Today it seems perfectly natural for us to shake hands when we greet someone or say goodbye. But like so many things that we do without thinking such actions at one time probably represented something. For example, in primitive life the hand was used to fight enemies, kill animals, and make spears and tools. So when the hand was extended to someone, it showed that the person was not armed or ready for fight. We know that the hand was an important symbol in early religion, probably as a mark of power. The Greeks prayed to their gods with raised hands. Presenting the hands palm to palm was at one time the way an inferior person paid respect to a superior one. Among the Arabs, it was customary at one time to kiss the hand of a superior. Later on, polite Arabs began to resist the efforts of people to kiss their hands, and sometimes they would end up shaking hands as each tried to prevent the other from showing this mark of "inferiority ." The early Greeks held out the right hand when they wished to show friendship to a stranger. So we can see that the hand, and what was done with it, was full of meaning to people down through the ages. And while we shake hands without thinking, we are really carrying on a custom that has been _ to us from ancient times. The phrase " hand down" in the last sentence means _ . A) put down B) leave down C) give down D) pass down
D
(Question)
A good deal of fascinating research has been done about the reading patterns of young people,and it is surprising to discover at what an early age children start expressing preferences for particular kind of books. A recent report,which examined in detail the reading habits of primary-school children.showed that even seven-year-old boys and girls have clear views about what they want to read. Girls,in general,read more,and far more girls than boys preferred reading stories. Boys were showing a taste for the more instant appeal of picture stories,or else books about their hobbies. These tastes continue unchanged until the children are teenagers. Apparently girls read more in general,but more fiction in particular .You could say that there are more opportunities for girls to read fiction:magazines encourage the fiction habit in girls in their early teens,and by their late teens they have probably moved on to the adult women's magazines.Teenage boys tend to buy magazines about their hobbies:motorcycles,heavy transport and to on. Adult reading tastes are also the subject of research.Again the number of women who read for pleasure is considerably higher than the number of men. It seems that the majority of women still want love stories.There has also been some analysis of what men actually read Apparently only 38 percent of men read anything,but 50 percent of what they read is fiction in the form of action-packed stories of space or gunmen If we have a close look at the reading habits of boys and girls we'll find that _ A) girls are more interested in fiction than boys B) girls are more interested in action-packed stories than boys C) boys read much more than girls D) boys have no interest in fiction
(Answer)
A
Ques: Forks trace their origins back to the ancient Greeks. Forks at that time were fairly large with two tines that aided in the cutting of meat in the kitchen. The tines prevented meat from twisting or moving during cutting and allowed food to slide off more easily than it would with a knife. By the 7th century A.D., royal courts of the Middle East began to use forks at the table for dining. From the 10th through the 13th centuries, forks were fairly common among the wealthy in Byzantium. In the 11th century, a Byzantine wife brought forks to Italy; however, they were not widely adopted there until the 16th century. Then in 1533, forks were brought from Italy to France. The French were also slow to accept forks, for using them was thought to be awkward. In 1608, forks were brought to England by Thomas Coryate, who saw them during his travels in Italy. The English first ridiculed forks as being unnecessary. "Why should a person need a fork when God had given him hands?" they asked. Slowly, however, forks came to be adopted by the wealthy as a symbol of their social status. They were prized possessions made of expensive materials intended to impress guests. By the mid 1600s, eating with forks was considered fashionable among the wealthy British. Early table forks were modeled after kitchen forks, but small pieces of food often fell through the two tines or slipped off easily. In late 17th century France, larger forks with four curved tines were developed. The additional tines made diners less likely to drop food, and the curved tines served as a scoop so people did not have to constantly switch to a spoon while eating. By the early 19th century, four-tined forks had also been developed in Germany and England and slowly began to spread to America. What is the passage mainly about? A) The different designs of forks. B) The spread of fork-aided cooking. C) The history of using forks for dining. D) The development of fork-related table manners.
Ans: C
Ques:Minimalism is a term that describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is reduced to its most basic features. As for me, minimalism functions well not in art or design, but in my daily life. When I was packing for university, I found it extremely difficult to let go of some of the things I owned. I knew I couldn't take everything with me, but I kept asking myself "how could I possibly throw this away?", "what if I need it one day?", and "what about all of the memories?" Now that I've moved, and left that stuff behind, I don't even miss it. Whether or not I got rid of it, it barely makes a bit of difference to me now. I've learned that over time people forget, or their need for a particular object eventually disappears. Either they store it away or they get rid of it. You might think nostalgically about the toys you cared about when you were a child, but what is making you smile now is not the thing itself but the memory of it. 1've heard it a hundred times, "you don't need things to make you happy." It takes something life-changing like moving across the country to realize how true this is. Speaking of which, for a lot of people, minimalism is about able to move. It's about being able to go almost anywhere at any time because you don't have many possessions to carry. When you keep things you don't need they become a burden that ties you to a place. Moving to university was a good time to let go of a lot of stuff. And when I visit for the holidays, I'll probably get rid of even more, to lighten the burden. _ There are some things that are irreplaceable, very rare or expensive or we simply love and cherish for some reason or another, since we are humans. But after we keep those, how much is left that we don't really need? Hence, minimalism. And why does minimalism bring happiness? That was a bit of a roundabout way of saying that, it's because what really makes me happy is freedom. And the key to freedom is minimalism because minimalism reduces our... Many people don't want to let go of some of their belongings because _ A) they haven't had any life-changing experiences B) they fear their memories will be gone with the thrown-away stuff C) they hope to live life to their full potential by storing things away D) they may have to change their lifestyle because of the loss of them

Ans:
B