GRE care: Reading Comprehension Questions and answer Part – 13 [Longer Passages]
![GRE care: Reading Comprehension Questions and answer Part – 13 [Longer Passages]](../wp-content/uploads/2013/02/kong2.jpg)

Longer Passages
Question 421 to 445:
421. According to the passage, angioplasty is defined as
a. a tiny balloon.
b. a plaque-laden artery.
c. blood vessel repair.
d. bypass surgery.
422. It can be inferred from the passage that invasive most closely means
a. entering the body cavity.
b. causing infection.
c. resulting in hospitalization.
d. requiring a specialist’s opinion.
423. The angioplasty procedure begins with
a. a thin catheter being inserted into the femoral artery.
b. a balloon being inflated in the heart.
c. a special dye being injected into the bloodstream.
d. a healthy artery being removed from the calf.
424. It can be inferred from the passage that
a. a healthy artery is removed and awaits pos¬sible bypass surgery.
b. patients have trouble accepting the idea that a tiny balloon will cure the problem.
c. 3-5% of the patients refuse to undergo this procedure.
d. surgeons do not take even a 2% chance of death lightly.
425. Which one of the following statements is true?
a. The plaque that has caused the problem is not removed during angioplasty.
b. The risk of dying during an angioplasty procedure is 3-5%.
c. The coronary balloon angioplasty is a sepa¬rate procedure from inflating a balloon into a blocked artery.
d. All of the above statements are true.
The next passages are typical of those you might find in textbooks. The paragraphs are numbered for convenience.
(1) For centuries, time was measured by the posi¬tion of the sun with the use of sundials. Noon was recognized when the sun was the highest in the sky, and cities would set their clock by this appar¬ent solar time, even though some cities would often be on a slightly different time. Daylight Sav¬ing Time (DST), sometimes called summer time, was instituted to make better use of daylight. Thus, clocks are set forward one hour in the spring to move an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening and then set back one hour in the fall to return to normal daylight.
(2) Benjamin Franklin first conceived the idea of daylight saving during his tenure as an American delegate in Paris in 1984 and wrote about it extensively in his essay, “An Economical Project.” It is said that Franklin awoke early one morning and was surprised to see the sunlight at such an hour. Always the economist, Franklin believed the practice of moving the time could save on the use of candlelight, as candles were expensive at the time.
(3) In England, builder William Willett (1857-1915) became a strong supporter for Daylight Saving Time upon noticing blinds of many houses were closed on an early sunny morning. Willet believed everyone, including himself, would appreciate longer hours of light in the evenings. In 1909, Sir Robert Pearce intro¬duced a bill in the House of Commons to make
it obligatory to adjust the clocks. A bill was drafted and introduced into Parliament several times but met with great opposition, mostly from farmers. Eventually, in 1925, it was decided that summer time should begin on the day following the third Saturday in April and close after the first Saturday in October.
(4) The U.S. Congress passed the Standard Time Act of 1918 to establish standard time and preserve and set Daylight Saving Time across the continent. This act also devised five time zones throughout the United States: Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, and Alaska. The first time zone was set on “the mean astronomical time of the seventy-fifth degree of longitude west from Green-wich” (England). In 1919, this act was repealed.
(5) President Roosevelt established year- round Daylight Saving Time (also called War Time) from 1942-1945. However, after this period, each state adopted its own DST, which proved to be disconcerting to television and radio broadcasting and transportation. In 1966, Presi¬dent Lyndon Johnson created the Department of Transportation and signed the Uniform Time Act. As a result, the Department of Transporta¬tion was given the responsibility for the time laws. During the oil embargo and energy crisis of the 1970s, President Richard Nixon extended DST through the Daylight Saving Time Energy Act of 1973 to conserve energy further. This law was modified in 1986, and Daylight Saving Time was reset to begin on the first Sunday in April (to spring ahead) and end on the last Sunday in October (to fall back).
426. As it is used in paragraph 3, the word obligatory most nearly means
a. approved.
b. sparse.
c. aberrant.
d. requisite.
