Direction: In the following questions, you have two brief passages with 5 questions in each passage. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.
Passage
At first sight, silence would seem to be the essence of non-communication. Yet we know that in some circumstances silence can speak volumes. It is also a potent tool in the communication tool-box, for the speaker, as it adds emphasis to point, allowing time for its full significance to sink in. Handled skillfully, it can build up anticipation for what is to come - the pregnant pause. It gives opportunity to make eye contact with the audience and gauge their reactions. It is an essential component of the timing of one’s delivery. For the listener, silence can buy time, either to digest what has been said or to consider a response, or both. Silence will often lure the speaker into saying more than he or she may have intended.
SOME IMPORTANT WORDS
(1) potent (Adj.) : powerful
(2) significance (N.) : the importance of something
(3) sink in (Phr. V.) : to be fully understood/realized
(4) anticipation (N.) : the fact of seeing that something might happen in the future and perhaps doing something about it now
(5) a pregnant pause (Id.) : an occasion when nobody speaks, although people are aware that there are feelings/thoughts to express
(6) gauge (V.) : to make a judgement about something, especially people’s feelings/attitudes
(7) buy time (Id.) : to do something in order to delay an event, a decision, etc.
(8) lure (V.) : to persuade/trick somebody to do something by promising him a reward