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They ____ sacrifices so that their only child could have a good education.

 

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Gujarat’s favourite watering hole, Union territory of Daman, will add more activity  for its tourists than let them hang around only in the bars on its sun-kissed beaches. The administration has decided to develop leisure water sports on Jampore and Light house beaches at Moti Daman. The tourism department of Daman has already selected two operators to run these leisure water sports facilities. At present, facilities like creation of ramps, walking area and waiting area for the tourists are under construction at the beaches.  Director of Daman Tourism, Harshil Jain told TOI, “The leisure water sports activities are all set to start very soon. We have not decided the dates, but the contractors are working day-and-night to set up facilities soon at both the beaches.” He further said that leisure water sports will help boost tourism in Daman. “The flow of tourist will increase during the vacation period. Till now, tourists come here to enjoy sitting on the beaches, but now they will have the option for water sports, too,” Jain added.  According to tourism department officials, the sporting activity would be set up on the lines of Goa. Attractions like jet skis, banana ride, para sailing, pedal boating, rowing, kayaking and motorboating will add to the beach fun, they said. A senior tourism officer said, “Since adventure has a risk factor, we have asked the contractors to keep provision of accidental insurance cover for all the tourists using the ride. Customers too must be covered for accidental death, loss of limb and permanent and partial disability.” “On the weekends alone, more than 60,000 people visit Daman. We are pretty sure that the water sports activity will increase the numbers to more than 80,000,” asserted another official. 
5. According to paragraph 3, what would the Daman’s tourism administration NOT provide the visitors with?

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Scientist and inventor George Washington Carver was born into slavery during the American Civil War. After the war, he worked diligently to get an education. He managed to get an advanced degree in Botany, which is the study of plants. After he finished his college degree, he worked in the South. He taught people about botany and about how it could be used to improve farming. Carver learned that there was a problem with cotton farming in the South. Cotton takes nutrients from the soil. If cotton is planted year after year, the quality of the soil decreases. Carver knew that plants like peanuts and sweet potatoes are different from cotton. They add nutrients to the soil rather than take nutrients from the soil. Carver told farmers that it was a bad idea to grow only cotton and no other crops each year. He told them that they should also grow plants like peanuts and sweet potatoes, which improve the quality of the  soil. Many farmers followed the advice that Carver offered them. The result was that the production on their farms increased. This increased production of peanuts and sweet potatoes improved the quality of the soil. However, when production of peanuts and sweet potatoes increased, a new problem developed. The new problem was that there were too much peanuts and sweet potatoes. To solve this problem, Carver began working in a laboratory to find new uses for peanuts and sweet potatoes. He developed hundreds of products that could be made from peanuts and sweet potatoes. These hundreds of products included food products, medicines, plastics and fertilizer  
5. According to paragraph 3, what problem developed from the production of peanuts and sweet potatoes?

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The weather is a national obsession in Britain, perhaps because it is so changeable. It's the national talking point, and most people watch at least one daily weather forecast. Most of the viewers imagine that the presenter does little more than arrive at the studio a few minutes before the broadcast, read the weather, and then go home.
In fact, this image is far from the truth. The two-minute bulletin which we all rely on when we need to know tomorrow's weather is the result of a hard day's work by the presenter, who is actually a highly-qualified meteorologist.
Every morning, after a weather forecaster arrives at the TV studios, his/her first task of the day is to collect the latest data from the National Meteorological Office. The information is very detailed and includes predictions, satellite and radar pictures, as well as more technical data. After gathering all the relevant material from this office, the forecaster has to translate the scientific terminology and maps into images and words which viewers can easily understand. The final broadcast is then carefully planned. The presenter decides what to say and in what order to say it. Next a “story board” is drawn up which lays out the script word for word.
The time allocated for each broadcast can also alter. This is because the weather report is screened after the news, which can vary in length. The weather forecaster doesn't always know how much time is available, which means that he/she has to be thoroughly prepared so that the material can be adapted to the time available.
What makes weather forecasting more complicated is that it has to be a live broadcast and cannot be pre-recorded. Live shows are very nerve-racking for the presenter because almost anything can go wrong. Perhaps the most worrying aspect for every weather forecaster is getting the following day's predictions wrong. Unfortunately for them, this is not an unusual occurrence; the weather is not always possible to predict accurately.
These days, a weather forecaster's job is even more complicated because they are relied upon to predict other environmental conditions. For example, in the summer the weather forecast has to include the pollen count for hay fever sufferers. Some also include reports on ultraviolet radiation intensity to help people avoid sunburn. The job of a weather forecaster is certainly far more sophisticated than just pointing at a map and describing weather conditions. It's a job for professionals who can cope with stressful and challenging conditions.