427. Who first established the idea of DST?
a. President Richard Nixon
b. Benjamin Franklin
c. Sir Robert Pearce
d. President Lyndon Johnson
428. Who opposed the bill that was introduced in the House of Commons in the early 1900s?
a. Sir Robert Pearce
b. farmers
c. television and radio broadcasting companies
d. the U.S. Congress
429. Which of the following statements is true of the U.S. Department of Transportation?
a. It was created by President Richard Nixon.
b. It set standards for DST throughout the world.
c. It constructed the Uniform Time Act.
d. It oversees all time laws in the United States.
430. Which of the following would be the best title
for this passage?
a. The History and Rationale of Daylight Sav-ing Time
b. Lyndon Johnson and the Uniform Time Act
c. The U.S. Department of Transportation and Daylight Saving Time
d. Daylight Saving Time in the United States
431. The Daylight Saving Time Energy Act of 1973
was responsible for
a. preserving and setting Daylight Saving Time across the continent.
b. instituting five time zones in the United States.
c. extending Daylight Saving Time in the interest of energy conservation.
d. conserving energy by giving the Department of Transportation authority over time laws.
(1) Milton Hershey was born near the small vil¬lage of Derry Church, Pennsylvania, in 1857. It
was a beginning that did not foretell
his later popularity. Milton only attended school through the fourth grade; at that point, he was apprenticed to a printer in a nearby town. Fortu¬nately for all chocolate lovers, Milton did not excel as a printer. After a while, he left the printing busi¬ness and was apprenticed to a Lancaster, Pennsyl¬vania candy maker. It was apparent he had found his calling in life, and at the age of eighteen, he opened his own candy store in Philadelphia. In spite of his talents as a candy maker, the shop failed after six years.
(2) It may come as a surprise to current Milton Hershey fans, but his first candy success came with the manufacture of caramel. After the failure of his Philadelphia store, Milton headed for Denver, where he learned the art of making caramels. There he took a job with a local man¬ufacturer who insisted on using fresh milk in making his caramels; Milton saw that this made the caramels especially tasty. After a time in Den¬ver, Milton once again attempted to open his own candy-making businesses, in Chicago, New Orleans, and New York City. Finally, in 1886, he went to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he raised the money necessary to try again. This company— the Lancaster Caramel Company—established Milton’s reputation as a master candy maker.
(3) In 1893, Milton attended the Chicago International Exposition, where he saw a display of German chocolate-making implements. Cap¬tivated by the equipment, he purchased it for his Lancaster candy factory and began producing chocolate, which he used for coating his caramels. By the next year, production had grown to include cocoa, sweet chocolate, and baking chocolate. The Hershey Chocolate company was born in 1894 as a subsidiary of the Lancaster Caramel Company. Six years later, Milton sold the caramel company,
but retained the rights, and the equipment, to make chocolate. He believed that a large market of chocolate consumers was waiting for someone to produce reasonably priced candy. He was right.
(4) Milton Hershey returned to the village where he had been born, in the heart of dairy country, and opened his chocolate manufacturing plant. With access to all the fresh milk he needed, he began producing the finest milk chocolate. The plant that opened in a small Pennsylvania vil¬lage in 1905 is today the largest chocolate factory in the world. The confections created at this facil¬ity are favorites around the world.
(5) The area where the factory is located is now known as Hershey, Pennsylvania. Within the first decades of its existence, the town of Hershey thrived, as did the chocolate business. A bank, a school, churches, a department store, even a park and a trolley system all appeared in short order; the town soon even had a zoo. Today, a visit to the area reveals the Hershey Medical Center, Mil¬ton Hershey School, and Hershey’s Chocolate World—a theme park where visitors are greeted by a giant Reeses Peanut Butter Cup. All of these things—and a huge number of happy chocolate lovers—were made possible because a caramel maker visited the Chicago Exposition of 1893!
432. According to information contained in the passage, the reader can infer which of the following?
a. Chocolate is popular in every country in the world.
b. Reeses Peanut Butter Cups are manufac¬tured by the Hershey Chocolate Company.
c. Chocolate had never been manufactured in the United States before Milton Hershey did it.
d. The Hershey Chocolate Company now makes more money from Hershey’s Choco¬late World than from the manufacture and sale of chocolate.
