Chris Waddell wants to climb Kilimanjaro in a wheelchair; George Del Barrio wants to make a film in Cambodia; Jeff Edwards wants to write a book: they want you to fund their dreams. A website called Kickstarter.com is making it possible for people like this to raise money from a few hundred to tens of thousands of dollars to fund anything that catches the imagination of Internet users with a little money to spare. It worked for Emily Richmond, a 24-year-old living in Los Angeles who plans to sail solo around the world for two years. She's raised $ 8,142 from 148 people who'll receive gifts such as photos from the trip or a telephone call when she crosses the equator . "This was a perfect learning experience for my daughter," Landon Ray said, adding that he also dreamed of sailing the world himself. Jason Bitner's plan for $ 7,500 to pay for a film about the small Midwestern town of La Porte, was so popular that it raised $ 12,153. It's about a record of pictures by a photographer who died in 1971. About a third of his supporters were friends and family. Others include people of La Porte but also people from as far as Australia. "It's a creative marketplace," said Jonathan Scott Chinn, who is collecting $16,500 to make a short film. "You're given the opportunity to make yourself known, and if it's really interesting, it'll take off." Independent singer & songwriter Brad Skistimas, 26, has been using the Internet for eight years to promote his one-man band Five Times August. He used Kickstarter to raise $ 20,000 to help his new album Life As A Song. "It's a great way to get in touch with fans," Skistimas said. "I was marketing to my own fans, so I said 'If you want more music from me, now's a great time to help me out'" . What do we know about Emily Richmond? A) She has finished her solo sail. B) She has planned for two years. C) Her solo sail needs about $ 8,142. D) Her solo sail will last about two years.
D
China is one of the countries with the richest history, culture and the most developed civilization, economy and political system on the planet. Their language has fascinated people a very long time and still does. These are only a few reasons for which today there are still a lot of students and tourists that are attracted by this country, its culture and economical growth. Numerous students decide to study abroad China every year as they want to experience the life there and learn its fascinating language. There are over 500 dialects in China because of the big distance between villages and towns from the capital cities such as Beijing. In spite of great popularity that the English language has around the globe, Mandarin Chinese is the most spoken language in the entire world because of the fact that China is the most populated country on Earth, having more than 1.3 billion citizens. This is the main reason for which most students want to study Chinese in China. On the other hand, China has the fastest growing and expanding economies in the world and this might give you the chance to take part in future projects in different areas of China. These are well--trained specialists around the world that decide to study Mandarin in China where they can become leaders in their specific field of operation. People who study Chinese in Beijing will have a lot of opportunities after mastering the Chinese alphabet and a lot of doors will open for them, giving them a lot of chances to succeed in their career. To sum up, if you decide to study Chinese in Beijing, the best place to start your research and gather information is the Internet. Here you have various opportunities to study in China at affordable prices. What would be the best title for this passage? A) The reasons of learning Chinese in Beijing B) Chinese is easy for the foreigners to learn C) Most people speak Chinese in the world D) Chinese can help to find a good job in Beijing
A
Q: When a close friend dies, it often forces you to consider your own death. The more you have in common with the friend, the more his death will make you wonder about your own. Sometimes you will naturally say to yourself, "It could just as easily have been me." Such a death has a way of reminding us how fragile life is, and it may cause you to reassess the direction of your own life. Jack's story is a good example. A successful businessman making a lot of money, Jack didn't spend as much time with his family as he wanted. His job required him to work long hours. But three years ago one of his best friends, a man who worked in the same office, had a heart attack. He died while celebrating his daughter's eighteenth birthday in a restaurant. He was only fifty years old. Not long after his friend's death, Jack started to have a chest pain. Finally he had a good physical check-up. _ . But the chest pain continued. He kept thinking of the death of his friend. Jack thought about how much his friend missed in life and he saw how hard it was for his friend's family to manage after he passed away. Jack realized that he didn't want to end up his life that way. He talked his feelings over with his wife and children, and decided to change his way of life. The family moved to a small town where he started a simple life. Now he is running a small art gallery . He is relaxed, and says he has never been so happy in his life. And he has got no more chest pain. While living in the small town Jack _ . A) earns less money B) gets more time C) has a happier life D) does all these mentioned above
A: D
Q: Some good news for online holiday shoppers: bargain-hunting binges will drive prices down as web-based retailers compete to offer bigger discounts, marketing researchers predict. A recent survey by Shopzilla found that nearly 84 percent of online retailers would offer Cyber Monday discounts, up 12 percent from last year. Cyber Monday, the first Monday after Thanksgiving, is the online response to Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when stores are traditionally flooded with customers, some of whom camp at the entrances overnight to take advantage of discounts. However, in the current economic climate, online retailers have felt pressure to offer sales and discounts even before Black Friday. But how online retailers decide to offer those big savings isn't a simple matter of trying to attract the consumers who are watching their wallets, Bohlmann of Sabanci University in Istanbul says. Online stores will also pay attention to the deals their competitors are offering, potentially leading to price wars between certain retailers to attract all those potential bargain-hunting customers. Online shoppers can be divided into two types, Bohlmann said, --switchers and --loyals. Switchers compare prices between retailers and go for the cheapest one, while loyals stick to one brand or store. It almost doesn't matter what price you charge. Online retailers will look at the percentage of switchers and loyals they have in order to decide whether to offer discounts. The more switchers they have, the more likely they will offer discounts. But retailers don't just look at the percentage of their own customers; they also look at the competition. If one online store has a higher percentage of loyals than the competitor, it can afford to keep prices higher. On the contrary, if it has a higher percentage of switchers than the competitor, it might want to lower prices. According to the text, "loyals" should refer to online shoppers who _ A) care about prices than anything else B) focus on the quality of products C) matter little what price you charge D) hope a higher price of products
A: C