Aptis Advanced Reading Test

 

Belgium's Royal Academy of Medicine has made a recommendation that children, teens, as well as pregnant women and nursing mothers, avoid the vegan diet. They claim this type of vegetarianism, which excludes meat, fish, eggs and dairy, can lead to certain deficiencies and stunted development in children due to its ‘unavoidable nutritional shortcomings’.

Renowned pediatrician Dr. Georges Casimir was selected to be the head of the committee studying this issue and he has discouraged the aforementioned groups from consuming this type of diet. His reasoning was it is lacking in essential nutrients, like vitamins D and B12, calcium and more.

Aside from the health and ethical questionability of such a decision, Casimir warned also of legal ramifications. A strict vegan regimen would qualify as ‘nonassistance to a person in danger’, which is a crime by Belgian laws and it carries a two year sentence.

This admonishing tone comes after serious concerns were raised about children’s rights. Bernard Devos, a government official in charge of children’s rights and protection in Brussels and the French-speaking region of Wallonia, was deeply troubled by several deaths in nurseries, hospitals and schools and the link between them seeming to be the children’s diet. His wish is that the ruling might make it easier to protect children against this sort of endangerment by facilitating the prosecution of guilty parents and taking their sick children away if the cause is proven to be their unsuitable diet.

A more moderate attitude was espoused by Isabelle Thiebaut, the president of a European organisation for dieticians, who made a proviso for parents who choose to reject the recommendation. Her hope is that they will ruminate on the potential shortfalls such a choice might bring and provide their children with suitable supplements, while staying on top of their medical checkups and keeping a watchful eye on warning signs of undernutrition, such as anemia or psychomotor delays.

Dawn Carr, the spokeswoman for PETA, an animal rights group, has condemned this ruling and pointed out that it is a meat- and dairy-rich diet which causes irreversible harm in adulthood, citing hardened arteries, aneurysms, stroke and heart attacks as direct results of the consumption of animal-derived products. She admits that a vegan diet must be carefully planned in order to provide all the necessary nutrition, but asserts that hew own children have thrived on this diet from day one.

Heather Russell, dietician at The Vegan Society in Britain, echoed Carr’s views about the vegan diet being malleable and suitable for all ages and constitutions, be it infancy, childhood, adolescence, older adulthood, pregnancy or athletic pursuit. She also brought up the fact that the British Dietetic Association and the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics hold an opposing view and have concluded that a vegan diet was safe for all.

Not only that, but in the days following the recommendation, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a US nonprofit which comprises over 12,000 doctors, has condemned the report as poorly referenced and upholding long debunked myths about veganism. Susan Levin, a member of the committee, has claimed that the statements about a lack of calcium, protein, iron and other nutrients were patently false and went on to remind the public that only 3% of Belgium’s young adults consume the recommended daily intake of vegetables. Her conclusion was the consumption of vegetables should be encouraged rather than urged against.

Which person:

1 claims to have empirical evidence that the vegan diet is safe for developing children?

2 says that people should be stimulated to include more plant-based foods in their diet?

3 was motivated by health threats and fatalities to suggest a change in diet?

4 brings up organisations who are in favour of the diet?

5 suggests that parents should monitor children closely to spot health issues?

6 thinks that forcing a vegan diet on children is equal to a criminal offense?

 7 criticises the ruling for relying on disproven claims?

 

[Remember to type only the initial]

 

At a recent graduation ceremony at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, a historically black college, a billionaire philanthropist informed the 400 students present he would pay off their student

During his speech at the commencement ceremony, Robert F. Smith, announced that he would

the bill which stands at approximately $40 million. If that figure sounds too high for only one graduating class, then you are probably not entirely up to date with the modern US education system. According to

statistics, student debt currently

$1.5 trillion.

The major contributors to this dizzying figure are soaring prices of college education and failure on the part of the debtors to pay it back in a timely fashion. An additional fact that may seem unusual is that student loans are a type of debt that does not go away even when one files for bankruptcy. Essentially, debt collectors will sit back and wait forever as former students laboriously pay off their astronomical debts.

