Published on: 01 Jan 1970

Reading.YNNG4

Nature is abundant with sweet foodstuffs, the most common naturally occurring substance being fructose, which is found in almost all fruits and berries and is the main component of honey. Of course, once eaten, all foods provide one or more of the three basic food components – protein, fat, and carbohydrate – which eventually break down (if and when required) to supply the body with the essential sugar glucose. Nature also supplies us with sucrose, a naturally occurring sugar within the sugar cane plant, which was discovered and exploited many centuries BC. Sucrose breaks down into glucose within the body. Nowadays, this white sugar is the food industry standard taste for sugar – the benchmark against which all other sweet tastes are measured. In the U.S.A. a number of foods, and especially soft drinks, are commonly sweetened with High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), derived from corn starch by a process developed in the late 1960s. And man has further added to nature’s repertoire by developing a dozen or so artificial sweetening agents that are considered harmless, non-active chemicals with the additional property of sweetness to cater to his sweet tooth.

According to Professor Martin Seligman, probably the world’s leading figure in this field, happiness could be but a train ride – and a couple of questionnaires – away. It was Seligman, a psychologist from Pennsylvania University, who kick-started the happiness science movement with a speech he made as President of the American Psychological Association (APA). Why, asked Seligman, shocking delegates at an APA conference, does science only investigate suffering? Why not look into what steps increase happiness, even for those who are not depressed, rather than simply seek to assuage pain? For a less well-known scientist, the speech could have spelled the end of a career, but instead, Seligman landed funding of almost £18m to follow his hunch. He has been in regular contact with hundreds of other researchers and practicing psychologists around the world, all the while conducting polls and devising strategies for increasing happiness.

Section 1: Questions 1-5

Question (1)

Do the following statement agree with the information given in the reading passage? Write:
 
YES                    if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO                     if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN      if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

1

Fructose is the main constituent of honey and is present in almost all the fruits and berries.

  • A
  • B
  • C
2

Sucrose is known as table sugar and chemically consists of glucose & fructose.

  • A
  • B
  • C
3

Sucrose is a common form of sugar found in the sugarcane plant that was discovered and exploited earlier.

  • A
  • B
  • C
4

Artificial sweeteners developed by man are considered to be harmful  as they consist of active chemicals.

  • A
  • B
  • C
5

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is a sweetener made from corn starch which is commonly used in soft drinks.

  • A
  • B
  • C
Next
Section 1
Section 2: Questions 6-10

Question (6)

Do the following statement agree with the information given in the reading passage? Write:
 
YES                     if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO                      if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN       if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

6

Martin Seligman was the president of the American Psychological Association (APA).

  • A
  • B
  • C
7

Seligman considered happiness as a train ride.

  • A
  • B
  • C
8

After startling the delegates with his speech, Seligman’s career came to an end.

  • A
  • B
  • C
9

The delegates in the APA replied to Seligman that the artists better handle happiness.

  • A
  • B
  • C
10

Seligman lost contact with the psychologists and started conducting polls all alone and devising strategies to increase happiness.

  • A
  • B
  • C
Previous
Section 2
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