2023 - Year 8 VSSE

READING

NAME

PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY

When you are told to begin you will have 35 minutes to do as many questions as you
can. It may be difficult to finish all the questions in the time allowed, so don’t spend too long
on any one question. Try to answer as many questions as you can. If you change your mind
about an answer, please erase your original answer using an eraser and colour your new
answer in on the answer sheet.

YOUR STUDENT CODE MUST BE FILLED IN on your answer sheet to get your test
results.
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FORBIDDEN in the exam

You MUST NOT TOUCH ANY OF THE CORNER SQUARES on your answer sheet.

HOW TO MARK YOUR STUDENT CODE HOW TO MARK YOUR ANSWER

If your student code is 10 9750
You must fill in your code as below Incorrect

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 Trial Test 8 VSSE – Reading
Time
Time Allowed: 30 min
Allowed: 35 min
Question 1-6

Read the passage below and then choose the best answer to the question. Answer the
question based on what is stated or implied in this passage.

NOT everything looks lovelier the longer and closer its inspection. But Saturn does. It is gorgeous
through Earthly telescopes. However, the 13 years of close observation provided by Cassini, an
American spacecraft, showed the planet, its moons and its remarkable rings off better and better,
revealing finer structures, striking novelties and greater drama. . . .

By and large the big things in the solar system—planets and moons—are thought of as having been
around since the beginning. The suggestion that rings and moons are new is, though, made even
more interesting by the fact that one of those moons, Enceladus, is widely considered the most
promising site in the solar system on which to look for alien life. If Enceladus is both young and bears
life, that life must have come into being quickly. This is also believed to have been the case on Earth.
Were it true on Enceladus, that would encourage the idea that life evolves easily when conditions are
right.

One reason for thinking Saturn’s rings are young is that they are bright. The solar system is suffused
with comet dust, and comet dust is dark. Leaving Saturn’s ring system (which Cassini has shown to
be more than 90% water ice) out in such a mist is like leaving laundry hanging on a line downwind
from a smokestack: it will get dirty. The lighter the rings are, the faster this will happen, for the less
mass they contain, the less celestial pollution they can absorb before they start to discolour. . . . Jeff
Cuzzi, a scientist at America’s space agency, NASA, who helped run Cassini, told the Lunar and
Planetary Science Conference in Houston that combining the mass estimates with Cassini’s
measurements of the density of comet-dust near Saturn suggests the rings are no older than the first
dinosaurs, nor younger than the last of them—that is, they are somewhere between 200m and 70m
years old.

That timing fits well with a theory put forward in 2016, by Matija Cuk of the SETI Institute, in
California and his colleagues. They suggest that at around the same time as the rings came into
being an old set of moons orbiting Saturn destroyed themselves, and from their remains emerged
not only the rings but also the planet’s current suite of inner moons—Rhea, Dione, Tethys,
Enceladus and Mimas. . . .

Dr Cuk and his colleagues used computer simulations of Saturn’s moons’ orbits as a sort of time
machine. Looking at the rate at which tidal friction is causing these orbits to lengthen they
extrapolated backwards to find out what those orbits would have looked like in the past. They
discovered that about 100m years ago the orbits of two of them, Tethys and Dione, would have
interacted in a way that left the planes in which they orbit markedly tilted. But their orbits are untilted.
The obvious, if unsettling, conclusion was that this interaction never happened—and thus that at the
time when it should have happened, Dione and Tethys were simply not there. They must have come
into being later.

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 1. Based on information provided in the passage, we can conclude all of the following
EXCEPT:

A. Tethys and Dione are less than 100 million years old.
B. none of Saturn’s moons ever had suitable conditions for life to evolve.
C. Saturn’s lighter rings discolour faster than rings with greater mass.
D. Saturn’s rings were created from the remains of older moons.
E. None of these

2. The phrase “leaving laundry hanging on a line downwind from a smokestack” is used to
explain how the ringed planet’s:

A. atmosphere absorbs comet dust.

B. rings discolour and darken over time.
C. moons create a gap between the rings.
D. rings lose mass over time.
E. Rings don’t loose mass over time.

