Group I Name: ………………………………………………………..

Number: ……

Reading Comprehension

Read the article carefully and mark the correct answers. Provide synonyms for the
underlined words that best fit the context without altering the meaning.

The story of the Aral Sea

April 2010 One Sunday afternoon in Kazakhstan last August, three dozen fishermen met
near the shore of the North Aral Sea. They brought food to eat and they had races and
throwing contests. Afterwards, they relaxed telling stories and singing songs about the Aral
Sea and fishing and how much they loved both of these things. For many years before this,
there had been no reason to celebrate. The Aral Sea in Central Asia, once the fourth largest
lake in the world, had shrunk because of irrigation and drought. Then in 2005, the Kazakh
government and the World Bank constructed a dam that separated the northern and southern
parts of the sea, allowing the northern part of the Aral Sea to start to recover. There are fish in
the water again and for the past four years, fishermen have come here to celebrate. Philip
Micklin is a scientist who has been studying the sea since the 1980s. ‘Nature can come back.’
he says.

October 2014 Satellite images released this week show that the eastern part of the Aral Sea
is completely dry. ‘It is likely the first time it has completely dried up in 600 years,’ said
expert Philip Micklin. The Aral Sea once covered 67,300 square kilometres. It’s actually a
freshwater lake, not a saltwater sea, since two of Central Asia's biggest rivers, the Amu Darya
and the Syr Darya, flow into it. The Aral Sea used to be a busy place. It provided work for
40,000 people and supplied the Soviet Union with a sixth of its fish. As the lake dried up, it
separated into several small lakes which together were only a tenth of the lake’s original size.
The eastern part nearly dried up in 2009, but it recovered in 2010 after substantial rainfall.
Now, it’s completely dry.

June 2015 Yusup Kamalov, a scientist from Uzbekistan, is my guide. We’re standing
looking at a vast desert. Except that it’s not like any other desert – there are abandoned
fishing boats lying on the sand. Fifty years ago, the southern shore of the Aral Sea was right
where we stand. Now it is 80 kilometres away to the northwest and we set off to drive to the
water’s edge. On the way, we pass oil and natural gas rigs standing on the sand. ‘Each year a
few more are put up,’ says Kamalov. ‘Can you imagine,’ he says, ‘that 40 years ago the water
was 30 metres deep right here?’ Eventually, we see a silver line sparkling on the horizon. We
reach the water and I try to swim – but the water is so salty I just float on the surface. And
with 110 grams of salt per litre of water (compared to about 35 grams in the world’s oceans),
no fish are able to survive here. ‘This is what the end of the world looks like,’ says Kamalov.

1. What happened to the Aral Sea over the period of the news stories?
a It dried up more. b It filled up more. c The water level didn’t change.
2. Which of these things are NOT mentioned as having an effect on the Aral Sea water
level?
a fishing b irrigation c the dam
3. How many areas of the Aral Sea are mentioned? a two b three c four
4. Which term describes the first news story?
a negative b optimistic c pessimistic
5. According to the first news story, what happened after the building of the dam?
a The Aral Sea returned to its former size.
b There was more water available for irrigation.
c There were more fish in the northern part of the Aral Sea.
6. According to the second news story, ...
a the Aral Sea has shrunk into ten small lakes.
b the eastern part of the Aral Sea has never been dry before.
c the water in the Aral Sea comes from rivers.
7. According to the second news story, ...
a about 40,000 fishermen used to fish in the Aral Sea.
b most of the fish people in the Soviet Union ate came from the Aral Sea.
c the Aral Sea used to provide food and jobs.
8. According to the third news story, the southern Aral Sea now produces ... instead of
fish.
a oil b salt c sand
9. According to the information in the third news story, what can you assume is true?
a It’s too dangerous to swim in the Aral Sea. b Only saltwater fish live in the Aral Sea.
c The Aral Sea is saltier than the Pacific Ocean.
10. According to the third news story, what is Kamalov’s view of the Aral Sea’s future?
a negative b neutral c positive

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Group II Name: ……………………………………………………….. Number: ……

Reading Comprehension

Read the article carefully and mark the correct answers. Provide synonyms for the
underlined words that best fit the context without altering the meaning.

