Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: On July 1 at exactly 7:59:59, Bejing time, the world' s atomic clocks will pause for a single second, or, more precisely, change to the unusual time of 7:59:60. The addition of a leap second , is to keep our clocks in time with the slowing of Earth' s rotation and astronomical time as measured by the sun. Just one extra second could affect the way computers and websites work, however. When the last leap second was added back in 2012, the community website Reddit crashed. For Reddit, the problem was that a Linux system got confused when it checked the network time and found an extra second. Speaking to Wired about the problem back in 2012, Linux creator Linus Torvalds commented:"Almost every time we have a leap second, we find something. It' s really annoying, because it' s code that is almost never used, and thus not tested by users under their normal conditions. " Companies have thought of their own solutions, and Google' s"leap smear"may be the best- known example. As company engineer Christopher Pascoe explains in a blog post, companies usually try to turn back the clocks by one second at the end of the day so that they play that second again. However, Pascoe believes this creates problems. He asked:"Does email that comes in during that second get stored correctly?"Google has a solution: Cut the extra second into milliseconds and then put these tiny amounts of time into the system throughout the day."This means that when it became time to add an extra second at midnight."Says Pascoe."Our clocks have already taken this into account over the course of the day." For many companies without Google' s money, however, the leap second will likely still cause some crashes. Question: Why do we need to add a leap second? Options: A: To change the world' s atomic clocks. B: To keep atomic clocks in time with the world' s computers. C: To keep atomic clocks in time with the slowing of Earth' s rotation. D: To record the changes to astronomical time.
A: C

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: It often happens that a number of applicants with almost identical qualifications and experience all apply for the same position. In their educational background, special skills and work experience, there is little, if anything, to choose between half a dozen candidates . How then does the employer make a choice? Usually on the basis of an interview. There are many arguments about the interview as a selection procedure. The main argument against it is that it results in a wholly subjective decision. As often as not, employers do not choose the best candidate, but the one who makes a good first impression on them. Some employers, of course, reply to this argument by saying that they have become so experienced in interviewing staff that they are able to make a sound assessment of each candidate's likely performance. Those in favor of the interview insist that the well-structured procedure is valid in assessing a candidate's ability, an essential guarantee for the future job. They also argue that an employer is concerned not only with a candidate's ability, but with the suitability of his or her personality for the particular work situation. Many employers, for example, will overlook occasional inefficiencies from their secretary so long as she has a pleasant personality. Perhaps the real purpose of an interview is not to assess the assessable aspects of each candidate but to make a guess at the more intangible (, ) things, such as personality, character and social ability. Today, interview is still the key section of the entire selection procedure, though different employers have different standards for competence . Generally speaking, candidates who interview well tend to be confident, but never boastful ; direct and straight-forward in their questions andanswers; cheerful and friendly, but never over-familiar; and sincerely enthusiastic and optimistic. Candidates who interview badly tend to be at either end of the spectrum (, ) of human behavior. They are either very shy or over-confident. They... Question: We can infer from the passage that an employer might tolerate his secretary's occasional mistakes if the latter is _ . Options: A: boastful B: shy C: competent D: cheerful
A: D

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: In the fall of 1985, I was a bright-eyed girl heading off to Howard University, aiming at a legal career and dreaming of sitting on a Supreme Court bench somewhere. Twenty-one years later I am still a bright-eyed dreamer and one with quite a different tale to tell. My grandma, an amazing woman, graduated from college at the age of 65. She was the first in our family to reach that goal. But one year after I started college, she developed cancer. I made the choice to leave college to care for her. It meant that school and my personal dream would have to wait. Then I got married with another dream: building my family with a combination of adopt and biological children. In 1999, we adopted our first son. To lay eyes on him was fantastic--and very emotional. A year later came our second adopted boy. Then followed Son No. 3. In 2003, I gave birth to another boy. You can imagine how busy I became, raising four boys under the age of 8! Our home was a complete zoo--a joyous zoo. Not surprising, I never did make it back to college full-time. But I never gave up on the dream either. I had only one choice: to find a way. That meant taking as few as one class each term. The hardest part was feeling guilty about the time I spent away from the boys. They often wanted me to stay home with them. There certainly were times I wanted to give up, but I knew I should set an example for them to follow through the rest of their lives. In 2007, I graduated from the University of North Carolina. It took me over 21 years to get my college degree! I am not special, just single-minded. It always struck me that when you're looking at a big challenge from the outside it looks huge, but when you're in the midst of it, it just seems normal. Everything you want won't arrive in your life on one day. It's a process. Remember: little steps add up to big dreams. Question: When the author went to Howard University, her dream was to be _ . Options: A: a writer B: a teacher C: a judge D: a doctor
A: C