Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Many of us believe that a person's mind becomes less active as he grows older. But this is not true, according to Dr Jarvik, professor of _ at the University of California. She has studied the mental functioning of aging persons for several years. For example, one of her studies concerns 136 pairs of twins , who were first examined when they were already 60 years old. As Dr Jarvik continued the study of the twins into their 70s and 80s, their minds did not generally decline as was expected. However, there was some decline in their psycho-motor speed. This means that it took them longer to finish mental tasks than it used to. But when speed was not a factor, they lost very little intellectual ability over the years. In general, Dr Jarvik's studies have shown that there is no decline in knowledge or reasoning ability. This is true not only with those in their 30s and 40s, but with those in their 60s and 70s as well. It is true that older people themselves often complain that their memory is not as good as it once was. However, much of what we call "loss of memory" is not that at all. There usually was incomplete learning in the first place. For example, the older person perhaps had trouble hearing, or poor vision, or was trying to learn the new thing at too fast a speed. In the cases where the older person's mind really seems to get worse, it is not necessarily a sign of decline due to old age. Often it is simply a sign of a sad emotional state. Question: This passage is mainly about _ . Options: A: what caused mental decline B: a new discovery about mental decline C: the difference between middle-aged and older persons D: how Dr Jarvik studied mental functioning of the twins
B

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: A 17-year-old boy, caught sending text messages in class, was recently sent to the vice principal's office at Millwood High School in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The vice principal, Steve Gallagher, told the boy he needed to focus on the teacher, not his cellphone. The boy listened politely and nodded, and that's when Mr. Gallagher noticed the student's fingers moving on his lap. He was texting while being scolded for texting. "It was _ ," says Mr. Gallagher, who took the phone away. "Young people today are connected socially from the moment they open their eyes in the morning until they close their eyes at night. It's compulsive." A study this year by psychology students at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Ga., found that the more time young people spend on Facebook, the more likely they are to have lower grades and weaker study habits. Heavy Facebook users show signs of being more sociable, but they are also more likely to be anxious, hostile or depressed. (Doctors, meanwhile, are now blaming addictions to 'night texting' for disturbing the sleep patterns of teens.) Almost a quarter of today's teens check Facebook more than 10 times a day, according to a 2009 survey by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit group that monitors media's impact on families. Will these young people get rid of this habit once they enter the work force, or will employers come to see texting and 'social-network checking' as accepted parts of the workday? Think back. When today's older workers were in their 20s, they might have taken a break on the job to call friends and make after-work plans. In those earlier eras, companies discouraged non-business-related calls, and someone who made personal calls all day risked being fired. It was impossible to imagine the constant back-and-forth texting that defines interactions among young people today. Educators are also being asked by parents, students and educational strategists to reconsider their rules. "In past generations, students got in trouble for passing notes in class. Now students are... Question: Mr. Gallagher reminds us that the students in the past and those today _ . Options: A: like to break rules and have the same means of sending messages B: are always the big problem for the educators and their parents C: like sending text messages but those today do it in a more secret and skillful way D: cannot live without a cellphone
C

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: I can remember the day my father came home from the war. As he walked up the front path of our home, he saw Mum and me and he dropped the suitcase. I was only five years old so Dad made a fuss of me, then began making an even bigger fuss of my mother. This left me free to examine all the stuff lying around the broken suitcase, and I was quick to notice a newspaper advertisement displaying a new piano. When Dad saw me holding up the newspaper cutting, he smiled. "Yes, that's right," he said. "I bought your mum a piano for ten pounds down and two pounds a week." A few moments later, a horse pulled a cart with a piano on top. Soon we all stared at it in our small lounger room. Mum had never been close to a piano before, except at the kindergarten I attended, and she used to say how wonderful it would be if the teachers could teach her to play. After tea that night, Mum began to teach herself to play. She plinked the keys for about two hours and drove everybody in the street mad, until Dad gently said, "Enough is enough." From that day on, she would plink between doing the cooking and housework. Three months went by and Mum was now a skilled pianist, holding parties with all the neighbors gathering around to sing. Although we were poor, Mum felt like a princess and was delighted at all the attention she was receiving. At the height of Mum's happiness, I began to notice that Dad was looking increasingly worried. It turned out that since returning from the war, he'd been unable to find a job. Then, a few weeks later, I observed two men taking Mum's piano away. Mum sobbed in the kitchen. Suddenly, it all became clear to me: no job, no money, no piano. Dad finally got a job. Mum was happy again as if he'd just win the lottery . Dad had to study to qualify as an account. Every night after dinner he'd place a stack of books on the kitchen table and study late into the night. Mum didn't say much but I could tell she was proud of Dad. Two years later, Dad bought Mum another piano. This time he paid cash for it. Question: By saying "Enough is enough", the author's dad meant _ . Options: A: practice makes perfect B: it was time to stop practicing C: he couldn't bear being troubled D: his wife played the piano well enough
A: B