Reference and Vocabulary
Exercise 1
Vocabulary:
vegetative: relating to plant life
fusion: the process of joining two or more things
corm: the small round underground part of some plants
propagate (adj. propagative): to produce new plants from a parent plant
adventitious: happening accidentally; not planned
margin: the border of space
mature: well-developed
Many plants can propagate themselves by vegetative reproduction. In this process, part of a plant separates, takes root, and grows into a new plant. Vegetative reproduction is a type of asexual reproduction; it involves only one parent and there is no fusion of gametes (sex cells). Plants use various structures to reproduce vegetatively. Some plants use underground storage organs. Such organs include rhizomes (horizontal, underground stems), the branches of which produce new plants; bulbs (swollen leaf bases) and corms (swollen stems), which produce daughter bulbs or corns that separate from the parent; and stem tubers (thickened underground stems) and root tubers (swollen adventitious roots), which also separate from the parent. Other propagative structures include runners, creeping horizontal stems that take root and produce new plants; bulbils, small bulbs that develop on the stem or in the place of flowers, and then drop off and grow into new plants; and adventitious buds, miniature plants that form on leaf margins before dropping to the ground and growing into mature plants.
1. Look at the word propogate in the passage.
Click on the word or phrase in the bold text that is closest in meaning to propagate.
2. The phrase this process refers to all of the following EXCEPT
A. vegetative reproduction
B. asexual reproduction
C. unilateral reproduction
D. bisexual reproduction
3. The word adventitious in the passage is closest in meaning to
A. accidental
B. visible
C. aquatic
D. adventurous
Exercise 2
Vocabulary:
sanitation: the equipment and systems that keep places clean
inspect (n. inspection): to officially visit a school, factory, etc. in order to check that rules are being obeyed and that standards are acceptable
supervise: to be in charge of somebody/something and make sure that everything is done correctly, safely, etc.
immunize: to protect a person or an animal from a disease
infant: the period of being a baby
People born in the United States and Canada can generally expect to live long and relatively healthy lives. At present, about 11 percent of the region’s population is over 65 years of age.
Most people in the United States and Canada generally enjoy good health. Public sanitation services, which include food inspection and garbage removal, are supervised by local governments to help keep the environment healthy. The people of the region have become more educated about disease prevention and health maintenance.
The region’s health-care systems have contributed in several ways to people’s improved health. There are large numbers of hospitals and clinics in the region. There are also large numbers of doctors, nurses, and hospital workers to care for the health needs of the region’s people. The latest medicines and treatments are generally available because most people live fairly close to large medical facilities.
In general, many diseases are either prevented or successfully treated because of the health care provided within the United States and Canada. People are generally immunized, or given medicines to protect them from certain sicknesses. The survival rate of infants in the region is high – 990 out of 1,000 live births. This is partly due to the attempts to immunize infants against certain diseases.
1. The word supervised in the passage is closest in meaning to
A. suspected
B. surrounded
C. overseen
D enforced
2. Look at the word facilities in the passage. Click on the word or phrase in the bold text that is closest in meaning to facilities.
3. Look at the word This in the passage. Click on the word, phrase or sentence in the bold text that This refers to.
Exercise 3
Vocabulary
Palaeolithic: from or connected with the early part of the Stone Age
abundantly: in large quantities
prominent: important or well-known
portray: to show somebody/something in a picture
prompt: to make somebody decide to do something
imitate: to copy
agency: a force
It is not known how religion first began, although archaeology provides some clues about when. Some archaeologists interpret materials found at sites dating as far back as 70,000 years ago as evidence of religious belief. Later, some 30,000 years ago, the Upper Palaeolithic Cro-Magnon people of western Europe seem to have been expressing religious feelings when they carved and painted bones, stones, and the walls of caves. The survival of these gatherers and hunters required that females reproduce abundantly and that hunting be successful. Both fertility and successful hunting are prominent themes in Cro-Magnon art. Statuettes called “Venus figurines” represent women with pregnant bellies and huge breasts; cave paintings include apparently pregnant animals and others with spears lodged in their bodies. Perhaps the hunters believed they could influence events by creating the image of a pregnant woman or animal or by portraying the killing of an animal, thus prompting life to imitate art. This requires a belief in agencies beyond the merely human.
