Read the following passage and choose the correct answer to each of the following questions.

 In an unexpected sign of hope amid the expanding pandemic, scientists at the University of Oxford said on Tuesday that an inexpensive and commonly available drug reduced deaths in patients critically ill with COVID-19.

 If the finding is officially confirmed, the drug, a steroid called dexamethasone would be the first treatment shown to reduce mortality in severely ill patients. Had doctors been using the drug to treat the sickest Covid-19 patients in Britain from the beginning of the pandemic, up to 5,000 deaths could have been prevented, the researchers estimated. In the study, it reduced deaths of patients on ventilators by one-third, and deaths of patients on oxygen by one-fifth.

 Until now, hospitals worldwide have had nothing to offer these desperate, dying patients, and the prospect of a lifesaving treatment close at hand - in almost every pharmacy - was met with something like elation by doctors.

 Dexamethasone is the first drug to be shown to improve survival in Covid-19, one of the trial's chief investigators, Peter Horby, a professor of emerging infectious diseases at the University of Oxford, said in a statement. The survival benefit is clear and large in those patients who are sick enough to require oxygen treatment.

 However, there is still, obviously, a significant amount of scepticism. While hospitals in the United Kingdom were allowed to begin treating severely ill COVID-19 patients with dexamethasone, many experts in the United States demanded to see the data and the study itself, which have not yet been peer reviewed or published.

(Adapted from nytimes.com)

 According to paragraph 2, it is estimated by researchers that _____

Read the following passage and choose the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.

 COVID-19 has forced us into social distancing, isolation and quarantine. These conditions are likely fostering (1) _____ anxiety and loneliness in our cities. However, COVID-19 is an opportunity to build a new kind of contact on (2) _____ we know and learn from this situation. It's possible to promote social and emotional well-being. Integrating public and online spaces is one of the approaches for building better communities. Our new online communication skills can help us develop a better physical-digital interface for bringing people together. Video conferencing is flexible and can enable long-distance connection and “work from home” hubs. (3) _____, social media platforms, such as Facebook, Meetup, WhatsApp or art-based apps like Somebody, are (4) ______ for organising physical meetings too. These can help with community volunteering, socialising, or simply sharing guerrilla-garden herbs for local cooking. A better physical-digital interface could help new jobs flourish in "interactive" creative industries that virtually connect (5) ______ isolated individuals. New art spaces could be established, putting connective digital infrastructure, such as audio-visual platforms, within physical spaces to help face-to-face and virtual audiences interact.

(Adapted from https://theconversation.com/reconnecting-after-coronavirus)

Choose the word that differs from the rest in the position of the main stress in each of the following questions.

Choose the sentence that is closest in meaning to the sentence given in each of the following questions.

Choose the word that differs from the rest in the position of the main stress in each of the following questions.

Read the following passage and choose the correct answer to each of the questions.

 Do you feel like your teenager is spending most of the day glued to a phone screen? You're not too far off. A new survey from the Pew Research Center reveals the surprising ways that technology intersects with teen friendships – and the results show that 57 percent of teens have made at least one new friend online. Even more surprisingly, only 20 percent of those digital friends ever meet in person.

 While teens do connect with their friends face-to-face outside of school, they spend 55 percent of their day texting with friends, and only 25 percent of teens are spending actual time with their friends on a daily basis (outside of school hallways). These new forms of communication are key in maintaining friendships day-to-day – 27 percent of teens instant message their friends every day, 23 percent connect through social media every day, and 7 percent even video chat daily. Text messaging remains the main form of communication – almost half of survey respondents say it's their chosen method of communication with their closest friend.

 While girls are more likely to text with their close friends, boys are meeting new friends (and maintaining friendships) in the gaming world – 89 percent play with friends they know, and 54 percent play with online-only friends. Whether they're close with their teammates or not, online garners say that playing makes them feel "more connected" to friends they know, or garners they've never met.

 When making new friends, social media has also become a major part of the teenage identity – 62 percent of teens are quick to share their social media usernames when connecting with a new friend (although 80 percent still consider their phone number the best method of contact). Despite the negative consequences-21 percent of teenage users feel worse about their lives because of posts they see on social media – teens also have found support and connection through various platforms. In fact, 68 percent of teens received support during a challenging time in their lives via social media platforms.

 Just as technology has become a gateway for new friendships, or a channel to stay connected with current friends, it can also make a friendship breakup more public. The study reveals that girls are more likely to block or unfriend former allies, and 68 percent of all teenage users report experiencing "drama among their friends on social media."

 (Source: https://www.realsimple.com)