This first text gives you information on these multiple choice quizzes. This particular quiz tests general comprehension of various texts mainly from the areas of biology, zoology, geography and history. Each text is followed by 2 or more questions with 2 or more answer choices. When you have clicked your answer to each question, click the Check answers button to see if you are right. This will update your score. Alternatively, you can ask to see the answers without affecting your score by clicking the Answers button at the top of the page.
Occasionally you will see a double plus sign (++) when clicking one of the answer buttons. If you click this double plus sign, you will see a pop-up window with more information about why a particular answer is right or wrong.
[Please note that pop-up windows are often blocked by the web browser. If you want to see the extra information, you will need to disable the pop-up blocker.]
#What is the main purpose of this first text?^The text qives information about this multiple choice quiz and how to do it.~The text gives information about the problems of doing online quizzes in certain browsers.~The text gives information about biology, zoology, geography and history.@Which button should you click to see if the answers you have clicked are correct?^Check answers~Answers=You press the Answers button if you just want to see the correct answers without having clicked any of the choices yourself. Clicking this button does not affect your score.~Reset~Help@Which symbols, when showing and clicked, will give extra information about a right or wrong answer?^++~--~**'); q('You are made aware of the world around you by your senses. At one time, it was believed that human beings had only five senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. But modern scientists have added to the list the senses of hunger, pain, and thirst. All your senses are divided into two groups - external senses and internal senses. External senses make us aware of things happening outside our body or things coming in contact with our body such as hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch. We are made aware of these things by special cells, called receptors, in our skin. Our internal senses make us aware of changes that take place in the organs and tissues inside our body - such as hunger, thirst, and pain. Here, receptors inside our body respond to chemical and physical changes and notify the brain.
#According to modern scientists, how many senses are there?^8~5~3~10@Which of the following is not an external sense? ^pain~smell~taste~touch~sight'); q('The most common contagious disease in the world is the common cold. Colds are actually infections of the mucous membranes of your nose and throat, but sometimes they spread to your air passages and lungs. The cold germs, or viruses, that cause these infections and make you cough or sneeze travel through the outside air inside tiny droplets of moisture. Doctors believe that you can "catch" a cold if you breathe in these virus droplets expelled by someone who is already sick.
The strange thing about these viruses is that they are probably in your throat most of the time. However, they simply do not attack your body until your resistance is lowered by being chilled, overheated, or extremely tired. A cold takes from one to three days to develop and it does so in three stages: The first is the "dry" stage, during which your nose feels dry and swollen, your throat may tickle, and your eyes may water. In the second stage, your nose begins to run. And finally, in the third stage, you may develop a fever and a cough.
#Which part of the body is not affected by the common cold?^eyes~nose~throat~lungs@Which is the second stage in the development of a cold?^runny nose~dry nose~fever and cough'); q('People who buy or own something that costs a great deal of money to keep up, without serving any useful purpose are said to own a "white elephant". But there are actual Asian elephants whose skin is so light that that they are considered white. These white elephants were worshipped as gods by the people of Siam (now Thailand), but their name became associated with useless possessions as the result of an act by an ancient Siamese king. When the king wished to ruin a member of his court who had displeased him, he would make a present of a white elephant to that man. Since elephants in captivity eat over 150 pounds of food a day, the expense of keeping up the elephant would certainly ruin the man.
#What is the meaning of the expression a white elephant?^something that is expensive but completely useless~something that is expensive but very useful~what the king of Siam was called by his people~something that is cheap and useless@What is the former name of the country now called Thailand?^Siam~Siamese~India~China'); q('The kangaroo, now the national symbol of Australia, belongs to the group of mammals called marsupials, meaning "pouched." Female kangaroos have a pouch, like a bag with an elastic top, in which they keep their young for eight to nine months after they are born. Marsupials are mammals; all female mammals give birth to living young. However, marsupials are unique in that their babies are born in a very undeveloped state. They finish developing outside their mother\'s body, usually in her pouch. A baby kangaroo, or joey, as it is called, grows inside its mother for only one month. When born, it is the size of a peanut. Joeys are not born in the pouch, but must crawl there. Inside this amazing pouch is everything the joey needs: milk, shelter, and even oil to keep it moist. The joey spends its first five months in the pouch full-time. At the end of this time, the joey pokes its head out, but does not venture out. Finally at eight months, the joey leaves the pouch for good, returning to its mother only to drink her milk.
#What is a joey?^a baby kangaroo~a kind of peanut~the name for the pouch or \'bag\' that many marsupials have~a pregnant marsupial@A joey is extremely small when it is born.^true~false@How long is the female kangaroo pregnant?^1 month~5 months~8-9 months@A joey is born inside the pouch.^false~true@How long does the joey stay inside the pouch?^8-9 months~1 month~5 months~2-3 weeks@What is the meaning of the expression .. leaves the pouch for good .. in the last sentence?^it leaves the pouch for ever~it leaves the pouch in order to finish its development~it is good for the mother that the joey leaves the pouch because it has become too big'); q('A person whose body cannot produce pigment, or coloring matter, in its organs is called an albino. Albinism is most easily recognized in the skin, hair, and eyes. True albinos have very pale white skin, white hair, and pink eyes. An albino\'s eyes show up as pink because the tiny red blood vessels in the iris, or colored part of the eye, show through. In most people, the colored iris hides this pinkness.
