Question 24 Direction: Read the passage given below and answer the question that follows.

Question 24

Direction: Read the passage given below and answer the question that follows. There may be more than one question(s) based on the below passage.

Passage:

We are surrounded by the sounds of the machinery that make our lives comfortable and convenient. The constant stream of traffic and the thunder of jet engines overhead. But when we have to listen to these noises for too long or at the wrong time, they can inflict silent and stealthy damage. Increasing evidence shows this damage isn't just to our ears, but to our blood vessels and hearts. Nor is this just a problem for people who live near busy roads or under flight paths. New research suggests that noise pollution might harm in in much more widespread way.

Last week, the world's experts gathered in Japan to discuss the latest findings about noise and health. Perhaps most eye-catching was the study that linked noise pollution to your waist size. In a four-year project, published last year, researchers from Karolinska University in Sweden found that the louder the traffic noise to which people in different parts of Stockholm were exposed, the greater the increase in their waist size. The link between obesity and chronic disease is well established. This is the first evidence between a widespread environmental condition and the more recent focus of an average office.

Last month, studies from Karolinska University found an even more dramatic effect from plane noise. After tracking more than 5,000 people for ten years, they reported that the waistlines of those most exposed to plane noise increased on average by 6 cm. A similar study last year by the School of Public Health at Imperial College London found that being exposed to higher levels of aircraft noise around Heathrow airport led to higher rates of admission to hospital for heart disease by 20 per cent. The effects of noise pollution are even felt by babies in the womb.