Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Everyone seems to be in favor of progress. But "progress" is a funny word. It doesn't necessarily mean that something has become stronger, wiser or better. It simply means changing it from being one thing to another and sometimes it turns out to be worse than before. Consider medicine, for instance. No one can deny that medical progress has enriched our lives greatly. Because of medical advancements, we eat better, live easier and are able to take care of ourselves more efficiently. We can cure disease with no more than one injection or a pill. If we have a serious accident, doctors can put us back together again. If we are born with something defective , they can repair it. They can ease our pain, replace worn parts and give us children. They can even bring us back from death. These are wonderful achievements, but there is a price we have to pay. Because medicine has reduced death, the population has been rising steadily, in spite of serious efforts to reduce the rate of population growth. A child born in the United States today has better than a 90% chance of survival . Furthermore, medical advances have ensured that most of those new-born children will live to be seventy years of age or more. The result of this progress is a great population increase that threatens the quality of life, brought about by progress in the medical profession . Question: According to the passage, "progress" means _ . Options: A: something has become better B: something has become worse C: something has become funny D: something has changed
D

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Excused from recycling because you live in a high rise with a rubbish chute ? You won't be for long. Miami's Mark Shantzis has made it simple for those living in tall buildings to use the chute and recycle too . In Shantzis' Hi-Rise Recycling System, a chute leads to a pie-shaped container with six boxes that can turn around when operated. The system , which fits in the same space as the chute and container now in use, enables glass , plastic , paper , metal , and other rubbish to go into separate boxes . The system is controlled from a board next to the chute door. The board has a button for each class of recycling materials (as well as for unrecyclables). At the press of a button, a microcomputer locks all other floors' chute door and sets the recycling container turning until the right box comes under the chute. The computer also counts the loads and gives a signal by phone when the box is full. And a particular piece of equipment breaks up the nonrecyclables Sorting recyclables before they are collected saves the use of expensive materials recovery equipment which otherwise has to do the sorting . Such equipment often makes recycled materials very expensive, so expensive that tons of recyclables remain wasted . Shantzis believes his system could help recycled materials become more cost-effective. Question: The purpose in writing this text is _ . Options: A: to encourage people to recycle their rubbish B: to introduce a recycling system for high rises C: to describe the use of computer technology in recycling D: to explain the need for rubbish collection in high rises
B

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: There is a wide and deep choice of a career. Whether he's a hand in construction or sitting behind the desk working on a computer, everyone has some ideas of what is an attractive career. However, making a career choice is not simply a matter of following a dream; for most people it means a lot of research and soul searching. Choosing the right career becomes one of the most important decisions of an individual's life. It used to be that one followed in the footsteps of their father or grandfather or took over the family's business when it came to making a career choice. These days, a career path can start anywhere and then _ into something totally different. Career choices must be realistic and well thought out. It is not uncommon for persons to start a career path and realize they have made a terrible mistake, feeling as if it may be too late to turn around. Not only does a career choice concern your strongest skills and interest, it is also something that you will be doing continuously to bring in income. This is why a career choice can be such a personal decision. Formerly it used to be unusual for someone to change occupations or careers more than once or twice in a lifetime; it is now even more unusual to keep the same career during someone's working life. There are a great many measures in helping one choose the right profession. A number of websites offering tools such as career tests and information, educational resources, resume services and the kind can be found. It is important for one to research one's career in this changing economy situation, and choose the best from several related career choices. Question: According to the author choosing the right career _ . Options: A: is not difficult at all B: needs a lot of dreams C: is an interesting thing D: needs a lot of thoughts
A: D

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Imagine what you could do with a machine that could make things disappear. For inspiration, you could read some books. In the books of J.R.R. Tolkein, Bilbo Baggins finds a ring that can make him disappear. Of course, there's also poor Harry Potter, who used his invisibility cloak to hide from danger. Now that you've got some ideas, it's time for the hard part: building the cloak. To do that, you have to give up science fiction and turn to real science. An invisibility cloak has to cheat anything or anyone who might be watching. In order to understand how something can be seen, it's important to understand how we see. Human beings can only see objects that reflect light waves. These waves enter the eye and are then processed by the brain. However, if an object doesn't reflect light, then the waves don't enter the eye, and the brain doesn't process. So building an invisibility cloak is building something that doesn't reflect light. Cummer was part of a team of scientists from Duke University, including David Smith and David Schurig, who built the world's first version of an invisibility cloak. They had been inspired by the work of a British physicist, John Pendry. He in May said that an invisibility cloak was possible and Pendry was not the only one thinking about a disappearing act. At the same time, a Scottish physicist, UIf Leonhardt published a paper on building invisibility equipment. "It wasn't easy," says Cummer. "As often happens in science and research, it didn't work very well the first time. That first cloak didn't work like Harry Potter's --- the scientists didn't actually see anything disappear. So the research is still under way. " Question: Cummer and other scientists got the idea of building an invisibility cloak from _ . Options: A: the film Harry Potter B: the work of a British physicist C: a paper published by a Scottish physicist D: the book of J.R.R. Tolkein
B