Online Sample Test Flashcards

Hormone levels - and hence our moods -may be affected by the weather. Gloomy weather can cause depression, but sunshine appears to raise the spirits. In Britain, for example, the dull weather of winter drastically cuts down the amount of sunlight that is experienced which strongly affects some people. They become so depressed and lacking in energy that their work and social life are affected. This condition has been given the name SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). Sufferers can fight back by making the most of any sunlight in winter and by spending a few hours each day under special, full-spectrum lamps. These provide more ultraviolet and blue-green light than ordinary fluorescent and tungsten lights. Some Russian scientists claim that children learn better after being exposed to ultraviolet light. In warm countries, hours of work are often arranged so that workers can take a break, or even a siesta, during the hottest part of the day. Scientists are working to discover the links between the weather and human beings' moods and performance. It is generally believed that tempers grow shorter in hot, muggy weather. There is no doubt that 'crimes against the person' rise in the summer, when the weather is hotter and fall in the winter when the weather is colder. Research in the United States has shown a relationship between temperature and street riots. The frequency of riots rises dramatically as the weather gets warmer, hitting a peak around 27-30°C. But is this effect really due to a mood change caused by the heat? Some scientists argue that trouble starts more often in hot weather merely because there are more people in the street when the weather is good. Psychologists have also studied how being cold affects performance. Researchers compared divers working in icy cold water at 5°C with others in water at 20°C (about swimming pool temperature). The colder water made the divers worse at simple arithmetic and other mental tasks. But significantly, their performance was impaired as soon as they were put into the cold water - before their bodies had time to cool down. This suggests that the low temperature did not slow down mental functioning directly, but the feeling of cold distracted the divers from their tasks. Psychologists have conducted studies showing that people become less sceptical and more optimistic when the weather is sunny However, this apparently does not just depend on the temperature. An American psychologist studied customers in a temperature-controlled restaurant. They gave bigger tips when the sun was shining and smaller tips when it wasn't, even though the temperature in the restaurant was the same. A link between weather and mood is made believable by the evidence for a connection between behaviour and the length of the daylight hours. This in turn might involve the level of a hormone called melatonin, produced in the pineal gland in the brain. The amount of melatonin falls with greater exposure to daylight. Research shows that melatonin plays an important part in the seasonal behaviour of certain animals. For example, food consumption of stags increases during the winter, reaching a peak in February\/ March. It falls again to a low point in May, then rises to a peak in September, before dropping to another minimum in November. These changes seem to be triggered by varying melatonin levels. In the laboratory, hamsters put on more weight when the nights are getting shorter and their melatonin levels are falling. On the other hand, if they are given injections of melatonin, they will stop eating altogether. It seems that time cues provided by the changing lengths of day and night trigger changes in animals' behaviour - changes that are needed to cope with the cycle of the seasons. People's moods too, have been shown to react to the length of the daylight hours. Sceptics might say that longer exposure to sunshine puts people in a better mood because they associate it with the happy feelings of holidays and freedom from responsibility. However, the belief that rain and murky weather make people more unhappy is borne out by a study in Belgium, which showed that a telephone counselling service gets more telephone calls from people with suicidal feelings when it rains. When there is a thunderstorm brewing, some people complain of the air being 'heavy' and of feeling irritable, moody and on edge. They may be reacting to the fact that the air can become slightly positively charged when large thunderclouds are generating the intense electrical fields that cause lightning flashes. The positive charge increases the levels of serotonin (a chemical involved in sending signals in the nervous system). High levels of serotonin in certain areas of the nervous system make people more active and reactive and, possibly, more aggressive. When certain winds are blowing, such as the Mistral in southern France and the Fohn in southern Germany, mood can be affected - and the number of traffic accidents rises. It may be significant that the concentration of positively charged particles is greater than normal in these winds. In the United Kingdom, 400,000 ionizers are sold every year. These small machines raise the number of negative ions in the air in a room. Many people claim they feel better in negatively charged air. Why did the divers perform less well in colder conditions?

Answer: They were less able to concentrate.

The passage explicitly states regarding the divers: 'This suggests that the low temperature did not slow down mental functioning directly, but the feeling of cold distracted the divers from their tasks.' Being distracted means they were less able to concentrate on the arithmetic and mental tasks. Their performance impairment was due to this distraction, not a direct slowing of mental function or rapid body temperature drop.

