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Reading Comprehension

Reading Comprehension: English Reading Comprehension Exercises with Answers, Sample Passages for Reading Comprehension Test for GRE, CAT, IELTS preparation

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English Reading Comprehension Test Questions and Answers. Improve your ability to read and comprehend English Passages

Q301. > Ecoefficiency (measures to minimize environmental impact through the > reduction or elimination of waste from production processes) has > become a goal for companies worldwide, with many realizing significant > cost savings from such innovations. Peter Senge and Goran Carstedt see > this development as laudable but suggest that simply adopting > ecoefficiency innovations could actually worsen environmental stresses > in the future. Such innovations reduce production waste but do not > alter the number of products manufactured nor the waste generated from > their use and growth. Moreover, there is no guarantee that increased > economic growth from ecoefficiency will come in similarly ecoefficient > ways, since in today’s global markets, greater profits may be turned > into investment capital that could easily be reinvested in old-style > eco-inefficient industries. Even a vastly more ecoefficient industrial > system could, were it to grow much larger, generate more total waste > and destroy more habitat and species than would a smaller, less > ecoefficient economy. Senge and Carstedt argue that to preserve the > global environment and sustain economic growth, businesses must > develop a new systemic approach that reduces total material use and > total accumulated waste. Focusing exclusively on ecoefficiency, which > offers a compelling business case according to established thinking, > may distract companies from pursuing radically different products and > business models. The passage mentions which of the following as a possible consequence of companies’ realization of greater profits through ecoefficiency?

  1.  The companies may be able to sell a greater number of products by lowering prices.
  2.  The companies may be better able to attract investment capital in the global market.
  3.  The profits may be reinvested to increase economic growth through ecoefficiency.
  4.  The profits may be used as investment capital for industries that are not ecoefficient.
  5.  The profits may encourage companies to make further innovations in reducing production waste.

Solution : The profits may be used as investment capital for industries that are not ecoefficient.
Q302. > Ecoefficiency (measures to minimize environmental impact through the > reduction or elimination of waste from production processes) has > become a goal for companies worldwide, with many realizing significant > cost savings from such innovations. Peter Senge and Goran Carstedt see > this development as laudable but suggest that simply adopting > ecoefficiency innovations could actually worsen environmental stresses > in the future. Such innovations reduce production waste but do not > alter the number of products manufactured nor the waste generated from > their use and growth. Moreover, there is no guarantee that increased > economic growth from ecoefficiency will come in similarly ecoefficient > ways, since in today’s global markets, greater profits may be turned > into investment capital that could easily be reinvested in old-style > eco-inefficient industries. Even a vastly more ecoefficient industrial > system could, were it to grow much larger, generate more total waste > and destroy more habitat and species than would a smaller, less > ecoefficient economy. Senge and Carstedt argue that to preserve the > global environment and sustain economic growth, businesses must > develop a new systemic approach that reduces total material use and > total accumulated waste. Focusing exclusively on ecoefficiency, which > offers a compelling business case according to established thinking, > may distract companies from pursuing radically different products and > business models. The passage implies that which of the following is a possible consequence of a company’s adoption of innovations that increase its ecoefficiency?

  1.  Company profits resulting from such innovations may be reinvested in that company with no guarantee that the company will continue to make further improvements in ecoefficiency.
  2.  Company growth fostered by cost savings from such innovations may allow that company to manufacture a greater number of products that will be used and discarded, thus worsening environmental stress.
  3.  A company that fails to realize significant cost savings from such innovations may have little incentive to continue to minimize the environmental impact of its production processes.
  4.  A company that comes to depend on such innovations to increase its profits and growth may be vulnerable in the global market to competition from old-style eco-inefficient industries.
  5.  A company that meets its ecoefficiency goals is unlikely to invest its increased profits in the development of new and innovative ecoefficiency measures.

