Direction: In the following questions, read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.
PASSAGE
The destructive process of Mountain Top Removal mining (MTR) has caused permanent damage to Appalachia. Although the law requires that mining companies restore the mountaintops after the mining has been completed, the 1.5 million acres of mountains that have already been removed cannot be re-grown, re-built, or replaced. The companies do secure the rock formations to prevent erosion and landslides, but their efforts cannot recreate the once beautiful mountain landscape. Furthermore, while companies are usually vigilant about securing the rock formations, they seem less interested in restoring the native vegetation. MTR operations clear enormous tracts of forest. Environmental hazards are not only created in preparing a mountaintop for mining, they also continue once the coal has been extracted. After the blast, the excess mountaintop — which miners refer to as “overburden” — is usually dumped into nearby valleys or streams. The overburden contains a variety of toxic substances, including explosive residue, silica and coal dust.

Direction: Read the following passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.
PASSAGE
Chameleons can make their skin colour change, but not because they decide to. The colour changes to help the chameleon avoid its enemies. It is a form of camouflage, a disguise that lets it blend in with its surroundings. The
SEE–994
COMPREHENSION TEST
change is actually determined by environmental factors, such as light and temperature. Bright sunlight causes the skin to darken. On cool nights, the colour fades to a creamy colour. The colour also changes when chameleons are excited, angry or afraid. The colour change is rapid and increases when the chameleon is handled, injured, or approached by another chameleon. There are many types of chameleons. Almost half of them are found on the African island of Madagascar. The others mostly occur in the Sahara Desert, with few in Western Asia and Southern Europe. Chameleons live in trees, where they usually eat insects. Very large chameleons may even use their sticky tongues to catch birds.
SOME IMPORTANT WORDS
(1) camouflage (N.) : the way in which an animal’s colour/shape matches its surroundings and makes it difficult to see