KPDS 1992 LKBAHAR

*** When it was formed many million years ago the earth was a
liquid. It is still cooling and many miles below the hard crust is still
hot. However, in some places the heat is closer to the surface.
These places are associated with volcanic activity or hot sulphur
springs. By drilling deep into the earths crust we can reach rocs
that are much warmer than those at the surface. !umping water
down into contact with these rocs and e"tracting the steam so
produced is a source of energy that can be used to produce
electricity. It is called geothermal energy.
*** The #apanese have a special way of maing decisions. They
call it the consensus system. This is how it wors. When a firm is
thining of taing a certain action, it encourages worers at all
levels to discuss the proposal and give their opinions. The purpose
is to reach consensus $general agreement%. &s soon as everyone
agrees on the right course of action, the decision is taen. Because
of this method, a group of worers, rather than a person, is
responsible for company policies. 'ne advantage of this is that
decisions come from a mi"ture of e"perience from the top, the
middle and the bottom of an enterprise. &nother advantage is that
(unior staff frequently suggest ideas for change. & disadvantage,
perhaps, is that decision)maing can be slow.
*** *abies is a very frightening disease because once symptoms
develop it is always fatal. The disease is caused by a virus and it
affects many species of animals, particularly dogs, (acals, fo"es
and bats. In Britain no indigenous case of human rabies has been
reported since +,-. but it is widespread among animals in most
parts of the world. /nfortunately, in the last 0- years the disease
has been spreading across 1urope from the 1ast, especially in
fo"es, and has now reached 2orthern 3rance. 3or this reason strict
animal quarantine laws are in force in Britain and it is rightly
regarded as a serious offence to attempt to evade them.
*** When we turn to the problem of fishing, we see that through a
/2 4onvention on the 5aw of the 6ea, the worlds nations have
indicated that they recogni7e the riss of over)fishing. 2ations can
now declare .--)mile e"clusive economic 7ones and e"clusive
fishing 7ones and control the catch at a level that is sustainable.
8eveloping nations seem to be beginning to benefit from the new
fisheries regime which offers the promise of allowing them to
manage fishing resources for optimum, that is long)term, benefits.
*** The e"act number of people who died in the cyclone that struc
Bangladesh last year will probably never be nown. Winds reaching
+9: miles per hour hammered the countrys low)lying south)eastern
coast for nine hours, at one point driving a wall of water roughly .-
feet high across the area ; one of the most densely populated
places in the world. It was the strongest storm ever recorded in the
region. The official news agency reported that +.:.--- victims had
been confirmed dead, but it was believed that the toll was actually
much higher.
*** Written communication is the basis of much communication in
business. This includes letters, reports, memoranda, notices, tele",
and fa" messages. &lthough written communication is a slower
form of communication than verbal or oral, it provides a record of
what is being discussed so that disagreements are avoided and
accuracy can be checed< it will also be more detailed than other
forms of communication, with the possibility of technical points
being e"plained and interpreted.
KPDS 1992 SONBAHAR
*** 2igeria is heavily dependent on the e"port of crude oil to finance
industrial development. ,-= of 2igeria>s e"ports by value are crude
oil. &t current production rates, nown reserves are only sufficient
until the end of the century. Industrialisation was boosted after I,?0
following the fourfold increase in oil prices. In the early +,@-s
prices fell, and 2igeria lost important income. 'il production
peaed in +,?9 when output reached ++. million tonnes.
*** *eal depression cannot be as easily overcome as some people
often suppose. It usually passes with time ) but the time can seem
endless. &ctivities giving companionship and a new interest can
help. But for the sufferer to tal, again and again, about the causes
of the depression helps most. !eople with depression need to be
listened to and encouraged to find their own solutions, not made to
feel yet more inadequate by good advice. They may need
professional counselling as well as the support of family and
friends.
*** Aany art museums and galleries and many individuals in the
world faced financial problems in +,?: as the effects of world
recession deepened. 'n the surface, things seemed to continue as
before, with important e"hibitions in ma(or museums attracting
large crowds. But smaller galleries and the artists whose wor was
shown by their resourceful proprietors fared less well, and over the
long term it is the wor of young artists that determines the course
of art for the future.
*** 4omputers should never have acquired the e"alted status they
now have. 3ascinating and invaluable as they are, even the most
advanced have less brain power than a three)year)old. They do,
however, score on single)mindedness. The three)year)old uses his
brain not only to thin but also to do tass lie seeing, hearing and
running about, which need incredibly rapid and sophisticated
electro)mechanical interactions ) we too run on electricity. But the
computer (ust sits there and sends spacecraft to the moon or re)
organises the world baning system, which is very much easier.
That>s why mans dream of robot servants is still a long way off.
*** The dramatic growth of the worlds population in the twentieth
century has been on a scale without parallel in human history. Aost
of this growth has occurred since +,:- and is nown as the
population Be"plosion>. Between +,:- and +,@- the world
population increased from .,: to over 9 billion, and by the end of
the century this figure will have risen to at least C billion. Drowth of
this si7e cannot continue indefinitely. *ecent forecasts suggest that
the total population will level)out at between +- and +: billion in the
mid twenty)first century. &lready there are encouraging signs that
the rate of increase in many less developed countries is beginning
to slow down.
*** Aany substances, whether man)made or natural, can cause
harm to man or the environment. 6ome of these reach the
environment in waste streams< however, emission limits and
environmental quality standards can, in some instances, reduce the
amounts released. But some other substances cannot be controlled
in this way because they are released, not in industrial waste
streams, but through the use or disposal of products which contain
them. In many cases these substances pose little or no threat if the
product containing them is used and disposed of properly. The right
way to deal with them is usually through controls over their supply,
use and disposal.
KPDS 1993 LKBAHAR
*** The practical advantages of prefabrication are twofoldE It is
quicer and it does away with uncertainty. 6peed in building is
important in these days because of the high cost of landE the time
during which such an e"pensive commodity is out of use must be
reduced to a minimum. &nd, partly or wholly prefabricated methods
of construction save time on the (ob because parts are prepared in
the factory beforehand. !refabrication does away with uncertainty
because it means that the whole building is made of standard parts
the behaviour of which is nown and has been tested.
*** 4omputers can store vast amounts of information in a very
small space and are used by the bans to eep accounts, print out
statements and control transactions. They are also used by the
police to eep personal records, fingerprints and other details. In
the rapidly developing field of robotics computers are now being
used to control manual operations done by mechanics. These, too,
are taing over wor, previously done by people in the manufacture
of cars, in weaving and in other industries. 4omputers play an
important role in controlling artificial satellites, decoding information
and communications generally. They are used to predict the
weather with increasing accuracy.
*** 5ooing ahead from the present position where food production
has ept ahead of population growth globally, but has fallen per
capita in :: $mainly &frican% countries, it would seem that these
trends will continue. &bout 0- countries ) most of them &frican ) can
e"pect serious problems unless they reduce population growth and
give higher priority to agriculture and conservation. Though a
warmer, wetter earth with high 4'. levels is liely to be capable of
producing more food, the amounts will still be inadequate for many
poorer countries. In many cases, the population pro(ections are
greater than the entire local land resources can support.
*** !sychology is literally the study of mind $or soul% but its areas
has broadened somewhat in the last century as we have learned
that one cannot consider the mind as totally isolated from the body,
and it now includes the study of human personality and behaviour.
It is important to realise that psychologists are first and foremost
trained as scientist rather than as medical e"perts and do not
necessarily tae much interest in abnormalities of the brain and
mental processes.
*** &id to underdeveloped countries taes many forms and it is
given for many reasons. /nderdeveloped countries need aid to
provide finance for development pro(ects< to provide foreign
e"change with which imports for development purpose can be
bought< and to provide the trained manpower and technical
nowledge they lac. The motives of the donor are not always
humanitarian. F&idG can tae a military form< it can be used to
support an incompetent or un(ust government. 2or is aid always
beneficial to the recipient country. It may be wasted on ill)conceived
or prestige pro(ects, or cause the government simply to rela" on its
own efforts.
*** Both as a profession and a science, economics lost
considerable prestige during the recession of +,?9)?:. The crisis
that sei7ed the western industrialised countries including #apan
was of a character not to be found in economics te"tboos. *ate of
inflation e"ceeding +-= a year coupled with declining production
and high levels of unemployment. Hitherto, peacetime inflation had
been associated with high employment and an overactive
economy, while high rate of unemployment went with the recession
or depression. The ne"t combination was apply called stagflation.
KPDS 1993 SONBAHAR
*** There are twelve and a half acres of land for each man, woman,
and child in the world today. However, only three and a half acres
of this land can be cultivated. If the population of the world reaches
si" billion by the year .---, there will be only one and a half acres
for each person. Aan (ust increases his production of food. 'ne
scientist has said that the world could support ten billion people if
better agricultural methods were used everywhere. The supply of
food can also be increased by the control of plant diseases, and by
the irrigation of desert lands. By using these ways and others, man
can feed himself and his fellow men.
*** Though there has always been a certain amount of concern
about pollution since the start of the Industrial *evolution, this was
largely an interest of relatively limited numbers of concerned
people. But during the +,C-s there was a great upsurge of an"iety
which was reflected internationally by the calling of the 6tocholm
/2 4onference. In response to the rising public pressures, action
has been taen mainly in the industrial countries, even though
sometimes reluctantly and with many warnings from industry and
governments about the costs. However, in many areas there has
been a gratifying improvement.
*** 3or nearly a decade now, the manufacturing of automobiles has
been undergoing radical changes. The principle cause is the
introduction of new production and management techniques,
originally engineered by Toyota and subsequently applied by other
#apanese car manufacturers. This is called FleanG production. It
implies no less a revolution in the process of car manufacturing
than the mass production Henry 3ord introduced at the beginning
of the century. In fact, lean production combines the advantages of
craft and mass production. & vital feature of this production
technique is that it achieves its highest efficiency, quality and
fle"ibility when all activities ) form design to assembly ) occur in the
same area.
*** Auch in medicine which is now taen for granted was
undreamed of even as recently as :- years ago. !rogress in
diagnosis, in preventive medicine and in treatment, both medical
and surgical, has been so rapid as to be almost breathtaing.
Today a doctor retiring from active practice will among other things
have seen smallpo" completely eradicated, tuberculosis become
curable, coronary artery disease relievable surgically. 'ne aspect
of medicine still resistant to progress in understanding is the effect
of mind on body. Aany of us still lie to thin that our bodies are
(ust something we have got into, lie cars, that ill health is simply
something that has Fgone wrongG in one system or another and that
therefore provided we find the appropriate e"pert to correct the
fault, we will recover.
*** 2ational income is a measure of the total income accruing to the
residents in a country in return for services rendered. It therefore
consists of the sum of wages, salaries, profits and rents. But not all
these income accrues to persons< for instance, companies do not
distribute all their profits to shareholders and some nationalised
industries earn profits. This is part of national income but not of
personal income. 'n the other hand, some personal incomes are
not payments for services rendered. 6uch incomes are called
transfer incomes to emphasise that their payment does not add to
the national income, but only transfers income from one agent to
another. Included in this category are retirement pensions, family
allowances, and student grants.
*** &ccording to the /nited 2ations sources, world population in
mid)+,@: was, :,.,- million, an increase of ,- million in one year.
Aore than half of the total live in &sia $:C,, per cent%. 8ifferent
countries are at different stages in a demographic transition from
the stability provided by a combination of high birth rate and high
death rate to that provided by a combination of low birth rate and
low death rate. Their recent population history and current trend of
growth, the age)structure of their population, and consequently
their population potential for the near future are all widely different.
Aost rapid growth is in &frica with rates of over 0 per cent in some
countries. In most 1uropean countries the rate is less than + per
cent.
KPDS 1994 LKBAHAR
*** 1ver since 2obel pri7e)winner 5inus !auling first advocated
vitamin 4 as a common)cold war weapon more than .- years ago,
researchers have been busy trying to verify that claim. But so far,
they>ve found little evidence that vitamin 4 prevents colds ) in fact,
there are more studies that say it doesn>t. But there is evidence that
it can eep coughing and snee7ing to a minimum, and that low
levels of vitamin 4 in the body may be related to bronchitis.
*** 6ince early times it has been assumed that the actions of
animals are unconscious. Behaviour, in this view, stems almost
e"clusively from instinct. If animals behave in ways that seem
pretty clever, they do so without thining about it. &nimals may
now things, the argument goes, but they don>t now that they
now. 'r do they nowH *ecent research reports suggest a
startling depth of intelligence among animals. &lthough no one can
yet >prove> the e"istence of animal consciousness, the data offered
mae a compelling case for at least considering it.
*** The first universities developed in 1urope in the +.th century.
By +C-- Western 1urope boasted +-@ institutions of higher
learning, many of which had obtained special privileges from
e"isting regimes because of their close association with the
4hurch. In most 1uropean countries, universities were designed
primarily for the sons of nobility and gentry. 6cholarly standards
were low, and scholarship was irrelevant for most professions.
1ducation for earning a livelihood in, say, medicine or law could be
acquired after college by serving as an apprentice.
*** The effects of sleep loss are sub(ect to a number of popular
misconceptions. The belief that everyone must sleep @ hours a
night is a myth. &ccording to the results of a recent survey on the
sub(ect, dults average about ? to ? + I . hours of sleep per night,
and many individuals function effectively with : to C ours of sleep.
In fact, .- percent of the population $slightly more in men% sleep
less than C hours per night. &nother significant fact is that sleep
time decreases with age.
*** /ntil recently, many archaeologists too the view that civili7ed
communities first arose in 1gypt, though only a very short time
before a similar development In AesopotamiaE a more recent
opinion is now that the earliest advances may have taen place in
Aesopotamia. Whichever view is followed, it is necessary to bear in
mind that geographical conditions in both regions were not
identical, and it can in fact be stated that in Aesopotamia
environmental factors were not as wholly favourable as In the
valley of the 2ile.
*** 8ates and periods are necessary to the study and discussion of
history, for all historical phenomena are conditioned by time and
are produced by the sequence of events. !eriods especially, are
retrospective conceptions that we form about past events< they are
useful to focus discussion, but very often they lead historical
thought astray. Thus, while it is certainly useful to spea of the
Aiddle &ges and of the Jictorian &ge, those two abstract ideas
have deluded many scholars and millions of newspaper readers
into supposing that during certain decades called the Aiddle &ges,
and again during certain decades called &ge of Jictoria, everyone
thought or acted more or less in the same way) till at last Jictoria
died or the Aiddle &ges came to an end. But in fact there was no
such sameness.
KPDS 1994 SONBAHAR
*** 6ociety is, regrettably, less interested in the individual than in
the position which he occupies. 'ne almost never ass a person
FWho are youHG, but one onstantly ass FWhat do you doHG. 3or one
reason or another, people are assorted into various categories
which determine the roles they are to play in society. This assorting
process, called social differentiation, goes on in all societies.
Women as a class have a status distinct from that of men, and
children have a status unlie that of adults.
*** Aercury has a number of interesting properties and a variety of
industrial uses. It e"pands at a constant rate through the range of
temperatures at which it is a liquid. Because of this property and
because it does not cling to glass, mercury is often used in
thermometers. &t ordinary temperatures it evaporates very slowly
and can thus be left in an open container for long periods of time.
3or this reason it is used in one type of barometer. Aercury is a
good electrical conductor and is used in sealed electrical switches.
&n electric current passing through mercury vapour causes it to
give off light, hence its use in certain inds of lamps.
*** !rotoplasm, which is the fundamental basis of life, is constantly
undergoing physical and chemical change. 5ife, therefore, is the
resultant of these constantly occurring changes. There are two
great groups into which living things may be classedE plants and
animals. Both the plant and the animal ingdoms are very
e"tensive. It is customary, therefore, to regard the science of life
under two comprehensive heads, namely, botany which is the study
of plants, and 7oology which is the study of animals. Both sub(ects
are subdivided into various specialised sections.
***Aany observers, including policy maers, mistaenlyassume that
economic competition between nationsmust result in winners and
losers. It has beendemonstrated, however, that international
tradeincreases the wealth of all participants, even thosewith lower
productivity than their trading partners. Thereal issue, it appears, is
the way internationalcompetition affects all inds of goods that any
countryproduces. It seems that the proper role of governmentis to
ensure that its people are prepared to compete inthose industries in
which they could or should have anadvantage.
***Those who visit the Aediterranean are invariably impressed with
its unity. 1verywhere it is the same, for the shades of difference
here is less important than the resemblances. Ket this unity is the
result of aggressive contrast< sea and mountain, sea and desert,
sea and oceanL In these respects the Aediterranean is very
different from either central 1urope, or high tablelands of &sia, the
6yrian and 6aharan deserts, or even the &tlantic 'cean.
*** It is the opinion of most archaeologists that civilisation first
developed in the Aiddle 1ast, where, of all the regions in the world,
natural conditions offered the greatest assistance to man in his
changeover from a life of nomadic wandering as a hunter to settled
occupation of the soil. The regular rise of the three larger rivers,
2ile 1uphrates, and the Tigris< annual renewal of soil fertility by the
deposition of a layer of silt< and the generally warm climate,
favourable both to the growth of a rich plant)life, and to the
activities of man himself, were all special inducements to the
adoption of a way of life based on agriculture.
KPDS 1995 LKBAHAR
*** In Britain, the Mueen is a constitutional monarch. In law she is
the head of the e"ecutive, an integral part of the legislature, head of
the (udiciary, commander)inchief of the armed forces and temporal
head of the 4hurch of 1ngland. In practice, the Mueen>s role is
purely formalE she reigns, but she does not rule. In all important
respects she acts only on the advice of her ministers. However, she
still plays an important role symbolically as Head of 6tate and Head
of the 4ommonwealth.
*** 'f all the environmental problems facing us today, global
warming is liely to have the most devastating effects. In order to
combat these, the emission of harmful gases must be reduced< for
this purpose, the rainforests, which absorb carbon dio"ide in vast
quantities must be protected. Dlobal warming will place a premium
on energy efficiency, for controlling global warming inescapably
means reducing the burning of fossil fuels. The two industries that
are most obviously going to be affected are the power suppliers
and the vehicle manufacturers, but since energy is consumed by
almost everything we manufacture, design or do, the effects will be
felt everywhere.
*** The +,?-s were a period of mared economic recession in the
West. The effects were widespread, even the publishing sector was
badly hit. Inflation continued to push up the costs of paper and
printing, increasing the price of boos generally and reducing the
amount of money available for the publication of new and
e"perimental wor. There was a growing sense, in the world of
literature no less than in other spheres of production, that this crisis
must involve changes that would be neither simple nor temporary.
*** Built by the disconsolate 1mperor 6hah #ahan in memory of his
wife, the Ta( Aahal mausoleum has survived the rise and fall of
many empires and it attracted looters, too< over the years they
carried away the silver doors from its gates, the precious stones
from its marble wallE and the gold from its graves. But those were
small threats compared with the modern danger of pollution.
1missions from the coal)fired steel foundries thermal power
stations, cars and an oil refinery in the industrial belt around &gra
are corroding and yellowing the Ta( Aahal>s white marble.
*** /sually educational processes involve not only learning, but
teaching as well. There is, however, no logical connection in this
case. 1ducation can go on without any teaching. W e can say it
was a >real education for someone to tae a boat out on his own,
implying that he learnt something desirable without anybody having
been there to teach him the lesson. There are many forms of
learning that go on without teaching and Beducative> learning does
not mean that the learning must tae place in a teaching situation.
It may be argued that most things are learnt more rapidly and more
reliably in a classroom situation. But even so, learning is not
dependent upon teaching.
*** 6ince health care accounts for nearly one seventh of the
&merican national economy, any attempt to reform it enters a
minefield of e"plosive issues. !resident 4linton>s health)care plan,
many e"perts say, might shae up the health)insurance industry so
violently that it could shrin from about :-- to as few as to +-
companies< costing thousands of (obs. Businesses complain that
new health)coverage contributions would be disastrous< there is
even tal that up to a million (obs will be lost as a consequence.
Though the &merican Aedical &ssociation has so far sent signals
that it would endorse the plan, the physicians themselves and the
ta"payers are e"tremely worried about it.
KPDS 1995 SONBAHAR
*** In one century of strenuous research a vast amount of source
material about Aichalengelo has been collected, reviewed, edited
and annotated including letters, poems, contracts, receipts and
biographies. Biographical and artistic data have been checed and
recheced, sometimes corroborating and sometimes correcting our
previous ideas, and an abundance of new facts has been revealed.
5ong lost wors have been rediscovered and every single nown
piece has been studied in its formal and functional aspects. The
artists character, his daily habits, his woring methods, his
personal attitudes and his artistic and political opinions have been
traced as well as the peculiarities of the people with whom he had
contact. Thus modern history of art has formed an image of
Aichalengelo that is much nearer to truth than those presented by
his first biographers.
*** The fact that the brain is divided into a left and a right half is not
a new discovery. 'nce the sull is removed the division is obvious
to the naed eye and it is a common feature of brains throughout
the animal ingdom. What is interesting about this division in man
is that each half seems to have developed specialised functions,
the left side appearing to be better at some tass and the right side
better at others. The most obvious difference in functioning is that
the left side of the brain receives sensations from and controls the
right side of the body and vice versa. The reasons for this are still
unclear. 8espite a number of interesting theories there is no
obvious advantage in such a crossover.
*** 3or years the theory of higher education in the /nited 6tates
operated something lie thisE men went to university to get rich, and
women went to university to marry rich men. 8uring the C-s, as a
result of the fact that this theory lost much of its popularity, as the
nation began to recogni7e the folly of relegating women to a
secondary role, women soon (oined men in what once were male
pursuits. This rebellious decade pushed women toward
independence, showed them their potential and compelled them to
tae charge of their lives. Aany women too this opportunity. 6ince
then famine autonomy has been the rule not the e"ception at least
among university women.
***The collection of foreign intelligence, which is the pursuit of a
special ind of information, is an indispensable service for any
government having even the most elementary international
associations. 2ations must devise a strategy to provide for both
their security and well)being. History teaches us that responsibility
cannot be met without nowledge of the political, economic and
military capabilities and intentions of other nations. Indeed advance
nowledge of these matters, or its absence, could well settle the
fate of a great nation especially in an era when a single nation or
consortium of nations is capable of smashing another society in a
single stroe or of controlling it under the threat of poised
catastrophe. The well)being of any great nation will depend on
decisions taen by others, which must be foreseen, correctly
analysed and countered.
*** & sub(ect in which there has been a lot of interest recently is the
acquisition of language. B2ormal children ) that is, those who have
not had a particularly rich early environment ) usually begin taling
after the first year of their life. By eighteen months they have a
vocabulary of about half a do7en words< at two years a vocabulary
of more than a hundred words. The traditional view has been that
during the first year of life babies are not mature enough to learn
languages. Taling, however, is only the outer manifestation of the
development of the language. 5ong before he first utters a
meaningful word a baby can be observed responding to the
language of the others.
*** 1conomic dynamics have decisively shifted from the national
economy. 3rom now on, any country and also any business,
especially a large one that wants to prosper will have to accept that
it is the world economy that leads and that domestic economic
policies will succeed only if they strengthen or at least do not impair
the countrys international competitive position. This may be the
most important ) it surely is the most striing ) feature of the
changed world economy.
KPDS 1996 LKBAHAR
*** Today, the /nited 6tates is in the grip of a second Industrial
revolution. While the first, stretching from the +@?-s to the +,?-s,
shifted the main sector of the &merican economy from agriculture
to industry, the new revolution is shifting the economy away from
traditional NsmoestacN manufacturing industries to those based
upon information, services and new technologies. It too the
country decades to accommodate the cultural and social changes
resulting from the first industrial revolution and it would be rashly
optimistic to assume that &mericans will not face serious stresses
in coming to terms with the changes that are transforming the
worplace today.
*** & great many boos have been written on computers, computer
programming languages, particularly 3ortran. To produce another
boo on 3ortran, even the newest 3ortran IJ, probably seems
unreasonable to most, and it is with mild trepidation that, I, the
author, embar on this pro(ect. However, several good reasons can
be stated for doing (ust that. Aost computer professionals will agree
that the field of computer and information science has quicly
become a valid discipline for academia and that rapid changes are
occurring in computer programming languages. Both of these facts
demand that a new direction be taen in presenting the sub(ect.
*** /ntil the late l,th century most &merican museums and art
academies considered watercolor an amateur pursuit or a
preliminary to serious wor in oils. Aany &merican watercolorists
saw the medium as a holiday diversion, using portable paint bo"es
and a free style to mae what they called NsnapshotsN of their
travels. In contrast, a few recognised the e"ceptional capacity of
watercolours as a medium to provide clear and luminous colours in
wors that would evoe the ever changing nature of laes and
rivers they new so well, and ultimately vie for supremacy with oil
paintings in ma(or art collections.
*** NHuman rightsN is a fairly new name for what were formerly
called Nthe rights of manG. It was 1leanor *oosevelt in +,9-s who
promoted the use of the e"pression Nhuman rightsN when she
discovered, through her wor in the /nited 2ations, that the rights
of men were not understood in some parts of the world to include
the rights of women. The Nrights of manG at an earlier date had itself
replaced the original term Nnatural rightsN, in part, perhaps, because
the concept of natural law, with which the concept of natural rights
was logically connected, had become a sub(ect of controversy.
*** &fter +,00 the Western World realised that it was living in
another age of absolutism, or rather, in an age of totalitarian
dictatorship far worse than the worst of the old absolute ings< such
regimes could be seen to be enforcing a NlawN that was the
command hardly of a NsovereignN but of a cruel and genocidal
despot. It was ordinary people who protestedE NThis cannot be law.
5aw, if it is to deserve the name of law, must respect at least some
basic rights to which every human being is entitled simply because
he is human.N
*** The shopping centre emerged in the early +,--s in the suburbs
that encircled &merican cities. 6uburbs of that time tended to be
chiefly residential and to depend on the traditional city centres for
shopping.The first suburban commercial centres had three
identifiable features< they consisted of a number of stores built and
leased by a single developer< they were usually situated at an
important intersection, and they provided plenty of free, offstreet
paring. These Nshopping villagesN resembled small)town shopping
districts, both in their architecture
which was carefully traditional, and in their layout, which integrated
them into the surrounding neighbourhood. The stores faced the
street and the paring lots were usually in the rear.
KPDS 1996 SONBAHAR
*** 4ertain features of the motorway undoubtedly ease the strain of
driving. Dradients and bends are so controlled as to obviate the
necessity of sharp braing and the absence of traffic approaching
from the other direction removes one of the commonest sources of
accidents. Aany dangers remain, however, made more terrible by
the high speeds of vehicles. & collision at seventy miles an hour is
almost inevitably in its results. & mechanical defect in the car or a
puncture can lead to loss of control and catastrophe. The car
should be completely roadworthy and tyre pressures and treads
need to be checed at regular intervals.
*** The &ntarctic is the most remote continent in the world and the
last to be discovered, but nevertheless constitutes about one tenth
of the worlds land surface. 6o far it has escaped the worst of
mans destructive ingenuity but today it is threatened by mans
insatiable appetite for natural resources, and seems to be in danger
of losing its pristine environment which serves as the perfect
natural laboratory for scientists to pursue nowledge for its own
sae.
*** Inflation is process of steadily rising prices, resulting in a
diminishing of the purchasing power of a given nominal sum of
money. In other words, you can buy fewer goods for + pound in
8ecember than you could in #anuary of the same year. 'ne type of
inflation is nown as demand)pull inflation. This occurs under
conditions of full employment, when demand e"ceeds supply of
goods< that is to say, when people want to buy more goods than
are available. The process of demand)pull inflation operates as
follows. &n increased demand for goods leads to an increased
demand for labour, resulting in higher wages and salaries. This has
the effect of increasing costs of production and thus causes
increased prices. However, as wages and salaries are higher, the
increased demand for goods continues, and so the cycle goes on.
*** In the business world today, many companies are showing less
interest in the theoretical potential of their staff and more in what
they are actually doing at the time. &s an alternative or supplement
to (udging academic credentials, many firms have developed
FassessmentcentresG in which employees handle simulated
business problems, in a setting as close to real life as possible, to
demonstrate their competence or indicate the need for training.
4andidates for administrative (obs, for e"ample, might wor their
way through a sample in)bo". Bosses find those promoted because
of their assessment)centre scores to be competent and the
candidates feel the system is fair. In fact, the systems can be
woring well and giving satisfaction.
*** In 1minent Jictorians 5ytton 6trachey portrays four dominating
personalities of the nineteenth century. He is, noticeably, free of
undue reverence for the great< indeed his satirical view of life
enables him to discover in them many flaws which were discreetly
overlooed by previous historians. !erhaps his portrayal of Deneral
Dordon is the most controversial of all. 4ertainly he was a gifted
and gallant soldier, but was he also an unbalanced mystic and a
self opinionated eccentricH His portrait of 8r &rnold is also
disturbing. Was he a wise and foreseeing educationalist and
headmaster or try sternly imposing his will on the students in careH
The questions thus raised are intensely provocative and mae
reading stimulating.
*** If the ey to good nutrition is consuming a variety of foods, then
vegetables can truly stand as the cornerstone of a health diet. 'f all
foods, they offer the most diversity. There are literally hundreds of
varieties available to us, and because of careful plant breeding,
todays vegetable harvest is continually being e"panded and
improved. In addition, vegetables are replete with nutrients. They
supply nearly all of the vitamins and minerals required for good
health, many of them ; especially starchy vegetables lie potatoes
and winter squash ) contain comple" carbohydrates, which furnish
us with energy. Aost also provide dietary fiber, and a few, such as
lima beans and potatoes, can contribute significantly to our protein
intae. &t the same time, vegetables contain no cholesterol, have
little or no fat, and are low in calories. In nutritional parlance,
vegetables are Fnutrient denseG ; that is, their store of nutrients is
relatively high for the number of calories they supply.
KPDS 1997 LKBAHAR
*** The unfavourable effects of cigarette smoing on the heart have
frequently been described, but the e"act basis for these effects has
not been clarified. 6ome investigators believe nicotine to be culprit
and there has been some e"perimental wor in animals indicating
that large doses of nicotine in con(unction with cholesterol feeding
and vitamin 8 could produce a disease of the arteries resembling
that seen in humans. &n alternative e"planation has been offered
by other scientists who have pointed to the possible role of carbon
mono"ide being inhaled with the cigarette smoing.
*** &griculture remains the most crucial area for development, here
it seems that the most intractable problems of resistance to change
e"ist. 'ne may argue that scientific training in agriculture by itself is
unliely to have any mared impact on agricultural output. &ny
attempt at vocational training in agriculture presupposes that a
meaningful structure of incentive e"ists for the individual farmer to
increase his output, improve his techniques, and e"pand his range
of activities. Without such incentives and opportunities, agricultural
education can have little impact.
*** 6ome decades ago there was hardly such a sub(ect as the
economics of education. Today it is one of the most rapidly growing
branches of economics. Together with health economics, it maes
up the core of the economics of human resources, a field of inquiry
which in the last few years has been silently revolutionising such
traditional sub(ects as growth economics, labour economics,
international trade, and public finance. 4onsequently, the
economics of education with its concept of human investment has
rapidly transformed large areas of orthodo" economics.
*** Tigers grow to lengths of ten feet or more and can be bigger
than the largest lion. They have immense strength. They clutch
their prey to them, holding on with their claws, and depend on the
crushing bite of their powerful (aws to end the struggle. They swim
very well and can often be seen splashing about in water on very
hot days, since they apparently suffer from heat. When the air is
chilly, however, they avoid wet or damp vegetation. They can climb,
but do not approach the leopards ability in this. They can negotiate
treacherous rocy areas but generally prefer to stay on level
ground. They are not as well equipped with senses as one might
e"pect. They apparently depend on their hearing while hunting.
Their eyesight is not particularly good, they seem unable to spot
prey until it moves.
*** 6cientists have long sought ways to define and measure human
intelligence. &nd while theories of intelligence have grown more
sophisticated since the +@--s when some believed mental abilities
were determined by the si7e of a persons head, researchers still
do not agree about certain fundamental principles of human
thought. They, therefore, continue to debate such basic questions
as whether heredity or the environment is more important in
forming intelligence.
*** The novelist 1. 5. 8octorow is best nown for his mi"ing fiction
with historical fact, by placing his stories within the framewor of
public events. In fact, by integrating the front)page news of the .-th
century &merica with the lives of his characters, 8octorow gives
readers the Bfeel of an era, combining the unusual and the
commonplace. His latest novel BWorlds 3air shows how the events
of the turbulent +,0-s helped mold the sensibilities of his young
protagonist.
KPDS 1997 SONBAHAR
*** In +,C9 the /nited 2ations 4onference on Trade and
8evelopment was held. 3or the first time the poorer nations of the
world came together to act as a pressure group on trading matters.
The 4onference made the following recommendations. The
8eveloping countries should be given free access to world marets
for their manufactures and semi manufactures by the elimination of
quotas and tariffs. International commodity agreements should be
made for each ma(or primary commodity in world trade to stabilise
commodity prices. Aoreover, compensation schemes, whereby the
underdeveloped countries are compensated for the declining prices
of their primary products, were recommended for consideration.
The 4onference also resolved that the developed countries should
aim to provide at least + per cent of their national income as aid for
the underdeveloped countries.
*** In earlier centuries it was thought that a great continent must
e"ist in the southern hemisphere, around the 6outh !ole, to
balance the nown land masses in the north. Its real e"tent was
better understood in the +@th century, particularly when 4aptain
4oo sailed for the first time south of the &ntarctic 4ircle and
reached the edge of the icepac. & portion of the ice)covered
continent was first sighted by 1dward Bransfield in +@.-. 1"plorers
of several other nations also sighted portions of the coast)line in
other quarters and wrote detailed accounts of their observations.
However, in the light of these accounts, the first e"tensive
e"ploration was made by 4aptain #ames 4lare *oss in +@9+
when a great part of the &ntarctic was discovered.
*** 'ceanography is the scientific study of the worlds oceans
which cover over ?- percent of the earths surface. The beginnings
of modern oceanography go bac to the +@?-s when, for the first
time, wide ranging scientific observations and studies of the oceans
were undertaen by British. 6ince then, oceanography has
developed into a highly technical and interdisciplinary science
which is now divided into several fields of study. These are
biological oceanography, which deals with the study of the marine
organisms and marine ecology, chemical oceanography, which is
concerned with the composition of sea water, and physical
oceanography, which studies ocean currents, tides, waves, and the
role played by the oceans in climate and weather. Deological
oceanography is also another branch of oceanography and is
mainly concerned with the formation, composition and evaluation of
the ocean basins. 'ceanographic nowledge is essential to allow
e"ploitation of the enormous food, mineral and energy resources of
the oceans wi
*** In +,9:, following the 6econd World War, the allies that is, the
/nited 6tates, the 6oviet /nion, and Britain drew up and signed the
!otsdam &greement. The main points of this agreement were that
militarism and Hitlerism should be destroyed< that industrial power
should be so reduced that Dermany would never again be in a
position to wage aggressive war< that surplus equipment should be
destroyed or transferred to replace wreced plants in allied
territories< that Dermany should be treated as an economic whole,
and that local self)government should be restored on democratic
lines as rapidly as was consistent with military security.
*** The police are a regular force established for the preservation of
law and order and the prevention and detection of crime. The
powers they have vary from country to country and with the type of
government< the more civilised and democratic the state is, the less
police intervention there is. 1ngland, compared with other
countries, was slow to develop a police force, and it was not until
+@., that 6ir *obert !eels Aetropolitan !olice &ct established a
regular force for the metropolis. 5ater legislation established county
and borough forces maintained by local police authorities
throughout 1ngland and Wales.
*** The International Ban for *econstruction and 8evelopment
$IB*8% nown as Fthe International BanG or as Fthe World BanG is
an agency of the /nited 2ations established in +,9:. It has the
primary function of maing loans available to assist developing
countries. /sually, loans are made to finance specific pro(ects of
investment in underdeveloped countries< and the Ban will normally
mae a loan only if it is satisfied that the investment will yield a
revenue sufficient to enable the payment of interest on the loan,
and repayment of the sum lent. In +,@0 the Ban made loans to the
value of O0.0-- million. Thus a si7eable amount of lending is
channelled through the Ban, but it is clear that some pro(ects of
great value to underdeveloped countries cannot be financed in this
way, because they would not yield returns quicly enough or large
enough to meet the Bans requirements for interest and
repayment.
KPDS 1998 LKBAHAR
*** !aper has been nown in one form or another from very early
times. The papyrus reeds of the 2ile swamps served the ancient
1gyptians for sheets upon which to inscribe their records. The
4hinese and #apanese, centuries later, were using something more
ain to modern paper in substance, an &siatic paper)mulberry,
yielding a smooth fibrous material, being utilised. With the spread
of learning in Western 1urope the necessity of a readier medium
made itself felt, and paper began to be manufactured from pulped
rags and other substances. 'ther papermaing staples were later
introduced, such as linen cotton and wood)pulp. The chief raw
material in the world paper industry now is wood)pulp, the main
e"porters being the timber)growing countries of 4anada, 6weden
and 3inland.
*** The great e"pansion in energy demand over recent years has
been met to a large e"tent by petroleum oil. The total world
reserves of petroleum oil are still uncertain since large parts of the
world are still not fully prospected. The cutbac in oil production
and the rise in the price of Aiddle 1astern oil following the +,?0
&rab)Israeli war unleashed a worldwide energy crisis which
affected the economies of consumer countries. 'ne result of this
crisis has been that Britain has increased its 2orth 6ea oil
production and become the fifth largest oil producing country in the
world.
*** In +,-0 the /nited 6tates signed a treaty with !anama, which
gave the /nited 6tates rights in perpetuity ever a +C m wide strip
of land e"tending across the narrowest part of !anama for the
purpose of building and running a canal. The canal built, now
nown as the !anama 4anal, connects the &tlantic and the !acific
'ceans and is (ust over @- m long. Its depth varies from +. to .C
meters. It is constructed above sea)level, with locs and has been
available for commercial shipping since 0 &ugust +,+9. &n
agreement was reached in +,?@ for the waterway to be turned over
!anama by the end of the century.
*** When there has been a serious disaster such as an earthquae
or flooding, various relief efforts are rapidly put into effect. However,
e"perience has shown that it is usually impractical to attempt mass
immunisation immediately following a disaster and that, when
attempted, it detracts from the overall relief effort without producing
a discernible benefit. 1ffective immunisation requires prior planning
good systems of communication and transport and access to the
population at ris. These requirements cannot be met in the
immediate postdisaster period. 1fforts to achieve mass vaccination
in the relief phase also drain whatever limited manpower,
communication facilities, and transportation e"ist.
*** /niversities are institutions of higher education whose principal
ob(ects are the increase of nowledge over a wide field through
original thought and research and its e"tensions by the teaching of
students. 6uch societies e"isted in the ancient world, notably in
Dreece and India, but the origin of the /niversity as we now it
today lies in medieval 1urope, the word FuniversitasG being a
contraction of the 5atin term for corporations of teachers and
students organised for the promotion of higher learning. The
earliest bodies to become recognised under this description were at
Bologna and !aris in the first half of the +.th century. '"ford was
founded by an early migration of scholars from !aris, and
4ambridge began with a further migration from '"ford. 'ther
universities sprang up all over 1urope from the +9 th century
onwards.
*** *omanticism is a term for a movement in the arts, that is, in
music, painting, sculpture or literature, which sees to give
e"pression to the artists feelings about his sub(ect rather than to be
concerned with form and reality. The romantic view is that art is
nature seen through a temperament< the realist view, on the other
hand, is that art is a slice of life. In painting 8elacroi" $+?@,)+@C0%
is the romantic artist par e"cellence with his uncontrolled
e"pression of the passions and love of the e"otic. In literature the
*omantic movement reached its finest form in the wors of Doethe,
6chiller and Heine< in the poetry of Byron, Peats, Wordsworth,
6helly and Blae< and in the writings of Jictor Hugo. 6ince
*omanticism is partly a matter of temperament in the artist (ust as
4lassicism is, it may be found at all times and places, although
whether or not it becomes predominant depends on contemporary
taste.
KPDS 1998 SONBAHAR
*** 1liminating poverty is largely a matter of helping children born
into poverty to rise out of it. 'nce families escape from poverty they
do not fall bac into it. Aiddle)class children rarely end up poor. The
primary reason poor children do not escape from poverty is that
they do not acquire basic mental sills. They cannot read, write,
calculate or articulate. 5acing these sills, they cannot get or eep
a well)paid (ob. The best mechanism for breaing this vicious circle
is to provide the poor with better educational opportunities. 6ince
children born into poor homes do not acquire the sills they need
from their parents, they must be taught these sills in school.
*** 2ot (ust in substance but in manner too, *obin Trevelyan, who
is the !rime Ainisters new righthand man, is a politician in the old
style. He avoids the flourish which characterises modern politicians.
His speeches are at best unemotional, at worst dull. He is all but
incapable of inspiring an audience. His face is ine"pressive, solid
almost. He evades maing promises and is completely lacing in
vision. He is a politician whose talent has never been to inspire the
mob.
*** Wor is central in British culture. When someone ass one
BWhat do you doH, they really mean BWhat wor do you doH. When
a woman is ased B8o you worH, what is meant is B&re you doing
a paid (obH. Ket many people without a paid (ob wor at other inds
of productive activities. Women, notably, perform an unpaid Bdouble
shift in the home as houseeepers and mothers. To confine the
term Bwor to paid employment, therefore, restricts it far too
narrowly. There are many other inds of wor, some of which can
tae more time and energy than we put into our paid employment
from the voluntary woring in the garden to repairs to the house or
the car. In other cultures, wor is not as highly valued as this< some
people value leisure more, and wor only as much as they need in
order to provide basic necessities.
*** &lcohol, nicotine and caffeine are psychoactive drugs that are
freely available in our society. Their wide spread use shows that
they provide a common solution to the problems of vast numbers of
individuals. The e"tent and the nature of their use is not , however,
uniform but varies with the particular sub)culture involved. To tae
alcohol, for e"ample, there are wide differences between the
drining habits and rituals of merchant, seamen and businessmen,
between Italians and #ews. 1ach sub)group in society will have a
conception of what the permissible and desirable effects of alcohol
are, how much it is necessary to drin to achieve this desired state<
what is normal and what is deviant drining behaviour.
*** In the early +,?-s, there was a great deal of optimism about
improving womens position, ending male privilege and doing away
with gender divisions and even gender difference. 1qual
opportunities legislation was enacted in many countries, and the
voice of the womens movement was heard criticising
discrimination between the se"es in every sphere of woring life.
2ow it is clear that legislation can mae only a marginal difference
to entrenched patterns of (ob segregation and inequality. The
voices of feminism, too, are varied< some demand equality with
men while others pursue the revaluation of womens sills and
Bwomanly virtues.
*** &ll of us are born, all of us will die< but there is infinite variety in
the nature and circumstances of these two events themselves and
in what happens to our bodies and our minds in between. 6ome
individuals, for e"ample, are born without difficulty and grow
uninterruptedly during childhood and adolescence, suffering at
worst only minor infectious diseases and accidents. &s adults, they
reproduce their ind. They age gradually until, in e"treme old age,
they die peacefully without pain or discomfort. This is an idealised
picture of how we would lie things to be, rather than the reality that
most people e"perience. 8eath comes to many of us, not when we
are old, but during or before birth, in infancy, in adolescence, in
early adulthood or in middle age.
KPDS 1999 LKBAHAR
*** The &ma7on is the largest river in the world. It carries about a
quarter of the world>s running water and is the second longest after
the 2ile. Auch of it is brown, bracish, piranha)infested and bitterly
cold. *anging from narrow tributaries and raging rapids to stretches
of prodigious width and calm, the river>s bans can tae half a day
to reach. In parts, it can drop up to 9- metres in less than a
ilometre 3urthermore, it runs through deep canyons and steep
gorges that have been carved out by its turbulent waters.
*** The great window)dresser Dene Aoore seems to have been
self)taught. &s a young man his main idea was to get away from
Birmingham, &labama, then a town of steel and pollution. It was, he
said, the wrong place to be born in for anyone with dreams. He
dreamt of being a concert pianist and then of being a painter. But
he decided that he did not play very well, and presently gave up
painting. In 2ew Kor in the +,0-s he got various casual (obs. 'ne
was with a store that decided he had flair and put him in its display
department, and that was the start of his career. He wored for a
number of shops promoting their wares, and built a reputation for
innovative ideas.
*** !ollution is no respecter of national boundaries today. But
environmental scientists can still be surprised by the distances that
large quantities of industrial pollutants can sometimes be carried by
winds. 3or instance, a group of chemists at the /niversity of
Washington in 6eattle have been involved in a case study of such
pollutants which reached the West 4oast of &merica all the way
from &sia. They are een to understand how such an event could
tae place and to what e"tent it could have been forecast. In fact,
bac in Aarch +,,?, pollutants such as carbon mono"ide from &sia
had been spotted as far across the !acific 'cean as Hawaii. Thus,
it seems increasingly liely that the West 4oast of &merica is
particularly e"posed to pollution from &sia.
*** Aost poetry anthologies are assembled by poets. This is not
necessarily a good thing. They are in fact assembled for many
different reasons. 6ome resemble star charts, trying to define the
scope of the new and show us what direction poetry is heading.
'thers turn their ga7e on the past, seeing to define poetries of
earlier centuries or to identify influential currents of thining and
feeling. Ket other anthologies strive to present enduring images of
the beautiful for the reader>s pleasure, as if poems were bunches of
flowers.
*** 1verybody needs vitamins and minerals to remain healthy. The
questions are, which ones, how much and whenH &nd the answer
is surprisingly simpleE tae QQQ. &ctually, the 8epartment of Health
has recognised +@ essential vitamins and mineral that we need on
a daily basis. The daily amount required of these vitamins and
minerals is termed the *ecommended 8aily &llowance $*8&%. QQQ
meet this requirement and more. &s a new vitamin comple", it
contains these +@ essential vitamins and minerals, plus a total of no
less than 0+ other micro nutrients, including the complete
antio"idant group and folic acid. There is no more complete a
multimineral multivitamin on the maret. 6o, because you dont
always eat as you should, it maes sense to tae QQQ.
*** In #apan, there is a government investment and loan
programme, nown as 7aito. /nlie normal government spending,
7aito relies not on ta" revenues but on people>s savings. These are
drawn from the publicly)owned postal savings system, which by law
must place all deposits with 7aito, and from the postal life)insurance
schemes and various pension funds. The finance ministry, which
has run 7aito for more than +-- years, then lends the money out.
8uring the second World War, 7aito financed #apans military build)
up. &fterwards, it paid for reconstruction and helped to channel low)
cost funds into such strategic industries as steel and car)maing.
Aore recently, it has turned to FsocialG investments, such as
infrastructure pro(ects and housing.
KPDS 1999 SONBAHAR
*** 1dison, one of the pioneers of modern technology, laced
formal education. His understanding of literature, art, history and
philosophy was superficial. &lso, despite the fact that he had
invented the phonograph and founded a recording company, his
musical taste was abominable. He is, therefore, sometimes
regarded with disdain by academic scientists, who often forget that
his ingenuity, inquiring spirit and tireless efforts contributed
significantly to the development of modern technology.
*** /nder increasing social pressure in the late nineteenth century,
some universities opened their doors to a small number of women.
Aore significant, however, was the founding of many women>s
colleges, frequently run by women. These colleges strove over the
years to maintain a curriculum equivalent to that of the largely male
universities. Therefore, many leaders of the women>s college
movement saw themselves as social reformers. &lthough women
entered universities in large numbers in the first half of the
twentieth century, their participation was limited by their
professional ob(ectivesE teaching, social wor, nursing, home
economics and the lie were Nwomen>s fieldsN.
*** &tmosphere is the gaseous envelope of the earth, and consists
of a mi"ture of gases and water vapour. The variability of the latter
is meteorologically of great importance. The o7one layer, which
absorbs solar ultraviolet radiation, especially lethal to plant life, lies
between +. and :- ilometres above the earth. The lower level of
the atmosphere, up to a height of about +. ilometres, is nown as
the troposphere, and it is in this region that nearly all weather
phenomena occur. This is the region of most interest to the
forecaster studying temperature, humidity, wind)speed and the
movement of air masses.
*** 1dger 5awrence 8octorow is ::, and on almost anyones list he
is counted among the leading serious &merican novelists today.
&lthough he is not simply a writer of comedies, his boos sell
widely, and three have been made into movies. *eaders, some
critics e"cepted, have come to relish the blending of the fact and
fiction that mars his odd scrutiny of the &merican past. In his
recently published boo, Worlds 3air, he turns his historically
inventive method on himself drawing heavily on material taen from
his +,0-s boyhood.
*** William 6aroyans parents and relatives were &rmenian
immigrants who settled in the farming area around 3resno,
4alifornia. 6aroyan left school at fifteen and went to wor, doing
odd (obs. 8uring this time he read widely and began writing in his
distinctive natural style. By the late +,0-s his many short stories,
novels and plays had established him as a writer. Aany of his
stories have grown out of his e"periences in the &rmenian
community around 3resno.
*** 3or many years after At. 1verest had been shown to be the
highest mountain in the world, political conditions in 2epal, lying
south of the summit, and in Tibet to the 2orth, prevented
mountaineers from attending an ascent. &t last in +,.+ the Tibetan
authorities gave permission and the first e"pedition organised, as
were all subsequent e"peditions by international (oint committee,
was sent out. This was primarily a reconnaissance. Besides
mapping the 2orthern flan, it found a practicable route up to the
mountain. By +,0,, si" further e"peditions had climbed on the
northern face. 6ome were hampered by bad weather, others by
problems previously little nown, such as the effect of high altitudes
on the human body and spirit. 2evertheless, notable climbs were
accomplished, though the summit was never reached.
KPDS 2000 LKBAHAR
*** Heat)waves, if the temperature is high enough, above 9-R- for
instance, lead to wilting, and even death in plant, because of
structural damage to essential proteins. The problem is that plants
react by closing their pores when, due to a serious heat)wave, they
are sub(ected to water stress, so shutting down on transpiration
and conserving water. #ust as the body would overheat
dangerously if it shut its pores to prevent sweating, so, in a plant,
the shutting of the pores will cause permanent damage, if not
death. Temperatures above ):R- can damage most plants if lasting
for half an hour or more. High soil temperatures will also damage
roots and prevent nutrient uptae.
*** & conspicuous feature of cities in many countries, in particular
those of Western 1urope, is that buildings and streets devastated
during the war are, once peace is reinstated, rebuilt in e"actly the
same manner as they e"isted before. 1normous efforts are taen to
recreate the environment with total fidelity. This reflects the e"tent
to which ordinary people value the traditions and culture of the
past. In #apanese cities, however, one sees little evidence of such
respect for tradition. Toyo presents an e"treme e"ampleE it is quite
common these days for the appearance of a street or quarter to
change almost beyond recognition every year. In provincial cities as
well, one often finds that an absence of several years has rendered
a city almost unrecognisable.
***Aodern education is almost e"clusively focused on preparing
children for an urban future, as consumers in a global FfreeG maret.
This maes a return to any sort of rural e"istence almost an
impossibility for those tutored by the Western education system in
the .+st century. The fact is that, for all the fashionable tal about
cultural diversity, schools, colleges and universities today prepare
their graduates poorly for anything other than a uniform urban
e"istence. We educate the young from country to city alie, to be
urban with urban appetites, sills, minds, dependencies and
e"pectations. &nd as globalised, future will overwhelmingly mean
an urban future, our graduates of tomorrow will be trained, above
all, to eep the wheels of the global economy running, with all the
implications that has for nature and society.
***!eople in other 1uropean countries have been wondering for
some time why and how 2orway has stayed out of the 1uropean
/nion. &ustria, 3inland, 6weden (oined in +,,9, almost without any
public debate, (ust a few months after their governments had
proposed the (oining. By then, the 2orwegians had been debating
the issue for 00 years, ever since their government had started the
drive towards unionisation. 'ne reason for the success of
2orwegian resistance is that in both +,:. and +,C?, when the
2orwegian government sent off applications for (oining the 114,
!resident 8e Daulle of 3rance re(ected the proposals. He feared
that the inclusion of 2orway, as of 1ngland, would complicate and
slow down 114 integration.
*** In its full force the Dulf 6tream, which begins in the Dulf of
Ae"ico, carries warm water to a depth of up to +-- meters at rates
of up to @ ilometres an hour, and penetrates right up into the &rctic
4ircle to the north of 6candinavia, bearing with it a climate that
maes life (ust about tolerable, even in the thic of the winter. The
energy it carries in the form of heat is equivalent to +-- times the
entire use of energy in human societies across the world or put
another way, more than .?,--- times Britain>s electricity generating
capacity. In terms of temperature the Dulf 6tream heats the surface
over a wide area by at least :R4. Were the)Dulf 6tream to fail,
temperatures over northern 1urope would fall by more than +-
centigrade degree during the winter months. 2orthern 1urope
would have a climate comparable to that of 6iberiaE (ust how it
would support its current population is difficult to imagine.
*** Within a short time after the outbrea of the 6econd World War,
Britain was without imports of many vital pharmaceuticals that had
formerly come from #apan, Dermany and the 3ar 1ast. &s a result,
the first wartime government set up systematic research into the
cultivation and medical use of herbs, By +,9-, women>s voluntary
organisations had been drawn into a national campaign to gather
wild herbs, /p and down the country, 4ounty Herb 4ommittees
were organised to oversee the gathering, drying, distillation and
distribution of the medicinal herbs. 5ay people were given brief
locally)based training in how to recognise herbs, store and dry
them. 3armers were given subsidies to farm certain naturally hard)
to)find herbs. By +,90, every county had its herb committee and
during the five years of the 6econd World War, over ?:- tons of
dried herbs were gathered and turned into medicines.
KPDS 2000 SONBAHAR
*** *estorative (ustice does not as >how do we punishH>, but
instead ass >how do we get people to tae responsibility for what
they have doneH>. !aying a fine, or even going to prison are easy
options for some people. They are all ways that offenders can
avoid taing responsibility, because in this way they never have to
face the human reality of what they have done. !risons have been
called Nuniversities for criminalsN. Koung people go in for unpaid
fines, often for victimless crimes, and they come out with a degree
in burglary or worse. I am not saying that the answer is to tear
down all prisons. 3ar from it. There are people who are dangerous
to society, who the community will want to eep loced up. !rison
can also be part of a sentencing pacage under restorative (ustice.
But the vast ma(ority of people in prison are not violent, and do not
need to be there. What they do need is to be brought face to face
with the human reality of the harm they have
caused, and they must be given an opportunity to rectify.
*** In the coming wees, wine maers north of the equator will
oversee the harvesting and fermenting of the first vintage of the
millennium. But long before the finished product reaches the
shelves ) before it even maes it out of the barrel, in some cases )
samples will be offered to e"porters and distributors. & select group
of wine critics will also be given a taste. Aost will record their
impressions in the e"travagant prose that wine (ournalists
unfortunately love to use. 'thers will go one step further and assign
numerical grades. These days a high score is more effective than
mere praise. it can mae a comparatively unnown wine into a
highly desirable one that everyone is seeing to buy.
*** 'ne never finishes learning about art. There are always new
things to discover. Dreat wors of art seem to loo different each
time one stands before them. They seem to be as ine"haustible
and unpredictable as real human beings. It is an e"citing world of
its own with its own strange laws and its own adventures. 2obody
should thin he nows all about it, for nobody does. 2othing,
perhaps, is more important than (ust thisE that to en(oy these wors
we must have a fresh mind, one which is ready to catch every hint
and to respond to every hidden harmonyE a mind, most of all that
has not been dulled by the terminology and ready)made phrases of
art appreciation. it is infinitely better not to now anything about art
than to have the ind of half)nowledge which maes for
snobbishness. The danger is very real.
*** In theory, the multimedia age should be illing off booshops.
Who still has time to read boos, what with surfing the Internet,
viewing scores of new digital television channels, and putting in
ever)longer hours at worH &nd presumably those few people who
do still read boos will be buying them on the Internet. &fter all,
&ma7on, a booseller, is the most cited e"ample of a successful
online retailer. 6o much for the theory. What about the practiceH
This wee the largest booshop in Britain opened up in the old
6impson>s of !iccadilly in 5ondon. With .C:,--- titles and +.:
million boos, the new branch of Waterstone>s stretches over seven
floors. & department store, which once sold everything from sushi
to plus)fours, is now devoted entirely to one product ) boos. The
new Waterstone>s is almost ne"t door to Hatchards, a mere five)
storey booshop, with a wellestablished clientele, and two smaller
booshops. It is also less than a mile from Borders, another huge
boostore in '"ford 6treet.
*** The seventeenth)century scientist 3rancis Bacon was the first to
insist that science be methodically separated from values so as to
mae it truly >neutral>, or ob(ective. In reality, he did nothing of the
sort. His >scientific nowledge>, instead of being value)free, set out
e"plicitly and purposefully to give humanity power over nature.
>Truth and utility are perfectly identical,> he wrote in his F2ovum
'rganumG, and >that which is most useful in practice is most correct
in theory>. In effect, he merely replaced the old >sub(ective> values of
>good> and >evil> with the values of >useful> and >useless>, or more
precisely >of contributing or not contributing to man>s domination
over or transformation of the natural world>. There were to be no
limits to this transformation. His goal was e"plicitly stated. It was to
>achieve all things achievable>. &t least he was honest enough to
admit the fact. Aodern science has followed Bacon>s lead e"actly,
but does not admit it.
*** If a greater proportion of the food people eat were to be locally
produced, this would be of great benefit to the farmer. & mi" of
local, regional, national, and international production would still be
available< indeed, the goal would not be to put an end to the
international trade in food, but to avoid transporting food thousands
of miles when it could instead be produced ne"t door. 6uch a shift
would help revitalise rural economies ruined by the global
economy. 5ess money would go into the hands of corporate
middlemen, and far more would remain in the hands of farmers,
This would especially be the case with the direct mareting of food
via farmers> marets and farm stands and other forms of
community supported agriculture. If farmers were not impelled to
specialise their production in a few global commodities, the trend
towards ever larger and more highly mechanised farms would slow
down. Aoreover, since small farms use a proportionally higher
amount of human labour than mechanised inputs, a return to
smaller farms would help bring bac some of the ?--.--- farm (obs
the /P has lost during the last halfcentury of agricultural progress.
KPDS 2001 LKBAHAR
*** In the case of shallow tunnels or in urban areas it is often
possible. by means of carefully sited boreholes, to gain an idea as
to the nature of the ground and water conditions. /nder high
mountains boring becomes e"pensive so reliance has to be placed
upon geological interpretations. &s strata can vary so much,
surprises are often met with and techniques sometimes have to
change in a single tunnel. In the 6evern railway tunnel $9 mls C.@
yd long, completed in +@@C% great quantities of water were
une"pectedly encountered and are still being pumped out.
*** &s with all revolutions, the causes of the &merican *evolution
which separated the original thirteen &merican colonies from Dreat
Britain were social, economic and political and so ine"tricably
interwoven that it is difficult to appraise them. 3irst there was the
distance from Dreat Britain and the environment of a new country
which, whether they willed it or not, had gradually over a period of
+:- years turned 1nglishmen into &mericans. The older stoc was
largely 1nglish but the bul of them, as a contemporary historian
commented. Nnew little of the mother country, having only heard of
her as a distant ingdom, the rulers of which had in the preceding
century persecuted and banished their ancestors to the woods of
&mericaN. With each generation and with each move westward old
contacts were broen. 3urthermore large groups of colonists had
come from Dermany, Ireland and other parts of 1urope and had no
ties with 1ngland and, in the case of the Irish, no affection.
*** Translation renders nowledge mobile. The tas of the scientific
translator, no less than the literary translator, has been to create
new te"ts, to multiply sources into new languages, and thereby to
produce new NoriginalsN. 'ver time, translation itself has built a
great scientific library, ever more enriched, and accessible.
&lthough we may thin of scientific translation as literal, mechanical
wor, this has never been the case. The reasons for this are
comple", but have much to do with the lac of e"act one to)one
correspondence among languages. Translating science always
involves interpretation, the remaing of an original. If it did not,
machine translation would have long ago rendered the scientific
translator e"tinct.
*** The ideal of a family life shared by all in +,th century 1ngland
survived into the early .-th century, until home life was seriously
dislocated in +,+9 by World War I, which was a war on the largest
scale the world had ever nown. But since the last decade of the
+,th century new developments and inventions had been rapidly
affecting the home life of an increasing number of people. Town
and country were nit more closely together by easier railway
travel, cheap and efficient postal services, the popularity of the
bicycle, the development of the petrol engine and the cheap
popular newspaper< such things as these helped to brea down
social formalities and to place women again on a more equal
footing with men.
*** Aost people tae it for granted prices will always nice and
understandably so. & C-)year)old &merican has seen them go up
by more than +.--- = in his life time. Ket prolonged inflation is a
comparatively recent phenomenon. /ntil about C- years ago prices
in general were as liely to fall as to rise. 'n the of the 3irst World
War, for e"ample, prices in Britain, over all, were almost e"actly the
same as they had been at the time of 5ondon in +CCC. 2ow the
world may be reverting to that earlier normality. The prices of many
things have fallen over the past +. months or so. 2ot only
computers and video players, but a wide range of goods) from cars
and clothes to coffee and petrol ) are in many countries, cheaper
than they were a year ago.
*** Water of doubtful purity for drining can be rendered safe by
boiling and then can be cooled in water bags or in earthenware
containers, which must be protected from dust and flies when
boiling is not possible, drining water can in many areas be
adequately sterilised by chlorination< one tablet of hala7one is
added to one litre of water and allowed to stand for 0- minutes.
Water containing suspended matter should be filtered first. There
is, however the danger of a particularly serious infectious disease
in many regions of &frica, the Aiddle and 3ar 1ast and 6outh
&merica. In these regions the water of rivers, laes and canal may
be infected, and the disease is acquired when the water comes in
contact with the sin.
KPDS 2001 SONBAHAR
*** The great e"pansion in energy demand over recent years has
been met to a large e"tent by petroleum oil. The total world
reserves of petroleum oil are still uncertain since large parts of
world are still not fully prospected. The cutbac in oil production
and the rise in the price of Aiddle 1astern oil following the +,?0
&rab)Israel war unleashed a worldwide energy crisis. The result
has been that Britain has increased its north sea oil production and
has become the fifth largest oil producing country in the world.
*** The continent of 6outh &merica loos as if it managed to
escape the attentions of the British 1mpire. However, this was
more because the British didn>t need to e"ert formal control over
the countries and peoples of this continent. The Aonroe doctrine
imposed by &merica, served British interests quite well enough.
The doctrine made it clear that the /nited 6tates would not tolerate
foreign meddling in the &mericas. This policy meant that Britain
could get all the benefits of trade and investment in 6outh &merica
with very little of the administrative costs. In addition, it could be
reasonably safe in the nowledge that other 1uropean states
wouldn>t be able to steal the marets through anne"ation. Britain
had very strong commercial lins with 6outh &merica, especially
with &rgentina. In many ways, the influence and power that Britain
could hold over the policies of the individual 6outh &merican states
meant that they could almost be termed as being part of Britain>s
informal empire. The islands in the region that were formally
anne"ed were done so mostly out of strategic naval considerations.
*** 3ailing to discover any account of the purposes, for which
nature is arranged as it is, and finding the e"planations actually
offered by the philosophers to be suspect and non illuminating,
6ocrates abandoned all his effort to find out why things are as they
are by e"amining nature itself. He turned instead to the
e"amination of NlogosN that is, statements, arguments, or in
general, words)as a way of discovering something true. The
distinctive feature of 6ocratic inquiries is that they too as their
immediate ob(ect not some phenomenon in the natural world but
some person and his ideas. 6ocrates hoped that by
methodologically and repeatedly e"amining someone>s ideas he
might ultimately lead him to the discovery and establishment of the
truth.
*** 1ach year thousands of people are diagnosed with congestive
heart failure ) a condition in which a weaened heart can>t pump
much blood as the body needs. 8rugs lie beta)blocers help
stabili7e many patients in the earliest stages of the disease. But
there aren>t a lot of options for fols in the later stages. Heart
transplants are one solution, but they are short in supply. It is such
good news to hear that another type of mechanical pump, called a
left ventricular assist device, may be a viable alternative. Instead of
replacing the heart entirely, the device attaches to the organ>s left
main chamber, boosting its output. The device is twice as liely as
drugs to eep patients alive after one year.
*** Hong Pong, with a population of about C.@ million at mid).---,
is a small but dynamic city which has earned an international
reputation as a leading commercial and financial center as well as
a highly efficient port. 6ubsequent historical and political events led
to the development of the manufacturing industry. Hong Pong has
also seen a rapid e"pansion of its services sector in the past two
decades, contributing over @: per cent of Hong Pong>s Dross
8omestic !roduct $D8!% in recent years. Hong Pong has a two)tier
system of representative government. &t the central level, the
5egislative 4ouncil legislates, approves ta"ation and public
e"penditure and raises questions on the wor of the Dovernment.
&ccording to the Basic 5aw, the 5egislative 4ouncil is to be
constituted by election.
*** 4ollege students who eat all their meals at one of the college or
university regulated food services are liely to be offered a well)
balanced diet. The offering of well)balanced meals does not
ensure, however, that the students mae wise selections. In
addition many students eat their meals in restaurants or other
public eating)places where they may not be offered foods that
provide all the nutrients needed by the body. 4ollege students,
generally speaing, are well fed< few of them show e"treme
deficiency symptoms. Aany students, on the other hand, are
operating at a level below their achievement potential because of
the insufficiencies in their diet.
KPDS 2002 LKBAHAR
*** 8oes advertising encourage waste by persuading consumers to
buy goods that they do not needH In reply to this, it has been
pointed out that all the consumer really needs, is a bare minimum
of clothing, food and shelter, and that one of the distinguishing
mars of any civili7ed community is that it lives well above the
minimum subsistence level. Aost advertising is designed to
influence the consumer>s spending power. In western countries,
advertising has played a great part in bringing labour saving
equipment, and so a degree of leisure, and even lu"ury, to millions.
&dvertising that encourages the public to want more is also claimed
to act as an incentive maing people want to earn more in order to
buy the goods advertised, and therefore maing them wor harder.
3or this reason advertising has been defended as having an
essential part to play in the move towards higher standards of
living. The defenders of advertising also point out that it is not
solely concerned with encouraging the public to spend. Bans,
insurance companies and building societies are amongst the
commercial advertisers who encourage saving.
*** Though Italy>s national boundaries have altered relatively little
since unification in the +@C-s, national identity is qualified by sharp
internal differentiation. 1conomic and occupational structures,
standards of living, political loyalties, cultural traditions and even
language vary substantially between parts of the country. 'nly
since the +,?-s has there e"isted a comprehensive system of
regional government with financial and legislative authority.
However, the division of powers between central and regional
governments is imprecise, and in practice the latter depend on
substantial resources from the former. In the absence of clear and
effective rules, relations between the regions and the central
government are determined by a process of political bargaining. In
this process, political alliances and personal linages play a vital
role. In this respect, the Italian system may be defined as a ind of
federalism.
*** 6ir !hilip 6idney was a +Cth)century 1nglish poet and critic. His
8efence of !oesyis the only ma(or wor of literary criticism in
si"teenth)century 1ngland, a period during which Italy and 3rance
produced large numbers of critical treatises, heavily influenced by
&ristotle>s !oetics. By contrast, 6idney>s te"t is highly eclectic,
drawing together aesthetic principles from several traditions and
emphasi7ing especially those principles that are of primary
importance to the 1li7abethansE ideal imitation, moral teaching and
decorum. 5ooing bac to &ristotle, 6idney defines poetry as an
imitation of nature, but lins that imitation to his view of the poet as
maer. The poet imitates not the real nature we see but rather he
imitates an ideal nature. 6idney also maes large claims for the
didactic role of poetry, following Horace>s idea that poetry teaches
by delighting.
*** &lthough the idea of the syscraper is modern, the inclination to
build upward is not. The Dreat !yramids, with their broad bases,
reached heights unapproached for the ne"t four millennia. But even
the great Dothic cathedrals, crafted of buly stone into an aesthetic
of lightness and slenderness are dwarfed by the steel and
reinforced concrete structures of the .-th century. It was modern
building materials that made the true syscraper structurally
possible, but it was the mechanical device of the elevator that
made the syscraper truly practical. Ironically, it is also the elevator
that has had so much to do with limiting the height of most tall
buildings to about ?- or @- stories. &bove that, elevator shafts
occupy more than .: percent of the volume of a tall building, and
so the economics of renting out space argues against investing in
greater height.
*** 5and cleared of trees is e"posed to erosion, which can be
severe in deforested areas having slopes greater than +: to +?
percent. If land is not disturbed any further and new growth
becomes established, erosion may gradually subside. If, however,
vegetation on the cutover land is continually removed by man or
livestoc, erosion will intensify, and environmental problems can be
severe. When a forest is removed from a slope, the rate of water
runoff is increased two to tenfold or more, depending on the degree
of clearing, slope, and rainfall. &ll too often this leads to flooding of
agricultural land in the lowlands. In !aistan, for e"ample, almost .
million hectares of standing crops on the lowlands were destroyed
by floodwater in +,?0, and about +-,--- villages were wiped out.
6ince valuable soil is lost in floods, the quantity of the arable lands
decreases. &lluvial silt deposited elsewhere is rarely usable enough
to compensate for such losses.
KPDS 2002 SONBAHAR
*** In modern times, it was perhaps the Ngentleman scientistsN of
the nineteenth century who came closest to a genuinely ob(ective
form of scientific research. These privileged amateurs en(oyed a
financial independence which most scientists today cannot have,
and which enabled them to satisfy their scientific curiosity without
the need to please patrons. With the growth of scientific research
after World War II, science has become an e"pensive occupation.
