Mock 6 – Reading Comprehension Passages (Part 6)

Read the following passage and answer the questions :

The stock-taking done at the first national convention on Consumer Protection served to highlight the areas that called for special attention to sustain the momentum of the movement as genuine forum for safeguarding the people's interests. Spreading awareness about the rights of the consumers and the relief open to them in case they did not get their money's worth of goods and services has rightly been identified as the first priority.

While this may not be a difficult task in urban areas, where the movement is concentrated at present, taking it to the vast rural hinterland calls for a multi-media approach in which radio and television have a crucial role to play. The involvement of the 500-odd consumer organizations in the country in publicising the concept of fair trade practices and the remedies available against their violation will prove rewarding, if the message is conveyed through village bodies. Government efforts remain confined at best to setting up the infrastructure after the formal launch of the movement with the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act. The mounting backlog of cases in consumer courts, points to the need for toning up the district level redressal machinery.

Read the following passage and answer the questions :

The stock-taking done at the first national convention on Consumer Protection served to highlight the areas that called for special attention to sustain the momentum of the movement as genuine forum for safeguarding the people's interests. Spreading awareness about the rights of the consumers and the relief open to them in case they did not get their money's worth of goods and services has rightly been identified as the first priority.

While this may not be a difficult task in urban areas, where the movement is concentrated at present, taking it to the vast rural hinterland calls for a multi-media approach in which radio and television have a crucial role to play. The involvement of the 500-odd consumer organizations in the country in publicising the concept of fair trade practices and the remedies available against their violation will prove rewarding, if the message is conveyed through village bodies. Government efforts remain confined at best to setting up the infrastructure after the formal launch of the movement with the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act. The mounting backlog of cases in consumer courts, points to the need for toning up the district level redressal machinery.

Read the following passage and answer the questions :

The stock-taking done at the first national convention on Consumer Protection served to highlight the areas that called for special attention to sustain the momentum of the movement as genuine forum for safeguarding the people's interests. Spreading awareness about the rights of the consumers and the relief open to them in case they did not get their money's worth of goods and services has rightly been identified as the first priority.

While this may not be a difficult task in urban areas, where the movement is concentrated at present, taking it to the vast rural hinterland calls for a multi-media approach in which radio and television have a crucial role to play. The involvement of the 500-odd consumer organizations in the country in publicising the concept of fair trade practices and the remedies available against their violation will prove rewarding, if the message is conveyed through village bodies. Government efforts remain confined at best to setting up the infrastructure after the formal launch of the movement with the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act. The mounting backlog of cases in consumer courts, points to the need for toning up the district level redressal machinery.

Read the following passage and answer the questions :

The stock-taking done at the first national convention on Consumer Protection served to highlight the areas that called for special attention to sustain the momentum of the movement as genuine forum for safeguarding the people's interests. Spreading awareness about the rights of the consumers and the relief open to them in case they did not get their money's worth of goods and services has rightly been identified as the first priority.

While this may not be a difficult task in urban areas, where the movement is concentrated at present, taking it to the vast rural hinterland calls for a multi-media approach in which radio and television have a crucial role to play. The involvement of the 500-odd consumer organizations in the country in publicising the concept of fair trade practices and the remedies available against their violation will prove rewarding, if the message is conveyed through village bodies. Government efforts remain confined at best to setting up the infrastructure after the formal launch of the movement with the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act. The mounting backlog of cases in consumer courts, points to the need for toning up the district level redressal machinery.

Read the following passage and answer the questions :

The stock-taking done at the first national convention on Consumer Protection served to highlight the areas that called for special attention to sustain the momentum of the movement as genuine forum for safeguarding the people's interests. Spreading awareness about the rights of the consumers and the relief open to them in case they did not get their money's worth of goods and services has rightly been identified as the first priority.

While this may not be a difficult task in urban areas, where the movement is concentrated at present, taking it to the vast rural hinterland calls for a multi-media approach in which radio and television have a crucial role to play. The involvement of the 500-odd consumer organizations in the country in publicising the concept of fair trade practices and the remedies available against their violation will prove rewarding, if the message is conveyed through village bodies. Government efforts remain confined at best to setting up the infrastructure after the formal launch of the movement with the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act. The mounting backlog of cases in consumer courts, points to the need for toning up the district level redressal machinery.