3. Based on information provided in the passage, we can infer that, in addition to water ice,
Saturn’s rings might also have small amounts of:

A. Rock particles and comet dust.

B. Methane and rock particles.
C. Helium and methane.
D. Helium and comet dust.
E. Rock particles only

4. The main objective of the passage is to:

A. Provide evidence that Saturn’s rings and moons are recent creations.
B. Demonstrate how the orbital patterns of Saturn’s rings and moons change over time.
C. Highlight the beauty, finer structures and celestial drama of Saturn’s rings and moons.
D. Establish that Saturn’s rings and inner moons have been around since the beginning of time.
E. All of the above

5. Data provided by Cassini challenged the assumption that:

A. All larger objects in the solar system have been around since the beginning.
B. New celestial bodies can form from the destruction of old celestial bodies.
C. Saturn’s ring system is composed mostly of water ice.
D. There was life on earth when Saturn’s rings were being formed.
E. None of these

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 6. The five statements below are labelled 1), 2), 3), 4) and 5). Among these, four statements
are in logical order and form a coherent paragraph/passage. From the given options
choose the option that does not fit into the overall theme of the passage.

A. A wide range of aromatic herbs can be grown in your garden, in a separate herbarium if space
permits, or tucked between other favourable plants.
B. They will thrive in pots on window sills, in larger troughs for mixed planting, or in vertical
planters hung in a sunny spot.
C. Herbs can be broadly divided into two categories: Perennial herbs which produce aromatic
leaves through the year; and annual herbs with short growing periods that are raised from
seed and harvested as a whole.
D. And this gardening journey that doesn’t disappoint, whether you are on an inner quest, or
seeking to embrace a rich cultural experience.
E. As your herb garden is established, add indigenous herbs like wild lemon-thyme found in the
hills and medicinal herbs which can be used for home remedies.

Question 7-8

Read the following passage carefully and choose the most appropriate answer to the
question out of the five alternatives.

When I walked through what used to be my house after school that day, I was shocked to see how
much damage there was. Whatever hadn’t burned was destroyed by the water and chemicals they
had used to put out the fire. The only material things not destroyed were the photo albums,
documents and some other personal items that my mother had managed to heroically rescue. But
my cat was gone and my heart ached for her. There was no time to grieve. My mother rushed me out
of the house. We would have to find a place to live, and I would have to go buy some clothes for
school. We had to borrow money from my grandparents because there were no credit cards, cash or
even any identification to be able to withdraw money from the bank. Everything had gone up in
smoke.

7. What contributed to the damage?

A. Neighbours
B. Memories
C. Cat
D. Water
E. None of the above

8. Why was it not possible for them to withdraw money from the bank?

A. There was no money in the bank

B. They were new in town
C. They suffered robbery
D. Their identification proofs were damaged
E. All of the above

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 Question 9-12

Read the passages below and then choose the best answer to the question. Answer the
question based on what is stated or implied in this passage.

Grove snails as a whole are distributed all over Europe, but a specific variety of the snail, with a
distinctive white-lipped shell, is found exclusively in Ireland and in the Pyrenees mountains that lie on
the border between France and Spain. The researchers sampled a total of 423 snail specimens from
36 sites distributed across Europe, with an emphasis on gathering large numbers of the white-lipped
variety. When they sequenced genes from the mitochondrial DNA of each of these snails and used
algorithms to analyse the genetic diversity between them, they found that. . . a distinct lineage (the
snails with the white-lipped shells) was indeed endemic to the two very specific and distant places in
question.

Explaining this is tricky. Previously, some had speculated that the strange distributions of creatures
such as the white-lipped grove snails could be explained by convergent evolution—in which two
populations evolve the same trait by coincidence—but the underlying genetic similarities between the
two groups rules that out. Alternately, some scientists had suggested that the white-lipped variety
had simply spread over the whole continent, then been wiped out everywhere besides Ireland and
the Pyrenees, but the researchers say their sampling and subsequent DNA analysis eliminate that
possibility too. “If the snails naturally colonized Ireland, you would expect to find some of the same
genetic type in other areas of Europe, especially Britain. We just don’t find them,” Davidson, the lead
author, said in a press statement.