Creating a weather report is complex because .

Find synonym:
I believe the government will use advanced technology to build faster trains and make people's life more comfortable.

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Leisure reading, also known as recreational reading, pleasure reading, free voluntary reading, and independent reading, is independent, self-selected reading of a continuous text for a wide range of personal and social (1)__________. It can take place in and out of school, at any time. Readers (2)__________from a wide range of extended texts, including but not exclusive to narrative fiction, nonfiction, picture books, e-books, magazines, social media, blogs, websites, newspapers, comic books, and graphic novels. Leisure reading is (3)_______intrinsically or socially motivated and a pleasurable activity for the reader. Students’ home environment, where parents/caregivers encourage reading and model their enjoyment of reading, has a substantial (4)___________impact on children’s performance in reading. In classrooms, leisure reading often takes place during times designated as SSR (sustained silent reading), DEAR (drop everything and read), LTR (love to read), or POWER (providing opportunities with everyday reading), which are the most common terms for classroom leisure reading. It may take place (5) _____individual classrooms or be part of a school-wide activity

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IN ONE CUBIC FOOT In any environment - forest, mountain or water - you always see big animals first: birds, mammals, fish. But under your feet, on land or in water there are many smaller organisms: insects, tiny plants, miniature sea creatures. They seem unimportant, but, in fact, these sea creatures and ground dwellers are “the heart of life on the Earth”, say naturalist E.O Wilson. Without them, our world would change dramatically. Most organisms on the Earth live on the ground or just below it. Here, they are part of an important cycle. Plants and animals fall to the ground when they die. Later, tiny insects and other organisms break down the dead plant and animal material. This process eventually returns nutrients to the soil and give plants energy. Plants can then help to maintain healthy environment for humans and other animals. Despite their importance, scientists know very little about most ground organisms. To learn more, photographer David Liittschwager went to different places around the world, including a forest, a river, a mountain, and a coral reef. In each place, he put a green 12-inch cube on the ground or in the water. Then he and his team counted and photographed the organisms that lived in or moved through the cube. Often they discovered hundreds, some only a millimeter in size. “It was like finding little germs”, he says. In the coral reef in French Polynesia, he saw thousands of creatures in the cube and photographed 600. The team identified as many as possible, but it was difficult. Many of the animals they found were new species.  
5. All of the following are true about Liittschwager and his team EXCEPT that _______.