Aany scientists today loo bac upon the +,C-s as a golden age of
modern)day science, when research was mainly funded by the
ta"payer, and scientific enquiry was seen by governments to be
part of the public good, and worth paying for. Today, the situation is
very different. N&cademic freedomN is now often little more than an
illusion for most scientists woring at universities or in publicly)
funded research institutes. Aoreover, science is now largely
dominated by the interests of the industrial world, and hence,
hardly deserves the name NscienceN.
*** 6ome people believe that meat consumption contributes to
famine and depletes the 1arth>s natural resources. Indeed, it is
often argued that cows and sheep require pasturage that could be
better used to grow grain for starving millions in poor countries.
&dditionally, claims are made that raising livestoc requires more
water than raising plant foods. But both these arguments are
illogical. &s for the pasturage argument, this ignores the fact that a
large portion of the 1arth>s dry land is unsuited to cultivation. 3or
instance, desert and mountainous areas are not suitable for
cultivation, but are suitable for animal gra7ing. However, modern
commercial farming methods prefer to raise animals in an enclosed
space feeding them on grains and soybeans. /nfortunately the bul
of commercial livestoc is not range)fed but stall)fed. 6tall)fed
animals do not ingest grasses and shrubs $lie they should%, but
are fed an unnatural array of grains and soybeans ) which could be
eaten by humans. The argument here, then, is not that eating meat
depletes the 1arth>s resources, but that commercial farming
methods do. 6uch methods sub(ect livestoc to deplorable living
conditions where infections, antibiotics, and synthetic hormones are
common. These all lead to an unhealthy animal and, by e"tension,
to an unhealthy food product.
*** The chief triumph of this boo is its depiction of Wellington. He
is not simply the famous British general who defeated 2apoleon at
Waterloo. He remains a great general but he is also shown to have
had feet of clay inside his splendid boots. 3or e"ample, the writer
dwells on Wellington>s vanity and his unattractive lac of generosity
in sharing the credit for his victories. This is a splendid boo. 2ever
less than interesting, but always trenchant. It redefines Wellington
without diminishing his achievements and ends by reminding us
that it was 2apoleon who so forcefully articulated a wish that there
should be Na 1uropean code of laws, a 1uropean (udiciary ... one
people in 1uropeN. The ogre>s dream is coming true.
*** 3ast)food is such a pervasive part of &merican life that it has
become synonymous with &merican culture. 3astfood was born in
&merica and it has now swolleninto a O+-C)billion industry. &merica
e"ports fast)food worldwide and its attendant corporate culture, has
probably been more influential and done more to destroy local food
economies and cultural diversity than any government propaganda
programme could hope to accomplish. 2o corner of the earth is
safe from its presence and no aspect of life is unaffected. 3ast)food
is now found in shopping malls, airports, hospitals, gas stations,
stadiums, on trains, and increasingly, in schools. There are .0,---
restaurants in one chain alone, and another .,--- are being
opened every year. Its effect has been the same on the millions of
people it feeds daily and on the people it employs. 3ast)food
culture has changed how we wor, from its assemblyline itchens
filled with robotic frying machines to the trite phrases spoen to
customers by its poorly paid parttime worforce. In the /nited
6tates, more than :? per cent of the population eat meals away
from home on any given day and they spend more money on fast)
food than they do on higher education, personal computers, or
even on new cars.
*** 1ven though there have been truly significant advances in
modern medicine, health problems still abound and cause untold
misery. &lthough heart disease and cancer were rare at the
beginning of the .-th century, today these two diseases strie with
increasing frequency, in spite of billions of dollars in research to
combat them, and in spite of tremendous advances in diagnostic
and surgical techniques. In &merica, one person in three suffers
from allergies, one in ten has ulcers and one in five is mentally ill.
1very year, a quarter of a million infants are born with a birth defect
and undergo e"pensive surgery, or are hidden away in institutions.
'ther degenerative diseases such as arthritis, multiple sclerosis,
diabetes, and chronic fatigue afflict a significant ma(ority of
&mericans. 3urther learning disabilities mae life miserable for
seven million young people and their parents. These diseases were
e"tremely rare only a generation or two ago. Today, chronic illness
afflicts nearly half of all &mericans and causes three out of four
deaths in the /nited 6tates.
KPDS 2003 LKBAHAR
*** It may be that golf originated in Holland but certainly 6cotland
fostered the game and is famous for it. In fact, in +9:? the 6cottish
!arliament, disturbed because football and golf had lured young
6cots from the more soldierly e"ercise of archery, passed an
ordinance that banned football and golf. #ames I and 4harles I of
the royal line of 6tuarts were golf enthusiasts, whereby the game
came to be nown as Nthe royal and ancient game of golfN. The golf
balls used in the early games were leather)covered and stuffed with
feathers. 4lubs of all inds were fashioned by hand to suit
individual)players. The great step in spreading the game came with
the change from the feather ball to the present)day ball introduced
in about +@:-. In +@C-, formal competitions began with the
establishment of an annual tournament for the British 'pen
championship. There are records of Ngolf clubsN in the /nited
6tates as far bac as colonial days. However, it remained a rather
sedate and almost aristocratic pastime until a .-)year)old 3rancis
'uimet of Boston defeated two great British professionals, Harry
Jardon and Ted *ay, in the /nited 6tates 'pen championship at
Brooline, Aass., in +,+0. This feat put the game and 3rancis
'uimet on the front pages of the newspapers and stirred a wave of
enthuslasm for the sport
*** The economic news from 1urope was particularly disappointing
in the second half of .--.. Aoreover, recent surveys from the
region imply little prospect of improvement in the near future.
!erhaps the most worrying aspect has been the sharp decline in
conditions in Dermany)the area>s largest and most important
economy. 8omestic demand in Dermany is very wea and, with the
global economy also struggling, Dermany>s manufacturers have not
been able to e"port their way out of trouble as they have done in
the past. With the economy in such a wea state, it is no surprise
then that 1uropean stoc marets have followed the /6 stoc
marets> downturn over the past C months. While individual share
pries may be lower and maret valuations loo attractive, the
economy does not. *ecovery seems some way off and strong
equity performance from 1urope>s marets seems unliely in .--0.
*** 6cientist who study earth>s moon have two big regrets about the
si" &pollo missions that landed a do7en astronauts on the lunar
surface between +,C, and +,?.. The biggest regret, of course, is
that the emissions ended so abruptly, with so much of the moon still
une"plored. But researchers also lament that the great triumph of
&pollo led to a popular misconceptionE because astronauts have
visited the moon, there is no compelling reason to go bac. In the
+,,-s, however, two probes that orbited the moon raised new
questions about 1arth>s airless satellite. 'ne stunning discovery
was strong evidence of water ice in the perpetually shadowed
areas near the moon>s poles. Because scientists believe that
comets deposited water and organic compounds on both 1arth and
its moon, well)preserved ice at the lunar poles could yield clues to
the origins of life.
*** The /6 2ational Institute of 6tandards and Technology $2IT6%
will soon be testing a controversial theory about the collapse of the
World Trade 4enter towers. &ccording to an analysis by a leading
fire)safety e"pert, had the fire)proofing insulation on the towers>
steel structures been thicer, the towers would have survived
longer and might even have remained standing after they were hit
by the hi(aced planes. The wor is being sei7ed on by lawyers
representing victims> families and insurance companies. If
confirmed, it could also lead to changes in building codes. 2I6T is
responsible for drawing up the final report on the towers> collapses
and recommending if any changes are needed. It is widely
accepted that the collapses were caused by the failure of the
buildings> steel structure as it was weaened by the heat of the
fires.
*** The long)e"pected decline in the dollar is now well under way.
3or years economists have predicted that &merica>s huge
currentaccount deficit would eventually cause its currency to
plunge. 6o far the dollar>s slide has been fairly gradualE it is down
by +0= in tradeweighted terms over the past year, though it has
dropped by almost twice as much against the euro since its .--+
pea. &s the decline seemed to pic up speed this wee, #ohn
6now, Deorge Bush>s Treasury 6ecretary, declared that he favours
a Nstrong dollar policyN. That was surely the wrong answer, even
leaving aside the debatable issue of whether cabinet secretaries
can influence the level of e"change rates. & weaer, not a stronger
dollar, is what the world needs now)so long as policymaers
elsewhere respond appropriately. &merica promoted a strong dollar
throughout the +,,-s, when inflation was still thought to be the
main enemy. Today it maes less sense. 1ven after its recent slide,
the dollar seems overvalued. Aoreover, with ample space capacity
in &merica, deflation loos a bigger ris than inflation.
KPDS 2003 SONBAHAR
*** 8uring the past few decades four 1ast &sian economies ) 6outh
Porea, Taiwan, 6ingapore and Hong Pong ) have achieved the
fastest rates of economic growth the world has ever seen. In +,C.
Taiwan stood between Saire and the 4ongo on the global raning
of income per headE by +,@C its neighbors were Dreece and Aalta.
In +,C. 6outh Porea was poorer than 6udanE by +,@C it was richer
than &rgentina. Today the four NdragonsN account for +- per cent of
manufactured e"ports worldwide, not far short of &merica>s +. per
cent. /nderstanding this miracle is the most urgent tas in
development economics. But most economists are content to cite
the dragons as proof of their favorite theories ) whatever those
theories may be. 3ree mareters point to the dragons> reliance on
private enterprise, marets and relatively undistorted trade regimes.
Interventionists point with equal assurance to clever bureaucracies,
non)maret allocation of resources and highly distorted trade
regimes.
*** &lthough women have made huge strides in catching up with
men in the worplace, a gender gap still persists both in wages and
levels of advancement. 4ommonly cited e"planations for this gap
range from charges of se" discrimination to claims that women are
more sensitive than men to wor versus family conflicts and thus
less inclined to mae sacrificesfor their careers. 2ow, however, two
new studies suggest that another factor may be at worE a deeply
ingrained difference in the way men and women react to
competition that manifests itself even at an early age. &pparently,
females tend to be far less responsive to competition than males )
a tendency with important implications for women and business. It
may hurt women in highly competitive labor marets, for e"ample,
and hamper efficient (ob placement ) especially for positions in
which competitiveness is not a useful trait.
*** The 6ahara desert taes up most of 1gypt>s land, so
overcrowding is a huge problem. 6i"ty)two million people live
squee7ed together into the si" million fertile acres along the 2ile
delta and narrow river valley ) (ust five per cent of the total area of
1gypt. Between +. and +: million people live in 4airo alone. /ntil
recently, it was impractical and dangerous to even consider moving
into the southern desert, where temperatures regularly rise above
:- 4 and water is scarce and can only be reached using carefully
placed irrigation wells. But in the last .- years a N2ew JalleyN has
slowly been taing shape. Towns with industrial centres, tourist
areas and spacious apartment blocs are being constructed,
factories are springing up. The main development maing this
possible is the construction of the vast 6heih Sayed canal, also
nown as the Tosha canal. 2amed for 6heih Sayed al 2ahya,
president of the /nited &rab 1mirates, which is financially bacing
the pro(ect, the canal is part of the irrigation scheme dreamed up by
the 1gyptian government to mae it possible for people to move
away from the traffic, pollution and bustle of 4airo. If a Nsecond
2ileN cuts through the desert and water is distributed to surrounding
land, people and crops can thrive there as they do around the
e"isting 2ile. The area isbecoming nown as the 2ew Jalley.
*** When 5yndon #ohnson assumed the presidency, after the
assassination of #ohn 3. Pennedy, in 2ovember of +,C0, he new
that in order to accrue political capital he would initially need to
champion goals and policies that Pennedy had already been
pursuing. 2ot long before his death Pennedy had scrawled the
word NpovertyN on a piece of paper and circled it multiple times< this
note fell into the hands of his brother *obert and became a
symbolic (ustification for #ohnson>s declaration of the War on
!overty, early in +,C9. 6imilarly, many of the things that #ohnson
pushed through 4ongress in his first two years as !resident, can
readily be seen as e"tensions of the avowed policies of the
Pennedy &dministration. The details might have been different, but
historians generally agree that if Pennedy had lived out his first
term and won a second, &merica would have witnessed something
similar to the early years of #ohnson>s Dreat 6ociety. 'n foreign
policy, too, #ohnson at first strove consciously to follow his
predecessor. &nd some historians have argued that in this realm as
well, #ohnson indeed pursued a course that Pennedy had already
introduced. If Pennedy had lived, according to this line of thining,
he would have continued a policy of antagonism towards 4uba and
steady escalation of /6 involvement in Jietnam. #ohnson certainly
believed that this was what Pennedy intended to do.
*** The space shuttle and its rocets are huge ) some 9.: million
pounds at lift)off. &bout @: per cent of that weight is fuel. 6ince it is
designed to wor in a vacuum, the shuttle must carry not only fuel
but the o"ygen to burn it. Because this is an inefficient way to go,
2&6& engineers have recently tested an engine that gets some of
its o"ygen on the run. This should reduce taeoff weights by half. &
spacecraft equipped with this engine would tae off lie a rocet.
But within minutes, incoming air would begin to supplement liquid
o"ygen. 'nce the spacecraft reaches a speed of +,:-- miles per
hour ) twice the speed of sound ) the liquid o"ygen would shut off
completely and the engine would burn fuel mi"ed with air.
4onsequently the craft would accelerate to about ten times the
speed of sound. When the air got too thin for the engine to breathe,
the ship would shift bac to rocet mode to punch its way into
space.
KPDS 2004 LKBAHAR
*** Behavioural biologist #ane &tinson and her colleagues have
been studying the subtleties of how crows steal food from one
another. &tinson had been watching the birds at the beach as they
fed on fish, clams and other small animals in the intertidal 7one.
6he noticed that if a crow had found a particularly large meal that
couldn>t be eaten in a single gulp, another crow would often come
by and try to steal the food away. 3ood theft is fairly common in the
bird world, so the crows> thievery wasn>t une"pected. What really
intrigued &tinson was that the birds employed two different tactics
to tae the food. in some instances, the thieving bird would tae an
aggressive approach ) typically involving some chasing or physical
contact, such as pecing in other e"changes, however, the thief
would use a more passive methodE merely approaching the other
bird secretively and steallng the food without any commotion at all.
What the team wanted to now wasE how did these tactics fit into
the group foraging practices of the crowsH
*** In many ways, Hollywood seems to e"emplify the most (oyless
aspects of capitalism. The NindustryN, as it insists upon calling itself,
pacages artistic ideas and images as commodities and then
values those commodities accordmg to how they NpenetrateN
marets. The system>s worrying inefliciency, of course, is that
studios never now what the public at large will want to buy. 6o
films are tested in front of preview audiences, revised according to
the audience>s suggestions, tested again, and then mareted with a
vigour directly proportionate to the test scores. There are two
problems with this approach. The first is that the test)sample si7e is
minimal but can determine a film>s fate. The second is that by the
time the test audience sees a film it>s too late to change it very
much anyway, particularly when twenty, fifty or a hundred million
dollars has already been spent.
*** *eading presents a real parado" to neurobiologists. It was only
invented a few thousand years ago, so there really has not been
enough time for our brain to evolve speciall7ed ways to do it. How
do brain circuits produced by millions of years of evolution in a
world without written words adapt to the specific challenges of
readingH We now we have to learn the sill but how does our
brain learn to readH in the social sciences, the ma(ority of
researchers do not see a problem. There is a widespread view that
the brain is a completely adaptable organ, capable of absorbing
any form of culture. Ket recent findings from brain imaging studies
and neurophysiology throw new light on the organi7ation of the
reading circuits in the brain. The findings contradict this simplistic
model of a brain that merely absorbs everything from its cultural
environment. &nd they suggest that the architecture of our brain is
limited by strong genetic constraints though it seerns that it has still
some degree of fle"ibility.
*** Throughout history, eyewitnesses have reported orange glows,
fireballs or flashes in the days before and during an earthquae. it
was in +,C@, however, that the first photographs of Nearthquae
lightsN were taen during a series of earthquaes in #apan. 6ome
showed red streas across the sy. 'thers looed lie a low blue
dawn from a distance. in +,,,, floating bails of light in the sy were
broadcast on Turish television, reportedly filmed the night before
the devastating earthquae of ?.9 on the *ichter scale that illed
many thousand people in the Aarmara region of Turey. Aysterious
or not, repeated sightings of earthquae lights confirm their
e"istence. it has to be said that earthquae lights are a fairly
wellnown phenomenon, but we don>t now what they mean, or
what causes them. 6eismologists have struggled far years to find a
reliable earthquae predictor. 4ould the lights hold the eyH
*** Auch has been said and written about the declining numbers of
and disappointing lac of diversity among &merican college
students ma(oring in engineering. &mong the factors cited to
e"plain this phenomenon are the lac of e"posure of high school
students to the very idea of engineering and the fact that many
have insufficient mathematics and science bacground to gain
entrance to engineering school, even if they do identify the
profession as a possible career. This is unfortunate, for the ideas of
engineering should be integrated into the curricula not only of high
schools but also of middle and primary schools. 'ur children are
being done a disservice by not being e"posed properly throughout
their education to engineering activities identifted as such. &rter all,
even pre)school children have the prerequisites in their play for
appreciating e"actly what engineering isE design. Indeed, design is
everywhere around them throughout their school day, even in their
before)school and after)school activities. it need only be pointed out
to them that they are designing something, and therefore being
engirteers of sorts, in virtually everything that they do.
KPDS 2004 SONBAHAR
*** Why are people pre(udicedH 2ot surprisingly, theories of
pre(udice have tended to focus on the more e"treme forms of
pre(udice, in particular when there is aggression and violence. &t
the turn of the last century, it was popular to consider pre(udice to
be an innate and instinctive reaction to certain categories of person
$e.g. certain races% much as animals would react in instinctive ways
to one another. This approach is no longer popular, as it doesn>t
stand up well to scientific scrutiny. However there may be an innate
component to pre(udice. There is some evidence that higher
animals, including humans, have an inherent fear of the unfamilier
and unusual, which might set the mould for negative attitudes
towards groups that are considered different in certain ways. There
is also evidence for a mere e"posure effect, in which, people>s
attitudes towards various stimuli $e.g. other people% ,improve as a
direct function of repeated e"posure or familiarity with the stimulus
provided that initial reactions to the stimuli are not negative.
&nother perspective rests on the belief that pre(udices are learned.
Indeed, it has been argued that hatred and suspicion of certain
groups are learned early in life before the child even nows
anything about the target group and that this provides an emotional
framewor that colours all subsequent information about an
e"perience with the group.
*** By the early +,th century, the eminent 3rench 7oologist
Deorges 4uvier believed he had found roc solid evidence for the
Biblical great flood. While studying the geological strata around
!aris, 4uvier found that fossils of sea creatures in one ancient layer
of chal were overlaid by those of land creatures. Then (ust as
abruptly, the layer above contained sea creatures again, with the
top layer showing evidence of a vast and rapid inundation around
present day !aris. 4uvier regarded these sudden changes in the
fossil record as evidence for sudden catastrophes which
devastated life on 1arth, of which the great flood was (ust the most
recent e"ample. 4uvier>s discoveries, published in +@+. won
support from a large number of eminent scientists such as the
geologist 6ir #ames Hall. However there were a few who were
deeply sceptical, pointing out that the evidence of a global flood
was far from conclusive. Aost sceptical of all were the followers of
the 6cottish geologist #ames Hutton. In +?,: he had published a
two volume te"t based on the view that the slow steady processes
that shape our planet today, such as erosion, were also crucially
important in the distant past.
*** 2o child is too young to play and therefore to engage in
engineering, even though it is of a primitive ind. We all did so as
children ourselves when we devised our own toys and games and
sometimes even imaginary friends to en(oy them with us. The idea
of playfulness is embedded in engineering through the concepts of
invention and design. 2ot that engineering is trivial< rather, the
heart of the activity is to give imagination its freedom to dream and
turn those dreams into reality. 4hildren do e"perience the essence
of engineering in their earliest activities, yet there is seldom any
recognition that this is the case. They may hear the word
NengineerN only in connection with railroad locomotives and have no
idea that their playful activity could become a lifelong profession.
1ngineers themselves are understandably reluctant to equate their
professional activity with mere child>s play. &fter all, they studied
long and hard to master complicated nowledge of atoms and
moleules, stresses and strains, heat and power, current and
voltages, bits and bytes. They use computers for serious modelling
and calculation, not for fun and games. They design and build real
towers and bridges that test the limits of reliability and safety, not
the ones that totter and fall down with little consequence.
*** 1urope and #apan do not use fuel economy standards to any
significant degree, but instead rely principally on high ta"es to
reduce gas consumption. Their average ta" is more than O.-- per
gallon, while in the /6, federal gas ta"es are only +@ 1/*' per
gallon and average state ta"es .. 1/*' per gallon. Higher prices
at the pump rusulting from higher ta"es increase consumer
demand for cars with better fuel economy. They also encouarege
consumers to reduce their driving. *esearch shows that federal
ta"es on gasoline would have to increase by a bit less than :- euro
per gallon to cut gasoline consumptin in the /6. &lthough a :-
1/*' incerase is a lot compared with the present average total ta"
of 9- 1/*', it would raise retail gas prices to only a little more
than O. per gallon, ta" included. This is far below prices in 1urope
and #apan. 1ven if federal ta"es on gas were doubled, /6 retail
gas prices would still be much below those in other developed
nations.
*** Throughout his woring life, 6haespeare wored as an actor in
the midst of a troupe. We now little about his first years in 5ondon.
3or a few years between +:@: and +:,. his name disappears
altogether from the public records, and the most liely reason for
this is that, for at least some of this time, he was woring for one of
the city>s acting companies. &s a (unior member, he would not be
listed among the troupe>s principal players. In the late +:@-s
theatrical activity in 5ondon was largely concentrated in 6horeditch
and 6outhwar districts of 5ondon. 6haespeara could have lived
anywhere, but 6horeditch, which would have been cheap and
convenient, is a liely candidate for a young actor. In his early
career 6haespeare may have moved from troupe to troupe in
order to survive. Whatever the case, woring conditions must have
been similar. 6undays, religious holidays and disasters aside, a
company would perform a different play each afternoon of the
wee, though some plays would be repeated in the wees ahead.
&n actor usually had to eep at least 0- parts in his memory and a
leading player such as &lleyn or Burbage must have ept in mind
nearly :-- lines a wee.
KPDS 2005 LKBAHAR
*** 3or two decades after World War II, mass production reigned
supreme. Aass production techniques pushed companies into
standardi7ed products, long product life cycles, and rigid
manufacturing, emphasi7ing efficiency and low cost over fle"ibility.
6pecial orders cost more. But today>s consumers are very choosy.
They want quality, value and products specially tailored to their
needs, but always at the lowest possible price. 3or now mass
customi7ation has come to the fore. Aass customi7ation uses
information technology to produce and deliver products and
services designed to fit the specifications of individual customers.
4ompanies can customi7e products in quantities as small as one
with the same speed and low cost as mass production methods.
Aass customi7ation systems use information taen from the
customer to control the flow of goods.
*** Before the !olish)born 3rench)&merican mathematician Benoit
Aandelbrot made his mar on the world, scientists lied to forget
about the imperfections and irregularities of nature. The study of
perfect squares, triangles and planes had dominated their field for
over .,--- years, since the Dree geometer 1uclid wrote maths>
oldest treatise N1lementsN and provided us with the tools to
measure these flawlessly smooth shapes. 1arly question about
how to measure the real shape of a tree, a coastline or anything
with a rough edge could not be tacled by 1uclidean geometry and
had therefore been ignored. But Aandelbrot changed all this when
he invented fractal geometry, which enables us to measure
roughness. NAy whole career has been one long, ardent pursuit of
the concept of roughnessN, he says. NThe roughness of clusters in
the physics of disorder, of turbulent flows, of e"otic noises, of
chaotic dynamical systems, of the distribution of gala"ies, of
coastlines, of stoc)price charts and of mathematical
constructions.N
*** Therapists have to be very careful before they mae a diagnosis
of delusional disorder. & great many complaints are founded on
fact. It is possible that a patient is really being harassed at wor,
that her husband is deceiving her, or that her business partner is
cheating her. Indeed, therapists must be careful not to mislabel
facts as delusions, a trap nown as Nthe Aartha Aitchell effectN.
Aartha Aitchell was the wife of former /6 attorney general #ohn
Aitchell. In 'ctober +,?., he was accused of having ordered the
brea)in at the 8emocratic campaign headquarters in the
Watergate Hotel in Washington, 8.4. Ars Aitchell repeatedly told
the press that her husband was being made a scapegoat to protect
the real culprit ) !resident *ichard A. 2i"on. The White House
spread disinformation about Ars Aitchell, saying she had a drining
problem and implying that her statements were delusional. When
the scandal was ultimately unravelled, Ars Aitchell>s statements
were proved true and she was shown to be utterly sane and with no
drining problem.
****ecent activity in several /6 church communities has seemed
almost unbelievableE churchgoers have gathered around huge fires
and cheered as they cast Harry !otter boos into the flames. They
fear that the incredibly popular series about a school for young
wi7ards is spurring children and adolescents toward a life of
witchcraft and onto the dangerous path toward 6atanism. 3or these
congregations, #.P. *owling>s boos are none other than the wor
of the devil herself. To most people, however, the Harry !otter
boos and films are merely compelling adventure stories, not a
threat to children>s psyches. But what has been forgotten in the
e"citement of N!ottermaniaN is that boys and girls have been
fascinated by magic and sorcery for generations. 6urveys about
magical practices among adolescents vary widely, but some
indicate that as many as 99 per cent have shown some slight,
passing interest in it. &lthough satanically motivated violence
occasionally maes headlines, research shows that less than : per
cent of young people tae part in more e"tensive witchcraft, and
very few end up in the ind of organi7ed devil worship that can lead
to such acts as ritual murder.
*** 1verybody e"periences tensions. &n"iety and tension are
essential functions of living, (ust as hunger and thirst are. They are
our selfprotecting reactions when we are confronted by threats to
our safety, well)being, happiness or self)esteem. 6o, while an
occasional encountering of an"iety and tension may be
disagreeable, it is quite normal, and it need not to be a cause for
concern. The time to become watchful is when emotional upsets
come frequently, shae us severely and fail to disappear after a
while.
KPDS 2005 SONBAHAR
*** We can only guess when 6haespeare wrote his plays. He may
have had his own writing NseasonN perhaps in the quieter winter
months, but he never stopped acting probably taing two or three
minor parts instead of a ma(or one. He seems to have chosen for
himself the more static and undemanding roles in his plays, such
as old &dam in &s Kou 5ie It and the Dhost in Hamlet. His
audiences included many habitual playgoers, and many must have
nown 6haespeare and he must have nown them. We can
imagine, as a recent biographer has said, Nthat there might have
been a comple", subtle communicative e"change when he
appeared in one of his own playsN. In spring +C+0, he purchased
his first property in 5ondon. He was renting it out by +C+C, but may
oriTinally have entertained other intentions for the property. It would
certainly have been a handy place to stay, being near the Dlobe,
which was his theatre. !erhaps the destruction of the Dlobe in
+C+0, which probably prompted him to sell his share in the theatre
company, altered his plans for it. He may not have given up acting,
but his writing career was over by the end of that year. In +C+9, he
returned to his hometown, 6tratford)upon)&von, and died there in
+C+C.
*** 3amily)owned companies are bad for business, a new study
argues ) at least when they dominate a large portion of a country>s
economy. 'utside the /nited 6tates and Britain most ma(or
corporations are in the hands of a few wealthy families, rather than,
as in the /6 and Britain, being owned by a wide networ of
shareholders. The power of these small families often e"tends far
beyond the companies they own directly, thans to a system of
Ncontrol pyramidsN in which they e"ercise indirect control over a
large number of smaller companies. This concentration of
corporate power doesn>t merely leave a high percentage of wealth
in the hands of billionaires it also retards growth, diminishes
efficiency, and limits economic freedom. Aoreover, Na tiny elite that
cannot be saced,N as the study puts it, is liely to pursue
Neconomic entrenchmentN, in which property rights and financial
openness are restricted to protect a few families> economic and
political prerogatives or rights.
*** 'ne of the greatest natural catastrophes the world will ever see
could be little more than a decade away. The film 6uper volcano
traces the evolution of an enormous volcanic eruption, one that not
only wipes out several states of &merica but that threatens the
entire planet. But is such an eruption really possibleH Well, super
volcanoes certainly aren>t fiction. They>re a normal part of the way
the 1arth wors and occur perhaps every :-,--- years. 1very
statistic associated with a super)eruption is always wildly over)
e"aggerated. Aolten magma is blasted out at a rate +9- times
greater than the flow of water over the Jictoria 3alls. &sh and gas
are thrown more than :-m upwards to the edge of space before
falling over one percent of the 1arth>s surface. 1nough ash would
pile up on the ground to bury Britain under a blanet 9m thic.
3urther, devastating winds carrying burning gas and red hot ash
would scour the land surface over an area of +-,--- square
ilometers. Worst of all, a super)eruption is foIIowed by a dramatic
fall in global temperatures, leading to years and years of bitter cold
nown as a volcanic winter.
*** We should care about dying languages for the same reason that
we care when a species of animal or plant dies. It reduces the
diversity of our planet. In the case of language, we are taling
about intellectual and cultural diversity, not biological diversity, but
the issues are the same. &s a result of decades of environmental
publicity and activism, most people have come to accept that
biodiversity is a good thing. But linguistic diversity has not en(oyed
the same publicity. 8iversity occupies a central place in
evolutionary theory because it enables a species to survive in
different environments. Increasing uniformity holds dangers for the
long)term survival of a species. The strongest ecosystems are
those which are most diverse. It has often been said that our
success in coloni7ing the planet can be accounted for by our ability
to develop diverse cultures which suit different environments.
*** The discovery of an ancient tomb in modern 4hina is so
commonplace that it often annoys as much as e"cites, because it
can delay construction for months or even years. 6o when
archaeologists were called in last Aay to chec structures
discovered during the e"pansion of a bone meal factory in a
southern suburb of Bei(ing, they weren>t e"pecting to find anything
of great interest. To the archaeologists> surprise, the structures
were the remains of two traditional domed tombs, each over a
thousand years old. 'ne was flooded and badly damaged, but the
other contained beautifully)preserved wall frescoes from the +-th
century. FIt>s only recently that the 4hinese have been publishing
artifacts from ancient tombs, and it>s unusual to see them in the
Western press,G says 8r #essica *awson, !rofessor of 'riental &rt
and &rchaeology at '"ford /niversity.
KPDS 2006 LKBAHAR
*** 1ngineering is ain to writing or painting in that it is a creative
endeavor that begins in the minds eye and proceeds into new
frontiers of thought and action, where it does not so much find as
mae new things. #ust as the poet starts with a blan sheet of
paper and the artist with a blan canvas, so the engineer today
begins with a blan computer screen. /ntil the outlines of a design
are set down, however tentatively, there can be no appeal to
science or to critical analysis to (udge or test the design. 6cientific,
rhetorical or aesthetic principles may be called on to inspire, refine
and finish a design, but creative things do not come of applying the
principles alone. Without the setch of a thing or a diagram of a
process, scientific facts and laws are of little use to engineers.
6cience may be the theater, but engineering is the action on the
stage.
*** #ust as every teenager thins he is brighter than his parents,
every decade considers itself superior to the one that came before.
'ver the past few months, we of the .--- decade have made it
quite clear that we are morally heads above those who lived in the
+,,-s. Weve done it first by establishing a reigning clichU for that
period. #ust as the +,C-s are nown for student unrest, the +,@-s
for *eagan, Thatcher and the Kuppies, the +,,-s will henceforth be
nown as the second Dilded &ge. They will be nown as the age
when the real problems in the world were ignored while the illusions
of the dotcom types were celebrated. It was the age of effortless
abundance, cell phones on every ear, stoc marets that only went
up and Aercedes sport utility vehicles. 2ever before had business
leaders en(oyed so much prestige, and never before had capitalism
had fewer mortal enemies. Bill Dates couldnt be on enough
business)maga7ine covers< tycoons lie him felt free to assume the
role of global sages, writing boos with such weighty titles as FThe
*oad &head.
*** BB49, a comparatively new TJ channel, has a character of its
own. 3rom the start it aimed to be Fa place to thinG, and it was
always designed as something Fthat the commercial maret would
never doG, says *oly Peating, its controller and formerly head of
arts at the BB4. Its first wees schedule indeed verged on a
parody of non)commercial TJ, with township opera from 6outh
&frica and a performance by a 6enegalese singer in a 5ondon
church hall. & top)rated show will typically draw some :-,---
viewers ; almost negligible in television terms. Ket that narrow
appeal maes BB49 a model of what a publicly financed
broadcaster ought to do. It has roamed into territory where its
ratings)driven sister channel, BB4+, seldom dares to tread. 8espite
a tiny 0:m budget, it boasts an intelligent prime)time tal show and
a world news programme so internationally minded that its 5ondon
provenance is barely visible. BB49 may wear its gravity a little too
heavily at times, but it supplies a variety and thoughtfulness
unavailable on prime time BB4+. The more the other BB4
channels chase the ratings, and the more that BB49 refuses to be
dictated to by them, the more the channel loos lie a model for
what BB4 television could loo lie.
*** The natives of the 5ewis Island now wind ; sometimes too
well. 1very winter the &tlantic gales come blasting across the
northern tip of 6cotlands 'uter Hebrides. The wind hardly slows
down even after striing land< in the islands marshy interior, gusts
regularly e"ceed +C-ph. 1veryone stays indoors but the sheep.
Tourists arrive in summer, lured by mild temperatures and
unspoiled countryside< even so, theres rarely a calm day. FThe
weather here is changeableG, says 2igel 6cott, spoesman for the
local government. FBut the wind is constantG. The brutal climate
could finally be 5ewiss salvation. The place has been growing
poorer and more desolate for generations, as young people see
sunnier prospects elsewhere. But now the energy industry has
discovered the storm)swept island. The multinationals &A14 and
British 1nergy are taling about plans to erect some 0-- outsi7e
wind turbines across a few thousand hectares of moorland. If the
:-- million)pound pro(ect goes through, the array will be 1uropes
largest wind farm, capable of churning out roughly + per cent of
Britains total electrical needs ; and generating some badly needed
(obs and cash for the people of 5ewis.
*** In this century, the wealth and success of nations will depend
lie never before on the ability to produce and use nowledge.
/niversities have long been instrumental in generating nowledge
and ideas. But in an increasingly globali7ed world, and in the face
of rapid scientific change, they will need to thin about a set of new
challenges and how best to prepare their students for the coming
decades. /niversities will need to teach a new ind of literacy, in
which global awareness will play an important role. They also need
to deal with the dilemmas posed by the accelerating pace of
change brought on by scientific and technological advances. We
are on the brin of once)in)human)history progress in combating
disease through the application of modern science. 8octors will
have at their disposal blood tests that will tell you with substantial
predictive power how long you will live and from what diseases you
are liely to suffer. The Internet and the application of information
technology may well represent the most profound change in the
way nowledge is disseminated since the printing press. We are
close to understanding the first second of the history of the cosmos.
KPDS 2006 SONBAHAR
*** /nlie the older forms of occultism, such as magic and
astrology, organi7ed occultism is a modern phenomenon. 3ew of
the various organi7ed occult movements have e"isted for more
than +:- years< some were formed as a belated countermovement
to the 1nlightenment, when people began to follow rational schools
of thought. Todays occult views are based on the idea that there
are events within nature, as well as within ones spiritual life, which
seem mysterious and cannot be e"plained by science. 1"amples
include e"trasensory perceptions such as telepathy and teleinesis,
and haunted places or people. Believers maintain that these
phenomena stem from unnown powers that can often be
accessed only by some people with special abilities.
*** The assumption that a persons attitudes determine his or her
behaviour is deeply ingrained in Western thining, and in many
instances the assumption holds. However, research has shown that
the relationship between attitudes and behaviour is comple". &
classic study conducted during the +,0-s was the first to question
the lin. & white professor travelled across the /6 with a young
4hinese couple. &t that time, there was quite strong pre(udice
against &sians, and there were no laws against racial
discrimination. The three travellers stopped at over .-- hotels,
motels and restaurants, and were served at all the restaurants and
all but one of the hotels and motels without problem. 5ater, a letter
was sent to all of the establishments visited,asing them whether or
not they would accept a 4hinese couple as guests. 'f the +.@
replies received, ,. per cent said they would not. In other words,
these proprietors e"pressed attitudes that were much more
pre(udiced than their behaviour.
*** When you stay as a guest in someones house, you give up
your anonymity. This becomes quite a challenge if you are the ind
of person who cherishes independence. However, when you and
your host are on the same wavelength, you can have a trip more
special than money can buy. 6ome years ago when I went to
&ucland, 2ew Sealand, for the first time, my hosts were a couple,
about my age, whom I had met while travelling in 1urope. They had
a full programme lined up for me. They drove me around and
showed me their favourite hot springs and also the beach where a
popular TJ series had once been filmed. &t mealtimes, they
introduced me to their favourite restaurants, where I sampled
cheeses from south 2ew Sealand that dontget e"ported, and fruits
grown locally. 2ormally such a tight schedule would mae me
nervous, but I found myself happily relinquishing control to my
hosts, who truly understood the pleasures of their native country
and en(oyed sharing them. I couldnt have encountered this 2ew
Sealand on my own.
*** In 3inland now, everything is all right. 3ifteen years after one of
the worst recessions any 1uropean country has seen, triggered by
the collapse of the 6oviet /nion, the 3inns feel very content. Their
small country of a population of : million is the first in the World
1conomic 3orums list of the worlds most competitive countries,
and the second in its business)competitiveness inde". It is also the
first in the '148s world raning of educational performance and
has the second)highest share of research)and)development
spending in the 1uropean /nion. Aoreover, the country is reversing
its demographic decline and, hence, its fertility rate is one of the
highest in 1urope. !erhaps best of all the 3inns are facing
globali7ation without paranoia. Theirs is one of the few 1uropean
countries to have succeeded in businesses in which international
prices are falling because of global competition and technological
change. In most of 1urope public opinion and even business Ulites
seem gloomily resigned to being overwhelmed by India and 4hina.
3inland suggests that this fate is not inevitable.
*** /ntil the giant &merican energy company 1nron collapsed, and
its director Penneth 5ay was imprisoned, his life had been a model
of the &merican dream of rising from rags to riches on the strength
of merit and hard wor. His beginnings were socially and financially
very modest. He was born in Tyrone, Aissouri, in +,9., as the son
of a preacher who was also a part)time salesman. He helped his
father mae ends meet by cutting grass and delivering papers. His
start in the energy industry seemed similarly modest. &fter
obtaining a doctoral degree in economics from the /niversity of
Houston, he got his start in the booming Te"an oil industry. In +,@:
he merged Houston 2atural Das with Inter2orth of 2ebrasa
inorder to form 1nron. &s 1nron became stronger, Ar 5ay turned
increasingly to politics and was one of the biggest donors to the
Bush)4heney campaign. &fter Ar Bush entered the White House,
Ar 5ay had hopes of a seat in the cabinet, perhaps as energy
secretary or even at the Treasury. However, for reasons that remain
unclear, Ar Bush overlooed him, so his professional life ended in
frustration.
KPDS 2007 LKBAHAR
*** There seems no question but that the cloc dial, which has
e"isted in its present form since the seventeenth century and in
earlier forms since ancient times, is on its way out. Aore and more
common are the digital clocs that mar off the hours, minutes, and
seconds in ever)changing numbers. This certainly appears to be an
advance in technology. Kou will no longer have to interpret the
meaning of Fthe big hand on the eleven and the little hand on the
five.G Kour digital cloc will tell you at once that it is 9E::. &nd yet
there will be a loss in the conversion of dial to digital, and no one
seems to be worrying about it. &ctually, when something turns, it
can turn in (ust one of two ways, clocwise or counter)clocwise,
and we all now which is which. 4locwise is the normal turning
direction of the hands of a cloc, and counter)clocwise is the
opposite of that. 6ince we all stare at clocs $dial clocs, that is%,
we have no trouble following directions or descriptions that include
those words. But if dial clocs disappear, so will the meaning of
those words for anyone who has never stared at anything but
digitals.
*** When Ao7ambique and 6outh &frica ended their internal
conflicts in the early +,,-s, they enacted widescale amnesties, and
in both countries the rule of law quicly improved. In each of them,
political leaders opted to move past the violence and in(ustices of
the past and to focus on the tass of social and political
reconstruction. &s part of that reconstruction, each country became
a multiparty democracy in which the accountability of leaders and
other ey norms of the rule of law could finally tae root. The
restoration of public security, meanwhile, allowed the provision of
basic services. &nd though their criminal)(ustice systems remained
woefully underfunded, both were finally able to start providing
citi7ens with basic protections. While the legal, social and political
improvements in 6outh &frica between +,,9 and .--9 were
impressive, in poorer Ao7ambique, the improvement was smaller
but still mared.
*** 2o human dream is more universal than the longing for a
paradise on earth, a place free of the ravages of time and disease,
where the best in nature flourishes while the worst is forbidden to
enter. By definition, such magical lands cant be near at hand< they
must be remote and inaccessible ; destinations to be reached by
pilgrimage or a heroic (ourney. &ncient Tibetan Buddhist te"ts
spoe of (ust such a ingdom, where wise ings, blessed with long
life spans, await the day when they will tae power over the world,
ushering in a golden age of peace and (ustice. This mythical
ingdom was called F6hambala,G and its location was believed to
be a valley in northern India. 6aid to be enclosed by a double ring
of snow)capped mountains, this fabled valley of 6hambala
resembled a Fmandala,G which is Buddhisms circular symbol of the
unity of all creation. Pnown only to a few 1uropean enthusiasts of
&sia in the +,th century, the myth of 6hambala was populari7ed in
the .-th century by the famous *ussian mystic, Aadame
Blavatsy, who claimed she received telepathic messages from the
mystic valley.
*** The late 4hinese !rime Ainister, 4hou)1n 5ai, upon being
ased whether the 3rench *evolution had been a good thing in
world history, was reported to have saidE FIt is still too early to tell.G
Watching the Western media analy7e the recent emergence of
4hina as a ma(or investor in &frica and liely to become a new
factor to rival the historical 1uro&merican ascendancy in &frican
politics, one is even more (ustified in saying that it is Ftoo soon to
tellG what the outcome of the 4hinese love affair in &frica will be.
Besides 4hina, India is also increasingly mentioned as a new
source of large)scale investments in &frica. 3or the moment, the
emergence of the &sian superpowers, themselves once in the
sphere of British imperialism, as investors and trading partners in
&frica, seems to offer an opportunity of shaing the
FmarginalisationG into which most &frican countries have fallen
since the collapse of the 6oviet bloc in +,@,.
*** 1ditors have two primary functions which sometimes overlapE
findingIselecting manuscripts, then polishing them for publication.
&cquisitions editors perform the first chore. The approach they
adopt depends on several factors. The idea for a college te"t, for
e"ample, usually originates inside the publishing house< the
acquisition editors (ob is then to choose a suitable author to
produce the manuscript. In a trade boo division, on the other
hand, the acquisitions editor may be more passive, carefully
reading manuscripts and queries that are mailed in, then
recommending the best of these for development as a boo. In the
former case, the acquisitions editor may be nowledgeable in a
given area $economics, perhaps, or one of the sciences% while the
second type might be more of a generalist. 4opyeditors, who whip
the manuscript into shape for the press, must possess a superb
bacground in 1nglish and bring to their wor high standards of
accuracy and thoroughness along with a remarable attention to
detail.
KPDS 2007 SONBAHAR
*** Today, the Berlin 4risis of +,C+, in which the 6oviet /nion
demanded that Western powers cut their ties with Berlin, may be
the mostforgotten crisis in the annals of the 4old War. 1ven most
Berliners who lived through the event remember little about it. Ket
this crisis over Berlin brought &merica and the 6oviet /nion, the
two superpowers of the post)World War II period, close to war. In
fact, since the very end of World War II, Berlin had been the
centrepiece of a struggle between these two superpowers. It was
here that World War II ended in +,9: when, following the
occupation and defeat of 2a7i Dermany by the allied armies of the
/nited 6tates, Britain, and 3rance from the west, and the 6oviet
/nion from the east, the city had been captured and divided into
the separate 7ones of 1ast and West Berlin. 6oon afterwards
Dermany had itself split into 1ast and West, and the border
between the two had become the dividing line $the so)called Firon
curtainG% between 6ovietcontrolled 1astern 1urope and free,
capitalist Western 1urope. Thus, situated behind this iron curtain
and stuc a hundred miles inside 1astern territory, West Berlin was
claimed, protected and supplied by the Western powers. In +,9@,
6talin imposed a blocade, cutting West Berlin off from its Western
suppliers. The /nited 6tates responded with an airlift, eeping the
7one alive for more than 0-- days before &llied access was
restored.
*** 2arva is a quiet northeastern 1stonian town bathed in sea
bree7es. Though small, with a population of (ust over ?.,---, it
occupies a large place in *ussian history. It was here in +?-- that,
by attacing the 6wedes, who were then in control of much of the
Baltic coast, *ussia launched its final campaign in a centuries)long
quest to become a 1uropean power. The battle ended in defeat for
the *ussians, but the war did not< by +?.+ *ussia had conquered
the Baltic territories as far southwest as *iga, the capital of
present)day 5atvia, and had built a new capital, 6aint !etersburg,
on the Dulf of 3inland. 5ater in that century, *ussia, through a
partition agreement with &ustria and !russia, gained control of the
rest of the Baltics, and would retain them until the fall of the 6oviet
/nion in +,,+.
*** 6et in +,9+ in 5eningrad, Helen 8unmores novel The 6iege
opens with deceptively gentle scenes of 4hehovian melancholy.
&fter the death of her mother, .0)year)old &nna 5evin, the
protagonist, gives up her artistic studies to loo after her :)yearold
brother and her politically suspect father &braham, who, as a writer,
has fallen out of favour with 6talins cultural police. 6o she (umps at
the chance to mae a drawing of the retired actress Aarina
!etrovna, with whom &nnas father might once have had a romantic
relationship. But &nnas worries about art and romance are soon
swept away as the Dermans besiege her native city. &t this point,
8unmores novel transforms abruptly as well, shifting from a
romantic narrative into a study of survival under most e"treme
hardships. &nnas abundant artistic creativity is put touse providing
food and fuel for her helpless family, and her drawing sills are
called on to setch a neighbours starved baby so that the grieving
mother might remember her lost child. Indeed, the novel presents a
striing contrast between the gentle display of human emotions and
the rude dictates of survival under the most inhuman
circumstances.
*** 3ollowing World War II, 1uropean countries largely gave up
their colonial possessions and, by the +,:-s and +,C-s, had
already begun to receive growing numbers of immigrants from their
former colonies. In many instances, these included the
descendants of the slaves in the colonies, who had been forced to
wor. In this respect, Britain is a case in point. Though in small
numbers, &fricans and Indians had come to Britain long before the
tens of thousands who came as colonial immigrants in the +,C-s
and thereafter. The first &fricans who came to Britain were probably
soldiers during the *oman possession of that country in antiquity.
In modern times, especially in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, &frican and Indian princes and scholars visited Britain.
'thers coming to Britain were in service positions< for instance,
inthe eighteenth century, blac &frican and Indian young men were
fashionable as servants in the homes of the wealthy. &fricans and
Indians also came to Britain as sailors and traders, and port towns,
such as 5ondon, Dlasgow, Bristol, 4ardiff and 5iverpool, developed
small blac populations in the early nineteenth century, some of
which persisted into the twentieth century. *elations between these
populationsand the native white population were varied, historians
citing instances both of hostility and solidarity.
*** & couple of months ago 2&6& ased the scientific community
what inds of research it should conduct when it returns humans to
the moon. In doing so, 2&6& wanted prioriti7ed research ob(ectives
for the robotic orbiters and landers that will be used primarily for
reconnaissance purposes prior to later e"plorations by astronauts
of the lunar surface. *ecommendations made by scientists varied
greatly, but they can be summari7ed. The top priority that scientists
have recommended is the development of programmes for lunar
data analysis. 2e"t is the e"ploration of the moons south pole,
which is called Fthe &iten basin,G an impact scar mostly on the
moons bac side. Then comes an instrument networ for probing
the interior of the moon, and this is followed by roc samplereturns,
scientifically selected landing sites, and analysis of any icy polar
deposits.
KPDS 2008 LKBAHAR
*** In many primitive communities there is a taboo on mentioning a
mans name e"cept in certain special circumstances, because his
name is believed to contain within it something of himself, which
would be lost and wasted if his name were uttered without first
taing special precautions. This belief about words is widespread.
&mong the more primitive and the uneducated, it is universal. &
remarably matter)offact practical application of it occurs even in
the present day in the Tibetan prayer)wheel. If, thins the Tibetan
peasant, a prayer uttered once does some good, then the same
prayer uttered many times will do more good. Therefore, since he
assumes that the efficacy lies in the prayer as an entity in itself, he
writes it round the rim of a wheel, and then frugally employs the
water of a mountain stream to turn it all day long, instead of
wastefully employing his own lungs and lips to say it again and
again.
*** Thomas 1dison began conducting e"periments during his
childhood. To start with, there were hundreds of unsuccessful
e"periments but 1dison eventually invented and patented .,:--
items, including the electric lamp and phonograph. He was
determined to Fgive laughter and lightG to people, but, until he
actually managed to do so, most people ridiculed him. Without
losing hope, 1dison attempted over +,--- unsuccessful
e"periments in his efforts to mae an electric lamp. When people
told him he was wasting his time, energy, and money for nothing,
1dison e"claimed, F3or nothingL 1very time I mae an e"periment,
I get new results. 3ailures are stepping stones to success.G
8etermined to give people electric lamps, 1dison said hed meet
his goal by early +@@-. In 'ctober, +@?,, he created his first electric
lamp, and in so doing, received much praise. !eople reali7ed that
1disons invention was not affected by rain or wind, remaining
constant through bad weather. #ust as he had hoped, 1dison
provided people with light and laughter.
*** Muestions of education are frequently discussed as if they bore
no relation to the social system in which and for which the
education is carried on. This is one of the most common reasons
for the unsatisfactoriness of the answers. It is only within a
particular social system that a system of education has any
meaning. If education today seems to deteriorate, if it seems to
become more and more chaotic and meaningless, it is primarily
because we have no settled and satisfactory arrangement of
society, and because we have both vague and diverse opinions
about the ind of society we want. 1ducation is a sub(ect which
cannot be discussed in a voidE our questions raise other questions,
social, economic, financial, and political. &nd the bearings are on
more ultimate problems even than theseE to now what we want in
education, we must now what we want in general, we must derive
our theory of education from our philosophy of life.
*** The distinction between F(ournalismG and FliteratureG is quite
futile, unless we are drawing such a violent contrast as that
between Dibbons Historyand todays paper< and such a contrast
itself is too violent to have meaning. Kou cannot, that is, draw any
useful distinction between (ournalism and literature merely on a
scale of literary values, as a difference between the well)written
and the supremely wellwrittenE a second)rate novel is not
(ournalism, but it certainly is not literature.The term F(ournalismG has
deteriorated, so let us try to recall it to its more permanent sense.
To my thining, the most accurate as well as most comprehensive
definition of the term is to be obtained through considering the type
of mind, concerned with writing what all would concede to be the
best (ournalism. Theres a type of mind, and I have a very close
sympathy with it, which can only turn to writing, or only produce its
best writing, under the pressure of an immediate occasion< and it is
this type of mind which I propose to treat as the (ournalists. The
underlying causes may differE the cause may be an ardent
preoccupation with affairs of the day, or it may be $as with myself%
la7iness requiring an immediate stimulus, or a habit formed by early
necessity of earning small sums quicly. It is not so much that the
(ournalist wors on different material from that of other writers,as
that he wors from a different, no less and often more honourable,
motive.
*** 5eonardo da Jinci is a member of a very small class of
Ftransformative geniuses,G not ordinary or common geniuses, who
have contributed abundantly to their fields, but rather the ones who
have created or defined entire fields. In literature, no one ass,
FWho was the greatest writerHG Honest debate can start at 2umber
Two. 6haespeare, the consensus choice as greatest writer, is a
member of this class of transformative geniuses. 6imilarly, Isaac
2ewton is recogni7ed as the greatest among scientists and
mathematicians< 5udwig van Beethoven, and possibly Bach and
Ao7art, are the transformative geniuses among composers. The
most recent transformative genius the world has seen may have
been &lbert 1instein, a scientist lie 2ewton ; and Time Aaga7ines
FAan of the 4enturyG for the .- th century. In raning artists,one
can start the debate at 2umber Three ; a ran for which *aphael
and *embrandt are candidates, or perhaps one of the great 3rench
Impressionists, or the .- th centurys most famous artist, !icasso.
The rans of 2umber 'ne and 2umber Two, however, are reserved
for 5eonardo and Aichelangelo, taen in either order. These two
are far above all other artists. Aichelangelo lived a very long
lifetime of eighty)nine years, and was productive to the end.
5eonardo, on the other hand, lived si"ty)seven years, and left
behind (ust a do7en paintings. &nd only a half of these are
incontrovertibly one hundred per cent by him. In contrast,
*embrandt painted hundreds of paintings, :? of himself alone< van
Dogh created nine hundred paintings in a period of nine years. 6o
how can we put 5eonardo at the very pinnacleH The answer is
really quite simpleE his do7en or so paintings include the 2umber
'ne and the 2umber Two most famous paintings in the history of
art ; The 5ast 6upperand Aona 5isa.
KPDS 2008 SONBAHAR
*** The ma(or sciences of the Hellenistic &ge were astronomy,
mathematics, geography, medicine, and physics. The most
renownedof the early Hellenistic astronomers was &ristarchus of
6amos $0+-).0- B.4.%, sometimes called the FHellenistic
4opernicus.G His primary accomplishment was his deduction that
the 1arth and the other planets revolve around the 6un. This view
was not accepted by his successors because it conflicted with the
teachings of &ristotle and also with the Dree conviction that
humanity, and therefore the 1arth, must be at the centre of the
universe. 5ater, in the second century &.8., &ristarchuss fame was
overshadowed by that of !tolemy of &le"andria. &lthough !tolemy
made few original discoveries, he systemati7ed the wors of others.
His principal writing, The &lmagest,based on the view that all
heavenly bodies revolve around the 1arth, was handed down to
medieval 1urope as the classic summary of ancient astronomy.
*** The most significant political change in eastern 1urope during
the late +,@-s was the collapse of communism in 1ast Dermany
and the unification of 1ast and West Dermany. &lthough long
considered the most prosperous of the 6oviet satellite countries,
1ast Dermany suffered from severe economic stagnation and
environmentaldegradation. Waves of 1ast Dermans registered their
discontent with worsening conditions by massive illegal emigration
to the West. This e"odus together with evidence of widespread
official corruption led to the resignation of 1ast Dermanys long)
time, hard)line premier, 1rich Honecer. His successor, 1gon
Pren7, promised reforms, but he was nevertheless faced with
continuing protests and continuing mass emigration. In the end, on
9 2ovember +,@,, the government, in a move that acnowledged
its powerlessness to hold its citi7ens captive, opened its border with
47echoslovaia. This move effectively freed 1ast Dermans to
travel to the West. In a matter of days, the Berlin Wall, which had
been the embodiment of the 4old War, the Iron 4urtain, and the
division of 1ast from West, was demolished by groups of ordinary
citi7ens. #ubilant crowds from both sides waled through the gaping
holes that now permitted men, women, and children to tae the few
steps that symboli7ed the return to freedom and a chance for
national unity.
*** The causes of World War II were rooted in the peace settlement
at Jersailles in +,+,)+,.-. The peace had created as many
problems as it had solved. The senior &llied heads of state yielded
to demands that involved anne"ing Derman territory and creating
new states out of the eastern 1uropean empires. In doing so, the
peacemaers created fresh bitterness and conflict. The Jersailles
treaty and its champions, such as /6 !resident Woodrow Wilson,
proclaimed the principle of self)determination for the peoples of
eastern and southern 1urope. Ket the new states created by the
treaty crossed ethnic boundaries, involved political compromises,
and frustrated many of the e"pectations they had raised. The
unsteady new boundaries would be redrawn by force in the +,0-s.
The &llied powers also ept up the naval blocade against
Dermany after the end of World War I. This forced the new Derman
government to accept harsh terms that deprived Dermany of its
political power in 1urope. The blocade and its consequences
created grievances that made the Derman people feel angry and
completely humiliated.
*** The 3rench *evolution transformed the political and diplomatic
landscape of 1urope suddenly and dramatically. The transformation
of industry came more gradually. By the +@0-s or +@9-s, however,
writers and social thiners in 1urope were increasingly aware of
une"pected and e"traordinary changes in their economic world.
They began to spea of an Findustrial revolution,G one that seemed
to parallel the revolution in politics. The term has stayed with us.
The Industrial *evolution spanned the hundred years after +?@-. It
represented the first breathrough from an agricultural and
overwhelmingly rural economy to one characteri7ed by large)scale
manufacturing, more capital)intensive enterprises, and
urbani7ation. It involved new sources of energy and power, faster
transportation, mechani7ation, higher productivity, and new ways of
organi7ing human labour. It triggered social changes with
revolutionary consequences for the West and its relationship with
the world. 'f all these changes, perhaps the most important one
was to be seen in energy. 'ver the space of two or three
generations, a society and an economy that had traditionally drawn
on water, wind, and wood for most of its energy needs came to
depend on steam engines and coal. In other words, the Industrial
*evolution brought the beginnings of Fthe fossil fuel age.G
*** The *enaissance originated in Italy for several reasons. The
most fundamental reason was that Italy in the later Aiddle &ges
was the most advanced urban society in all of 1urope. /nlie
aristocrats north of the &lps, Italian aristocrats customarily lived in
urban centres rather than in rural castles and consequently became
fully involved in urban public affairs. Aoreover, since the Italian
aristocracy built its palaces in the cities, the aristocratic class was
less sharply set off from the class of rich merchants than in other
1uropean countries. Hence, whereas in 3rance or Dermany most
aristocrats lived on the income from their lands while rich town
dwellers, called bourgeois in 3rench, gained their living from trade,
in Italy so many town)dwelling aristocrats engaged in baning or
mercantile enterprises, and so many rich mercantile families
imitated the manners of the aristocracy that, by the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries, the aristocracy and upper bourgeoisie were
becoming virtually indistinguishable. 3or instance, the noted
3lorentine family of the Aedici, which had emerged as a family of
physicians $as the name suggests%, made its fortune in baning and
commerce, and rose into the aristocracy in the fifteenth century.
'bviously, social mobility as such brought about a great demand
for education in the sills of reading and counting necessary to
become a successful merchant, but the richest and most prominent
families sought above all to find teachers who would impart to their
sons the nowledge and sills necessary in politics and public life.
KPDS 2009 LKBAHAR
*** The +C th century in 1ngland is generally nown as the Tudor
period, which historically lasted from +9@: to +C-0. &mong the
famous Tudor sovereigns were Henry JII, Henry JIII, and 1li7abeth
I. In fact, the early years of the Tudor period were mared by
significant changes in trade and in the arts of war. Henry JII made
commercial treaties with 1uropean countries. 1conomically,
1ngland, which had always been a sheep)raising country, was by
now manufacturing and e"porting significant amounts of cloth. &s
lands were enclosed to permit gra7ing on a larger scale, people
were driven off the land to the cities, and 5ondon grew into a
metropolitan maret with sophisticated commercial institutions.
These changes had an impact on the traditional feudal social order,
which also began to decline< also, due to the introduction of
cannons and firearms, the feudal system of warfare became
obsolete. Ket, it would be a mistae to imagine these changes as
sudden and dramatic. In fact, it was a slow and long process
whereby 1ngland was transformed into a modern sta
*** In the last third of the +, th century, new technologies
transformed the face of manufacturing in 1urope, leading to new
levels of economic growth and comple" realignments among
industry, labour and national governments. 5ie 1uropes first
industrial revolution, which began in the late +@ th century and
centred on coal, steam and iron, this FsecondG industrial revolution
relied on innovation in three ey areasE steel, electricity, and
chemicals. 3or instance, steel, which was harder, stronger and
more malleable than iron, had long been used as a construction
material. But until the mid)nineteenth century, producing steel
cheaply and in large quantities was impossible. That changed
between the +@:-s and +@?-s, as new and different processes for
refining and mass)producing alloy steel revolutioni7ed the
metallurgical industry. &lthough iron did not disappear overnight, it
was soon eclipsed by soaring steel production. 6o, steel began to
be used for various purposes. In Britain, for e"ample, shipbuilders
made a quic and profitable switch to steel construction, and thus
ept their lead in the industry. Dermany and the /6, however,
dominated the rest of the steel industry. By +,-+, Dermany was
producing almost half as much steel as Britain and was able to
build a massive national and industrial infrastructure.
*** In +?C9, there was a serious quarrel over ta"ation between the
British government and its colonies in &merica. The British
government continued to thin of the colonists as British sub(ects.
In +?--, there had been only .--.--- colonists, but by +??- this
number rose to ..: million. 'bviously, such large numbers needed
to be dealt with carefully. 6ome &merican colonists decided that it
was not lawful for the British government to ta" them without their
agreement. !olitical opinion in Britain was divided. 6ome felt that
the ta" was fair because the money would be used to pay for the
defence of the &merican colonies against 3rench attac. But
several important politicians agreed with the colonists that there
should be Fno ta"ation without representationG. Hence, in +??0, at
the port of Boston, a group of colonists threw a shipload of tea into
the sea rather than pay ta" on it. The event became nown as Fthe
Boston Tea !artyG. The British government responded by closing
the port. But the colonists then decided to prevent British goods
from entering &merica until the port was opened again. The
colonists action was regarded as a rebellion, and the British
government decided to defeat it by force. Thus, the &merican War
of Independence got underway. The war lasted from +??: until
+?@0. The British government had no respect for the colonists
fighting ability. The result was a disastrous defeat for the British
forces. &t the end of the war, Britain lostall the &merican colonies
e"cept 4anada.
*** The Aississippi is one of the worlds great continental rivers, lie
the &ma7on in 6outh &merica, the 4ongo in &frica, or the Jolga
in1urope. Its waters are gathered from two)thirds of the /6 and,
together with the Aissouri, which is its chief western branch, the
Aississippi flows some C.9-- ilometres from its northern sources
in the *ocy Aountains to the Dulf of Ae"ico, which maes it one
of the worlds longest waterways. The Aississippi has been called
the Ffather of watersG. Through all its lower course, it wanders
along, appearing la7y and harmless. But people who now the river
are not deceived by its benign appearance, for they have had many
bitter struggles with its floods. They have had to learn that nothing
is to be gained by fighting against the rages of the mighty stream.
To control it, &mericans have had to accept some of the rivers own
terms and to undertae the patient wor of conserving and
rebuilding soil, grasslands and forests, far bac where the waters
begin to gather.

*** The 4opernican revolution began over :-- years ago with the
reali7ation that the 1arth was not the centre of the universe, but we
still await its grand finaleE the anticipated discovery of life
elsewhere. Where else might we find lifeH The vast scale of the
universe maes it virtually certain that there are other 1arthlie
settings. In our own solar system, Aarss distance from the 6un
maes it sufficiently 1arth)lie< so, especially with increasing
evidence for occasional liquid water, many are looing there for the
first signs of e"traterrestrial life. *ecently, however, a new
contender has emerged, and surprisingly it is from the cold outer
solar systemE it is #upiters moon 1uropa. &s one of the four
satellites of #upiter, discovered by Dalileo in +C+-, 1uropa is now
believed to have water in a liquid state, even though it is so far from
the 6un. Thus, the possibility of liquid water on 1uropa has opened
the door to speculation about life on this satellite of #upiter.
KPDS 2009 SONBAHAR
*** & ey feature of globali7ation has been the transformation of the
world economy, highlighted by the rapid integration of marets
since +,?-. In a series of historic changes, the international
agreements that had regulated the movement of people, goods,
and money since World War II were overturned. To begin with, the
postwar economic arrangements sealed by various treaties steadily
eroded in the late +,C-s, as Western industrial nations faced a
double burden of inflation and economic stagnation. & crucial shift
in monetary policy occurred in +,?+, when the /nited 6tates
abandoned the postwar gold standard and allowed the dollar to
range freely. &s a result, formal regulations on currencies,
international baning, and lending among states faded away. They
were replaced with an informal networ of arrangements managed
autonomously by large private lenders, their political friends in
leading Western states, and independent financial agencies such
as the International Aonetary 3und $IA3% and the World Ban. The
economists and administrators who dominated these new networs
steered away from the interventionist policies that had shaped
postwar planning and recovery. Instead, they relied on a broad
range of maret)driven models termed Fneoliberalism.G
*** 8uring the latter part of +,@-, Iraq invaded Iran and hoped to
sei7e its southern oil fields. Iran counterattaced. The result was a
murderous eightyear conflict mared by the use of chemical
weapons and human waves of young Iranian radicals fighting the
6oviet)armed Iraqis. The war ended with Irans defeat, but not the
collapse ofits theocratic regime. In the short term, their long
defence of Iranian nationalism left the mullahs more entrenched at
home, while abroad they used their oil revenues to bac grass)
roots radicalism in 5ebanon and militants elsewhere who engaged
in anti)Western terrorism. 'ver the years, the strongest threats to
the Iranian regime ultimately have come from within, from a new
generation of young students and worers who have discovered
that their prospects for prosperity and democratic rights have not
changed much since the days of the shah.
*** /ntil the late thirteenth century, 1uropean maritime commerce
had been divided between a Aediterranean and a 2orth &tlantic
world. 6tarting around +.?-, however, Italian merchants began to
sail through the 6trait of Dibraltar and on to the woolproducing
regions of 1ngland and the 2etherlands. This was the essential first
step in the e"tension of Aediterranean commerce and coloni7ation
into the &tlantic 'cean. The second step was the discovery by
Denoese sailors, during the fourteenth century, of the &tlantic
island chains nown as the 4anaries and the &7ores. 1fforts to
coloni7e the 4anary Islands and to convert and enslave their
inhabitants began almost immediately. But an effective conquest of
the 4anary Islands did not begin until the fifteenth century, when it
was undertaen by !ortugal and completed by 6pain. The
4anaries, in turn, became the base from which further !ortuguese
voyages down the west coast of &frica proceeded. They were also
the F(umping)off pointG from which 4hristopher 4olumbus would sail
westward across the &tlantic 'cean in hopes of reaching &sia.
*** 5ie nearly all the peoples of the ancient world, the *omans
too slavery for granted. 2othing in *omes earlier e"perience had
prepared it, however, for the huge increase in slave numbers that
resulted from its western and eastern conquests. In +9C B.4., fifty)
five thousand 4arthaginians were enslaved after the destruction of
their city< not long before, one hundred and fifty thousand Dree
prisoners of war had met the same fate. By the end of the second
century B.4., there were a million slaves in Italy alone, maing
*oman Italy one of the most slave)based economies nown to
history. The ma(ority of these slaves wored as agricultural
labourers on the vast estates of the *oman aristocracy. 6ome of
these estates were the result of earlier *oman conquests within
Italy itself. But others were constructed by aristocrats buying up the
land holdings of thousands of small farmers who found themselves
unable to compete with the great estate)owners in producing grain
for the maret.
*** The finest e"ample of By7antine architecture is the church of
6aint 6ophia $Holy Wisdom% in Vstanbul, constructed by the
emperor#ustinian in the si"th century. 1vidently, its structural
design was something altogether new in the history of architecture.
The central feature of the design was the application of the dome
principle to a building of square shape. The church was designed in
the form of a cross, with a magnificent dome over its central
square. The main problem for the architects was how to fit the
circumference of the dome to the square area it was supposed to
cover. The solution was to have four great arches spring from
pillars at the four corners of the square. The rim of the dome was
then made to rest on the eystones of the arches, with the curved
triangular spaces between the arches filled with masonry. The
result was an architectural framewor of marvellous strength, which
at the same time made possible a style of imposing grandeur and
delicacy. The dome itself hasa diametre of +-? feet and rises to a
height of nearly +@- feet from the floor. 6o many windows are
placed around its rim that the dome appears to have no support at
all but to be suspended in midair.
KPDS 2010 LKBAHAR
*** The heroic myths and epics of a society teach its members the
appropriate attitudes, behaviour, and values of that culture. These
myths are of particular interest and value to us. 2ot only are they
e"citing adventure stories, but in these myths we see ourselves,
drawn larger and grander than we are, yet with our human
weanesses as well as our strengths. &s for heroes, they are the
models of human behaviour for their society. They earn lasting
fame by performing great deeds that help their community, and
they inspire others to emulate them. Heroes are forced by
circumstance to mae critical choices where they must balance one
set of values against competing values. They achieve heroic
stature in part from their accomplishments and in part because they
emerge from their trials as more sensitive and thoughtful human
beings. Ket heroes are not the same throughout the world. They
come from cultures where individuals may earn fame in a variety of
ways. This permits them to e"press their individuality. However, in
spite of their e"traordinary abilities, no hero is perfect. Ket their
human weanesses are often as instructive as their heroic
qualities. Their imperfections allow ordinary people to identify with
them and to lie them, since everyone has similar psychological
needs and conflicts.
*** 'ur nowledge of the Aycenaean civili7ation in Dreece is based
primarily upon what archaeologists have been able to discover.
3ortunately, they have located and studied the ruins of a number of
important Aycenaean sites both in Dreece and in Troy, the site of
Homers FIliumG in Turey. The material available to archaeologists
is very limited, due to the ravages of time, weather, fire, and theft.
The materials that have survived include ob(ects such as (ewelry,
pottery, metal utensils, and various inds of weapons. In addition,
archaeologists have found a large number of clay tablets, inscribed
with a language called F5inear B,G which they can read. It now
becomes clear that the Aycenaean civili7ation in full bloom far
surpassed in comple"ity and wealth many of the Dree civili7ations
that followed it. The Aycenaeans were an aggressive people who
loved fighting, hunting, and athletic contests. Their land was
mountainous and their soil rocy and dry. Therefore, they too to
the sea and became fearsome raiders of other communities. In this
way they acquired e"traordinary wealth.
