Read the article and select the best answer. Article: *Geographic Championship August 9, 2007 - "What historic site was carved from sandstone in about 1200 B.C.? This site includes two huge temples and statues of an ancient ruler." That's the question that gave three students from prefix = st1 /Mexicovictory over teams fromCanadaand theUnited Statesin the final round of the English National Geographic World Championship, a biennial contest of geography knowledge. Fourteen other international teams competed in the event, which has been since 1993. Continued on Next Page >> *House fire put off Sept. 16, 2007 -- A home located at 240 Cexter AvenueinMeridencaught fire around 5:45 Sunday afternoon. When firefighters arrived at the scene, they found the first floor of the wood-frame house was in flames. The Meriden Fire Department had it under control by 6:47 pm. The house suffered such heavy damage that the electricity was cut off. The house has been declared unlivable until repairs can be made. There was no one in the house at the time. One firefighter was taken to MedicalCenterat 7:15 pm when he complained about not feeling well. Police are now looking into the cause of the fire. Continued on Next Page >> *Extinct languages Sept. 18, 2007 - In the vast outback of northern Australia, the native languages of the Aborigines are slowly dying. But a team of explorers and linguists are fighting to keep these dialects alive through the five - year Enduring Voices project, funded by the National Geographic Society. As the team tracks down speakers of these _ languages, including the only known speaker of a language long thought to be extinct, they learn why losing the wisdom of these mother tongues is a "tragedy for humanity." Continued on Next Page >> Question: How long did the fire last before firefighters stopped it from spreading? Options: A: About one and half hours B: About one hour C: Forty hours D: Two hours and a half
B

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: In a development that would have seemed hardly possible just over a decade ago, many of us have gained constant access to information. If we need to find out the score of a ballgame, learn how to perform a complicated mathematical task, or simply remember the name of the actress in the movie we are viewing, we need only turn to our laptops or smart phones and we can find the answers immediately. It has become such an ordinary practice to look up the answer to any question the moment it occurs. It can feel like going through withdrawal when we can't find out something immediately. We are seldom offline unless by choice and the Internet, with its search engines like Baidu and Google and the information stored there, has become an external memory source that we can access at any time. Storing information externally is nothing particularly new, even before the invention of computers. In any group relationship, people typically develop a transactive memory, which is a combination of memory stores held directly by individuals and the memory stores they can access because they are in touch with someone who knows that information. Like linked computers that can address each other's memories, people in groups form transactive memory systems. In a recent research led by Besty Sparrow of Columbia University, researchers have explored whether having online access to search engines has become a primary transactive memory source in itself. If asked the question whether there are any countries with only one color1 in their flag, for example,do we think about flagsor immediately think to go online to find out the answer? In one experiment,the participants were asked to read 40 memorable unimportant statements of the type that they could look up online (e. g.,an ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain). Then they were asked to type the statements into computer to assure memory. Half the participants believed the computer would save what was typed and the other half believed the item would be erased. After the reading and... Question: What can we learn from the passage? Options: A: Transactive memory is essential to the development of mankind. B: Search engines make us more curious and enthusiastic about new information. C: The Internet is the most important form of transactive memory. D: Changes in our memory processes serve as an adaptation to new technology.
D

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Yesterday was my first day of school. I had to wake up at 6 am and I had a bit of breakfast and got dressed in my school clothes. I got a service car to the Nile and crossed the Nile in a motor boat. Then it dropped me off at the Luxor museum and I walked to school which is at the back of the Luxor museum. By the time I got to school, it was 7 am. My mum came with me the first day. I got my school tie wrong. My tie was grey and everyone else's was red. The shop had sold me the wrong one. So I had to change it that evening. Everyone has mobile phones but theirs are better than mine. In the morning we did a stupid dance and sang the Egyptian national song. We had to hold on to each other's bag as we marched to class. We had English class and boring literature and then we had math. After math the teacher gave out the books we would need for all our lessons, all 22 of them. My bag was so heavy. We had a break at 12 and we could buy food and drink. It lasted for half an hour. I enjoyed English and science. Yesterday we finished at 2:15 pm and my dad picked me up. I finished my homework soon after school and I felt happy about that. Today, I had to go to school by myself. This morning I got there at 7:15 am. After school, I came back by myself in the motor boat again and got myself an ice cream while I was waiting for it. Today I had no homework to do. So, when I got home, I helped my mother with cooking. Question: On the first day of school, the writer _ . Options: A: wore a red tie B: didn't have a mobile phone C: was picked up by his dad D: had no homework at all
A: C

*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Imagine a stranger walking past you on a cold, rainy day. "Lovely weather, isn't it?" the stranger says. Do you laugh, or even smile? If not, you may not have a dry sense of humor. British people, and particularly the English, are well-known for our dry sense of humor. We often say the opposite of what we mean in order to be funny, and tell jokes in a tone of voice that makes it sound like we are being completely serious. As US writer Julian Tan put it on the HuffPost Students blog: "It is as if it is 'Opposite Day' every day in Britain." If the people of Britain are known for having a " _ " and not showing emotion, then our dry sense of humor shows this through jokes. Often it will take a long time or several beers, to get a British person to tell you what they actually think about something and get behind the wall of humorous sarcasm that they have in front of them. English comedian Ricky Gervais put it like this: "We play jokes on our friends. We use sarcasm as a shield and a weapon. We avoid being serious until it's absolutely necessary." It can be annoying and confusing if you haven't been raised with these types of jokes: "Why did he just say such a ridiculous thing? Is he making fun of me?" But it is also true that understanding this type of humor is a good way to make friends with people in the UK, even if you don't find it funny. It's important to remember that the person telling the joke may actually be making fun of himself or herself, not you. One of the characteristics of British humor is "its strong theme of self-deprecation" (making fun of oneself), according to Tan. So don't worry - often, English people, and British people in general, just want to make fun of themselves! Question: The passage is mainly about _ . Options: A: why British people like laughing at themselves B: some tips on how to make British people laugh C: the importance of humor in British culture D: what British humor is like
**Answer**
D