Read the following passage and answer the questions:

The reformer must know that what moves people is the authentic life, not mere writing. The newspaper and journals that Lokmanya Tilak and other reformers ran, the books they wrote, sold little, but had enormous effect. Their writing was known to reflect and be just an extension of, their exemplary lives. It was the authenticity of their lives which lent weight to their message, to their example. All knew that their lives were an integral whole – they were not moral in public life and lax in private, nor vice versa. They were not full of pious thoughts and sacred resolutions within the walls of a temple.

A writer who is merely entertaining his readers, even one who is merely informing them, can do what he wants with the rest of his life. But the writer, who sets out to use his pen to reform public life, cannot afford such dualities. Here is the testimony of one great man about the influence of another, Lokmanya Tilak.

“I believe that an editor who has anything worth saying and who commands a clientele cannot be easily hushed. He delivers his finished message as soon as he is put under duress. The Lokmanya spoke more eloquently from the Mandalay fortress than through columns of the printed Kesari.”

Read the following passage and answer the questions:

The reformer must know that what moves people is the authentic life, not mere writing. The newspaper and journals that Lokmanya Tilak and other reformers ran, the books they wrote, sold little, but had enormous effect. Their writing was known to reflect and be just an extension of, their exemplary lives. It was the authenticity of their lives which lent weight to their message, to their example. All knew that their lives were an integral whole – they were not moral in public life and lax in private, nor vice versa. They were not full of pious thoughts and sacred resolutions within the walls of a temple.

A writer who is merely entertaining his readers, even one who is merely informing them, can do what he wants with the rest of his life. But the writer, who sets out to use his pen to reform public life, cannot afford such dualities. Here is the testimony of one great man about the influence of another, Lokmanya Tilak.

“I believe that an editor who has anything worth saying and who commands a clientele cannot be easily hushed. He delivers his finished message as soon as he is put under duress. The Lokmanya spoke more eloquently from the Mandalay fortress than through columns of the printed Kesari.”

Read the following passage and answer the questions:

The reformer must know that what moves people is the authentic life, not mere writing. The newspaper and journals that Lokmanya Tilak and other reformers ran, the books they wrote, sold little, but had enormous effect. Their writing was known to reflect and be just an extension of, their exemplary lives. It was the authenticity of their lives which lent weight to their message, to their example. All knew that their lives were an integral whole – they were not moral in public life and lax in private, nor vice versa. They were not full of pious thoughts and sacred resolutions within the walls of a temple.

A writer who is merely entertaining his readers, even one who is merely informing them, can do what he wants with the rest of his life. But the writer, who sets out to use his pen to reform public life, cannot afford such dualities. Here is the testimony of one great man about the influence of another, Lokmanya Tilak.

“I believe that an editor who has anything worth saying and who commands a clientele cannot be easily hushed. He delivers his finished message as soon as he is put under duress. The Lokmanya spoke more eloquently from the Mandalay fortress than through columns of the printed Kesari.”

Read the following passage and answer the questions:

The reformer must know that what moves people is the authentic life, not mere writing. The newspaper and journals that Lokmanya Tilak and other reformers ran, the books they wrote, sold little, but had enormous effect. Their writing was known to reflect and be just an extension of, their exemplary lives. It was the authenticity of their lives which lent weight to their message, to their example. All knew that their lives were an integral whole – they were not moral in public life and lax in private, nor vice versa. They were not full of pious thoughts and sacred resolutions within the walls of a temple.

A writer who is merely entertaining his readers, even one who is merely informing them, can do what he wants with the rest of his life. But the writer, who sets out to use his pen to reform public life, cannot afford such dualities. Here is the testimony of one great man about the influence of another, Lokmanya Tilak.

“I believe that an editor who has anything worth saying and who commands a clientele cannot be easily hushed. He delivers his finished message as soon as he is put under duress. The Lokmanya spoke more eloquently from the Mandalay fortress than through columns of the printed Kesari.”

Read the following passage and answer the questions:

The reformer must know that what moves people is the authentic life, not mere writing. The newspaper and journals that Lokmanya Tilak and other reformers ran, the books they wrote, sold little, but had enormous effect. Their writing was known to reflect and be just an extension of, their exemplary lives. It was the authenticity of their lives which lent weight to their message, to their example. All knew that their lives were an integral whole – they were not moral in public life and lax in private, nor vice versa. They were not full of pious thoughts and sacred resolutions within the walls of a temple.

