simplified, there being only one segment (a combined shin and foot) below the knee-joint, whereas in the adult there is a shin followed by five, four, or at least three distinct tarsal segments. The foot of an adult beetle bears two claws at its tip, while the larval foot in the great majority of families has only one claw. In one section of the order, however, the Adephaga comprising the predaceous terrestrial and aquatic beetles, the larval foot has like that of the adult, two claws.

Some adephagous larvae, notably those of the large carnivorous water-beetles (Dyticus), often destructive to tadpoles and young fish, have completely armoured bodies as well as long jointed legs. More commonly, as with most of the well-known Ground-beetles (Carabidae), the cuticle is less consistently hard, firm sclerites segmentally arranged alternating with considerable tracts of cuticle which remain feebly chitinised and flexible. Most of the adephagous larvae have a pair of stiff processes on the ninth abdominal segment, and the insect, from its general likeness to a bristle-tail of the genus Campodea, is often called a campodeiform larva. From such as these, a series of forms can be traced among larvae of beetles, showing an increasing divergence from the imago. The well-known wireworms--grubs of the Click-beetles (Elateridae)--that eat the roots of farm crops, have well-armoured bodies, but their shape is elongate, cylindrical, worm-like; and their legs are relatively short, the build of the insect being adapted for rapid motion through the soil. The grubs of the Chafers (Scarabaeidae) have somewhat stout bodies, for the most part, pale and flexible; suited for root-eaters, but they are less active in their habits than the wireworms, and the cuticlegs are hard and horny.

What is the significance of a dark zone that Newton noticed?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question based on the passage.

The first observers who noticed that the volume of a body could be diminished by compression or cold, or augmented by heat, and who saw a soluble solid body mix completely with the water which dissolved it, must have been compelled to suppose that matter was not dispersed continuously throughout the space it seemed to occupy. They were thus brought to consider it discontinuous, and to admit that a substance having the same composition and the same properties in all its parts – in a word, perfectly homogeneous - ceases to present this homogeneity when considered within a sufficiently small volume.

Modern experimenters have succeeded by direct experiments in placing in evidence this heterogeneous character of matter when taken in small mass. Thus, for example, the superficial tension, which is constant for the same liquid at a given temperature, no longer has the same value when the thickness of the layer of liquid becomes extremely small. Newton noticed that a dark zone is seen to form on a soap bubble at the moment when it becomes so thin that it must burst. Professor Reinold and Sir Arthur Rücker have shown that this zone is no longer exactly spherical; and from this we must conclude that the superficial tension, constant for all thicknesses above a certain limit, commences to vary when the thickness falls below a critical value, which these authors estimate, on optical grounds, at about fifty millionths of a millimetre.

From experiments on capillarity, Prof. Quincke has obtained similar results with regard to layers of solids. But it is not only capillary properties which allow this characteristic to be revealed. All the properties of a body are modified when taken in small mass; M. Meslin proves this in a very ingenious way as regards optical properties, and Mr Vincent in respect of electric conductivity. M. Houllevigue, who, in a chapter of his excellent work, Du Laboratoire à l'Usine, has very clearly set forth the most interesting considerations on atomic hypotheses, has recently demonstrated that copper and silver cease to combine with iodine as soon as they are present in a thickness of less than thirty millionths of a millimetre. It is this same dimension likewise that is possessed, according to M. Wiener, by the smallest thicknesses it is possible to deposit on glass. These layers are so thin that they cannot be perceived, but their presence is revealed by a change in the properties of the light reflected by them.

Thus, below fifty to thirty millionths of a millimetre the properties of matter depend on its thickness. There are then, no doubt, only a few molecules to be met with and it may be concluded, in consequence, that the discontinuous elements of bodies - that is, the molecules - have linear dimensions of the order of magnitude of the millionth of a millimetre. Considerations regarding more complex phenomena, for instance the phenomena of electricity by contact, and also the kinetic theory of gases, bring us to the same conclusion.

The idea of the discontinuity of matter forces itself upon us for many other reasons. All modern chemistry is founded on this principle; and laws like the law of multiple proportions, introduce an evident discontinuity to which we find analogies in the law of electrolysis. The elements of bodies we are thus brought to regard might, as regards solids at all events, be considered as immobile; but this immobility could not explain the phenomena of heat, and, as it is entirely inadmissible for gases, it seems very improbable it can absolutely occur in any state. We are thus led to suppose that these elements are animated by very complicated movements, each one proceeding in closed trajectories in which the least variations of temperature or pressure cause modifications.

