I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: He lived his whole life as a poor man. His art and talent were recognized by almost no one. He suffered from a mental illness that led him to cut off part of his left ear in 1888 and to shoot himself two years later. But after his death, he achieved world fame. Today, Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh is recognized as one of the leading artists of all time. Now, 150 years after his birth on March 30, 1853, Zundert, the town of his birth, has made 2003 "The van Gogh Year"in his honor. And the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, home to the biggest collection of his masterpieces, is marking the anniversary with exhibitions throughout the year. The museum draws around 1.3 million visitors every year. Some people enjoy the art and then learn about his life. Others are first interested in his life, which then helps them understand his art. Van Gogh was the son of a pastor . He left school when he was just 15. By the age of 27, he had already tried many jobs including an art gallery salesman and a French teacher. Finally in 1880, he decided to begin his studies in art. Van Gogh is famed for his ability to put his own emotions into his paintings and show his feelings about a scene. His style is marked by short, broad brush strokes ."Instead of trying to reproduce exactly what I have before my eyes, I use color more freely, in order to express myself more forcibly," he wrote in a letter to his brother in 1888. Van Gogh sold only one painting during his short life. He relied heavily on the support from his brother, an art dealer who lived in Paris. But now his works are sold for millions of dollars. His portrait of Dr. Gacher sold for $89.5 million in 1990. It is the highest price ever paid for a painting. "I think his paintings are powerful and the brilliant colors in them are attractive to people," said a Van Gogh's fan. Question: We can infer from the passage that _ . Options: A: his powerful art came from his poor life B: his fellow townsmen regret treating him unfairly C: all his paintings were drawn in the last 10 years of his life D: most of his paintings are kept in the museum of his hometown
C
I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: Grasshoppers are having to change their song -- one of the iconic sounds of summer -- to make themselves heard above the noise of road traffic, ecologists have discovered. The study, published in the British Ecological Society's journal Functional Ecology, is the first to show that human-made noise affects natural insect populations. Animals use sound to communicate for many reasons, including marking out territory, warning of predators and finding mates, and although previous research shows birds, whales and even frogs change their calls in noisy environments, the impact of human-made noise on insects has been neglected until now. Ulrike Lampe and colleagues from the University of Bielefeld in Germany caught 188 male bow-winged grasshoppers, half from quiet locations and half from beside busy roads. The grasshoppers use their song to attract mates. The team then studied the differences in the two groups' songs in the laboratory. To encourage them to sing they exposed the males to a female grasshopper, and then recorded their courtship songs. Analysis of almost 1,000 recordings revealed grasshoppers living beside noisy roads produced different songs to those living in quieter locations. According to Lampe: "Bow-winged grasshoppers produce songs that include low and high frequency components. We found that grasshoppers from noisy habitats increase the volume of the lower-frequency part of their song, which makes sense since road noise can mask signals in this part of the frequency spectrum ." The team's findings are important because traffic noise could be upsetting the grasshopper's mating system . "Increased noise levels could affect grasshopper courtship in several ways. It could prevent females from hearing male courtship songs properly, prevent females from recognizing males of their own species, or _ females' ability to estimate how attractive a male is from his song," Lampe explains. Having discovered that human-made noise affects insect communication, the researchers now want to learn more about how... Question: The author wrote the article to _ . Options: A: introduce how grasshoppers make noises to attract mates. B: raise the awareness of protecting bow-winged grasshoppers. C: inform us of a recent discovery of ecological research. D: warn us that human-made noise has changed ecological system.
C
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I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: Most schools forbid chewing gum, but in a few years they might consider changing that rule. Why? Scientists are finding evidence that gum chewing may be good for your health. It may even help improve your test scores. This exciting research is just beginning. And in the meantime, companies are also experimenting with adding vitamins, minerals, medicines, and other substances that could give gum the power to cure headaches and fight everything from serious diseases to bad breath. Other researchers are finding that gum might work better than a pill to deliver medicines and other substances into the bloodstream. That's because the lining of our cheeks can absorb certain substances more quickly than our stomachs and intestines can. That discovery could help other researchers develop medicine-containing gums that fight colds, ease headaches, battle nervousness, and more. Scientists might even create antimicrobial gums that cure bad breath. Those projects may take years, but gum scientists have already had at least one recent success: They've created a gum that could help us stay awake. Researchers have produced a gum called Stay Alert. Each stick has as much caffeine as a cup of coffee. It can take an hour for the caffeine in coffee to have its full effect, but the caffeine in Stay Alert _ in just a few minutes. The gum is easy to transport and it's stable in cold and hot climates. Unlike a pill, it doesn't require water to swallow. Those qualities make it easy for soldiers to use. For now, Stay Alert is available only to the military . The manufacturer may one day offer it for sale to the public. People who work at night, such as truck drivers and medical personnel who ride in ambulances, might benefit from a product like Stay Alert. Question: According to the passage, Stay Alert is a gum which can help people _ . Options: A: stay awake B: fight colds C: cure headaches D: overcome nervousness
(Answer)
A