PTE Reading Multiple Choice (Multiple) practice: 12 questions with answers

A protein named Agrin has been discovered to promote wound healing and repair, when it is triggered after skin tissue is injured. These findings could pave the way for the development of Agrin protein therapy to accelerate skin tissue healing for chronic wounds from diabetes or burns. The research, led by A*STAR's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), was published in the journal Nature Communications on 3 November 2021. One in 20 Singaporeans is afflicted with chronic wound conditions. Complications in the healing of chronic wounds are prevalent in patients suffering from diabetes or burn injuries, and are a leading cause of amputation and decreased emotional well-being for patients. During injury, a major chunk of extracellular matrix, which helps to rebuild tissue, is lost, therefore delaying wound healing. As such, the timely replenishment of key ECM proteins may accelerate wound healing. In this study, researchers have shown that timely induction or exogenous supplementation of Agrin, an ECM protein, may promote accelerated healing of injured skin tissues. Using both human and pre-clinical models, they found that physical injury to the skin tissue enhanced the expression of Agrin, which preserves the mechanical architecture of injured skin layers by repairing the skin tissue.

Which of the following statements are incorrect?

1. AAgrin can heal the wound instantly.
2. BLoss of ECM can delay wound healing.
3. CThe expression of Agrin was enhanced when skin tissue was physically damaged.
4. DChronic wound healing complications were the main reason for the decline of patients' emotional health.
5. EOne in 20 Singaporeans suffers from diabetes or burns.

Fuller developed a dance approach centered on the changing interplay of light and color across the expansive skirts or fabric she wore. She kept these garments in nearly perpetual motion, mainly through arm movements, and at times used hidden wands to extend her reach. She deliberately avoided the technical brilliance of ballet, the era's most esteemed theatrical dance, likely because she had little formal instruction. Although she had worked briefly as an actress earlier in her career, she did not aim to tell stories or convey feelings through movement; instead, the power of her performances came from the visual spectacle she crafted.

Based on the passage, which of the following are NOT features of the dance style Fuller created?

1. Arigorous, formal dance education
2. Bplay with colored lighting
3. Cvoluminous, flowing attire
4. Dunceasing motion of her garments
5. Ehighly skilled, showy movement

A recent investigation indicates that helping children grasp others' viewpoints may boost their ability to forgive. "Forgiveness matters for both kids and adults because it repairs relationships and reduces future disputes," notes Kelly Lynn Mulvey, the study's lead author. "Yet we knew little about what encourages children to forgive, especially from early childhood through adolescence." To explore this, Mulvey and her team recruited 185 children aged 5 to 14. Researchers conducted detailed interviews to gather background data and evaluate each child's "theory of mind" abilities. They then presented each child with scenarios involving peers who were either "in-group" or "out-group." Specifically, participants were told they belonged to a group, like the green team. During the interviews, some scenario children were described as green team members, while others were on the yellow team. In each situation, interviewers asked if the participant would forgive a group that excluded them from a game or activity. The study revealed three key findings. First, children forgive more readily when an apology is offered. Second, they are more inclined to forgive "in-group" members. Third, stronger theory of mind skills correlate with a greater likelihood of forgiving others.

What did the study find?

1. AChildren are more prone to forgive those who belong to their own group.
2. BForgiveness helps restore relationships and minimize future conflicts.
3. CChildren are more willing to forgive someone who has apologized.
4. DChildren can forgive in the same way that adults do.
5. EBetter theory of mind skills make a child less likely to forgive.

The Silk Road was not a single road but a network of trade routes connecting East Asia and the Mediterranean. While silk was a major commodity, the routes also facilitated the exchange of other goods such as spices, textiles, and precious metals. More importantly, the Silk Road enabled the transmission of ideas, technologies, and religions. Buddhism spread from India to China along these routes, and later, Islam expanded into Central Asia. Papermaking, gunpowder, and the compass also traveled westward along the Silk Road, profoundly influencing European development. The network flourished from roughly 130 BCE until the 15th century, when maritime trade routes became more prominent.

