MUET MARCH-2017 READING-Exercise 3

Questions 15 to 21 are based on the following passage.

While the body is remarkably symmetrical in many ways, in some key areas, it's decidedly one-sided.
About 10 percent of people are left-handed, a proportion that has remained relatively stable.
People who study the brain have a number of theories about what drives handedness, but are at a loss to
explain why humans are the only species with handedness. One theory holds that hand dominance is
established in the womb by the hand that babies prefer to hold to their mouths, while another says higher
testosterone in the womb can increase the chances of becoming a lefty.
But regardless of what sets the pattern, handedness can play a role in how we think, behave and interact
with others. The brain, after all, is asymmetrical, with many thinking and intellectual skills centered in the
left hemisphere, while emotional and mood-related functions are concentrated in the right. Some studies,
for example, find that left-handed people tend to be more vulnerable to negative emotions such as
depression and anger, possibly because southpaws, as they're known, engage the right sides of their brains
more actively.
Scientists have also found that lefties may be more prone to fear than righties, and therefore may be
vulnerable to post-traumatic stress disorder. Clearly, these associations aren't absolute — otherwise, no
left-handers would ever jump out of a plane or brave New York City streets as a taxi driver. But scientists
have found that left-handers have more symmetry between the right and left sides of their brains compared
with right-handers. And that can have implications for everything from language to motor skills.
"The majority of people who are right-handed are left-hemisphere language dominant," says Dr. Daniel
Geschwind, a professor of neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles. That means most of
their language processing occurs in the left side of the brain. "Almost 10 percent of left-handers have that
flipped, and have right-hemisphere language dominance, and many have almost equal distribution of
language skills in both hemispheres," Geschwind says. "The notion is that left-handers are less constrained
when it comes to brain asymmetry, so their skills are most randomised and less specified" to one side of 30
the brain or the other.
That can have advantages, particularly after a stroke. Right-handed patients who have a stroke on the left
side of the brain tend to recover their speaking abilities more slowly than left-handers, since they don't
have the wider distribution of language networks throughout both sides of the brain. But there's also a
reason why left-handedness isn't more common, even if it provides such advantages. "Having more
distributed language abilities probably makes the system more complicated, so it may increase the
susceptibility to developmental abnormalities and neurodevelopmental disorders," says Geschwind. That
could explain some studies that correlated risk of autism with being left-handed.

Appreciating how that lack of symmetry translates into benefits or risks is still a work in progress. In the
meantime, lefties should celebrate their differences — or, in the case of their brains, the lack of difference
between their right and left sides.
Questions:

15 The writer begins the passage with

A. a surprising fact
B. a statistical evidence
C. a shocking discovery

16 Paragraph 2 is mainly about

A. theories that explain handedness
B. reasons why humans are the only species with handedness
C. the link between higher testosterone level and left-handedness

17 The word sets (line 9) can be replaced by

A. distinguishes
B. determines
C. monitors

18 Left-handed people tend to

A. cope with stress better
B. be good at languages
C. be more emotional

19 — otherwise no left-handers would ever jump out of a plane or brave New York City streets as a taxi
driver (lines 18 and 19). This comment supports the idea that
A. lefties can overcome their fear
B. not all lefties are prone to fear
C. lefties are as fearless as righties

20 flipped (line 27) means

A. mixed
B. reversed
C. changed

21 The main idea of paragraph 6 is

A. the advantages of left-handedness
B. the benefits and risks of being a left-hander
C. the link between stroke, speaking ability and handedness
MUET MARCH-2017 READING-Exercise 4

Questions 22 to 29 are based on the following passage.

Being plugged into an iPod is a hallmark of adolescence, but a new study suggests that teens who
spend too much time listening to music may be at higher risk of depression.

The study, led by Dr. Brian Primack, an assistant professor of medicine and paediatrics at the
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, found that teens who reported listening to music more often —
rather than using other types of media like TV and books — were at higher risk of having major depressive
disorder (MDD), compared with teens who listened to music less frequently. With each level increase in music
use, teens had an 80 percent higher risk of depression, the study found

The study did not measure total listening times, but based on previous data, the study authors estimated
that teens in the highest-use group were likely listening to music for at least four or five hours a day. "At this
point, it is not clear whether depressed people begin to listen to more music to escape, or whether listening to
large amounts of music can lead to depression or both," said Primack in a statement.

By contrast, researchers found that reading books had the opposite association: With each level
increase in time spent reading, teens' risk of depression dropped 50 percent. "This is worth emphasizing because
overall in the US, reading books is decreasing, while nearly all other forms of media use are increasing,"
Primack said.

Of all the media reported, only music showed significant associations with increased depression risk,
after researchers controlled for factors like age, sex, and ethnicity. But that does not necessarily mean that music
causes depression — for some depressed teens, music may even help. The authors explain that sadness is a
common theme in popular music, and it may be that individuals with depression turn to these messages to make
themselves feel less alone in their sadness. Conversely, it may also be that individuals with MDD turn to happy
music to "tune out" their negative moods or to elevate their moods. Other researchers have suggested that heavy
exposure to the sometimes dark themes of popular music may contribute to the development of conditions such
as MDD.

Past research has also found links between depression and other forms of media like TV and video
games. A seven-year study published in 2009, also led by Primack, showed that teens who watched more TV
were more likely to become depressed in adulthood, compared with teens who watched less. So the researchers
were surprised to find no such association in the current study, but suggest that further research is necessary to
clarify potential links.

