Read the passage and answer the question below.
One of the most successful commercial products ever launched is said to have come about as the result of a mistake. In 1896, Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia, was selling a nerve tonic known as “French Wine Cola-Ideal Nerve Tonic'. By accidentally adding fizzy water instead of still water to the recipe, a pharmacist called John S. Pemberton invented what has today become the most popular soft drink in the world: Coca-Cola. Along with its closest rival- Pepsi- which appeared on the market three years later, Coke has enjoyed phenomenal success worldwide, particularly in the past 50 years. Indeed, old Coke bottles and “limited edition' cans can often fetch considerable sums from collectors, and there are even stores which deal exclusively in Coke products and memorabilia.
What could possibly account for the amazing success of Coca-Cola? How has this combination of carbonated water, sugar, acid and flavourings come to symbolise the American way of life for most of the world? After all, even the manufacturers could hardly describe Coke as a healthy product since it contains relatively high amounts of sugar (admittedly not the case with Diet Coke which contains artificial sweeteners instead of sugar) and phosphoric acid, both of which are known to damage teeth.One explanation may be found in the name. The original recipe included a flavouring from the coca plant and probably included small amounts of cocaine (an addictive substance), but since the early part of this century, all traces of cocaine have been removed. However, Coke (like all cola drinks) also includes a flavouring from the cola tree; cola extract contains caffeine, which is a stimulant, and the Coca-Cola company adds extra caffeine for good measure. While caffeine is not thought to be an addictive substance in itself, there is considerable evidence that over a period of time, the consumption of caffeine has to be increased in order for its stimulating effect to be maintained, and so sales of Coke perhaps benefit as a result.
A more likely reason for the enduring popularity of Coke may, however, be found in the company's enviable marketing strategies. Over the years, it has come up with some of the most memorable commercials, tunes, slogans and sponsorship in the world of advertising, variously emphasising international harmony, youthfulness and a carefree lifestyle. Few other companies (arguably including Pepsi) have been able to match such marketing ploys so consistently or effectively. As suggested earlier, the influences of American culture are evident just about everywhere, and Coca-Cola has somehow come to represent a vision of the United States that much of the rest of the world dreams about and aspires to. Perhaps drinking Coke brings people that little bit closer to the dream.
It can be inferred from the last sentence of the passage that
What could possibly account for the amazing success of Coca-Cola? How has this combination of carbonated water, sugar, acid and flavourings come to symbolise the American way of life for most of the world? After all, even the manufacturers could hardly describe Coke as a healthy product since it contains relatively high amounts of sugar (admittedly not the case with Diet Coke which contains artificial sweeteners instead of sugar) and phosphoric acid, both of which are known to damage teeth.One explanation may be found in the name. The original recipe included a flavouring from the coca plant and probably included small amounts of cocaine (an addictive substance), but since the early part of this century, all traces of cocaine have been removed. However, Coke (like all cola drinks) also includes a flavouring from the cola tree; cola extract contains caffeine, which is a stimulant, and the Coca-Cola company adds extra caffeine for good measure. While caffeine is not thought to be an addictive substance in itself, there is considerable evidence that over a period of time, the consumption of caffeine has to be increased in order for its stimulating effect to be maintained, and so sales of Coke perhaps benefit as a result.
A more likely reason for the enduring popularity of Coke may, however, be found in the company's enviable marketing strategies. Over the years, it has come up with some of the most memorable commercials, tunes, slogans and sponsorship in the world of advertising, variously emphasising international harmony, youthfulness and a carefree lifestyle. Few other companies (arguably including Pepsi) have been able to match such marketing ploys so consistently or effectively. As suggested earlier, the influences of American culture are evident just about everywhere, and Coca-Cola has somehow come to represent a vision of the United States that much of the rest of the world dreams about and aspires to. Perhaps drinking Coke brings people that little bit closer to the dream.
Important Questions on Reading Comprehension
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow
Parents all over Iceland’s capital Reykjavik embark on a two-hour evening walk around their neighbourhood every weekend, checking on youth hangouts as a curfew approaches. The walk in Reykjavik is one step toward Iceland’s success into turning around a crisis in teenage drinking.
Focusing on local participation and promoting more music and sports options for students, the island nation in the North Atlantic has dried up a teenage culture of drinking and smoking. Icelandic teenagers now have one of the lowest rates of substance abuse in Europe.
The Icelandic Centre for Social Research and Analysis, the institute pioneering the project for the past two decades, says it currently advises communities in countries, from Finland to Chile, on cutting teenage substance abuse. “The key to success is to create healthy communities and by that get healthy individuals, ” said Inga Dora Sigfusdottir, a sociology professor who founded t he Youth of Iceland programme, which now has rebranded as Planet Youth.
The secret, she says, is to keep young people busy and parents engaged without talking much about drugs or alcohol. That stands in sharp contrast to other anti-abuse programmes, which try to sway teenagers with school lectures and scary, disgusting ads showing smokers’ rotten lungs or eggs in a frying pan to represent an intoxicated brain.
“Telling teenagers not to use drugs can backlash and actually get them curious to try them,” Ms Sigfusdottir said. In , when thousands of teenagers would gather in Reykjavik every weekend, surveys showed of Icelandic -year-olds drank alcohol and about as many had tried smoking.
Years later, Iceland has the lowest rates for drinking and smoking among the countries measured in the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs.
On average, of European -year-olds have tasted alcohol at least once, compared with in Iceland, the only country where more than half of those students completely abstains from alcohol. Denmark, another wealthy Nordic country, has the highest rates of teenage drinking, along with Greece, Hungary and the Czech Republic, where to have consumed alcohol.
