AUTHOR'S ATTITUDE

Around 2.8 million Indian students sat university examinations from the end of August to September 13 as the country approached the grim milestone of 5-million total COVID-19 cases. Despite pleas from civil society to defer examinations, including by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, a Supreme Court ruling on August 17 gave the government the green light to keep the original schedule for the engineer and medical colleges entrance exams.

    The JEE and the NEET, how university exams for those two careers are called, are India’s most competitive — they sprawl industries of their own, with preparation courses generating millions of dollars annually. The court bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said that “the career of the students cannot be put on peril for long, and a full academic year cannot be wasted.” The court will not hear any further petitions regarding postponing future exam dates.

    According to the Ministry of Education, 74 percent of the students registered to the first of the JEE took the exam, while an above 80-percent attendance was observed for the NEET exam. Students are now gearing up for the second stage of the JEE (the JEE Advanced), which will take place on September 27. Protests against the exam date have dwindled since the Supreme Court decision.

Manve, Vishal Yashoda. (2020). Millions of Indian Students Sit University Entrance Exams After Government Disregards Protests to Postpone Them. Accessed on July 18, 2020 from https://globalvoices.org/2020/09/15/millions-of-indian-students-sit-university-entrance-exams-after-government-pushes-back-protests-to-postpone-them/.

The author’s attitude towards the civils’ protest regarding the exam schedule is ….

• 1. critical

• 1. positive

• 1. objective

• 1. subjective

• 1. informative

This finding implies that the high level of consumption of added sugars among teenagers may result in lower levels of high density lipoprotein levels (HDL), the good cholesterol, and higher levels of triglycerides and low density lipoproteins (LDL), the bad cholesterol. "This is the first study about the association of added sugars and the indicators of heart disease risk in adolescents," said Jean Welsh, study author and post-doctoral fellow at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. "The higher consumers of added sugars have more unfavorable cholesterol levels. The concern is long-term exposure would place them at risk for heart disease later in adulthood."

    Teenagers with the highest levels of added sugar consumption at more than 30 percent of total energy had 49.5 milligrams/deciliter (mg/dl.) compared to 54 mg/dl. of HDL levels in those with the lowest levels of added sugar consumption - a 9 percent difference. Previous studies indicate that the largest contribution of added sugars to the diet are sugary beverages such as sodas, fruit drinks, and teas, Welsh said.

    The study included dietary recall from one 24 hour period that researchers merged with sugar content data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Researchers estimated cardiovascular risks by added sugar consumption of less than 10 percent up to more than 30 percent of daily total energy. Two days of dietary data were used among a subsample of 646 adolescents.

    The key findings remained consistent. Those with higher intake of added sugar had higher LDL levels of 94.3 mg/dl. compared to 86.7 in those with the lowest levels, a 9 percent difference. Triglyceride levels in those with the highest consumption were 79 mg/dl. compared to 71.7 mg/dl. among the lowest, a 10 percent difference. Overweight or obese adolescents with the highest level of added sugar consumption had increased signs of insulin resistance.

    The researchers used cross-sectional data so they cannot know if added sugar intake caused the differing cholesterol levels, only that they are linked. They also assessed the diet using one 24-hour recall of intake, which may not reflect on a person's usual intake.

(Adapted from: American Heart Association.)

The author's attitude regarding the topic is ....

• 1. disapproving

• 1. uninterested

• 1. positive

• 1. concerned

• 1. neutral

One of the industrial plants that changed American society was Henry Ford. Born on a farm in Michigan in 1863, he grew up to bring forth some of the most revolutionary in automotive technology in the 20s century.

His outstanding mechanical ability led him to become interested in the new automobiles in the 1900s. Though he didn’t invent the automobile, he improved upon everyone else’s design.

He was a person who believed in inexpensive, efficient production, so he established standards for his plant and workers. He also standardized and produced many new auto parts for his Ford Motor Company cars.

Then he studied the workers' problems and built an assembly line -- the first of its kind in America. This ingenious improvement led to the mass production of thousands of automobiles per year.

In fact, his plants had produced 15 million Model Ts by 1927. However, Ford's personality was not all thrift, efficiency, and ingenuity. He was a man who was cold and who could not keep pace with the competition due to his own rigidity.

