Question: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: When did you see a polar bear ? On a trip to a zoo, perhaps ? If you had attended a winter activity in New York a few years ago, you would have seen a whole polar bear club. These "Polar Bears" are people who meet frequently in the winter to swim in freezing cold water. That day, the air temperature was 3 degrees. And the water temperature was a little higher. The members of the Polar Bear Club at Coney Island, New York are usually about the age of 60. Members must satisfy two requirements. First, they must get along well with everyone else in the group; this is very important because there are so many different kinds of people in the club. Polar Bears must also agree to swim outdoors at least twice a month from November through February. Doctors don't agree about the medical effects of cold-water swimming. Some are worried about the dangers of a condition in which the body's temperature drops so slow that finally the heart stops. Other doctors, however, point out that there is more danger of a heart attack during summer swimming because the difference between the air temperature and the water tempreature is much greater in summer than in winter. The Polar Bears themselves are satisfied with the benefits of cold-water swimming. They say that their favorite form of exercise is very good for the circulatory system because it forces the blood to move fast to keep the body warm. Cold-water swimmers usually turn bright red after a few minutes in the water. A person who turns blue probably has a very poor circulatory system and could not try cold-water swimming. The main benefits of cold-water swimming are probably mental. The Polar Bears love to swim all the year round; they find it fun and relaxing. As one 70-year-old woman says, "When I go into the water, I pour my troubles into the ocean and let them float away." Question: Doctors _ . Options: A: have different ideas about the medical effects of cold-water swimming B: believe swimming is helpful both in summer and in winter C: enourage people to take part in cold-water swimming D: point out the possible danger of blood illness during cold-water swimming
Answer: A

Question: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Mail carriers will be delivering some good news and some bad news this week. The bad news: Stamp prices are expected to rise 2 cents in May to 41 cents, the Postal Regulatory Commission announced yesterday. The good news: With the introduction of a "forever stamp,"it may be the last time Americans have to use annoying 2-or 3-cent stamps to make up postage differences. Beginning in May, people would be able to purchase the stamps in booklets of 20 at the regular rate of a first-class stamp. As the name implies, "forever stamps" will keep their first-class mailing value forever, even when the postage rate goes up. The new "forever stamp" is the United States Postal Service'(USPS) answer to the complaints about frequent rate increases. The May increase will be the fifth in a decade. Postal rates have risen because of inflation ,competition from online bill paying, and the rising costs of employee benefits, including healthcare, says Mark Saunders, a Spokesman for USPS. The USPS expects some financial gain from sales of the "forever stamp" and the savings from not printing as many 2-or 3-cent stamps. "It's not your grandfather's stamp," says Mr. Saunders. "It could be your great-grandchildren's stamp." Other countries, including prefix = st1 /Canada,England, andFinlanduse similar stamps. Don Schilling, who has collected stamps for 50 years, he's interested in the public's reaction. "This is an entirely new class of stamps," Mr. Schilling says. He adds that he'll buy the stamps because he will be able to use them for a long period of time, not because they could make him rich-the volume printed will be too large for collectors. "We won't be able to send our kids to college on these," he says, laughing. The USPS board of governors has yet o accept the Postal Regulatory Commission's decision, but tends to follow its recommendations. No plans have been announced yet for the design of the stamps. Question: By saying "It could be your great-grand children's stamp", Mr. Saunders means that forever stamps_. Options: A: could be collected by one's great-grandchildren B: might be very precious in great-grandchildren's hands C: might have been inherited from one's great-grandfathers D: could be used by one's great-grandchildren even decades later
Answer: D

Question: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: It's about the size of a small slim upside down goat, if you can imagine such a thing.The sloth really is not only one of the laziest, but one of the strangest of the strangest of mammals.It spends most of its life asleep.But even when it's awake, it only moves very slowly. There are two main kinds defined by the number of toes that they have on their font legs.It's the three-toed which has really slothful habits, and the one that interests me most.You're not likely to have seen it in zoos, for unlike the two-toed which will rat all kinds of vegetables and fruits,, the three-toed is really picky and will only accept leaves and fruits of a few particular kinds, which few zoos can supply.And in any case, it doesn't make an exactly fascinating exhibit, since it spends most of its tile sleeping. When the skins and skeletons of this extraordinary beast reaches Europe, artists given the task of illustrating the species in natural history books, showed it standing upright on its four thin legs, even though thee hooks on its feet and the fur on its body all pointed very obviously in what you might call the wrong way.After all, the artists must have said to themselves, it would be too ridiculous to show it as animal that spent all its life upside down. Sloths are only capable of a faint wheeze and occasional whistle.These sounds are probably only made to deter a meat-eater like a lion, and certainly not to communicate with one another, for sloths are virtually stone deaf.It's said that an enthusiastic zoologist investigating the hearing ability of sloths fired his gun close to _ .It slowly raised its head, blinked at the scientist, and then went back to sleep again. Question: The underlines word"one"refers to _ . Options: A: one o'clock B: one gun shot C: A sloth D: one scientist
Answer:
C