(Q).
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: OK, I admit it: emoticons are popular. Some people even think they are fun. Many seem unable to get through an e-mail or Instant Message chat sentence without using one. Some feel that they add feeling and character to otherwise cold digital communications. Some people, such as a Hollywood scriptwriter John Blumenthal, however, _ the use of emoticons as "infantile just like the people who use them". He believes that words themselves should be enough. "If you're funny, happy or sad, that should be apparent from the comment that goes before the emoticons," he argues. In the eyes of Blumenthal, the use of emoticons is a gender issue. "Men don't use emoticons very much. Maybe not at all," he said, "Teenage girls and women seem to use them a lot. Maybe there's an emoticon gene." It's an interesting opinion, but it is not shared by all. In an interview with The New York Times, Dacher Keltner, professor of psychology at the University of California, said that emoticons are popular because our brains are programmed "to seek out representations of humanity". He believes that they are popular not because they are shortcuts for the lazy, but because they bring in something beyond language. They satisfy our needs to be with and communicate with people. All of these arguments may be somehow right. Each one of us will choose to communicate in our own way. I tried to use one once and felt like I was stealing into a primary school class that I had no place being in. I'd rather let my words do the talking. Friends, however, send me messages and e-mails full of emoticons. I have no problem with this. I don't regard any of my friends as lazy or immature. It's just a question of individuality. Question: From the text, we can conclude that the author _ . Options: A: feels he has no difficulty using emoticons B: thinks emoticons don't suit him C: encourages his friends to use emoticons D: believes that emoticons are suitable for everyone
(A).
B

(Q).
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: When nature is left alone, a balance is reached among the animals and plants living in one area. But when man starts his work in nature, the balance is likely to be destroyed. He grows a crop and takes it away to eat; then there are no dead leaves to fall on the ground, holding water while it sinks into the surface, or decaying and adding humus to the soil. Unless a farmer acts with knowledge and skill, he is therefore most likely to make the land poorer. To take the place of the useful matter in the crops that he removes, he uses some kind of fertilizer. Chemical fertilizers are of great help, but the waste products of animals and decaying remains of plants should also be put on the land. In some places, it is a habit to burn waste material lying about, but such burning destroys the useful matter in the dead plants. Although the ashes that are left are valuable when put on the land, a better practice is to bury the waste so that it decays and increases the humus in the soil. In the past, when the world population was much lower than it is now, a man had little difficulty in ordinary times in growing the food that was needed. When a field had been used some years and had become tired, the farmer could move to another place. The tired land then slowly recovered. Gradually grasses and other plants would appear on it and its productive power would slowly return to normal through their decay. But nature, left alone, would take a long time to bring back the land to its former state; the length of time required would depend on local conditions, but it might well be ten years. It is a bad practice to grow the same crop in a field year after year. If the crop is changed, the land will suffer less because it is treated and used in a different way. Different plants have different effects on the soil. Therefore, a change of crop will do less harm than the growing of the same crop year after year and a regular change to grass will do good to the soil. Much will therefore be gained if different crops are grown one... Question: We can learn from the passage that the tired land has gradually recovered _ . Options: A: when grasses and other plants appear again B: when the treatment is given by nature alone C: after new grasses and other plants have decayed again D: after nature has been left alone for several months
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C

(Q).
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Advertisement Share Flat. Happy Valley big flat, 1 room ready for use immediately, quiet and convenient, fully furnished, park view. $6800 including bills with maid. Female non-smoker. No pet. Sara 25720836 or 10077809. Moving Sale: 2 armchairs, red/brown at $ 400 each; coffee table, black, wood, $800; oil painting, big, $900; Tianjin carpet, green 3x7,$600; double bed, $500; mirror, big square, $500; fridge, big, double-door, $1000; old pictures, $140 each. Tel: weekend, 2521-6011; weekday, 2524-5867. Part-time Laboratory Assistant Wanted. Required by busy electronics company to help with development of computer. Should have an electronics degree and some practical experience of working in an electronics laboratory. Hours 9:30 a.m.~1:00p.m., Mon.~Fri. Fourteen days, paid leave. Salary 6598~10230dependent on experience. Letter of application to: Mrs. G. Chan, NOVA ELECTRONICS, 45 Gordon RD, Hung Hom Knowloon. Question: According to the advertisements, you may _ . Options: A: buy an old picture for $140 B: call 25720836 to see a beautiful park C: buy two armchairs for $400 D: hire a maid by paying $6800
(A).
A