Question: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Few laws are so effective that you can see results just days after they take effect. But in the nine days since the federal cigarette tax more than doubled----to $1.01 per pack---smokers have jammed telephone 'quit lines' across the country seeking to kick the habit. This is not a surprise to public health advocates. They've studied the effect of state tax increases for years, finding that smokers, especially teens, are price sensitive. Nor is it a shock to the industry, which fiercely fights every tax increase. The only wonder is that so many states insist on closing their ears to the message. Tobacco taxes improve public health, they raise money and most particularly, they _ people from taking up the habit as teens, which is when nearly all smokers are addicted. Yet the rate of taxation varies widely. In Manhattan, for instance, which has the highest tax in the nation, a pack of Marlboro Light Kings cost $10.06 at one drugstore Wednesday. In Charleston, S.C., where the 7-cent-a-pack tax is the lowest in the nation, the price was $4.78. The influence is obvious. In New York, high school smoking hit a new low in the latest surveys----13.8%, far below the national average. By comparison, 26 % of high school students smoke in Kentucky, Other low-tax states have similarly depressing teen-smoking records. Hal Rogers, Representative from Kentucky, like those who are against high tobacco taxes, argues that the burden of the tax falls on low-income Americans "who choose to smoke." That's true. But there is more reason in keeping future generations of low-income workers from getting hooked in the first place. As for today's adults, if the new tax drives them to quit, they will have more to spend on their families, cut their risk of cancer and heart disease and feel better. Question: The text is mainly about _ . Options: A: the price of cigarettes B: the rate of teen smoking C: the effect of tobacco tax increase D: the differences in tobacco tax rate
Answer: C

Question: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Imagine that the genome is a book.The book consists of 23 chapters with thousands of stories made up of paragraphs, words and letters on different levels.There are one billion words in the book, as long as 800 Bibles; if I read the genome out to you at the rate of one word per second for eight hours a day, it would take me centuries; if I wrote out the human genome, one letter per millimeter, my text would be as long as the River Danube.This is a huge volume, a book of great length, but it all fits inside an extremely small cell nuclear that fits easily upon the head of a pin. The idea of the genome as a book is not, strictly speaking, even a metaphor.It is true to a great extent.A book is a piece of digital information, written in one-directional form and defined by a code that translates a small alphabet of signs into a large dictionary of meanings through the order of their groupings.So is a genome.The only difference is that all English books read from left to right, while some parts of the genome read from left to right while some from right to left, but never both at the same time. While English books are written in words of different lengthens using twenty-six letters, genomes are written entirely in words of three-letter length, using only four letters, and instead of being written on flat pages, they are written on long chains of DNA molecules . The genome is a very clever book, because in the right condition it can both photocopy itself and read itself. Question: We can learn from the passage that the human genome _ . Options: A: is as long as the River Danube B: can be easily placed on the head of a pin C: is coded with an alphabet of four letters D: is smart enough to read and take photos of itself
Answer: C

Question: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Some pessimistic experts feel that the automobile is bound to fall into disuse. They see a day in the not-too-distant future when all autos will be abandoned and allowed to rust. Other authorities, however, think the auto is here to stay. They hold that the car will remain a leading means of urban travel in the foreseeable future. The motorcar will undoubtedly change significantly over the next 30 years. It should become smaller, safer, and more economical, and should not be powered by the gasoline engine. The car of the future should be far more pollution-free than present types. Regardless of its power source, the auto in the future will still be the main problem in urban traffic congestion ( ). One proposed solution to this problem is the automated highway system. When the auto enters the highway system, a retractable ( ) arm will drop from the auto and make contact with a rail, which is similar to those powering subway trains electrically. Once attached to the rail, the car will become electrically powered from the system, and control of the vehicle will pass to a central computer. The computer will then monitor all of the car 's movements. The driver will use a telephone to dial instructions about his destination into the system. The computer will calculate the best route, and reserve space for the car all the way to the correct exit from the highway. The driver will then be free to relax and wait for the buzzer ( ) that will warn him of his coming exit. It is estimated that an automated highway will be able to handle 10,000 vehicles per hour, compared with the 1,500 to 2,000 vehicles that can be carried by a present-day highway. Question: What provides autos with electric power in an automated highway system? Options: A: A rail. B: An engine. C: A retractable arm. D: A computer controller.
Answer:
A