Detroit: Then and Now

The city of Detroit, in the USA, was once compared to Paris. It had a broad river, grand
boulevards and historically significant architecture. Then, in the 20th century, it became
‘Motor City’. For a time, most of the world’s cars were made here. There was steady work
and a good salary in the motor industry. An autoworker could own a home, plus a boat,
maybe even a holiday cottage. Some say America’s middle class was born in Detroit – new
highways certainly made it easy for workers to move from the city centre to the suburbs in
the 1950s. But in the early years of the 21st century, Detroit became America’s poorest big
city.

In less than five decades, the once vibrant Motor City lost more than half its population. It
gained a reputation as a failed city, full of abandoned buildings, widespread poverty and
crime. Newspapers and magazines told stories of derelict homes and deserted streets.
Photographers even went especially to Detroit to record the strange beauty of buildings and
city blocks where nature was taking over again. What went wrong in Detroit?

The city is now 69th in population density (people per square mile) among US cities.
Detroit’s population fell for several reasons. Partly it was because people moved to the
suburbs in the 1950s. Then there were devastating race riots in 1967, which scared even more
people away from the city. Then there was the dramatic decline in car manufacture as
companies like General Motors and Chrysler struggled to survive. And finally, in 2008, came
the global financial crisis. The problem of Detroit was basic but hard to solve. Many of
Detroit’s people are poor: half of the city’s households live on less than 25,000 dollars a year.
They are spread across different neighbourhoods of this huge city (it’s big enough to fit in
Manhattan, Boston and San Francisco).

In 2013, the city did something unusual: it declared itself bankrupt. It was the largest city
bankruptcy in US history, estimated at 18-20 billion dollars. Now that the city is free of debt,
it has money to do some of what needs to be done. It has replaced about 40,000 streetlights so
that places feel safer. Police response time has shrunk from almost an hour to less than 20
minutes. And roughly a hundred empty houses are demolished each week to make space for
new buildings. With the nation’s biggest urban bankruptcy behind it, Detroit is also attracting
investors, innovators and young adventurers. New businesses have been encouraged with the
New Economy Initiative. This gave grants of 10,000 dollars to each of 30 winners with ideas
for small businesses. It seems that every week a new business opens in Detroit – grocery
stores, juice bars, coffee shops, even bicycle makers. Finally, the city is working again.

1. Detroit is a city ...

a that has had several identities. b where the population grew very rapidly. c with a massive
crime problem.
2. Detroit ... a is not able to recover from its past problems. b is richer now than it has ever
been. c seems to have a better future ahead.
3. Why was Detroit known as 'Motor City'?
a because of all the roads that were built b because of its connections to Paris c because of the
type of industry there
4. According to the first paragraph, factory workers ...
a had a high standard of living b had to travel a long way to work c took regular holidays
5. What defined Detroit at the start of the 21st century?
a cars b poverty c the suburbs
6. Which statement is true, according to the second paragraph?
a The change in Detroit happened relatively quickly. b The environment was important for
Detroit’s population. c The media showed a false picture of Detroit and its people.
7. Why did people leave Detroit?
a Because too many people lived in the suburbs. b The motor industry moved to a new area.
c There was a combination of causes.
8. The main problems facing Detroit were ...
a financial. b environmental. c social.
9. How did bankruptcy affect the city?
a It allowed it to make a new start. b It gave it an important place in history. c It meant
Detroit could spend billions of dollars.
10. Which statement is true?
a Bankruptcy makes it hard for new businesses in Detroit. b Detroit today is attractive to
small businesses. c Old industries want to return to Detroit.

