Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: While surfing television channels over the weekend,a scene from a family classic of last year portraying the now-so-familiar sorry state of retired parents being ill-treated by their children and families caught my attention. I wondered why the description of this relationship had not changed much over the many years! Even though the same movies and soaps accurately capture several other social changes around us -- from value systems to new found economic freedom to the importance of technology and the changing approach to consumerism -- are these creative efforts far from the truth in telling us that an average retiree is still struggling? Look around and you will agree that the post-retired lifestyle for an ex-salaried class people is often a pale shadow of their last working years. Even self employed people, who have handed over the responsibility to the next generation, are no exception. Did the average middle class not save enough through his working years? Socially, we already know that the Indians are taught the benefits of start saving early on in life. Household savings data supports this social behavior -- India has the highest rates of savings among various economies and is far ahead of the west. Yet, tragically, a lifetime of savings does not seem to provide enough for a comfortable retirement! A closer look at the pattern of what we do with our financial savings may tell us a bit more. Over half of households' financial savings is put into a "safe" deposit, followed by large portions in insurance, pension, provident funds and the rest in physical currency. Less than a tenth goes into "risky" assets like stocks. While there might be nothing, in particular, worrisome in this investment pool, one has to consider inflation . The real value of savings, over a few decades, may actually be lower than the starting point. Question: What had not changed much over the many years according to the passage? Options: A: Value systems B: The poor situation of retirees C: Economic freedom D: Approach to consumerism
A: B

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Brazil has become one of the developing world's great successes at reducing population growth, but more by accident than design. While countries such as India have made joint efforts to reduce birth rates, Brazil has had better result without really trying, says George Martine at Harvard. Brazil's population growth rate has dropped from 2.99% a year between 1951 and 1960 to 1.93% a year between 1981 and 1990, and Brazilian women now have only 2.7 children on average. Martine says this figure may have fallen still further since 1990, an achievement that makes it the envy of many other Third World countries. Martine puts it down to, among other things, soap operas and installment plans introduced in the 1970s. Both played an important, although indirect, role in lowering the birth rate. Brazil is one of the world's biggest producers of soap operas. Globo, Brazil's most popular television network, shows three hours of soaps six nights a week, while three others show at least one hour a night. Most soaps are based on wealthy characters living the high life in big cities. "Although they have never really tried to work in a message towards the problems of reproduction, they describe middle and upper class values-not many children, different attitudes towards life, women working," says Martine. "They sent this image to all parts of Brazil and made people aware of other patterns of behavior and other values, which were put into a very attractive package." Question: According to the passage, Brazil has cut back its population growth _ . Options: A: by educating its citizens B: by careful family planning C: by developing TV programmes D: by chance
A: D

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: To become a doctor in the United States, students usually attend four years of medical school after they complete college. Then these young doctors work in hospitals for several years to complete a training program called a residency . These medical residents provide hospitals with needed services in return for not much pay. They work under the supervision of medical professors and more experienced doctors. Medical residents treat patients . they carry out tests. They perform operations. They complete records. In hospitals with few nurses, residents also do work formerly done by nurses. Some medical residents work one-hundred or more hours in a single week. _ Critics of this system say medical residents work too long and do not get enough res. They say these young doctors may be too tired to perform their medical duties effectively. Now, the government will limit the number of hours of work that residents can work. Most doctors in training will be limited to eighty-four hours of work each week. They will have work periods of no more than twenty-four hours at one time. They will have ten hours of rest between work periods. Medical residents will have one day each week when they do not have to work. Any work they accept outside their hospitals will be limited.Experienced doctors and medical professors will closely supervise the residents to make sure they are not too tired to work. Many medical residents welcomed the work limits. Others, however, said the new policy may interfere with patient care and their own medical education. Question: Medical residents are not responsible for _ . Options: A: supervising students B: treating patients C: carrying patients D: doing operations
A: A

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Chrysanthemums are to the fall what tulips are to the spring. In ancient China, chrysanthemums (or 'mums' for short) were first planted thousands of years ago. People chose the chrysanthemum as their Flower for October, a symbol of the rest and ease that followed the season's final harvest. Then they symbolized a scholar in retirement and were one of the four noble plants, along with bamboo, the plum flower, and orchid. The Japanese hold the chrysanthemum as a symbol of the sun. They consider the orderly unfolding of its petals to be a symbol of perfection. They also think that a single chrysanthemum petal placed in the bottom of a wine glass encourages a long and healthy life. The Japanese even have a National Chrysanthemum Day on September 9, known as the Festival of Happiness. In the United States during colonial times, its popularity grew such that mums now reign as "Queen of the Fall Flowers." Mums remain the most widely grown pot plant in the country and the largest commercially produced flowers. Chrysanthemums generally represent cheerfulness and rest. So they are welcomed throughout the British Isles and North America for any occasion, such as football games and parties. In other countries such as Italy, Belgium and Austria, however, their association with the dead makes chrysanthemums acceptable only for funerals and graves. Question: The Japanese consider the chrysanthemum as a symbol of the sun because _ . Options: A: people like the flower just as they like the sun B: the flower with its nice petals represents a symbol of perfection C: people find the flower having no perfect petals when it is unfolding D: the flower unfold its petals orderly just like the sun
A: B