Passage Reading and English Comprehension

As in the case of so many words used by the biologist and physiologist, the word acclimatization is hard to define. With increases in scientific knowledge and understanding, meanings of words change. Originally the term acclimatization was taken to mean only the ability of human beings, animals or plants to accustom themselves to new and strange climatic conditions, primarily altered temperature. A person or a wolf moves to a hot climate and is uncomfortable there, but after a time is better able to withstand the heat. But aside from temperature, there are other aspects of climate. A person or an animal may become adjusted to living at higher altitudes than those it was originally accustomed to. At very high altitudes, such as those that aviators may be exposed to low atmospheric pressure becomes a factor of primary importance. In changing to a new environment, a person may, meet new conditions of temperature or pressure, and in addition may have to contend with different chemical surroundings. On high mountains, the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere may be relatively small; in crowded cities, a person may become exposed to relatively high concentrations of carbon dioxide or even carbon monoxide, and in various areas may be exposed to conditions in which the water content of the atmosphere is extremely high or extremely low. Thus in the case of humans, animals, and even plants, the concept of acclimatization includes the phenomena of increased toleration of high or low temperature, of altered pressure, and of changes in the chemical environment.

Let us define acclimatization, therefore, as the process in which an organism or a part of an organism becomes inured to an environment which is normally unsuitable to it or lethal for it. By and large, acclimatization is a relatively slow process. The term should not be taken to include relatively rapid adjustments such as those that our sense organs are constantly making. This type of adjustment is commonly referred to by physiologists as "adaptation." Thus our touch sense soon becomes accustomed to the pressure of our clothes and we do not feel them; we soon fail to hear the ticking of a clock; obnoxious orders after a time fail to make much impression on us, and our eyes in strong light rapidly become insensitive.

1745. According to the reading selection, all animals and plants

	(a) have an ability for acclimatization
	(b) can adjust to only one change in the environment at a time
	(c) are successful in adjusting themselves to changes in their environments
	(d) can adjust to natural changes in the environment but not to artificially induced changes

1746. It can be inferred from the reading selection that

	(a) every change in the environment requires acclimatization by living things
	(b) plants and animals are more alike than they are different
	(c) biologist and physiologists study essentially the same things
	(d) as science develops, the connotation of terms may change

1747. According to the reading selection, acclimatization

	(a) is similar to adaptation
	(b) is more important today than it was formerly
	(c) involves positive as well as negative adjustment
	(d) may be involved with a part of an organism but not with the whole organism

1748. By inference from the reading selection, which one of the following would NOT require the process of acclimatization?

	(a) an ocean fish placed in a lake
	(b) a shallow diver making a deep dive
	(c) an airplane pilot making a high-altitude flight
	(d) a person going from daylight into a darkened room

1749. According to the passage, a major distinction between acclimatization and adaptation is that acclimatization

	(a) is more important than adaptation
	(b) is relatively slow and adaptation is relatively rapid
	(c) applies to adjustments while adaptation does not apply to adjustments.
	(d) applies to terrestrial animals and adaptation to aquatic animals.

1750. The word "inured" in the first sentence of paragraph two most likely means

	(a) exposed
	(b) accustomed
	(c) attracted
	(d) associated

1751. The function of paragraph 2 in the passage as a whole is to

	(a) Illuminate the human element of acclimatization
	(b) Explain the role of scientists in acclimatization research
	(c) Provide a definition corresponding to the examples sighted in paragraph 1
	(d) Detail the environmental adjustments animals make to their environment

1752. The author is most likely

	(a) A researcher in the field of adaptive mechanisms
	(b) A student of biology
	(c) A veterinarian looking to explain an issue of importance
	(d) The editor of a scientific publication

TOTAL

Detailed Solution

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40
41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59	60
61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79	80
81	82	83	84	85	86	87	88	89	90	91	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	100
101	102	103	104	105	106	107	108	109	110	111	112	113	114	115	116	117	118	119	120
121	122	123	124	125	126	127	128	129	130	131	132	133	134	135	136	137	138	139	140
141	142	143	144	145	146	147	148	149	150	151	152	153	154	155	156	157	158	159	160
161	162	163	164	165	166	167	168	169	170	171	172	173	174	175	176	177	178	179	180
181	182	183	184	185	186	187	188	189	190	191	192	193	194	195	196	197	198	199	200
201	202	203	204	205	206	207	208	209	210	211	212	213	214	215	216	217	218	219	220
221	222	223	224	225	226	227	228	229	230	231	232	233	234	235	236	237	238	239	240
241	242	243	244	245	246	247	248	249	250	251	252	253	254	255	256	257	258	259	260
261	262	263	264	265	266	267	268	269	270	271	272	273	274	275	276	277	278	279	280
281	282	283	284	285	286	287	288	289	290	291	292	293	294	295	296	297	298	299	300
301	302	303	304	305	306	307	308	309	310	311	312	313	314	315	316	317	318	319	320
321	322	323	324	325	326	327	328	329	330	331	332	333	334	335	336	337	338	339	340
341	342	343	344	345	346	347	348	349	350	351	352	353	354	355	356	357	358	359	360
361	362	363	364	365	366	367	368	369	370	371	372	373	374	375	376	377	378	379	380
381	382	383	384	385	386	387	388	389	390	391	392	393	394	395	396	397	398	399	400
401	402	403	404	405	406	407	408	409	410	411	412	413	414	415	416	417	418	419	420
421	422	423	424	425	426	427	428	429	430	431	432	433	434	435	436	437	438	439	440
441	442	443	444	445	446	447	448	449	450	451	452	453	454	455	456	457	458	459	460
461	462	463	464	465	466	467	468	469	470	471	472	473	474	475	476	477	478	479	480
481	482	483	484	485	486	487	488	489	490	491	492	433	494	495	496	497	498	499	500

Passage Reading Verbal Logic Non Verbal Logic Numerical Logic Data Interpretation Reasoning Analytical Ability Basic Numeracy About Us Contact Privacy Policy Major Tests FAQ

---