Moreover, if they’d gradually spread across the continent, there would be some genetic variation
within the white-lipped type, because evolution would introduce variety over the thousands of years it
would have taken them to spread from the Pyrenees to Ireland. That variation doesn’t exist, at least
in the genes sampled. This means that rather than the organism gradually expanding its range, large
populations instead were somehow moved in mass to the other location within the space of a few
dozen generations, ensuring a lack of genetic variety.

“There is a very clear pattern, which is difficult to explain except by involving humans,” Davidson
said. Humans, after all, colonized Ireland roughly 9,000 years ago, and the oldest fossil evidence of
grove snails in Ireland dates to roughly the same era. Additionally, there is archaeological evidence
of early sea trade between the ancient peoples of Spain and Ireland via the Atlantic and even
evidence that humans routinely ate these types of snails before the advent of agriculture, as their
burnt shells have been found in Stone Age trash heaps.

The simplest explanation, then? Boats. These snails may have inadvertently travelled on the floor of
the small, coast-hugging skiffs these early humans used for travel, or they may have been
intentionally carried to Ireland by the seafarers as a food source. “The highways of the past were
rivers and the ocean–as the river that flanks the Pyrenees was an ancient trade route to the Atlantic,
what we’re actually seeing might be the long lasting legacy of snails that hitched a ride…as humans
travelled from the South of France to Ireland 8,000 years ago,” Davidson said.

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 9. In paragraph 4, the evidence that “humans routinely ate these types of snails before the
advent of agriculture” can be used to conclude that:

A. 9,000 years ago, during the Stone Age, humans travelled from the South of France to Ireland
via the Atlantic Ocean.
B. the seafarers who travelled from the Pyrenees to Ireland might have carried white-lipped grove
snails with them as edibles.
C. rivers and oceans in the Stone Age facilitated trade in white-lipped grove snails.
D. white-lipped grove snails may have inadvertently travelled from the Pyrenees to Ireland on the
floor of the small, coast-hugging skiffs that early seafarers used for travel.
E. None of these

10. The passage outlines several hypotheses and evidence related to white-lipped grove
snails to arrive at the most convincing explanation for:

A. how the white-lipped variety of grove snails might have migrated from the Pyrenees to Ireland.
B. why the white-lipped variety of grove snails are found only in Ireland and the Pyrenees.
C. how the white-lipped variety of grove snails independently evolved in Ireland and the Pyrenees.
D. why the white-lipped variety of grove snails were wiped out everywhere except in Ireland and
the Pyrenees.
E. All of the above

11. Which one of the following makes the author eliminate convergent evolution as a
probable explanation for why white-lipped grove snails are found in Ireland and the
Pyrenees?

A. The absence of genetic variation between white-lipped grove snails of Ireland and the
Pyrenees.
B. The distinct lineage of white-lipped grove snails found specifically in Ireland and the Pyrenees.
C. The coincidental evolution of similar traits (white-lipped shell) in the grove snails of Ireland and
the Pyrenees.
D. The absence of genetic similarities between white-lipped grove snails of Ireland and snails from
other parts of Europe, especially Britain.
E. The presence of genetic similarities between white-lipped grove snails of Ireland and snails
from other parts of Europe, especially Britain.

12. All of the following evidence supports the passage’s explanation of sea travel/trade
EXCEPT:

A. archaeological evidence of early sea trade between the ancient peoples of Spain and Ireland
via the Atlantic Ocean.
B. the coincidental existence of similar traits in the white-lipped grove snails of Ireland and the
Pyrenees because of convergent evolution.
C. absence of genetic variation within the white-lipped grove snails of Ireland and the Pyrenees,
whose genes were sampled.
D. the oldest fossil evidence of white-lipped grove snails in Ireland dates back to roughly 9,000
years ago, the time when humans colonised Ireland.
E. All of the above

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13. In the following question includes a short text with a blank, indicating that a word/phrase
has been omitted. Select the option that best completes the text.

