*Question*
I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: My children are perfect. All four of them. Perfect and beautiful and clever. I bet yours are, too. Except, of course, they are not. In reality, my children and yours are likely to be reasonably average in terms of looks, behavior, intelligence and charm. That's why it is called average. Your belief in your child being special is more probably a biological thing than a fact. A loved one, particularly a loved child, is edited as we observe them. Other people's children are spoiled; ours are spirited. Theirs are naughty; ours are confident. This is all natural and even touching when not taken too far. However, it is one thing feeding this idea to ourselves but feeding it to our children may be a little less desirable. We have the idea that -- unlike my parents' generation -- we should build our children's self-respect as high as we can. Therefore, their random scribble is up there with Picasso, their C-minus is an unfortunate oversight on the part of the teacher, and the fact that no one wants to be friends with them is because they are particularly clever or sensitive. Children see through this kind of thing very quickly and ignore their parents' praises as a matter of course. As they grow up, they sense that the wider world judges them differently. This leads to a - hopefully gentle - cynicism about anything their parents tell them about their achievements. Perhaps that is OK -- but I'm not sure if it is good for them to have the parental praise so overlooked. If parents were a little _ sometimes, this could have two positive effects -- first, when praise came, it would be more likely to be believed and, second, it would fit in rather more accurately with the picture of reality that the child is forming in their heads. A lot of pressure is put on children who are told they are beautiful, special and perfect. Because then, where is there to go? Only downwards. They become too much aware of their status in your eyes, and a danger must be that they fear failing you. To be over-praised by your parents is the... Question: Which of the following will the writer most probably agree with? Options: A: Children's self-respect shouldn't be parents' major concern. B: The easiest way to spoil a child is to praise him or her. C: Perfect people deserve our respect but not our love. D: Parents should praise their children but not too much.
**Answer**
D

*Question*
I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: "Hypotheses ," said Medawarin 1964, "are imaginative and inspirational in character"; they are "adventures of the mind". He was arguing in favour of the position taken by Karl Popper that the nature of scientific method is hypothetico-deductive and not, as is generally believed, inductive. The myth of scientific method is that it is inductive: that the formulation of scientific theory starts with the basic, raw evidence of the senses -- simple, fair, unprejudiced observation. Out of these sensory data -- commonly referred to as "facts" -- generalisations will form. The myth is that from a disorderly collection of factual information an orderly, relevant theory will somehow come out. However, the starting point of induction is an impossible one. There is no such thing as an unprejudiced observation. Every act of observation we make is a function of what we have seen or otherwise experienced in the past. All scientific work of an experimental or exploratory nature starts with some expectation about the outcome. This expectation is a hypothesis. Hypotheses provide the motivation for the inquiry and influence the method. It is in the light of an expectation that some observations are held to be relevant and some irrelevant, that one method is chosen and others abandoned, that some experiments are conducted and others are not. Hypotheses arise by guesswork, or by inspiration, but having been started they can and must be tested thoroughly, using the appropriate method. If the predictions you make as a result of deducing certain consequences from your hypothesis are not shown to be correct then you abandon or adjust your hypothesis. If the predictions turn out to be correct then your hypothesis has been supported and may be kept until such time as some further test shows it not to be correct. Once you have arrived at your hypothesis, which is a product of your imagination, you then move on to a strictly logical and thorough process, based upon deductive argument -- therefore the term "hypothetico-deductive". So... Question: According to the author, a good scientific research is a process _ . Options: A: starting from details and ending in generalisations B: where observations play more role than expectations do C: where hypotheses are gradually tested before finally approved D: which cannot be started before enough evidences are collected
**Answer**
C

*Question*
I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: In the Caucasus region of Russia, nearly 50 out of every 100,000 people live to celebrate their 100th birthday, and many don't stop at 100! By comparison, in America only 3 people in 100,000 reach 100. But these Russian old people aren't alone. The Pakistanis, who live high in the Himalaya Mountains, and the Ecuadorans of the Andes Mountains seem to share the secret of long life, too. These people remain healthy in body and spirit despite the passage of time. While many older persons in industrial societies become weak and ill in their 60s and 70s, some Caucasians aged 100 to 140, work in the fields beside their great-great-grandchildren. Even the idea of aging is foreign to them. When asked "at what age does youth end?"most of these old people had no answer. Several replied, "Well, perhaps at age 80." What accounts for this ability to survive to such old age, and to survive so well?First of all, hard physical work is a way of life for all of these long-lived people. They begin their long days of physical labor as children and never seem to stop. For example, Mr . Rustam Mamedov is 142 years of age. His wife is 116 years old. They have been married for 90 years. Mr. Mamedov has no intention of retiring from his life as a farmer. "Why?What else would I do?"he asks. All these people get healthful rewards from the environment in which they work. They all come from mountainous regions. They live and work at elevations of 1,660 to 1,000 meters above sea level. The air has less oxygen and is pollution-free. This reduced-oxygen environment makes the heart and blood vessel system stronger. Another factor that may contribute to the good health of these people is their isolation. To a great extent, they are separated from the pressures and worries of industrial society. Inherited factors also play some role. Most of the longest-lived people had parents and grandparents who also reached very old ages. Good family genes may, therefore, be one factor in living longer. Question: Which of the following factors isn't helpful to people's health and long life? Options: A: Clean mountain air. B: Daily hard work. C: Good genes D: Stress and pressure.
**Answer**
D