The following cannot be inferred from the passage?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question based on the passage.

PASSAGE – III:

If Bach is the mathematician of music, as has been asserted, Beethoven is its philosopher. In his work the philosophic spirit comes to the fore. To the genius of the musician is added in Beethoven a wide mental grasp, a selfless spirit that seeks to help humanity on the upward path.

Up to Beethoven's time musicians in general performed their work without the aid of an intellect for the most part; they worked by intuition. In everything outside their art they were like children. Beethoven was the first one having the independence to think for himself - the first to have ideas on subjects unconnected with his art. He it was who established the dignity of the artist over that of the simply well-born. His entire life was a protest against the pretensions of birth over mind. His predecessors, to a great extent subjugated by their social superiors, sought only to please. Nothing further was expected of them. This mental attitude is apparent in their work. The language of the courtier is usually polished, but will never have the virility that characterizes the speech of the free man.

Which discontinuity is the author referring to in: 'introduce an evident discontinuity to which we find analogies in the law of electrolysis'?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question based on the passage.

The first observers who noticed that the volume of a body could be diminished by compression or cold, or augmented by heat, and who saw a soluble solid body mix completely with the water which dissolved it, must have been compelled to suppose that matter was not dispersed continuously throughout the space it seemed to occupy. They were thus brought to consider it discontinuous, and to admit that a substance having the same composition and the same properties in all its parts – in a word, perfectly homogeneous - ceases to present this homogeneity when considered within a sufficiently small volume.

Modern experimenters have succeeded by direct experiments in placing in evidence this heterogeneous character of matter when taken in small mass. Thus, for example, the superficial tension, which is constant for the same liquid at a given temperature, no longer has the same value when the thickness of the layer of liquid becomes extremely small. Newton noticed that a dark zone is seen to form on a soap bubble at the moment when it becomes so thin that it must burst. Professor Reinold and Sir Arthur Rücker have shown that this zone is no longer exactly spherical; and from this we must conclude that the superficial tension, constant for all thicknesses above a certain limit, commences to vary when the thickness falls below a critical value, which these authors estimate, on optical grounds, at about fifty millionths of a millimetre.

From experiments on capillarity, Prof. Quincke has obtained similar results with regard to layers of solids. But it is not only capillary properties which allow this characteristic to be revealed. All the properties of a body are modified when taken in small mass; M. Meslin proves this in a very ingenious way as regards optical properties, and Mr Vincent in respect of electric conductivity. M. Houllevigue, who, in a chapter of his excellent work, Du Laboratoire à l'Usine, has very clearly set forth the most interesting considerations on atomic hypotheses, has recently demonstrated that copper and silver cease to combine with iodine as soon as they are present in a thickness of less than thirty millionths of a millimetre. It is this same dimension likewise that is possessed, according to M. Wiener, by the smallest thicknesses it is possible to deposit on glass. These layers are so thin that they cannot be perceived, but their presence is revealed by a change in the properties of the light reflected by them.

Thus, below fifty to thirty millionths of a millimetre the properties of matter depend on its thickness. There are then, no doubt, only a few molecules to be met with and it may be concluded, in consequence, that the discontinuous elements of bodies - that is, the molecules - have linear dimensions of the order of magnitude of the millionth of a millimetre. Considerations regarding more complex phenomena, for instance the phenomena of electricity by contact, and also the kinetic theory of gases, bring us to the same conclusion.

The idea of the discontinuity of matter forces itself upon us for many other reasons. All modern chemistry is founded on this principle; and laws like the law of multiple proportions, introduce an evident discontinuity to which we find analogies in the law of electrolysis. The elements of bodies we are thus brought to regard might, as regards solids at all events, be considered as immobile; but this immobility could not explain the phenomena of heat, and, as it is entirely inadmissible for gases, it seems very improbable it can absolutely occur in any state. We are thus led to suppose that these elements are animated by very complicated movements, each one proceeding in closed trajectories in which the least variations of temperature or pressure cause modifications.