Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Because I am extremely vulnerable to both slick advertising and peer pressure, I've been thinking about getting an iPad. But here's the problem: I'm cheap, and the iPad's not. If I'm going to fork over at least $499 for a new device, I want to try it out and make sure it's not just a larger, shinier version of my iPhone. But if I went to my local Apple Store, I'd get to spend only a few minutes testing out the machine. I wanted more time than that, so I rented one for $15 a day from a guy on SnapGoods. The Internet start-up in Brooklyn runs on simple reasoning: there are people who want to borrow stuff - camping equipment, food processors, robot vacuums, etc. - and there are people who have stuff they want to lend. SnapGoods helps these two groups connect over the Web. SnapGoods is one of many sites that have sprung up to facilitate offline sharing. Some sites have a narrow, obvious focus (like SwapBabyGoods.com) while others are more obscure (Neighborhood Fruit helps people share what's growing in their yards or find fruit trees on public land). But regardless of whether the sharing is free or involves a fee, these transactions often come with a stick-it-to-the-man attitude. "Borrow these things from your neighbors," reads one earnest request on neighborrow.com, "The owner-ship has SAILED!" All of these sites are encouraging something academics call collaborative consumption - in other words, peer-to-peer sharing or renting. Renting something you don't need to use very often makes a lot more sense than buying it and letting it collect dust in your garage. There's a green aspect as well, since sharing helps cut down on overall use of resources. But one of collaborative consumption's most surprising benefits turns out to be social. In an era when families are scattered around the country and we may not know the people down the street from us, sharing things - even with strangers we've just met online - allows us to make meaningful connections. "This isn't just about saving the environment or saving a dollar,"... Question: What is Ron Williams' attitude towards collaborative consumption? - Favorable - Critical - Indifferent - Not known
Favorable

(Question)
Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: In 1996, John Tierney suggested in the New York Times Magazine article that "recycling is garbage." He wrote, "The money spent on recycling programs should have been spent on real social and environmental problems. Recycling programs not only increase energy use and pollution, but also cost more money than the disposal of plain old garbage. Recycling may be the most wasteful activity in modern America." Environmental groups were quick to express their disagreement. They wrote reports on how recycling programs in cities can reduce pollution and cost less than regular garbage pickup and disposal. Michael Shapiro, an official of the US Environmental Protection Agency(EPA), said that "recycling can be good value for money, although there's still room for improvements." But in 2002, New York City, a pioneer of recycling, found that its recycling program was losing money, so it stopped glass and plastic recycling. Other major cities watched closely to see how New York was dealing with its remaining program (the city never stopped paper recycling). But then it closed its last landfill , and private companies out of New York raised prices due to the increased workload of carrying away and disposing New York's garbage. As a result, glass and plastic recycling became profitable for the city again, and New York brought the program back. According to Cecil Adams of The Chicago Reader, the lessons learned by New York are relevant everywhere. He believes that, if managed correctly, recycling programs should cost cities less than garbage disposal. Even though the benefits of recycling over disposal are many, keep in mind that it better serves the environment to "reduce and reuse" before recycling is even considered as a choice. Question: Why did John Tierney think "recycling is garbage"? - Because he considered recycling a wasteful activity. - Because he didn't think recycling was a new idea. - Because he found few people would like to recycle. - Because he didn't like the environmental groups.
(Answer)
Because he considered recycling a wasteful activity.

Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: The Maldives faces the threat of extinction from rising sea levels, but the government said it was looking to the future with plans to build homes and a golf course that float. An increase in sea levels of just 18 to 59 centimeters would make the Maldives-a nation of tiny coral islands in the Indian Ocean-virtually by 2100, the UN's climate change panel has warned. President Mohamed Nasheed has vowed a fight for survival, and he signed a deal with a Dutch company to study proposals for a floating structure that could support a convention center, homes and an 18-hole golf course. The company , Dutch Docklands, is currently building floating developments in the Netherlands and Dubai. The Maldives began work on an artificial island known as the Hulhumale near the crowded capital island of Male in 1997 and more than 30,000 people have been settled there to ease congestion. The city, which has a population of 100,000, is already protected from rising sea levels by a 30-million-dollar sea wall, and the government is considering increasingly imaginative ways to combat climate change. Nasheed has even spoken of buying land elsewhere in the world to enable Maldivians to relocate if their homes are submerged. He has also pledged to turn his nation into a model for the rest of the world by becoming "carbon neutral " by 2020. His plan involves ending fossil fuel use and powering all vehicles and buildings from "green" sources such as burning coconut husks. Question: What do you know about Maldives? - It has a population of 100,000. - It has a floating golf course. - It is a nation of tiny coral islands. - It is located in the Pacific Ocean.
It is a nation of tiny coral islands.