Vocabulary Exercise

Read the following passage carefully and choose the most appropriate meaning of each word
phrase printed in bod as used in the passage.

Some writers have been worried about the so-called advances of science, particularly
in the medical field. They have foreseen the dangers as well as the benefits of modern
science. One such writer was Aldous Huxley. He wrote the novel Brave New World
in 1931. In it, he imagines what the world will be like in about five hundred years’
5 time. He speculates that, in some future time, the nations of the world will all come
under the control of a world government. And, at the more detailed level of human
lives, he describes citizens who are totally subjected to the effects of advances in
science.

The novel, Brave New World, begins with a visit to a “Hatchery” – a thirty-four storey
1 laboratory where babies are produced and born. We say that the babies are
0 “produced” because at that time, all babies are test-tube babies. The people in the
book believe this is more efficient than the natural birth process, so children are
“born” without parents and are brought up in kindergartens and schools.

But the scientists have not only perfected the technique of test-tube conceptions, they
have also found out how to manipulate the human egg once it has been fertilized.
1 They can make an egg divide not once, which would produce twins, but many times,
5 so they can produce eighty or ninety identical children from one egg. (This is
something similar to the process of “cloning”, which is a process that became
scientifically possible over forty years after Huxley had mentioned it in his novel.)
There is no fear of over-populating the world, of course, because, as parents no longer
have children of their own, the state can work on the number of children they needed.

2 In addition, while the babies are growing in specially prepared bottles (not in mothers’
0 wombs, of course), the scientists can work out to control the kind of people they want
them to be. In that society, there are five grades of people, called by the first letters of
the Greek alphabet: they are the Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas and Epsilons. The
Alphas are highly intelligent and are destined to be the leaders of society. There are
not many of them. At the other end of the scale there are thousands of Deltas and
2 Epsilons, who are created in order to do the many dull, routine jobs that are available.
5 As it is decided on the kind of a person each egg will produce, the growing foetus is
given special treatment to fit it for its station in life. Certain chemicals are fed to
growing Epsilons, for example, which make them physically very strong, but not too
intelligent.

Once the babies are born, they are all dressed in the colour of their grade: Alphas all
3 wear grey, Gammas all wear green and Epsilons, black. They immediately begin their
0 education to fit them for the roles they will play in society. Chapter Two of the novel
describes a visit to the nurseries. Here we see a group of Deltas children being taught
to dislike books and flowers. As their jobs will not need them to be educated, there is
no need for them to want to read. So the toddlers are shown books and then given
mild electric shocks so that they will grow up to dislike books. The aim of this kind of
3 training is to make people to be completely contented with whatever they will have to
5 do once they become adults. Deltas are taught to dislike flowers because, as the
Director of the Hatchery says, “A love of nature does not keep the factories busy.”
 When they are a little older, the children begin a programme of sleep learning. While
they sleep, tape recordings are played to them so that the ideas go deep into their
minds. One lesson on “Elementary Class Consciousness” goes like this:

4 I’m so glad I’m a Beta. Alpha children were grey. They work much harder than we
0 do because they’re so frightfully clever. I’m really awfully glad I’m a Beta, because I
don’t work so hard. We are much better than the Gamma and Deltas. Gammas are
stupid. They all wear green, and Delta children wear khaki. Oh no, I don’t want to
play with Delta children….

So the children are brought up to be “good citizens”. They learn to follow the motto
of the world state:
4
5 COMMUNITY - living at peace with one another and serving the state;
IDENTITY - being like the others in their group and not wanting to be
different;
STABILITY - accepting the wisdom of the World Government and not
wanting to change anything.

5 The people do indeed grow up to be reasonably contented, as you read it in the book.
0 But the book will make you think about why we find the idea of such a society so
horrible and whether there is any chance of these misuses of scientific knowledge ever
become a reality.

(Adapted from New Expressway for English 4 by Oxford University Press Pte Ltd)

1. They have foreseen the dangers as well as the benefits of modern science (line 2).

A. overlooked B. predicted c. prejudiced D, foretold

2. ‘….at the more detailed level of human lives, he describes citizens who are totally
subjected to the
effects of advances in science.’ (line 6)

A. prone to B. given subject to C. contributed to D. under the control

of
3. ‘….so children are “born” without parents and are brought up in kindergartens and
schools ‘ (line 10)

A. created B. raised C. produced D. invented

4. “perfected” in line 11 refers to the scientists who have _________ the technique.

A. refined B. improved C. enforced D. straightened

5. ‘But the scientists have not only perfected the technique of test-tube conceptions.’ (line
11) refers to the ___________ of human egg in the test-tube.
 A. productions B. manufacturing C. fertilizations D. organizations

6. ‘…also found out how to manipulate the human egg….’(line 12) indicates that the
scientists are able to
__________ the human egg.

A. manage skilfully B. control fast C. produce in D. create more

advance

7. The Alphas are highly intelligent and are destined to be the leaders of society. (line 22)

A. controlled B. given the right C. fated D. advanced

8 ‘Deltas and Epsilons are created to do the many dull, routine jobs….’(line 24). The word
in bold mainly means _________ jobs.

A. round-up B. familiar C. boring D. regular

9 .’ ...the growing foetus is given special treatment to fit it for its station in life.’ (line 26)
features the kind of _______ the foetus is going to have or to play.

A. convenience B. role C. authority D. leadership

10. ‘The people do indeed grow up to be reasonably contented, as….(line 49)’. The phrase
means

A. moderately B. sensibly happy C. very authoritative D. tolerably treated

satisfied

VOCABULARY

6. C. predicted

7. D. under control

8. A. raised

9. A. refined

10. B. fertilization

11. C. manage skilfully

12. A. fated

13. B. regular

14. A. role

15. D. moderately satisfied