Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Dear Betty, My roommate's family wants me to celebrate Thanksgiving Day with them in their home. I accepted the invitation, and I'm excited about going, but I'm a little nervous about it, too. The social customs in my country are different from those here, so I'm a little worried about making mistakes. Should I bring a gift, such as candy or flowers? Should I arrive on time or a little late? At the dinner table, how can I know which fork or knife to use? How can I let the family know that I'm thankful for their kindness? Yours, Knowing Nothing Dear Knowing Nothing, It's a good idea to bring a gift when you go to a dinner party. Flowers are always welcome, or you can bring a bottle of wine if you know the family drink it. You should arrive on time or five to ten minutes late. Don't get there early. If you are going to be more than fifteen minutes late, you should call and tell them. Try to relax at the dinner table. If you don't know how to use the right fork, knife or spoon, just watch the other guests, and follow them. If you still have no idea of what to do, don't be shy about asking the person next to you; it's better to ask them than to be silently uncomfortable and nervous. If you like the food, say so. Of course, you'll thank the host and hostess for the meal and for their kindness. It's also a good idea to send a card to thank them the day after. Yours, Betty Question: Knowing Nothing wrote a letter to Betty to _ . Options: A: tell Betty some good news B: ask for some advice C: answer some questions D: invite her to dinner
B

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: TOKYO--Lonely astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) may soon be getting a robot friend from Japan. Japan's space agency is considering putting a talking humanoid robot on the ISS to watch the work while astronauts are asleep, monitor their health and stress levels and communicate to Earth through the microblogging site Twitter. Japan's space agency JAXA announced this week that it is looking at a plan to send a humanoid robot to the space station in 2013 that could communicate with the ground through Twitter--primarily feeding photos, rather than original ideas --and provide astronauts with "comfort and companionship". Following up on US NASA's "Robonaut" R2 program, which is set for launch on the Discovery shuttle next week, the Japanese robot would be part of a larger effort to create and refine robots that can be used by the elderly, JAXA said in a statement. Japan is one of the leading countries in robotics and has a rapidly aging society with one of the world's longest life expectancies. Improving robot communication capabilities could help elderly people on Earth by providing a nonintrusive means of monitoring the robot owner's health and vital signs and sending information to emergency responders if there is an abnormality, JAXA said. "We are thinking in terms of a very humanlike robot that would have facial expressions and be able to talk with the astronauts," said JAXA's Satoshi Sano. The robot was being developed with the advertising and communications giant Dentsu Inc and a team at Tokyo University. The NASA project has a humanlike head, hands and arms and uses the same tools as station crew members. The "Robonaut" called R2 is intended to carry out maintenance tasks in the station's Destiny lab. NASA says it hopes that humanoid robots could one day stand in for astronauts during spacewalks or perform tasks too difficult or dangerous for humans. For now, the $2.5 million NASA robot is limited to activities within the lab. Question: From the passage we can know _ . Options: A: robots could completely take the place of human astronauts in the future B: the robot program, having cost $2.5 million, can carry out all tasks C: many Japanese universities joined in the robot program D: future astronauts will become less lonely and more comfortable with the help of the robot
D

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: English is fast becoming the language of science around the world, but what is its future among everyday speakers? One expert points out that the percentage of native English speakers is declining while the languages of other rapidly growing regions are being spoken by increasing numbers of people. But English will continue to remain widespread and important. However,British language scholar David Graddol says English will probably drop in dominance by the middle of this century to rank,after Chinese,about equally with Arabic,Hindi,and Urdu. "The number of people speaking English as a first language continues to rise,but it isn't rising nearly as fast as the numbers of many other languages around the world,simply because the main population group has been largely in the less developed countries where languages other than English have been spoken," he says. In a recent article in the journal Science,Mr. Graddol noted that three languages that are not near the top of the list of the most widely spoken now might be there soon. These are Bengali,Tamil,and Malay,spoken in south and southeast Asia. David Crystal,the author of The Cambridge Encycloredia of the English Laeguage, says about 1. 5 billion of the world's six billion people speak it as a second tongue compared to the 400 million native speakers. But another expert on the English language says Mr. Graddol underestimates the future of its dominance. _ but nobody quite knows what's going to happen because no language has been in this position before. " he said. Question: How many experts express their ideas about the future of English in the passage? Options: A: 2. B: 3. C: 4. D: 5
B

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Many of us know that fast food is not good for us: it makes us fat and has twice the amount of salt an adult should eat. Moreover, you may not be aware that fast food may have a subliminal effect on behavior, making people impatient even when they are not short of time, according to a new study published in the journal Psychological Science. "The unconscious goal of saving time embedded in fast food may have the unexpected consequence of inducing haste and impatience," the researchers claim. More strikingly, they found that the mere exposure to fast food symbols "reduced people's willingness to save and led them to prefer immediate gain over greater future return". In the study, student volunteers were shown in rapid succession logos from fast-food chains including McDonald's, Burger King, KFC and Subway. Participants preferred time-saving products like three-in-one skincare treatments rather than separate versions after seeing the logos. When asked whether they would accept a small sum of money immediately or a larger amount in a week's time, they again chose an instant reward after being exposed to the brands. "Fast food represents a culture of time efficiency and instant gratification ," said researcher Sanford DeVoe, professor of organizational behavior at Canada's Toronto University. "It is promoting a general sense of haste whether time is a relevant factor in the context or not." Question: Judging from the article, which of the following statements is FALSE? Options: A: Fast food causes weight problems. B: Fast food increases energy levels. C: Fast food contains more salt than traditional food. D: To some degree, fast food can influence behavior.
B