*** The loss of global biodiversity is occurring at an alarming rate.
6ince the +,?-s, the area of tropical forests destroyed worldwide
e"ceeds the land mass of the 1uropean /nion. &nimal and plant
species are disappearing. 'verfishing has depleted stocs around
the world. !oor farming practices have depleted soils while allowing
the invasion of harmful species. 8estruction of wetlands has left
low)lying areas e"tremely vulnerable to storms and natural
disasters. 1specially in 1urope, ecosystems have suffered more
human)induced damage than those on any other continent. 'nly
about 0 per cent of 1uropes forests can be classified as
undisturbed by humans, and the continent has lost more than half
of its wetlands. The spread of urbani7ation and the over)
e"ploitation of resources is having an enormous impact on
biodiversity.
*** The father of modern socialism, Parl Aar" $+@+@)+@@0% was
barely nown in the early nineteenth century. His reputation rose
later, after +@9@, when a wave of revolutions and violent
confrontation seemed to confirm his distinctive theory of history and
mae earlier socialists emphasis on peaceful reorgani7ation of
industrial society seem naive. &s a child, he grew up in Trier, in the
western section of Dermany, in a region and a family eenly
interested in the political debatesand movements of the
revolutionary era. His family was #ewish, but his father had
converted to !rotestantism in order to be able to wor as a lawyer.
Aar" studied law briefly at the /niversity of Berlin before turning
instead to philosophy and particularly to the ideas of Hegel. With
the so)called Koung Hegelian, a group of rebellious students who
hated the narrow thining of a deeply conservative !russian
university system, Aar" appropriated Hegels concepts for his
radical politics. His radicalism made it impossible for him to get a
post in the university. He became a (ournalist and, from +@9. to
+@90, edited the *heinische Seitung $*hineland Da7ette%. The
papers criticism of legal privilege and political repression put it on a
collision course with the !russian government, which closed it
down and sent Aar" into e"ile ; first in !aris, then Brussels, and
eventually 5ondon.
*** 'il has provided humanity with many benefits, including
affordable energy to reduce our worloads and improve our
mobility. Because oil is such an important and visible part of our
daily lives, and because it is e"ceptionally open to political
manipulations, it often receives an enormous amount of attention.
This is especially true whenever its price increases sharply, and
e"perts immediately get to wor to diagnose the cause and
consequences of the price increase. In fact, the future of oil is not
that much different from its pastE undoubtedly, oil production and
consumption will become cleaner and more efficient, but prices will
continue to be volatile, and the oil industry will continue to be
blamed for conflicts, corruption, and pollution. &nd for all the current
tal about the end of the oil age, it will remain a vital source of
energy as it is now, nearly a century after the first warnings about
soaring consumption and limited resources.
KPDS 2010 SONBAHAR
*** In antiquity, prior to the third century B.4., physics had been a
branch of philosophy. It was made a separate, e"perimental
science by &rchimedes of 6yracuse, who lived between .@? and
.+. B.4.. He not only discovered the law of floating ob(ects, or
specific gravity, but also formulated with scientific e"actness the
principles of the lever, the pulley, and the screw. &mong his
memorable inventions were th compound pulley and the screw
propeller for ships. &lthough he has been considered the greatest
technical genius of antiquity, in fact he preferred to devote himself
to pure scientific research. Tradition relates that he discovered
F&rchimedes principle,G that is, specific gravity, while pondering
possible theories in his bath< when he reached his stunning insight,
he dashed out naed into the street crying F1ureaLG $FI have found
itLG%.
*** The *omans were descended from a cluster of peoples who
had crossed the &lps into Italy during the second millenium B.4.
and spoe a variety of Indo)1uropean dialects. *ecent
archaeological research has pushed the origins of the city of *ome
bac to at least the tenth century B.4., several centuries earlier
than the traditional date ?:0 B.4., which the *omans themselves
considered their citys foundation year. *omes strategic location
along the Tiber *iver brought it many different advantages. Trading
ships could navigate the Tiber as far as *ome, but no farther< the
city could thus serve as a port without being threatened by attac
from the sea. *omes famous hills increased the defensibility of the
site. In other words, as a city, *ome was situated at a (unction
across the Tiber, maing it a ma(or land and river crossroads.
*** When air pollution, including acid rain, is combined with other
environmental stresses, such as low winte temperatures, prolonged
droughts, insects, and bacterial, fungal, and viral diseases, it can
cause plants to decline and die. Aore than half of the red spruce
trees in the mountains of the northern /nited 6tates have died
since the mid)+,?-s. 'ther tree species, such as sugar maples, for
e"ample, are also dying. Aany still)living trees are e"hibiting
symptoms of forest decline, characteri7ed by a gradual
deterioration and often eventual death. The general symptoms of
forest decline are reduced vigour and growth, but some plants
e"hibit specific symptoms, such as yellowing of needles in conifers.
&ir pollutants may or may not be the primary stress that results in
forest decline, but the presence of air pollution lowers plant
resistance to other stress factors. When one or more stresses
weaen a tree, then an additional stress may be enough to cause
death.
*** Dovernment planners and social scientists from many countries
are developing a number of strategies to help us adapt to global
warming. 3or e"ample, what should people living in coastal areas
doH They can move inland away from the dangers of storm surges,
although this solution has high economic costs. &n alternative plan,
which is also e"tremely e"pensive, is to build dies to protect
coastal land. The 8utch, who have been doing this sort of thing for
several hundred years, have offered their technical e"pertise to
several developing nations threatened by a rise in sea level. We
also have to adapt to shifting agricultural 7ones. Aany temperate
countries are in the process of evaluating semitropical crops to
determine the best ones to substitute for traditional crops if or when
the climate warms. 8rought)resistant species of trees are being
developed by large lumber companies now, because the trees
planted today will be harvested many decades later when global
warming may already get much worse.
*** In 1ngland, transportation had improved a great deal during the
years before +@0-, but moving heavy materials, particularly coal,
remained a problem. It is therefore significant that the first modern
railway, built in +@.: for the transportation of coal, ran from the
8urham coal field of 6tocton to 8arlington near the coast. 4oal
had traditionally been transported short distances via tramways, or
tracs along which horses pulled coal carts. The 6tocton)to)
8arlington railway was a logical e"tension of a tramway, designed
to answer the transportation needs arising from constantly
e"panding industriali7ation. The man primarily responsible for the
design of the first steam railway was Deorge 6tephenson, a self)
educated engineer who had not learned to read until he was
seventeen. The locomotives on the 6tocton 8arlington line
travelled at fifteen miles an hour, the fastest rate at which machines
had yet moved goods overland. 6oon they would move people as
well, transforming transportation in the process.
KPDS 2011 LKBAHAR
*** &n &ustralian historian proposed that the ey to understanding
&ustralia was Fthe tyranny of distanceG. &ustralians were far
removed from their British ancestors, far from the centres of power
in 1urope and 2orth &merica and far from each other )with the
ma(or cities separated by distances of some @-- m. Time,
however, has broen down that sense of distance. &ustralians
today do not see 5ondon or 2ew Kor as the centre of the world.
The pro"imity to &sian economies lie 4hina is an economic
strength. Transportation and communications lins have taen
away the sense of remoteness felt by past generations. However,
the technology that truly promises to end the tyranny of distance is
high)speed broadband, whose benefits we are still only beginning
to understand though it has already been a decade since the
fren7ied dotcom era. That is why the &ustralian government is
rolling out the worlds most ambitious broadband pro(ect ) a
national networ that will bring fibre to homes in more than +,---
cities and towns covering ,0= of residences. 2e"t generation
wireless and satellite technologies will cover the other ?=. The
networ will operate at lightning speeds and involve an estimated
investment of O9- billion through an independent state)owned
enterprise in partnership with the private sector.
*** 2ot long afterthe 1uro came into being in # anuary +,,,,
Dermany was moced as being the sic man of 1urope, its
economic fortunes in sharp contrast to the fast)growing countries at
the geographical borders of the new currency 7one. Aore than a
decade on, however, the tables have turned. 1ven as the
peripheral economies of 6pain, Dreece and Ireland continue to
struggle, .-+. will be the year in which Dermany puts a firm stamp
on the 1uro 7one. This will be felt in three related spheresE in
Dermanys new)found economic strength, in its preference for, and
insistence on greater honesty in public finances and in its growing
influence on the 1uropean 4entral Ban. 1uropes economy is set
to slow in .-+. as governments address their increasing budget
deficits. Dermany will en(oy faster gross domestic product growth
than the average in the richer parts of the currency 7one $whose
membership eeps on increasing%. Dermany is less burdened by
household debt and has a smaller budget deficit than almost all its
peers ) and so has less need to raise ta"es or curb public
spending. The country is also better placed to benefit from the
boom in emerging marets.
*** In +,,0, 3rances *auscher and her team published a scientific
paper that changed the world. 6he had taen a number of students
and randomly divided them into three groups. 'ne group listened to
Ao7arts 6onata for Two !ianos in 8 Aa(or, the second group
heard a standard rela"ation tape, and the third sat in silence.
1veryone then completed a standard test of spatial intelligence.
Those who had listened to Ao7art scored far higher than those in
the other two groups. #ournalists reported the findings, with some
e"aggerating the results, declaring (ust a few minutes of Ao7art led
to a substantial, long)term increase in intelligence. The idea
spread, some reporting that even babies became brighter after
listening to Ao7art. But when other scientists tried to replicate
*auschers results, they concluded that the effect, if it e"isted, was
much smaller than was first thought. 3or instance, Dlenn
6chellenberg had children learn eyboard sills, have voice
training, tae drama classes or, as a control, do nothing. 4lear IM
improvements were observed in children who were taught
eyboard sills or given voice lessons, whereas those given drama
lessons were no different from the control group. It seems that the
focused attention and memori7ation required in certain tass, not
(ust listening to Ao7art, helps childrens self discipline and thining.
*** The idea that &merican Indians could have built something
resembling a city was so foreign to 1uropean settlers that when
they encountered the 4ahoia Aounds in Illinois in Aidwest
&merica, they thought they must have been the wor of a foreign
civili7ationE either the !hoenicians or the Jiings. 1ven today the
idea of an Indian city runs so contrary to &merican notions of Indian
life that no &nglo 6a"on &merican can absorb it. The first person to
write an account of the 4ahoia Aounds, the earliest and finest city
built by Indians, was Henry Bracenbridge in +@++. When he
reported his discovery, liening it to 1gyptian pyramids,
newspapers widely ignored it. He complained of this to his friend,
former president Thomas #efferson, and the word of F4ahoiaG did
eventually get around. /nfortunately, most &mericans were not
very interested. The /nited 6tates was trying to get the Indians out
of the way, not appreciate their history. The Indian *emoval &ct of
+@0- which ordered the relocation of eastern Indians to lands west
of the Aississippi was based on the assumption that Indians were
nomadic savages with no ability to mae good use of land.
1vidence of an ancient city, close to the si7e of Washington, 8.4. at
that time, would have spoiled the story line.
*** Women seem to be particularly vulnerable to depression during
their reproductive yearsE *ates of the disorder are highest in
females between the ages of .: and 9:. 2ew data indicate that the
incidence of depression in females rises after giving birth. In .--?
!atricia 8iet7 reported that +-.9= of 9,0,@ mothers had been
depressed in the nine months following childbirth compared with
@.?= in the nine months before pregnancy and C.,= during
pregnancy. Aore than half of the women with post natal depression
had also been depressed during or before pregnancy suggesting
that a previous occurrence of depression may be the biggest ris
factor for acquiring the illness postpartum depression. But the
hormonal changes that occur in a new mothers body are also
thought to contribute to postpartum depression. 8uring pregnancy,
a woman e"periences a surge in blood levels of oestrogen and
progesterone. Then, in the first 9@ hours after childbirth, the amount
of these two hormones falls suddenly, almost bac to normal levels.
This chemical instability could contribute to depression. 'f course,
hormonal flu" does not fully e"plain postpartum depression. &fter
all, this biochemical fluctuation occurs in all new mothers and yet
only a relatively small proportion of them become depressed.
KPDS 2011 SONBAHAR
*** &mericans tend to thin that varieties of 1nglish are more
determined by region than by any other factor, such as age,
ethnicity, gender and social class. The linguist Henry 6mith, for
instance, maintained that each region of &merican 1nglish is highly
distinctive. 6cholars who have investigated the matter have been
influenced by the theory of dialect geography formulated in the +,
th century by 1uropean dialectologists. &s a result, investigations
have presumed the idea of long)settled and stable regions ; an
idea appropriate for 1urope but less suitable to the more recent
and fluid settlement patterns of the /6. 1ven so, &merican 1nglish
dialects are conventionally treated under four headingsE 2orth,
4oastal 6outh, Aidland, and West. The 2orthern dialect stretches
from 2ew 1ngland to 2ew Kor and was shaped by migration from
the +? th century colonial settlements. The 4oastal 6outhern
dialect centres on the &tlantic port cities of the states of Jirginia,
the 4arolinas and Deorgia, formed in a time of plantation and ranch
agriculture. The Aidland dialect is spoen between 2orth and
6outh Aidlands according to some dialectologists while others
emphasi7e its affiliation with its neighbours and describe it as
5ower 2orth and /pper 6outh. 3inally, the Western dialect is used
in the area that covers 4alifornia and the !acific 2orthwest.
*** To succeed in school, children must master three sills ;
reading, writing and arithmetic ; but not all students readily grasp
these basic sills. &mong 1nglish)speaing children, an estimated
. to +:= have trouble with reading or spelling, broadly classified as
dysle"ia. 3rom + to ?= struggle to do math, a disability nown as
dyscalculia. 6tatistics vary but dysle"ia appears to be more
common among 1nglish speaers than among speaers of highly
phonetic languages such as Turish and Italian. It is believed that
at least one child in most elementary school classes in the /6
suffers from dysle"ia. Both dysle"ia and dyscalculia defy easy
e"planation. 2either disorder is the result of faulty eyesight or
hearing, both of which can also delay language acquisition but are
easily corrected. Instead, children with dysle"ia and dyscalculia
have woring sensory organs, apparently normal sensory and
motor development and, sometimes, above)average intelligence.
&fter more than +: years of research, investigators now believe
these conditions frequently involve so)called partial functional
deficits of the sensesE In affected children, the eyes and ears
accurately register sights and sounds, letters, numbers and spoen
syllables, but that information is misinterpreted as it is processed in
the brain.
*** The 3irst World War could be called the War of the 'ttoman
6uccession. It was, in part, a struggle between &ustria and *ussia
for domination in the areas in the Balans once ruled by the
'ttoman 1mpire. Its first shots were fired in the former 'ttoman city
of 6ara(evo. Throughout the summer and autumn of +,+9, as the
1uropean powers were loced in battle, the 'ttoman government
hesitated. 3inally, at the end of 'ctober, against the wishes of his
colleagues, 1nver !asha decided to attac *ussian targets with the
new warships in the Blac 6ea. His decision led to war across
1urope, the collapse of the 'ttoman 1mpire and the end of stability
in the Aiddle 1ast. Initially, the alliance between the 'ttoman
1mpire and the 4entral !owers wored well. In the first half of the
.- th century, Dermany was not the source of horror that it later
became. Britain, 3rance and *ussia were the enemies to be feared
and resented. By comparison, Dermany appeared friendly. The
'ttoman government calculated that its alliance with the 4entral
!owers would restore the glory of the empire, help it recover some
of the islands lost to Dreece in +,+0, and perhaps lead to an
e"tension of territory in Turish)speaing central &sia.
*** The 8ead 6ea is a place of mysteryE the lowest surface on
earth, the purported sites of 6odom and Domorrah, a supposed
font of curative waters and, despite its name, a treasure trove of
unusual microbial life. Ket its future is anything but a mystery. &fter
centuries of stability ; owing to a delicate equilibrium between
freshwater supply from the #ordan *iver and evaporation under the
relentless Aiddle 1astern sun ; the sea is now disappearing.
#ordanians to the east, Israelis to the west and 6yrians and
5ebanese to the north are pumping so much freshwater from the
river catchment that almost none reaches the sea. Israel and
#ordan are also siphoning water from the 8ead 6ea to e"tract
valuable minerals, hastening the decline. Thousands of sinholes
have formed in the receding seas wae, curtailing tourism and
development along the border because no one can predict where
the ne"t gaping hole will suddenly open, potentially swallowing
buildings, roads or people. 4oncerned over losing a valuable
natural and cultural resource, officials from Israel, #ordan and the
!alestinian &uthorities have proposed an enormous conveyor
system that would steadily refill the 8ead 6ea with water from the
*ed 6ea to the south. 6cientists are testing how the mi"ing of the
waters might affect the laes chemistry and biology.
*** 3or some people, living in an affluent area can actually be a
health ha7ard. This is the provocative conclusion of a study of the
death records of more than @,--- people living in four ma(or /6
cities. The ill effects of being poor or living in economically
disadvantaged areas have been demonstrated before, but it is
unusual to consider that poor people living in richer areas may be
no better off. Aarilyn Winleby, a researcher at 6tanford /niversity
in 4alifornia, decided to loo into this and was surprised to find that
the death rates in four 4alifornian cities were actually highest for
poor people living in the richest neighbourhoods. Her study offers
two possible e"planationsE !oorer people living in rich areas may
have to pay proportionally more for housing, intensifying the effect
of poverty< alternatively, their health may suffer from the stress
caused by continually being reminded that they are at the bottom of
the pile. &nother researcher, *ichard Wilinson, from the /niversity
of 2ottingham in the /P, also suspects that stress is largely to
blame. He reviewed more than +:- studies and concluded that
health is generally poorer when differences in income are larger.
KPDS 2012 LKBAHAR
*** 8eception gains a slight edge over deception detection when
the interactions are few in number and are among strangers. If you
spend enough time with the people you interact with, they may lea
their true intent through their behaviour. However, when
interactions are anonymous or infrequent, behavioural cues cannot
be read against a bacground of nown behaviour, so more general
attributes must be used. Because of the negative consequences of
being detected, people are e"pected to be nervous when lying. In
response to concern over appearing nervous, people may e"ert
control, trying to suppress behaviour, with possible side effects
detectable by the listener such as a planned, rehearsed
impression. 5ying is also cognitively demanding. Kou must
suppress the truth and construct a falsehood that is plausible, then
tell it in a convincing way and remember the story. 4ognitive load
appears to play the biggest role. When lies are not well)rehearsed,
people have to thin too hard, and this causes several effects,
including overcontrol that leads to blining and fidgeting less and
using fewer hand gestures, longer pauses and higher)pitched
voices. 'f course, if self)deception is involved, you are less liely to
give off the normal cues of lying that others might perceive.
*** & behavioural pattern is considered to be innate when it is
essential for survival and already present at birth, as it is
predetermined by the genetic mae)up of the organism. & refle" is
the simplest form of an innate behaviour. It is a programmed
reaction to an outside stimulus that is carried out unconsciously.
3or e"ample, the eyelids close automatically as soon as a draft of
air stimulates the surface of the eye and the pupils of a cat will
contract as soon as it loos into bright light. These are refle"es that
an organism does not have to learn< they are referred to as
unconditioned refle"es. &n unconditioned refle" is always an
unconscious response, and therefore it is impossible to suppress it
at will. 6uch a refle" always requires a stimulus that triggers a
certain behaviour. Aany unconditioned refle"es e"ist in order to
protect the organism, for e"ample coughing, nausea, or the draw
bac refle" of the body part that touches a hot ob(ect. &natomically,
a refle" is based on a chain of stimulus and reaction, which is
referred to as a refle" arc. & well)nown e"ample is the nee (er or
patellar refle" in humans, which is triggered by a light hit to the
patellar tendon in the nee. The nee (er refle" is often used in
medicine to test the function of the spinal cord and associated
nerves. The real purpose of this refle" is to protect humans from
in(ury when tripping.
*** *elatively few people en(oy the opportunity to travel to other
countries. By far the most common form of travel is that by
residents of a country within that country. International travel,
although given high priority by segments of the populations of
industriali7ed nations, is still a minority activity. &s a very rough
guide, we estimate that e"penditure worldwide on domestic tourism
may be worth up to ten times that amount on international tourism.
Ironically, there are relatively few countries that collect domestic
travel and tourism statistics, while much more information is
available on international tourism. Why is thisH 3irst of all,
international travel involves, by definition, the crossing of a frontier.
It is therefore easier to observe and monitor. 8omestic tourism
involves movement internally and is therefore more difficult to
research. 4ountries that only mae use of registration forms at
hotels miss out on all aspects of domestic tourism that involve
staying in other accommodation establishments or with friends or
relatives. & number of countries do not even try to measure
domestic tourism due to its very nature. 3or e"ample, in many
developing countries, very little domestic movement involves
staying in paid accommodation, and so it does not compete with
demand from international visitors.
*** 8uring the +,,-s, the country that was viewed by &merican
leaders and many others in the West as the most important
challenge for a transition to democracy was *ussia. The 4linton
administration emphasi7ed that one of its high priorities in foreign
policy was the success of the movement to democracy and a
maret economy in the states of the former 6oviet /nion, in
particular *ussia. & senior official asserted that Fhelping the
*ussian people to build a free society and maret economy is the
greatest strategic challenge of our time,G and that F*ussia was the
single most important foreign policy priorityG of the 4linton
administration. *ussia was by far the largest of the former republics
of the 6oviet /nion in both population and land area. In addition, its
geographical location gave it influence on issues in several regions
in which the /6 was interested, and it had greater strategic military
capability than any other country e"cept the /6. 'n a deeper level,
*ussia represented what remained of the former geopolitical and
ideological rival of the /6. If the state that had been the core of the
superpower which was considered to be the main adversary of the
/6 and of democracy could, within a relatively short time, be
changed into an ideological soul mate of the /6, the symbolic
implications would be profound.
*** 6pecies diversity provides the foundation for individual
ecosystems and thus is the prerequisite for the functioning of the
biosphere. It is an immeasurable source of food and medicinal
products, and an irreplaceable resource as a gene pool. 8ue to the
increasing destruction and pollution of natural habitats, over)fishing
and hunting, humans are destroying the biological multitude of life,
and with that, the basis of their own well)being. The public is
concerned when a well)nown species lie the tiger, whale, or
mountain gorilla becomes endangered< however, the ma(ority of
other cases are hardly ever noticed by the public. &part from the
decline of species diversity within habitats, loss of genetic diversity
within individual species has also been observed. The destruction
of individual populations leads to a reduction in genetic
regeneration capacity within a species. 3or instance, selective
deforestation reduces the quality of the genetic material of affected
tree species, since only strong, healthy trees are logged and the
weaer ones are left behind. Humaninds intentional or
unintentional introduction of e"otic animal and plant species to new
habitats plays an important role as well. These so)called Fneo7ic
speciesG can become a threat to local species and lead to their
complete e"tinction. 3or instance, the flightless Piwi bird in 2ew
Sealand is threatened with e"tinction by introduced rats and feral
cats.
KPDS 2012 SONBAHAR
*** 3or hundreds of thousands of years, human civili7ations tended
to barter for goods, trading shells and precious stones for food and
other important commodities. 3or the first evidence of money as
currency, we need to go bac :,--- years to where modern)day
Iraq now sits, to find Bthe sheel. Though this was the first form of
currency, it was not money as we now and understand it today. It
actually represented a certain weight of barley, a ind of plant,
equivalent to gold or silver. 1ventually, the sheel became a coin
currency in its own right. In much the same way, Britains currency
is called Bthe pound, because it was originally equivalent to a
pound of silver. The ancient Drees and *omans used gold and
silver coins as currency, with the 5atin Bdenarius ultimately giving
birth to Bdinar in various countries including #ordan and &lgeria,
and providing the Bd that served as an abbreviation for the British
penny before decimali7ation in +,?+. It also gives us the word for
money in 6panish and !ortuguese ; Bdinero and Bdinhero. The first
ever bannotes were issued in ? th )century 4hina, though it too
another +,--- years before the idea of paper money was adopted
in 1urope, by 6wedens 6tocholms Banco in +CC+.
*** British scientists have begun studying a rare meteorite to reveal
more about the history of Aars. The roc, named BTissint after the
Aoroccan area where it crashed in #uly .-++, was recovered from
the ground (ust five months later ; not enough time to be too
contaminated. FThe Tissint sample is probably the most important
meteorite to have landed on the 1arth in the last +-- years,G says
8r. 4aroline 6mith, curator of meteorites at the 2atural History
Auseum in 5ondon. &n analysis of the roc revealed its Aartian
origin. It would have been removed from Aars when an asteroid
struc the planet, staying in space as debris before being attracted
by the 1arths gravity. 'f the 9+,--- officially recogni7ed
meteorites, C+ come from Aars and the Tissint roc is only the fifth
that was witnessed falling. 8r. Tony Irving of Washington /niversity,
who performed some initial analysis on the sample, does not thin
there is much chance of finding fossili7ed life within it. But the
British team could reveal whether minerals have been affected by
water or contain elements such as carbon. 6mith says FWere not
looing for microbes, but were looing for the chemical and
environmental signatures to indicate whether Aars, at some point
in its past, may have provided a suitable environment for life to
e"ist.G
*** While playing computer games is sometimes seen as a solitary
pursuit, a study at Brigham Koung /niversity shows that it actually
enhances social connections. 6tudying the effect of multiplayer
online games on marriages, researchers found that in the ?C= of
the cases where the couple played together, games actually aided
the relationship. In other words, couples that gamed together
stayed together. Dames may have other effects on us too. The
famous psychologist, !hilip Simbardo, recently spoe out on the
sub(ect. In his +,?+ 6tanford !rison 1"periment, in which
volunteers were randomly assigned the roles of prisoner or guard,
he showed that human behaviour is heavily influenced by
environmental and social pressures. Aore recently, Simbardo even
suggested that e"posing children to morally ambiguous situations
in games could be useful in helping them develop their own moral
compass. 'ne possibility is to e"plore virtual worlds through
computer games that could enable people to e"perience and
understand concepts that they would otherwise find difficult to
imagine. Dames about society, populated by real people and open
to all, could help test how different cultural bacgrounds could be
brought together in peace.
*** &lthough many community newspapers are (ustifiably proud of
their hard)hitting local editorials, perhaps half of all community
papers carry no editorials at all. !ublishers who refuse to
editoriali7e often claim that editorial harassing is resented in small
communities. 'thers are fearful of alienating readers and
advertisers. 6till others say they do not have enough time to
develop polished, well)researched editorials on a regular basis.
Aany publishers are leaders in the commercial and political lives of
their towns, and are so much a part of the local power structure that
their editorials would not be persuasive anyway. Those who
editoriali7e assert that editorials and opinion columns give identity
to their newspapers and leadership to their communities. Indeed,
some of the most inspired writing the /6 has produced ; the
B4risis essays of Tom !aine, the 3ederalist !apers e"plaining and
defending the 4onstitution, the stirring commentary of William &llen
White of Pansas ; first saw the light of day as editorial or column
material in a community newspaper. 4ourageous hometown editors
regularly win !ulit7er !ri7es and other professional honours for
crusading editorials on local issues.
*** Innovation is not a synonym for invention ; an invention has to
be taen to the maret to be regarded as innovation. Innovation
must change the way people do something. In an essay on
creativity, Teresa &mabile and others describe innovation as Bthe
successful implementation of creative ideas within an organi7ation.
4reativity, which includes invention, is only the starting point for
innovation, which is a necessary but not sufficient condition for it.
&s &mabile implies, the business of innovation needs to be
managed all the way from the creative inspiration through to a
launchable product or service. Innovation is not restricted to
products and services. It might be internal to the business, in the
form of new and more effective organi7ational structures or
processes. It could be a new way of mareting or distribution, lie
online grocery deliveries. By todays thining, innovation can also
be in the form of a significant improvement to an e"isting
commodity. When you build a better product, not necessarily a
revolutionary one, the whole world will want to buy it. & lot of small
types of innovation lie this are more ain to continuous
improvement, which maes up @:),-= of the average corporate
development portfolio.
YDS 2013 LKBAHAR
WWW History is one of the few school sub(ects commonly mandated in
education systems throughout the world. 3urthermore, the use of
history te"tboos to support student learning is an almost
universally accepted practice. However, the widespread
international presence of the humble history te"tboo should not
disguise its ideological and cultural potency. Indeed, essential to
understanding the power and importance of history te"tboos is to
appreciate that in any given culture they typically e"ist as the
eepers of ideas, values and nowledge. 2o matter how neutral
history te"tboos may appear, they are ideologically important,
because they often see to in(ect the youth with a shared set of
values, national ethos and an incontrovertible sense of political
orthodo"y. Te"tboos stand as cultural artefacts that embody a
range of issues associated with ideology, politics and values which
in themselves function at a variety of different levels of power,
status and influence. 1mbedded in history te"tboos are narratives
and stories that nation states choose to tell about themselves and
their relations with other nations. Typically, they represent a core of
cultural nowledge which future generations are e"pected both to
assimilate and support.
*** 3armers in many countries utili7e antibiotics in two ey waysE at
full strength to treat animals that are sic and in low doses to fatten
meat)producing livestoc or to prevent veterinary illnesses.
&lthough even the proper use of antibiotics can inadvertently lead
to the spread of drug resistant bacteria, the habit of using a low
dose is a formula for disasterE the treatment provides (ust enough
antibiotic to ill some but not all bacteria. The germs that survive
are typically those that happen to bear genetic mutations for
resisting the antibiotic. They then reproduce and e"change genes
with other microbial resisters. &s bacteria are found literally
everywhere, resistant strains produced in animals eventually find
their way into people as well. Kou could not design a better system
for guaranteeing the spread of antibiotic resistance. To cease the
spread, 8enmar enforced tighter rules on the use of antibiotics in
the raising of poultry and other farm animals. The lesson is that
improving animal husbandry ; maing sure that pens, stalls and
cages are properly cleaned and giving animals more room or time
to mature ; offsets the initial negative impact of limiting antibiotic
use.
*** FThe Aarshall !lan was not a simple program for transferring
massive sums of money to struggling countries, but an e"plicit ;
and eventually successful ; attempt to reindustriali7e 1urope.G say
1ri *einert and Ha)#oon 4hang. It follows that if &frica really
wants economic prosperity, it should study and draw valuable
lessons from the Aarshall !lans dar twinE the Aorgenthau !lan
implemented in Dermany in +,9:. *einert tells the story bestE
When it was clear that the &llies would win the 6econd World War,
the question of what to do with Dermany, which in three decades
had precipitated two World Wars, reared its head. Henry
Aorgenthau #r, the /6 secretary of the treasury, formulated a plan
to eep Dermany from ever again threatening world peace.
Dermany, he argued, had to be entirely deindustriali7ed and turned
into an agricultural nation. &ll industrial equipment was to be
destroyed, and the mines were to be flooded. This program was
approved by the &llies and was immediately implemented when
Dermany capitulated in +,9:. However, it soon became clear that
the Aorgenthau !lan was causing serious economic problems in
DermanyE deindustriali7ation caused agricultural productivity to
plummet. This was indeed an interesting e"periment. The
mechanisms of synergy between industry and agriculture wored in
reverseE illing the industry reduced the productivity of the
agricultural sector.
*** Imagine an industry that runs out of raw materials. 4ompanies
go banrupt, worers are laid off, families suffer and associated
organi7ations are thrown into turmoil. 1ventually, governments are
forced to tae drastic action. Welcome to global baning, recently
brought to its nees by the interruption of its lifeblood ; the flow of
cash. In this case, we seem to have been fortunate. In the nic of
time, governments released reserves in order to start cash
circulating again. But what if the reserves had not been thereH
What are we going to do when our supplies of vital materials such
as fish, tropical hardwoods, metals lie indium and fresh water dry
upH We live on a planet with finite resources ; that is no surprise to
anyone ; so why do we have an economic system in which all that
matters is growth ; more growth means using more resources.
When the human population was counted in millions and resources
were sparse, people could simply move to new pastures. However,
with , billion people e"pected around .-:-, moving on is not an
option. &s politicians reconstruct the global economy, they should
tae heed. If we are to leave any ind of planet to our children, we
need an economic system that lets us live within our means.
*** Aany athletes credit drugs with improving their performance, but
some of them may want to than their brain instead. Aounting
evidence suggests that the boost from human growth hormone
$HDH%, an increasingly popular doping drug, might be caused by
the placebo effect. In a new double)blind trial funded by the World
&nti)8oping &gency, in which neither researchers nor participants
new who was receiving HDH and who was taing a placebo, the
researchers ased participants to guess whether or not they were
on the real drug. Then they e"amined the results of the group who
guessed that they were getting HDH when, in fact, they had
received a placebo. That group improved at four fitness tests
measuring strength, endurance, power and sprint capacity. The
study participants who guessed correctly that they were taing a
placebo did not improve, according to preliminary results presented
at the 6ociety for 1ndocrinology meeting in #une .-++. FThe finding
really shows the power of the mindG said Pen Ho,an endocrinologist
at the Darvan Institute in 6ydney, &ustralia, who led the study. 6he
maintains that many athletes are reaping the benefits of the
placebo effect, without nowing whether what they are taing is
beneficial or not.
DS FEN 2000 SONBAHAR
*** There are about forty distinct inds of wild cats nown to inhabit
the earth today. They range in si7e from the mighty 6iberian tiger to
several little spotted species about the si7e of the average
domestic cat. The cats are the most efficient land predators left on
earth. They combine power, speed,patience, camouflage, and
considerable individual sill. &ll swim well, most climb with great
agility, and at least for short distances, most can move with
ama7ing swiftness. The &frican lion can reach a speed of almost
forty miles per hour when it charges.
*** 4ivil engineering offers a particular challenge because almost
every structure or system that is designed and built by civil
engineers is unique. 'ne structure rarely duplicates another
e"actly. 1ven when structures seem to be identical, site
requirements or other factors generally result in modifications.
5arge structures lie dams, bridges, or tunnels may differ
substantially from previous structures. The civil engineer must,
therefore, always be ready and willing to meet new challenges.
*** &ll our sources of power are Bnatural< we have found that matter
can be turned into energy and energy into matter, but that nothing
can be created. We can convert one into the other with relative
ease, but all our power is based upon the control of natural
sources, in the sense that the energy or fuel is never man)made. It
already e"ists in the wind and in rivers< or it may be stored up as in
oil or coal.
*** To astronomers, the great accomplishment of the flights to the
moon was the bringing bac of rocs from the lunar surface. It was
the first e"traterrestrial material ever to reach 1arth, with the
e"ception of meteorites. The lunar rocs seemed to show that the
moon was virtually free of water and of organic material and was,
therefore, a world utterly without life. In fact, this had been
suspected by astronomers, since the +C--s< but there had been
some hope of traces of air and water that might have made
possible very primitive life at the bacterial level, if nothing more.
*** We are warm)blooded animals. The temperature inside us is
generally higher than the temperature outside us. It follows from
this fact that, (ust as a ettle of hot water cools as it loses heat to
the air around it, so the human body is continually losing heat. But,
unlie the ettle, it does not cool down, for all the time fresh
quantities of heat are being generated inside. The body is both
maing heat and losing some of it at the same time. The loss of
heat is controlled by a very delicate mechanism. The body
resembles a thermostat heater in that while it gives off heat it
manages to remain at the same temperature.
***Denetics is the study of mechanisms of the hereditary process.
Aodern genetics began with the e"periments of Dregor Aendel in
+@C:. He studied the inheritance of different factors in peas, and
found that some traits were NdominantN and some NrecessiveN, the
NdominantN appearing in a ratio of very nearly three to one.Aendel>s
results were ignored for many years until their rediscovery at the
beginning of the twentieth century.
*** Deologists are especially interested in the mineral content of
rocs. &ll rocs consist of one or more minerals, many of which are
needed as raw materials for industry or have properties which
mae them valuable or useful. Dold, for e"ample, is valuable.
8iamonds are both valuable and useful. 4oal is also found in rocs,
usually underground and it is vitally important as fuel in modern life.
Britain is rich in coal because it was covered in dense forest more
than 0-- million years ago. 4oal is formed from the remains of
trees and the other plants which have gradually been compressed
and hardened in the roc structure of the earth.
*** 5ong after the discovery of electricity, man found that he could
use the great power to produce it. &t first, he used natural
waterfalls.5ater, man began to build dams to generate hydroelectric
power. 8ams are immense structures which hold bac the water of
a river and form a lae behind. The water is let through under
control and allowed to fall through pipes to the turbines below. The
rushing water drives the turbines, and as they revolve, they spin
electromagnets< these magnets generate electricity.
DS SALIK 2000 SONBAHAR
*** 3eeling the pulse is part of the doctors> routing in e"amining a
patient in hospitals. The nurse counts the pulse night and morning.
The pulse gives the doctor useful information about his patient>s
condition, so helping him to diagnose the trouble. The cause of the
pulse is the beating of the heart. &t each heart beat from four to si"
ounces of blood are pumped into the main artery of the body, and
in consequence a wave of pressure goes along the arteries all over
the body. It is this wave which is the pulse the doctor feels at the
wrist. & beat of the heart is responsible for each wave.
*** 2obody should be ashamed of being depressed. It is either a
natural aspect of grief, or an illness which is treatable. It is normal
to be depressed after a divorce or the death of a loved one. But, in
today>s rushing society, people may feel they should recover from
depression faster than is really natural. *ecovery from mourning
should be e"pected to be a matter of many months, not wees, and
nobody should be afraid to let this depression run its natural
course. In fact, trying to rush the pace or brighten up with
antidepressants is seldom the best route to a full recovery.
*** 6tudies show that more than two cups of coffee a day can
cause unpleasant symptoms such as nervousness, irritability,
stomach pain and insomnia. Thus, although many people build up
a certain tolerance for the stimulant e"periments indicate that
caffeine users tae longer to fall asleep than non)users and they
also wae up more often. The effects ofcaffeine are similar in
persons of all ages, but certain groups are particularly sensitive to
the drug, including the elderly, children, pregnant women, and
those suffering from heart disease, hypertension, and emotional
illness.
*** The presence of fever in a patient does not necessarily prove
that he is suffering from an infection. &n accurate clinical diagnosis
will depend on several important factors ) the age and the se" of
the patient, the clinical history and any physical signs which point to
a focus of infection. Whatever may be the underlying cause of
fever, the important thing is to eep the patient as comfortable as
possible. This will include eeping the temperature down. 3urther,
good nursing in clean surroundings with frequent bed)bathing will
add greatly to the patient>s wellbeing and may even prove
lifesaving.
*** & bruise is caused by damage to the tissues under the sin,
which leads to bleeding. The common everyday bruise is due to the
tearing of some small blood vessels and to the escape of blood
beneath the surfaceE it usually causes no more than a slight bluish
discoloration and clears up without treatment. & severe blow,
however, may cause bruising in the muscles, usually accompanied
by tears in the fibers of the muscleE the pool of blood that results
may lead to a large and painful swelling.
*** Tooth decay is dealt with by drilling out the decayed matter and
filling up the resulting cavity. &ll decay and weaened areas must
be removed, otherwise decay will continue beneath the filling. The
cavity should be prepared so that the filling will stay in securely and
withstand pressure from chewing. High speed electric drills are now
usual and so is the use of an in(ection of a local anesthetic to mae
the procedure painless. & lining of chemical element is put into the
prepared cavity to protect the pulp from heat and chemicals. The
filling, placed on top of this, is usually an amalgam of silver, tin,
copper, 7inc alloy and mercury.
WWW 4olour blindness is a genetically transmitted condition in which
a person cannot detect all colours. The defect is more common in
men than in women. Aost colour blind people can see only two
basic colours, and they tend to confuse other colours, especially
red with green. This impairment can bring about problems because
many colour blind people do not reali7e that their eyesight is
defective. They have learned to use the colour terms that everyone
else uses, and they are not aware that they do not see what others
see. There is a ris that their condition might place them in danger.
*** 1"cessive vitamin consumption is a potential problem. 6ome
people tae unnecessarily large quantities of 0vitamins and
minerals for years, assuming that if a little is good for them, a lot
must be better. There is no evidence to support their convictions. In
fact, a study released last month in a public health (ournal says that
people who tae supplements are not healthier and do not live
longer. &ccording to researchers almost no one needs to tae
them. Jitamin deficiencies are almost none"istent in the West
e"cept for among some elderly people whose diets do not usually
include sufficient fresh fruit and vegetables.
DS SOSYAL 2000 SONBAHAR
*** &ny criminal (ustice system is an apparatus that society uses to
enforce the standards of conduct necessary to protect individuals
and the community. It operates by apprehending, prosecuting,
convicting, sentencing these members of the community who
violate the basic rules of group e"istence. The action taen against
lawbreaers is designed to serve three purposes beyond the
immediately punitive one. It removes dangerous people from the
community< it deters others from criminal behavior and it gives
society an opportunity to attempt to transform lawbreaers into law)
abiding citi7ens.
*** 4hronic psychological stress depends much more on the person
than on what happens to him. 6omeone promoted above his
abilities will probably be under constant stress but some
personalities may not be aware of the pressure, or of not being up
to the (ob. 'n the other hand, someone in a position well within his
abilities may still find everything a strain. !erhaps it is because he
does not reali7e he can do it easily or because he wants to win
promotion< or simplybecause that is his way of going about things.
*** In a competitive economy, the consumer usually has the choice
of several different brands of the same product. Ket underneath
their labels, these products are often nearly identical. 'ne
manufacturer>s toothpaste tends to differ very little from another
manufacturer>s. Two different brands of shampoo may vary only in
scent and color. &nd the tobacco in two different brands of
cigarettes frequently come from the same fields. This close
similarity means that a shopper has little reason to choose one
brand over another. Thus, manufacturers are confronted with a
problemE how to eep sales high enough to stay in business.
Aanufacturers solve this problem by advertising.
*** & great deal of archaeological evidence has revealed the
importance of water supply systems in the ancient world. !robably
the most impressive system were built by the *omans, whose
aqueducts still stand in modern Italy, 6pain, 3rance and Turey.
*ome itself had a water supply estimated at :-million gallons a day
or about :- gallons a day for each resident of the city. The water
has delivered to fountains where people collected it in pots and
then carried it to their homes< only a few buildings and residences
had connections to the main pipelines.
*** The literature of any society reveals the values, the conflicts and
the e"periences, both past and present of its members. Through
the literature of a people it Is possible to gain some insight into their
attitudes, beliefs and problems. Auch of human e"perience is
similar because basically all men have similar needs, and the
reader may find his own concern voiced by character in a novel
written centuries before
*** The emergence of hew processes for producing goods and
services that provide better quality at lower cost them. Aass
production has transformed the nature of wor. This is a
fundamental change in economic life. !eople perform a much more
central role in the new production system. There is now more
democracy in the worplace. & reduction of business hierarchies,
the creation of production teams, more worer participation in
decision maing and employee ownership are some of the
indicators of this economic democracy. The heart of this process is
not technology< it>s a new set of social relations in the worplace
which means that most worers now en(oy more wor satisfaction.
*** The urge to dance is one of the most powerful of human
Vnstincts. 2early all dances from antiquity to the +,th century had
one important common characteristic. They alternated between
collective movements and solo twins, in which every dancer or
couple in succession would become the centre of attention and
then merge bac into the crowd. Thus dancing e"pressed both the
communal and the individualistic impulse of humanity, holding the
two in delicate balance tothe benefit of healthy society.
*** The term NThird WorldN is used to denote the poor nations of
&frica, &sia and 5atin &merica as opposed to the N6econd WorldN of
communist developed nations. The terminology is far from
satisfactory, as there is a great social and political variation within
the NThird WorldN. Indeed, there are some countries where e"treme
poverty prevails, and these could be regarded as a NfourthN group.
DS FEN 2001 LKBAHAR
*** Weeds are plants out of place, either as the wrong plant in
cultivated ground, or as any plant where none should be. They can
cause considerable financial loss through the cost of their control
and the damage they do to crops. !lants which become really
troublesome as weeds are those which persist despite man>s
efforts to control them. 6uch persistency is due to several factors of
which perhaps the most important are prolific seed production,
coupled with die often remarably long periods of dormancy of the
seed, and the ability of vegetative parts of some plants to survive
mechanical damage and adverse conditions and to set up new
plants. Weeds may be controlled by hand, by cultivation and other
mechanical means, by biological means and by chemical
weedillers. 4hemical weedillers are widely used, either to give a
total ill and suppress all vegetation or to control weeds selectively
in crops.
*** & typical e"plosives factory is divided into two partsE the Nnon)
dangerN and NdangerN areas. The main business of the non)danger
area lies in the manufacture of nitric and sulphuric acids for the
nitration processes, including the recovery of these acids from the
waste products of nitration. 'ther raw materials are also prepared
in the non)danger area. The actual manufacture of e"plosives and
their mi"ing and pacing are carried out in the danger area, sub(ect
to rigorous safety measures. The main danger in manufacture is
ignition by spar, friction or impact, the latter two being especially
ha7ardous if the e"plosive is allowed to become contaminated with
gritty material. 2aed lights, steel tools or anything which might
produce spar or flame are therefore e"cluded from the danger
buildings. 1ach building has a NcleanN floor which may be
approached only in specially cleaned shoes, while the worers are
provided with factory clothing to ensure that grit is not carried into
the buildings.
*** The culmination of the classic age of the machine tool was the
wor of #oseph Whitworth. His pre)eminence lay not so much in
any far)reaching innovations as in the quality and accuracy of the
wormanship he was able to obtain. It was Whitworth who
introduced the standard screw thread which was used in British
engineering until +,9@, and it was he who revolutionised standards
of measurement. Indeed, the many measuring machines of the
second half of the +, th century, though increasing the facility, did
not greatly increase the accuracy Whitworth had attained. &t the
Dreat 1"hibition of+@:+ his planing, slotting, shaing, drilling,
punching and shearing machines made him the outstanding
machine)tool maer of the age.
*** #ust as railway bridges were the great structural symbols of the
+, th century, highway bridges became the engineering emblems
of the .- century. The invention of the automobilecreated an
irresistible demand for paved roads and vehicular bridges
throughout the developed world. The type of bridge needed for cars
and trucs, however, is fundamentally different from that needed for
locomotives. Aost highway bridges carry lighter loads than railway
bridges do, and their roadways can be sharply curved or steeply
sloping. To meet these needs, many turn)ofthe)century bridge
designers began woring with a new building materialE reinforced
concrete, which has steel bars embedded in it. &nd the master of
this new material was 6wiss structural engineer *obert Aaillart,
who designed some of the most original and influential bridges of
the modern era.
*** 6trictly speaing the term NavalancheN should be restricted to
falls of snow and ice in mountainous regions but popular usage has
e"tended its meaning to cover roc fails and landslips in all
environments. The period of greatest danger from avalanches
proper is during a thaw, when melt)watermaes a good lubricant for
the snow and ice baned steeply against roc faces. The rising
cloud of white dust, the vertical grooves and patches of bare roc
formed by the scouring action, and the dull roar of the avalanche
are all common features of mountains above the permanent snow
line. *oc fragments may also be carried down, for the recurrent
free7ing and thawing of water lodged in (oints and crevices of the
roc forms a powerful agent of disintegration. The action is the
same as that which leads to burst pipes. 3ree7ing causes
e"pansion of the water in the spaces of a (oint and produces a
pressure sufficient to brea the roc.
*** &ircraft landing)wheel braes are fitted to all si7es of aircraft for
arresting motion after touch)down, for steering during ta"iing by
differential control of port and starboard braes, and to hold the
aircraft stationary while the engine is warmed)up or tested. 6mall
aircraft have simple two)shoe internal e"panding braes manually
operated and very similar to the standard road)vehicle brae, but
the larger machines require power)operated braes using
compressed air or hydraulic pressure from compressors or pumps
driven by the engine. Besides being as light and compact as
possible, landing)wheel braes must remain effective and balanced
during very high rates of energy dissipation due to the great weight
of the aircraft and the very high landing speeds.
*** The main advantages of electric traction on railways are that it
is both pleasant and efficient. It brings the removal of a smoe
nuisance from tunnels and from the vicinity of larger cities. 3urther,
owing to high acceleration, it is possible to provide a more frequent
and faster service on densely populated suburban lines. The trac
capacity is improved by electrification on mountainous lines
because of increase of speed, both up and down the gradient,
generally using electric forms of braing in the latter case. 6ome of
the ma(or electrification schemes of the world, for instance, those in
6wit7erland and 6weden, have been largely dictated by the desire
to operate the railway system without dependence upon imported
fuel.
*** Botanic gardens may be regarded as having a threefold
functionE to please and educate the public< to carry out
investigations regarding the economic value of native and foreign
plant products and acclimatisation of plants< and to act as centres
of information and scientific investigation in various fields of botany,
such as anatomy, morphology and physiology, for which museums,
libraries and laboratories are also needed. The search for drugs
and spices particularly has tempted men from early times to
e"plore all parts of the world and this has promoted a close lin
between e"ploration and botanic gardens. 'ne well)nown botanic
garden is the *oyal Botanic Darden at 1dinburgh which was
founded in +C?- by *obert 6ibbald for the cultivation of medical
plants. 6ince that date it has been removed to several different
sites. It is now one of the ma(or botanic gardens in Britain with an
area of over C- acres.
DS SALIK 2001 LKBAHAR
*** &spirin used to be regarded as a safe cure for numerous ills,
and was widely used both in its soluble and insoluble form. 2ow,
however, it is not so well thought of. It is useful for the relief of
headache or other pains and it will reduce a fever for . or 0 hours
and so mae a patient feel more comfortable, but e"cept in very
rare cases it will cure nothing. Aoreover, there have been some
very serious cases of poisoning as a result of taing aspirin. This is
why children>s aspirins are not recommended, for they are often
nicely flavoured, so the children are tempted to eat them lie
sweets. 3or small children, suitably small quantities of ordinary
adult soluble aspirin should be used after having checed the dose
with the doctor.
*** 6ome underweight people en(oy an active, healthy life, but
others are underweight because of smoing habits or poor health.
&n underweight person, especially an older adult, may be unable to
preserve lean tissue during the fight against a wasting disease
such as cancer or a digestive disorder, especially when
accompanied by malnutrition. Without adequate nutrient and
energy reserves, an underweight person will have a particularly
tough battle against such medical stresses. In fact, many people
with cancer die, not from the cancer itself, but from malnutrition.
/nderweight women may become infertile. 1"actly how infertility
develops is unclear, but contributing factors include not only body
weight, but also restricted energy and fat intae and depleted body
fat stores.
*** 3or many years whooping cough has been regarded merely as
a bother to the patient and a nuisance to others< as, in fact, a trivial
disease. /nfortunately< this is not soE because statistics show that it
has caused more deaths than polio, diphtheria, scarlet fever, and
measles put together. Whooping cough begins in a child as an
ordinary cold with cough and slight fever, and this stage lasts for a
wee or ten days. Then begins a series of coughs following in rapid
succession, during which time, the patient is unable to breathe. The
NwhoopN is caused by the noisy in drawing of breath when the fit
stops. The face may become blue and congested. Bronchitis is
usually present, and bronchopneumonia may result as a
complication, so inoculation of all children before the disease has a
chance to strie them is most important.
*** Thalidomide was unique. In every animal test used in the late
+,:-s, it had a clean bill of health. It was chemically related to
other drugs which had been in use for a long time. 'ver)dosage
with thalidomide was unliely to prove fatal. It was mareted in
1urope and in Britain as a Nsafe sedativeN. The tragic results that
followed its use by women in the early wees of pregnancy are how
well nown. Babies were born with severe deformities of limbs,
internal organs or both. That effect could not have been foretold
from any animal tests in use at that time. 6ince that date new drugs
have been sub(ected to strict testing in various animal species to
chec the effect on foetal development, along with the older tests
for to"icity which had always been undertaen by well)nown drug
companies.
*** 4ombined active and passive prophylactic immunisation is
designed to obtain both the immediate but temporary benefit of
protectionE afforded by serum and the more remote but lasting
benefit afforded by vaccine in(ection. It has been used chiefly in
diphtheria. If, for e"ample, this disease breas out in a school, a
small dose of serum, such as :-- antito"ic units, may be in(ected at
once into all the children, and a first dose of diphtheria prophylactic
vaccine given simultaneously. & second dose of vaccine is
administered four wees later. The serum confers passive
protection during the time that active immunity is developing. 6ince
the main effect of the serum passes off in 0)9 wees and active
immunity is not established for :)C wees, there may be a short
intermediate period of relative susceptibility, but it has been found
in practice that, provided the children are protected torn infection by
temporary segregation of carriers, there is very little ris of
diphtheria breaing out again. &n outbrea can thus be brought to
an abrupt end.
*** Worms are intestinal parasites, but the only common types
found in Britain are . threadworms, the tiny thread)lie worms which
cause irritability and itching in the sin of children, less often in
adults. Then there are round)worms, > somewhat resembling the
ordinary )garden earthworm, which seldom lead to symptoms.
3inally the third group is the tapeworms which may reach a , length
of 0 or even C m. Aany parasitic worms lead a double life, they
spend part of their life in the human intestine and the other part in
the muscles of another animal. The tapeworm, for e"ample, while
in the human intestine, lays eggs which pass out of the body in the
e"creta, and are then swallowed by various animals, especially in
those parts of the world where human e"creta are used as manure
in the fields.
*** Typhus used to be nown as N(ail feverN because it was
frequent in prisons< but overcrowding, poverty, and bad hygienic
surroundings anywhere are suitable conditions for epidemics of
typhus. Improved conditions in industrialised countries have made
it unusual, since typhus is carried from one person to another by
infected body lice. Typhus comes on suddenly with a rise in
temperature to about 0, R4, but within four days it may be as high
as 9. R4. There may, or may not, be a rash at this time, and in the
second wee, when the temperature is at its highest, there is
delirium, physical weaness, and a wea pulse.
*** Basic sanitary facilities are absent in many parts of the tropics,
particularly in rural areas, and this state of affairs is responsible for
the prevalence of preventable diseases such as hooworm
infection, dysentery and cholera. The solution lies in the provision
of toilet facilities which are suitable for the local conditions, and the
villagers must be educated to use them and to appreciate their
value to the community. In view of the need to improve the fertility
of the soil, local authorities are becoming increasingly interested in
simple methods of composting village waste, in this way
invigorating the soil with valuable humus without the riss of
infection involved in the old practices of direct application.
DS SOSYAL 2001 LKBAHAR
*** If the term employment is used in its wider sense as meaning
wor which is of economic value not only to the family but to the
community, women have at all times been thus employed. In
primitive societies and in agricultural communities women shared in
the productive wor on the land, in the worshops and the home<
they too part in trade and they cared for the old, the sic and the
infirm at a time when there were no health and welfare services in
the modern sense. Indeed, in any society in which the productivity
of labour is low, women>s active participation in the daily wor is
indispensable. To this day, women wor in the fields in all
agricultural communities< they spin and weave, do building wor
and various other inds of hard physical labour in many parts of the
world which have not yet reached the threshold of industrialisation.
*** If you wish to glimpse the ancient trophies of !edra 3urada, in a
difficult, mountainous area of northeastern Bra7il, you must be
prepared to face intense dry heat, treacherous rocy ground,
sudden flooding, boulders falling from cliffs, aggressive snaes and
swarms of mosquitoes. It>s worth it, though, for the archeological
treasures to be found there are e"ceptionally ancient. *oc
paintings ) vivid depictions of prehistoric ways of life, including
dancing, hunting, war and se" rituals ) have been dated at more
than +.,--- years old, while curious pebble structures, primeval
bonfires and early stone tools are up to :-,--- years old. The
discovery of the remains had a profound effect on our nowledge of
&merican prehistory, for they suggested that the first people in the
2ew World arrived not via a bridge of ice from 6iberia but by sea
from &frica or possibly even &ustralia.
*** 2ew evidence suggests that 2oah>s flood really did happen. &
recent e"pedition has confirmed that a huge flood occurred ?---
years ago in the Blac 6ea. The theory was first put forward last
year by marine geologists William *yan and Walter !itman. In their
boo 2oah>s 3lood, they argue that the great flood resulted from
the last ice age, which peaed +.,--- years ago. When the poles
fro7e, ocean levels dropped and cut off the Aediterranean from the
Blac 6ea, which dropped +:- m to become a lae with fertile
shores. When the ice thawed, the Aediterranean rose bac up and
broe through what is now nown as the Bosphorus with a force
equal to .-- 2iagara 3alls for a period of two years. The Blac 6ea
rose, consuming a mile of shore a day. Those who had settled
there fled, spreading their stories of the flood.
*** Ar Aellon senior was a 4roesus whose golden touch gave him
a grip on much of &merican industry, including power, mining, civil
engineering and insurance. His son, !aul Aellon, was a very
different sort of person but no less remarable. His achievement
was that he managed to dispose of more money and goods than
any other &merican of his time, but did it in an unobtrusive and
well)regarded way. The great capitalists of the +,th century,
particularly &ndrew 4arnegie and #ohn *ocefeller, pioneered
&merican philanthropy. 4arnegie said the same aggressive energy
that had made a capitalist rich should be employed to return his
profits to society. The man who died rich, died disgraced, 4arnegie
thundered. Without necessarily agreeing with such strictures, !aul
Aellon set out to redistribute some of his wealth. Both men thought
that what &merica needed was culture. 4arnegie had favoured
public libraries. Ar Aellon went for public art galleries.
*** Jenice is famed for its architecture and for its paintings.
Jenetian architecture reflects the By7antine influence, though
Dothic became the main style in the +9th century< and the first
*enaissance building dates from the second half of the +:th
century. The Jenetian school of painters did not come into
prominence until the +:th century. The best nown of this school
are Dentile and Diovanni Bellini, Titian, Tintoretto and Jeronese.
The centre of Jenetian life is 6t Aar>s square which is paved with
marble. *ound this and the ad(oining !ia77etta are grouped
buildings of great beauty and interest. &t the eastern end of the
square is the basilica of 6t Aar, a fitting cathedral for the patriarch
of Jenice.
*** *adical changes in the life of western society were brought
about by the new technical inventions of the +@+ and +,th centuries
which resulted in a gradual but complete reorganisation of the
productive process. This is generally nown as Nthe Industrial
*evolutionN. The outstanding feature of this industrial revolution
was the increasing specialisation of labour and, with it, the removal
of more and more industries from the home to the factory. &t the
same time, a growing number of activities such as baing, soap
maing and dressmaing were taen over by industry. These
changes profoundly affected the lives of women. Aany of them
wored in the new factories for very low wages and for e"cessively
long hours< others wored at home for manufacturers.
*** Winchester is a cathedral city in 1ngland. 'nce a royal city and
residence of the ings of Wesse", Winchester competed with
5ondon to be capital of 1ngland and rivalled 6alisbury as a great
centre of learning. The progressively intensified agricultural use of
the land and the increasing population of the nearby towns and
villages gave prosperity to Winchester and turned it into a ma(or
economic centre. Wool was an important local product, and its
collection and distribution formed part of the city>s economy. /nder
Ping &lfred, whose statue stands in the city, the cultural and
ecclesiastical life of Winchester became firmly established.
*** Deorge Jancouver was a British naval e"plorer who served as a
seaman on 4aptain 4oo>s second voyage round the world $+??.)
?:% and as a midshipman on his third voyage $+??C)@-%. He then
saw service in the West Indies. In +?,+ he was placed in charge of
an e"pedition to the northwest coast of 2orth &merica to see for a
passage to the interior of the continent which was rumoured to e"ist
in those parts. 'n the outward voyage by the 4ape of Dood Hope,
a portion of the southwest coastline of &ustralia was e"amined, and
Tasmania, 2ew Sealand and Hawaii were visited. Jancouver spent
three years in carefully surveying portions of the west coast of
2orth &merica. He was the first to circumnavigate Jancouver
Island, to which his name was given by the 6paniards
tocommemorate his achievement. The standard of his survey was
e"ceptionally high and worthy of his old captain, #ames 4oo< and
his voyage practically disproved the e"istence of a water)passage
to the interior along these coasts.
DS FEN 2001 SONBAHAR
*** The *oyal 6ociety is the national academy of science for Dreat
Britain and 2orthern Ireland but, unlie other national academies, is
and always has been independent of state control< it is not
maintained by grants from public funds and manages its own
affairs. 6ince its foundation, however, ings, statesmen and
government departments have regularly sought its advice on
scientific matters< it has never hesitated to assist governments
when convinced that the national interest called for scientific action.
Within ten years of its foundation the society, at the invitation of
4harles II and his ministers, grappled with problems of national
food supply, arboriculture, naval architecture and navigation.
Throughout the +@ th century it wored with the admiralty on what
was then called Fthe problem of the longitudeG in the solution of
which are associated the names of the astronomers 1dmond
Halley and 2evil Aaselyne, the chronometer maer #ohn Harrison
and the navigator #ames 4oo. It found a cure for (ail)fever and
advised on the protection of ships of war against lightning< it
organi7ed a geodetic survey of the British Isles and appointed
scientific personnel to several &rctic and &ntarctic e"pedition.
*** The first flight by a power driven manned aeroplane too place
in +,-0 and its subsequent development as a military weapon was
so rapid that all the belligerents entered World War I totally
unprepared to defend themselves against it. The first bombing
raids, however, compelled the consideration of anti)aircraft
measures, and Britain, in particular, attaced by Seppelin airships
and Dotha aircraft was forced to develop a range of speciali7ed
anti)aircraft equipment which came to include guns, searchlights,
sound)locators and predictors, giving it a qualitative ascendancy in
this field retained until the end of World War II. Indeed the first night
attac on 5ondon caused such public consternation that its gun
defences had to be doubled within forty)eight hours and, though
they hit few planes, their presence was of great psychological
value.
*** 6cientists can now speed up the process of genetic change
through biotechnology. 3armers need no longer wait patiently for
breeding to yield improved crops and animals, nor must they even
respect natural lines of reproduction among species. 5aboratory
scientists can now select desirable traits from any of a number of
species and insert those traits into the genetic material of crops and
animals. &mong the new products of biotechnology are tomatoes
that stay fresh much longer than the usual ones and so promise
less waste and higher profits. 2ormally, tomatoes produce a protein
that softens them after they have been piced. 6cientists introduce
into a tomato plant a gene that is a mirror image of the one that
codes for the NsofteningN en7yme. This gene fastens itself to the
*2& of the native gene and blocs its action. & vine)ripe tomato
with this special gene rots more slowly than a normal tomato,
allowing growers to harvest at the most flavourful and nutritious red
stage. The tomatoes will still last much longer during shipping and
mareting than regular tomatoes harvested when green
*** To obtain power from the sun>s rays is to use nuclear power
developed at no e"pense in a laboratory ,0 million miles away, for
the radiant energy of the sun is maintained by nuclear
transformation of chemical elements occurring in the sun>s interior
at temperatures of many million degrees, and at pressures of many
million atmospheres. The resources of solar power are enormous.
If +-- per cent efficiency could be secured in the transformation of
radiant solar energy into mechanical wor, a horsepower per
square yard of ground surface would be available under cloudless
sies. The e"pense of collecting solar energy still prevents its
competition with the usual power sources .Ket, unless the vague
promise of safe thermonuclear power from oceans becomes
reali7ed, solar power must supply the enormous and growing
requirements of posterity within two centuries. Because the ground
sources $coal, oil and uranium% as they near e"haustion will
become more costly than solar power.
*** The design of ships is governed by scientific principles and
economic considerations but in practice it has many of the qualities
of an art. The designer may be supplied with the precise and
detailed requirements of an owner or he may receive only the
barest outline of requirements such as the weight of cargo to be
carried and the speed. The dimensions chosen and the main
characteristics of the ship are governed by the trade in which the
vessel is to compete. High)density cargoes such as iron ore require
little cubic capacity< low)density cargoes such as bananas require
vast cubic capacity. The ports which the vessel must enter may
impose restrictions on length and draught. !assage through canals
may restrict both draught and breadth. The nature of the cargo may
determine the si7e of cargo holds and of the hatchways through
which the cargo is loaded and unloaded. &vailable facilities at the
ports to be entered affect the loading and unloading apparatus to
be installed in the vessel.
*** 1rosion is regarded not merely as the physical removal of soil
by water and wind, but rather as the deterioration of all the
component parts of the habitat in which man and his crops and
livestoc have to e"ist. 6ince there is no conclusive evidence for
any ma(or climatic change in historic times to e"plain this
deterioration, we must conclude that the eroding ofthe total
environment has been due primarily to thoughtless destruction of
the vegetative cover. This has led to deterioration of the
microclimate above and below the surface, generally in the
direction of a general drying out of the soil which has e"posed it to
erosive action of wind and rainfall of high intensity or frequency,
and to the loss of organic matter in the soil, thus reducing its
capacity to resist erosion by conserving the water that falls on the
surface. If everything possible is done within the total environment
to conserve the naturally planted or cultivated vegetation, this will
also ensure optimal conservation of soil and water.
*** The world>s nuclear plants have accumulated vast stocs of
highly radioactive waste. Worldwide, high)level waste is currently
stored above ground, and no government has a clear policy on its
eventual disposal. While most e"perts believe that burying the
waste is the safest bet in the long term, the problem isfinding sites
that everyone can agree are geologically stable. 8ecaying
radioactive isotopes release heat. &s a result, high)level waste
must be constantly cooled< otherwise, it becomes dangerously hot.
This is why many e"perts want to store waste above ground until it
has decayed and is cool enough to be stored safely in sealed
repositories several hundreds of metres below ground. &ccording to
one recent theory, however, waste should be lowered down
boreholes drilled to 9 ilometres. The tric is to e"ploit heat
generated by the waste to fuse the surrounding roc and contain
any leaing radioactivity.
*** 6ounds produced by continuous vibration tones are spreads
waves of compression through the air. Where there is a solid
boundary such asthe walls of a room the sound waves are reflected
so that the sounds within the room are prolonged beyond what they
would be in the open. The sounds produced by the voice or by a
musical instrument then reverberate through the room after the
actual tone production has ceased. When the sound waves strie
the walls some of the sound energy travels on and is either
absorbed in the material or may penetrate to the other side< but
with the usual hard, unyielding walls of which most buildings are
made, more than ,-= of the sound energy is reflected bac into
the room at each impact, so that some time must elapse before all
is spent. It is this reverberation which, in its e"cess, is the prime
cause of the faulty acoustics of many pre .-th century buildings.
DS SALIK 2001 SONBAHAR
*** 1urope faces Na serious ris of an uncontrollable resurgence of
malariaN, warns the WH' in a new report. 8rainage, drugs and
insecticides had eradicated malaria from the whole of 1urope by
the +,C-s. 2ow civil disorder and irrigation threaten to bring it bac
unless controls are stepped up, the report says. It seems that more
1uropean travellers are bringing malaria bac from countries where
it is endemic, and the big fear is that local mosquitoes could
acquire the parasite from such travellers and re)establish a local
chain of transmission. Three recent cases in 5u"embourg and two
in 2ew Kor have fuelled concern over air travel as a means of
reintroduction. The cases in 5u"embourg all occurred within a few
ilometres of the country>s international airport, and were probably
caused by mosquitoes stowing away on aircraft coming in from the
tropics.
*** Headache, lie bacache, is one of the commonest types of
pain with which manind is afflicted. It may arise under a diversity
of circumstances. & blow to the head causes pain, and after a
severe head in(ury with concussion, headaches may continue for
wees or months. The coverings of the brain, or meninges, are
sensitive structures and, when inflamed, as in cases of meningitis,
or irritated $as with meningeal haemorrhage%, headache may be a
prominent feature. The arteries of the brain are also sensitive, and
many inds of headache are referable to arterial disease, more
especially to influences which distend the lumen of the arteries, or
which distend and then contract the arterial walls. But the brain
itself is insensitive and lacerations or gunshot wounds of the
cerebral substance may produce headache only in so far as the
bony sull and the meninges are at the same time damaged.
Tumours of the brain produce headache, not because the brain
tissue is involved, but because the raised intracranial tension alters
the diameter of the intracranial arteries.
*** !eople infected with tuberculosis are difficult to treat because
the bacteria can lie dormant in the body. In this state, they are
unaffected by antibiotics and do not spar an immune response.
But they can reactivate and cause disease when the body>s
immune system is compromised. 6ome people believe that
proteinsthat deliver a wae)up call to dormant bacteria could be
used to fight tuberculosis. There are two ways wae)up proteins
might be used therapeutically. 'ne is to tric the bacteria out of
dormancy so that they can be 7apped with antibiotics. The other is
to use the proteins as vaccines. &n in(ection of wae)up proteins
might prime the body to notice a subsequent infection earlier than
would otherwise be the case and attac the bacteria as they
activate.
*** !hysical activity deserves attention in any program to reduce
coronary heart disease $4H8% ris. 6ome evidence suggests that
weight training can raise high)density lipoprotein $H85% if
undertaen regularly, but frequent and sustained aerobic activity
may be more effective in lowering low)density lipoproteins $585%
and raising H85. 3urthermore, aerobic endurance)type activities,
such as bris waling, undertaen faithfully for 0- minutes or more
as a daily or every)other)day routine can strengthen the heart and
blood vessels< alter body composition in favor of lean over fat
tissue< e"pand the volume of o"ygen the heart can deliver to the
tissues at each beat and so reduce the heart>s worload< change
the hormonal climate in which the body does its wor in such a way
as to lower blood pressure< and bring about a redistribution of body
water that eases the transit of blood through the peripheral arteries.
These changes are so beneficial that some e"perts believe that
physical activity should be the primary focus of cardiovascular
disease prevention efforts.
*** The value of heat for the preservation of food has been nown
for thousands ofyears, but it was not reali7ed until the nineteenth
century that a very mild heat treatment far below boiling point,
made liquid foods such as mil eep much longer. The discovery
followed the wor of the 3rench scientist 5ouis !asteur on wine and
beer. The process, called after him Npasteuri7ationN, is a carefully
controlled mild heat treatment. It was found that the process served
two purposes< it delayed the souring of mil, and it destroyed the
dangerous disease germs which sometimes occur in this product.
These germs include the bacteria which cause tuberculosis,
undulant fever, typhoid and paratyphoid fevers, dysentery,
diphtheria, scarlet fever and septic sore throat.
