ADVANCED READING AND WRITING

(Brief-answer Questions)

Reading – I

6. Read the following composition attentively and answer any five of the questions:

Faith is a powerful medicine. Why does faith appear to have such a powerful productive effect? Experts offer several possible explanations.

Going religious services guarantees contact with the people. Social support is well documented key to health and longevity.

Faith gives a sense of hope and control that counteracts stress. Commitment to a system of beliefs enables people to better handle traumatic illness, suffering and loss.

Praying evokes beneficial changes in the body. When people pray, they experience the same decreases in blood pressure, metabolism, heart breathing rates as the famous “relaxation response” described by Herbert Benson, a famous Harvard Medical School Doctor. Reciting the rosary, for example, involves the same steps as the relaxation response: repeating a word, prayer, phrase or sound, and returning to the repetition when other thoughts intrude. While the relaxation response works regardless of the words used, Benson says, those who choose a religious phrase are more likely to benefit if they believe in God.