Direction: In the following questions, you have two brief passages with questions in each passage. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.
PASSAGE
My lodge is nothing but a dark, tiny hut made of palm fronds, with a bunch of damp branches and a swarm of flies through a hole in the wall of leaves. I see a patch of cleared earth in the rainforest: the stage of Cicinnurus magnificus, the magnificient bird of paradise. The bird’s loud call, ‘Kyeng, Kyeng’ has been ringing since dawn, announcing the male’s imminent performance. But his feathered female spectators have not shown yet. Perhaps they are out window-shopping, taking a good look around until they find the most resplendent specimen. I hear a fluttering and look up. A magnificus is ‘enthroned on a branch about 2m above the stage: an iridescent-green breast shield, bright orange-red wings and a lemon-yellow cape with a furry brown collar. The feet and hill are a sparkling sky-blue, which also covers the eyelids and extends down to the neck. He plucks off a few leaves to let in more light and optimize eye-contact with his audience. Finally, he drags the freshly fallen leaves away from catwalk.
SOME IMPORTANT WORDS
(1) fronds (N.) : a long leaf of some plants/trees ⇒ palms, ferns
(2) imminent (Adj.) : likely to happen very soon
(3)resplendent (Adj.) : brightly coloured in an impressive way
(4) enthroned (V.) : to seat on a throne
(5) iridescent (Adj.) : producing a display of lustrous, rainbow-like colours
(6) shield (N.) : a thing used for protecting oneself
(7) cape (N.) : a loose outer piece of clothing that has no sleeves, fastens the neck and hangs from the shoulders, like a cloak, but shorter
(8) optimize (V.) : to make something as good as it can be

Direction: In the following questions, read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.
PASSAGE
A small band of biologists share a dream – to find species of sea or land animals hitherto completely unknown or to discover living examples of animals thought to have died out ages ago. Finds made in this century encourage these dreamers, whose field is aptly named cryptozoology–literally, the science of hidden animals. Size and habitat are often responsible for an animal’s having been overlooked. Not surprisingly, a bumblebee size bat that lives in caves in Thailand eluded detection until 1973. But larger animals in less remote sites have also remained hidden. Herds of a species of peccary supposedly extinct since the last ice age, for instance, were found in Paraguay in 1975. Native people sometimes offer scientists useful clues. An unusual feather in a local’s hat sparked the discovery of a showy African peacock in 1936, and accounts of giant lizards on the Indonesian island of Komodo proved not to be mere myth when naturalist P.A.Ouwens identified four of the creatures captured in 1912. As cryptozoologists follow such leads into little-explored areas, they remain optimistic that it is not too late to uncover sensational surprises.
SOME IMPORTANT WORDS
(1) hitherto (Adv.) : until now
(2) aptly (Adv.) : in a way that is suitable/appropriate in the circumstances
(3) eluded (V.) : to manage to escape
(4) detection (N.) : the fact of being discovered
(5) peccary (N.) : an animal like a pig (Southern US, Mexico, Central and S. America)
(6) myth (N.) : a story from ancient times ; legend
(7) optimistic (Adj.) : expecting good things to happen