Reading Comprehension — Set 6
Questions 51–60 of 105
Climate scientists and policymakers distinguish between two broad categories of response to global warming. Adaptation involves adjusting infrastructure, agricultural practices, and urban planning to cope with the changes that are already occurring or locked in. Mitigation, by contrast, refers to taking action to reduce or prevent harm by cutting greenhouse gas emissions and thereby limiting the extent of future warming. Common mitigation measures include transitioning electricity generation from coal and gas to solar, wind, and other renewable sources, improving the energy efficiency of buildings and vehicles, and restoring forests that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In the passage about climate science, 'mitigation' most likely means:
Correct Answer: C. Taking action to reduce or prevent harm
In the context of climate science, 'mitigation' refers to actions taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lessen the severity of climate change, such as transitioning to renewable energy. This grammar rule is fundamental to constructing correct and meaningful English sentences Mastering this concept helps in solving grammar-based questions in competitive.
Modern urban planning increasingly focuses on building cities that can withstand the growing pressures of climate change, population growth, and economic shocks. Planners speak of resilience—the ability to recover from difficulties and adapt to challenges—as a core design principle for infrastructure, housing, and public services. A resilient city anticipates potential disruptions such as flooding, heatwaves, or sudden economic downturns, and puts in place systems that allow it to absorb the impact and return to normal function relatively quickly. Investing in green spaces, distributed energy systems, and community social networks are among the strategies used to build urban resilience. The word 'resilience' in the urban planning passage most closely means:
Correct Answer: B. The ability to recover from difficulties and adapt to challenges
'Resilience' describes systems' or communities' capacity to withstand stresses and bounce back from disruptions. In urban planning, it refers to cities' ability to adapt to climate change and other challenges. Mastering this concept helps in solving grammar-based questions in competitive.
Biodiversity refers to the variety of life forms found across the Earth, from microscopic organisms to large mammals. Human activities such as deforestation, urbanisation, and pollution have placed many species and habitats under severe threat. Governments and environmental organisations around the world have responded by enacting policies aimed at protecting and preserving natural environments and the species that depend on them. These efforts, broadly described as conservation, include establishing protected reserves, regulating hunting and logging, and restoring degraded ecosystems. Without such deliberate protective action, many irreplaceable species and habitats would be permanently lost. In the biodiversity passage, 'conservation' most likely refers to:
Correct Answer: B. Protecting and preserving natural environments and species
'Conservation' in environmental contexts means actively protecting ecosystems and species from harm. It involves policies and practices to maintain biodiversity and natural resources. Mastering this concept helps in solving grammar-based questions in competitive.
The Western Ghats of India harbour an extraordinary variety of plant and animal species, many of which exist nowhere else on Earth. Scientists describe these species as endemic, meaning they are native to or restricted to that particular geographic region and are not found naturally in any other part of the world. The isolation created by mountain ranges, river systems, and distinct climate zones has allowed unique evolutionary lineages to develop over millions of years. A species that is endemic to the Western Ghats, for instance, depends entirely on that region's specific habitat conditions for its survival. The loss of such a habitat therefore carries an irreversible global consequence, since the species cannot simply relocate to another area. What does 'endemic' most likely mean in the biology passage?
Correct Answer: C. Native or restricted to a particular region
'Endemic' describes species found exclusively or primarily in a specific geographic area. For.
Economic development has long been pursued through the rapid extraction and consumption of natural resources, but this model has proven damaging to both the environment and future generations. Scholars and policymakers began advocating for an alternative approach in which growth is managed so that it can continue indefinitely without depleting resources or causing environmental damage. This approach, widely termed sustainable development, requires balancing present economic needs against the capacity of natural systems to regenerate and absorb waste. It also demands that social well-being and environmental health are treated as equally important as financial gains. Nations that have adopted sustainable frameworks have reported steadier long-term growth alongside improved air and water quality. In the economic development passage, 'sustainable' most closely means:
Correct Answer: B. Able to continue indefinitely without depleting resources or causing environmental damage
'Sustainable' refers to practices and systems that can be maintained long-term without exhausting resources or causing irreversible damage. Sustainable development balances economic growth with environmental and social responsibility. Mastering this concept helps in solving grammar-based questions in competitive.
