Questions 14-16
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write your answers in boxes 14-16
on your answer sheet.
14. What point does the writer make about microbes in the first paragraph?
15. In the second paragraph, the writer is impressed by the fact that
16. What is the writer doing in the fifth paragraph?
(A) is incorrect. Choice A says "They adjust quickly to their environment.", but the passage evidence for the correct answer is "I contain multitudesMicrobes, mainly bacteria, existed on Earth long before animals evolved, and they will survive long after humans are gone.". Because Choice A does not express that same idea, it should not be chosen.
(B) is incorrect. Choice B says "The danger they pose has been exaggerated.", but the passage evidence for the correct answer is "I contain multitudesMicrobes, mainly bacteria, existed on Earth long before animals evolved, and they will survive long after humans are gone.". Because Choice B does not express that same idea, it should not be chosen.
(C) is incorrect. Choice C says "They are more abundant in animal life than plant life.", but the passage evidence for the correct answer is "I contain multitudesMicrobes, mainly bacteria, existed on Earth long before animals evolved, and they will survive long after humans are gone.". Because Choice C does not express that same idea, it should not be chosen.
(D) is correct. Choice D matches the question because "They will go on existing longer than the human race." is the idea supported by the passage evidence: "I contain multitudesMicrobes, mainly bacteria, existed on Earth long before animals evolved, and they will survive long after humans are gone.". The wording may be paraphrased, but it points to the same meaning.
Associated Text:
I contain multitudesMicrobes, mainly bacteria, existed on Earth long before animals evolved, and they will survive long after humans are gone.
(A) is incorrect. Choice A says "each species tends to have extremely different microbes.", but the passage evidence for the correct answer is "The astonishing point is that the average person has about 30 trillion human cells, while microbial cells are even more numerous, at roughly 39 trillion.". Because Choice A does not express that same idea, it should not be chosen.
(B) is incorrect. Choice B says "some areas of the body contain relatively few microbes.", but the passage evidence for the correct answer is "The astonishing point is that the average person has about 30 trillion human cells, while microbial cells are even more numerous, at roughly 39 trillion.". Because Choice B does not express that same idea, it should not be chosen.
(C) is correct. Choice C matches the question because "the average person has more microbial cells than human ones." is the idea supported by the passage evidence: "The astonishing point is that the average person has about 30 trillion human cells, while microbial cells are even more numerous, at roughly 39 trillion.". The wording may be paraphrased, but it points to the same meaning.
(D) is incorrect. Choice D says "scientists have only limited understanding of how microbial cells behave.", but the passage evidence for the correct answer is "The astonishing point is that the average person has about 30 trillion human cells, while microbial cells are even more numerous, at roughly 39 trillion.". Because Choice D does not express that same idea, it should not be chosen.
Associated Text:
The astonishing point is that the average person has about 30 trillion human cells, while microbial cells are even more numerous, at roughly 39 trillion.
(A) is correct. Choice A matches the question because "explaining how a discovery took place" is the idea supported by the passage evidence: "Using microscopes he had designed himself, capable of magnifying up to 270 times, he studied a drop of water from a nearby lake and found it full of tiny creatures that he called animalcules.". The wording may be paraphrased, but it points to the same meaning.
(B) is incorrect. Choice B says "comparing scientists' ideas about microbes", but the passage evidence for the correct answer is "Using microscopes he had designed himself, capable of magnifying up to 270 times, he studied a drop of water from a nearby lake and found it full of tiny creatures that he called animalcules.". Because Choice B does not express that same idea, it should not be chosen.
(C) is incorrect. Choice C says "describing uncertainty among scientists", but the passage evidence for the correct answer is "Using microscopes he had designed himself, capable of magnifying up to 270 times, he studied a drop of water from a nearby lake and found it full of tiny creatures that he called animalcules.". Because Choice C does not express that same idea, it should not be chosen.
