user: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Taj Mahal, Agra, India As many as 28 different varieties of semi-precious and precious stones were used to decorate the outside of the Taj Mahal. Construction of the Taj Mahal took around 20 years. The building, which was made from white marble from the quarries  of Rajasthan, appears pink in the morning, white in the day and golden in the moonlight. Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, Japan It took 10 years to construct the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge. It connects the city of Kobe, on Japan's mainland, with Iwaya on Awaji Island. Before it opened, the only way to get between the two cities was ferry. However, the waterway was prone to   severe storms and when two ferries capsized   in 1955, killing 168 people, public anger convinced   the government of the need for a bridge. It's the longest suspension   bridge in the world, with a length of 1,991 meters. Panama Canal, Panama More than 4.5 million cubic yards of concrete were used in the construction of this canal's locks and dams. The Panama Canal is a 77-kilometer (47-mile) long waterway that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The earth and rubble excavated   to make way for it was enough to bury Manhattan to a depth of four meters. A series of locks allow ships to pass through the water; each of the moveable lock doors weighs 750 tons and each of the locks fills with 52 million gallons of water to accommodate the 15,000 ships that use the canal every year. Completion date: January 7, 1914 after 10 years of building. Grand Canyon Skywalk, Arizona, America The Skywalk's foundation is strong enough to support 71 million pounds. Located 1, 219 meters above the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon's Skywalk consists of one million pounds of steel and 83,000 pounds of glass. It was the creation of Las Vegas businessman David Jin, who approached the Hualapai Tribe with the idea of a glass walkway over the Grand Canyon in 1996. The Skywalk was assembled   on site. Completion date: March 28, 2007. Question: In which section of a book can the passage probably be seen? Options: A: Health. B: Agriculture. C: Education. D: Architecture.
D
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: For many years, I had a belief that my suffering was due to my size. I believed that when the weight disappeared, it would take old wounds, hurts, and rejections with it. Many weight-conscious people also mistakenly believe that changing our bodies will fix _ . Perhaps our worst mistake is believing that being thin equals being loved,being special, and being cherished. We fantasize  about what it will be like when we reach the long-awaited goal. We work very hard to realize this dream. Then, at last, we find ourselves there. But we often gain back what we have lost. Even so, we continue to believe that next time it will be different. Next time, we will keep it off. Next time, being thin will finally fulfill its promise of everlasting happiness, self-worth, and, of course, love. It took me a long while to realize that there was something more for me to learn about beauty. Beauty standards vary with culture. In Samoa a woman is not considered attractive unless she weighs more than 200 pounds. More importantly, if it's happiness that we want, why not put our energy there rather than on the size of our body? Why not look inside? Many of us strive hard to change our body, but in vain. We have to find a way to live comfortably inside our body and make friends with and cherish ourselves. When we change our attitudes toward ourselves, the whole world changes. Question: The passage tries to highlight the importance of   _  . Options: A: body size B: attitudes toward life C: culture difference D: different beauty standards
B
Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Half of the world's population is affected by Asian monsoons , but monsoons are difficult to predict. American researchers have put together a 700-year record of the rainy seasons, which is expected to provide guidance for experts making weather predictions. Every year, damp air masses,known as monsoon,produce large amounts of rainfall in India, East Asia, Northern Australia and East Africa. All this wet air is pulled in by a high pressure area over the Indian Ocean and a low pressure area to the south. According to Edward Cook , a weather expert at Columbia University in New York., the complex nature of the climate systems across Asia makes monsoons hard to predict. In addition, climate records for the area are too recent and not detailed enough to be of much use. Therefore, he and a team of researchers spent more than fifteen years traveling across Asia, looking for trees old enough to provide long-term records. They measured the rings, or circles, inside thousands of ancient trees in more than 300 places. Rainfall has a direct link to the growth and width of rings on some kinds of trees. The researchers developed a document they are calling a Monsoon Asia Drought Atlas. It shows the effect of monsoons over seven centuries, beginning in the 1300s. Professor Cook says the tree-ring records show periods of wet and dry weather. "If the monsoon basically fails or is a very weak one, the trees affected by monsoons at that location might put on a very narrow ring. But if the monsoon is very strong, the trees affected by that monsoon might put on a wide ring for that year. So, the wide and narrow ring widths of the chronology that we developed in Asia provide us with a measure of monsoon variability." With all this information, researchers say they can begin to improve computer climate models for predicting the behavior of monsoons. "There has been widespread famine and starvation and human dying in the past in large droughts. And on the other hand, if the monsoon is particularly heavy, it can cause extensive... Question: Which of the following best describes the tone of this passage? Options: A: Matter-of -fact B: Pessimistic C: Humorous D: Friendly.
A: A
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Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Guinness World Records, the global authority on record-breaking achievements, presented China Central TV (CCTV) the world record for Most Watched National Network TV Broadcast for its annual Spring Festival Gala show. The program, which is produced especially to celebratethe Chinese New Year, had a unique reach of 498,659,000 viewers on CCTV-1, 3 and 4 in 2012 , making it the most watched national variety entertainment show in the world.  The official record certificate was presented by Guinness World Records, Global Managing Director, Mr. Alistair Richards to CCTV Vice President Mr. Luo Ming during a special "China in Cannes" reception co-hosted with Reed MIDEM as part of the celebrations to honor the Chinese delegation at this year's MIPTV market. CSM Media Research, which supplied the viewing figures for Guinness World Records verification , considered viewers aged 4 years or above who watched at least one minute of the 2012 show on either CCTV-1, 3 or 4, the three channels which aired the show at the same time. The figure refers to viewers on any one of the three channels, therefore excluding duplications . This represents almost 40% of the China TV population aged 4 years or above. Commenting on CCTV's incredible record achievement which is based on reach of audience, Alistair Richards said, "It is fitting that we celebratethis amazing achievement at MIPTV. National networks have the power to move nations and CCTV's Spring Festival Gala is the ultimate example. It reaches nearly half a billion people on the biggest holiday of their year." CCTV Vice President Luo Ming, who accepted the Guinness World Records certificate on behalf of CCTV, said, "Chinese New Year is a special time for families in China and our Spring Festival Gala has been the traditional TV entertainment highlight for three decades. Although this is a world record achieved by our viewers, it is also a record won by the staff of CCTV, who makes it possible for our television shows to reach homes right across China." The new record will be... Question: This passage is most likely to be  _  . Options: A: a news report B: a book review C: a tourist brochure D: a blog
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assistant: A