Based on the passage, which of the following were significant effects of the Silk Road?

1. AThe spread of Buddhism from India to China.
2. BThe introduction of papermaking to Europe.
3. CThe decline of maritime trade routes.
4. DThe exchange of technologies like gunpowder and the compass.

Now, Osvanny Ramos of the Ecole Normale Suprieure in Lyon, France, and colleagues say prediction is possible after all. They designed an experiment that induced avalanches in a two-dimensional pile of 4-millimetre-diameter steel beads. They placed a 60-centimetre row of randomly spaced beads between two parallel, vertical glass plates 4.5 millimetres apart, with the beads glued to the bottom to simulate the ground under a natural pile. Then they dropped in one bead at a time, creating piles of up to 55,000 beads. After each drop, the team photographed the pile and measured the position of each bead to calculate the "space factor" - a measure of the disorder in the system, which was related to the space surrounding each bead (see diagram). The greater the disorder round a bead, the more likely an avalanche was. If one or more beads moved when a new bead fell on the pile, that was considered to be an avalanche. An extra-large avalanche involved between 317 and 1000 beads. The researchers found that if the space factor before a bead dropped was greater than it had been 50 steps earlier, they could predict an extra-large avalanche with 64 per cent accuracy. Ramos says that they can improve the odds by analysing more information, such as the size of the pile (Physical Review Letters, vol 102, p078701). The work could also have important consequences for predicting earthquakes. Ramos has an inkling why forecasting earthquakes is so difficult: seismologist tend to use information about the time and size of events, known as a time series. However, Ramos found that this didn’t help predict the next big avalanche. "When seismologists try to predict earthquakes, they analyse the time series," he says. He argues that they would have more successes analysing data analogous to the internal disorder in the pile of beads.

According to the text, what can we learn from the “space factor”-a measure of the disorder in the system?

1. ASpace factor is related to the space around each bead, and the greater disorder indicates a higher possibility of avalanche.
2. BThe greater the disorder around a bead, the less likely an avalanche was.
3. CInternal disorder analysis will lead to a more successful model.
4. DThey could 100% accurately predict an extra-large avalanche based on the change in space factor of a bead.
5. EForecasting earthquakes is easier than predicting avalanche.

Research from The Australian National University (ANU) warns that without urgent conservation action, the regent honeyeater, one of our most striking songbirds, could vanish within two decades. The study shows that current intensive efforts are inadequate, and a major increase in conservation work is essential to prevent extinction. "The regent honeyeater has been devastated by losing over 90 percent of its favored woodland habitats," says lead author Professor Rob Heinsohn from ANU. "Less than 80 years ago, it was among the most widespread species, found from Adelaide to Rockhampton. Now it risks going the way of the Dodo." Today, fewer than 300 regent honeyeaters remain, making it one of Australia's rarest birds. Habitat destruction has pushed them into competition with larger species for what little habitat is left. The ANU team launched a major project in 2015 to investigate the population decline, but discovered the birds are extremely challenging to study in the wild. As nomads, they travel great distances seeking nectar. After six years of extensive fieldwork, the team found that breeding success has dropped due to nest predation by animals like pied currawongs, noisy miners, and possums.

Which of the following statements about the regent honeyeater is correct?

1. AThe regent honeyeater has already become extinct.
2. BThe regent honeyeater will disappear within 20 years.
3. CIt was once one of the most frequently seen species.
4. DThe regent honeyeater declined because it was hard to study in the wild.
5. EHabitat loss is the primary cause of the regent honeyeater's decline.

