I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: Everyone hates to wait in lines. We get that anxious feeling that our precious life is slipping away while we're doing something so meaningless. But it's not always the length of the wait we find so unbearable. Some people camp outside Apple stores for an entire night just to get their hands on the latest product. But waiting 10 minutes in a grocery store just to buy a drink? Forget it. Our behavior when waiting is only partly decided by the length of the wait. "Often the psychology of queuing is more important than the statistics of the wait itself," notes the MIT researcher Richard Larson. One apparent aspect of queuing psychology is that we get bored when we wait in line. This issue is solved in many ways, from magazines in hospital waiting rooms to mirrors in elevators so that we can check our appearance. We really hate it when we expect a short wait and then get a long one. But studies show that we are much more patient when we are given an idea of how long we'll be waiting. Walt Disney Co knows this better than anyone else. It posts estimated waiting times for attractions in its theme parks. But according to Larson, these times are overestimated so that visitors get to the front of the queue more quickly than they expect. It keeps them happy. But perhaps the biggest influence on our feelings about waiting in a line has to do with our sense of fairness. When it comes to queues, the universally acknowledged standard is first come, first served. Any departure from this principle is regarded as unfair and can lead to violent queue anger. You've probably experienced mild queue anger yourself in fast food restaurants, watching people in the other line zoom ahead of you, cursing yourself for having chosen the "wrong" line. In order to solve this problem, the serpentine line was invented. The serpentine line guides all customers into one big snaking queue, separated by ropes or barriers. When you reach the head of the queue, you are directed to the next available server, or teller, or customs official. The... Question: The main purpose of the passage is _ . Options: A: to explain the advantages of serpentine line B: to introduce ways of saving time in queuing C: to offer an explanation of the psychology of queuing D: to analyze the psychology of people queuing for Apple products
C
I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: The interview has been going on for about 20 minutes and everything seems to be going well.Then, suddenly, the interviewer asks an unexpected question, "Which is more important, law or love?" Job applicants in the West increasingly find themselves asked strange questions like this.And the signs are that this is beginning to happen in China. Employers want people who are skilled, enthusiastic and devoted.So these are the qualities that any reasonably intelligent job applicant will try to show no matter what his or her actual feelings are.In response, employers are increasingly using the questions which try and show the applicant's true personality. The question in the first paragraph comes from a test called the Kiersey Temperament Sorter.It is an attempt to discover how people solve problems, rather than what they know.This is often called aptitude test. According to Mark Baldwin of Alliance, many job applicants in China are finding this type of questions difficult."When a Chinese fills out an aptitude test, he or she will think there is a right answer but they may fail because they try to guess what the examiner wants to see." This is sometimes called the prisoner's dilemma .Applicants are trying to act cleverly in their own interest, but they fail because they don't understand what the interviewer is looking for.Remember that in an aptitude test, the correct answer is the honest answer. Question: According to the writer, in an aptitude test, Chinese job applicants should _ . Options: A: not tell the truth B: offer a complete answer C: learn to tell what they really think D: find out what the examiner wants to know
C
Q: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: A story from the Bible tells of old Babylon, where the men decided to build a tower that would touch the sky.But God was unhappy, and he made them speak different languages.They couldn't understand each other, so their dream never came true. Yet the dream remains alive: if all men speak the same language, they can do anything.L.L.Zamenhof from Poland was among the men who this dream.He developed Esperanto between 1877 and 1885. As the most successful man-made world language, it is spoken by over two million people around the world.Last month, the World Esperanto Congress , dealing with language rights, ended in Sweden.The 2004 conference will be held in Beijing.Most Esperanto speakers are in Central and Eastern Europe and in East Asia, particularly Chinese mainland. Esperanto has two advantages.First, it's easy.Each letter has exactly one sound and there are just 16 basic grammar rules.The second advantage is that it belongs to no one country.But Esperanto has only reached a small number of people compared with natural languages widely used around the world-such as English or Chinese.While these languages are deeply connected with their nations and cultures, Esperanto doesn't have this background. Will Esperanto really become a global language? It remains a question. Question: What does the story mainly talk about? Options: A: Advantages and disadvantages of Esperanto. B: Men's dream of sharing the same language. C: The most successful planned language-Esperanto. D: Comparison of Esperanto and other languages like English and Chinese.
A: C
(Question)
I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: Snow-melting Agent A heavy snow can kill pests and this means a good harvest next year.This will bring as well as trouble to urbanites. On Nov.16,2003,a cold air current brought a heavy snow to Beijing.To prevent traffic jams,related government departments mobilized people to clear off snow on streets. One of the most effective ways to clear off snow on roads is to scatter snow-melting agent on the roads.The major component of the snow-melting agent is salt.The snow-melting agent can make snow stop from freezing,make it easier to clear off the road,and allow traffic to flow smoothly.But it also brings about some hidden dangers.In the spring of 2003,over 300 000 trees in Beijing urban districts died.After analyzing soil around these trees,experts discovered that the salt content of these soils was 392 times higher than normal.Where did the excessive salt come from?After investigating,forestry experts found that when clearing snow in the winter,people usually heap snow containing snow-melting agent at trees' roots,and that when the snow melts,this agent penetrates the soil and increases its salt content.The snow-melting agent indirectly killed the trees. Statistics show that during a heavy snow in 2002,over 1000 tons of snow-melting agent was scatterred on streets in Beijing.Snow water containing a large amount of snow-melting agent got into the soil through sewers. In addition,salt in the snow-melting agent can expedite the corrosion of steel bars in concrete buildings and cause the concrete to crack and peel,shortening the life of roads. Scientists and government officials are required to solve traffic problems caused by heavy snows as soon as possible and at the same time try to reduce the negative effects of the snow-melting agent.This is a difficult problem placed before them.Related authorities have framed some local criteria to regulate the production and use of snow-melting agents. Now,more harmless snow-melting agents are being developed.Now that even snow-melting agents that meet today's criteria must... Question: This text most probably appears in _ . Options: A: a newspaper B: a magazine on latest findings C: a book on salt D: a magazine on environmental protection
(Answer)
D