433. Which of the following best defines the word subsidiary as used in paragraph 3?
a. a company owned entirely by one person
b. a company founded to support another company
c. a company that is not incorporated
d. a company controlled by another company
434. The writer’s main purpose in this passage is to
a. recount the founding of the Hershey Chocolate Company.
b. describe the process of manufacturing chocolate.
c. compare the popularity of chocolate to other candies.
d. explain how apprenticeships work.
435. According to the passage, Milton Hershey sold his caramel company in
a. 1894.
b. 1900.
c. 1904.
d. 1905.
436. The mention of the Chicago International Exposition of 1893 in the passage indicates that
a. the exposition in Chicago is held once every three years.
b. the theme of the exposition of 1893 was “Food from Around the World.”
c. the exposition contained displays from a variety of countries.
d. the site of the exposition is now a branch of the Hershey Chocolate Company.
(1) By using tiny probes as neural prostheses, sci-entists may be able to restore nerve function in quadriplegics and make the blind see or the deaf hear. Thanks to advanced techniques, a single, small, implanted probe can stimulate individual neurons electrically or chemically and then record responses. Preliminary results suggest that the microprobe telemetry systems can be permanently implanted and replace damaged or missing nerves.
(2) The tissue-compatible microprobes represent an advance over the typical aluminum wire electrodes used in studies of the cortex and other brain structures. Researchers accumulate much data using traditional electrodes, but there is a question of how much damage they cause to the nervous system. Microprobes, which are about as thin as a human hair, cause minimal damage and disruption of neurons when inserted into the brain.
(3) In addition to recording nervous-system impulses, the microprobes have minuscule chan-nels that open the way for delivery of drugs, cellular growth factors, neurotransmitters, and other neu¬roactive compounds to a single neuron or to groups of neurons. Also, patients who lack certain biochemicals could receive doses via prostheses. The probes can have up to four channels, each with its own recording/stimulating electrode.
438. One similar feature of microprobes and wire
electrodes is
a. a minimal disturbance of neurons.
b. the density of the material.
c. the capacity for multiple leads.
d. their ability to generate information.
437. Which of the following words best fits in the blank in paragraph 1 of the passage?
a. dramatic
b. modest
c. undignified
d. rewarding
439. Which of the following best expresses the
main idea of the passage?
a. Microprobes require further techno-logical advances before they can be used in humans.
b. Wire electrodes are antiquated as a means for delivering neuroactive compounds to the brain.
c. Microprobes have great potential to help counteract neural damage.
d. Technology now exists that may enable repair of the nervous system.
440. All of the following are mentioned in the pas-sage as potential uses for prostheses EXCEPT
a. transportation of medication.
b. induction of physical movement.
c. transportation of growth factor.
d. removal of biochemicals from the cortex.
441. The initial function of microprobe channels
is to
a. create pathways.
b. disrupt neurons.
c. replace ribbon cables.
d. study the brain.
(1) Medical waste has been a growing concern because of recent incidents of public exposure to discarded blood vials, needles (sharps), empty prescription bottles, and syringes. Medical waste can typically include general refuse, human blood and blood products, cultures and stocks of infectious agents, laboratory animal carcasses, contaminated bedding material, and pathologi¬cal wastes.
(2) Wastes are generally collected by gravity chutes, carts, or pneumatic tubes, each of which has its own advantages and disadvantages. Chutes are limited to vertical transport, and there is some risk of exhausting contaminants into hallways if a door is left open during use. Another disad¬vantage of gravity chutes is that the waste con¬tainer may get jammed while dropping, or it may be broken upon hitting the bottom. Carts are pri¬marily for horizontal transport of bagged or con¬tainerized wastes. The main risk here is that bags may be broken or torn during transport, poten¬tially exposing the worker to the wastes. Using automated carts can reduce the potential for exposure. Pneumatic tubes offer the best perfor¬mance for waste transport in a large facility. Advantages include high-speed movement, movement in any direction, and minimal inter¬mediate storage of untreated wastes. However, some objects cannot be conveyed pneumatically.
