Reading Comprehension- 2

Read the text below and answer Questions 1-5.

Man-The Original Kin

1. The conventional view about the origin of man holds that homonids or manlike creatures began to evolve from ape-like ancestors in Africa about four million years ago.

2. Until recently the evolutionary theories of modern man were propagated by biologists who spent most of their time studying fossils or remains of skulls. It was only in the mid-nineties that molecular biologists were attracted towards skulls and fossils. And it was then that the conventional theory about the origin of man was challenged.

3. Allan Wilson, a biochemist at the University of California, published a study that challenged the old theory. He concluded that the modern humans are a completely new species that arose in Africa between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago. The human family tree leads back to a single African woman, known as ”Eve’. By implication, the descendants of Eve must have spread out from Africa, replacing ancient, indigenous humans all over the world.

4. All the previous theories regarding the place of origin were controversial. Some anthropologists favoured Africa, whereas others voted for Asia and still others for Europe. One theory was that modern humans evolved in many different parts of the world at different times. Another school of thought believed that they evolved in one place and then spread out to the rest of the world and got mixed with indigenous archaic populations.

5. The Eve hypothesis was based on studies of a DNA within our cells that is inherited only from mothers and is passed unmixed to the progeny with certain random changes. Scientists at the University of California studied the changes in the DNA which were believed to occur at a rate steady enough to constitute a ”molecular clock”. A computer programme helped them prove the hypothesis by tracing the 100,000th great grandmother in an African Eden.

6. Few years ago, two molecular biologists presented further evidence that Homo sapiens evolved in Africa. After analyzing the DNA from the blood and hair of 117 living people from Sardinia and the Middle East the team found out that a dramatic population explosion about 60,000 years ago followed the immigration of the first modern humans out of Africa.

7. Now, a new study traces the whereabouts of Adam. Michael Hammer, assistant research scientist at the University of Arizona is of the view that every man on earth today is related, or linked to a common ancestor who lived about 190,000 years ago. This so-called ancestral Adam was among many males who lived before anatomically modern humans evolved.

8. It is certain that Adam and Eve theories have given a new dimension to the subject of human evolution. Actually the subject of evolution was considered a stronghold of anthropologists and paleontologists and after the inclusion of molecular biologists and genetics in the field, new dimensions have been included in the subject. Despite opposition by traditional anthropologists, scientists are beginning to recognise these new dimensions as more accurate and perfect. Let us hope that within a few years we should be able to learn the exact details of Adam and Eve.

Question: Choose the most appropriate option from the ones given below.

1. What is the conventional view about the origin of man?

1. man appeared 4 million years ago
2. ape-like creatures evolved from homonids 4 million years ago
3. homonids evolved from ape-like creatures 4 million years ago
4. man appeared in Africa from homonids 4 million years ago

 

2. What does the term ”molecular clock” refer to?

1. a new kind of clock based on molecular energy
2. a technique for measuring changes in DNA
3. a computer programmes to determine whether human beings evolved from apes
4. a method to prove that Biblical Adam and Eve existed

 

3. Why are anthropologists and paleontologists opposed to the Eve and Adam theories?

1. there are no fossils or skulls to prove the theories
2. new and different techniques are being employed
3. DNA analysis is not a foolproof way to describe human evolution
4. it challenges their stronghold on the matter of evolution

4. Eve has emerged as the mother of all humanity because

1. Scientist Allan Wilson has evidence to prove this
2. DNA in modern man can be traced back to her
3. the molecular clock confirms that all humans are her descendants
4. there is a strong possibility that Adam, too exists

5. The term ‘progeny’ (Paragraph 5) means the same as

1. ancestors
2. siblings
3. descendants
4. species

6. ‘Scientists are beginning to recognise these new dimensions…’ (last paragraph). Here ‘these new dimensions’ refers to which of the following?

1. Adam and Eve hypothesis of origin of modern human species
2. new studies by anthropologists and paleontologists
3. absence of remains of modern human species in Africa
4. entry of molecular biology and genetics into the study of origin of human species