What would you think if someone suggested knocking down St Paul's cathedral to widen the road,or pulling down Big Ben to make way for a car park? It'd be ridiculous,right? But when it comes to devastation of the natural world,we aren't so easily shocked.But we should be...or we'll be in a lot of trouble! _ Ancient forests are destroyed.Wetlands are becoming dry.Woodland is disappearing,all in the name of progress.This is bad in itself,but it's devastating for biodiversity. Biodiversity refers to the variety of plants,animals and other living things which are all inter-connected.The ecological services provided by biodiversity are vital to everyday life.The air we breathe is a product of photosynthesis by green plants.In fact,all life on earth exists thanks to the benefit of biodiversity.More than 90 percent of the calories consumed by people worldwide are produced from 80 plant species.And 30 percent of medicines are developed from plants and animals.Maintaining a wide diversity of species in each ecosystem is necessary to preserve all living things. The loss of biodiversity could be devastating."It is wrong to think that biodiversity can be reduced indefinitely without threatening humans," said Harvard University biologist Edward O Wilson,known as "the father of biodiversity".He warned,"We are about to reach a critical point beyond which biodiversity loss will be unavoidable." But what can we do? The problem is that the concept of biodiversity is so vague.People might care about giant pandas,but it is much harder to excite them about the fate of tiny sea creatures which are being boiled to death in the cooling systems of power stations along coastlines.The Guardian newspaper is trying to help.It has started the Biodiversity 100 campaign to try to convince governments around the world to take action to deal with the widespread concerns about biodiversity.This includes persuading the UK government to create a series of marine reserves to change the decrease in the sea-life caused by industrial... What can we infer from the passage? A) Plenty of marine reserves have been set up in the world. B) Fishing sharks is illegal around the world. C) It's harmful to catch tiny organisms in the river. D) The Guardian newspaper has done a lot for biodiversity.
D
(Question)
Advertisers tend to think big and perhaps this is why they're always coming in for criticism. Their critics seem to resent them because they have a gift for self-promotion and because they have so much money to throw around. " It's unfair," they say, " that this entirely unproductive industry (if we can call it that) should absorb millions of pounds each year. It only goes to show how much profit the big companies are making. Why don't they stop advertising and reduce the price of their goods? After all, it's the consumer who pays." The poor old consumer! He'd have to pay a great deal more if advertising didn't create mass markets for products. It is precisely because of the heavy advertising that consumer goods are so cheap. But we get the wrong idea that the only purpose of advertising is to sell goods. Another equally important function is to inform. A great deal of the knowledge we have about household goods comes largely from the advertisements we read. Advertisements introduce us to new products or remind us of the existence of ones we already know about. Supposing you wanted to buy a washing machine, it is more likely that you would obtain details about performance, price, etc., from an advertisement. Lots of people pretend that they never read advertisements, but this claim may be seriously doubted. It is hardly possible not to read advertisements these days. And what fun they often are, too! Just think what a railway station or a newspaper would be like without advertisements. Would you enjoy gazing at a blank wall or reading only closely-printed columns of news in your daily paper? A cheerful, witty advertisement makes such a difference to a dull wall or a newspaper full of the daily amount of great disasters. We must not forget, either, that advertising makes a positive contribution to our pockets. Newspapers, commercial radio and television companies could not survive without this source of income. The fact that we pay so little for our daily paper, or can enjoy so many broadcast... In what way does the writer try to support his view? A) Comparison. B) Description. C) Narration. D) Definition.
(Answer)
A
Ques: Cats and dogs aren't usually friendly but they can work together well when there's a common goal. Matt Hirst's pets were recently caught on camera conspiring to open the kitchen door while the master was away. According to his post on Reddit, Hirst -- who lives in the U.K. -- had been arriving home all week to notice one of the doors open, even though he knew he shut it before he left. After the fourth time the door was open he decided to set up a hidden camera. "The first time, I assumed I just must have left the door open. The second time, I checked the whole house thinking that someone was breaking in (and began to suspect the cat). The third time I figured it must be the cat, and decided to catch him out, so set the camera up and left it going all day," he wrote. Just three hours after leaving the house, the cat jumps up onto a scratch tower and starts pawing at the door. It takes the cat just over a minute to finally break through and then both cat and dog escape to the other side. Which of the following about cats and dogs are true? A) Cats and dogs can never work together. B) Cats and dogs can be friends if they work together. C) Cats and dogs can get along well with each other if they live under the same roof. D) Cats and dogs can cooperate with each other in order to finish something.
Ans: D
One day, Jack threw some papers on my desk. "What's wrong?" I asked. "Next time you want to change anything, ask me first," he said, and left. I had made just one small change. But it's not that I hadn't been warned. My colleagues had said he was responsible for the resignations of the two previous secretaries. As the weeks went by, I came to look down on Jack. After another of his episodes had left me in tears I stormed into his office. "what?" he said suddenly. "Jack, the way you've been treating me is wrong. I've never had anyone speak to me that way. As a professional, it's wrong for me to allow it to continue," I said. Jack smiled nervously, "Susan, I make you a promise that I will be a friend. I will treat you as you deserve to be treated, with respect and kindness." Jack avoided me the rest of the week, and never questioned my work again. I brought cookies to the office one day and left some on his desk. Another day I left a note: "Hope your day is going great. " Over the next few weeks, there were no more Jack episodes. One year later I discovered I had breast cancer, and was scared. The statistics were not great for my long-term survival. One day, however, Jack visited me in the hospital and silently handed me a bundle with several bulbs inside. "Tulips ," he said. I smiled, not understanding. "If you plant them when you get home, they'll come up next spring. I think you will be there to see them when they come up. Next spring you will see the colours I picked out for you." Tears clouded my eyes and he left. I have seen those red and white striped tulips push through the soil every spring for over ten years now. This past September the doctor declared me cured. At a moment when I was praying for just the right word, a man with very few words said all the right things. After all, that's what friends do. From the passage, we can conclude that _ . A) Jack cares about his employees B) Jack gets along well with his employees C) Jack is always particular about his work D) Jack doesn't care about the feelings of others
A