Q: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: When Hurricane Phailin hit India in late 2013, it became the largest storm to strike the subcontinent in over a decade. The storm affected more than 12 million people in India and neighboring countries, and damaged or destroyed many houses. However, good news is that cleverly-designed beach house created by architect Ray Huff can survive such strong winds and storm waves. Located on the shore of an Indian island, Huff's award-winning cube-shaped beach house was built to replace one smashed to pieces by Hurricane Phailin. Huff pointed out that many houses built along shoreline were poorly constructed, and enforcement of building codes wasn't strict. After Phailin's attack, all new shoreline houses are required to meet stricter, better-enforced codes. The new beach house should be able to stand a Category 3 hurricane with peak winds of 179 to 209 kilometers per hour. At first sight, Huff's house looks anything but hurricane-proof. Its redwood shell makes it resemble "a large party lantern" at night, according to one observer. But looks can be misleading. The house's wooden frame is reinforced with long steel rods to give it extra strength. To further protect the house from hurricane damage _ Huff raised it 2.7 meters off the ground on pilings---long columns of wood anchored deep in the sand. Pilings might appear insecure, but they are strong enough to support the weight of the house. They also balance the house above storm waves. The pilings allow the waves to run under the house instead of running into it. "These swells of water come ashore at great speeds and cause most of the damage done to beach-front buildings," said Huff. Huff designed the wooden pilings to be partially hidden by the house's ground-to-roof shell. "The shell masks the pilings so that the house doesn't look like it's standing with its pant legs pulled up," said Huff. In case of a storm wave, the shell should break apart and let the waves rush under the house, the architect explained. Question: The award-winning beach house is quite strong because _ . Options: A: it is made of redwood B: it is in the shape of a shell C: it is strengthened by steel rods D: it is built with wood and stones
A: C

Q: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: Losing weight comes with a lot of health benefits--including making your brain sharper. Yes, it turns out that overweight may damage cognitive functions such as memory and attention. There have been few studies of overweight and cognitive functioning, possibly because it is generally believed that it is not a primary risk cause for poor cognitive performance. Losing weight, therefore, may help improve these mental functions, according to a new research led by John Gunstad, assistant professor of psychology at Kent State University. Growing evidence suggests that being fat is linked to cognitive deficits . So Gunstad and his team guessed that losing weight might improve mental function. For their study, they measured memory and attention in a group of 150 overweight participants, some of whom had some kind of operation for weight loss and some did not. All of the volunteers completed mental skills tests to assess their abilities of memory and attention at the beginning of the study, and again 12 weeks later. To begin with, about 24% of the patients showed damaged learning and 23% showed signs of poor memory when tested. At the end of the study, those who had lost weight after operation improved their scores into the average or above average range for cognitive functions. Scores for the volunteers who didn't lose weight dropped even further. The study helped Gunstad to find out whether losing weight had any effect on mental function. Now that he's seen the positive effect that weight loss can have on memory and attention, he says he will next study those who choose to lose weight by the traditional way--eating healthier and getting more active. He expects that losing weight in this way will have a similarly positive effect on the brain. "If we can improve the condition with operations, then we can probably produce the same change with behavioral weight loss as well," he says. Question: Which of the following is the best title for th e text? Options: A: Body Weight and Health B: Losing Weight by Operation C: Ways to Improve Mental Functions D: Losing Weight to S harpen Your MindD
A: D

Q: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: A Charlotte, N.C., man was charged with first-degree murder of a 79-year-old woman whom police said he scared to death. In an attempt to evade policemen after a bank robbery, the Associated Press reports that 20-year-old Larry Whitfield broke into the home of Mary Parnell. Police say he didn't touch Parnell but that she died after suffering a heart attack that was caused by terror. Can the guy be held responsible for the woman's death? Prosecutors said that he can under the state's murder rule, which allows someone to be charged with murder if he or she causes another person's death while committing or fleeing from a severe crime like robbery--even if he or she doesn't kill someone on purpose. But, medically speaking, can someone actually be frightened to death? We asked Martin Samuels, chairman of the neurology department at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Absolutely, no question about it. The body has a natural protective method called the fight-or-flight response , which was originally described by Walter Cannon,the chairman of Harvard University's physiology department from 1906 to 1942. If, in the wild, an animal is faced with a life-threatening situation, the autonomic nervous system responds by increasing heart rate, increasing blood flow to the muscles, and slowing digestion, among other things. All of this increases the chances of succeeding in a fight or running away from an aggressive beast. This process certainly would be of help to primitive humans. However, in the modern world there is obvious decline of the fight-or-flight response. The autonomic nervous system uses the chemical messenger to send signals to various parts of the body to activate the fight-or-flight response. This chemical is toxic in large amounts; it damages the organs such as the heart, lungs, liver and kidneys. It is believed that almost all sudden deaths are caused by damage to the heart. There is almost no other organ that would fail so fast as to cause sudden death. Kidney failure, liver failure, those things... Question: Why the Charlotte, N.C., man was charged? Options: A: Because he threatened the policemen to kill an old woman. B: Because he caused an old woman's terror and she died. C: Because he beat an old woman and caused her heart attack D: Because he murdered an old woman while robbing a bank.
A: B

Q: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: Have you ever heard your own voice? "Of course," you say. Has anyone else ever heard your voice? Again you say, "Of course." But that's not quite true. Nobody else has ever heard your voice-the way you hear it. When you talk, you set up sound waves. The air outside your head carries the sound waves to your outer ears. But, of course, the sound of your voice begins inside your head. The bones of your head pick up the sound waves, too. They carry the sound waves straight to your inner ears. You get the sound from the outside and the inside too. Other people get just the sound waves from the outside. That is why they don't hear your voice the way you do. Question: The passage is mainly about _ . Options: A: waves in the air B: the way you hear your own voice C: voice spreading far and wide D: the different way people hear their voices
A: B