Reading Comprehension

There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide in which blank (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.

Sentence: Most of them also offer refill options.

(1)__________. While some companies do not even develop strategies to reduce the use or recycling of plastic, others are actively transforming their products and manufacturing cosmetics that do not leave a mark. (2)________. Big beauty brands like Lush have long offered customers solid shampoo bars, bath bombs, and soap wrapped in biodegradable packaging. (3)_________.Even manufacturers of disposable sheet masks found a solution and created fully-compostable face masks without any plastic polymers and microplastics in their components.

Whether in the makeup or personal care industry, you can find solutions to use mixed materials in your packaging to produce no-waste cosmetics. Dirty Hippie Cosmetics, Elate, Axiology, River Organics, and Izzy is just a few makeup brands that use organic ingredients and recycled cardboard, paper, wood, glass, and metal in their packaging. (4)_________.

Four jumbled up sentences, related to a topic, are given below. Three of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd one out.

1. Growth factors for wounds are often applied locally (topically) and they may come in the form of gels that are applied directly to the wound.

2. Palifermin, a type of keratinocyte growth factor, is given via injection into a vein and is indicated for the prevention of oral mucositis in patients receiving radiation therapy.

3. Another use for growth factor is in dental procedures to enhance bone growth comes in the form of a dental filler.

4. Growth velocity is maximum during infancy and adolescence. The head circumference reaches closer to adult size by six years of age.

Four jumbled up sentences, related to a topic, are given below. Three of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd one out.

1. The estimation of a rising standard of life not just lies in solid upgrades it brings, but also in the way it shapes the social, political and eventually the ethical character of the individuals.

2. Moral thinking in practically every known culture, advises not to put undue accentuation on material concerns.

3.Philosophers since the time of Aristotle have drawn a line separating economic life from a life that is well-lived.

4. No amount of material development can justify the moral deficit that comes along with it.

The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3 and 4) below, when properly sequenced, would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and choose the correct option.

1. Claude Fohlen, Merczewski, and other historians believe that the French economy was moving at par with the British till as late as 1760s.

2. In overseas commerce as much as colonial markets, the French were barely trailing the British.

3. David Landes in fact argues that if industrialisation was caused only on account of technology, then it should have happened in France because France was the principal seat of scientific learning in 18th century Europe.

 4. Most historians are agreed that the principal reason why France did not have an industrial revolution at the same time as Britain was the dislocation caused by the French revolution of 1789, which disturbed the regular rhythm of French economy.

The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3 and 4) below, when properly sequenced, would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and choose the correct option.

 1. Both of these will in general spotlight on the "hopeful stories" of birth and mothering and support stereotypes of the "great mother".

2. Personal experience of mothering and parenthood are to a great extent confined comparable to two perceptible or "official" talks: the "clinical discourse and regular childbirth discourse".

3. These discourses have likewise been recognized in work investigating the encounters of the individuals who evidently don't "conform" to regular stereotypes of the "great mother"

4. Moreover, a third, "informal popular discourse" involving "old spouses" stories and dependent on maternal encounters of labour has likewise been noted.

Outdoor air pollution has grown 8% globally in the past five years, with billions of people around the world now exposed to dangerous air, according to new data from more than 3,000 cities compiled by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

While all regions are affected, fast-growing cities in the Middle East, south-east Asia and the western Pacific are the most impacted with many showing pollution levels at five to 10 times above WHO recommended levels.

According to the new WHO database, levels of ultra-fine particles of less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5s) are highest in India, which has 16 of the world's 30 most polluted cities.

Air pollution levels were generally much lower for cities in developed countries with Sydney, New York and London registering 17, 16 and 22 micrograms per cubic metre for PM10s respectively. However, the data only includes measurements for particulates and does not include forms of air pollution such as NO2 and ozone.

The new data, drawn from city and academic records, shows a rapid deterioration in air quality as low-income cities grow unchecked and populations become unable to escape clouds of smog and soot from transport, industry, construction sites, farming and wood-burning in homes.

Outdoor air pollution causes more than 3m deaths a year - more than malaria and HIV/Aids - and is now the biggest single killer in the world. The toll is expected to double as urban populations increase and car numbers approach 2bn by 2050.

Air pollutants such as sulphates, nitrates and black carbon penetrate deep into the lungs and into the cardiovascular system, posing the greatest risks to human health, says the UN.

