Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Barcodes aren't given much thought by the majority of consumers, but these codes were fairly recently applied in a working fashion in 1970. A small food store owner decided one day that keeping records of the inventory of his stock and the associated prices were an extremely laborious process, and so, in 1948, he contacted The Drexel Institute of Technology in a bid to work towards a solution. Bernard Sliver rose to the challenge and set out to study the problem and began working on a solution involving an automatic way of keeping track of items that had been sold. Sliver and a group of students from the institute realized their answer in the form of ultraviolet light , ink and a scanner. The system worked initially, but possessed some negatives. It was incredibly costly to carry out on a large scale and the system was also unstable. If the invention was to become commonplace in grocery stores, these two problems had to be solved. The patent for the bar code system was filed by Sliver and one of his students, Woodland. The patent was not granted immediately; in fact, it took three years for the patent agency to grant their invention patent for the barcode, occurring on 7thOctober, 1952. Despite the patent being issued, the system was still not welcomed by the majority of store owners. It was not until 1966 that the system began moving its way into more and more grocery stores. This system was soon criticized, as there was no central mechanism for controlling uniformly coded items. In 1970, Logicom developed the Universal Grocery Products Identification code( UGOIC), soon shortened to Universal Identification Number (UPC). It was Marsh's superstore, in Troy, which was the very first store to install this complex barcode reading system, and its popularity has soared ever since, and is obviously now commonplace in all types of stores worldwide. Question: Which of the following was NOT a drawback of Sliver's system? Options: A: It was expensive to be applied on a large scale. B: It was a laborious process. C: The system was not stable. D: It lacked a central mechanism.
A: B

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Many people have tried to simplify the spelling of English words. Unlike other languages , English sometimes spells the same sounds in very different ways . For example , there is "light "but" white", "loan "but "phone" ,and there are at least seven different ways of pronouncing "ough": "though", "through ","bough". "cough" "enough ", "ought" and "thorough ". The American President Theodore Roosevelt almost succeeded in simplifying English spelling .In 1906, Andrew Carnegie started the Simplified Spelling Board .He was one of the richest men in the United States of America .The board's plan was to make the spelling of words nearer to the way they sound .For example , the word "though" would be spelt "tho" and "through "would become "thru". Other people on the board were Melvil Dewey , the head of the New York libraries , and Professor Brander Matthews of Columbia University . They explained their idea to President Roosevelt , who thought that it was indeed logical .He immediately asked the government printer to sue simplified spelling in all government letters . But people didn't like the change, even if it made life easier. So the new simpler spelling was not popular. More importantly, when the American politicians discussed the plan, they did not like it either. Because Roosevelt did not want to have any problems with the politicians, he changed his mind and told the printer to go back to the old way of spelling. Since then no one in any government has dared to simplify English spelling. However,people do simplify some words, mainly in advertisements. For example, we often see "tonite" instead of "tonight" and "thru" instead of "through". Question: Who is NOT a member of the Simplified Spelling Board? Options: A: Andrew Carnegie. B: Melvil Dewey. C: Theodore Roosevelt. D: Brander Matthews.
A: C

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Imagine being bald and walking into class at school. You escape to the back row but see other students pointing at you and talking about you. You feel embarrassed. After school, you run home to avoid talking to anyone. Some medical problems cause people to lose their hair. This can be embarrassing for adults, but for children it is even worse. They often feel bad about themselves, and other children laugh at them. In her 20s, Madonna Coffman developed alopecia, a skin disease that causes hair loss. She recovered after a few years, but 15 years later, her 4-year-old daughter developed alopecia. Her daughter's feelings encouraged Coffman to make Locks of Love a non-profit organization. Locks of Love provides hairpieces for children who lose their hair for medical reasons. Children from poor families receive hairpieces for free or at prices their families can afford. The organization hopes to increase the children's confidence and help them enjoy a more normal life. The hairpieces are made of hair donated by ordinary people. They grow their hair long, cut off at least 10 inches of it and mail it to Locks of Love. Locks of Love then sends the hair to the company that makes hairpieces. The organization says that 80% of those who give their hair are children who want to help other children. The hairpieces are easy to wear and fit the wearer's head very well. No one except the children who wear the hairpieces can take them off. This lets the children run, play and swim without worrying about the hairpiece falling off. And other children won't be able to pull the hairpiece off either. These hairpieces do more than change how the children look. They help kids to enjoy their childhood. The children can join in activities, make friends and face each day with confidence. Locks of Love allows kids to be kids again. Question: According to the text, the hairpieces are _ . Options: A: comfortable and safe B: made of children's hair C: made by Locks of Love D: offered to children for free
A: A

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: According to new research,there could be a social hierarchy attached to where people stand in the lift.More senior men stand at the back,young men in the middle and women of all ages at the front. Most people know that awkward feeling when you shuffle into an elevator with other people and try not to make eye contact. But new research suggests it may be down to a subconscious power struggle being played out as you make your way up or down. A study found that people decide where they stand based on a micro social hierarchy,established within seconds of entering the lift. Rebekah Rousi,a Ph.D.student in cognitive science,conducted all ethnographic study of elevator behaviour in two of the tallest office buildings in Adelaide,Australia. As part of her research,she took a total of 30 lift rides in the two buildings,and discovered there was an established order to where people tended to stand. In a blog for Ethnography Matters,she writes that more senior men seemed to direct themselves towards the back of the elevator cabins. She said,"In front of them were younger men,and in front of them were women of all ages." She also noticed there was a difference in where people directed their gaze half way through the ride. Men watched the monitors,looked in the side mirrors(in one building)to see themselves,and in the door mirrors(of the other building)to also watch others. Women would watch the monitors and avoid eye contact with other users(unless in conversation)and the mirrors,she writes. The doctorate student concluded it could be that people who are shyer stand toward the front,where they can't see other passengers,whereas bolder people stand in the back,where they have a view of everyone else. Question: Which of following best summarizes the main idea of the passage? Options: A: Women are more attentive than men in the lift. B: Both women and men like to watch the monitors in the lift. C: The shyer you are,the more likely you are to stand at the back in the lift. D: Why where you stand in the lift reflects your social status.
A: D