In early nineteenth-century England, a person who committed suicide was required by law to be buried at a crossroads with a stake through his or her heart. The stake was to prevent the ghost from walking. Likewise, burying the body at a crossroads was believed to take away any evil influence of the deceased by spreading it in four directions. The actual burial of suicide victims was required by law to take place at night, between the hours of nine and midnight.
a. Committing suicide in nineteenth-century England resulted in many economic drawbacks for the families of the deceased.
b. England had its highest suicide rates during the early nineteenth century.
c. In nineteenth-century England, suicide was the subject of much superstition.
Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, nicknamed "Amazing Grace," was a programmer of the first large-scale computer, the Mark I. She also developed the computer program known as COBOL, the forerunner of today's computer programs. COBOL was more user-friendly than previous programs and opened the world of computer programming to business people, not just to scientists and engineers. In addition, Hopper was the first to identify a computer "bug"-literally. She found a moth trapped in the mechanism of the Mark I computer, removed it, and taped it to a log book now found at the Smithsonian Institute.
a. Grace Hopper's greatest achievement was identifying the first computer "bug.
"b. Grace Hopper made remarkable contributions to the field of computers
.c. COBOL was an important program for business people.
In a famous study, two social scientists raised a group of infant monkeys in complete isolation for the first few months of their lives. None had lived with a mother. Later the scientists returned the monkeys to cages with other monkeys. When the monkeys reached adulthood, each was placed in a breeding cage with a monkey of the opposite sex. Observers noted that the social, sexual, and emotional behavior of the isolated monkeys was distinctly abnormal. The females appeared fearful and viciously attacked the males when a sexual advance was made. The males, on the other hand, alternated between fear and overly enthusiastic, clumsy sexual advances. When a few of the females finally became pregnant and gave birth, they rejected the infants; some even killed their offspring.
a. Female monkeys suffer little harm from early isolation.
b. Social isolation has little influence on the development of monkeys.
c. Social isolation can cause serious behavior problems in monkeys.
In a typical supermarket, the most-purchased item-milk-is at the back of the store. Bread, the second most popular item on people's grocery lists, is usually as far from the milk as possible. To get both items, customers have to walk the entire length of the store, passing all the bright displays, the colorful fruits, the tables of cookies, freshly baked cakes, and everything else. Then there's the shelving. All the big-markup, convenience items are on eye level, like chicken noodle soup, cake frosting or instant rice in a bag. Dried beans, sugar, salt, and plain old-fashioned rice-items for which the store makes a small profit-are next to the floor.
a. Supermarkets are organized to tempt customers to spend more money than they otherwise would.
b. Customer convenience is a top priority with supermarket managers.
c. Products on which supermarkets make a lower profit are typically located on shelves next to the floor.
It's common knowledge that Styrofoam cups are harmful to the environment. But what about paper cups and glasses? Paper cups require more energy to produce and create more pollution than Styrofoam cups do. Since they also weigh seven times as much as Styrofoam, their transportation consumes more energy, too. As for glasses, they have to be washed, which requires the use of energy, detergents and water-and often more of these are used than is necessary.
a. Glasses are preferable to Styrofoam and paper cups because they are the most attractive and durable type of cup.
b. Contrary to popular belief, Styrofoam cups may be less environmentally harmful than other types of cups.
c. Paper-cup makers are deliberately trying to give Styrofoam cups a bad name.
Several years ago, a resident of Maryland dumped his pets-northern snakehead fish-into a local lake. Within a short time, over a hundred snakeheads were found in the lake. The aggressive fish, a native of China, has a huge mouth, many sharp teeth, and an enormous stomach, making it a skilled hunter. In addition to being a fierce predator, the snakehead is also tough. It has primitive lungs which allow it to breathe air. As a result, it can survive on land for days. If, for example, its lake dries up, the snakehead will simply crawl out of the mud and find a new home. The qualities which make the snakehead so tough also make it deadly to other fish. Many species native to United States lakes are now in danger of being wiped out by the unstoppable snakehead.
a. The northern snakehead fish, a tough predator from China, poses a major threat to native U.S. fish.
b. Maryland residents are pleased about the new snakeheads inhabiting their lakes.
c. The northern snakehead, a fish native to China, has primitive lungs and is able to breathe air.