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Group III Name: ……………………………………………………….. Number: ……

Reading Comprehension

Read the article carefully and mark the correct answers. Provide synonyms for the
underlined words that best fit the context without altering the meaning.

Food for a community

Every year for many years the people of Milpa Alta, Mexico, have prepared a feast in the
week before Christmas. Sixty thousand tamales and 15,000 litres of hot chocolate are made in
less than a week, not too much and not too little for the thousands of people who show up for
the feast. The feast is called La Rejunta and is made for pilgrims preparing for the long walk
to the holy cave of El Señor de Chalma on January 3rd. The people responsible for
organising La Rejunta are called the majordomos. It’s an honour to be chosen and so many
people want to do it that the waiting list is full until 2046.

The stages in the organisation of La Rejunta are the same every year. Tradition is important
to the Milpa Alta people. Corn has been grown here for hundreds of years and the name of
the region means ‘high cornfield’. Local farmers grow most of the corn, meat, and vegetables
needed as ingredients for the meal. And a year before the event, the men go to the forest and
collect wood that they pile up high near the home of the majordomo so that it will be properly
dried before it’s used for open-air cooking. This year’s majordomos are Virginia Meza Torres
and her husband Fermín Lara Jiménez. ‘There is an infinity of things to do,’ Virginia Meza
Torres says firmly, as if to indicate there is no time to talk. Virginia is heading to the local
offices to get the necessary permits and Fermín sets off into the countryside in search of more
ingredients. They leave their daughter Montserrat Lara Meza in charge. She is a 24-year-old
graduate student who’s come home to help her parents for the week. Volunteers are starting
to arrive and Montserrat wanders down the hill to a shed to see how the toasting of the corn is
going. Everything is made from the basics – no instant mixes or other culinary shortcuts are
allowed.

Such traditional approaches are part of everyday life here. Eating together is perhaps the most
important example. ‘In my experience, there is a glue, a bonding, that comes from the time
together at the table,’ says Josefina García Jiménez. She often cooks for her nieces and
nephews and says, ‘It feels like I am passing down a tradition, and when it comes to their turn
to be adults, they will remember what I have done. Here we have time to cook, time to think
just what ingredients are needed, time to show our kids through cooking that we love them.’

When the day of La Rejunta arrives, the volunteers have been up all night, though no one
admits to feeling tired. Fermin has made sure there are enough tamales for everyone, and the
head cook has been stirring the atole (chocolate drink) all night. After a 14-year wait, and a
full year of preparation, it’s almost time for Fermin and Virginia to hand over responsibility
to the next majordomos. But first, there are thousands of cups of atole to serve.

1. The article is an account of ...

a day-to-day life of farmers in Mexico. b key features of a Mexican community. c what
Mexican people eat at Christmas.
2. La Rejunta is ... a a meal where all the guests bring some dishes. b just one example of
Milpa Alta traditions. c started as a way of using up extra corn in Milpa Alta.
3. La Rejunta feast ... a a is held once a week. b lasts a week. c takes a week to get ready.
4. Pilgrims to the holy cave ... a a take Rejunta food to eat on their journey. b make their
trip after Christmas. c are called majordomos.
5. Which statement is true?
a It’s hard to find people who want to organise the feast.
b It’s difficult to get selected to organise the feast.
c The next feast is in about thirty years’ time.
6. Which statement is NOT true, according to the second paragraph?
a Preparations for the feast start a year in advance.
b Everything required for the meal comes from the local area.
c Only vegetarian food is served at the meal.
7. Virginia and Fermin ...
a have lots of experience organising these meals.
b make all the preparation themselves.
c are too busy to spend much time with the author.
8. In Milpa Alta, people pay attention to traditions ...
a all the time. b only at certain times of the year. c when they eat.
9. According to Josefina García Jiménez, ...
a cooking for your family is an act of love. b people no longer remember cooking traditions.
c traditional cooking takes up too much time.
10. According to the final paragraph, which statement is true?
a The volunteers eat tamales during the night.
b Last-minute preparations take place the night before the feast.
c Fermin and Virginia have to choose the next majordomos.

