Some people are pessimistic when they think about the future. They say that a hundred years from now, we will have used most of the earth's resources. We will have polluted our seas badly, and be unable to eat fish from them. We will have made the air so dirty that we will need to wear masks. The world's population will have doubled, and we will have used all the countryside for housing; there will be no farmland left. Other people believe that Man adapts very easily. They have a different idea of the future. How, in their views, will people be living in a hundred years' time? One architect believes that Man will move off the land. He suggests that the city of the future will be a huge, pyramid-shaped building, which will be floating on the surface of the sea. About 5,000 families will be living there, and the building will contain shops and schools as well as homes. By living on the sea, we will give the farmers more land to grow crops. As for oil, people will no longer need it: we will be heating our homes with power from the sun. And we will not be short of minerals, because there are plenty under our oceans. At the moment, we do not have the technology to get them out. But, in a hundred years' time, the optimists say, the new sea cities will be using these resources. What will be in the shops in the year 3000? What will people be wearing? How will people be traveling? Scientists who make predictions about the future suggest that, by the year 3000, shops will no longer exist. Computers will have replaced them, and people will order goods from home. People will be wearing very light, thin clothes. By this time, scientists will have invented a fabric that keeps us cool in hot weather and warm in cold weather. As for travel, the experts say that most people will be using public transport. Electric cars will be traveling through the streets day and night. Anybody will be able to stop one and use it. An interesting picture. Unfortunately, we will not be there to see if these predictions come true. Pessimists believe that in the future _ . A) the seas and oceans will be full of houses B) we'll have used up all the resources C) we will not have enough fish to eat from the seas D) we'll have polluted the air so badly that it'll be impossible for us to breathe without masks.
D
(Question)
Which _ is the most talkative? No matter what you answer, you are partially right. A recent Gallup Poll show that both man and women believe that women possess the gift of talking and some even believe women are biologically built for conversation, but all of this is challenged in research published in the November issue of "Personality and Social Psychology Review". In recent research by Campbell Leaper and Melanie Ayres, they collected all of the available evidence from decades of scientific study and systematically combined the findings into an overall picture of the differences between men and women regarding talkativeness. They found a small but reliable tendency for men to be more talkative than women in certain cases, such as when they were conversing with their wives or with strangers. Women talked more to their children and to their college classmates. The type of speech was also explored in the research. The researchers discovered that, with strangers, women were generally more talkative when it came to using speech to ensure her connection to the listener, while men's speech focused more on an attempt to influence the listener. With close friends and family, however, there was very little difference between genders in the amount of speech. This passage mainly talks about research conducted by _ . A) Gallup Poll B) "Personality and social Psychology Review" C) Campbell Leaper and Melanie Ayres D) The author
(Answer)
C
Ques: Flying over a desert area in an airplane, two scientists looked down with trained eyes at trees and bushes. After an hour's flight one of the scientists wrote in his book, "Look here for probable metal." Walking across hilly ground, four scientists reported, "This ground should be searched for metals." From an airplane over a hilly wasteland a scientist sent back by radio one word "Uranium." None of the scientists had X-ray eyes: they had no magic powers for looking down below the earth's surface. They were merely putting to use one of the newest methods of locating minerals in the ground---using trees and plants as signs that certain minerals may lie beneath the ground on which the trees and plants are growing. This newest method of searching for minerals is based on the fact that minerals deep in the earth may affect the kind of bushes and trees that grow on the surface. At Watson Bar Creek, a mineral search group gathered bags of tree seeds. Boxes were filled with small branches from the trees. Roots were dug and put into boxes. Each bag and box was carefully marked. In a scientific laboratory the parts of the forest trees were burned to ashes and tested. Each small part was examined to learn whether there were minerals in it. Study of the roots, branches, and seeds showed no silver. But there were small amounts of gold in the roots and a little less gold in the branches and seeds. The seeds growing nearest to the tree trunk had more gold than those growing on the ends of the branches. If the trees had not indicated that there was gold in the ground, the scientists would not have spent money to pay for digging into the ground. They did dig and found more gold below. They dug deeper. They found large quantities of gold. Scientists went to different regions in order to search for _ . A) gold B) silver C) metals D) minerals
Ans: D
Ques: Nobody knows for certainty all the details of the life of Aesop. However, scholars have been working to established some facts and this is the brief story of Aesop as it is accepted today. Aesop was born a slave around the year 620 B.C. InAncient Greece, it was a privilege and tradition of freedmen to be interested in public affairs, so Aesop worked hard to raise himself from a servile slave's position to a high position of renown. He was a thinker and philosopher and eventually became widely admired. Aesop was a smart man and a good speaker. He liked to learn and to also teach people, so he traveled through many countries. He came to Sardis, the capital of the famous king Croesus of Lydia who was a patron of learning and learned men. Croesus was so impressed by Aesop that he invited Aesop to permanently reside at Sardis. The king hired Aesop to do diplomatic government work such as trying to establish peace between the various republics of Greece. Aesop reconciled the inhabitants of these cities by telling his wise fables. It was on one of these ambassadorial missions that Aesop was killed. Croesus had sent him to Delphi with lots of gold which was to be distributed among the citizens. After talking with the people of Delphi, Aesop got so mad at the citizens because of their covetousness. He refused to divide the money and instead sent it back to his master. The Delphians were so mad they executed Aesop as a public criminal. As it often happens in Greek history, the Delphians were visited by a series of calamities as a sort of retribution for Aesop's death. This is where the phrase "the blood of Aesop" originated. The saying means "wrongful deeds will not go unpunished". In memory of Aesop, a statue was erected in Athens. The statue was created by the famous Greek sculptor, Lysippus. Which of the following word can best describe Croesus? A) Strong-willed. B) Generous. C) Adventurous. D) Knowledgeable.
Ans:
B