Previous longitudinal research has also found that reading may have a mentally protective effect: Teens
who read more are less likely to become depressed as adults. The current study suggests that being depressed
may also preclude time spent reading. "We sort of thought to ourselves that when you have depression, your
brain is not working properly. So it's much harder to sit down to a book and have to use a lot of the frontal lobe
of your brain to create the story and the characters in your head, whereas, it should be quite easy to flop down in
front of a TV and turn on whatever's there," Primack said.

Although the connections between depression and various forms of media are significant, more
research is needed to understand them better, especially considering the conflicting information.

But for now, Primack said the findings may be a way for parents to spot a potentially troubled teen. "It
may be valuable for people to help pick up cues for common behaviors like listening to music," he said.
Questions:

22 The word hallmark (line 1) means

A. a common habit
B. an unusual behaviour
C. the most typical feature

23 The findings regarding reading will be useful in

A. stopping the decline in reading
B. preventing depression among teenagers
C. discouraging teenagers from listening to music

24 Primark's comment This is worth emphasizing (line 19) suggests that

A. teenagers should read more
B. depression among teenagers will increase
C. teenagers should not be exposed to many forms of media

25 Which of the following is true of paragraph 5?

A. People who listen to popular music are usually happy.
B. When people are depressed, they listen to music.
C. Music may or may not cause depression.

26 What can be concluded from the 2009 and the current study?
A. The findings are contradictory.
B. The findings discourage listening to music.
C. The findings identify watching television as a cause of depression.

27 preclude time spent reading (line 41) means the depressed

A. find reading difficult

B. are discouraged from reading
C. claim that reading worsens their

28 The passage ends with

A. an advice for parents of teenagers
B. a caution on the use of the findings
C. a possible application of the findings

29 From the passage. we can conclude that

A. reading is the recommended action for depressed teenagers
B. it is true that different media will affect teenagers differently
C. further research on the link between depression and various media forms is needed
March 2016 MUET READING - Exercise 2 (Questions and Answer):

Could nature tourism be bad for wild animals' health? It is an idea that has been suggested in a recent report that
tested for stress hormones in orangutan excrement.

Researchers from the University of Indiana and eco-tourisn group Red Ape Encounters spend 14 years
studying two apes in Sabah, Malaysia, which were used to seeing humans. By testing the animals' feces they
found that the orangutans' stress levels were higher than normal the day after coming into contact with humans.
"As for the unknown wild orangutans that we were also able to gather samples from, we found numerically, but
not statistically, higher stress hormone levels in these animals following contact with researchers than in the
rehabilitated animals, "said Micheal Muehlenbein, if the University of Indiana and one of the author of the
report.

Muehlenbein is keen to point out that there was no indication from the study of any long-term changes in the
behavior of the orangutans, as Red Ape Encounters limits the number of people on their tour to seven and the
visits to one hour. Yet pathological effects like impaired congnition, growth and reproduction could be a
consequence of less sensitive wildlife tours, believes Muehlenbein.

As the values of eco-tourism increases each year, so too do the chances of money being more important than
animal welfare. However, Liz Macfie, gorilla coordinator for the wildlife conservation Society and co-author of
the International Union for Conversation of Nature's (IUCN) "Best Practice Guidelines for Great Ape Tourism"
Believes that most eco-tour companies are trying to do the right things

"More and more sites are trying hard to minimise the impact on the animals,," she said, pointing out the success
of conservation and tourism projects with mountain gorillas in central Africa. "Mountain gorilla tourism is one
of the reasons they have continued to flourish. They are the only sub-species of gorilla whose numbers is
actually growing and they are visited by the tourist on a daily basis. "The gorillas are worth more to Rwanda,
Uganda, and Congo because of the tourism. Not just the value of the rout, but the money the tourist then put into
the local economy. So, they have a monetary value.

Yet Macfie is aware that only a limited number of sites could have the success seen with mountain gorillas. As
long as travelers are aware of the environmental impact of the tours they take, and operators are adhering to the
principles of the IUCN guidelines, Macfie believes that the growth in eco-tourism is generally positive.

"Tourist don't all want to drive around a Savannah park with hundreds of other vehicles, and I think that's the
same with ape tourism," she said. Sometimes there can be over one hundred people crowded around feeding
stations, looking at two or three orangutans that have come in. In that situation, there's great potential for disease
transmission and interaction between humans and orangutans."
QUESTIONS:

8. Stress Hormones can be found in animal feces.

A- True
B- False
C- Not stated

9.There are many wildlife tours that consider the impact of human contact on orangutans
A- True
B- False
C- Not stated

10. Not many visitors are interested to go on wildlife tours.

A- True
B- False
C- Not stated

11. Eco-tourism companies are considered ethical although

A - There appears to be an impact on the animal welfare
B - Monetary considerations seem to outweigh the welfare of the animals
C - The Best Practice Guidelines for Great Ape Tourism are not strictly followed.

12. Paragraph 5 Illustrates the success story of

A - Conservation efforts and tourism
B - Inter-government effort and wildlife conservation
C - the breeding of animals and growing number of tourist sites

13. An increased number of tourist to savannah parks could lead to

A - Overfeeding of the apes
B - Too much interaction between humans and apes
C - the spread of diseases between humans and apes

14. What is Macfie's attitude towards eco-tourism in general?

A - She is optimistic about the development of eco-tourism.
B- She is apprehensive of tour operators' commitment to the IUCN guidelines
C- She is skeptical about the awareness of eco-tourist regarding the environment.

Answers:
8. A (Answer is found in the second paragraph)

9. A (Answer is found in the fourth paragraph)

10. C (No information about the visitors are given)

11. A

12. A

13. C

14. A