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DIRECTIONS (1-5):
Read the following passage and answer the questions as directed.
Two years after the World Health Organization labeled air pollution a global "public health emergency", and the House of Commons environment committee used the same phrase to describe the situation in the UK, new evidence shows that breathing unsafe air causes a loss of intelligence, particularly in the over-64s. The research, carried out in China, showed that test scores declined when people breathed toxins including nitrogen dioxide and particulate, with language ability more affected than maths. This news, though alarming, is unlikely to change anything straight away. China has been engaged in a "war against pollution" for five years, while governments and policymakers around the world already have ample evidence that pollution is extremely harmful. Top of the list of dangers is the way it worsens heart and lung diseases including asthma and emphysema, while one study last year suggested a link to dementia.
The problem is both global and national: urbanisation and increasing car use mean that pollution is on the rise internationally, while the UK government is under huge pressure to clean up air that has broken EU legal limits for the past eight years. Western capitals do not feature in the WHO's lists of the planet's most polluted cities, and levels of most pollutants in the UK have fallen (though not ammonia, a byproduct of farming). But increased scientific understanding of the damage to health caused by gases such as nitrogen oxides makes inexcusable the complacency of which we have seen so much, both under the current Conservative government and its coalition predecessor. London mayor Sadiq Khan's "ultra low-emission zone", which comes into force next year and will charge the most polluting vehicles to enter central London, looks set to be a game-changer. Government analysis shows clean air zones to be by far the most effective measure in reducing nitrogen oxides. But critics think it is still too …………….., while leaders of other cities are calling for government funding to implement their own clean air zones, as well as a new clean air act to provide a national framework. Campaigners struggle to understand why the public outcry is not loud or angry enough to force the government to act, when air pollution is thought to be a factor in shortening the lives of 40,000 people in the UK every year. So do all those who worry about air pollution, among them parents anxious about the impact on growing lungs. The usual answer is cars, and the fact that even if people would like their cities to be cleaner, they don't want restrictions on their freedom to drive.
GENERAL ENGLISH:
READING COMPREHENSION, VERBAL REASONING, VERBAL ABILITY
READING COMPREHENSION, VERBAL REASONING, VERBAL ABILITY
DIRECTIONS (1-5):
Read the following passage and answer the questions as directed.
Two years after the World Health Organization labeled air pollution a global "public health emergency", and the House of Commons environment committee used the same phrase to describe the situation in the UK, new evidence shows that breathing unsafe air causes a loss of intelligence, particularly in the over-64s. The research, carried out in China, showed that test scores declined when people breathed toxins including nitrogen dioxide and particulate, with language ability more affected than maths. This news, though alarming, is unlikely to change anything straight away. China has been engaged in a "war against pollution" for five years, while governments and policymakers around the world already have ample evidence that pollution is extremely harmful. Top of the list of dangers is the way it worsens heart and lung diseases including asthma and emphysema, while one study last year suggested a link to dementia.
The problem is both global and national: urbanisation and increasing car use mean that pollution is on the rise internationally, while the UK government is under huge pressure to clean up air that has broken EU legal limits for the past eight years. Western capitals do not feature in the WHO's lists of the planet's most polluted cities, and levels of most pollutants in the UK have fallen (though not ammonia, a byproduct of farming). But increased scientific understanding of the damage to health caused by gases such as nitrogen oxides makes inexcusable the complacency of which we have seen so much, both under the current Conservative government and its coalition predecessor. London mayor Sadiq Khan's "ultra low-emission zone", which comes into force next year and will charge the most polluting vehicles to enter central London, looks set to be a game-changer. Government analysis shows clean air zones to be by far the most effective measure in reducing nitrogen oxides. But critics think it is still too …………….., while leaders of other cities are calling for government funding to implement their own clean air zones, as well as a new clean air act to provide a national framework. Campaigners struggle to understand why the public outcry is not loud or angry enough to force the government to act, when air pollution is thought to be a factor in shortening the lives of 40,000 people in the UK every year. So do all those who worry about air pollution, among them parents anxious about the impact on growing lungs. The usual answer is cars, and the fact that even if people would like their cities to be cleaner, they don't want restrictions on their freedom to drive.
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