Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: The other day I heard a few local musicians talking: "I hate all the terrible pianos in this town. I hate that rubbish they play on the radio. They can't even understand a bit of music." "I'm never playing in that club again. Too many drunks and nobody listens to us." But, one younger musician said, "There are a few clubs that book my band a few nights a month, and I'm trying to find other places to play. I'm also looking to book a few summer festivals this year." I've heard that you are the average of the five people whom you spend the most time with, or to put it another way, you are who your friends are. Attitudes are important. Whether they're positive or negative, they're rubbing off on you. If you're around people who complain about lack of work and about other musicians, or blame others, and you play the role of victim , chances are you will start to as well. So it's time to take a look at the people you call "friends". This is an easy exercise: Make a list of the people who you hang out with, and simply stop spending time with the negative people on your list. Set a new standard for yourself and don't become friends with people who fall below that standard. Keep successful people around you and your own chances for success will be much better. Ask them how they do it. Ask if they will help you get the work you're looking for, or maybe give you some advice to help you on your career path. Question: The musicians' words at the beginning are written mainly to show _ . - the musicians' living conditions are quite poor - people have poor taste in music - people have different attitudes towards the same thing - young people have greater chances of succeeding
people have different attitudes towards the same thing
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Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Every day, 340 million people speak it. One billion people are learning it and it is said that by 2050, half of the world's population will be using it. What are we talking about? That is the global language--English. The English language started in Britain in the 5th century. It is a mixed language. It was built up when German. Scandinavian and French invaders settled in England and created a common language for communication. Today it is the official language of the UK, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and Ireland as well as many islands in the Caribbean. Many other countries and regions use it for politics and business, for example, India. Pakistan, Nigeria and the Philippines. English is also one of the official languages of Hong Kong. But global advertising and pop music mean that in most countries, you will see or hear some English. Thanks to McDonalds, we all know about "burgers". "fries" and "milkshakes". Songs by Madonna, Britney Spears and Celine Dion are in English. We can sing along, even if we do not understand what we are singing! English is a messy language. Every year, dictionaries include new words that talk about popular culture, for example, computer-related words such as "blogging", "download" and "chartroom". Also included are words that teenagers use. Who does not know "cool", "OK" and "hello"? Other languages also influence English. Many English words come from French. Words like "cafe" and expressions like "c'est la vie" (that is life) are all part of the English language. On the other hand, the French language includes English words like "le weekend" and "le camping". German words are also part of English. Words like "kindergarten" come from the German language. Recently, British people have become interested in "yoga". But the word comes from an ancient Hindu language in India. Question: The English language has a history of _ . - over 2000 years - over 1500 years - over 500 years - over 1000 years
over 1500 years
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Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Last summer, two nineteenth-century cottages were rescued from remote farm fields in Montana, to be moved to an Art Deco building in San Francisco. The houses were made of wood. These cottages once housed early settlers as they worked the dry Montana soil; now they hold Twitter engineers. The cottages could be an example of the industry' s odd love affair with "low technology," a concept associated with the natural world, and with old-school craftsmanship that exists long before the Internet era. Low technology is not virtual --so, to take advantage of it, Internet companies have had to get creative. The rescued wood cottages, fitted by hand in the late eighteen-hundreds, are an obvious example, but Twitter's designs lie on the extreme end. Other companies are using a broader interpretation of low technology that focuses on nature. Amazon is building three glass spheres filled with trees, so that employees can "work and socialize in a more natural, park-like setting." At Google's office, an entire floor is carpeted in glass. Facebook's second Menlo Park campus will have a rooftop park with a walking trail. Olle Lundberg, the founder of Lundberg Design, has worked with many tech companies over the years. "We have lost the connection to the maker in our lives, and our tech engineers are the ones who feel impoverished , because they're surrounded by the digital world," he says. "They're looking for a way to regain their individual identity, and we've found that introducing real crafts is one way to do that." This craft based theory is rooted in history, William Morris, the English artist and writer, turned back to pre-industrial arts in the eighteen-sixties, just after the Industrial Revolution. The Arts and Crafts movement defined itself against machines. "Without creative human occupation, people became disconnected from life," Morris said. Research has shown that natural environments can restore our mental capacities. In Japan, patients are encouraged to "forest-bathe," taking walks through woods to... Question: The writer mentions the two nineteenth-century cottages to show that _ . - Twitter is having a hard time - old cottages are in need of protection - early settlers once suffered from a dry climate in Montana - Internet companies have rediscovered the benefits of low technology
Internet companies have rediscovered the benefits of low technology
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