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Group IV Name: ……………………………………………………….. Number: ……

Reading Comprehension

Read the article carefully and mark the correct answers. Provide synonyms for the
underlined words that best fit the context without altering the meaning.

A long and healthy life?

How long will a baby born today live? 100 years? 120 years? Scientists are studying genes
that could mean long life for us all.

There are already many, many people who have passed the landmark age of 100. In fact,
there are now so many healthy, elderly people that there’s a new term for them: the wellderly.
These are people over the age of 80 who have no diseases such as high blood pressure, heart
disease or diabetes and have never taken medicines for these conditions.

There have been many scientific studies of communities where a healthy old age is typical.
These include places like Calabria in southern Italy and the island of Okinawa in Japan.

The small village of Molochio in Calabria has about 2,000 inhabitants. And of these, there are
at least eight centenarians. When researchers ask people like this the secret of their long life,
the answer is almost always to do with diet and is almost always the same: ‘I eat a lot of fruit
and vegetables.’ ‘A little bit, but of everything.’ ‘No smoking, no drinking.’

While in the past scientists have looked at things such as diet and lifestyle for an explanation
of long life, these days they are investigating genetics. One such researcher is Eric Topol,
who says, ‘There must be genes that explain why these individuals are protected from the
aging process.’

The new research into long life looks at groups of people who have a genetic connection. For
example, one group of interest lives in Ecuador. In one area of the country there are a number
of people with the same genetic condition. It’s called Laron syndrome. The condition means
that they don’t grow to more than about one metre, but it also seems to give them protection
against cancer and diabetes. As a result, they live longer than other people in their families.
Meanwhile, on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, there’s another group of long-lived men,
Japanese-Americans. They have a similar gene to the Laron syndrome group.

Back in Calabria, scientists are trying to work out exactly how much of the longer life is due
to genetics and how much to environment. By checking public records going back to the 19th
century, researchers have reconstructed the family trees of 202 nonagenarians and
centenarians. They concluded that there were genetic factors involved. And they seemed to
benefit the men more than the women – a surprising result because generally in Europe, there
are five times more women centenarians than men.

So what really makes people live longer? It seems likely that it is an interaction of genes, the
environment and probably a third factor – luck.

1. What two factors for long life do scientists usually investigate?

a where people live and what their lifestyles are b genetic factors and environmental factors
c people’s diet and activity when they were young
2. Diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure …
a are common illnesses in elderly people. b teach scientists a lot about old age and long life.
c are never found among a group of people in Ecuador.
3. What do some people from Calabria and Okinawa have in common?
a They suffer from diabetes. b They have an unusual genetic illness. c They live long and
healthy lives.
4. According to the article, …
a scientists are investigating people who are 120 years old. b scientific advances mean we
will all live to at least 100 years. c scientists have found genes that might influence how long
we live.
5. The ‘wellderly’ …
a need medicine for typical illnesses of old age. b are over 80 years old and in good health.
c are elderly people with health problems.
6. According to the article, …
a people who live in small villages have healthier lifestyles. b in parts of Italy and Japan,
most people live to be a hundred. c some communities in Italy and Japan have been studied
by scientists.
7. Healthy elderly people ...
a often say that their diet is the most important thing. b don’t usually know what the secret to
long life is. c give many different reasons for their old age.
8. Laron syndrome …
a affects people's height. b affects only men in Hawaii. c often leads to diabetes.
9. Laron syndrome is interesting to scientists because …
a it might help people with growth problems. b it shows that there is a genetic reason for old
age. c there are different versions of the syndrome.
10. Scientist think that healthy old age …
a is the result of the interaction of different factors. b is a genetic condition in European
women. c was more common in the 19th century than it is today.

