input with options: Read the following article and answer the question. Article: The idea of micropayments--- charging Web users tiny amounts of money for single pieces of online content--- was basically put to sleep toward the end of the dot-com boom. In December 2000, Clay Shirky, a professor in New York University's interactive telecommunications program , wrote a manifesto that people still quote whenever someone suggests using the idea. "Micropayments will never work," he wrote, mainly because "users hate them." But wait. Without many people noticing, micropayments have arrived--- just not in the way they were originally imagined. The 99 cents you pay for a song on the Internet is a micropayment. So are the tiny amounts that some operators of small web sites can earn whenever someone clicks on the ads on their pages. Some stock-photography companies sell pictures for as little as $1 each. "Micropayments are here" said Benjamin M. Companie, a lecturer atprefix = st1 /NortheasternUniversity, "they just have not developed in the way that everybody expected." From the earliest days of the Web until around the time of Mr Shirky's manifesto, the expectation was that a handful of companies would provide platforms---or perhaps a single platform--- that would enable Web users to pay a penny or a dollar for a bit of content such as a newspaper article, or a research report. Simply clicking a link would complete the transaction . Sellers of content--- at the time, newspaper companies---were among the most interested in the idea as they looked for tax income that didn't depend on advertising. Question: Mr. Shirky predicted that _ . Answer:
OPTIONS:
- companies on the Internet would earn a lot of money
- Web users would never pay for the websites
- it was impossible to visit websites for free
- all the companies on the Internet would go bankrupt .
output: Web users would never pay for the websites

input with options: Read the following article and answer the question. Article: We can see how the product life cycle works by looking at the introduction of instant coffee. When it was introduced, most people did not like it as well as "regular" coffee, and it took several years to gain general acceptance(introduction stage).At one point, though, instant coffee grew rapidly in popularity, and many brands were introduced(stage of rapid growth). After a while, people became attached to one brand and sales leveled off(stage of maturity). Sales went into a slight decrease when freeze-dried coffees were introduced(stage of decline). The importance of the product life cycle to marketers is this: Different stages in the product life cycle call for different strategies. The goal is to extend product life so that sales and profits do not drop. One strategy is called market modification. It means that marketing managers look for new users and market sections. Did you know, for example, that the backpacks that so many students carry today were originally designed for the soldiers? Market modification also means searching for increased usage among present customers or going for a different market, such as senior citizens. A marketer may re-position the product to appeal to new market sections. Another product extension strategy is called product modification. It involves changing product quality, features, or style to attract new users or more usage from present users. American auto manufacturers are using quality improvement as one way to regain world markets. Note, also, how auto manufacturers once changed styles eagerly from year to year to keep demand from falling. Question: In order to attract more consumers, U.S. auto makers are _ . Answer:
OPTIONS:
- modernizing product style
- increasing product features
- developing products of better quality
- re-positioning their product in the market
output: developing products of better quality

input with options: Read the following article and answer the question. Article: Hi Hongbo, I'm so glad to read about the changes talking place in your city. It's really good news that you can travel by subway in Xi'an, though there's only one line there. Here in London we have twelve lines. By the way, we don't use the word "subway" here. It's American English. We call it "the Underground", instead. The London Underground is very famous. It's famous for several reasons. First of all, part of the underground railway today is the oldest in the world, which opened in 1863. Secondly, the London Underground is also the first line to have electric trains, in 1890. Thirdly but not the last, the London Underground is the second largest metro system in the world, after the Shanghai Metro. There are 270 stations in the Underground and it has 402 kilometres oftracks . What's more, the city of London itself helps make the transportation system famous! I've got a few photos to help you build a clear picture of the Underground in my city. They are together with this mail. In your email, you also said workers were building more lines. I'm sure your city is developing fast. Maybe you can send me a few photos of your city today. I really want to see the changes taking place there. I'm happy for you to live there in an ancient city with such a new look! So much for now. I'll write soon again. Best wishes! Question: In the email, the words "subway", "underground", and "metro" mean _ . Answer:
OPTIONS:
- three different things
- two different things
- almost the same thing
- nothing like each other
output: almost the same thing

input with options: Read the following article and answer the question. Article: The Nobels are the originals, of course. Alfred Nobel, the man who invented deadly explosives,decided to try and do something good with all the money he earned, and gave prizes to people who made progress in literature, science, economics and ---perhaps most importantly---peace. Not all rewards are as noble as the Nobels. Even though most countries have a system of recognizing, honoring and rewarding people who have done something good in their countries, there are now hundreds of awards and award ceremonies for all kinds of things. The Oscars are probably the most famous--a time for the (mostly)American film industry to tell itself how good it is and an annual opportunity for lots of big stars to give each other awards and make tearful speeches. As well as that there are also the Golden Globes, evidently for the same thing. But it's not only films---there are also Grammies, Brits, the Mercury Prize and the MTV for music. In Britain, a writer who wins the Booker Prize can expect to see their difficult, literary novel hit the bestseller lists and compete with the Da Vinci Code for popularity. The Turner Prize is an award for British contemporary artists---each year it causes controversy by apparently giving lots of money to artists who do things like displaying their beds, putting animals in glass cases or---this year---building a garden shed. Awards don't only exist for arts. There are now awards for Sports Personality of the Year, for European Footballer of the Year and World Footballer of the Year. This seems very strange---sometimes awards can be good to give recognition to people who deserve it, or to help people who don't make a lot of money carry on their work without worrying about finances, but professional soccer players these days certainly aren't short of cash! Many small towns and communities all over the world also have their own award ceremonies, for local writers or artists, or just for people who have graduated from high school or, got a university degree. Even the British Council... Question: Which of the following awards is debatable according to the passage? Answer:
OPTIONS:
- the Turner Prize
- The Booker Prize
- The Mercury Prize.
- The Oscars.
output:
the Turner Prize