Prompt:
You're not doomed to toss and turn every night. Although you might not be able to control all of the factors that relate to your sleep, you can adopt habits that encourage better sleep. Start with these simple sleep tips. No. 1: Stick to a sleep schedule Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, even on weekends, holidays and days off. Being consistent reinforces   your body's sleep-wake cycle and helps promote better sleep at night. If you don't fall asleep within about 15 minutes, get up and do something relaxing. Go back to bed when you're tired. No. 2: Pay attention to what you eat and drink Don't go to bed either hungry or stuffed. Your discomfort might keep you up. Also limit how much you drink before bed, to prevent disruptive middle-of-the-night trips to the toilet. Nicotine, caffeine and alcohol deserve caution, too. The stimulating effects of nicotine and caffeine -- which take hours to wear off -- can ruin quality sleep. No. 3: Create a bedtime ritual Do the same things each night to tell your body it's time to wind down. This might include taking a warm bath or shower, reading a book, or listening to light music. Be careful of using the TV or other electronic devices as part of your bedtime ritual. Some research suggests that screen time or other media use before bedtime has impact on sleep. No. 4: Get comfortable Create a room that's ideal for sleeping. Often, this means cool, dark and quiet. Consider using room-darkening shades, earplugs, a fan or other devices to create an environment that suits your needs. Your mattress and pillow can contribute to better sleep, too. Since the features of good bedding are subjective, choose what feels most comfortable to you. If you have children or pets, set limits on how often they sleep with you -- or insist on separate sleeping quarters. No. 5: Limit daytime naps Long daytime naps can affect nighttime sleep -- especially if you're struggling with poor sleep quality at night. If you choose to nap during the day, limit yourself to about 10 to 30 minutes and make it during the mid-afternoon. If you work nights, you'll need to make an exception to the rules about daytime sleeping. In this case, keep your window coverings closed so that sunlight -- which adjusts your internal clock -- doesn't interrupt your daytime sleep. No. 6: Include physical activity in your daily routine Regular physical activity can promote better sleep, helping you to fall asleep faster and to enjoy deeper sleep. Timing is important, though. If you exercise too close to bedtime, you might be too energized to fall asleep. If this seems to be an issue for you, exercise earlier in the day. No. 7: Manage stress When you have too much to do -- and too much to think about -- your sleep is likely to suffer. To help restore peace to your life, consider healthy ways to manage stress. Start with the basics, such as getting organized, setting priorities and dividing tasks. Give yourself permission to take a break when you need one. Share a good laugh with an old friend. Nearly everyone has an occasional sleepless night -- but if you often have trouble sleeping, contact your doctor. Identifying and treating any underlying causes can help you get the better sleep you deserve. What's the purpose of this passage?

Choices:
A. To provide advice on promoting better sleep at night.
B. To inform readers of different sleep habits before bed.
C. To offer tips on various relaxing activities before bed.
D. To convince readers of the importance of quality sleep at night.

Answer: A


Prompt:
I was not quite seventeen when I decided to join the US Marine Corps.My mother tried her best to talk me out of my dream, and then finally signed the papers that would permit me to enter the service.     One day, nearly two years after the Philippines became my home, I was summoned to the office of Lieutenant  Colonel Boyd.He seemed to be a kind man, but I was pretty sure that he hadn't called me in to pass the time of day.     Standing before his desk, I waited nervously as he read through some paperwork.Then he looked up."Why, Private, haven't you written to your mother for more than six months?"     I felt weak in my knees.Has it been that long? I thought.     "I didn't have anything to say, Sir."     Lieutenant Colonel Boyd told me that my mother had contacted the American Red Cross, which in turn communicated with my commanding officer about my failure to write. Then he asked, "Do you see that desk, Private?"     "Yes, Sir."     "Open the top drawer and you'll find some paper and a pen.Sit down right this minute and find something to say to your mother."     "Yes, Sir."     When I finished a brief letter, I stood before him again.     "Private, I'm ordering you to find something to say to your mother at least once a week.Do you understand?" I did.     Some 35 years later, my aged mother's mental condition was deteriorating, and I was forced to place her in a convalescent home .As I went through her belongings, I began inspecting the contents of an old cedar chest.At the bottom, tied with a bright red ribbon, I found a bundle of letters.     They were the letters I had been ordered to write from the Philippines.I sat on the floor of her apartment that afternoon reading each one, tears streaming down my cheeks.I now realized how deeply, as a young man, had upset her by my lack of consideration.     The lesson I learned may have been too late to help my mother, but it's still done me good.These days I don't need a commanding officer standing over me to write to my loved ones on a regular basis. ...he hadn't called me in to pass the time of day. means that   _  .

Choices:
A. he was too busy to have time to talk with me
B. he must have something serious to talk with me
C. he wanted to know how I passed the time of day
D. he had called me to spend more time with my mother

Answer: B


Prompt:
If you have a fever, headache and runny nose, you might go to Google and type in the words "flu symptoms" to see whether you've come down with the disease.      Google knows that you might do something like that, and it also knows which state you're in if you are in the United States. Now, it's putting that information together in a tool that could find out flu outbreaks faster than traditional systems currently in use, according to CNN report. It is called Google Flu Trends.      "What's exciting about Flu Trends is that it lets anybody---doctors, health officials, moms with sick children---learn about the current flu activity level in their own state based on the data that's coming in this week," said Jeremy Ginsberg, the lead engineer who developed the tool.      The tool operates on the idea that there's likely to be a flu outbreak in states where flu-related search terms are currently popular.      To test the accuracy of the data, Google compared its figures against statistics filed  over the past five years by the US Centers for Disease Control. It has a network of 1,500 doctors across the US who provide weekly reports on the number of patients complaining of flu-like symptoms.      "We found we could highly accurately estimate what the flu activity levels would be in those years," Ginsberg said. They also found that the Google statistics, which can be gathered daily, were up to two weeks ahead of the government's data. The government's data took time to collect because it came from so many doctors.      The ability to speed up the response of health services could prove invaluable when a serious outbreak happens.      The results of Google's comparisons with official health statistics will be published in the science journal Nature.      Google hopes to extend the service to other countries, and may in time include other illnesses. At present, the flu data is given for each of the 50 American states.      The company says there are no privacy issues involved as the trends are gathered through combining millions of anonymous  searches. Which is NOT true according to the passage?

Choices:
A. The government's data mentioned in the passage came from a network of 1,500 doctors across the US.
B. Google Flu Trends' reports can be one or two weeks ahead of those by the government.
C. Google Flu Trends' estimates prove quite accurate and reliable.
D. Anyone around the world can enjoy the service of Google Flu Trends.

Answer: D


Prompt:
Small talk is part of everyday life, but it's the deep conversations that may make you happy. That's one possibility suggested in a new study which examined how conversation is related to happiness. Researchers, led by Matthias Mehl at the University of Arizona, looked at the different types of conversation that happy and unhappy people participate in. The study, published in the journal Psychological Science, was somewhat small, involving 79 undergraduates, but meshes   well with established ideas that happiness and social life are connected. Experts found that the happiest people in the study engaged in 33% more small talk than the unhappiest participants . Happy people tended to have twice as many deep conversations, and spent 25 percent less time alone than the unhappiest participants. These insights   fit with what psychologists have seen previously: that loneliness leads to depression  , and that feelings of social connectedness are important for happiness, said Susan Turk Charles, a psychologist at the University of California, who was not involved in the study. Deep conversations create a feeling of belonging that leads to happiness, she said. On the contrary, people who suffer from depression tend to withdraw from others. The method that the researchers used was creative, Charles said. Instead of bringing people into a lab, as is traditionally done in these sorts of studies, they had participants wear a recording device for four days, picking up conversations that they had. The recorder sampled   30 seconds of sound every 12.5 minutes, giving researchers a broad range of conversations to examine in terms of "small talk" vs. "deep conversation". The bottom line is that maintaining friendships can help with emotional well-being(,). Friends buffer the effects of negative events and provide support, Charles said. Don't be too busy to have a deep conversation, she said. "It really is important. It should be something that you should pay just as much attention to as your career," she said. What can we learn about the new study?

Choices:
A. It is led by Susan Turk Charles.
B. It focuses on the relationships between small talk and happiness.
C. Its result is consistent with(...) the previously established ideas.
D. Most of participants in it like to have deep conversations.

Answer: C


Prompt:
Google, the Internet search and mapping company, has developed a car that can steer without a driver. Sometimes the reality is stranger than science fiction: Google is road-testing cars that steer, stop and start without a human driver. The goal is to "help prevent traffic accidents, free up people's time and reduce carbon emissions." says Sebastian Thrun, who is the project leader for the driverless car, or Carbot. By developing the car and the software that drives it, Google wants to change how people get from place to p1ace. Eric Schmidt, one of the company's top officials, said, "Your car should drive itself. It just makes sense." So far, the driverless autos have gone about 140,000 miles on California roads without people taking over the driving. Many of the roads are very busy or full of curves that challenge human drivers. The autos' software makes it possible to know speed limits, traffic patterns and road maps. The vehicles use radar, lasers and video cameras to find other cars and avoid people crossing streets. There has only been one accident during the testing. And in that case, the Carbot was hit from behind by a human driver when Goog1e's car was stopped at a red light. Engineers say the driverless cars are safer than autos with people behind the wheel because the computers react much more quickly than humans. The Carbot is still in very early testing stages. Experts agree that it will be years before you will be able to buy one. But it is likely that one day you will be sitting in the driver's seat of a driverless car. When the auto was first invented it was called a "horseless carriage". Now it seems that it is time for the "driverless carriage" to be part of our 1ives. 70. The author's attitude towards the Carbot is   _  .