In the 1950s, the country’s inhabitants were _______: most of them knew very little about
foreign countries.

A. partisan
B. erudite
C. insular
D. cosmopolitan
E. imperturbable

14. In the following question includes a short text with a blank, indicating that a word/phrase
has been omitted. Select the option that best completes the text.

Since she believed him to be both candid and trustworthy, she refused to consider the
possibility that his statement had been __________.

A. irrelevant
B. facetious
C. mistaken
D. critical
E. insincere

15. In the following question includes a short text with a blank, indicating that a word/phrase
has been omitted. Select the option that best completes the text.

Dreams are __________ in and of themselves, but, when combined with other data, they can
tell us much about the dreamer.

A. astonishing
B. disordered
C. harmless
D. inscrutable
E. revealing

16. In the following question includes a short text with a blank, indicating that a word/phrase
has been omitted. Select the option that best completes the text.

Linguistic science confirms what experienced users of ASL— American Sign Language—
have always implicitly known: ASL is a grammatically __________ language, as capable of
expressing a full range of syntactic relations as any natural spoken language.

A. complete
B. economical
C. redundant
D. spare
E. unique

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 Read the passage and answer the question:

Sanctified by remarkable natural merits, landscapes nourish the human spirit and create special
memories in us. Natural parks such as Yellowstone and Kruger in the United States are large,
magnificent, and wild, and some such as the Buttes-Chaumont in the neighbourhood of Paris are
warmly local. However, natural parks, especially those in urban environments, are fast depleting to
accommodate the needs of the burgeoning population. There is no denying the fact that human
needs will prevail, yet, shouldn't a line be drawn between human need and hunger for more?

17. What is the main purpose of the passage?

A. to convey how parks play a role in human emotions

B. to drive home the fact that human needs are inevitable
C. to emphasize the cosmic nature of human greed
D. to highlight how only countries like the U.S. and France have natural parks while none others
have
E. to convey the importance of preserving natural parks in urban as well as non-urban settings

Question 18-23

Read the following text and answer the questions:

Creativity is at once our most precious resource and our most inexhaustible one. As anyone who
has ever spent any time with children knows, every single human being is born creative; every
human being is innately endowed with the ability to combine and recombine data, perceptions,
materials and ideas, and devise new ways of thinking and doing. What fosters creativity? More than
anything else: the presence of other creative people. The big myth is that creativity is the province
of great individual geniuses. In fact creativity is a social process. Our biggest creative
breakthroughs come when people learn from, compete with, and collaborate with other people.

Cities are the true fonts of creativity… With their diverse populations, dense social networks, and
public spaces where people can meet spontaneously and serendipitously, they spark and catalyse
new ideas. With their infrastructure for finance, organization and trade, they allow those ideas to be
swiftly actualized.

As for what staunches creativity, that’s easy, if ironic. It’s the very institutions that we build to
manage, exploit and perpetuate the fruits of creativity — our big bureaucracies, and sad to say, too
many of our schools. Creativity is disruptive; schools and organizations are regimented,
standardized and stultifying.

The education expert Sir Ken Robinson points to a 1968 study reporting on a group of 1,600
children who were tested over time for their ability to think in out-of-the-box ways. When the
children were between 3 and 5 years old, 98 percent achieved positive scores. When they were 8
to 10, only 32 percent passed the same test, and only 10 percent at 13 to 15. When 280,000 25-
year-olds took the test, just 2 percent passed. By the time we are adults, our creativity has been
wrung out of us.

I once asked the great urbanist Jane Jacobs what makes some places more creative than others.
She said, essentially, that the question was an easy one. All cities, she said, were filled with
creative people; that’s our default state as people. But some cities had more than their shares of
leaders, people and institutions that blocked out that creativity. She called them “squelchers.”