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Though overwhelmed by the news of the novel coronavirus outbreak, Munyaradzi Gurure, the 21-year-old student at Guangxi University of Finance and Economics from South Africa, has still stepped out to serve as a volunteer in the train station to help battle the epidemic.  “I’m well aware the situation of epidemic prevention and control is very severe,” he said. “Seeing that many people actively joined in the fight, I also wanted to do my part and volunteer at the station.” With the number of novel coronavirus cases continuing to rise both in and outside of China, Gurure’s family back in South Africa was very worried about his health, and hoped he would quit the volunteer job. “I told my parents China has taken a lot of strong quarantine measures and is actually safe,” he said. “I want to do whatever I can to prevent the spread of the infection. The country took really good care of me during the last three years.”  Working about four hours a day, Gurure either carries an 8-kilogram electric sprayer to disinfect the waiting room or checks passengers’ temperature as soon as they walk into the station. He also makes sure people are in good health and wearing masks at all times. Though it’s not easy work, Gurure came across many Chinese who are very surprised to see a foreign face, but then give a thumbs up and say “very good” to him in Chinese. Gurure’s foreign classmates found out about his volunteer job and sent messages saying “good job”, some showing interest in joining him to help curb the spread of the virus. 
There are many ways in which you can help people with disabilities; however, be  aware that there are also ways you can hinder rather than help them. Please read through these tips before you try helping someone with a disability. Here are some general rules for helping all people with disabilities.  Always treat people with disabilities as equals. All people want to have friends, fun, and experience life to the maximum. People with disabilities are no exception. Never be afraid, skeptical, or embarrassed to approach someone with a disability. People with disabilities have just as much fun!  Always ask before you help. People with disabilities have varying levels of independence. Never assume someone with a disability has a low-level. If someone looks like they’re struggling, ask before you help. A person may welcome help, or they may ask that you let her be independent; but even if she looks like she’s struggling, she may just want to become more independent, which requires practice in everyday situations.  Never assume someone does or does not have a disability. Everyone is different. Sometime, people with disabilities may act, feel, or think differently than you. Don’t assume that for this reason someone has a disability, simply treat him/her as an individual because all people should be treated equally.  Do not stare. Sometimes it is an eye-opening experience to see someone with a disability in public. However, people with disabilities have lives just like everyone else. You are certainly allowed to look, but do not stare at a person with a disability. Simply view them the way you view others.  Respect and understand confidentiality. People with disabilities have a right to privacy. They are not obligated to tell you about their disability. If someone does tell you about his/her disability, do not assume that he/she is comfortable with you telling other people about his/her disability. Always ask permission to discuss the disability before you do it. 
1. What is it like to make friends with disabled people? 

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This French expansion can be traced back to Isle of France, or Ile-de-France, the  administrative region for Metropolitan Paris. It is often referred to as “the city of love” or “the city of lights”, now it can officially be called “Paris, the city of incredibly talented soccer players”.  In order to preserve the integrity of the international competition, FIFA tightened the rules on nationality and representation in 2004. The decision arrived amid a growing trend of so called “lesser” footballing nations naturalising players from a greater talent pool, typically from Brazil, to play for their national team. For example, Qatar offered citizenship to three Brazilians within a week having never lived or played football in the country, while Togo managed to naturalise five Brazilians for their national team. To prevent this, FIFA declared that any player wishing to represent a “new” nation must have a “clear connection” to it. A “clear connection”, according to FIFA, means that a player must have at least one parent or grandparent who were born in their newly chosen country.  The diversity of France, and Paris in particular, lends a hand to the range of national teams its citizens can represent. Along with many European migrants residing in Paris, France’s colonial history also means that a large proportion of African and Caribbean immigrants call Paris home. Famed French nationals Claude Makalele and Lilian Thuram both migrated with their families to Paris from Zaire and Guadeloupe respectively. By law, the French INSEE census does not collect data on religion or ethnicity so it is difficult to estimate the extent of diversity in the Ile-de-France region, but approximately 20% of its inhabitants were born abroad. One might conclude that an even larger percentage have at least one parent or grandparent who were part of the sizeable waves of immigrants arriving to Paris since WWI. These waves of migrations chiefly occurred in the late 19th century and up until WWI. It is unlikely that the current crop of footballers would have many feelings of nationalism toward the faraway countries of their grandparents. The advantage Paris has is that a vast majority of professional footballers may feel that their best opportunity to play for a national team would be with the country of their heritage. 
6. According to paragraph 4, why do many foreign footballers choose to play for France?

