Ques: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: Two Christmas traditions have come under attack in recent years from environmentalists: Christmas cards and Christmas trees. Paper cards are seen as wasteful and, for some people, going card-free is another way of going green. They also argue that in a world of e-mail, Skype, Facebook and Twitter, people are in touch all the time anyway; they no longer need the yearly card that connects them with long lost friends. If you want to send Christmas greetings, there are free e-cards, which get the job done with no postage or wasted paper. However, especially for people who didn't grow up with e-mail, there is something missing from a Christmas e-mail. The first Christmas cards appeared in London in 1843 and were designed by the same man who had introduced the world's first postage stamp three years earlier. His name was Sir Henry Cole. They rose in popularity throughout the 20th century. Many people sent cards that were sold for charity. The most famous of these are the ones sold for UNICEF. In the UK this year, in the three weeks before Christmas, the post office expects to handle 100 million cards every day. Environmental awareness also means that nowadays many people recycle their cards; this helps raise money to plant more trees, as well as recreating more paper. When we think of trees at Christmas, there is one that immediately springs mind---the evergreen tree that people decorate with ornaments and place their presents under. The custom dates back almost a thousand years to Germany. Nowadays 33 to 36 million Christmas trees are produced in America and 50 to 60 million in Europe each year. Some trees are sold live with roots and soil so people can plant them later and reuse them next year. Some people prefer artificial trees as they are reusable and much cheaper than their natural alternative. However, environmentalists point out that they are made from petroleum products and so have many pollution issues. Question: Which of the following statements in TRUE according to the article? Options: A: There is always a wider Christmas tree market in America than in Europe. B: The custom of decorating Christmas trees first appeared in Britain. C: Some people prefer to buy live trees that can be reused next year. D: Artificial trees are better than natural ones in all aspects.
Ans: C

Ques: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: The works of Shakespeare and Wordsworth are "rocketboosters" to the brain and better than the other selfhelp books,researchers will say this week. Scientists,psychologists and the English experts at Liverpool University have found that reading the works of Shakespeare and other classical writers has a beneficial effect on the mind,catches the reader's attention and triggers moments of selfreflection.Using scanners,they monitored the brain activity of volunteers as they read the works by William Shakespeare,William Wordsworth,T.S Eliot and other classical writers. They then "translated" the texts into more "straightforward",modern language and again monitored the readers' brains as they read the words.Scans showed that the more "challenging" articles and poetry set off far more electrical activity in the brain than the modern versions.Scientists were able to study the brain activity as it responded to each word and record how it "lit up" as the readers came across unusual words,surprising phrases or difficult sentence structures.This "lighting up" of the mind lasts longer than the initial electrical spark,shifting the brain to a higher speed,encouraging further reading. The research also found that reading poetry,in particular,increases the activities in the right side of the brain,an area concerned with "autobiographical memory",helping readers to reflect on their own experiences in light of what they have read.The experts said this meant the classics were more useful than selfhelp books. Philip Davis,an English professor who has worked on the study with the university,will tell a conference this week:"Serious literature acts like a rocketbooster to the brain." "The research shows the power of classical literature to shift mental pathways,to create new thoughts,shapes and connections in the young and the old alike." Question: The scientists and experts did the experiment by _ . Options: A: scanning the readers' brain activities B: reading works of different writers C: lighting up the activities of the brains D: investigating the habits of the readers
Ans: A

Ques: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: We would probably all be amazed if we watched a videotape of ourselves performing basically unconscious acts as we go about the business of the day. These unconscious acts consist of all the little personal habits that we don't even think about, but definitely should. These are some of the things that present an image of who we are to others, and if we are careless in performing them, this image may well be other than we would like it to be. Parents who insist that their children practice good manners and habits at home are doing them a great service, for these habits then become lifelong and the natural way they do things. It proves true that their unconscious actions will reflect a well-mannered person. People who, for example, eat with both arms on the table at home will likely do so when out. Those who are lazy and slow in private will certainly be so in public. Children who are permitted to be disrespectful to their parents will follow suit with other adults, and will, most likely, become adults who are disrespectful of others. This is an area where the saying "practice makes perfect" may be applied. There is an article about the actress, Audrey Hepburn, known for her beautiful carriage and posture. According to her biographer, her grandmother tied her neck to the back of her chair, at table, so that she would not drop down suddenly over her food, but rather would learn to put only small amounts of food on her spoon or fork and bring them to her mouth. This is a rather extreme "at home" method for the development of erect posture, but it does illustrate the effectiveness of practicing good habits so that, when in public, they are instinctive. Question: Those who eat with both arms on the table at home _ . Options: A: will probably change the habit when eating out with their relatives B: will probably have the same habit when they have meals in the restaurant C: will feel embarrassed when having meals with so many strangers in public D: will always put their arms on the table no matter where they eat
Ans:
B