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 Creativity (or the lack of it) follows the same general contours of the great socio-economic divide –
our rising inequality – that plagues us. According to my own estimates, roughly a third of us across
the United States, and perhaps as much as half of us in our most creative cities – are able to do
work which engages our creative faculties to some extent, whether as artists, musicians, writers,
techies, innovators, entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers, journalists or educators – those of us who
work with our minds. That leaves a group that I term “the other 66 percent,” who toil in low-wage
rote and rotten jobs — if they have jobs at all — in which their creativity is subjugated, ignored or
wasted.

Creativity itself is not in danger. It’s flourishing is all around us – in science and technology, arts
and culture, in our rapidly revitalizing cities. But we still have a long way to go if we want to build a
truly creative society that supports and rewards the creativity of each and every one of us.

18. In the author’s view, cities promote human creativity for all the following reasons
EXCEPT that they

A. contain spaces that enable people to meet and share new ideas
B. expose people to different and novel ideas, because they are home to varied groups of
people
C. provide the financial and institutional networks that enable ideas to become reality
D. provide access to cultural activities that promote new and creative ways of thinking
E. contain spaces that will not allow people to meet and share new idea

19. The author uses ‘ironic’ in the third paragraph to point out that

A. people need social contact rather than isolation to nurture their creativity
B. institutions created to promote creativity eventually stifle it
C. the larger the creative population in a city, the more likely it is to be stifled
D. large bureaucracies and institutions are the inevitable outcome of successful cities
E. None of these

20. The central idea of this passage is that

A. social interaction is necessary to nurture creativity

B. creativity and ideas are gradually declining in all societies
C. the creativity divide is widening in societies in line with socio-economic trends
D. more people should work in jobs that engage their creative faculties
E. social interaction is not necessary

21. Jane Jacobs believed that cities that are more creative

A. have to struggle to retain their creativity

B. have to ‘squelch’ unproductive people and promote creative ones
C. have leaders and institutions that do not block creativity
D. typically do not start off as creative hubs
E. have leaders and institutions that block creativity

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 22. The 1968 study is used here to show that

A. as they get older, children usually learn to be more creative

B. schooling today does not encourage creative thinking in children
C. the more children learn, the less creative they become
D. technology today prevents children from being creative
E. technology today encourages children from being creative

23. The author’s conclusions about the most ‘creative cities’ in the US (paragraph 6) are
based on his assumption that

A. people who work with their hands are not doing creative work
B. more than half the population works in non-creative jobs
C. only artists, musicians., writers., and so on should be valued in a society
D. most cities ignore or waste the creativity of low-wage workers
E. All of the above

Question 24-33

Read the following passages to answer Questions 24-33.

True, it is the function of the army to maintain law and order in abnormal times. But in normal times
there is another force that compels citizens to obey the laws and to act with due regard to the rights
of others. The force also protects the lives and the properties of law abiding men. Laws are made to
secure the personal safety of its subjects and to prevent murder and crimes of violence. They are
made to secure the property of the citizens against theft and damage to protect the rights of
communities and castes to carry out their customs and ceremonies, so long as they do not conflict
with the rights of others. Now the good citizen, of his own free will obey these laws and he takes
care that everything he does is done

With due regard to the rights and well-being of others. But the bad citizen is only restrained from
breaking these laws by fear of the consequence of his actions. And the necessary steps to compel
the bad citizen to act as a good citizen are taken by this force. The supreme control of law and
order in a State is in the hands of a Minister who is responsible to the State Assembly and acts
through the Inspector General of Police.

24. The expression 'customs and ceremonies' means :

A. Fairs and festivals

B. Habits and traditions
C. Usual practices and religious rites
D. Habits and rituals
E. Superstitions and formalities.

25. A suitable title for the passage would be:

A. The functions of the police

B. Laws and the people's rights.
C. The fear of the law and citizen's security.
D. The function of the army
E. None of the above

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 26. Which of the following is not implied in the passage?