In the US, teen drinking is a significant health concern, because many US teenagers are driving cars and do not have access to good public transport like teenagers in Europe.
Reykjavik mayor Dagur B. Eggertsson said the Icelandic plan “is all about society giving better options” for teens than substance abuse. He believes the wide variety of opportunities that now keep students busy and inspired has dramatically altered the country’s youth culture.
Local municipalities like Reykjavik have invested in sport halls, music schools and youth centres.To make the programmes widely available, parents are offered a US annual voucher toward sports or music programmes for their children.
Researchers say the Planet Youth prevention model is evolving constantly because it is based on annual surveys to detect trends and measure policy effectiveness. By law, introduced when Icelandic police routinely dealt with alcohol-fuelled street gatherings, children under are not allowed to be outside after without parents and those to not past .
“We tell the kids if they are out too late, polite and nice, and then they go home,” said Heidar Atlason, a veteran member of the patrol. Over Iceland’s harsh winter, one parent admits, evenings sometimes pass without running into any students.
Q- Teenage drinking in many countries like Denmark, Greece, Hungary, etc has been reported as _____.
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow
Parents all over Iceland’s capital Reykjavik embark on a two-hour evening walk around their neighbourhood every weekend, checking on youth hangouts as a curfew approaches. The walk in Reykjavik is one step toward Iceland’s success into turning around a crisis in teenage drinking.
Focusing on local participation and promoting more music and sports options for students, the island nation in the North Atlantic has dried up a teenage culture of drinking and smoking. Icelandic teenagers now have one of the lowest rates of substance abuse in Europe.
The Icelandic Centre for Social Research and Analysis, the institute pioneering the project for the past two decades, says it currently advises communities in countries, from Finland to Chile, on cutting teenage substance abuse. “The key to success is to create healthy communities and by that get healthy individuals, ” said Inga Dora Sigfusdottir, a sociology professor who founded t he Youth of Iceland programme, which now has rebranded as Planet Youth.
The secret, she says, is to keep young people busy and parents engaged without talking much about drugs or alcohol. That stands in sharp contrast to other anti-abuse programmes, which try to sway teenagers with school lectures and scary, disgusting ads showing smokers’ rotten lungs or eggs in a frying pan to represent an intoxicated brain.
“Telling teenagers not to use drugs can backlash and actually get them curious to try them,” Ms Sigfusdottir said. In , when thousands of teenagers would gather in Reykjavik every weekend, surveys showed of Icelandic -year-olds drank alcohol and about as many had tried smoking.
Years later, Iceland has the lowest rates for drinking and smoking among the 35 countries measured in the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs.
On average, of European -year-olds have tasted alcohol at least once, compared with in Iceland, the only country where more than half of those students completely abstains from alcohol.
Denmark, another wealthy Nordic country, has the highest rates of teenage drinking, along with Greece, Hungary and the Czech Republic, where to have consumed alcohol.
In the US, teen drinking is a significant health concern, because many US teenagers are driving cars and do not have access to good public transport like teenagers in Europe.
Reykjavik mayor Dagur B. Eggertsson said the Icelandic plan “is all about society giving better options” for teens than substance abuse. He believes the wide variety of opportunities that now keep students busy and inspired has dramatically altered the country’s youth culture.
Local municipalities like Reykjavik have invested in sport halls, music schools and youth centres.To make the programmes widely available, parents are offered a US annual voucher toward sports or music programmes for their children.
Researchers say the Planet Youth prevention model is evolving constantly because it is based on annual surveys to detect trends and measure policy effectiveness. By law, introduced when Icelandic police routinely dealt with alcohol-fuelled street gatherings, children under are not allowed to be outside after without parents and those to not past .
“We tell the kids if they are out too late, polite and nice, and then they go home,” said Heidar Atlason, a veteran member of the patrol. Over Iceland’s harsh winter, one parent admits, evenings sometimes pass without running into any students.
From the passage one can conclude that _____.
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow
Parents all over Iceland’s capital Reykjavik embark on a two-hour evening walk around their neighbourhood every weekend, checking on youth hangouts as a curfew approaches. The walk in Reykjavik is one step toward Iceland’s success into turning around a crisis in teenage drinking.
Focusing on local participation and promoting more music and sports options for students, the island nation in the North Atlantic has dried up a teenage culture of drinking and smoking. Icelandic teenagers now have one of the lowest rates of substance abuse in Europe.
The Icelandic Centre for Social Research and Analysis, the institute pioneering the project for the past two decades, says it currently advises communities in countries, from Finland to Chile, on cutting teenage substance abuse. “The key to success is to create healthy communities and by that get healthy individuals, ” said Inga Dora Sigfusdottir, a sociology professor who founded the Youth of Iceland programme, which now has rebranded as Planet Youth.
The secret, she says, is to keep young people busy and parents engaged without talking much about drugs or alcohol. That stands in sharp contrast to other anti-abuse programmes, which try to sway teenagers with school lectures and scary, disgusting ads showing smokers’ rotten lungs or eggs in a frying pan to represent an intoxicated brain.
“Telling teenagers not to use drugs can backlash and actually get them curious to try them,” Ms Sigfusdottir said. In , when thousands of teenagers would gather in Reykjavik every weekend, surveys showed of Icelandic -year-olds drank alcohol and about as many had tried smoking.
Years later, Iceland has the lowest rates for drinking and smoking among the countries measured in the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs.
On average, of European -year-olds have tasted alcohol at least once, compared with in Iceland, the only country where more than half of those students completely abstains from alcohol.