Solution : Company growth fostered by cost savings from such innovations may allow that company to manufacture a greater number of products that will be used and discarded, thus worsening environmental stress.
Q303. > A recent study has provided clues to predator-prey dynamics in the > late Pleistocene era. Researchers compared the number of tooth > fractures in present-day carnivores with tooth fractures in carnivores > that lived 36,000 to 10,000 years ago and that were preserved in the > Rancho La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles. The breakage frequencies in > the extinct species were strikingly higher than those in the > present-day species. In considering possible explanations for this > finding, the researchers dismissed demographic bias because older > individuals were not overrepresented in the fossil samples. They > rejected preservational bias because a total absence of breakage in > two extinct species demonstrated that the fractures were not the > result of abrasion within the pits. They ruled out local bias because > breakage data obtained from other Pleistocene sites were similar to > the La Brea data. The explanation they consider most plausible is > behavioral differences between extinct and present-day carnivores-in > particular, more contact between the teeth of predators and the bones > of prey due to more thorough consumption of carcasses by the extinct > species. Such thorough carcass consumption implies to the researchers > either that prey availability was low, at least seasonally, or that > there was intense competition over kills and a high rate of carcass > theft due to relatively high predator densities. The primary purpose of the passage is to

  1.  present several explanations for a well-known fact
  2.  suggest alternative methods for resolving a debate
  3.  argue in favor of a controversial theory
  4.  question the methodology used in a study
  5.  discuss the implications of a research finding

Solution : discuss the implications of a research finding
Q304. > A recent study has provided clues to predator-prey dynamics in the > late Pleistocene era. Researchers compared the number of tooth > fractures in present-day carnivores with tooth fractures in carnivores > that lived 36,000 to 10,000 years ago and that were preserved in the > Rancho La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles. The breakage frequencies in > the extinct species were strikingly higher than those in the > present-day species. In considering possible explanations for this > finding, the researchers dismissed demographic bias because older > individuals were not overrepresented in the fossil samples. They > rejected preservational bias because a total absence of breakage in > two extinct species demonstrated that the fractures were not the > result of abrasion within the pits. They ruled out local bias because > breakage data obtained from other Pleistocene sites were similar to > the La Brea data. The explanation they consider most plausible is > behavioral differences between extinct and present-day carnivores-in > particular, more contact between the teeth of predators and the bones > of prey due to more thorough consumption of carcasses by the extinct > species. Such thorough carcass consumption implies to the researchers > either that prey availability was low, at least seasonally, or that > there was intense competition over kills and a high rate of carcass > theft due to relatively high predator densities. According to the passage, compared with Pleistocene carnivores in other areas, Pleistocene carnivores in the La Brea area

  1.  included the same species, in approximately the same proportions
  2.  had a similar frequency of tooth fractures
  3.  populated the La Brea area more densely
  4.  consumed their prey more thoroughly
  5.  found it harder to obtain sufficient prey

Solution : had a similar frequency of tooth fractures

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Q305. > A recent study has provided clues to predator-prey dynamics in the > late Pleistocene era. Researchers compared the number of tooth > fractures in present-day carnivores with tooth fractures in carnivores > that lived 36,000 to 10,000 years ago and that were preserved in the > Rancho La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles. The breakage frequencies in > the extinct species were strikingly higher than those in the > present-day species. In considering possible explanations for this > finding, the researchers dismissed demographic bias because older > individuals were not overrepresented in the fossil samples. They > rejected preservational bias because a total absence of breakage in > two extinct species demonstrated that the fractures were not the > result of abrasion within the pits. They ruled out local bias because > breakage data obtained from other Pleistocene sites were similar to > the La Brea data. The explanation they consider most plausible is > behavioral differences between extinct and present-day carnivores-in > particular, more contact between the teeth of predators and the bones > of prey due to more thorough consumption of carcasses by the extinct > species. Such thorough carcass consumption implies to the researchers > either that prey availability was low, at least seasonally, or that > there was intense competition over kills and a high rate of carcass > theft due to relatively high predator densities. According to the passage, the researchers believe that the high frequency of tooth breakage in carnivores found at La Brea was caused primarily by

  1.  the aging process in individual carnivores
  2.  contact between the fossils in the pits
  3.  poor preservation of the fossils after they were removed from the pits
  4.  the impact of carnivores’ teeth against the bones of their prey
  5.  the impact of carnivores’ teeth against the bones of other carnivores during fights over kills

Solution : the impact of carnivores’ teeth against the bones of their prey
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