A. Law protects those who respect it

B. Law ensures people's religious and social rights are unconditionally protected from
discrimination
C. A criminal is deterred from committing crimes only for fear of the law
D. The forces of law help to transform irresponsible citizens into responsible ones
E. None of the above

27. According to the writer, which one of the following is not the responsibility of the
police?

A. To protect the privileges of all citizens

B. To check violent activities of citizens
C. To ensure peace among citizens by safeguarding individual rights
D. To maintain peace during extraordinary circumstances
E. All of these

28. Which of the following reflects the main thrust of the passage?

A. It deals with the importance of the army in maintaining law and order
B. It highlights role of the police as superior to that of the army
C. It discusses the roles of the army and the police in different circumstances
D. It points to the responsibility of the Minister and the Inspector General of Police
E. It describes the role of navy and army

29. "They are made to secure property of citizens against theft and damage", means that
the law:

A. helps in recovering the stolen property of the citizens

B. assist the citizens whose property has been stolen or destroyed
C. initiate process against offenders of law
D. safeguard people's possessions against being stolen or lost
E. None of the above

30. Out of the following which one has the opposite meaning to the word 'restrained' in the
passage?

A. Promoted
B. Compelled
C. Intruded
D. Inhibited
E. All of the above

31. Which one of the following statement is implied in the passage?

A. Peaceful citizens seldom violate the law, but bad citizens have to be restrained by the
police.
B. Criminals, who flout the law, are seldom brought to book.
C. The police hardly succeed in converting bad citizens into good citizens.
D. The police check all citizens, regardless of their past behaviour, from violating the law.
E. None of these

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 32. Which of the following statements expresses most accurately the idea contained in the
first sentence?

A. It is the job of the army to ensure internal peace at all times

B. It is the police that should always enforce law and order in the country
C. Army and the police ensure people's security through combined operations
D. It is in exceptional circumstances that the army has to ensure peace in the country
E. All of the above

33. The last sentence of the passage implies that:

A. The Inspector General of Police is the sole authority in matters of law and order
B. In every State maintenance of public peace is under the overall control of the responsible
Minister
C. A Minister and a responsible State, Assembly exercise direct authority in matters pertaining
to law and order
D. The Inspector General of Police is responsible to the State Assembly for maintaining law and
order
E. None of these

34. Select the most suitable alternative to fill in the blank/blanks in the sentence to make it
meaningful.

As a result of................many unsuitable candidates were selected for the posts.

A. tolerance
B. humility
C. favouritism
D. weakness
E. chaos

35. Select the most suitable alternative to fill in the blank/blanks in the sentence to make it
meaningful.

He is like a body without a soul, an eye without light or a flower without................

A. petal
B. colour
C. stem
D. fragrance
E. smell

36. Select the most suitable alternative to fill in the blank/blanks in the sentence to make it
meaningful.

As the ................eye-witness, the news reporter gave a graphic description of how

fire broke out.

A. indifferent
B. mindless
C. undiscriminating
D. perceptive
E. neglectful

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 Question 37-40

Three-fourths of the surface of our planet is covered by the sea, which both separates and unites the
various races of mankind. The sea is the great highway along which man may journey at his will, the
great road that has no walls or hedges hemming it in, and that nobody has to keep in good repair
with the aid of pickaxes and barrels of tar and steamrollers.

The sea appeals to man’s love of the perilous and the unknown, to his love of conquest, his love of
knowledge, and his love of gold. Its green and grey and blue and purple waters call to him, and bid
him fare forth in quest of fresh fields.

Beyond their horizons, he has found danger and death, glory and gain. In some great continents,
such as America and Australia, there are towns and villages many thousands of miles from the
coast, whose children have never seen or heard or felt the waves of the sea.

