"People are ruder today because they are rushed and more 'time poor' than ever before," says Patsy Rowe, " _ " Due to our strong attraction to electronic equipment it is a wonder more people don't wake up each morning and greet the singing birds with a complaint about the noise. Here are some examples of rudeness. Some people prefer to do almost everything over the internet. To them, dealing with an actual human is like an evolutionary step backward. It feels very slow because humans don't work at 4G speeds. When you have dinner with friends, you will often notice someone paying more attention to his mobile phone. We have programmed ourselves to think that every new message brings life-changing news, so taking calls and checking our texts are more important than talking to the people we are with. What is worse, some people even tend to send anonymous rude messages by email. However, rudeness is never acceptable. Don't assume it is OK to be rude if the person you're in touch with won't recognize you. If you have something awful to say, have the courage to face the person and say it, write a letter or email and sign it, or forget it. Upsetting people with unsigned messages is cruel and annoying. We shouldn't blame technology for our shortcomings. Technology is here to help us, but we should not allow it to take over our lives. An important step is admitting our shortcomings. People spend a lot of time pointing out bad manners but it would be even more helpful if we'd publicly recognize good manners when we see them. The author thinks sending unsigned awful messages is _ . A) ridiculous B) hateful C) acceptable D) reasonable
B
(Question)
The smell of fresh air is becoming something of a distant memory, thanks to our increasing use of fragrance . From air fresheners to scented candles, we live in a world of scent. Recent figures show seven in ten people use air fresheners or scented candles to keep our homes smelling sweet. Yet recent records suggest that perfumed products could affect our health, causing problems including allergies , headaches and asthma . One leading expert believes nearly a third of people suffer health effects from being exposed to scents. A major problem is so-called "contact" allergy--where perfumes and scented products cause eczema when they come into contact with the skin. About one in 20 is thought to be affected by fragrance allergy. "Often it may not be immediately obvious that you have developed a fragrance allergy," says Dr. Baron. "You don't react immediately. Gradually, as you are exposed more and more, the body increases its reaction, until it becomes noticeable to you." People with pre-existing eczema are particularly vulnerable . "The eczema worsens in areas in contact with perfumes," says Dr. Baron. "But even those without allergies can be at risk of fragrance allergy." You can become suddenly allergic to perfumes and personal care products that you have been using for years. "Even if you know which fragrance causes a problem, it can be difficult to avoid, as most personal care products -soap, shampoo, sun cream and washing powder--contain fragrances," says Dr. Baron. And strong scents can also cause headaches. Fragrances activate the nose's nerve cells, stimulating the nerve system associated with head pain. To minimize risk, sufferers are advised to minimize the contact. "Fragrance suggest cleanliness - yet people are smelling a potentially dangerous chemical mixture," says Anne Steinemann, professor of the University of Washington. "We often use them to mask one problem - as with air fresheners - but create a greater one - adding poisonous chemicals to the air." According to Dr. Baron, _ . A) our bodies have an immediate reaction to fragrance. B) seven in ten have suffered fragrance allergy. C) fragrance can affect people who don't have allergy D) people can avoid contacting with fragrance easily
(Answer)
C
Ques: Food prices have risen sharply over the past few years. The good news is that the rate of increase has slowed. The bad news is that prices will not go down anytime soon. Also,the rate of global agricultural production is slowing. Yet it needs to increase 60% over the next 40 years to feed a growing world population. These are among the findings from the OECDFAO(the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development & the Food and Agriculture Organization)Agricultural Outlook 2012-2021. FAO DirectorGeneral Jose Graziano da Silva spoke at a news conference in Rome when the report was released. Mr.Da Silva said that,not surprisingly,the world's poorest people will feel the greatest effects of higher prices. "For the millions and millions of extremely poor people, the effects of high food prices are clear--they might have to change their diets,usually to ones with poorer nutrition quality, "he said. In middleincome countries, people are gaining weight as they eat fewer fruits and vegetables and more of the cheaper but less nutritious foods. The report also shows that farmers in poorer countries will be leading efforts to feed an expected 9,000,000,000 people by 2050.The outlook predicts that farmers in Latin America,the Caribbean and subSaharan Africa will drive agricultural production in the future. Angel Gurria,SecretaryGeneral of the OECD,said:"We can feed 9,000,000,000 people by 2050 on this planet. But we have to organize ourselves better." But there are plenty of challenges.Onefourth of all agricultural land is damaged. Many countries face water shortages .And experts believe climate change is driving increasingly unusual weather patterns. The report says farmers need to use more growing methods that can't cause damage to the environment.At the same time,it says governments should end economically harmful supports and spend more money to increase agricultural production.Mr.Gurria says rich and poor nations need to treat agriculture more like a business. "In many cases,agriculture is related in people's... Which of the following might Angel Gurria agree with? A) Agriculture means difficulty and sadness. B) Food prices will go down in the near future. C) It's almost impossible to feed 9,000,000,000 people by 2050. D) Both rich and poor countries should take agriculture seriously.
Ans: D
Ques: Once I invited a group of friends round to my house, telling them that I was going to record their speech. I said I was interested in their regional accents, and that it would take only a few minutes. Thus, on one evening, three people turned up at my house and were shown into my front room. When they saw the room they were a bit alarmed, for it was laid out as a studio. In front of each easy chair there was a microphone at head height, with wires leading to a tape-recorder in the middle of the floor. I explained that all I wanted was for them to count from one to twenty. Then we could relax and have a drink. I turned on the tape-recorder and each in turn seriously counted from one to twenty in their best accent. When it was over, I turned the tape-recorder off and brought round the drinks, and for the rest of the evening there was general cheerful conversation--interrupted only by the fact that I had to take a telephone call in another room, which unfortunately lasted some time. Or at least that was how it would appear. For, of course, the microphones were not connected to the tape-recorder in the middle of the room at all but to another one, which was turning happily away in the kitchen. The participants, having seen the visible tape-recorder turned off, paid no more attention to the microphones which stayed in front of their chairs, only a few inches from their mouths, thus giving excellent sound quality. And my lengthy absence meant that I was able to obtain as natural a piece of conversation as it would be possible to find. I should add, perhaps, that I did tell my friends what had happened to them, after the event was over, and gave them the choice of destroying the tape. None of them wanted to--though for some years afterwards it always seemed to be my round when it came to the buying of drinks. Linguistic research can be a very expensive business. Which one is true according to the passage? A) The writer destroyed the tape. B) The writer's friends destroyed the tape. C) The writer did tell his friends what had happened. D) The writer's friends like to drink.
Ans:
C