Read the following passage.
A. In 1957 the Forest Hill Rehabilitation Centre opened in Fredericton as the first rehabilitation hospital in New Brunswick. By 1962 Bob Scott, an engineering professor, had formed a volunteer group to help its patients. The group chose myoelectric control, which uses the electrical signals of muscles to run a device, but it had almost no money. That changed after the drug thalidomide caused severe birth abnormalities in more than 100 children in Canada, and the Government of Canada offered large grants for this work. In 1965 the group became an institute within the University of New Brunswick, which helped fit powered arms.
B. A powered arm of this kind reads muscle activity through skin sensors. After an amputation high on the arm, the control information carried by the nerves is lost. A surgery called targeted muscle reinnervation moves the leftover nerves into other muscles, which then produce usable signals. In a study run from 2007 to 2008 in Chicago, five patients who had this surgery used a pattern-recognition program to steer a virtual arm through 10 different elbow, wrist and hand motions. A later report described four people who used a bone-anchored arm for three to seven years, with nerve electrodes sending sensory feedback from the hand.
C. Learning to use a new limb takes guided practice. Therapists at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago published a care plan that begins before any prosthesis is fitted and then trains patients on devices run by up to four muscle signals, drawing on more than six years of cases. Engineers at the University of Ottawa have designed an adjustable temporary prosthesis so people with a below-knee amputation can practise before their own limb arrives. At Sunnybrook in Toronto, 19 of 24 inpatients with a leg amputation completed a guided yoga video session, and all participants felt yoga belonged in rehabilitation.
D. How a limb attaches has also changed. Conventionally, a prosthesis is worn on a socket around the stump, and patients report problems with fit, pain and skin breakdown. With osseointegration, a metal implant is inserted into the remaining bone and the artificial limb attaches to it, so no socket is needed. As of November 2017, 26 Canadian amputees had travelled to other countries for this surgery, and the first operation in Canada took place in Montreal in March 2018. A review of 19 studies published between 2010 and 2020 found implant failure in 1 per cent of one-stage cases, against 9 per cent for two-stage surgery.
E. Not given in any of the above paragraphs.
Decide which paragraph, A to D, has the information given in each statement below. Select E if the information is not given in any of the paragraphs.
AI explanationShows the answer. Tap to open.
Correct Answer: D
Why this is correct: The review comes near the end of Paragraph D. It found implant failure in 1 per cent of one-stage cases. For two-stage surgery the figure was 9 per cent. So one operation meant fewer failures.
Passage Reference: A review of 19 studies published between 2010 and 2020 found implant failure in 1 per cent of one-stage cases, against 9 per cent for two-stage surgery.
Tips: Look for how often implants fail. Check which figure is lower, and whether it goes with a single operation.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A is about the early research group in Fredericton. It says nothing about implants in bone.
- B: Paragraph B mentions an arm anchored to bone. It gives no failure numbers and does not compare one or two operations.
- C: Paragraph C covers training after amputation, such as a care plan and yoga. Surgery results are not discussed there.
- E: The review with the 1 per cent and 9 per cent failure figures is in Paragraph D. So this idea is in the text.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: Engineers at the University of Ottawa have designed an adjustable temporary prosthesis so people with a below-knee amputation can practise before their own limb arrives.
Why this is correct: Paragraph C describes a temporary prosthesis from the University of Ottawa. People with a below-knee amputation can practise on it before their own limb arrives. A short-term replacement is a simple way to say this.
Tips: Find something engineers made for patients who are waiting. Is it meant to be worn only for a short time?
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A tells how powered arms were first fitted in New Brunswick. There is no temporary leg in it.
- B: Paragraph B explains how sensors and nerve surgery control an arm. It does not describe a leg for use while waiting.
- D: Paragraph D talks about a newer way to attach a limb to bone. It never mentions a short-term leg for practice.
- E: The Ottawa engineers and their temporary prosthesis appear in Paragraph C.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: That changed after the drug thalidomide caused severe birth abnormalities in more than 100 children in Canada, and the Government of Canada offered large grants for this work.
Why this is correct: Look at Paragraph A. The group had almost no money at first. Then the drug thalidomide harmed more than 100 children in Canada, and the Government of Canada offered large grants. So a medicine led to more money.
Tips: Find the medicine that harmed newborns. Then check what happened to the team's money before and after it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Paragraph B is about sensors and a nerve surgery study. It does not say where any money came from.
- C: Paragraph C covers rehab programs in Chicago, Ottawa and Toronto. Funding and a harmful drug are not part of it.
- D: Paragraph D gives a count of Canadians who had bone implant surgery. It does not talk about grants or a drug.