Choices:
A. unfriendly
B. desperate
C. critical
D. optimistic

Answer: D


Prompt:
Art robbery and art forgery   are both major themes in crime movies and literature.In the 2012 comedy movie Gambit, British actor Colin Firth plays an art curator who cheats his abusive boss into buying a fake Monet. In reality, art crimes are no less interesting and exciting. According to The New York Times, over the past 15 years, Glafira Rosales fooled two local commercial art galleries into buying 63 false works of art for more than $30 million.She passed off fake paintings as works by 20th century modernist masters such as American artists Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock.But in fact, these so called "newly discovered works" were all produced by a single man, a Chinese immigrant named Qian Peishen. The art world was shocked by Rosales' deception.But to the public, it was amusing and most satisfying to see wealthy people get tricked. So what decides the value of a piece of art? Is it beauty? Is it the artist's talent and craftsmanship? Or is it just because the artist is famous? We should take beauty out. If the buyers were buying paintings only for their beauty, they'll be content displaying good fakes on their walls. They wouldn't be so upset when a forgery is exposed. The art market claims that great artists are inimitable, and that this inimitability justifies the absurd price of their works. We can't deny that most famous artists are good at what they do, but forgers like Qian show that their works are imitable.Otherwise, the difference between the original and the copycats would be obvious and Rosales would not be able to fool anyone. According to an article in the Economist, expensive paintings are what economists call positional goods. They are valuable because other people can't have them. With other goods, a higher price reduces demand.But art turns down the laws of economics. "When the goods that is really being purchased is evidence that the buyer has paid a lot, price increases cause demand to boom," explained the article. That's why scarcity and authenticity are so important in the art market. Artists sometimes forget this.Demien Hirst, the British pop artist, is famous for his spot paintings. But they dropped in value when it became clear that they had been produced in quantities so vast that nobody knew how many were out there.The art market lost faith in these paintings because no one could be sure which of them were authentic and which were fake. What is the law of economics theory behind art goods according to the economists?

Choices:
A. They are valuable goods.
B. High prices reduce the demand of art goods.
C. High prices increase the demand of art goods.
D. They are produced in quantities to satisfy people.

Answer: C


Prompt:
You must know what BYD stands for? Yes, Build Your Dream. Have you built your dream and spare no effort to achieve it? Here is an inspiring story from http//www.naijamotiveation.com Eddie Arcaro dreamed of becoming the world's greatest jockey . But after watching him ride a horse for five minutes, reality reflected a rough contradiction. He was awkward and clumsy, and in his early years in the saddle( )he couldn't do one thing right. In his first 100 races he never even came close to winning. Still, he got right back on and trained again. Even as a schoolboy, Arcaro had set his own track in life. Because he was only a little over five feet tall (1.5 meters) and weighed barely 80 pounds (36kg), the other students _ him. So he skipped school, hanging out at the local race track where a trainer let him ride horses. His father reluctantly agreed to let him pursue a career as a jockey. The trainer had told him so. "Send him back to school," he said. "He'll never be a rider." In spite of that, Arcaro was determined not just to ride, but to become the world's greatest jockey. But first someone would have to give him a chance. He finally got to ride in a real race. Before it was over, he'd lost his whip and his cap and had almost fallen off the saddle. By the time he finished the race, the other horses were on their way to the stables . He'd come in dead last. Nevertheless, Arcaro went from track to track, looking for any opportunity to ride. Finally, a trainer who pitied him took him in and gave him a chance. One hundred losses later, he was still giving him chances. He saw something in this unlucky jockey, something he couldn't define. There were many brushes with death and several broken bones. Every time he would return to the saddle. Then Arcaro began to win. In thirty years of riding, he won 4, 779 races, becoming the only jockey in history to win the Kentucky Derby five times. By the time he retired in 1962 he was a millionaire and a legend in his own lifetime. The trainer who believed in Arcaro gave him chances because   _  .

Choices:
A. Arcaro had shown great talents in horse racing
B. he thought all that Arcaro needed was a bit of luck
C. he had sympathy for Arcaro for his unfortunate experiences
D. he was impressed by the way Arcaro stuck to his dream

Answer: D


Prompt:
Like many other small boys, I was fascinated by cars, not least because my oldest brother was a bit of a car guy and subscribed to cool magazines like Car and Driver and Motor Trend. Every so often, one of those magazines would run an article on the "Car of the Future". They featured unconventional styling and things like small nuclear reactors as power sources. Yet, frankly, my car doesn't do anything that my brother's Studebaker didn't do. It goes, it stops, it burns gasoline, it plays music. I still have to steer it, and it still runs into things if I don't steer it carefully. But guess what? All of these things are subject to change in the not-so-distant future. It will still go and stop, but it may not burn gasoline, I may not have to steer it, and it may be a lot better at not running into things. Airbags aren't the be-all and end-all in safety. In fact, considering the recent news about people occasionally being killed by their airbags in low-speed collisions  ,they obviously still need some development. But they aren't going away, and in fact, you can expect to see cars appearing with additional, side-impact airbags, something some European car manufacturers already offer. Better than systems to minimize   injury in the event of an accident, however, are systems that minimize the likelihood of an accident happening in the first place. Future cars may be able to eliminate many of the major causes of accidents, including drunk-driving, tailgating   and sleepiness. Cars could be equipped with sensors that can detect alcohol in a driver's system and prevent the car from being started, for example. Many accidents are caused by people following the car in front too closely. As early as next year, you'll be able to buy cars with radar-equipped control systems. If the radar determines you're closing too quickly with the car in front, it will ease up on the throttle  . For city streets, expect other radar devices that will give advance warning that the car in front of you has slowed abruptly   and you should step on the brakes-or that may even brake for you. Will cars eventually be able to drive themselves? There's no reason to think it won't be technically possible, and Mercedes is working on a system that can brake, accelerate and steer a vehicle down a highway on its own. Nobody really expects people to give up all control to their cars, but such systems could be used as failsafe systems to keep cars on the road and bring them safely to a stop even if the driver suddenly became disabled. According to the author, what will future cars do if the sensors detect alcohol in the driver's system?

Choices:
A. They will give a warning in advance.
B. They will brake automatically.
C. They will ease up on the throttle.
D. They will not start.

Answer: D


Prompt:
People who are slightly overweight or mildly obese  have a lower risk of early death than normal weight individuals(;), according to a new analysis of nearly 100 international studies. The studies, most conducted within the past decade, included about three million adults from around the world. The result of these studies by researchers at the National Center for Health Statistics in Maryland, part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shows that slightly overweight or obese people were six percent less likely to die from all causes compared to people of normal weight. But the researchers found that seriously obese individuals were still at a 30 percent greater risk of death compared to healthy-weight individuals. Study lead author Katherine Flegal says she was not surprised that overweight people would not have a higher death risk. "Because we'd actually already read a lot of this literature and realized that death rates for overweight would be at least not higher than normal[weight," she said. "I guess l was a little bit surprised that it was definitely lower. And l was also surprised that the lower rates of obesity didn't seem to differ from normal weight." But Flegal stresses the difference in death rates appear to be small between normal-weight people and overweight and mildly obese individuals. The finding by Flegal and colleagues have raised new questions about the reliability of the so-called "body mass index" or BMI, a measurement of body fat as a ratio(,)of height to weight, that has become popular in recent years among public healthexperts to measure potential health risks. But Heymsfield warns that individuals should not conclude that it's okay to put on extra kilograms, since being at a healthy weight lowers the risk for heart disease and diabetes. Katherine Flegal feels surprised at the fact that  _  .

Choices:
A. obese people have higher death rates
B. slightly obese people have lower death rates
C. obese people tend to die early
D. death rates have nothing to do with body weight

Answer: B


Prompt:
Every evening, 15-year-old Rashida returns home from school, changes out of her uniform, and rushes to a neighboring farm to help her mother harvest vegetables. Her father is disabled, so the modest profit the two of them earn must cover food, clothing and other necessities for all seven children and their parents. Despite having precious little time to study, Rashida is one of the top students at her junior secondary school. But with so much responsibility on her small shoulders, she admits that it is sometimes hard for her to imagine a more promising future. Last year, Rashida was invited to join 155 other girls at Camfed Ghana's first Girls' Career Camp, a program designed to inspire girls growing up in the country's Northern Region to dream big, and to support them to pursue those dreams. "We organized this camp because we wanted to let girls know that even if they are struggling with poverty, their lives will not be defined by limitations," says Dolores Dickson, Camfed Ghana's Executive Director. Over the course of five days, the camp led the junior and secondary school students through a range of experiences and career opportunities that were entirely new to them. Dr. Agnes Apusiga, a lecturer from the University of Development Studies, ran the workshop on goal-setting and career choices, describing the universities and training colleges in Ghana that could help them achieve their dreams. Participants then visited the University for Development Studies, where they toured the medical school and science labs. Another highlight was a workshop at the computer lab at Tamale Secondary School. Many of the girls had studied information technology from a book but had never before seen a computer. "When the girls arrived at camp, they were not ambitious, because they didn't have any idea what the world held for them," says Eugenia Ayagiba, Project Officer with Camfed Ghana. "Many had scarcely traveled beyond their own villages." "I think the most important thing that happened at the camp is that we opened a window of hope for a group of girls coming from backgrounds of poverty," says Eugenia. For Rashida, who has been laughed at in the past by her schoolmates because of her father's disability, the experience was important. "She told one of the camp mentors  that when she is at school, she often feels like a misfit, and she prefers to keep to herself," says Eugenia. "But at the camp, it was different. She made friends with girls who have similar struggles. She took part in every single activity, every single game. On the last day, she said to her mentor, "The camp has challenged me to study hard. Now I see that there is light at the end of the tunnel." What can we infer from the passage?

