Directions: Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:

Over the years, there have been many cases of news breaking about plastic toys and their containment of toxins. In addition to the harmful ingredients that can be found in plastic, we also have to take into account the effect on the environment that plastic usage has.

The internet is flooding with ways to reduce plastic usage and people are more aware of the need to cut down on this. Still, it’s difficult to change behaviors and somehow parents easily end up with a great number of plastic toys at home. This happens partly because you receive gifts from friends and family, and to some extent because kids prefer bright-colored plastic toys more than bland, wooden ones.

Not all toys contain toxins, but they can be found in some cases. Toys that have toxins in them are hazardous to children mainly because of their tendency to swallow and chew on the toys, which can result in the toxins being absorbed by the body. When it comes to young children, even the smallest amounts of toxins can affect their health.

The toxins can either be found in the plastic itself or they can be included in the pigments used to color toys and make them more attractive to children.

Although there are EU regulations for which toxins may or may not be included in toys, there are products that can slip through the cracks. Plastic toys may, for example, be made of, or contain, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which contains lead and cadmium — both toxins that are harmful to children.

The CE mark is supposed to be a sign of quality. The toys have gone through and followed the rigorous EU standards for toys. The EU notes, though, that this marking should only be seen as an indication, as it has been misused due to counterfeiting.

As goes for all plastic, plastic toys are made using fossil fuels, and therefore the production of them contributes to the environmental crisis at hand. Therefore, it would be a good idea to minimize the buying of new plastic toys.

Environmentalists have raised awareness around the fact that plastic toys are a big part of the plastic that ends up in landfills and oceans, which adds to the ongoing issue of plastic pollution. According to a survey done by the British Heart Foundation, 1 in 3 parents admits to having thrown away toys in working conditions. Considering that 90 percent of toys are in some way made of plastic, that quickly adds up to a lot of plastic waste.

In conclusion, yes plastic toys are damaging to the environment. Even though they have a longer life cycle than single-use plastic, they will at some point end up in a landfill — or worse in the sea as non-recyclable waste. But how can we stop this issue?

Buy sustainable and non-plastic toys if you do want to buy new toys, try to aim for toys made from more sustainable materials. There are plenty of retailers that focus on environmentally-friendly toys. For example, smaller e-commerce sites like Frida & Fritiof focus on providing non-toxic and eco-labeled toys. If you do want to buy plastic toys, try to minimize the environmental impact by buying them second-hand. There are plenty of charity shops where you can buy toys, but if that is not for you, you can use a site like eBay or any other online marketplace to find second-hand toys. Be aware, though, when buying second-hand toys that security standards might have been updated since they were produced, so double-check that they are up to today’s standards.

Why are toys that have toxins harmful to children?

In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.

Deforestation in tropical regions can (1) ______ the way water vapour is produced over the canopy, (2) ______ causes reduced rainfall. A 2019 study published in the journal Ecohydrology showed that parts of the Amazon rainforest that (3) ______ converted to agricultural land (4) ______ higher soil and air temperatures, which could (5) ______ drought conditions.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 1.

In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 2.

A sentence has been given with a blank to be filled with an appropriate word. Choose the correct alternative.
 If you are the one who is planning to lose weight, remember to keep your snacking _______.

Select the option that can be used as a one-word substitute for the given group of words.

Fall back or sink again (into a worse state after an improvement) 

Given below are four jumbled sentences. Pick the option that gives their correct order.

A: As I rushed to open my door, bright lights from outside dazzled my eyes.

B: Suddenly I heard people shouting outside.

C: Last Sunday, I was watching TV.

D: It was about 10:30 p.m.

Choose the correct alternative which will improve the part of the sentence given in quotes.

 Everyone in the fraternity has his own 'set in' prejudices.

Directions : In each of the following questions, some part of the sentence may have errors. Find out which part of the sentence has an error. If a sentence is free from error, select No error

It has been shown that (1)/ very high doses of vitamin C actually (2)/ causes cancer cells to grow. (3)/ No error (4).