Albinism is usually inherited from one\'s parents, passed down in the genes - the tiny chemical particles that carry traits from parents to children. Albinism can occur in animals too. White mice and white rabbits with pink eyes are true albinos. White gorillas and some white horses are albinos.
#What is the name of the body substance that albinos lack?^pigment~iris~albinism~genes~traits@What is the name for the part of the eye that in most people is coloured - brown, blue, green, etc.?^iris~organ~vessels~particles'); q('There is a "sleep center" in your brain which regulates the sleeping and waking of your body. When this sleep center goes to work, it does two things: it blocks off part of your brain so that it goes to sleep and you no longer have the will to do anything. It also blocks off certain nerves that bring outside messages to your brain, permitting your body to fall asleep. Usually this sleep center of your brain and your body are connected, but sometimes they become separated. When this happens, the brain sleeps but the body remains awake. People in this situation usually sit up in bed or stand near it. Some actually get out of bed and walk about, but they don\'t do much more than walk. A sleep-walker doesn\'t remember his stroll when he is awakened.
#What is the name of the body substance that albinos lack?^pigment~iris~albinism~genes~traits@What is the name for the part of the eye that in most people is coloured - brown, blue, green, etc.?^iris~organ~vessels~particles'); q('Your body cannot use food when you first swallow it. The food is changed in a process called digestion. There are three steps to digestion - mechanical digestion, chemical digestion, and absorption. The food is first broken into small pieces by the teeth and then by the movement of the stomach muscles. This is mechanical digestion. When you put the food into your mouth, the teeth begin mechanical digestion by breaking up the food. The food is then mixed with saliva. Saliva is a kind of water that comes into your mouth that helps you swallow the food. Saliva contains special chemicals to help digestion. The breaking down of food by chemicals is called chemical digestion.
After swallowing the food, it moves down a long tube called the esophagus. No digestion takes place in the esophagus. The food is there only for a short time. The other end of the esophagus is connected to the stomach. When food enters the stomach, the stomach muscles squeeze the food and move it around. The stomach also has special digestive chemicals called acids and enzymes that chemically digest the food. It takes about four hours for the acids and enzymes to digest the food in the stomach. This kind of chemical digestion breaks the food down into a liquid form. From the stomach the liquid food passes into a long, thin, coiled tube called the small intestine. This intestine is about 6 meters long. In the small intestine the digested food is absorbed directly into the blood and travels all around the body. This process is called absorption.
#What kind of digestion takes place in the mouth?^mechanical and chemical digestion=Yes, the teeth mechanically digest the food, and the saliva (spit) chemically digests it.~mechanical digestion only~chemical digestion only~absorption only@What is the name for the part of the body connecting the mouth and the stomach?^esophagus~saliva~stomach~small intestine@What kind of digestion takes place in the stomach?^mechanical and chemical digestion=Yes, the stomach muscles mechanically digest the food by moving it around, and the stomach acids and enzymes chemically digest it.~mechanical digestion only~chemical digestion only~absorption only@Where does absorption take place?^small intestine~large intestine~mouth~stomach'); q('Languages which share the same roots are called cognate languages. So English and German, which are both Germanic languages, have a large number of cognates. Cognates are words which sound, or are written, the same (or almost the same) in two or more languages. September-September; winter-Winter; garden-Garten; house-Haus; green-grün are English-German cognates. Cognates are a great help to ESL students whose mother-tongue is a cognate language with English. They can quickly build a good vocabulary, and will be pleasantly surprised to see how many science or mathematics words they can recognize. Of course, Japanese or Korean students do not have this advantage.
However, there is the problem of false cognates, sometimes called false friends. These are words that appear to be cognates but are in fact derived from different roots and do not mean the same. The German word also does not mean also but therefore; bekommen does not mean become but receive. German students often make mistakes with false cognates.
#Are the words mouse (English) and Maus (German) cognates?^Yes.~No.@What is a reason why Japanese and Korean students may find it more difficult to quickly build their English vocabulary?^because their languages do not share many cognates with English~because their languages are more difficult than English~because they do not know the best way to learn words~because they are not as clever or hard-working as other students@Are bekommen (German) and become (English) cognates?^No.~Yes.'); q('In contrast to grammar mistakes, punctuation mistakes are made not only by ESL students, but by native speakers too. The most significant of these mistakes are due to the lack of a clear understanding of what a sentence is. They result in fragments (incomplete sentences) or run-ons (single \'sentences\' that in fact should be split into two). Such punctuation mistakes can often be spotted if the student reads the writing aloud. If a natural pause in the reading does not correspond with a full-stop or a semi-colon in the written text, then it is likely that the punctuation is faulty. Important writing should be given to a competent native-speaker to check. In the longer term, extensive reading, especially of non-fiction, both in English and the mother tongue, will help students understand the concept of the sentence and its boundaries.
#What does the first sentence of the text imply?^that native-speakers of English make fewer grammar mistakes than ESL students~that native-speakers of English make more punctuation mistakes than ESL students~that native-speakers of English make just as many grammar mistakes as ESL students~that native-speakers of English make fewer punctuation mistakes than ESL students@What is one way that ESL students can improve their understanding of sentences and their punctuation?^Read a lot of books.~Read their writing aloud.~Show their writing to a competent native speaker.~Do not write fragments or run-ons');