Ques: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to _ death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed. A-myo-trophic comes from the Greek language. "A" means no or negative. "Myo" refers to muscle, and "Trophic" means nourishment--"No muscle nourishment." When a muscle has no nourishment, it "atrophies" or wastes away. "Lateral" identifies the areas in a person's spinal cord where portions of the nerve cells that signal and control the muscles are located. As this area degenerates it leads to scarring or hardening ("sclerosis") in the region. As motor neurons degenerate, they can no longer send impulses to the muscle fibers that normally result in muscle movement. Early symptoms of ALS often include increasing muscle weakness, especially involving the arms and legs, speech, swallowing or breathing. When muscles no longer receive the messages from the motor neurons that they require to function, the muscles begin to atrophy (become smaller). Limbs begin to look "thinner" as muscle tissue atrophies. What Types of Nerves Make Your Body Work Properly? The body has many kinds of nerves. There are those involved in the process of thinking, memory, and of detecting sensations (such as hot/cold, sharp/dull), and others for vision, hearing, and other bodily functions. The nerves that are affected when you have ALS are the motor neurons that provide voluntary movements and muscle power. Examples of voluntary movements are your making the effort to reach for the phone or step off a curb; these actions are controlled by the muscles in the arms and legs. The heart... Question: What can we learn from the passage _ ? - As motor neurons degenerate, they can no longer send impulses to the muscle fibers. - If muscles can't receive the messages sent by motor neurons, limbs begin to look "thinner". - The heart and the digestive system are also affected by ALS. - the cause of ALS has been completely understood.
Ans: If muscles can't receive the messages sent by motor neurons, limbs begin to look "thinner".

Ques: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: While astronauts in space get to do many exciting things, they miss out on ordinary things that we all take for granted--being able to walk on firm ground, hanging out with family and digging into a slice of hot steaming pizza. Though not much can be done about the first two things, there may soon be a solution to the third one, thanks to this cool 3-D pizza printer! About a year ago, NASA offered $125 ,000 to Anjan Contractor, a 3-D technology expert, to build a device that would allow astronauts to make pizza on demand. The mechanical engineer promised that his invention would produce pies in large quantities that looked, tasted and even smelled like pizza made in common ovens. Late last year, the engineer presented a video of his first prototype that begins by creating a single slice of dough that is cooked and printed at the same time. Then comes the tomato "sauce" -- a mix of tomato powder, oil and water and finally, a protein slice that resembles cheese. While the video doesn't show the baking process, the inventor says that once the pizza is printed, it can be ready to be consumed in 7 seconds. While the pie in the video looks delicious enough to attract any pizza lover, Anjan Contractor is far from ready for astronauts. That's because he still has to find a solution to make the food container in the printer last for 30 years. Though that may sound unrealistic, actually it is not. Anjan Contractor believes that the only way that is possible is that the water is removed from all the ingredients and then they are reduced to the powder form. This, as you can imagine, will not be so easy. But, while the printer may not be ready for space, it certainly looks ready enough for people on earth. Hopefully, NASA and Contractor will consider selling it to those not fortunate enough to go to Mars! Question: The biggest challenge that Anjan Contractor is faced with now is probably that _ . - he has no money left to go on with his research - the pizza doesn't seem appetizing to pizza lovers - he has no way to make pizza that can last for thirty years - he cannot make the food container last for decades
Ans: he cannot make the food container last for decades

Ques: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Zoo elephants don't live as long as those in the wild, according to a study sure to cause debate about keeping the giant animals on display. Researchers compared the life spans of elephants in European zoos with those living in Amboseli National Park in Kenya and others working on a timber enterprise in Buma. Animals in the wild or in natural working conditions had life expectancies twice than or more of their relatives in zoos. Animal care activists have urged in recent years to discourage keeping elephants in zoos, largely because of the lack of space and small numbers of animals that can be kept in a group. The researchers found that the _ life span for African elephants in European zoos was 16.9 years, compared with 56 years for elephants who died of natural causes in Kenya's Amboseli Park. Adding in those elephants killed by people in Africa lowered the median life expectancy there to 35.9 years. For the more endangered Asian elephants, the median life span in European zoos was 18.9 years, compared with 41.7 years for those working in the Burma Timber Enterprise. Median means half died younger than that age and half lived longer. There is some good news, though. The life expectancies of zoo elephants have improved in recent years, suggesting an improvement in their care and raising, but "Protecting elephants in Africa and Asia is far more successful than protecting them in Western zoos." There are about 1,200 elephants in zoos, half in Europe, researchers concentrated on female elephants, which make up 80 percent of the zoo population. One amazing thing was that Asian elephants born in zoos had shorter life spans that those brought to the zoos from the wild. Zoos usually lack large areas that elephants are used to in the wild, and that zoo animals often are alone or with one or two other unrelated animals, while in the wild they tend to live in related groups of 8 to 12 animals. In Asian elephants, baby death rates are two to three times higher in zoos than in the Burmese logging camps, and then, in... Question: Who are expected to pay more attention to the issue addressed? - Zoologists. - Animal care activists. - Zoo visitors. - The public.
Ans:
The public.