Pte MC Choose Multiple Answer

   Most Repeated MC Choose Multiple Answer

1. Noodles

 In 1958 instant noodles went on the market, yellowish wormy bricks in cellophane bags, and were laughed at by fresh-noodle makers all over Japan. They were just a high-tech craze, costing six times as much as the fresh stuff; they would never catch on. By the end of the first year, Momofuku Ando had sold 13m bags and had attracted a dozen competitors. He never looked back. The Japanese voted instant noodles their most important 20th-century invention, Sony Walkmans notwithstanding. Mr. Ando's firm, Nissin, became a $3 billion global enterprise.

Q. According to the article, which of the following are true about this instant noodle business?
a. Mr. Ando's products are not well-known outside of Japan.
b. When instant noodles came on the market they cost much less than the fresh ones.
c. Mr. Ando's business venture was successful with the public.
d. Mr. Ando purchased the firm Nissin for $3 billion.
e. Mr. Ando was initially concerned about having so many competitors.
f. People in the noodle business initially ridiculed Mr. Ando's idea.

Ans. c. Mr. Ando's business venture was successful with the public.
        f. People in the noodle business initially ridiculed Mr. Ando's idea.

2. Power resources 

The distribution of power resources in the contemporary information age varies greatly on different issues. We are told that the United States is the only superpower in a unipolar world. But the situation is far more complex than first meets the eye. The agenda of world politics has become like a three-dimensional chess game in which one can win only by playing vertically as well as horizontally. On the top board of classic interstate military issues, the United States is indeed the only superpower with global military reach, and it makes sense to speak in traditional terms of unipolarity or hegemony. However, on the middle board of interstate economic issues, the distribution of power is multipolar. The United States cannot obtain the outcomes it wants on trade, antitrust, or financial regulation issues without the agreement of the European Union, Japan, China and others. It makes little sense to call this American hegemony, and on the bottom board of transnational issues like terrorism, international crime, climate change, and the spread of infectious diseases, power is widely distributed and chaotically organized among state and non-state actors. It makes no sense to call this a unipolar world or an American empire.

Q. What can you conclude from the passage about the author's opinions?
a. He does not agree that the United States has world domination, except in military matters.
b. He worries that important transnational issues won't be resolved because the U.S. isn't given the lead.
c. He thinks that discussions of how power is distributed in the world are frequently oversimplified.
d. He feels that the United States, as the richest country, should always get its way in economic matters.
e. He does not believe that crucial issues in world politics should be compared to a game like chess.

Ans. a. He does not agree that the United States has world domination, except in military  matters.
       c. He thinks that discussions of how power is distributed in the world are frequently oversimplified

3. Spain 

Here is a part of Spain’s sun-baked Andalucia that is extraordinary not only because of its unspoiled terrain and authentic Spanish traditions but also because of its caves. These are not dark, damp holes, with dripping water and evil smells. They are residences, ancient Bronze Age dwellings now being refurbished for hundreds of 21st century Spaniards. In Galera, the region’s most important village, it’s estimated that there are at least 1,000 such habitations carved into its hillsides. “We take old caves, renovate them, then sell them on,” says Rob Oakley, office manager of leading developer Galera enterprises. “Our company was set up by someone who discovered the area of Galera when it was just a tourist attraction 15 years ago and saw its potential.” The ancient abodes are transformed from rough caves into relatively luxurious homes, equipped out with amenities like electricity and sewage, phone lines, running hot water, even internet connections.