“As urban air quality declines, the risk of stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and chronic and acute respiratory diseases, including asthma, increases for the people who live in them. When dirty air blankets our cities the most vulnerable urban populations - the youngest, oldest and poorest - are the most impacted,” said Flavia Bustreo, WHO assistant director general.

Encouragingly, there is evidence from the WHO data that many cities are addressing air pollution. More than half of the monitored cities in high-income countries and more than one-third of those in low- and middle-income countries reduced their air pollution levels by more than 5% in five years. Delhi, one of the most polluted cities in the world, has banned large diesel cars from going into the city centre.

Measures taken by cities include reducing industrial smokestack emissions, increasing the use of renewable power sources like solar and wind, and prioritising rapid transit, walking and cycling networks in cities. Many cities are also committed to reducing car traffic and diesel vehicles in particular.

The UN's third outdoor air pollution database suggests the cleanest cities in the world are generally small, wealthy and situated far from industrial centres. Muonio in Finland, a town above the Arctic circle, has the world's purest recorded urban air, recording just 2 micrograms per cubic metre of PM2.5 pollution and 4 micrograms per cubic metre of PM10s. It is closely followed by Norman Wells in Canada, Campisábalos in Spain and Converse County, Wyoming in the US.

Based on the given passage, which city has recorded the lowest PM10s level?

Outdoor air pollution has grown 8% globally in the past five years, with billions of people around the world now exposed to dangerous air, according to new data from more than 3,000 cities compiled by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

While all regions are affected, fast-growing cities in the Middle East, south-east Asia and the western Pacific are the most impacted with many showing pollution levels at five to 10 times above WHO recommended levels.

According to the new WHO database, levels of ultra-fine particles of less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5s) are highest in India, which has 16 of the world's 30 most polluted cities.

Air pollution levels were generally much lower for cities in developed countries with Sydney, New York and London registering 17, 16 and 22 micrograms per cubic metre for PM10s respectively. However, the data only includes measurements for particulates and does not include forms of air pollution such as NO2 and ozone.

The new data, drawn from city and academic records, shows a rapid deterioration in air quality as low-income cities grow unchecked and populations become unable to escape clouds of smog and soot from transport, industry, construction sites, farming and wood-burning in homes.

Outdoor air pollution causes more than 3m deaths a year - more than malaria and HIV/Aids - and is now the biggest single killer in the world. The toll is expected to double as urban populations increase and car numbers approach 2bn by 2050.

Air pollutants such as sulphates, nitrates and black carbon penetrate deep into the lungs and into the cardiovascular system, posing the greatest risks to human health, says the UN.

“As urban air quality declines, the risk of stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and chronic and acute respiratory diseases, including asthma, increases for the people who live in them. When dirty air blankets our cities the most vulnerable urban populations - the youngest, oldest and poorest - are the most impacted,” said Flavia Bustreo, WHO assistant director general.

Encouragingly, there is evidence from the WHO data that many cities are addressing air pollution. More than half of the monitored cities in high-income countries and more than one-third of those in low- and middle-income countries reduced their air pollution levels by more than 5% in five years. Delhi, one of the most polluted cities in the world, has banned large diesel cars from going into the city centre.

Measures taken by cities include reducing industrial smokestack emissions, increasing the use of renewable power sources like solar and wind, and prioritising rapid transit, walking and cycling networks in cities. Many cities are also committed to reducing car traffic and diesel vehicles in particular.

The UN's third outdoor air pollution database suggests the cleanest cities in the world are generally small, wealthy and situated far from industrial centres. Muonio in Finland, a town above the Arctic circle, has the world's purest recorded urban air, recording just 2 micrograms per cubic metre of PM2.5 pollution and 4 micrograms per cubic metre of PM10s. It is closely followed by Norman Wells in Canada, Campisábalos in Spain and Converse County, Wyoming in the US.

Which of the following statements point to the evidence mentioned in the given lines “there is evidence from the WHO data.”?

DNA degrades quickly after an animal dies, so researchers once believed it impossible to find ancient genetic material. The search for primeval vestiges of DNA took off in the late 1980s after the development of a technique called polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which copies minute quantities of DNA. Armed with PCR, scientists could look for tiny fragments of DNA that might have weathered the millennia unharmed.

In recent years, researchers have isolated DNA from 20-million-year-old magnolia leaves and extracted DNA from a 135-million-year-old weevil found in amber. Recently, a team extract DNA from bone dating back millions of years for the first time. In the frenzied hunt for ancient DNA, microbiologist Scott R. Woodward may have bagged the biggest quarry. Drawing on lessons learned while growing up among the fossil-rich rocks of eastern Utah, Woodward and his team became the first people to find genetic material belonging to a dinosaur.