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There are three main periods in Beethoven’s music career: early, middle and late. The beginning of his early period was in 1792 when he moved to Vienna, Austria. Beethoven quickly (1) ________ a name for himself as a talented pianist. His compositions during this period consisted mainly of works for his main instrument, the piano, and were classical in nature. (2)___________, Beethoven’s hearing was beginning to deteriorate during this period, and he tried to hide this fact from those around him. In 1800, Beethoven turned from the classical forms of the previous century to a more expressive or romantic music. His musical imagination began to grow (3)______ that of the piano. The middle period was believed to be Beethoven’s greatest and most productive stage. In less than a decade, he produced countless masterpieces in every genre. In 1809, however, his musical (4)_________ began to decline, possibly due to his health problems and mental state. Beethoven stopped conducting and performing in public, but continued to compose – many of his most admired works were created during this period. By 1815, he was almost completely deaf and his manners became increasingly rude. In 1827, he died after a long illness. Nearly 20,000 people lined the streets of Vienna to (5)_________ their last respect to the composer who had changed the music scene of Western Europe

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Water is of vital importance to all living things. Without it, all living things will  surely die. We also use a great (1)_____ of water daily in our homes, in factories, and in power stations. Most of this water is fresh water and it comes to us from reservoirs, rivers and lakes.  The Earth’s surface is (2)_____ by large areas of water which we call oceans and seas. If you have tasted the water from the sea, you will know that, unlike fresh water, seawater tastes salty. This is due to the (3)_____ of sodium chloride which comes from the land. Rivers carry it to the sea.  Although (4)_______salt nor fresh water has (5)________color, the sea often looks blue in the sunlight. The reason is that sunlight is made up of many colors. Some colors disappear quickly in the sea but blue light bounces back or is reflected, to the surface. This makes the sea look blue. Hence, a stormy sky will make the sea look grey

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There are three valid arguments to support the preservation of endangered species. An aesthetic justification contends that biodiversity contributes to the quality of life because many of the endangered plants and animals are particularly appreciated for their unique physical beauty. The aesthetic role of nature in all its diverse forms is reflected in the art and literature of every culture, attaining symbolic status in the spiritual life of many groups. According to the proponents of the aesthetic argument, people need nature in all its diverse and beautiful forms as part of the experience of the world.
Another argument that has been put forward, especially by groups in the medical and pharmacological fields, is that of ecological self-interest. By preserving all species, we retain a balance of nature that is ultimately beneficial to humankind. Recent research on global ecosystems has been cited as evidence that every species contributes important or even essential functions that may be necessary to the survival of our own species. Some advocates of the ecological argument contend that important chemical compounds derived from rare plants may contain the key to a cure for one of the diseases currently threatening human beings. If we do not protect other species, then they cannot protect us.
Apart from human advantage in both the aesthetic and ecological arguments, the proponents of a moral justification contend that all species have the right to exist, a viewpoint stated in the United Nations World Charter for nature, created in 1982. Furthermore, if humankind views itself as the stewards of all the creatures on Earth, then it is incumbent upon human beings to protect them, and to ensure the continued existence of all species. Moral justification has been extended by a movement called “deep ecology,” the members of which rank the biosphere higher than people because the continuation of life depends on this larger perspective. To carry their argument to its logical conclusion, all choices must be made for the biosphere, not for people.

The word “perspective” in paragraph 3 could best be replaced by    .

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The majority of Americans can live comfortable lives on the salaries they earn, without the support of a universal public-welfare system. These so-called middle-class Americans generally own their own homes and cars, spend some time each year on vacation, and can pay – at least in part - for a college education for their children. Most Americans set (1) _______ money in savings accounts to help pay major expenses; many invest in the stock market in hopes of earning a healthy return on their investments.  Most buy insurance, especially life and medical insurance, frequently with contributions (2) _____ the companies for which they work. Many companies also have retirement plans which they and their employees put aside money for their retirement pensions. When added to Social Security payments, pensions (3) _______ many tired Americans to live comfortably. On the other hand, for older Americans who require longterm care outside of a hospital, a nursing home can be very expensive. In 1993, a family of four with a yearly income of $14,763 or less was considered poor by American standards; 15.1 percent of American families fell into this category. In addition to the benefits discussed above, many families below the (4) ________line receive welfare payments, sums of money provided by the government each month to those whose income is too low to obtain such necessities as food, clothing and shelter. The most common form of welfare payment has been through a program called Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC). Originally (5) _______to help children whose fathers had died, AFDC evolved into the main source of regular income for millions of poor American families

