Paragraph Comprehension – Test 4

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security operates the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) to coordinate and streamline the nation’s response to computer hackers and cyber threats. The center was formed to receive, analyze, and disseminate information about cybersecurity risks and incidents and to provide guidance, assessments, incident response support, and other technical assistance upon request. Upon detection of a cyber incident, a preliminary diagnosis is accomplished, often followed by deployment of a team to review network topology, identify infected systems,  image drives for analysis, and collect other data as needed.

According to the passage, what is part of the mission of the NCCIC?

Prior to 1990, child victims of sexual abuse, physical abuse, or neglect were required to undergo a difficult  disclosure and investigation process. The discovery of an allegation of child abuse or neglect led to a series of interviews that might involve medical professionals, child protective service, law enforcement, and criminal justice personnel. Each such interview required a victim to relive the pain and trauma of the abuse again. Today, Children’s Advocacy Centers conduct a single interview process conducted by trained professionals. The interviews are recorded, allowing law enforcement, prosecutors, doctors, and mental health professionals to evaluate the victim. This one-time interview process results in less stress for the child victim, a higher cooperation rate for criminal prosecutions, and a greater likelihood that a victim will receive medical care and mental health referrals.

According to the passage, what is a benefit of a proper one-time interview process for child victims?

The United States must secure 7,000 miles of land border, 95,000 miles of shoreline, 328 ports of entry, and the associated air and maritime space. Millions of foreign nationals enter the U.S. every year. Although the vast majority of those are entering legally for business and tourism, some foreign nationals who enter the United States pose a potential threat to national security or public safety. Human traffickers, drug smugglers, and potential terrorists attempt to enter the U.S., both legally and illegally. In response, the U.S. has begun collecting biographical and biometric data from individuals they have identified as being a potential threat.

According to the passage, which of the following entrants to the U.S. are likely to threaten public safety?

Atopic dermatitis, sometimes called eczema, is an inflammatory skin condition that affecting up to 20 percent of children. This chronic disease is characterized by dry, thickened and intensely itchy skin, particularly in skin folds. People with eczema are more susceptible to bacterial, viral and fungal skin infections and frequently develop additional allergic diseases such as asthma. Scientists believe that water loss from the skin due to a dysfunctional skin barrier is a main cause of atopic dermatitis.

According to the passage, which type of skin condition is eczema?

According to the Pentagon, there are more than one million reservists readily available to support our  military operations or assist with a national emergency. In the past 20 years, the United States has conducted major military operations that have dramatically increased the operations tempo of the services and required the large-scale mobilization of  reservists. The military continues to rely heavily on its  reserve components, and currently there are about 37,000 National Guard and Reserve personnel activated for  overseas contingency operations and approximately 2,000  National Guard personnel serving on the southwest border.

What helped cause the increased operations tempo of the services during the past two decades?

Foot ulcers are a common and burdensome complication of diabetes and the leading cause of lower limb amputations in the United States. Scientists are laying the foundation for a clinical trial network to test how to improve diabetic wound healing and prevent amputations among the 27 million American adults with diabetes. The effort will focus on finding biological clues, called biomarkers, in people with diabetic foot ulcers that can guide treatment and predict how the ulcer will heal and the likelihood of an ulcer returning.

According to the passage, how many American adults suffer from diabetes?

In the last century, more than 1,000 U.S. firefighters have been killed while working on wildland fires, and about 250 of those deaths have occurred in the last 15 years. From the 1950s to the late 1990s, wildfires consumed one to three million acres of land per year in the United States; in a bad fire year, five million acres of land burned. More recently, however, it is not unusual for wildfires to consume over 10 million acres of land. As a result of the growing wildland-urban interface, approximately 76,000 communities nationwide are now at-risk from wildfires.

According to the passage, how many U.S. communities are at risk from wildfires?

Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And then one fine morning— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

According to the passage, What phenomenon precedes the future?

I didn’t know what the hell to say. If you want to know the truth, I don’t know what I think about it. I’m sorry I told so many people about it. About all I know is, I sort of miss everybody I told about. Even old Stradlater and Ackley, for instance. I think I even miss that goddam Maurice. It’s funny. Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.

What is the likely meaning of the final two sentences?

In the last century, more than 1,000 U.S. firefighters have been killed while working on wildland fires, and about 250 of those deaths have occurred in the last 15 years. From the 1950s to the late 1990s, wildfires consumed one to three million acres of land per year in the United States; in a bad fire year, five million acres of land burned. More recently, however, it is not unusual for wildfires to consume over 10 million acres of land. As a result of the growing wildland-urban interface, approximately 76,000 communities nationwide are now at-risk from wildfires.

According to the passage, what has caused the increase of communities at risk from wildfires?

Reduced tobacco consumption in the U.S. has decreased lung cancer deaths, particularly after 1990 in men and around 2000 in women. Until recently, scientists haven’t known whether part of the decrease has been due to new drug treatments. In a recent study, however, decreased mortality rates for the most common category of lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, were shown to be declining faster than its incidence, an advance that correlates with the advent of several targeted therapies for this cancer in recent years.

According to the passage, which group of people first accounted for a particular decrease in lung cancer deaths after 1990?