Woodward, whose grandfather was a coal miner, knew that mines in the area often contained dinosaur traces. After six months of looking Woodward pulled two bone fragments from a Cretaceous siltstone layer directly atop a coal seam. Impeded by an unstable mine roof, Woodward's team could not recover any more bone samples. The siltstone apparently inhibited fossilization and preserved much of the original cell structure in the bone. Researchers isolated strands of DNA from both fragments and used PCR to copy a segment that codes for a protein called cytochrome b. Once they had made many copies, they could determine the DNA sequence.

Throughout their work, the biologists took precautions to avoid contaminating the samples with modern DNA or ancient material found within the coal. According to Woodward, circumstantial evidence indicates that the bone fragments belong to one or two species of dinosaurs. Dinosaur tracks are abundant in this coal formation, and the bones visible in the mine were larger than those of a crocodile—the biggest non-dinosaur known in these rocks.

Woodward explains variation found in the DNA as a result of damage to the ancient DNA, which caused the PCR technique to alter the original sequence. Scientists had hoped to use the DNA to resolve debate about the relationship among birds, dinosaurs, and other reptiles. But the cytochrome b fragments were too short to offer meaningful phylogenetic information, says Woodward. Utah's state paleontologist believes that the fragments found by Woodward could definitely be dinosaur in origin. Other researchers, however, question the identity of the DNA strands. Because the copies of the cytochrome b sequence varied considerably, they wonder whether the DNA comes from several organisms.

Based on the passage, Woodward was pointing on what circumstantial evidences?

The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3 and 4) below, when properly sequenced, would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and choose the correct option.

1. What we really are comes to the fore only rarely and in some specific circumstances.
2. What we think of ourselves as is, often, what determines how we behave, and our behaviour, we believe, determines what others think of us.
3. However, what we really are is hidden from others, either because we deliberately hide it from others or because we are unaware of how we actually are.
4. Like when we are in a crisis or under tremendous pressure, or conversely, when we are in a position of power and authority

DNA degrades quickly after an animal dies, so researchers once believed it impossible to find ancient genetic material. The search for primeval vestiges of DNA took off in the late 1980s after the development of a technique called polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which copies minute quantities of DNA. Armed with PCR, scientists could look for tiny fragments of DNA that might have weathered the millennia unharmed.

In recent years, researchers have isolated DNA from 20-million-year-old magnolia leaves and extracted DNA from a 135-million-year-old weevil found in amber. Recently, a team extract DNA from bone dating back millions of years for the first time. In the frenzied hunt for ancient DNA, microbiologist Scott R. Woodward may have bagged the biggest quarry. Drawing on lessons learned while growing up among the fossil-rich rocks of eastern Utah, Woodward and his team became the first people to find genetic material belonging to a dinosaur.

Woodward, whose grandfather was a coal miner, knew that mines in the area often contained dinosaur traces. After six months of looking Woodward pulled two bone fragments from a Cretaceous siltstone layer directly atop a coal seam. Impeded by an unstable mine roof, Woodward's team could not recover any more bone samples. The siltstone apparently inhibited fossilization and preserved much of the original cell structure in the bone. Researchers isolated strands of DNA from both fragments and used PCR to copy a segment that codes for a protein called cytochrome b. Once they had made many copies, they could determine the DNA sequence.

Throughout their work, the biologists took precautions to avoid contaminating the samples with modern DNA or ancient material found within the coal. According to Woodward, circumstantial evidence indicates that the bone fragments belong to one or two species of dinosaurs. Dinosaur tracks are abundant in this coal formation, and the bones visible in the mine were larger than those of a crocodile—the biggest non-dinosaur known in these rocks.

Woodward explains variation found in the DNA as a result of damage to the ancient DNA, which caused the PCR technique to alter the original sequence. Scientists had hoped to use the DNA to resolve debate about the relationship among birds, dinosaurs, and other reptiles. But the cytochrome b fragments were too short to offer meaningful phylogenetic information, says Woodward. Utah's state paleontologist believes that the fragments found by Woodward could definitely be dinosaur in origin. Other researchers, however, question the identity of the DNA strands. Because the copies of the cytochrome b sequence varied considerably, they wonder whether the DNA comes from several organisms.

All of the following, IF TRUE, would strengthen the author's claims EXCEPT