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Provide synonyms for the underlined words that best fit the context without altering the
meaning. The story of the Aral Sea April 2010 One Sunday afternoon in Kazakhstan last
August, three dozen fishermen met near the shore of the North Aral Sea. They brought food
to eat and they had races and throwing contests. Afterwards, they relaxed telling stories and
singing songs about the Aral Sea and fishing and how much they loved both of these things.
For many years before this, there had been no reason to celebrate. The Aral Sea in Central
Asia, once the fourth largest lake in the world, had shrunk because of irrigation and drought.
Then in 2005, the Kazakh government and the World Bank constructed a dam that separated
the northern and southern parts of the sea, allowing the northern part of the Aral Sea to start
to recover. There are fish in the water again and for the past four years, fishermen have come
here to celebrate. Philip Micklin is a scientist who has been studying the sea since the 1980s.
‘Nature can come back.’ he says. October 2014 Satellite images released this week show that
the eastern part of the Aral Sea is completely dry. ‘It is likely the first time it has completely
dried up in 600 years,’ said expert Philip Micklin. The Aral Sea once covered 67,300 square
kilometres. It’s actually a freshwater lake, not a saltwater sea, since two of Central Asia's
biggest rivers, the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, flow into it. The Aral Sea used to be a busy
place. It provided work for 40,000 people and supplied the Soviet Union with a sixth of its
fish. As the lake dried up, it separated into several small lakes which together were only a
tenth of the lake’s original size. The eastern part nearly dried up in 2009, but it recovered in
2010 after substantial rainfall. Now, it’s completely dry. June 2015 Yusup Kamalov, a
scientist from Uzbekistan, is my guide. We’re standing looking at a vast desert. Except that
it’s not like any other desert – there are abandoned fishing boats lying on the sand. Fifty years
ago, the southern shore of the Aral Sea was right where we stand. Now it is 80 kilometres
away to the northwest and we set off to drive to the water’s edge. On the way, we pass oil and
natural gas rigs standing on the sand. ‘Each year a few more are put up,’ says Kamalov. ‘Can
you imagine,’ he says, ‘that 40 years ago the water was 30 metres deep right here?’
Eventually, we see a silver line sparkling on the horizon. We reach the water and I try to
swim – but the water is so salty I just float on the surface. And with 110 grams of salt per litre
of water (compared to about 35 grams in the world’s oceans), no fish are able to survive here.
‘This is what the end of the world looks like,’ says Kamalov.

Here are synonyms for the underlined words that best fit the context without altering the
meaning:

1. shrunk → diminished
2. constructed → built
3. recover → regenerate
4. released → published
5. supplied → provided
6. abandoned → deserted
7. sparkling → glimmering
8. survive → endure

These synonyms maintain the original meaning and context of the sentences.

are there any other options that could be also correct?

Certainly! Here are additional synonym options that could also fit the context correctly:

1. shrunk → contracted, reduced

 2. constructed → erected, assembled
3. recover → revive, restore
4. released → disclosed, unveiled
5. supplied → furnished, delivered
6. abandoned → forsaken, discarded
7. sparkling → shimmering, glistening
8. survive → persist, subsist

These alternatives are equally suitable and preserve the intended meaning of the text. The
choice of synonym may depend on subtle nuances or stylistic preferences, but all of these
options work well in the given context.

do that for relaxed, contests, celebrate, substantial, provided,

Here are additional synonym options for relaxed, contests, celebrate, substantial, and
provided that could also fit the context correctly:

1. relaxed → unwound, rested, lounged

2. contests → competitions, games, matches
3. celebrate → commemorate, honor, rejoice
4. substantial → significant, considerable, ample
5. provided → furnished, delivered, supplied

These alternatives maintain the original meaning and context of the sentences while offering
variety in word choice.

for completely?

For completely, here are additional synonym options that could also fit the context correctly:

 completely → entirely, wholly, totally, fully, utterly

These alternatives preserve the meaning of the sentence while offering slight variations in
tone or emphasis. For example:

 "The eastern part of the Aral Sea is entirely dry."

