Non-Tech Quiz : Reading Comprehension

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.

Birds rely on their keen sense of hearing to detect prey and identify other birds on the basis of their songs. In fact, birds have better hearing resolution than humans, so they hear with much more detail. However, birds lack the external ear anatomy that humans rely on. So how do birds hear?

Birds have ears, but their ears are not structured the same as human ears. Birds and humans both have an inner ear and a middle ear. However, birds differ from humans in that they lack an external ear structure. Where humans have an outer ear organ, birds have a funnel-shaped opening that functions as their outer ear, located on each side of their head. These openings are usually positioned behind and slightly below a bird’s eyes. They are protected by soft barbless feathers called auriculars.

The position of a bird’s head also plays a role in its hearing abilities. Scientists have determined that noises register at different frequencies on each side of the bird’s head. Depending on the angle from which the noise originates, it registers with a certain frequency in the left eardrum but with a different frequency in the right eardrum. This difference in frequencies between the eardrums allows the bird to locate a sound’s origin.

For example, owls are known for their extremely acute hearing, which helps them locate prey at night. This hearing ability is due in part to the asymmetrical arrangement of the ear openings, with one opening being lower than the other. Sounds register in these openings at slightly different times. Owls can use this time difference, which is sometimes only 30 millionths of a second, to determine whether the sounds are coming from their left or their right. Other birds of prey have flaps in front of their ears that help them determine whether sounds are coming from above them or below them. Some owls do appear to have ears on the top of their head, but those are actually tufts of feathers controlled by small muscles under the skin that do not affect their hearing at all.

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.

Birds rely on their keen sense of hearing to detect prey and identify other birds on the basis of their songs. In fact, birds have better hearing resolution than humans, so they hear with much more detail. However, birds lack the external ear anatomy that humans rely on. So how do birds hear?

Birds have ears, but their ears are not structured the same as human ears. Birds and humans both have an inner ear and a middle ear. However, birds differ from humans in that they lack an external ear structure. Where humans have an outer ear organ, birds have a funnel-shaped opening that functions as their outer ear, located on each side of their head. These openings are usually positioned behind and slightly below a bird’s eyes. They are protected by soft barbless feathers called auriculars.

The position of a bird’s head also plays a role in its hearing abilities. Scientists have determined that noises register at different frequencies on each side of the bird’s head. Depending on the angle from which the noise originates, it registers with a certain frequency in the left eardrum but with a different frequency in the right eardrum. This difference in frequencies between the eardrums allows the bird to locate a sound’s origin.

For example, owls are known for their extremely acute hearing, which helps them locate prey at night. This hearing ability is due in part to the asymmetrical arrangement of the ear openings, with one opening being lower than the other. Sounds register in these openings at slightly different times. Owls can use this time difference, which is sometimes only 30 millionths of a second, to determine whether the sounds are coming from their left or their right. Other birds of prey have flaps in front of their ears that help them determine whether sounds are coming from above them or below them. Some owls do appear to have ears on the top of their head, but those are actually tufts of feathers controlled by small muscles under the skin that do not affect their hearing at all.

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.

Birds rely on their keen sense of hearing to detect prey and identify other birds on the basis of their songs. In fact, birds have better hearing resolution than humans, so they hear with much more detail. However, birds lack the external ear anatomy that humans rely on. So how do birds hear?

Birds have ears, but their ears are not structured the same as human ears. Birds and humans both have an inner ear and a middle ear. However, birds differ from humans in that they lack an external ear structure. Where humans have an outer ear organ, birds have a funnel-shaped opening that functions as their outer ear, located on each side of their head. These openings are usually positioned behind and slightly below a bird’s eyes. They are protected by soft barbless feathers called auriculars.

The position of a bird’s head also plays a role in its hearing abilities. Scientists have determined that noises register at different frequencies on each side of the bird’s head. Depending on the angle from which the noise originates, it registers with a certain frequency in the left eardrum but with a different frequency in the right eardrum. This difference in frequencies between the eardrums allows the bird to locate a sound’s origin.

For example, owls are known for their extremely acute hearing, which helps them locate prey at night. This hearing ability is due in part to the asymmetrical arrangement of the ear openings, with one opening being lower than the other. Sounds register in these openings at slightly different times. Owls can use this time difference, which is sometimes only 30 millionths of a second, to determine whether the sounds are coming from their left or their right. Other birds of prey have flaps in front of their ears that help them determine whether sounds are coming from above them or below them. Some owls do appear to have ears on the top of their head, but those are actually tufts of feathers controlled by small muscles under the skin that do not affect their hearing at all.

As the Sun inches closer to its peak activity in its solar cycle, an explosion has been picked up behind the north-eastern limb of the star in our solar system. Solar observatories saw bits and pieces of the explosion, which remain obscured in view from Earth's orbit.

The explosion was spotted on 31 July at around 2309 UT and Earth-orbiting satellites registered a long-lasting C9.3-class solar flare. "The intensity is probably an underestimate because it was partially eclipsed by the edge of the sun. Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) saw hot debris flying away from the blast site," space weather, which tracks the solar activity, reported.