Choices:
A. Rashida has become friends with her mentors
B. Rashida's mentors has encouraged her a lot.
C. Rashida was sad because of her father's disability.
D. Rashida has had her new dream since the camp

Answer: D


Prompt:
Walking in a farmers' market often brings one to explore new food options, and now more locally-farmed protein choices are available to help bridge the gap between our meals and the farms from which they originated. More and more local small farms are popping up in opposition to factory farms. Today's commercial farms do not fit the image that comes to mind while happily singing along to "Old MacDonald". Instead, most of the nation's food comes from CAFOs, Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, where animals are kept in tightly enclosed conditions as they are fattened up and readied to be killed for food. Fortunately, knowing exactly where one's food comes from has led to an increase in the availability of what is known as "grass-fed" beef. Technically, all cattle are grass-fed for at least a limited amount of time, but what makes the meat significant is that it is grass-finished, not force-fed corn, soy or grains. This change in diet makes all the difference since corn is not part of the cow's traditional diet, and therefore causes major health issues for it. To deal with the health issues, antibiotics are used and some of the antibiotics used to treat the cattle are similar to those given to humans, so they can decrease the effectiveness of medicine when a consumer is sick. A healthier diet for the cattle leads the meat to lower in both fat and calories. And when cooking grass-fed beef, you'd better use a slightly lower temperature to make it more delicious. The song "Old MacDonald" describes

Choices:
A. animals raised freely on local farms
B. animals kept in tightly enclosed conditions
C. commercial farms providing fast food
D. commercial farms providing unpopular food

Answer: A


Prompt:
Skeptics are a strange lot. Some of them refuse to admit the serious threat of human activities to the environment, and they are tired of people who disagree with them. Those people, say skeptics, spread nothing but bad news about the environment. The "eco-guilt" brought on by the discouraging news about our planet gives rise to the popularity of skeptics as people search for more comforting worldviews. Perhaps that explain why a new book by Bjorn Lomborg received so much publicity. That book, The Skeptical Environmentalist, declares that it measures the "real state of the world" as fine. Of course, another explanation is the deep pockets some big businesses with special interests. Indeed, Mr. Lomborg's views are similar to those of some Industry-funded organizations, which start huge activities though the media to confuse the public about issues like global warming. So it was strange to see Mr. Lomborg's book go largely unchallenged in the media though his beliefs were contrary to most scientific opinions. One national newspaper in Canada ran a number of articles and reviews full of words of praise, even with the conclusion that "After Lomborg, the environmental movement will begin to die down." Such one-sided views should have immediately been challenged. But only a different review appeared in Nature, a respected science magazine with specific readership. The review remarked that Mr. Lomborg's "preference for unexamined materials is incredible  ".  A critical   eye is valuable, and the media should present information in such a way that could allow people to make informed decisions. Unfortunately, that is often inaccessible as blocked by the desire to be shocking or to defend some special interests. People might become half-blind before a world partially exhibited by the media. That's a shame, because matters concerning the health of the planet are far too important to be treated lightly. The author mentioned the review in Nature in order to   _   .

Choices:
A. voice a different opinion
B. find fault with Lomborg's book
C. challenge the authority of the media
D. point out the value of scientific views.

Answer: A


Prompt:
My students often tell me that they do not have "enough time" to do all their homework. My response often is "You have as much time as the president." I usually carry on a bit about there being twenty-four hours in the day for everyone, and suggest that "not enough time" is not an acceptable explanation of not getting something done. Once in graduate school, I tried to prove to my professor that I was working hard. His answer was "That's irrelevant  .What's important is the quality of your work." That led me to a new idea: the quality of the work, which is perhaps best explained in a sign: "Don't work harder. Work smarter." If you can't get more time, as few of us can, the only solution is to improve the quality of your work. That means improving ways to get more out of the same time. That should lead us to an analysis of our work habits, which for students should be read as "study habits". Then as a smart student, you will seek to improve those skills that you use in study, chiefly reading and writing. If you can, it will pay off in all your subjects. As to improving reading, one suggestion is to take a quick nap when you feel reading puts you to sleep, which later helps you read better. The second solution is to speed up. But there are other issues. First, you need to find a place where you can work without unnecessary disturbances. Second, you need to take control. Success depends on realizing that you have to take active control over what you are doing. Third, you might as well get hold of a good book on reading and master the reading skills that pay off in all your classes. Talking about advice on good writing habits, you simply have to master the writing skills. Increasing your efficiency in both reading and writing will pay off immediately in terms of the quality of your work and in terms of the time spent doing it. Then you will be able to do better work in less time. And maybe you will find time to play golf with the president. According to the author, the students do not have enough time to get their work done mainly because      _  .

Choices:
A. they lack good learning habits
B. they only have 24 hours a day
C. they feel sleepy while reading
D. they are not good at writing

Answer: A


Prompt:
Charlie woke up from his nap. He had finished eating all the delicious food on the table that Samantha had made for him and he was tired. With a laugh, Charlie looked at the green balloon that his daughter Samantha had put over his head to float. Bobo the dog walked into the room where Charlie was sitting and made a noise. Bobo barked.  \tabCharlie looked at Bobo and smiled, and then grabbed his brown hat from the table. Next to his hat there was a picture of a rainbow that Samantha had drawn for Charlie. It was a pretty rainbow. Chelsea the cat walked in on Bobo with his barking and Charlie with his hat in hand and then meowed. Chelsea and Bobo looked at each other. Charlie, seeing the two looking at each other, made the choice that enough was enough and opened the door to walk outside. Samantha was standing outside the house on the lawn, and with a yell, she surprised Charlie! With a wave of her hand, she showed him the duck that she was watching. Samantha gave the duck the name Wilfred, and Charlie was pleased. He and Samantha watched Wilfred walk away and they saw a real rainbow in the distance. It was a beautiful start to the day. Bluebird the blue bird was flying high in the sky, and Charlie smiled. In the distance, he saw a white airplane. Charlie has two pets named Chelsea and Bobo, what types of animals are these pets?

Choices:
A. A blue bird and dog.
B. A dog and a duck.
C. A cat and a duck.
D. A dog and a cat.

Answer: D


Prompt:
Miguel was conducting an experiment. He wrote the following sentences in his notebook: The starting temperature of the water was 10 degrees Celsius. An object weighing 5 grams was placed in the water. The temperature of the water increased to 15 degrees. The object must have been hotter than 10 degrees. In which sentence did Miguel make an inference?

Choices:
A. sentence 1
B. sentence 2
C. sentence 3
D. sentence 4

Answer: D


Prompt:
A mother's ad calling for her son to come home for Chinese New Year ran on the front page of the Chinese Melbourne Daily newspaper on January 14. It placed a full page ad, saying "Dear Peng, I've called you many times but you don't pick up, maybe you will see this. Dad and mom won't ever force you to get married anymore, come home for Chinese New Year! From your mom who loves you." The ad, which appeared on the front page of the Chinese Melbourne Daily on Tuesday, would cost $2,796.80 Australian dollars ($2465). The newspaper serves the city's Chinese community. The mother, who lives in Guangzhou had placed the ad after losing contact with her son. Every year around this time, many Chinese prepare to head home for China's most important festival. But many of the younger generation are afraid of facing family confrontations about their love life. On the online Chinese forum Tianya. cn, a single man asked for advice on facing his family. "It's almost that time of the year. How should I explain to my family and relatives that I am single?" a user in Guangzhou "1979xiaozhu" posted. Many of the replies were telling him not to go home instead. User "qianlidaiwanwoduxing" wrote: "Going home means they will either arrange blind dates for you or you get scolded." "This year my mom gave me an ultimatum. One, bring 50,000 yuan; second, bring a wife home. If I don't have both then she said I don't need to come home. What a tragedy!" said user "fghjkh84". Those girls who can't handle the pressure of parents can rent a boyfriend for the day through China's online shopping giant, Taobao.com. Rental boyfriends come with services such as meeting the parents, shopping and watching movies. Why did the mother place the ad in the Chinese Melbourne Daily?

Choices:
A. Because her son didn't want to get married in China.
B. Because she couldn't get in touch with her son any more.
C. Because her son wanted to live alone in Australia.
D. Because she wanted her son to come back to work.

Answer: B


Prompt:
The New York Philharmonic  came to an unexpected stop on Tuesday night when an audience member's cell phone started ringing and wouldn't stop. Conductor Alan Gilbert was nearing the end of Mahler's Ninth Symphony  when the interruption began. As eh New York Times writes, the symphony, "contains some of the most spiritual and peaceful music ever written." As the cell phone continued to ring, the iPhone's signature ringtone, Gilbert stopped the entire performance. And yet shockingly the phone continued to ring. "Nothing happened," Gilbert told the Times, "Nobody was to blame for it. It was unbelievable." Gilbert said minor cell phone interruptions have become common and rarely _ a live performance. The Philharmonic does what it can to remind to audience to turn off their cell phones before the performance begins. But the audience and performers stood by in astonished silence as Gilbert asked the offender  to silence the phone, only to hear it continue. Mr Gilbert said audience pointed out two people sitting where the sound was coming from. "They were staring at me firmly," he said of the couple. Eventually, the man put his hand in his pocket and the ringing stopped. The conductor said he asked the man if he was sure the phone was quieted. "Then he nodded his head," Mr Gilbert said. People in the hall had been shouting for the sound to stop. Mr Pelkonen reported that they yelled: "Thousand-dollar fine!" "Kick him out!" "Get out!" Once the phone was finally silenced, Gilbert apologized to the audience. They responded with cheers and applause . And the performance continued. What can be the best title for the passage?

Choices:
A. iPhone ringtone bring New York Philharmonic to a stop
B. iPhone signature ringtone defeats New York Philharmonic
C. New York Philharmonic puts on a successful performance
D. New York Philharmonic stops the audience using iPhone

Answer: A


Prompt:
When a tadpole grows, its gills change into lungs. What does it now need to survive?