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Scientist and inventor George Washington Carver was born into slavery during the American Civil War. After the war, he worked diligently to get an education. He managed to get an advanced degree in Botany, which is the study of plants. After he finished his college degree, he worked in the South. He taught people about botany and about how it could be used to improve farming. Carver learned that there was a problem with cotton farming in the South. Cotton takes nutrients from the soil. If cotton is planted year after year, the quality of the soil decreases. Carver knew that plants like peanuts and sweet potatoes are different from cotton. They add nutrients to the soil rather than take nutrients from the soil. Carver told farmers that it was a bad idea to grow only cotton and no other crops each year. He told them that they should also grow plants like peanuts and sweet potatoes, which improve the quality of the  soil. Many farmers followed the advice that Carver offered them. The result was that the production on their farms increased. This increased production of peanuts and sweet potatoes improved the quality of the soil. However, when production of peanuts and sweet potatoes increased, a new problem developed. The new problem was that there were too much peanuts and sweet potatoes. To solve this problem, Carver began working in a laboratory to find new uses for peanuts and sweet potatoes. He developed hundreds of products that could be made from peanuts and sweet potatoes. These hundreds of products included food products, medicines, plastics and fertilizer  
3. It can be inferred from paragraph 2 that ______________

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A part-time job is generally considered to be employment that is less than 40 hours of  work per week. Some employers consider between 32 and 40 hours of work per week to be full-time, (1) ____ part-time jobs are usually classified as anything less than 40 hours.  Working on a part-time schedule has many perks and provides the optimal flexibility needed by some individuals. For example, parents (2) ____ young children, students, and people who have out-of-work responsibilities often find that part-time work is their only option. Others work in part-time jobs because they are (3) ____ to find full-time positions - and working part-time is better for them than not working at all. In some situations, part-time employees can earn as much as full-time employees on an hourly basis, but most employers do not offer (4) ____ such as health insurance, vacation time, and paid holidays to their parttime employees. There are many pros and cons to working part-time and there are also several specific industries that are known to have many part-time positions available. You should (5) ____ the factors before deciding if a part-time or a full-time position will work better for your specific situation

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D)
Scientist and inventor George Washington Carver was born into slavery during the American Civil War. After the war, he worked diligently to get an education. He managed to get an advanced degree in Botany, which is the study of plants. After he finished his college degree, he worked in the South. He taught people about botany and about how it could be used to improve farming. Carver learned that there was a problem with cotton farming in the South. Cotton takes nutrients from the soil. If cotton is planted year after year, the quality of the soil decreases. Carver knew that plants like peanuts and sweet potatoes are different from cotton. They add nutrients to the soil rather than take nutrients from the soil. Carver told farmers that it was a bad idea to grow only cotton and no other crops each year. He told them that they should also grow plants like peanuts and sweet potatoes, which improve the quality of the  soil. Many farmers followed the advice that Carver offered them. The result was that the production on their farms increased. This increased production of peanuts and sweet potatoes improved the quality of the soil. However, when production of peanuts and sweet potatoes increased, a new problem developed. The new problem was that there were too much peanuts and sweet potatoes. To solve this problem, Carver began working in a laboratory to find new uses for peanuts and sweet potatoes. He developed hundreds of products that could be made from peanuts and sweet potatoes. These hundreds of products included food products, medicines, plastics and fertilizer  
4. The underlined word “them” in paragraph 2 refers to ______________

Stop Pollution Now!

