Read the article and select the best answer. Article: December usually marks the start of humpback whale season in Hawaii. But experts say the animals have been slow to return. The giant whales are an iconic part of winter on the islands and a source of income for tour operators. But officials at the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary said they've been getting reports that the whales have been difficult to spot so far. "This isn't a concern. But it's of interest. One theory was that something like this happened as whales increased. It's a product of their success," said Ed Lyman. He is a Maui-based resource protection manager and response coordinator for the sanctuary. "What I'm seeing out there right now is what I expected a month ago," said Lyman. He said he was surprised by how few of the animals he saw while responding to a call about a distressed calf on Christmas Eve. "We've just seen a handful of whales." It will be a while before officials have hard numbers. That is because the annual whale counts don't take place until the last Saturday of January, February and March. This is according to former sanctuary co-manager Jeff Walters. "They don't necessarily show up in the same place at the same time every year," Walters said. More than 10,000 humpback whales make the winter journey from Alaska to the warm waters off Hawaii. There, they mate and give birth. Lyman said the whales' absence could just mean they're spending more time feeding in northern waters. That's possibly because of El Nino disruptions. Or it may be because their population has gone up. "With more animals, they're competing against each other for that food resource, and it takes huge energy reserves to make that long migration over 2,000 miles," he explained. Question: Which isn't the reason why humpback whales are slow to return according to Lyman? Options: A: The effect of El Nino is destructive. B: The number of them is increasing. C: They are busy reserving energy. D: They are largely hunted by humans.
D

(Question)
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Forget chip fat, sugar cane or rapeseed oil -- the latest source of biofuel could be watermelons. Scientists have discovered that the fruit is a great source of sugar that can be readily distilled into alcohol to power cars and farm machinery. And sellers reject 360,000 tons of "substandard" fruit every year in America alone which could be used as an economical way to make fuel. The waste from US growers could produce nearly two million gallons (nine million litres) of biofuel per year. In the study, researchers at the United States Department of Agriculture set out to determine the biofuel potential of juice from rejected watermelons --those not sold due to imperfections, and currently ploughed back into the field. About a fifth of each yearly watermelon crop is left in the field because of surface blemishes or because they are misshapen. Dr. Wayne Fish, who led the team, found that 50 percent of the fruit was fermentable into alcohol which could provide valuable fuel. "We've shown that the juice of these watermelons is a source of readily fermentable sugars, representing an unexploited raw material for alcohol biofuel production," he said. The study, published in the journal Biotechnology for Biofuels, discovered that watermelons could produce around 20 gallons of fuel per acre from fruit that otherwise would go to waste. Production of biofuels has been targeted by Western governments as a way to support renewable energy targets. The European Union has a target for 2010 that 5.75 percent of transport fuels should come from biological sources, but the target is unlikely to be met. The British government's Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation requires five percent of the fuel sold at the pump by 2010 to be biofuel. Question: The passage mainly tells us _ . Options: A: watermelon juice will be the largest source of renewable energy B: the advantages of fuel made from watermelons C: Western countries aim at producing biofuels D: watermelons could be used to make fuel
(Answer)
D

Ques: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: The Fourth "21th Century Cup" National English Speaking Competition is to be held in prefix = st1 /Shanghai. Organizers: ChinaDaily andShanghaiBroadcasting Network. Co-ordinater: China University English Speaking Association (CUESA). Co-sponsors : English Speaking Union (ESU), Lotus Software (China)Co. Ltd. , Times Publishing Group of Singapore, HiltonShanghai, Pearson Education, Foreign Language Teaching & Research Press. Date: March 26 ( Friday), 2007 Place: Hilton Shanghai. Competition Format : Each student will present a prepared speech on the given topic, followed by a three -minute off - hand speech and a three - minute question and answer period with the judges. Prepared speech period: six minutes. Q & A period: three minutes. Speech topic: People and Nature: In search of harmony in a new age + your personal opinion. (Topics for the off hand speech will be given on the day of competition). Prizes: Besides books and certificates , the top two winners will be offered scholarships to travel to the annual international English -speaking competition which will be held by the English Speaking Union in London in May, 2007. The third and fourth place winners will be offered a study trip to Singapore, sponsored by the Times Publishing Group. The fifth through 10th place winners will be offered cash prizes. All the competitors will receive certificates from the English Speaking Union and book prizes provided by Pearson Education and Foreign Language Teaching & Research Press. The teachers of the top winners will also receive a one - year membership to the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language(IATEFL) Question: An "off- hand speech"is _ . Options: A: a speech not longer than three minutes B: a speech without preparation C: a speech with a piece of paper in hand D: a speech which is well prepared
Ans: B

Ques: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: It is reported that today in China, 50% of people who write blogs do so as a personal diary and 83% use their blogs for sending messages to friends. It is also found that there is a strong East-West difference. In places like the US, blogs that offer information on news attract more readers but in China, blogs are more likely to be about sharing personal feelings. It seems that bloggers can be divided into three types: IT bloggers, bloggers who record their ordinary feelings and media bloggers. When blogging first started, the IT people had the technological advantage and they took the chance to put their thoughts on the web. Some of these IT people read their blogs. The next wave of bloggers did not have any training as writes or in IT and wrote about normal daily life. Media bloggers, however, are trained writers, such as journalists and editors. When the many media bloggers showed up, the everyday blogs lost most of their readers. Media bloggers have the advantage of knowing how to communicate well through the written word. However, the normal bloggers are still out there and increasing in number. It seems that blogging is the new way to express your feelings. People feel like the world is listening to, or rather reading, their problems, even if they are not . Question: What type of text is this? Options: A: A blog. B: A diary. C: A news report. D: A school textbook.
Ans:
C