Verbal Reasoning - English - Reading Comprehension:

Medium Passages

MCQ - 50-11417

Researchers have been trying to find new methods to combat one of the peskiest of natural enemies in Nature: the fire ant. They are known for their aggressiveness and the painful stings and bites they deliver. Fire ants gave displaced ants that are native to the United States. The huge mounds that they inhabit are now being seen around the South. The pests came from South America; it is believed that they arrived in the 1930s aboard ships that docked at Gulf ports, such as Mobile, Alabama. Since they gave no natural enemies outside of their original habitat, they have been able to multiply more readily and now are in 12 Southern states and Puerto Rice, occupying more than an astonishing 300 million acres. Fire ants have also been discovered in New Mexico and California.
Because of prolific breeding, their numbers alone, not to mention their tenacity, preclude eradicating them entirely, but researchers are trying to control them. One way to achieve this, possibly, is to use their natural enemies imported from their original habitat. For example, there is a fly that preys on fire ants by beheading them. Also, there is a disease that is a natural enemy of the queen. However, any insect introduced into United States for the purpose of controlling other insects has to go through a strict quarantine process developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the supervision of expert in the field of entomology, Ironically, farmers do not mind the insects and find them useful because they actually kill other crop pests. However, when fire ant colonies and the larvae, which are about the size of a pin point, are disturbed, the results can be disastrous with the likelihood of multiple stings. The dangerous truth is that one percent of the population can be fatally allergic to the venom of the insects. The insects pose other problems like shorting electrical connections and burrowing that can damage the foundation of road resulting in pot holes on the surface.
Although the pest cannot be eradicated, the fight against the fire ant will continue with USDA entomologists studying what disease will effectively limit their numbers.

Question:

An antonym for “prolific,” (in Red) as it is used in the context, is

fecund
laborious
luxuriant
laborious
lugubrious

Correct Answer: D

Explanation:

“Antonym” means opposite, and in the first sentence of paragraph two there is a context clue. The fire ants can’t be eradicated because of their number; therefore, prolific means their fertility and ability to breed.
Choice (A) and (C) are all synonyms for “prolific.”
Choices (B) and (E) are not relate to the word. “Laborious” means burdensome, and “lugubrious” means somber.

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96 MCQ for effective preparation of the test of Medium Passages of Reading Comprehension section.

Read the MCQ statement: An antonym for “prolific,” (in Red) as it is used in the context, is , keenly and apply the method you have learn through the video lessons for Medium Passages to give the answer. Record your answer and check its correct answer and video explanation for MCQ No. 50-11417.

How to Answer

Solve the question for MCQ No. and decide which option (A through D/E) is the best choice to answer the MCQ, then click/tap the blue button to view the correct answer and it explanation.

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