Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Let's pretend we're sailing down the Rhine River on a pleasure boat. The Rhine is one of the main waterways of Germany, and the river traffic is heavy. It's interesting to watch the many boats going up and down the river. But the river traffic is not nearly so interesting as the beautiful scenery along the banks and hillsides. The boat is passing many old castles. We can see people working in the vineyards on the hillsides. There are vineyards as far as the eye can see. Wine from the Rhine Valley is famous all over the world. Suddenly our boat slows down and begins to turn a little. We are coming to a sharp bend in the river. On our right we can see a rocky cliff over 400 feet high. At first it looks quite ordinary, but there is nothing ordinary about it. There are many stories, poems, and songs about the cliff. We are looking at the Lorelei. Then someone on the boat begins to sing in German, the song of the Lorelei. It is a song about a beautiful siren who has lured many sailors to their deaths. The siren is supposed to sit on the rock combing her long golden hair and singing. The sailors who hear her forget to steer , and the current of river hurls their boats on the rocks and dashes them to pieces. Soon other people on the boat begin to sing. The beautiful song adds to special magic to the moment, and you begin to realize why so many people have made this trip down the Rhine to see the rock of the Lorelei. Question: The song of the Lorelei is about _ . Options: A: The Rhine wine B: a rocky cliff C: the beautiful scenery along the Rhine River D: a beautiful and dangerous siren
A: D

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: In most parts of the world, many students help their schools make less pollution. They join "environment clubs ". In an environment club, people work together to make our environment clean. Here are some things students often do. No-garbage lunches. How much do you throw away after lunch? Environment clubs ask students to bring their lunches in bags that can be used again. Every week they will choose the classes that make the least garbage and report them to the whole school. No-car day. On a no-car day, nobody comes to school in a car. Not the students and not the teachers! Cars give pollution to our air, so remember: walk, jump, bike and run. Use your legs! It's lots of fun.. Turn off the water! Did you know that some toilets can waste twenty to forty cubic meters of water an hour? In a year, that would fill a small river! In environment clubs, students mend those broken toilets. We love our environment. Let's work together to make it clean. Question: The writer wrote the passage to ask the students to _ . Options: A: clean school B: make less pollution C: join clubs D: help teachers
A: B

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: The way Westerners communicate tends to be ly explicit and direct. In other words, Westerners tend to put most of their ideas and feelings into words, and then state these ideas and feelings clearly and openly. It is generally considered a good thing to "get to the point "and "say what you mean," and it is largely the speaker's responsibility to ensure that his/her message is stated in a way that is clear and easy to understand. In contrast , Chinese people tend to communicate in a way that is more indirect and subtle. They often view direct, explicit communication as unsophisticated or even rude. They are more likely to preserve good feelings and relationships by not saying something that might upset or offend another person. If a Westerner makes a request and a Chinese person responds by saying something like "I'll think it over", the Westerner may assume that there is a good chance that the answer will be "yes". In fact, there is a better chance that the implied answer is "no". One interesting example of the Western preference for very direct communication can be seen in what Western students are taught about how they should organize their writing. Writers are generally expected to state their point as clearly as possible, generally right at the beginning. Students are taught to begin paragraphs with a "topic sentence" that states the point of the paragraph. Also, articles should generally begin with a brief statement of the points to be made -and also conclude with a review of those same points. In contrast, in Chinese writing it is more acceptable to build up to the point rather announcing it right form the start, although it is also acceptable to state the point up front. It is important to note that Westerners are not all equally direct in their communication styles. For example, the direct communication style is more typical of Western men than of Western women. Furthermore, even in Western culture it is generally not considered good to communicate so directly that you hurt other people's... Question: When writing an article, Westerners _ . Options: A: generally state their point in the middle B: tend to let readers guess their point C: usually announce their point from the start D: like ending each paragraph with a topic sentence
A: C

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: I entered college in China in 1981. Many things seemed to remain the same. For many things are dominated by one thing: the national entrance examination to get into college. In my year, about 4% high school students went to college. Now the number is 22%, as compared to 40% in the US. The significant increase in the entrance rate doesn't seem to have relieved the anxiety. As a parent to a freshman college student, I can prove that junior and senior years in high school are not much fun even for students in the US. Once a country has vastly increased the rate of college entrance, students will still want to get into "better" colleges. _ , no matter where you are. The NYT Magazine article also mentioned the Soviet-style over-specialized education in Chinese colleges. My class in college had maybe 60 students specialized in compressors, another 60 students specialized in refrigeration, and yet another 60 students specialized in welding . I was among the 60 specialized in mechanics. I cannot recall the numbers exactly, but you get the picture. It really wasn't as terrible as it sounds. In order to specialize in mechanics, we had to study math, physics and chemistry. We studied electrical circuits, alloy treatment, mechanical drawing, Fortran. We even had a continuous stream of humanity courses: history of communist party, political economics... I'm not sure I enjoyed all the courses, but I cannot claim that these courses damaged my brain, either. I remember some of the humanity courses required writing, which turned out to be a useful skill. As a consequence of specialization, we did learn a lot of mechanics. By the end of college, we had courses on analytical mechanics, strength of materials. I often feel sorry for American students in my undergraduate class, knowing that strength of materials will be their first and last course in the mechanics of materials. So many beautiful sights unseen! But they also seem to turn out to be OK. A liberal and superficial eduction doesn't damage their brains, either. All... Question: What does the author intend to show by listing the specific majors his class specialized in? Options: A: To show how specific the education was classified. B: To show he had more major choices in his year. C: To show what is Soviet-style education. D: To show how terrible his college life was.
A: A