Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Washington: A research conducted at the University of Maryland looks at the numerous complex reasons as to why young children decide to include or exclude other kids from their group of friends. It suggests that the kids' decision-making process is much more complex than previously believed. "They take into account group information, ranging from cliques and networks, when deciding what makes a group work well. Sometimes kids are excluded because they lack social skills, but a lot of time it has nothing to do with that. Instead it has to do with what we refer to as 'group membership' such as gender, race, nation, and culture," says Professor Melanie Killen, the Associate Director of the Centre for Children Relationships and Culture at Maryland, who led the 4-year project. Reporting their findings in the journal, the researcher said whatever was the reason, individuals who experienced long-term exclusion from the group of friends suffered from depression, anxiety and loneliness. The study looked at two models to define how children make decisions regarding acceptance of other kids in their group -- the individual social _ model and the inter-group social cognition model. While the former says that children's rejection occurs due to social deficits like shyness, wariness or fearfulness, the latter says that it happens because of group dynamics, prejudice and exclusion. It was also found that the age of children was also a factor that influenced their decisions regarding other kids' acceptance as friends. "With age, kids become more aware of group dynamics, conventions, customs, and rituals. With this comes a greater concern about group functioning, which can lead to exclusion which can be negative from a social justice viewpoint," says Killen. The researcher believes that her study may have many benefits, as it could provide insights into how to help when children are rejected by their peers. Question: While making friends, kids think more about the following EXCEPT _ . - social skills - culture - race - gender
social skills

Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Imagine, one day,getting out of bed in Beijing and being at your office in Shanghai in only a couple of hours,and then,after a full day of work,going back home to Beijing and having dinner there. Sounds unusual,doesn't it? But it's not that unrealistic,with the development of China's high-speed railway system.And that's not all.China has an even greater high-speed railway plan -- to connect the country with Southeast Asia,and eventually Eastern Europe. China is negotiating to extend its own high-speed railway network to up to 17 countries in 10 to 15 years,eventually reaching London and Singapore. China has proposed three such projects.The first would possibly connect Kunming with Singapore via Vietnam and Malaysia.Another could start in Urumqi and go through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan,and possibly to Germany.The third would start in the northeast and go north through Russia and then into Western Europe. If China's plan for the high-speed railway goes forward,people could zip over from London to Beijing in under two days. The new system would still follow China's high-speed railway standard.And the trains would be able to go 346 kilometers an hour. China's bullet train ,the one connecting Wuhan to Guangzhou,already has the World's fastest average speed.It covers 1,069 kilometers in about three hours. Of course,there are some technical challenges to overcome.There are so many issues that need to be settled,such as safety,rail gauge ,maintenance of railway tracks.So,it's important to pay attention to every detail. But the key issue is really money.China is already spending hundreds of billions of yuan on domestic railway expansion. China prefers that the other countries pay in natural resources rather than with capital investment.Resources from those countries could stream into China to sustain development. It'll be a win-win project. For other countries,the railway network will definitely create more opportunities for business,tourism and so on,not to mention the better communication among those countries. For... Question: According to the passage,the greatest challenge to the new high-speed railway plan is _ . - technical issues - safety of the system - financial problems - maintenance of railway tracks
financial problems

Q: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: If you do not use your arms or your legs some time, they become weak; when you start using them again, they slowly become strong again. Everybody knows this and nobody would think of questioning this fact. Yet there are many people who do not seem to know that memory works in the same way. When someone says that he has a good memory, he really means that he keeps his memory in practice by exercising it frequently either consciously or unconsciously. When someone else says that his memory is poor, he really means that he doesn't give it enough chances to become strong. If a friend complains that his arms and legs are weak, we know that it is his own fault. But if he tells us that he has a poor memory, many of us think his parents are to blame and that he is just unlucky, and few of us realize that it is just as much as his own fault as if it is his arms or legs that were weak. Question: This passage mainly tells us that _ . - one's memory can be trained - one should practise using his arms or legs more frequently - if someone has a good memory, he is usually lucky - it's his parents fault if he has a poor memory
A: one's memory can be trained

Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Please excuse me if I'm a little sad today. Mark is leaving, and I'm feeling kind of sad. You probably don't know Mark, but you might be lucky enough to know someone just like him. He's been the heart and soul of the office for a couple of years combining great professional skills with a sweet nature. He just wants to do his job, and to do it superbly well. And now he's moving on to an exciting new professional opportunity. It sounds like it could be the chance of a lifetime, and we're genuinely, sincerely pleased for him. But that doesn't make it any easier to say goodbye to a dear friend and trusted colleague. Life has a way of throwing these curve balls at us. Just when we start to get comfortable with a person, a place or a situation. A terrific neighbor moves away. Someone in the family graduates. A child finds new love and loyalties through marriage. The family's principle bread-winner is laid off. But how do we do that? A friend of mine who works for the government once told me that the answer to life's problems can be summed up in four words: "Go with the flow." "It's like surfing," Chris explained. "You can't organize the ocean. Waves just happen. You ride them where they take you, then you paddle back out there and catch the next one. Sure, you're always hoping for the perfect wave where you can get. But mostly you just take them the way they come. I'm not exactly sure, but I think Chris was saying that life is a series of events--both good and bad. There will always be life-influencing factors over which you have no control. That doesn't mean you don't keep trying to make all your dreams come true. It just means that when things come up that aren't exactly in your plan, you work around them--and then you move on. Of course, some bumps along the road of life are easier to take than others. A rained-out picnic, for example, is easier to cope with than the sudden death of a loved one. But the principle is the same. We're going to miss Mark, just like you'll miss that graduate, that neighbor or that... Question: In the writer's opinion, one should _ when unexpected things come up. - accept them and hope for a better future - do as planned - overcome difficulties and let them in control - never give up until he succeeds
accept them and hope for a better future