(D) is incorrect. Choice D says "providing details of how microbes cause disease", but the passage evidence for the correct answer is "Using microscopes he had designed himself, capable of magnifying up to 270 times, he studied a drop of water from a nearby lake and found it full of tiny creatures that he called animalcules.". Because Choice D does not express that same idea, it should not be chosen.
Associated Text:
Using microscopes he had designed himself, capable of magnifying up to 270 times, he studied a drop of water from a nearby lake and found it full of tiny creatures that he called animalcules.
Questions 17-20
Complete the summary using the list of words, A-H, below.
- solution
- partnership
- destruction
- exaggeration
- cleanliness
- regulations
- illness
- nutrition
Use G, "illness", because the passage says fewer than a hundred bacterial species cause illness.
Associated Text:
It notes that fewer than a hundred bacterial species cause illness, while many thousands more are essential to human health.
Use B, "partnership", because the passage describes our relationship with microbes as a partnership.
Associated Text:
Instead, we should recognise that our relationship with them is a partnership that can be either mutually beneficial or mutually harmful.
Use H, "nutrition", because the passage links unhealthy low-fibre nutrition to disruption of the bacterial balance.
Associated Text:
Yet a serious problem is emerging: our unhealthy, low-fibre nutrition, excessive use of antibiotics and obsession with cleanliness are disturbing the bacterial balance and may be linked to rising allergies and immune disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease.
Use E, "cleanliness", because the passage says obsession with cleanliness disturbs the bacterial balance.
Associated Text:
Yet a serious problem is emerging: our unhealthy, low-fibre nutrition, excessive use of antibiotics and obsession with cleanliness are disturbing the bacterial balance and may be linked to rising allergies and immune disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease.
Questions 21-26
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage? In boxes 21-26 on your answer sheet, write
YES if the statement reflects the claims of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
The answer is YES because the statement agrees with the passage. The key evidence is: "Some studies suggest that heavy use of household detergents and antibacterial products can destroy the microbes that normally keep more dangerous germs under control.". This evidence says the same thing as the question statement, so the statement is supported.
Associated Text:
Some studies suggest that heavy use of household detergents and antibacterial products can destroy the microbes that normally keep more dangerous germs under control.
The answer is NO because the statement contradicts the passage. The key evidence is: "Other research indicates that having a dog gives children early contact with a diverse range of bacteria, which may help protect them from allergies later in life.". This evidence gives a different meaning from the question statement, so the statement is not correct.
Associated Text:
Other research indicates that having a dog gives children early contact with a diverse range of bacteria, which may help protect them from allergies later in life.
The answer is NOT GIVEN because the passage does not give enough information to confirm the statement. The closest relevant evidence is: "Readers of Yong's book must be ready for a world that is far from glamorous.". This may discuss a related idea, but it does not prove the statement in the question.
Associated Text:
Readers of Yong's book must be ready for a world that is far from glamorous.
The answer is YES because the statement agrees with the passage. The key evidence is: "One of the less attractive case studies concerns a fungus destroying entire frog populations, which can be stopped by a rare microbial bacterium.". This evidence says the same thing as the question statement, so the statement is supported.
Associated Text:
One of the less attractive case studies concerns a fungus destroying entire frog populations, which can be stopped by a rare microbial bacterium.
The answer is NOT GIVEN because the passage does not give enough information to confirm the statement. The closest relevant evidence is: "Already, in an effort to stop mosquitoes transmitting dengue fever, a disease affecting 400 million people each year, scientists are loading mosquitoes with a bacterium that blocks the disease.". This may discuss a related idea, but it does not prove the statement in the question.
Associated Text:
Already, in an effort to stop mosquitoes transmitting dengue fever, a disease affecting 400 million people each year, scientists are loading mosquitoes with a bacterium that blocks the disease.
The answer is NO because the statement contradicts the passage. The key evidence is: "In future, our ability to manage microbes could allow buildings to be constructed with useful microbes embedded in their walls to fight infections.". This evidence gives a different meaning from the question statement, so the statement is not correct.
Associated Text:
In future, our ability to manage microbes could allow buildings to be constructed with useful microbes embedded in their walls to fight infections.
