China is a country on the move--especially around its Lunar New Year holiday. This year, the holiday crush promises to be even heavier than before. Government officials estimate that Chinese people will take to the air, roads and railways 3.62 billion times over a 40-day period around the nation's most important holiday this year as people push their way home for family gatherings or to satisfy their new-found passion for travel. Getting tickets to all those would-be travelers is a _ challenge that annually tries patience. And it is the railway system that routinely is most unable to cope. Railways are the transport of choice for low-cost long-distance travel, and that's where the ticketing system routinely falls down. Much of the criticism has, focused on the railway's online purchasing system, which has been unable to keep pace with the huge demand and also failed to stop scalpers from ending up with many of the hard-to-find tickets. While insisting that online sales were the fairest way to get tickets for travelers, railway officials told reporters that the public need to be patient. Efforts were being made to provide online identity checks that would reduce the ticket scalping problems. While officials had little good news for rail passengers, they did manage to bring a few smiles to those traveling by car as the country's extremely expensive highway tolls will be free of charge for the period of the official holiday. Which of the following can best describe the author's attitude to the railway service? A) Objective. B) Doubtful. C) Satisfied D) Worried.
A
(Question)
For hundreds of millions of years, turtles have struggled out of the sea to lay their eggs on sandy beaches, long before there were nature documentaries to celebrate them, or GPS satellites and marine biologists to track them, or volunteers to hand-carry the hatchlings down to the water's edge lest (for fear that) they become disoriented by headlights and crawl towards a motel parking lot instead. A formidable wall of bureaucracy has been erected to protect their prime nesting on the Atlantic coastlines. With all that attention paid to them, you'd think these creatures would at least have the gratitude not to go extinct (die out). But Nature is indifferent to human notions of fairness, and a report by the Fish and Wildlife Service showed a worrisome drop in the populations of several species of North Atlantic turtles, notably loggerheads, which can grow to as much as 400 pounds. The South Florida nesting population, the largest, has declined by 50% in the last decade, according to Elizabeth Griffin, a marine biologist with the environmental group Oceana. The figures prompted Oceana to petition the government to upgrade the level of protection for the North Atlantic loggerheads from "threatened" to "endangered"-- meaning they are in danger of disappearing without additional help. Which raises the obvious question: what else do these turtles want from us, anyway? It turns out, according to Griffin, that while we have done a good job of protecting the turtles for the weeks they spend on land (as egg-laying females, as eggs and as hatchlings), we have neglected the years spend in the ocean. "The threat is from commercial fishing," says Griffin. Trawlers (which drag large nets through the water and along the ocean floor) and longline fishers (which can deploy thousands of hooks on lines that can stretch for miles) take a heavy toll on turtles. Of course, like every other environmental issue today, this is playing out against the background of global warming and human interference with natural ecosystems. The... What does the author mean by "Nature is indifferent to human notions of fairness" (Line 1, Para. 2)? A) Nature is quite fair regarding the survival of turtles. B) Turtles are by nature indifferent to human activities. C) The course of nature will not be changed by human interference. D) The turtle population has decreased in spite of human protection.
(Answer)
D
Ques: I spotted (;) him at the checkout counter, bagging at No.14. His arms shook violently as he placed a box of eggs into a plastic bag. He wore a name card upon which he had wiritten "Jerry" in kindergarten handwriting. He looked middle-aged but his mental age must have been about 12. Ever since I smiled at him the first time he bagged my groceries at my local supermarket, Jerry has followed me around like an adoring fan. His lack of boundaries makes me uncomfortable. I don't know how to avoid being noticed by him. I don't want to speak to the manager -- my complaint could get him fired. So I started avoiding him. I can still remember the hurt I felt when I was 10 and our neighbor Mrs. Ward didn't respond when I said hello with David and Diane. Instead, she hurried out of the supermarket, leaving me holding my brother and sister's hands. I realized at that moment that I hated Mrs. Ward's reaction. Why, then, years later, was I acting as she had? I picked up a magazine Real Simple. The beautiful photos did nothing to straighten out the guilt in me. I was being ridiculous. The last three times I have seen Jerry, I rushed. There are other stores, but I chose this one because it employs people with disabilities. I want people like my brothers to have jobs. I don't want them to be ignored, the way I am avoiding Jerry. We can infer from the text that _ . A) there are many people like Mrs. Ward B) the store the author visited treated the disabled equally C) most employees in the supermarket are disabled D) the store manager ignored people with disabilities
Ans: B
Ques: The best family vacations are the ones where everyone is entertained and everyone gets along Not sure how to do that,especially if traveling with kids is involved? A travel agent is your answer. A travel agent can recommend the best destinations,resorts and cruises for family-friendly vacations.For vacations with kids,simply share the interests of your children as well as what the adults going on the vacation enjoy doing, and your travel egent can put together the ideal trip for your family,with activities and kids' clubs for the children and entertainment for the adults. Travel agents can even arrange trustworthy childeare,so you can have a kids-free evening on your vacation. Travel agents can also help plan memorable pleasure trips during your vacation.They can advise on the best water parks and get you front-of-the line tickets, or they can give tips on what time to visit certain natural wonders for the best views and fewer crowds. They can also recommend which restaurants are the most family-friendly and take care of the reservations for you. Vacations for kids can be stressful enough (packing,keeping everyone entertained on the plane ride,finding kid--friendly foods, etc)without having the added worry of "what if something goes wrong?''A travel agent will take over if any accident occurs on your trip and will spend time calling companies and researching options until your problem is solved-whether that means you need to re-book a flight or find a trustworthy doctor for your child who has suddenly come down with an illness. Finally, a travel agent will make it easier to bond with your family by recommending the perfect vacation for your family's interests and needs. By taking the planning stress and trip organization off you and giving it to a travel agent, you'll be able to simply enjoy spending time with your family. What is the text trying to persuade you to do? A) To choose the travel destination from the travel agent B) To leave your kids behind when travelling C) To arrange your trip with the help of the travel agent. D) To stay home and spend more time with your family
Ans:
C