Reading Comprehension - Author's purpose

TEXT 3

Being lonely has all sorts of negative health consequences, especially later in life when people are more vulnerable to downturns in both physical and cognitive health. More people are becoming aware that loneliness is connected to everything from heart disease to diabetes, to dementia. Being lonely is roughly equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

It’s not that we are less friendly than we were a decade ago, but we participate far less in activities that provide the glue of social connection. Declines in social connection date back at least to the 1980s, but it is shocking what is happening with older Americans over just the last decade and a half.

According to AARP, for people 60+, attendance at religious services plunged from 50 % to 37 %, belonging to a community group dropped from 32 % to 25 % and volunteering rates collapsed, falling to 33 % from 47 %. These are huge, epochal changes for older Americans that have happened in just the past 15 years. COVID-19, we might speculate, may have had something to do with that, but trends predate the pandemic and there is no evidence that in the three years past that participation rates among older adults are rebounding.

Loneliness in the second half of life needs to be a focus of public health policy, not just because rates of loneliness are increasing but because we have so many more older people now. It is particularly complex because everything from how we live (far apart from each other) to how we work (older workers routinely lose social networks when they are pushed out from work) to how we use technology (way too much) contributes to our epidemic of loneliness.

Adapted from: Stern, K. (2026). Older Americans are lonely. It’s a public health crisis. USA Today.

In the text, the word REBOUNDING indicates that participation rates are not:

TEXT 3

A large review suggests intermittent fasting may not help people who are overweight lose weight.

Examples of intermittent fasting include the 5:2 diet and restricting eating to a short window – often about eight hours – every day. The research looked at the results of 22 previous studies involving nearly 2000 adults to find out if short-term intermittent fasting (over a period up to 12 months) was better at helping adults lose weight than standard dietary advice, or no advice at all.

Luis Garegnani, lead review author from the Universidad Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, said he was concerned by the online hype around fasting. For him, intermittent fasting may be a reasonable option for some people, but the current evidence doesn’t justify the enthusiasm we see on social media.

But the researchers also agree that everyone is different, and some people could benefit. Doctors will need to take a case-by-case approach when advising an obese adult on losing weight.

The review, published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, shows more research is needed on other aspects of people’s health, such as the status of their type 2 diabetes and other underlying health conditions. Also, there were many different types of intermittent fasting, and more detail was needed on how they could impact men and women separately, in addition to those from different countries. The studies in this review took place in Europe, North America, China, Australia and South America.

Adapted from: Roxby, P. (2026, 16 February). Intermittent fasting may not help people who are overweight or obese lose weight, a large review suggests. BBC.

QUESTION

What is the main idea of the passage?

TEXT 3

A large review suggests intermittent fasting may not help people who are overweight lose weight.

Examples of intermittent fasting include the 5:2 diet and restricting eating to a short window – often about eight hours – every day. The research looked at the results of 22 previous studies involving nearly 2000 adults to find out if short-term intermittent fasting (over a period up to 12 months) was better at helping adults lose weight than standard dietary advice, or no advice at all.

Luis Garegnani, lead review author from the Universidad Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, said he was concerned by the online hype around fasting. For him, intermittent fasting may be a reasonable option for some people, but the current evidence doesn’t justify the enthusiasm we see on social media.

But the researchers also agree that everyone is different, and some people could benefit. Doctors will need to take a case-by-case approach when advising an obese adult on losing weight.

The review, published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, shows more research is needed on other aspects of people’s health, such as the status of their type 2 diabetes and other underlying health conditions. Also, there were many different types of intermittent fasting, and more detail was needed on how they could impact men and women separately, in addition to those from different countries. The studies in this review took place in Europe, North America, China, Australia and South America.

Adapted from: Roxby, P. (2026, 16 February). Intermittent fasting may not help people who are overweight or obese lose weight, a large review suggests. BBC.

QUESTION

From the text, it is incompatible to state that:

TEXT 3

A large review suggests intermittent fasting may not help people who are overweight lose weight.

Examples of intermittent fasting include the 5:2 diet and restricting eating to a short window – often about eight hours – every day. The research looked at the results of 22 previous studies involving nearly 2000 adults to find out if short-term intermittent fasting (over a period up to 12 months) was better at helping adults lose weight than standard dietary advice, or no advice at all.

Luis Garegnani, lead review author from the Universidad Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, said he was concerned by the online hype around fasting. For him, intermittent fasting may be a reasonable option for some people, but the current evidence doesn’t justify the enthusiasm we see on social media.

But the researchers also agree that everyone is different, and some people could benefit. Doctors will need to take a case-by-case approach when advising an obese adult on losing weight.

The review, published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, shows more research is needed on other aspects of people’s health, such as the status of their type 2 diabetes and other underlying health conditions. Also, there were many different types of intermittent fasting, and more detail was needed on how they could impact men and women separately, in addition to those from different countries. The studies in this review took place in Europe, North America, China, Australia and South America.

Adapted from: Roxby, P. (2026, 16 February). Intermittent fasting may not help people who are overweight or obese lose weight, a large review suggests. BBC.

QUESTION

What does the word HYPE connote?

Text 3

South Africa's highest court has ruled that husbands can take the surname of their wives, overturning a law that barred them from doing so. In a victory for two couples who brought the case, the Constitutional Court ruled that the law was a "colonial import" that amounted to gender-based discrimination.

Henry van der Merwe was denied the right to take the surname of his wife Jana Jordaan, while Nicolas Bornman could not hyphenate his surname to include Donnelly, the surname of his wife. The two couples had argued that the law was archaic and patriarchal, and violated equality rights enshrined in the constitution that South Africa adopted at the end of apartheid in 1994. They successfully challenged the law in a lower court, but asked the Constitutional Court to confirm its ruling. The Constitutional Court noted that "in many African cultures, women retained their birth names after marriage, and children often took their mother's clan name" but this changed after the "arrival of the European colonisers and Christian missionaries, and the imposition of Western values".

