Today's word, pan, takes us back to the days of the gold rush in California. On January 24th, 1848, a man named James Wilson Marshall discovered gold in California. The news spread quickly. Thousands rushed west. They traveled on foot, on horseback and by boat to reach the gold fields. By 1849, the great gold rush was on. Towns and cities grew overnight. Throughout California --- in the mountains, along the streams and rivers --- thousands of people searched for gold. Some found areas of mountain rock thick with gold. These men got rich. But such areas were few and quickly claimed by the first men to find them. Others searched for gold in the rivers coming down the mountains. They were after pieces of gold that the rains had washed down from above . The only way to find this gold was by panning. First a gold miner put dirt in a metal pan and added water. Then he shook the pan so that the water would wash the dirt. Slowly, he poured the water out of the pan. If he was a lucky miner, pieces of gold would remain. Across the nation, newspapers carried stories of the gold being found. Each one hoped that the place he claimed panned out well --- had some gold. For many, gold mining did not pan out. For a few, it panned out well. But in time, huge machines were built that could wash many tons of dirt at a time. Panning died out. The word, however, remained in the language. Today, Americans still say, " It panned out well ," when something they have done pleases them. A business, a discovery, a simple event pans out well if it is successful. Unhappily, sometimes things do not pan out. In recent years, the word pan has taken on another meaning. Today, it also means to criticize. How it got this meaning is hard to discover. But the job of a critic is to sometimes pan the work of a writer, artist or singer. Why did so many people flood to California in 1848? A) Because towns and cities there developed quickly. B) Because the mountains in California were a great place for travel. C) Because they wanted to get rich by looking for gold. D) Because the land of California was fertile at that time.
C
Crash. Shatter. Boom. Crash. Shatter. Boom. Smattering of silly dialogue. Pretty girl screams: "Dad!" Crash. Shatter. Boom. Crash. Shatter. Boom. Silly dialogue. "Dad!!!" Crash. Shatter. Boom. What? Oh, sorry. We were falling into a trance there. Which is, dear moviegoer, what may happen to you during Michael Bay's Transformers: Age of Extinction, the fourth Transformers film and lasts 165 minutes, which is precariously close to the three-hour mark that Bay undoubtedly will reach--by our sophisticated calculations, and at the current growth rate, with his sixth installment . But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Despite what you've just read, this film will likely be a massive hit because by now, if you're buying a Transformers ticket, you surely know what you're getting into, and you want more, more, more. And Bay is the Master of More. Or just take it from the 11-year-old sitting next to me, who reserved any audible judgment--he, too was in a trance, though maybe from sugar intake--until the moment he saw a Transformer become a dinosaur. Overwhelmed by the pairing, he proclaimed, "That's the sickest thing I've ever seen in my life." It was as if peanut butter and jelly had been tasted together for the first time. This time, there's a whole new human cast. Most important, Mark Wahlberg has replaced Shia LaBeouf as well, Main Human Guy. A significant part of the movie also takes place in China--clearly a nod to the franchise's huge market in the country. In any case, we begin in Paris, Texas, where Cade Yeager (Wahlberg), a struggling inventor, is desperatlely seeking a big discovery. He's also a widowed dad, and super-protective (as the movie constantly reminds us) of his high-school daughter, Tessa (Nicola Peltz, blond and pretty and ineffective, though the one-note script does her no favors). One day, Cade buys a rusty old truck. Examining it back home, he soon discovers it's none other than Optimus Prime, the Autobot hero, seriously damaged. As Cade works on fixing him up, his assistant, witty... The tone of the passage as a whole can be described as _ ? A) serious B) ironic C) scholarly D) light-hearted
D
Q: Being able to multitask--doing several things at the same time--is considered a welcome skill by most people. But if we consider the situation of the young people aged from eight to eighteen, we should think again. What we often see nowadays is that young people juggle an ever larger number of electronic devices as they study. While working, they also surf on the Internet, send out emails, answer the telephone and listen to music on their iPods. In a sense, they are spending a significant amount of time in fruitless efforts as they multitask. Multitasking is even changing the relationship between family members. As young people around them. They can no longer greet family members when they enter the house, nor can they cat at the family table. Multitasking also affects young people's performance at university and in the workplace. When asked about their opinion of the effect of modern gadgets on their performance of tasks, many young people gave a positive response . However, the response from the worlds of education and business was not quite as positive. Educators feel that multitasking by children has a serious effect on later development of study skills. They believe that many college students now need help to improve their study skills. Similarly, employers feel that young people entering the job market need to be taught all over again, as modern gadgets have made it unnecessary for them to learn special skills to do their work. The author develops the passage mainly by _ . A) providing typical examples B) following the natural time order C) comparing opinions from different fields D) presenting a cause and analyzing its effects
A: D
*Question*
I am an English teacher, with over 15 years' experience of teaching in London. I started the DailyStep audio email lesson service because I noticed that when I started their English course, my students' speaking and listening skills were much weaker than their reading and writing skills. In my view, this is because education in school does not focus enough on communication skills. DailyStep is designed to _ this situation by offering more practice in speaking, listening and vocabulary. I am crazy about the English language and it is a real pleasure for me to see the development of my students' language skills. I majored in (....)law at university and then worked for three years as a researcher and journalist for Sky television and BBC magazines. I decided to change to English teaching because of my love of the English language and my wish to move into more satisfying work. Then I qualified as an English teacher in 1992. My first teaching job was at a language school in Covent Garden, London, where I taught examination classes and Business English . After two years, I moved to the Nippon Club where I taught General English and Business English courses for 9 years. I also developed a unique course called British Society & Culture, covering all areas of British life, such as politics, law, education & music. At the same time, taught Business, Financial& Law English in the financial centre of London. My students included staff from banks and law firms. As well as running the DailyStep website, I also provide in-company English speech training for companies in London. If you have an important speech coming up and would like some information about how I can help you, please email me at jane@dailystep.com. DailyStep audio email lesson service _ A) is an in-company service B) teaches English communication skills C) is designed for working people D) provides English training for free
**Answer**
B