Denmark, another wealthy Nordic country, has the highest rates of teenage drinking, along with Greece, Hungary and the Czech Republic, where to have consumed alcohol
In the US, teen drinking is a significant health concern, because many US teenagers are driving cars and do not have access to good public transport like teenagers in Europe
Reykjavik mayor Dagur B. Eggertsson said the Icelandic plan “is all about society giving better options” for teens than substance abuse. He believes the wide variety of opportunities that now keep students busy and inspired has dramatically altered the country’s youth culture.
Local municipalities like Reykjavik have invested in sport halls, music schools and youth centres.To make the programmes widely available, parents are offered a US annual voucher toward sports or music programmes for their children.
Researchers say the Planet Youth prevention model is evolving constantly because it is based on annual surveys to detect trends and measure policy effectiveness. By law, introduced when Icelandic police routinely dealt with alcohol-fuelled street gatherings, children under are not allowed to be outside after without parents and those to not past .
“We tell the kids if they are out too late, polite and nice, and then they go home,” said Heidar Atlason, a veteran member of the patrol. Over Iceland’s harsh winter, one parent admits, evenings sometimes pass without running into any students.
Q. "Cutting teenage substance abuse" refers to _____.
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow
Brain training is big business. From online websites to video games to mobile apps, it seems like there are plenty of ways to give your brain a bit of a boost. But does all this brain training really work? Can it increase your cognitive abilities or your IQ? According to a few recent studies, while these brain training tools might help sharpen your abilities to retain information, they won't necessarily increase your intelligence or improve your ability to reason and think abstractly.
The parent company of one of the most prominent "brain training" websites was recently fined for deceptive advertising. According to the complainant, the company suggested its games could reduce or delay cognitive impairment such as one might find in Alzheimer's patients, which is false.
So while there may be some benefits to brain training, don't expect miraculous results. Earlier studies have found no link between increased intelligence and brain training exercises
Same is the case with standardized tests. Students today take a wide variety of standardized tests, from assessments throughout elementary school to evaluations required for college admission. While test preparation for such assessments can increase factual knowledge, one study suggests that this preparation does little to increase overall IQ.
Why is it so? While test preparation increases what psychologists refer to as crystallized intelligence, it does not increase what is known as fluid intelligence. Crystallized intelligence includes facts and information, while fluid intelligence involves the ability to think abstractly or logically.
In a study published in the journal Psychological Science, researchers looked at the IQ scores and test scores of approximately eighth-grade students. While schoolwork helped increase the students' test scores, it had no effect on measures of fluid intelligence. The authors suggest that fluid intelligence is a much better indicator of abilities such as problemsolving ability, abstract thinking skills, memory capacity, and processing speed.
While the study found no indicator that test preparation improved IQ, that does not mean that this preparation has no value. Research clearly shows that having high scores on standardized tests is linked to having high scores on other important tests including Advanced Placement tests, the SAT etc.
On comparing crystallized intelligence and fluid intelligence it is found that _____.
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.
Parents all over Iceland’s capital Reykjavik embark on a two-hour evening walk around their neighbourhood every weekend, checking on youth hangouts as a curfew approaches. The walk in Reykjavik is one step toward Iceland’s success into turning around a crisis in teenage drinking.
Focusing on local participation and promoting more music and sports options for students, the island nation in the North Atlantic has dried up a teenage culture of drinking and smoking. Icelandic teenagers now have one of the lowest rates of substance abuse in Europe.
The Icelandic Centre for Social Research and Analysis, the institute pioneering the project for the past two decades, says it currently advises communities in countries, from Finland to Chile, on cutting teenage substance abuse. “The key to success is to create healthy communities and by that get healthy individuals, ” said Inga Dora Sigfusdottir, a sociology professor who founded the Youth of Iceland programme, which now has rebranded as Planet Youth.
The secret, she says, is to keep young people busy and parents engaged without talking much about drugs or alcohol. That stands in sharp contrast to other anti-abuse programmes, which try to sway teenagers with school lectures and scary, disgusting ads showing smokers’ rotten lungs or eggs in a frying pan to represent an intoxicated brain.
“Telling teenagers not to use drugs can backlash and actually get them curious to try them,” Ms Sigfusdottir said. In , when thousands of teenagers would gather in Reykjavik every weekend, surveys showed of Icelandic -year-olds drank alcohol and about as many had tried smoking.
Years later, Iceland has the lowest rates for drinking and smoking among the countries measured in the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs.
On average, of European -year-olds have tasted alcohol at least once, compared with in Iceland, the only country where more than half of those students completely abstains from alcohol.
Denmark, another wealthy Nordic country, has the highest rates of teenage drinking, along with Greece, Hungary and the Czech Republic, where to have consumed alcohol.
In the US, teen drinking is a significant health concern, because many US teenagers are driving cars and do not have access to good public transport like teenagers in Europe.
Reykjavik mayor Dagur B. Eggertsson said the Icelandic plan “is all about society giving better options” for teens than substance abuse. He believes the wide variety of opportunities that now keep students busy and inspired has dramatically altered the country’s youth culture.
Local municipalities like Reykjavik have invested in sport halls, music schools and youth centres.To make the programmes widely available, parents are offered a US annual voucher toward sports or music programmes for their children.
Researchers say the Planet Youth prevention model is evolving constantly because it is based on annual surveys to detect trends and measure policy effectiveness. By law, introduced when Icelandic police routinely dealt with alcohol-fuelled street gatherings, children under are not allowed to be outside after without parents and those to not past .
“We tell the kids if they are out too late, polite and nice, and then they go home,” said Heidar Atlason, a veteran member of the patrol. Over Iceland’s harsh winter, one parent admits, evenings sometimes pass without running into any students.
Q- Parents in Reykjavik take an evening walk at night in order to _____.
