Our Summary
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a zone in the Pacific Ocean with a high concentration of plastic waste. It is located between Hawaii and California, and has been compared in size to the U.S. states of Texas or Alaska, or the country of Afghanistan. Most of the plastic in the patch comes from land-based sources, and takes years to be carried by currents into the North Pacific subtropical gyre, where it is trapped. The patch contains mostly microplastics, but also some larger pieces of debris from ships and offshore oil rigs. It was first brought to public attention in 1997 by yachtsman Charles Moore, who discovered the patch while returning home from the Transpacific Race. The patch is continuously changing in size and depth.
1. The word 'Great' in the name 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch' alludes to the
a) vastness of the ocean
b) magnitude of the issue
c) uniqueness of the location of the garbage patch
*d) extent of the garbage patch
The word 'Great' in the name 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch' alludes to the extent of the garbage patch. This is supported by the information in the passage that the extent of the patch has been compared to the size of the U.S. state of Texas or the country of Afghanistan.
2. Which is the contextual clue that best helps us understand the meaning of 'gyre'?
a) continuously changing
b) carried along
*c) clockwise rotation
d) invisible bits
The passage elaborates on this right after the mention of the word
3. The 'photo' in photodegradation points to the role of in the degradation of the plastic.
a) water
*b) sun
c) type of plastic
d) duration of plastic at coast
Photo is light, so caused by the sun
4. Which of the given literary devices does the writer use in the line, 'He found himself
traversing a sea of plastics.' ?
a) pun
*b) symbolism
c) irony
*d) imagery
Here symbolism and Imagery both work equally well
5. Select the option that displays a title likely to belong to an article of the 2006 series.
a) Marine Life Conservation
b) Trash to Infiltrate the Food Chain
*c) Marine Debris and Trash
d) Ocean Cleanups Around the World
*This intends to raise awareness of the debris and trash infiltrating the oceans.
Note - official answer is b, but there is no reference to infiltrate the food chain.🤬
Logical Reasoning
1. Which of the following assumptions is/are necessary to conclude that plastic waste emerging from land would be the smallest in size as it accumulates in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch ?
a) Extent of photodegradation is inversely related to time spent by plastic in oceanic water.
b) Plastic waste emerging from land and other sources are of somewhat equivalent sizes at the source of origin.
c) Both a) and b)
*d) Neither a) nor b)
Option a should be directly related. More time = more degradation. B is irrelevant. So d is the answer.
2. A researcher showed that for every thousand kilometres a piece of plastic travels through oceanic water, it breaks down into 100 pieces. Each of those pieces would then also break down into 100 more pieces upon traveling a thousand kilometres. This phenomenon is analogically equivalent to _______
*a) Reproduction of amoeba – each amoeba splits into two in a certain period of time; which then again split into two in the same period of time.
b) A train locomotive accumulating two coaches at each station it crosses.
c) Case-load of a Court increasing as a result of more fresh cases being filed every day compared to cases being disposed in the same day.
d) All the above
The sizes keep getting smaller and not bigger
3. It was found that between two pieces of plastic, the lighter one travels at twice the speed of the heavier one. If there are ten pieces of plastic (each with a different weight) that start from the same geographical location, the speed of the fastest piece would X times the speed of the slowest piece. X is
2^9 = 512. if 1st is x, then 2nd is 2x, third is 4X so on, so the first one will be 2^9 times that (remaining nine)
4. Theoretically, filtering out all plastics from water bodies flowing into the sea and preventing direct disposal of any plastic from land into sea would
a) Eliminate the Great Pacific Garbage Patch over a sufficiently long time period.
b) Stop the growth of the size and depth of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch over a sufficiently long time period.
c) Stop the speed of growth of the size and depth of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch over a sufficiently long time period.
*d) All the above
All of the above would be feasible outcomes. A says we're cleaning up, so Garbage Patch will get cured over time. B is ensured since we're not polluting anymore. C the conundrum slows down because we're not polluting anymore.
Note - Officlal answer is C. This is not right again - the statement speaks of filtering out ALL PLASTIC OVER TIME. So, speed of growth is one factor, but the other two also work.
5. A teacher wants to demonstrate the futility of Ocean Cleanup. She believes that unless plastic-removal is faster than plastic-accrual, the overall size and depth of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch would stay stagnant or may even increase. Which of the following analogies can she draw to drive home her argument ?
a) A filled bucket eventually empties as a result of an open outlet at the bottom of the bucket.
b) Water level in a partially filled bucket with an outlet at its bottom rises if the amount of water coming through the inlet is faster than the amount of water that goes out through the outlet.
c) Water level in a partially filled bucket with an outlet at its bottom goes down if the amount of water coming through the inlet is slower than the amount of water that goes out through the outlet.
*d) Both b) and c)
The teacher says that if + is more than the -. Then it's bad for the garbage patch. So B definitely does this. C is a negated version, so it isn't a direct analogy. The teacher doesn't refer to what will happen if it slows down. BUT, the analogy, though indirect, still solves the issue. Less water because of a lower inlet
6. From the passage, it is clear that both plastic accumulation and oceanic pollution are negatively affecting marine life. As a scientist, you conduct a series of experiments to determine the extent (if any) of their contribution to degradation of marine life. The details of the experiments and their results are below :
-
Check if plastic accumulation in sterile, non-polluting conditions affects marine life. It turns out that marine life is negatively affected. The measurement of the effect is X units.
-
Separately,check if any kind of pollution in some non-plastic environment affects marine life. It turns out that marine life is not affected at all.
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Separately, check if pollution absorbed by accumulated plastic affects marine life. It turns out that marine life is negatively affected. The measurement of the effect is 2X units.
What, if anything, can be concluded from the experiment ?
a) Pollution is always dangerous to marine life.
b) Pollution is dangerous for marine life only if it takes place in an environment
where plastic has accumulated.
c) Plastic accumulation poses no threat in a non-polluted environment.
*d) None of the above conclusions can be drawn.
None of the conclusions can be drawn since a is talking about pollution in general, and not plastic. b refers to Pollution in general again, caused by plastic - but we don't know enough. C is wrong. It does cause threat.
Question 7:
It is found in a series of experiments that big pieces of plastic (defined as being larger than 100cm2 in size) take T amount of time to break into halves due to photodegradation, and smaller pieces of plastic (defined as being smaller than 10cm2 in size) take T/3 amount of time to break into halves due to photodegradation, which of the following is correct ?
*a) Rate of photodegradation is inversely related to size of original piece of plastic.
b) Rate of photodegradation is directly related to size of original piece of plastic.c) Rate of photodegradation is independent of size of original piece of plastic.
d) Rate of photodegradation is not dependent on any factor other than size of original piece of plastic.Smaller size takes less time (= higher rate). So the relationship is indirect.