Computer- and smartphone-based treatments appear to be effective in reducing symptoms of depression, and while it remains unclear whether they are as effective as face-to-face psychotherapy, they offer a promising alternative to address the growing mental health needs spawned by the COVID-19 pandemic. "The year 2020 marked 30 years since the first paper was published on a digital intervention for the treatment of depression. It also marked an unparalleled inflection point in the worldwide conversion of mental health services from face-to-face delivery to remote, digital solutions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic," said lead author Isaac Moshe, MA, a doctoral candidate at the University of Helsinki. "Given the accelerated adoption of digital interventions, it is both timely and important to ask to what extent digital interventions are effective in the treatment of depression, whether they may provide viable alternatives to face-to-face psychotherapy beyond the lab and what are the key factors that moderate outcomes." Digital interventions typically require patients to log in to a software program, website or app to read, watch, listen to and interact with content structured as a series of modules or lessons. Individuals often receive homework assignments relating to the modules and regularly complete digitally administered questionnaires relevant to their presenting problems. This allows clinicians to monitor patients' progress and outcomes in cases where digital interventions include human support. Digital interventions are not the same as teletherapy, which has gotten much attention during the pandemic, according to Moshe. Teletherapy uses videoconferencing or telephone services to facilitate one-on-one psychotherapy.

Which of the following statements is true?

1. ADigital interventions typically require patients to log into a software program without interaction.
2. BTeletherapy is not identical with digital interventions.
3. CComputer-based and smartphone-based therapy can be just as effective as face-to-face psychotherapy.
4. DVideoconferencing can be a viable method in teletherapy to promote one-on-one psychotherapy.
5. EComputer-based and smartphone-based treatments are the only solution to the growing mental health needs triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil or is present near the surface for part of the year. They include marshes, swamps, and bogs. Wetlands provide critical ecosystem services: they act as natural water filters, trapping pollutants and sediments; they absorb floodwaters, reducing the impact of storms; and they serve as important habitats for a wide variety of plants and animals, including many migratory bird species. Despite their value, wetlands have been drained for agriculture and urban development, leading to a loss of over half of the world's original wetland area. Conservation efforts now aim to protect and restore these vital ecosystems.

According to the passage, which of the following are benefits provided by wetlands?

1. AThey filter pollutants from water.
2. BThey reduce the severity of floods.
3. CThey provide habitat for migratory birds.
4. DThey are ideal locations for urban development.

What you eat influences your taste for what you might want to eat next. So claims a University of California, Riverside, study performed on fruit flies. The study offers a better understanding of neurophysiological plasticity of the taste system in flies. To maintain ideal health, animals require a balanced diet with optimum amounts of different nutrients. Macronutrients like carbohydrates and proteins are essential; indeed, an unbalanced intake of these nutrients can be detrimental to health. Flies require macronutrients such as sugars and amino acids for survival. They use the gustatory system, the sensory system responsible for the perception of taste, to sense these nutrients and begin feeding. In their experiments in the lab, the researchers Anindya Ganguly and Manali Dey, led by Anupama Dahanukar, fed adult flies different diets: a balanced diet, a sugar-reduced and protein-enriched diet, and a sugar-enriched and protein-depleted diet. They ensured that all three diets were similar in total calorie content and tested the flies daily for a week to examine modifications in their food choice and taste sensitivity. The researchers report that diet affects dopamine and insulin signaling in the brain, which, in turn, affects the flies' peripheral sensory response, which is comprised of neurons directly involved in detecting external stimuli. This response then influences what the flies eat next.

Which of the following statements about the study are true?

1. AWhat you eat has little to do with what you want to eat next.
2. BAn unbalanced intake of macronutrients such as carbohydrates and protein is essential.
3. CThe fly senses macronutrients through its taste system.
4. DIn the experiment, the researchers made sure the total calories in all three diets were the same.
5. EThe researchers tested the flies every two days for a week.
6. FDopamine in the brain is closely related to diet.