Q. Which of the following words in the passages have the same meaning as residences?
a. abode
b. amenities
c. connections
d. dwellings
e. habitations
f. hillsides
g. terrain

Ans. a. abode
        d. dwellings
        e. habitations

4. Dairy farms 

A few summers ago I visited two dairy farms, Huls Farm and Gardar Farm, which despite being located thousands of miles apart were still remarkably similar in their strengths and vulnerabilities. Both were by far the largest, most prosperous, most technologically advanced farms in their respective districts. In particular, each was centered around a magnificent state-of-the-art barn for sheltering and milking cows. Those structures, both neatly divided into opposite-facing rows of cow stalls, dwarfed all other barns in the district. Both farms let their cows graze outdoors in lush pastures during the summer, produced their hay to harvest in the late summer for feeding the cows through the winter, and increased their production of summer fodder and winter hay by irrigating their fields. The two farms were similar in an area (a few square miles) and barn size, Huls barn holding somewhat more cows than Gardar barn (200 vs. 165 cows, respectively). The owners of both farms were viewed as leaders of their respective societies. Both owners were deeply religious. Both farms were located in gorgeous natural settings that attract tourists from afar, with backdrops of high snow-capped mountains drained by streams teaming with fish, and sloping down to a famous river (below Huls Farm) or 3ord (below Gardar Farm).

Q. According to the writer, which elements below are not the similarities between Huls Farm and Gardar Farm?
a. Their natural settings.
b. Their structures.
c. Their sizes.
d. Their locations.
e. Their numbers of cows.

Ans. d. Their locations.
        e. Their numbers of cows

5. Dog 

A dog may be man's best friend. But man is not always a dog's. Over the centuries selective breeding has pulled at the canine body shape to produce what is often a grotesque distortion of the underlying wolf. Indeed, some of these distortions are, when found in people, regarded as pathologies. Dog breeding does, though, offer a chance to those who would like to understand how body shape is controlled. The ancestry of pedigree pooches is well recorded, their generation time is short and their litter size reasonably large, so there is plenty of material to work with. Moreover, breeds are, by definition, inbred, and this simplifies genetic analysis. Those such as Elaine Ostrander, of America's National Human Genome Research Institute, who wish to identify the genetic basis of the features of particular pedigrees thus have an ideal experimental animal.

Q. According to the text, what are the reasons of human producing pooches?
a. This distortion is regarded as pathologies that can be studied by humans.
b. It offers the chance for people who would like to understand how body shape is controlled.
c. It looks cute and is very popular among humans as pets.
d. Their generation time is short and their litter size is large.
e. The genetic analysis of them is complicated so that humans have more resources to study.

Ans. b. It offers the chance for people who would like to understand how body shape is controlled
       d. Their generation time is short and their litter size is large

6. Dennett 

Dennett recognizes that all human minds are shaped not only by natural selection but by enormous cultural influenced which effectively  redesign our minds. He invites us to think of the conscious mind as consisting of those mental contents that win in competition against other mental contents in the battle for control of behavior. What we are is the “organization of all the competitive activity between a host  of competences” that our bodies have developed. Consciousness is defined by what a mind can do – whether it can concentrate, be distracted, recall earlier events, keep track of a number of things at once etc. Dennett urges us to resist the temptation to imagine animals as accompanying their clever activities with streams of reflective consciousness as we would. We may not know that they do not, but we certainly cannot assume that they do. He notes that the more we learn about clever activities in animals and how they are accomplished, the less the processes in their brains seem to resemble the thoughts we imagined were doing the work.

Q. According to Dennett, the mind displays which of the following characteristics?
a. Our minds are shaped by natural selection.
b. Our conscious mind tries to control our behaviors.
c. Our minds are not shaped by cultural influences.
d. Animals make decisions based on their conscious minds.
e. A mind cannot concentrate or cannot be distracted.

Ans. a. Our minds are shaped by natural selection.
        b. Our conscious mind tries to control our behaviors.