1. Look at the word clues in the passage. Click on the word or phrase in the bold text that is closest in meaning to clues.
2. The word fertility in the passage could best be replaced by
A. fervor
B. felicity
C. onslaught
D. reproduction
3. Look at the word Statuette in the passage. Click on the word or phrase in the bold text that is closest in meaning to Statuette.
4. The word agencies in the passage could best be replaced by
A. organizations
B. institutions
C. forces
D. autonomies
Exercise 4
Vocabulary
subsidiary: connected with something but less important than it
demolish: to pull or known down a building
outrageous: very shocking and unacceptable
respiratory: connected with breathing
ailment: an illness that is not very serious
El Niño is also blamed for many subsidiary effects. Crop an dlivestock losses were enormous, bringing hardship to farmers, especially in poorer countries, and in some places famine. In financial terms they amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars, and financial markets were affected widely as prices rose because of reduced supply. The fisheries crash in Peru and Chile had similar effects: much of the catch was processed into animal food and farmers as far away as Ireland faced higher feed price. Fires, often lit by farmers using the oppotunity to clear land, raged out of control in drought-stricken Indonesia and the Amazon basin. Thousand of square mils of rainfortest were demolished. The fires in Indonesia were so outrageous that much of southeastern Asia endured months of haze and air pollution, and an accompanying increase in repiratory ailments. The thick smoke was even responsbile for several plane crashes. Mass coral bleaching occurred on many reefs around the world.
1. Look at the word blamed in the passage. Click on the word or phrase in the bold text that is closest in meaning to blamed.
2. Look at the word subsidiary in the passage. Click on the word or phrase in the bold text that is closest in meaning to subsidiary.
3. The word harship in the passage could best be replaced by
A. hunger
B. drought
C. suffering
D. contention
4. Look at the word they in the passage. Click on the word or phrase in the bold text that the word they refers to.
5. The word demolished in the passage could best be replaced by
A. demanded
B. drenched
C. eliminated
D. dehydrated
Exercise 5
Vocabulary
iridescent: showing many bright colors that seem to change in different lights
slick: an area of oil that is floating on the surface of the sea
biodegradable: able to decay naturally and without harming the environment
decompose: to destroy by breaking it into smaller parts
marsh: an area of low land that is always soft and wet
mangrove: a tropical tree that grows in mud or at the edge of rivers and sends roots down from its branches
Of all mishaps, however, the massive oil spills that result from the sinking or collision of supertankers are the most devastating to the marine environment. The 1978 grounding of a supertanker, the Amoco Cadiz, poured 230,000 tons of crude oil along the coasts of Brittany, in northwestern France. In 1989 more than 35,000 tons of crude oil were spilled by the Exxon Valdez, damaging the unspoiled coasts of southern Alaska, the home of whales, sea otters, salmon, fish-eating bald eagles, and other wildlife. Accidents have prompted tighter restrictions, such as having double hulls, on the construction and operation of tankers.
Most of the components of oil are insoluble in water and float on the surface. They can be seen in most harbors as thin, iridescent slicks on the surface or as black deposits on sandy and rocky beaches. You would expect large areas of ocean to be covered with the oil that has accumulated over the years. Fortunately, some of its lighter components evaporate, and bacteria ultimately break the oil down. Oil is said to be almost completely biodegradable because, though very slowly, it is broken down, or decomposed, by bacteria. Different marine communities, however, have different sensitivities to oil. For instance, it lasts much longer in salt marches and mangrove forests.
1. Look at the word mishaps in the passage. Click on the word or phrase in the bold text that is closest in meaning to mishaps.
2. Look at the word devastating in the passage. Click on the word or phrase in the bold text that is closest in meaning to devastating.
3. The word prompted in the passage could best be replaced by
A. procrastinated
B. issued
C. approved
D. precipitated
3. Look at the word its in the passage. Click on the word or phrase in the bold text that its refers to.
Answers
Exercise 1:
1. reproduce
2. D
3. A
Exercise 2:
1. C
2. hospitals and clinics
3. The survival rate of infants in the regions is high — 990 out of 1,000 live births.
Exercise 3:
1. evidence
2. D
3. figurines
4. C
Exercise 4:
1. responsible
2. accompanying
3. C
4. Crop and livestock losses
5. C
Exercise 5:
1. Accidents
2. damaging
3. D
4. oil
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