His company suffered because of his desire to maintain the status quo instead of meeting and beating the competition by changing his product.

Finally, he saw that he must change or lose out; therefore, he introduced the eight-cylinder engine and once again took over the automobile market.

Ford left a legacy of millions of dollars, millions of jobs for American workers, and millions of satisfied customers.

The tone of this passage can be described as...

• A. Optimistic

• B. Nostalgic

• C. Serious

• D. Critical

• E. Sympathetic

Local or imported? Conventional or organic? Can you make choice that will keep your diet healthy and reduce your carbon footprint? Is it possible to eat green? Does it even matter? It may surprise you to learn that our diets account for up to twice as many greenhouse emissions as driving. One recent study suggested that the average US household's annual carbon footprint is 8,1 tonnes of "equivalent CO₂" emissions or CO₂ eq - a measure that incorporates any other greenhouse gases produced alongside the C0₂. That's almost twice the 4,4 tonnes of CO₂ eq emitted by driving a 25- mile-per-US gallon, or 9 litres per 100 kilometers, vehicle 19.000 km - a typical year's mileage in the US.

    As greenhouse gas emissions attract ever greater scrutiny and critism, the fields of sustainable consumption and life-cycle carbon accounting have prompted academics to tally the greenhouse gas emissions of hundreds of products and manufacturing processes so that we can make more environmentally friendly food choices. In the UK some supermarkets have already begun pilot programs to label foods with their carbon footprint. One potato crisp producer is now labeling some lines with their CO₂ eq footprint - the makers calculated that each 34,5 gram packet that leaves the factory accounts for 75 grams of CO₂ eq. The Carbon Trust, a campaign group based in London, is working on a standardized system that companies can follow to work out the CO₂ eq footprint of any product.

    So how do you calculate your stomach's CO₂ eq footprint? It's far from simple. For a start, you have to analyze every joule of energy used, from farm to fork, to measure its greenhouse gas contribution. Food produced using wind or solar power will produce lower emissions than food reliant on gas or coal, for example. For meat and dairy products, you also have to account for methane and nitrous oxide emissions - both potent greenhouse gases.

What is the author's attitude toward the topic of the text?

• 2. Critical.

• 1. Placid.

• 1. Skeptical.

• Supportive.

• 1. Worried.

Shakespeare’s works have influenced English Literature for generations to come. He is unparalleled as a writer whose influence stretched far beyond just England, where he was based. He revolutionized how theatre worked in England and consequent theatre traditions in other European countries. Before Shakespeare, playwrights used soliloquies to reveal crucial bits of information related to a character to help move the plot along. Shakespeare changed it to reflect a character’s inner monologue to help understand their minds. Such was his impact that Shakespeare to this day remains the world’s best-selling playwright, with sales of his works exceeding 4 billion copies in the years since his death. He is also among the top 3 most translated authors in History.

Additionally, Shakespeare is regularly considered among the greatest Britons ever. According to Historian and Television presenter Dan Snow, Shakespeare was among the ten most notable Britons in history, especially because of his evergreen plays and his contributions to the development of the English language. In a survey conducted by Heritage Magazine in 1999, Shakespeare was ranked the greatest Briton of all time by viewers, experts, and historians. Similarly, in BBC’s list of the 100 Greatest Britons through a poll conducted in 2002, Shakespeare ranked 5th.

In Shakespeare’s time, English grammar and spelling were not as standardized as they are today. And hence his use of various terms and phrases not only led to the creation of new words and phrases, but he also changed the way a lot of words we use today. Expressions such as waiting “with bated breath” from Merchant of Venice and “a foregone conclusion” from Othello have become commonplace today but were not even considered expressions before Shakespeare.

Shakespeare’s influence extended far beyond his native England, he was a poet truly for the world, and his plays remain relevant even in the 21st century, particularly because of the content. His plays are timeless and are just as relevant today as they were in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

(Source of text: https://historycolored.com/articles/9632/william-shakespeare-the-life-of-william-shakespeare/)

The author’s tone in presenting his ideas can be said as …

• A. Sympathetic

• B. Critical

• C. Persuasive

• D. Empathetic

• E. Factual