Hormone levels - and hence our moods -may be affected by the weather. Gloomy weather can cause depression, but sunshine appears to raise the spirits. In Britain, for example, the dull weather of winter drastically cuts down the amount of sunlight that is experienced which strongly affects some people. They become so depressed and lacking in energy that their work and social life are affected. This condition has been given the name SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). Sufferers can fight back by making the most of any sunlight in winter and by spending a few hours each day under special, full-spectrum lamps. These provide more ultraviolet and blue-green light than ordinary fluorescent and tungsten lights. Some Russian scientists claim that children learn better after being exposed to ultraviolet light. In warm countries, hours of work are often arranged so that workers can take a break, or even a siesta, during the hottest part of the day. Scientists are working to discover the links between the weather and human beings' moods and performance. It is generally believed that tempers grow shorter in hot, muggy weather. There is no doubt that 'crimes against the person' rise in the summer, when the weather is hotter and fall in the winter when the weather is colder. Research in the United States has shown a relationship between temperature and street riots. The frequency of riots rises dramatically as the weather gets warmer, hitting a peak around 27-30°C. But is this effect really due to a mood change caused by the heat? Some scientists argue that trouble starts more often in hot weather merely because there are more people in the street when the weather is good. Psychologists have also studied how being cold affects performance. Researchers compared divers working in icy cold water at 5°C with others in water at 20°C (about swimming pool temperature). The colder water made the divers worse at simple arithmetic and other mental tasks. But significantly, their performance was impaired as soon as they were put into the cold water - before their bodies had time to cool down. This suggests that the low temperature did not slow down mental functioning directly, but the feeling of cold distracted the divers from their tasks. Psychologists have conducted studies showing that people become less sceptical and more optimistic when the weather is sunny However, this apparently does not just depend on the temperature. An American psychologist studied customers in a temperature-controlled restaurant. They gave bigger tips when the sun was shining and smaller tips when it wasn't, even though the temperature in the restaurant was the same. A link between weather and mood is made believable by the evidence for a connection between behaviour and the length of the daylight hours. This in turn might involve the level of a hormone called melatonin, produced in the pineal gland in the brain. The amount of melatonin falls with greater exposure to daylight. Research shows that melatonin plays an important part in the seasonal behaviour of certain animals. For example, food consumption of stags increases during the winter, reaching a peak in February\/ March. It falls again to a low point in May, then rises to a peak in September, before dropping to another minimum in November. These changes seem to be triggered by varying melatonin levels. In the laboratory, hamsters put on more weight when the nights are getting shorter and their melatonin levels are falling. On the other hand, if they are given injections of melatonin, they will stop eating altogether. It seems that time cues provided by the changing lengths of day and night trigger changes in animals' behaviour - changes that are needed to cope with the cycle of the seasons. People's moods too, have been shown to react to the length of the daylight hours. Sceptics might say that longer exposure to sunshine puts people in a better mood because they associate it with the happy feelings of holidays and freedom from responsibility. However, the belief that rain and murky weather make people more unhappy is borne out by a study in Belgium, which showed that a telephone counselling service gets more telephone calls from people with suicidal feelings when it rains. When there is a thunderstorm brewing, some people complain of the air being 'heavy' and of feeling irritable, moody and on edge. They may be reacting to the fact that the air can become slightly positively charged when large thunderclouds are generating the intense electrical fields that cause lightning flashes. The positive charge increases the levels of serotonin (a chemical involved in sending signals in the nervous system). High levels of serotonin in certain areas of the nervous system make people more active and reactive and, possibly, more aggressive. When certain winds are blowing, such as the Mistral in southern France and the Fohn in southern Germany, mood can be affected - and the number of traffic accidents rises. It may be significant that the concentration of positively charged particles is greater than normal in these winds. In the United Kingdom, 400,000 ionizers are sold every year. These small machines raise the number of negative ions in the air in a room. Many people claim they feel better in negatively charged air. The number of daylight hours

Answer: influences animal feeding habits.

The text links daylight hours to melatonin levels, stating, 'The amount of melatonin falls with greater exposure to daylight.' It then explains that melatonin plays an 'important part in the seasonal behaviour of certain animals,' giving the example of 'food consumption of stags increases during the winter,' triggered by 'varying melatonin levels.' This directly connects the length of daylight hours to animal feeding habits.

