user: Q: Read the following article and answer the question. Article: As we become richer and richer, we are producing more and more rubbish. The Asian Development Bank(ADB) says that our largest cities produce 760 000 tons of solid waste every day. It predicts  that there will be an increase--to 1.8 million tons--by 2025. It seems too much to deal with. "The growing waste is simply trying to cover our cities," says Michael Lindfield, a specialist of ADB in Manila.  _ The World Bank says some governments are spending as much as half of their budgets  dealing with rubbish. And even so, it is common that half of all the waste goes uncollected. Much of the added difficulty is packaging from consumer products and the products themselves--all of which need years, even centuries to decompose . Lindfield believes that four of every five products we buy are thrown away after a single use. It all makes the work to deal with solid waste much more expensive. The rubbish is more than just an environmental problem--it also influences national economies  by disturbing the world market, discouraging tourism and slowing down industrial development. Lots of rubbish also influences the look of our cities. As he walks to work from his home in Bangkok every day, Chatchat Mutita, a 36-year-old advertising specialist, must pass a lot of ugly, smelly rubbish that isn't collected until late at night. He says things get worse when it rains because some yellow water will stream from the rubbish to the sidewalk. Modern technology can make the problems of open dumps less serious. But Chettiyappan Visvanathan, a professor at the Asian Institute of Technology in Pathumthal, Thailand, believes that there are no engineered facilities  in nine of every ten dumps all over the country. Some countries depend on most solid waste to produce energy, but there's a growing problem of air pollution. Burning is far more dangerous than open dumps. The ADB says the growing rubbish must be dealt with by the "3Rs" --reducing the waste, reusing things that are being thrown away and recycling materials. Question: Which of the following is true, according to the passage? Answer:

OPTIONS:
- There are both hope and difficulty in our future.
- It's impossible for us to make our cities clean.
- We may find some ways but things will be worse.
- The problem is not serious if everyone knows it.

A: There are both hope and difficulty in our future.


Q: Read the following article and answer the question. Article: Reading Oliver James'Affluenza, I thought about what often happens at home. My 12-year-old daughter is in tears."I have so take a test tomorrow. I don't understand any of it," she cries out. After shouting and shutting her door, she calms down enough to go through her notes. The following dry I ask her how the test went and the just says "OK,I got a nine". "Wow. well done!" I say, before she finishes with "But I never get a ten!" According to James, this _ with getting top marks has been a bad development, which encourages people to think of education in terms of work and money. To test this, I asked my daughter why she was so worried about her tests. She looked at me as if I was thick. "Well, if I don't get good grades, I won't be able to afford nice things like a car and stuff." I was quite surprised, because I don't consider myself a pushy parent. But James suggests and it leaves students feeling failures even if they are very bright. He points to the Danish system of education as a better model. Creating happy citizens who have good social skills is seen as more important than high achievements at school or the needs of business. For me, I cannot remember the last time I had to work out the area of a circle, recite a Shakespeare poem or grammar rules, yet I have lived a happy life. What I really needed to learn at school was how to make polite conversations, or how to avoid getting into debt or how to develop good personality. This is in fact similar to what Oliver James really has in mind. And he is looking for schools where students are encouraged to find and follow their own interests, something more like Tongjon. Tongjon has been developed in some Korean private schools. It is quite different from the more rigid system of learning things by heart that is used in Korea, and indeed in many other school systems around the world. As the Russian poet Pushkin said," Inspiration is needed in geometry just as much as in poetry ",and inspiration does not come from endlessly revising for tests or getting... Question: What can we infer from the passage? Answer:

OPTIONS:
- Social skills are as important as high grades.
- Interest in grades can shake self-confidence.
- The writer regrets not having studied hard at school.
- Danish educational system is for very smart students.

A: Interest in grades can shake self-confidence.


Q: Read the following article and answer the question. Article: How are you and your family going to celebrate Earth Day? It's great day to get outside and ride a bike, but there are other ways you could spend the day. Here are four books. You can learn more about the earth and the animals that make the world a special place to live. The Busy Beaver, by Nicholas Oldland Beaver is very busy, and he doesn't always think carefully. As a result, he makes a mess of the forest and ends up in hospital. Finally, he realizes how careless he's been and decides to make things right when he returns to the forest. Lessons from Mother Earth, by Elaine Mcleod Five-year-old Tess is visiting her grandmother and, for the first time, she visits the garden. Along the way, Tess's grandmother tells her the rules of the garden, "You must always take good care of our garden. Never throw rubbish around. There is plenty for everyone to share if we don't destroy  the earth." The story is beautifully told as a caring conversation between a child and her grandmother. Luz See the Light, by Claudia Davila When Luz's community experiences a series of black-outs  , she quickly comes to understand the need to save energy and find other ways of doing things . With the help of her friends and neighbors, she creates a community garden and park that everyone can use. The book attracts many young readers. The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss A young boy learns of the role of the Lorax as protector of the trees, and how his home became polluted. The book contains memorable   of forestry conservation   . Question: Which of the following words can best describe Luz? Answer:

OPTIONS:
- Organized.
- Creative.
- Beautiful.
- Unfriendly.

A: Creative.


Q: Read the following article and answer the question. Article: Ted, my little brother, is in Grade One. Last Friday he came back from school with a letter.  The letter was from his teacher. "I got a red flower today. Could you please sign this note?" he said to Mum. The note showed that he had been talking in class. Ted hardly gets top scores in his school work. The best he gets is "OK", but often he gets "You can do better than this." Mum knows what it means. She tells me "You can do better than this" means "Extremely bad" in China. In the USA, teachers never say anything too bad about their students, even if the students are making trouble in class or not working hard enough. The worst they might say is "Please be nicer tomorrow". Many parents are satisfied with--- a B-grade for each subject. But things in Chinese schools are quite different. Parents have _ for their children. I sometimes felt that my second-grade cousin spent more time on homework than I did when I was a 6thgrader in the USA! Yet his parents and teachers didn't think he worked hard enough. Is it too strict in China? Or is it not strict enough in the USA? Maybe both are true. Question: American parents will be  _  when their children get a B-grade in their school. Answer:

OPTIONS:
- excited
- sad
- angry
- happy

A:

assistant: happy