Louis Braille, Alphabet Maker Blind people can read. They do so by running their fingers along a line of raised points or dots on paper. Of course, they first have to learn the code. Here are some examples of it. One dot stands for the letter "A." Two dots side by side mean "C." Four dots arranged to look like a box (: :) stand for the letter "G." By placing the dots in special patterns, all the letters of the alphabet can be formed. This code was made up by a Frenchman called Louis Braille. Though he could see at birth, he became sightless when he was only three. Braille was cutting leather in his father's shop. His knife slipped and cut his eye. Infection spread to both eyes, and he became blind. At 10, he was placed in a home for the blind. But young Louis had great talent. He became a skilled musician and soon got a job as a church organist in Paris. Because he had talent and was quick, he became a teacher at a school for the blind. While there, he heard that an army captain had sent messages to his gun crews so they could read them at night without light. His messages were in the simple form of raised dots and dashes. This was the clue Louis needed. At the age of 15, he worked out his own six-dot code. Each group of dots is called a cell. The cells are three dots high and two dots wide. For the rest of his life, Braille taught his young flock to read both written and musical works using his code. For the last 17 years of his life, Braille was ill with tuberculosis . He died at the age of 43. France honored him by placing his remains in the famous Pantheon in Paris. Louis Braille developed an alphabet for blind people after he _ . A) became blind as a young child. B) worked as an organist. C) learned that soldiers could read messages from raised dots. D) became a skilled musician.
C
(Question)
There can be no doubt about the positive changes that have taken place in the last hundred yeas. In Western countries we eat more nutritiously, we are wealthier, we are healthier and there are more opportunities. But then, why, in the midst of so much excitement and opportunity, has life satisfaction declined so much? Why is depression the most common illness in the Western world? And why, when most infectious diseases have been conquered and rates of heart attacks and stokes have been reduced, do so many people report that they are feeling ill? It is argued that "functional illnesses" such as constant tiredness, the inability to sleep and anxiety that makes you ill, are caused by the body's failure to adapt to social change. Modern life is exhausting because we are often compelled to live by its standards, even though technically we have a choice to live otherwise. Everybody thought we would benefit from the invention of machines to carry out the more dull tasks in our life, leaving us many more opportunities for leisure and relaxation. And yet the opposite has happened. Only recently a lifestyle survey found that for 42% of its 5,000 interviewees, lack of sleep was their principal health concern, followed by 34% worrying about general exhaustion. A quarter acknowledged experiencing stress and depression. Working long hours in companies with a restricted social life is threatening our health and people feel unable to cope. The new technological age that claims freedom by allowing us greater flexibility is, in fact, slowly working to destroy us. Jobs for the whole life are an old story. If people take time out to recover, somebody else will come along to fill their position. Who, in this current every-man-for-himself climate, wants their employer to think they cannot cope, especially when there are mortgages and families at stake? Over the last century, in Western countries _ . A) people have become less depressed B) people have been exercising more C) physical illnesses have increased D) infectious diseases have declined
(Answer)
D
Ques: In China, if you are not married by the time you are 30, you are _ trouble: social blame and pressure from family and friends can get you down. And if you are a woman, it's even worse. Many young people get married simply to get other people off their backs . This is a serious compromise. One ends up not marrying the ideal partner. There are, however, a few young people who refuse to compromise: if they can't find a good marriage partner, they say, they would rather not marry at all. 34-year-old Kate is a university lecturer in English. She said she would not describe herself as celibatarian but simply a woman who hasn't come across the right man yet. She has sharp comments for the way in which the old generation looks at marriage. "Many people think marriage is a duty---to your parents, family and society. Nobody cares if your marriage is happy or not, she said, I think this is very wrong and I intend to live and act according to my own will." Happily for her, her parents are open-minded and not lay stress on her. But the same does not apply to her friends. They are constantly trying to get her together with some young man or another. She always refuses politely. Miss Kate refuses to get together with some young man or another because _ . A) she doesn't think he is the right man she wants B) he is either too old or too young C) he is either important or little learned D) he doesn't have good manners
Ans: A
Ques: Holding a cell phone against your ear or stalling it in your pocket may be hazardous to your health. This paraphrases a warning that cell phone; manufacturers include in the small print that is often tossed aside when a new phone is purchased.Apple, for example, doesn't want iP hones to come closer to you than 1.5 centimeters; Research In Motion, Blackberry's manufacturer, recommends 2.5 centimeters. If health issues arise from cell phone use, the implications are huge.Voice calls - Americans chat on cell phones 2.26 trillion minutes annually - generate $109 billion for the wireless carriers. Devra Davis, an epidemiologist who has worked for the University of Pittsburgh, has published a book about cell phone radiation, "Disconnect." The book surveys scientific research and concludes the question is not settled. Brain cancer is a concern that Ms. Davis examines. Over all, there has not been an increase in its incidence since cell phones arrived. But the average masks an increase in brain cancer in the 20-to-29 age group and a drop for the older population. "Most cancers have multiple causes," she says, but she points to laboratory research that suggests low-energy radiation could damage cells that could possibly lead to cancer. Children are more vulnerable to radiation than adults, Ms. Davis and other scientists point out. Radiation that penetrates only five centimeters into the brain of an adult will reach much deeper into the brains of children because their skulls are thinner and their brains contain more absorptive fluid. No studies have yet been completed on cell phone radiation and children, she says. Henry Lai, a research professor in the bioengineering department at the University of Washington, began laboratory radiation studies in 1980 and found that rats exposed to radiofrequency radiation had damaged DNA in their brains. Ms. Davis recommends using wired headsets or the phone's speaker. Children should text rather than call, she said, and pregnant women should keep phones away from the abdomen. In which column can we most probably read this passage? A) Advanced technology. B) Entertainment. C) Science and life. D) Celebrity.
Ans:
C