UTBK - Module 4 For Students
UTBK - Module 4 For Students
UTBK - Module 4 For Students
Scientists used artificial intelligence (AI) to study the spatial relationships between main
earthquakes and their aftershocks. In tests, AI predicted the aftershock locations better than the
traditional methods that many seismologists use.
In 1992, a series of earthquakes prompted an outbreak of interest among seismologists. They were
trying to map out where exactly an aftershock might occur based on how a mainshock might shift stresses
on other faults. After 1992, researchers began trying to refine the complicated stress change patterns
using different criteria. The most used criterion, the Coulomb failure stress change, depends on fault
orientations. However, stresses can push on the faults from many directions at once. Consequently, fault
orientations in the subsurface can be complicated.
Using AI, the data included more than locations and magnitudes. The data considered different
measures of changes in stress on the faults from the quakes. The AI learned from the data to determine
how likely an aftershock was to occur in a specific place. The team tested how precise the system could
pinpoint aftershock locations using data from another 30,000 mainshock-aftershock pairs. The AI
consistently predicted aftershock locations much better than the Coulomb failure criterion.
However, the study focuses just on permanent shifts in stress due to a quake. Aftershocks may also
be triggered by a more momentary source of stress. A quake’s rumbling through the ground could produce
this kind of stress. Another question is whether AI-based forecast system could leap into action quickly
enough after a quake. The predictions in the new study benefited from a lot of information about which
faults slipped and by how much. In the immediate aftermath of a big quake, such data wouldn’t be
available for at least a day.
1. In paragraph 2, why does the author include information about the earthquakes happening in 1992?
(A) To give background for the new approach in seismology
(B) To inform readers of the first occurrence of aftershocks
(C) To describe how extensive the AI research has been done
(D) To illustrate how interesting aftershocks were to seismologists
(E) To give an example of a prominent series of earthquakes in history
3. This passage would probably be assigned reading in which of the following course?
(A) Computer science
(B) Geophysics
(C) Engineering
(D) Statistics
(E) History
Text 2
There appears to be increasing numbers of children who specialize in a single sport at an early age.
The lure of a college scholarship or a professional career can motivate young athletes to commit to
specialized training regimens at an early age. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends
avoiding specializing in one sport before puberty.
Once puberty begins, both boys and girls go through their adolescent growth spurt (AGS). The
change and the age at which they occur can have an impact on a child’s sports performance. Going
through this can have a significant impact on athletic performance in both positive and negative ways.
Increases in body size, hormones, and muscle strength can improve athletic performance. Nevertheless,
there may be a temporary decline in balance skills and body control during the AGS. Quick increases in
height and weight affect the body’s center of gravity. Sometimes, the brain needs to adjust to this higher
observation point. As a result, a teen may seem a little clumsy.
This phase is especially noticeable in sports that require good balance and body control (e.g. figure
skating, diving, gymnastics, basketball). In addition, longer arms and legs can affect throwing any type of
ball, hitting with a bat, catching with a glove, or swimming and jumping. Coaches that are aware of the
AGS can help reduce athletic awkwardness by incorporating specific aspects of training into practice
sessions.
Latin America, extending from the deserts of northern Mexico to the icy wilds of Tierra del Fuego
in Chile and Argentina, encompasses many diverse countries and peoples. Though most of these countries
are largely Catholic and Spanish-speaking, thanks to a shared history of colonization by Spain, they have
at least as many differences as they do similarities with each other. In the United States the terms
"Hispanic" and "Latino" (or "Latina" for a woman; sometimes written as “Latinx” to be gender-neutral)
__10__ in an attempt to loosely group immigrants and their descendants who hail from this part of the
world. The terms are often used interchangeably, though the words can convey slightly different
connotations. It is important to clarify that the categories refer only to a person’s origin and ancestry.
In general, "Latino" is understood as a shorthand for the Spanish word latino-americano and refers
to anyone born in or with ancestors from Latin America and living in the U.S., __11__ Brazilians. "Latino"
does not include speakers of Romance languages from Europe, such as Italians or Spaniards, and some
people have argued that it excludes Spanish speakers from the Caribbean. Although people from French
Guiana are sometimes accepted as Latino since French shares linguistic roots with Spanish and
Portuguese, there is much debate about whether people from English-speaking Belize and Guyana and
Dutch-speaking Suriname truly fit under the category since their cultures and histories are so distinct.
