Read the following article and answer the question. Article: A research found that people shown silent videos of piano competitions could pick out the winners more often than those who could also hear the music. It underlines the importance of our sense of vision, say scientists. Their study concludes that the best predictor of a winner's musical performance was the visible passion they displayed, followed closely by their uniqueness and creativity. Chia-Jung Tsay, from University College London, UK, is the study's author and herself a concert pianist. She was interested in how music was judged and found that even professional musicians were unaware of how much they were using visual information over sound. "For the last two decades, I've taken part in various competitions. Through this experience, I found that depending on what type of evaluations were used, the results might vary widely. This led me to wonder about how much visual information really affects these important decisions," she explained. More than 1,000 participants in the study were given samples of either audio, silent video or video with sound, and asked to rate the top three finalists from 10 international classical music competitions. The actual competition winners were only correctly identified by those who were randomly assigned the silent videos. Dr Tasy said the findings were quite surprising, especially because both trained musicians and those without training had stated that sound was most important for their evaluation. "Regardless of levels of expertise, we still seem to be led primarily by visual information, even in this field of music," she said. "Classical music training is often focused on improving the quality of the sound, but this research is about getting to the bottom of what is really being evaluated at the highest levels of competitive performance. She added, "We must be more mindful of our inclination to depend on visual information at the expense of the content that we actually value as more relevant to our decisions." Question: The participates in the study were asked to _ . Answer:
OPTIONS:
- watch classical music competitions
- assign the silent videos
- pick out the best three competitors
- decide who the winner is
pick out the best three competitors
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Read the following article and answer the question. Article: Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive, made his first public appearance since going on medical leave six weeks ago, taking the stage at a San Francisco media event to introduce the iPad 2, the second generation of the company's tablet computer. Thin but energetic, Mr. Jobs showed off a thinner iPad. " We've been working on this product for a while and I just didn't want to miss this day," he said. His absence has concerned investors, especially since the group has given no details of his condition. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2004 and had a liver transplant during almost six moths of medical leave in 2009. People close to him said last month his health had been changing. Apple's stock rose more than 2 percent in the minutes after Mr. Jobs began speaking, then gave up some of its gain as he detailed the iPad 2. The iPad 2 will go on sale in black and white versions in the US on March 11 and in 26 other countries, including the UK and Germany, on March 25. The table is Apple's biggest product launch since the iPhone three years ago, and is comparable to the iPhone as the most expected in Apple's history. Most of the improvements in the latest version had been expected, including front and rear-facing video, which allows video conferencing between iPads, Mac computers and the most recent iPhones and iPods, a larger speaker, a faster processor and other upgrades. The iPad 2 is one-third thinner than the original tablet and slightly lighter, with a 9.7-inch touchscreen. It can run movies, books, games and a complete range of applications. In the US it will work with AT&T and Verizon, the top two mobile carriers. The pricing will be the same to the 2010 iPad at its introduction, ranging from $499 to $829 in six models. But Apple dropped prices on the older iPad on Wednesday by $100 across the board. Apple has made the most of its year-long head start in tablets, selling 15,000,000 units of the older iPad last year and taking about 85 percent of the market. Forrester predicted that the iPad 2 would clain 80... Question: How many tablet computers were sold in the market last year? Answer:
OPTIONS:
- about 15,000,000
- about 17,000,000
- about 20,000,000
- about 24,000,000
about 17,000,000
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Read the following article and answer the question. Article: Colin walked slowly home from school. He looked across the hills at the little Irish fishing village. It did not seem like Christmas Eve. Perhaps this was because it still had not snowed. But Colin knew there was another reason--a reason he did not dare whisper even in his heart. He looked toward the sea. There was no ship. And seven days ago his father's fishing boat hadn't gone home in time. "I'll bring you a small sheep dog from the Shetland Isles," Colin's father told him the morning he left. But now it was Christmas Eve. Colin looked toward the lighthouse, high on the hill. For seven days, there had been no light to guide his father's ship. Colin pushed open the door of his cottage. "We'll need more peat for the fire, Colin," said his mother as he entered. "It has burned itself out. And it's near time to light the Christmas candle. Everybody in Ireland lights a candle on Christmas Eve, even when there's sadness in the house. It shows that your house and heart are open to strangers. I've two candles, one for each of us. If you gather some peat, we'll be ready for supper soon." Colin nodded and went outside. He led their donkey up the hill. But while he was staring at the lighthouse, Colin had an idea. He came to the lighthouse and knocked on the door. Mr. Duffy, the keeper, opened the door. "What's up, young man?" "Mr. Duffy," said Colin, "what did you use to light the lighthouse?" "Well, we used an oil lamp. But we've no oil to burn." "Maybe kerosene would do," suggested Colin. "Well, I suppose," Mr. Duffy thought. "But you wouldn't find even a little spare kerosene in this village. Everyone is so poor ..." Colin was gone before Mr. Duffy could finish his sentence. He ran back to the cottage. Then he ran out with four buckets. Colin could see candles glowing in nearly every cottage in the valley. A candle on Christmas Eve meant that a stranger would be welcome and given whatever he asked. He didn't stop running until he came to the first house. "Could you spare me just a half cup of kerosene... Question: How did Mr. Duffy react to Colin's suggestion? Answer:
OPTIONS:
- He thought it was rather wasteful.
- He thought it was quite impractical.
- He thought it was well worth trying.
- He thought it was far too dangerous.
He thought it was quite impractical.
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