Hormone levels - and hence our moods -may be affected by the weather. Gloomy weather can cause depression, but sunshine appears to raise the spirits. In Britain, for example, the dull weather of winter drastically cuts down the amount of sunlight that is experienced which strongly affects some people. They become so depressed and lacking in energy that their work and social life are affected. This condition has been given the name SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). Sufferers can fight back by making the most of any sunlight in winter and by spending a few hours each day under special, full-spectrum lamps. These provide more ultraviolet and blue-green light than ordinary fluorescent and tungsten lights. Some Russian scientists claim that children learn better after being exposed to ultraviolet light. In warm countries, hours of work are often arranged so that workers can take a break, or even a siesta, during the hottest part of the day. Scientists are working to discover the links between the weather and human beings' moods and performance. It is generally believed that tempers grow shorter in hot, muggy weather. There is no doubt that 'crimes against the person' rise in the summer, when the weather is hotter and fall in the winter when the weather is colder. Research in the United States has shown a relationship between temperature and street riots. The frequency of riots rises dramatically as the weather gets warmer, hitting a peak around 27-30°C. But is this effect really due to a mood change caused by the heat? Some scientists argue that trouble starts more often in hot weather merely because there are more people in the street when the weather is good. Psychologists have also studied how being cold affects performance. Researchers compared divers working in icy cold water at 5°C with others in water at 20°C (about swimming pool temperature). The colder water made the divers worse at simple arithmetic and other mental tasks. But significantly, their performance was impaired as soon as they were put into the cold water - before their bodies had time to cool down. This suggests that the low temperature did not slow down mental functioning directly, but the feeling of cold distracted the divers from their tasks. Psychologists have conducted studies showing that people become less sceptical and more optimistic when the weather is sunny However, this apparently does not just depend on the temperature. An American psychologist studied customers in a temperature-controlled restaurant. They gave bigger tips when the sun was shining and smaller tips when it wasn't, even though the temperature in the restaurant was the same. A link between weather and mood is made believable by the evidence for a connection between behaviour and the length of the daylight hours. This in turn might involve the level of a hormone called melatonin, produced in the pineal gland in the brain. The amount of melatonin falls with greater exposure to daylight. Research shows that melatonin plays an important part in the seasonal behaviour of certain animals. For example, food consumption of stags increases during the winter, reaching a peak in February\/ March. It falls again to a low point in May, then rises to a peak in September, before dropping to another minimum in November. These changes seem to be triggered by varying melatonin levels. In the laboratory, hamsters put on more weight when the nights are getting shorter and their melatonin levels are falling. On the other hand, if they are given injections of melatonin, they will stop eating altogether. It seems that time cues provided by the changing lengths of day and night trigger changes in animals' behaviour - changes that are needed to cope with the cycle of the seasons. People's moods too, have been shown to react to the length of the daylight hours. Sceptics might say that longer exposure to sunshine puts people in a better mood because they associate it with the happy feelings of holidays and freedom from responsibility. However, the belief that rain and murky weather make people more unhappy is borne out by a study in Belgium, which showed that a telephone counselling service gets more telephone calls from people with suicidal feelings when it rains. When there is a thunderstorm brewing, some people complain of the air being 'heavy' and of feeling irritable, moody and on edge. They may be reacting to the fact that the air can become slightly positively charged when large thunderclouds are generating the intense electrical fields that cause lightning flashes. The positive charge increases the levels of serotonin (a chemical involved in sending signals in the nervous system). High levels of serotonin in certain areas of the nervous system make people more active and reactive and, possibly, more aggressive. When certain winds are blowing, such as the Mistral in southern France and the Fohn in southern Germany, mood can be affected - and the number of traffic accidents rises. It may be significant that the concentration of positively charged particles is greater than normal in these winds. In the United Kingdom, 400,000 ionizers are sold every year. These small machines raise the number of negative ions in the air in a room. Many people claim they feel better in negatively charged air. Human irritability may be influenced by?

Answer: reaction to certain weather phenomena.

The passage notes, 'When there is a thunderstorm brewing, some people complain of the air being 'heavy' and of feeling irritable, moody and on edge.' It further explains this reaction is due to the air becoming 'slightly positively charged' during thunderstorms. This directly links human irritability to specific weather phenomena, such as thunderstorms and the associated atmospheric changes.

Do the following statements agree with the information in Reading Passage 3? Seasonal Affective Disorder is disrupting children’s education in Russia.

Answer: NOT GIVEN

The passage mentions Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) in Britain and states that Russian scientists claim children learn better after UV light exposure. However, it does not provide any information linking SAD to disrupting children's education specifically in Russia. Therefore, this statement cannot be confirmed or denied by the text.

Do the following statements agree with the information in Reading Passage 3? Serotonin is an essential cause of human aggression.

Answer: FALSE

The text states that high levels of serotonin 'make people more active and reactive and, possibly, more aggressive.' The use of the word 'possibly' indicates that serotonin is not an *essential cause* but rather a potential contributing factor to aggression. The statement makes a definitive claim that is not fully supported by the cautious language in the passage.

Do the following statements agree with the information in Reading Passage 3? Scientific evidence links ‘happy associations with weather’ to human mood.