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow
Parents all over Iceland’s capital Reykjavik embark on a two-hour evening walk around their neighbourhood every weekend, checking on youth hangouts as a curfew approaches. The walk in Reykjavik is one step toward Iceland’s success into turning around a crisis in teenage drinking.
Focusing on local participation and promoting more music and sports options for students, the island nation in the North Atlantic has dried up a teenage culture of drinking and smoking. Icelandic teenagers now have one of the lowest rates of substance abuse in Europe.
The Icelandic Centre for Social Research and Analysis, the institute pioneering the project for the past two decades, says it currently advises communities in countries, from Finland to Chile, on cutting teenage substance abuse. “The key to success is to create healthy communities and by that get healthy individuals, ” said Inga Dora Sigfusdottir, a sociology professor who founded the Youth of Iceland programme, which now has rebranded as Planet Youth.
The secret, she says, is to keep young people busy and parents engaged without talking much about drugs or alcohol. That stands in sharp contrast to other anti-abuse programmes, which try to sway teenagers with school lectures and scary, disgusting ads showing smokers’ rotten lungs or eggs in a frying pan to represent an intoxicated brain.
“Telling teenagers not to use drugs can backlash and actually get them curious to try them,” Ms Sigfusdottir said. In , when thousands of teenagers would gather in Reykjavik every weekend, surveys showed of Icelandic 16-year-olds drank alcohol and about as many had tried smoking.
Years later, Iceland has the lowest rates for drinking and smoking among the countries measured in the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs.
On average, of European 16-year-olds have tasted alcohol at least once, compared with in Iceland, the only country where more than half of those students completely abstains from alcohol.
Denmark, another wealthy Nordic country, has the highest rates of teenage drinking, along with Greece, Hungary and the Czech Republic, where to have consumed alcohol.
In the US, teen drinking is a significant health concern, because many US teenagers are driving cars and do not have access to good public transport like teenagers in Europe.
Reykjavik mayor Dagur B. Eggertsson said the Icelandic plan “is all about society giving better options” for teens than substance abuse. He believes the wide variety of opportunities that now keep students busy and inspired has dramatically altered the country’s youth culture.
Local municipalities like Reykjavik have invested in sport halls, music schools and youth centres.To make the programmes widely available, parents are offered a US annual voucher toward sports or music programmes for their children.
Researchers say the Planet Youth prevention model is evolving constantly because it is based on annual surveys to detect trends and measure policy effectiveness. By law, introduced when Icelandic police routinely dealt with alcohol-fuelled street gatherings, children under are not allowed to be outside after without parents and those to not past .
“We tell the kids if they are out too late, polite and nice, and then they go home,” said Heidar Atlason, a veteran member of the patrol. Over Iceland’s harsh winter, one parent admits, evenings sometimes pass without running into any students.
Q- The Icelandic Centre for Social Research and Analysis does the work of _____.
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow
Parents all over Iceland’s capital Reykjavik embark on a two-hour evening walk around their neighbourhood every weekend, checking on youth hangouts as a 10 p.m. curfew approaches. The walk-in Reykjavik is one step towards Iceland’s success in turning around a crisis in teenage drinking.
Focusing on local participation and promoting more music and sports options for students, the island nation in the North Atlantic has dried up a teenage culture of drinking and smoking. Icelandic teenagers now have one of the lowest rates of substance abuse in Europe.
The Icelandic Centre for Social Research and Analysis, the institute pioneering the project for the past two decades, says it currently advises 100 Communities in 23 countries, from Finland to Chile, on cutting teenage substance abuse. “The key to success is to create healthy communities and by that get healthy individuals, ” said Inga Dora Sigfusdottir, a sociology professor who founded the Youth of Iceland programme, which now has rebranded as Planet Youth.
The secret, she says, is to keep young people busy and parents engaged without talking much about drugs or alcohol. That stands in sharp contrast to other anti-abuse programmes, which try to sway teenagers with school lectures and scary, disgusting ads showing smokers’ rotten lungs or eggs in a frying pan to represent an intoxicated brain.
“Telling teenagers not to use drugs can backlash and actually get them curious to try them,” Ms Sigfusdottir said. In 1999, when thousands of teenagers would gather in Reykjavik every weekend, surveys showed 56% of Icelandic 16-year-olds drank alcohol and about as many had tried smoking.
Years later, Iceland has the lowest rates for drinking and smoking among the 35 countries measured in the 2015 European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs.
On average, 80% of European 16 year-olds have tasted alcohol at least once, compared with 35% in Iceland, the only country where more than half of those students completely abstains from alcohol.
Denmark, another wealthy Nordic country, has the highest rates of teenage drinking, along with Greece, Hungary and the Czech Republic, where 925 to 96% have consumed alcohol.
In the US, teen drinking is a significant health concern, because many US teenagers are driving cars and do not have access to good public transport like teenagers in Europe.
Reykjavik mayor Dagur B. Eggertsson said the Icelandic plan “is all about society giving better options” for teens than substance abuse. He believes the wide variety of opportunities that now keep students busy and inspired has dramatically altered the country’s youth culture.
Local municipalities like Reykjavik have invested in sports halls, music schools and youth centres. To make the programmes widely available, parents are offered a 500 US dollar annual voucher towards sports or music programmes for their children.
Researchers say the Planet Youth prevention model is evolving constantly because it is based on annual surveys to detect trends and measure policy effectiveness. By law, introduced when Icelandic police routinely dealt with alcohol-fuelled street gatherings, children under 12 are not allowed to be outside after 8 p.m. without parents and those 13 to 16 not past 10 p.m.