There's bad news for parents who frequently plop their kids in front of the TV to give themselves a break: It might actually end up leaving moms and dads more stressed. Why? Because the more television that kids watch, the more they're exposed to advertising messages. The more advertising they see, the more likely they are to insist on purchasing items when they go with their parents to the store -- and perhaps make a fuss if told "no." All that, researchers say, may contribute to parents' overall stress levels, well beyond a single shopping trip. The findings come from a University of Arizona-led study, published in the International Journal of Advertising, that explores the potential effects of children's television watching habits on their parents' stress levels. "The more advertising children see, the more they ask for things and the more conflict is generated," said lead study author Matthew Lapierre, an assistant professor in the UArizona Department of Communication in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. "What we haven't looked at before is what the potential effect is on parents. We know kids ask for things, we know it leads to conflict, but we wanted to ask the next question: Could this be contributing to parents' overall stress?" The study suggests that it could. There are a few things parents can do, perhaps the most obvious of which is limiting screen time.

What can we infer from the passage?

1. AWhen watching one television ad, children purchase one thing from it.
2. BChildren will ask for more things when they watch more ads, which can lead to more conflict.
3. CChildren's habit of watching TV has definitely no impact on parents' stress level.
4. DFor parents, putting their children in front of the TV tends to make themselves happy.
5. EParents can reduce their stress by limiting their children in watching TV.

X-ray crystallography is the study of crystal structures through X-ray diffraction techniques. When an X-ray beam bombards a crystalline lattice in a given orientation, the beam is scattered in a definite manner characterized by the atomic structure of the lattice. This phenomenon, known as X-ray diffraction, occurs when the wavelength of X-rays and the interatomic distances in the lattice have the same order of magnitude. In 1912, the German scientist Max van Laue predicted that crystals exhibit diffraction qualities. Concurrently, W. Friedrich and P. Knipping created the first photographic diffraction patterns. A year later, Lawrence Bragg successfully analyzed the crystalline structures of potassium chloride and sodium chloride using X-ray crystallography, and developed a rudimentary treatment for X-ray/crystal interaction (Bragg's Law). Bragg's research provided a method to determine a number of simple crystal structures for the next 50 years. In the 1960s, the capabilities of X-ray crystallography were greatly improved by the incorporation of computer technology. Modern X-ray crystallography provides the most powerful and accurate method far determining single-crystal structures. Structures containing 100-200 atoms now can be analyzed on the order of 1-2 days, whereas before the 1960s a 20-atom structure required 1-2 years far analysis. Through X-ray crystallography the chemical structure of thousands of organic, inorganic, organometallic, and biological compounds are determined every year.

Which of the fallowing factors are consistent with the theory of X-ray crystallography?

1. AX-ray crystallization causes a reduction in the interatomic distances of wavelengths.
2. BX-rays are scattered according to the atomic structure of the crystal lattice.
3. CThe analysis of chemical compounds was only passible after the development of computer technology.
4. DThe process can be used to determine the chemical structure of biological compounds.
5. EX-rays will not diffract in crystalline substances.

In the 1940s, children playing in Southwest France found Lascaux Grotto, a network of narrow cave rooms containing enormous prehistoric animal paintings. Some of these creatures measure up to 16 feet (nearly 5 meters). Certain animals march in orderly lines, while others twist around, sideways and inverted. The depictions include bulls, wild horses, reindeer, bison, and mammoths, outlined in charcoal and colored mainly in reds, yellows, and browns. Analysis shows the pigments came from ocher and other iron oxides crushed into fine powder. Application methods differed: some colors were brushed or smeared onto rock, and others were blown or sprayed. Hollow bones, some stained with pigment, have been located nearby, suggesting that tubes crafted from animal bones may have been used for spraying.

What do the bones discovered near the Lascaux caves suggest?

1. AThe range of subjects painted by the artists was diverse.
2. BArtists created images on both walls and bones.
3. CArtists processed them into powder to produce paint.
4. DArtists invented unique methods for wall painting.
5. EBones served purposes beyond food.