(3) Off-site disposal of regulated medical wastes remains a viable option for smaller hospi¬tals (those with less than 150 beds). Some pre¬liminary on-site processing, such as compaction or hydropulping, may be necessary prior to send¬ing the waste off site. Compaction reduces the total volume of solid wastes, often reducing trans¬
portation and disposal costs, but it does not change the hazardous characteristics of the waste. Compaction may not be economical if trans¬portation and disposal costs are based on weight rather than volume.
(4) Hydropulping involves grinding the waste in the presence of an oxidizing fluid, such as hypochlorite solution. The liquid is separated from the pulp and discharged directly into the sewer unless local limits require additional pre¬treatment prior to discharge. The pulp can often be disposed of at a landfill. One advantage is that waste can be rendered innocuous and reduced in size within the same system. Disadvantages are the added operating burden, difficulty of con¬trolling fugitive emissions, and the difficulty of conducting microbiological tests to determine whether all organic matters and infectious organ¬isms have been destroyed from the waste.
(5) On-site disposal is a feasible alternative for hospitals generating two tons or more per day of total solid waste. Common treatment tech¬niques include steam sterilization and incinera¬tion. Although other options are available, incineration is currently the preferred method for on-site treatment of hospital waste.
(6) Steam sterilization is limited in the types of medical waste it can treat, but is appropriate for laboratory cultures and/or substances contami¬nated with infectious organisms. The waste is subjected to steam in a sealed, pressurized cham¬ber. The liquid that may form is drained off to the sewer or sent for processing. The unit is then reopened after a vapor release to the atmosphere, and the solid waste is removed for further pro¬cessing or disposal. One advantage of steam
sterilization is that it has been used for many years in hospitals to sterilize instruments and containers and to treat small quantities of waste. However, since sterilization does not change the appearance of the waste, there could be a problem in gaining acceptance of the waste for landfilling.
(7) A properly designed, maintained, and operated incinerator achieves a relatively high level of organism destruction. Incineration reduces the weight and volume of the waste as much as 95% and is especially appropriate for pathological wastes and sharps. The most com-mon incineration system for medical waste is the controlled-air type. The principal advantage of this type of incinerator is low particulate emis-sions. Rotary-kiln and grate-type units have been used, but use of grate-type units has been dis-continued because of high air emissions. The rotary kiln also puts out high emissions, and the costs have been prohibitive for smaller units.
442. Which of the following organizational
schemes is most prevalent in the passage?
a. chronological order
b. comparison-contrast
c. order by topic
d. hierarchical order
443. One disadvantage of the compaction method
of waste disposal is that it
a. cannot reduce transportation costs.
b. reduces the volume of solid waste material.
c. does not allow hospitals to confirm that organic matter has been eliminated.
d. does not reduce the weight of solid waste material.
444. For hospitals that dispose of waste on their
own premises, the optimum treatment
method is
a. incineration.
b. compaction.
c. sterilization.
d. hydropulping.
445. According to the passage, which of the follow-
ing could be safely disposed of in a landfill but
might not be accepted by landfill facilities?
a. hydropulped material
b. sterilized waste
c. incinerated waste
d. laboratory cultures
Answer to the question number 421 to 445
421. c. This answer is explicitly stated in the sixth sen¬
tence of paragraph 1. Choice a only names one medical instrument used during the procedure. Choice b offers the reason for the angioplasty, because it is done to compress the plaque in an artery. Choice d offers a procedure that would be chosen as an alternative to angioplasty.
422. a. The first and second sentences of paragraph 2
state how both procedures, angioplasty and bypass surgery, are invasive because “both involve entering the body cavity.” None of the other choices are supported or implied as a def¬inition for invasive.
423. c. The procedure is detailed in paragraph 3. It
begins with injecting a special dye. Choices a and b follow later in the procedure, whereas choice d deals with bypass surgery rather than the angioplasty procedure.
424. d. This answer can be found in paragraph 4. A
team of surgeons stands ready to perform bypass surgery even though the risk factor of death is only 2%. Choice a is not supported in the passage. Choices c and d are incorrect because the passage does not discuss patient reaction at all.