“We tell the kids if they are out too late, polite and nice, and then they go home,” said Heidar Atlason, a veteran member of the patrol. Over Iceland’s harsh winter, one parent admits, evenings sometimes pass without running into any students.
Q. The programme Planet Youth was started by _____.
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow
Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak at metres, draws adventurers from all over. But the mountain on the Nepal-China border is fast becoming a dangerous place to visit even for the hardened mountaineer. The inherent risks were highlighted with a photograph by Nirmal Purja, a Gorkha ex-soldier. The image, which went viral and altered the manner in which people worldwide imagine what it is to scale Mt. Everest, showed a long queue awaiting a final tilt at the summit, with all the dangers such a wait holds. In the season, at least climbers have died or gone missing, including four Indians. Experts have been calling for Nepal to restrict the number of permits. It awarded a record for this spring each fetching $(climbing from the Tibet side is more expensive). On May, 200 climbers ascended the summit, a new record for a single day. Last year, managed to reach the summit. In , the United Nations estimated that there were more than visitors to the Everest region, and this figure has grown manifold since then. Nepal officials argue that permits are not issued recklessly, and that jams such as this year’s near the summit are on account of spells of bad weather, which result in mountaineers being compelled to reach the summit within a narrow time frame. Waiting in sub-zero temperatures at rarefied altitude can be fatal--- this season’s deaths were mostly due to frostbite, exhaustion, dehydration and lack of oxygen.
This year’s drama has caught public imagination, as happened in when eight persons died in a single day amid an unexpected storm - events of and around that day were the subject of Jon Krakauer’s bestselling book ‘Into Thin Air’. The adventure industry that is built around the human desire to scale the peak has meant many amateurs take up the challenge, confident that support teams and specialized equipment will make up for their lack of adequate mountaineering experience. The fallout is that in case of a disaster not only are some of them unable to manage but they also hold up others, putting them in harm’s way. The commercial operations have led to the Everest being called the world’s highest garbage dump as many climbers discard non-critical gear, used oxygen cylinders, plastic bottles, cans, batteries, food wrappings, fecal matter and kitchen waste on the mountains. It is unlikely, however, that this season’s tragedies will deter future summiteers, as the hypnotic lure remains intact. But the authorities must learn from this year’s tragedies and work out an optimum number of climbers and strengthen safety measures.
Fill in the blank to complete the statement.
In ______ people have lost their lives on Mt. Everest.
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow-
Parents all over Iceland’s capital Reykjavik embark on a two-hour evening walk around their neighbourhood every weekend, checking on youth hangouts as a curfew approaches. The walk in Reykjavik is one step toward Iceland’s success into turning around a crisis in teenage drinking.
Focusing on local participation and promoting more music and sports options for students, the island nation in the North Atlantic has dried up a teenage culture of drinking and smoking. Icelandic teenagers now have one of the lowest rates of substance abuse in Europe.
The Icelandic Centre for Social Research and Analysis, the institute pioneering the project for the past two decades, says it currently advises communities in countries, from Finland to Chile, on cutting teenage substance abuse. “The key to success is to create healthy communities and by that get healthy individuals, ” said Inga Dora Sigfusdottir, a sociology professor who founded the Youth of Iceland programme, which now has rebranded as Planet Youth.
The secret, she says, is to keep young people busy and parents engaged without talking much about drugs or alcohol. That stands in sharp contrast to other anti-abuse programmes, which try to sway teenagers with school lectures and scary, disgusting ads showing smokers’ rotten lungs or eggs in a frying pan to represent an intoxicated brain.
“Telling teenagers not to use drugs can backlash and actually get them curious to try them,” Ms Sigfusdottir said. In , when thousands of teenagers would gather in Reykjavik every weekend, surveys showed of Icelandic -year-olds drank alcohol and about as many had tried smoking.
Years later, Iceland has the lowest rates for drinking and smoking among the countries measured in the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs.
On average, of European -year-olds have tasted alcohol at least once, compared with in Iceland, the only country where more than half of those students completely abstains from alcohol.
Denmark, another wealthy Nordic country, has the highest rates of teenage drinking, along with Greece, Hungary and the Czech Republic, where to have consumed alcohol.
In the US, teen drinking is a significant health concern, because many US teenagers are driving cars and do not have access to good public transport like teenagers in Europe.
Reykjavik mayor Dagur B. Eggertsson said the Icelandic plan “is all about society giving better options” for teens than substance abuse. He believes the wide variety of opportunities that now keep students busy and inspired has dramatically altered the country’s youth culture.
Local municipalities like Reykjavik have invested in sport halls, music schools and youth centres.To make the programmes widely available, parents are offered a US annual voucher toward sports or music programmes for their children.
Researchers say the Planet Youth prevention model is evolving constantly because it is based on annual surveys to detect trends and measure policy effectiveness. By law, introduced when Icelandic police routinely dealt with alcohol-fuelled street gatherings, children under are not allowed to be outside after without parents and those to not past .
“We tell the kids if they are out too late, polite and nice, and then they go home,” said Heidar Atlason, a veteran member of the patrol. Over Iceland’s harsh winter, one parent admits, evenings sometimes pass without running into any students.
Q- What is dramatic about the figures of teenage drinking in Iceland?
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.
Parents all over Iceland’s capital Reykjavik embark on a two-hour evening walk around their neighbourhood every weekend, checking on youth hangouts as a curfew approaches. The walk in Reykjavik is one step toward Iceland’s success into turning around a crisis in teenage drinking.
Focusing on local participation and promoting more music and sports options for students, the island nation in the North Atlantic has dried up a teenage culture of drinking and smoking. Icelandic teenagers now have one of the lowest rates of substance abuse in Europe.