While the explosion was powerful, experts have predicted that Earth is not in the line of fire from the Sun. Scientists are expected to get a view of the active region later this week as it comes to sight. Earth is not in the line of fire. The explosion is significant because it may herald an active region set to emerge over the sun's north-eastern limb later this week. A new sunspot group could bring an end to weeks of relative quiet," space weather said in its report.

As the Sun inches closer to its peak activity in its solar cycle, an explosion has been picked up behind the north-eastern limb of the star in our solar system. Solar observatories saw bits and pieces of the explosion, which remain obscured in view from Earth's orbit.

The explosion was spotted on 31 July at around 2309 UT and Earth-orbiting satellites registered a long-lasting C9.3-class solar flare. "The intensity is probably an underestimate because it was partially eclipsed by the edge of the sun. Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) saw hot debris flying away from the blast site," space weather, which tracks the solar activity, reported.

While the explosion was powerful, experts have predicted that Earth is not in the line of fire from the Sun. Scientists are expected to get a view of the active region later this week as it comes to sight. Earth is not in the line of fire. The explosion is significant because it may herald an active region set to emerge over the sun's north-eastern limb later this week. A new sunspot group could bring an end to weeks of relative quiet," space weather said in its report.

As the Sun inches closer to its peak activity in its solar cycle, an explosion has been picked up behind the north-eastern limb of the star in our solar system. Solar observatories saw bits and pieces of the explosion, which remain obscured in view from Earth's orbit.

The explosion was spotted on 31 July at around 2309 UT and Earth-orbiting satellites registered a long-lasting C9.3-class solar flare. "The intensity is probably an underestimate because it was partially eclipsed by the edge of the sun. Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) saw hot debris flying away from the blast site," space weather, which tracks the solar activity, reported.

While the explosion was powerful, experts have predicted that Earth is not in the line of fire from the Sun. Scientists are expected to get a view of the active region later this week as it comes to sight. Earth is not in the line of fire. The explosion is significant because it may herald an active region set to emerge over the sun's north-eastern limb later this week. A new sunspot group could bring an end to weeks of relative quiet," space weather said in its report.

As the Sun inches closer to its peak activity in its solar cycle, an explosion has been picked up behind the north-eastern limb of the star in our solar system. Solar observatories saw bits and pieces of the explosion, which remain obscured in view from Earth's orbit.

The explosion was spotted on 31 July at around 2309 UT and Earth-orbiting satellites registered a long-lasting C9.3-class solar flare. "The intensity is probably an underestimate because it was partially eclipsed by the edge of the sun. Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) saw hot debris flying away from the blast site," space weather, which tracks the solar activity, reported.

While the explosion was powerful, experts have predicted that Earth is not in the line of fire from the Sun. Scientists are expected to get a view of the active region later this week as it comes to sight. Earth is not in the line of fire. The explosion is significant because it may herald an active region set to emerge over the sun's north-eastern limb later this week. A new sunspot group could bring an end to weeks of relative quiet," space weather said in its report.

My grandmother, like everybody’s grandmother, was an old woman. She had been old and wrinkled for the twenty years that I had known her. People said that she once had been young and pretty and had even had a husband, but that was hard to believe. My grandfather’s portrait hung above the mantelpiece in the drawing room. He wore a big turban and loose fitting clothes. His long, white beard covered the best part of his chest and he looked at least a hundred years old. He did not look the sort of person who would have a wife or children. He looked as if he could only have lots and lots of grandchildren. As my grandmother being young and pretty, the thought was almost revolting. She often told us of the games she used to play as a child. That seemed quite absurd and undignified on her part and we treated it like the fables of the Prophets she used to tell us.

My grandmother, like everybody’s grandmother, was an old woman. She had been old and wrinkled for the twenty years that I had known her. People said that she once had been young and pretty and had even had a husband, but that was hard to believe. My grandfather’s portrait hung above the mantelpiece in the drawing room. He wore a big turban and loose fitting clothes. His long, white beard covered the best part of his chest and he looked at least a hundred years old. He did not look the sort of person who would have a wife or children. He looked as if he could only have lots and lots of grandchildren. As my grandmother being young and pretty, the thought was almost revolting. She often told us of the games she used to play as a child. That seemed quite absurd and undignified on her part and we treated it like the fables of the Prophets she used to tell us.

My grandmother, like everybody’s grandmother, was an old woman. She had been old and wrinkled for the twenty years that I had known her. People said that she once had been young and pretty and had even had a husband, but that was hard to believe. My grandfather’s portrait hung above the mantelpiece in the drawing room. He wore a big turban and loose fitting clothes. His long, white beard covered the best part of his chest and he looked at least a hundred years old. He did not look the sort of person who would have a wife or children. He looked as if he could only have lots and lots of grandchildren. As my grandmother being young and pretty, the thought was almost revolting. She often told us of the games she used to play as a child. That seemed quite absurd and undignified on her part and we treated it like the fables of the Prophets she used to tell us.