Irrelevant Sentences Advanced Level Test – Quiz (Online Exercise With Answers) 1

1. (I) Though you may think the hula hoop was a fad born in the 1950s, in fact people have been doing basically the same thing with circular hoops for thousands of years. (II) The word hula hoop may be regarded as very interesting by most of the people. (III) In ancient Egypt, for example, children played with large hoops of dried grapevines which they would propel along the ground with sticks or swing around their waists. (IV) During the 14th century, a “hooping” craze swept through England, and was as popular among adults as kids. (V) The records of doctors at the time attribute numerous dislocated backs and heart attacks to “hoping”.

2. (I) The legendary jazzman Charlie
Parker, popularly known as “bird",
was born in Kansas city, Kansas in
1920. (II) When he was 7, his family
moved across the river to Kansas
City, Missouri (III) Charlie, played tuba
in his high school band, but his fcj
mother thought it looked funny and
bought him a saxophone instead. (IV)
Kansas city was one of the great jazz
centres of the time. (V) Because he
was seif - taught on this instrument,
he developed a strange but highly
original style.

3. (I) Few would dispute V. S. Naipaul's
status as probably the greatest living
writer of Indian origin. (II) Indeed,
some would go further and argue that
he is the greatest living writer of
English prose. (Ill) Moreover, his
views are taken very seriously, and
for good reason. (IV) He is a writer
whose fiction and nonfiction form a
body of work of great brilliance. (V)
Therefore, he displays an immoral
and humiliated style.

4. (I) Popular literature includes both
those writings intended for masses
and those that find favour with large
audiences. (II) It can be distinguished
from artistic literature in that it is
designed primarily to entertain. (Ill)
Unlike high literature, which seeks a
high degree of formal beauty or
subtlety, popular literature is
generally aimed to be simple enough
to be understood by the average
reader. (IV) in this way, high literature
aims to appeal to ordinary readers. (V)
Therefore, the growth of popular
literature has paralleled the spread of
literacy through education.

5. (I) Worrying news comes from Britain about the high school curriculum. (II) In the country that discovered gravity, evolution and DNA, the popularity of Maths and Science are on the decline. (Ill) In the short term, it may be necessary to make use of the universities' resources. (IV) The number of secondary school pupils who choose to study these subjects is falling due to their difficulty. (V) The authorities' response is to make the courses a lot easier starting next year.

6. (I) Sewage system of the government
has a major problem. (II) They're
running out of numbers for their
customers. (Ill) The system now in
use was invented in 1947. (IV) No one
then had any idea how fast the
population would grow. (V) Soon
there will be no more combinations
left of the seven-digit numbers.

7. (I) Many scientists, including Charles
Darwin, wondered why we cry tears.
(II) But, in fact animals cry, too. (Ill)
What is the biological or evolutionary
purpose of tears? (IV) We could just
as well cry without any tears falling.
(V) Despite his further studies, Darwin
couldn't find the answer to this crying
matter.

8. (I) Some of the most famous classical
composers died quite young. (II) Most
of the musicians died in their beds
while sleeping. (Ill) Among these, for
example, were Schubert and Mozart,
who both died very early in their
thirties. (IV) But not all composers
have had short lives. (V) Bach lived
until age 65 and Haydn until age 69.

9. (I) Exercising in your home may be
good for your health, but it may not
be good for your children. (II) In 1990,
about 13,000 children were hurt by
exercise equipment. (Ill) The exercise
bicycle was the most common cause
of injury. (IV) Age 3 is considered to
be too early for the kids to start
kindergarten. (V) Many children lost a
finger or a toe in the wheels of these
bicycles.

10. (I) Why do we grow old? (II) This is a
question that people have asked
since the beginning of history. (Ill)
Now biologists are looking for
scientific answers to this question.
(IV) They think that aging is part of
our genetic program. (V) Most of the
baboons die younger than the
chimpanzees.

11. (I) By 1984, NASA, the United States
space program, had carried out many
successful flights of the space
shuttle. (II) In fact, Americans were
beginning to take the whole NASA
program for granted. (Ill) Then, the
president announced that the next
shuttle would carry a school teacher
into space. (IV) Hundreds of teachers
from all parts of the country applied
for the job. (V) Early in the morning,
the challenger crew had a good
breakfast and discussed their plans.

12. (I) Many working people,
unfortunately, have no time to take
naps. (II) The people in these
experiments almost always followed a
similar sleeping pattern. (Ill) If you do
have the possibility, however, here
are a few tips about making the most
of your nap. (IV) Remember that the
best time to take a nap is about eight
hours after you get up. (V) A nap too
late in the day may only make you feel
more tired and sleepy afterward.

