Q: Read the following article and answer the question. Article: Scientists have long believed one way to stop the Earth's atmosphere from warming is by planting more trees. The idea is that more trees take in or absorb some of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a gas released by cars, factories and other human activities. The gas traps heat in the Earth's atmosphere, which warms the planet. However, two new studies have found that trees may not be as helpful in reducing carbon dioxide as had been thought. The first study was done at Duke University in prefix = st1 /Durham,North Carolina. Researchers pumped extra carbon dioxide into a test area where pine trees were growing. The trees grew thirty-four percent faster during the first three years. However, in time, the trees slowed to about their normal growth rate. The scientists say this is because trees need other nutrients, such as nitrogen. In the second study, researchers from Duke and Bowdoin College in Brunswick,Maineexamined the soil around trees. They discovered that as the leaves broke down into the soil, all the carbon was not trapped in the soil. Much of it was released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Forest planting has been a part of negotiations on a world agreement to reduce greenhouse gases that scientists believe cause global warming. The United States,Canada,Japanand some other industrial countries have supported the idea. But this new research suggests the idea is not as effective as environmental activists had thought. Scientist Ram Oren of Duke University led the study on tree growth. He says that earlier estimates on the ability of forests to absorb carbon dioxide were overly hopeful. Some scientists not involved in the studies say the research provides some of the first evidence on how trees react to carbon dioxide. Other scientists say the research disputes(......) a belief among some coal and power companies. The companies say that rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will not create harmful global warming. Instead, they say _ will increase forests and... Question: Why did the researchers do the TWO studies? Answer:

OPTIONS:
- To prove that trees may not be as helpful in reducing carbon dioxide as had been thought.
- To get more oxygen from these trees.
- To evaluate the maximum carbon dioxide the trees can absorb
- To see the growth rate of these trees.

A: To prove that trees may not be as helpful in reducing carbon dioxide as had been thought.

Q: Read the following article and answer the question. Article: Chilean miner Edison Pena plans to run the New York City Marathon on Sunday, less than a month after he was rescued from a collapsed mine that trapped him for 69 days. Pena ran 10 km daily through the mine's tunnels to beat the anxiety, wearing cut-down boots until rescuers sent him a pair of sports shoes through a narrow hole that served as the miners' "lifeline" to the surface. "When I ran in the darkness, I was running for life," Pena told a news conference in New York. "I was running to show that I wasn't just waiting around. I also wanted God to see that I really wanted to live." The New York Road Runners, which organizes the marathon, had invited Pena to be a guest at Sunday's race, but he said last week he did not want to watch, he wanted to run. "I was very eager to take on this big challenge," he said. "I wanted to show the world I could run." He hoped to run the 26.2-mile race in about six hours. "I have a knee injury, but I am eager to cross the finish line," he said. Last year, Meb Keflezighi won the men's marathon in two hours, nine minutes and 15 seconds. An Elvis Presley fan who asked rescuers to send the singer's music down into the mine, Pena broke into song at the news conference with the Presley hit Return to Sender. The miners werediscovered alive on August 22--17 days after the mine collapsed, but it took two months for rescuers to dig a hole big enough to bring them out. Question: Pena can be best described as _ . Answer:

OPTIONS:
- open-minded
- strong-willed
- hard-working
- warm-hearted

A: strong-willed

Q: Read the following article and answer the question. Article: Reached My Destination "Ego has an enormous appetite, the more you feed it, the hungrier it gets." --Nathaniel Bronner Jr. It has been two years, we have not met. Last time was when we were departing at Rome Airport as a procedure of joining different competitive firms. We exchanged our personal email IDs and I never realized my email ID was one with an error. We had been in six years of professional relationship that ended with a small misunderstanding. We never realized that we might not get a chance to clear it. We both had tough ego levels to shed off. In these two years work has always kept me busy. There have been instances where I wanted to write to him for his expertise advice but my ego always stopped me. And then one day flying to London for a conference was taking away my peace of mind. I knew he would be there as a part of the event from his firm. I thought to ignore him and behave professionally as an employee. Finally, I entered the conference hall. I was quick enough to realize that he would take over participants' attention with his confidence, and all I would do sitting there would be appreciating him, nodding my head as "Yes to Yes" and "No to No". Finally, he approached the stage. The very first line that fell into my ears was my name as he continued, "I am proud to be here with 8 years of experience and I would like to share my best practices with all of you. This is a journey I completed with one of my best colleagues and my best friend 'my name' who supported me through day and night with the toughest projects and killing deadlines". For a moment I fell numbed and completely lost. All I could remember were my thoughts for him before entering the room and his greatness to acknowledge my presence. Finally, the conference ended and we all left for refreshment. I was struggling hard to face him. I saw him coming towards me with a gift. I asked him, "Why this gift?" He was very humble to answer, 'This is a small symbol of friendship to tell how much I missed my friend when I wanted her... Question: What can we learn from the story? Answer:

OPTIONS:
- One should keep friendship with others.
- One should show more respect for others.
- One should have the sense of his own value.
- One should not be governed by self-respect.

A: One should not be governed by self-respect.

Q: Read the following article and answer the question. Article: When someone says, "Well, I guess I'll have to go to face the music," it doesn't mean he is planning to go to a concert. It is something far less pleasant, like being called in your boss to explain why you did this and did that, and why you did not do this or that. Terrible music, indeed, but it has to be faced. At some time or another, every one of us has had to "face the music", especially as children. We can remember father's angry voice: "I want to talk to you!" And only because we did not obey him. What an unpleasant business it was! The phrase "face the music" is known to every American, old and young. It is at least one hundred years old. Where did the expression come from? The first explanation came from the American novelist James Fenimore Cooper. He said, in 1851, that expression was first used by actors while waiting in the wings to go on stage. After they got their clue to go on , they often said, "It's time to go to face the music." And that is exactly what they did face the orchestra which was just below the stage. An actor might be frightened or nervous as he moved on to the stage in front of the audience that might be friendly, or perhaps unfriendly, especially if he forgot his . But he had to go out. If he did not, there would be no play. So "face the music" came to mean: having to go through something, no matter how unpleasant the experience might be, because you knew you had no choice. Question: The passage tells us that the expression was first used by _ . Answer:

OPTIONS:
- children
- novelists
- actors
- audience

A:
actors