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    4 views8 pages

    English Revision

    Uploaded by

    Min Kookie

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    of 8
    a vestions 15 1021 are based onthe following passage aaa Qther than being an ingredient of salads, herbal tea or wine, dandelions variety yeitless Plants. Or, at least, they” were But one species, a Russian prolong, Caled Taraxacum kok-saghyz (TKS), may yet make the big time, It Produces molecules of rubber in ity sap and if two research programmes, supplees oF in Germany and one in America, ot to fruition, it could “ippuement ~ or even replace ~ the traditional rubber tres Pisea brasiliensis, Pespite the invention of synthetic rubbers, whee" often no good substitute aq (Ae Foal thing, for nothing artical yet een’, natural rubbers resilience and strength, This is because natural-rubber molecules, the product of stepwise Bymthesis by enzymes, have a more regular strucene than the artificial ones made by chemical engineering Around a “fifth oft average car tyre is therefore ade of natural rubber. In an aeroplane tyre shat figure can be more than four-fifths Moreover, the price of synthetic rubber is tied wo that of the oil from which it is Frade, rendering it vulnerable to changes in’ the’ ot rice. Because oil is likely to frame more comly in the future, natural ‘nebie looks an attractive alternative from an economic point of vie gineering one. Natural rubber “has problems, though Growing Hevea in the Americas is hard Ain HE called leaf blight means the trees Faye be qspacedisWidely. Even in Ais, currently blight-ree, planting new rabber trees often means cutting dow TlBMOHESt, to general disapproval. being large, ‘GKEMtimestowgrow to the Fibber trees tk?, om yield crop. A smaller plent ire could be harvested for its rubber therefore has obvious appeal One proposal is to use (gdayilPa shrub that rows in arid regions and produces rubber that is free from allergenic proteins. whick makes it useful for items such as eee pfloves. Desert plants, however, tend’ to. be dew Browing - guayule takes fwo years to mature. Yulex, a firm that hes ‘commercialised guayule, gets an annual MUET Mode! Test Poner 207) crop of 400 kg per hectare. Hevea can yield four or five times that figure Which sre nere TKS could come in. Dandelions are regarded as weeds for a reason — they are robust, fast-growing plants that can be pulled up for processing and resown tasily, possibly yielding, wo arvess a year. If they could be tumed into usable crops, they could outstrip even Hevea. Te thy end, Dr. Christian Schulze Gronover of Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular’ Biology and Applied Ecology in Aachen, Germany, and his colleagues He identified the genes that allow TKS to produce usable rubber. In_particulay they have discovered an enzyme called pojphenoloridase that is responsible «for ‘making its rubbery sap coagulate. From the plants point of view this coagulation is a good thing. The evolutionary purpore of ‘rubber, andthe reason why it has appeared independently in| plant PurPrverse. as trees, guayule and dandelions, is that it gums up the, mouthparts of Herbworous insects. Human users, however, do not want it to coagulate too soon, wet Dr Schulze Gronover has found a way to switch polyphenolaxidase ofl. using a technique called RNA interference. ‘This intercepts and destroys the molecular fheseongers that carry instructions from the polyphenoloxidase gene to make the tnzyme, meaning that rubber can be extracted more easily from the plant. Meanwhile, in America Dr Matthew Kleinhenz of Ohio State’ University is working on increasing the yield of rubber from TKS. Dr_Kleinhenz is doing things the old-fashioned way, growing different strains of TKS, grinding up the roots (Gehere-most of the sap is found) to see which have the highest rubber content, and Glossbreeding the winners. His aim is to creste a plant that is both high-yielding smd has roots chunky enough to be harvested mechanically by the sort of device now used to pick carrots. Combining the two approaches high-tech bioengineering and _ low-tech plant breeding — may produce that rarity in the modern world, a whole new crop Fperies. Tt would also mark a step on a journey that some see as the way forward SPecetu to the use of plant-based products that have, briefly, been overshadowed by the transient availability of cheap oil. O (Adagigagrom The Economist, December 30,2009) nay yt make the bigtime (ine 3) means ofthe fllowing are true ofthe enzyme ‘A to become profitable tenoloxidase in dandelions? B to have potential for research isa form of natural defence. Jeo be recognised for its usefulness It is responsible for coagulation of the sap. IIT It makes them more suitable for commercial main idea of paragraph 2 is cultivation, fdvantages of using natural rubber | yd I C Mandi 'B natural rubber is superior to synthetic rubber Trand Ill reasons for avoiding the use of synthetic rubber What does the writer regard as the way forward difference between planting rubber in the (line 54)? hericas and Asia is that plants in the Americas reduce the use of fossil fuel AA require more space 10 ack to using products derived from plants B are affected by disease Fromote the se of high-tech engineering take a long time to yield a crop for agriculture J ndetion could replace Hevea because paragraph tells us about the procedures for Foosts less to produce loping a commercially viable new plant? it produces more rubber raragraph 6 C Paragraph 8 Cliishardy, and grows fast B Paragraph 7 AG208))etecrve Price MUET Questions 22 to 29 are based on the following passage Jordan was a place that took us by surprise. Having done no background research we did not know What to expect. Sometimes that isthe best way to travel—discover as you go. ‘We were based in Amman, the capital. Amman