- E: The drug thalidomide and the grants that followed are both in Paragraph A.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: As of November 2017, 26 Canadian amputees had travelled to other countries for this surgery, and the first operation in Canada took place in Montreal in March 2018.
Why this is correct: Paragraph D says that by November 2017, 26 Canadian amputees had gone to other countries for this surgery. The first operation in Canada came later, in March 2018. Twenty-six is more than two dozen.
Tips: This is about Canadians who had bone implant surgery abroad. Check that there were more than two dozen, and that they went before it was first done in Canada.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A is set in Fredericton in the 1950s and 1960s. Nobody travels for surgery there.
- B: Paragraph B describes a nerve surgery study and four people with a bone-anchored arm. It does not say where anyone went for surgery.
- C: Paragraph C is about rehab in Chicago, Ottawa and Toronto. It says nothing about Canadians going to other countries.
- E: The 26 Canadian amputees who went to other countries are in Paragraph D.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: In a study run from 2007 to 2008 in Chicago, five patients who had this surgery used a pattern-recognition program to steer a virtual arm through 10 different elbow, wrist and hand motions.
Why this is correct: Paragraph B describes the Chicago study. Five patients steered a virtual arm through 10 motions. The paragraph never mentions people with intact arms, and it gives no speeds. So there is nothing to compare.
Tips: A comparison needs two groups. Look for a second group in Paragraph B before you decide.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A covers the start of myoelectric research in New Brunswick. It has no study with timed movements.
- B: Paragraph B has the Chicago study with five patients and 10 motions. It does not say how fast they were or compare them with anyone.
- C: Paragraph C mentions the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, but only for a care plan. No speed test appears.
- D: Paragraph D compares implant failure after one or two operations. It does not compare arm movements.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: Conventionally, a prosthesis is worn on a socket around the stump, and patients report problems with fit, pain and skin breakdown.
Why this is correct: Look at Paragraph D. A prosthesis is usually worn on a socket around the stump. Patients report problems with fit, pain and skin breakdown. That matches pain and damaged skin.
Tips: The word 'skin' is in two paragraphs. Find the one where skin gets damaged.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A is about how myoelectric research began. Problems with wearing a limb are not described.
- B: Paragraph B mentions skin sensors, but only to read muscle activity. It says nothing about pain or damage.
- C: Paragraph C deals with a care plan, a temporary prosthesis and yoga. Complaints about the usual way of wearing a limb do not appear.
- E: The socket and the problems patients report with it are described in Paragraph D.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: Therapists at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago published a care plan that begins before any prosthesis is fitted and then trains patients on devices run by up to four muscle signals, drawing on more than six years of cases.
Why this is correct: Paragraph C says therapists at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago published a care plan. It drew on more than six years of cases. Six years is more than half a decade.
Tips: Look for advice written by a treatment team. How many years of cases is it built on, and is that more than half a decade?
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A is about Bob Scott's research group in the 1960s. It mentions no guide written by therapists.
- B: Paragraph B also mentions Chicago, but it reports a study of five patients. It says nothing about therapists writing a plan.
- D: Paragraph D reviews 19 studies of bone implants. It does not mention therapists or their experience.
- E: The care plan from the Chicago therapists, based on more than six years of cases, is in Paragraph C.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: A later report described four people who used a bone-anchored arm for three to seven years, with nerve electrodes sending sensory feedback from the hand.
Why this is correct: Paragraph B closes with four people who used a bone-anchored arm for three to seven years. Nerve electrodes sent sensory feedback from the hand. So the users could feel signals from it.
Tips: Bone implants come up twice in the passage. Pick the paragraph that also mentions feeling from the hand.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A says the institute helped fit powered arms. It does not mention bone or feeling in the hand.
- C: Paragraph C describes training with muscle signals. No arm sends feelings back to its user there.
- D: Paragraph D explains implants placed in bone, so it is easy to pick. But it never mentions an arm or any feeling from a hand.
- E: The four people with a bone-anchored arm and sensory feedback appear in Paragraph B.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: Engineers at the University of Ottawa have designed an adjustable temporary prosthesis so people with a below-knee amputation can practise before their own limb arrives.
Why this is correct: Paragraph C says engineers at the University of Ottawa designed a temporary prosthesis. It explains who it is for. It does not say what happened after it was designed or who has tested it.
Tips: The text tells you what the Ottawa device is for. It stops before any later testing.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A is about arm research in the 1960s. It has no Ottawa design and no leg tests.
- B: Paragraph B reports tests of a virtual arm in Chicago. Those patients had lost part of an arm, not a leg.
- C: Paragraph C introduces the Ottawa prosthesis and its purpose. Later testing with new patients is not described.
- D: Paragraph D follows bone implant surgery in Canada. The Ottawa device does not appear there.
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