*** The brain, lie all of the body>s organs, responds to both
inherited and environmental factors that can enhance or diminish
its ama7ing capacities. 'ne of the challenges researchers face
when studying the human brain is to distinguish among normal
age)related physiological changes, changes caused by diseases,
and changes that result from cumulative, e"trinsic factors such as
diet. The brain normally changes in some characteristic ways as it
ages. 3or one thing, its blood supply decreases. 3or another, the
number of neurons, the brain cells that speciali7e in transmitting
information, diminishes as people age. When the number of nerve
cells in one part of the cerebral corte" diminishes, hearing and
speech are affected. 5osses of neurons in other parts of the corte"
can impair memory and cognitive function. When the number of
neurons in the hindbrain diminishes, balance and posture are
affected. 5osses of neurons in other parts of the brain affect still
other functions.
*** Haemorrhage is an escape of blood from the vessels through
which it normally circulates. The quantity lost may be microscopic,
or may amount to quite a large quantity< large haemorrhages
usually arise from a large artery or vein, while bleeding from a
capillary may be shown only by a minute red spot in the sin. Aany
haemorrhages are trivial and require no specific treatment.
1"amples of these are such common domestic accidents as cut
fingers and nose bleeds. 'thers form some of the ma(or
emergencies of medicine. The principles of treatment are to arrest
haemorrhage, to combat shoc by restoring normal blood volume,
and to eep the patient quiet, comfortable and confident.
*** In &merica, Britain and several other countries, the years after
World War II were notable for increased interest in, and research
on, methods of teaching retarded children. Today no one
educational procedure is generally accepted, but there is
agreement that teaching should so far as possible be individually
orientated. 'bviously, special material must be used, suitable to the
child>s chronological age and general interests, and a variety of
ways have been suggested to stimulate the apatheticand remedy
loss of confidence. 6ince inability to analy7e spontaneously and
mae deductions tends to characteri7e the intellectually dull, care
must be taen at all stages of teaching to brea down material and
demonstrate each step clearly.
DS SOSYAL 2001 SONBAHAR
*** 2o eighteenth century ing of 1ngland could have raised the
vast sums needed to build a Jersailles, and no 1nglish nobleman
would have cared to compete with the Derman princelings in lu"ury
and e"travagance. 6till, it is true that the building cra7e did reach
1ngland. The most striing e"ample is Aarlborough>s Blenheim
!alace, which is on a massive scale. But this is an e"ception. The
ideal of the 1nglish eighteenth century was not the castle but the
country house. The architects of these country houses usually
re(ected the e"travagances of the Baroque style, it was their
ambition not to brea any rule of what they considered >good tasteN,
and so they were an"ious to eep as closely as possible to the real
or pretended laws of classical architecture. &rchitects of the Italian
*enaissance who had studied and measured the ruins of classical
buildings with scientific care had published their findings in
te"tboos to provide builders and craftsmen with patterns. The
most famous of these boos was written by &ndrea !alladio. This
boo of !alladio>s came to be considered as the ultimate athority
on all rules of taste in achitecture in eighteenth)century 1ngland. To
build one>s villa in the !alladio manner was considered the last
word in fashion.
*** Throughoutthe history of music, composers have always sought
to find new and original means of e"pression. Without this urge no
progress could have been made. In our modem age, the desire to
e"periment is stronger than itever was before. This is partly
because the instability of world affairs has given rise to a feeling of
unrest and insecurity, and partly because more people are being
better educated and concerned with culture. The arts are now, as a
result, more sophisticated, even more artificial. In the past the ideal
was the natural and spontaneous e"pression of beauty, but it no
longer is. In order to avoid the obvious and the commonplace,
some composers have, perhaps, moved too far from the main
stream of music, and this has sometimes led to eccentricity. But
there is a positive side to all thisE there is a healthy lac of
complacency.
*** & state of war may be brought to an end in one of four ways. In
the first place, one belligerent may completely overrun the territory
of its enemy, whose armies and government are in consequence
entirely disrupted. This state of affairs, nown as debellatio, came
to pass In the case of Dermany in World War II. 6econdly, states
may drift from a state of war to one of peace without any formalities
to mar the transition. 6uch was the case in the war between
!oland and 6weden in +?+C. Thirdly, formal declarations of peace
may be made by one or both of the belligerents. &n e"ample of this
is seen in the (oint resolution of the /nited 6tates 4ongress of +,.-
by which the war with Dermany was terminated. 5astly, there
remains the most common method of ending a state of war,
namely, by maing a treaty of peace. By this means belligerents
can define with precision the e"act terms upon which they have
ended the conflict
*** By the +,:-s, &frica was among the least developed of the
continents and. according to /nited 2ations estimates, as much as
?-= of its resources of land and labour were devoted to
subsistence production and only about := of its total population
was engaged in wage)earning employment But even with
agriculture there was increasing production for e"portE cocoa in
Dhana, groundnuts and ail)palm products in 2igeria, cotton in
/ganda, coffee in Penya, and mai7e and sheep)rearing in southern
&frica were outstanding e"amples. Ainerals were particularly
important in bringing about the opening up of the interior of &frica.
3or centuries some parts, lie the Dold 4oast $now Dhana% had
produced gold, and during the +, th century first diamonds and
then gold were discovered in 6outh &frica, and since then
numerous other minerals have been e"ploited including copper and
cobalt.
*** Aost large firms have mareting or advertising departments that
wor in con(unction with their advertising agencies. 'nly one part of
the company>s sales budget will be spent through the advertising
agency. 4ompanies have their own sales force for calling on
wholesale and retail organi7ations. In many cases, they also
produce a proportion of their sales literature and shop display
material. But with the larger companies sales promotion efforts are
usually combined under a single mareting policy. which is often
wored out by the company itself in con(unction with its advertising
agency. The advertising agency may also be consulted over
pacaging systems and the distributing of new products that are
being put on the maret.
*** The term intelligence is often used by biologists as synonymous
with the capacity to learn. &n animal that learns to adapt itself to a
wide range of situations is said to be more intelligent than one
whose behaviour is largely governed by instinct. In psychology, on
the other hand, so wide a definition is not satisfactory. The simpler
forms of teaming, at least, can scarcely be said to manifest
intelligence in any sense remotely consistent with the ordinary
meaning of the term. It is customary, therefore, to distinguish
between learning of a more or less repetitive and mechanical type
and the solving of genuinely new problems by creative means. It is
the latter rather than the former that we ordinarily ascribe to
intelligence and most psychologists allow their definition of this
term to be guided by popular usage.
*** 6ir Walter *aleigh entered court under the protection of the 1arl
of 5eicester, and was soon in high favour with Mueen 1li7abeth.
3uller>s often quoted story of how *aleigh threw down his plush
cloa on a muddy road for the queen to wal on, lacs authority, but
it is in eeping with his faculty for quic decision and characteristic
of the romantic sentimentality pervading the 1li7abethan court. He
owed his advancement to good loos, a plausible tongue, an
ingenious wit and magnificent clothes. But he was proud, haughty
and impatient, and everywhere e"cept in his native 8evon he made
numerous bitter enemies. He was consulted confidentially on Irish
affairs but at no time was he one of the Mueen>s official advisers,
possibly because 1li7abeth, despite her affection for him, saw
through his ambitions and doubted his wisdom. But she was lavish
in her favours, and in a few years raised him to affluence.
*** 6ir *obert !eel will always be remembered as the one who
created the Aetropolitan police force but first he set about reducing
the savagery of the criminal law and he also introduced various
prison reforms. 6uch changes could not be rised without an
efficient police force. 6o in +@., he set about creating (ust that. The
original characteristics of the new police were that they were to be
an organi7ed non)military force of paid constables $with officers%
under two magistrates, as (oint commissioners, responsible to the
home secretary, an office lie that of Ainister of the Interior. To
emphasi7e their civilian character, they wore as uniform a dar blue
highcollared swallow)tail coat and a heavy chimney)pot hat $not to
be superseded by the tunic and helmet until about +@C:%, and
carried no arms but only a truncheon. /ntil +@@: they had no
whistle, only a rattle for summoning assistance. Their earliest
instructions were prefaced with the following words which still
appear in the forefront of their standing ordersE the primary ob(ect
ofan efficient police force is the prevention of crime is committed.
The protection of life and property, the preservation of public
tranquility, and the absence of crime, will alone prove whether the
ob(ects for which the police we reappointed have been attained.
DS FEN 2002 LKBAHAR
*** The *hine ) *uhr area became the greatest industrial region of
Dermany, because it had at its heart the great coal field of the
*uhr. Aining is now almost entirely northeast and westwards
across the *hine. The region contains the greater part of the
Derman iron, steel and heavy engineering industries. The great
integrated iron and steel plants mostly cluster on the *hine
waterway. 6peciali7ed steel plants and engineering wors are more
widespread. With a decline in coalmining and the dismantling after
World War II of certain steel plants,some of the older *uhr towns
have diversified their industries considerablyE vehicles, electrical
goods and clothing are now being produced.
*** !ost war radar has been developed for an enormous range of
uses from police radar speed traps to the ballistic missile early
warning systems. &t sea it is used on ships of all si7es from the
super taners down to pleasure craft, and the air it guards military
and civilian aircraft against collisions. It is even used to eep trac
of the orbital (unyard created by innumerable space launches.
*adar found an une"pected use in astronomy and space
navigation. *adar signals were bounced off the moon in +,9C and
reflections were obtained from Jenus and the sun in the late +,:-s.
6ubsequently, radar maps were made of the moon and Jenus ) not
that such long ranges are essential for radar maps to prove
themselves useful. 3or e"ample, satellite)borne radar aimed at the
earth has actually led to the discovery of previously unnown
remnants of a Aayan canal drainage system in 4entral &merica.
*** & contraption that automatically fits deer with a pesticide
impregnated collar is helping to tacle the menace of 5yme
disease, which is usually spread among people by tics that live on
the deer. This disease is now one of the fastest spreading
infectious diseases in the /6 and can be fatal. Trapping and
treating every deer in a forest with pesticides isn>t easy, so a
machine has been designed to do it. The animals are lured to a
feeding tray where have to place their heads in a J)shaped through
to get to the food. The machine eeps an open pesticide
impregnated collar at the ready, drooping ne"t to the trough where
the deer will put its nec. &s the animal taes the food, its nec
presses down on a switch that triggers a spring) loaded arm. This
propels one end of the open collar over the nec where it meets the
other end. The two ends (oin using Jelcro, so within seconds of the
animal>s arrival the collar is complete.
*** Transport represents .. per cent of total energy consumption in
industriali7ed countries, mainly in the form of automobiles. &lthough
this is the fastest growth sector in such countries, the rate of
increase in road transport energy demand has slowed in most
developed countries since the late +,C-s. This has reflected both
improved vehicle efficiency and a slowing down in the level of
acquisition of automobiles by households. These developments
have encouraged hopes that saturation levels may operate at lower
levels than sometimes pro(ected. In developing countries, transport
represents +9 per cent of total energy consumption but the number
of automobiles is appro"imately .-I+--- people, compared to
C--I+--- people industriali7ed countries. In attention to strictly
technical improvements that can be made to automobiles and
trucs, there is another important area of action which could help in
the solution of the problems, namely, system operation. In this
category, there is a variety of actions that could be performed more
efficiently such as transporting passengers and freight by other
means, such as bus and rail that would result in lower energy
consumption and therefore, lower emissions.
*** Britain has a target to deliver +- per cent of its electrical power
from renewable resources by .-+-. &nd despite what one might
hear from some quarters, superb natural and technical resources
already e"ist that could mae this possible. &ll that is lacing is the
political will< but at present, the government seems reluctant to tae
any positive action. &t present NnewN renewables, such as landfill
gas, wind, solar, wave power and small)scale hydropower
contribute around one per cent to the /P>s electrical generating
capacity. Denerating power from landfill gas is already fully
economic< but has limited scope for growth as the country moves
away from land filling waste. 1nergy recovery from waste is highly
controversial and also limited in capacity. 6o, if Britain is to meet
her interim target of five per cent by .--0 and +- per cent by .-+-,
she must loo to other renewables for growth.
*** Dlaciers originate in areas that lie above the limit of prominent
snow. Thus in tropical climates glaciers are only to be found at very
great heights, whereas in polar regions they flow into the sea. The
largest glaciers are found in regions receiving the heaviest
snowfall. The great glaciers of the Himalayas lie in the path of the
monsoon, which deposits on them the full measure of its vast water
vapour content. The largest glacieri7ed areas after &ntarctica are in
Dreenland, 2orth &merica, and in central and south central &sia. It
has been estimated that the volume of the world>s glaciers and ice
sheets e"ceeds ++,---,--- cubic miles which, if returned to the
oceans, would raise the sea ) level by some .-- ft, submerging all
e"isting seaports and much land besides.
*** The report, 8ams and 8evelopment, which has been recently
published, provides star evidence that the world>s 9:,--- large
dams which bloc over half of the world>s rivers, have been failed
e"periments. They have failed to produce as much electricity and
water, or control as much flood damage, as their bacers claim.
They regularly suffer huge costoverruns and time delays. They
have made up to @- million people homeless, and their benefits
have largely gone to the urban well)off not the rural poor they
displace. Aoreover, their effects on ecosystems have been
disastrous.
*** 'ur understanding of submarine volcanic eruptions has
improved substantially in the past decade owing to the recent ability
to remotely detect such events and to respond rabidly with brief
surveys and sampling at the eruption site. But these data are
necessarily limited to observations after the event. In contrast, the
+,,@ eruption of the &"ial volcano on the #uan de 3uce ridge was
monitored by on site sea)floor instruments. 'ne of these
instruments, which measured bottom pressure, was overrun and
entrapped by the +,,@ lava flow. The data recorded by this
discovered. The data recorded by this instrument reveal the
duration, character and effusion rate of an eruption on a mid)ocean
ridge.
DS SALIK 2002 LKBAHAR
*** Ioni7ing radiation has proved to be most valuable, for e"ample,
in clinical diagnosis and radiotherapy. However, inadvertent
e"posure to relatively high doses of ioni7ing radiation is capable of
in(uring and illing cells, inducing mutations, producing
developmental abnormalities in fetuses e"posed in utero, or even
producing latent cancers. 'n earth, it is impossible to escape
e"posure to radiation. 4osmic rays bathe the earth continuously, as
do terrestrial concentrations of radionuclides, such as radon gas.
The two constitute natural NbacgroundN radiation. 3ew humans in
developed countries escape diagnostic Q)rays, and many require
radiotherapy as a potential cure for various types of neoplasia, The
NearlyN in(urious effects of radiation appear only when certain
cumulative levels of e"posure to radiation have been e"ceeded.
However, the later appearing consequences may have no
thresholds< hence, the public>s concern about the possible
carcinogen city of even low)level e"posures.
*** 3or years, it has been assumed that obesity is the result of Ntoo
much food and too little e"erciseN. While this ma"im is largely
correct, the etiology of obesity can be much more comple". There
is a well)documented familial tendency, but whether this is of
environmental or genetic origin is unclear. 6tudies of twins
separated at birth and living apart provide strong evidence for a
substantial genetic influence. 4hildren of overweight parents, when
adopted by NleanN families, have a greater tendency to become
obese than do adoptees from non)obese natural parents. N1nergy
efficiencyN may contribute to obesity< with reserves of fat deposits
readily available to metaboli7e in the obese, a given amount of
activity requires a smaller e"penditure of energy. This theory has
been invoed by those who complain that they Ngain weight
whether they eat or notN, and indeed there is evidence of
differences in energy efficiency among individuals. 6imilarly,
obesity has been attributed to abnormally low basal metabolic rates
$BA*s% since obese individuals do show lower BA*s. However,
this fact is due to an artifact of BA* measurement< a larger
proportion of the total fat mass of an obese person is inert,
lowmetaboli7ing fat, a fact that maes BA* calculations lower.
*** The site of a hospital needs careful consideration. Aore and
more people now agree that a hospital should, wherever possible,
be part of the community it serves. This maes for the convenience
of patients, particularly outpatients, and eases staff recruitment.
Whilst it may be necessary to serve small communities by
peripheral separate outpatient departments, in general, in)patient
and outpatient buildings should be on the same site. It is not,
however, always practicable to build e"tensively in a town or city,
and it is difficult to mae provision for e"pansion. The actual design
of a hospital is also of great importance. Aedicine is ever changing,
and it is difficult to forecast changes that lie ahead. 8octors
invariably call for fle"ibility in planning, which is really only
practicable if hospital construction is on ground)floor level and if the
wards and the special investigatory departments are so designed
that they can be readily e"tended.
*** The government of Britain is again looing at fluoridation of the
public water supply as a possible means of achieving nationwide
improvements in dental hygiene. To the casual observer, given the
highly erroneous impression that the presence of fluoride in
toothpaste is beneficial in the prevention of dental caries, such a
measure may understandably appear desirable and worthy of
public support. However, many water authorities across the country
have long understood the riss associated with fluoridation< but the
government and the various official organi7ations that support such
a measure continually deny these riss. It should be reali7ed that
there are two forms offluoride. 'ne of these is calcium fluoride,
which is a natural substance occurring in water at verylow levels of
-.-+)+ parts per million and a substance which the various
organi7ations involved in promoting fluoridation constantly draw
attention to when attempting to (ustify their case. The other form of
fluoride is sodium fluoride, which occurs alongside various related
substances such as fluosilicic acid and is an e"tremely dangerous
industrial byproduct produced by such industries as aluminum,
ceramics, phosphate fertili7ers and nuclear power. This form of
fluoride is an accumulative poison even more to"ic than lead and
only slightly less to"ic than arsenic.
*** The importance of early detection of deafness in childhood is
generally recogni7ed. 8etection is normally a two)stage process of
which the first is a screening test of hearing. 6creening tests sift out
children with impaired hearing from those with normal hearing and
can be successfully administered at any time after the age of seven
months. 4hildren who fail a screening test are given a diagnostic
test, as the second stage in the process, to determine the nature
and e"tent of their hearing loss. Both screening and diagnostic
tests must be appropriate to the developmental level of the children
to whom they are administered. 6pecial techniques for testing
babies and young children have been evolved at Aanchester
/niversity. When deafness has been diagnosed, parents are
advised to see guidance about the management and early training
of their children at the audiology clinics established by an
increasing number of local authorities and hospitals.
*** By far the most common sleep complaint is insomnia. &bout a
third of &mericans have trouble failing asleep or staying asleep,
problems that result in listlessness and loss of alertness during the
day. Aost of the time the distress is temporary, brought on by
an"iety about a problem at wor or a sudden family crisis. But
sometimes sleep difficulties can e"tend for months and years.
3aced with a chronic situation, insomniacs frequently medicate
themselves with alcohol or drugs. 8octors warn that in most cases
sleeping pills should not be taen for longer than two or three
wees. 6uch drugs can lose their effectiveness with time, and it
taes higher and higher dosages to wor. !eople run the ris of
becoming dependent on the pills.
*** &sthma may be defined as a malady characteri7ed by attacs
ofbreathlessness due to paro"ysmal narrowing of the small bronchi
and bronchioles. &sthma may start at any age, but most commonly
in childhood. The typical attac starts suddenly with breathlessness
and whee7ing, the difficulty being mainly in e"piration. & small
amount of viscid mucus is usually e"pectorated towards the end of
the attac. &ttacs may occur at any time, but especially during the
night or in the early morning. Their duration is variable, some
ending in an hour or so, others, especially if complicated by
bronchitis, continuing for days. The frequency of the attacs varies
from one or two a year to several daily. 8uring attacs the lungs
become over)distended with air, since the obstruction to respiration
is greater in e"piration than in inspiration and the muscles of forced
inspiration, which are brought into action, are stronger than the
e"piratory muscles.
DS SOSYAL 2002 LKBAHAR
*** In surveys of British public opinion, (ournalists typically ran
below politicians, lawyers and usedcar salesmen as trustworthy
characters. &nd yet we depend upon (ournalists to guide us through
today>s rapidly evolving, information)rich Nmedia ageN. The internet,
digital television and technologies as yet unborn all promise to
revolutioni7e how we learn about what>s going on, in a world
increasingly shaped by the forces of economic globali7ation. But
there is surely no substitute for good)quality, probing (ournalism.
&fter all, it is the great crusading craft. It is the great support of
democracy. In every society, authority ) whether government,
corporate or pressure group ) needs to be constantly and
vigorously challenged by an independent press. In every society
too, that challenge rarely comes from the right. Indeed, in theory at
least, it should come from the campaigning, liberal media.
*** &s one steps out of the busy commercial streets in front of the
station in a #apanese city and moves on into the side streets, one
often encounters old shops and historic temples and shrines which
hint at the former character of the city. It is in the side streets rather
than the mainroads that the original face of a city is to be found. But
even in antiquelooing houses in side streets, one can often see
that their interiors may have been rebuilt and their fittings replaced
in an attempt to eep abreast of the times. This applies in farming
villages as well as cities< old)style houses and buildings decrease
year by year, and in some cases the changes have been even
more radical than those which have occurred in the cities. But
although outward appearance and facilities may have been
renovated, there has surely been no renovation in the sensibilities
and attitudes of the people who live in these new environments.
*** In the past decade the term Ninternal maretingN has emerged in
many companies to describe the application of mareting internally
within the firm. This seems to be an area where practice appears
ahead of theory. 8espite the e"istence of many internal mareting
programs no boos, at least in 1nglish, have been published on
internal mareting and only a handful of articles have addressed
this important and emerging area. There are two ey aspects to
this. 'ne involves the notion of the internal customer. That is, every
person woring within an organi7ation is both a supplier and a
customer. Here we are concerned with getting staff to recogni7e
that both individuals and departments have customers and then
determining what can be done to improve levels of customer
service and quality levels within the organi7ation. The second
aspect is concerned with maing certain that all staff wor together
in a manner that is attuned to the company>s mission, strategy and
goals.
*** Hans 4. &ndersen, the 8anish author, was born on . nd &pril at
'dense in 3unen. His father, a poor shoemaer, was devoted to
reading and thining, but died when Hans was a child. His mother
was a simple, uneducated woman, who after her second marriage
san still deeper into poverty and too to drining in her old age.
&ndersen, who loved her dearly, has told her story in N6he was
Worth 2othingN. His grandmother did her best to spoil the boy, who
was given to daydreaming. &fter a very meager education in a
pauper)school it was intended to apprentice him to a tailor, but as a
fortune)teller had foretold that 'dense would one day be
illuminated in his honor, his mother permitted him to go to
4openhagen, where he tried to become an actor or a singer, but
cut a pitiable figure. 3ortunately, ind people supported him.
Thans to the support and guardianship of #onas 4ollin, an
influential councilor of state, &ndersen at the age of +? was sent to
school. In +@.@ he matriculated and at once began to write, mostly
plays and poems. In the 0-s he traveled abroad twice. 3rom +@0:
his fairy tales began to appear in installments, and were soon
translated into almost all the 1uropean languages, and gained for
him a world reputation. The full acnowledgement of his own
countrymen, for which he longed so much, came much later. But it
came at last. He lived to see 'dense, his native town, illuminated in
his honor as prophesied.
*** The advertising techniques and methods used today were for
the most part devised in Britain, 1urope and &merica, and as a new
technique evolved in one country it was quicly taen up
elsewhere. The practice continues on a worldwide scale. The
simplification of the words and illustrations in advertisements has
come about as the result of the sill of copywriters, artists and
photographers combined with the findings of advertising research
worers. &dvertisers have found it is often more effective to
concentrate on putting across one aspect of their product than to
go into lengthy descriptions. They have sei7ed on the truth of the
saying that a picture can be worth a thousand words. 6ome critics
of advertising have argued that an advertiser should be content to
furnish the public with information about his product and draw the
line at persuasion, but in practice the dividing line between
informing and persuading is impossible to draw. !ersuasion starts
at the point where information is first supplied, particularly when, as
must happen for reasons of space and time, the information given
is selective.
*** The growth of the importance of libraries in both the social and
the scientific spheres has led to a great development in library
science and in educational training for the profession of
librarianship. In Dermany and 3rance requirements for admission
to the profession of librarian have been laid down by the state< in
other countries where there are library schools and professional
e"aminations, professional qualifications are usuallye"pected
though they are not necessary for admission to the profession. The
&merican 5ibrary &ssociation, founded in +@?C, was the first such
association to be established in the world, and has been
responsible in no small measure for the advances in library
techniques in &merica and elsewhere. 5ibrary associations now
e"ist in most countries< the 1nglish 5ibrary &ssociation, founded in
+@?@, holds national and local conferences, maintains an e"cellent
library and information bureau, promotes facilities for professional
education, conducts e"aminations $elementary, intermediate and
final% and maintains a register of qualified librarians.
*** The art of 5eonardo da Jinci, lie his character, is full of
conflicting tendencies and apparent contradictions. His tireless
curiosity, combined with his deep feeling for all living things, led him
as a scientist to e"plore the entire range of natural phenomena,
while at the same time a fantastic creative imagination caused him
as an artist to transform the results of his scientific researches in a
thousand ways. These two elements of his nature alternated
throughout his life and e"plain his restless changes of occupation
and the fact that he never devoted himself e"clusively to painting
for very long at a time. &lthough in his versatility and scientific
interests he is usually regarded as the quintessence of the man of
the renaissance, yet some of the products of his tortured
imagination are a direct reminder of the middle ages. 1ven in his
artistic output conflicting tendencies are apparent. In the N5ast
6upperN he reaches the pea of his renaissance classicism,
whereas in other wors, such as the &nghiari cartoon, his sense of
restless movement clearly foreshadows the baroque. 3inally, in the
N8elugeN drawings, he produces wors, which are completely
unrelated to 1uropean art and suggest that of the 3ar 1ast.
*** The e"tension of 3rench as a second or acquired language is
particularly striing. This was to some e"tent the result of military
and political prestige, but the virtues of the language itself and
3rench cultural achievements actually played a much greater role.
The lead which 3rance too in the +. th century in literature and in
other domains made its language a sort of lingua franca of the
cultured classes of 1urope< and in the +? th and +@ th centuries
3rench was cultivated assiduously by the royal courts and the
upper classes of most 1uropean countries and was written by
many non3rench authors. But even before the end of the +@ th
century 3rench began to lose ground, and the movement was
accelerated by the revival of national sentiment in 1urope at the
turn of the century and later by the rise of 1nglish under the
influence of Britain and &merica. Aany things, however, have found
their supreme e"pression in 3rench< and its precision, beauty and
eloquence mae it a classical language in the true sense of the
word.
DS FEN 2002 SONBAHAR
*** William Willcocs was born +:- years ago in a tent beside a
canal in northern India, where his father wored for the colonial
government. He learnt his engineering in India before heading for
1gypt in +@@0. There he rose to become director)general of
reservoirs, and a legend on the bans of the 2ile. He built the first
&swan dam, then the largest in the world, went on to revive the
ancient irrigation systems of Aesopotamia, and watered deserts
from south &frica to India. But he was deeply troubled by the
discovery that much of what his fellow water engineers did in their
colonial playgrounds was worse than useless.
*** The acronym Bradar, for radio detection and ranging, has been
credited to the /6 2avy, which used it officially towards the end of
+,9-, but the concept of radar is somewhat older. Hert7 showed
that metals would reflect electromagnetic waves and Tesla is said
to have suggested using this phenomenon in a radar)lie manner in
+@,,. & few years later a Derman, 4hristian Hulsmeyer, received
patents for a ships anticollision device. &lso many radio engineers
and e"perimenters observed that passing aircraft or ships
interfered with their e"periments. &lthough these features are all
suggestive of radar, none was actually radar unless the term is very
loosely defined. In the +,0-s, however, several of the ma(or powers
became aware of the military possibilities of radar and wor on it
started immediately in the /6&, Britain, 3rance, Dermany, Italy,
#apan and the 6oviet /nion. By the end of World War II, military
radar, and military radio navigation aids too, were well developed.
*** &viation is about to go bac to its roots. 2early +-- years after
the Wright brothers first heavier)than)air powered flight, the /6 &ir
3orce is testing an e"perimental plane that uses Fwing warpingG,
which is the steering and control technique that ept 'rville Wright
aloft in +,-0. But this time round, it will be at supersonic speeds.
/nlie conventional aircraft wings, which use movable surfaces lie
flaps on the wings and the tail, wing warping bends the entire wing.
The /6&3 call it Factive aeroelastic wingG technology, and is
investing O9+ million in the pro(ect in the hope that it will lead to
lighter, more manoeuvrable supersonic planes.
*** 5ie so many &merican waterways, the 4hesapeae Bay, an
enormous, semi)saline body of water that is treasured for its
aquatic life, became badly polluted during the .- th century. But it
has regained much of its biological vitality since the early +,?-s,
thans to concerted ecological stewardship. In this effort, the
4onowingo dam has provided valuable assistance.
1nvironmentalists are not often fond of dams, which have a habit of
trapping migratory fish and disrupting sensitive water ecosystems )
not to mention looing ugly. But the 4onowingo dam on the
6usquehanna river in eastern Aaryland is an e"ception. 6ince its
construction in +,.@, the 4onowingo dam has not only generated
electricity but also trapped vast amounts of sediment behind its
imposing walls. This was not a function the builders had planned
for, but in recent years its value has become clear. The water
flowing past the 4onowingo dam is much cleaner than it would
otherwise be. 1ven &mericas onceendangered national symbol,
the bald eagle, can be seen perching near the dam, waiting to
swoop down and sei7e a meal of fish by its talons.
*** Aore than half of astronauts suffer from space sicness, also
nown as 6pace &daptation 6yndrome. 6ymptoms include
headaches, nausea, vomiting and poor concentration. The main
cause of space sicness is disorientation caused by e"posure to
7ero gravity conditions. The human body is used to a much
stronger gravitational field on 1arth and organs in the inner ear,
along with canals that sense motion, tell the brain about the
location of the limbs relative to the ground. In other words, theyre
responsible for balance. /nfortunately, the signals from these
organs in the inner ear go wrong in 7ero gravity, leading to space
sicness. 'ver time though, the brain learns to ignore them and
relies instead on visual clues, such as the position of the feet, to
determine balance. &stronauts quicly readapt to 1arths gravity
within a few days and there are probably no long)term effects from
this strange affliction.
*** Why do transformers humH This is one of those questions which
seems easy but has surprising hidden depths. The simple
e"planation is that electric currents create magnetic fields, and the
alternating current of mains electricity used by transformers creates
a magnetic field that changes at :- cycles a second. This in turn
triggers a regular motion of the metal molecules inside the
transformer, nown as magnetostriction. Its this motion that maes
the surrounding air vibrate, creating the hum. But why does the
metal respond in this wayH The answer lies in a property of the
electrons in the metal nown as Bspin ) a property which can only
be e"plained by reference to 1insteins theory of relativity, which is
beyond the understanding of most of us.
*** Time travel has been a favourite science fiction theme ever
since it was first used in H.D. Wellss trailbla7ing novel FThe Time
AachineG. But not everything it describes is science fictionE
travelling forward in time, for e"ample, is a proven fact. 1insteins
theory of relativity predicts that an observer moving relative to 1arth
can leap into 1arths future, and the effect has been confirmed
using atomic clocs. 8ramatic time warps require speeds close to
that of light, which is possible in principle but would tae a ma(or
feat of engineering, not to mention a lot of money. Doing bac in
time is far more problematic. *elativity does not rule out an
observer being able to mae a (ourney through space)time and
return to the past. But all scenarios so far discussed require e"otic
circumstances.
*** In a biography of Bardeen, recently published, he does not fit
the popular stereotype of scientific genius, for he is surprisingly
sane and ordinary. &s far as character goes, he had several assets.
To start with he was a notable team builder. Tenacious when it
came to attacing problems, he had the gift of breaing a large
problem down into smaller, more soluble parts and then
reassembling the whole. &s a teacher, his habit of stopping to thin
allowed his students to do so too. Dovernment and industry valued
his advice ) according to one commentator, he helped Qero" to
build one of the finest industrial laboratories in the world in the
fields of organic and disordered solids during the late +,?-s. But,
perhaps, the most telling aspect of Bardeens character was his
willingness to share the credit with others. 3or e"ample, he
deliberately stayed away from the meeting of the &merican
!hysical 6ociety in Aarch +,:?, at which his theory of
superconductivity was first presented, so that the contribution of his
young co)researchers would be recognised.
DS SALIK 2002 SONBAHAR
*** &n antibiotic that removes metals from the brain is emerging as
a prime candidate for treating &l7heimer>s. This boosts a
controversial theory that blames the accumulation of metals, rather
than the formation of insoluble plaques, for the disease>s
characteristic mental deterioration. The antibiotic, clioquinol, binds
to copper and 7inc and is small enough to get into the brain. It is no
longer manufactured but was last used in the +,?-s to treat
intestinal infections. 2ow, in various medical schools, efforts are
being made to resurrect the drug to treat &l7heimer>s.
*** 6ome :9 million &mericans have disabilities and that number
has been . increasing. It includes more than +- million children with
developmental disabilities ) a number accentuated by the fact that
:- per cent of children with disabilities are not identified until school
age. 1arly identification of developmental disabilities is crucial, as it
has been shown to improve , outcomes. & good e"ample of this is
autism, where early identification and treatment can lead a child to
impressive gains in communication, social sills and learning. It>s
also clear that having a developmental disability puts one at ris for
secondary conditions. The lac of recreational opportunities, for
e"ample, can lead to the development of obesity as well as
withdrawal, depression and isolation. &gain, early identification can
help prevent these problems.
*** &rtificial sweeteners permit people to eep their sugar and
energy intaes down, yet still en(oy the delicious sweet tastes
oftheir favourite foods and beverages. The 3ood and 8rug
&dministration $38&% has approved the use of four artificial
sweeteners ) saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame potassium
$acesulfame)P% and sucralose. Two others have petitioned the 38&
and are awaiting approval )alitame and cyclamate. 6accharin,
acesulfame)P and sucralose are not metabolised in the body< they
pass through the idneys unchanged. In contrast, the body digests
aspartame as a protein. In fact, aspartame is technically classified
as a nutritive sweetener because it yields energy, but for all
practical purposes, that energy is negligible. 6ome consumers
have challenged the safety of using artificial sweeteners.
4onsidering that all compounds are to"ic at some dose, it is hardly
surprising that large doses of artificial sweeteners $or their
components or metabolic byproducts% have to"ic effects. The
question to as is whether their ingestion is safe for human beings
in quantities people normally use $and potentially abuse%. The
answer is yes, e"cept in the case of aspartame, which may present
a problem for certain people and so carries a warning on its label.
*** &n ulcer is an erosion of the top layer of cells from an area,
such as the wall of the stomach or duodenum. This erosion leaves
the underlying layers of cells unprotected and e"posed to gastric
(uices. The erosion may proceed until the gastric (uices reach the
capillaries that feed the area, leading to bleeding, and reach the
nerves, causing pain. If Dl bleeding is e"cessive, iron deficiency
may develop. If the erosion penetrates all the way through the Dl
lining, a life)threatening infection can develop. Aany people naively
believe that an ulcer is caused by stress or spicy foods, but this is
not the case ) at least not at first. The stomach lining in a healthy
person is well protected by its mucous coat. What, then, causes
ulcers to formH Three ma(or causes of ulcers have been identifiedE
bacterial infection with Helicobacter pylori, the use of certain anti)
inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen and napro"en, and disorders
that cause e"cessive gastric acid secretion. The cause of the ulcer
dictates the type of drug treatment. 3or e"ample, people with ulcers
caused by infection receive antibiotics, whereas those with ulcers
caused by drugs discontinue their use. In addition, all treatment
plans aim to relieve pain, heal the ulcer, and prevent recurrence.
*** 4ataracts are age)related thicenings in the lenses of the eyes
that impair vision. If not surgically removed, they ultimately lead to
blindness. 4ataracts occur even in well)nourished individuals as a
result of ultraviolet light e"posure, o"idative stress, in(ury, viral
infections, to"ic substances and genetic disorders. Aany cataracts,
however, are vaguely called senile cataracts ) meaning Ncaused by
agingN. In the /nited 6tates, morethan half of all adults C: and
older have a cataract. '"idative stress appears to play a significant
rolein the development of cataracts, and the antio"idant nutrients
may help minimi7e the damage. 6tudies have reported an inverse
relationship between cataracts and dietary intaes of vitamin 4,
vitamin 1 and carotenoids. Taing supplements of vitamins 4 and 1
seems to reduce the lielihood of developing age)related cataracts.
*** The treatment of hypochondriasis has traditionally been difficult.
Where it is secondary to another condition it usually resolves with
treatment of the primary disorder. 3or e"ample, hypochondriasis,
which is secondary to depression, will usually resolve when the
depression is successfully treated. *ecognition and early diagnosis
are important. *eassurance, combined with a serious appraisal of
symptoms and an e"planation of psychological factors may then be
effective. It is not enough simply to tell the patient that there is
nothing wrong. It is important to acnowledge the patient>s distress
and provide an alternative model, introducing psychological factors.
& dismissive attitude that Nit is all in your headN is
counterproductive. Aanagement regimes based on regular brief
appointments with one ey doctor and avoiding admission to
hospital are useful. They have been found greatly to improve
physical functioning and cut costs on investigations and hospital
admissions by one third.
*** The birth of a younger infant whilst an older child is in the
toddler or preschool period is such a normal event that the proper
handling of the situation should be regarded as an integral part of
childcare. !ut in its simplest terms, the problem is one of the older
child being displaced by the new baby as the centre of attention
and focus of his mother>s affection. 6uch a displacement is
inevitable, but its effects on the older child can either be helpful to
his development $as when he accepts the baby with pleasure into
his family circle and so taes a step forward from the egotism of
babyhood% or harmful when (ealousy predominates over any
pleasure in having a brother or sister and the child becomes hostile
to his mother and more demanding of her attention, returning to
many of the practices of babyhood which he had outgrown. Thus a
child or three or four may demand to sleep in his old cradle, to tae
mil from the bottle or breast, to be constantly carried, or may
restart wetting the bed. &ny or all of these symptoms may appear
transiently in a child who subsequently adapts well to the new
situation, but when they persist they indicate that the child is
receiving less attention and affection than he needs.
*** Aorphine, which is given as a painiller to many people with
cancer, might stimulate the growth of tumours, say researchers in
the /6. Their worrying findings have been questioned by others in
the field, but all agree that further studies are urgently needed to
settle the issue. In test)tube e"periments and in mice, Palpna
Dupta and her colleagues found that morphine encourages the
growth of blood vessels, nown as angiogenesis. The increased
blood supply accelerated the growth of breast tumours in mice.
&lthough the researchers have not yet looed for this effect in
people, Dupta warns that morphine could be harmful for patients
with any form of solid tumour that depends on a healthy blood
supply. 6he stresses that nobody should yet consider altering their
use of morphine because of her findings. NBut clinical studies must
be done,N she says.
DS SOSYAL 2002 SONBAHAR
*** 4inema today is all too often (ust about plot or special effects.
6o really great films, successfully weaving together sound, image
and time to tell a really cinematic story, are always special. 'n
show in 2ew Kor earlier this month was a remarable e"ample.
&le"ander 6ourov>s N*ussian &rN e"plores the 0-- )year) long
history of the Hermitage museum in 6t. !etersburg, It taes you an
uncut ,- ) minute wal through 0: of its historic rooms and halls.
This has never been done )before and the result demonstrates
impressively how much film can achieve.
*** 3or more than 9- years the radical thiner William !hilips edited
!artisan *eview, a maga7ine of small circulation and little money
but with a great deal of influence. Writers and commentators whose
words later commanded audiences of millions first saw their names
in print in a publication that might sell +:,--- copies if things were
going well. Aary Ac4arthy, Bernard Aalomud and 6aul Bellow
were apprentice contributors. 5eading 1uropean writers such as
#ean !aul 6artre and &lbert 4amus were introduced to &merican
readers through the *eview. The maga7ine was defending T. 6.
1liot, 3ran7 Pafa and #ames #oyce long before their acceptance
as central to modern culture.
*** 6outhern &frica>s food crisis loos lie being the worst in a
decade. &round +9.: million people are dangerously hungry, and
many have been reduced to eating wild leaves and herbs . 'ne
might then e"pect food aid to be welcomed. But Sambia is refusing
to accept &merican donations because much of its corn and soya is
genetically modified. Sambia>s president, 5evy Awanawasa, calls
he stuff NpoisonN and refuses to import, despite a warning from the
/2 World 3ood !rogramme, on 6eptember +Cth that relief supplies
in his country could run out in two wees.
*** &fghanistan>s terrain, climate and tradition of gardening mae it
a good place for growing fruit. In the +,?-s, e"port of fruits and
nuts provided about 9- = of the country>s foreign e"change. &bout
C- = of the world>s dried fruit came from &fghanistan. In the +,,-s,
the 3ood and &griculture 'rgani7ation $3&'% helped to create over
0-- fruit ) tree nurseries throughout the country to replace orchards
destroyed during a decade of occupation by the 6oviet /nion.
3urther fighting ruined more of &fghan agriculture, including the
vineyards of the 6omali plain. But it was the lac of water and the
lac of money that devastated the country>s orchards, most of
which are now in a sorry state. 6uch fruits and vegetables that are
being produced now are difficult to distribute or e"port because
many of the country>s roads and bridges have been destroyed.
*** The global maret for coffee has failed, and needs a complete
overhaul so that farmers can get more for their beans. The plunging
price of coffee over the past decade has certainly caused
regrettable misery for many farmers. Big coffee companies now
stand accused of placing profits before people. If efforts are made
to cut down on the profits, the companies will almost certainly fight
bac to eep up their e"cessive profits. It is liely that they will win
because the trade barriers set by rich countries means that it is
hard for coffee farmers to change over and grow other crops.
*** When economists try to e"plain why the internet is more popular
in one country that another, they usually point to factors such as the
number of !4s. telephone lines or average years of schooling. But
something less quantifiable may be more importantE trust. This, at
least, is the result of a recent study, which compared +? countries.
The Internet>s anonymity and vastness encourage
misrepresentation and fraud. Thus, people who are normally
suspicious $and there are a lot of them% lend to shun the medium,
while more trusting ones embrace it
*** Which 1uropean country has the worst record for shopliftingH
The answer is Britain and she holds the record now for the second
year running, according to a survey released on 6eptember +,th.
Britons not only steal more than their continental counterparts, they
are also less competent employees on the shop floor, resulting in
Britain having the worst overall rate of retail NshrinageN ;a
measure of losses by retailers from theft, mispricing and other
wastage. 4ontinental 1uropeans are actually not much better.
6hrinage is increasing alarmingly in some countries and is
generally on the rise. 8enmar is a notable e"ample. &ccording to
one survey, shrinage there is , = up on last year. 6hrinage costs
the 1uropean economy a surprisingly large amount, in fact, the
total annual cost has been estimated at around @0- billion which is
equivalent to a shocing @@- per person in the region. That is more
than the costs of the much)higherXprofile car crime or domestic
burglary.
*** 6weden maintained a position of neutrality during both World
Wars and this, in part at least, enabled her to build up an elaborate
structure of welfare legislation that many larger nations were later
to imitate. The first ma(or step was the establishment in +,++, of
old)age pensions. 1conomic prosperity based on its neutralist
policy enabled 6weden, together with 2orway, to pioneer in public
health, housing, and (ob security programs. 3orty)four years of
6ocialist government were ended in +,?C with the election of a
conservative coalition. !resently, the 6ocialists were again returned
to power, only to be ousted in 6eptember +,,+. The new coalition
of four conservative parties promised to reduce ta"es and cut bac
on the welfare state but not alter 6weden>s traditional neutrality.
/nder them, in a +,,9 referendum, voters approved (oining the
1uropean /nion. &lthough supportive of a 1uropean monetary
union, 6weden decided not to adopt the euro when it first appeared
in +,,,.
DS FEN 2003 LKBAHAR
*** It seems that a programme designed to destroy 4olumbia>s
huge illegal drugs business could be poisoning farmers and
damaging the environment. Baced by +.0 billion of /6 government
funds, drug enforcers routinely identify fields of coca plants and
opium poppies, and spray them from the air with herbicide. &round
+.-,--- hectares have been sprayed with the herbicide
NglyphosphateN. But although glyphosphate is considered to be
relatively safe for humans and the environment, the 4olombian
government has received over a thousand complaints from people
who claim to have suffered ill effects after coming into contact with
the chemical. *eported symptoms range from sin and eye
irritations to coughing and vomiting. 6ome critics suspect additives
to the spray are responsible. 'thers on the ground complained that
the spray had illed food crops when it drifted onto them from
nearby fields.
*** To understand topics such as the origin of the universe, the
ultimate fateof blac holes and the possibility of time travel, we
need to understand how the universe wors. We now have a good
idea about what the basic building blocs of matter might be.
!hysics in the .- th century was built on the twin revolutions of
quantum mechanics $a theory of matter% and 1instein>s theory of
space, time and gravitation nown as relativity. But it>s e"tremely
unsatisfying to find two ultimate descriptions of reality when you>re
looing for (ust one. Trying to unify the two theories presents
formidable technical and conceptual obstacles that have
challenged some of the finest theoretical physicists for decades.
*** In terms of pure science, the discovery that the universe is in
the grip of a strange Nanti)gravityN force that is maing it e"pand
ever faster, is the most significant of the last decade. The possibility
that such a force might e"ist has been nown for years, with
theorists finding that it ept reappearing out of 1instein>s theory of
gravity. 3or years they tried to avoid it coming up with all sorts of
arguments for why the force couldn>t really e"ist. 2ow they>re being
forced to face it, and to face the embarrassing fact that they can>t
e"plain the single most important force in the universe.
*** 4an coal ever become a friend of the environmentH 4oal)fired
power stations supply half the electricity used in &merica, and a
similar amount in many other industrial countries, but are
responsible for @-= of the power industry>s emissions of carbon
dio"ide the most worrisome of the so)called Ngreenhouse gasesN.
Because of special e"emptions, much of the country>s coal)derived
electricity comes from plants that are more than 0- years old. Aany
of these plants are approaching the end of their commercial lives,
and the thought of having to replace a lot of dirty old power
stations, with new ones that will have to comply with the 4lean &ir
&ct, is causing a nightmare in the power industry. 6uddenly, energy
engineers are taling about Nclean coalN technology. That message
has been heard before. There was similar e"citement over clean
coal in the mid)+,@-s and early +,,-s. 5arge sums of ta"payers>
money were handed out to firms developing clean coal. The
difference this time, say energy engineers, is that a number of
electricity suppliers have actually started building facilities that use
clean coal.
*** When it is completed late ne"t year, a 0,)storey apartment
building under construction in 6an 3rancisco will be the tallest
precast concrete structure ever built in an area of high seismic
activity. Its builders are using an innovative new structural
connection thatcould revolutioni7e the way buildings are built in
seismic 7ones. 4onventional cast)in)place and precast systems
survive earthquaes by dissipating the energy through the
structure, often doing irreparable damage to themselves in the
process. The new connection, developed with help from the
/niversity of Washington, consistsof high)strength steel reinforcing
cables and NmildN steel bars that stretch slightly during an
earthquae, then pull the building bac into place. The steel
components also considerably reduce seismic energy before it can
attac the structure. This means less damage to beams, walls and
ceilings.
*** &ir)starved soil could have been a ey player in the largest
e"tinction ever tostrie 1arth. The claim follows the discovery of a
rare mineral in ancient soil collected from &ntarctica. The e"tinction,
at the end of the !ermian period .:- million years ago, wiped out
virtually all marine life and some ?- per cent of land animals. But
the reason for the e"tinction, which preceded the rise of the
dinosaurs, has been a longstanding pu77le. 2ow a team of
geologists thin they have found what could be a ma(or factor in the
e"tinction. They collected fossili7ed soil samples that formed in
&ntarctica (ust after the !ermian period ended. The soil contained
noduleshaped minerals that have been identified as berthierine.
This iron)rich mineral forms only in environments where o"ygen is
scarce. 6o, if the o"ygen levels in the soil were low enough to allow
berthierine to form, then it follows that the soil would not have been
able to support plant life. 6uch intolerably low levels of o"ygen
would be enough to ill the plants off completely.
DS SALIK 2003 LKBAHAR
*** Transplants of foetal eye tissue from aborted foetuses seem to
have improved the vision of two out of four people with a
degenerative eye disease. It is too early to be sure the
improvements are real and lasting, but on the strength of the
results, the team pioneering the surgery has ased regulators for
permission to carry out further operations. Before the e"perimental
surgery on her left eye a year ago, 1lisabeth Bryant, who is C0,
could barely see anything with it. N2ow I can see people>s eyes,
noses and mouths when they>re sitting across the room from me.
5ie the other patients in the trial, she has advanced retinitis
pigmentosa, a hereditary disease that causes degeneration of the
retina. It affects around + in 0:-- people in Western countries.
Those involved in the transplants admit that there is a danger of
creating false hope, but point out that the potential benefits of the
procedure are so great that wor on it must continue. They believe
it could lead to a treatment for common diseases, such as age)
related macular degeneration, which is responsible for half the
blindness in Britain. This is a condition which seems to be on the
increase and occurring at younger age levels.
*** 3ungi that infect the sin live only in the dead, topmost layer and
don>t penetrate deeper. 6ome fungal infections cause no symptoms
or produce only a small amount of irritation, scaling and redness.
'ther fungal infections cause itching, swelling, blisters and severe
scaling. 3ungi usually mae their homes in moist areas of the body
where sin surfaces meetE between the toes, in the groin and under
the breasts. 'bese people are more liely to get these infections
because they have e"cessive sin folds. 6trangely, fungal
infections on one part of the body can cause rashes on other parts
ofthe body that aren>t infected. 3or e"ample, a fungal infection on
the foot may cause an itchy, bumpy rash on the fingers. These
eruptions represent allergic reactions to the fungus.
*** What differences are there in intellectual function between men
and womenH Aa(or se" differences in function seem to lie
inpatterns of ability rather than in overall level of intelligence
$measured as IM%, although some researchers have argued that
there e"ists a small IM difference favouring human males.
8ifferences in intellectual pattern refer to the fact that people have
different intellectual strengths. 3or e"ample, some people are
especially good at using words, whereas others are better at
dealing with e"ternal stimuli, such as identifying an ob(ect in a
different orientation. Two individuals may have differing cognitive
abilities within the same level of general intelligence. 6e"
differences in problem solving have been systematically studied in
adults in laboratory situations. 'n average, men perform better
than women at certain spatial tass. In particular, men seem to
have an advantage in tests that require the sub(ect to imagine
rotating an ob(ect or manipulating it in some other way. They also
outperform women in mathematical reasoning tests and in
navigating their way through a route. Women, on average, e"cel on
tests that measure recall of words and on tests that challenge the
person to find words that begin with a specific letter or fulfill certain
specific conditions. They also tend to be better than men at rapidly
identifying matching items and performing certain precision manual
tass.
*** Today when you are ill, you may try three different medicines
before finding one that wors ) and sometimes none wor at all. But
soon a simple test could determine which medicine would be most
effective before you begin treatment, saving you time, money and
possibly your life. 1"perts estimate that as many as 9-= of people
taing medication respond less than perfectly to it. The result is that
. million &mericans are hospitali7ed for adverse drug reactions
each year< +--,--- die. With .-= complete and a rough draft of
the other @-=, the Human Denome !ro(ect will help eliminate such
adverse reactions. 'ne of the first genetic tests to predict a
patient>s drug response is being developed in 6weden. 'nly about
0-= of 6wedes with high blood pressure respond to &41 inhibitors
) a class of appro"imately .- drugs that lower blood pressure. That
means the other ?-= continue to suffer from high blood pressure
and are also e"posed to the drug>s side effects, which include
difficulty in breathing, idney dysfunction and di77iness.
*** What would conversation be lie without hand gesturesH
8ifficult, and in countries lie Italy, perhaps unimaginable. It was
her travels to Italy, in fact, that inspired #ana Iverson, a
psychologist at the /niversity of 4hicago, to see whether we learn
gesturing from others or if it is an innate part of speaing. 6he
ased .9 children, +. of whom had been blind from birth, to
compare the amounts of water in two identical glasses, then
compare them again after the water in one glass was poured into a
dish. $The blind children e"plored the water and receptacles with
their hands.% &sed how they arrived at an answer, both blind and
sighted children used the same gestures as they spoe, including
cupping one hand into a 4 shape and imitating the act of pouring.
Blind children gestured even when taling to an e"perimenter they
new was blind. The fact that someone who had never seen
gestures before would gestureN, says Iverson, Neven to a partner
who they now can>t see, suggests that gesturing and speaing are
tightly connected in some very fundamental way in our brainsN.
*** *ecent research in 4anada suggests that our arteries may
narrow slightly when we breathe in the sort of traffic pollutants
found in urban areas during rush hour. The small restriction in
blood flow may not be a problem for healthy people, but it could be
fatal for those with cardiovascular disease. *esearchers at the
/niversity of Toronto ased healthy volunteers to inhale a mi"ture
of o7one and particles less than ..: micrometers across for two
hours. The width of their brachial artery, a large vessel in the arm,
reduced by between . and 9=. Breathing o7one or particulates by
themselves, or breathing filtered air, did not cause constriction. It is
unclear how this effect is mediated, but there can be no doubt that
heart disease and airborne pollution are deadly allies. In the /6, for
e"ample, the 1nvironmental !rotection &gency has estimated that
air pollution contributed to C-,--- heartrelated deaths in +,,C. With
the health staes so high, environmental scientists have been given
the tas of measuring levels of different particulates in the
atmosphere, and tracing them bac to their source. & particle>s
behaviour is partly determined by its density. But its si7e is the most
important factor, and the smaller particulates are, the more
potentially dangerous they are to health.
DS SOSYAL 2003 LKBAHAR
*** 5eonardo>s importance as a painter may be summari7ed by
saying that he was the first master of the high *enaissance style,
and of all his scientific researches that which he most fully devoted
to this end was his study of light and shade. Aany changes came
about in Italian painting around the turn of the +:th)+Cth century, for
which he more than anyone else was responsible. &s regards
sub(ect matter and composition, painting became less realistic and
more classical but as regards treatment it became more naturalistic
and closer to life, which was partly the result of increased
nowledge of anatomy and an interest in light and shade. Inhis rare
e"cursions into classical sub(ects, such as the N5edaN, 5eonardo>s
approach is intensely personal. Indeed, drawings by 5eonardo
which seem to derive from antique art are e"cessively rare and
there is no evidence of his interest in the celebrated collections of
5oren7o the Aagnificent or !ope 5eo Q, even though he was living
in close contact with both of these. This trend is not belied by the
N5ast 6upperN even though it epitomi7es the spirit of classical art.
*** &t first sight, doing away with paper and letting computers
register votes seems an attractive proposition, at least in theory.
1lectronic votes can be easily counted and recounted. &t a moc
election held in !alm Beach, /6&, for instance, it too no more
than an hour to count all the votes. Ironically it is computer
scientists, not officials, who are counseling caution. There is no
way to verify that ballots are recorded, transmitted and tabulated
properly, argues one computer)science professor. 3or one thing, it
is theoretically impossible to determine whether computer systems
are free from programming bugs. Aany people feel that elections
should not be paperless. They would lie to see touch)screen
systems connected direct to a printer to produce physical evidence
of a voter>s choice. 6uch a printout could be inspected by the voter
and ept as evidence in case there were problems with the
electronic voting system.
*** 4hief imperial architect 6inan was in his eighties when he built
the 6elimiye, which mars the 7enith of his lifelong endeavour to
perfect the domed building. The 6uleymaniye Aosque had taen
him nearly to the 7enith of his creative power, but 6elimiye was the
crown of his genius. The mosque was built to commemorate the
conquest of 4yprus, perhaps 6elim ll>s sole military achievement.
1ither because no hilltop remained in Istanbul worthy of such a
monument or perhaps as a gesture of loyalty to a city where 6elim
had spent nine years of his life, it was decided that the mosque
should be built in 1dirne. The chosen site was the hill of 6anbayir
overlooing the city, and the acquisition of land commenced. In
those years horticulture was one of the main sources of income in
1dirne, and 6anbayir was covered with flower nurseries growing
principally tulips. The story goes that a woman who owned a small
tulip garden here ob(ected to selling her land, and resisted official
pressure for a considerable time. 3inally, they too her to see
6inan, hoping the architect could persuade her. 6he agreed, but on
one condition, that in some part of the mosque there should be a
sign that there had once been a tulip garden. 6inan ept his word
and had an inverted tulip motif carved on one of the marble pillars
at the eastern corner of the mue77in>s gallery in the centre of the
mosque.
*** 2orway was transformed by the discovery of oil and gas in the
2orth 6ea in the +,C-s and its previously agricultural)based
economy saw an e"plosion of wealth. But since then a fierce but
seemingly misplaced sense of national pride appears to be
preventing 2orwegian companies from maing sensible business
decisions to capitali7e on the natural advantages the country has
been handed. 6tate intervention has supported entrepreneurial
business ever since, but now times are tougher. 4ompanies in
other parts of 6candinavia have reali7ed that in order to eep
ahead in a global economy, and win foreign maret share, they not
only need greater financial power but also partners with local
nowledge. However, rather than taing a similar proactive
approach, 2orwegian companies are adopting a defensive stance
and seem perple"ed by a sudden wave of hostile taeover bids.
*** It is thought that sails were invented by the 1gyptians around
09-- B.4. Harnessing wind power for sea transport was a crucial
factor in the development of civilisation, enabling 1gyptian sailors
to carry the timber they needed from the thicly forested coasts of
5ebanon, and later taing them to 4yprus where there were
plentiful deposits of copper and to the coasts of &natolia. Trade
began to flourish in the eastern Aediterranean, but ofthe thousands
of ships which came and went from &natolian harbours, some were
inevitably wreced in storms. The ships and cargoes which san to
the seabed over the centuries are today providing illuminating
evidence about maritime and commercial history. 6ince the first
underwater e"cavations were carried out in Turish coastal waters
in +,C-, much has been discovered about shipbuilding technology
in antiquity and the commodities the ships were carrying.
/ndoubtedly, the most important wrec e"cavated so far is the
/luburun Wrec, which is the earliest of all, dating from the late
Bron7e &ge. This ship san 00-- years ago and is accounted one
of the most important ten archaeological discoveries of the .-th
century. The gold seal of Mueen 2efertiti and a two)leaf wooden
boo, the oldest boo in the world, are among the hundreds of
remarable finds.
*** The serious writer is an interpreter, not an inventor. 5ie a good
actor, he is an intermediary between a segment of e"perience and
an audience. The actor must pay some consideration to his
audienceE he must be careful, for instance,to face toward it, not
away from it. But the great actor is the one who is wrapped up in
the thoughts and feelings of the role he is playing, not the one who
is continually stealing glances at the audience to determine the
effect of his last gesture or bit of business. The actor who begins
taing his clues from the audience rather than from the script soon
becomes a NhamNE he e"aggerates and falsifies for the sae of
effects. The writer, too, though he must pay some consideration to
his reader, must focus his attention primarily on his sub(ect. If he
begins to thin primarily of the effect of his tale on his reader, he
begins to manipulate his material, to heighten reality, to contrive
and falsify for the sae of effects. The serious writer selects and
arranges his material in order to convey most effectively the feeling
or truth of a human situation. The less serious writer selects and
arranges his material so as to stimulate a response in the reader.
DS FEN 2003 SONBAHAR
*** The Aichigan factory of a leading car manufacturing company
already has its place in industrial history. It is famous primarily on
account of record)breaing models produced there between +,.?
and +,0+. 2ow the refitted factory is bac in the limelight as one of
the world>s most architecturally advanced buildings. The height of
new technology will be its 9.,--- square meter roof. 8ubbed a
Nliving roof by the company, it consists of a ground)hugging plant
called sedum which is growing in a ?.C cm)thic matlie material.
The sedum insulates the roof, reducing heating bills by as much as
five per cent and saving on replacement costs. It lasts twice as long
as a standard roof because it doesn>t shrin or e"pand when the
temperature varies. It is also e"pected to become a habitat for
butterflies and birds. 1mbedded in the roof are 0C sylights that let
in natural light. 'n sunny days the factory will operate with up to
half of its lights switched off. The company also intends to clear the
soil around the factory to remove the chemical by)products of years
of steel manufacturing. The car company will plant native bushes,
flowers and trees that will brea down polyaromatic hydrocarbons.
*** &ncient Babylonian manuscripts, 8ar &ge chronicles and 2ew
&ge prophecies, all spea of catastrophes striing the 1arth with
devastating consequences< and all regard these disasters as
instances of divine punishment. Aany describe global inundations )
floods that engulf continents, wiping out entire civili7ations. 'thers
describe fires that rain down from the sies. /ntil recently few
scientists too these tales of catastrophe seriously, regarding them
as hangovers from a superstitious age. But today these ancient
accounts are regarded as potentially valuable evidence for events
that have played a ey role in the history of our planet, from its very
formation 9.: million years ago. These events are every bit as
catastrophic as the legends claimedE cosmic impacts that have
dealt severe blows to life many times in the past ) and will do so
again. The dramatic view of 1arth history now emerging could
hardly be more different from that held by many scientists even as
recently as the +,@-s.
*** 4entral heating, available in the /6 since the early +,th century,
became popular only after the 4ivil War. Typically, coal)burning
furnaces fuelled the early systems. The furnaces warped and
craced, causing gases to escape, and had to be stoed frequently.
It too years and countless small improvements, but by the mid)
+,.-s the systems had become reliable and, with the emergence
of oilfired furnaces, more convenient. 2atural gas, which became
widely available with the building of a pipeline infrastructure after
World War II, had developed into the leading fuel by +,C-. Its
acceptance resulted in part from its versatility ) unlie oil, it can
power appliances such as clothes washers and dryers, ovens,
ranges and outdoor grills. Because it comes primarily from /6 and
4anadian fields, natural gas is also less vulnerable than oil is, to
war and embargo. 'il remains the predominant fuel in a few areas,
such as 2ew 1ngland, where natural gas pipelines have not yet
thoroughly penetrated. 'il users in many regions have the
advantage of being able to buy a season>s supply in advance at
favorable rates and, in contrast to most gas users, can easily
change their supplier.
*** The amount of engineering and e"ertion required to do wor in
space came as a surprise in the early days of the manned space
program. 3or instance, when the astronauts 1ugene 4eman and
Thomas 6tafford launched into space aboard Demini , on #une
0rd, +,CC, they had no way of nowing that a nightmare would
begin as soon as 4eman began a space wal. 3rom the moment
he emerged from the capsule, everything 4eman did was much
harder than he had e"pected. 1very weightless movement
triggered an equal opposite reaction, and he found himself
repeatedly flying out to the end of the umbilical cord connecting him
to the Demini capsule and then rebounding in an une"pected
direction. 6tafford finally ordered 4eman to forget about the +-)
million)dollar bacpac and return to the capsule. 8oing so turned
out to be the most alarming part of the space wal, as 4eman
discovered, that his pressuri7ed suit wouldn>t fle" enough to allow
him bac inside so that operation alone too him thirty laborious
minutes. Then the struggle to close the hatch was so prolonged
and difficult that 6tafford decided he needed to lie, so the ground
crew would not panic. N4oming in, no problemN he fibbed as he and
4eman improvised a lever to force the latch into position. It finally
closed.
*** 3rom its birth during World War II, there is one tas to which
cutting)edge computer technology has always been appliedE code)
breaing. In +,90, mathematicians and engineers at Bletchley
!ar, Bucinghamshire, built 4olossus, the forerunner of the
modern electronic computer. Its tas was to brea the 5orent7
ciphers, used by Hitler and his generals for their most secret
communications. 4onsisting of thousands of valves, optical devices
and pulleys, 4olossus looed ungainly but wored brilliantly. 'ne of
its ma(or triumphs was to reveal that Hitler had been taen in by
&llied deception tactics leading up to 8)8ay, thus clearing the way
for the real invasion in +,99. 1ver since, government code)
breaing centers have bought the fastest supercomputers the
moment they emerge, 8uring the 4old War, the ey challenge was
to find and e"ploit the slightest weaness in the cipher systems
used by the 6oviet /nion, acnowledged to be the most secure in
the world. Their efforts ultimately led to the downfall of all of the
6oviet>s NAagnificent 3iveN British spies.
*** The /6 company, N6cientific &pplications and *esearch
&ssociatesN $6&*&% Inc, has developed crowd)dispersal weapons
for the /6 military that generate high)intensity sound waves. 6ound
levels of +.- to +0- decibels cause pain and blurred vision< above
+9- decibels, sound produces profound discomfort throughout the
body. 1ar plugs are no protection. These acoustic systems have a
directed beam, pro(ecting the sound in a narrow fan. They include
high)intensity sound generators with power levels of up to C-
ilowatts and are combustion driven, using a series of small
e"plosions to create a noise or drive a siren or whistle.
DS SALIK 2003 SONBAHAR
*** 8ar)sinned people require longer sunlight e"posure than light)
sinned peopleE heavily pigmented sin arrives at the same plateau
of vitamin 8 synthesis in three hours as fair sin in 0- minutes. The
ultraviolet $/J% rays of the sun that promote vitamin 8 synthesis
are bloced by heavy clouds, smoe or smog. 8ifferences in sin
pigmentation and smog may account for the finding that dar)
sinned people in northern, smoggy cities are more prone to
ricets. 3or these people, and for those who are unable to go
outdoors frequently, dietary vitamin 8 is most important. 8eficiency
is especially liely in older adults because they typically drin little
or no mil, their e"posure to sunlight is limited, and the sin, liver
and idneys lose their ability to mae and activate vitamin 8 with
advancing age. 8epending on the /J radiation used, the /J rays
from tanning lamps and tanning booths may also stimulate vitamin
8 synthesis but the ha7ards outweigh any possible benefits. If the
lamps are not properly filtered, people using tanning booths ris
burns, damage to the eyes and blood vessels, and sin cancer.
*** 8espite millennia of preoccupation with every facet of human
emotion, we are still far from e"plaining in a rigorous physiological
sense this part of our mental e"perience. 2euroscientists have, in
modern times, been especially concerned with the neural basis of
such cognitive processes as perception and memory. They have for
the most part ignored the brain>s role in emotion. Ket in recent
years, interest in this mysterious mental terrain has surged.
4ataly7ed by breathroughs in understanding the neural basis of
cognition and by an increasingly sophisticated nowledge of the
anatomical organi7ation and physiology of the brain, investigators
have begun to tacle the problem of emotion. 'ne quite rewarding
area of research has been the inquiry into the relation between
memory and emotion. Auch of this e"amination has involved
studies of one particular emotion ) fear )and the manner inwhich
specific events or stimuli come, through individual learning
e"periences, to evoe this state. 6cientists have been able to
determine the way in which the brain shapes how we form
memories about this basic, but significant, emotional event. We call
this process Nemotional memoryN.
*** N!laceboN is a 5atin word which means NI will pleaseN, in
medicine it has come to mean a treatment ) a sugar pill or saline
in(ection ) that, in itself, has no physical effect. In spite of this,
placebos have often been found to relieve physical symptoms such
as pain, swelling, inflammation, or even depression. &pparently, in
such cases, it is the act of treatment rather than the treatment itself
that is effective. Why there should be such a thing as the placebo
effect remains problematic. Aany doctors have suggested that it
was selected by evolution as a means of managing the resources
of the immune system. Diven that placebos seem to wor, in part,
by suppressing the immune response, they may be a way of
conserving the body>s energy at critical moments. !atients may
even get depressed to stop them from being too active and so
slowing recovery. It is a high price to pay, but then evolution is not a
merciful master.
*** In the search to heal wounds without leaving a scar, researchers
have looed at some 0,--- treatments. Aany of these treatments
have not lived up to e"pectations, and none can induce repair that
leaves the sin in pristine condition. 2ow /6 and British scientists
have come up with three different recipes for advanced bandages
that give the repair of in(ured sin a quic start, but then brea
down, leaving behind only healed tissue. This type of bandage
eliminates the need to change dressings, cuts the ris of infection
and sometimes maes scariess healing possible. When sin is
in(ured, the weave)lie structure of collagen fibres is destroyed. To
minimi7e blood loss and infection, the body produces a quic fi" by
using cells, called fibroblasts, which lay down thin linear strips of
replacement collagen. When sin cells grow on the replacement
collagen, they produce pale, less fle"ible material. &voiding this
scar tissue means getting the body to rebuild the comple" fibrous
structure of the original.
*** Deneral levels of health in developed societies have steadily
improved over the last hundred years or so, largely because of the
introduction of public health services, and, indeed, the welfare
state. This progress, however, seems to bear little relationship to
the delivery of medicine. While scientific medicine has generated
some solutions, it has also produced deadly problems. 4rucially, it
has led to a virtual taeover of healthcare by pharmaceutical
corporations and an acceptance that pharmaceutical medicine is
primary and best. Ket the e"tent of the damage done by drugs is
enormous. In the /6 in .--- it was estimated that there were over
two million severe adverse drug reactions, of which +-C,--- were
fatal. 6imilar calculations suggest that in 1ngland, adverse drug
reactions are the third most common cause of death. 8rug
companies have always supported clinical medicine. Aedicine>s
high)raning professional bodies were themselves set up with help
from pharmaceutical companies, and still receive grants for running
costs, hospitality, building and printing. Diven this funding, is it
surprising that reports sponsored by such bodies so often critici7e
the use of vitamins, food supplements, nutritional and alternative
medicineH Today, however, the corporati7ation of medicine is
gaining speed and reaches far beyond the professional institutions
of medicine.
*** &ccording to the World Health 'rgani7ation $WH'%, around one
in four people suffers from mental health problems at some stage in
their lives, with depression being the single most common form. In
Britain, suicide now accounts for around .- per cent of all deaths
among young people, with attempted suicide having increased by
:- per cent since +,,-. Ket despite such star statistics, the issue
of mental fitness remains way off the agenda. Instead, people are
relying on medication more than ever before which is lie taing
painillers hoping they will turn you into a long)distance runner.
