A student and his teacher were walking through the forest. The student was disturbed by the fact that his mind was in constant unrest . He asked his teacher, "Why most people's minds are restless, and only a few have a calm mind? What can one do to still the mind ?" The teacher looked at him, smiled and said, "I will tell you a story. An elephant was standing and picking leaves from a tree. A small fly came, flying and buzzing near his ear. The elephant waved it away with his long ears. Then the fly came again, and the elephant waved it away _ ". This was repeated several times. Then the elephant asked the fly, "Why are you so restless and noisy? Why can't you stay for a while in one place?" The fly answered, "I am attracted to whatever I see, hear or smell. My five senses pull me constantly in all directions and I cannot resist them. What is your secret? How can you stay so calm and still?" The elephant stopped eating and said, "My five senses do not rule my attention. Whatever I do, I get immersed in it. Now that I am eating, I am completely immersed in eating. In this way I can enjoy my food and chew it better. I rule and control my attention, and not the other way around." The student's eyes opened wide and smile rose on his face. "I understand! If my five senses are in control of my mind and attention, then my mind is in constant unrest. If I am in charge of my five senses and attention, then my mind becomes calm". "Yes, that's right", answered the teacher, "The mind is restless and goes wherever the attention is. Control your attention, and you control your mind". The reason why the elephant stayed calm and still was that _ . A) it didn't have a sense of direction B) it was too heavy to move around like the fly C) it paid much attention to things around it D) it concentrated on what it was doing
D
(Question)
"We are good mothers," I said to my friend, as we sat on our comfortable beach chairs under our beach umbrella and watched our children playing in the waves. Out of nowhere, the children took off running. About fifty yards from us, a man--maybe in his fifties--was fishing. The children stood next to him and watched with their little mouths hanging open as he cast the fishing lines. He smiled at them. They ran back to us--all except my three-year-old daughter, Drew. My heart beat fast with horror. "Drew! Come here! Play with your friends!" I shouted, very aware that my speeches about not talking to strangers weren't working. It seemed that many parents heard of horrible stories about children being taken away by strangers. Responsible mothers should teach their children that the world is a dangerous place. So I felt relieved when Drew ran towards me and took hold of a shovel . Then she looked me in the eye: "I want to be with the person." Again, she approached the middle-aged man, and started digging next to him. Several seconds later, she returned, waving something shiny. "Look, Mommy! A toy fish!" It was, indeed, a toy fish--yellow and rubber. This must have been what he was using to attract the fish. And he'd given it to Drew. The three other children were deeply impressed, and they didn't try to hide how jealous they were--clearly, they all wanted the fish. "My friend gave me that fish!" Drew shouted loudly. The sand in front of the umbrella turned into a preschool cage match with a yellow rubber fish flying through the air. I felt like I might cry myself. Unexpectedly, there he was: the man, standing right next to us with three more rubber fish in hand. He handed them to each of the children. By their faces, you would have thought he was actually the really kind big brother. "Thank you," I said, realizing that there is good and kindness in strangers. How did the author feel when Drew stood beside the man? A) Relieved B) Angry C) Concerned D) Calm
(Answer)
C
Ques: Elephants are the largest land animals and they need plenty of living space. They have seasonal migration routes. As human populations rise, elephant land is being cleared for agriculture and other kinds of development. When animals are effectively trapped on small areas of land, it restricts the gene pool and also results in a shortage of food. Where elephant reserves border agricultural areas, elephants are often attracted to leave parks to attack crops and barns. Only the strongest walls will stop an adult elephant (males can weigh 6,000kg), so farmers have great difficulty protecting their fields. In prefix = st1 /India, elephants don't only attack for food. Some even have developed a taste for rice beer. InAssam, elephant-human conflict has resulted in the death of more than 150 people and 200 elephants in the space of two years. Poverty leads to the killing of elephants for meat. If people don't have enough food and their governments cannot afford to enforce poaching bans, it's not difficult to predict the outcome. Ivory comes form elephant tusks , which can grow to be 3 meters long. Both male and female African elephants have large tusks. Most new ivory comes from Africa and is sold as a high status material in Asian countries such as Thailand, mainlandChinaandJapan. It can fetch $150 an pound and is carved to make decorations, chopsticks and ink stamps. The conservation priority here is to change public attitudes. In some countries in southern Africa, where conservation efforts have been successful, there is not enough room for a growing elephant population and animals have to be killed. A CITES meeting in November 2002 ruled that Botswana,NamibiaandSouth Africamay sell stock-piled ivory, starting in2004. Many conservationists are convinced that _ will fuel the demand for ivory and lead to more illegal poaching, they say it is almost impossible to tell legal from poached ivory. The governments argue that the sales will be used to fund conservation work. The most important thing to protect elephants is _ . A) to build strongest walls B) to change people's ideas C) to enforce poaching bans D) to sell stock-piled ivory instead of illegal ivory
Ans: B
John Fisher, a builder, and his wife Elizabeth wanted more living space, so they left their small flat for an old 40-meter-high castle tower. They have spent five years turning it into a beautiful home with six floors, winning three architectural prizes. "I love the space, and being private," Elizabeth says. "You feel separated from the world. If I am in the kitchen, which is 25 meters above the ground floor, and the doorbell rings, I don't have to answer it because visitors can't see I am in!" There are 142 steps to the top so if I go up and down five or six times a day, it's very good exercise! But having to carry heavy things to the top is terrible, so I never buy more than two bags of shopping from the supermarket at a time. Except for that, it's a brilliant place to live. "When we first saw the place, I asked my father's advice about buying it, because we couldn't decide. After paying for it, we were a bit worried because it looked awful. But we really loved it, and knew how we wanted it to look." "Living here can be difficult--yesterday I climbed a four-meter ladder to clean the windows. But when you stand on the roof you can see all the way out to the sea on a clear day, and that's a wonderful experience. I am really glad we moved. " What is the writer trying to do in the text? A) describe how to turn an old tower into a house B) recommend a particular builder C) describe what it is like to live in a tower D) explain how to win prizes for building work
C