Choices:
A. Air
B. Water
C. Soil
D. Fins

Answer: A


Prompt:
John Steinbeck once said, "All Americans believe they are born fishermen. For a man to admit to a distaste in fishing would be like denouncing   mother - love or hating moonlight." I can't say that I'm the biggest John Steinbeck fan. Actually, the only thing I can ever remember reading by him was "The pearl" when I was in middle school, but I couldn't agree more with the man when it comes to fishing. Whether I am on a boat in the middle of the Lay Lake, fishing off the shores of the Florida Keys for tarpon or catching rainbow trout in the Shoshone River of Wyoming, fishing is my life. According to the American Sports Fishing Association, the fishing industry brings in more than $ 116 billion per year from fishermen across the country. Though a beautiful picture to imagine, fishing is much more than that. Fishing is a way of life for many people and a way to escape everyday stress. Being a fisherman makes me a member of a wonderful group of people extending to all walks of life. Even President Obama can be found fishing on his farm in Texas with his good friend Roland Martin when the job gets too stressful. I can remember fishing with my grandfather when I was 5 years old on his boat at Lake Mitchell. Although I didn't understand what I was doing, I did know that my grandfather was happy and that made me happy. Since then I've spent the past 16 years on the rivers and lakes of Alabama. After days of practice, before and after work, I slowly developed an understanding of fishing. My boss, Ric Horst, took me back to the Shoshone, and I managed to bring in a 19-inch cutthroat trout. Fishing with Ric was a life-changing experience for me. He not only showed me how to fish correctly, but also told me how fishing could be a way to escape your problems. Since then, prime-time season seems to take forever to arrive. Now, with the ending of February and beginning of March in sight, the excitement of heading out Lake Tuscaloosa or Lake Lurleen before classes and catching something has finally returned. .The writer came to understand the real meaning of fishing   _  .

Choices:
A. when he was reading "The pearl" by John Steinbeck
B. when he went fishing with his grandfather at Lake Mitchell
C. after he had spent 16 years on the rivers and lakes of Alabama
D. after he went fishing with his boss, Ric Horst on the Shoshone

Answer: D


Prompt:
The freezing Northeast hasn't been a terribly fun place to spend time this winter, so when the chance came for a weekend to Sarasota, Florida, my bags were packed before you could say "sunshine". I left for the land of warmth and vitamin C(C), thinking of beaches and orange trees. When we touched down to blue skies and warm air, I sent up a small prayer of gratefulness. Swimming pools, wine tasting, and pink sunsets(at normal evening hours, not 4 in the afternoon) filled the weekend, but the best part- particularly to my taste, dulled by months of cold- weather root vegetables- was a 7 a.m. adventure to the Sarasota farmers' market that proved to be more than worth the early wake-up call. The market, which was founded in 1979, sets up its tents every Saturday from 7:00 am to 1 p.m, rain or shine, along North Lemon and State streets. Baskets of perfect red strawberries, the red-painted sides of the Java Dawg coffee truck; and most of all, the tomatoes: amazing, large, soft and round red tomatoes. Disappointed by many a broken, vine-ripened  promise, I've refused to buy winter tomatoes for years. No matter how attractive they look in the store, once I get them home they're unfailingly dry, hard, and tasteless. But I homed in, with uncertainty, on one particular table at the Brown's Grove Farm's stand, full of fresh and soft tomatoes the size of my fist. These were the real deal- and at that moment, I realized that the best part of Sarasota in winter was going to be eating things that back home in New York I wouldn't be experiencing again for months. Delighted as I was by the tomatoes in sight, my happiness deepened when I learned that Brown's Grove Farm is one of the suppliers for Jack Dusty, a newly opened restaurant at the Sarasota Ritz Carlton, where- luckily for me- I was planning to have dinner that very night. Without even seeing the menu, I knew I'd be ordering every tomato on it. What did the author think of her winter life in New York?

Choices:
A. Exciting.
B. Boring.
C. Relaxing.
D. Annoying.

Answer: B


Prompt:
Shakespeare, more perhaps than any other writer, made full use of the greatest resources of the English language. Most of us use about five thousand words in our normal use of English; Shakespeare in his works used about twenty-five thousand words! There is probably no better way for a foreigner to appreciate the richness and variety of the English language than by studying the various ways in which Shakespeare uses it. Such a study is well worth the effort, even though some aspects of English usage, and the meaning of many words, have changed since Shakespeare's day. However, it is surprising that we should know comparatively little about the life of the greatest English writer. We know that Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-on-Avon, and that he died there in 1616. He almost certainly attended the Grammar School in the town, but of this we cannot be sure. We know he was married there in 1582 to Anne Hathaway and that he had three children. We know that he spent much of his life in London writing his great works. But this is almost all that we do know. However, what is important about Shakespeare's life is not its other less important details but its products, the plays and the poems. For many years scholars have been trying to add a few facts about Shakespeare's life to the small number we already possess and for an equally long time critics   have been talking about the plays. Sometimes, indeed, Luckily this is not likely to happen. have long delighted not just the English but lovers of literature everywhere, and will continue to do so after the scholars and critics and all their works have been forgotten. It can be inferred from Para.3 that    _   .

Choices:
A. not all the comments on Shakespeare's works have produced good effects
B. scholars have successfully collected facts about Shakespeare's life
C. critics are more interested in Shakespeare's plays than his poetry
D. the details of Shakespeare's life are more important than his literary works

Answer: A


Prompt:
Volunteering can help you deal with stress and problems, have more confidence, and introduce you to exciting new ideas and people. But what kind of volunteering should you do? Firstly, think about what you enjoy. What are you interested in? What do you want to be when you grow up? For example, if you love animals, you can volunteer to care for abandoned  pets or injured wildlife. If you want to grow up to be a doctor or a nurse, you can look for a youth volunteer program at a local hospital. Secondly, think about what you're good at. What skills do you have? What kinds of jobs do you do best? Try to find a volunteer position that will let you make the most of your strengths and talents. For example, if you're a great speaker, then you could try educating others about a problem you care about. If you're a cook, you might find a way to help feed hungry people in your area. Thirdly, look for what your own community needs. What should be improved in your town, city, or school? What types of volunteer projects would do the most good? For example, if there are a lot of homeless people in your area, you could raise money to help them. If your town has empty areas filled with dirt or rubbish, you could organize or join a group to plant trees and flowers to make these areas more attractive. The problems of the world, or even just of your community, might seem gigantic. Some people might even feel like there's no point trying to do anything, since what they can contribute seems so small. But every person is important, and can do some good and make a difference. Like you! What is the text mainly about?

Choices:
A. How to be a good volunteer.
B. What we can do when we grow up.
C. What kind of volunteering one can do.
D. How to improve society by volunteering.

Answer: C


Prompt:
In the 1960s, many young Americans were dissatisfied with American society. They wanted to end the Vietnam War and to make all of the people in the U.S. equal. Some of them decided to "drop out" of American society and form their own societies. They formed utopian communities, which they called "communes ," where they could follow their philosophy of "do your own thing". A group of artists founded a commune in southern Colorado called "Drop City". Following the ideas of philosopher and architect Buckminster Fuller, they built dome-shaped  houses from pieces of old cars. Other groups, such as author Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters, the followers of San Francisco poet Steve Gaskin, and a group that called itself the Hog Farm, lived in old school houses and traveled around the United States. The Hog Farm become famous when they helped organize the Woodstock Rock Festival in 1969. The followers of Steve Gaskin tried to settle down on a farm in Tennessee, but they had to leave when some members of the group were arrested for growing marijuana .   Not all communes believed in the philosophy of "do your own thing", however. Twin Oaks, a commune founded in Virginia in the late 1960s, was based on the ideas of psychologist B. F. Skinner. The people who lived at Twin Oaks were carefully controlled by Skinner's conditioning techniques to do things that were good for the community. In 1972, Italian architect Paolo Soleri began to build Arcosanti, a utopian city in Arizona, where 2500 people will live closely together in one large building called an "archology". Soleri believes that people must live closely together so that they will all become one. Why did some young Americans decide to "drop out" of society during the 1960s?

Choices:
A. They were not pleased with American society.
B. They wanted to grow marijuana.
C. They wanted to go to the Vietnam War.
D. They did not want all people to be equal.

Answer: A


Prompt:
If you want to teach your children how to say sorry, you must be good at saying it yourself, especially to your own children. But how you say it can be quite tricky. If you say to your children "I'm sorry I got angry with you, but ..." what follows that "but" can render the apology ineffective: "I had a bad day" or "your noise was giving me a headache " leaves the person who has been injured feeling that he should be apologizing for his bad behavior in expecting an apology. Another method by which people appear to apologize without actually doing so is to say "I'm sorry you're upset"; this suggests that you are somehow at fault for allowing yourself to get upset by what the other person has done. Then there is the general, all covering apology, which avoids the necessity of identifying a specific act that was particularly hurtful or insulting, and which the person who is apologizing should promise never to do again. Saying "I'm useless as a parent" does not commit a person to any specific improvement. These pseudo-apologies are used by people who believe saying sorry shows weakness. Parents who wish to teach their children to apologize should see it as a sign of strength, and therefore not resort to these pseudo-apologies. But even when presented with examples of genuine contrition, children still need help to become aware of the complexities of saying sorry. A three-year-old might need help in understanding that other children feel pain just as he does, and that hitting a playmate over the head with a heavy toy requires an apology. A six-year-old might need reminding that spoiling other children's expectations can require an apology. A 12-year-old might need to be shown that raiding the biscuit tin without asking permission is acceptable, but that borrowing a parent's clothes without permission is not. According to the author, saying "I'm sorry you're upset" most probably means "  _  ".