A writer who is merely entertaining his readers, even one who is merely informing them, can do what he wants with the rest of his life. But the writer, who sets out to use his pen to reform public life, cannot afford such dualities. Here is the testimony of one great man about the influence of another, Lokmanya Tilak.

“I believe that an editor who has anything worth saying and who commands a clientele cannot be easily hushed. He delivers his finished message as soon as he is put under duress. The Lokmanya spoke more eloquently from the Mandalay fortress than through columns of the printed Kesari.”

Read the following passage and answer the questions:

The first step is for us to realise that a city need not be a frustrater of life; it can be among other things, a mechanism for enhancing life, for producing possibilities of living which are not to be realized except through cities. But, for that to happen, deliberate and drastic planning is needed. Towns as much as animals, must have their systems of organs — those for transport and circulation are an obvious example.

What we need now are organ systems for recreation, leisure, culture, community expression. This means abundance of open space, easy access to unspoilt nature, beauty in parks and in fine buildings, gymnasia and swimming baths and recreation grounds in plenty, central spaces for celebrations and demonstrations, halls for citizens' meetings, concert halls and theatres and cinemas that belong to the city.

And the buildings must not be built anyhow or dumped down anywhere; both they and their grouping should mean something important to the people of the place.

Read the following passage and answer the questions:

The first step is for us to realise that a city need not be a frustrater of life; it can be among other things, a mechanism for enhancing life, for producing possibilities of living which are not to be realized except through cities. But, for that to happen, deliberate and drastic planning is needed. Towns as much as animals, must have their systems of organs — those for transport and circulation are an obvious example.

What we need now are organ systems for recreation, leisure, culture, community expression. This means abundance of open space, easy access to unspoilt nature, beauty in parks and in fine buildings, gymnasia and swimming baths and recreation grounds in plenty, central spaces for celebrations and demonstrations, halls for citizens' meetings, concert halls and theatres and cinemas that belong to the city.

And the buildings must not be built anyhow or dumped down anywhere; both they and their grouping should mean something important to the people of the place.

Read the following passage and answer the questions:

The first step is for us to realise that a city need not be a frustrater of life; it can be among other things, a mechanism for enhancing life, for producing possibilities of living which are not to be realized except through cities. But, for that to happen, deliberate and drastic planning is needed. Towns as much as animals, must have their systems of organs — those for transport and circulation are an obvious example.

What we need now are organ systems for recreation, leisure, culture, community expression. This means abundance of open space, easy access to unspoilt nature, beauty in parks and in fine buildings, gymnasia and swimming baths and recreation grounds in plenty, central spaces for celebrations and demonstrations, halls for citizens' meetings, concert halls and theatres and cinemas that belong to the city.

And the buildings must not be built anyhow or dumped down anywhere; both they and their grouping should mean something important to the people of the place.

Read the following passage and answer the questions:

The first step is for us to realise that a city need not be a frustrater of life; it can be among other things, a mechanism for enhancing life, for producing possibilities of living which are not to be realized except through cities. But, for that to happen, deliberate and drastic planning is needed. Towns as much as animals, must have their systems of organs — those for transport and circulation are an obvious example.

What we need now are organ systems for recreation, leisure, culture, community expression. This means abundance of open space, easy access to unspoilt nature, beauty in parks and in fine buildings, gymnasia and swimming baths and recreation grounds in plenty, central spaces for celebrations and demonstrations, halls for citizens' meetings, concert halls and theatres and cinemas that belong to the city.

And the buildings must not be built anyhow or dumped down anywhere; both they and their grouping should mean something important to the people of the place.

Read the following passage and answer the questions:

The first step is for us to realise that a city need not be a frustrater of life; it can be among other things, a mechanism for enhancing life, for producing possibilities of living which are not to be realized except through cities. But, for that to happen, deliberate and drastic planning is needed. Towns as much as animals, must have their systems of organs — those for transport and circulation are an obvious example.

What we need now are organ systems for recreation, leisure, culture, community expression. This means abundance of open space, easy access to unspoilt nature, beauty in parks and in fine buildings, gymnasia and swimming baths and recreation grounds in plenty, central spaces for celebrations and demonstrations, halls for citizens' meetings, concert halls and theatres and cinemas that belong to the city.

And the buildings must not be built anyhow or dumped down anywhere; both they and their grouping should mean something important to the people of the place.