The Icelandic Centre for Social Research and Analysis, the institute pioneering the project for the past two decades, says it currently advises communities in countries, from Finland to Chile, on cutting teenage substance abuse. “The key to success is to create healthy communities and by that get healthy individuals, ” said Inga Dora Sigfusdottir, a sociology professor who founded the Youth of Iceland programme, which now has rebranded as Planet Youth.
The secret, she says, is to keep young people busy and parents engaged without talking much about drugs or alcohol. That stands in sharp contrast to other anti-abuse programmes, which try to sway teenagers with school lectures and scary, disgusting ads showing smokers’ rotten lungs or eggs in a frying pan to represent an intoxicated brain.
“Telling teenagers not to use drugs can backlash and actually get them curious to try them,” Ms Sigfusdottir said. In , when thousands of teenagers would gather in Reykjavik every weekend, surveys showed of Icelandic -year-olds drank alcohol and about as many had tried smoking.
Years later, Iceland has the lowest rates for drinking and smoking among the countries measured in the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs.
On average, of European -year-olds have tasted alcohol at least once, compared with in Iceland, the only country where more than half of those students completely abstains from alcohol.
Denmark, another wealthy Nordic country, has the highest rates of teenage drinking, along with Greece, Hungary and the Czech Republic, where to have consumed alcohol.
In the US, teen drinking is a significant health concern, because many US teenagers are driving cars and do not have access to good public transport like teenagers in Europe.
Reykjavik mayor Dagur B. Eggertsson said the Icelandic plan “is all about society giving better options” for teens than substance abuse. He believes the wide variety of opportunities that now keep students busy and inspired has dramatically altered the country’s youth culture.
Local municipalities like Reykjavik have invested in sport halls, music schools and youth centres.To make the programmes widely available, parents are offered a US dollar annual voucher toward sports or music programmes for their children.
Researchers say the Planet Youth prevention model is evolving constantly because it is based on annual surveys to detect trends and measure policy effectiveness. By law, introduced when Icelandic police routinely dealt with alcohol-fuelled street gatherings, children under are not allowed to be outside after without parents and those to not past .
“We tell the kids if they are out too late, polite and nice, and then they go home,” said Heidar Atlason, a veteran member of the patrol. Over Iceland’s harsh winter, one parent admits, evenings sometimes pass without running into any students.
The word from the passage that means ‘change the image of an organisation or program’ is _____.
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.
Brain training is big business. From online websites to video games to mobile apps, it seems like there are plenty of ways to give your brain a bit of a boost. But does all this brain training really work? Can it increase your cognitive abilities or your IQ? According to a few recent studies, while these brain training tools might help sharpen your abilities to retain information, they won't necessarily increase your intelligence or improve your ability to reason and think abstractly.
The parent company of one of the most prominent "brain training" websites was recently fined for deceptive advertising. According to the complainant, the company suggested its games could reduce or delay cognitive impairment such as one might find in Alzheimer's patients, which is false.
So while there may be some benefits to brain training, don't expect miraculous results. Earlier studies have found no link between increased intelligence and brain training exercises.
Same is the case with standardized tests. Students today take a wide variety of standardized tests, from assessments throughout elementary school to evaluations required for college admission. While test preparation for such assessments can increase factual knowledge, one study suggests that this preparation does little to increase overall IQ.
Why is it so? While test preparation increases what psychologists refer to as crystallized intelligence, it does not increase what is known as fluid intelligence. Crystallized intelligence includes facts and information, while fluid intelligence involves the ability to think abstractly or logically.
In a study published in the journal Psychological Science, researchers looked at the IQ scores and test scores of approximately eighth-grade students. While schoolwork helped increase the students' test scores, it had no effect on measures of fluid intelligence. The authors suggest that fluid intelligence is a much better indicator of abilities such as problemsolving ability, abstract thinking skills, memory capacity, and processing speed.
While the study found no indicator that test preparation improved IQ, that does not mean that this preparation has no value. Research clearly shows that having high scores on standardized tests is linked to having high scores on other important tests including Advanced Placement tests, the SAT etc.
What do brain training tools do?
Given below are four jumbled sentences. Out of the given options pick the one that gives their correct order.
A. It requires physical endurance, which can be built with training and exercise.
B. Truly strong personalities meet challenges of life bravely and face hardships with equanimity.
C. However, strength of character is a personality trait or a quality.
D. Physical strength is the ability to cope with a physically challenging task.
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow
Brain training is big business. From online websites to video games to mobile apps, it seems like there are plenty of ways to give your brain a bit of a boost. But does all this brain training really work? Can it increase your cognitive abilities or your IQ? According to a few recent studies, while these brain training tools might help sharpen your abilities to retain information, they won't necessarily increase your intelligence or improve your ability to reason and think abstractly.
The parent company of one of the most prominent "brain training" websites was recently fined for deceptive advertising. According to the complainant, the company suggested its games could reduce or delay cognitive impairment such as one might find in Alzheimer's patients, which is false.
So while there may be some benefits to brain training, don't expect miraculous results. Earlier studies have found no link between increased intelligence and brain training exercises.
Same is the case with standardized tests. Students today take a wide variety of standardized tests, from assessments throughout elementary school to evaluations required for college admission. While test preparation for such assessments can increase factual knowledge, one study suggests that this preparation does little to increase overall IQ.
Why is it so? While test preparation increases what psychologists refer to as crystallized intelligence, it does not increase what is known as fluid intelligence. Crystallized intelligence includes facts and information, while fluid intelligence involves the ability to think abstractly or logically.