Choices:
A. You have good reason to get upset
B. I'm aware you're upset, but I'm not to blame
C. I apologize for hurting your feelings
D. I'm at fault for making you upset

Answer: B


Prompt:
WASHINGTON--Considering the serious warnings lately about Internet viruses, users may be encouraged to unplug their machines just to keep them safe. In reality, common sense and a few basic tips can keep Internet surfers secure. Antivirus software is a must, and it should be updated at least once a week to recognize newly released viruses. People with broadband Internet connections should also have a firewall. These protect the computer from attacks by hackers. Then it is time to think about computer habits. Unlike old viruses, which spread only through shared diskettes, the Internet brings viruses straight to the email-box. If email with attachment comes from an unknown sender, or unexpectedly from a known sender, it should not be opened. On receipt of an unexpected attachment from a friend, experts suggest a telephone call to make sure of the mail's source before opening. Why should antivirus software be updated at least once a week? Because   _  .

Choices:
A. the newly published antivirus software is more expensive
B. the previous antivirus software cannot work longer than a week
C. the inventors of viruses have suggested this idea
D. computer viruses are always developing

Answer: D


Prompt:
Audrey Hepburn is one of Hollywood's all-time greatest actress. She is famous not only in the USA, but also in other parts of the world. Hepburn was born in Belgium on May 4, 1929. She began taking ballet   lessons at a very young age. She loved dancing and her dream was to become a successful ballet dancer. She had put most of her effort into ballet training before she entered the film industry. In 1951, Hepburn was chosen to play the lead role of a young princess in the Hollywood film Roman  Holiday. It was a big success and Hepburn became famous immediately. She won an Oscar for Best Actress for her role in this film. During her life time, Hepburn earned four more Oscar nominations . Some well-known films that she acted in include Funny Face, Breakfast at Tiffany and My Fair Lady. Hepburn also devoted much of her time to charity . She spent the last few years of her life working closely with UNICEF to help poor children in different parts of the world. She was honoured with a number of awards  because of her efforts in helping them. _   made Hepburn a big success.

Choices:
A. Roman Holidays
B. Funny Face
C. Breakfast at Tiffany's
D. My Fair Lady

Answer: A


Prompt:
If you wish to become a better reader, here are four important things to remember about reading _ : * Knowing why you are reading or what you are reading to find out will often help you to know whether to read rapidly or slowly. * Some things should be read slowly throughout. Examples are directions for making or doing something, arithmetic  problems, science and history books, which are full of important information. You must read such things slowly to remember each important step and understand each important ideas. * Some things should be read rapidly throughout. Examples are  simple stories meant for enjoyment, news letters from friends, pieces of news from local, or home-town, papers, telling what is happening to friends and neighbors. * In some of your reading, you must change your speed from fast to slow and slow to fast, as you go along. You will need to read certain pages rapidly and then slow down and do more careful reading when you come to important ideas which must be remembered. Which should be read slowly according to the passage?

Choices:
A. Stories for enjoyment
B. Arithmetic problems
C. Letters from friends
D. News from hometown newspapers

Answer: B


Prompt:
The Internet has greatly changed the way people communicate. But some teachers think the changes are not all for the better. Eleanor Johnson, an English professor, thinks that text messaging has made students believe that it is far more acceptable than it actually is to just make terrible spelling and grammatical errors. And she says her students over the past several years have increasingly used less formal English in their writing. Words and phrases like "guy" and "you know" now appear in research papers. Professor Johnson supposes there is a strong relationship between the rise of informal online communication and an increase in writing mistakes. But she says there may not be much scientific information, at least not yet. David Crystal, a British linguist , says the actively changing nature of the Internet makes it difficult to keep up-to-date in studying its effects. But he believes its influence on language is small. The main effect of the Internet on language is the way it has added to the expressive richness of language, providing language with a new set of communicative tools that haven't existed in the past. Erin Jansen is founder of NetLingo.com, an online dictionary of the Internet and text messaging terms. She says the new technology has not changed existing language but has greatly added to its vocabulary. Basically it's freedom of expression. And what about those teachers who find these new kinds of mistakes in spelling and grammar in their students' work? What is her message to them? Erin Jansen said, "I am always on the students' side and won't get angry or upset about that. If it's helping the kids write more or communicate more, that's great. That's what teachers and educators want--to get kids communicating." But Erin Jansen and David Crystal agree with Eleanor Johnson on at least one thing. Teachers need to make sure students understand the uses and rules of language. The author wants to tell us that   _  .

Choices:
A. different opinions on informal expressions exist
B. what language is now used on the Internet
C. informal expressions are popular among teachers
D. why the Internet is welcomed by all students

Answer: A


Prompt:
Researchers at the University of Kansas say that people can accurately judge 90 percent of a stranger's personality simply by looking at the person's shoes. "Shoes convey a thin but useful slice of information about their wearers," the authors wrote in the new study published in the Journal of Research in Personality."Shoes serve a practical purpose, and also serve as nonverbal cues with symbolic messages.People tend to pay attention to the shoes they and others wear." Medical Daily notes that the number of detailed personality traits detected in the study include a person's general age, their gender, income, political affiliation, and other personality traits, including someone's emotional stability. Lead researcher Omri Gillath said the judgments were based on the style, cost, color and condition of someone's shoes.In the study, 63 University of Kansas students looked at pictures showing 208 different pairs of shoes worn by the study's participants.Volunteers in the study were photographed in their most commonly worn shoes, and then filled out a personality questionnaire. So, what do your shoes say about your personality? Some of the results were expected: People with higher incomes most commonly wore expensive shoes, and flashier footwear was typically worn by extroverts . However, some of the more specific results are intriguing.For example, "practical and functional" shoes were generally worn by more "agreeable" people, while ankle boots were more closely aligned with "aggressive" personalities. The strangest of all may be that those who wore "uncomfortable looking" shoes tend to have "calm" personalities. And if you have several pairs of new shoes or take exceptional care of them, you may suffer from "attachment _ " spending an inordinate amount of time worrying about what other people think of your appearance. There was even a political calculation in the mix with more liberal types wearing "shabbier and less expensive" shoes. The researchers noted that some people will choose shoe styles to mask their actual personality traits, but researchers noted that volunteers were also likely to be unaware that their footwear choices were revealing deep insights into their personalities. We learn from the text that shoes one wears may  _  .

Choices:
A. be used to judge others' personality accurately
B. show thick and useful information about one's personality
C. convey useful information including one's emotional stability
D. only convey some information about one's personality

Answer: C


Prompt:
Many pets got separated from their families almost two years ago, when Superstorm Sandy hit the East Coast. A New Jersey family was one of them. They lost their dog. He got away from their  backyard during the storm. Chuck James said that his family searched for the brown-and-white dog named Reckless for  months after the October 2012 storm. Reckless was a cute dog which brought much pleasure to the  whole family, and the youngest daughter Tiffany loved him most. They played together, watched TV together, ate popcorn together and Reckless even saw Tiffany off when she headed for the kindergarten every morning. Chuck James kept searching for the lovely dog in every possible way, but no luck "We reported him missing and called the shelters from time to time, just hoping they had  him," James said. "We always kept our hopes up, but finally it was time to move on." James said the family had planned to get a new dog. The dog was to be a tenth birthday surprise for their eldest daughter, Ally. The family of five went to the Monmouth County  SPCA( Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) to adopt a new animal. When James and his wife walked  close to the first cage, they saw a familiar face inside. "He was a little bigger than I remembered because they had fed him well," James joked.  "But then he was lying on my wife's feet and I knew it was him. It was unbelievable. I know this dog is meant to be with our family." When SPCA officials asked if they could prove the animal was their dog, a friend sent a _ showing the family, with their dog before Sandy hit the East Coast. "We're all so happy to have him back." James said.  The family is living in hotel while their  home is being repaired. This weekend, the James went on camping trip with Reckless to celebrate the dog's return What happened to the James when Super Storm Sandy hit the East Coast?

Choices:
A. Their house lay in ruins after the storm.
B. Their pet dog Reckless went missing.
C. Their pet dog Reckless was adopted by another family.
D. They found their pet dog Reckless badly injured.

Answer: B


Prompt:
There are a lot of things that happen to me in China but would certainly never happen in the US. One of those things is being called "strong". The first time was last December. I was walking across the high school campus in Guangzhou where I taught when a student in a gray scarf waved hello. I smiled and waved back, but then she stopped and called my name. "You're so strong!" She smiled and pointed at what appeared to be my arm. I looked down at my arms. Let's get one thing clear: I'm a very skinny guy. Once, while rehearsing for a high school talent show, I was told by the teacher in charge that I couldn't participate in the men's shirtless dance routine because my visible rig cage  would frighten the audience. "I'm so what?" "You're so strong!" _ repeated. "Um, thanks!" I didn't know what else to say, so we both waved goodbye. The next morning I stepped into my oral English classroom only to be greeted instantly by a unanimous  "Waaa!" of shock and admiration. "What?" I asked. "You're so strong!" shouted a boy from the back of the class. "Okay, will someone tell me what that means?" I was curious as to the real reason for such praise. So I turned to the monitor, gesturing for him to speak. "We just mean, you look very strong today," he offered earnestly. "What?! You mean like this?" I curled my arm like a bodybuilder. "No! But it's so cold, and you're only wearing a shortsleeve shirt." Oh, I got it. My "strength" had less to do with my muscle and more to do with my apparent ignorance of the cold weather. Which of the following is the best title for this passage?