Pollution is a really big problem on our planet and it must (1) …. immediately. It must be stopped before our planet goes extinct. There are three main reasons, in my opinion, why pollution should be stopped.

The first reason why we should stop pollution is that pollution is destroying the environment we live in. Carbon dioxide is a big (2) ……….. to pollution. Carbon dioxide affects our climate in many different ways. The way it works is that certain ‘greenhouse gases’ can't escape (3) …….. our atmosphere because they get trapped. The second reason why we should stop pollution is that it also has an influence on us – (4) ……….. Pollution also influences human life and that is a big problem. According to the World Health Organization, indoor air pollution from the burning of coal or biomass fuels like wood risks lives of millions of people. Air pollution causes two million deaths per year, mostly from heart disease and respiratory disorders (5) …….. infections and lung cancer.

The third reason why we should stop pollution is that (6) …………. we do, we can live longer on this planet. If we don’t stop pollution and global warming, something really bad will happen (7) ….. us. Humans have destroyed the planet so quickly. We can live longer and extent our existence on this planet so that our children’s children can live in a planet without worries. In short, pollution must be stopped immediately. The earth is our only home and we must protect it and take care of it as much as we can. Pollution must be stopped before we (8) ………. our planet.

et.

(6) …......

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The Sahara Desert is the world’s largest hot desert. The Sahara is in North Africa and is as large as the United States. Many people think that an area like this has no animals or plant life, but they are (1) __________. In fact, the Sahara Desert has many different ‘ecoregions’. Each ecoregion has different plants and animals (2)_________there. The biggest ecoregion is called the ‘Sahara Desert ecoregion.’ In this area, the climate is extremely dry and extremely hot. The landscape is sandy and dusty with many high dunes. Because the Sahara Desert ecoregion is so hot and dry, there are very few plants and animals. Scientists estimate that there are only 500 species of plants. This is not very much when thinking of (3)_________ enormous the region is. These plants include acacia trees, palms, spiny shrubs, and grasses. The Sahara is also home to 70 species of mammals. Twenty of these are large mammals. There are about 90 species of birds and around 100 reptiles. The biggest threat to plants and animals in this environment is drying up. Because of this, plants have the ability to recover their health after their leaves have dried out completely. Animals can lose 30-60% of their body mass and still survive. Most animals do not get their water from drinking like other ecosystems. Instead, they have adapted to get their water through metabolic processes. This is why they can survive in a place (5)______ the Sahara Desert ecosystem

Choose the option A, B, C or D to answers the question about the passage:

"Most young couples have meals regularly in their parents’ home with little or no pay, and give their children to the care of old couple free of charge. Investigations have shown that parents of many young couples don’t mind providing meals and caring for their children. However, this practice should not become an accepted social custom. The old couples’ expense on food has already increased while young couples spend more on clothing and furnishing and less on food. If this trend continues, many young couples might take these privileges for granted and become more dependent. It is not the right for young people to make use of the old couples’ love, not only because our nation is well-known for its special respect paid to the elderly, but also because the young must become independent What young people should do is to become more considerate towards their old parents. After years of hard work, they are worthy of such consideration."