13. (I) By the 1950s and 1960s, Coca-Cola
had become a popular drink and a
kind of symbol of American culture.
(II) You can find Japanese drink and
food all around the world. (Ill) In the
next decade, the Coca Cola Company
began exporting to Europe and other
countries. (IV) The drink was soon in
great demand around the world. (V)
But it was very expensive because of
the demand.

14. (I) The Chinese were the first people
to make book. (II) They discovered
how to make paper and how to print
books in about 1300. (Ill) At that time,
there was almost no contact between
Europe and China. (IV) Among the
many of the Europeans to travel to
China was Marco Polo. (V) Hence, it
was difficult for Europeans to learn
about books from the Chinese.

15. (I) A young child's untreated ear
infection can lead to serious
consequences, (il) The infection can
spread to the throat and cause a
general illness. (Ill) Adults with
frequent or untreated ear infections
cannot hear well. (IV) It can also do
permanent damage to a child's
hearing ability. (V) Perhaps the leastknown
consequence of untreated ear
infection involves language
development.

16. (I) High school graduates are
sometimes nervous about attending
college, because they fear that
everything will be different. (II) In fact,
there are some important similarities
between college and high school. (Ill)
Colleges demand more efficient work
whereas high schools are much
easier. (IV) In both places, academic
success depends on being a
responsible student. (V) This means
attending classes regularly, doing
your homework, and studying new
materials carefully.

17. (I) Can you think of anything that
Ukraine and Japan have in common?
Not much, except for one surprising
aspect of their cooking. (II) Ukrainians
are fond of a dish called pilmeni. (Ill)
It's made of pieces of flat pastry
folded around a spicey meat filling.
(IV) The Japanese make a dish that is
remarkably like it, only they call it
gyoza. (V) In both countries,
furthermore, people prefer living in
flats to living in houses.

18. (I) After several decades, jogging is
still a very popular activity in the
United States. (II) Many people-like-to
go jogging early in the morning
before work or after work in the
evening. (Ill) But running in the
streets instead of parks may increase
the risk of accidents. (IV) However, in
the winter months especially, it may
be dark during those hours. (V) To
help these joggers a sports shoe
manufacturer has invented a new kind
of jogging shoes which have little red
lights on the back of the heels.

19. (I) Have you ever noticed how much
of the potato is wasted when you peel
it? (II) Now, new technology may
bring an end to that loss. (Ill) When
you're peeling just a few potatoes for
your dinner, this does not matter, of
course. (IV) But just imagine what
happens when potatoes are peeled in
factories. (V) Industrial potato peelers,
in fact, waste an average of 15% of
the potato.

20. (I) The problem of air pollution has
turned up on every continent on Earth
- even Antarctica. (II) Winter Quarters
Bay, on Antarctica, is the site of an
important scientific station. (Ill) This
bay, in fact, is as polluted as many
city harbors. (IV) The reason is that
for long time people at the station
dumped garbage into the sea. (V)
Now, however, that has stopped
because an international agreement
has limited the dumping of garbage in
Antarctica.

21.(1) Statistics show that teenage
mothers in the United States often
have unhealthy babies. (II) These
babies often weigh less than normal.
(Ill) They also are generally less
intelligent than babies of older
mothers. (IV) Doctors have wondered
about the reasons for these statistics.
(V) The researchers believe that this
is probably true for animals.

22. (I) Rubber is made from latex, a white
liquid found in certain plants. (II) Most
of the world's supply of rubber comes
from the para rubber tree. (Ill) When
latex was discovered by Europeans,
they soon found many uses for it. (IV)
This tree originally came from the
Amazon Valley in Brazil. (V) The
Indians of that area used the latex
from the rubber tree to make statues,
cups and shoes.

23. (I) The game of croquet was probably
invented in France. (II) In the 13*
century, the French villagers played
something they called “paille-maille.”
(Ill) Now it is played everywhere, from
the United States to India and
Australia. (IV) From there, the game
traveled to Ireland, where they called
it “crooky.” (V) In the mid-19th
century, some people in England
began playing “crooky", and it quickly
became popular all around the world.

24- (I) The connection between sunlight
and cancer has been known for a long
time. (II) Doctors usually say that
people who are at risk for heart
disease should be careful about their
diet. (Ill) They should not eat foods
that have a lot of fat. (IV) That means
they should not eat nuts, since nuts
contain 70-90% fat. (V) Recent
research, however, has shown that
this advice may be wrong, since
people who eat nuts seem to have
fewer heart problems.

25. (I) One of the most important
principles in biology is that all living
things must come from other living
things. (II) This principle was not
discovered until the 18th century. (Ill)
Before that people believed that life
could come from other kinds of
matter. (IV) In other words, a human
being can come from a chimpanzee.
(V) For example, they thought that
worms could come from meat.