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Questions 11—15

All living cells on earth require moisture fｏｒtheir metabolism. Cereal grains when brought in from the field, although they may appear to be dry, may contain 20 per cent of moisture ｏｒmore. If they are stored in a bin thus, there is sufficient moisture in them to support several varieties of insects. These insects will, therefore, live ａｎｄ breed and, as they grow ａｎｄ eat the grain, it provides them with biological energy fｏｒtheir life processes. This energy will, just as in man, become manifest as heat. Since the bulk of the grain acts as an insulator, the temperature surrounding the colony of insects will rise so that, not only is part of the grain spoiled by the direct attack of the insects but more may be damaged by the heat. Sometimes, the temperature may even rise to the point where the stored grain catches fire. Fｏｒsafe storage, grain must be dried until its moisture content is 13 per cent ｏｒless.

Traditional arts of food preservation took advantage of this principle in a number of ways. The plant seeds, wheat, rye, rice, barley millet, maize, are themselves structures evolved by nature to provide stored food. The starch of their endosperm is used fｏｒthe nourishment of the embryo during the time it over-winters (if it is a plant of the Temperate Zone) ａｎｄ until its new leaves have grown ａｎｄ their chlorophyll can trap energy from the sunlight to nourish the new-grown plant. The separation by threshing ａｎｄ winnowing is, therefore, to some degree part of a technique of food preservation.

The direct drying of other foods has also been used. Fish has been dried in many parts of the world besides Africa. Slices of dried meat are prepared by numerous races. Biltong, a form of dried meat, was a customary food fｏｒtravelers. The drying of meat ｏｒfish, either in the sun ｏｒover a fire, quite apart from the degree to which it exposes the food to infection by bacteria ａｎｄ infestation by insects, tends also to harm its quality. Proteins are complex molecular structures which are readily disrupted. This is the reason why dried meat becomes tough ａｎｄ can, with some scientific justification, by likened to leather.

The technical process of drying foods indirectly by pickling them in the strong salt solutions commonly called ‘brine’ does less harm to the protein than straightforward drying, particularly if this is carried out at high temperatures. It is fｏｒthis reason that many of the typical drying processes are not taken to completion. That is to say, the outer parts may be dried leaving a moist inner section. Under these circumstances, preservation is only partial. The dried food keeps longer than it would have undried but it cannot be kept indefinitely. Fｏｒthis reason, traditional processes are to be found in many parts of the world in which a combination of partial drying ａｎｄ pickling in brine is used. Quite often the drying involves exposure to smoke. Foods treated in this way are, besides fish of various sorts, bacon, hams ａｎｄ numerous types of sausages.

11. According to the passage, insects spoil stored cereals by ________.

(A) consuming all the grain themselves

(B) generating heat ａｎｄ raising the surrounding temperature

(C) increasing the moisture content in the grain

(D) attacking each other fｏｒmore grain

12. In speaking of the traditional methods of food preservation, the writer ________.

(A) expresses doubts about direct smoking

(B) describes salting ａｎｄ pickling as ineffective

(C) condemns direct drying

(D) mentions threshing ａｎｄ winnowing

13. Direct drying affects the quality of meat ｏｒfish because ________.

(A) it exposes them to insects

(B) it makes them hard

(C) it damages the protein

(D) it develops bacteria

14. We can learn from the passage that salting preserves food by ________.

(A) destroying the protein

(B) drawing away moisture from the food

(C) drying the food in the sun

(D) dressing the food

15. According to the passage, partial drying is useful because ________.

(A) it damages the protein less

(B) it can be combined with pickling

(C) it leaves the inside moist

(D) it makes the food soft

Questions 16—20

We are moving inexorably into the age of automation. Our aim is not to devise a mechanism which can perform a thousand different actions of any individual man but, on the contrary, one which could by a single action replace a thousａｎｄ men.

Industrial automation has moved along three lines. First there is the conveyｏｒbelt system of continuous production whereby separate operations are linked into a single sequence. The goods produced by this well-established method are untouched by the worker, ａｎｄ the machine replaces both unskilled ａｎｄ semiskilled. Secondly, there is automation with feedback control of the quality of the product: here mechanisms are built into the system which can compare the output with a norm, that is, the actual product with what it is supposed to be, ａｎｄ then correct any shortcomings. The entire cycle of operations dispenses with human control except in so far as monitors are concerned. One ｏｒtwo examples of this type of automation will illustrate its immense possibilities. There is a factory in the U.S.A. which makes 1,000 million electric light bulbs a year, ａｎｄ the factory employs three hundred people. If the preautomation techniques were to be employed, the labour force required would leap to 25,000. A motｏｒmanufacturing company with 45,000 spare parts regulates their entire supply entirely by computer. Computers can be entrusted with most of the supervision of industrial installations, such as chemical plants ｏｒoil refineries. Thirdly, there is computer automation, for banks, accounting departments, insurance companies ａｎｄ the like. Here the essential features are the recording, storing, sorting ａｎｄ retrieval of information.

The principal merit of modern computing machines is the achievement of their vastly greater speed of operation by comparison with unaided human effort; a task which otherwise might take years, if attempted at all, now takes days ｏｒhours.

One of the most urgent problems of industrial societies rapidly introducing automation is how to fill the time that will be made free by the machines which will take over the tasks of the workers. The question is not simply of filling empty time but also of utilizing the surplus human energy that will be released. We are already seeing straws in the wind: destructive outbursts on the part of youth whose work no longer demands muscular strength. While automation will undoubtedly do away with a large number of tedious jobs, are we sure that it will not put others which are equally tedious in their place? Fｏｒan enormous amount of sheer monitoring will be required. A man in an automated plant may have to sit fｏｒhours on and watching dials ａｎｄ taking decisive action when some signal informs him that all is not well. What meaning will his occupation bear fｏｒthe worker? How will he devote his free time after a four ｏｒfive hour stint of labour? Moreover, what, indeed, will be the significance fｏｒhim of his leisure? If industry of the future could be purged of its monotony ａｎｄ meaninglessness, man would then be better equipped to use his leisure time constructively.

16. The main purpose of automation is _________.

(A) to devise the machine which could replace the semi-skilled

(B) to process information as fast as possible

(C) to develop an efficient labor-saving mechanism

(D) to make an individual man perform many different actions

17. The chief benefit of computing machines is ________.

(A) their greater speed of operation

(B) their control of the product quality

(C) their conveyｏｒbelt system of continuous production

(D) their supervision of industrial installations

18. One of the problems brought about by automation in industrial societies is _________.

(A) plenty of information

(B) surplus human energy

(C) destructive outbursts

(D) less leisure time

19. Which of the following best explains the use of ‘stint’ (para.4)?

(A) Effort.

(B) Force.

(C) Excess.

(D) Period.

20. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

(A) There is no automation with feedback control of the quality of the product.

(B) Computers are reliable in any supervision of industrial installations.

(C) The essential features fｏｒbanks are the recording ａｎｄ sorting of information.

(D) Automation will undoubtedly eliminate numerous tedious jobs.

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