 "The eastern part of the Aral Sea is wholly dry."

All of these options work well in the given context.

deserted boats is it okay/

Yes, "deserted boats" is perfectly okay and works well in the context. It conveys the same
meaning as "abandoned boats"—both imply that the boats were left behind and are no
longer in use. Here’s the sentence with the substitution:

 Original: "there are abandoned fishing boats lying on the sand."

 Revised: "there are deserted fishing boats lying on the sand."
Both "abandoned" and "deserted" suggest that the boats were left behind, likely due to the
retreat of the Aral Sea. The choice between the two can depend on stylistic preference, but
"deserted" is a strong and fitting alternative.

Provide synonyms for the underlined words that best fit the context without altering the
meaning. Detroit: Then and Now The city of Detroit, in the USA, was once compared to
Paris. It had a broad river, grand boulevards and historically significant architecture. Then, in
the 20th century, it became ‘Motor City’. For a time, most of the world’s cars were made
here. There was steady work and a good salary in the motor industry. An autoworker could
own a home, plus a boat, maybe even a holiday cottage. Some say America’s middle class
was born in Detroit – new highways certainly made it easy for workers to move from the city
centre to the suburbs in the 1950s. But in the early years of the 21st century, Detroit became
America’s poorest big city. In less than five decades, the once vibrant Motor City lost more
than half its population. It gained a reputation as a failed city, full of abandoned buildings,
widespread poverty and crime. Newspapers and magazines told stories of derelict homes and
deserted streets. Photographers even went especially to Detroit to record the strange beauty of
buildings and city blocks where nature was taking over again. What went wrong in Detroit?
The city is now 69th in population density (people per square mile) among US cities.
Detroit’s population fell for several reasons. Partly it was because people moved to the
suburbs in the 1950s. Then there were devastating race riots in 1967, which scared even more
people away from the city. Then there was the dramatic decline in car manufacture as
companies like General Motors and Chrysler struggled to survive. And finally, in 2008, came
the global financial crisis. The problem of Detroit was basic but hard to solve. Many of
Detroit’s people are poor: half of the city’s households live on less than 25,000 dollars a year.
They are spread across different neighbourhoods of this huge city (it’s big enough to fit in
Manhattan, Boston and San Francisco). In 2013, the city did something unusual: it declared
itself bankrupt. It was the largest city bankruptcy in US history, estimated at 18-20 billion
dollars. Now that the city is free of debt, it has money to do some of what needs to be done. It
has replaced about 40,000 streetlights so that places feel safer. Police response time has
shrunk from almost an hour to less than 20 minutes. And roughly a hundred empty houses are
demolished each week to make space for new buildings. With the nation’s biggest urban
bankruptcy behind it, Detroit is also attracting investors, innovators and young adventurers.
New businesses have been encouraged with the New Economy Initiative. This gave grants of
10,000 dollars to each of 30 winners with ideas for small businesses. It seems that every week
a new business opens in Detroit – grocery stores, juice bars, coffee shops, even bicycle
makers. Finally, the city is working again. the words are: significant, steady, cottage,
highways, vibrant, gained, derelict, deserted, suburbs, dramatic, solve, shrunk, roughly,
encouraged, innovators, grants, provide 2-3 synonyms which are true for the task

Here are 2-3 synonyms for each underlined word that best fit the context without altering the
meaning:

1. significant → important, notable, historic

2. steady → stable, consistent, reliable
3. cottage → cabin, vacation home, retreat
4. highways → freeways, expressways, thoroughfares
5. vibrant → lively, dynamic, energetic
6. gained → acquired, earned, developed
7. derelict → dilapidated, run-down, decrepit
8. deserted → abandoned, empty, forsaken
 9. suburbs → outskirts, residential areas, commuter towns
10. dramatic → drastic, sharp, severe
11. solve → resolve, address, fix
12. shrunk → reduced, decreased, contracted
13. roughly → approximately, about, around
14. encouraged → supported, promoted, fostered
15. innovators → pioneers, trailblazers, visionaries
16. grants → funding, subsidies, awards

These synonyms maintain the original meaning and context of the text while offering variety
in word choice.