Choices:
A. The Chinese Culture or the Western Culture
B. Am I Strong or Do I Need a Sweater
C. How I Can Get Stronger in Winter
D. How We Can Tell Two Different Cultures Apart

Answer: B


Prompt:
The message what the "Eat up All on Your Plate" campaign tries to convey is not new. Our ancestorshad poems about the importance of frugality   in the consumption of food. But it makes a lot of sensewhen many are yet to have the awareness that food waste borders on a crime. The campaign has been started online and thousands of people have answered the call. Manyrestaurants have joined the program by announcing that customers are encouraged to order half a dish andtake home what they can't finish. However, it is estimated   that 50 million tons of grain are wasted every year in China, enough tofeed 200 million people for a year. True, official banquets   paid with public money contribute much to such waste. But it isimportant that everyone thinks about how they can do their bit to reduce food waste. We need to developthe habit of never ordering or cooking more than we can eat and feeling guilty when we dump ourleftovers. Many people have a bad habit of entertaining guests with more than enough food, believing that theyhave not satisfied their guests' appetites if there is no food left on the table. In fact, to be a good host theyorder more than their guests can possibly eat and their guests eat more than they want out of politeness. Such a mentality needs to change. People need to be made aware that it is impolite to force guests toeat more than they are comfortable with and it is insensible and uncivilized to waste food. Even if one iswealthy, ordering more than one can eat is a bad way to show off one's wealth. The problem of food waste can be handled only when  _  .

Choices:
A. officials are forbidden to eat out with public money
B. more similar campaigns like this one have been started
C. restaurants don't serve all the food people have ordered
D. everyone takes action to fight against food waste

Answer: D


Prompt:
Today, when a man steps on to the moon, or something new and important happens, the world learns about it immediately. What did the newspapers say about that first flight in 1903? Strangely enough, they said hardly anything about it at all. There are only a few reports about it in the papers. These reports said very little. Some of the things they said were not even correct. In 1904 the Wrights built a second machine. They called it " _ No. Two". They invited some reporters to a field near Dayton to watch them fly. Unfortunately, there was some mechanical  trouble with the plane and it did not fly at all that day. The newspapermen went away. They were disappointed and did not come back. The Wrights went on with their work. In 1905, they built an even better machine, "Flyer No Three". They were able to stay upon the air for half an hour and more in the machine. Farmers and travelers on the road around the Dayton often saw them flying, but when three people told newspapermen about it, they refused to believe them. The Wrights offered "Flyer No. Three" to the United States government. The government was not interested. They seemed to think the Wrights wanted money in order to build a plane. They did not understand the Wrights had already done this, and flown it as well. Experts were still saying that mechanical flight was impossible. At the end of 1905, the two brothers took their planes to pieces. The parts were put into a huge wooden box. It seemed nobody was interested. The U.S. government could not understand that  _  .

Choices:
A. the Wrights had already built a machine that could fly
B. experts still thought flight was impossible
C. the Wrights wanted more money to build an airplane
D. "Flyer No. Three" was now in a wooden case

Answer: A


Prompt:
College students go 'blind for a day' A group of 18 students at the prefix = st1 /leshanTeachers' Collegeexperienced the hardships of the vision damaged during a "blind for a day" exercise over the weekend. The college's Department of Education organized the event, aiming to give students an understanding of the daily battle faced by the vision damaged so that they may offer their help in the future. Taiyuan forbids taking pets into its parks The local government of Taiyuanhas banned pets from being taken into the city's parks. The regulation, which came into effect on Saturday, states that anyone who takes pets into parks will be fined from 10 yuan (US$1.27) to 200(US$25). The local government said it introduced the rule because pets may cause harm to other park visitors and their waste pollutes the environment. Enormous pumpkin steals the show A 240-kilogram pumpkin worth over 2,300 yuan (US$293) was the star attraction at an agricultural show in Foshan's Shunde District over the weekend. Visitors all wanted to have their pictures taken with the huge pumpkin at the first Guangdong Agricultural Products Fair. The pumpkin was planted by the Zhuhai Academy of Agriculture Science. More than 1,000 seagulls die on beachofShandong More than 1,000 seagulls died on the beach in Jimo,ShandongProvince, last week. Experts investigating the case stressed that the cause of death was not bird flu. They said the seagulls died from a disease, but they are still testing samples to determine which one. Why did the pumpkin become the star attraction?

Choices:
A. Because it was worth over 2,300 yuan.
B. Because a lot of people want to take pictures with it.
C. Because it is a new product planted by the Zhuhai Academy of Agriculture Science.
D. Because it weighed 240-kilogram

Answer: D


Prompt:
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. That saying holds true not only for you and me, but also for some of the most powerful and influential people in the world, such as the presidents of the United States. But how do American presidents spend their vacation time? Let's take a look! Franklin D. Roosevelt, considered one of the greatest presidents in American history, had limited vacation options because of his polio . He began visiting Warm Springs, Georgia in 1924 for its curative waters and later built a 2,000 acre polio treatment center nearby. He liked to cruise the Potomacon his yacht  and three times as president returned to his beloved Canadian island of Campobello, with which he fell in love as a kid. Former President Bill Clinton, however, was never much good at vacationing. His staff had to practically force him to go on vacation his first year in office; his idea of relaxing was reading four good books simultaneously  while enjoying a cigar (chewed, not smoked). He could also lose himself in a game of golf, where his somewhat flexible interpretation of the rules could at times drive his partners crazy. Obama's predecessor  also knows how to relax. Fishing is in the Bush family DNA: for blue sharks off the coast of Maine or anything with fins, almost anywhere else. George W. Bush also relaxed as president by jogging and clearing brush on his Texas ranch. Since leaving office, he has become an active mountain biker and, more recently, has taken up painting. Obama tends to take a winter break in Hawaii, where he was born and raised, and a summer vacation in Martha's Vineyard, off the southern coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In between, he plays basketball every couple of weeks and has been known to do some skeet shooting at Camp David. Obama's favorite pastime, no matter the location, has become easy to spot: golf. What's the main reason for Franklin choose to spend his holidays in the spring or on his yacht?

Choices:
A. Personal interests.
B. Physical disability.
C. Tidal current.
D. Official arrangement.

Answer: B


Prompt:
Peter King, 15, and Mary King, 13, went to see a doctor. Peter had a bad cold, so the doctor gave him some pills to take. Mary had a bad cough, so the doctor gave her some cough medicine. There are the words on the bottle of the medicine: Cough Medicine Shake well before use. Take three times daily after meals. At one time:   adults ---------  2 teaspoonfuls Children 8 -- 14  1 teaspoonful Children 4 -- 7   1/2 teaspoonful Not suitable for children below the age of 4 Store in a cold place. Use before Oct.2007. Mary should   _   before she takes some.

Choices:
A. shake the medicine well
B. eat her meals
C. do some exercises
D. drink something

Answer: A


Prompt:
Research shows that humans switch from selfish to unselfish behavior when they are watched. Do you? A picture of a set of eyes on a computer screen can cause a change in the way people act. Even images of eyes on a charity donation, collection box encourage people to be unselfish, because people put more money in a collection box that has a picture of eyes on it than they do when a flower symbol is on the box. Manfred Milinski from the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Germany and Bettina Rockenbach of the University of Berlin, the authors of a new study, found that people act better when they are being watched because they feel they will be rewarded for good behavior. Their report also referred to other research showing that this response of behaving well when watched is somehow _ into humans and people respond this way unconsciously, or without realizing it. It is not just humans that act unselfishly when they are being watched. A fish called the grooming fish cleans other fish. When other fish are around, it is gentler. When no other fish are around, however, the grooming fish bites chunks from the fish it is supposed to be cleaning. The researchers suggest that the best way to get people to behave in the correct way is to make them feel watched. This could be the reason for the success of a famous American army poster. On it was a picture of an elderly man staring fiercely and pointing, it appeared, to the person who was looking at the poster. Under the picture was the caption 'I Want You' It encouraged hundreds of thousands of young American men to join the army during the Second World War to fight the Germans and Japanese. According to the report, why does a person behave better when he feels he is being watched?

Choices:
A. He does not want to be shamed by others.
B. He needs to show he is a good person.
C. He desires others to like him more.
D. He feels he will receive some social reward.

Answer: D


Prompt:
Michael wanted to make some money to buy a new computer game, but he did not know how. So he went to ask his brother Greg for help. "I think you could help to wash Mom's and Dad's cars," Greg said, "Some of the neighbors could pay you to wash theirs, too. It's getting colder and no one wants to wash the cars themselves." Michael agreed, but he shivered at the thought of washing cars and getting wet in cold weather."Maybe this isn't a good idea." "Don't worry," Greg said. "I have some golf gloves .You can use them to wash cars. and I will even help you to  wash the cars.""Thank you!"Michael said. After spending the day washing cars, Michael got enough money and went to the store with Greg. He found the game he wanted quickly, but as he took it off the shelf he saw a golf video game next to it. He knew Greg loved golf and wouldn't play golf in winter, so he put his game back and decided to buy the golf video game. "What are you doing?" Greg asked. "I thought this game would be more fun." said Michael. "We can play it together." What's the passage mainly about?

Choices:
A. Michael's childhood.
B. Michael and his neighbors.
C. How Michael made money
D. How Michael and Greg helped each other.

Answer: D


Prompt:
In Germany , more than 70% of people like reading. They often read. They read in their homes. They read in libraries. They read in parks. They even read in hospitals. Parents often read books for kids . It is easy to buy books in Germany. There are many bookshops in Germany. They are in big cities and small towns . A bookshop can sell  many books every day. Germans  also like to buy books on the Internet. More and more people buy books on the Internet. In Germany, people often have reading parties. They are happy at the parties. According to the passage, we can know Germans   _  .