7. Calendar 

"September 2, 1752, was a great day in the history of sleep. That Wednesday evening, millions of British subjects in England and the colonies went peacefully to sleep and did not wake up until twelve days later. Behind this feat of narcoleptic prowess was not some revolutionary hypnotic technique or miraculous pharmaceutical discovered in the West Indies. It was, rather, the British Calendar Act of 1751, which declared the day alter Wednesday 2nd to be Thursday 14th.Prior to that cataleptic September evening, the official British calendar differed from that of continental Europe by eleven days—that is. September 2 in London was September 13 in Paris, Lisbon, and Berlin. The discrepancy had sprung from Britain's continued use of the Julian calendar, which had also been the official calendar of Europe from is invention by Julius Caesar (after whom it was named) in 45 B.C, until the decree of Pope Gregory XIII in 1582.Caesar’s calendar, which consisted of eleven months of 30 or 31 days and a 28-day February (extended to 29 days every fourth year), was actually quite accurate: it erred from the real solar calendar by only 11 1/2 minutes a year. After centuries, though, even a small inaccuracy like this adds up. By the sixteenth century, it had put the Julian calendar behind the solar one by 10 days.In Europe, in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII ordered the advancement of the Julian calendar by 10 days and introduced a new corrective device to curb further error, century years such as 1700 or 1800 would no longer be counted as leap years, unless they were (like 1600 or 2000) divisible by 400."

Q. What factors were involved in the disparity between the calendars of Britain and Europe in the 17th century?
a. the provisions of the British Calendar Act of 1751
b. Britain’s continued use of the Julian calendar
c. the accrual of very minor differences between the calendar used in Britain and real solar events
d. the failure to include years divisible by four as leap years
e. the decree of Pope Gregory XIII
f. revolutionary ideas which had emerged from the West Indies
g. Britain’s use of a calendar consisting of twelve months rather than eleven

Ans. b. Britain’s continued use of the Julian calendar
        c. the accrual of very minor differences between the calendar used in Britain and real solar events
        e. the decree of Pope Gregory XIII

8. RMM-1

Australian Aborigines migrated from somewhere in Asia at least 30,000 years ago. Though they comprise 500-600 distinct groups, aboriginal people possess some unifying links. Among these are strong spiritual beliefs that tie them to the land; a tribal culture of storytelling and art; and, like other indigenous populations, a difficult colonial history. The Dreamtime: Aboriginal spirituality entails a close relationship between humans and the land. Aborigines call the beginning of the world the “Dreaming” or “Dreamtime”. In the “Dreamtime”, aboriginal “Ancestors” rose from below the earth to form various parts of nature including animal species, bodies of water, and the sky. Unlike other religions, however, aboriginal belief does not place the human species apart from or on a higher level than nature. Aborigines believe some of the Ancestors metamorphosed into nature (as in rock formations or rivers), where they remain spiritually alive.Storytelling, Art, and the Didgeridoo: The oral tradition of storytelling informs aboriginals’ vibrant cultural life. Songs illustrate the Dreamtime and other tales of the land, while dances and diagrams drawn in the sand accompany oral tales. In the Northern Territory, aboriginal art includes sculpture, bark and rock paintings, and baskets and beadwork. Rock carvings and paintings can be found in such places as Arnhem Land, Ubirr, and Nourlangie. Many aborigines earn a living through selling native artworks.Aboriginal music is often recognizable for its most famous instrument, the didgeridoo. A wind instrument typically made from bamboo, it extends about five feet and produces a low, vibrating hum. Aborigines use didgeridoos in formal ceremonies at such events as sunsets, circumcisions, and funerals.

Q. Which of the following statements about Australian Aborigines can be supported from this text?
a. It is estimated that the population of Australian Aborigines peaked at about 400,000 some 30,000 years before white settlement.
b. Despite being recognised internationally, the Aboriginal musical instrument the didgeridoo, rarely plays a significant role in Aboriginal cultural ceremonies.
c. Today Aborigines comprise approximately 2% of the Australian population.
d. Aboriginal culture is based on a belief that people, animals, and the land are integrally linked.
e. Unlike many other indigenous cultures, Australian Aborigines developed equitable relationships with colonial powers. 

Ans. c. Today Aborigines comprise approximately 2% of the Australian population.
        d. Aboriginal culture is based on a belief that people, animals, and the land are integrally linked.

