In 1918, after four years of war which had left millions of people dead, the people alive began to look for a better and happier world. The cinema supplied an answer. For little money, people could forget their unhappy lives and dream of better ones. In the years between 1918 and 1939, going to the cinema became the most popular family free-time activity. Hollywood in America, made more films than any other film center in the world. The warm climate and long hours of sunlight meant that film-making was easy and quite cheap. This was also a rich part of America and there were many businessmen who wanted to make money from the film industry. At first short cowboy films were popular because they added excitement and adventure to people's lives. Later comedy films were made so that people could laugh and forget their troubles. Charlie Chaplin was probably the most liked of all comedy actors. Cinema became the most popular in people's free time because _ . A) it was cheap B) it was safe C) it could make people happy D) both A and C
D
Beijing ?(13, July) China sent up a new data relays atellite , Tianlian I -02, on Monday at the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in South-western Sichuan province.The new satellite will promote the country's satellite communication network for space docking . The satellite was launched on a Long-March-SC carrier rocket at 11:41 p.m., sources at the centre told Xinhua News Agency.The satellite separated from the rocket 26 minutes after its launch and was then successfully delivered into a geostationary transfer orbit . Developed by the China Academy of Space Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the satellite is the country's second data relay satellite.The first, Tianlian I -01, was launched on April 25.2008. The two satellites will form a network to improve communications between China's spacecraft and bases on Earth, according to the centre.They will also be used to help the nation's first space docking, scheduled for the second half of this year. As planned, China will launch space module Tiangong-I (1), which was designed as a platform that will dock with an unmanned spaceship, Shenzhou, for the county's first space-docking mission this year. Two more Shenzhou spaceships will dock with Tiangong-I next year, and one will be manned by two or three astronauts, according to China Manned Space Engineering Office, which was the main user of the Tianlian I series data relay satellites. "The new satellite can cover a greater area to track and command the country's space vehicles m low-Earth orbits, such as manned spacecraft and remote sensing satellites, from a higher position m outer space.Only three satellites of this kind are needed to form a global communication network, and China has two now." Pang Zhihao, a researcher and deputy editor-in-chief of Space International, said. The satellite could also equip astronauts with real-time communications, which will benefit the county s future manned space flights, he said. The best title of the passage could be _ . A) China Launched a New Space Shuttle B) China's Plan for Space Exploration C) China's Progress m China's Space Exploration D) New Satellite Helps China's Space Exploration
D
Q: When I was watching a sports event yesterday, I met with an amazing sight. It was not a gold medal, or a world record broken, but a show of pure courage and determination. The event was swimming. I watched a man dive off the blocks and knew right away that something was wrong. I'm not an expert swimmer, but I can tell a good dive from a poor one, and this was not exactly medal quality. When he resurfaced, it was evident that the man was not out for gold -- his arms were waving in an attempt at freestyle. I heard the crowd begin to laugh at this poor man who was clearly having a hard time. Finally he made his turn to start back. It was pitiful. He made a few desperate strokes and you could tell he was worn out. But in those few awkward strokes, the crowd changed. No longer were they laughing, but beginning to cheer. Some even began to stand and yell things like, "Come on, you can do it!" He did. The crowd went wild. Just a short year ago, he had never even swum, let alone race. His country had been invited to take part in the event. Even though he recorded the slowest time, this man gave more heart than any of the other competitors--a man that gave his all, knowing that he had no chance but to compete because of the spirit of the games. Which one is the best title of the story? A) Successful Swimmers B) Go for it C) What an Event D) Awkward Strokes
A: B
I had an experience some years ago which taught me something about the ways in which people make a bad situation worse by blaming themselves. One January, I had to conduct two funerals on successive days for two elderly women in my community. Both had died "full of years," as the Bible would say; both yielded to the normal wearing out of the body after a long and full life. Their homes happened to be near each other, so I paid condolence calls on the two families on the same afternoon. At the first home, the son of the dead woman said to me, "If only I had sent my mother to Florida and gotten her out of this cold and snow, she would be alive today. It's my fault that she died." At the second home, the son of the other dead woman said, "If only I hadn't insisted on my mother's going to Florida, she would be alive today. That long airplane ride, the abrupt change of climate, was more than she could take. It's my fault that she's dead." When things don't turn out as we would like them to, it is very tempting to assume that had we done things differently, the story would have had a happier ending. Priests know that any time there is a death, the survivors will feel guilty. Because the course of action they took turned out badly, they believe that the opposite course - keeping Mother at home, delaying the operation would have turned out better. After all, how could it have turned out any worse? There seem to be two elements involved in our readiness to feel guilt. The first is our pressing need to believe that the world makes sense, that there is a cause for every effect and a reason for everything that happens. That leads us to find patterns and connections both where they really exist and where they exist only in our minds. The second element is the concept that we are the cause of what happens, especially the bad things that happen. It seems to be a short step from believing that every event has a cause to believing that every disaster is our fault. The roots of this feeling may lie in our childhood.... The author had to conduct the two women's funerals probably because _ . A) he wanted to comfort the two families B) he was an official from the community C) he had great sympathy for the dead D) he was priest of the local church
D