is the face of a modern Muslim culture. Jordan's ‘yal family and the government maintain tight control over the country, but the regulations imposed ae in the interest of ensuring that high standards are met as the nation develops. All the tourist tours are regulated by the government and run with standard pricing. These measures are enforced to allow for greater control over the safety of tourists and to prevent them from getting fleeced by WiKeRUNlOUS government regulations is an option, though this is not 1 2 ‘operators, Arranging a private tour to avoid recommended While the city tour took us tose the markets, streets, buildings and shops of Amman, we were given an ‘opportunity to experience more interesting places by taking a desert rive outside the city. Our frst stop was Mt Nebo. Ths isan elevated ridge approximately 800 metres above sea level. According to Christian and Jewish tradition, Mt Nebo was the final resting place ofthe prophet Moses. The views are great, and on a clear day Jerusalem and Jericho can be seen from the summit. The desert heat prevented us from staying there for lon, but we did get an appreciation ofthe area. To escape the heat, we decided to make our way to the Dead Sea for a dip. The Dead Sea marks the borders of Jordan, Israel and Palestine, and acess tothe beach is another thing that is strietly controlled by Jordans government. We took.a car toa Dead Sea resort, ait was one of the locations that allowed us access to the beach Arriving atthe beach, we noticed a mixed crowd of locals and tourists. The midday heat drove us straight tothe water. However, as appealing asi looked, bathing inthe Dead Sea was onc ofthe stra feelings that we had ever experienced. The water iselfs not cold, but ust ite below room temperature The amazing thing, though, is that you actually float on the water due tothe extremely high salt content. Whatever position you try to get into you wil be automatically fipped onto either your back or your front and jus float ike a buoy. There is no need to swim to keep yourself afloat; you can simply tay sil and float in one postion all day long, People were trying all sorts of things, from reading their books while siting or lying in the water to trying to walk on water. We even saw one couple having their inch ‘on a picnic table sofly bobbing near the shoreline. The Dead Sea gets its name because the salt content kills any living thing that tries to make the sea its habitat. Other than the hardest of microbial if, nothing can survive in the Dead Sea. The only fools that flock there are humans. Some of them even try and dip their heads inthe water, only to find that ia me drop gets into your eyes, tis enough to temporarily bind you, | admit that I was @ fool and that I was ‘once blind, but now can se The othe strange phenomenon is thatthe waters cily. There are many mineral and oil deposi in the seabed, and the ol seeps out and floats to the surface. The mud around the Dead Sea is enriched by the minerals and thisis believed to have vitalizing properties. You simply cover yourselin it, bake yourself in the sun for ten minutes until you become a clay soldier, and then rinse i off before anti-terrorist soldiers from across the border shoot at you. The effect on your skin, however, is amazing, The next day, glowing like the sun from our mud masks, we ventured tothe lot city of Petra, one of the wonders of the ancient world. We were burnigg with excitement, wondering what further rises awaited us. following are true about Amman except is the capital of Jordan itis exempt from government regulations is proualy displayed there is the main point of paragraph 1? fordan must be visited for its surprises. 6 The writer had not planned to visit Jordan. € At times itis enjoyable to discover ah GkHiOWA C Muslim cultu — the writer was impressed with Mt Nebo beceuse of n paragraph 2 we can deduce that nee — fhe government has strict laws prohibiting private tours nd surprising about the BB ‘tourists can feel assured that they will not be cheated by tours € tourists are encouraged to make prior arrangements for tours "A. The water was not cold, B Nothing lived in the water. © Things were unusually buoyant in the water MUET Model Test Poper | 209 77 The Dead Sea is so named because was in danger of being shot at by anti-terrorist (APBanis and animals cannot live in it soldiers B the water i extremely salty and oily it was the final resting place of Moses jaragraph 7, why did the writer cover himself oud? He wanted to vitalize his skin. ile at the Dead Sea, the writer had lunch on a floating picnic table B He wanted to camouflage himself. C He wanted to become a clay soldier 6 \wasitemporarily blinded by the salty water Questions 30 to 37 are based on the following passage. 1 Empty nest syndrome is a phenomenon in which parents experience feelings of grief and loss when all their children leave home. As parents, we teach our children to be independent and actively encourage them to progress and move on, yet when the time comes, the experience of letting go can be painful The thought of suddenly having no children at home who need care can be terrifying, especially for full-time parents who have dedicated many years of their lives to raising their children. The parents struggle to accept that their children are no longer a part of their daily lives and miss the constant companionship. The children may be leaving home forthe fist time to liv on their own or to attend college of university abroad. It is ironic that on one hand parents are happy to see their children become professionals earning their own living, yet overflowing emotions keep them longing for the time when their children were dependent on them, 2 Parents, especially stay-at-home parents who cared for their children full-time, may feel worthless,

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