37. How much of our planet is covered by the sea?

A. 33 percent
B. 50 percent
C. 75 percent
D. 80 percent
E. 45 percent

38. The sea …………. the various races of mankind.

A. Separates
B. Unites
C. Both (a) and (b)
D. Neither (a) and (b)
E. None of these

39. The sea is the great highway ………… .

A. that man can travel by at his will.
B. that has no walls or hedges.
C. that nobody has to keep in good repair.
D. All of the above
E. None of these

40. Which word in the passage have same meaning ‘dangerous’?

A. Perilous
B. Conquest
C. Glory
D. Hemming
E. None of these

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Question 41-43

But I did not want to shoot the elephant. I watched him beating his bunch of grass against his knees,
with the preoccupied grandmotherly air that elephants have. It seemed to me that it would be murder
to shoot him. I had never shot an elephant and never wanted to. (Somehow it always seems worse to
kill large animal.) Besides, there was the beast's owner to be considered. But I had got to act quickly. I
turned to some experienced-looking Burmans who had been there when we arrived, and asked them
how the elephants had been behaving. They all said the same thing; he took no notice of you if you
left him alone, but he might charge if you went too close to him.

41. The phrase 'Preoccupied grandmotherly air' signifies

A. being totally unconcerned

B. pretending to be very busy
C. a very superior attitude
D. calm, dignified and affectionate disposition
E. None of these

42. From the passage it appears that the author was

A. an unexperienced hunter
B. kind and considerate
C. possessed with fear
D. a worried man
E. All of the above

43. The author did not want to shoot the elephant because he

A. was afraid of it
B. did not have the experience of shooting big animals
C. did not wish to kill animal which was not doing anybody any harm
D. did not find the elephant to be ferocious
E. None of these

Question 44-48

There are three main groups of oils-animal, vegetable and mineral. Great quantities of animal oil come
from whales, creatures of the sea, which are the largest of the animals remaining in the world. To
protect the whales from the cold of the Artic seas, nature has provided them with a thick covering of
fat, called blubber. When the whale is killed, the blubber is stripped off and boiled down. It produces a
great quantity of oil which can be made into food for human consumption. A few other creatures yield
oil, but none so much as the whale. The livers of the cod and halibut, two kinds of fish, yield
nourishing oil. Both cod liver oil and halibut oil are given to sick children and other invalids who need
certain vitamins.
Vegetable oil has been known from very old times. No household can get on without it, for it is used in
cooking. Perfumes may be made from the oils of certain flowers. Soaps are made from eatable and
animal products and the oils of certain flowers.

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44. The main source of animal oil, is –

A. fish
B. whale
C. seaweed
D. plants
E. None of these

45. Vegetable oil is mainly used for –

A. eating
B. cooking
C. frying
D. producing electricity
E. All of the above

46. The…….of fish yields nourishing oil.

A. liver
B. stomach
C. eyes
D. head
E. None of these

47. The thick protective covering of fat on a whale is called a –

A. blubber
B. cell
C. skin
D. fins
E. None of these

48. ……………. are made from vegetable, animal products and the oils of certain flowers.

A. Perfumes
B. Soaps
C. Cosmetics
D. Candles
E. All of the above

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Question 49-50

Forest fires are very dangerous. Often, people are killed by smoke because they are unable to see
amidst the flames and are not able to run to safety in time. Houses that are made from wood, easily
catch fire and get partially or completely destroyed. It would be worse when houses are built very
close to one another. Fire can spread easily from one house to another.
Portable weather stations in the forest keep watch on temperature and humidity during the fire
season. Some countries depend on them as the risk of fire is the highest when it is very hot and dry.
Scientists use computers to find out how a fire will spread once it has started, so that citizens and
officials know how to deal with it.
Even with these technological advances, nothing beats being fully prepared for an emergency.
Citizens in fire-prone areas should be well-prepared to anticipate such disasters by having their own
safety and evacuation measures. They must be well-equipped to protect themselves, They need to
have cotton or wool clothing, gloves, goggles and a helmet. They can use water and wet blankets to
beat out flames. They also need to practise putting out small fires.

49. During a fire, what is often the cause of casualty?

A. the fire with its flames

B. low visibility
C. the wooden houses
D. the heat of the fire
E. All of the above

50. Which word is a synonym to Portable as used in the passage?

A. buoyant
B. unstable
C. mobile
D. versatile
E. None of these

This is the last question. Check your answers.

TT8 VSSE – Reading © James An College Page15