Read the following passage and answer the questions :

Every now and then some retired civil servant comes out with his memoirs, painting a glorious picture of the heights of administrative efficiency reached during his reign. There is often the suggestion that had there not been so much political interference, things would have been even more fantastic. It is not unusual for the self-styled hero to blame not only interfering politicians but also fellow civil servants who were idiots or crooks, for his failures. This attitude of smug satisfaction is, unfortunately developed during the years of service. Self preservation rather than service is encouraged by our whole system of rules and procedures.

The remedy has to be drastic and quickly effective. The over-protection now granted to civil servants must end. Today to remove an erring civil servant is just not possible. And the only thing that the highest authority in the Government, both in the state and at the centre, can do is to transfer an official from one job to another.

The rules for taking disciplinary action are so complicated that, in the end, the defaulting civil servant gets away, and gets his full emoluments even for the period of the disciplinary proceedings, thus making it a paid holiday for him.

The result is that the administration has become rule-oriented and not result oriented. Action is possible against the official who takes some interest in his work, but no action is ever taken against a person who does not deliver the goods. If the country is to adopt a result oriented approach, it is necessary to link job performance with job retention.

Read the following passage and answer the questions :

Every now and then some retired civil servant comes out with his memoirs, painting a glorious picture of the heights of administrative efficiency reached during his reign. There is often the suggestion that had there not been so much political interference, things would have been even more fantastic. It is not unusual for the self-styled hero to blame not only interfering politicians but also fellow civil servants who were idiots or crooks, for his failures. This attitude of smug satisfaction is, unfortunately developed during the years of service. Self preservation rather than service is encouraged by our whole system of rules and procedures.

The remedy has to be drastic and quickly effective. The over-protection now granted to civil servants must end. Today to remove an erring civil servant is just not possible. And the only thing that the highest authority in the Government, both in the state and at the centre, can do is to transfer an official from one job to another.

The rules for taking disciplinary action are so complicated that, in the end, the defaulting civil servant gets away, and gets his full emoluments even for the period of the disciplinary proceedings, thus making it a paid holiday for him.

The result is that the administration has become rule-oriented and not result oriented. Action is possible against the official who takes some interest in his work, but no action is ever taken against a person who does not deliver the goods. If the country is to adopt a result oriented approach, it is necessary to link job performance with job retention.

Read the following passage and answer the questions :

Every now and then some retired civil servant comes out with his memoirs, painting a glorious picture of the heights of administrative efficiency reached during his reign. There is often the suggestion that had there not been so much political interference, things would have been even more fantastic. It is not unusual for the self-styled hero to blame not only interfering politicians but also fellow civil servants who were idiots or crooks, for his failures. This attitude of smug satisfaction is, unfortunately developed during the years of service. Self preservation rather than service is encouraged by our whole system of rules and procedures.

The remedy has to be drastic and quickly effective. The over-protection now granted to civil servants must end. Today to remove an erring civil servant is just not possible. And the only thing that the highest authority in the Government, both in the state and at the centre, can do is to transfer an official from one job to another.

The rules for taking disciplinary action are so complicated that, in the end, the defaulting civil servant gets away, and gets his full emoluments even for the period of the disciplinary proceedings, thus making it a paid holiday for him.

The result is that the administration has become rule-oriented and not result oriented. Action is possible against the official who takes some interest in his work, but no action is ever taken against a person who does not deliver the goods. If the country is to adopt a result oriented approach, it is necessary to link job performance with job retention.

Read the following passage and answer the questions :

Every now and then some retired civil servant comes out with his memoirs, painting a glorious picture of the heights of administrative efficiency reached during his reign. There is often the suggestion that had there not been so much political interference, things would have been even more fantastic. It is not unusual for the self-styled hero to blame not only interfering politicians but also fellow civil servants who were idiots or crooks, for his failures. This attitude of smug satisfaction is, unfortunately developed during the years of service. Self preservation rather than service is encouraged by our whole system of rules and procedures.

The remedy has to be drastic and quickly effective. The over-protection now granted to civil servants must end. Today to remove an erring civil servant is just not possible. And the only thing that the highest authority in the Government, both in the state and at the centre, can do is to transfer an official from one job to another.

The rules for taking disciplinary action are so complicated that, in the end, the defaulting civil servant gets away, and gets his full emoluments even for the period of the disciplinary proceedings, thus making it a paid holiday for him.

