Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Supermarkets are trying out new computers that make shopping carts more intelligent. _ will help shoppers find paper cups or toilet soap, and keep a record of the bill. The touch-screen devices are on show at the Food Marketing Institute's exhibition here this week, "These devices are able to create value and get you around the store quicker," said Michael Alexander, manager of Springboard Retail Networks Inc., which makes a smart cart computer called the Concierge. Canadian stores will test the Concierge in July. A similar device, IBM's "Shopping Buddy", has recently been test-marketed at Stop & Shop stores in Massachusetts. Neither device tells you how many fat grams or calories are in your cart, but they will flash you with items on sale. The idea is to make it easier for people to buy, not to have second thoughts that maybe you should put something back on the shelf. "The whole model is driven by advertisers' need to get in front of shoppers," said Alexander. "They're not watching 30-second TV ads anymore." People can use a home computer to make their shopping lists. Once at the store, a shopper can use a preferred customer card to start a system that will organize the trip around the store. If you're looking for toothpicks, you type in the word or pick it from a list, and a map will appear on the screen showing where you are and where you can find them. The device also keeps a record of what you buy. When you're finished, the device figures out your bill. Then you go to the checker or place your card into a self-checkout stand and pay. The new computerized shopping assistants don't come cheap. The Buddy devices will cost the average store about $ 160, 000, and the Concierge will cost stores about $ 500 for each device. Question: What might be the most suitable title for the text? Options: A: New age for supermarkets B: Concierge and Shopping Buddy C: New computers make shopping carts smarter D: Touch-screen devices make shopping enjoyable
C

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: In 1841, a book was published which astonished the world. It was called"Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan". The author John Loud Stephens had just returned from a long, difficult and dangerous journey through the thick rain forest of southern prefix = st1 /MexicoandGuatemala. He had once been there with Frederick Catherwood, an architect and artist, to search for the remains of a lost civilization known as the Mayas .Very little was known about the Mayas at that time, but Catherwood's drawing in the book showed incredible cities with temples, pyramids and other buildings as impressive as those of their northern neighbors, the Aztecs. These cities, however, were deserted. The inhabitants had disappeared almost a thousand years before. Since that time, far more has been learned about this remarkable civilization. The Mayas had a highly developed system of government and of agriculture, as well as an incredibly accurate system of measuring time. They were also wonderful engineers capable of moving huge blocks stone long distances and cutting them to accurate shapes and sizes. And yet although the Mayas knew about the wheel, they never used it. Neither did they use metals other than copper. What is ever more surprising is that they suddenly abandoned many of their cities and built new ones in the jungle. Some time around AD900, Mayan civilization collapsed. By the year 1200, their last great capital,Chichen Itza, was deserted. Who were these strange people and the even stranger gods they worshipped ? What brought about their sudden and mysterious collapse? Some writers have tried to prove that the Mayas had contact with visitors from space and even that they themselves came from another planet. Some people believe that their civilization came to an end because the Mayas never developed a proper resistance to local germs and diseases. All we really know is that when the first Europeans appeared off their coast in 1517, this great and mysterious culture was only a memory. Question: Stephen's book astonished the world because_. Options: A: it was the first time people heard about Mayas B: the Mayas were excellent builders and farmers C: he had experienced so may difficulties to find this lost civilization D: it described that the Mayas used to be an advanced civilization
D

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Dear Editor; Why do newspapers carry so many advertisements for electronic equipment? Last Sunday I counted ads for seven kinds of televisions and thirteen kinds of radios in the Atlanta Journal. Besides that, there were pages and pages of ads for Citizens' Band radios and tape recorders. Don't you realize what electronic equipment is doing to our daily life? Everywhere you go you may hear loud musician advertisements over radios; this continual noise is ruining our ears. Husbands don't talk to wives any more; they are always watching the news or a ball game. Children ruin their eyes (not to mention their minds) with endless hours of watching not only the programs for children but those for grown-ups as well. And worse, hidden microphones find out about our private lives, and computers keep records of personal information about us. Enough is enough! I think you should limit the amount of advertising of electronic equipment in the Atlanta journal. Otherwise it will make life unbearable for us all. Question: Electronic equipment causes all the following problems except that _ . Options: A: personal information is given to strangers. B: Children ruin their eyes. C: News of the world is given to all citizens D: Family members don't talk to each other
A: C

(Q).
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: For many of us, cartoon strips are simply one of our pastimes. The popular Japanese manga provides us with an escape from reality into a world of fantasy, adventure and romance.With much less text and pictures running for pages, it fits perfectly into today's fast, throwing away city lifestyle. But Tsai Chih-chung,a famous Taiwanese illustrator , doesn't agree.He believes cartoons can be a bridge connecting traditional Chinese culture and wisdom with the modern world in a much wittier and more acceptable way. He has interpreted Lao Zi, Confucius, Mencius,Zhuang Zi and Sun Zi and made their works accessible to a global audience. He has also produced two books about Zen , introducing oriental philosophy. His cartoons are humorous yet full of wisdom and are admired as an easy way to learn Chinese classics. After avoiding the public for ten years, Tsai made a comeback in late April with seven new works. But does his age, 61, work as a gap between him and his young readers? Tsai doesn't think so. The topics he has covered range from philosophy in a time of individuality to the learning and memorizing techniques used at school. "Every child is a genius and has the potential beyond his own imagination, " he said. If popular Japanese manga is purely for entertainment, Tsai's work, to a large extent, is to light the power of thinking in a light-hearted way. Tsai uses differenr forms of water to refer to people. In his eyes some people are like an ocean, some are like vapor, while others may be ice or rain. But in essence they share a similarity-human being's forever chasing for the true and the good. "The person who thinks over life issues is not necessarily a scholar or a philosopher," he said. "I've dedicated my whole life to thinking and individual freedom, not making a living." Question: According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE about Tsai Chih-chung? Options: A: He values more thinking and personal freedom than making a living. B: He says that one who thinks over life is either a scholar or a philosopher. C: He thinks some people are like ocean, some like vapor, while others like ice cream. D: Tsai devoted his life to creating cartoons in order to make money.
(A).
A