How much better it would be if there were some way of training
ourselves to become mentally as well as physically fit. 2ow, it
seems, there is. It is a technique that has been around for a long
time, but only very recently has hard scientific evidence emerged to
bac claims for its effectiveness. It does not involve any special
equipment or special diets, and best of all it is free. It is called
meditation.
DS SOSYAL 2003 SONBAHAR
*** The ability to recogni7e people automatically by analy7ing bodily
characteristics such as fingerprints, faces and eyeballs, collectively
nown as biometrics, has long been a goal of technologists and
governments alie. !lans for large)scale pro(ects to incorporate
biometric scans into passports, identity cards and visas are now
under way in several countries. 6ince #anuary : th the /6 has
been scanning foreigners from particular countries as they arrive at
its airports. Both the /6 and 1urope plan to start issuing biometric
passports as soon as ne"t year. Biometric identity cards are being
adopted in Hong Pong and 'man, and Britain plans to follow suit.
Biometric technology has been around for quite a while, but has not
been widely adopted, for good reasonE while it can improve security
in some situations, its costs more frequently far outweigh its
benefits. 1ven the most advanced systems falsely re(ect a small
proportion of legitimate users, and falsely accept illegitimate ones.
&t best, the introduction of biometric identity documents will
produce a marginal increase in security, at enormous cost. But at
worst, biometrics could, in fact, reduce security in several ways.
*** !eople are fascinated by (uries. They are the focus of a
disproportionate number of novels and movies, and the +,,:
murder trial of '.#. 6impson virtually brought the /nited 6tates to a
standstill because people could not miss the e"citing televised
court proceedings. #uries represent one of the most significant
decision)maing groups, not only because they are presented as a
symbol of all that is democratic, fair and (ust in a society but also
because of the consequences of their decisions for defendants,
victims and the community. & case in point is the +,,. 5os &ngeles
riots, which were spared by an une"pected >not guilty> verdict
delivered by an all)white (ury in the case of the police beating of a
blac suspect. #uries are groups and thus are potentially prey to
the deficiencies of group decision)maing. In addition to these
problems, there are a number of issues to do specifically with the
tas confronted by (uries. 'ne issue is the influence of laws and
penalties on the (ury. Harsh laws with stiff penalties tend to
discourage (uries from convicting, which is quite the reverse of the
intention of legislators who introduce such laws. #uries have to deal
with enormous amounts of information presented in court. It has
been suggested that information delivered later in the trial is more
heavily weighted in decision)maing. 3urther, inadmissible
evidence,that is the evidence given by witnesses or inter(ected by
counsel but is subsequently ruled to be inadmissible for procedural
reasons by the (udge, still has an effect on (ury deliberation.
*** & growing percentage ofthe &merican economy and of other
advanced industrial economies in 1urope and &sia depends on
imports and e"ports. 3oreign trade, both e"ports and imports,
accounts for a little over .: per cent of the goods and services
produced in the /nited 6tates, and even more in countries such as
#apan and Dermany. This percentage will grow in the future. The
success of firms today and in the future depends on their ability to
operate globally. Dlobali7ation of the world>s industrial economies
greatly enhances the value of information to the firm and offers new
opportunities to businesses. Today, information systems provide
the communication and analytic power that firms need for
conducting trade and managing businesses on a global scale.
4ontrolling the far)flung global corporation, which includes
communicating with distributors and suppliers, operating .9 hours a
day in different national environments and servicing local as well as
international reporting needs, is a ma(or business challenge that
requires powerful information system responses. Dlobali7ation and
information technology also bring new threats to domestic business
firmsE because of global communication and management systems,
customers now can shop in a worldwide maretplace, obtaining
price and quality information reliably, .9 hours a day. This
phenomenon heightens competition and forces firms to play in
open, unprotected worldwide marets. To become effective and
profitable participants in international marets, firms need powerful
information and communication systems.
*** 6moing has become unfashionable in most Western countries
over the past decade or more, yet its incidence remains high. 1ven
legislation against smoing in a shared wor space and banning it
on public transport has had limited success, when measured by a
decline in the percentage of people still addicted to smoing. In
these countries, the highest rates of smoing tend to be found
among people in the .-)., age group, teenage women and
woring)class groups. 6moers tend to be well)informed about
illnesses related to their habit, such as lung cancer and heart
disease. 8espite this nowledge, current smoers tend to
underestimate the ris of dying from smoing when compared with
former smoers and those who have never smoed. &ntismoing
campaigns have used a wide variety of media and techniques to
discourage smoing. 3or e"ample, one campaign adopted a
television commercial and poster, while another used a direct)mail
approach, along with radio advertisements. Jarious celebrities have
helped by performing at places of wor and by recording verbal
messages. There have been different target groups. 'ne campaign
aimed to reach women, who outnumber men in the under)+@
smoers group, stressing the benefits of not smoing with respect
to health, beauty and fitness. &nother used baby sticers. &nother
campaign highlighted the benefits of a smoe)free worplace and
was conducted in ma(or clothing chain stores, supplemented by
radio and television advertisements. There is a socially supportive
conte"t nowadays to quit, and the recognition that passive smoing
is dangerous may help some in the future to quit permanently.
*** Dauguin began his career as a painter late in life. Born in !aris
in +@9@ he was raised by his widowed mother in !eru, where his
paternal half !eruvian grandmother lived. NKou now. I have Indian
blood, Inca blood, in meN he later wrote, Nand it>s reflected in
everything I doN. &t +?, Dauguin (oined the 3rench 2avy and sailed
around the world, encountering many native cultures during the
ship>s ports of call. In +@?., he married a 8anish woman named
Aette Dad and they settled in !aris, where he wored as a
stocbroer for a decade. &ll the while, Dauguin collected
contemporary art by the impressionists )in particular *enoir, Aonet,
!issarro, who later became a friend, and 4e7anne, whose primitive
style and sweeping colors affected him deeply. In +@@0, at 0:
Dauguin abruptly left his wife, his five children and his bourgeois
lifestyle to devote himself to art. He traveled to Brittany, where he
painted and sculpted, and to Aartinique, where he discovered the
vibrant beauty of the tropics. Then he moved to &ries, in !rovence,
where he and his friend Jincent van Dogh painted colorful
landscapes and planned their escape to Tahiti, which they imagined
as e"otic, bountiful and free of stifling 1uropean mores.
*** The typical &frican)&merican seems uninterested in saving for
retirement. 6tatistics show that in recent years &mericans in
general have become increasingly less disciplined about saving.
However, this trend is disturbingly prevalent among blac
&mericans. 'nly :,= of &frican&mericans say they or their
spouses have saved for retirement, compared with ??= of white
worers, according to a recent survey. What are the reasons for
this disparityH Historically, there>s been a cultural disconnection
between the retirement portrayed in the glossy brochures ) lavish
vacations in high)priced villas ) and the &frican)&merican reality.
Aost blacs e"pect to go on woring even after they have officially
retired, rather than lying around on a beach. Their e"perience in
retirement has never been lie mainstream white &merica.
NTypicallyN, they say, >we wor until we dieN. *esearchers have
often attributed the savings gap for &frican)&mericans to lower
wages or to a lower comfort level with the stoc maret. Those
factors do play a part, but even educated professional blacs
earning si"figure incomes tend to ignore their retirement and follow
a wasteful way of life. 1conomists say the behavior mirrors that of
first)generation immigrants who engage in conspicuous
consumption. NBlac professionals today are often first)generation
college graduates who, lie other groups, want to symboli7e that
they have succeeded.N
DS FEN 2004 LKBAHAR
*** & curious form of renewable)energy generation may be on the
hori7on ) with underwater turbines. These units harness the power
of tidally driven currents, which flow bac and forth lie clocwor,
maing it possible to generate electricity on a predictable schedule.
In this respect, underwater turbines are more attractive than their
wind)driven counterparts, which are now employed widely to help
power electric grids. /nderwater structures are also less liely to be
damaged by violent storms which have little effect on submerged
ob(ects. &nd using underwater turbines sidesteps the common
ob(ections to conventional hydropower ) that damming a river stops
migrating fish and inundates land upstream. /nderwater turbines
have long been used on a small scale. But soon now they will be
used on a large scale to produce megawatts of electric power.
*** &rchitects and engineers engage in design quite e"plicitly, and
they typically do so with distinct ob(ectives. &rchitects tend to focus
on form over function, whereas engineers tend to do the opposite.
3or most architects, the design of a building has firstly to do with
how it loos, both inside and out, and how it fits in with nearby
buildings. &rchitects are also e"pected to give considerable thought
to how the building will be used, how people will move through it,
how it will feel, although such considerations do not always seem to
be foremost in their minds (udging by results, indeed, if architectural
criticism is taen at face value, architects do seem to be principally
concerned with the te"ture of a building>s facade, the appearance
of its public spaces, the furniture with which it is filled. &rchitects
seem to pay close attention to details, even down to the nature of
the lighting fi"tures and the hardware on doors and windows, but
not always to how they will be operated or how they will fulfill their
purpose. 2evertheless, such considerations collectively constitute
architectural and interior design.
*** 1lectric heating, which appeared in less than + per cent of
homes in the /nited 6tates in +,:-, now dominates most areas
with mild winters and cheap electricity, including the 6outh and the
2orthwest. Its popularity, at least in the 6outh, was spurred by the
low cost of adding electric heating to new houses built with air)
conditioning. In the 2ortheast and Aidwest, electricity has not been
a popular fuel because of its high cost for cold)weather heating and
because it delivers heat at ,- to ,:R3, compared with +.- to +9-R3
for gas and oil, which many in cold climates find preferable. In
some areas, such as 4alifornia, electric heating has not progressed
because of building code restrictions. Bottled gas, which is
somewhat more e"pensive than utility gas, is the fuel ofchoice in
rural areas not served by utility pipelines. Wood, the dominant fuel
throughout the /6 economy until the +@@-s, is the leading heating
fuel in (ust a few rural counties. Home heating, which accounts for
less than ? per cent of all energy consumed in the /6, has had a
commendable efficiency recordE from +,?@ to +,,?, the amount of
fuel consumed for this purpose declined 99 per cent despite a 00
per cent increase in the number of housing units and an increase in
house si7e. This improvement came about thans to better
insulation and more efficient equipment following the energy crisis
of the +,?-s.
*** Biologists value marine organisms because their primitive
systems are good models for more comple" organisms, such as
humans) 8espite being genetically further from us than more
common research mammals, we share a surprising number of
evolutionary lins with these basic animals. By understanding their
life processes and the way their systems react when things go
wrong, scientists hope to continue maing important discoveries
that could help increase the chances of finding cures for serious
diseases such as cancer and &I86. &s research continues,
understanding increases about how our bodies and minds wor,
but there is still a lot to learn. 'bviously it taes a long time to wor
out all the mechanisms, and there are still many new bioactive
compounds to be found in marine organisms. But by using sea
creatures to better understand human characteristics and
disorders, progress is being made.
*** Aany people who are perfectly rela"ed driving along the
highways become nervous when they get on an airliner, although
most nowfull well that flying is safer than driving. The statistics are
indeed clear on this point. 3or e"ample, a paper published in +,,+
documented the substantially lower ris of flying compared with
driving in the /nited 6tates. 6ome of the many millions of
&mericans who flew over the ne"t few years probably derived
comfort from such hard facts. But now, a decade later, things have
changed. The hi(acing of four large (ets on 6eptember ++, .--+,
and the disastrous events that ensued led many to avoid flying in
the /nited 6tates during the following months. 3or e"ample, in the
fourth quarter of .--+, there was a drop of +@ per cent in the
number of passengers compared with the same time period in
.---. Aany still avoid air)travel. &ccordingly, it would be
appropriate to again calculate the riss involved in flying and
driving, taing into account the latest statistics, including the tragic
deaths of the passengers on those four hi(aced planes.
*** The &merican chestnut was once the most common canopy
tree in the deciduous $non)evergreen% forests of the eastern /nited
6tates. It shaded areas from 2ew 1ngland to Deorgia until the
fungus 4ryphonectria parasiticawiped out the species in the terrible
forest disaster of the early .-th century. The fungus continues to ill
chestnuts before they can mature. The vacuum left by the
chestnut>s destruction is now filled with other species. 4onsiderable
research has gone into understanding what happened to the
&merican chestnut. But some scientists remain interested in getting
to the root not of its destruction, but rather of the centuries of
dominance en(oyed by the massive, fragrant and economically
important tree.& team of scientists recently put forward the idea that
the &merican chestnut may have been engaged in the chemically
charged competition nown as allelopathy. &n allelopathic plant
releases potentially to"ic substances into the environment through
its roots, its leaves or processes such as evaporation. Blac walnut,
sycamore and sassafras trees are (ust a few nown allelopaths that
limit the germination of competitor. It>s liely that the list will soon
branch out to include chestnut. )))
DS SALIK 2004 LKBAHAR
*** 3or a drug to wor, it has to get to the place in the body where
the problem lies, and that>s why the science of pharmacoinetics is
important. 1nough of the drug has to stay at the site of action until
the drug does its (ob, butnot so much that it produces severe side
effects or to"ic reactions. 1very doctor nows that selecting the
right dose is a tricy balancing act. Aany drugs get to their site of
action through the bloodstream. How much time these drugs need
to wor and how long their effects last, often depend onhow fast
they get into the bloodstream, how much of them gets into the
bloodstream, how fast they leave the bloodstream, how efficiently
they>re broen down by the liver, and how quicly they>re eliminated
by the idneys and intestines.
*** In this e"periment, patients were placed into a refrigerated
chamber for several minutes, and measurements were taen of
both their lung capacity and the temperature within their trachea.
'n one of the e"perimental study days, the sub(ects were ased to
breathe entirely through their nose< on the other, their nose was
clipped tightly and they breathed through their mouth. The patients>
lung capacity dropped significantly on the mouth)breathing day
ofthe e"periment< this correlated highly with a significant cooling of
the trachea. 'n the day they breathed only through their nose,
however, their lower airway function changed only minimally and
their intra)tracheal temperature remained close to normal. These
studies demonstrate that nasal breathing has an important
protective effect on the lower airways, most liely because the nose
is more effective at warming and moisturi7ing inspired air before it
passes into the lungs. In addition, a nose that is clear and free of
inflammation is better able to filter and remove airborne allergens
and pollutants than is the mouth.
*** The 2orwegian)born psychologist 5ovaas devised a highly
structured form of behaviour modification called N&pplied
Behavioural &nalysisN $&B&% as an aid for autistic children. The
theory behind &B& rests on the assumption that autistic children
have inefficient neurocircuits ) specifically, connections that are not
as efficient as those found in normal children. In normal children, a
connection may go from & to B, but in the autistic brain the
connection may go from & to 4 to 8 to 1 before finally reaching B.
Inefficient connections result in more NnoiseN, which is believed to
hinder social and cognitive development. 5ovaas>s therapy taes
advantage of the brain>s ability to adapt and be retrained. When
people learn a particular sill, such as throwing a baseball, they are
reinforcing neurocircuits that are specific to that sill. When autistic
children are taught a specific behaviour through constant
repetition,the therapy is training the neurocircuits to respond in a
certain way and somehow teaching the brain to receive these
signals, which would otherwise be drowned out in a sea of noise. In
order to be effective, 5ovaas has stressed that &B& therapy must
be started early, must be sufficiently intensive, and must be carried
out in part by the parents.
*** & British businessman, 8avid Dreen, was determined to provide
India with good)quality, lowprice lenses for use in cataract surgery.
He got a group of e"pert engineers to design lenses that could be
produced cheaply, and got support to start a lens factory, as part of
&urolab, in India. 2ow, the typical eye surgeon in India does .,:--
cataract operations a year as opposed to +.: or so in the /6.
Thans in part to such a steady demand and to India>s cheap
labour, &urolab today can sell roughly ?--,--- lenses a year for as
little as O9 each and still mae a profit. &urolab, which operates as
an independent nonprofit organi7ation, made money from the
beginning, it reinvests all proceeds into e"panding its operations
and designing new products, such as sutures and eyeglasses. But
even at O9 a lens, how can the very poor afford eye surgeryH &t this
point the &ravind hospital provided the help that was needed. It set
up a scheme in which patients pay whatever they can. Those who
are relatively well)off pay more for their surgery, subsidi7ing the
very poorest, who pay nothing. 1ven with these subsidies, the
&ravind hospital maes O. for every dollar it spends on cataract
surgery. This has enabled it to open up five more hospitals,
catering to some +-- million Indians.

*** The federal 1lderly 2utrition !rogramme is intended to improve
older people>s nutrition status and enable them to avoid medical
problems, live at home, and stay out of institutions. Its specific
goals are to provide low)cost, nutritious meals, opportunities for
social interaction and shopping assistance. The 1lderly 2utrition
!rogramme provides for communal meal programmes.
&dministrators try to select sites for communal meals so as to feed
as many eligible people as possible. Jolunteers may also deliver
meals to those who are homebound either permanently or
temporarily< these efforts are nown as Aeals on Wheels. The
home)delivery programme ensures nutrition, but its recipients miss
out on the social benefit of the communal mealsites< every effort is
made to persuade older people to come to the shared meals, if
they can. &ll persons aged C- years and older and their spouses
are eligible to receive meals from these programmes, regardless of
their income. However, should demand e"ceed supply, priority is
given to those who are economically and socially needy. &n
estimated .:= of the nation>s elderly poor benefit from these meals
every day of the wee.
*** & chemical naturally produced in the body that wors in a similar
way tocannabis is thought to hold the ey to treating obesity. &
recent study found that oleylethanolamide $'1&% significantly
decreased the appetites of lab rats, with a resulting loss of weight.
6cientists are (ust beginning to understand '1&, which they
believe is manufactured in the small intestine. It is a naturally
occurring molecule in the same class of compound as cannabis>
active ingredient and acts on the same receptors. However, rather
than increasing the appetite,'1& has the opposite effect. The
chemical did not affect various functions of the rats>, nervous
systems as other weight loss drugs do. N'1& is lie a cousin to
cannabis ) it has similar properties but a different personality. In this
case, it creates the opposite reactionN, says the head researcher.
'1& could solve the problem of obesity, which greatly increases
the ris of diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, stroe and
some cancers.
DS FEN 2004 SONBAHAR
*** 3lorida>s more than +,--- miles of coastline contain about +:-
drawbridges, more than are found in any other state. &s these
bridges age and 3lorida grows and changes, many of them now
have to be replaced. But replaced with whatH *ecently there have
been very many controversies over drawbridges. 'ne involved the
Belleair Beach 4auseway, which was built in +,:-. When it
approached the end of its :-)year lifespan, the choice for a
replacement came down to three optionsE a drawbridge the same
height as the e"isting span $.+ feet above high tide% but wider, to
accommodate modern traffic levels< a drawbridge with a height of
9: feet< and a fi"ed span C: feet tall. 1ach choice had its
advantages and disadvantages. The two drawbridges would have
created the least disruption in nearby communities. 'pening a
drawbridge inconveniences motorists, however, and can cause a
dangerous delay for ambulances or in other emergencies. &
drawbridge also costs more to build and maintain. & high fi"ed span
would be cheaper and eliminate the delays, but it would require
e"tensive property acquisition to accommodate its approaches. It
would also tower over the area and bloc the views of many
residents, and some tall boats would be unable to fit underneath.
However after much debate and many hearings, the country board
settled on a high fi"ed span.
*** & new and quicer method to chec or prove the e"istence of
weapons of mass destruction $WA8% is being developed. 3irst, one
needs to now where they may be hidden and then a high)velocity
pro(ectile can be fired at the target. High)tech sensors paced into
the pro(ectile will then instantly beam bac confirmation that the
weapons are there if indeed they are. It>s a high)ris concept that
raises many questions, not least its technological feasibility and the
political protests that would follow if such a device were ever built
or used. But the /6 military is taing the idea seriously. 5ast year,
in a two)page research paper commissioned by the army, e"perts
from the Institute for &dvanced Technology detailed real test results
of a prototype pro(ectile designed to verify the e"istence of WA8s.
They say such a device offers a way to inspect for weapons without
permission or cooperation. To inspect reinforced concrete buners
or factory buildings suspected of housing WA8s, the researchers
designed a pro(ectile that can penetrate several meters of
hardened concrete, without damaging its load of sensors. Its casing
is built from &erAet +--, a nicelcobalt steel with traces of
molybdenum and chromium. Heat)treating the casing after it is
made gives it an e"tremely hard surface. The tapering pro(ectile is
.0- millimeters long, with a ma"imum calibre of 9: millimeters.
*** To engineers, design typically has less to do with aesthetics and
appearance and more to do with fabrication and performance.
1ngineers tend to focus on the structure behind the faTade. They
worry about how the building will be built, how it will stand, whether
it will sway too much in the wind, whether it will survive an
earthquae, whether it will crac or lea. 1ngineers designing the
structural frame of hotel buildings tae into account the strength
and stiffness of ballroom floors, where large crowds will gather and
rhythmic dancing will occur. 1ngineers are e"pected to thin about
how a building will be heated and cooled, how air will circulate
among its spaces, how energy efficient it will be. In the ideal world,
the design efforts of architects and engineers complement each
other, resulting in a building that is both a (oy to loo at and a
pleasure to use. But all too often in practice, things do not wor out
lie that, and the users of the building pay the price. In most
buildings, the wor of the architect mass, cloas and hides the
wor of the engineer. 1ngineering criticism is almost unheard of in
public discussions of building design, although it does sometimes
come to the fore when buildings fall down, as in the case of the
collapse of the World Trade 4enter towers.
*** &t one point, during what was still a time of hopeful
e"perimentation with nuclear technology, the /6 considered using
atomic bombs to blow a trench through the isthmus of !anama.
The idea was to replace the :-)year)old !anama 4anal, whose
locs were too narrow for the world>s growing fleet of super)taners
and aircraft carriers, with one that would be more suited to modern
conditions. The problem was not (ust the si7e of the locs but their
very e"istence. 6hips don>t simply sail through the !anama 4anal<
they have to be lifted @: feet to the elevation of the highest point
along the way and then brought down to sea level again. 1ach
ship>s trip through requires :. million gallons of fresh water, more
than most &merican cities use in a day, all of it flowing through
huge gravity)fed tubes. The source of this water supply is a vast
artificial lae whose dam also provides the electrical power for the
whole operation. To fill up and empty a single loc taes 9- minutes
on average, and when any one of the +. locs shuts down for
maintenance, ship traffic can bac up for days. 3inally, with all that
complicated machinery, if the canal were to be sabotaged $as had
happened to the locless 6ue7 4anal in +,:C%, correcting the
damage might tae years.
*** If the solar company>s claims are borne out, its high) efficiency
cells will bring solar power closer to becoming a practical option for
home owners. The average power demand of a household is .,---
to 0,--- watts. With solar cells around .- per cent efficient, this
demand can be met with about +: square meters of solar panels,
which is compact enough to fit on a rooftop. It has been estimated
that ready)to)install arrays will sell for around O+- per watt. That
cost may eventually fall further. 3or, as one spoesman for the
company saidE FThe trend is towards higher efficiencyN. 'thers
agree, but say silicon may not be the material that ultimately
delivers it. Thin films of cadmium telluride, for instance, are
showing promise in the lab. 'ne 5ondon)based solar energy
systems supplier is very impressed with some new solar cells that
have (ust come on the maret, both on account of their efficiency
and also because they are practical. They are very easy to connect
together,N he points out, you can (ust put tabs on the sides of the
bac contacts and connect one cell to another without wires.N
*** 6moe is clouding our view of global warming, protecting the
planet from perhaps three)quarters of the greenhouse effect. That
might sound lie good news, but e"perts say that, as the cover
diminishes in coming decades, we>re in for a dramatic escalation of
warming that could be two or even three times as great as official
best guesses. This was the dramatic conclusion reached last wee
at a worshop in Berlin. 6cientists have suspected for a decade
that aerosols of smoe and other particles from burning rainforest,
crop waste and fossil fuels are blocing sunlight and counteracting
the warming effect of carbon dio"ide emissions. /ntil now, they
reconed that aerosols reduced greenhouse warming by perhaps a
quarter, cutting increases by -..R4. 6o the -.CR4 of warming over
the past century would have been -.@R4 without aerosols. But the
Berlin worshop concluded that the real figure is even higher
)aerosols may have reduced global warming by as much as three)
quarters cutting increases by +.@R4. If so, the good news is that
aerosols have prevented the world getting almost two degrees
warmer than it is now. But the bad news is that the climate system
is much more sensitive to greenhouse gases than previously
guessed. In fact, warming could go up by ? to+-R4.
DS SOSYAL 2004 SONBAHAR
*** The Derman economy isn>t getting any healthier. Drowth
remains stagnant and businesses remain pessimistic about the
future. *eal gross domestic product in the third quarter grew by
-.0=, after a -..= rise in the previous quarter. Household
spending was the main engine of growth in the period. 1"ports also
helped, rising ..?=. The weaness came largely in business
investment, and construction spending also fell again. Dovernment
loans slowed. 4ompanies> views of current conditions have
stabili7ed. However, future e"pectations worsened, with the inde"
dropping to ,:.@. That doesn>t promise well for a rebound in
business spending. &nd recent rises in ta"ation and spending cuts
by the government could weigh on consumers.
*** 2on)lethal weapons are typically given names that mae them
sound ac ceptable< for e"ample, the term Nrubber bulletN was
adopted to suggest something soft and harmless. #elly batons,
sponge grenades and bean bags sound lie something from a
children>s party, and you need to be aware that these Nbean bagsN
are canvas bags of lead shot. 6imilarly, the very term Nstin bombsN
maes them sound lie a practical (oe instead of a chemical
warfare agent. 6ometimes language is deliberately used to
mislead, as in the case of Nrubber)coated bulletsN. These are steel
balls the si7e of marbles with a thin rubber coat, able to penetrate
the sull. There are also so)called Nplastic bulletsN, which are high
velocity bul lets made of !J4.
*** The !ostal 6ervice has the longest history of monopoly power in
the country and has the distinction of being mentioned in the /6
4onstitution. In the past, the post office was impressive in using its
monopoly to maintain high wages despite a widespread reputation
for poor service. But these past accomplishments have been
severely diminished by its inability to control the entry of
competitors. 3irst came 3ed1" 4orp. and its associates, then the
fa" machine, and then, most destructively, the Internet and e)mail.
The failure to get 4ongress to classify all these innovations as first
class mail and therefore the e"clusive domain of the !ostal 6ervice
demonstrates a tremendous loss of muscle. Therefore, this
contestant fails to measure up and should probably not even be
nominated in the future.
*** Aodern psychology considers childhood an e"tremely important
period of human development. Western culture views children as
vulnerable and requiring a great deal of attention, care and shelter
from harm. Aany laws are designed to protect children from
dangerous toys, dangerous substances and even dangerous
parents. 'ur belief that all children ought to have a free public
education and that they should remain in school until adolescence
similarly reflects the view that childhood is a special and important
time. But these attitudes toward children reflect a relatively recent
conception of early development. The Dree and *oman
civili7ations, for instance, which e"tended from about C-- B.4. to
about 9-- &.8., are usually regarded as periods of great
enlightenment. Ket the status of children during those times was
hardly enviable. &lthough such great Dree thiners as !lato and
&ristotle wrote of the importance of education, they also defended
practices that today would seem unthinable. Infanticide, the illing
of newborns, was routine and viewed as an appropriate way to deal
with babies who were illegitimate, unhealthy or simply unwanted.
*** 3or more than ten years, *ussia>s relations with the advanced
countries of the western world had been a torrid and unsatisfying
mi"ture of unrequited love, misunderstanding and dashed hopes.
&ctually, recently there have been big shifts on both sides. The
West is no longer trying to recast *ussia in its own image. The
days are gone when politicians in the /6 used the International
Aonetary 3und $IA3% as a foreign policy fund to promote particular
policies and politicians in *ussia. These days, *ussia runs itself
more or less as it lies. Its economic growth may be slow but it is
encouragingE *ussia registered its third consecutive year of real
growth in .--+, with the average income up by := and at a time
when the world>s big economies were sluggish. &lthough good
official connections in business still matter hugely, the days of
central planning are gone for good, as is the wild era of looting and
barter that followed the collapse of communism. *ussia delivers its
oil and gas on ti me and is steadily paying off its foreign debts.
4ompared with what might have happened, the outside world finds
that cheering.
*** Behavioral scientists have identified many powerful factors that
drive us to war ) factors so numerous and so compelling that it is
hard to imagi ne how we will ever overcome them. 1volution seems
to have equipped us with strong tendencies to organi7e and ill. &s
Deneral #ohn #. !ershing stated, NAen go to war because they
en(oy it.N 5ie many mammals, we also possess the natural
tendency to protect our territory. 6ociety is capable of suppressing
genetically)based tendencies, but when it comes to war, most
cultures actually fuel the flames. We deliberately instill nationalistic
pride in our children, and we teach them to assume roles and follow
orders which are all characteristics of the good soldier. In addition
we reduce the individuality of people by giving them uniforms< we
diffuse responsibility by having them use weapons in teams< we
dehumani7e enemies by labeling them heathens, animals and so
on. Throw in financial incentives, some propaganda and a
charismatic leader or two, and we become more prone to war than
ever.
DS FEN 2005 LKBAHAR
*** 'n 0+ 'ctober +,,9, a turboprop airliner heading for 4hicago,
Illinois, crashed into a soybean field at *oselawn in Indiana. &ll C@
people aboard died. &lthough the weather was cold and damp that
day, no one could believe it when investigators revealed that the
crash was caused by a build)up of ice on the wings. 2ot only did
this modern plane have a fully functional de)icing system, but
according to /6 3ederal &viation &dministration $3&&% standards,
the 3rench)built &T*)?. should have had no problems flying in the
cold, damp conditions. The pilots even new their craft was icing up
and attempted to clear it, following de)icing procedures e"actly.
*** It cannot be denied that buying locally grown food really does
offer big advantages, not (ust in freshness, but also in
environmental savings. Imported foods, especially those flown in
from the opposite hemisphere, use up huge amounts of (et fuel ;
+.? calories of fuelper calorie of 4alifornian lettuce flown to Britain,
and CC calories of fuel per calorie of 6outh &frican carrot< that at
least is what a green research group based in 5ondon has
estimated. Auch of that cost is hidden from consumers, because
air fuel attracts no ta" ; an advantage guaranteed by international
treaty. &nd under the Pyoto !rotocol, carbon emissions from
international transports aren>t added to national carbon)emission
tallies, because nobody can agree whose account to charge them
to. But the fuel used to import food and drin to Britain continues to
account for four million tonnes of 4'. emissions annually, which is
about ..: per cent of the national total.
*** In the first half of the .-th century, acid rain ) whether natural or
unnatural ) was a hidden phenomenon. By the +,:-s, however, its
effects were becoming apparent to scientists in 6candinavia with
the loss of fish from mountain laes. & networ of rainwater
monitoring stations was set up across 1urope, which very soon
proved the e"istence of acid rain as a result of human activities.
&cid rain was also charged with illing vast tracts of forest in
Dermany. The effects of long)range sulphur pollution were looing
so worrying that the issue was placed before the world at the /2
4onference on the Human 1nvironment in 6tocholm in +,?.. The
outcome was that states are now responsible for ensuring that their
activities do not damage the environment of other states. This
paved the way for the development of programmes for reducing
long)range air pollution. The most important of these was the
4onvention on 5ong)*ange Transboundary &ir !ollution, attended
in +,?, by the world>s leading industrial nations.
*** &fter a heavy rain one day .--,--- years ago, someone small
waled across some sand. 6and covered the tracs and eventually
they hardened into sandstone. Aore centuries passed, and the
sandstone eroded. 6ome construction worers on a brea in
2ahoon, 6outh &frica, discovered the tracs, which were thought to
be 0-,--- years old. 2ow geologist 8ave *oberts, at the 4ouncil
for Deoscience in 4ape Town, has redated the impressions and
says they are .--,--- years old, the oldest human footprints on
1arth. NWe have far more powerful dating techniques nowN, says
*oberts. He used thermoluminescence, a dating method that
measures when sand grains were last e"posed to light. 'nly about
seven inches long, the prints clearly show five toes and a well)
developed arch.
*** By .-.-, total meat consumption in developing countries is
predicted to have more than doubled. Ket livestoc, especially in
wealthy countries, already munches its way through 0C per cent of
the world>s grain harvest. &ll that grain e"acts a heavy
environmental cost, because the increased demand pulls farmers
towards growing mai7e and soybean and away from pasture and
fodder crops such as alfalfa that do so much for soil health. &nd
grain)fed animals tend to be housed in huge feedlots, where
crowding causes disease and veterinary surgeons use more
antibiotics, and where vast mountains of manure pollute the
surroundings. 4onsumers could reverse many of these problems
by demanding meat from grass)fed livestoc, or simply by eating
less meat. &nd as an added bonus for overfed Westerners, the
meat from grass)fed cattle is leaner than that from grain)fed
animals.
*** When it came to replacing the bridge at #ohn>s !ass, there were
certain special problems to be taen into consideration. The
previous bridge had had a life span of only 0- years, but in that
time the currents had caused e"tensive damage. But a more
serious problem connected with the currents is that the bridge has
to open on demand, rather than on a fi"ed schedule. 4urrents at
the inlet are particularly fierce, and maing boats wait would be too
dangerous. This unpredictability maes life even tougher for
motorists. Ket a fi"ed bridge would mae a stretch of the
Intracoastal Waterway impassable to boats taller than C: feet, so
that option was ruled out almost immediately. When an e"amination
of the bridge>s records showed that increasing the height would
reduce the frequency of closings only slightly, the state decided to
build a new drawbridge with the same height as the old one.
DS SALIK 2005 LKBAHAR
8espite all the attention we give to our hair, and putting aside the
fact that the first synthetic hair dyes were created in +,-?, it has
really only been in the last :- years or so that hair has been
scientifically studied. Before that, it was deemed too trivial to be
worthy ofthe attention, but the amount that scientists can now tell
about a person from the study of their hair,often simply by looing
at it under a microscope, is remarable. Humans have around five
million body hairs which is as many as a chimpan7ee has, although
ours are smaller and finer. They come in three types. &n unborn
baby has a ind of fine down all over its body that begins to grow
about +. wees after conception. 2ormally, these NlanugoN hairs
are shed a few wees before birth, although some premature
babies are born with them. &fter birth and throughout our lives,
humans are covered in short NvellusN hairs (ust a centimetre or two
long and with little or no pigment. 3inally, the pigmented, thicer
hairs that grow in varying quantities on our heads, groin, armpits,
forearms and legs, and $on men% chests, stomachs and faces, are
NterminalN hairs.
*** Health care professionals may quicly dismiss alternative
therapies as ineffective and perhaps even dangerous, but their
clients thin otherwise. In a survey of over +,:-- people, + out of
every 0 had used at least one alternative therapy in the past year
for a variety of medical complaints from an"iety and headaches to
cancer and tumours. Jisits to alternative therapies outnumbered
visits to primary care physicians. Interestingly, those who see
alternative therapies seem to do so not so much because they are
dissatisfied with conventional medicine, but because they find
these alternatives more in line with their beliefs about health and
life. Aost often, people use alternative therapies in addition to,
rather than in place of, conventional therapies. 'nly a few of the
people surveyed saw an alternative therapist without also seeing a
physician< all of those with life)threatening conditions such as
cancer, diabetes or lung problems who used alternative therapies
saw a medical doctor as well. In fact, it seems that most people
seealternative therapies for nonserious medical conditions or
health promotion. They simply want to feel better, and access is
easy.
*** The veterinarians who oversee laboratory animals often find
themselves in the position of having to perform procedures that
may not be in the best interest of their nonhuman patients. The
vet>s goal then is to produce the best possible outcome for the
animal under the circumstances. When 5arry 4arbone started out
in that profession, he hoped to improve the condition of laboratory
animals while at the same time accommodating the needs of
researchers. /nfortunately, he found that, in practice, the ability of
veterinarians to advocate effectively for animals is limited by a
variety of factors. His new boo is the fruit of the e"tensive
research he conducted to discover what determines how we view
laboratory animals and why policies concerning their care have
developed as they have. He e"amines the ob(ectivity of those who
presume to now what these animals want and to spea for them,
showing that personal beliefs, theories and ideologies colour even
the most scientific reports.
*** 1vidence from epidemiological studies carried out in the /6
shows that a sedentary life)style increases the incidence of more
than .- chronic diseases. 'ne such study, a 2urses> Health 6tudy,
concerned ?-,--- female nurses aged 9- to C: years, it was found
that, when nurses waled the equivalent of three or more hours per
wee at a bris pace, they had 0- per cent less coronary artery
disease, ischemic stroe and type). diabetes, as compared to
sedentary nurses. In another study, some site)specific cancers
were found to be also more prevalent when moderately active
females become inactive. Breast cancer rates rose .: per cent
among the sedentary in one study, and each one)hour decrease of
recreational physical activity per wee during adolescence was
associated with a 0 per cent increased ris of breast cancer.
Indeed, physical inactivity is now the third leading cause of death in
the /6 and contributes to the second leading cause, which is
obesity. !hysical inactivity is one of the causes of at least + in @
deaths.
*** & century ago, most people who suffered traumatic in(uries or
contracted serious infections died soon afterward. &lso those who
developed heart disease or cancer had little e"pectation of a long
life after the disease was diagnosed. 8eath was a familiar
e"perience, and most people e"pected little more than comfort care
from doctors. Today, death is often seen as an event that can be
deferred indefinitely rather than as an intrinsic part of life. The
leading causes of death for people over age C: years are heart
disease, cancer, stroe, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,
pneumonia and dementia. Aedical procedures commonly e"tend
the lives of people who have these diseases, often giving people
many years in which quality of life and function are quite good.
6ometimes, however, procedures e"tend life, but the quality of life
and function decline.
*** 8iscussion about the use of antidepressants by children, which
is always a hot topic, boiled over in 6eptember when hearings
revealed that both the drug industry and the 3ood and 8rug
&dministration $38&% had concealed strong evidence about the
dangers associated with the most widely prescribed drugs, a class
nown as selective serotonin reuptae inhibitors $66*Is%. The
analysis of the test results, which pharmaceutical companies had
failed to release to the public and which the 38& had sat on for a
year, indicated that these 66*Is double the suicide ris in
depressed (uveniles yet help no more children in trials than
placebos do. The highprofile congressional and 38& hearings were
made all the more dramatic as parents recounted how their children
had moved from moderate depression to suicidal depression within
days of starting 66*Is. 6ome of these children had died during the
year of delayed 38& action.
DS SOSYAL 2005 LKBAHAR
*** 3rom birth to age +-, our developmental focus is on learning
how to be human beings ) learning to move, to communicate,
tomaster basic sills. These often require the mastery of learned
social and cultural conventions, traditions, and rituals, such as
movements associated with various games, differences in spoen
or written languages, and our culture>s definition of good manners.
The initial development is slow and awward, but children generally
function at a rapid automatic level by age +-. &dults usually allow
young children to mae mistaes. We smile indulgently and offer
support rather than criticism as toddlers trip and as .)year)olds
mae language errors. We are there principally to protect their
safety and to applaud their successes because we reali7e that
toddling leads to waling and running, and babbling leads to
speaing, reading and writing.
*** The reasons for language death range from natural disasters to
different forms of cultural assimilation. 6mall communities in
isolated areas can easily be wiped out by earthquaes, hurricanes,
tsunamis and other natural disasters. 'n +?th #uly +,,@, a ?.+
magnitude earthquae off the coast of !apua 2ew Duinea illed
more than ...M- people and displaced a further +-,--- people.
Aany villages were destroyed< and some 0-= of the villagers were
illed. The people in these villages had been identified as being
sufficiently different from each other in their speech to (ustify the
recognition of four separate languages, but the numbers were very
small. Aoreover, as the survivors moved away to care centers and
other locations, these communities and thus their languages could
not survive the trauma of displacement.
*** In 5ondon>s theatres, tastes seem to be changing. Though
audiences are not falling, that>s mostly thans to the allure of
musicals, not plays. The commercial 5ondon Theatres ran at C:=
capacity in .--0, the most recent year for which figures are
available. But this disguises a big difference between musicals and
plays. 3or the musicals, attendance averages C@= of capacity< for
plays, attendance is somewhat lower, at :C=. 6o if a show doesn>t
contain some singing and plenty of dancing, half the chairs are
liely to remain empty. &nd In a business in which the costs are all
fi"ed, a few more ticets sold can mae all the difference. However,
5ondon>s subsidi7ed theatres are doing unusually well. 3or
e"ample, at the 2ational Theatre, which receives around Y+9
million in public money every year, attendance has been running at
over ,-= of capacity for the past .- months. That>s partly thans to
sponsorship and partly to aggressive programming.
*** In his three)and)a)half years in the (ob, the !resident of Harvard
/niversity seems to have upset a large number of people. 3irst, he
said students were getting too many N&N grades because of grade
inflation, Zwhich was correct%. Then he attaced a professor on
account of his e"tra)curricular activities. 2ow he has suggested that
one of the reasons women achieve less in science and maths is
that they have less innate ability. The !resident>s )comments were
off the record< but he has since confirmed that he did draw attention
to the possibility that innate differences, rather than social factors,
such as education and treatment in the worplace, might have a
rote to play. This has resulted in a great deal of violent criticism
from many quarters. But, scientifically speaing is he correctH
*** Immigrants have long complained about /6 employers who
cheat or abuse them and threaten to have them deported if they
protest. Denerally, the problem has been confined to the lowest
rungs of the worforce, such as Ae"ican farm hands who enter the
country illegally. But nowadays, the wea /6 economy has spared
an outbrea of abusive treatment among the legions of professional
immigrant employees who floced to the /6 on perfectly valid visas
during the late)+,,-s boom. /sually, theirs are the cases of
employers who do not pay full salary or benefits.
*** 6pain>s third)largest ban, Banco !opular, raised some
eyebrows recently when it agreed to buy !ortugal>s Banco 2acional
for OC0@ million. 6hareholders voted overwhelmingly in approval of
the acquisition. 2ormally, however, !opular>s approach is far more
conservativeE a singleminded devotion to organic retail growth in its
home maret as opposed to taeovers. 'ver the past decade, the
ban has wored hard to build its base, cultivating the maret for
mortgages, consumer loans, and, recently, loans to small and
midsi7e businesses. &s rivals looed to the 2ew World and bought
up smaller bans at home. !opular e"panded its retail networ to
.,.-- branches throughout 6pain, it also added Internet and
telephone baning operations that are based in the branches. The
effort has paid off. In each of the past three years, the ban has
gained 0--,--- customers.
DS FEN 2005 SONBAHAR
*** There have been stories in the press about mobile phones
sparing e"plosions at petrol stations. But according to the D6A
&ssociation, a worldwide body for mobile phone maers, none of
these reports has ever been traced bac to a real event. But there
is a real safety concern, and it>s not about radio emissions from
mobiles as you might have thought. Instead, the D6A &ssociation
says there is a theoretical ris that if a hand)held phone is dropped
and the battery separates from the phone, it could cause a spar
across the contacts. This is equally true of other battery)powered
devices such as torches, Walmans and 48 players. But it>s far
more liely that mobile phones cause a ha7ard at petrol stations by
distracting their users while they>re operating a petrol pump.
*** &ll multi)engined aircraft are designed to eep flying in the
event of engine failure. 5osing thrust from one Nside of an aircraft
unbalances it and causes the nose of the aircraft to turn in the
direction of the failed engine. &ircraft have a vertical stabili7er $the
upright at the bac% to eep the aircraft>s nose into the wind, with a
rudder attached to it for fine tuning. Aoving the rudder into the
airflow creates a sideways force, which turns the aircraft around its
vertical a"is. When this is applied in the direction of the failed
engine, the force created by the rudder will counteract the turn
induced by the uneven engine thrust. The vertical stabili7er and
rudder are si7ed to control the uneven thrust caused by an engine
failure at the most demanding limits or the flight envelope, as they
must be capable of generating powerful turning forces.
*** Damma)ray bursts $D*Bs% are among the most intense areas of
research in high)energy astrophysics, and they represent the
largest nown e"plosions in the universe. 5ast year, 2&6&
launched the 6wift satellite to rapidly locate and observe D*Bs and
their afterglows at ")ray, ultraviolet and optical wavelengths. These
afterglow observations are particularly important for the
understanding or these enormous e"plosions that occur at
cosmological distances near the edge of the observable universe.
&mateur astronomers, due to their large numbers, their ability to
respond quicly to the randomly located D*Bs and the availability
of highly sensitive 448 cameras, have been able to provide
important, early data on the optical afterglows of D*Bs in the past
few years. Indeed, at least one optical afterglow from a D*B was
discovered by an amateur astronomer. 'bservations can be done
with even a modest)si7e telescope, provided the observations are
made quicly enough.
*** 3ormerly, potatoes were grown on unirrigated land, which often
meant they were small and probably misshapen. 2ow, however,
farmers routinely irrigate their lands to produce products acceptable
to the fast)food industry for its 3rench fries. But in Ainnesota the
groundwater that farmers pump for potatoes has turned out to be
the same water that helps to sustain the 6traight *iver, a ma(or
trout fishery. 1ven modest pumping for potatoes, a federal study
eventually concluded, had the potential to reduce the river>s flow by
one third during the irrigation season, with adverse impact on the
brown trout. 3or now, the trout are not in danger, but that could
change if Ainnesota were to approve applications from farmers still
eager to see potato planting and irrigation widen.
*** If engineers waited for the development of scientific nowledge
to use and organi7e into technological achievements, ours would
be a very different world from what we now. In engineering, it is
not so much science as it is ingenuity that is applied to solve
problems and satisfy needs and wants. If this were not so, the
steam engine would never have been invented in the absence of
thermodynamics. The Wright Brothers would not have flown since
they had no aerodynamics te"tboos. The astronauts would never
have landed on the Aoon nor the rovers on Aars without firm
geological nowledge of their surfaces. *ather than following
scientific theories and discoveries, engineering leads them.
'perating steam engines prompted the development of
thermodynamics, actual powered flight drove aerodynamics, and
Aoon and Aars missions brought bac samples and sent bac data
that led to increased scientific nowledge about those
e"traterrestrial bodies.
*** The people of Blaenavon in 6outh Wales were understandably
worried. The opencast mine only + ilometer north of their town had
served the great Blaenavon ironwors when they opened in the
Iate+@N+ century. But it had been lying derelict for decades and now
British 4oal 'pencast wanted to mine the remaining 0.-,---
tonnes of coal. &t opencast sites, for every tonne of coal recovered,
up to 9- tonnes of roc has tobe e"tracted. 6o, in the case of
Blaenavon, unless precautionary measures were taen, the air in
the town was going to be thic with dust. !recautionary measures
were taen, based on well)tried techniques. 3or instance, tall spray
masts were erected around dumps to provide a curtain of rain to
entrap and wash out dust from the air, and the wheels of every
vehicle leaving the site were washed. 3urther, reclaimed areas
were planted with trees and grass from day one. With these and
other measures this turned out to be a success story for all
concerned. In fact, during the entire mining and reclamation pro(ect
not a single complaint about nuisance dust was made to the local
authority.
DS SOSYAL 2005 SONBAHAR
*** To some people, branding is about the art of lying successfully
and creating value out of nothing. & good brand inspires trust, but
the relationship between the brand and the reality of the product
offered is frequently elastic. Branding is therefore an art and the
people who do it best are in great demand. In many business
segments entry is easy as barriers are low and there is scarcely
any means of differentiating yourproduct from that of the
competitor. Branding is all there is left to mae a difference. Aobile
phone companies are a classic lease, in which one company can
copy the competitor>s contracts.1ach company offers virtually the
same handsets. &part from networ coverage, brand is everything.
&nother classic e"ample is airlines. &nyone can charter the same
Boeing ?0?and run an airline as long as it can secure slots. The
difference is finally down to service and mareting.
*** In an agreement made outside the courts in Basle, 6wit7erland,
2igerian state representatives, 6wiss federal officers and
e"ecutives from a do7en 1uropean bans have agreed on the
return of around +.+ billion euros of the late dictator 6ani &bacha>s
investments, to 2igeria. The conclusion of what has been one of
the world>s largest investigations into money laundering comes as a
huge relief to regulators and baners in 6wit7erland, the /P,
5iechtenstein, 5u"embourg and #ersey, the destinations that
provided safe havens for &bacha>s stolen millions. In e"posing (ust
how easily &bacha was able to mae deposits of tens or hundreds
of millions of dollars in 1uropean bans that pride themselves on
watchfulness and integrity, the 2igerian investigators highlighted
ma(or failings in both the legislative and e"ecutive competencies of
the 1uropean baning community. *eform has already taen place.
/ndoubtedly more will follow, but the sorry tale of how 1urope>s
bans aided the dictator>s outrageous years of theft cannot be
forgotten.
*** With their magnificent architecture and sophisticated
nowledge of astronomy, and mathematics, the Aaya boasted one
of the great cultures of the ancient world. &lthough they had not
discovered the wheel and were without metal tools, the Aaya
constructed massive pyramids, temples and monuments of stone
both in large cities and in smaller ceremonial centers throughout
the lowlands of the Kucatan !eninsula, which covers parts of what
are now southern Ae"ico and Duatemala and essentially all of
Beli7e. 3rom celestial observatories, they traced the progress, for
e"ample, of Jenus and developed, a calendar based on a solar
year of 0C: days. They created their own system of mathematics,
using a base number of .- with a concept of 7ero. &nd they
developed a hieroglyphic scheme for writing, one that used
hundreds of elaborate signs.
*** &lmost :- years ago, the scientist and novelist 4harles !ercy
6now delivered a lecture at the /niversity of 4ambridge in which
he described a problematic situation that he termed Nthe two
culturesN. &ccording to 4. !. 6now, as he came to be most
commonly nown, it was the circumstances of his involvement in
both the physics and the writing communities, mostly in Britain, that
gave him an unusually diverse perspective on intellectual life at
mid)century. &lthough he noted thatmembers of the two groups that
he moved among had similar social origins, possessed comparable
intelligence and earned about the same amount of money, they
barely communicated with each other. 6now observed that their
intellectual, moral and psychological climates had so little in
common that they may as well have come from different parts of
the world. He feared that the intellectual life of the whole of western
society was increasingly being split into two polar groups
characteri7ed by physical scientists and Nliterary intellectualsN.
*** &s for the lifestyle in the 2etherlands, the 8utch have a
deserved reputation for being easygoing. But as with any country,
there are some surprises for newcomers to get used to. 3or
instance, the amount of bureaucracy stries them as remarable
when they first move to the 2etherlands. Want to light a small fire in
your gardenH Kou>ll need permission from the local government.
3ancy painting your houseH Better chec with the government first.
& ma(or problem is the tightening up of immigration laws on a large
scale. The problem is that the 2etherlands is a small country that is
facing a lot of immigration, so they are maing it tougher and
tougher. But, actually, racism is foreign to the 8utch culture. They
are very accepting< they tae you as you are.
*** !atent laws do little or nothing to help poor countries dig their
way out of poverty, and could even mae matters worse. That>s the
controversial conclusion of an independent commission on
intellectual property rights appointed by the British government. Its
report, launched recently in Deneva, contains :- radical
recommendations to help mae these rights wor to the advantage
of poor countries. Britain>s 8epartment for International
8evelopment has already promised to loo hard at the suggestions,
but it>s unclear whether the rest of the international community will
listen. The World Trade 'rgani7ation has persuaded most
countries to sign an intellectual property rights $I!*% agreement
that obliges them to impose Western style laws on everything from
patents to copyrights by .--C. But the new report argues that these
laws only benefit rich countries with strong traditions of invention,
and do little to aid the transfer of technology to poor countries. The
report argues that poor countries should be given a lot more
fle"ibility 6o as to customi7e those laws, and up to a decade longer
to do so. &t present, many poor countries don>t have intellectual
property laws at all. That means local inventors can>t get protection
for their ideas, but it also means people can buy cheap versions of
medicine or software that have been patented elsewhere. 6ince
poor countries often have little to patent in the first place, the
benefits of having no laws can outweigh the disadvantages.
DS FEN 2006 LKBAHAR
*** How have terrestrial organisms met the environmental
challenges of living on landH 5ife began in the oceans, but many
life forms have since adapted to terrestrial life in a sea of air. 1very
single organism living on land has to meet the same environmental
challengesE obtaining enough water< preventing e"cessive water
loss< getting enough energy< and in polar regions, tolerating widely
varying temperature e"tremes. How those challenges are met
varies from one organism to another, and in large part e"plains the
diversity of life encountered on land today. 6ome animals avoid
colder temperatures by migrating to warmer climates for the winter,
whereas others avoid the cold by passing the winter in a dormant
state called hibernation. Aany plants also spend winter in a
dormant state. The aerial parts of some plants die during the winter,
but the underground parts remain alive< the following spring they
resume metabolic activity and develop new aerial shoots. Aany
trees are deciduous< that is, they shed their leaves for the duration
of their dormancy. 6hedding leaves is actually an adaptation to the
FdrynessG of winter. *oots cannot absorb water from ground that is
cold or fro7en< by shedding its leaves the plant reduces water loss
during the cold winter months when obtaining water from the soil is
impossible.
*** Henri)#an van Jeen has carried out a great deal of research
into spinning. This is especially true for Fgraveyard spinsG, the term
for what happens when fighter pilots get so disoriented they
miscalculate how to get their plane bac on course. They can end
up in a dangerous and often fatal spin. Jan Jeen wors at a
research lab run by the 2etherlands 'rgani7ation for &pplied
6cientific *esearch, the T2'. The range of research covered by
the T2' is vast, and it sees itself as a practical problemsolver. &nd
for the 8utch air force, the graveyard spin is certainly a problem
that needs solving. Jan Jeens specialty is Fvibrotactile devicesG,
which use vibrations to convey information. His latest pro(ect is a
vest studded all over with small discsthat can each vibrate
independently. In a test room, a pilot is strapped into a seat in a
FcocpitG. &t the push of a button, the lights go out and the chair
starts spinning. &fter a while the chair is stopped. FHell thin hes
spinning the other way nowG, says van Jeen. The pilot is told to
correct the spin, but instead, he overcorrects massively, and the
chair begins spinning again. In the ne"t test, the pilot dons van
Jeens vest and is told that the patch of the vest that is vibrating will
indicate the direction he should force the (oystic to correct a spin.
This time, when the chair stops spinning the pilot manages to eep
the seat still. Jan Jeen thins the vibrotactile vest could do more
than save the lives of fighter pilots. Hes now woring on lining the
system to a D!6 receiver so that tourists in a foreign city or blind
people in an unfamiliar environment can use the vest to find their
way around.
*** 3or almost .-- years, the idea of cosmic events affecting life on
1arth was viewed as heretical by the church, which regarded
catastrophe as proof of divine intervention, and as nonsense by the
scientific establishment, which dismissed it as superstition. Ket in
the end, the sheer weight of evidence has swept away all doubt
about the reality of global catastrophes. &ttempts to mae scientific
sense of the many legends of global catastrophes date bac to the
dawn of modern science itself, in the +? th century. 3ollowing the
publication of 2ewtons laws of motion and universal gravitation in
+C@?, 1dmond Halley decided to apply them to the mystery of
comets. By studying records of their appearance, Halley argued
that the bright comets of +9:C, +:0+, +C-? and +C@. were in fact
one comet, laternown as the FHalleyG comet, that followed a vast
elliptical orbit around the 6un in agreement with 2ewtons laws. But
Halley noted something else as wellE a comet crossing the orbit of
the 1arth might one day collide with us with devastating
consequences.
*** 1"cept perhaps for some remote island dwellers, most people
have a natural tendency to view continents as fundamental,
permanent and even characteristic features of 1arth. 'ne easily
forgets that the worlds continental platforms amount only to
scattered and isolated masses on a planet that is largely covered
by water. But when viewed from space, the correct picture of 1arth
becomes immediately clear. It is a blue planet. 3rom this
perspective it seems quite e"traordinary that over its long history,
1arth could manage to hold a small fraction of its surface always
above the sea X enabling, among other things, human evolution to
proceed on dry land. Is the persistence of highstanding continents
(ust an accidentH How did 1arths complicated crust come
intoe"istenceH Has it been there all the time, lie some primeval
icing on a planetary cae, or has it evolved through the agesH 6uch
questions engendered debates that divided scientists for many
decades, but the fascinating story of how the terrestrial surface
came to tae its present form is now partly resolved. That
understanding shows, remarably enough, that the conditions
required to form the continents of 1arth may be unmatched in the
rest of the solar system.
*** In his preface to 6paceflight *evolution, 8avid &shford recalls
how he started his research into rocet motors. &s he later
e"plains, these were motors that would power aspace plane X one
that would launch space travellers and satellites cheaply and
reliably into orbit. That was +,C+. &shford admits he would
probably have taen another (ob if hed nown that, 9. years later,
satellites would still be launched by rocets descended from
ballistic missiles. The technology is there, but political and
budgetary decisions have so far stopped space planes getting off
the ground. But &shford presents a compelling argument that a
small orbital space plane would cost relatively little to design and
develop X the equivalent of (ust two shuttle flights.
*** The Wireless Auseum has several of the earliest crystal
wireless sets from the +,.-s which ran on electromagnetic waves
with no e"ternal power source, and were easily made at home.
Jalve radios, which came along in the +,0-s, needed electricity to
heat up the valves and the museum has both mains and battery)
powered valve radios on display. The collection also has some rare
wartime civilian receivers X the only type of valve radio
manufactured during the 6econd World War. This was by order of
the government, because at this time most manufacturing was
focused on the war effort. There are also plenty of modern day
transistor radios including a collection of novelty radios dating from
the si"ties and seventies.))
DS SALIK 2006 LKBAHAR
*** &ging involves multiple harmful biological events that
accumulate in different tissues overtime and gradually reduce an
organisms state of maintenance and function. 4alendar time,
however, serves as an imperfect measurement of the physiological
processes involved in aging.We all now individuals who are the
same chronological age but appear to be very different when it
comes to physiological age. *ather than counting years X or gray
hairs, for that matter X modern gerontologists turn to biological
marers, or biomarers, of aging. These physiological parameters
indicate an individuals functional level and some biomarers, such
as insulin levels, correlate with mortality. The presence of such
biomarers depends indirectly on patterns of gene e"pression,
which are induced by a variety of internal or e"ternal stimuli.
*** 4ardiac transplantation, once considered an e"perimental
procedure, has emerged as the therapy of choice for many
appropriately selected patients with life)threatening irremediable
heart disease. 4ongestive heart failure $4H3%, the primary
indication for cardiac transplantation, is the most commonly
reported reason for hospital admission. & nowledge of cardiac
transplantation medicine is therefore important for all physicians, as
transplantation should be considered a therapeuticoption for many
of these patients. In the past, post)cardiac transplant care was
largely performed by speciali7ed transplant physicians, primarily
cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons. &s survival after cardiac
transplantation has improved maredly over the last decade, the
population of patients who are long)term survivors after heart
transplantation has grown. !rimary care physicians, as well as
cardiologists not based at cardiac transplant centres, often assist
inthe care of these patients, most often inconsultation with cardiac
transplant physicians. In addition, a physician may be called on to
assist in the management and evaluation of a potential cardiac
donor.
*** When a patient sees a doctor, the patient is seeing help ;) to
regain or retain health. The physicians tas is to wor for the
patients health. The doctor does so by treating disease, by
relieving discomfort, by assisting the patient with any disability, by
preventing premature death, and by ma"imi7ing contentment.
$6ome have summari7ed these activities as tacling Fthe five8sG of
health ; disease, discomfort, disability, death, and dissatisfaction%.
'ften there is success in all these areas. In the best of
circumstances, the doctor is able to prevent disease and help the
patient remain healthy. In other cases, disease and death defeat
us. In some cases none of the goals are achieved, but even that
outcome must not stop us from trying. By focusing on the health of
the patient, the doctor tests the myriad activities of clinical medicine
against the health outcome of the patient.
*** 4ancer describes a class of diseases characteri7ed by the
uncontrolled growth of aberrant cells. 4ancers ill by the
destructive invasion of normal organs through direct e"tension and
spreadto distant sites via the blood, lymph, or serosal surfaces. The
abnormal clinical behaviour of cancer cells is often mirrored by
biologic aberrations such as genetic mutations, chromosomal
translocations, e"pression of fetal or other discordant ontologic
characteristics, and the inappropriate secretion of hormones or
en7ymes. &ll cancers invade or metastasi7e but each specific type
has unique biologic and clinical features that must be appreciated
for proper diagnosis, treatment and study. &bout +.. million new
cases of invasive cancer are diagnosed each year in the /nited
6tates, and about :--,--- people die annuallyof the disease.
4ancer is the second most deadly disease and is e"pected to
surpass heart disease early in the twenty)first century to top that
vicious list. 'ver the past half century, the frequency of most
cancers has been stable, but some dramatic changes have taen
place. 6teady declines in stomach and uterine cancerhave
occurred, the latter undoubtedly due to routine cytologic screening
for cervical cancer. The cause of the decline in stomach cancer is
unnown. The most striing change has been the increases in lung
cancer in both men and women, undoubtedly related to smoing.
*** Aedicine is not a science, but a profession that encompasses
medical science learning as well as personal, humanistic, and
professional attributes. 2onetheless, the delivery of Western
medicine depends totally on science and the scientific method.
6ince 3le"ner issued his famous report on the sub(ect in +,+-,
&merican medical education has striven to develop a strong
scientific base as an integral part of medical education at every
levelE premedical, medical, residency and continuing medical
education. Biomedical science is fundamental to understanding
disease, maing diagnoses, applying new therapies and
appreciating the comple"ities and opportunities of new
technologies. The process of becoming a physician and being
committed to lifelong learning requires that one possess the
scientific base not only to acquire and appreciate new nowledge
but to see new ways for applying it to patient care as well. The
physician must be able to understand reports of current research in
the medical literature in order to grasp and evaluate the newest and
latest approaches, no matter how complicated the field may
become.
*** In the past, lead poisoning was thought to arise from
pica$abnormal ingestion% among children living in old, broen)down
houses with peeling layers of leadbased paints. In the past two
decades, lead into"ication has occurred with decreasing frequency.
This may in part be relatedto less use of lead in paint and leaded
gasoline< several studies relate environmental lead contamination
to traffic density patterns. In the /nited 6tates, hundreds of
occupations involve potentially significant e"posure. It is estimated
that more than @--,--- &merican worers have potentially
significant lead e"posure. 5ead and other metal worers or miners,
storage battery worers, and pottery maers are particularly heavily
e"posed. Worers in auto manufacturing, ship building, paint
manufacture and printing industries are also at substantial ris, as
are house painters and those who repair oldhouses. In past
centuries lead was addedto wine to sweeten it, a deception that
was eventually made punishable by death. *ecently, adding leadto
various herbal and fol medicines has resulted in poisoning. Bullets
left in the body can result in lead poisoning, especially if a (oint is
involved, because synovial fluid appears to be a good solvent for
lead. The interval between the bullet getting embedded in the body
and clinical evidence of lead poisoning has ranged from . days to
9- years.
DS SOSYAL 2006 LKBAHAR
*** The /6 6upreme 4ourt is not aradical institution, nor is it liely
to become one asa result of any particular presidential election.
The riss for the (udiciary in presidential elections are a lot lower
than many people imagine. This is not because there are no
significant ideological or methodological differences among (udges.
8ifferences do e"ist, and they display party affiliation to some
e"tent. &nd they matter ; not (ust on public issues such as abortion
rights and racial discrimination but also in those procedures that
actually guide the way lower courts handle a large variety of legal
cases. That said, the courts have pretty strong institutional
defences against radicalism of any ind. 3or one thing, the
(udiciarys power is spread among more than @-- federal (udges,
no one of whose views matter all that much in the broad scheme of
things. 1ven onthe 6upreme 4ourt the idiosyncrasies or ideological
e"tremism of any one (udge can have only a limited effect. Without
four lieminded (udges, his or her views are (ust noise.
*** &merican schools need moretime if they are to teach efficiently.
The school year is fi"ed at or below +@- days in all but a handful of
states ; down from more than +,- in the late nineteenth century,
when 6aturday)morning sessions were common. The instructional
day is only about si" hours, of which much is taen up with
nonacademic matters. In +,,9, a national commission calculated
that in four years of high school a typical &merican student puts in
less than half as much time on academic sub(ects as do students in
#apan, 3rance and Dermany. 1"tending the school day orthe
school year can get e"pensive and complicated, and reducing
nonacademic electives and physical education brings complaints
from parents and students alie. But there is one quite cheap and
uncomplicated way to increase study timeE add more homewor.
Kou may not be surprised to learn that homewor raises student
achievement, at least in the higher grades. 3or young children
homewor appears not to be particularly helpful. 1ven among older
students it is hard to be sure of the e"tent to whichmore homewor
may lead to higher achievement.
*** 8uring the *enaissance, especially in the si"teenth century, it
was customary to debate the preeminence of the arts, particularly
as between painting and sculpture. The more commonly accepted
opinion is represented by Benvenuto 4ellini, who thought that
sculpture is eight times as great as any other art based on drawing,
because a statue has eight views and they must all be equally
good. & painting, he said, is nothing better thanthe image of a tree,
man, or other ob(ect. In fact, the difference between painting and
sculpture isas great as between a shadow and the ob(ect casting it.
5eonardo, on the other hand, thought that painting is superior to
sculpture because it is more intellectual. By this he meant that as a
technique it is infinitely more subtle in the effects that it can
produce, and infinitely wider in the scope it offers to invention or
imagination. Aichelangelo, when the question was referred to him,
in his wise and direct way said that things which have the same
end are themselves the same, and that therefore there could be no
difference between painting and sculpture e"cept differences due
to better (udgment and harder wor.
*** Dovernments have learned tovalue innovation these days for
good reason. 3ar from being simply some missing factor in the
growth equation, innovation is now recogni7ed as the single most
important ingredient in any modern economy. It actually accounts
for more than half of economic growth in &merica and Britain. In
short, it is innovation, more than the application of capital or labour,
that eeps the world economy going. &s a result, economists have
decided that the innovators of the world are due some special
recognition. It is not possible to recogni7e all the countless
innovations that have helped to spread wealth, health and human
happiness around the world. But a handful of people who have
made the biggest contribution to the wealth)creation process in
their own fields over the past few years, have been nominated for
awards.
*** & nonprofessional)class woring mother, who has been forced
unwillingly into the labour maret, is oppressed by various unique
forces. 6he is oppressed by the fact that her wor is oftentimes
physically e"hausting, ill)paid, and devoid of benefits such as
health insurance and paid sic leave. 6he is oppressed by the fact
that it is impossible to put a small child in reliable day)care if you
mae only a minimum wage, and she is oppressed by the terrible
child)care options that are available at an ine"pensive rate. 6he is
oppressed by the fact that she has nothing to fall bac on. If she is
out of wor, and her child needs a visit to the doctor and antibiotics,
she may not be able to afford those things and will have to treat her
sic child with unprescribed medications, which themselves are far
from cheap.
*** Because a play presents its action through actors, its impact is
direct, immediate, and heightened by the actors sills. Instead of
responding to words on a printed page, the spectator sees what is
done and hears what is said. The e"perience of the play is
registered directly upon his senses. It may therefore be fuller and
more compact. Where the wor of prose fiction may tell us what a
character loos lie in one paragraph, how he moves or speas in a
second, what he says in a third, and how his auditors respond in a
fourth, the acted play presents this material all at once.
6imultaneous impressions are not separated. Aoreover, this
e"perience is interpreted by actors who may be highly silled in
rendering nuances of meaning and strong emotion. Through facial
e"pression, gesture, speech rhythm, and intonation, they may be
able to mae a speaers words more e"pressive than can the
readers unaided imagination. Thus, the performance of a play by
silled actors, e"pertly directed, gives the playwright a tremendous
source of power.
DS FEN 2006 SONBAHAR
*** 'ver billions of years, life has evolved into a spectacular
diversity of forms ; more than a million species presently e"ist. 3or
each, the source of its uniqueness is the particular combination of
proteins found within its cells. Ket in the midst of this diversity, the
similarities between living things are profound. 3or e"ample,
although the fruit fly genome encodes about +9,--- different
proteins, and humans have two to three times that number, many
proteins are still recogni7ably similar in sequence and tas,
reflecting their common ancestry. In fact, when scientists have put
human disease genes into flies, they often cause the same
symptoms in the insects as they do in people. 3urthermore,
addition of a normal human gene can sometimes compensate for
the deletion of the same gene from the fly.
*** 4arbon dio"ide $4'.%, lie water and most other pure
substances, e"ists in solid,liquid, and gaseous states and can
undergo changes from one state to another. 6olid 4'., however,
has an interesting propertyE at normal pressures, it passes directly
to the gaseous state without first melting to the liquid state. This
property, together with the fact that this change occurs at )?@R4,
maes solid 4'.useful for eeping materials very cold. Because
solid 4'.cools other ob(ects and does not leave a liquid residue, it
is called Fdry iceG. &s for liquid 4'., it is obtained by putting carbon
dio"ide gas under pressure. When liquid 4'.evaporates, it
absorbs large quantities of heat, cooling as low as ):?R4. Because
of this property, it is often used as a refrigerant. If the compressed
gas from the evaporating 4'.liquid is allowed to e"pand through a
valve, the rapidly cooled vapour forms solid carbon dio"ide FsnowG.
This 4'. snow is compacted into blocs and is the source of dry
ice.
*** The primary means of reproduction and dispersal for 1arths
most successful plants is seeds, which develop from the female
gametophyte and its associated tissues. 6eed plants show the
greatest evolutionary comple"ity in the plant ingdom and are the
dominant plants in most terrestrial environments. 6eeds are
reproductively superior to spores for three main reasons. 3irst, a
seed contains a multicellular, well)developed young plant with
embryonic root, stem, and leaves already formed, whereas a spore
is a single cell. 6econd, a seed contains a food supply. &fter
germination, the plant embryo is nourished by food stored in the
seed until it becomes selfsufficient. Because a spore is a single
cell, few food reserves e"ist for the plant that develops from a
spore. Third, a seed is protected by a resistant seed coat. 5ie
spores, seeds can live for e"tended periods of time at reduced
rates of metabolism, germinating when conditions become
favourable.