The result is that the administration has become rule-oriented and not result oriented. Action is possible against the official who takes some interest in his work, but no action is ever taken against a person who does not deliver the goods. If the country is to adopt a result oriented approach, it is necessary to link job performance with job retention.

Read the following passage and answer the questions :

Every now and then some retired civil servant comes out with his memoirs, painting a glorious picture of the heights of administrative efficiency reached during his reign. There is often the suggestion that had there not been so much political interference, things would have been even more fantastic. It is not unusual for the self-styled hero to blame not only interfering politicians but also fellow civil servants who were idiots or crooks, for his failures. This attitude of smug satisfaction is, unfortunately developed during the years of service. Self preservation rather than service is encouraged by our whole system of rules and procedures.

The remedy has to be drastic and quickly effective. The over-protection now granted to civil servants must end. Today to remove an erring civil servant is just not possible. And the only thing that the highest authority in the Government, both in the state and at the centre, can do is to transfer an official from one job to another.

The rules for taking disciplinary action are so complicated that, in the end, the defaulting civil servant gets away, and gets his full emoluments even for the period of the disciplinary proceedings, thus making it a paid holiday for him.

The result is that the administration has become rule-oriented and not result oriented. Action is possible against the official who takes some interest in his work, but no action is ever taken against a person who does not deliver the goods. If the country is to adopt a result oriented approach, it is necessary to link job performance with job retention.

Read the passage given below and answer the questions:

Conventional and outdated wisdom asserts that we each have 'learning styles' unique to ourselves. The implication is that if you don't learn using your preferred style you'll fail to acquire the knowledge desired. It also allows you an excuse not to work hard at learning something new. In Soft-Wired, however, Michael Merzenich shows that the plasticity of the brain extends to the way we learn. In other words, we can learn how to learn. Indeed, we should focus strongly on doing this.

As well as reading or attending lectures, look at cultivating different learning styles — or, more precisely, learning strategies. Micromastery enables you to experiment and use a vast array of different learning strategies. Since all are designed to succeed brilliantly (with a modicum of persistence) at the micromastery concerned, you have a perfect chance to increase your store of potential learning strategies. This in turn increases your ideational fluency — your ability to switch between idea sets that may be opposed or contradictory. If one strategy doesn't seem to work, no matter how wedded you are to it, you switch seamlessly to another. Ideational fluency is an attribute required of anyone working in a fast-changing, rapid-learning environment — the kind increasingly encountered today.

Read the passage given below and answer the questions:

Conventional and outdated wisdom asserts that we each have 'learning styles' unique to ourselves. The implication is that if you don't learn using your preferred style you'll fail to acquire the knowledge desired. It also allows you an excuse not to work hard at learning something new. In Soft-Wired, however, Michael Merzenich shows that the plasticity of the brain extends to the way we learn. In other words, we can learn how to learn. Indeed, we should focus strongly on doing this.

As well as reading or attending lectures, look at cultivating different learning styles — or, more precisely, learning strategies. Micromastery enables you to experiment and use a vast array of different learning strategies. Since all are designed to succeed brilliantly (with a modicum of persistence) at the micromastery concerned, you have a perfect chance to increase your store of potential learning strategies. This in turn increases your ideational fluency — your ability to switch between idea sets that may be opposed or contradictory. If one strategy doesn't seem to work, no matter how wedded you are to it, you switch seamlessly to another. Ideational fluency is an attribute required of anyone working in a fast-changing, rapid-learning environment — the kind increasingly encountered today.

Read the passage given below and answer the questions:

Conventional and outdated wisdom asserts that we each have 'learning styles' unique to ourselves. The implication is that if you don't learn using your preferred style you'll fail to acquire the knowledge desired. It also allows you an excuse not to work hard at learning something new. In Soft-Wired, however, Michael Merzenich shows that the plasticity of the brain extends to the way we learn. In other words, we can learn how to learn. Indeed, we should focus strongly on doing this.

As well as reading or attending lectures, look at cultivating different learning styles — or, more precisely, learning strategies. Micromastery enables you to experiment and use a vast array of different learning strategies. Since all are designed to succeed brilliantly (with a modicum of persistence) at the micromastery concerned, you have a perfect chance to increase your store of potential learning strategies. This in turn increases your ideational fluency — your ability to switch between idea sets that may be opposed or contradictory. If one strategy doesn't seem to work, no matter how wedded you are to it, you switch seamlessly to another. Ideational fluency is an attribute required of anyone working in a fast-changing, rapid-learning environment — the kind increasingly encountered today.

