Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Some years ago I was offered a writing assignment that would require three months of travel through Europe. I had been abroad a couple of times,but I could hardly claim to know my way around the continent. Moreover, my knowledge of foreign languages was limited to a little college French. I hesitated. How would I, unable to speak the language, totally unfamiliar with local geography or transportation systems, set up interviews and do research? It seemed impossible, and with considerable regret. I sat down to write a letter begging off. Halfway through, a thought ran through my mind: you can't learn if you don't try. So I accepted the assignment. There were some bad moments. But by the time I had finished the trip I was an experienced traveler. And ever since,I have never hesitated to head for even the most remote of places,without guides or even advanced bookings, confident that somehow I will manage. The point is that the new, the different, is almost scary by definition. But each time you try something, you learn, and as the learning piles up, the world opens to you. I've learned to ski at 40, and flown up the Rhine River in a balloon. And I know I'll go on doing such things. It's not because I'm braver or more daring than others. I'm not. But I'll accept anxiety as another name for challenge and I believe I can accomplish wonders. Question: We can infer from the text that the author is _ . Options: A: awkward B: generous C: stubborn D: brave
D

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Tobacco companies are fighting efforts in the United States and Australia to make their products less appealing. In Washington, a federal judge last week blocked the Food and Drug Administration from requiring new warning labels on cigarette packs. Judge Richard Leon ruled in a case brought by five tobacco companies. The judge temporarily stopped a new federal rule which requires large new warnings starting next September. These include color1 images such as a dead body or diseased lungs. And simple text warnings now appear. Congress called for color1 images showing the dangers of smoking, similar to what Canada does. But the tobacco companies say the new requirements approved in June violate their free speech rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Judge Leon said the FDA could not require the new labels before a lawsuit against the government is decided. Some experts say the process could take years. The judge said he believed the cigarette makers were highly likely to win their case. He said the images should be designed to appeal to emotions, rejecting government arguments that they should be purely factual. He accused the government of trying to use the labels to promote an "obvious anti-smoking agenda?" The head of an anti-smoking group, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, called the decision "wrong on the science and wrong on the law". About one-fifth of American adults smoke. The World Health Organization says tobacco kills nearly six mil-lion people worldwide each year. More than six hundred thousand of them are non-smokers who breathe other people's tobacco smoke. In Australia, tobacco companies want to stop what would be the world's most restrictive laws on cigarette advertising. Cigarettes could be sold only in plain olive-green packages. Only the brand name and health warnings could appear. The Senate passed the bill last week and sent it back to the Lower House to approve minor amendments . The law is to go into effect in December of next year. Tobacco companies Say the legislation violates... Question: In 2013, what will Australian cigarettes probably look like? Options: A: Plain olive-green packages only with health warnings. B: Plain olive-green packages only with the brand name and health warnings. C: Plain packages with the brand name and health warnings. D: Plain packages with color1 images of a dead body or diseased lungs.
B

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: It was shortly before midnight, and Dr Patricia was getting ready for bed. The phone rang on the end of the line was a woman about to break a promise. The woman was her mother's neighbour. Flora Harris had made the neighbour swear she wouldn't tell her daughter she'd a heart attack and was in the hospital, for fear her daughter would worry. The neighbour wisely decided to disobey orders. Harris desperately wanted to get to the hospital immediately, but she couldn't. She lives in Washington, D.C, and her mother lives in California. For the past year a half, Harris has gone to Los Angeles every other month to take care of her mother. Flora Harris takes care of her husband, James, who's 91 and has Alzheimer's disease. They live in their own home, and a caregiver comes to help them a few hours a day. Harris is one of many Americans facing the heartache of how to take care of aging parents from afar. She's often worried, not to mention extremely busy with a demanding job, two teenage daughters and the frequent trips to California. In some ways, Harris is lucky. She has the resources to make the trips to Los Angeles. Plus, Harris is a doctor who treats the elderly. " But it's still tough," she said. " I can foresee what the next few years are going to look like, and it's not a pretty picture. My father's going to need diapers . There will come a time when he won' t recognize me and he's easily excited. I worry he's going to be violent and hurt my mother." So what do you do when you live a continent away for your aging, sick parents? There are no magic answers. You can hire someone to help, but you can't _ it completely. Question: Why was the woman thought to have broken a promise? Options: A: She failed to take care of Flora. B: She was not supposed to call Harris at midnight. C: She couldn't go to hospital on time. D: She told Harris about her mother's illness.
D

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Children brought up on healthy diets are more intelligent compared with their junk food eating partners, a new research suggests. Kids fed a diet packed high in fats, sugars, and processed foods had lower IQs than those fed pasta , salads and fruit, it was found. The effect is so great that researchers from the University of Bristol said those children with a "healthier" diet may get an IQ improvement. Scientists stressed good diet was essential in a child's early life as the brain grows at its fastest rate during the first three years of life. This indicated head growth at this time is linked to intellectual ability and "it is possible that good nutrition during this period may encourage excellent brain growth" . Scientists tracked the long term health and happiness of around 14,000 children born in 1991 and 1992 as part of the West Country's Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children ( ALSPAC) . Parents were questioned about the types and frequency of the food and drink their children consumed when they were three, four, seven and eight and a half years old. According to their different changing form, these children were marked and given grades which ranged from minus two for the most healthy to10 for the most unhealthy. In the research, IQ was measured of 4,000 children when they were eight and half years old, using a validated test-the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. The results found after taking account of some influential factors, a leading processed food diet at the age of three was associated with a lower IQ at the age of eight and a half , whether the diet was improved after that age. Every l point increase in dietary pattern score was associated with a l.67 fall in IQ. Question: Which of the following is NOT true? Options: A: Those children with a "healthier" diet may get an IQ improvement. B: Good nutrition at any stage may encourage excellent brain growth. C: Scientists tracked the long term health and happiness of about 14,000 children. D: Every l point increase in dietary pattern score was associated with a l.67 fall in IQ.
B