9. RMM-2

Why do some countries drive on the left, while others – the majority- drive on the right? In fact, those that drive on the left make up about twenty-five per cent of the world’s countries and are, apart from the UK itself, mostly countries that were British colonies: India, South Africa, Singapore, Jamaica, and so on. Japan does too, although it wasn’t a colony, and as late as 2009, Samoa switched from driving on the right largely because they wanted to buy right-hand drive cars made in Japan and New Zealand.     The Romans introduced the custom of keeping to the left, a habit that was reinforced in medieval times when riders throughout Europe passed oncoming strangers sword arm to sword arm – this idea is based on the fact that the majority of people are right-handed. An increase in horse traffic towards the end of the 18th century meant that the convention gained strength, but it was not put into law until 1835. Legend lias it that Napoleon is responsible for making the European countries which he conquered keep to the right, for the simple reason either that he was left-handed himself, or that he wanted to be different from his enemy, England. This is most probably nonsense, but an Emperor’s whims can go a long way. So France, obviously, and Spain, the Netherlands and other countries Napoleon overran used this system, and over the years other countries adopted the practice to make crossing borders easier and safer. The latest European country to convert was Sweden, in 1967.

According to the text, which of the countries listed below drive on the left?
a. Japan
b. Scotland
c. Spain
d. Samoa
e. South Africa
f. Germany

Ans. a. Japan
        b. Scotland
        d. Samoa
        e. South Africa

10. RMM-3

Until the mid-20th century, scientists believed that the chest cavity would implode at around 115 feet. Water pressure, they argued, reaches 65 pounds per square inch at that depth, which is enough to shrink lungs to the size of grapefruits and collapse rib cages like empty soda cans. Their theory went out the window in the 1950’s and early 1960’s, however, when divers like Enzo Maiorca returned from beyond 115-feet with rib cages intact. We now know that water pressure forces blood vessels in the chest to swell, filling the void left by the lungs with an incompressible fluid. Among the dangers of free diving, the most disconcerting is shallow-water blackout—the brains frightening tendency to shut down within 15 feet of the surface during the ascent. As you descend, water pressure squeezes your lungs, condensing the oxygen and giving you what feels like a second breath. During the return trip, however, your lungs re-expand, dissipating whats left of your oxygen. If levels drop too low, not enough will move into the bloodstream, and the lights go out. Fortunately, the body’s laryngospasm reflex kicks in to tighten the throat and keep water out for up to a minute—just enough time for your dive buddy to drag you to the surface, tilt your head back, and beg, “Breathe, baby.” Knowing Johnston will be there watching my eyes as I ascend (seeing them roll back in the head is a red flag), I dip below the surface. Staying in the syringe—dive speak for a tight hydrodynamic column—I kick down to 30 feet, my point of neutral buoyancy, and then sink effortlessly to the bottom. I feel good—surprisingly good—thanks to the densely packed oxygen molecules in my lungs. Lingering a moment, I peer up at the mirrored surface that separates this liquid world from mine. Diving to 55 feet was no sweat. I figure I could dive twice that with a little practice, reaching what scientists thought, not 50 years ago, was the body’s depth limit. Today, however, that boundary has been pushed to at least 531 feet (the current no-limits world record), which begs the question: Just how deep can humans go? “We don’t know that yet,” says Lundgren, adding ominously. “But one day someone will find out."

Q. Which of the following is true in respect of the effect of water pressure on humans?
a. Scientists believed that the chest cavity would blow up at a depth of about 115 feet.
b. Rib cages will collapse at the water pressure of 65 pounds per square inch.
c. Blood vessels of the chest enlarge and fill the empty space left by lungs that have been compressed.
d. It is now known that lungs will not shrink with the increase in water pressure.
e. It is no longer believed that the chest cavity will cave in at a depth of about 115 feet.

Ans. c. Blood vessels of the chest enlarge and fill the empty space left by lungs that have been compressed.
e. It is no longer believed that the chest cavity will cave in at a depth of about 115 feet.

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