*Question*
Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: A "talk show" is a show organized mainly around talk. Television talk shows have been around since the dawn of radio. Thus the start of talk shows' golden age can be considered as 1948, even though television wasn't common in American homes until the 1950s. From 1949 to 1973, nearly half of all daytime programming was talk. Why are there so many talk shows? A talk show costs less than $100,000 per episode to produce whereas many of today's TV series cost more than $1 million an episode. Thus , if successful, it can produce handsome profits . Still, it takes a lot of work . Since 1948, hundreds of talk shows have come and gone, with only a few having true staying power. There are several types of talk shows , but while the styles might vary, the format is limited. What we are most used to is the informal guest-host format, in which shows'hosts welcome famous people or other talk -worthy persons for an informal discussion. The second most common format is the public issues show, in which hosts interview people in the news or experts in a given field. Shows that follow this format include both morning news programs and "issue" talk shows: The Museum of Broadcast Communications' Bernard M. Timberg notes two governing principles of all successful talk shows: The host is everything :The host has a high degree of control over their show, from subject matter to comedic atmosphere . They are also the show's brand and are responsible for it. The host can attract and refuse guests, organize their program and , in many cases, name a successor when they retire. Right here, right now: The second rule is that a talk show must be experienced in the present tense, whether it is broadcast live or taped in front of an audience earlier in the day. They should feel fresh, as if they are happening in the moment, even if the show is a 10-year -old rerun. Question: The two formats of talk shows differ in _ . - the atmosphere they create - the time they are broadcast - whether they are sent out live - whether they invite famous guests
**Answer**
the atmosphere they create

*Question*
Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Exercise is one of the few factors with a positive role in long-term control of body weight. Unfortunately, that message has not gotten through to the average American, who would rather try switching to "light" beer and low-calorie bread than increase physical efforts. The Centers for Disease Control, for example, found that fewer than one-fourth of overweight adults who were trying to lose weight said they were combining exercise with their diet. In rejecting exercise, some people may be discouraged too much by caloric-expenditure charts; for example, one would have to quickly walk hard three miles just to work off the 275 calories in one delicious Danish pastry . Even exercise professionals accept half a point here. "Exercise by itself is a very tough way to lose weight," says York Onnen, program director of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. Still, exercise's supporting role in weight reduction is vital. A study at the Boston University Medical Center of overweight police officers and other public employees confirmed that those who dieted without exercise regained almost all their old weight, while those who worked exercise into their daily routine maintained their new weight. If you have been sedentary and decide to start walking one mile a day, the added exercise could burn an extra 100 calories daily. In a year's time, assuming no increase in food intake, you could lose ten pounds. By increasing the distance of your walks gradually and making other dietary adjustments, you may lose even more weight. Question: What is said about the average American in the passage? - They tend to hate "light" beer and low-calorie bread. - They usually ignore the effect of exercise on losing weight. - Most of them were combining exercise with their diet. - They know the actors that play a positive role in keeping down body weight.
**Answer**
They usually ignore the effect of exercise on losing weight.

*Question*
Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Margaret Bourke-White was one of the leading news reporters of the 20th century. But she did not write news. She told her stories with a camera. Margaret Bourke-White began her career as an industrial photographer in the early 1930s. In 1936, she accepted the American publisher Henry Luce's invitation and went to his magazine, called Life, and later another magazine called Fortune. In the 1930s, Margaret Bourke-White met the American writer Erskine Caldwell. They decided to produce a book about poor country people of the South. They traveled through eight states. Their book, You Have Seen Their Faces, was published in 1937. It was a great success. In 1938, some countries in Europe were close to war. Margaret Bourke-White and Caldwell went there to report on these events. The next year they got married. During the World War Two, she became an official photographer with the United States Army. Her photographs were to be used jointly by the military and by Life magazine. She was the first woman to be permitted to work at the front during World War Two. After the war, she went to India and took a famous photograph of Mohandas Gandhi called "Gandhi at His Spinning Wheel". She was the last person to photograph Gandhi before he was murdered in 1948. Often, Margaret Bourke-White was not satisfied with what she had done. She would look at her pictures and see something she had failed to do, or something she had not done right. Reaching perfection was not easy. Many things got in the way of her work. She said, "There is only one moment when a picture is there. And a moment later, it is gone forever. My memory is full of those pictures that were lost." Question: Margaret Bourke-White married Erskine Caldwell _ . - in 1936 - in 1937 - in 1938 - in 1939
**Answer**
in 1939

*Question*
Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: You may have seen a talking parrot on a TV show, in a movie, or even in someone's home. The parrot has learned to copy sounds that people make. Birds are not the only animals that can copy the noises they hear. Dolphins, bats, and some apes also copy sounds. Now we can add elephants to this list of copycats. Dr. Joyce Poole is a zoologist. She studies the sounds of elephants. While she was in Kenya, she would hear strange noises made by Mlaika after sunset. Mlaika was a 10-year-old African elephant. Mlaika lived near a highway. Dr. Poole says, "I could not tell the difference between Mlaika's call and the distant truck noise." She and other scientists studied Mlaika's sounds. It turned out that Mlaika was copying the sounds of the trucks driving by. Why would Mlaika copy trucks that she heard going by on the highway? Animals that are able to copy sounds may enjoy practicing new sounds. When they are kept outside of their natural environment, they may copy unusual sounds. That may be why an elephant would copy the sound of a truck. "Mlaika was not the only copycat elephant," Dr. Poole says. Calimero is a 23-year-old male African elephant. He spent 18 years with two female Asian elephants. Asian elephants make chirping sounds (sounds made by birds) to talk with one another. African elephants usually do not make chirping sounds. But Calimero now does. He is copying his Asian elephant friends. Dr. Poole says that elephants need to form bonds with their family and friends. She says, "They make sounds to communicate with each other. When they are separated, they use sounds to keep in contact." Parrots, dolphins, humans, and elephants show that being a copycat is one way that animals and people make new friends and keep old ones. Question: According to the passage, what does Mlaika copy? - The sound of people. - The sound of trucks. - The sound of Calimero. - The sound of birds.
**Answer**
The sound of trucks.