Answer: FALSE

The passage attributes the idea that 'longer exposure to sunshine puts people in a better mood because they associate it with the happy feelings of holidays and freedom from responsibility' to 'Sceptics.' This indicates it is a skeptical argument or a common belief, not a scientifically proven link according to the text. The passage then presents other scientific evidence for weather-mood connections, but not for this specific 'happy associations' idea.

Do the following statements agree with the information in Reading Passage 3? A link between depression and the time of year has been established.

Answer: TRUE

The first paragraph introduces 'Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD),' explaining that 'the dull weather of winter drastically cuts down the amount of sunlight... which strongly affects some people. They become so depressed and lacking in energy.' This clearly establishes a link between depression and the winter season, which is a specific time of year.

Do the following statements agree with the information in Reading Passage 3? Melatonin levels increase at certain times of the year.

Answer: TRUE

The passage states that 'The amount of melatonin falls with greater exposure to daylight.' Since daylight exposure varies significantly with the seasons (e.g., less daylight in winter), it logically follows that melatonin levels would increase during times of reduced daylight, such as winter. The text also mentions 'varying melatonin levels' triggering seasonal animal behavior, implying seasonal fluctuations.

Do the following statements agree with the information in Reading Passage 3? Positively charged ions can influence eating habits.

Answer: NOT GIVEN

The passage discusses positively charged air increasing serotonin levels, which can affect mood and aggression. It also mentions negative ions making people feel better. However, there is no information provided in the text about positively charged ions influencing eating habits in humans or animals. Therefore, this statement is not given.

According to the text which THREE of the following conditions have been scientifically proved to have a psychological effect on humans? Choose THREE letters A—G

Answer: rainy weather

The text provides scientific evidence for 'rainy weather' affecting mood, stating a study showed a counselling service gets more calls from people with suicidal feelings when it rains. It also mentions 'high serotonin levels' making people 'more active and reactive and, possibly, more aggressive.' Furthermore, 'sunny weather' is linked to people becoming 'less sceptical and more optimistic' in studies by psychologists. These three conditions are explicitly supported by scientific findings in the passage.

According to the text which THREE of the following conditions have been scientifically proved to have a psychological effect on humans? Choose THREE letters A—G

Answer: rainy weather

The text provides scientific evidence for 'rainy weather' affecting mood, stating a study showed a counselling service gets more calls from people with suicidal feelings when it rains. It also mentions 'high serotonin levels' making people 'more active and reactive and, possibly, more aggressive.' Furthermore, 'sunny weather' is linked to people becoming 'less sceptical and more optimistic' in studies by psychologists. These three conditions are explicitly supported by scientific findings in the passage.

According to the text which THREE of the following conditions have been scientifically proved to have a psychological effect on humans? Choose THREE letters A—G

Answer: rainy weather

The text provides scientific evidence for 'rainy weather' affecting mood, stating a study showed a counselling service gets more calls from people with suicidal feelings when it rains. It also mentions 'high serotonin levels' making people 'more active and reactive and, possibly, more aggressive.' Furthermore, 'sunny weather' is linked to people becoming 'less sceptical and more optimistic' in studies by psychologists. These three conditions are explicitly supported by scientific findings in the passage.

Complete the statement with the best ending. It has been established that social tension increases significantly in the United States during

Answer: hot weather

The passage states, 'Research in the United States has shown a relationship between temperature and street riots. The frequency of riots rises dramatically as the weather gets warmer, hitting a peak around 27-30°C.' Street riots are a clear indicator of social tension. This directly establishes that social tension, in the form of riots, increases significantly during hot weather in the United States.

Complete the statement with the best ending.Research has shown that a hamster’s body weight increases according to its exposure to

Answer: daylight

The passage states, 'In the laboratory, hamsters put on more weight when the nights are getting shorter and their melatonin levels are falling.' Shorter nights directly correlate with longer days, meaning increased exposure to daylight. This increased daylight exposure is linked to their body weight increase.

Complete the statement with the best ending. Animals cope with changing weather and food availability because they are influenced by

Answer: time cues

The passage explains, 'It seems that time cues provided by the changing lengths of day and night trigger changes in animals' behaviour - changes that are needed to cope with the cycle of the seasons.' These seasonal cycles involve changing weather and food availability, indicating that animals use these time cues to adapt.

Which paragraph contains the following information? All people have the same reaction to a certain point of view.\t

Answer: E\t

Paragraph E discusses how 'Psychologists have conducted studies showing that people become less sceptical and more optimistic when the weather is sunny.' It also mentions 'Sceptics might say that longer exposure to sunshine puts people in a better mood because they associate it with the happy feelings of holidays and freedom from responsibility.' While not explicitly stating 'all people,' this paragraph focuses on general human reactions and common interpretations of weather's effect on mood, which is the closest match to the statement among the given options.