Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Painting, the execution of forms and shapes on a surface by means of pigment , has been continuously practiced by humans for some 20,000 years. Together with other activities that may have been ritualistic but have come to be considered as artistic (such as music or dance), painting was one of the earliest ways in which man sought to express his own personality and his emerging understanding of an existence beyond the material world. Unlike music and dance, however, examples of early forms of painting have survived to the present day. And painting, like other arts, exhibits universal qualities that make it easy for viewers of all nations and civilizations to understand and appreciate. The major extant examples of early painting anywhere in the world are found in Western Europe and the Soviet Union. But some 5,000 years ago, the areas in which important paintings were executed shifted to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and neighboring regions. Therefore, Western shared a European cultural tradition ----the Middle East and Mediterranean Basin and, later, the countries of the New World. Western painting is in general distinguished by its concentration on the representation of the human figure, whether in the heroic context of antiquity or the religious context of the early Christian and medieval world. The Renaissance extended this tradition through a close examination of the natural world and an investigation of balance, harmony, and perspective in the visible world, linking painting to the developing sciences of anatomy and optics . The first real break from figurative painting came with the growth of landscape painting in the 17th and 18th centuries. The landscape and figurative traditions developed together in the 19th century in an atmosphere that was increasingly concerned with "painterly" qualities of the interaction of light and color1 and the expressive qualities of paint handling. In the 20th century these interests contributed to the development of a third major tradition in Western... Question: What makes it possible for Western to share a European cultural tradition? Options: A: The examples of early painting found in Western Europe and the Soviet Union. B: The shift of the areas where important paintings were created. C: The Middle East and Mediterranean Basin. D: The countries of the New World.
B

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Dear Jack, Thank you for your congratulations,my congratulations to you! I remember Margaret Field very well--the girl with that wonderful red hair and those beautiful eyes. She was the most popular girl in our college. You're a very lucky fellow and I'm sure you'11 be very happy with her. Brenda and I are very lucky,too. Her father gave us this house as a wedding present,so we don't have to pay rent. The house and furniture are insured already,so I can't help you by giving you that kind of business. I wish I'd known earlier that you were in the insurance business. I'd certainly have asked you to give me a policy for the house and its contents. I'm rather doubtful about the value of life insurance. It's my duty,I know,to see that there will be money for my wife,and later on for the children,in the event of my early death. But I feel that it's wiser to put my money into the shares of good business companies. You say I can get a policy that will provide 50,000 when I'm 65. Yes,but that time is nearly forty years away,and what will 50,000 be worth then?The real value of money has been going down and prices go up a little every year,perhaps only 4%or 5%,but the movement is always up,never down. 50,000 in fifty years from now may be worth only two--thirds or even a half of what it is worth today. Now if I put my savings into the shares of the big oil companies,or aircraft manufacturers,the value of the shares will go up with the rise in costs and prices. So the real value of my money would remain about the same,wouldn't it?I know your answer. You'll say that your life insurance policy provides against my possible death. I've got to balance that possibility against the almost certain fall in the value of money* I'd very much like you to meet Brenda. Can you come for a weekend some time?What about next Saturday?If you can manage it,please let me know which train you're coming by,and I'll meet you at the station. We can have a talk about life insurance and perhaps you'll succeed in making me see... Question: Which word can be used to describe Fred according to the passage? Options: A: Narrow-minded. B: Short-sighted. C: Ambitious. D: Practical.
D

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: What are you feeling right now as you start to read this? Are you curious? Hoping that you'll learn something about yourself? Bored because this is something you have to do for school and you're not really into it -- or happy because it's a school project you enjoy? Perhaps you're attracted by something else, like feeling excited about your weekend plans or sad because you just went through a breakup. Emotions like these are part of human nature. They give us information about what we're experiencing and help us know how to react. We sense our emotions from the time we're babies. Young children react to their emotions with facial expressions or with actions like laughing or crying. They feel and show emotions, but they don't yet have the ability to name the emotion or say why they feel that way. As we grow up, we become more skilled in understanding emotions. Instead of just reacting like little kids do, we can identify what we feel and put it into words. With time and practice, we get better at knowing what we are feeling and why. This skill is called emotional awareness. Emotional awareness helps us know what we need and want, or don't want! It helps us build better relationships. That's because being aware of our emotions can help us talk about feelings more clearly, avoid or settle conflicts better, and move past difficult feelings more easily. Some people are naturally more in touch with their emotions than others. The good news is that everyone can be more aware of their emotions. It just takes practice. But it's worth the effort. Emotional awareness is the first step toward building emotional intelligence, a skill that can help people succeed in life. Question: Where is the passage probably taken from? Options: A: A science fiction. B: An advertisement. C: A science magazine. D: A television show.
A: C

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: The longest solar eclipse of the century cast a wide shadow for several minutes over Asia and the Pacific Ocean on 22th July, drawing people outside to watch the sight in the sky. Day turned into night. Temperature turned cooler in cities and villages filled with fans of astronomy. The total eclipse could be seen starting in India on Wednesday morning and moving eastward across China and parts of the Pacific. Millions cast their eyes towards the heavens to catch an unusual view of the sun's colorful ring. Cloud in some areas prevented people from fully enjoying the sight. Still, many were frightened. The total eclipse occurs about twice a year as the moon passes between the earth and the sun on the same plane as earth's circle. The local astronomy society gave a flash on how an eclipse happens. Wednesday's event lasted up to more than six minutes in some places. In India, thousands bathed in the Ganges River in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi to clean their souls. It was sunny sky in Hong Kong for the eclipse, where students, parents and the elderly flooded in a primary school to watch. In Shanghai, children climbed up ladders to look through two large telescopes on the school roof to catch sight of the moon moving across the sun. Others looked through a pair of glasses covered with solar filter paper, where they could take pictures of the moon moving over the sun. In some cultures, many old stories are about eclipse. In India, a eclipse was considered unfavorable. In Chinese tradition, there is a story about a heavenly dog eating the sun. As the story goes, people would make noise to frighten off the dog and save the sun. Question: Which of the following statements about eclipse is TURE according to the text? Options: A: Most Chinese people used to think eclipses would bring about misfortunes. B: Chinese fathers were pleased to watch solar eclipses. C: Indians think bad fortune will come about along with eclipses. D: The Chinese people are too frightened to go outside when eclipses occur.
A: C