The arrival of affordable smartphones in emerging markets during the early twenty-first century set off sweeping changes in commerce, communication, and civic life. Analysts studying this period noted that the devices themselves did not create change so much as they caused it to happen far more rapidly than it otherwise would have. In that sense, the smartphone acted as a catalyst, something that causes or speeds up change or a reaction without being the ultimate source of the change itself. Entire industries such as banking, retail, and journalism were transformed within a few years rather than the decades such transitions had previously required. The pace of social and economic shifts was unprecedented precisely because this catalytic force was in the hands of billions of people simultaneously. The word 'catalyst' in the innovation passage most likely refers to:
Correct Answer: B. Something that causes or speeds up change or reaction
In the context of social change, a 'catalyst' is something that precipitates or accelerates transformation. Technologies like smartphones acted as catalysts, enabling rapid social and economic shifts. Mastering this concept helps in solving grammar-based questions in competitive.
Rapid industrialisation and unsustainable agricultural practices have taken a serious toll on natural systems across many parts of the world. Forests that once covered vast areas have been cleared, topsoil has been washed away by erosion, rivers have been contaminated by industrial effluents, and air quality in many cities has worsened considerably. This widespread decline in quality or condition of the environment is commonly referred to as environmental degradation. Once fertile land becomes less productive, clean water sources become scarce, and ecosystems that depend on clean conditions begin to collapse. Reversing such degradation demands long-term investment in restoration and a significant reduction in the practices that caused it. What does 'degradation' most likely mean in the environmental passage?
Correct Answer: B. The decline in quality or condition of something
'Degradation' refers to the process of declining or worsening in quality. Environmental degradation involves soil erosion, water pollution, and loss of forest cover. Mastering this concept helps in solving grammar-based questions in competitive.
When pharmaceutical researchers develop a new drug, one of the most critical questions they must answer is how well the drug actually works against the condition it is intended to treat. Clinical trials are designed specifically to measure this by comparing outcomes in patients who receive the drug against those who receive a placebo. The measure of how successfully the drug achieves its intended therapeutic result is known as its efficacy, which refers to the ability to produce a desired or intended result. A drug may be technically safe and easy to administer yet still fail to gain approval if its efficacy is not demonstrated to a satisfactory standard. High efficacy means the treatment reliably produces the expected improvement in patients' conditions. In the medical passage, 'efficacy' most closely refers to:
Correct Answer: C. The ability to produce a desired or intended result
The correct answer is 'The ability to produce a desired or intended result'. 'Efficacy' describes how well something works or its effectiveness in achieving its purpose. Drug efficacy indicates how successfully it treats the targeted condition.
For centuries, scientists assumed that the universe operated according to fixed mechanical laws that could predict every motion of matter, a view rooted in Newtonian physics. This set of assumptions formed a widely accepted conceptual framework, or paradigm, that represented the current understanding of physical reality and guided research programmes across disciplines. The paradigm shaped which questions were considered meaningful, which methods were appropriate, and how experimental results were interpreted. When anomalies accumulated that the existing framework could not explain, pressure built for a fundamental revision. The shift to quantum mechanics and relativity in the twentieth century is regarded as one of the most dramatic paradigm changes in the history of science, replacing a typical pattern or model of understanding with an entirely new one. The term 'paradigm' in the scientific passage most likely means:
Correct Answer: B. A typical pattern or model representing current understanding in a field
'Paradigm' refers to a widely accepted conceptual framework or pattern of thinking. For.
Modern drug manufacturing relies on carefully controlled chemical processes to produce the active compounds needed for medicines. Rather than extracting these compounds from natural sources, chemists often begin with simple, readily available substances and combine them through a series of chemical reactions. This process of combining elements to create something new is called synthesis, and it lies at the heart of pharmaceutical production. Through synthesis, researchers can produce compounds that do not occur in nature, fine-tune their molecular structure, and manufacture them in quantities far greater than natural sources could supply. The precision and scalability of chemical synthesis have made it indispensable to modern medicine and materials science. What does 'synthesis' most likely mean in the chemistry passage?
Correct Answer: B. Combining elements or ideas to create something new
'Synthesis' refers to combining separate parts or ideas into a unified whole. In chemistry, it means creating compounds from simpler substances through chemical reactions. Mastering this concept helps in solving grammar-based questions in competitive.