Parliament will now have to amend the Births and Deaths Registration Act, along with its regulations, for the ruling to take effect. South Africa had made a significant advancement in gender equality, but some laws and practices that perpetuated "harmful stereotypes" still remained in place, as it denied men a choice available to women.

(Adapted from Chothia F. (2025). South African court rules that men can take wife's surname. BBC.)

What is the main topic of the text?

Texto 3 (en inglés)

The latest Education at a glance report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reveals sharp contrasts across the European Union (EU), with Ireland at the top and Italy and Hungary at the bottom. In Ireland, two in three people aged 25 to 34 held a university degree, such as a bachelor's, master's or PhD degree, in 2024. This is followed by Luxembourg, at 65 %, and Lithuania, at 58 %. By contrast, at the bottom are Czechia with 33 % and Hungary and Italy with 32 %.

The report also highlights that young people's education level remains closely tied to that of their parents. In all EU countries surveyed, children of disadvantaged backgrounds are far less likely to go to university or college than those from more advantaged backgrounds. The gap between the share of young adults with parents holding a university degree (70 %) and that of young adults whose parents do not have one (49 %) is the lowest in Denmark. On the other hand, this gap is the widest in Poland (79 % among young adults whose parents have a degree and 11 % among those whose parents do not).

The OECD also stresses the benefits of higher education. A degree is linked to better chances of employment, higher salaries, and improved health. Education is not only about knowledge but also about the quality of life.

Adapted from Where in the EU Do Most Young Adults Have a University Degree? Euronews. 12 September 2025.

Question

What is the main topic of the text?

Texto 3 (en inglés)

The latest Education at a glance report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reveals sharp contrasts across the European Union (EU), with Ireland at the top and Italy and Hungary at the bottom. In Ireland, two in three people aged 25 to 34 held a university degree, such as a bachelor's, master's or PhD degree, in 2024. This is followed by Luxembourg, at 65 %, and Lithuania, at 58 %. By contrast, at the bottom are Czechia with 33 % and Hungary and Italy with 32 %.

The report also highlights that young people's education level remains closely tied to that of their parents. In all EU countries surveyed, children of disadvantaged backgrounds are far less likely to go to university or college than those from more advantaged backgrounds. The gap between the share of young adults with parents holding a university degree (70 %) and that of young adults whose parents do not have one (49 %) is the lowest in Denmark. On the other hand, this gap is the widest in Poland (79 % among young adults whose parents have a degree and 11 % among those whose parents do not).

The OECD also stresses the benefits of higher education. A degree is linked to better chances of employment, higher salaries, and improved health. Education is not only about knowledge but also about the quality of life.

Adapted from Where in the EU Do Most Young Adults Have a University Degree? Euronews. 12 September 2025.

Question

From the text, what is the antonym for the word SHARP?

Texto 3 (en inglés)

The latest Education at a glance report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reveals sharp contrasts across the European Union (EU), with Ireland at the top and Italy and Hungary at the bottom. In Ireland, two in three people aged 25 to 34 held a university degree, such as a bachelor's, master's or PhD degree, in 2024. This is followed by Luxembourg, at 65 %, and Lithuania, at 58 %. By contrast, at the bottom are Czechia with 33 % and Hungary and Italy with 32 %.

The report also highlights that young people's education level remains closely tied to that of their parents. In all EU countries surveyed, children of disadvantaged backgrounds are far less likely to go to university or college than those from more advantaged backgrounds. The gap between the share of young adults with parents holding a university degree (70 %) and that of young adults whose parents do not have one (49 %) is the lowest in Denmark. On the other hand, this gap is the widest in Poland (79 % among young adults whose parents have a degree and 11 % among those whose parents do not).

The OECD also stresses the benefits of higher education. A degree is linked to better chances of employment, higher salaries, and improved health. Education is not only about knowledge but also about the quality of life.

Adapted from Where in the EU Do Most Young Adults Have a University Degree? Euronews. 12 September 2025.

Question

According to the text, it is inconsistent to say that

TEXT 3

A new investigation suggests that samples of popular commercial dog foods contained “dangerous levels” of heavy metals, plastic contaminants, and acrylamide, a cancer-causing compound created when food is subjected to high heat.

Molly Hamilton, the executive director of Clean Label Project, the Colorado-based nonprofit which conducted the investigation, said over 85% of dog owners feed dry foods to their pets, and most dogs are eating one type of dog food every day, often for their entire life.

Dog foods contained three to 13 times more heavy metals than human food tested over the past decade, according to the report. The levels are similar to those found in prior research done by veterinarian Joseph Wakshlag, a nutritional specialist at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine in New York.

Dry dog food contained the highest levels of heavy metals and other contaminants, followed by air- and freeze-dried dog food. Fresh and frozen dog foods contained the lowest levels of heavy metals, according to the laboratory tests. The report did not release specific test results by brand or product name.

Studies show heavy metals can accumulate in the kidney and liver in a dog, potentially contributing to chronic disease. Exposure to lead and cadmium has been linked to canine cancer, a leading cause of death in dogs. About 1 in 4 dogs will develop cancer during their lifetime, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. It recommends trying another brand periodically to add variety and potentially reduce exposure to contaminants.

Adapted from: LaMotte, S. (2026, 12 February). Commercial dog food contains ‘alarming’ levels of lead, mercury and other contaminants. CNN.

The author's primary purpose in the passage is to