For 40 years, the people of London have been happy to discover in their parks a bird that seems to have made its way from the Himalayas to the capital of England. With its shocking green body, red mouth, long tail and noisy screech , the rose-ringed parakeet brought a vivid colour to parks in and around London. However, the parakeets are no longer welcome. The government has suddenly woken up to the fact that there are many more parakeets in and around London making life harder for the local bird population. Government experts put the number of parakeets at around 30,000. They fear that if the number of parakeets keeps rising, these birds will push out local birds like wood-peckers, starlings and nuthatches from trees to build their own nests. Not only that. According to an online report by The Independent, the parakeets will then also get control of most of the food available in the parks -- seeds, berries, fruit and nuts. The local bird population will then have a hard time staying alive. An organization called the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has asked the government to investigate what kind of a threat the parakeet brings to local birds. If the government decides that these birds are indeed a threat to local birds, steps will be taken to control the number of parakeets. The most surprising thing about the case of the rose-ringed parakeet is that no one quite knows how the parakeets came from India and started breeding in areas around London. According to an online report by The Independent, _ . A) the parakeets' future threat is impossible B) the number of the parakeets is around 3,000 C) the parakeets should fly back to the Himalayas D) the local birds won't have enough food
D
Most people agree that it's important to have a sense of humour. Having the ability to laugh can help one overcome anxiety, and make better decisions in difficult situations. People with a well-developed sense of humour appear to be happier, and some are healthier as well. This suggests that having a sense of humour is good for you. Humourless people may find themselves being treated as a fool, and become anxious and upset. A sense of humour also plays an important role in human relationships. However, not everyone has a sense of humour. People with developmental disabilities can sometimes have no sense of humour, or have a very strange one. A number of factors affect a person's sense of humour, with the age probably being the main one. Young children are often highly amused by simple jokes or shows, while teenagers prefer to enjoy the ironic events. Educational level, culture, and religious faith also affect one's sense of humour. While Christians, for example, may have a deep appreciation of jokes about the Bible, others may find them disrespectful. Many people believe that a sense of humour is something that develops on its own, and that you cannot teach someone to understand why jokes, certain comments, situations or events are funny. However, things can be done to one's sense of humour. Children, for example, benefit from being told jokes and encouraged to laugh, although some children's jokes might seem rather strange to adults. If you have children, try to encourage them to tell jokes and think about what makes things funny. And it will help them develop a sense of humour. According to the passage, which of the following doesn't influence one's sense of humour? A) Culture. B) Age. C) Educational level. D) Family backgrounds.
D
Q: The interview is an important event in the job-hunting process, because the 20 or 30 minutes you spend with the interviewer may decide whether or not you get the particular job you want. Therefore, it is important to remember that your purpose during the interview may differ from that of the potential employer. You want to make yourself stand out as a whole person who has personal strengths and should be considered the right person for the job. It is encouraging to know that the interviewer's task is not to embarrass you, but to hire the right person for the job. Remember, job-hunting is very competitive. Anything you can do to improve your interview techniques will be to your advantage. The following suggestions may help you land the most important job. Your goal in this interview is to make sure your good points get across. The interviewer won't know them unless you point them out, so try to do this in a factual and sincere manner. Don't say anything bad about your former employers. If you have been fired from a job and the interview asks about it, be honest. Show the interviewer that you are interested in the company by asking questions. Ask about responsibilities, working conditions, promotion opportunities and benefits of the job you are interviewing for. If at some point you decide the interview is not going well, do not let your discouragement show. You have nothing to lose by continuing a show of confidence, and you many have much to gain. It may be real, or it may be a test to see how you react to _ conditions. Some interviewers may bring up salary early in the interview. At this time, you may indicate that you are more interested in a job where you can prove yourself than a specific salary. This politely passes the question back to the interviewer. If possible, you should negotiate for salary after you have been offered a job and have completed the paperwork. The passage is mainly about _ . A) how to make your strengths understood B) how to show your interest in the job C) how to be frank and sincere D) how to deal with an interview
A: D
(Question)
Charles Dickens was one of the most beloved storytellers in the English language. His novels made him famous in his own time, and continue as classics in ours. Dickens began his literary career with almost no formal education. He was born in Landport, on Feb. 7, 1812, the second of eight children. When he was 12, his father was sent to debtor's prison. Dickens was forced to quit school and work in a London blacking factory. He would rework that terrible experience into his fiction for the rest of his life. "He was a social reformer," says actor Simon Callow, author of a new biography called Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World. "He knew what poverty was. He knew what it was to be rejected, to be cast aside, to live in squalor ." And so Dickens wrote with great sympathy for the suffering of innocent and vulnerable children - characters like David Copperfield, Little Dorrit and the orphan, Oliver Twist: With his slice of bread in his hand, and his little brown parish cap on his head, Oliver was now led away from the wretched home, where one kind word or look never lighted the gloom of his infant days. Yet he burst into an agony of childish grief as the cottage gate closed after him. Wretched as were the little companions in,misery he was now leaving behind him, they were the only friends he had ever had. His first book Sketches by Boz came out in 1836. With the appearance of Oliver Twist in London periodicals in 1837, the 25-year-old Dickens became the most popular writer in England. But his first love was theater, and he considered becoming an actor. "When he was actually writing, he became his characters," says Peter Ackroyd, author of Dickens: Public Life and Private Passion. "He would get up from his desk, go over to the mirror and mouth the words - do the expressions, grimaces , whatever, and then laugh, chuckle to himself, then go back to his desk and write it down." Dickens created 989 named characters, which increased his popularity.... We can learn from the passage that A) all the characters created by Dickens are popular B) people prefer films based on Dickens' novels to his works C) Dickens were more interested in performing than in writing D) the films and plays based on Dickens' novels raise his popularity
(Answer)
C