The word “favor” in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to _______.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 39 to 43.

Two-thirds of people in the world will be living in cities by 2050 and the boom will be concentrated in India, China and Nigeria, according to United Nations estimates released on Wednesday. The world’s rural population will peak in a few years then decline by 2050, according to the report by the UN’s population division.

Tokyo is currently the world’s largest city with 37 million people, followed by Delhi with 29 million, Shanghai with 26 million, and Mexico City and São Paulo, each with around 22 million inhabitants. Cairo, Mumbai, Beijing and Dhaka all have close to 20 million inhabitants. However, Delhi will overtake Tokyo in top spot by around 2028, the report said. At about the same time, India is expected to surpass China as the country with the world’s largest total population.

Around 55% of the world population lives in urban areas today, increasing to 68% by 2050. India, China and Nigeria will account for more than a third of that expansion. There will also be more megacities. In 1990, there were just 10 megacities, classed as places with populations of 10 million or more. There are now 33 megacities and by 2030, 43 megacities are projected, mostly in developing countries.

However, a few cities in Japan and South Korea – for example, Nagasaki and Busan – have experienced population decline since 2000. Several cities in Eastern Europe, such as in Poland, Romania, Russia and Ukraine, have lost population since the turn of the century. However, urbanization could be seen as positive, said John Wilmoth, director of the population division. “The increasing concentration of people in cities provides a way of more economically providing services,” he said. “We find that urban populations have better access to health care and education.” The concentration of population may also help to minimize our environmental impact on the planet, he said, and help cities design policies and practices to prepare for the influx.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 44 to 50.

The earliest recorded festivities in honor of a new year’s arrival date back some 4,000 years to ancient Babylon. For the Babylonians, the first new moon following the vernal equinox heralded the start of a new year. Throughout antiquity, civilizations around the world developed increasingly sophisticated calendars. In Egypt, for instance, the year began with the annual flooding of the Nile, which coincided with the rising of the star Sirius. The first day of the Chinese new year, meanwhile, occurred with the second new moon after the winter solstice.

The early Roman calendar consisted of 10 months and 304 days. Over the centuries, the calendar fell out of sync with the sun, and in 46 B.C. the emperor Julius Caesar decided to solve the problem by consulting with the most prominent astronomers and mathematicians of his time. He introduced the Julian calendar, which closely resembles the more modern one that most countries around the world use today.

In many countries, New Year’s celebrations begin on the evening of December 31—New Year’s Eve—and continue into the early hours of January 1. In Spain and several other Spanish-speaking countries, people bolt down a dozen grapes-symbolizing their hopes for the months ahead-right before midnight. In many parts of the world, traditional New Year’s dishes feature legumes, which are thought to resemble coins and herald future financial success; examples include lentils in Italy and black-eyed peas in the southern United States. Because pigs represent progress and prosperity in some cultures, pork appears on the New Year’s Eve table in Cuba, Austria, Hungary, Portugal and other countries. Ring-shaped cakes and pastries, a sign that the year has come full circle, round out the feast in the Netherlands, Mexico, Greece and elsewhere. In Sweden and Norway, meanwhile, rice pudding with an almond hidden inside is served on New Year’s Eve; it is said that whoever finds the nut can expect 12 months of good fortune.

Other customs that are common worldwide include watching fireworks and singing songs to welcome the new year, including the ever-popular “Auld Lang Syne” in many English-speaking countries. The practice of making resolutions for the new year is thought to have first caught on among the ancient Babylonians, who made promises in order to earn the favor of the gods and start the year off on the right foot.