The ruins of Moore, Oklahoma, a town destructed for the fourth time in 14 years by a major tornado , are a reminder that current building codes can't do much to prevent property destruction and loss of life, especially when a powerful tornado cuts through town. But the total death number can be reduced when people take shelter in underground storm bunkers and hardened safe rooms. The tornado that carved a path of destruction through Moore took 24 lives. Its winds were clocked at 400 kilometers per hour. With only 15 minutes' warning, residents fled town or took refuge in the firmest corners of their homes. The luckiest were able to climb into shelters or move to safe rooms. In Moore those rooms saved lives. But at two schools destroyed by Monday's tornado, no such shelter was available. Leslie Chapman Henderson is CEO of a non-profit group called the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes. She's an advocate for tornado safe rooms. "The safe room is an interior room of the home that has been reinforced and tested to withstand high wind. In fact, we've already heard of stories of survival of people who were in safe rooms, either above or below ground," she said. Better storm forecasts give people more time to react. But they need someplace safe to go. Buildings can be built to resist strong winds, but not like those in the F-5 tornado that touched down in Moore. Chapman Henderson says even the building codes that do exist are not widely adopted or enforced. As its residents prepare to rebuild, Moore's mayor is pushing for an order to make safe rooms compulsory in all new construction. Similar proposals were made following each of the previous tornado strikes, but none were adopted. What can we infer from the text? A) Moore has gone through tornado 4 times in total. B) Chapman Henderson is Moore's mayor. C) Monday's tornado took 24 lives at two schools. D) The Moore's proposal might not be approved.
D
The Arctic Fox Characteristics The arctic fox is dark gray to bluish brown in the summer. In the winter its fur is white or creamy white. It has a long bushy tail, a short nose and small, curled back ears. It has short legs and thick fur. Its short legs and nose, thick fur and small ears are adaptions that help it survive in cold climates. Because its legs are so short and its ears and nose are small, they are less exposed to the cold. The arctic fox also has thick fur and hair on its paw pads that help keep it warm. When the arctic fox is sleeping, it protects its nose from the cold by curling its bushy tail around its body. The arctic fox is about three feet long and weighs between five and fifteen pounds. Males are larger than females. Diet The arctic fox is an opportunities eater. It will eat just about whatever it comes across. It eats small mammals like lemmings and it also eats birds, insects and eggs. In fact, in the winter it often follows polar bears and wolves and eats their leftover kill. In the summer the arctic fox will carry extra food to its den and store it under rocks to eat later. The arctic fox sometimes even makes its own freezer by digging a hole in the permafrost and storing its food there. A major source of food for the arctic fox is the lemming. In fact, the arctic fox population often peaks every four years in a cycle that follows lemming population changes. Life Cycle The arctic fox mates between February and June. The female builds a new den and gives birth to between six and twelve dark--furred kits. Both the female and the male will take care of the young kits. The male will guard the den and bring food to the den for the mother and the kits. The kits are weaned when they are between two and four weeks old and then they will start to leave the den. What can we learn about the arctic fox's diet? A) It eats only one kind of food B) It will carry extra food to its den in the winter C) It eats the leftovers of other animals in winter D) It is difficult to hunt lemmings as food.
C
Q: While it may be unlikely for a computer to write a best seller, a technology expert has created a computer program that writes its own fiction stories with minimal user input. The program, called MEXICA, is the first to generate original stories based on computerized representations of emotions and tensions between characters. An Internet survey was carried out to see the popularity of the computer-generated stories, other computerized stories and stories written solely by a human. The result was that readers ranked MEXICA stories highest for flow and coherence, structure, content, suspense and overall quality. Rafael Perezy Perez, the creator of MEXICA, explained that a story might begin with something as basic as, "The enemy wounded the knight. The princess cured the knight. The knight killed the enemy. The knight rewarded the princess. The end." The program reads characters as variables and assigns a numerical value, between a continuum from -3 to +3, to emotional connections that are defined as either amorous or non-amorous. The numerical value is equivalent to the degree of emotion, with -3 being intense hate and +3 being intense love. The program also understands story tension, such as linking the word "wounded" with tension. This too is assigned a numerical value. Once these clusters of emotional links and tensions are established, the program begins what is called an "engagement reflection cycle". Basically this involves searching a database of story actions and other happenings, which are called "atoms", and determines the best match for the characters and contexts for that moment. The process repeats itself again and again until the system can no longer make any matches. At this point, the computer analyzes the story for coherence and "interestingness". The program views a story as interesting when tension levels increase and fall throughout the piece. If the program finds that the story is boring or incoherent in places, it will replace or insert atoms until a version is thought to be satisfactory. What is basically needed for MEXICA to start to write a story? A) The beginning and the end of the story should be provided. B) The background of the story needs to be keyed in. C) The human operator should come up with a simple storyline. D) Emotions and tensions between characters should be determined.
A: C