*** The most common view among scientists is that mathematics
and physics are quite different. !hysics describes the universe and
depends on e"periment and observation. The particular laws that
govern our universe, such as 2ewtons laws of motion, must be
determined empirically and then asserted lie a"ioms that cannot
be logically proved, merely verified. Aathematics, on the other
hand, is somehow independent of the universe. *esults and
theorems, such as the properties of the integers and real numbers,
do not depend in any way on the particular nature of reality in which
we find ourselves. Aathematical truths would be true in any
universe.
*** The entire future of human space e"ploration rests on a patch of
lunar ice. 3or the past two years 2&6& has focused on designing a
new crew vehicle and launch system that could return astronauts to
the moon by .-+@. The agencys ultimate goal is to establish a
permanent lunar base and use it for a human mission to Aars. But
the grand plan depends on a risy prediction that 2&6& will find
water ice in a permanently shadowed crater basin at one of the
moons poles. !lentiful ice deposits would be an asset for lunar
colonists, who could use the water for life support or convert it to
hydrogen and o"ygen rocet fuel. &nd two orbiters sent to the
moon in the +,,-s, 4lementine and 5unar !rospector, found
evidence of ice in perpetually shadowed polar areas where
consistently frigid temperatures would preserve the water carried to
the moon by comet and meteorite impacts. But somescientists
have disputed 4lementines radar data, and the anomalous neutron
emissions observed by 5unar !rospector could have been caused
by atomic hydrogen in the lunar soil instead of ice.
*** 8espite bacterias presence in all parts of the planet, their
diversity in the worlds soils is poorly understood. To better
understand what maes the organisms thrive, 8ue /niversity
researchers treed far and wide to collect a few centimetres of dirt
as samples from ,@ locations across 2orth and 6outh &merica,
then analy7ed each sample for genetic variation. To their surprise,
the strongest predictor of high diversity was neutral pH. The acidic
soil of the !eruvian &ma7on,for e"ample, harboured far fewer
bacterial species than did the neutral dirt of the arid &merican
6outhwest. FThere are a lot of variables that didnt turn out to be
very important,G says the researcher *obert #acson, who adds
that a more complete search for different habitats might turn up
other stimulators of diversity, such as carbon abundance.
DS SALIK 2006 SONBAHAR
*** 3ew recent papers in biology have received as much praise as
Woo 6u Hwangs .--9 and .--: announcements of cloning
human embryonic stem cells ; or fallen as fast into disrepute with
the discovery that they were ran faes. 1mbryonic stem cell $164%
research is no less promising today than it was before Hwangs
deceit was revealed< most investigators continue to believe that it
will eventually yield revolutionary medical treatments. The fact that
no one has yet derived 164s from cloned human embryos simply
means that the science is less advanced than has been supposed
over the past two years. 6till, Hwang has badly undermined the
reputation of a field that already has more than its share of political
and public relations problems. 6ome longtime opponents of 164
research will undoubtedly argue that Hwangs lies only prove that
the investigators cannot be trusted to conduct their wor ethically,
and the public may believe them.
*** The increasing visibility of homeless mentally ill individuals,
particularly in large cities, has aroused public concern and
prompted a move toward reinstitutionali7ation. However, an
important ethical issue is involved. If such people are not
read(usting to society, should they beinvoluntarily committed to a
mental hospitalH 'ne of the most cherished civil rights in a
democratic society is the right to liberty. It is essential that any
action toward commitment safeguard this right. 6ome e"perts
believe that legal action is warranted only if a person is potentially
dangerous to others. The rare, but highly publici7ed, occasions
when a mentally ill person e"periencing a psychotic episode
attacs an innocent bystander have generated fears for public
safety. But dangerousness is difficult to predict. 6tudies have
shown that mental health professionals are poor at predicting
whether a person will commit a dangerous act. Aoreover, the legal
system is designed to protect people from preventive detention.
*** *esearchers are a step closer to understanding how
&l7heimers disease taes shape ; literally. & sign of &l7heimers is
the presence of protein aggregates in the brain nown as plaques.
They are made up of various lengths and conformations of the beta
amyloid protein. The proteins lin end to end, forming long,
threadlie structures called fibrils. 2ow biologist *oland *ie and
his colleagues have constructed a three)dimensional model of the
fibrils based on their own e"periments and earlier data published by
others. *ie says the model will help investigators to understand
protein structure, which could lead to better targeted drugs. 3or
e"ample, molecules could be engineered to act as protein binding
partners, thus interfering with fibril formation. 6uch a sticy
molecule could also be used to diagnose the disease early. The
model wor might lend insight to other neurological disorders that
involve fibril formation, such as !arinsons disease. *ie says his
group will e"tend the three)dimensional wor to other variations of
the amyloid protein, because it undergoes many conformational
changes on its way to forming a fibril. FWe need to try to trap them
in these intermediate statesG, he e"plains.
*** Bats are creatures of the night that are commonly held in fear.
&t first glance, those fears might seem to have some medical
(ustification. 5ong nown as vectors for rabies, it is now thought that
bats may be the origin of some of the most deadly emerging
viruses, including 6&*6. 3rom research with other viruses,
virologist 5infa Wang of the &ustralian &nimal Health 5aboratory
new bats could get chronic infections from viruses while not
getting sic, maing them ideal carriers for disease. Bats, civets
and a menagerie of other animals were often found caged near one
another in live)animal marets in &sia. 6o Wang hypothesi7ed that
bats might harbour 6&*6 as well. Wang and his colleagues
analy7ed blood, throat and faecal swabs from 9-@ wild bats from
4hina. Denetic analysis revealed five bats, which represented three
of nine species of horseshoe bats tested, possessed viruses
closely related to 6&*6. They reported last 6eptember that the
genetic variation within those coronaviruses was far greater than
that seen in human or civet 6&*6. Therefore, bats, probably
having lived longer with the diseases, may be the origin of the
coronaviruses seen in other species.
*** Auch wor on aging brains has focused on their failings, but a
new study loos at how they succeed. In a /niversity of Aichigan at
&nn &rbor report on which brain regions respond to challenging
tass, researchers found that aging brains function differently than
young brains. 4indy 5ustig of &nn &rbor used functional magnetic
resonance imaging to observe the brains of young adults $aged +@
to 0-% and seniors $C: to ,.% as they tacled simple and difficult
mental e"ercises. 3or the easy tass, brain activity was very
similar, but tougher challenges prompted differences. The seniors
activated several frontal brain regions that the young adults did not.
In addition, the younger people Fturned offG parts of the brain not
used during the tass, but the elders ept those regions active.
5ustig concludes that Folder adults brains can indeed rise to the
challenge, at least in some situations, but they may do so
differentlyG.
*** Treating depression could change significantly following the
results of a small 4anadian clinical trial that ended in .--:. The
procedure used in the study freed several patients from heavy
depression that had resisted medication, tal therapy and even
electroconvulsive $shoc% treatment. 6tudy co)author Helen 6.
Aayberg cautions that any trial so small ; (ust si" patients ; must
be considered provisional. Ket four of the si" sub(ectsfelt dramatic
and lasting effects. /niversity of Toronto neurosurgeon &ndres
5o7ano implanted battery)powered, pacemaerlie devices
underneath a patients clavicle, then ran fle"ible, hair)thin
electrodes to the subgenual cingulate, a well)buried cortical area
that Aayberg had previously found active in depressive or sad
states. The electrodes delivered pulses of four volts, +0- times a
second. Aayberg hypothesi7ed that in badly depressed patients the
subgenual cingulate acts lie a switch left open, allowing
depressive circuits to fire more than is necessary. Her results
suggest that the regular stimulation might moderate that activity. In
.--:, after a year of living with the continuous impulses, the four
patients had lowered their scores on the Hamilton 8epression
*ating 6cale from the soul)deadening high .-s to between one and
eight ; quite healthy.
DS SOSYAL 2006 SONBAHAR
*** The young childs reliance on visual impressions is made clear
by an e"periment on the conservation of number. If two rows of
checers are matched one for one against each other, young
children will say, correctly, that the rows have the same number of
checers. If the checers in one row are brought closer together to
form a cluster, :)year)olds say there are now more checers in the
straight row ; even though no checers have been removed. The
visual impression of a long row of checers overrides the numerical
equality that was obvious when the checers appeared in matching
rows. In contrast, ?)year)olds assume that if the number of ob(ects
was equal before, it must remain equal. &t this age, numerical
equality has become more significant than visual impression.
*** In +,C9, Pitty Denovese was murdered outside her home in
2ew Kor 4ity late at night. 6he fought bac, and the murder too
over half an hour. &t least 0@ neighbours heard her screams for
help, but nobody came to her aid. 2o one even called the police.
The &merican public was horrified by this incident, and social
psychologists began to investigate the causes of what at first was
termed Fbystander apathyG. Their wor showed that FapathyG was
not a very accurate term, however. It is not simple indifference that
prevents bystanders from intervening in emergencies. 3irst, there
are realistic deterrents such as physical danger. 6econd, getting
involved may mean lengthy court appearances or other
entanglements. Third, emergencies are unpredictable and require
quic, unplanned action< few of us are prepared for such situations.
3inally, one riss maing a fool of oneself by misinterpreting a
situation as an emergency when it is not. *esearchers concluded
that Fthe bystander to an emergency situation is in an unenviable
position. It is perhaps surprising that anyone should intervene at allG
*** 8uring the Fhunger winterG of +,99 in &msterdam, over .-,---
people died of starvation. Aany of the citys trees were cut down,
and the interiors of abandoned buildings broen up for fuel. When
peace came this once most beautiful and urbane of cities was in
urgent need of large)scale reconstruction. In the years following the
end of World War II in 1urope, modern architecture had an
unprecedented opportunity to demonstrate a socially minded, urban
style. The consensus today is that in most places it failed. The
young 8utch architect &ldo van 1yc was one of the earliest critics
of the mechanistic approach taen by his modernist colleagues to
urban reconstruction. The failure of architecture and planning to
recreate forms of urban community and solidarity has become a
problem in post)war 1urope, as so many acclaimed housing
estates, new towns, or newly designed urban quarters, around
1urope, have been troubled by vandalism, disrepair and
abandonment. Jan 1yc saw this coming. In +,9? at the age of .@,
he went to wor for the 'ffice for !ublic Wors in &msterdam and,
as his first pro(ect, built a small playground. This was in line with his
belief that by promoting and shaping the daily FencounterG or
Finbetween)nessG of social space, architecture could humani7e
cities and create public trust.
*** 2ot long ago, football was not a good e"ample of globali7ation.
The labour maret in international club football was highly
protected. 2ational leagues lie Italys 6erie &and 6pains 5a
5igaimposed quotas on their teams, allowing them to import only a
limited number of players. 6ome teams could have only two foreign
players on the field. This arrangement, however, began to crumble
in +,,:, when the 1uropean court ruled that the difference of
treatment of nationals from other 1/ countries was
anticonstitutional. This permitted players to move freely within the
1/, and made the club teams much more multi)national. 2ow it is
not unusual for a ma(ority of the players on a successful league
team to be foreign nationals.
*** 8espite various scientific advances, in the early +,--s the
public still did not understand mental illness and viewed mental
hospitals and their inmates with fear and horror. 4lifford Beers
undertoo the tas of educating the public about mental health. &s
a young man, Beers developed a bipolar disorder and was confined
for 0 years in several private and state hospitals. &lthough chains
and other methods of torture had been abandoned long before, the
strait(acet was still widely used to restrain e"cited patients. 5ac of
funds made the average state mental hospital ;with its
overcrowded wards, poor food, and unsympathetic attendants ;a
far from pleasant place to live. &fter his recovery, Beers wrote
about his e"periences in the now)famous boo & Aind That 3ound
Itself$+,-@%, which aroused considerable public interest. Beers
wored ceaselessly to educate the public about mental illness and
helped to organi7e the 2ational 4ommittee for Aental Hygiene. In
+,:-, this organi7ation (oined with two related groups to form the
2ational &ssociation for Aental Health. The mental hygiene
movement played an invaluable role in stimulating the organi7ation
of child)guidance clinics and community mental health centres to
aid in the prevention and treatmentof mental disorders.
*** 1ach year in the touristic town of &grigento, 6icily, hundreds of
illegally)built houses are bulldo7ed by the local government. 2ew
construction in &grigento, home to many ancient temples which
tourists come to see, has been banned since +,C@. In spite of this,
hundreds of new and half)built houses can be seen in the hills
surrounding the archaeological par. 2ot only do these buildings
spoil the landscape, but many are also unsafe and unsanitary.
6ome of the people living in these buildings pour sewage into the
sea and pile garbage on roadsides since their houses are illegal
and they arent allowed to use the city sewage system and garbage
service. 6everal of these houses are also built on dangerous cliffs,
sites that would never be allowed by Italys strict building codes.
DS FEN 2007 LKBAHAR
*** 8uring our visit in the summer of +,,9 to the 4hernobyl
1"clusion Sone, a region within a 0- m radius of the 4hernobyl
2uclear !ower !lant, we were ama7ed by the diversity of mammals
living in the shadow of the ruined reactor only eight years after the
meltdown. 8uring our e"cursion through the woods, we trapped
some of the local mice for e"amination in a maeshift laboratory.
We were surprised to find that, although each mouse registered
unprecedented levels of radiation in its bones and muscles, all the
animals seemed physically normal, and many of the females were
carrying normal)looing embryos. We found that the mice did not
have any obvious chromosomal damage. We wondered whether
the absence of in(ury could be e"plained by some sort of adaptive
change, perhaps a more efficient 82&)repair mechanism, after
many prior generations had been e"posed to radiation. But when
we transplanted wild mice from uncontaminated regions into cages
in the 1"clusion Sone and then e"amined their chromosomes, they
were liewise unaffected by the radiation. In at least this respect,
the mice seemed to have a natural FimmunityG to harm from
radiation.
*** In an attempt to settle the question of whether ice e"ists on the
moon, 2&6& plans to launch the 5unar *econnaissance 'rbiter
$5*'% in .--@. Travelling in a polar orbit only :- ilometres above
the moons surface, the probe will focus a high)resolution neutron
sensor on the suspected ice deposits to determine their precise
locations. But because the ice is probably buried and mi"ed with
lunar dirt, 2&6& will also need to land a probe to dig up and
analy7e soil samples. This mission, scheduled for .-++, is a
challenging one because instruments operating in shadowed areas
cannot use solar power. The craft could land at a sunlit site and
send a battery)powered vehicle into a dar crater, but the batteries
would quicly die. & radioisotope thermal generator could provide
electricity using heat from plutonium decay, but 2&6& is leaning
against this option because it is e"pensive and controversial.
&nother idea under consideration is sending a probe that could hop
from place to place on the lunar surface by restarting its landing
rocets, lifting the craft to +-- metres above its original landing site
and moving it to another spot in the crater basin to hunt for ice.
Investigating more than one site is crucial because the ice may be
unevenly distributed. Ket another alternative would be to fire
groundpenetrating instruments at several places in the shadowed
basin, either from a lander at the craters rim or from an orbiting
craft.
*** 6tem cells, unlie all other cells in the body, can copy
themselves indefinitely. 6o)called adult stem cells are found in
many parts of the body, constantly re(uvenating the brain,
remodelling arteries so blood can bypass clogs, and growing new
sin to heal wounds. However, adult stem cells have more limited
power than embryonic stem cells, which can turn into any type of
cell in the body. Indeed, scientists are hoping that embryonic stem
cells could be turned into neurons to fi" damaged brains, cardiac
cells to repair damaged hearts, or pancreatic cells to create insulin
for people with diabetes. Aaybe they could even be used to
regenerate whole organs. To date, scientists worldwide have made
more than +-- different human embryonic cell lines. 6till, the
e"isting lines have serious limitations. Aost have been grown on a
lattice of mouse embryonic sin cells for support. 4onsequently, the
human embryonic cells are contaminated by mouse cells, and
though theyre still useful for research, they cannot at present be
used to develop therapies for humans.
*** The concentrations of methane $4H9% and carbon dio"ide $4'.%
gases in the atmosphere have both risen dramatically since the
start of the Industrial *evolution. However, unlie its more familiar
greenhouse)gas cousin, atmospheric methane has recently
stopped increasing in abundance. This development wasnt entirely
unanticipated, given that the rate of increase has been slowing for
at least a quarter)century. The recent stabili7ation of methane
levels is something that some scientists are trying very hard to
e"plain. Aethane has many sources. 6ome are natural, such as
wetlands and plants, and some are the consequences of modern
society, such as landfills and wastewater treatment. Aethane is
destroyed principally by its reaction with the hydro"yl radical $'H%
in the lower atmosphere. 'ne theory about the stabili7ation of
methane levels is that deforestation has reduced the number of
plants contributing to atmospheric methane. &nother idea is that an
increase in the prevalence of tropical thunderstorms may have
raised the amounts of the various nitrogen o"ides high in the
atmosphere. There, these gases have the side effect of boosting
the production of 'H, which in turn acts to destroy methane.
*** In +,@-, the physicist 5u[s &lvare7 and his son Walter advanced
a startling theory about the demise of the dinosaursE that it was
caused by forces that came from beyond this world. They
hypothesi7ed that perhaps a meteor impact had ended the age of
the dinosaurs. The primary evidence was that in soil core samples
taen in locations around the globe, iridium, a substance very rare
on 1arth but prevalent on asteroids, had been found in a thin layer
of clay separating the fossil)rich roc of the late 4retaceous period
$the end of the dinosaur age% and the sparsely fossiled roc of the
Tertiaryperiod that followed. The &lvare7es hypothesi7ed that a
very large e"traterrestrial ob(ect had slammed into the planet,
sending an enormous fireball into the stratosphere, along with vast
amounts of debris. & great cloud of dust enshrouded 1arth,
blocing sunlight for months, even years, and plants and animals
perished in the ensuing cold and dar. When the dust finally settled
bac to 1arth, it formed the telltale worldwide layer of iridium in the
clay. The scientific world was not impressed by the theory. Indeed,
some scientists scoffed at the &lvare7es hypothesis, but in +,,-
scientists reali7ed that a crater of ++. miles in diametre in Ae"ico
and dated at C: million years old might be evidence that the
dinosaurs had indeed died out due to the effects of a giant meteor.
*** Aount Jesuvius in southern Italy is actually a volcano inside the
e"ploded seleton of an older volcano. 5ooed at from above, the
remaining ridge of a much larger volcano can be seen on the north
side. This older volcano had probably erupted violently long before
human settlement. 6outhern Italy is unstable ground. The &frican
continental plate, on which most of the Aediterranean 6ea rests, is
actually diving beneath the 1uropean plate. That ind of
underground collision produces molten roc, or magma, rich in
volatile gases such as sulfur dio"ide. /nder pressure underground,
these gases stay dissolved. But when the magma rises to the
surface, the gases are released. &ccordingly, when volcanoes lie
Jesuvius erupt, they tend to erupt e"plosively. To this day, in fact,
Jesuvius remains one of the worlds most dangerous volcanoes<
some 0.: million Italians live in its shadow. &lthough monitoring
devices are in place to warn of the volcanos activity, if there were a
ma(or eruption with little warning, there could be a tremendous loss
of life.
DS SALIK 2007 LKBAHAR
*** The most common cause of cyanidepoisoning is smoe
inhalation. & source to the public is acetonitrilein the form of
artificial fingernail remover. 4yanide poisoning produces cellular
hypo"ia by binding with the ferric iron of mitochondrial cytochrome
o"idase, disrupting the electron transport chain and the ability of
cells to use o"ygen. !atients who inhale cyanide may rapidly
develop coma, shoc, sei7ures, lactic acidosis, and respiratory and
cardiac arrest. Aild e"posures following smoe inhalation are now
being described. 8iagnosis may be difficult in these patients, and
emergency administration of an antidote may be lifesaving.
!atients with smoe inhalation who show evidence of lactic
acidosis should be suspected of cyanide poisoning. The body has a
natural en7yme, called FrhodaneseG, which can comple" cyanide
and sulphur to form mildly to"ic thiocyanate. Intravenous
administration of sodium thiosulphate provides the sulphur
necessary to produce thiocyanate and is relatively safe.
6odiumnitrite may also be administered, but its use is reserved for
the most critical cases only, because it causes hypertension and
methemoglobinemia.
*** When doctors suspect meningitis, they must quicly determine
whether it is from a bacterial, viral, fungal, or other type of infection
or from irritation caused by something other than an infection $for
e"ample, a chemical%. The possible causes are many, and the
treatment differs for each. The test usually used to diagnose
meningitis and determine its cause is the spinal tap, or lumbar
puncture. & thin needle is inserted between two bones in the lower
spinal column to withdraw a sample of cerebrospinal fluid from an
area (ust below the spinal cord. The doctor then e"amines the fluid
for bacteria under a microscope and sends a sample of it to the
laboratory to be cultured and identified. The bacteria can be tested
for susceptibility to treatment with different antibiotics. The sugar
level, an increase in protein, and the number and type of white
blood cells in the fluid also help determine the type of infection.
*** In dialysis with an artificial idney, the rate of movement of
solute across the dialy7ing membrane depends on four variablesE
the concentration gradient of the solute between the blood and the
dialy7ing fluid, the permeability of the membrane to the solute, the
surface area of the membrane, and the length of time that the blood
and fluid remain in contact with the membrane. Thus, the ma"imum
rate of solute transfer occurs initially when the concentration
gradient is greatest $when dialysis is begun% and slows down as the
concentration gradient is dissipated. In a flowing system such as
haemodialysis, in which blood and dialysate fluid flow through an
artificial idney, the dissipation of the concentration gradient can be
reduced, and diffusion of solute across the membrane can be
optimi7ed by increasing the flow rate of either or both the blood and
dialy7ing fluid.
*** 6timulation of several areasof the hypothalamus in the brain
causes an animal to e"perience e"treme hunger, a voracious
appetite, and an intense desire to search for food. The area most
associated with hunger is the lateral hypothalamic area. 8amage to
this area sometimes causes the animal to lose desire for food,
sometimes causing lethal starvation. 'n the other hand, a centre
inthe hypothalamus that opposes the desire for food, called the
satiety centre, is located in the ventromedial nucleus. When this
centre is stimulated electrically, an animal that is eating food
suddenly stops eating and shows complete indifference to food.
However, if this area is destroyed bilaterally, the animal cannot be
satiated< instead, its hypothalamichunger centres become
overactive, so that it has a voracious appetite, resulting in
tremendous obesity.
*** The ultimate importance of the pulmonary ventilatory system is
to continually renew the air in the gas e"change areas of the lungs,
where the air is in pro"imity to pulmonary blood. These areas
include the alveoli, alveolar sacs, alveolar ducts and respiratory
bronchioles. However, during normal quiet respiration, the volumeof
air is only enough to fill the respiratory passageways down as far
as the terminal bronchioles, with only a small portion of the inspired
air actually flowing all the way to the alveoli. 6ome of the molecules
in the inspired air travel the final short distance to the alveoli
through diffusion, but most never reach the gas e"change areas of
the lungs, instead going to fill respiratory passages where gas
e"change does not occur, such as the nose, pharyn" and trachea.
This air is called dead space airbecause it is not useful for the gas
e"change process< the respiratory passages where no gas
e"change taes place are called dead space. 'n e"piration, the air
in the dead space is e"pired first, before any of the air from the
alveoli reaches the atmosphere. Therefore, the dead space does
not aid in removal of the e"piratory gases from the lungs.
*** Jirologist *obert Webster thins that the H:2+ strain of the
avian influen7a virus poses the most serious public health threat
since the 6panish flu pandemic of +,+@, which illed an estimated
9- million to +-- million people worldwide. &lthough the H:2+
strain has so far shown no signs that it has acquired the ability to
transmit easily from person to person, Webster says that it is only a
matter of time before it does. 3or that to happen, Webster and
others believe that a version of the human flu virus, which is easily
transmittable between people, and the H:2+ avian virus would
have to infect the same mammalian cell at the same time and re)
combine their 82&. If H:2+ pics up those genes from the human
flu virus that enable it to spread from person to person, Webster
says that virtually nobody will have immunity to it, and many deaths
may ensue.
DS SOSYAL 2007 LKBAHAR
*** The *oman city of !ompeii in &.8. ?, was a thriving provincial
centre, a few miles from the Bay of 2aples, with a population of
between +-,--- and .-,--- people. Its narrow streets, made
narrower by street vendors and shops with cloth awnings for shade,
were full of shoppers, tavern)goers, slaves, and vacationers from
the 2orth. & huge new aqueduct supplied running water from the
5ower &pennine mountains, which flowed from fountains
throughout the city, even in private homes. But the ey to !ompeiis
prosperity, and that of smaller settlements nearby lie 'plontis and
Ter7igna, was the regions rich blac earth provided by Aount
Jesuvius volcanic eruptions. F'ne of the ironies of volcanoes is
that they tend to produce very fertile soils, and that tends to tempt
people to live around themG, says geologist !hilip #aney. Had
*oman nowledge in the summer of &.8. ?, been less
mythological and more geological, the !ompeiians might have
recogni7ed the danger signs from Aount Jesuvius and escaped the
volcanic eruption that was to follow.
*** &rtist !aul 4U7anne wanted to mae paint FbleedG. The old
masters, he said, painted warmblooded flesh and made the trees
loo warm and alive, and he would too. He wanted to capture Fthe
green odourG of his !rovence fields and Fthe perfume of marble
from 6aint)JictoireG, the mountain that was the sub(ect of so many
of his paintings. He was bold, spreading and slapping paint onto his
still)lifes with a palette nife. FI will astonish !aris with an appleG, he
boasted. In the years when his friends Aanet, Aonet, !issarro and
*enoir were finally gaining acceptance, 4U7anne wored furiously
and mostly in isolation, ridiculed by critics and moced by the
public, sometimes tearing up his own canvases. He wanted more
than the quic impressions of the Impressionists, and devoted
himself to studying the natural world. He called himself a Fslave to
natureG, but he new that he could never completely capture the
natural landscape on canvas.
*** &ngolas emergence as a serious player in the global oil sector
has been underlined by the publication of its latest production
figures. &fter several years of slow output growth, the fruits of the
multi)billion dollar deepwater investment programme are finally
feeding through. Thus, production reached +.0 million barrels a day
during the final quarter of .--:. With the new deepwater fields now
coming into production, the governments target of producing .
million barrels a day by .--@ now seems eminently within reach. In
the meantime, official &ngolan government figures indicate that oil
production averaged +..: million barrels a day during the course of
.--:, a steep (ump on the year before. In addition, the
governments estimate of proven oil reserves has finally been
increased from :.9 billion barrels to +..9 billion barrels. This shows
that, as sub)6aharan &fricas second biggest oil producer after
2igeria, &ngola is in an e"cellent position to overtae countries
such as 5ibya and &lgeria in the table of oil powers on the continent
as a whole.
*** 6upporters of todays international criminal tribunals say that
their wor builds on the post)World War II tribunals in 2uremberg
and, to a lesser degree, Toyo. &s a matter of legal doctrine, that is
true. The category of Fcrimes against humanityG, for e"ample, was
developed at 2uremberg and is now a central element in many
prosecutions. But there is a critical difference between now and
then. The courts in 2uremberg and Toyo were part of a broader
political pro(ect that aimed to rehabilitate Dermany and #apan,
respectively, both socially and economically, not simply to try guilt
or innocence or hand out harsh punishments. These were military
courts that operated with military efficiency, and the &llies could
then focus fully on the reconstruction of these countries. Ket, the
international courts for the former Kugoslavia, *wanda, and the
new International 4riminal 4ourt $I44% in the Hague, on the other
hand, operate under civilian law and provide generous protection to
defendants. The result is a ballooning of the court timelines and
costs. 3or instance, it toothe International 4riminal Tribunal for
*wanda $I4T*% +- years to complete the same number of trials
that 2uremberg conducted in less than a year. Indeed, it is clear
that, because of their protracted proceedings and e"cessive costs,
todays war crimes trials cannot serve the decisive political and
social function that 2uremberg did.
*** The ability to deal with numbers and mathematical concepts
reveals an interesting pattern of differences between girls and
boys. Dirls usually begin counting before boys. Throughout the
primary)school years and middle school, girls are better at
computational problems, whereas boys do better with
mathreasoning problems. 8uring this period, girls also tend to get
higher grades. By high school, however, boys begin to perform
better, especially at the higher levels of ability. 6ome psychologists
believe this advantage is genetic, but others thin that it may
derive, in part, from males use of more effective strategies and
their lower level of an"iety when approaching mathematics
problems. It has also been suggested that the se" differences
come about to some degree because girls view math as a male
activity $and, therefore, have less interest in it% and because some
parents and teachers offer greater encouragement to males in this
area. 6ome studies support this analysis, but others do not. In this
area, too, biological and sociali7ation factors probably combine to
produce the observed differences.
*** The printing press was first introduced into 1ngland by William
4a"ton in the last quarter of the fifteenth century. 8uring his earlier
travels in 1urope, he had seen the newly invented system of
printing from moveable type in Dermany. He set up his own press
in 5ondon in +9?C. This initiated a ma(or change in 1nglish
literature. 2ow boos did not have to be laboriously copied by
hand. 6oon, they would become relatively cheap. With boos easily
obtainable, more people could learn to read, and more boos would
be produced. The e"perience of literature would soon shift from the
breathless group of listeners gathered in a hall or around a fire,
hearing an old tale told once more, to the solitary individual, alone
with the thoughts and feelings of another person speaing from the
printed page.
DS FEN 2007 SONBAHAR
*** *obots mae unliely green warriors, but they could soon be
doing their bit for the environment. Trials of a 8anish robot that
maps the position of weeds growing among crops suggest that
herbicide use could be reduced by ?- per cent if farmers used it to
adopt more selective spraying techniques. &ctually, the robot drives
across fields scanning the ground for any weeds and noting their
positions. & later version will be able to ill the weeds too by
applying a few drops of herbicide. But the longer)term goal is to
avoid herbicides altogether by having the robot pluc the weeds out
of the ground rather than poisoning them. &lthough weedilling
robots have already been put to wor in the /nited 6tates, they
cannot be used for agricultural purposes because they do not
distinguish between plant species and tend to treat anything green
as a weed. Instead, they are used to clear unwanted plants from
railways and airport runways.
*** The first documented scheme for in)flight refuelling came from a
young *ussian aviator named &le"ander de 6eversy. His father
owned a plane and taught him to fly when he was in his early
teens. In +,+?, when he was .0, 6eversy proposed a method for
e"tending flightE 'ne plane could carry e"tra fuel and deliver it to
another through a hose. &fter the *ussian *evolution, *ussias
new Bolshevi government sent him to the /nited 6tates to study
aircraft design, and he stayed there when political developments
made his return to *ussia dangerous. He got a (ob as an
aeronautical engineer for the /6 War 8epartment and was
awarded the worlds first patent for air)to)air refuelling, in which
large fuel taners would supply fuel to fighter aircraft while in flight.
6eversy went on to a distinguished career in airplane design and
achieved perhaps his greatest fame as the author of the influential
+,9. boo Jictory through &ir !ower. He never put his refuelling
plan into action, though, and other aviators later came up with
ideas of their own.
*** 'ne of the most pressing international priorities is to control the
dissemination ofnuclear materials that could be used in attacs by
terrorists or rogue states. 2uclear materials contain unstable
isotopes, which emit ")rays and gamma rays. The characteristic
energies of these photons provide a fingerprint revealing which
radioactive isotopes are present. /nfortunately, some isotopes that
occur in benign applications emit gamma rays with energies that
are very similar to those emitted by materials used in weapons,
which leads to ambiguous identifications and false alarms. This
problem has been worrying the /nited 6tates, which is installing
thousands of radiation portal monitors to detect the gamma rays
emitted by nuclear materials carried by vehicles crossing the
4anadian and Ae"ican borders. 'ne of the worst fears of the
authorities is that terrorists might smuggle highly)enriched uranium
into the country to build a crude Hiroshima)style atomic bomb.
*** The world now recycles (ust over :- per cent of the paper it
uses. *eprocessing plants are being established in most countries.
However, trees will never be fully spared because of the use of
wood fibres themselves. !ure pulp is rich in water, which provides
for ample hydrogen bonding that holds fibres together when made
into paper. But each time a fibre is cleaned, de)ined and dried in a
reprocessing plant, only @- per cent of the bonds are recovered.
&fter four or five recyclings, a fibre can no longer mae strong
enough bonds. 1ngineers can do little that is economically viable to
overcome this physical limitation, so they focus on reducing the
cost of reprocessing fresher fibres. 'ne main challenge is finding a
better way to neutrali7e FsticiesG, which is the mess of adhesives
from stamps, labels, seals, tape, maga7ine spines and various
other sources, that (am the machinery. The industry has been
woring for a decade to find a chemical process that will brea
down sticies, but no full solution has been found yet.
*** Aount 1verest is the highest mountain on 1arth above sea
level, but it is not the worlds tallest. That honour goes to the
Hawaiian volcano Aauna Pea. When measured from its base on
the !acific 'cean floor, it is about +,--- metres taller than Aount
1verest. Aauna Pea is part of a :,C--)ilometre)long chain of
volcanoes stretching westward from the main Hawaiian island. This
volcanic chain is formed by small convection streams called Fhot
spotsG, (ust below the 1arths crust, where magma rises from the
hotter parts of the mantle, the region between the crust and the
core of the earth. These hot spots melt sections of the tectonic
plates moving above them, causing magma and bits of the molten
plate to erupt onto the sea floor. 'ver time, the lava accumulates,
forming a mountain that rises above sea level. The moving tectonic
plates carry the newly)formed mountain away from its original
location, as newer volcanoes continue to form in the same spot.
*** Aeteorites offer glimpses of the earliest stages of planetary
formation. 6tony)iron meterorites come in two main classesE
pallasites and mesosiderites, and it was previously thought they
may have had similar origins. & new study, however, has revealed
that their o"ygen isotope properties differ and that they come from
distinct places. &ccordingly, the characteristics of mesosiderites
suggest they came from the third largest asteroid, Jesta, which is
the target of the 2&6& 8awn Aission. 'n the other hand, pallasites
are made of mi"ed core)mantle material from a disrupted asteroid,
indicating that e"tensive asteroid deformation was an integral part
of planetary enlargement in the early solar system.
DS SALIK 2007 SONBAHAR
*** !ain is a signal that protects us from harmful stimuli. &n e"cess
of any type of stimulus such as pressure, heat, cold, e"cessive
mechanical stretch, and specific chemical compounds stimulates
pain receptors. In the human body, pain receptors are the tips of
certain sensory neurons found in almost every tissue. However,
most internal organs are poorly supplied with pain receptors. 3or
this reason, pain from internal structures is often difficult to locate.
In fact, pain is often not pro(ected bac to the organ that is
stimulated. Instead, it is referred to an area (ust under the sin that
may be some distance from the organ involved. The area to which
the pain is referred is connected to nerve fibres from the same level
of the spinal cord as the organ involved.
*** 'ur idneys e"crete metabolic wastes and help regulate the
volume and composition of body fluids. Their vital function is
compromised in more than +0 million people in the /nited 6tates
who suffer from idney disease. In fact, idney disease rans fourth
in prevalence among ma(or human diseases in the /nited 6tates.
Pidney function can be impaired by infections, poisoning by
substances such as mercury, lesions, tumours, idney stones,
shoc or circulatory disease. 3or instance, one of the most
common idney diseases both in the /nited 6tates and in the world
is glomerulonephritis,which is related to the damage of the idneys
filtering units. The damage is thought to result from an autoimmune
response.
*** The causes of schi7ophrenia are unnown, although the
disease has a strong genetic component. 6tudies of identical twins
show that if one twin has schi7ophrenia, there is a :-= chance that
the other twin will have it, too. 6ince identical twins share identical
genes, this indicates that schi7ophrenia has an equally strong
environmental component, the nature of which has not been
identified. 4urrent treatments for schi7ophrenia focus on brain
pathways that use dopamine as a neurotransmitter. 8espite their
ability to alleviate symptoms, many of the drugs used to treat
schi7ophrenia have such negative side effects thatpatients
frequently stop taing them. 2ow that the human genome has been
sequenced, there is a vigorous effort under way to find the mutant
genes that predispose a person to the disease. This effort includes
sequencing 82& from families with a high incidence of
schi7ophrenia.
*** !rotected inside the bony vertebrae of the spine is an inch)thic
gelatinous bundle of nervous tissue called Fthe spinal cordG, which
acts as the central communication conduit between the brain and
the rest of the body. Aillions of nerve fibres carry motor information
from the brain to the muscles, while other fibres bring sensory
information from the body to the brain. In its structure and
functions, the spinal cord may be compared to a transcontinental
telephone cable (am)paced with wires, each of which carries
messages both ways. But what happens if that cable is cutH
6ignals cannot get through, communication is lost, and the cable
must be repaired or replaced. In humans, though, this is not a
simple process due to the sensitive nature of the spinal cord. The
spinal cord is rarely severed because the vertebrae provide rigid
protection. However, a traumatic blow to the spinal column and
subsequent bleeding, swelling and scarring can crush the delicate
nerve bundles and prevent signals from passing. The result may be
a debilitating in(ury.
*** Immune deficiency, which in fact means an inadequate immune
response, may occur for several reasons. 3or e"ample, it is a side
effect of most chemotherapy drugs used to treat cancer. Immune
deficiency also occurs naturally. &lthough the immune system is not
functional at birth, infants are protected by antibodies they have
received from their mother through the placenta, and infants who
breastfeed also receive antibodies from their mothers mil. These
antibodies offer protection until the infants own immune system
develops during the first months of life. In rarecases, the immune
system fails to develop, leaving the child without immune
protection. 1"posure to any virus or bacterium can be fatal to these
children. Therefore, they are sealed into sterile quarters to isolate
them from the microorganisms that are part of the normal world.
*** !eople who believe they may be infected with HIJ, as well as
those who now they are, can benefit from various psychological
interventions. !eople with high)ris behaviours may have difficulty
deciding whether to be tested for HIJ, and psychologists can
provide both information and support for these people. & significant
minority of homose"ual and bise"ual men, intravenous drug users,
and a larger proportion of heterose"ual men and women with
multiple partners and inconsistent users of condoms have never
been tested for HIJ. Indeed, an estimated ?-= of people who are
HIJ)positive have not been tested and thus do not now their HIJ
status. Because HIJ infection has a long incubation period, at)ris
heterose"ual men and women may contaminate others for years
before they learn they have HIJ. However, people learning of an
HIJpositive test result typically react with increased an"iety,
depression, anger and distress. Therefore, trained
psychotherapists are needed to help such people cope with their
diagnosis.
DS SOSYAL 2007 SONBAHAR
*** We commonly spea of both lawand laws,and these terms,
though not used with precision, point to two different aspects under
which legal science may be approached. The laws of a country are
thought of as separate, distinct, individual rules< the law of a
country, however much we may analyse it into separate rules, is
something more than the mere sum of such rules. It is, rather, a
whole, a system which orders our conduct and in which the
separate rules have their place and their relation to each other and
to the whole. Aoreover, it is never completely e"hausted by any
analysis, however far the analysis may be pushed, and however
much the analysis may be necessary to our understanding of the
whole. Thus, each rule which we call a law is part of the whole we
call the law. 5awyers generally spea of law< laymen more often of
laws.
*** 3our years ago in .--0, when !aul Barrett first began planning
an ambitious boo on Auslims in &merica, who would have thought
thatthe topic would still be of such urgent interest by the time it was
published early this yearH But, if anything, intervening events have
made Barretts e"ploration of &merican Auslims more timely and
important than ever. With the /nited 6tates even more deeply
embroiled in warfare in Iraq and &fghanistan, with sectarian conflict
e"ploding within the Auslim world, with tensions high among
Auslim populations in 1urope, and with relations strained between
some leaders of the 4hristian and Islamic religions, readers need
as much information as they can get about Islam and its adherents.
In his boo, Barrett notes that, despite being targets of suspicion in
the wae of the attacs of 6eptember ++, Auslims in &merica, as a
group, offer a perfect illustration of old)fashioned &merican
assimilation. 'verall, they are prosperous, well)educated, politically
active, and successful in business and the professions.
*** Pieregaard was one of the most original thiners of the
nineteenth century in 1urope. He wrote widely on religious,
philosophical, and literary themes. However, his peculiar manner of
presenting some of his leading ideas initially obscured their
fundamental significance. He developed his views in strong
opposition to prevailing opinions, such as certain metaphysical
claims about the relation of thought to e"istence. He reacted
against the ethical and religious theories of Pant and Hegel.
Aoreover, he opposed the doctrines and ideas which were being
advanced by some of his contemporaries lie 3euerbach and Aar".
His discussion of the human condition, which emphasi7es the
significance of individual choice, has arguably been his most
striing philosophical legacy, particularly for the growth of
e"istentialism.
*** We have all heard people from other countries described in very
general terms. 3or instance, it has been said that FDermans wor
hardG and F&mericans are friendlyG. 6uch generali7ations or
stereotypes are very crude, and common sense tells us that not all
Dermans wor hard and not all &mericans are friendly. &t the same
time, there appears to be some truth in these generali7ations since
people from different countries share different characteristics. What
these crude statements acnowledge, however, is that people from
differentcountries have distinctive cultures and social customs. &
societys culture includes its customs, values, beliefs, ideas and the
artifacts it produces. &ttitudes towards such things as wor, leisure,
wealth, the role of women, and the value of education in one
societys culture might be significantly different from the attitudes
and values found in another societys culture. This is also the case
regarding attitudes found in different countries towards politics and
the political system.
*** The way in which British people view Britains role in the world is
still influenced by its past. Today Britain is an important regional
power, but in the recent past it was a world power. /ntil World War
II, Britain ruled the largest empire that the world has ever nown.
Incredible as it may seem today, during the +,.-s, almost one)fifth
of the worlds population lived under British rule. But the empire
disappeared rapidly during the +,9-s, +,:-s and +,C-s as the
colonies that had made up the empire gained their independence.
In the aftermath of the empire, British leaders were not very
successful in adapting to play a much smaller part in world affairs.
However, Britains allies made it clear that they no longer saw
Britain as a ma(or force in world politics. The Fspecial relationshipG
which was said to e"ist between Britain and the /nited 6tates
weaened as other 1uropean countries, particularly Dermany,
recovered after World War II. 6o, whereas 5ondon had been
recogni7ed by &merican leaders as the FcapitalG of 1urope during
the +,9-s and the +,:-s, Bonn was seen as the new capital of
1urope during the +,C-s.
*** 8eveloping marets, historically the domain of hyperinflation
and political manipulation, now en(oy high surpluses, thans to
record commodity prices and severe fiscal discipline. 6ince .--+
these economies have achieved three times the average annual
per)capita economic growth of their developed counterparts and
now represent a quarter of global output. 6tocs in emerging
marets are causing much e"citement among investors. However,
too much e"citement invites peril. 1merging marets have
undeniably changed in the past decade, but lately they are looing
overgrown, and even a minor crisis could send them tumbling. &nd
while the potential triggers for a fall have changed, they are still
there. &s economies in the developing world get stronger,
governments are getting more assertive and meddling with both
companies and neighbouring countries, increasing political ris.
DS FEN 2008 LKBAHAR
*** There were many heated debates in the nineteenth century
about the relationship between chemical reactions and living
organisms. 6ome scientists felt that fermentation was an activity of
living things and, therefore, could not tae place outside of living
cells. This was proved by the wor 5ouis !asteur undertoo for the
3rench wine industry. Indeed, in the +@:-s, the 3rench wine
industry was having serious trouble with wine that had spoiled. The
3rench emperor, 2apoleon III, called in !asteur to help. !asteur
new that the fermentation which produced wine was caused by
living yeast cells. But now he found that certain bacteria could also
carry out fermentation. He discovered that fermentation by bacteria
spoils wine because it produces vinegar $acetic acid% instead of the
alcohol produced by yeast. !asteur suggested that the winemaers
heat the wine for a short time to destroy the bacteria. They were
horrified, but it wored. The process, pasteuri7ation, is still
usedtoday, especially for mil.
*** 3ossils are the remains of organisms which have endured for
fantastic periods of time. 3ossils can be bones or teeth or even
plant or animal imprints preserved in roc since prehistoric times.
The appearance of fossils in roc has been a source of wonder and
fascination to man for centuries. The fossil of an ancient sea animal
was even found among the possessions of a prehistoric man. Aany
people have tried to e"plain fossils. &ristotle believed they were the
remains of living creatures, but thought the creatures grew in the
rocs. 6ome people believed that fossils were placed in rocs by
evil spirits. 'ther e"planationswere remarably modern. 3or
e"ample, Herodotus, an ancient Dree historian, observed fossil
seashells in the 5ibyan desert in 9:- B.4. and guessed that the
Aediterranean 6ea had once reached much farther south than it
does today.
*** & population is a group of individual organisms of the same ind
that are limited to some particular space. The most familiar
e"ample is the human population, but there are also populations of
animals and plants everywhere on 1arth. In fact, scientists regard a
population as a biological unit that has both structure and function.
The parts of a population are its individual members. The functions
of a population are similar to those of other biological unitsE growth,
development, and self)maintenance in a changing environment.
Individuals enter a population by birth and by moving in, that is, by
immigration. Individuals leave a population by death and by moving
out, that is, by emigration. If the environment of a population
remains the same, loss and replacement of members are in
balance. The population will be able to survive in that particular
environment. If the environment changes, however, loss or addition
of members increases or decreases the si7e of the population.
*** !luto, which was until recently regarded as the outermost and
smallest planet in the solar system, has never been visited by an
e"ploring spacecraft. 6o little is nown about it that it is difficult to
classify. Its distance from 1arth is so great that the Hubble 6pace
Telescope cannot reveal its surface features. &ppropriately named
for the *oman god of the underworld, it must be fro7en, dar, and
dead. Its mean distance from the 6un is :,,-- million ilometres. In
fact, it has the most eccentric orbit in the solar system, bringing it at
times closer to the 6un than 2eptune. 3urthermore, there is
evidence that !luto has an atmosphere, containing methane, and a
polar ice cap that increases and decreases in si7e with !lutos
seasons. It is not nown to have water. The Hubble 6pace
Telescopes faint)ob(ect camera revealed light and dar regions on
!luto, indicating an ice cap at the north pole. It is not nown if there
is an ice cap at !lutos south pole.
*** Today the world faces a growing crisis over the management of
its great rivers. In recent years, most of the great rivers in the world,
such as the Kellow *iver in 4hina, the Indus, the 4olorado, and the
2ile, have all periodically run empty because manind has used
their every last drop.Indeed, there is a huge unmet demand in the
world for water. Aore than a billion people have no access to clean
drining water, and while it is hoped that this figure will be halved
by .-+:, nobody is sure where the water will come from. With
todays trends, one)third of the world population will be seriously
short of water by .-.:. !oliticians in 4hina, India, !aistan, 1gypt
and other waterstressed countries want their water engineers to
find solutions ; and fast.
*** The huge ice sheet covering Dreenland, which is the worlds
largest island, provides a habitat for many arctic species and holds
nearly @ per cent of the worlds freshwater. It is, on average, :,---
feet thic and is constantly being replaced as snow falls each
winter. 'ver the course of centuries, the snow compacts into ice,
which slides towards the ocean. In recent years, higher
atmospheric concentrations of heat)trapping gases have
accelerated that process. &s temperatures rise, the top layers melt,
giving way to darer, heat)absorbing ice and liquid water. The
meltwater seeps down to the roc below, lubricating the ice mass
and speeding its slide into the sea.
DS SALIK 2008 LKBAHAR
*** &utism, from the Dree word for Fself,G was first identified as a
disorder in +,90. Initially, it was thought to be a psychological
disorder brought on by cold or unemotional mothers, and curable
by intensive sessions of psychotherapy. 8uring the +,C-s,
specialists reali7ed that autistics frequently had epilepsy and
abnormal brain scans, which led to the condition being recogni7ed
as a brain disorder by the +,?-s. &utism is now nown to be a
hereditary neurological condition, about three times more common
in boys than girls. /sually, autistics lac the ability to relate
normally to other people and have an an"ious desire to maintain a
routine, which evolves with age into intense interests or
obsessions. Aany autistic people deliver monologues on topics
while unaware of other peoples comments or possible discomfort.
There are several related, but different, forms of autism. 8epending
on the severity, symptoms can sometimes be alleviated with
carefully controlled antidepressants, although sufferers typically
find it difficult to function normally in society.
*** Because o"ygen is one of the ma(or substances required for
chemical reactions in the cells, it is fortunate that the body has a
special control mechanism to maintain an almost e"act and
constant o"ygen concentration in the e"tracellular fluid. This
mechanism depends principally on the chemical characteristic of
haemoglobin, which is present in all red blood cells. Haemoglobin
combines with o"ygen as blood passes through the lungs. Then, as
the blood passes through the tissue capillaries, haemoglobin,
because of its own strong chemical affinity for o"ygen, does not
release o"ygen into the tissue fluid if too much o"ygen is already
there. If the o"ygen concentration is too low, however, sufficient
amounts are released to re)establish adequate tissue o"ygen
concentration. Thus, the regulation of o"ygen concentration in the
tissues depends principally on the chemical characteristics of
haemoglobin itself.
*** The evidence lining dietary fat with cancer is less conclusive
than for heart disease, but it does suggest an association between
total fat intae and some types of cancer. 8ietary fat seems not to
initiate cancer development but to promote cancer once it has
arisen. 6ome studies report a relationship between specific cancers
and saturated fat or dietary fat from animal sources, which is mostly
saturated. Thus, health advice to reduce the ris of cancer parallels
that given toreduce the ris of heart diseaseE reduce total fat intae,
especially saturated fat. The relationship between dietary fat and
the ris of cancer differs for various types of cancers. In the case of
breast cancer, some studies indicate little or no association
between dietary fat and cancer. 'thers find that total energy intae
is a better predictor than the percentage of calories from fat. In the
case of prostate cancer, there does appear to be a strong
association with fat. This association appears to be due primarily to
saturated fat from meats< fat from mil or fish has not been
implicated in cancer ris.
*** !eople who fail to eat enough food to meet energy needs ris
nutrient deficiencies, including thiamin deficiency. Inadequate
thiamin intaes have been reported among malnourished and
homeless people. 6imilarly, people who derive most of their energy
from empty)calorie items, lie alcohol, ris thiamin deficiency.
&lcohol contributes energy, but provides few, if any, nutrients and
often displaces food. In addition, alcohol enhances thiamin
e"cretion in the urine, doubling the ris of deficiency. !rolonged
thiamin deficiency can result in the disease Fberiberi,G which was
first observed in 1ast &sia when the custom of polishing rice
became widespread. *ice provided @- per cent of the energy
intae of the people of that area, and ricehulls $the outer sin of
rice% were their principal source of thiamin. When the hulls were
removed, beriberi spread lie wildfire. Because thiamin participates
in nerve processes, paralysis sets in when it islacing. The
symptoms of beriberi include damage to the nervous system as
well as to the heart and other muscles.
*** The single most effective step people can tae against
hypertension is to find out whether they have it. &t chec)up time, a
health)care professional can provide an accurate resting blood
pressure reading. /nder normal conditions, blood pressure
fluctuates continously in response to a variety of factors including
such things as taling or shifting position. 6ome people react
emotionally to the procedure, which raises the blood pressure
reading. 3or these reasons, if the resting blood pressure is above
normal, the reading should be repeated before confirming the
diagnosis ofhypertension. Thereafter, the blood pressure should be
checed regularly. In general, efforts to reduce high blood pressure
focus on weight control, because e"cess body fat, especially
abdominal fat, can precipitate hypertension. Indeed, weightloss
alone is one of the most effective nondrug treatments for
hypertension. Those who are using drugs to control their blood
pressure can often reduce or discontinue the drugs if they lose
weight. 1ven a modest loss of : ilograms may significantly lower
blood pressure.
*** 'ral cancers develop in 0-,--- &mericans and cause @,---
deaths each year, mostly in people over age 9-. This represents
about ..: per cent of cancer cases and +.: per cent of all cancer)
related deaths. 4learly this is a high rate considering the small si7e
of the mouth in relation to the rest of the body. &long with cancers
of the lung and sin, cancers of the mouth are more preventable
than most other cancers. 2on)cancerous and cancerous growths
can originate in any type of tissue in and around the mouth,
including bone, muscle, and nerve. *arely, cancers found in the
mouth region have spread there from other parts of the body ;
most commonly the lung, breast and prostate. 6creening for oral
cancer should be an integral part of medical and dental
e"aminations because early detection is critical. 4ancers less than
a half inch across can usually be cured easily. /nfortunately, most
oral cancers arent diagnosed until theyve spread to the lymph
nodes of the (aw and nec. Because of delayed detection, .: per
cent of oral cancers are fatal.
DS SOSYAL 2008 LKBAHAR
*** The most important idea of the nineteenth century in Britain was
that everyone had the right to personal freedom, and this became
the basis of capitalism. This idea, which had originated with &dam
6mith in the eighteenth century, spread widely due to the popularity
of his boo The Wealth of 2ations. &fter &dam 6mith, several
capitalist economists argued that the government should not
interfere in trade and industry at all. 3ewer laws, they claimed,
meant more freedom, and freedom for individuals would lead to
happiness for the greatest number of people. These ideas were
eagerly accepted by the growing middle class. However, it soon
became very clear that the freedom of factory owners to do as they
pleased had led to slavery and misery for the poor, not to
happiness or freedom. By +@.-, more and more people had begun
to accept the idea that the government must interfere toprotect the
poor and the wea. The result was a number of laws to improve
woring conditions. 3or instance, one of the laws, which went into
effect in +@00, limited the number of hours that women and children
were allowed to wor.
*** The seventeenth century is probably the first in 1nglish history
in which more people emigrated than immigrated. In the course of
the century, something over one)third of a million people, mainly
young adult males, emigrated across the &tlantic. The largest
single group made for the West Indies< a second substantial group
made for &merica, in particular Jirginia and 4atholic Aaryland, and
even !uritan 2ew 1ngland. The pattern of emigration was a
fluctuating one, but it probably reached its pea in the +C:-s and
+CC-s. 3or most of those who emigrated, the search for
employment and a better life was almost certainly the principal
cause of their departure. 3or a clear minority, however, freedom
from religious persecution too precedence. Aoreover, an
increasing number were forcibly transported as a punishment for
criminal acts. In addition to these transatlantic emigrants, an
unnown number emigrated to 1urope and settled there. The
largest group were probably the sons of 4atholic families maing
for religious houses in 3rance and elsewhere. There were also
some adventurers who were willing to fight in any cause if the pay
were good.
*** &ncient Dreece consisted of a number of city)states, of which
&thens was one of the greatest. In the fifth century B.4., all citi7ens
native to &thens could both vote and spea in a government
assembly< but this, of course did not apply to women and slaves.
This system of Fdirect democracyG was feasible because &thens
was a small community. 1ach individual could be involved,
gathering collectively in the public square where decisions on
government matters, such as laws and foreign affairs, were made.
4ity administrators were e"pected to account for their decisions.
What counted in ancient &thens was the authority of the community
as a whole. This too precedent over the liberty of the individual.
The freedom of the individual to mae private decisions, such as
choosing a religion, was restricted on the grounds that the interests
of society were paramount. However, this simple form of
democracy had its drawbacs. While subsequent political thiners
praised the concept of directpolitical involvement, it was recogni7ed
that this would be impractical in larger communities. Indeed,
societies with populations of thousands or millions would never be
able to manage the logistical problem of direct participation. It was,
therefore, natural that in modern times there emerged the idea of
representative democracy.
*** 8uring the economic depression that affected the whole
Western world in the +,0-s, with its mass unemployment, poverty
and other social ills, governments, for the mostpart, did nothing.
The accepted wisdom was that, given time, the free maret would
solve its own problems and that government interference would
only mae things worse. #ohn Aaynard Peynes, the British
economist who challenged this belief, argued that it was the proper
responsibility of governments to prevent both booms and
recessions in order to maintain gradual economic growth and
permanent full employment. He maintained that this could be done
by manipulating ta"ation, credit and public e"penditure. If the
economy was growing too fast, then money and, therefore, demand
could be taen out of the economy by higher ta"es, lower
government spending and by maing it harder to borrow money. If
there was recession and growing unemployment, then the
government could put money into the economy through lower
ta"es, higher public e"penditure and easier credit. Thus, demand
could be encouraged. If, as a result, there was money in peoples
pocets, then more would be spent on goods and more people
would be needed to mae the goods to fulfil the e"tra demand, and
this would reduce unemployment.
*** 6ince the dawn of civili7ation, the Aiddle 1ast, a region at the
crossroads of &frica, &sia and 1urope, has been important to large
and small powers alie, from the empires of the 1astto the imperial
powers of the West. The opening of the 6ue7 4anal in +@C,, which
transformed maritime travel between 1urope and &sia, added to
1uropean interest. The regions other riches also encouraged
1uropean intervention and rivalries. This resulted in a series of
confrontations between the 'ttoman 1mpire and its 1uropean
adversaries, and finally in the collapse of the former and the direct
or indirect 1uropean coloni7ation of large parts of the region in the
course of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. But what
added to the Aiddle 1asts importance in the twentieth century was
oil, which was found in abundance in the !ersian Dulf and in parts
of 2orth &frica. Aoreover, in the strategic conte"t of the 4old War,
the regions geopolitical importance provided an additional reason
for the superpowers to increase their role and presence.
*** /ntil the early +,C-s, the picturesque ruins of &phrodisias were
scattered in and around the very pretty village of Deyre, where the
houses had been built largely from remnants of the ancient city. But
the present e"cavations, which began in +,C+, have now reached
such a scale that the village and its inhabitants have been moved
to another site nearby. 6ome of the superb sculptures unearthed
are now e"hibited in a new museum, which is located in what was
once Deyres village square, while others can be seen around the
archaeological 7one, one of the most interesting and beautiful sites
in all of Turey. 6urprisingly, the e"cavations at &phrodisias have
unearthed remains of a settlement dating bac to about :,@-- B.4.
The site seems to have been a very ancient shrine of Ishtar, the
fertility goddess of 2ineveh and Babylon, who was one of the
predecessors of &phrodite, the Dree goddess of love. In fact, the
earliest Dree sanctuary of &phrodite on this site dates from the
si"th century B.4., and it was from this sanctuary during the ne"t
four centuries that the cult of &phrodite spread throughout the
Draeco)*oman world.
DS FEN 2008 SONBAHAR
*** 8ar matter is the invisible and mysterious material that maes
up .. per cent of the stuff in the universe. It is one of the greatest
scientific unnowns. It does not emit light< nor does it reflect light or
absorb it. While we are unable to see dar matter itself, we are able
to create maps of it. We can clearly pinpoint its location by
observing the effects of its mass on light from distant gala"ies. This
can be e"plained with reference to 1instein, who points out that a
massive ob(ect will curve the fabric ofspace and that light will follow
this deformed path. 6o we can loo at how light from gala"ies has
been bent and, consequently, infer the quantity and location of the
matter that did the bending. In fact, by using this method, a team of
astronomers have recently managed to create the first three)
dimensional map of the immense structure of dar matter.
*** /sing coal to mae electricity accounts for about a third of
&mericas carbon emissions. &s a result, tacling emissions from
coal)fired power plants represents our best opportunity to mae
sharp reductions in greenhouse gases. 3ortunately, the /nited
6tates already has the technology to do that. /nfortunately, right
now the country is addicted to coal, a cheap, abundant power
source. Burning coal produces more than half the countrys
electricity, despite its immense human and environmental costs. &ir
pollutants from coal)fired power plants cause somewhere between
.-,--- and 0-,--- premature deaths in the /nited 6tates each
year. Besides, fifty tons of mercury are pumped into the
atmosphere annually from coal plants. In addition, the e"traction of
coal, from West Jirginia to Wyoming, devastates the physical
environment, and its processing and burning produce gigantic
volumes of waste.
*** &ccording to the most accurate scientific theory ever created
and generally nown as the standard model, all of space is filled
with a mysterious stuff called Fthe Higgs fieldG. /nlie magnetic or
gravitational fields, which vary from place to place $as, for instance,
the fact that things weigh more on 1arth than on the surface of the
Aoon%, the Higgs field is e"actly the same everywhere. What varies
is how the different fundamental particles interact with it. That
interaction, the theory goes, is what gives particles mass. In other
words, the Higgs field is what maes some particles, such as
protons and neutrons, relatively heavy, others $lie electrons%
subatomic lightweights, and still others $lie photons% utterly
massless. If photons werent so light, a person would be shredded
by a photon hailstorm every time he or she was e"posed to a
sunbeam. Then again, if protons and neutrons werent so heavy,
one wouldnt dare to go outside to sunbathe anyway. 6o without
mass and its affinity for gravity, there would be no gala"ies, no
stars, and no us.
*** Hurricanes, which are circular storms spinning around a region
of low atmospheric pressure, are powered by energy released by
spiralling surface winds that draw heat from the ocean. Warmer
seas provide more energy and mae hurricanes stronger. This is
what happened during Hurricane Patrina in &ugust .--:, which
submerged 2ew 'rleans and the vicinity. In fact, according to
climate scientists, both the intensity and destructiveness of
hurricanes have increased maredly since the +,?-s. In other
words, the energy released by an average hurricane appears to
have increased by about ?- per cent within the past 0- years. This
increase correlates very closely with rises in sea surface
temperatures. 3urthermore, tropical oceans have warmed about
one degree 3ahrenheit in the past :- years, a rise that is believed
to be chiefly the result of global warming.
*** *ivers and streams generally support communities of organisms
quite different from those of laes and ponds. & river or stream
changes greatly between its source and the point at which it
empties into a lae or the sea. 2ear the source, a streams water is
usually cold, low in nutrients, and clear. The channel is often
narrow, with a swift current that does not allow much silt to
accumulate on the bottom. Aost of the organisms found here are
supported by the photosynthesis of algae attached to rocs or by
organic material, such as leaves, carried into the stream from the
surrounding land. 8ownstream, a river or stream generally widens
and slows. The water is usually warmer and may be cloudier
because of sediments and other particles suspended in it. Worms
and insects that burrow into the mud are abundant, as are
waterfowl, frogs, fish, and other water animals.
*** !eople have been pushing into forestlands for thousands of
years, but during the last century, scientists say, the rate of global
forest reduction has reached alarming levels. &bout :- million
acres of forest are cleared every year. Auch of 1uropes original
forests are gone. The forests of 2orth &merica, which once
dominated the landscape, have shrun by almost 9-= in the last
two centuries to mae room for people and meet the demand for
lumber and paper. 2ot only have many of the animals that depend
on these ecosystems disappeared, but various species of trees
have also been depleted. Timber farms on land that once sustained
natural forests have little of the biodiversity of the original forests,
with pesticides and other chemicals allowing the land to support
only a few inds of life.
DS SALIK 2008 SONBAHAR
*** Jiral infections of the respiratory tract are certainly the most
common cause of infectious illness in most countries. !eople in all
age groups are susceptible, but for those at the e"tremes of life
these illnesses are particularly ha7ardous. Jiral respiratory
infections are more common in children under the age of five years,
but in the first year of life, they are more severe. In the elderly,
degenerative processes of the heart or lungs mae pneumonia a
more frequent and serious complication, and the same is true for
patients of all ages suffering from chronic cardiac disease or
chronic bronchitis. 'n the whole, the vast ma(ority of viral
respiratory infections are mild though often uncomfortable
conditions, but sometimes the illness is severe and constitutes a
threat to life. /nfortunately, there isno method whereby the spread
of infection can be prevented. &dequate ventilation and avoidance
of crowds are clearly advisable.
*** &s adolescents begin to assert their individuality, family tensions
increase, and battles are fought over clothes and hair styles, late
nights and so on. The doctor may find himself consulted< some
parents feel that, if their children get into trouble or disagree with
them, they must be ill. 'thers see a referee or an accomplice in
the battle ofthe generations. 'ften the younger doctor in a
partnership has an advantage in dealing with such problems, being
able to bridge the generation gap and communicate well with both
parents and teenagers. Both generations need education about the
other and particularly about current norms of behaviour. 4hildren
may have to be reminded that their parents also have rights, and
parents, especially those with unrealistic ambitions for their
offspring, or those determined to live their lives again through their
children, must be taught to give their children more independence.
*** Aost of the functions of the brain are still unnown, and the
ones we now about are very poorly understood. The brain is
assumed to be the organ of higher mentalfunction, of the mind and
intellect, but there is surprisingly little evidence for this, and no one
has any idea what physical structures or mechanisms perform
these functions. The brain is nown to control all bodily functions by
means of motor and other nerves which carry impulses from the
brain outwards to all parts of the body. 6ometimes these are under
our voluntary control< mostly, they are involuntary, refle"ive or
automatic. *efle"ive actions are the result of impulses passed
inwards from the body towards the brain by means of sensory
nerves. Information arriving in the brain about various sensations
lie heat, pain,touch, position, the need for saliva or gastric (uice or
even the thought or smell of food are acted on in the various
FcentresG in the brain.
*** Dingivitis is the inflammation of the gums. /nder this condition,
the gums become red and swollen and bleed easily. &n e"tremely
common condition, gingivitis can develop any time after a persons
teeth come in, and it is almost always the result of inadequate
brushing and flossing, which allows plaque to remain along the
gumline of the teeth. !laque, which is a soft, sticy film made up
primarily of bacteria, accumulates especially in faulty fillings and
around the teeth ne"t to poorly cleaned partial dentures, bridges,
and orthodontic appliances. When plaque stays on the teeth for
more than ?. hours, it hardens into tartar, which cant be
completely removed by brushing and flossing. &lthough plaque is
the main cause of gingivitis, other factors can mae the
inflammation worse, especially pregnancy, puberty, and birth
control drugs.
*** 2arrowly defined, fitness refers to the characteristics that enable
the body to perform physical activity. These characteristics include
fle"ibility of the (oints, strength and endurance of the muscles,
including the heart muscle, and a healthy body composition. &
broader definition of fitness is the ability to meet routine physical
demands with enough energy reserve to rise to a sudden
challenge. This definition shows how fitness relates toeveryday life.
'rdinary tass such as carrying heavy suitcases, opening a stuc
window, or climbing four flights of stairs, which might strain an unfit
person,are easy for a fit person. 6till another definition is the bodys
ability to withstand stress, meaning both physical and psychological
stress. These definitions do not contradict each other< all three
describe the same wonderful condition of the body.
*** The immediate cause of obesity is the prolonged consumption
of a diet containing more calories than are needed to provide for
the bodys tissue repair, vital functions and physical activities. In
modern society, food has become very plentiful and attractive, and
the physical effort demanded by many occupations has diminished.
Aost people in civili7ed communities eat more than they require,
and it is surprising that obesity is not more common than it is. It is
difficult to escape the conclusion that there e"ists some unnown
mechanism by which the body is enabled to get rid of the surplus
calories which would otherwise be stored as fat. If there were not
such a mechanism, obesity would be much more common.
DS SOSYAL 2008 SONBAHAR
*** In +?@C 6ir William #ones, a British (udge serving in India, made
a discovery that transformed nowledge about prehistory and
began the formal study of historical linguistics. Turning his spare
time towards the study of 6ansrit, the ancient language from
which the predominant languages of the 6outh &sian subcontinent
derive, #ones discovered that 6ansrit shares features of grammar
and vocabulary with 5atin and ancient Dree to an e"tent
ine"plicable by sheer coincidence. His interest further aroused, he
then e"amined the early Dermanic language called FDothicG, the
ancient 4elticlanguages of 1urope, and 'ld !ersian, and found
thatthey, too, e"hibited mared similarities to 6ansrit. He
concluded that all these languages must have evolved from a
common but now)e"tinct linguistic source. In the early nineteenth
century, both this ancient language and the later languages that
derived from it, were labelled FIndo)1uropean,G reflecting their wide
distribution from India and Ireland.
*** The 6tone &ge is, in fact, divided into various stages.
8ominating the period is the !alaeolithic &ge, which most
anthropologists would e"tend down to roughly ++,--- B.4. Within
the 6tone &ge in general, however, scholars also spea of an
/pper !alaeolithic 1ra, beginning around 9-,--- B.4. They draw
attention to some significant changes in human behaviour around
this date, including the appearance of sophisticated cave paintings,
and evidence of religious ideas. Humans also began producing the
most effective, finely crafted tools such as fishhoos, arrowheads,
and sewing needles made from organic materials, such as wood or
animal bone. Ket, despite these important developments, the basic
patterns of human life changed little during this era. Jirtually all
human societies before ++,--- B.4. consisted of small bands of
hunter)gatherers that moved incessantly in search of food.
Because they could not stay in any one location for long, these
groups left no continuous archaeological record whereby we might
trace the development of their culture. 'ur nowledge of them is,
therefore, very limited.
*** By the end of the twentieth century, 1ast &sia had become a
centre of industrial and manufacturing production. 1specially 4hina
began to establish commercial ties with the West in the +,?-s and
became the worlds leading heavy industrial producer by the year
.---. Its state)owned companies acquired contracts from Western
firms to produce products cheaply and in bul, for sale bac to
home marets in the /nited 6tates and 1urope. Aoreover, the
4hinese government established semicapitalist commercial 7ones
around ma(or port cities lie 6hanghai. These commercial 7ones
were intended to encourage massive foreign investment on terms
that left 4hina a favourable balance of trade for its huge volume of
cheap e"ports. Ket, in practice, they en(oyed only mi"ed success.
!roblems in farming and a looming energy crisis hampered
prosperity and economic growth, but Hong Pong only managed to
maintain its traditional economic and cultural ties with the rest of
the world. However, in recent years, 4hina has overcome most of
these problems and radically upgraded its economic performance.