"Hispanic" is __13__ that includes people only from Spanish-speaking Latin America, including
those territories of the Caribbean or from Spain itself. With this understanding, a Brazilian could be Latino
and non-Hispanic, a Spaniard could be Hispanic and non-Latino, and a Colombian could use both terms.
However, this is also an imperfect categorization, as there are many indigenous peoples from Spanish-
speaking countries who do not __14__ Spanish culture and do not speak the dominant language.
Text 4
Although gluten has gained a bad reputation, the majority of people would struggle to explain what
it actually is. The truth is that gluten is just a mixture of proteins found in the seeds of certain cereal plants,
such as wheat, rye, and barley. Gluten is stored in a tissue inside the seed called the endosperm, which
surrounds the plant embryo and provides a dense source of energy as the plant starts to grow. In wheat,
gluten is formed when the proteins glutenin and gliadin cross-link into a net-like structure that provides
elasticity and viscosity.
Once food reaches the stomach it must be broken down by enzymes in the process of digestion.
Large proteins are broken up into chains of amino acids called peptides. Normally these peptides are easily
broken down further, but the gliadin peptides in gluten are difficult to break down as they are part of a
group of peptides called prolamins. Prolamins are made up of lots of glutamine and proline amino acids,
which digestive enzymes have difficulty breaking up. This means that unlike most proteins, gluten
digestion can leave strand of amino acids intact in the small intestine. These strands can be up 10 amino
acids long and are known as oligopeptides. For most people gliadin oligopeptides are harmless. However,
a small proportion of the population will produce an immune response known as coeliac disease, a
condition caused by the body’s immune system mistakenly attacking itself. Coeliac disease is caused by a
reaction to gluten.
18. This passage would probably be assigned reading which of the following course?
(A) Nutrition
(B) Agronomy
(C) Physical Education
(D) Chemical Engineering
(E) Materials Science
Text 5
Indigenous plants and animals are few in Easter Island. At the time of European arrival, the toromiro
tree was the only wild tree and the Carolina wolfberry the only wild shrub, the vegetation being _21_
herbaceous. The toromiro tree was overexploited by the island wood carvers, and the last local specimen
died in the 1950s. _22_, the species was saved from extinction. The Norwegian Archaeological Expedition
collected seeds and planted them in the Gothenburg Botanical Garden, and saplings from the garden were
reintroduced to Easter Island in 1988. Today only 31 wild flowering plants, 14 ferns, and 14 mosses are
reported. Grass and small ferns dominate the barren landscape, _23_ the boggy carter lakes are thickly
covered by two imported American species, the totora reed and Polygonum acuminatum. A number of
cultivated species of plants were also introduced partly from America and partly from Polynesia before
the arrival of Europeans; of these _24_ species was the sweet potato, which was cultivated in extensive
plantations and formed the staple diet. Bottle gourds, sugarcane, bananas, taro, yams, and two trees (i.e.,
the Asiatic paper mulberry and the American Triumfetta semitriloba) were of aboriginal important, as also
probably were the husk-tomato, a small variety of pineapple, the coconut.
The discovery of gold nuggets in the Sacramento Valley in early 1848 sparked the Gold Rush,
arguably one of the most noteworthy events to shape American history during the first half of the
ninetieth century. __25__, thousands of prospective gold miners travelled by sea or over land to San
Francisco and the surrounding area. By the end of 1849, the non-native population of the California
territory was some 100,000 (compared with the pre-1848 figure of less than 1,000). A total of 2 billion
dollars’ worth of precious metal __26__ from the area during the Gold Rush, which peaked in 1852.
Throughout 1849, people around the United States (mostly men) borrowed money, mortgaged
their property or spent their life savings to make the arduous journey to California. In pursuit of the kind
of wealth they had never dreamed of, they left their families and hometowns. In turn, women left behind
took on new responsibilities such as running farms or businesses and caring for their children alone.
Thousands of would-be gold miners, known as ’49ers, travelled overland across the mountains or by sea,
sailing to Panama or even around Cape Horn, the southernmost point of South America.
To accommodate the needs of the ’49ers, gold mining towns had sprung up all over the region,
complete with shops, saloons, brothels and other businesses seeking to make their own Gold Rush
fortune. The overcrowded chaos of the mining camps and towns __28__ ever more lawless, including
rampant banditry, gambling, prostitution and violence.
After 1850, the surface gold in California largely disappeared. Though gold mining continued
throughout the 1850s, it had reached its peak by 1852, when some eighty-one million dollars was pulled
from the ground. After that year, the total take__29__. Settlement in California continued, however, and
by the end of the decade the state’s population was 380,000.