Choices:
A. have much money
B. have good education
C. have good jobs
D. Have little knowledge

Answer: B


Prompt:
My grandpa is 93 years old this year. He is very healthy and looks young. Many people ask him why he is so healthy. Grandpa says good diet is very important to everyone. Grandpa has three meals a day regularly . He often eats lots of vegetables and fruit. He never drinks or smokes . He says they are bad for health. After he gets up in the morning, he often drinks a cup of water. And before he goes to bed in the evening, he has a cup of milk. He says everyone should drink some water before breakfast. Grandpa has a good lifestyle, too. He likes sports. He likes playing ping-pong and badminton. Sometimes he goes swimming. He goes running every day before breakfast, too. He says exercise can help a person keep healthy and strong. Grandpa likes watching TV. But he only watches TV in the afternoon. He doesn't watch too much TV. Many old people like playing Majon, but grandpa doesn't. He says sitting in the chair for long time is not good for health. What makes grandpa so healthy?

Choices:
A. Only a good diet
B. Eating three meals regularly.
C. A good diet and lifestyle.
D. Sports activities.

Answer: C


Prompt:
Mr and Mrs Smith have just opened a small restaurant. In order to attract customers, they put a notice in front of the restaurant, which said: "Meals on the house for three days." A foreign student who didn't know much English passed by the restaurant on the second day. It was lunchtime and he felt hungry. "Well, here is a restaurant. I'm going to have something to eat," he said. He saw the notice when he walked towards the restaurant. "American people are really strange. They even eat dinners on the house! But how can I get onto the top of the house?" he asked himself He looked around and found a ladder against a tree nearby. He was very glad. But as he reached the top, he heard someone shouting at him, "Hey, what are you doing up there?" Mr Smith was looking at him angrily. Beside him was a policeman. 'Doesn't your notice say 'Meals on the house for three days'? Is it just a joke?" the foreign student answered. On hearing this, both Mr Smith and the policeman burst into laughter. Do you know the meaning of on the house"? On the house may mean that the meal

Choices:
A. is taken on the house
B. is paid on the house .
C. is made on the house
D. is free for the customers;

Answer: D


Prompt:
As space science develops, man has learned more and more about space. Space is not only amazing but also dangerous. While working in space, spacemen are facing danger as well as success. Scientists have found out that _ to spacemen in space. When spacemen are working in space, they are in danger of radiation from the sun and other stars, which is bad for their health. The damage  done by radiation won't be discovered until their children or even grandchildren are born. Some special medicine may work a little, but no really helpful medicine has been. Space junk is also thought _ It's reported that there are 9,000 man-made things flying in space. About 30% of these are satellites, 10% are spaceships, and the rest are space junk. An explosion  in 1996 made a cloud of 300,000. _ , each at least 4mm in size, and even a small piece of these knocked against a spaceship window and did some damage. Scientists are watching and reporting any possible danger all the time. They are working on helpful ways to do with space junk. Although space is really dangerous, it interests everyone on the earth. In the near future, it may become usual for people to spend a few days in a space hotel. We may even choose to leave the earth and live in space in a few years. So we should care for space and do something to help improve the space environment. Which of the following about the passage  is TRUE?

Choices:
A. The passage tells us that radiation in space comes from the sun and other stars.
B. Every one of us can make a trip to space now.
C. Scientists have found out ways to solve any problem in space.
D. People are afraid to travel to space because it's too dangerous.

Answer: A


Prompt:
Shopping in Singapore is really a pleasure for tourists. The Great Singapore Sale is held every year, usually during the summer months. Singapore's famous shopping stores welcome a great number of visitors from all over the world. Their shopping hours last till midnight. During this time, nice and cheap goods are on sale for tourists to choose from. Tourists can also try delicious foods there and experience the Singaporean nightlife. Certain stores offer discounts of up to 70 percent or even higher if people use their credit cards. For tourists that hold a special Tourist Card, they can enjoy a lot of benefits , such as discounts on watches, jewellery and cosmetics  . The card also gives discounts when you visit local attractions such as Singapore Zoo. It is well worth checking out in the different shopping districts of Singapore during this 8-week Shopping Marathon. Orchard Road is surely the best place for shopping in the city. A large number of restaurants and clubs can be found in this area. Marina Bay includes both big department stores  as well as small shops, so everything you would want to buy can be found here. Advice for tourists planning to enjoy this festival of shopping: travel light and take a comfortable pair of shoes with you, for you are sure to do a lot of walking and return with your bags much heavier. Why are tourists advised to travel light if they want to enjoy the shopping festival?

Choices:
A. They will buy many goods and have to do lots of walking.
B. It is not safe for them to take heavy bags with them.
C. There is heavy traffic in the shopping districts of Singapore.
D. Travelling with too many things is not allowed in Singapore.

Answer: A


Prompt:
Have you ever noticed that you're treated differently in stores based on your sex,age,race and even the way you dress? I certainly have,so 1 wanted to see exactly what happens inside these stores that are meant to be run with"customer service". A young man in ripped jeans and a hoodie went into a car shop and asked for a price on the top of the line vehicle.The salesman looked him up and down and said."I don't think you can afford a  car like this.Have a look at the _ cars over here." As you can imagine,the young man was angry and left the showroom.Two days later, the young man walked back in,and he walked up to the salesman who had served him two days before and asked,"Hi,do you remember me? You said l should look at the inferior cars the other day."The salesman nodded and said yes. The young man then asked him to just quickly come outside and have a look at something. They walked out and the young man pointed to the brand--new top of the line Ford and said."I paid with cash ,do you like my new car?"And then the salesman quickly left. Maybe many businesses don't understand a fact--if they don't treat their customers equally,they will lose business.Not every one of the above people will ever go back to those companies and they won't recommend them to anyone.You will not only lose repeat business but also lose up to 10 customers,for every person you treat badly will not recommend your companies and will tell people not to go to these places. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

Choices:
A. The young man in brand.new jeans and a hoodie entered the showroom.
B. All the people treated badly will go back to complain about the service.
C. The salesman left quickly because he felt very embarrassed .
D. If customers are treated equally, companies will lose repeat business.

Answer: C


Prompt:
Annette Kellerman was born in Australia in 1887.She had polio and could not walk easily.She had to wear metal supports on her legs to stand up on her own.To make her legs stronger,her mother took her for swimming lessons every week.Swimming made her legs so strong that when she was 15 she was able to throw away her supports. Her family was poor so she got work acting as a mermaid.She wore a long tail and fish swam around her.People paid to come and see her. In 1900 Annette swam in the Paris Olympics and won two gold medals. The next year she tried to swim across the Channel.She was the first woman to try to do it though she had to stop after swimming for six hours. In 1915 Annette went to Hollywood and was the star of two films. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

Choices:
A. she was successful in swimming across the Channel
B. In 1901 she tried to swim across the Channel but later she had to stop.
C. She wasn't able to throw away her supports at the age of fifteen.
D. She swam across the Channel for only six days

Answer: B


Prompt:
While we are still children ,most of us live at home with our parents, more or less peacefully . But as we become teenagers , things change ,and we begin to grow apart from our parents . This means we are almost ready to leave the house where we grew up and make a new home of our own . All humans must do this ,but they don't all do it in the same way . If ,for instance ,you belong to a primitive tribe   ,then as you grew up ,you'd learn the skills you needed as an adult---how to catch fish ,how to keep the house and look after children . You would be ready to marry in your early teens and you would build a house and live near your family in the village. This seems a very old way of life , but it is what humans have been used to through hundreds of years. And it is what we are still used to in the 21stcentury ,for man hasn't changed in the short time since he became civilized . But could you leave home and look after yourself during the teen years ? Most people would not do very well . Why ? Because although man hasn't changed very much , the society he lives in has changed greatly ,which means that we have to learn more and more before we are ready to leave our parents' shelter(  ) and live alone . However ,sometimes it is very frustrating to live at parents' home . Parents can be very upset about late nights ,criticizing friends and always saying that we are noisy and dirty . But we still need our emotional   shelter till we finish our studies , and that is why we usually stay in our parents' home until we feel grown up enough to deal with living alone . For most teenagers of the  21stcentury ,making a new home of their own may be   _  .

Choices:
A. difficult
B. unimportant
C. impossible
D. quite easy

Answer: A


Prompt:
I started to study English when I was a child because of Michael Jackson. He has been my idol   since 1991. I really wanted to understand him and his music. I used to use a dictionary to learn the meanings of words of songs written by him. There was a lot of work to do to learn English, but I never felt tired. At first I learned about pronunciation, which was the hardest part for me. Because music was my only source   of spoken English, sometimes I had to use a pronunciation dictionary. Then I made lists of words in order to remember them and their meanings. I would spend hours learning English grammar. What's more, I read a lot. I also tried to translate texts, dialogues and songs. Because of my hard work, my English improved a lot. In the end, I entered a college and had a great chance to further improve my English. Now I am an English teacher. And I am still making progress in English. The author mainly wants to talk about   _  .

Choices:
A. Michael Jackson and his music
B. the importance of learning English
C. his experience in learning English
D. ways to remember words

Answer: C


Prompt:
Today I took Frank to have a training class  . We got there earlier than most of the other dogs and _ . Mr. Brown helped us teach our dogs some skills  . When the dog did it, he said, "Good dog!" He was a serious man but he laughed a lot with dogs. He said Frank was smarter than other dogs. Next to Frank was also a smart dog. His name was Sam. His short legs made him look funny, but he could run faster than many of the bigger dogs. His owner was a quiet girl and looked a little shy. So I said hello to her first. I hoped she could be my friend. At the end of the class, Mr. Brown told me that Frank did the best this class and he would give him a ball. Which of the following is NOT true?

Choices:
A. Sam ran faster than some bigger dogs.
B. Sam was next to Frank.
C. Frank arrived later than most of the other dogs.
D. Frank did the best in class.

