Mr and Mrs Davies had left their Christmas shopping very late. There were only a few days more before Christmas, and of course the shops and streets were terribly crowded, but they had to get presents for their family and friends, so they started out early one morning for the big city, and spent several tiring hours buying the things they wanted in the big shops. By lunch-time, Mr Davies was carrying parcels of all shaps and sizes. He could hardly see where he was going as he and his wife left the last shop on their way to the railway station and home. Outside the shop they had to cross a busy street, made even busier than usual by the thousands of people who had come by car to do their last-minute Christmas shopping. Mr and Mrs Davies had to wait for the traffic lights to turn green, but as Mr Davies could not see very well in front of him, he gradually moved forward into the road without realizing it. Mrs Davies saw this and became worried. Several times she told her husband to come back off the road, but without success. He could not hear her because of the noise of the traffic. Finally she shouted in a voice that could be heard clearly above all the noise, "Henry! If you want to stand in that dangerous position a moment longer, give me the parcels!" The old couple spent _ getting their presents ready. A) little time and little money B) a lot of time and a lot of money C) little time but a lot of money D) a lot of time but little money
D
They are most likely to be healthy, wealthy and wise, according to the old saying. But those who are early to bed and early to rise do not always have the upper hand, researchers say. They have revealed that night owls are generally brighter and wealthier than those able to get up early in the morning. 1 Experts from the University of Madrid carried out tests on around 1,000 teenagers and found that those who preferred to stay up late demonstrated the kind of intelligence associated with honored jobs and higher incomes. 2 The researchers examined the habits and body clocks of the youngsters to determine whether they liked to stay up late and sleep in later in the morning, or preferred to go to bed early and were at their peak in the morning. 3 School performance and inductive intelligence, or problem solving, were measured and academic grades in the major subjects were also taken into account. The results showed that evening types scored higher than morning types on inductive reasoning, which has been shown to be a good estimate of general intelligence and a strong indicator of academic performance. 4 They also had a greater capacity to think conceptually as well as analytically. Such abilities have been linked to innovative thinking, more admired occupations and better incomes. Famous night owls include President Obama, Charles Darwin, Winston Churchill, Keith Richards and Elvis Presley. George W Bush, who is regularly in bed by 10pm, Thomas Edison, Napoleon, Condoleezza Rice, who wakes at 4.30am, and Ernest Hemingway are among those known as larks . Jim Horne, professor of psychophysiology at Loughborough University, said: 'Evening types tend to be the more active and creative types, the poets, artists and inventors, while the morning types are the deducers , as often seen with civil servants and accountants.' A previous study of US Air Force recruits found evening types were much better at thinking laterally to solve problems than larks. According to the passage, which of the following is true? A) The early bird will catch the worm. B) Morning types have a tendency to do some creative jobs. C) Night owls usually do poorer in the examinations than larks. D) President Obama and George W Bush are models of night owls.
C
Q: LONDON, Feb. 18,2014 (Xinhua News agency) --Britain will send experts to East China's Shanghai to learn from the city's experience in maths teaching in an attempt to raise the teaching standards. British Education Minister Elizabeth Truss is to lead a delegation of experts on a fact-finding mission to Shanghai's schools next week to see how children there have become the best in the world at maths, to get a first-hand look at maths classes and teaching methods there, and particularly to investigate why the performance of almost all children in Shanghai is high, regardless of gender or income. Britain was last year placed 50th out of 148 countries and regions in the World Economic Forum's competitiveness ranking in quality of maths and science education. Two years ago, Shanghai topped the 2012 international PISA tables for maths, while England was ranked in 26th place. The top five were all in Southeast Asia, with 15-year-olds in Shanghai judged to be three years ahead of their peers in maths. The education department said: "England's performance in maths has lagged behind while other countries have improved and overtaken us, including Poland and Germany." Actually, it is the latest step in the government's drive to raise standards in maths, looking at what has made schools in the far East the most successful in the world in teaching the subject. "Shanghai is the top-performing part of the world for maths--their children are streets ahead. Shanghai and Singapore have teaching practices and a positive mind that make the difference. They have a belief that diligence makes up for lack of ability," Truss said. "Our new curriculum has borrowed from theirs because we know it works--early learning of key arithmetic, and a focus on times tables and long division , for instance." She was determined to change the situation as performance in maths is weakening the country's skills base and threatening the productivity and growth. The government is emphasizing maths because of the importance of good grades in the subject... Why does the British government send a delegation of experts to Shanghai? A) To see how children from rich families have become the best at maths. B) To investigate why the performance of almost all children in China is high. C) To get a first-hand look at science classes and teaching methods there. D) To raise the teaching standards in maths in Britain.
A: D
(Question)
Television has a huge influence on our lives. It is one of the most important ways of getting information. People spend part of their spare time watching television, and much of what they learn comes from it. What we see on TV-movies, news shows, sports shows, advertisements and so on have increased our knowledge and have changed the way we learn about the world today. However, not everything on TV is true. Most of the viewers are children. Television sometimes is like a baby-sitter . It spends more time with children than parents do. But it keeps them in the living room away from healthy outdoor activities. They spend less time playing soccer or walking in the park or playing games in the yard. Of course, there are some programs on TV that are good for children. But there are also some shows which are bad. Children should not watch unhealthy shows. Maybe we can't change what is on TV, but we can choose what we watch. Do you agree? What's the writer's attitude towards television? A) Negative B) Positive C) Neutralist D) Angry
(Answer)
C