2. The writer thinks it is   for old couple to provide meals or care for their married children.

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Many prehistoric people subsisted as hunters and gatherers. Undoubtedly, game  animals, including some very large species, provided major components of human diets. An important controversy centering on the question of human effects on prehistoric  wildlife concerns the sudden disappearance of so many species of large animals at or near the end of the Pleistocene epoch. Most paleontologists suspect that abrupt changes in climate led to the mass extinctions. Others, however, have concluded that prehistoric people drove many of those species to extinction through overhunting. In their “Pleistocene overkill hypothesis,” they cite what seems to be a remarkable coincidence between the arrival of prehistoric peoples in North and South America and the time during which mammoths, giant ground sloths, the giant bison, and numerous other large mammals became extinct.  Perhaps the human species was driving others to extinction long before the dawn of history. Hunter-gatherers may have contributed to Pleistocene extinctions in more indirect ways. Besides overhunting, at least three other kinds of effects have been suggested: direct competition, imbalances between competing species of game animals, and early agricultural practices. Direct competition may have brought about the demise of large carnivores such as the saber-toothed cats. These animals simply may have been unable to compete with the increasingly sophisticated hunting skills of Pleistocene people.  Human hunters could have caused imbalances among game animals, leading to the extinctions of species less able to compete. When other predators such as the gray wolf prey upon large mammals, they generally take high proportions of each year’s crop of young. Some human hunters, in contrast, tend to take the various age-groups of large animals in proportion to their actual occurrence. If such hunters first competed with the larger predators and then replaced them, they may have allowed younger to survive each year, gradually increasing the populations of favored species. As these populations expanded, they in turn may have competed with other game species for the same environmental niche, forcing the less hunted species into extinction. This theory, suggests that human hunters played an indirect role in Pleistocene extinctions by hunting one species more than another. 
2. Which of the following is NOT true, according to the passage?

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Scientists believe that something very serious is happening to the Earth. It is becoming warmer. Scientists predict that there will be major changes in the climate during the 21st century. Coastal waters will have higher temperatures. This will have a serious effect on agriculture. Farmers will have trouble producing good crops. In warm regions, the weather will be too dry. The amount of water could decrease by 50 per cent. This would cause a large decrease in agricultural production. World temperatures could increase from 1.5 to 5.6 degrees Celsius by the middle of the 21st century. And the increase in temperature could be even greater in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. A rise in temperature could cause the great ice sheets to melt, which, in turn would raise the level of oceans by one to two meters. Many coastal cities would be underwater. Why is all this happening? The Earth and its atmosphere are kept warm by the Sun. The atmosphere lets most of the light from the Sun pass through to warm the Earth. The Earth is warmer by the sunlight and sends heat energy back into the atmosphere. Much of this energy escapes from the Earth’s atmosphere. However, some of it remains. Gases such as carbon dioxide, ozone and water vapor absorb this energy and create more heat. Then, this heat is sent back down to Earth, and the Earth becomes warmer. Recently, however, an increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is causing serious problems. Too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere prevents heat energy from escaping. Too much heat is sent back down to the Earth, and the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere continues to increase. When oil, gas, and coal burn, they create large amounts of carbon dioxide. The destruction of rain forests that absorb carbon dioxide also helps to increase the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Some scientists believe that the amount of carbon dioxide in the air will double by the late 2000s. Scientists call this warming of the Earth and its atmosphere “the greenhouse effect”. A greenhouse, made of glass and plastic, is a special place where plants are grown. The sunlight passes through the glass or plastic and warms the air inside. The heat inside escapes very slowly, so the greenhouse remains very warm. This is exactly what is happening on the Earth. Another reason why the Earth is growing warmer is because of the amount of ozone in our atmosphere. Ozone is a form of oxygen. In the upper atmosphere, very far from the Earth, a layer of ozone helps to protect the Earth from 95 percent of the harmful light that comes from the sun. If your skin receives too much of this light, you would develop skin cancer. We need the ozone layer to protect ourselves. But the ozone layer is in trouble. Scientists have observed that the ozone layer is becoming thin, and above Antarctica there is a hole. This allows too much of the sun’s dangerous light into our atmosphere and makes the Earth warmer. Scientists say we must start making changes and planning now. We need to continue to do research, so we can predict what will happen in the future. We must burn less coal, oil, and gas. Other scientists believe that the problem is not so serious. They think that the Earth is growing warmer naturally, that we don’t need to worry about it now, and that we should just get ready for life in the warmer climate. Most scientists agree that the causes of the world’s climate are very complicated. They say that we must continue to measure the amount of carbon dioxide and ozone in the atmosphere. Scientists also encourage people to learn about the changes that are occurring in the world and how we can all help protect our atmosphere  
3. The melting of the polar ice sheets will probably lead to ____