The Greenbelt, a wide belt of open land around the cities and towns of the San Francisco Bay Area, includes about 3.75 million of the Bay Area's 4.5 million acres. The Bay Area Greenbelt is one of the largest areas of open land in any U.S. urban area. Open land is land that has few buildings and lots of natural areas. The Greenbelt's open land includes parks, forests, beaches, and more than 8,500 farms. What are the advantages of the Greenbelt? The Greenbelt has many advantages for people in the Bay Area, which include: l walking and biking areas close to the cities and towns; l places for wild plants and animals; l cleaner air and water; l income from farms. Is the Greenbelt in danger? Five hundred seventy thousand acres of the Greenbelt are in danger. There are builders who want to build suburbs on them. If those acres become suburbs, many things will change: l the urban and suburban area will almost double; l many farms will disappear; l traffic will become worse; l the air will become dirtier. What is Greenbelt Alliance ? Greenbelt Alliance, an organization that saves land in the San Francisco Bay Area, works alone and with other groups to save the Greenbelt in four ways: 1.Try to persuade people to build new buildings on land that is already urban, not on open land. 2.Make sure that the city and town governments are all making plans to save the Greenbelt. 3.Help Bay Area towns and cities to buy pieces of open land to make into natural areas. 4.Teach people in the Bay Area why the Greenbelt is important and what they can do to help save it. Which of the following is TRUE about Greenbelt Alliance? A) It builds new buildings on open land. B) It buys large open land for the Bay Area. C) It educates people how to save the Greenbelt. D) It helps the city governments make plans.
C
That woman carried a new blanket over her arm. Wordlessly, she gave it to me. "Is it finished?" I asked. She shook her head. "No. It is ready," she replied. I handed her the money and took the blanket. "It is beautiful, so skillfully woven ," I said to my mother. "But what did she mean when she said it was not finished? How can it be ready if it is not finished?" "I will tell you later," my mother said, "but first I will take you to the Navajo village." We went down to the village. A group of young men were making sand pictures. We walked through the whole village, watching the different things the people were doing. It was not until that evening that my mother finally explained the Navajo woman's words. "Did you notice anything about the things the people were making?" my mother asked. "What should I have noticed?" I looked at her and asked. "Each thing the Navajo make has one small part that is not complete. The designs in their sand pictures are often not perfectly done, for example---the line of a circle may not quite close. If you look carefully at your blanket, you will probably find a stitch missing." I took the blanket off, but it looked as perfect as any design could be. Then suddenly, I noticed that sure enough a stitch was missing! "But why do the Navajo intentionally leave some tiny part unfinished?" I asked. "They believe that when anything is completed or finished, it means the end has come--it will not be perfect until then. Then too, with a circle, they believe that they must leave a pathway for the bad spirits to run away and the good spirits to come in. So, often, they do not make the line close." What's the main idea of the text? A) The Navajo are good at making things. B) The Navajo are brave and hard-working. C) A blanket tells a lot about the Navajo culture. D) Skills are needed to do business with the Navajo.
C
What Is Self-tracking All about Have you ever monitored something about yourself? Perhaps you've tracked how many kilometers you've run, how many hours you've slept or how many calories you've eaten in a day. If so, you've taken part in a movement called the "Quantified Self Movement." Individuals gather information about their daily activities in this popular movement, also called self-tracking. This may sound difficult, but technology is making the process easier. Perhaps you've wanted to change a bad habit but couldn't. Self-tracking may be your answer. The idea is to take information about your everyday activities and analyze them to help form a healthier lifestyle. Recently, tools such as smartphones, journals and apps, along with newly published wearable things, are making self-tracking extremely easy. Today, one can use Fitbit, the Jawbone Up, Google Glass or a smart watch to record personal data including sleeping hours, stress levels, heart rate and mood. So why does a person self-track? Someone may be trying to lose weight or improve their sleep patterns. Another person feels tired after eating. Self-tracking could help him to know what foods make him sleepy and watch his diet. Monitoring daily activities isn't a new concept. In years past, athletes and their coaches kept notes detailing nutrition, training and sleep patterns in order to achieve an athletic goal. Similarly, doctors have also helped patients to record parts of their lifestyles and eating habits to help fight allergies, headaches and other health problems. However, it wasn't until 2007 that magazine editors Gary Wolf and Kim Kelly, who started tracking every move they made, coined the term "Quantified Self." Wolf says that the new tools will change our sense of self with the purpose of making us more effective in the world. Although self-tracking has many advantages, Dennis Nash, president of Data Speaks Health Solutions, says self-tracking has its drawbacks. Once people start tracking their daily activities, it can become an addition... People choose self-tracking because _ . A) it collects personal data and leads to self-improvements B) it records how many hours you sleep a day C) it watches your eating habits D) it increases your movement
A