Reading Comprehension

Your alarm clock goes off at 6 a.m. You groan, roll over and try to think of a million excuses not to work out. But the guilt overcomes you. Besides, it’s better to work out in the morning, right? Not necessarily so. “If you exercise at a particular level of intensity, you’ll ‘burn’ the same number of calories regardless of when you exercise,” says Neil Pire, director of the School of Total Athletic Development. Here, Pire covers the pros and cons of morning vs. evening workouts as follows:

     - Surveys report that the majority of people who exercise regularly do it in the morning. So, the odds are in favor of “sticking with it” if you exercise in the morning.      

- Many people find that morning exercise regulates their appetite for the day. For example, they aren’t as hungry and they make better food choices.

1. The sentence “But the guilt overcomes you” implies that you_________

• a. finally get up and do the exercise.

• b. think about all the work you have to do.

• c. realize that exercise is not necessary now

• d. decide to stay in bed for a few more minutes

Your alarm clock goes off at 6 a.m. You groan, roll over and try to think of a million excuses not to work out. But the guilt overcomes you. Besides, it’s better to work out in the morning, right? Not necessarily so. “If you exercise at a particular level of intensity, you’ll ‘burn’ the same number of calories regardless of when you exercise,” says Neil Pire, director of the School of Total Athletic Development. Here, Pire covers the pros and cons of morning vs. evening workouts as follows:

     - Surveys report that the majority of people who exercise regularly do it in the morning. So, the odds are in favor of “sticking with it” if you exercise in the morning.      

- Many people find that morning exercise regulates their appetite for the day. For example, they aren’t as hungry and they make better food choices.

2. The word “pros” could best be replaced by________________

• a. advances    

• b. advantages

• c. improvement

• d. professionals

Your alarm clock goes off at 6 a.m. You groan, roll over and try to think of a million excuses not to work out. But the guilt overcomes you. Besides, it’s better to work out in the morning, right? Not necessarily so. “If you exercise at a particular level of intensity, you’ll ‘burn’ the same number of calories regardless of when you exercise,” says Neil Pire, director of the School of Total Athletic Development. Here, Pire covers the pros and cons of morning vs. evening workouts as follows:

     - Surveys report that the majority of people who exercise regularly do it in the morning. So, the odds are in favor of “sticking with it” if you exercise in the morning.      

- Many people find that morning exercise regulates their appetite for the day. For example, they aren’t as hungry and they make better food choices.

3. According to the passage, what is suggested if you exercise in the morning?

• a. Exercise in the evening instead

• b. Keep doing what you usually do

• c. Exercise whenever it is convenient for you

• d. Change the time of your work out every other day

Your alarm clock goes off at 6 a.m. You groan, roll over and try to think of a million excuses not to work out. But the guilt overcomes you. Besides, it’s better to work out in the morning, right? Not necessarily so. “If you exercise at a particular level of intensity, you’ll ‘burn’ the same number of calories regardless of when you exercise,” says Neil Pire, director of the School of Total Athletic Development. Here, Pire covers the pros and cons of morning vs. evening workouts as follows:

     - Surveys report that the majority of people who exercise regularly do it in the morning. So, the odds are in favor of “sticking with it” if you exercise in the morning.      

- Many people find that morning exercise regulates their appetite for the day. For example, they aren’t as hungry and they make better food choices.

4. “Not necessarily so” means that________________

• You should not have excuses not to work out

• It does not matter much whether you should workout or not

• You should work out both in the morning and in the evening

• Working out in the morning is not necessarily better than working out

       in the evening

Some of the world’s pollutants could be phased out under a global agreement reached last week. At a meeting organized by the UN environment programmed in Washington DC. 110 countries agreed on the need to ban persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as DDT, which linger in the environment for many years. POPs are volatile and travel a long way in air or water. They accumulate in the fatty tissues for animals, including humans, and there is growing evidence that they lead to cancer, damage the reproductive and immune systems and cause development problems. Next march, UNEP working groups will meet in Australia and outline the steps that will have to be taken to eliminate POPs. Binding agreement to phase out the chemicals could be place by 1997, Johnesson, the leader of UNEP working groups, said last week.

