Professor Barry Wellman of the University of Toronto in Canada has invented a term to describe the way many North Americans interact these days. The term is _ . This concept is not easy to understand because the words seem to have opposite meanings. How can we be individuals and be networked at the same time? You need other people for networks. Here is what Professor Wellman means. Before the invention of the Internet and e-mail, our social networks included live interactions with relatives, neighbors, and friends. Some of the interaction was by phone, but it was still voice to voice, person to person, in real time. A recent research study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project showed that for a lot of people, electronic interaction through the computer has replaced this person-to-person interaction. However, a lot of people interviewed for the Pew study say that's a good thing. Why? In the past, many people were worried that the internet isolated us and caused us to spend too much time in the imaginary world of the computer. But the Pew study discovered that the opposite is true. The Internet connects us with more real people than expected--helpful people who can give advice on careers, medical problems, raising children, and choosing a school or college. About 60 million Americans told Pew that the Internet plays an important role in helping them make major life decisions. Thanks to the computer, we are able to be alone an together with other people--at the same time! It can be inferred from the Pew study that _ . A) people have been separated from each other by using computers B) the Internet makes people waste a lot of time and feel very lonely C) the Internet has become a new tool for a new kind of social communication D) a lot of people regard the person-to-person communication as a good thing
C
(Question)
Modern festival-goers who worry about ending up with a dead mobile phone battery after days stuck in a muddy field with no electric plug power points may now have a solution----power boots . Mobile phone company European Telco Orange has introduced a phone charging prototype---- a set of thermoelectric gumboots or Wellington boots with a "power generation sole" that changes heat from the wearer's feet into electrical power to charge battery-powered hand-helds. The boot was designed by Dave Pain, managing director at GotWind, a renewable energy company. Pain said the boot uses the Seebeck effect, in which a circuit made of two dissimilar metals conducts electricity if the two places where they connect are held at different temperatures. "In the sole of the Wellington boot there's a thermocouple and if you apply heat to one side of the thermocouple and cold to the other side it produces an electrical charge," Pain said. "That electrical charge we then pass through to a battery which you'll find in the heel of the boot for storage of the electrical power for later use to charge your mobile phone." These thermocouples are connected electrically, forming an array of multiple thermocouples (thermopile). They are then sandwiched between two thin ceramic wafers. When the heat from the foot is applied on the top side of the ceramic wafer and cold is applied on the opposite side, from the cold of the ground, electricity is made. But the prototype boot does have one _ . You have to walk for 12 hours in the boots to make one hour's worth of charge. The invention seems to be good news to those _ . A) who like traveling in the wild B) who work at home C) who study at school D) who work at an office
(Answer)
A
Ques: There was a 17% fall in the number of first year undergraduates at UK universities in the first year of higher tuition fees, official figures show. In 2012-13 UK universities were allowed to _ their yearly fees to PS9,000. England saw a 12% fall in new full-time undergraduate students overall. The government acknowledged the fall but stressed that demand for full time higher education has already "returned to record levels". A spokesperson for Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said the figures were influenced by a higher number of students taking up places the previous year, rather than having a gap year. "A reduction in entrants in 2012 was well documented and the numbers were affected by the significant number of students who opted not to defer their place from the year before," she said. 'Direct consequence' The decline had not continued into the current year, she added. "Application rates for some of the most disadvantaged young people have risen to an all time high in England and more students than ever before are being successful in securing a place at their first choice institution." The figures, collated by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa), are official confirmation of other indications that there was a fall in the number of people going to university last year. Previously released figures had shown declines in applications and offers of places, and the admissions body Ucas also reported a fall. What is the main idea of the passage? A) The number of undergraduates in Uk has decreased due to the higher fees . B) The government says undergraduate numbers have 'returned to record levels'. C) The reduction is the direct result of the significant number of students who opted not to defer their place from the year before. D) Application rates for some of the most disadvantaged young people have risen to an all time high in England
Ans: A
(Q).
A man had two large pots. One of the pots had a crack in it, so while the other pot always delivered a full pot of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to his house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. This went on every day for years. One day a neighbor asked the man, "One of your pots has been broken for years. It can only deliver half its load, so you don't get full value from your efforts. Why don't you buy a new one?" The man smiled and said, "Please follow me to my house, and you may see some beautiful flowers." On the way to the man's house, the neighbor took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path. The man said to the neighbor, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on one side of the path, but not on the other side? That's because I have always known about the flaw of my pot. I planted flower seeds on one side of the path. Every day when I walk back from the stream, the broken pot waters them. For years, I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my house. Without the broken pot, I would not have this beauty." How much water did the man carry home every day? A) A full pot. B) Two full pots. C) Half a pot. D) One and a half pots.
(A).
D
Ques:Who won China's first gold medal at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics? It was Li Jianrou. The 27-year-old finished first in the women's 500m short track speed skating on Feb 13. The race was full of drama. Three athletes fell over because of an accident caused by Elise Christie of Britain in the second turn and Li became the surprise winner. Three-time defending champion Wang Meng of China missed the Olympics after breaking her ankle last month. Li had little experience in the race, where getting off to a quick Start is important. But she kept her cool while everyone else was falling around her. "I feel very lucky," Li said through a translator. She and one of her coaches cried tears of joy after China joined South Korea as the only countries to win the same short track event four Olympics in a row. The Koreans won the 3,000 relay in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006. "I cried because I was so excited," Li said. "My coach told me this medal is for Wang Meng as well, so I felt very moved." Li's victory made up for the surprising fall of teammate Fan Kexin in the semifinals. In the semis, Fan didn't even complete the first lap of the race, catching her left blade as she skated near the front. She crashed on all fours into the crew of workers who maintain the ice between races. They climbed onto the top of the pads to avoid being injured by Fan's long, sharp blades. Arianna Fontana of Italy took the silver and Park Seung-hi of South Korea earned the bronze. Which country won the women's 500m short track event 4 Olympics in a row as well as China? A) Italy B) Japan C) Britain D) South Korea

Ans:
D