*** In +,+9, 1urope had built a seemingly stable peace. Through
the comple" negotiations of great power geopolitics, 1urope had
settled into two systems of allianceE the &llied !owers which
consisted of Britain, 3rance and *ussia, and the 4entral !owers
that included Dermany, &ustria,and Italy. Within this balance of
power, the nations of 1urope challenged one another for economic,
military, and imperial advantage. The rivalry for colonies abroad
accompanied a fierce arms race at home, where military leaders
assumed that superior technology and larger armies would result in
a quic victory in a 1uropean war. Indeed, inthe prevailing
atmosphere of international suspicion, such a war seemed liely to
many of 1uropes political and military leaders. Ket none of them
predicted thatthe war would brea out so soon. 2or did many
e"pect that the assassination in #une +,+9 of the &ustrian
archdue and his wife would spar off that war, which engulfed all
of 1urope in (ust over a months time.
*** 6ince +,,0, 4hina has invested in more than fifty oil and gas
pro(ects in some thirty nations. In particular, 4hina has focused on
acquisitions and partnerships in 6udan and Iran. In 6udan alone,
4hina has reportedly spent O+: billion developing oil fields. In the
meantime, 4hina has also begun to use its military to protect its oil
investments abroad. *eportedly, troops disguised as oil worers
patrol 4hinese oil infrastructure in 6udan. Aoreover, in recent
years, 4hina has strengthened its military presence in the oil)and
gas)rich parts of the 6outh 4hina 6ea, over which sovereignty is
still disputed. !erhaps most significant in the short term is 4hinas
relationship with Iran. With 6audi &rabia and Iraq clearly within the
&merican sphere of influence, 4hina has been steadily courting
Tehran and aims to become the biggest buyer of Iranian oil. In
return for oil, 4hina has supplied Iran not only with conventional
weapons but also with technology and materials that can be used
for the manufacturing of nuclear weapons.
*** The term FimperialismG means the process of e"tending one
nations control over another< it is a process that taes many forms.
Historians distinguish between Fformal imperialismG and Finformal
imperialism.G 3ormal imperialism is colonialism, and it was
e"ercised by the 1uropeans in the past mainly by direct ruleE the
coloni7ing nations anne"ed territories outright and established their
own governments to sub(ugate and administer the peoples of these
territories. 6ometimes formal imperialism was e"ercised through
indirect ruleE the conquering nations reached agreements with
native leaders and governed them. There was no single practice of
colonial management, and resistance from the natives forced
colonial powers to shift strategies frequently. &s for Finformal
imperialism,G it refers to a more subtle and less visible e"ercise of
power, in which the stronger nation allows the weaer one to
maintain its independence while reducing its sovereignty. 3or the
1uropeans in the past, informal imperialism too the form of carving
out 7ones of 1uropean sovereignty and privilege, such as treaty
ports, within other countries. 1ssentially it meant using 1uropean
economic, political, and cultural power to get advantageous treaties
or terms of trade. Informal imperialism was not only common, it
played an even more fundamental role in shaping global power
relations in the +@th and +,th centuries.
DS FEN 2009 LKBAHAR
*** &rtificial Intelligence $&I% is the ability of a digital computer or
computer)controlled robot to perform tass commonly associated
with intelligent beings. The term is frequently applied to the pro(ect
of developing systems endowed with the intellectual processes
characteristic of humans, such as the ability to reason, discover
meaning, generali7e, or learn from past e"perience. 6ince the
development of the digital computer in the +,9-s, it has been
demonstrated that computers can be programmed to perform very
comple" tass, such as discovering proofs for mathematical
theorems or playing chess, with great proficiency. 6till, although
there are continuing advances in computer)processing speed and
memory capacity, there are as yet no programs that can match
human fle"ibility over wider domains or in tass requiring much
everyday nowledge. 'n the other hand, some e"traordinary
programs have attained performance levels beyond those of
human e"perts and professionals engaged in certain specific tass.
&I, in this limited sense, is used efficiently and found in applications
as diverse as medical diagnosis, computer search engines, and
voice or handwriting recognition.
*** &ccording to a recent study by the /niversity of &lberta,
parasitic sea lice are illing a population of young wild pin salmon
along 4anadas west coast in alarming numbers. The authors of
the study say that the entire wild population may be gone within
eight years. With their protective scales, adult salmon can safely
harbour the lice, but young salmon do not yet have the protective
scales,leaving them prone to deep, infection)prone wounds left by
the lice. #uveniles live in coastal waters, which are normally far
from parasite)carrying adults living farther out to sea. 2ow,
however, aqua farms are often located in these same waters,
destroying the young salmons safe haven. 6cientists argue that
fish farms must be relocated or reduced, but so far, no government
regulations have been launched to this end.
*** Auch has been said and written about the declining numbers of
and disappointing lac of diversity among college students ma(oring
in engineering. &mong the factors cited to e"plain this paucity are
the lac of e"posure of high school students to the very idea of
engineering and the fact that many have insufficient mathematics
and science bacground to gain entrance to engineering school,
even if they identify the profession as a possible career. This is
unfortunate, for the ideas of engineering should be integrated into
the curricula not only of high schools but also of middle and primary
schools. By not being e"posed properly throughout their education
to engineering activities, children are being done a disservice. &fter
all, even preschool children have the necessary conditions in their
play for appreciating e"actly what engineering isE design. Indeed,
design is practised throughout their school day, even in their
before) and after)school activities. It only should be pointed out to
them that they are designing something, and, therefore, are future
engineers in the maing.
*** The magnets that are used most commonly, such as the ones
on compasses, those used for fridge decorations, and in many
other everyday tools, are called permanent magnets.This type of
magnet produces an e"ternal magnetic field that attracts or repels
iron, and it may lose its strength when mistreated. Inside a
magnetare groups of atoms called domains. The magneti7ing
process, which e"poses a material to increasingly strong magnetic
fields, aligns these domains in a single direction, where they
become loced in a crystalline structure. High heat, radiation,
strong electrical currents, or other nearby magnets, though, can
damage that structure, nudging the domains out of alignment and
diminishing the attractive force. 1lectromagnets, or non)permanent
magnets, a less familiar type, have magnetic fields that rely on an
electric current. They, thus, do not lose their strength< instead, the
strength of the field can be varied as needed. This maes them
appropriate for various applications, such as telephone receivers.
*** Dlucose, natures most abundant sugar, may soon be
petroleums fiercest rival. 4hemists have long searched for cheap,
renewable, and non)polluting alternatives to the .9: million tonnes
of petroleumbased plastics produced annually. 3or years, they
have been able to convert sugars into the chemical
hydro"ymethylfurfural $HA3%, which can be used to mae plastic.
But the process, which used acid catalysts to brea the sugars
down, was costly and complicated by impurities and low yields.
*esearchers at the !acific 2orthwest 2ational 5aboratory $!255%
in Washington replaced the acid catalyst with a metal catalyst,
chromium chloride, and used it to brea down glucose, a sugar
found in plant starches and cellulose. The resultE HA3 yields
increased +- to ?- percent over the old processes and impurities
were eliminated. The ne"t step to replacing petroleum is to find a
low)impact renewable source for the glucose. 6cientists hope to
soon obtain glucose from cellulose rather than from plant starches.
4ellulose is found in straw and sawdust, two waste products from
the agricultural and wood industries that do not require precious
farmland to be taen away from food crops.
*** 4ontrary to popular belief, underground fires are a surprisingly
frequent phenomenon, the fuel being coal and the fire travelling
along the seams, or the thin layers of roc or mineral. 6uch fires
travel slowly due to the limited supply of o"ygen, but can burn for a
very long timeE the underground fire at Burning Aountain 2ature
*eserve in &ustralia is thought to have been continuing for the past
:,:-- years. The number of such subterranean fires worldwide is
countless. &ccording to one study, subterranean fires in 4hina
alone are consuming some .-- million tonnes of coal a year and
pumping into the air as many pollutants as all the cars in the /nited
6tates. &long with numerous human)related factors, such fires are
also contributing substantially to global warming.
DS SALIK 2009 LKBAHAR
*** What controls our breathingH We obviously have some
conscious control over it because we can voluntarily hold our
breath for a short while or breathe faster and deeper. Aost of the
time, however, automatic control centres in our brain regulate our
breathing movements. &utomatic control is essential, for it ensures
coordination between the respiratory and circulatory systems and
the bodys metabolic needs for gas e"change. &natomically, our
breathing control centres are located inparts of the brain called Fthe
ponsG and Fthe medulla.G 2erves from the medullas control centre
signal the diaphragm and rib muscles to contract, maing us inhale.
These nerves send out signals that result in about +-)+9
inhalations per minute when we are at rest. Between inhalations,
the muscles rela", and we e"hale. The control centre in the pons
smooths out the basic rhythm of breathing set by the medulla.
*** The vertebrae of the spinal column are separated by diss
made of cartilage. 1ach dis has a strong outer layer and a softer
inner part that acts as a shoc absorber to cushion the vertebrae
during movement. If the dis degenerates, for e"ample following an
in(ury or with aging, the inner part of the dis can bulge or rupture
through the outer layer. The ruptured inner part of the dis can
compress or irritate a nerve root and may even in(ure it. Aost
ruptured diss are in the lower bac and usually affect only one leg.
6uch a rupture can cause pain not only in the lower bac but also
down the sciatic nerve, which runs from the spinal column to the
buttocs, leg, and heel. *uptured diss in the lower bac can also
cause leg weaness, and a person may especially have difficulty
lifting the front part of the foot. & ruptured dis that is very large and
centrally located in the spinal column can affect nerves that
regulate bowel and bladder function, impairing the ability to
defecate or urinate and maing urgent medical attention necessary.
*** & low calcium intae during the growing years limits the bones
ability to achieve an optimal mass and density. Aost people
achieve a pea bone mass by about age 0-, and dense bones
protect against agerelated bone loss and fracture. 6tarting before
the age of 9-, all adults lose bone as they grow older. When bone
loss reaches the point at which bones fracture under common,
everyday stresses, the condition is nown as osteoporosis. Today,
worldwide, this is one of the most prevalent diseases of aging. 3or
instance, in the /6, it afflicts more than .: million people, mostly
older women. /nlie many diseases that mae themselves nown
through symptoms such as pain, shortness of breath, sin lesions,
tiredness, and the lie, osteoporosis is silent. The body sends no
signals saying bone loss is occurring. Blood samples offer no clues
because blood calcium remains normal regardless of bone content,
and measures of bone density are rarely taen. However, there are
various strategies to protect against bone loss, and eating calcium)
rich foods is only one of them.
*** #osh Jilla was .C and driving home with a friend when his car
mounted the erb and flipped over. Jilla was thrown through the
windscreen, suffered massive head in(uries and fell into a coma.
&lmost a year later, there was still little sign of improvement. He
would open his eyes, but he was not responsive to any e"ternal
stimuli inhis environment. He was then enrolled in a si")wee study
in which an electromagnetic coil was held over the front of his head
to stimulate the underlying brain tissue. 6uch transcranial magnetic
stimulation $TA6% has been investigated as a way of treating
migraine, stroe, !arinsons disease and depression, with some
promising results, but this is the first time it has been used as a
potential therapy for someone in a comalie state. 4ertain
improvements were observed< for instance, he began to say single
words. The case has been described as Fintriguing,G but it has also
given rise to a lot of cautionary warning.
*** Auscles can obtain the carbohydrate they need, not only from
glycogen stores but also from sugar taen during activity, which
elevates blood glucose and enhances endurance. 2ormally, insulin
stimulates all the tissues of the body todrain glucose from the blood
and store it< however, this is e"actly the opposite of what is needed
for performance. 8uring physical activity, the bodys release of the
hormone epinephrineeeps insulin from rising in response to
glucose entering the blood. !hysical activity also enhances muscle
sensitivity to insulin so that the muscles become the primary
recipient of blood glucose. 4onsuming sugar is especially useful
during e"hausting endurance activities lasting more than an hour.
1ndurance athletes often run short of glucose by the end of
competitive events, and they are wise to tae light carbohydrate
snacs or drins periodically during activity. 8uring the last stages
of an endurance competition, when glycogen is running low,
glucose consumed during the event can mae its way slowly from
the digestive tract to the muscles and increase the bodys supply of
glucose enough to prevent e"haustion.
*** 3itness is determined more by the intensity of e"ercise than the
duration. Worouts should be energetic enough that the muscles
are somewhat sore the ne"t day but fully recovered the day after
that. To strengthen the heart, e"ercise must be performed at an
intensity that increases heart rate at least .- beats above the
resting heart rate. The harder a person e"ercises, the faster the
heart beats and the stronger the heart muscle becomes. Heart rate
is determined by how hard the seletal muscles contract. When a
person starts to e"ercise, the seletal muscles contract and
squee7e the veins near them, forcing blood towards the heart.
When the seletal muscles rela", these veins fill with blood. The
alternating contraction and rela"ation of the seletal muscles serve
as a second heart, pumping e"tra blood to the heart. The increased
blood flow causes the heart to beat faster and more forcefully. 6o
the harder the seletal muscles contract, the faster the heart beats.
DS SOSYAL 2009 LKBAHAR
*** 'f the wealth of geographical and cartographical data remaining
from the 1astern world and the Drees, the *omans were
interested only in those elements that best suited their essentially
practical needs. They virtually abandoned the studies of
cosmography and mathematical geography, preferring to devote
ma"imum effort to land surveys carried out by speciali7ed military
corps of land surveyors. 3rom their topographical surveys and on)
the)spot reconnaissance of places and cities, they formulated their
itineraria scripta, publications similar in many respects to our tourist
guides, and their itineraria picta, a ind of road map on which they
stressed only those topographical features of use to travellers.
*** The greatest feat of civil engineering since *oman times was
the 3rench achievement between +CCC and +C@+ of the 5anguedoc
canal to lin the Aediterranean 6ea with the &tlantic 'cean. It was
conceived of by Ping 3rancis I and discussed by him with 5eonardo
da Jinci. It was first surveyed in +:0,. &s a result of the civil and
religious disorders in 3rance, however, nothing happened until
+CC+ when !ierre *iquet wored out a scheme for supplying
enough water to the summit of the canal. #ean 4olbert secured the
interest of the young Ping 5ouis QIJ, and in +CCC the wor started.
The whole canal was +:- miles long with +-. locs, a tunnel, and 0
aqueducts. It evoed world admiration, and was the prototype of all
future 1uropean grand canal designs even though its usefulness to
3rance was quicly nullified by the rapidly increasing si7e of ocean)
going ships.
*** !ottery was one of mans first artefacts. It is the presence of
pottery, rather than of the polished stone, that mars the passage
fromthe Aesolithic to the 2eolithic &ges, when agricultural peoples
settled both in the Aediterranean area and in the Aiddle 1ast. It is
commonly believed that the earliest pottery receptacles copied
those of other materials, such as gourds or basets. 3rom the
fingerprints on them, it is possible to deduce that they were made
principally by women. 'riginally, any decoration was indented< that
is, patterns were pressed into the soft clay, and it remained so for a
long period until new situations, at different times in different parts
of the world, produced painted decoration.&s a widespread form of
culture, permanently bearing in its shapes and decoration the
character of individual periods and peoples, the finding of pottery
has been of supreme importance to the archaeologist.
*** 4harlie 4haplin, who was born in Britain but spent most of his
life in the /nited 6tates, is one of the pivotal figures in film history.
He is especially remembered for his wor in the silent movies.
4haplin new that a successful scene was not simply about the
starring actor, butabout everything else. The only way to achieve
that unity was to get personally involved in every stage of the film<
from starring in his films to producing, directing, editing them, and
even to composing the music for them. It was not uncommon for
him to decide half)way through a film that an actor wasnt suitable
for a certain role, and start over with someone new. This constant
attention to detail ran many features overtime and over)budget, but
the public reaction assured him and the studios that what he was
doing wored. 4haplin typically improvised his story in front of the
camera with only a basic framewor of a script. But on
consideration, his art turned out to be firmly rooted, and could be
seen, for e"ample, to draw much of its strength from his successful
fusion of 1nglish and &merican cultures and traditions.
*** The most important influence on the style of 1nglish furniture
was that of the 4hippendale family. 4hippendale furniture is the
creation of Thomas 4hippendale, a 5ondon)based cabinet)maer.
His Dentleman and 4abinet)Aaers 8irector, a folio of furniture
designs, was published in +?:9 and had a wide circulation.
4hippendale himself never mared his creations, maing it harder
today for collectors to locate original pieces. 'ne of the best ways
to find original 4hippendale furniture is to loo for uneven (oints and
tool mars, as the furniture was made entirely by hand and does
not have the perfect angles of a mass)produced product. Though
an article of furniture made in 4hippendales manner may bear his
name, it is by no means an indication that it was actually made in
his worshop. The +@th century was a time when artisans were
beginning to e"ploit various styles, leading to widespread adoption
of his name in revivals of his style, so much so that dealers spoe
of F4hinese 4hippendaleG, FDothic 4hippendaleG, and even FIrish
4hippendaleG. Aany of these later designs that attach his name
bear little relationship to his original concepts.
*** &lthough most cities seem to form by accident, for thousands of
years some of them have been designed. Whether for defence,
beauty, or practicality, urban designers have imposed their ideas of
what a city should be about. But ideas are sub(ect to changing
needs and fashions. 4enturies ago, a moat or a castellated wall
would have been essential. 2ow, greenery is in vogue. While
e"isting cities loo for ways of becoming more environmentally
friendly, a number of new ones are planned that intend to be totally
green. 'ne of these is Aasdar. Aasdars advertising states that
Fone day, all cities will be built lie this.G This is not the case. 3or
one thing, Aasdar is e"perimental and a wor in progress. What
emerges will not necessarily translate well elsewhere. 1ach green
city is unique, and getting it to wor depends on its location and
economy.
DS FEN 2009 SONBAHAR
*** !alaeontology was once limited to digging up fossils and trying
to deduce their age with inaccurate methods. However, fossil
analysis improved dramatically in the +,C-s, with the advent and
refinement of two techniquesE radiometric dating and stratigraphy.
The first radiometric method was also nown as carbon)+9 dating,
and it was usable for specimens younger than :-,--- years. 5ater,
potassium)argon dating revolutioni7ed the field by enabling
scientists to detect the radioactive decay of elements found
naturally in rocs and soil surrounding much older fossils.
6tratigraphy, which is the study of roc layering, actually was
developed well before the +,C-s, but that was the decade
scientists began to better understand how geological conditions,
earthen layers, and fossil records all relate. The resulting
refinement of biostratigraphy, i.e., the study of the complete life of a
stratum of earth, allowed scientists to determine the environment
and lifestyle of human ancestors based on fossili7ed flora and
fauna found within the same layer as the hominine fossils. 6ince
the +,C-s, 82& testing has come to be used widely. &s all living
organisms have the same genetic code, scientists can use 82&
variations as a molecular cloc. &fter splitting with a common
ancestor, each generation develops a constant rate of genetic
mutations. The molecular cloc allows scientists to calculate how
long ago the split occurred based on the number of differences
between species. The method is now helping scientists map the
routes that humans too out of &frica.
*** Baleen whales and toothed whales each have a unique way of
vocali7ing. 'nly baleen whales produce long sequences of deep
sounds nown as whale songs. They have a laryn", an organ at the
top of the trachea, which may be involved in sound production.
*esearchers are unclear about the organs role in the songs as
whale laryn"es are unlie those of humans, which have vocal
chords. Toothed whales, on the other hand, rely on sequences of
high)pitched clics and whistles for both echo location and
communication with their mates. Their phonic lips, a structure
analogous to human nasal passages, press together when air is
forced through them, vibrating the surrounding tissue. The sound
waves then penetrate an oily organ in the whales head, called the
FmelonG, where they are focused into a beam of sound. When this
beam stries a fish, the seabed, or another ob(ect, the sound is
reflected bac to the whale as an echo. Toothed whales can thus
locate prey and navigate in total darness. However, during their
long, deep dives, toothed whales cannot inhale air every time they
want to produce a sound. 6o they collect it in a sac at the bac of
their head and reuse it.
*** The human population continues to grow by more than ?:
million people annually. 6ince the first 1arth 8ay in +,?-, emission
rates have remained steady at about +.. metric tons of carbon per
person per year. /nfortunately, the +,,? Pyoto !rotocol has had
little measurable effect on these per)capita emissions, even in the
countries that have agreed to national targets. Aore than any other
factor, population growth drives rising carbon emissions, and the
/6 4ensus Bureau and /nited 2ations both pro(ect that the global
population, currently C.C billion, will surpass , billion before .-:-.
The implication is that one of the best strategies for reducing future
greenhouse gas emissions ispopulation stabili7ation, as quicly as
can be achieved by noncoercive means.
*** 6cientists are e"ploring waysof producing spider sil artificially,
a process difficult to repeat effectively. & spiders sil gland is a very
efficient chemical factory. Inside its gland, the spider stores a
mi"ture of liquid proteins, which it is able to transform into light,
strong fibres. &rtificial spider sil could have many applications,
from lightweight and durable pacing materials to parachutes,
surgical sutures, and even bullet)proof vests. !roducing it
synthetically is a twopart processE scientists must first manufacture
the proteins and then find a way to form them into superfine
threads. They have had success with the first part, by producing
proteins through genetic modification. Binding proteins into fibres
as thin and strong as spider sil, however, has proved to be a
challenge. *ecently, however, a group of Derman scientists have
attempted to solve that problem by using a device modelled on a
spiders glands. 5ie the arachnid method, the proteins are mi"ed
with potassium phosphate, and then the pH is lowered before
pressure is applied as the mi"ture flows through tiny channels,
hardening and binding the proteins. 6o far, researchers have been
able to mae fibres of only a fraction of an inch long, but they hope
to be able to produce longer, stronger fibres in the future.
*** &n organism discovered deep in the ground has taen
astrobiologists by surprise. The organisms unique ability to live in
complete isolation from other species, or even light or o"ygen,
suggests it could be the ey to life on other planets. It was
discovered in fluid)filled cracs in a 6outh &frican gold mine, nearly
three ilometres beneath the 1arths surface. When /6 scientists
analy7ed the fluid, they e"pected to find genes from a mi" of
species.Instead, they found that ,,., per cent of the 82& belonged
to (ust one bacterium, a previously unnown species. 6uch a self)
sufficient organism is virtually unheard of. It means that this
organism e"tracts everything it needs from an otherwise dead
environment. &lmost all other nown organisms on the 1arth that
do not use sunlight directly do use some product of photosynthesis.
However, this newly)found organism gets its energy from the
radioactive decay of uranium in the surrounding rocs. It also has
genes to e"tract carbon and nitrogen from its environment, both of
which are essential for maing proteins. 6cientists believe that this
organism is (ust the type that could survive on a planet other than
the 1arth.
*** & scientific view of something is always an intimate mi"ture of
theories and observed facts. The theories are broad, general ideas
together with arguments based on them. The arguments are
designed to show that, if the general ideas are accepted, then this
or the other thing ought to be observed. If this, that, or the other
actually is observed, then the theory is a good one< if not, then the
theoreticians have to thin again. Thus, theoretical ideas and
arguments are continually sub(ected to the severe test of
comparison with the facts,and scientists are proud of the strictness
with which this is done. 'n the other hand, theories often suggest
new things to loo for< in other words, they lead to predictions.
These predictions are frequently successful, and scientists are
entitled to be proud of that, too. But it follows that no theory is
immutable< any scientific view of any sub(ect may, in principle, be
invalidated at any time by the discovery of new facts.
DS SALIK 2009 SONBAHAR
*** The brains capacity for finding new informationprocessing
pathways is thought to e"plain the success of artificial cochleas,
which have been implanted in the ears ofappro"imately +--,---
hearing)impaired people around the world. They typically have an
array of electrodes, each of which channels electrical signals
toward the auditory nerve. The electrodes can stimulate not (ust a
single neuron in the brain but many simultaneously. When cochlear
implants first appeared in the +,@-s, many neuroscientists
e"pected them to wor poorly, given their primitive design. But the
devices wor well enough for some deaf people to converse over
the telephone, particularly after an ad(ustment period during which
channel settings are fine)tuned to provide the best reception.
!atients brains somehow figure out how to mae the most out of
the strange signals. The surprising effectiveness of artificial
cochleas ; together with other evidence of the brains adaptability ;
has fuelled optimism about the prospects for brainImachine
substitution. & case in point is an ongoing pro(ect at the /niversity
of 6outhern 4alifornia that sees to create implantable brain chips
that can restore or enhance memory.

*** By si" months of age, the infants capacity to digest and absorb
a variety of dietary components as well as to metaboli7e and
e"crete the resulting products is near the capacity of the adult.
4onsideration of the long)term effects of inadequate or e"cessive
intaes during infancy now assumes greater importance. These
considerations about delivery of adequate amounts of nutrients are
the basis for many of the feeding practices advocated during the
second si" months of life. &lthough it is clear that all nutrient needs
during this period can be met with reasonable amounts of currently
available infant formulas, addition of other foods after four to si"
months of age is recommended. In contrast, the volume of mil
produced by many women may not be adequate to meet all nutrient
needs ofthe breast)fed infant beyond about si" months ofage,
especially iron. Thus, for breast)fed infants, complementary foods
are an important source of nutrients. 4omplementary foods $i.e.,
the additional foods, including formulas, given to the breast)fed
infant% or replacement foods $i.e., food other than formula given to
formula)fed infants% should be introduced step by step to both
breast)fed and formula)fed infants, beginning between four and si"
months of age.
*** 3ollowing the growth of biological nowledge in the past few
decades, a few researchers now believe e"tension of the human
lifespan might be within reach. Why do organisms ; people
included ; age in the first placeH 5ie machines, people wear out.
However, a machine can usually be repaired. & good mechanic with
a stoc of spare parts can eep it going indefinitely, to the point
where no part of the original remains. The question arises, of
course, of whether the machine is worth repairing. It is here that
people and nature disagree. 3rom the individuals point of view,
survival is a must. Kou cannot reproduce unless you are alive.
6ince ageing is a sure way of dying, it is no surprise that people
want to stop it from advancing. Aoreover, even the appearance of
ageing can be harmful. It reduces the range of potential partners
who find you attractive ; since it is a sign that you are not going to
be around for a very long time to help bring up the baby ; and this,
in turn, restricts your ability to reproduce. There is a parado",
howeverE the individuals evolved desire not to age is opposed by
another evolutionary force, the disposable soma. The soma is all of
a bodys cells apart from the se" cells. Its role is to get the se"
cells, and thus the organisms genes, into the ne"t generation. But
evolutionary logic seems to require the soma to age and die in
order for a species to continue. There is thus a premium on
reproducing early rather than conserving resources for a future that
may never come.
*** Individual FbansG of immune cells taen from pigs might one
day be used to boost our own immune systems or to fight HIJ and
cancer. 'ur immune systems T)cells, which play a ey role in
fighting off diseases, are sharpened during childhood to attac
particular pathogens after encountering them. This fle"ibility
diminishes after a child reaches young adulthood, but researchers
at a /6 university have come up with a way to reviveit. &ccording
to them, if a humans immune cells are transferred into a young pig,
they could be brought up to ma"imum effectiveness $as in a childs
body%, then implanted bac into the person they came from. The
research team has already had success with e"periments where
human stem cells were in(ected into developing pig foetuses<
whenthe piglets were born, the in(ected cells had multiplied and
matured into a diverse range of human T)cells, alongside the pigs
own immune cells, that were shown to be fully functional. The chief
researcher envisions this approach eventually being used to mae
human cells that fight specific diseases. The necessary technology
is available now to introduce the technique widely, provided that
regulatory authorities can be convinced that it can be safely tested
in humans. However, the fearis that dormant pig viruses buried in
their 82& could be spread to humans. &nother potential danger is
that humanderived cells might pic up surface molecules from the
pig. This could mae the transferred cells themselves targets for
immune destruction. The pigs might also produce too few human
cells to fight disease.
*** &sthma is a life)threatening, allergy)driven lung disease
common in wealthy countries. But e"actly what causes it is
unnown. *esearchers at Washington /niversity believe the direct
cause of asthma is a chemical distress signal produced in sin that
is damaged by another ha7ard of modern lifeE ec7ema. /nlie
asthma, it is not dangerous, so people rarely worry about it.
2evertheless, +?= of children in &merica have it, and similarly high
figures are found in &ustralia, Britain, and 2ew Sealand. What is
particularly intriguing is that many people with ec7ema go on to
develop asthma $in &merica, the figure is ?-=%. That compares
with an asthma prevalence of 9)@= in the general population. The
Washington /niversity group theori7es that the lin between the
two conditions is formed by thymic stromal lympho)poietin $T65!%,
a signalling molecule secreted by damaged sin cells that elicits a
strong immune response from the body to fight off invaders. Thus,
ec7ema)induced T65! enters the bloodstream and, when it arrives
at the lungs, sensiti7es them so that they react to allergens that
would not previously have bothered them. In other words, they
become asthmatic. 6everal e"periments carried out by the
researchers, only on mice, have confirmed that sin damage
creates susceptibility to asthma by releasing T65!.
*** !atients are admitted to critical care units from a variety of
settings, including the emergency department, medical or surgical
service, or operating room. Aost critical carepatients are acutely
and severely ill, commonly with dysfunction or failure of more than
one organ system. The initial assessment must be rapid and focus
on real or potentially lifethreatening processes that require
immediate intervention. &n e"ample is the resuscitation of a patient
with cardiopulmonary arrest. The pace of resuscitation is
necessarily quic< physical e"amination may be restrictedinitially to
the central nervous, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems, and
interventions may be limited to the essential &B4s of airway,
breathing, and circulation. 5ater, continuous electrocardiographic
monitoring, measurement of blood pressure, and other standard
procedures should start. In general, management of the critically ill
patientshould be based on an understanding of physiology and
pathophysiology. Indeed, although the contributions of cell and
molecular biology to critical care medicine are substantial, the
critical care unit more resembles a physiology laboratory, since the
effects of its interventions can be directly observed.
DS SOSYAL 2009 SONBAHAR
*** 6cottish philosopher and historian 8avid Hume emerged as an
economist also with the publication of his !olitical 8iscourses. The
famous &dam 6mith was a friend of his and may have been
influenced by HumeE they had similar principles, and both were
very good at illustrating and supporting these from history. &lthough
Hume did not formulate a complete system of economic theory, as
did 6mith in his Wealth of 2ations, he introduced several of the
new ideas around which the Fclassical economicsG of the +@th
century was built. His economic philosophy can be understood from
his main argumentsE that wealth consists not of money but of
commodities< that the amount of money in circulation should be
ept related to the amount of goods in the maret< and that poor
nations impoverish the rest because they do not produce enough to
be able to tae much part in trade. Beyond this, he urged society to
welcome the shift from an agricultural to an industrial economy,
without which civili7ation could not be achieved.
*** The people of Hong Pong have been e"periencing an identity
crisis ever since the British returned the colony to 4hina in +,,?
and it became a 6pecial &dministrative *egion with special
privileges $for :- years%. &lthough they are proud of their 4hinese
ethnicity, culturally they have always felt overwhelmingly Western
and therefore much different from their cousins on the mainland.
2ow they have a new worryE a growing threat to Hong Pongs
economic success. The 4hinese government recently announced
its plan to turn the city of 6hanghai into a global financial and
shipping centre by .-.-, a move that is seen as weaening Hong
Pongs traditional and profitable position as international gateway to
mainland 4hina. 1ven worse, 4hinas friendlier relationship with
former enemy Taiwan is already reducing transit commerce through
Hong Pong. &fter an economic contraction of almost @= earlier this
year, Hong Pong is feeling real pain, and the (obless rate could
approach record levels. 6o the normally hands)off local
government has sprung into actionE it has announced two rounds of
ta" cuts and various handouts to the poor and to businesses. In
addition, the citys long)term planners have recommended that
Hong Pongs government focus on developing si" fields ; including
education, environmental)related industries, and medical
technology ; in which Hong Pong already has an edge.
*** 'n #uly +, .--,, the /6 state of 4alifornia began enforcing a
new menu)labelling law that requires chain restaurants to post on
their menus the calories contained in their food items. Three other
states ; 'regon, Aaine, and Aassachusetts ; have already passed
similar regulations, as have ++ city and county governments. The
trend has gathered strength quicly, mostly because of concern
about the nations e"panding waistlines. The ne"t step is to deploy
the practice nationally, and the 4ongress is about to debate such a
law. !ressure for this type of move is coming from the obese, who
represent more than a third of &merican adults, and their
defenders. 'verweight people often struggle to estimate the
number of calories they consume when eating out and mae
mistaes when calculating how much food they should order.
!roponents of menu labelling hope that nowing what is in their
food may direct people to healthier items. In 5os &ngeles, for
e"ample, officials optimistically predict that menu labelling could
prevent nearly 9-= of the annual weight gain there. However, the
effect of menu labelling on dietary choices remains unclear, and the
regulations are too new to produce much evidence. 3urthermore,
some critics of the trend believe the public)health benefits of the
new legislation are irrelevant. 3or them, the new regulations are
welcome as part of a consumers wide)ranging right to now.
*** &lthough an e"tension of the worldwide ban on ivory e"ports to
discourage the illegal illing of &frican elephants has been greeted
enthusiastically in many places, the rhinoceroses $rhinos% of
southern and eastern &frica are still paying with their lives for their
horns, which remain pri7ed by the 4hinese for their medicinal and
aphrodisiac qualities, and by the Kemenis for maing dagger
handles. &ccording to a group, called Traffic, thatmonitors the
wildlife trade throughout the world, this illegal business is on the
rise. 5ast month, the group called for stronger international
cooperation along smuggling routes and for more secure
management of legal horn stocs. 3or its part, Simbabwe, where
there are a lot of illegal illings, has taen a very radical decisionE it
says it will start dehorning its rhinos. Today only five species of
rhino survive in &frica and &sia. In the past, especially in the +,th
and .-th centuries, they were slaughtered on a large scale by white
hunters. By the +,C-s, fewer than ?-,--- blac rhinos were left in
&frica, and, over the ne"t two decades, illegal hunters wiped out
,C= of them. But since +,,:, thans to vigorous conservation
efforts, the number of blac rhinos has gone up again, to around
0,?--. The number of white rhinos has nearly doubled over the
same period, to over +9,:--.
*** Aany governments these days feel that the path to happiness
for society as a whole lies through spending on the welfare of its
youngest membersE their health, education, and general well)being.
& recent report from a leading international organi7ation, the
'148, e"amined these efforts among its 0- member countries in
order to learn if the aim was being achieved. 6pecifically, the
researchers investigated .+ variables that were then grouped into
si" main categories. The results surprisingly showed that while
some inds of spending on children do wor, many should be
improved or scrapped. &lso, total government spending per child
was seen to vary considerably, as did outcomes, but the correlation
between these was not strong. Aoreover, the differences in
spending levels among countries were not directly lined to their
relative levels of prosperity. 3or e"ample, rich 6weden is, as
e"pected, ind to its children, but poorish Hungary turns out to be
generous, too. /p)and)coming 6outh Porea might be e"pected to
be a bit reluctant to part with so much money, but the stinginess of
6wit7erland is totally une"pected. 4hildrens lobbies always want
more funds, but the '148 report suggests that more money does
not reliably yield better results. &merica has one of the highest
levels of spending per child, and among the worst outcomes. In
contrast, &ustralia spends less, with better outcomes.
*** He is young, dar, and handsome, with a beautiful light tenor
voice, and he swept the 5atin Drammy &wards in .--@. But should
#uan 1steban &risti7abal, better nown as #uanes, perform his
songs at an upcoming Fpeace concertG in the 4uban capital,
HavanaH The debate over this 4olombian roc star, who is based
in the /6 city of Aiami, has been raging on that citys 6panish)
language radio and television shows. 'lder 4uban)&mericans, who
left 4uba in the immediate aftermath of the +,:, revolution there,
vehemently oppose the concert. They argue that it is (ust the latest
attempt by the 4uban regime to manipulate public opinion.
Traditionally, these older e"iles have held all the political power in
Aiami. But younger ones are pushing bac, especially when it
comes to the arts. Beyond the overall 4uban)&merican community,
the #uanes concert is seen as a potential great turning point in /6)
4uban relations. & successful outcome could smooth the way for a
further softening in &merican policy towards 4uba. &rtists other
than #uanes have attempted this ind of bridge)building with 4uba
before< for e"ample, left)leaning musicians lie Bonnie *aitt and
The !olice appeared there in +,,,, but they had an overtly political
agenda. However, #uanes himself, who is widely admired for his
humanitarian wor in his native 4olombia, denies having any
thought of politics. FAy only message is one of peace, of
humanitarianism, and of tolerance,G he said recently.
DS FEN 2010 LKBAHAR
*** 6olar panels turn the sunlight into energy when the sun shines
directly on them, but as soon as the sunlight decreases, sodoes
efficiency. & new antireflective film coating could help panels collect
sunshine at ,C per cent efficiency from nearly any angle. The
newly)developed film consists of seven layers of nanoscopic silicon
and titanium)o"ide rods arranged in increasing densities, with the
topmost nearly as porous as air. This funnel)lie structure captures
light from almost every direction and focuses it onto the
photovoltaic panel while also inhibiting reflection. The film, which is
about one hundredth as thic as a human hair, could easily be
applied to any solar panel and would help collect .- per cent more
light while eliminating the need for the e"pensive hardware usually
used to rotate solar panels as the sun moves. Before the new film
can be mareted, the nanoscientists who developed the film must
find a way to protect the outermost layers from wind and heat, a
process that might tae another year.
*** The hope with biofuels is that they can offer a carbon)neutral
energy source, because the crops that are grown for fuel will
remove as much carbon from the atmosphere as will be released
when they are eventually burned. This is basically the same thing
that happens when we burn coal or oil. The difference is that in the
caseof the latter, the carbon was absorbed hundreds of millions of
years ago, and this is part of the problem. Humans will tae (ust a
few hundred years to burn through tens of millions of years of oil
deposits. To grow enough crops to eep up with our current
demand will require lots of additional lands to be cleared for
agriculture. If rainforests are cleared to plant sugar cane, all the
carbon that is currently loced in the trees will be released. The
other problem is that adding nitrogen fertili7er to these crops
releases nitrogen o"ide, which is another greenhouse gas. & recent
study showed that burning mai7e biofuels actually increases
greenhouse gas emissions for this reason. However, this is more
the fault of the choice of biofuel crop and the production method
rather than a flaw in the biofuel concept as a whole. The shrub
F(atrophaG, for instance, can be grown on land too poor for trees or
other crops to grow on, and is already used for biodiesel in India,
4ambodia, and some &frican countries.
*** 4ats are famous for their aversion to water. However, the fishing
cat, a wild &siatic species, has no such tendency. In fact, these
felines, about twice the si7e of typical house cats, prefer to be in
pro"imity to water, maing their homes in the near rivers and
marshes. &s their name indicates, the cats fish for their meals,
sitting by the water and tapping their paws to create ripples on the
surface that resemble insect movements to lure their prey. Their
webbed front paws help the fishing cats to remain dry while
scooping fish, frogs, and snails out of shallow water. However, they
also dive right in to grab large fish and birds in their (aws. 'nce in
the water, the cats can swim on the surface or even glide
underwater. Their flat tails, significantly shorter than those of house
cats, serve as rudders, helping them to ad(ust direction below the
water surface. /nfortunately, habitat loss and overfishing have
decreased the number of these cats by about :- per cent over the
past three generations. *ecently, the International /nion for the
4onservation of 2ature $I/42% changed the status of these cats to
FendangeredG from the less)severe FvulnerableG.
*** It is to a plants advantage to be visually attractive to a specific
pollinator so that those animals will see out and concentrate on
that particular plant during their search for nectar. This eeps pollen
from being spread to other plant species, where pollination wont
tae place. 3lowers appeal to their pollinators sensory systems by
using signals such as alluring odours or colours. 3lowers pollinated
by nocturnal animals lie bats and moths, which rely more on
hearing than smell and sight, usually have dull colours but powerful
scents. 3lowers pollinated by daytime animals lie birds and bees,
however, rely on a range of colours. Birds see a spectrum
somewhat similar to ours but are especially receptive to red, so
blossoms pollinated by them tend to be red or orange. Bees, on the
other hand, see a different spectrum composed of yellow, blue,
green, and ultraviolet. 3lowers pollinated by bees, hence, tend to
be in those colours and usually have special marings that are
visible only in ultraviolet. 5ie runway lights, these marings guide
insects to the right place to land and find nectar, and in the process,
pollinate the plant.
*** & 0?,---)year)old baby mammoth could help to e"plain why the
ancient species became e"tinct as well as giving an insight into
climate change. *esearchers at a #apanese medical school carried
out a computed tomography $4T% scan of the mammoth, which was
found fro7en in 2orthern 6iberia. They produced some high)
resolution 08 pictures which are being analy7ed to find out about
the animals internal organs and diet, and to wor out how she died.
The mammoths tissues and seleton have been studied at a
7oological museum in *ussia. &ir samples from her lungs will also
be analy7ed for clues to the 1arths atmosphere at the time of her
death. The mammoth, named 5yuba, was found by a reindeer
herder buried in permafrost. 6he is unusual because of the
proportionof her body that is preserved. &ccording to one e"pert
woring on 5yuba, with fossils, scientists generally get only bones
and teeth, but this specimen is special in that there are also the
organs and muscles. The same e"pert notes that it will be
interesting to see how this animal managed to adapt to life high in
the &rctic and was able to survive, especially in the Ice &ge.
*** 6everal years ago, biochemists studying marine ecosystems
noticed something unusualE a sponge thriving in the middle of a
coral reef that was dying from bacterial infection. The researchers
identified a substance made by the sponge in order to defend itself
from harmful microbes. They reali7ed that it was a natural
antibacterial molecule called FageliferinG. This molecule can brea
down the formation of a protective biofilm coating that bacteria use
to shield themselves from threats,including antibiotic drugs. 2ow
the same researchers are using this natural compound to create
innovative ways to fight drugresistant bacteria. They have recently
modified the structure of ageliferin to mae it more potent and
formulated to help conventional medications combat otherwise
drug)resistant bacteria, such as staph and cholera. The newly)
developed chemical does not stop bacteria from proliferating, but it
allows the antibiotic to wor again. The researchers hope
eventually to incorporate the altered ageliferin as a helper drug
within commercial antibiotic products, allowing them to fight off
formerly drug)resistant strains of diseases.
DS SALIK 2010 LKBAHAR
*** & new vaccine that may offer lifetime protection against the flu
has shown promise in human trials. It wors on the deadly type &
strain, responsible for pandemics. 4urrent flu vaccines wor by
giving immunity against two proteins, called haemagglutinin and
neurominidase, found on the surface of flu viruses. However, as
these proteins continually mutate, vaccines have to be reformulated
every year to eep on woring. The new vaccine, nown as &4&A)
35/)&, gets around this problem by homing in on a protein called
A., found on all type & strains, that does not mutate so readily. The
vaccine could be quicly produced in response to a flu outbrea.
The doses can be mass produced and used at any time, because
there is no need to identify the most prevalent strains. In theory, a
single in(ection could offer lifetime protection. Whether this will wor
in practice is a matter for future trials.
*** The loss of one sense encourages the development of the four
others. This has now been demonstrated convincingly in a study by
a team of doctors. 8uring five days, volunteers taingpart in the
study were blindfolded and ased to carry out e"ercises designed
to stimulate the sense of touch. When their brains were then tested
using an A*I, an area of the visual corte" was shown to have been
activated as if, being underused, this area was brought in to help
the sub(ects when they had to rely on touch. &bout .9 hours later,
after the blindfolds came off, the participants lost this aptitude.
!reviously, scientists had always believed that the brain was
organi7ed into distinct and highly)speciali7ed systems. This new
study, however, shows that the human brain has the ability to
reorgani7e itself. In addition, the rapid reversibility of the process
suggests that it is not based on the creation of new nervous
connections but on the activation of previously inhibited 7ones.
*** !ost)traumatic stress disorder $!T68% is an an"iety disorder
that can develop after e"posure to a terrifying event or ordeal.
While many scientific studies focus on the molecular mechanisms
for learning and memori7ation, scientists need to address the
FunlearningG process to tacle !T68. *esearchers have discovered
that a receptor for glutamate, the most prominent neurotransmitter
in the central nervous system, plays a ey role in the unlearning
process. They made this discovery in e"periments where they
trained mice to fear a sound by coupling it with an electric shoc to
the foot. They found that if, following this fear conditioning, the mice
are repeatedly e"posed to the sound without the electric shoc,
their fear eventually subsides. However, mutant mice lacing the
gene)coding for metabotropic glutamate receptor : $mDlu*:% are
unable to shae off their fear of the now harmless sound. The
researchers believe that a similar mechanism might be perturbed in
!T68 sufferers and that metabotropic glutamate receptor :
$mDlu*:% may provide a potential target for new therapeutic
treatments.
*** & team of scientists have recently identified one of the
molecules responsible for the tubular shape of blood vessels.
'riginally nown for regulating blood vessel development for
life,the vascular endothelial growth factor $J1D3% proteins analy7ed
by the research team have proven to be more interesting than
initially thought. The team found that a certain variation of J1D3
attracts an FinstructorG protein. When this variant, with the instructor
protein attached, docs with a receptor on the surface of a cell, a
signal telling the cell to form a tube)lie shape with its neighbours is
sent to it. When the instructor cell is absent, the cells line up ne"t to
one another to form a sheet. 6cientists believe that not only could
this contribution allow blood vessels to be created from stem cells,
but the discovery might be employed in other tube)lie structuresin
the body, such as the lungs and the intestines. 3ar from being
confined to blood vessels, the discovery thus opens the door to
resolving the problem of three)dimensional reconstruction of organs
from stem cells.
*** & study by a group of scientists has resulted in a ma(or step
forward in overcoming drug addiction. &s addiction was nown to
cause molecular changes in the brains of addicts, causing their
neurons to transmit much stronger signals of dopamine, a
messenger molecule involved in reward)seeing behaviours, the
scientists were hoping to prove e"perimentally that certain ey
proteins in the dopamine)producing neurons influence drug
addiction. It was an inspired guess, as the study found that mice in
which these ey proteins had been selectively switched off
displayed clear addictive behaviour. 3or instance, mice in which the
4lu*+ protein was switched off showed a much longer period of
dependence. 4onversely, re)administration of cocaine after a long
brea immediately re)ignited the addiction, but mice whose 2*+
protein had been deactivated resisted relapsing into addictive
behaviours. The ability of these proteins to determine addictive
behavioural patterns maes them fascinating.
*** & deficiency in Jitamin 8 is nown to cause various diseases
due to insufficient calcium or phosphate in the bones. Jitamin 8 is
actually an umbrella term that covers a group of steroid molecules.
'f these, only Jitamin 80 requires sunlight to synthesi7e. It is
formed in the sin of all mammals when light energy is absorbed by
a precursor molecule called ?)dehydrocholesterol. & recentstudy
found that at the height of summer, two minutes e"posure of the
face and arms to the sun, three to four times a wee, could supply
enough Jitamin 80. This rose to +: minutes in the winter. Ironically,
Jitamin 8 deficiency, which may also lead to sin cancer, is actually
very common in some of the sunniest but most underdeveloped
countries in the world. This is not because of malnutrition or a lac
of dietary supplements, as most people mistaenly thin. In fact, it
is because very dar sin colour slows the rate of Jitamin 80
production by a factor of si", and people in these countries are
usually heavily veiled when outside, as well. In addition, wearing
sunscreen with a sun protection factor greater than eight will also
bloc Jitamin 80 production.
DS SOSYAL 2010 LKBAHAR
*** 6everal 1/ member states en(oy long)standing political and
economic lins with 5atin &merica. In fact, it was in the +,C-s and
+,?-s that the 1/ first began e"panding its ties to the region
through a series of diplomatic initiatives and agreements aimed at
promoting democracy, addressing development issues, and
boosting trade and investment. Aoreover, the 1/ actively wored
for peace in the troubled 4entral &merican region in the +,@-s. In
the meantime, the accession in +,@C of 6pain and !ortugal to the
1/ furtherstrengthened region)toregion ties. 1/ engagement in
5atin &merica increased during the +,,-s as a formal political
dialogue was put in place to advance issues of common interest,
including how the 1/ and 5atin &merica together can act in concert
with other nations and international organi7ations to address global
issues and challenges.
*** 3or the past 0-- years, musicians and scientists have pu77led
over the unparalleled quality of classical 4remonese violins made
by the Italian master &ntonio 6tradivari. These classical violins
have become the benchmar against which the sound of all other
violins is compared. There are many theories as to the FsecretG of
6tradivarius violins. What was obviously first e"plored was the
e"act si7e of the violins and ratio of the parts to each other.
&lthough instrument maers have disassembled their violins,
calibrated every dimension of the pieces to within the hundredth of
an inch, and replicated the measurements perfectly in new
instruments, they have failed to duplicate the 6tradivarius magic. It
is also well)nown that the density of the material through which a
sound propagates influences significantly the vibration efficiency of
the material, therefore the tonal qualities of the instrument. It is also
a widely held belief that 6tradivaris well)guarded varnish formula
was not (ust a protective coating of the instrument, but actually the
most important secret to his violins.
*** & companys public relations officer is responsible for creating
and maintaining relationships between clients and customers.
Through areas such as brand management, advertising, media
relations and crisis management, public relations officers see to
foster interest, trust and belief in the company and its products.
They are aware of how best to carry this out when dealing within
their own nations and cultures. However, when dealing with a
foreign audience, it is critical thatcross)cultural differences are
recogni7ed. By way of illustrating the impact cross)cultural
awareness can have on the success or failure of a public relations
campaign, a brief e"ample can be citedE an &merican company
tried to sell its toothpaste in 6outheast &siaby emphasi7ing that it
Fwhitens your teethG. Theyfound out that the local natives chew
betel nuts to blacen their teeth because they found it attractive.
*** The &gta 2egritos of the !hilippines, a present)day tribal
people, are an e"ample of a culture whose women and men share
all subsistence activities. Aost interestingly, the &gta 2egritos
women hunt large game with bows, arrows, and hunting dogs. The
women are prevented from hunting only during late pregnancy and
the first few months after giving birth. Teenagers and women with
older children are the most frequent hunters. The women space
their children to allow for ma"imum mobility. They eep their birth
rate down through the use of herbal contraceptives. By studying
these ethnographic e"amples and by questioning the assumptions
that have been made about female and male roles in prehistory,
anthropologists have concluded that Western societys traditionally
low view of womens status is by no means universal.
*** 6atellite images of the upper &ma7on Basin in Bra7il taen
since +,,, have revealed hundreds of circles, squares, and other
geometric shapes once hidden by the &ma7on rain forests. They
hint at a previously unnown ancient society that flourished in the
&ma7on. 2ow researchers estimate that nearly ten times as many
such structures, of unnown purpose, may e"ist undetected under
the &ma7on forest cover. The discovery adds to evidence that the
hinterlands of the &ma7on once teemed with comple" societies,
which were largely wiped out by diseases brought to 6outh &merica
by 1uropean colonists in the +:th and +Cth centuries. 6ince these
vanished societies had gone unrecorded, earlier research had
suggested that soils in the upper &ma7on were too poor to support
the e"tensive agriculture needed for such large, permanent
settlements. The researchers say FWe found that this view is
wrong, and there is a lot more to discover in these placesG.
*** 3ollowing the terrorist attacs of 6eptember ++, .--+,
&mericans understandably rallied around the flag. Having (ust
suffered the deadliest attac ever on the /6 soil, a great ma(ority of
the people believed another attac was imminent. But &mericans
also had enormous faith the FDlobal War on TerrorG would help
eep them safe. #ust one month after ,I++, for instance, ,9 per
cent of &mericans fully approved of how the fight against terrorism
was being handled. The /nited 6tates then quicly went to war in
&fghanistan, closing down a terrorist camp and capturing or illing
a number of high)level al Maeda operatives in the process.
However, since .--+, terrorists have found their targets on almost
every continent, with bombings in Bali, 5ondon, Aadrid, Istanbul,
and elsewhere. 2ow &mericans appear less convinced that their
country is winning the war on terror. In the face of persisting
threats, including a growing number of terroristattacs around the
world, numerous reports show that &mericans are losing faith in
their governments ability to wage the war successfully and to
protect them from the terrorists ne"t ma(or attac.
DS FEN 2010 SONBAHAR
*** Wildfires are an important environmental ha7ard in many
geographical areas. Those areas most prone to wildfires have wet
seasons followed by dry seasons. Jegetation that grows and
accumulates during the wet season dries out enough during the dry
season to burn easily. When lightning hits the ground, it ignites the
dry organic material, and a fire spreads through the area. &ctually
fires have several effects on the environment. 3irst, burning frees
the minerals that are loced in organic matter. The ashes remaining
after a fire are rich in potassium, phosphorus, calcium, and other
minerals essential for plant growth. Thus, vegetation flourishes
following a fire. 6econd, fire removes plant cover and e"poses the
soil, which stimulates the germination of seeds requiring bare soil,
and encourages the growth of shade)intolerant plants. Third, fire
can cause increased soil erosion because it removes plant cover,
leaving the soil more vulnerable to wind and water.
*** Aoisture is removed from humid air by mountains, which force
the air to rise. &s it gains altitude, the air cools, clouds form, and
precipitation occurs, primarily on the windward slopes of the
mountains. &s the air mass moves down on the other side of the
mountain, it is warmed, thereby lessening the chance of
precipitation of any remaining moisture. This situation e"ists on the
west coast of 2orth &merica, where precipitation falls on the
western slopes of mountains that are close to the coast. The dry
lands on the sides of the mountains away fromthe prevailing wind
are called Frain shadows.G Denerally, differences in elevation, in the
steepness and direction of slopes, and in e"posure to sunlight and
prevailing winds may produce local variations in climate nown as
Fmicroclimates,G which can be quite different from their overall
surroundings. 3or an organism, the microclimate of its habitat isof
primary importance, because that is the climate an organism
actually e"periences and nows how to cope with.
*** Today scientists draw attention to some of the potential
consequences of global warming on wildlife. They point out that
each species reacts to changes in temperature differently. 6ome
species will undoubtedly become e"tinct, particularly those with
narrow temperature requirements, those confined to small reserves
or pars, and those living in fragile ecosystems, whereas other
species may survive in greatly reduced numbers and ranges.
1cosystems considered most vulnerable to species loss in the
short term are polar seas, coral reefs, mountains, coastal wetlands,
tundra, taiga, and temperate forests. 'n the other hand, some
species may be able to migrate to new environments or adapt
themselves to the changing conditions in their present habitats.
&lso, some species may be unaffected by global warming, whereas
others may emerge from it as winners, with greatly e"panded
numbers and ranges. Those considered most liely to prosper
include weeds, pests, and disease)carrying organisms that are
already common in many different environments.
*** 4ommercial logging, mostly for e"port abroad, accounts for .+=
of tropical deforestation. Aost tropical countries allow commercial
logging to proceed at a much faster rate than is sustainable. 3or
e"ample, in parts of Aalaysia, current logging practices remove the
forest almost twice as fast as the sustainable rate. If thiscontinues,
Aalaysia will soon e"perience shortages of timber and will have to
start importing logs. When that happens, Aalaysia will have lost
future revenues, both from logging and from harvesting other forest
products, from its newly vanished forests. Aoreover, in addition to
commercial logging, cattle ranching also causes deforestation. In
fact, appro"imately +.= of tropical rainforest destruction is done to
provide open rangeland for cattle. &fter the forests are cleared,
cattle can be raised on the land for si" to ten years, after which time
shrubby plants tae over the range. Auch of the beef raised on
these ranches, which are often owned by foreign companies, is
e"ported to fast)food restaurants.
*** In the early part of the twentieth century, the e"periments
carried out by 1rnest *utherford and his colleagues led to the idea
that at the centre of an atom there is a tiny but massive nucleus. &t
the same time that the quantum theory was being developed and
that scientists were attempting to understand the structure of the
atom and its electrons, investigations into the nucleus itself had
also begun. &n important question to physicists was whether the
nucleus had a structure, and what that structure might be. In fact, it
has so far turned out that the nucleus is a complicated entity, and
even today, it is not fully understood. However, by the early +,0-s,
a model of the nucleus had been developed that is still useful.
&ccording to this model, a nucleus is considered as an aggregate
of two types of particlesE protons and neutrons. & proton is the
nucleus of the simplest atom which is hydrogen. The neutron,
whose e"istence was ascertained only in +,0. by the 1nglish
physicist #ames 4hadwic, is electrically neutral as its name
implies. These two constituents of a nucleus, neutrons and protons,
are referred to collectively as Fnucleons.G
*** 1arth and Jenus, being roughly the same si7e and distance
from the sun, are often regarded as twin planets. 6o it is natural to
wonder how the crust of Jenus compares with that of our own
world. &lthough centuries of telescopic observations from 1arth
could give no insight, beginning in +,,- the Aagellan space
probes orbiting radar penetrated the thic clouds that enshroud
Jenus and revealed its surface with stunning clarity. 3rom the
detailed images of landforms, planetary scientists can surmise the
type of roc that covers Jenus. It seems that our sister planet is
completely covered by rocs of basaltic composition, which are
very much lie the dar, finegrained rocs that line the ocean
basins of 1arth. Aagellans mapping, however, failed to find
e"tensive areas comparable to 1arths continental crust.
DS SALIK 2010 SONBAHAR
*** !arinsons and &l7heimers diseases are the most common
diseases which affect many people in the world. &ppro"imately, +
million people in the world suffer from !arinsons disease, a motor
disorder characteri7ed by difficulty in initiating movements and
slowness of movement. !atients often have a mased facial
e"pression, poor balance, and a fle"ed posture. 5ie &l7heimers
disease, which is characteri7ed by confusion, memory loss, and a
variety of other symptoms, !arinsons disease is progressive, and
the ris increases with age. The incidence of the !arinsons
disease is about += at the age of C:, and about := at the age @:.
!arinsons disease appears to result from a combination of
environmental and genetic factors. 1vidence for a genetic role
includes the fact that some families with an increased incidence of
!arinsons disease carry a mutated form of the gene for a protein
which is important in normal brain function. The symptoms of
!arinsons disease result from the death of neurons in the mid)
brain. &s a result, at present, there is no cure for !arinsons
disease, although various treatments can help control the
symptoms.
*** Dene replacement therapy is being developed for several
genetic diseases. Because many difficulties are inherent in treating
most serious genetic diseases, scientists have dreamed of
developing actual cures. Today, genetic engineering is bringing
these dreams closer to reality. 6uch therapy could tae two main
forms. 'ne approach would be to introduce copies of a normal
gene into a fertili7ed egg, using modifications of the technology
already used to produce transgenic animals. In some transgenic
animals the introduced gene can remain stable from generation to
generation, constituting a true Fgenetic cure.G However, this
approach raises such comple" ethical problems that it is not being
actively pursued at this time. & second strategy ; to introduce the
normal gene into only some body cells $somatic cell gene therapy%
; is receiving increased attention today. The rationale is that,
although a particular gene may be present in all cells, it is
e"pressed only in some. 1"pression of the normal allele in only the
cells that require it may be sufficient to give a normal phenotype.
&lthough this approach presents a number of technical obstacles,
which must be overcome, gene therapies for a number of genetic
diseases are undergoing development or are being tested on
patients in clinical trials.
*** The pirate loo is a time)honoured way to fi" childrens Fla7y
eyeG. The patch over the good eye forces the wea one to wor,
thereby preventing its deterioration. !laying video games helps,
too. The neural cells corresponding to both eyes then learn to fire in
synchrony so that the brain wires itself for the stereo vision required
for depth perception. 5eft untreated past a critical age,la7y eye, or
amblyopia, can result in permanently impaired vision. 2ew studies
are now showing that this condition, which affects up to : per cent
ofthe population, could be repaired even past the critical age. What
is more, amblyopia may provide insights into brain plasticity that
could help treat a variety of other disorders related to faulty wiring,
including schi7ophrenia, epilepsy, autism, an"iety, and addiction.
These ailments are not neurodegenerative diseases that destroy
part of the neural circuitry. 6o, if the defective circuits could be
stimulated in the right way, the brain could develop normally.
*** Aany drugs, whether prescribed or abused, affect the nervous
system. While about .:= of all prescribed drugs are taen to alter
psychological conditions, almost all the commonly abused drugs
affect mood. In particular, levels of serotonin and dopamine are
thought to influence mood. 3or e"ample, when e"cessive amounts
of norepinephrine are released, people feel energetic and
stimulated, whereas low concentrations of this neurotransmitter
reduce an"iety. Habitual use of almost any mood)altering drug can
result in psychological dependence, in which the user becomes
emotionally dependent on the drug. When deprived of it, the user
craves the feeling of euphoria $well)being% that the drug induces.
6ome drugs induce tolerance after several wees. This means that
response to the drug decreases, and greater amounts are required
to obtain the desired effect. Tolerance often occurs because the
liver cells are stimulated to produce more of the en7ymes that
metaboli7e and inactivate the drug. /se of some of the drugs, such
as heroin, tobacco, and alcohol, may also result in addiction
$physical dependence%, in which physiological changes occur that
mae the user dependent on the drug. &ddiction can also occur
because certain drugs, such as morphine, have components similar
to substances that body cells normally manufacture on their own.
The continued use of such a drug causes potentially dangerous
physiological effects.
*** &nyone who has spent even a little time with an autistic boy or
girl soon becomes familiar with the behaviours that set these
children apart. But how do parents and doctors now if a baby has
autismH 1arly diagnosis has proved difficult, but if it were possible,
it would lead to much moreeffective treatment for the younger a
child is the more malleable is the brain. 6o, the inability to detect
autism until a child is two or three years old is a terrific
disadvantage, as it eliminates a valuable window of treatment
opportunity, when the brain is undergoing tremendous
development. *esearchers, however, are closing in on techniques
that could detect autism in babies as young as si" months and
perhaps even at birth. The results of these new tests are e"panding
the understanding of autism and raising hopes for much earlier,
speciali7ed care that could improve a toddlers chances for a more
normal life as a child, teenager and adult.
*** 3or humans to be able to hear a sound, it must be both loud
enough and within the right frequency range ; as measured by the
number of vibrations per second, or hert7 $H7%. The average person
is most sensitive to sounds in the +,---):,--- H7 range, and most
lose the ability to hear very high frequencies $above around .-,---
H7% with age. 1ven so a si7eable proportion of the population do
seem to remain sensitive to the very low frequency FinfrasoundG.
High)frequency sounds have more than (ust audible effects as
teenagers in 6windon discovered in .--C. Tired of having crowds
of youngsters collecting around the town theatre, the owners
installed the Aosquito, a device that emits sonic energy at very
high frequencies. 'nly the teenagers could hear it and it forced
them to meet elsewhere.
DS SOSYAL 2010 SONBAHAR
*** When Timemaga7ine declared its .--C person of the year to be
FKouG, the maga7ine was pointing to an undeniable realityE anyone
with an Internet connection can be a reporter, political
commentator, cultural critic, or media producer. &round the same
time, the media scholar H. #enins and his colleagues published a
paper appreciating the Fparticipatory culturesG of creation and
sharing, mentorship, and civic engagement that were emerging
online, especially among young people. &lthoughTimedid not
e"plicitly frame participation in the new media as a youth
phenomenon, most of the fifteen Fciti7ens of digital democracyG who
were featured in its 8ecember +0 article were under the age of
thirty)five. #enins and his colleagues strongly suggest that young
people are especially well)poised to tae full advantage of Web ..-.
'n the other hand, ever since digital technologies were made
available, scholars, educators, policymaers, and parents have
been debating their implications for young peoples literacy,
attention spans,social tolerance, and tendency for aggression.
4onsiderable strides are now being made in scholarship in many of
these areas.
*** The last decade has seen notable changes in disability policy in
1urope. 4hanged assumptions about the concept of disability have
been reflected in the adoption of new national and pan)1uropean
legislation. &s a consequence, the policy which has sought to
separate and segregate people with disabilities in Fspecial schoolsG,
labour marets, residential accommodation and transport has, to
some degree, and in some countries, been reconsidered. &ttempts
have been made to develop an integrated approach, opening up
(obs, services and housing to all people irrespective of their ability
or disability. & ey element of this new approach has been the
recognition that segregation and e"clusion is not a necessary
consequence of a physical or intellectual impairment, but the result
of conscious policy choices based on false assumptions about the
abilities of the people with disabilities. The new approach
recogni7es the role which discrimination plays in disadvantaging
people with disabilities and, conversely, how legislation sees to
combat elements of disability discrimination and creates equality of
opportunity for people with disabilities.
*** When prehistoric man returned home from a hunt, he was
almost certainly ased the question we would lie to as todayE
FWhat happenedHG Muite possibly, he replied in a factual manner,
providing a short report of the land covered, the number of animals
spotted, and the results. His face)to)face communication was
limited only to those within the sight and sound of the speaer.
1ither because of this or because he thought his communication
should be recorded in more permanent form, the caveman
eventually began to draw his message, the report of his latest
adventurous hunt, on the wall of the cave. This opened up a whole
range of possibilitiesE The wall was there twenty)four hours a day,
seven days a wee. The caveman could go about his other
business, whatever that may have been, and still now that his
message was being communicated, for the audience was
communicating not with the caveman himself, but with the wall.
This was the beginning of mass communication ; impersonal
communication with a diverse audience that has a limited
opportunity to respond ; and much was gained from it.
*** &lthough the /nited 6tatesand the 6oviet /nion became allies
during World War II, there seemed to be little doubt that their
opposing ideologies would ultimately produce a cold war. The cold
war was a global phenomenon and was clearly conditioned by the
political, economic, and social aspirations of the two superpowers.
Between +,9: and +,@, 1urope became a testing ground for the
cold war itself. The 6oviets were convinced that 1astern 1uropean
buffer states had to be created to protect the 6oviet /nion from
future invasions. &s for the /nited 6tates, the Truman 8octrine,
Aarshall !lan, and 2&T' were all intended to eep *ussian
ideology within its own borders. When the cold war came to an end
following the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 2ovember +,@,, the
6oviet ideology was considered a spent force in 1astern 1urope.
*** 3or the present, 2&6& appears to be committed to maintaining
its human spaceflight program, whatever the cost. However, in the
ne"t decade, it may discover that it does not need human
characters to tell compelling stories. Insteadof ga7ing at posters of
astronauts, children are now playing with toy models of Aars
rovers. The ne"t generation of space adventurers is growing up
with the nowledge that one can visit another planet without
boarding a spacecraft. 8ecades from now, when those children are
grown)ups, some of them will lead the ne"t great e"plorations of
the solar system. 6itting in quiet control rooms, they will send
instructions to far)away probes already launched and mae the
final ad(ustment that points us towards the stars.
*** 3rom the mid)fifteenth century on, most of 1urope had en(oyed
steady economic growth, and the discovery of the 2ew World
seemed the basis of greater prosperity to come. By the middle of
the si"teenth century, however,the situation changed. 2othing lie
the upward price trend that affected Western 1urope in the second
half of the si"teenth century had ever happened before. 6ince
1uropes population began to grow vastly and the food supply
remained constant, food prices were driven sharply higher by the
increased demand. &t the same time, wages stagnated or even
declined. 'n the other hand, the enormous influ" of silver from
6panish &merica into 1urope, where much of it was minted into
coins, caused a dramatic increase in the volume of money in
circulation. This, of course, fuelled the spiral of rising prices.
DS FEN 2011 LKBAHAR
*** The boo by physicist 5ee 6molin, The Trouble with !hysics,is
an all)out attac on string theory in theoretical physics. 6tring
theory aims to unify the laws governing all physical forces by
combining quantum mechanics with general relativity. It is not very
intuitive as it posits the e"istence of +- space)time. 6molin points
out that, not once in its 0- years of e"istence, has string theory
been validated by a test result. &lthough they acnowledge this
weaness, the theorys advocates claim that it helps to clarify a
number of concepts and, most important of all, it holds the promise
of a grand unification. 6molins historical account is both brilliant
and lively. The most interesting feature of the boo is his
sociological analysis of the way in which string theory has taen
root in academic circles and the mechanisms that allowed it to gain
its present almost total dominance. How can a community of lie)
minded scientists have secured such a powerful position that it is
now able to determine the course of research, to monopoli7e public
funding and to decide careers, to the point of abolishing all
alternative approachesH Indeed, his analysis is applicable to many
other fields and disciplines.
*** The sheer scale of 1uropean information storage systems and
the interoperability of numerous e"isting databases inevitably raise
a string of privacy questions. This e"plains the public mistrust of
these technologies. In 3rance, the 1dwige police database for
retrieving information on all inds of activists from age +0 has been
met with public outrage. In Dermany, the creation of a vast
FantiterroristG database has provoed a wave of protest. The /P is
also regularly attaced by ethical questions concerning its database
of 82& fingerprints from 9.: million individuals involved in a ma(or
or minor crime. 2o wonder people have grave concerns. How much
trust can be placed in digital data storage tools when, in .--?, a
British company simply mislaid the personal data of .: million
individuals or when, in .--@ confidential information on 0- million
clients of a Derman ban appeared on the internet for 9@ hoursH
The biggest danger is not that these tools could be used by officials
who are dishonest about civil liberties, but that they are not secure
from e"ternal intrusion or negligence. The architecture of these
security systems ought to be foolproof.
*** &re we born with a limited number of heart cells or is the heart
able to generate new onesH To this long) debated question,
researchers at the Parolinsa Institute have come up with an
answerE Heart cells are continually replaced. The renewal rate is +
= per year up to age .- years and decreases over the years,
reaching -.:= in the ?-s. Thus, over a lifetime, less than half of
the myocardial cells are renewed. The method used by #onas
3risenna and his team to uncover the hearts ability to produce new
cells is totally Innovative. They determine the age of heart cells
using the carbon)+9 dating method. 3ollowing the aerial nuclear
e"plosions conducted during the 4old War in the +,:-s, large
quantities of this radioactive isotope were released into the
atmosphere and absorbed by plant, animal and human cells and
82&. But since the 2uclear Test Ban, these quantities of carbon)+9
have decreased quite rapidly. 6cientists have analy7ed the carbon)
+9 content of the 82& of heart cells of people born before and after
the nuclear tests to determine when these cells were generated.
The results of this study open new perspectives in the search for
therapies to alleviate cell death in myocardial infarction.