Read the passage given below and answer the questions:

Conventional and outdated wisdom asserts that we each have 'learning styles' unique to ourselves. The implication is that if you don't learn using your preferred style you'll fail to acquire the knowledge desired. It also allows you an excuse not to work hard at learning something new. In Soft-Wired, however, Michael Merzenich shows that the plasticity of the brain extends to the way we learn. In other words, we can learn how to learn. Indeed, we should focus strongly on doing this.

As well as reading or attending lectures, look at cultivating different learning styles — or, more precisely, learning strategies. Micromastery enables you to experiment and use a vast array of different learning strategies. Since all are designed to succeed brilliantly (with a modicum of persistence) at the micromastery concerned, you have a perfect chance to increase your store of potential learning strategies. This in turn increases your ideational fluency — your ability to switch between idea sets that may be opposed or contradictory. If one strategy doesn't seem to work, no matter how wedded you are to it, you switch seamlessly to another. Ideational fluency is an attribute required of anyone working in a fast-changing, rapid-learning environment — the kind increasingly encountered today.

Read the passage given below and answer the questions:

Conventional and outdated wisdom asserts that we each have 'learning styles' unique to ourselves. The implication is that if you don't learn using your preferred style you'll fail to acquire the knowledge desired. It also allows you an excuse not to work hard at learning something new. In Soft-Wired, however, Michael Merzenich shows that the plasticity of the brain extends to the way we learn. In other words, we can learn how to learn. Indeed, we should focus strongly on doing this.

As well as reading or attending lectures, look at cultivating different learning styles — or, more precisely, learning strategies. Micromastery enables you to experiment and use a vast array of different learning strategies. Since all are designed to succeed brilliantly (with a modicum of persistence) at the micromastery concerned, you have a perfect chance to increase your store of potential learning strategies. This in turn increases your ideational fluency — your ability to switch between idea sets that may be opposed or contradictory. If one strategy doesn't seem to work, no matter how wedded you are to it, you switch seamlessly to another. Ideational fluency is an attribute required of anyone working in a fast-changing, rapid-learning environment — the kind increasingly encountered today.

Read the following passage and answer the questions:

John B. Watson, an animal experimentalist who argued that all human action is merely a conditioned response to external environmental stimuli, first popularized stimulus-response psychology. Watson's theory became known as behaviorism in recognition of its narrow focus on isolated human behaviors. Behaviorists rejected psychology's widely held assumption that higher mental processes (that is, conscious thought or reflection) ordinarily control human action. In contrast to such "mentalist" views, behaviorists argued that the only purpose served by consciousness was to rationalize behaviors after they are triggered by external stimuli. Behaviorists attempted to purge all mentalist terms from their theories and to deal strictly with observable variables - environmental stimuli on the one hand and behaviors on the other. By studying the associations that existed between specific stimuli and specific behaviors, behaviorists hoped to discover previously unknown causes for action. One of the central notions in behaviorism was the idea of conditioning. Behaviorists argued that most human behavior is the result of conditioning by the external environment. We are conditioned to act in certain ways by positive and negative stimuli - we act to gain rewards or avoid punishments.

Read the following passage and answer the questions:

John B. Watson, an animal experimentalist who argued that all human action is merely a conditioned response to external environmental stimuli, first popularized stimulus-response psychology. Watson's theory became known as behaviorism in recognition of its narrow focus on isolated human behaviors. Behaviorists rejected psychology's widely held assumption that higher mental processes (that is, conscious thought or reflection) ordinarily control human action. In contrast to such "mentalist" views, behaviorists argued that the only purpose served by consciousness was to rationalize behaviors after they are triggered by external stimuli. Behaviorists attempted to purge all mentalist terms from their theories and to deal strictly with observable variables - environmental stimuli on the one hand and behaviors on the other. By studying the associations that existed between specific stimuli and specific behaviors, behaviorists hoped to discover previously unknown causes for action. One of the central notions in behaviorism was the idea of conditioning. Behaviorists argued that most human behavior is the result of conditioning by the external environment. We are conditioned to act in certain ways by positive and negative stimuli - we act to gain rewards or avoid punishments.