Smith’s pledge was greeted with thunderous applause, once the gathered graduates and their families got over the initial surprise and disbelief. In all honesty, though astonishingly generous, this move need not have come as such a shock given that Smith was the first African-American to sign the Giving Pledge, which is an agreement binding people to give over at least half their wealth to philanthropic causes and charities.

Smith himself was in attendance due in large part to the fact that he was receiving an honorary degree. He explained that he made this decision because he felt that this was ‘his class’ and was sure that they would ‘pay it

 when they have the chance.

One of the students was beyond relieved by the news because, in anticipation of his graduation, he had

up a spreadsheet to plan and calculate how long it would take him to pay off his $200,000 debt. It he put half his monthly salary towards payments, he would be debt-free in 25 years. It was with immense gratitude that he realised he could delete the stress

document and go into the working world with a clean

What makes Smith’s generosity even more touching is that many of the students whose debts were paid do not come from the strongest economic backgrounds. In fact, data shows that the student debt crisis hits black families harder than white ones, fives times as much to be exact. Not only that, but graduates from predominantly black universities have over 30% more debt than graduates of other universities. Experts are quick to remind the public that although gestures like these are commendable, they do not resolve the underlying issues and the problem is nowhere near fixed.

 

 

 

Text 1

You know how when you play a game or take a quiz, in the end you can look through your statistics? How many enemies you’ve killed or how many questions you had right or wrong? Do you ever wonder about similar things in real life? Like, how many times you’ve trimmed your nails since you were born or how many miles have you cumulatively travelled? Or something a bit more philosophical, like how much of your intellectual potential you’ve put to use or what is your happiness-to-sadness ratio? We were convinced that the answer was yes and, beyond that, our readers’ imagination was more fanciful than we could anticipate. Below, we’ve selected some of our favourite musings and submit them for your reading pleasure. Since many people have written in, we will likely make this a recurring column, so don’t be shy and write to us with your own stories!

Text 2

How many times I’d met my husband before we started dating: We’d grown up in the same small town and we only met after going off to university and then coming back. That means we must have run into each other before, at games, parks, shops… I wonder how many times we came close to meeting before we did and how easily we could have remained strangers. One small decision could have changed our entire relationship. Gemma

What percentage of my life I’ve forgotten: The older I’ve gotten, the more I look back and I sort of wish we’d had smartphones when I was a child. It would’ve been so easy to capture all sorts of memories. They say that your history makes you who you are, but if you retain so little of it, how stable are you really as a person? And if you base your attitude and decisions on previous experiences, wouldn’t it be better to have a solid memory or at least a sense of how little you remember? Stuart

How many times I’ve been near buried treasure, or a fossil, or evidence: It would be frustrating to know, I’m sure, but I still think my curiosity would win if I had the chance to find out how often I’d passed by some priceless object or the bone of some ancient creature or even some terrible secret buried or locked somewhere. It would have been really exciting to be a part of discovering some mystery or providing an invaluable answer to something. Maybe it’s just my ego, making me want to feel more important to humanity. Will

 

[Remember you only need to type in the letter a, b, c or d]

 

1 Why did the magazine ask for reader submissions?

a) They believed that readers had fascinating thoughts to share.

b) They hoped readers would discover their forgotten memories.

c) They wanted to check if other people thought about that same topic.

d) They were trying to create a new segment for their paper.

 

2 Which of the writers consider the idea that their life could currently be much different?

a) Gemma and Will.

b) Will and Stuart.

c) Gemma and Stuart.

d) All three.

 

3 What significance does Stuart think memories have on our life as adults?

a) They help us cope with new challenging situations.

b) They tell us where we belong.

c) They inform our thoughts and choices.

d) They have no significance because they are forgotten.

 

4 Why does Will think he would enjoy knowing the things he lists?

a) Because he’s always wanted to solve the mysteries of the world.

b) Because he would like to feel like he’s contributed something great.

c) Because he feels curious about valuable and hidden objects.

d) Because he is convinced he is more important than he is.