In a study published in the journal Psychological Science, researchers looked at the IQ scores and test scores of approximately eighth-grade students. While schoolwork helped increase the students' test scores, it had no effect on measures of fluid intelligence. The authors suggest that fluid intelligence is a much better indicator of abilities such as problemsolving ability, abstract thinking skills, memory capacity, and processing speed.
While the study found no indicator that test preparation improved IQ, that does not mean that this preparation has no value. Research clearly shows that having high scores on standardized tests is linked to having high scores on other important tests including Advanced Placement tests, the SAT etc.
A brain training site was fined for _____.
Given below are four jumbled sentences. Pick the option that gives their correct order.
A. Over the past week, the state has been pounded by intense rainfall, thus transforming the July deficit to surplus.
B. A year after being ravaged by the worst floods in 100 years, Kerala is once again facing a deluge.
C. The districts in Kerala’s north – in particular Kozhikode, Wayanad, and Malappuram –are among the worst affected where relief work is going on.
D. The copious amounts of rainfall in the state have been both intense and consistent leading to many deaths besides rendering thousands homeless.
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow
Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak at metres, draws adventurers from all over. But the mountain on the Nepal-China border is fast becoming a dangerous place to visit even for the hardened mountaineer. The inherent risks were highlighted with a photograph by Nirmal Purja, a Gorkha ex-soldier. The image, which went viral and altered the manner in which people worldwide imagine what it is to scale Mt. Everest, showed a long queue awaiting a final tilt at the summit, with all the dangers such a wait holds. In the season, at least climbers have died or gone missing, including four Indians. Experts have been calling for Nepal to restrict the number of permits. It awarded a record for this spring each fetching $(climbing from the Tibet side is more expensive). On May, climbers ascended the summit, a new record for a single day. Last year, managed to reach the summit. In , the United Nations estimated that there were more than visitors to the Everest region, and this figure has grown manifold since then. Nepal officials argue that permits are not issued recklessly, and that jams such as this year’s near the summit are on account of spells of bad weather, which result in mountaineers being compelled to reach the summit within a narrow time frame. Waiting in sub-zero temperatures at rarefied altitude can be fatal--- this season’s deaths were mostly due to frostbite, exhaustion, dehydration and lack of oxygen.
This year’s drama has caught public imagination, as happened in when eight persons died in a single day amid an unexpected storm - events of and around that day were the subject of Jon Krakauer’s bestselling book ‘Into Thin Air’. The adventure industry that is built around the human desire to scale the peak has meant many amateurs take up the challenge, confident that support teams and specialized equipment will make up for their lack of adequate mountaineering experience. The fallout is that in case of a disaster not only are some of them unable to manage but they also hold up others, putting them in harm’s way. The commercial operations have led to the Everest being called the world’s highest garbage dump as many climbers discard non-critical gear, used oxygen cylinders, plastic bottles, cans, batteries, food wrappings, fecal matter and kitchen waste on the mountains. It is unlikely, however, that this season’s tragedies will deter future summiteers, as the hypnotic lure remains intact. But the authorities must learn from this year’s tragedies and work out an optimum number of climbers and strengthen safety measures.
What image has Nirmal Purja’s viral photograph captured?
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow
Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak at metres, draws adventurers from all over. But the mountain on the Nepal-China border is fast becoming a dangerous place to visit even for the hardened mountaineer. The inherent risks were highlighted with a photograph by Nirmal Purja, a Gorkha ex-soldier. The image, which went viral and altered the manner in which people worldwide imagine what it is to scale Mt. Everest, showed a long queue awaiting a final tilt at the summit, with all the dangers such a wait holds. In the season, at least climbers have died or gone missing, including four Indians. Experts have been calling for Nepal to restrict the number of permits. It awarded a record for this spring each fetching $(climbing from the Tibet side is more expensive). On climbers ascended the summit, a new record for a single day. Last year, managed to reach the summit. In , the United Nations estimated that there were more than visitors to the Everest region, and this figure has grown manifold since then. Nepal officials argue that permits are not issued recklessly, and that jams such as this year’s near the summit are on account of spells of bad weather, which result in mountaineers being compelled to reach the summit within a narrow time frame. Waiting in sub-zero temperatures at rarefied altitude can be fatal--- this season’s deaths were mostly due to frostbite, exhaustion, dehydration and lack of oxygen.
This year’s drama has caught public imagination, as happened in when eight persons died in a single day amid an unexpected storm - events of and around that day were the subject of Jon Krakauer’s bestselling book ‘Into Thin Air’. The adventure industry that is built around the human desire to scale the peak has meant many amateurs take up the challenge, confident that support teams and specialized equipment will make up for their lack of adequate mountaineering experience. The fallout is that in case of a disaster not only are some of them unable to manage but they also hold up others, putting them in harm’s way. The commercial operations have led to the Everest being called the world’s highest garbage dump as many climbers discard non-critical gear, used oxygen cylinders, plastic bottles, cans, batteries, food wrappings, fecal matter and kitchen waste on the mountains. It is unlikely, however, that this season’s tragedies will deter future summiteers, as the hypnotic lure remains intact. But the authorities must learn from this year’s tragedies and work out an optimum number of climbers and strengthen safety measures.
What is the theme of this newspaper editorial? Select the most appropriate combination of factors given below.
a. Overcrowding of Mount Everest on .
b. The urgent necessity to introduce and implement adequate safety measures to prevent man-made disasters.
c. Not to treat the ascent of the highest peak as an adventure sport.
d. Refuse permits to amateur climbers. e. Disallow tour operating companies from crowding the base-camp.
e. Disallow tour operating companies from crowding the base-camp.
