Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: It would be pleasant to believe that all young girls in the past got married for romantic reasons; but the fact is that many of them regarded marriage as their only chance to gain independence from their parents, to have a provider, or to be assured of a good place in society. A couple of generations ago, an old maid of twenty-five did not have much to look forward to, she was more or less fated to remain with her parents or to live in some relative's home where she would help with the chores and the children. Not so any more. In the first place, women remain young much longer than they used to, and an unmarried woman of twenty-eight or thirty does not feel that her life is over. Besides, since she is probably working and supporting herself, she is free to marry only when and if she chooses. As a result, today's women tend to marry later in life. They have fewer children-or none at all--if they prefer to devote themselves to their profession. The result is a decline in the birthrate. The new role that women have developed for themselves has changed family life. Children are raised differently; they spend more time with adults who are not their parents: baby sitters, day-care center personnel, relatives, or neighbors. Whether they gain or lose in the process is a hotly debated question. Some child experts believe that young children must spend all their time with their mother if they are to grow sound in body and mind. Others think that children get more from a mother who spends with them "quality time" (a time of fun and relaxation set aside for them) rather than hours of forced and unhappy baby sitting. And many child psychologists point out that children kept in day-care centers every day are brighter than those raised at home. No matter what it is, one thing about child-raising to be certain of is that the longer the child is with the mother, the better. Question: The author suggests that _ . Options: A: working women should not have children B: children should be kept in day-care centers all the time C: young children should stay with their mother as long as possible D: women should leave their work to look after their children at home
A: C

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Without any hesitation, he said, "I'd be better off dead." Hearing those words come out of my best friend's mouth tore my heart apart. He has repeated that phrase more than once, and my mind continually plays it over like a voice recording. I met him about three years ago. After knowing me for six months, he told me about his struggles with depression. Sadness was not the only emotion that came over me; I was shocked. He seemed so outgoing and happy all the time. I soon learned that he was physically and emotionally abused as a young child, causing him to have suicidal thoughts. He refuses to talk to others about his depression because he now distrusts adults, especially those in his family. Nevertheless, he feels as if I understand him and that I know the right words to speak. Therefore, when it comes to helping him, _ . It does not matter where I am or what I am doing, for he always comes first. Many students at his school laugh at him when they notice scars on his arms from cutting. As he sees it, other kids have every right to make fun of him. But no one holds such a right, so I encourage him to ignore the heartless kids who treat him badly. When he feels the weight of judging eyes or hateful voices, I always remind him that I care about him unconditionally. Just hearing me say I will always be his best friend seems to give him the security he needs to keep on going. My best friend once told me that if he had not had me, he would not be alive. He said that my encouraging words convinced him not to take his life. Our friendship has taught me that a single kind word can influence someone's life. With the fragility of life as it is, I believe in the necessity of encouragement. Question: By saying "convenience is not in my vocabulary", the author means _ . Options: A: he is always ready to help his friend. B: he hardly spares time to help his friend. C: he has no good excuse for refusing his friend. D: he is not good at communicating with his friend.
A: A

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. 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.
A: C