Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: This year some twenty-three hundred teenagers (young people aged from 13 to 19) from all over the world will spend about ten months in US homes. They will attend US schools, meet US teenagers, and form impressions of the real America. At the same time, about thirteen hundred American teenagers will go to other countries to learn new languages and gain a new understanding of the rest of the world. Here is a two-way student exchange in action. Fred, nineteen, spent last year in Germany with George's family. In turn, George's son Mike spent a year in Fred's home in America. Fred, a lively young man, knew little German when he arrived, but after two months' study, the language began to come to him. Schools were completely different from what he had expected--much harder. Students rose respectfully when the teacher entered the room. They took fourteen subjects instead of the six that are usual in the United States. There were almost no outside activities. Family life, too, was different. The father's word was law, and all activities were around the family rather than the individual . Fred found the food too simple at first. Also, he missed having a car. "Back home, you pick up some friends in a car and go out and have a good time. In Germany, you walk, but you soon learn to like it." At the same time, In America, Mike, a friendly German boy, was also forming his idea."I suppose I should criticize American schools," he says. "It is far too easy by our level. But I have to say that I like it very much. In Germany we do nothing but study. Here we take part in many outside activities. I think that maybe your schools are better in training for citizens . There ought to be some middle ground between the two. Question: Fred and Mike agreed that _ . Options: A: American food tastes better than German food. B: Americans and Germans were both friendly C: German schools were harder than American schools D: There were more cars on the streets in America
A: C

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: WASHINGTON - Barack Obama swept to victory as the first black president in the US history Tuesday night in an electoral college landslide that overcame racial barriers as old as America itself. "Change has come," he told a huge group of cheering supporters. In his first speech as victor, Obama catalogued the challenges ahead. "The greatest of a lifetime," he said, "two wars, a planet in danger, the worst financial crisis in a century." He added, "There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face." The son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas, the Democratic senator from Illinois sealed his historic triumph by defeating Republican Sen. John McCain in a string of wins in hard-fought battleground states -- Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Iowa and more. In his speech, Obama invoked the words of Lincoln and echoed John F. Kennedy. "So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder," he said. He and his running mate, Joseph Biden of Delaware, will take their oaths of office as president and vice president on Jan. 20, 2009. Obama will move into the Oval Office as leader of a country that is almost certainly in recession , and fighting two long wars, one in Iraq, the other in Afghanistan. Obama has said his first order of presidential business will be to tackle the economy. He has also pledged to withdraw most US combat troops from Iraq within 16 months. Question: What is special about Barack Obama, the newly-elected president of the United States? Options: A: He has a black father and a white mother. B: He is the first black president in the US history. C: He defeated Republican Sen. John McCain easily. D: He will move into the White Palace on Jan. 20, 2009.
A: B

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: prefix = st1 /Gland, Switzerland - Rivers on every continent are drying out, threatening severe water shortages, according to a new WWF report. The report, World's Top Rivers at Risk, released ahead of World Water Day (22 March), lists the top ten rivers that are fast dying as a result of climate change, pollution and dams. "All the rivers in the report symbolize the current freshwater crisis, which we have been signalling for years," says WWF Global Freshwater Programme Director Jamie Pittock. "Poor planning and inadequate protection of natural areas mean we can no longer assume that water will flow forever. Like the climate change crisis, which now has the attention of business and government, we want leaders to take notice of the emergency facing freshwater now not later." Five of the ten rivers listed in the report are in Asia alone. They are the Yangtze, Mekong, Salween, Ganges and Indus. Europe's Danube, the America'sLa Plataand Rio Grande/Rio Bravo, Africa's Nile-Lake Victoria andAustralia's Murray-Darling also make the list. Dams along the Danube River -- one of the longest flowing rivers in Europe -- have already destroyed 80 per cent of the river basin's wetlands and floodplains. Even without warmer temperatures threatening to melt Himalayan glaciers, the IndusRiverfaces scarcity due to over-extraction for agriculture. Fish populations, the main source of protein and overall life support systems for hundreds of thousands of communities worldwide, are also being threatened. The report calls on governments to better protect river flows and water allocations in order to safeguard habitats and people's livelihoods. "Conservation of rivers and wetlands must be seen as part and parcel of national security, health and economic success," Pittock adds. "Emphasis must be given to exploring ways of using water for crops and products that do not use more water than necessary." In addition, cooperative agreements for managing shared resources, such as the UN Watercourses Convention, must be ratified and given... Question: We can easily learn from the passage that _ . Options: A: the fresh water crisis will be out of control soon B: Asia is facing the most severe challenge of water shortage C: to better protect river flows and water allocations is the only solution D: fish populations are of vital importance to national economic success
A: B