Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Comfort is comforting, but it might narrow our experience at work -- and beyond. In our modern world, discomfort is considered a terrible thing. If not terrible, at least a thing of the past. Dishwashers, washing machines, computers, remote controls--yes, they add convenience, but also a level of comfort our forefathers did not enjoy. As pain of any kind discourages happiness, we tend to reason, anything that compromises our ability to feel good must be bad. And that's also particularly true for our careers. Success makes us feel great, not terrible. Such a view, however, is a matter of personal opinion. And it may blind us to hidden opportunities. Artists throughout history have tried to experience suffering, instinctively if not consciously, to produce works that explore the darker hidden sides of the human condition. This was done, in part, because pain is a reality of life for everybody in some form at some time. Pain is something everybody can relate to. And pain makes a person very present. For such artists, to relieve or to deny pain would be to block the creative thinking, which drives them to explore and express. In fact, Germans have a term for this melancholia, " _ ", which means "suffering from the world." Writers, from Lord Byron to Kurt Vonnegut, have used the term to describe the psychological pain encountered along life's roller-coaster journey. It was not to be avoided; it was to be understood, investigated and employed. So I propose that discomfort is good for us. Or, put another way, it tells us that something needs to be addressed. It stretches us by forcing us to view our circumstances through a wholly different lens. Because we're drawn to safety and security, we do our best to create pleasant comfort zones for ourselves and our loved ones through the cars we drive, the homes we live in, and the places we work. But by resisting discomfort, we deny ourselves an important opportunity: the chance to shake ourselves out of our predictable perspectives and allow ourselves to make... Question: The term "Weltschmerz" couldn't be used to describe something like _ . Options: A: social inequality B: mass killings C: racial discrimination D: great achievements
D

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Rabbits are easy to raise. They are clean and quiet. They don't need a lot of room. And it costs a small amount of money to feed them, but you can get a big return. One male and two females will produce as many as fifty more rabbits in a year. That is enough to provide enough meat for a family. Rabbit meat is high in protein and low in fat. You don't have to be a farmer to raise rabbits. You can raise them in the city. Rabbit houses are easy to make with wood and wire. They don't have to be very big. But each rabbit must have its own little room in the house. This is very important. Each room should be about 75 centimeters wide, 60 centimeters high and one meter deep. Fencing is used for the sides and floor of the rabbit house. The holes in the wire fencing should be about one centimeter square. Waste from the animals will drop through the holes. This keeps the rabbit house clean and dry. Rabbits need a lot of fresh air and sunlight. Cover the sides of the rabbit house only to protect it from rain. Rabbits eat mostly grass and leaves. Hang feeding containers on the outside of the house to let the rabbits eat whenever they want. They simply pull the grass and leaves through the holes in the fence. Each room should have fresh water. The water containers should be heavy so the rabbit cannot turn them over. Or you can tie the containers to the fence. One month after mating , female rabbits give birth to about eight babies. In two months, a baby rabbit should weigh about two kilograms. This is big enough to make a meal for a small family. Rabbits are also valuable for their fur. It takes time, skill and money to prepare the fur and skin for use. If you have only a few rabbits, it probably would be best to let a tanner prepare the fur for you. Skill is also needed to remove the fur from the rabbit. _ . Many people enjoy keeping rabbits as friendly pets. And rabbit waste makes an excellent fertilizer . It can be mixed directly into the soil to improve the growth of vegetables, trees, and flowering plants. Question: The text is written mainly _ . Options: A: to explain why rabbits are clean and quiet B: to let people know more about rabbits C: to tell readers how to raise rabbits D: to introduce a small friendly animal pet
C

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: The income gap between China's rural and urban residents has continued to widen during the past few years in spite of rapidly rising rural incomes, Agricultural Minister Sun Zhengcai said here on Wednesday. The income ratio between urban and rural residents was 3.28:1 in 2006, against 3.23:1 in 2003, said Sun in his report on the promotion of building a new countryside in 2007. Sun also said the net income of rural residents in different regions also varied widely. The income gap is only one of several problems in rural areas, according to Sun's report. While listing the achievements in rural areas in recent years, Sun believed that rural development still followed behind urban development. "We have bigger pressure to ensure the supply of major agricultural products such as grain," he said. "China's urbanization has been speeded up and more rural residents have gone to urban areas," he said. "In this case, more agricultural producers become farm produce consumers, which created more pressure for supply," he said. Another problem facing China's agricultural development is _ application of science and technology. "Only 30 percent of scientific and technological achievements have been applied to agricultural production, which is 40 percentage points lower than developed countries," he said. Despite increased government spending in rural areas, the infrastructure is still poor and easily hit by disasters. According to Sun, the government spent 431.8 billion yuan ($59.15 billion) on agriculture, rural areas and farmers this year, an increase of 80.1 billion yuan over the previous year. China set aside 11.38 billion yuan to promote a new rural cooperative medical care system and 27.98 billion yuan to support the new compulsory education mechanism in rural area to ensure that all citizens shared the fruits of China's reform and opening-up, Sun said. Question: Which is NOT the problem in rural areas? Options: A: The income gap B: The inadequate application of science and technology C: The supply of major agricultural products D: China's urbanization
D