5. What is the author’s main purpose in writing this article?

• a. To report news

• b. To define terms

• c. To criticize a plan

• d. To examine a process

Some of the world’s pollutants could be phased out under a global agreement reached last week. At a meeting organized by the UN environment programmed in Washington DC. 110 countries agreed on the need to ban persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as DDT, which linger in the environment for many years. POPs are volatile and travel a long way in air or water. They accumulate in the fatty tissues for animals, including humans, and there is growing evidence that they lead to cancer, damage the reproductive and immune systems and cause development problems. Next march, UNEP working groups will meet in Australia and outline the steps that will have to be taken to eliminate POPs. Binding agreement to phase out the chemicals could be place by 1997, Johnesson, the leader of UNEP working groups, said last week.

6. According to the passage, what is one of the possible effects of POPs on humans?

• a. More people accumulate fatty tissues.

• b. Many people cannot control their weight.

• c. Some people cannot give birth to healthy children.

• d. Adults may suffer from their developmental problems.

Some of the world’s pollutants could be phased out under a global agreement reached last week. At a meeting organized by the UN environment programmed in Washington DC. 110 countries agreed on the need to ban persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as DDT, which linger in the environment for many years. POPs are volatile and travel a long way in air or water. They accumulate in the fatty tissues for animals, including humans, and there is growing evidence that they lead to cancer, damage the reproductive and immune systems and cause development problems. Next march, UNEP working groups will meet in Australia and outline the steps that will have to be taken to eliminate POPs. Binding agreement to phase out the chemicals could be place by 1997, Johnesson, the leader of UNEP working groups, said last week.

7. Which of the following does NOT describe POPs in the passage?

• Harmful

• Odorless

• Widely dispersed

• Easily changeable

The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) is a global collaboration between more than 60 developing countries. It is helping many developing countries around the world, especially the ones that are fragile and crisis-affected, to increase their domestic financing for education. However, global donor educational support is decreasing at an alarming rate. The amount of total aid that’s allocated to education has decreased in each of the past six years, an educational aid is 4% lower than it was in 2009. This is creating a global funding crisis which causes serious consequences on countries’ ability to get children to education. Money isn’t everything, but it is a key foundation for a successful education system. Therefore, the GPE tries to raise $3.1 billion in new investment from donor countries into the GPE fund, increase other aid to education, and ask developing country partners to pledge increases in their own domestic financing.

8. What is the main idea of the text?

• The key for a successful education system is money.

• The amount of world educational support is lower than 4%.

• The GPE is helping developing countries around the world.

• The GPE tries to help developing countries raise educational fund.

Teenagers need 9 hours of slumber nightly, yet they only average six hours. “We’re trying to educate a nation of walking zombies,” says James B. Maas, author of Power Sleep. “Students’ bodies are in the classroom, but their brains are on the pillow at home.”

          Studies by the nation’s leading teen sleep researchers show inadequate sleep leads to poor concentrations, inability to remember, crankiness, and sluggishness. It’s also a major reason that car accidents are the second leading cause of death in younger people. So, what can you do?

1. Keep a regular bedtime

          2. Readjust your child’s internal clock by opening curtains and turning on all the lights in the morning. At night, keep lights low.

          3. Discourage late-night sports practices, workouts and jobs. Consider removing TVs, computers, phones, and video games from bedrooms.

          4. Allot at least 8 hours for your teen to sleep and schedule life around that.

16. 9. According to the passage, which of these problems is NOT caused by lack of sleep?

• a. passivity                            

• b. Moodiness

           

• c. Memory loss                     

• d.  Short-sightedness

Teenagers need 9 hours of slumber nightly, yet they only average six hours. “We’re trying to educate a nation of walking zombies,” says James B. Maas, author of Power Sleep. “Students’ bodies are in the classroom, but their brains are on the pillow at home.”

          Studies by the nation’s leading teen sleep researchers show inadequate sleep leads to poor concentrations, inability to remember, crankiness, and sluggishness. It’s also a major reason that car accidents are the second leading cause of death in younger people. So, what can you do?

1. Keep a regular bedtime

          2. Readjust your child’s internal clock by opening curtains and turning on all the lights in the morning. At night, keep lights low.

          3. Discourage late-night sports practices, workouts and jobs. Consider removing TVs, computers, phones, and video games from bedrooms.

          4. Allot at least 8 hours for your teen to sleep and schedule life around that.

17. 10. The passage recommends all of the following EXCEPT ____________

• a.  regular sleep hours

• b.  night-time physical activities

• c.  a dark, quiet bedroom at night

• d.  a minimum of 8 hours of sleep