Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Down-to-earth means being honest, open, and easy to deal with. It is a pleasure to find someone who is down-to-earth. A person who is down-to-earth is easy to talk to. He or she accepts others as equals. A down-to-earth person may be an important member of society, of course, but they do not let their importance go to their heads, and they do not consider themselves to be better than others who are less important. Someone who is filled with self-importance and pride, often without cause, is said to have his nose in the air. There is no way a person with his nose in the air can be down-to-earth. Americans use another expression that is similar in some way to down-to-earth. The expression is both feet on the ground. Someone with both feet on the ground is a person with a good understanding of reality. He has what is called common sense. He may have dreams but he does not allow them to block his knowledge of what is real. The opposite kind of person is one who has his head in the clouds. A man with his head in the clouds is a dreamer whose mind is not in the world. Sometimes such a dreamer can be brought back to reality; sharp words from the teacher, for example, can usually get a daydreaming student to put both feet back on the ground. The person who is down-to-earth usually has both feet on the ground. _ . Someone with both feet on the ground may not be as open and easy to deal with as someone who is down-to-earth. When we have both our feet firmly on the ground, we are realistic and we act honestly and openly toward others, and our lives are like the ground below us, solid and strong. Question: From the passage, we can infer the person who is _ is the most popular kind of person. Options: A: down-to-earth B: standing on the ground C: with his nose in the air D: with his head in the clouds
A

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: In the early days of the Internet, the idea that it represented an entirely new and separate field distinct from the real world was seized upon by both supporters and critics of the new technology.Supporters liked the idea that the virtual world was a placeless datasphere, liberated from constraints and restrictions of the real world, and an opportunity for a fresh start.For instance, John Perry Barlow, an internet activist, issued the "Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace" in February 1996.He thundered, "Governments of the industrial world, I come from cyberspace, the new home of mind.Cyberspace does not lie within your borders.We are creating a world that all may enter without privilege or prejudice accorded by race, economic power, military force, or station of birth. Where Mr.Barlow found the separation between the real and virtual worlds exciting, however, critics regarded it as a cause for concern.They worried that people were spending too much time online, communicating with people they had never even met in person in chat rooms, virtual game worlds and, more recently, on social - networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.A study carried out by the Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society in 2000, for example, found that heavy internet users spent less time talking to friends and family, and warned that the Internet could be "the ultimate isolating( ) technology". Both groups were wrong, of course.The Internet has not turned out to be a thing apart.Unpleasant aspects of the real world, such as taxes, crime and cheating are now characteristics of the virtual world, too.C'amers who make real money selling swords, gold and other things in virtual game worlds may now find that the tax man wants to know about it.Designers of virtual objects in Second Life, an online virtual world, are seeking to real -world lawsuits in order to protect their intellectual property. At the same time, however, some of the most exciting uses of the Internet rely on combining it with the real... Question: According to the passage, internet supporters believed that _ . Options: A: cyberspace liberated the real world B: the virtual world was a place without boundaries C: cyberspace can be entered by anyone for free D: the Internet stood for progress of technology
B

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: I have lived and worked in Slovakia for about three years. And I have talked to many people who had been working overseas for quite a long time. Here are some of the things that I have found helpful to anyone preparing to live or work abroad. Hopefully these tips will help. Research: Knowing about the geography and history of the place will help a lot. You don't have to be an expert but just know the basics. If you're going to be living there it is worth the effort. Find someone you trust at home: Find a friend or you really trust at home to handle things that you might have to deal with when you're abroad. My parents were great at helping me with many things. They have been great at helping me to move to Slovakia and come back to the United States. Live simply: Learning to live on a small amount of money is a skill. It takes time. Living abroad can be expensive, so being able to live simply will help with costs. The other thing is that having lots of things to carry around is annoying. Try to experience the culture: Be open-minded and try your best to really experience the culture. Learn the language, hang out with the natives and try to have fun. You may not like everything but making an effort will help you make new friends and make life more enjoyable. Learning the language can be a challenge but most local people will see it as a sign of respect if you try, not only that it is just a cool way to impress your friends when they come to visit. Question: By going out with the natives, we can _ . Options: A: make more friends B: impress our friends C: learn the native language easily D: gain the respect of the local people
A

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Few, if any, instruments shape national culture more powerfully than the materials used in schools. Textbooks are not only among the first books most people meet; in many places they are, along with religious texts, almost the only books they have. A study in South Africa showed that fewer than half of pupils had access to more than ten books at home. In 2010 a study by Egypt's government found that, apart from school textbooks, 88% of Egyptian households read no books. The degree to which a government keeps control of the textbooks used in classrooms is a good guide to its commitment to ideological control. Where that desire is strong, governments are likely to produce the textbooks themselves or define carefully what goes into them. America's State Department employs people to keep an eye on other countries' textbooks, in an effort to understand better how their people think and what their governments want them to think. Other countries probably do the same. Textbooks have long been a source of worry. After the attacks on America on September 11th 2001, some in both America and Saudi Arabia, including officials, supposed that Saudi Arabia's curriculum of intolerance was responsible, at least in part, for the emergence of al-Qaeda . Sometimes the requirements of the state are more clearly seen in what textbooks leave out. The world has long criticized Japan for the way its textbooks whitewash the country's history, in particular dressing up Japanese war crimes. The "New History Textbook", for example, which was submitted for government approval in 2000, played down Japan's aggression in the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-95 and the occupation of China in the 1930s and 1940s, and avoided mention of the use of sex slaves by its armies or the rape of Nanjing. In America most of the disputes about textbooks are home-grown. Liberals worry that their children are being taught a nationalistic version of history that emphasizes the wonders of industrialization... Question: The author's purpose of writing this passage is_. Options: A: to present his findings of the importance of textbooks B: to inform the readers of present practices of textbooks C: to explore the contribution of the government to textbooks D: to argue against the government in the control of textbooks
B