Answer: C


Prompt:
One day while driving from my home to work. I noticed a car in front of me had a wobbly wheel. It was clear that the wheel had been changed recently and had not been fixed correctly. On a slow road this would not show much of a problem but I knew a highway was coming soon. There the traffic would move much faster and the driver would be in danger as the wheel could come off at that speed. I was driving a large jeep at the time and the car in front was a small one driven by a young lady on her own. So as I tried to flash my lights and wave her to pull over,  I was worried that she wouldn' t pull over on the road side when she found in her mirror a single man chasing  her down in a jeep and waving for her to pull over. Thankfully. she trusted more in the good nature of people and pulled over where I could explain the problem. She said the wheel was changed only the night before and that she would pull into the nearest garage where the repairman had tools to fix the wheel correctly. My belief is that the act of kindness was hers and not mine. How so? Well,  it was she who chose to believe in the possibility that people are good over the belief that bad things would come from being waved over to the side of the road by strangers. I am glad I was able to wave her down in time and so a serious accident might have been avoided. But I am even happier that she believed in a stranger. What would be the best title for the passage?

Choices:
A. Trusting in the Kindness of Strangers
B. A Wobbly Wheel of a Car
C. A Lady Who Was Saved
D. Accident That Didn' t Happen

Answer: A


Prompt:
June 11,2013 was another big day for Chinese space exploration. Shenzhou X, China's fifth manned spacecraft, was sent into space. Three astronauts, Nie Haisheng, 49, Zhang Xiaoguang, 47, and Wang Yaping, 33, stayed in space for 15 days. Tiangong-1 is China's first space module . It was sent into space in 2011. It will be developed into a large space station around 2020. A space station is a lab for scientific studies.Shenzhou X performed its first docking with Tangong-1 on June 13. It docked twice during the 15 days. The US, Russia, Japan, Canada and Europe are working together on the International Space Station (ISS).China wanted to join the ISS but was refused by the US. China decided to build its own space station. Shenzhou X flew around the Tianggong-1 lab for the first time. This was to make sure that spacecraft could dock from more than just one direction. The astronauts carried out repair work and did experiments on the Tiangong-1. Teaching from space Wang Yaping, China's second woman astronaut, taught high school and primary school students about space science. Wang talked about how things move in a micro-gravity environment. This helped the students better understand some physics ideas, like Newton's Law. The lessons aimed to encourage more students to learn about the universe and science. Life up in space The three astronauts followed a work and rest schedule that is similar on the Earth. They had Chinese dishes, such as Kung Pao Chicken and fried rice. The food was kept in special bags. At the time of the Dragon Boat Festival, they had Zongzi. Shenzhou X, China's fifth manned spacecraft was sent into space    _   .

Choices:
A. on June 11, 2013
B. on June 13, 2013
C. on June 11, 2011
D. on June 13, 2011

Answer: A


Prompt:
One day a dentist was starting his morning work. Suddenly a man ran in. His face was red and he could only say "Quick! Quick!" The dentist thought he must be very ill. His assistant helped to make the poor man sit in a chair. The dentist gave the man some medicine to make him sleep. Then, he looked into the man's mouth and pulled out all the bad teeth. As soon as the man woke up, he said in a low voice, "Quick, doctor, quick." "It's all right now," the dentist told him, "It's over." "You don't understand," said the man, "I came to tell you your house is on fire." The man ran in    _   .

Choices:
A. because he was ill
B. because he wanted to sleep
C. to tell the doctor that he was all right
D. to tell the dentist that his house was on fire

Answer: D


Prompt:
Today is November 20th. It's my sister Mary's 8thbirthday. In the morning, my parents take us to Zig Zag's Clothes Store. There my mother buys a red sweater for Mary. And we go to Huaxing Book Store. There I buy some CDs for Mary. My father also buys a book for Mary, and its name is Harry Potter. It's Mary's favorite book. In the afternoon, my parents have a birthday party for Mary at home. Mary's friends, Bill and Cindy come to the party. Bill brings  a new pencil box to Mary. Mary likes it very much. Cindy gives Mary an English-Chinese dictionary. Mary is very happy. Oh, I'm Mary's brother. My name is Nick. ---What does Nick buy for Mary?  ---  _

Choices:
A. An English-Chinese dictionary
B. A new pencil box
C. A soccer ball
D. Some CDs

Answer: D


Prompt:
Amy was looking for a gift for her little daughter.Suddenly she stopped before a store of dolls."Girls like dolls,"she thought as she stepped into it.Looking around,she saw a grandma doll...one with gray hair and a pair of glasses.In her mind appeared Joyce,her mother. When Amy was a little girl,she got her first doll from Joyce for her birthday.Then the second,the third...A doll a year never arrived late. " Why always a doll? " This question had been in Amy's mind until one day her father gave the answer. Little Joyce dreamed to have a doll.Her parents promised one for her fifth birthday.Sadly ,they both died in a traffic accident before it arrived.The never-received gift was the most precious in her eyes. Her mother's story being recalled,Amy got an idea. It was Joyce's birthday.A package was sent to her with a card that read: Dear Joyce , I forget to send you the package that you should have received on May 20,1 956,your fifth Birthday.The gift inside has aged ,but I thought that you might still wish to have it.  Love ,Angel of Joy Joyce opened the package and saw a lovely grandma doll.She clasped the doll that she had waited so many years for ,crying softly.The doll given by "Angel of Joy",made her the happiest "child" in the world. Why did Joyce think dolls were the best birthday gifts for Amy?

Choices:
A. Amy dreamed to have all kinds of lovely dolls.
B. Amy Iooked like a doll when she was a little girl.
C. Joyce received a lot of lovely dolls from her parents.
D. Joyce had never got the dream doll from her parents.

Answer: D


Prompt:
As soon as the woman got into the house, her eight-year-old daughter told her that her younger brother drew so many pictures on the clean wall of his bedroom and left the white wall in a mess. When the woman heard this, she was angry. "Where's your brother now?" "He's hiding himself in the cupboard in his bedroom." The little girl answered. The woman got even angrier. She complained about her son when she went towards her son's bedroom. The six-year-old boy was staying with fear in the cupboard when he heard what his mother said. He knew she got really angry this time. The woman pushed the door open with a loud noise. But when she saw the words and pictures on the wall, her anger soon disappeared. "I love you, mum!" covered the whole wall, with so many hearts around them, and so many stars in the sky. The mother's eyes were full of happy tears. She opened the door of the cupboard, and hugged   her son tightly. The boy said "I love you, Mum!" to her mother in a low voice when he was in his mother's arms. It's the most expensive present from her son -- "Love on the wall". Eight years later, the boy suddenly died of heart disease. The mother had kept the wall tidy with great care for nearly fifty years until she was dead. In the mother's heart, it seemed that her son was alive, and always looking at her in the sky with many shining stars around him. Why was the woman angry at first after she heard what her daughter said?

Choices:
A. Her children fought with each other at home.
B. Her daughter didn't look after her son well.
C. Her son drew pictures on the white clean wall.
D. Her husband left her children at home alone.

Answer: C


Prompt:
When I was a kid, the Easter   holidays in Australia were my favorite time of the year. As soon as they began in April, my family would head straight to the beach for a weekend of camping. Unlike most of the world, Easter falls in autumn in Australia. This means that Easter is our last chance to enjoy the warm weather, swim in the ocean and sleep in the bush under the stars. We'd pitch our tents  on clear patches of grass and look out onto an almost empty beach. Often we were the only ones camping and the whole beach would be ours alone. We used to spend all day outside - swimming, hiking and fishing. On Easter morning, my parents would wake up early and plan an Easter egg hunt for my three brothers and me. They would hide the eggs in the strangest places - in abandoned  bird nests in the trees, under our tents and in every corner of the stones that surround  the beach. In Australia, instead of chocolate bunnies, we had chocolate bilbies  . Bilbies are Australian animals with long ears. Chocolate bilbies were the best treat to find and there was always one for each of us. But sometimes, other animals found them first, and all we'd find were brightly colored wrappers  with animal tooth marks. After the hunt we would come back to the campsite with our bellies   full of chocolate. For us, Easter wasn't about chocolate eggs or religious tradition. It was about being with our family in the great outdoors. The writer usually had   _   during Easter holidays.

Choices:
A. chocolate bunnies
B. chocolate eggs
C. chocolate bilbies
D. chocolate bars

Answer: C


Prompt:
When I was young, my family got our first computer. As years went by, I wanted to get a new one, and my father agreed. We went to many stores and looked at many flyers  . At last we bought an HP computer. During the first week, I noticed that our computer had some problems. I tried to fix it, but failed. Finally I had to phone the HP company. After five hours' hard work, the computer still did not work. My dad didn't have a choice but to return the whole thing. A few days later, we decided that I should go on the internet and order some parts to build a new computer by myself. It was not an easy thing for me to deal with it, but in the end I finished. From these setbacks  , I have learned, and now believe if the computer that I bought from the store didn't have problems, then I would not learn how to build a new one. Even though I spent lots of time on it, I know it wasn't a waste of time. I now have a self-built computer, and I am very pleased. The writer wanted to have a new computer because   _  .

Choices:
A. he has much money
B. the one he had was cheap
C. his dad would like to
D. the first one was too old

Answer: D


Prompt:
Many overseas Chinese make their kids learn the Chinese language because they don't want them to lose their mother language. In the city of Portland in the USA, there is a weekend Chinese school in a church. In the school, there are Chinese kids and American kids. They study Chinese on Saturdays and Sundays. Teachers at the school are usually some overseas Chinese women. Miss Tian is one of them. She is from Beijing. She teaches her students many Chinese characters, sentences and Chinese songs. Most of these kids speak English better than Chinese, because they spend most of their time at the local school, and their classmates are American.Their teachers teach them in English. When the overseas Chinese children get home after school, their parents often speak Chinese to them. Only at that time do they think they are at home. Which one is true?

Choices:
A. Most kids speak Chinese better than English.
B. Most kids speak English better than Chinese.
C. Most kids speak Chinese as well as English.
D. Most kids can't speak Chinese at all.

Answer: B