*** 6tars are believed to begin life as collapsing masses of
hydrogen gas. which are called FprotostarsG. &s collapsing masses
start contracting, they heat up. When the temperature in them
reaches +- million degrees, nuclear fusion begins and forms
heavier elements, mainly helium at first. The energy released
during these reactions balances the gravitational force, and the
young star stabili7es as a main) sequence star. The tremendous
brightness of stars comes from the energy released during these
thermonuclear reactions. &fter billions of years, as helium is
collected in the core and hydrogen is used up, the core contracts
and heats further. The envelope e"pands and cools, and the star
becomes a red giant. The ne"t stage of stellar evolution depends
on the mass of the star. 6tars of residual mass less than +.9 solar
masses cool further and became white dwarfs, eventually fading
and going out altogether. if the stars residual mass is greater than
two or three solar masses, it may contract even further and form a
blac hole, which is so dense that no matter or light can escape
from it.
*** '7one molecules in the stratosphere absorb incoming solar
ultraviolet radiation. With depletion of the o7one layer, more
ultraviolet radiation reaches the 1arth>s surface. 1"cessive
e"posure to ultraviolet radiation is lined to a number of human
health problems. These include cataracts, sin cancer, and a
weaened immune system. However, this is not the end of the list.
Auch scientific evidence also documents crop damage from
e"posure to high levels of ultraviolet radiation. Aoreover, biologists
are seriously concerned that the o7one hole over &ntarctica could
damage planton that forms the base of the food web for the
surrounding ocean. & +,,. study confirmed that increased
ultraviolet radiation is penetrating surface waters around &ntarctica.
This e"tra amount of ultraviolet radiation is negatively affecting
&ntarctic phytoplanton. The productivity of &ntarctic phytoplanton
has declined by at least C= to +.= as a result. If the productivity of
phytoplanton continues to decline, the comple" food web of
&ntarctica, which includes fishes, seals, penguins, whales, and vast
populations of birds, will beat ris.
*** !roteins are of central importance in the chemistry of life. These
macromolecules serve as structural components of cells and
tissues< growth and repair, as well as maintenance of the organism
depend on an adequate supply of these compounds. Aany proteins
serve as en7ymes, molecules that speed up the thousands of
different chemical reactions that tae place in an organism. The
protein constituents of a cell are the clues to its lifestyle. 1ach cell
type has characteristic types, distributions, and amounts of protein
that determine what the cell loos lie and how it functions. &
muscle cell differs from other cell types by virtue of its large content
of the proteins myosin and actin, which are largely responsible for
its appearance as well as for its ability to contract. The protein
haemoglobin, found in red blood cells, is responsible for the
speciali7ed function of o"ygen transport. &lthough carbohydrates
and lipids tend to have the same structures, among different
species, most proteins are species)specific< that is, their structures
vary from species to species. The specific proteins present are
largely responsible for differences among species.
DS SALIK 2011 LKBAHAR
*** The common cold is a misery, a nuisance and a financial burden
which costs the /nited 6tates economy alone an estimated O:
billion every year. The main problem is that it is not caused by one
virus, but by a family of viruses of over .--, maing it impossible to
vaccinate against. 'nce infected, all one can really do is to ease
the symptoms. 8rugs relieve sinus pain and headache, while
decongestants reduce blood flow to mucus membranes, unblocing
the stuffy nose. Aore powerful symptomatic treatments are unliely.
Aedication that carries even the slightest ris of side effects would
never be approved to treat a condition which, for most people, is
non)lethal, but simply a nuisance. Ket, for the sufferers of chronic
lung diseases, such as asthma and bronchitis, colds can be deadly.
3or these people, the new drugs that are being developed could
offer a lifeline. &ntiviral drugs, which target the virus directly, are
currently in development. These could ill up to half of the cold)
producing viruses, greatly lowering the chance of infection.
*** It is generally believed that 82& was discovered by the
4ambridge scientists 3rancis 4ric and #ames Watson, who won a
2obel !ri7e in +,C. for revealing its purpose. In fact, everyone is
wrongE 82& was actually discovered in +@C,, and its purpose
revealed years before 4ric and Watson. In fact, the real credit
should have gone to 'swald &very and his team at *ocefeller
/niversity, 2ew Kor, who, in +,99, used bacteria to show that 82&
passed genetic information from one organism to another. The
trouble was that all the e"perts, including even those who advised
the 2obel committee, then claimed that 82& was too simple to do
this and could not possibly carry all the information needed to build
a living organism. This was almost impossible. Thus, &very was
repeatedly denied the pri7e. However, by the early +,C-s the 2obel
committee agreed, and accepted &very and his team had been
right all along and deserved the 2obel !ri7e. But, by then it was too
late as &very had died in +,::. This is one of the sad stories in
science.
*** The ear feels bloced when the air pressure in the space behind
the eardrum, that is to say, the middle ear, is different from e"ternal
air pressure. 2ormally this is not a problem because air is supplied
to the middle ear from the outside through a narrow tube at the
bac of the nose, which is called Fthe 1ustachian tubeN. This is
usually closed, but yawning or swallowing opens it up sufficiently to
permit the Internal and e"ternal pressures to equali7e. Tilting the
head bac also helps because of the way in which the 1ustachian
tube is positioned in the head. If the tube is bloced, as when we
have a cold, a difference in pressure gradually builds up. This
stretches the eardrum and maes sounds seem muffled. !roblems
can also arise when there is a rapid change in e"ternal pressure
during an aircraft descent or an underwater dive. This is one of the
reasons why infants and children start crying while the aircraft is
descending. The secret in all cases is to use your chee and throat
muscles to create a pressure that opens up the 1ustachian tube.
*** & persons emotional state is not (ust signalled to others by
facial e"pression, but by body posture as well. This is the finding of
researchers at the Harvard Aedical 6chool. They showed seven
people some images of body posture ) happy, fearful, and
emotionally neutral lie opening a door or pouring a glass of water.
The sub(ects> emotional response to these images was evaluated
by studying their brain activity with functional magnetic resonance
imaging $fA*I% scans. It was found that viewing fearful whole) body
e"pressions produced higher activity in areas nown to process
emotional information than viewing images of meaningful but
emotionally neutral body actions. In contrast, viewing happy
postures produced higher activity in areas of the brain that process
visual information. The research showed that when it comes to
conveying emotion, the body could be (ust as important as the face.
However, almost all the studies so far into the perception of
emotion have focused mainly on the brain activity generated by
images of facial e"pressions. 3urther developments on these
evaluations will follow after the invention of more advanced
devices.
*** 6cientists have thought about the brains intricate form for
centuries. In the early +@--s, Derman physician 3ran7 #oseph Dall
proposed that the shape of a persons brain and sull spoe
volumes about that individuals intelligence and personality which is
a theory nown as FphrenologyG. This influential, even though
scientifically unsupported, idea led to the collection of FcriminalG ,
FdegenerateN and FgeniusG brains. Then, in the latter part of the
+,th century, 6wiss anatomist Wilhelm His claimed that the brain
develops as a sequence of events guided by physical forces.
British polymath 8&rcy Thompson built on that foundation,
showing that the shapes of many structures, biological and
Inanimate, result from physical self)organi7ation. !rovocative
though they were, these early suppositions eventually faded from
view. !hrenology became nown as a pseudoscience, and modern
genetic theories replaced the biomechanical approach of the +,th
century and furthered our understanding of the structure of the
human brain. Thus, no matter how e"citing the theories may be
more reliable information is a prerequisite for their acceptance.
*** The revelation that H.6 is produced in the cardio)vascular
system and helps to control blood pressure caught the attention of
many researchers who had been looing for novel ways to protect
the heart against damage from o"ygen deprivation, as occurs when
a clot prevents blood from bringing o"ygen to the heart, leading to
the death of cardiac tissue. In .--C, Dary Ba"ter reported that in
isolated rat hearts, which were first provided with saline solution to
mimic blood supply and then deprived of the saline to mimic a heart
attac, administering H.6 to these isolated hearts before halting
the saline supply reduced the e"tent of cardiac muscle damage.
5ater, 8avid 5efer showed that mice engineered to produce more
H.6 in the heart were better able to tolerate o"ygen deprivation
caused by a clot and more resistant to the damage that often
ensues when blood flow is restored to tissues after a period of
deprivation. 3indings such as these suggest that H.6 could be
used to prevent or treat hypertension, heart attacs and stroes in
humans. But the gass ability to rela" blood vessels means that its
potential applications could e"tend to other blood vessel problems
too ) including erectile dysfunction.
DS SOSYAL 2011 LKBAHAR
*** 2owadays, we all lie to thin we have got past the racist
nonsense of previous centuries, when even the most eminent
scientists, white ones, of course, declared white people to be the
pinnacle of human progress and other races to be inferior. We now
accept that no race is superior to another. There is no question that
most societies have made enormous progress in eliminating such
overt racial pre(udice. But an unsettling study published by
researchers in the /nited 6tates suggests that there is still a long
way to go. 1ven today, the study finds, &mericans of various races
still unconsciously dehumani7e their blac fellow citi7ens by subtly
associating them with apes. In an e"periment in which students
were subliminally flashed a photo of either an &frican) &merican or
a 1uropean)&merican face, and then shown a blurry picture of an
ape, those shown the blac face were quicer to recogni7e the ape.
Aore troubling still, this association is not (ust confined to
psychologists testsE It also appears to bias peoples (udgements
about whether specific instances of police violence are (ustified.
*** Best nown for his novels .-,--- 5eagues /nder the 6eaand
&round the World in @- 8ays,#ules Jerne, the 3rench science
fiction pioneer, has always been a ma(or cultural figure in his native
land, 3rance. His hometown of &miens continues to remember his
contributions with parades, e"hibitions and literary conferences.
Ket, in the 1nglish)speaing world, #ules Jerne has been
pigeonholed as merely a young boys adventure writer, even
though he was successfully able to foresee heavier)than)air flying
machines and moon voyages. In addition, twentieth century
pioneers such as the polar e"plorer *ichard Byrd, the rocet
scientist Wernher von Braun and the astronaut 2eil &rmstrong have
all said that #ules Jernes writings inspired them. But now, #ules
Jerne enthusiasts are pushing for a reconsideration of the writer as
an influential literary figure, whose C9 novels and stories ) of
admittedly varying literary quality ) offer not only startling
prophecies but also offer provide a sharp commentary on the
1urope and &merica of his day.
*** & battle between traditional and progressive educators has
raged since the +,0-s, when modern approaches to musical
teaching were first proposed. 6tephanie !itts, author and editor of
the British #ournal o f Ausic 1ducation,charts the course of this
battle in her boo & 4entury of 4hange in Ausic 1ducation.Both
camps argued for musics inclusion in the school curriculum, but
their (ustifications and proposed teaching methods conflicted. 'n
the one hand, declared traditionalists, music was a body of
nowledge made up of the great symphonies and fol songs of
Britain>s repertoire. 6tudents could be taught to appreciate and sing
this Fnational songbooG as part of a cultural education. This was
the method that dominated the classroom for decades, and is still
part of the primary school approach. 'n the other hand, responded
the progressives, if music was an e"pression of our inner psyche,
then children should be encouraged to play and e"periment in
order to learn more about themselves. FBring something to mae
noise withN, they shouted.
*** 3or centuries, when one country disapproved of another
countrys behaviour, political leaders sought ways to communicate
their displeasure short of going to war. That is the idea behind
economic sanctions. 6anctions allow countries to punish another
government without having to resort to violence. &t least, that was
the idea. But a recent study reveals that sanctions actually mae it
far more liely that two states will eventually meet on the battlefield.
The researchers e"amined more than two hundred cases of
sanctions and found that, when sanctions are added to the mi",
military conflict is e"tremely liely to occur between two countries
than if sanctions had not been imposed at all. Because countries
generally prefer to enact sanctions that are not especially costly to
themselves, target countries often interpret the action as a lac of
resolve. This interpretation may lead the country being sanctioned
to become provocative in its actions, which may in turn pave the
way for a military confrontation.
*** The most striing achievement of the successful 8anish
economy probably relates to labour maret dynamism. 6uch an
achievement Is hard to find throughout the rest of the world. The
unemployment rate has been brought down from a previously high
level and is now amongst the lowest across 1urope. The 8anish
labour maret model has been called Ffle"lcurityN which Is a
combination of fle"ibility and security. How is it possible to blend
labour maret fle"ibility, as in the British model, with a generous
unemployment benefit system, as in the continental 1uropean
model, while still maintaining high (ob security and satisfaction
levelsH The 8anish labour maret model is based on three pillars.
3irst, moderate employment protection maes it easy for firms to
ad(ust their worforce to new conditions ) easy to fire, easy to hire.
6econd, a generous unemployment benefit system protects (ob
losers against significant drops in income, especially for those at
the lower end of the income scale, where (ob insecurity is also
highest. Third, active labour maret policies are used e"tensively to
bring relevant qualifications to the unemployed and to test
availability for wor.
*** 3ew operas are as rooted in one place as Ben(amin Brittens
!eter Drimes.The title character is a dar) souled fisherman who
goes mad after the death of his apprentice. Drimes was the
invention of the poet Deorge 4rabbe, who grew up in &ldeburgh, on
the eastern coast of 1ngland, in the later part of the eighteenth
century. 4rabbe apparently based Drimes on a detested local
character. Aontaga 6later, the operas librettist, wove his
elaboration of the tale into various &ldeburgh settings. Britten, who
was a resident of the same town for most of his adult life, brilliantly
evoed its sights and sounds in his music ) the crying of gulls, the
creaing of buoys, the endless booming of the waves. The obvious
way to stage Drimesis to re)create the original setting of &ldeburgh
and let Brittens flawless score do the rest. This was the approach
taen by Tyrone Duthrie, who first directed the opera at 4ovent
Darden>s famous opera house, in +,9?.
DS FEN 2011 SONBAHAR
*** 1arly in the .-th century, volcanologist Diuseppe Aercalli
created a scale to categori7e earthquaes based on the level of
damage incurred. This Aercalli intensity scale ranges from 5evel +,
which is registered only by seismographs, to 5evel +., which
results in severe changes on the 1arths surface and the
destruction of almost all buildings. The more popular and more
scientific *ichter scale, developed by 4harles 3rancis *ichter,
calculates the intensity of an earthquae as FmagnitudeG $A% on a
logarithmic scale. The A)value is determined from the distance
between the hypocenter of the earthquae and the seismological
recording station, as well as the amplitudes recorded on
seismographs. 1arthquaes with magnitudes less than ..- are not
perceivable by people. 1ach number on the *ichter scale
represents an earthquae ten times more powerful than the number
below it. Today, scientists use the more precise moment)magnitude
scale. To calculate the A)value, this scale multiplies the area of the
faults rupture by the distance moved along the fault. The study and
measuring of earthquaes is crucial in aiding scientists and
engineers with planning for future occurrences, especially because
there could be deadly consequences.
*** 6aving the planet might be the selfless motive for driving electric
cars, but most owners derive the greatest pleasure from the silence
of their vehicles. However, its a pleasure soon to disappear as
lawmaers in 1urope and the /6 prepare rules to mae them
noisier. The argument is that pedestrians would be safer, especially
those with impaired vision and hearing. &lthough some figures from
the /6 do suggest that proportionately there are higher collision
rates with electric vehicles, conclusive data is nevertheless scarce.
8o people really navigate the urban (ungle using only their earsH 'r
indeed the latest diesel)engined vehicles, which, at low speeds, are
very quietH In fact, electric cars offer a rare opportunity to cut both
chemical and noise pollution and we should embrace them. The
sound made by internal)combustion engines is (ust an unwelcome
waste product. 6ome people may find it useful, but then so did
those who gathered up the dung from all our horse)driven carriages
to use as fertiliser. Insisting that electric cars mae a noise would
be lie passing a law in the early .-th century, obliging drivers of
the new)fangled Fmotor vehicleG to deposit a load of well)rotted
compost on the side of the road every :- miles.
*** 4alculus was independently developed by Dottfried Wilhelm
5eibni7 and Isaac 2ewton in the late +?th century. 5eibni7 based
his theory on the use of geometric processes to solve mathematical
problems. He viewed a curve as being made up of infinitely small
segments, whereby the slope of the tangent could be calculated for
each segment. He recogni7ed the relationship between differential
and integral calculus. 2ewton, on the other hand, was more
interested in solving a physics problemE how to determine the
instantaneous speed of an accelerating ob(ect. He viewed a curve
as a reflection of constant acceleration and imagined a point as an
infinitely small segment of a line. The time interval between
observations of an ob(ects motion could be reduced to the point
that the change in speed disappears. Thus, acceleration or
deceleration can be calculated as the sum of the instantaneous
speeds of the observed ob(ect. 5eibni7 was later accused of
stealing 2ewtons ideas from the correspondence e"changed by
the two, and the *oyal 6ociety of 5ondon, influenced by 2ewton,
erroneously pronounced him guilty. However, 5eibni7s system
eventually became the dominant form of calculus, thans to its
elegant notation and simplicity.
*** 3or decades, Dermany has had some of the most enlightened
energy policies in 1urope. It has long been admired for setting
world)leading growth in wind and solar. But, its decision to end
nuclear power by .-.. will set bac efforts to decarboni7e the
electricity supply by +- crucial years, and could prove e"pensive for
every household in 1urope. Dermanys sudden about)turn, lie all
decisions on nuclear energy, was highly political. 5ast year, the
government, headed by &ngela Aerel, made the sensible but
unpopular decision to e"tend the life of Dermanys nuclear plants to
.-0C as a Fbridge technologyG towards Fthe age of renewable
energyG. But, after the disaster at the 3uushima 8aiichi nuclear
plant in #apan, public hostility intensified and Aerel retreated. The
/)turn may help her in the .-+0 federal elections, but it is a ma(or
step bac for the climate. &bout .0= of Dermanys electricity
comes from nuclear and +?= from renewable energy sources.
Thats a 9-= share for 7ero)carbon in total. The government has
admirable plans to raise renewable electricity to 0:= of
consumption by .-.-. However, even this planned increase falls
:= short of filling the hole in 7ero)carbon electricity left by
abandoning nuclear power.
*** The fate of the dinosaurs may have been sealed half a billion
years before life even appeared, by two geological time bombs that
still e"ist near our planets core. & controversial new hypothesis
lins massive eruptions of lava that coincided with many of the
1arths largest e"tinctions to two unusually hot sections of mantle
.,@-- ilometres beneath the 1arths crust. These sections formed
(ust after the 1arth itself, 9.: billion years ago. If the hypothesis is
correct, they have periodically burst through the planets crust,
creating enormous oceans of lava which poisoned the atmosphere
and wiped out entire branches of the tree of life. 8ebates still rage
over what caused different mass e"tinctions, including the one that
wiped out the dinosaurs. &n asteroid that smashed into the 1arth
C: million years ago is no doubt partially to blame for the demise of
the dinosaurs. But, a less)nown school of thought has it that this
and other e"tinctions occurred when cracs in the crust let huge
amounts of lava pour out from the centre of the 1arth. 1ach event
flooded at least +--,--- square ilometres, leaving behind distinct
geological regions nown as large igneous provinces $5I!s%, such
as Indias 8eccan traps, which were formed during the time when
the dinosaurs became e"tinct.
***There have been very few studies comparing the microbiological
safety of organic and conventional food production. In theory,
organic food could be more prone to microbial contamination due to
the lac of preservatives and the use of animal waste or manure as
fertilisers are more commonly referred to. However, the results of
the present studies have not been conclusive due to a number of
factors, including a small sample si7e and a failure to tae into
account seasonal and regional variations. 4learly, organic and
conventional foods are susceptible to contamination by pathogenic
microorganisms at every point in the food chain. It can occur during
production from manure and water, during processing from
environmental sources and during the final handling and pacing,
possibly as a result of poor human sanitation. 'ne area where
organic production systems might pose a higher ris is through the
use of newer untreated manure as fertiliser. 6tudies carried out on
organic and conventional produce found that 1. coli contamination
was +, times greater on organic farms that used manure or
compost less than +. months old than on farms that used older
materials. Though the riss are reduced as manure matures,
researchers have found that many pathogenic organisms such as
1. coli and salmonella can still survive up to C- days or more in
compost and in the soil, depending on temperature and the
condition of the soil.
DS SALIK 2011 SONBAHAR
*** 4onservation biologists are applying their understanding of
population, community, ecosystem, and landscape dynamics in
establishing pars, wilderness areas, and other legally protected
nature reserves. 4hoosing locations for protection often focuses on
biodiversity hot spots. These relatively small areas have a large
number of endangered and threatened species and an e"ceptional
concentration of endemic species, those that are found nowhere
else. Together, the FhottestG of 1arths biodiversity hot spots total
less than +.:= of 1arths land but are home to a third of all species
of plants and vertebrates. There are also hot spots in aquatic
ecosystems, such as certain river systems and coral reefs.
Because endemic species are limited to specific areas, they are
highly sensitive to deprivation of their natural environment. &t the
current rate of human development, some biologists estimate that
loss of habitat will cause the e"tinction of about half of the species
in terrestrial biodiversity hot spots in the ne"t +- to +: years. Thus,
biodiversity hot spots can also be hot spots of e"tinction. They ran
high on the list of areas demanding strong global conservation
efforts. 4oncentrations of species provide an opportunity to protect
many species in very limited areas. However, species
endangerment is truly a global problem, and focusing on hot spots
should not detract from efforts to conserve habitats and species
diversity in other areas.
*** & contagious tumour threatens to wipe out the famous
Tasmanian devil, a ferocious marsupial animal. 4ould contagious
cancers arise in humans, tooH Diven that humans have great
genetic diversity and can avoid behaving in ways that would foster
tumour transmission, it might seem safe to assume that our species
can readily avoid the fate of the Tasmanian devil. Indeed, if a
person were bitten by an infected Tasmanian devil or by a dog with
the canine transmissible tumour, the persons genetic maeup,
being so different from that of the animals, would probably ensure a
strong immune response able to detect and ill the invading cells.
Thus, the bitten individual would not get sic or start spreading the
disease to others. There are grounds for concern, though.
4ontagious cancers could, in theory, arise in a group of great apes
with low genetic diversity because of population declines. If they
were hunted by human populations with many members having
impaired immunity, the close contact might enable tumour cells to
transfer to humans and then spread. 6uch conditions e"ist where
humans with a high HIJ prevalence hunt endangered apes.
&lthough this scenario is possible, we suspect that cross)species
transmission is not the most liely way that a contagious cancer
would arise in humans. We hold this view in part because no
nown cases of cross)species transmission of the dog cancer have
occurred in nature, although the disease has been e"perimentally
transferred to related canines in the laboratory.
*** !roper diet is an important contributor to preventing tooth
cavities. &lthough all carbohydrates can cause tooth decay to some
degree, the biggest culprits are sugars. &ll simple sugars have the
same effect on the teeth, including table sugar and the sugars in
honey, fruits, and mil. Whenever sugar comes in contact with
plaque, 6treptococcus mutans bacteria in the plaque produce acid
for about twenty minutes. The amount of sugar eaten is irrelevant<
the amount of time the sugar stays in contact with the teeth is the
important issue. Thus, sipping a sugary soft drin over an hour is
more damaging than eating a candy bar in five minutes. & person
who tends to develop cavities should eat sweet snacs less often.
*insing the mouth after eating a snac removes some of the sugar<
brushing the teeth is more effective. In fact, brushing prevents
cavities from forming on the sides of the teeth, and flossing gets
between the teeth where a brush cant reach. 8rining artificially
sweetened soft drins also helps, though diet colas contain acid
that can promote tooth decay. 8rining tea or coffee without sugar
can also help people avoid cavities, particularly on e"posed root
surfaces.
*** !atients with hearing loss not correctible by medical therapy
may benefit from hearing amplification. 4ontemporary hearing aids
are comparatively free of distortion and have been miniaturi7ed to
the point where they often may be contained entirely within the ear
canal. To optimi7e the benefit, a hearing aid must be carefully
selected to conform to the nature of the hearing loss. 8igitally
programmable hearing aids are now widely available and allow
optimi7ation of speech intelligibility and improved performance in
difficult listening circumstances. &side from hearing aids, many
assistive devices are available to improve comprehension in
individual and group settings, to help with hearing television and
radio programs, and for telephone communication. 3or patients
with severe to profound sensory hearing loss, the cochlear implant
; an electronic device that is surgically implanted into the cochlea
to stimulate the auditory nerve ; offers socially beneficial auditory
rehabilitation to most adults with acquired deafness. 2ew trends in
cochlear implantation include its use for patients with only partial
deafness, preserving residual hearing and allowing both acoustic
and electrical hearing in the same ear, as well as bilateral cochlear
implantation.
*** In +@@0, 6igmund 3reud was a young neurologist living in
Jienna and struggling to mae ends meet. 5ie many doctors, he
became interested in a 6outh &merican drug that was all the rage,
cocaine. 'n &pril 0-, +@@0, he too a dose of pure cocaine for the
first time. He evaluated its effects on mood, strength and reaction
times and wrote up his findings in a pamphlet called \ber 4oca, or
F'n 4ocaineG. His comments readE F5ong, intensive physical wor
is performed without any fatigue] This result is en(oyed without
any of the unpleasant after)effects that follow e"hilaration brought
about by alcohol] &bsolutely no craving for the further use of
cocaine appears after the first, or even after repeated taing of the
drug.G 5ie other doctors of his time, 3reud failed to recogni7e that
cocaine is highly addictive ; he actually recommended it as a
treatment for morphine addiction. But, he did mae one fascinating
observation. &pplied to the tongue or nose, cocaine produces a
profound local numbing. 3reud mentioned this to his colleague Parl
Poller, an eye specialist who immediately saw its potential and later
used it to transform eye surgery. In non)addictive forms, cocaines
offspring are now widely used as local anaesthetics in medicine. If
3reud had followed through with his original insight, that cocaine is
an anaesthetic, he would probably have stayed a neurologist and
never found the time to invent psychoanalysis.
*** Aost people are surprised to learn that fat has some virtues.
'nly when people eat either too much or too little fat does ill health
follow. It is true, though, that in our society of abundance, people
are liely to encounter too much fat. 3at is actually a subset of the
class of nutrients nown as lipids, but the term FfatG is often used to
refer to all the lipids. The lipid family includes triglycerides $fats and
oils%, phospholipids, and sterols, all important to nutrition. The
triglycerides provide the body with a continuous fuel supply, eep it
warm, and protect it from mechanical shoc< their component fatty
acids serve as starting materials for important hormonal regulators.
The phospholipids and sterols contribute to the cells structures,
and the sterol cholesterol serves as the raw material for some
hormones, vitamin 8, and bile. In foods, triglycerides are the solid
fats and liquid oils. The triglycerides carry with them the four fat)
soluble vitamins ; &, 8, 1, and P ; together with many of the
compounds that give foods their flavour, te"ture, and palatability.
3at is responsible for the delicious aromas associated with si77ling
meat and hamburgers on the grill, onions being sautUed, or
vegetables in a stir)fry. 'f course, these wonderful characteristics
lure people into eating too much from time to time.
DS SOSYAL 2011 SONBAHAR
*** 6ince its economic reform began in +,?@, 4hina has gone from
being a poor developing country to the second)largest economy in
the world. It has also emerged from isolation to become a political
superpower. Its meteoric rise has been one of the most important
global changes of recent years. However, when it comes to science
and technology, most people thin of 4hina as being stuc in the
past and only visuali7e a country with massive steelwors and vast
smoing factories. That may have been true a few years ago, but it
is no longer the case. Jery quietly, 4hina has become the worlds
second largest producer of scientific nowledge, surpassed only by
the /6, a status it has achieved at an awe)inspiring rate. If it
continues on its current tra(ectory, 4hina will overtae the /6
before .-.- and the world will loo very different as a result. The
historical scientific dominance of 2orth &merica and 1urope will
have to ad(ust to a new world. In the West, people are largely
familiar with research systems in which money, people, and output
stay roughly the same from year to year. *esearch spending in
1urope and 2orth &merica has outpaced economic growth since
+,9:, but not by a dramatic amount. 2ot so with 4hina.
*** In +@,:, &lfred 2obel drafted a holograph will, replacing one that
left his vast fortune essentially to relatives, servants, and friends.
The new will, for which 2obel will be forever remembered,
substantially reduced his personal bequests. It directed that his
estate be invested conservatively and that the income from these
investments be used to establish annual pri7es to be awarded with
no reservations regarding nationality to those people whose
activities are deemed to be of the greatest benefit to humanind in
the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature,
and peace. 2obels will was disputed legally for more than three
years. 1ventually, a system was established for the distribution of
the income in the form of 2obel !ri7es, the first set of which were
awarded in +,-+. &s the income from the 2obel trust has
increased, the si7e of each award has grown to the point that in
.--:, the typical pri7e was worth over O+.0 million, more than thirty
times what the same award had been worth fifty years earlier. The
list of 2obel laureates, which has now been e"panded to include a
si"th field, economics, contains the names of international giants in
their fields. The 2obel legacy is great because of the endowment
he established to recogni7e those who contribute most to the
benefit of humanind.
*** 6ince early .-+-, global food and oil prices have been on a
sustained and synchroni7ed upward trend. &ccording to a recent
survey by the /nited 2ations, it is estimated that oil price increases
will reduce growth in some developing &sia)!acific economies, as
well as putting pressure on inflation and adversely affecting current
accounts. High oil prices will increase costs for domestic industry
and push up the price of imports and reduce demand for e"ports.
3ood prices have increased by up to 0:=. While adverse climatic
conditions have affected supply in many countries, increasing
conversion of food crops into biofuels, e"port bans, and heightened
speculative activity in food commodities have e"aggerated the price
surge. *ising food prices are having dire effects on the poor, and
reserving hard won development gains. 8ue to the higher food and
energy prices, up to 9. million additional people across &sia and
the !acific may remain in poverty in .-++ in addition to the +,
million already affected in .-+-. In the worst)case scenario, in
which food price inflation doubles in .-++ and the average oil
prices rises up to +0-O per barrel, achieving the Aillennium
8evelopment Doal for many least developed countries would be
postponed for at least a half decade.
*** To fully understand unemployment, one must consider the
causes of recorded long)term unemployment, that is, the
government assistance programs. 3or one thing, government
assistance increases the measure of unemployment by prompting
people who are not woring to claim that they are looing for wor
even when they are not. The wor registration requirement for
welfare recipients, for e"ample, compels people who otherwise
would not be considered part of the labour force to register as if
they were a part of it. This requirement effectively increases the
measure of unemployment in the labour force even though these
people are better described FnoemployedG ; that is, not actively
looing for wor. 6imilarly, unemployment insurance induces
people to say they are (ob hunting in order to collect benefit. These
programs also contribute to long)term unemployment by providing
an incentive, and the means, not to wor. 1ach unemployed person
has a Freservation wageG ; the minimum wage he or she insists on
getting before accepting a (ob. /nemployment insurance and other
social assistance programs increase the wage, causing an
unemployed person to remain unemployed longer.
*** The recent dramatic unrest in the /P is described as the worlds
first decentrali7ed riots, facilitated by social media such as Twitter
and the BlacBerry Aessenger networ. But deep psychological
forces are also at play. In times of social unrest, violent acts that
would usually seem e"treme can quicly become the norm among
groups of people identifying with each other in terms of age, social
status or other attributes. When people see looting and rioting
happening elsewhere, it shows them what can be reali7ed. 3eeling
empowered, they thin they can do pretty much what they lie, and
they have a good time doing it. They simply dont thin of it as
unacceptable as they would at other times. 6uch collective action is
driven by social identity ; by people sharing a common social
place. It is too early to now what the rioters might have in
common, but it is suspected that it boils down to social class and is
defined by economic deprivation. They seem to be targeting the
middle class. Its lie a ind of class warfare on the streets of
Britain. &lienation from their families, the local community and
mainstream society stops agitators from caring about the harm they
cause others. It is necessary to challenge the rioters current
perception that there are no opportunities for a better future.
*** 5ower birth)rates and longer lives lead to population aging,
which matters for many reasons, but first and foremost because of
the costs of retirement. These costs are borne principally by the
government and funded through ta"es on the woring)age
population. The old)age)dependency ratio ; that is, the population
aged C: and over divided by the population aged +: to C9 ; is a
ey indicator of population aging. 'ther things being equal, the ta"
rate for pensions will be proportional to this ratio. In the developed
world, this ratio rose from .+. in +,:- to ..+ today, and is estimated
to increase to .99 in .-:-. If, in the developed countries, the elderly
in .-:- are to receive the level of benefits given to the current
elderly, then the level of payroll ta"es needed to fund government
pensions will more than double by .-:-. 8ue to higher fertility and
immigration, the /6 population is pro(ected to remain younger than
those of other '148 countries, and the pension problem will be
less severe. Health costs, however, pose an even more difficult
problem due to the sociali7ed health)care system for the elderly in
the /6. &s the population ages and spending per elderly person
rises, government spending on health care will liely soar.
DS FEN 2012 LKBAHAR
*** 6cientists were initially unconvinced that the decrease in the
number of amphibians ; animals such as frogs that live on land and
in water ; was real, because amphibian populations are notorious
for fluctuating widely. However, after statistical evidence showed
that the declines were far more widespread than would reasonably
be e"pected by chance, most researchers agreed that something
was seriously wrong. *eports of declines and e"tinctions
accelerated during the +,,-s, and the observations indicated that
something specific and troubling was happening to amphibians. &t
one locale in 4osta *ica, 9- per cent of the local amphibian
species disappeared over a short period. The loss of amphibian
species not only contributes to the worlds biodiversity crisis but
also has remarable implications for the ecosystems where the
declines occur. Without amphibians, lins to food webs are broen,
and other organisms suffer in often unpredictable ways. &lthough
some of the earliest amphibian declines were recorded in the /6,
much of the scientific literature focuses on decreases in tropical
countries, where losses have often been more dramatic and have
involved a larger number of species. This has led to the curious
problem of declines in temperate amphibian species receiving
insufficient attention.
*** &s well as being the largest mountain range on the planet, the
Himalayas is also one of the youngest. #ust seventy million years
ago, a very short time in geological terms, the Himalayas did not
e"ist. &s the Indo)&ustralian tectonic plate collided with the
1urasian plate at the rate of about +: centimetres a year, the ocean
floor in between began to rise up to form the mountain range. This
means that much of the roc out of which these towering peas are
made was formed at the bottom of an ocean, only to be lifted up
thousands of metres into the air. The evidence for this e"traordinary
(ourney is not difficult to find. If you loo closely at any piece of
Himalayan limestone, you will see it has a chaly, granular
structure. What you are looing at are the remains of sea creatures.
Diven a relatively short timescale and a bit of pressure, these
biological remains are quicly converted into solid roc. 5imestone
can also be formed by the direct precipitation of calcium carbonate
from water, although the biological sedimentary form is more
abundant. We now that the Himalayan limestone is predominantly
biological because we have found fossils at the top of Aount
1verest. There is perhaps no better e"ample of the endless
recycling of 1arths resources that has been going on since its
formation almost five billion years ago.
*** 2oise drives many species of marine animals to change their
behaviour maredly ; their calling, feeding and migration patterns ;
sometimes onto a beach and ending their lives. 3ish lie cod and
haddoc in the Barents 6ea have been found to escape from the
area when oil)prospecting air guns start firing, drastically reducing
fish catches for days. 5arge baleen whales communicate over vast
distances in the same frequencies that ship propellers and engines
generate. 'n most days, the area over which whales in coastal
waters can hear one another shrins to only +- to .- per cent of its
natural e"tent. 4hristopher W. 4lar studies endangered northern
right whales, whose habitat includes busy shipping lanes for the
port of Boston. F6hipping noise is always there,G 4lar says. FIt
doesnt have to be fatal to be problematic over time. The whales
social networ is constantly being ripped and reformed.G /nable to
communicate, individual whales have trouble finding each other
and spend more time on their own. The problem is getting steadily
worse for another reason. &s we are maing more noise, we are
also maing the ocean better at transmitting it. 6eawater is
absorbing less sound as carbon dio"ide from fossil)fuel burning
seeps into the ocean and acidifies it.
*** Humans have evolved to wor best in the atmosphere and
gravity that e"ist on the 1arths surface. To survive in space,
astronauts have to tae an 1arth)lie environment with them such
as fresh o"ygen, which is circulated around the craft for them to
breathe. The main difference in space is the weightlessness
causing astronauts to float around. &s soon as astronauts go into
space, their bodies start adapting to this weightlessness. Auscles,
bones, heart and blood all undergo changes. &t least half of all
astronauts suffer an unpleasant reaction to weightlessness. 'n the
1arth, gravity e"erts a force on our bodies, which gives us weight
and eeps us rooted to the ground. It also pulls body fluid
downwards. In space, astronauts lose their sense of balance. They
can feel sic, and go off their food. It can tae two wees for the
digestive system to fully ad(ust. Therefore, 2&6& plans no
spacewals during the first three days of a mission, because an
astronaut who vomits inside a spacesuit riss suffocation.
*** It is safe to bet that a flying motorcycle will never be a practical
transportation option. Ket, this process has not stopped an
engineering firm in 4alifornia from playing the long odds. The
company is building a prototype called the 6witchblade, and it
hopes to sell a do)it)yourself it as early as .-+:. &ttractive design
and the promise of having air and ground transport in one pacage
have ept alive dreams of a flying vehicle. & three)wheel design
was chosen because it meets the definition of a motorcycle, which
is not as highly regulated as cars are. 3or e"ample, motorcycles do
not need bumpers, which would mae a flying vehicle heavier and
more e"pensive. &s the company envisions it, occupants would sit
in the aerodynamic 6witchblade, in climate)controlled lu"ury with
an instrument display that switches from air to ground readings on
landing. The 6witchblade will succeed, the company believes,
because it will transform easily between transportation in the air
and on the ground. If pilots encountered bad weather while flying,
they could put down at an airstrip, fold in the wings and finish the
trip by travelling on the ground with no manual disassembly. The
reality, however, is more complicated, given that aircraft are
prohibited from operating on roads and tightly regulated as to how
close they can fly to homes, military installations and
environmentally sensitive areas.
*** 2&6&s 8eep 6pace 2etwor is responsible for tracing,
commanding and receiving data from space probes throughout the
solar system. 6ome of the spacecraft are so far away and they use
such small transmitters that radio signals received from them are
about .- million times weaer than a watch battery. To receive such
wea signals, the 8eep 6pace 2etwor uses huge dish)shaped
antennae up to ?- meters across. To dispatch commands to the
most remote spacecraft, the same giant dishes are used to send
radio signals from immensely powerful, 9--)ilowatt transmitters.
The 8eep 6pace 2etwors antennae are located at three sites ;
Aadrid $6pain%, 4anberra $&ustralia%, and 4alifornia $the /6%. The
sites were chosen because they are roughly +.- degrees and a
third of the way round the world from each other. &s the 1arth
turns, at least one of the stations is always in contact with a space
probe. This ensures a .9)hour observation, with overlapping time to
transfer the radio lin to the ne"t station. The sites are also
surrounded by mountains, which protect them from radio
interference.
DS SALIK 2012 LKBAHAR
*** The Aarylebone Health 4entre in 5ondon, which opened in
+,@?, was the first 2ational Health 6ervice practice to employ
complementary therapists, and it is the sub(ect of a long)term
research study into the effectiveness of integrated medicine. The
team comprises three full)time and two part)time family doctors, an
osteopath, homeopath, naturopath, acupuncturist, massage
therapist and a counsellor. 4onventional medicine is still the
foundation of the practice, but doctors have the option of
suggesting a therapy if they consider it appropriate for the patients
condition. 8r. 6ue Aorrison, who is in charge of the practice, says
that she could not now imagine woring without complementary
therapies. FWe have found that we can contain problems ;
emotional as well as physical ; that are usually difficult to loo after
in normal practice.G Integrated medicine may also be a part of the
reason why the Aarylebone Health 4entre has a low referral rate to
specialists and a drug)prescribing rate that is half of the national
average. &t the Aarylebone Health 4entre, patient care is
Frelationship)centredG, meaning that the alliance of patient and
practitioner is central to all treatment and healing, which is a ey
element in integrated medicine.
*** !sychologys involvement in health dates bac to the beginning
of the .-th century, but at that time, few psychologists were
involved in medicine. The psychosomatic medicine movement
sought to bring psychological factors into the understanding of
disease, but that view gave way to the biopsychosocial approach to
health and disease. By the +,?-s, psychologists had begun to
develop research and treatment aimed at chronic disease and
health promotion. This research and treatment led to the founding
of two new fieldsE behavioural medicine and health psychology.
Behavioural medicine is concerned with applying the nowledge
and techniques of behavioural research to physical health,
including prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation. Health
psychology strives to enhance health, prevent and treat disease,
identify ris factors, improve the health care system and shape
public opinion regarding health issues. Health psychology overlaps
with behavioural medicine, and the two professions have many
common methods of diagnosis and treatment. However,
behavioural medicine is an interdisciplinary field, whereas health
psychology is a speciality within the field of psychology that is
concerned with issues of physical health.
*** Insulin, a hormone released from the pancreas, controls the
amount of sugar in the blood. When people eat or drin, food is
broen down into materials, including the simple sugar glucose,
that the body needs to function. 6ugar is absorbed into the
bloodstream and stimulates the pancreas to produce insulin. Insulin
allows sugar to move from the blood into the cells. 'nce inside the
cells, it is converted to energy, which is either used immediately or
stored as fat or glycogen until it is needed. The levels of sugar in
the blood vary normally throughout the day. They rise after a meal
and return to normal within about . hours after eating. 'nce the
levels of sugar in the blood return to normal, insulin production
decreases. The variation in blood sugar levels is usually within a
narrow range, about ?- to ++- milligrams per decilitre $mgId5% of
blood. If people eat a large amount of carbohydrates, the levels
may increase more. !eople over C: tend to have slightly higher
levels, especially after eating. If the body does not produce enough
insulin to move the sugar into the cells, the resulting high levels of
sugar in the blood and the inadequate amount of sugar in the cells
together produce the symptoms and complications of diabetes.
***The hygiene hypothesis was first described in +,@, by 8avid !.
6trachan, a British epidemiologist, who noticed that the more
children in a family, the lower the rates of allergies and ec7ema.
4hildren in large families tend to e"change colds and other
infections more often than children with fewer siblings, and this
increased e"posure to pathogens perhaps protected these children
from allergies. That same year, 1ria von Autius, an epidemiologist
at Aunich /niversity, was looing into the effect of hygiene on
asthma. 4hildren from dirtier 1ast Dermany, she was shoced to
find, had dramatically less asthma than their West Derman
counterparts living in cleaner, more modern circumstances. The
1ast Derman children had liely been e"posed to many more
viruses and bacteria. &ccording to the hygiene hypothesis,
e"posure in early childhood to infectious agents programs the
immune system to mount defences against disease)causing
viruses, bacteria and parasites. Better sanitary conditions deprive
the immune system of this training, so the body fights against
harmless particles as if they were deadly threats. The resulting
allergic reaction leads to the classic signs of asthma. However,
although much data supports the hygiene hypothesis for allergies,
the same cannot be said for asthma. 4ontrary to e"pectations,
asthma rates have increased drastically in urban areas in the /6
that are not particularly clean.
*** FKou are what you eatG says an old proverb. Ket, what if it were
literally trueH What if material from our food actually made its way
into the control centres of our cells, taing charge of fundamental
gene e"pressionH That is in fact what happens, according to a
recent study in 4hina of plant)animal micro*2& transfer.
Aicro*2&s are short sequences of nucleotides ; the building
blocs of genetic material. 3or the study, blood samples from .+
volunteers were tested for the presence of micro*2&s from crop
plants, such as rice, wheat, potatoes and cabbage. The results of
the study revealed that the sub(ects bloodstream contained 0-
different micro*2&s from commonly eaten plants, and it appears
that they alter cell function. 3or e"ample, a specific rice micro*2&
was shown to inhibit the genetic receptor that controls the removal
of cholesterol from the bloodstream. The suggestion that plant
micro*2&s play a role in controlling human physiology highlights
the fact that our bodies are highly integrated ecosystems. These
findings may also illuminate our understanding of co)evolution, a
process in which genetic changes in one species trigger changes in
another. 3or e"ample, our ability to digest the lactose in mil arose
after we domesticated cattle. 4ould the plants we cultivated have
altered us as wellH
***& ey strategy in eeping the body free from infection is to
prevent the entry of harmful organisms in the first place. Barrier, or
passive immunity, acts as a first line of defence against pathogens,
providing protection via the physical and chemical barriers
presented by the various surfaces of the body. These include both
e"ternal surfaces such as the sin and mucus)lined internal
surfaces lie the airways and the gut. 1ach body surface forms an
initial physical barrier to infection, and this is then supplemented by
a variety of secreted substances that e"hibit antimicrobial
properties such as en7ymes, which brea down bacteria. &dditional
vital mechanisms function to e"pel or flush out microbes from the
body lie coughing, sweating and urination. If barrier immunity is
breached, for instance by a sin wound, and pathogens enter the
body, the innate immune system then becomes actively involved.
Pey to this is the activation of an inflammatory response and the
deployment of immune cells. Tissue damage results from
inflammation, which helps to prevent microbes from spreading. The
capillary walls in the affected area become more penetrable,
enabling immune cells to access the infected tissue. 8amaged cells
release chemicals that attract immune cells once they have
migrated from the bloodstream.
DS SOSYAL 2012 LKBAHAR
*** 6tudies reveal that even subtle, artificial or seemingly
unimportant e"clusion can lead to strong emotional reactions. &
strong reaction maes sense when you are re(ected or ignored by
your family or close friends, because they are important to you. It is
more remarable that intense feelings of re(ection can emerge even
when people close to us are not involved. We can feel awful even
after people we have never met simply loo the other way. This
reaction serves an important function. It warns us that something is
wrong, that there e"ists a serious threat to our social and
psychological well)being. !sychologists argue that belonging, self)
esteem, a sense of control over your life and a belief that e"istence
is meaningful constitute four fundamental psychological needs that
we must meet to function as social individuals. 1"clusion threatens
all these needs. 1ven in a verbal or physical dispute, individuals
are still connected. Total e"clusion, however, cuts all bonds. Worse
than this, the imposed silence forces us to thin about the event in
detail, generating self)critical thoughts in our search for an
e"planation. This forced isolation also maes us feel helplessE Kou
can fight bac, but no one will respond. 3inally, e"clusion maes
our very e"istence feel less meaningful because this type of
re(ection maes us feel isolated and unimportant.
*** & symbol is a term or a picture that may be familiar in daily life,
yet possessing specific connotations in addition to its obvious
meaning. It implies something vague or hidden from us. Thus, a
word or an image is symbolic when it implies something more than
its immediate meaning. It has a wider FunconsciousG aspect that is
never precisely defined or fully e"plained. &s the mind e"plores the
symbol, it is led to ideas that lie beyond the grasp of reason. 6ince
there are many things beyond the range of human understanding,
we use symbolic terms to represent concepts that we cannot define
or fully comprehend. This is one reason why historically all religions
have employed symbolic language or images. However, this
conscious use of symbols is only one aspect of a psychological fact
of great importance. Aan also produces symbols unconsciously
and spontaneously, in the form of dreams. It is not easy to grasp
this point, but we must if we are to now more about the ways in
which the human mind wors.
*** The economic realm of human activity, looed at from the
perspective of the entire human e"perience, can best be seen not
simply as a progressive development of freedom, but rather as a
series of phases in which new freedoms are made possible only by
determining new limits and new responsibilities. 6o long as
humanind respects those new lines of authority, freedom
prospers. Without those limits, on the other hand, freedom dies.
5egislative bodies around the world that fail to pass environmental
laws in the name of freedom have an understanding of freedom
that is ultimately self)destructive. We must learn, before it is too
late, that the gift of freedom does not mean tearing down walls but
relocating them. #ust as a line is defined by the empty space that
surrounds it, so is freedom defined by the boundaries around its
edges. If we fail to appreciate this basic law of nature, if we
continue to demand ; on the level of the nation)state ; freedom
without limits and responsibility, we ris punishing our children or
our childrens children.
*** 8o people everywhere e"perience embarrassment in the same
wayH This is a difficult question to address empirically. Aost cross)
cultural research has focused on peoples self)reports of their
e"periences, feelings and e"pressions, which may or may not
correspond to what actually happens in social interactions. &nother
tricy issue is how to translate terms for emotions into different
languages. In 1nglish, there are separate terms for shame and
embarrassment, and research suggests that the two emotions are
different. 1mbarrassment tends to be over less serious errors and
almost always happens in the presence of others. 6hame seems to
be reserved for more serious social violations and can be
e"perienced alone. 6miling, which readily occurs in
embarrassment, is unliely to follow a shameful event. However,
the boundary between events that elicit embarrassment or shame
is undefined. In many cultures, the same word is used to describe
both. 3or e"ample, in 'riya, a language in India, the word Fla(yaG
refers to a variety of emotional states, including embarrassment as
well as shame. Aany &sian languages also use one word for the
two emotions, although some &sian cultures have multiple words
that deal with saving face, shame and so on.
*** Kasuni 2ational !ar in 1cuador is considered by many
scientists to be the single most biodiverse spot on the planet, but
one in danger of being lost. 'il companies have found rich deposits
beneath the pars trees and rivers worth billions of dollars.
1cuador is a small country in which a third of the population lives
below the poverty line and petroleum already maes up more than
half of its e"port revenue. It badly needs the money that oil
companies and consumers will be only too happy to provide if
further drilling is allowed to go forward. If 1cuador follows the usual
path of development, thats e"actly what will happen, with
disastrous consequences for the par. However, there may be
another way. 1cuadorian !resident *afael 4orrea told the
international community that his country would be willing to cease
drilling and leave Kasuni intact in e"change for donations equal to
O0.C billion over +0 years, or about half the e"pected maret value
of the pars oil deposits. The Kasuni !lan, while conserving the
pars unique biodiversity, would be a first for global environmental
policy, recogni7ing that the international community has a financial
responsibility to help developing nations preserve nature.
*** 4hina and India need to fi" their economies and societies, and
to do so, they have to deal with some grim news. Drowth is
slowing, though in 4hinas case that helps cool an overheated
economy. In both countries, e"ports are falling, inflation is at painful
levels, income inequality is reaching great proportions, and
in(ustices lie land grabs are sparing widespread protests. The
two countries have lifted countless millions of the unemployed out
of poverty, but countless other millions ; youths, worers and
farmers ; remain marginali7ed and desperate for decent
livelihoods. While 4hina does not follow the rules, India has too
many rules to follow. 4hina is struggling to contain assets, deal with
bad loans and to rebalance its economy away from state)directed
investment to consumer)led growth. Indias reputation, meanwhile,
has been so damaged by bureaucratic corruption that the countrys
top corporations have hired /6 consultancy firms to mae a so)
called Fcredible IndiaG campaign. However, it seems that India
needs to do lots of wor to overcome its bad reputation and there is
no guarantee that it will be able to do so.
DS FEN 2012 SONBAHAR
*** We humans long assumed that our visual system stood at the
top of evolutionary success. 'ur nowledge of colour vision was
primarily based on what humans seeE researchers easily performed
e"periments on colour perception in humans. &lthough scientists
obtained supporting information from a variety of other species by
recording the firing of neurons, we remained unaware until the early
+,?-s that many vertebrates, mostly animals other than mammals,
see colours in a part of the spectrum that is invisible to humansE the
ultraviolet. In fact, the discovery of ultraviolet vision began with
studies of insects conducted by 6ir #ohn 5ubboc, who discovered
sometime before +@@. that in the presence of ultraviolet light, ants
would pic up their young and carry them to dar areas or to areas
illuminated by longer wavelengths of light. In the mid)+,--s, Parl
von 3risch and his students showed that bees and ants not only
see ultraviolet light as a distinct colour but use ultraviolet in sylight
as a compass. The finding that a great number of insects perceive
ultraviolet light misleadingly gave rise to the idea that this spectral
region provides a private sensory channel that avian predators lie
eagles and vultures cannot see. 2othing, however, could have
been further from the truth. 6ubsequent research showed that
birds, li7ards, turtles and many fish have ultraviolet receptors in
their retinas.
*** 6cientists have urged national leaders for years to tacle
climate change, based on the assumption that all nations should
tae steps in harmony for the success of their prevention efforts.
But as anyone who has watched the past +: years of international
climate negotiations can attest, most countries are still reluctant to
tae meaningful steps to lower their production of greenhouse
gases, much less address issues such as how to help developing
countries protect themselves from the e"treme effects of climate
change. Aayors and urban managers are taing over as they have
a eener sense about how changing weather patterns will affect
their cities political and economic futures. Indeed, within months
after Hurricane Patrinas landfall, the 49- 4ities 4limate
5eadership Droup launched in 5ondon in 'ctober .--:, and the
World Aayors 4ouncil on 4limate 4hange $WA444% got its start in
Pyoto that 8ecember. &s of #une .-++, more than +,- mayors and
other local authorities, representing some 0-- million people from
around the world, have also signed a voluntary pact sponsored by
the WA444 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They are
tacling climate change, as their cities are suffering from floods,
rising sea levels and heat waves. They are innovating ways to
reduce carbon dio"ide emissions, prevent further changes in
weather patterns and benefit from transportation systems that
protect the environment.
*** 3orget drilling into the ocean floor to tap into ever)decreasing
supplies of oil, because there could soon be a new fuel source
beneath the waves ; seaweed. & technique has been developed to
convert sugars in seaweed into a fuel that can be used to power
cars. Biofuels are currently produced from crops such as corn and
sugar cane, but these sources are also in demand for use as food,
and their production requires large amounts of land, fresh water
and fertiliser. 6eaweed requires none of these and has the
advantage of not containing lignin, a strong strand of sugars that
stiffens plant stals but is difficult to turn into biofuel. *esearchers
at Bio &rchitecture 5ab in 4alifornia have been able to produce
bioethanol from ombu, an edible brown seaweed. Bioethanol can
be blended with petrol and used in engines with little or no
modification. Brown seaweed has high sugar content and also
grows more quicly than the red or green species. The only
potential stumbling bloc is growing enough of the stuff. 6everal
thousand tonnes are farmed annually for food, but if it is going to be
used widely as a fuel, billions of tonnes would be required. But Bio
&rchitecture 5ab is still forging ahead, launching a seaweed biofuel
pilot pro(ect in .-+0. It hopes to commerciali7e seaweed)sourced
fuels within three to four years.
*** &stronomers have a reputation for bringing us stunning
discoveriesE new planets and gala"ies on the edge of the nown
universe. But now they are on the trail of the most notable finding of
allE evidence for a whole new universe beyond our own. 3or
millennia, philosophers have insisted everything we see is part of
the all)encompassing totality called the universe. &nd for centuries,
astronomers have been mapping its immensity, using more and
more powerful telescopes to probe deeper into space. It seemed
clear, however, that there was a limit to what they could see, as
they were e"amining what was comprehensible for them. 6ince the
discovery of cosmic e"pansion, they believed there must be a final
frontier, but today, there is mounting e"citement that it may be
possible to probe beyond this far hori7on. &ccording to the latest
theories in cosmology, what has been regarded as the universe
might be (ust one of an infinite number maing up something far
grander ; the Aultiverse. But the Aultiverse model is highly
problematic< the biggest difficulty is that the e"istence of such
parallel universes can be neither verified nor falsified. 2o less
ama7ing, an orbiting observatory, named !lanc, has revealed
many features about our universe such as its age and si7e since it
was launched in .--,, and astronomers believe it may be able to
travel the Aultiverse and do even more.
*** 3or decades, nets and sprays have been the only effective
methods for controlling the mosquitoes that cause malaria.
However, 6panish chemist !ilar Aateo thins she can do better
with her invention of embedding pesticides in microcapsules stirred
into house paints at her Jalencia company. The insecticides are
released from the paint slowly, remaining effective for two to four
years, while sprays need to be reapplied at least every si" months.
FThe paint acts lie a vaccine for houses,G she says. The amounts
of pesticides released from the paint are harmless to people but are
devastating to insects, according to the tests made by scientists.
The paint has already been approved for use in fifteen countries,
including 4hina and 1ngland. Aateo is seeing approval in the /6
and a recommendation from the World Health 'rgani7ation. 6he
says she has received offers to buy her patent but refuses to sell
out. Instead, her new venture, another company in &frica, will
produce it commercially at a factory in Dhana and employ a great
number of worers. FBy taing production outside 6pain, we can
reduce the cost and mae it more accessible,G she says. Her idea
is to sell the paint as an affordable alternative to sprays. &fter years
of donating paint to poor people in 5atin &merica, Aateo wants to
fund her broader humanitarian efforts. FIts not (ust the insects that
are the problemG, she says, FIts the poverty.G
*** Typing in passwords could be a thing of the past, thans to
technology that can read your thoughts. & new discovery brings
cognitive biometrics very close to reality. In cognitive biometrics,
the response of your nervous system to a stimulus is measured,
then used to identify you. & series of letters or images are flashed
up on a screen and your !0-- wave ; a type of electrical activity in
the brain ; is measured using electrodes attached to your head.
When a pre)defined word, letter or image is shown, recognition by
the user generates their signature, !0-- wave. /ntil now, users
have been shown different letters or symbols in different parts of a
screen. But tests at the universities of 1sse" and Wolverhampton
have found that the system identifies individuals most accurately if
all characters appear in the same location. This also reduces the
chances of criminals spotting the brain word by tracing eye
movement. &s there is no eyboard involved, it is much harder for
someone intent on fraud to get access to a password. FKou still
have to eep your password secure,G says 8r. !alani *amaswamy.
FIts (ust that the way of entering the password is more resistant to
fraud.G &ccuracy still needs to be improved before cognitive
biometrics can come into mainstream use. F'nce accuracy is close
to +-- percent, it can be used for high)security military applications
and financial transactions as well,G he maintains.
DS SALIK 2012 SONBAHAR
*** &l7heimers disease is a chronic, degenerative condition of the
brain cells. 6ome ris factors can be avoided, but others, such as
increasing age and genetic properties, are inevitable. It is now the
third most common cause of death in the developed world, with
more women than men affected. The first symptom is often an
impaired memory for recent events, which can be difficult to
distinguish from the normal age)related decline in memory. &s the
disease progresses, forgetfulness may hinder routine activities
such as cooing and household chores. Those affected may be
aware of their memory difficulties, so they can deal with the
problem by, for e"ample, writing notes or letting someone else
manage decisions for them. In the late stages of the disease, the
changes in memory and behaviour are mared. 6ufferers cannot
compensate for their memory lapses and become confused. They
may develop paranoid behaviour lie (ealousy or accusations of
theft, and may e"perience visual hallucinations. !eople in
advanced stages cease to recogni7e even their family members
and close friends. They may also refuse to eat, develop
unsteadiness and increasingly lose weight.
*** 1nvironmental health has biologic, chemical, physical and
sociological components, including the immediate and future
conditions in which people live. In colonial &merica, little attention
was paid to community hygiene and sanitation, and there was
almost a complete lac of community organisation for better health
services. 8uring this time, epidemics of cholera, smallpo" and
dysentery continually occurred. &lthough such epidemics were
attributed to environmental health ha7ards such as overcrowding,
inadequate housing and impure water, little was done to improve
these conditions. 1arly attempts to ensure environmental health
included a law in +C+- that prohibited the throwing out of water
from dirty clothes into the street, and required people to do the
necessities of nature outside the town. Those who violated the law
were often sub(ected to strict penalties. 6uch measures were more
concerned with the aesthetics of the environment than with related
health consequences, and environmental practices were frequently
directed at eeping the environment attractive.
*** 8igestible microchips embedded in drugs may soon tell doctors
whether a patient is taing their medications as prescribed. These
sensors are the first ingestible devices approved by the /6 3ood
and 8rug &dministration $38&%. To some, they signify the beginning
of an era in digital medicine. The sandparticle si7ed sensor consists
of a minute silicon chip containing trace amounts of magnesium
and copper. When swallowed, it generates a slight voltage in
response to digestive (uices, which conveys a signal to the surface
of a persons sin where a patch then relays the information to a
mobile phone belonging to a health care provider. 4urrently, the
38& and the analogous regulatory agency in 1urope have only
approved the device based on studies showing its safety and
efficacy when implanted in placebo pills. But scientists hope to
have the device approved within other drugs in the near future.
Aedicines that must be taen for years, such as those for drug)
resistant diabetes, and for the elderly with chronic diseases, are top
candidates. !roponents of digital medical devices predict they will
provide alternatives to blood tests, A*Is and 4&T scans. 'ther
gadgets in the pipeline include implantable devices that wirelessly
in(ect drug at pre)specified times and sensors that deliver a
persons electrocardiogram to their smartphone.
*** Jitamin 4 boosts the immune system by strengthening the
action of white blood cells that destroy harmful bacteria and
viruses, such as cold and flu viruses. It is also an important
antio"idant, protecting the watery internal parts of cells from the
damaging effects of e"cess free radicals, and it wors in
partnership with vitamin 1 which protects the fatty outer part of the
cells. Aoreover, vitamin 4 can help to prevent cholesterol from
becoming o"idised, a phenomenon now thought to be the precursor
to the furring of arteries ; the reduction of blood flow through
arteries. High intaes of vitamin 4 are also lined with lower levels
of stomach cancer. In addition, vitamin 4 improves the absorption
of iron from non)meat sources, so ensuring a regular intae is
useful if you are a vegetarian. &lso, it has mild antihistamine
properties, thus allergy sufferers may find it helpful. 3urthermore,
when we are under physical or mental stress, vitamin 4 is depleted
from our adrenal glands< it plays a regulatory role in the production
of the hormone cortisone that helps us cope with the pressures of
life.
*** #ust a few decades ago, doctors would dispense sleeping pills
as if they were sweets. Today, sleeping pills are no longer
considered to be an appropriate solution to chronic sleeplessness.
&s they treat only the symptoms of insomnia, any improvement in
sleep can only be temporary, thereby perpetuating the cycle of
insomnia and drug)induced sleep. Ironically, many people initially
turn to sleeping pills, as insomnia has left them helpless and out of
control. However, pills can become a trap that escalates feelings of
dependency, lowered self)esteem and guilt. Then insomniacs end
up having to cope with two stressful problemsE insomnia and
dependency on sleeping pills. Aost patients prefer non)drug
approaches lie avoiding caffeine and nicotine, but they do not
now how best to escape the sleeplessness. However, some
doctors guide their patients by prescribing the smallest possible
dose, to be used only after two consecutive nights of bad sleep. &s
an alternative to supplement the pills, professionals provide such
sleep aids as antihistamines which produce drowsiness as a side
effect. &lso, synthetic melatonin has recently been mareted and
publici7ed as a natural sleeping pill. &lthough several studies found
that melatonin was effective for promoting sleep, the studies
focused on normal sleepers, not insomniacs. &ll in all, it seems that
careful implementation of new behavioural patterns provides the
most promising results to sufferers.
*** There are several factors that increase the ris of cancer.
Autations that affect genes are believed to contribute to the
development of cancer. These genes produce proteins that
regulate growth and alter cell division and other basic cell
properties. 4ancer)causing genetic mutations may result from the
damaging effects of drugs and viruses. &dditionally, environmental
factors such as air pollution and radiation increase the ris of
cancer. 6ome chemicals lie pesticides are nown to cause cancer,
and many others are suspected of doing so, but more study is
needed to identify those chemicals that increase the ris. The
threat of cancer may also vary according to geographical features.
This geographic variation in cancer ris is multifactorialE a
combination of genetics, diet and environment. 3or e"ample, the
#apanese, who follow a diet that mainly includes smoed foods,
have high rates of colorectal cancer. When they immigrate to the
/6 and eat a Western diet, the ris level declines to that of the /6.
&ge is another ris factor. While some cancers lie Jilms tumor
occur almost e"clusively in children, cancers of the lungs and
idneys are more common in older people, probably due to
constant e"posure to carcinogens and weaening of the bodys
immune system. However, not all people who are e"posed to
carcinogens or who have other ris factors develop cancer.IIII
DS SOSYAL 2012 SONBAHAR
*** &lthough &eschylus is considered to be the first great innovator
of Western drama, it is sometimes difficult to (udge the full e"tent of
the innovations he introduced, since no plays by his predecessor,
Thespis, have been preserved. What we now about Dree drama
before &eschylus suggests that it had developed gradually out of
choral lyrics, occasionally interrupted by short dialogues between
the chorus and a single speaer or singer representing an
individual character. &eschylus too the decisive step of introducing
a second actor, thus enabling for the first time a dialogue or conflict
between two individuals to tae place on the stage and in front of
an audience. The innovations made possible by &eschyluss
introduction of a second character are very significant. In addition,
an actor could leave the stage and reappear in the guise of another
character, thus permitting an increase in the overall number of
persons represented. In his later plays, &eschylus used three
actors, allowing him to feature a large number of characters, as in
The 5ibation Bearers, the second play of the 'resteia trilogy.
*** 'utside forces have played a ma(or part in the birth and
development of Aiddle 1astern states as well as in shaping the
environment in which these states have operated. 6ince
2apoleons intervention in 1gypt in the late +@th century, 1uropean
powers have been an important part of the Aiddle 1asts mae)up
; its politics, socio)economic development and e"ternal orientation.
It was the 1uropean powers who too control of significant areas of
the region from the +,th century, and they gave rise to the downfall
of the 'ttoman 1mpire and shared its spoils in the early .-th
century. It was the same set of 1uropean powers that formed new
states from territories under their control. But in the second half of
the .-th century, the nature of outside intervention changed
somewhat. &s a penetrated regional system, the Aiddle 1ast, for all
its active internal dynamics $nationalism, the &rab)Israeli War, etc.%,
was by the +,:-s sub(ect to the influence of strategically)driven
calculations made by the worlds two superpowersE the /6 and the
/66*. The superpowers calculations not only directly affected
politics of the region, but also the environment where the local
forces were taing shape. 3or over a generation, the 4old War
between superpowers was the framewor of the Aiddle 1asts
regional system, from 2orth &frica in the west to the borders of the
6oviet 4aucasus and 4entral &sia.
*** *ecent research suggests that not only can children
differentiate between two languages at an early age, but also show
cognitive benefits from being e"posed to a second language
starting as early as infancy. In a study in .--, of Bcrib bilinguals,
cognitive psychologists &gnes Pov^cs and #acques Aehler used a
visual test to measure cognitive fle"ibility in preverbal seven)month)
olds. Pov^cs and Aehler wanted to see how quicly the infants
could adapt to changing rules. They taught the infants a pattern
consisting of speech)lie sounds. &t the end of the sequence, a
visual reward in the form of a puppet would appear in one part of a
computer screen. The infants were e"pected to learn that a given
sound pattern predicated the appearance of the puppet in that
location. Both bilingual and monolingual infants showed that they
associated the sound sequence with the puppets location equally
well by looing in the right place for the puppet to appear. But when
Pov^cs and Aehler modified the sequence ; and moved the
puppet ; the bilingual infants ad(usted, switching their anticipatory
ga7e to the new location. The monolingual infants, however,
continued to loo for the puppet in the original location.
*** & credit rating agency measures credit worthiness of institutions
from companies to governments and assesses their ability to pay
bac a loan. The top three credit rating agencies are 6tandard and
!oors $6_!%, 3itch *atings and Aoodys. 1ach rating agency has
developed its own rating system. 3itch *atings developed its
system in +,.9, which was later adopted by 6_!. Both use a
system of letter sliding from the best rating B&&& to the lowest B8
for borrowers already defaulting on payments. In detail, B&&&
represents the best quality borrowers that are reliable and stable
without any foreseeable ris to future payments, while B8 means
the institution has defaulted on payment obligations, having failed
to pay bac the loans ; 6_! and 3itch *atings assert it will eep on
doing so. Aoodys follows a different rating system. It argues that
their ratings have a superior approach that considers not only the
lielihood of default, but also the severity of the default. In addition,
6_! and 3itch *atings are only interested in how liely a borrower
is to default, whereas Aoodys cares how long the default is liely
to last. Aost importantly, 6_! does not care what the recovery
value will be ; the amount of money that the lender will end up with
after the borrower has defaulted. Aoodys, by contrast, tries to
figure out the e"pected losses, which maes it more preferable.
*** Today, the 1uropean /nion is home to more than .- million
immigrants, who represent about 9 percent of the total 1/
population and mae valuable contributions to 1uropean society.
These new arrivals fill gaps in the labour maret that 1/ worers
cannot or do not wish to fill, helping to address the demographic
decline in 1uropes woring age population. !roperly managed,
immigration can help contribute to the 1/s long)term economic
development and competitiveness. &t the same time, ensuring the
security and prosperity of the 1/ population remains vital. The ey
is to streamline and simplify the legal immigration process, enforce
measures against illegal immigrants, secure the e"ternal borders
and support the Aember 6tates efforts to promote the integration
of immigrants so they become full participants in 1/ society. 'ne of
the 1/s more remarable achievements is the creation of its single
maret, where people, goods, services and capital move freely
throughout the .? 1/ Aember 6tates. The flip side of this free
movement, however, is that the reduced internal border controls
necessitate strengthened e"ternal borders. 1ach border state bears
a particular responsibility for defending its portion of the 1/s
borders and with it, the security of the entire 1/.
*** Humans are preoccupied with vitality< that is, a concern with the
generation, transmission, continuation and protection of life itself.
The obvious social tie formed around this preoccupation is the
family. However, numerous individual families of a nation
understand themselves to be (ust that< thus, the continuation of the
nation into the future is regarded as entailing the continuation of the
families into the future. &nthropological studies reveal that humans
have always formed not only families, but also larger groups of
which families are a part. !arents transmit to their own offspring not
only their flesh and blood ; genetic properties in a broader term ;
but also their cultural inheritance< the language, traditions, customs
and so forth ; of the larger group, of the nation. This cultural
inheritance is usually viewed by the parents as being quite precious
to their e"istence. This intergenerational transmission of ones
culture may be part of the reason for the tendency to view the
nation as a form of inship, because what is being transmitted is a
part of ones self to ones descendants.
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***