Steve and Yaser first met in their chemistry class at an American university. Yaser was an international student from Jordan. He wanted to learn more about American culture and hoped that he and Steve would become good friends. At first, Steve seemed very friendly. He always greeted Yaser warmly before class. Sometimes he offered to study with Yaser. He even invited Yaser to have lunch with him. But after the term was over, Steve seemed distant. The two former classmates didn't see each other very often at school. One day Yaser decided to call Steve. Steve didn't seem very interested in talking to him. Yaser was hurt by Steve's change of attitude. "Steve said we were friends," Yaser complained, "and I thought friends were friends forever." Yaser was a little confused. As a foreigner, he doesn't understand the way Americans view friendship. Americans use the word "friend" in a very general way. They may call both casual acquaintances(;) and close companions "friends". These friendships are based on common interests. When the shared activity ends, the friendship may fade . Now as Steve and Yaser are no longer classmates, their "friendship" has changed. In some cultures friendship means a strong lifelong bond between two people. In these cultures friendships develop slowly, since they are built to last. American society is one of rapid change. Studies show that one out five American families moves every year. American friendships develop quickly, and _ may change just quickly as well. People from the United States may at first seem friendly. Americans often chat easily with strangers. But American friendliness is not always an offer of true friendship. After an experience like Yaser's , people who've been in this country for only a few months may consider Americans to be fickle . Learning how Americans view friendship can help non-Americans avoid misunderstandings. It can also help them make friends in the American way. This passage mainly tells us _ . A) that people should not make friends with Americans. B) that everyone needs friends. C) the importance of keeping friendships D) how Americans view friendship
D
(Question)
Scientists say they now have proof to support the old-fashioned advice that it's best to sleep on a problem. They say sleep strengthens the memory and helps the brain organize the masses of information we receive each day. Lead researcher Bob Stickgold at the Harvard Medical School said, "Sleep helps us draw rules from our experiences. It's like knowing the difference between dogs and cats even if it's hard to explain." The US research team studied how well students remembered connections between words and symbols , reports New Scientist. They compared how the students performed if they had had a sleep between seeing the words and having the test, and if they had not slept. They found that people were better able to remember lists of related words after a night's sleep than after the same time spent awake during the day. They also found it easier to remember themes that the words had in common. But they forgot around one in four more themes if they had been awake. Prof. John Groeger, of Surrey University's Sleep Research Centre, said, "People have been trying for years to find out what the purpose of sleep is, as we know that only certain parts of it have a restorative value. " "We form and store huge numbers of experiences in the head every day, and sleep seems to be the way the brain deals with it all." In the study by the US research team, students were asked to _ . A) put together words of similar meanings B) remember words and their meanings C) show their knowledge of words D) make up lists of related words
(Answer)
B
Ques: Once upon a time, there was a spider with the name Anansi. He knew that he was very clever but he also knew he wasn't wise. He didn't like this, but he did not know what to do. One day he had an idea. He went around the village with a basket and asked each person to give him some of their wisdom. The people laughed at Anansi because they knew that he needed wisdom the most. So each person put a bit in his basket and wished him good luck. Soon his basket was full, but Anansi was worried that his neighbors might be jealous( ) of his wisdom and take it from him. He decided to hide it at the top of a tall tree. When he had tied the basket to the front part of his body, he tried to climb the tree, but it was too difficult. He tried again and again with out success. Then his youngest son walked by. "What are you doing, father?" he asked and Anansi told him." Why don't you carry the basket on your back instead?" his son said. Anansi put the basket on his back and climbed the tree easily, but he wasn't happy. "I walked all over the village and collected so much wisdom that I am the wisest person ever, but my baby son is still wiser than me. Take back your wisdom!" he said. And he threw the basket of wisdom into the air and went home. And that's how wisdom went all over the world. Anansi wanted to get his wisdom from _ . A) his son B) his father C) the villagers D) the neighbors
Ans: C
Anyone who has worn a cast knows that rebuilding muscle strength once the cast is removed can be difficult. Now researchers at the Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute (OMNI) at Ohio University have found that the mind is _ in maintaining muscle strength following a long period of not moving and that mental imagination may be key in reducing the associated muscle loss. Strength is controlled by a number of factors----the most studied by far is skeletal muscle. However, the nervous system is also an important, though not fully understood, determining factor of strength and weakness. Brian C. Clark and colleagues set out to test how the system functions in strength development. They designed an experiment to measure changes in wrist muscle strength in three groups of healthy adults. Twenty-nine subjects wore a hard cast that extended from just below the elbow past the fingers, effectively preventing the hand and wrist from moving, for four weeks. Fifteen subjects who did not wear casts served as the control group. Of the 29 people wearing a hard cast, half were asked to regularly perform an exercise, imagining they were strongly contracting their wrist for five seconds and then resting for five seconds. This was repeated four times in a row followed by a one-minute break for a total of 13 rounds per session and five sessions per week. The other half performed no imagination exercises. At the end of the four-week experiment, both groups who wore casts had lost strength in their unmoving limbs when compared to the control group. But the group that performed imagination exercises lost 50% less strength than the non-imagination group. The nervous system's ability to fully make the muscle recover also returned more quickly in the imagination group compared to the non-imagination group. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage? A) Scientists have partly understood the nervous system. B) Whoever has worn a cast for long may have difficulty in muscle recovery. C) Scientists have already spent a lot of time in studying skeletal muscle. D) The number of the subjects in the experiment was 29 in all.
D