Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Recent research has claimed that an excess of positive ions in the air can have an ill effect on people's physical or psychological health. What are positive ions? Well, the air is full of ions, electrically charged particles, and generally there is a rough balance between the positive and the negative charged. But sometimes this balance becomes disturbed and a larger proportion of positive ions are found. This happens naturally before thunderstorm, earthquakes when winds are blowing in certain countries. Or it can be caused by a build-up of static electricity indoors from carpets or clothing, or from TV sets, duplicators or computer display screens. When a large number of positive ions are present in the air many people experience unpleasant effects such as headaches, fatigue , excessive anger, and some particularly sensitive people feel sick or even suffer mental disturbance. Animals are also affected, particularly before earthquakes, snakes have been observed to come out, rats to flee from their burrows, dogs howl and cats jump about unaccountably. This has led the US Geographical Survey to fund a network of volunteers to watch animals in an effort to foresee such disasters before they hit vulnerable areas such as California. Conversely, when large numbers of negative ions are present, then people have a feeling of well-being. Natural conditions that produce these large amounts are near the sea, close to waterfalls or fountains, or in any place where water is sprayed, or forms a spray. This probably accounts for the beneficial effect of a holiday by the sea, or in the mountains with streams or waterfalls. To increase the supply of negative ions indoors, some scientists recommend the use of ionisers. They claim that ionisers not only clean and refresh the air but also improve the health of people sensitive to excess positive ions. Of course, there are the detractors, other scientists, who dismiss such claims and are skeptical about negative/positive ion research. Therefore people can only make up their own... Question: What is an ion according to the passage? Options: A: It's a charged particle. B: It's basically static electricity indoors. C: It's a balance between the positive and negative charged. D: It's an ill effect on people's physical and psychological health.
A

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: A few days ago I asked my sons' governess Julia to come into my study. "Be seated, Julia, "I said, "Let's settle our accounts. I guess you most likely need some money, but maybe you're too polite to mention it. Now then, we agreed on thirty dollars a month..." "Forty." "No, thirty. I made a note of it. I always pay our governess thirty. Well, um, you've been here two months, so..." "Two months and five days." "Exactly two months. I made a special note of it. That means you have sixty dollars coming to you. Take off nine Sundays... you know you didn't work with Tom on Sundays, you only took walks. And three holidays... "Julia was biting her finger nail nervously, her face red, but - not a word. "Three holidays, therefore take off twelve dollars. Four days Tom was sick and there were no lessons, as you were occupied only with Dick. Three days you had a toothache and my wife gave you permission not to work after lunch. Twelve and seven - nineteen. Take nineteen off ... that leaves. hmm.... forty one dollars. Correct?" Julia's left eye reddened with tears welling up. Her chin trembled; she coughed nervously and blew her nose, but - still not a word. "Around New Year's Day you broke a teacup and a saucer; take off two dollars. The cup cost more, it was a treasure of the family, but- forget it. When didn't I take a loss! Then, due to your neglect , Tom climbed a tree and tore his jacket; take away ten. Also due to your carelessness the maid stole Dick's shoes. You ought to watch everything! You get paid for it. So, that means five more dollars off. The tenth of January I gave ten dollars." "You didn't. "sobbed Julia. "But I made a note of it." "Well... if you say so." "Take twenty seven from forty one -that leaves fourteen." Both her eyes were filled with tears. Beads of sweat stood on the thin pretty little nose. Poor girl! "Only once was I given any money," she whispered, her voice trembling, "and that was by your wife. Three dollars, nothing more." "Really? You see now, and I didn't... Question: What shocked the writer was Julia's _ . Options: A: nervousness in front of her boss B: acceptance of injustice C: shyness when talking about money D: reluctance to express herself
B

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: When Jeanne Calment entered the world in 1875, telephones and automobiles still lay in the future. Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso were not yet born. The Eiffel Tower was 14 years from being built. As a teenager, she met Vincent Van Gogh, near her home in Arles, in the south of France. He was "very ugly, ungracious , impolite, sick--I forgive him, they called him loco ", she recalled. When she died last week at age 122, she was the world's eldest person. (There are others who claimed to the title, but only Calment had the official documents to prove her age.) Each February 21, her birthday, she would share the secrets of long life. Some years it was "a sense of humour", others it was "keeping busy". "God must have forgotten me," she once explained. The truth probably was that she had good genes: her mother reportedly lived to be 86 and her father 94. Her life had its sadness: she outlived her husband, her only daughter and her grandson. According to a friend, she was _ . "If you can't do anything about it," she reportedly said, "don't worry about it." In her last years she was nearly blind and deaf, but her health remained good. She ate a few bars of chocolate each week and continued smoking until a few years ago, when she could no longer light her own cigarettes. She never lost her sense of humour. On her 110thbirthday, she commented, "I've only ever had one wrinkle, and I'm sitting on it. "Her longevity made her famous; her spirit made her eternal . Question: Toward the end of the story, the author seems to be impressed by Callment 's _ . Options: A: spirit B: religious belief C: knowledge D: longevity
A: A