425. a. This choice is supported in the last sentence of
paragraph 3. Choice b is incorrect: The risk factor is 2%. Choice c is a complete misunder¬standing of the text. Inflating a balloon into a blocked artery is coronary balloon angioplasty. Because two answers are incorrect, d is not a viable choice.
426. d. Choices b and c, meaning scattered and
erratic respectively, are not supported in the passage. Choice a may be considered a syn-onym, but it is not the best choice. The best choice is d, requisite.
427. b. Paragraph 2 of the passage clearly states that
Benjamin Franklin first considered the concept of DST.
428. b. Paragraph 3 states that the bill (which was
introduced by Sir Robert Pearce in 1909) met with great opposition, mostly from farmers.
429. d. This choice is directly supported by paragraph 5.
430. a. Choices b and c are incorrect because they each
refer to specific points raised in the passage, but not throughout the passage. Choice d is too broad to represent the best title. Only choice a describes the point of the entire passage.
431. c. Paragraph 5 clearly states that during the oil
embargo and energy crisis of the 1970s, Presi¬dent Richard Nixon extended DST through the Daylight Saving Time Energy Act of 1973 to conserve energy further.
432. b. This is an inference question. The writer indi¬
cates that visitors to Hershey’s Chocolate World are greeted by a giant Reeses Peanut Butter Cup, so it is logical to assume that these are manufactured by Hershey. Although the writer mentions the popularity of choco¬late internationally, you cannot assume that it is popular in every country (choice a), nor is there any indication that Milton Hershey was the first person to manufacture chocolate in the United States (choice c). Choice d is not discussed in the passage at all.
433. d. This question tests your ability to use context
clues to determine the intended meaning of a word. In paragraph 3, the passage says, The Hershey Chocolate company was born in 1894 as a subsidiary of the Lancaster Caramel Com¬pany. This indicates that a subsidiary is one controlled by another company, choice d. Although it may be true that Milton Hershey owned each company in its entirety (choice a), that is not clear from the material. There is also no indication that the chocolate com-pany was created to support the caramel company (choice b). Finally, the passage con-tains no discussion of whether or not any of Hershey’s companies were incorporated (choice c).
434. a. Choice a is the best choice because it is the
most complete statement of the material. Choices c and d focus on small details of the passage; choice b is not discussed in the passage.
435. b. Paragraph 3 states that Hershey sold the caramel
company six years after the founding of the chocolate company. The chocolate company was founded in 1894; the correct choice is b.
436. c. The Chicago International Exposition was
where Hershey saw a demonstration of German chocolate-making techniques, which indicates, along with the word international in its title, that the exposition contained displays from a variety of countries, choice c. None of the other choices can be inferred from the information in the passage.
437. b. There is nothing inherently dramatic, undigni¬
fied, or rewarding discussed in paragraph 1. Modest is the word that best fits being born in a small village and having the unremarkable early life described; it is also a word that pro-vides a contrast to the mention of Milton’s later popularity.
438. d. The second sentence of paragraph 1 states that
probes record responses. Paragraph 2 says that electrodes accumulate much data.
439. c. The tone throughout the passage suggests the
potential for microprobes. They can be perma¬nently implanted, they have advantages over electrodes, they are promising candidates for neural prostheses, they will have great accu¬racy, and they are flexible.
440. d. According to the third paragraph, people who
lack biochemicals could receive doses via pros- theses. However, there is no suggestion that removing biochemicals would be viable.
441. a. The first sentence of the third paragraph says
that microprobes have channels that open the way for delivery of drugs. Studying the brain (choice d) is not the initial function of chan-nels, though it is one of the uses of the probes themselves.
442. b. Throughout, the passage compares and con¬
trasts the various methods of medical waste disposal.
443. d. See the last sentence of paragraph 3. Com¬
paction may well reduce transportation costs (choice a) according to paragraph 3. That it reduces the volume of waste (choice b) is an advantage, not a disadvantage. Compaction is not designed to eliminate organic matter, so confirming that it has been eliminated (choice c) is not an issue.
444. a. See the last sentence of paragraph 5, which
states that incineration is .. . the preferred method for on-site treatment.
445. b. See the last sentence of paragraph 6, which
points out that steam sterilization does not change the appearance of the waste, thus per¬haps raising questions at a landfill.