Provide synonyms for the underlined words that best fit the context without altering the
meaning. Food for a community Every year for many years the people of Milpa Alta,
Mexico, have prepared a feast in the week before Christmas. Sixty thousand tamales and
15,000 litres of hot chocolate are made in less than a week, not too much and not too little for
the thousands of people who show up for the feast. The feast is called La Rejunta and is made
for pilgrims preparing for the long walk to the holy cave of El Señor de Chalma on January
3rd. The people responsible for organising La Rejunta are called the majordomos. It’s an
honour to be chosen and so many people want to do it that the waiting list is full until 2046.
The stages in the organisation of La Rejunta are the same every year. Tradition is important
to the Milpa Alta people. Corn has been grown here for hundreds of years and the name of
the region means ‘high cornfield’. Local farmers grow most of the corn, meat, and vegetables
needed as ingredients for the meal. And a year before the event, the men go to the forest and
collect wood that they pile up high near the home of the majordomo so that it will be properly
dried before it’s used for open-air cooking. This year’s majordomos are Virginia Meza Torres
and her husband Fermín Lara Jiménez. ‘There is an infinity of things to do,’ Virginia Meza
Torres says firmly, as if to indicate there is no time to talk. Virginia is heading to the local
offices to get the necessary permits and Fermín sets off into the countryside in search of more
ingredients. They leave their daughter Montserrat Lara Meza in charge. She is a 24-year-old
graduate student who’s come home to help her parents for the week. Volunteers are starting
to arrive and Montserrat wanders down the hill to a shed to see how the toasting of the corn is
going. Everything is made from the basics – no instant mixes or other culinary shortcuts are
allowed. Such traditional approaches are part of everyday life here. Eating together is perhaps
the most important example. ‘In my experience, there is a glue, a bonding, that comes from
the time together at the table,’ says Josefina García Jiménez. She often cooks for her nieces
and nephews and says, ‘It feels like I am passing down a tradition, and when it comes to their
turn to be adults, they will remember what I have done. Here we have time to cook, time to
think just what ingredients are needed, time to show our kids through cooking that we love
them.’ When the day of La Rejunta arrives, the volunteers have been up all night, though no
one admits to feeling tired. Fermin has made sure there are enough tamales for everyone, and
the head cook has been stirring the atole (chocolate drink) all night. After a 14-year wait, and
a full year of preparation, it’s almost time for Fermin and Virginia to hand over responsibility
to the next majordomos. But first, there are thousands of cups of atole to serve. words are:
prepared, responsible, an honour, important, ingredients, properly, indicate, sets off, wanders,
approaches, bonding, tradition, remeber, admits to, tired, responsibility

Here are synonyms for the underlined words that best fit the context without altering the
meaning:
 1. prepared → made, arranged, organized
2. responsible → in charge, accountable, tasked
3. an honour → a privilege, a distinction, a prestige
4. important → significant, crucial, essential
5. ingredients → components, elements, materials
6. properly → correctly, adequately, suitably
7. indicate → suggest, show, imply
8. sets off → departs, heads out, begins
9. wanders → strolls, meanders, walks
10. approaches → methods, practices, ways
11. bonding → connection, closeness, unity
12. tradition → custom, heritage, practice
13. remember → recall, cherish, retain
14. admits to → confesses, acknowledges, concedes
15. tired → exhausted, weary, fatigued
16. responsibility → duty, obligation, task

These synonyms maintain the original meaning and context of the text while offering variety
in word choice.

