The man who brings my milk used to knock for his money for the week's milk while I was having breakfast on Saturday morning. Just lately he has been arriving before I get up. Staff shortages mean that four men are sharing five rounds, so he has to start earlier. Delivering milk to people's homes is scarcely good business, especially when the customer may have a choice of two or three firms serving a single road. In spite of my local difficulties, however, labor troubles are not as sharp as a few years ago. There are enough men prepared to make an early morning for the sake of an open-air job with a fair measure of freedom. If they did stop calling, women would find it hard work to collect all the milk they need from self-service stores . Dairies are aware that stopping deliveries resulted in falling sales. Marketing ideas have included introducing extra lines, in addition to dairy products, which the milkman can carry to increase turnover. Already they have taken over many rounds given up by bakeries. One dairyman said, "It wont' be long before the milkman delivers more bread that milk. " Some milkmen deliver potatoes, and it seems as if diversification will be limited only by the size of the vans. So the milkman is likely to remain a familiar figure. Even the returnable bottle continues to be used. As long as it has a reasonable life--30 to 40 trips are usual-- the cost of collection and cleaning is worthwhile. Why do some people choose to be milkmen? A) Because they can exercise in early morning. B) Because they like working outdoors. C) Because they want to serve several firms. D) Because they like getting up early.
B
Water runs downhill from mountaintops to streams to rivers to oceans. But downhill isn't the only way that water moves .A new study measures how water travels from country to country for human consumption. This flow isn't the type we usually think about .These scientists looked at the water used to grow and make the products which get shipped from nation to nation as imports or exports. They call this a flow of"virtual water ". We typically think about water as the liquid that flows from a tap. However,92%of the water used by people goes into growing crops,according to water researcher Arjen Hoekstra. He recently studied the hidden travels of virtual water used in products made from things like crops and meats .These products are shipped around the world. For example.consider a sugary soft drink. Hoekstra estimated that to produce one half-liter of the drink requires between 170 and 310litersofthewater--about 95%--is used to grow and process the ingredients .Another 4%goes into the packaging and labeling. In Hoekstra's calculation, when one country produces a half-liter of soda and sells it abroad,it exports as much virtual water as would fill a large refrigerator. According to Hoekstra's new report,dry countries like Israel and Kuwait,both in the Middle East, get the majority of their virtual water from other countries,through imported products. More surprisingly, some wetter countries,like the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, also get the majority of their virtual water from other places. That means that most of the water used to grow or produce the products and food consumed in those countries came from other countries. In the United States most of the virtual water used comes from American sources .In China even less of the water associated with its products What is the best title for the passage? A) Crops and Virtual Water B) Import and Export of Water C) Benefits of Virtual Water D) Water's worldwide travels
D
Q: The Americans believe that anybody can become President of the United States. In a recent Hollywood comedy , that is exactly what happens. Dave Kovic, played by Kevin Kline, is a kind-hearted man who runs a business that finds people jobs. He leads a typical American way of life, except for one thing-he looks exactly like the President, Bill Mitchell. In fact, the only thing that makes him different from the nation's leader is that he is very nice! The president has started using look-alikes during some public appearances. Dave is offered a chance to "serve his country" by becoming _ . However, things go wrong. The President becomes very ill and Dave ends up acting as the President forever. Director Ivan Reitman, who made the popular and successful comedies like Twins, Ghostbusters and Legal Eagles, could have gone for easy laughs by making fun of the American government. Instead, Dave is an attractive comedy about an ordinary man in extraordinary situations. Kevin Kline gives a double performance as Dave and the President, and Sigourney Weaver is at her best as his First Lady. The love story that develops between her role and Dave is a real classic . The film is 100% American. However, if you've ever felt that anybody could do a better job running the country than the people in power, then you'll enjoy Dave! What is the purpose of the text? A) To tell the reader about the American government. B) To discus the Americans' ideas about the President. C) To make a comparison between Dave and other films. D) To introduce a new film to the reader.
A: D
Q: Betty is not traditional American beauty. She is unfashionable, has thick red glasses, untidy hair and large metal braces on her teeth. But this hasn't stopped her from becoming one of American's favorite TV characters. So how did she manage to do it? The answer is that charm can be more attractive than beauty. Betty is the main character in a TV show Ugly Betty. The show is about her life as a n office worker at a fashion magazine in New York. The TV show has just started. Betty has many exciting experiences and romantic stories. Betty is often looked down on and laughed at by the people around. But she manages to do better than others with her hard work, charm and wisdom. The show tells us about how a girl goes from an ugly young duck into a beautiful swan. Though you may know the ending of the show from the beginning and the story is familiar to many of us, it has still been a big success in the USA. It has attracted a large number of viewers and won two Golden Globes awards, one of the highest honors for a television program in the USA." I think you can see a bit of Betty in all of us, and I mean men as well, because it's about the underdog ",says Ashley Jensen, who plays one of the characters on the show. The program is so popular because of the performance of the 23-year-old actress America Ferrera who plays the role of Betty. She brings the character alive on the screen. Betty is popular because of _ . A) her clothes B) her charm C) her personality D) her appearance
A: B