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow
Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak at metres, draws adventurers from all over. But the mountain on the Nepal-China border is fast becoming a dangerous place to visit even for the hardened mountaineer. The inherent risks were highlighted with a photograph by Nirmal Purja, a Gorkha ex-soldier. The image, which went viral and altered the manner in which people worldwide imagine what it is to scale Mt. Everest, showed a long queue awaiting a final tilt at the summit, with all the dangers such a wait holds. In the season, at least climbers have died or gone missing, including four Indians. Experts have been calling for Nepal to restrict the number of permits. It awarded a record for this spring each fetching $(climbing from the Tibet side is more expensive). On May, climbers ascended the summit, a new record for a single day. Last year, managed to reach the summit. In , the United Nations estimated that there were more than visitors to the Everest region, and this figure has grown manifold since then. Nepal officials argue that permits are not issued recklessly, and that jams such as this year’s near the summit are on account of spells of bad weather, which result in mountaineers being compelled to reach the summit within a narrow time frame. Waiting in sub-zero temperatures at rarefied altitude can be fatal--- this season’s deaths were mostly due to frostbite, exhaustion, dehydration and lack of oxygen.
This year’s drama has caught public imagination, as happened in when eight persons died in a single day amid an unexpected storm - events of and around that day were the subject of Jon Krakauer’s bestselling book ‘Into Thin Air’. The adventure industry that is built around the human desire to scale the peak has meant many amateurs take up the challenge, confident that support teams and specialized equipment will make up for their lack of adequate mountaineering experience. The fallout is that in case of a disaster not only are some of them unable to manage but they also hold up others, putting them in harm’s way. The commercial operations have led to the Everest being called the world’s highest garbage dump as many climbers discard non-critical gear, used oxygen cylinders, plastic bottles, cans, batteries, food wrappings, fecal matter and kitchen waste on the mountains. It is unlikely, however, that this season’s tragedies will deter future summiteers, as the hypnotic lure remains intact. But the authorities must learn from this year’s tragedies and work out an optimum number of climbers and strengthen safety measures.
Why was the Nepal Government criticized recently?
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow
Parents all over Iceland’s capital Reykjavik embark on a two-hour evening walk around their neighbourhood every weekend, checking on youth hangouts as a 10 p.m. curfew approaches. The walk-in Reykjavik is one step towards Iceland’s success in turning around a crisis in teenage drinking.
Focusing on local participation and promoting more music and sports options for students, the island nation in the North Atlantic has dried up a teenage culture of drinking and smoking. Icelandic teenagers now have one of the lowest rates of substance abuse in Europe.
The Icelandic Centre for Social Research and Analysis, the institute pioneering the project for the past two decades, says it currently advises 100 Communities in 23 countries, from Finland to Chile, on cutting teenage substance abuse. “The key to success is to create healthy communities and by that get healthy individuals, ” said Inga Dora Sigfusdottir, a sociology professor who founded the Youth of Iceland programme, which now has rebranded as Planet Youth.
The secret, she says, is to keep young people busy and parents engaged without talking much about drugs or alcohol. That stands in sharp contrast to other anti-abuse programmes, which try to sway teenagers with school lectures and scary, disgusting ads showing smokers’ rotten lungs or eggs in a frying pan to represent an intoxicated brain.
“Telling teenagers not to use drugs can backlash and actually get them curious to try them,” Ms Sigfusdottir said. In 1999, when thousands of teenagers would gather in Reykjavik every weekend, surveys showed 56% of Icelandic 16-year-olds drank alcohol and about as many had tried smoking.
Years later, Iceland has the lowest rates for drinking and smoking among the 35 countries measured in the 2015 European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs.
On average, 80% of European 16 year-olds have tasted alcohol at least once, compared with 35% in Iceland, the only country where more than half of those students completely abstains from alcohol.
Denmark, another wealthy Nordic country, has the highest rates of teenage drinking, along with Greece, Hungary and the Czech Republic, where 925 to 96% have consumed alcohol.
In the US, teen drinking is a significant health concern, because many US teenagers are driving cars and do not have access to good public transport like teenagers in Europe.
Reykjavik mayor Dagur B. Eggertsson said the Icelandic plan “is all about society giving better options” for teens than substance abuse. He believes the wide variety of opportunities that now keep students busy and inspired has dramatically altered the country’s youth culture.
Local municipalities like Reykjavik have invested in sports halls, music schools and youth centres. To make the programmes widely available, parents are offered a 500 US dollar annual voucher towards sports or music programmes for their children.
Researchers say the Planet Youth prevention model is evolving constantly because it is based on annual surveys to detect trends and measure policy effectiveness. By law, introduced when Icelandic police routinely dealt with alcohol-fuelled street gatherings, children under 12 are not allowed to be outside after 8 p.m. without parents and those 13 to 16 not past 10 p.m.
“We tell the kids if they are out too late, polite and nice, and then they go home,” said Heidar Atlason, a veteran member of the patrol. Over Iceland’s harsh winter, one parent admits, evenings sometimes pass without running into any students.
‘Over Iceland’s harsh winter, one parent admits, evenings sometimes pass without running into any students.’ This means _____.
Given below are four jumbled sentences. Select the option that gives their correct order.
A. Although I had a fear of water, I thought it was an important skill I should learn.
B. However, what I didn't realize was that it would also make me a more confident person.
C. I also thought it would be a good exercise that would make me physically stronger.
D. One of the hardest things I've had to do was to learn how to swim.
Given below are four jumbled sentences. Out of the given options pick the one that gives their correct order.
A. He then called out to the people but by then only a red glow was visible in the sky.
B. At first, he thought it was a stuck kite.
C. Bheema was visiting his fields when he spotted a rising disc shaped object.
D. But when it started rising higher and emitted light, he was shocked.