Provide synonyms for the underlined words that best fit the context without altering the
meaning. A long and healthy life? How long will a baby born today live? 100 years? 120
years? Scientists are studying genes that could mean long life for us all. There are already
many, many people who have passed the landmark age of 100. In fact, there are now so many
healthy, elderly people that there’s a new term for them: the wellderly. These are people over
the age of 80 who have no diseases such as high blood pressure, heart disease or diabetes and
have never taken medicines for these conditions. There have been many scientific studies of
communities where a healthy old age is typical. These include places like Calabria in
southern Italy and the island of Okinawa in Japan. The small village of Molochio in Calabria
has about 2,000 inhabitants. And of these, there are at least eight centenarians. When
researchers ask people like this the secret of their long life, the answer is almost always to do
with diet and is almost always the same: ‘I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables.’ ‘A little bit, but
of everything.’ ‘No smoking, no drinking.’ While in the past scientists have looked at things
such as diet and lifestyle for an explanation of long life, these days they are investigating
genetics. One such researcher is Eric Topol, who says, ‘There must be genes that explain why
these individuals are protected from the aging process.’ The new research into long life looks
at groups of people who have a genetic connection. For example, one group of interest lives
in Ecuador. In one area of the country there are a number of people with the same genetic
condition. It’s called Laron syndrome. The condition means that they don’t grow to more
than about one metre, but it also seems to give them protection against cancer and diabetes.
As a result, they live longer than other people in their families. Meanwhile, on the Hawaiian
island of Oahu, there’s another group of long-lived men, Japanese-Americans. They have a
similar gene to the Laron syndrome group. Back in Calabria, scientists are trying to work out
exactly how much of the longer life is due to genetics and how much to environment. By
checking public records going back to the 19th century, researchers have reconstructed the
family trees of 202 nonagenarians and centenarians. They concluded that there were genetic
factors involved. And they seemed to benefit the men more than the women – a surprising
result because generally in Europe, there are five times more women centenarians than men.
So what really makes people live longer? It seems likely that it is an interaction of genes, the
environment and probably a third factor – luck. a baby, studying, landmark (age of 100),
typical, inhabitants, long life, investigating, condition, scientists,reconstructed, factors,
concluded, result

Here are synonyms for the underlined words that best fit the context without altering the
meaning:

1. a baby → an infant, a newborn, a child

2. studying → researching, examining, analyzing
3. landmark (age of 100) → milestone, significant age, turning point
4. typical → common, usual, characteristic
5. inhabitants → residents, population, citizens
6. long life → longevity, a lengthy lifespan, extended life
7. investigating → exploring, probing, studying
8. condition → disorder, syndrome, ailment
9. scientists → researchers, experts, specialists
10. reconstructed → recreated, pieced together, mapped out
11. factors → elements, components, contributors
12. concluded → determined, deduced, inferred
13. result → outcome, finding, conclusion

These synonyms maintain the original meaning and context of the text while offering variety
in word choice.

diseases

Here are synonyms for diseases that best fit the context without altering the meaning:

 diseases → illnesses, ailments, disorders, health conditions

These alternatives work well in the context of the text, which discusses health and longevity.
For example:

 "These are people over the age of 80 who have no diseases such as high blood
pressure..."
 "These are people over the age of 80 who have no illnesses such as high blood
pressure..."

All of these synonyms convey the same idea of medical conditions affecting health.

protection

Here are synonyms for protection that best fit the context without altering the meaning:

 protection → defense, safeguard, shield, immunity

These alternatives work well in the context of the text, which discusses how certain genetic
conditions provide resistance to diseases. For example:

 "It also seems to give them protection against cancer and diabetes."
 "It also seems to give them immunity against cancer and diabetes."
All of these synonyms convey the idea of being shielded or defended from harm or illness.

genetic factors- replace factors with another word

Here are synonyms for factors in the phrase genetic factors that best fit the context without
altering the meaning:

 genetic factors → genetic elements, genetic components, genetic contributors,

genetic influences

These alternatives work well in the context of the text, which discusses the role of genetics in
longevity. For example:

 "They concluded that there were genetic factors involved."

 "They concluded that there were genetic elements involved."