Short Advanced Reading Comprehension Test 37 With MCQs and Answers

(Please note: The following questions are related to a specific reading passage, available solely before the first question. Remember, referring back to the reading text while answering the questions may be helpful to ensure accuracy.)

The author E. L. Doctorow is best known for mixing fiction with historical fact, placing his stories within the framework of public events. In fact, he integrates the front-page news of 20th-century America with the lives of his characters. Doctorow gives readers the “feel” of an era by combining the unusual and the commonplace.

His latest novel, ‘World’s Fair’, shows how the events of the turbulent 1930s helped mould the sensibilities of his young protagonist.

It is concluded in the passage that Doctorow's novel World's Fair _____.

From the passage, we infer that a blend of fiction and history _____.

We learn from the passage that Doctorow's purpose in bringing together in his novels the usual and the extraordinary _____.

Ever since Nobel prize-winner Linus Pauling first advocated vitamin C as a common cold war weapon more than 20 years ago, researchers have been busy trying to verify that claim. However, so far, they’ve found little proof that vitamin C prevents colds. In fact, there are more studies that say it doesn’t.

There is evidence, though, that it can keep coughing and sneezing to a minimum, and that low levels of vitamin C in the body may be related to bronchitis.

From the passage, we can learn that Dr Pauling's view as regards vitamin C _____.

In accordance with the passage, coughing and sneezing _____.

During the last two decades, there has been plenty of scientific effort made to _____.

Since early times, it has been assumed that the actions of animals are unconscious. Behaviour, in this view, stems almost exclusively from instinct. If animals behave in ways that seem pretty clever, they do so without thinking about it. The argument goes that animals may know things, but they don’t know that they know.

Current research reports suggest a startling depth of intelligence among animals. Although no one can yet prove the existence of animal consciousness, the data offered make a compelling case for at least considering it.

It is emphasized in the passage that traditionally, animals are believed to _____.

It is stressed in the passage that modern research forces one to consider _____.

We can infer from the passage that, in the light of modern research, our traditional assumptions about animal behaviour _____.

The first universities developed in Europe in the 12th century. By 1600, Western Europe boasted 108 institutions of higher learning, many of which had obtained special privileges from existing regimes because of their close association with the Church.

In most European countries, universities were designed mainly for the sons of the nobility and gentry. Scholarly standards were low, and scholarship was irrelevant for most professions. Education for earning a livelihood in, say, medicine or law, could be acquired after college by serving as an apprentice.

As said in the passage, in the early years of the universities, _____.

It is implied in the passage that since most of the early universities enjoyed the support of the Church, _____.

As emphasized in the passage, real professional skills _____.

The effects of sleep loss are subject to a number of popular misconceptions. The belief that everyone must sleep 8 hours a night is a myth. According to the results of a recent survey on the subject, adults average about 7 to 7.5 hours of sleep per night, and many individuals function effectively with 5 to 6 hours of sleep.

In fact, 20 per cent of the population (slightly more in men) sleep less than 6 hours per night. Another important fact is that sleep time decreases with age.

In accordance with the passage, the popular assumption that eight hours of sleep per night is essential _____.

The survey referred to in the passage signifies that as people get older and older _____.

It is implied in the passage that a sleep time under 8 hours _____.

Until recently, many archaeologists held the view that civilized communities first arose in Egypt, though only a very short time before a similar development in Mesopotamia. A more recent opinion suggests that the earliest advances may have taken place in Mesopotamia.

Whichever view is followed, it is necessary to bear in mind that geographical conditions in both regions were not identical. In fact, it can be stated that in Mesopotamia, environmental factors were not as wholly favourable as in the Valley of the Nile.

In accordance with a more recent view, the beginnings of the development of civilization _____.

It is indicated in the passage that the Nile valley and Mesopotamia _____.

From the passage, we can learn that _____.

Dates and periods are necessary to the study and discussion of history, for all historical phenomena are conditioned by time and are produced by the sequence of events. Periods, especially, are retrospective conceptions that we form about past events. They are useful to focus discussion, but frequently they lead historical thought astray.

Thus, while it is certainly useful to speak of the Middle Ages and of the Victorian Age, those two abstract ideas have deluded many scholars and millions of newspaper readers. They suppose that during certain decades called the Middle Ages, and again during certain decades called the Age of Victoria, everyone thought or acted more or less in the same way until Victoria died or the Middle Ages came to an end. But in fact, there was no such sameness.

The writer argues that, contrary to common assumption, the behaviour of people _____.

The division of history into periods _____.

In accordance with the passage, the study of history _____.

A number of books have been written on computers, computer programming, and computer programming languages, particularly FORTRAN. To produce another book on FORTRAN, even the newest FORTRAN IV, probably seems unreasonable to most. It is with mild trepidation that I, the author, embark on this project. However, several good reasons can be stated for doing just that.

Most computer professionals will agree that the field of computer and information science has quickly become a valid discipline for academia, and that rapid changes are occurring in computer programming languages. Both of these facts demand that a new direction be taken in presenting the subject.

From this passage, we learn that the writer is somewhat apprehensive in case _____.

In accordance with the passage, publications on computer technology _____.

The writer of this passage points out that his new book on FORTRAN is justified because _____.