If, at the end of a conversation somebody says to me, "as soon as I know, I'll ring you up", he is talking too much for granted. He is proposing to attempt the impossible. So I have to say, "I'm afraid you can't. You see. I'm not on the telephone. I just haven't got a telephone." Why don't you have a telephone? Not because I pretend to be wise or pose as unusual. There are two chief reasons: because I don't really like the telephone and because I find I can still work and play, eat, breathe and sleep without it. Why don't I like the telephone? Because I think it is a pest and a time-waster. It may create unnecessary suspense and anxiety, as when you wait for an expected call that doesn't come; or irritating delay, as when you keep ringing a number that is always engaged. As for speaking in a public telephone box, which seems to me really horrible. You would not use it unless you were in a hurry, and because you are in a hurry you will find other people waiting before you. When you do get into the box, you are half asphyxiated by stale, unventilated air, flavored with cheap face-powder and chain-smoking; and by the time you have begun your conversation your back is chilled by the cold look of somebody who is fidgeting to take your place. If you have a telephone in your own house, you will admit that it tends to ring when you least want it to ring; when you are asleep, or in the middle of a meal or a conversation, or when you are just going out, or when you are in your bath. Are you strong-minded enough to ignore it, to say to yourself, "Ah, well, it will all be the same in a hundred years' time. You are not. You think there may be some important news or message for you. Have you never rushed dripping from the bath, or chewing from the table, or dazed from the bed, only to be told that you are a wrong number? Suppose you ignore the telephone when it rings, and suppose that, for once, somebody has an important message for you. I can assure you that if a message is... Which of the following in the main idea of the passage? A) It is not necessary to have a telephone because ill news travels just as fast as good news B) The writer states his reasons for not having a telephone C) The writer does not like the telephone at all. D) People can live a normal life without a telephone.
D
(Question)
Last spring, members of Alaska's Troop 34, based in Fairbanks, trudged out into the snowy wilderness to take part in their state's Take a Kid Trapping program. In many parts of the state, beavers are pests and need to be controlled. The 10-to-12-year-old girls found out where beavers lived, set traps, and skinned the two animals they caught. The girls hope to catch ten more beavers so that the entire troop can make mittens and hats with the fur. They also want to cook beaver meat. Troop leaders and members say the Scouts are doing a good deed by helping control the state's beaver population. But animal-rights activists say trapping is cruel. They want the Girl Scouts to stop in their tracks. Beavers aren't only causing a problem in Alaska. Residents in Sampson County, N.C., have turned to a local committee to help them battle the growing beaver population there. County landowners are frustrated after the county spent more than $ 50,000 in eight years trying to reduce the beaver population through a government program. The joint state and federal program included paying money to trappers for every beaver carcass they trapped. Many local residents say that the program didn't work because there were too few trappers. That's why the county set up its own committee to investigate other ways to control the area's beaver population. The county will rely on its own beaver-trapping program. It has hired a trapper to set traps in various areas. The county will pay $10 for every beaver carcass. Why do many people say that beavers are a nuisance? For beavers to survive, they need lots of water. Water provides the large rodent with a place to hide from meat - eating animals. Beavers also store food underwater for the winter. When there's not enough water in a particular area, beavers get busy building dams. Beaver dams can cause major flooding and damage to the surrounding countryside as the animals cut down trees to use in their construction projects. Beavers build canals to transport heavy objects. Why does the troop hope to catch ten more beavers? A) To fulfill their task. B) To sell them for money. C) To get enough fur. D) To exchange them for mittens and hats.
(Answer)
C
(The Guardian): More UK universities should be profiting from ideas A repeated criticism of the UK's university sector is its noticeable weakness in translating new knowledge into new products and services. Recently, the UK National Stem Cell Network warned the UK could lose its place among the world leaders in stem cell research unless adequate funding and legislation could be assured, despite an annual PS40m spent by the Department of Health on all kinds of research. However, we do have to challenge the unthinking complaint that the sector does not do enough in taking ideas to market. The most recent comparative data on the performance of universities and research institutions in Australia, Canada, USA and UK shows that, from a relatively weak starting position, the UK now leads on many indicators of commercialization activity. When viewed at the national level, the _ (interference) of the past decade have helped transformed the performances of UK universities. Evidence suggests the UK's position is much stronger than in the recent past and is still showing improvement. But national data masks the very large variation in the performance of individual universities. The evidence shows that a large number of universities have fallen off the back of the pack, a few perform strongly and the rest chase the leaders. This type of uneven distribution is not strange to the UK and is mirrored across other economies. In the UK, research is concentrated: less than 25% of universities are receiving 75% of the research funding. These same universities are also the institutions producing the greatest share of PhD graduates, science citations, patents and license income. The effect of policies generating long-term resource concentration has also created a distinctive set of universities which are research-led and commercially active. It seems clear that the concentration of research and commercialization work creates differences between universities. The core objective for universities which are research-led... What does the author say about the national data on UK universities' performance in commercialization? A) It masks the fatal weaknesses of government policy. B) It indicates their ineffective use of government resources. C) It does not rank UK universities in a scientific way. D) It does not reflect the differences among universities.
D