English is the study of the English language. The goal is to improve communication skills by practicing listening, speaking, reading, writing, and understanding language rules like pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar.
If present trends continue, the world would face major crises by end of the century: insufficient cheap convenient energy. For without such energy, industrial production will fall, agricultural output will drop, transport will be restricted and standard of living in developed countries will plummet. At present, almost all our energy comes from fossil fuels. The earth’s reserves of fossil fuels have been formed from organic matter subjected to enormous heat and pressure of millions of years. But such reserves are finite. Because power demand is increasing very rapidly, fossil fuels will be exhausted within a relatively short time. We can estimate the amount of recoverable fuel under the surface of the earth and we know the rate at which it is being extracted. Fairly simple calculation can therefore determine its remaining life. If present trends continue, gas and oil reserves will be exhausted by the middle of the 21st century-about 70 years from now. Similar estimates for coal and wood reserves suggest a projected supply of 250-300 years. Of course long before fossil fuels are exhausted, demand will greatly exceed supply.
For too many years, the world has consumed fossil fuels with little thought for the future. In fact, world energy consumption increased almost 600% between 1900 and 1965 and it is projected to increase by another 450% between 1965 and the year 2000. Crude oil has been pumped out of the ground for about 100 years, but over half of it is been consumed in the past 18 years. Coal has been mined for over 800 years, but over a half of it has been extracted in the past 37 years. In sum, most of the world’s consumption of energy from fossil fuels throughout history has taken place within living memory.
The expression 'standard of living in developed countries will plummet' means Options:Choose the option nearest in meaning to the underlined word(s).
Courteously, Ade stood back to let his teacher go first through the door?
Options:Like all reptiles, snakes are cold blooded, or more correctly, ectothermic - they cannot produce their own body heat; instead, they rely on the sun to heat their bodies. Because they do not rely on energy from food to generate body heat, snakes can survive on an extremely meager diet. some wait for months between successive meals, and a few survive by eating a large meal just once or twice a year. When they do eat, snakes swallow their prey whole rather than biting off small piece. Many snakes have specialized jaws that enable them to swallow animals that are far larger than their own heads. Although uncommon, some snakes, such as the African rock python, have been observed eating animals as large as an antelope or a small cow.
With over two thousand five hundred species belonging to more than ten families, snakes are a large and successful groups. They owe much of this success to their versatility - snakes occupy habitat ranging from underground burrows to the top of the tree, to ocean depths as great as one hundred and fifty meters. They are found on every continent except Antarctica, and although they are most abundant in tropical areas, many survive in regions marked by extreme cold. The only places without snakes are parts of the polar regions and isolated islands, such as the Republic of Ireland and New-Zealand as opposed to places in Nigeria like Plateau and Gombe States in the Northern part where there is a large population of snakes.
Which of the following is true according to the passage? Options:In the question below choose the option nearest in meaning to the word(s) or phrase(s) underlined:
The patient disregarded the advice of the doctor
Options:In the question below choose the option nearest in meaning to the word(s) or phrase underlined:
The preacher has made good his promise to visit some of his converts today
Options:If we examine the opportunities for education of girls or women in less developed countries, we usually find a dismal picture. In some countries, the ratio of boys to girls in secondary schools is more than seven to one. What happens to the girls? Often they are kept at home to look after younger siblings and to perform a variety of domestic chores. Their education is not perceived as in any way equal in importance to that of boys. When a non-literate or barely literate girl reaches adolescence, she has little or no qualification for employment, even if her community provides any opportunity for the employment of women. The solution is to get her married as soon as possible, with the inevitable result that she produces children too soon, too often and too late. With no formal education, she is hardly aware that there is any alternative. In a study made in Thailand, it was noted that the literate woman marries later and ceases childbearing earlier than her non-literate counterpart. But the latter is so chained to her household by the necessities of gathering fuel, preparing food and tending children that she is very difficult to reach, even if health services, nutrition, education, maternal and child health centres are available in her community. She does not understand what they are intended to do.
The writer emphasizes that in less developed countries, Options: