Boost Your Reading Skills 🍎
Welcome to your reading practice session! On international exams, you’ll need to read complex texts, understand the main ideas, and identify specific details quickly and accurately. This exercise will help you sharpen those exact skills.
Before you begin, let’s review some essential reading strategies:
- Skim First, Read Later: Before diving deep, take 30-60 seconds to skim the passage. Read the first and last sentences of each paragraph. This will give you a mental map of the text and help you understand the overall structure and main idea.
- Identify the Author’s Purpose: As you read, ask yourself: Is the author trying to inform, persuade, or explain? Understanding the author’s goal helps you interpret the tone and focus on the most important information.
- Master the Art of Paraphrasing: Questions will often use different words (synonyms) than the passage to test your understanding. When you read a key sentence, take a moment to think, “How could I say this in my own words?” This builds a flexible understanding of the text.
- Time Management is Key: For a passage and question set of this length, you should aim to spend no more than 20 minutes. Try to spend about 5-7 minutes reading and understanding the text, and then about 1 minute per question. This practice will build the stamina and speed you need for test day.
Ready to challenge yourself? Let’s begin.
Reading Passage
The science of nutrition is a remarkably dynamic field, evolving from a rudimentary understanding of preventing deficiency diseases to a sophisticated exploration of how dietary components interact with our genes. In its infancy, nutritional science was primarily concerned with identifying essential nutrients—vitamins and minerals—whose absence led to conspicuous and often fatal conditions like scurvy or pellagra. This paradigm of nutrient deficiency was instrumental in eradicating these diseases in many parts of the world and established the foundational role of a balanced diet in basic human survival. This early success, however, painted an overly simplistic picture of nutrition, one focused solely on avoiding illness rather than actively promoting optimal health.
The latter half of the 20th century witnessed a significant paradigm shift. With the rise of chronic, non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers as the leading causes of mortality in developed nations, the focus of nutritional research pivoted. Scientists began to investigate the intricate relationships between long-term dietary patterns and the gradual development of these conditions. This era moved beyond single-nutrient analysis to a more holistic view, considering the synergistic effects of whole foods and dietary patterns. The “Mediterranean diet,” for example, is lauded not for one specific “superfood,” but for its overall composition: high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and olive oil, and low in red meat and processed foods. This approach acknowledges that the health benefits arise from the complex interplay of various nutrients and phytochemicals working in concert.
More recently, the field has entered an even more personalized era with the advent of nutrigenomics. This cutting-edge discipline studies the interaction between nutrition and an individual’s genome. The premise is that our genetic makeup can influence how our bodies respond to different foods, and conversely, that certain nutrients can influence gene expression. For instance, some individuals may have a genetic predisposition that makes them more sensitive to the blood-pressure-raising effects of salt, while others may not. Nutrigenomics holds the promise of developing highly individualized dietary recommendations tailored to a person’s unique genetic profile, moving away from the one-size-fits-all dietary guidelines of the past.
However, the proliferation of nutritional information, particularly through social media and wellness blogs, has created a “nutritionism” paradox. While public interest in healthy eating is at an all-time high, so is confusion. The focus on single nutrients or the demonization of entire food groups (like carbohydrates or fats) often obscures the more nuanced message of balance and moderation. This reductionist view can lead to anxiety around food and fad diets that are not sustainable or supported by robust scientific evidence. Therefore, a critical challenge for the future of public health is nutritional literacy—equipping individuals with the skills to critically evaluate nutritional claims and understand that the foundation of a healthy diet lies not in a magic bullet nutrient, but in a consistent pattern of consuming a variety of whole and minimally processed foods.
Reading Quiz
Keywords & Phrases
Rudimentary
Involving or limited to basic principles; in an early stage of development.
How we used it: We described the early understanding of nutrition as “rudimentary.” This means it was very basic and not yet fully developed compared to the sophisticated science it is today.
Conspicuous
Clearly visible; attracting notice or attention.
How we used it: The diseases caused by nutrient deficiencies were “conspicuous.” This means their signs and symptoms were obvious and easy to see.
Paradigm shift
A fundamental change in approach or underlying assumptions.
How we used it: The move from studying nutrient deficiency to studying chronic disease was a “paradigm shift.” It represents a major, fundamental change in the entire way the field of nutrition operated.
Pivoted
To turn or balance on a central point; to change direction.
How we used it: The focus of nutritional research “pivoted.” This metaphor means that the field turned its focus in a new direction, away from one topic and toward another.
Holistic
Characterized by the belief that the parts of something are intimately interconnected and can be explained only by reference to the whole.
How we used it: The study of dietary patterns like the Mediterranean diet is a “holistic view.” This means it looks at the whole diet and how all its parts work together, rather than looking at single, isolated nutrients.
In concert
Acting jointly; together.
How we used it: The nutrients in whole foods work “in concert.” This phrase means they work together, in cooperation, to produce health benefits.
Nutrigenomics
The scientific study of the interaction of nutrition and genes, especially with regard to the prevention or treatment of disease.
How we used it: This was a key term in the third paragraph, defined as the “cutting-edge discipline” that studies how our individual genetic makeup interacts with the food we eat.
Proliferation
A rapid increase in the number or amount of something.
How we used it: The “proliferation of nutritional information” refers to the rapid and widespread increase in the amount of diet-related content available today, especially online.
Reductionist
Analyzing and describing a complex phenomenon in terms of its simple or fundamental constituents.
How we used it: Focusing only on single nutrients was described as a “reductionist view.” It’s a critique of trying to reduce the complex topic of nutrition down to overly simple components.
Magic bullet
A simple solution to a difficult problem.
How we used it: The author concludes that health is not found in a “magic bullet nutrient.” This idiom means there is no single, simple, magical cure-all; the real solution is in overall dietary patterns.
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