Ques: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: If you've ever seen a James Bond movie, you'll know that the hero gets around in a smart Aston Martin car. Even if you know that you could never afford such an expensive vehicle, you don't forget the name, or the car. Why? You have been affected by product placement. Companies pay a film to place their products in the movie. Product placement took off in the West in the 1980s and is now catching on in China. Two Hunan Satellite TV dramas are recent examples: Ugly Wudi and Let's Go Watch the Meteor Shower (<<>> ). Shampoo, mobile phones, cars and fitness centers -- anything can be product-placed. Advertisers value the mass appeal of the movies, knowing that a successful film can showcase their goods to hundreds of thousands of viewers. But when product placement takes over, art can only take a back seat. Cai Zhiyong has been product-placing for years. The Beijing-based advertiser admits there is a conflict between art and business. He explains the way one ad works. In If You are the One (<<>> ), the actress Shu Qi plays a flight attendant. The movie contains product placement for airline companies. Cash-strapped filmmakers often can't pay so much attention to the quality of their work because they need money from advertisers. In the original story for Meteor Shower, the heroine's mother owned an ice cream shop. But no ice cream company wanted to sponsor the film. For this reason, the story was changed. In the film the man drinks 20 cups of milk tea instead of eating ice cream. So you may see the power of business over the movies, since the script was perhaps written so that a product could be placed---whether it was ice cream or milk tea. Question: Product placement can have a bad effect on the _ of a movie. - atmosphere - mass appeal - box-office success - artistic value
Ans: artistic value

Ques: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Once upon a time, there was an island inhabited by: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all the rest of it, including Love. One day it was announced to the feelings that the island would sink, so all constructed boats and left. Except for Love. Love was the only one who stayed. Love wanted to hold out until the last possible moment. When the island had almost sunk, Love decided to ask for help. Richness was passing by Love in a grand boat. Love said, "Richness, can you take me with you?" Richness answered, "No, I can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is no place here for you." Love decided to ask Vanity who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel. "Vanity, please help me!" "I can't help you, Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat," Vanity answered. Sadness was close by so Love asked, "Sadness, let me go with you." "Oh . . . Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!" Happiness passed by Love, too, but she was so happy that she did not even hear when Love called her. Suddenly, there was a voice, "Come, Love, I will take you." It was an elder. So blessed and overjoyed, Love even forgot to ask the elder where they were going. When they arrived at dry land, the elder went her own way. Question: What idea did the writer intend to tell us in this passage? - Love takes a long period. - Love gets along without richness. - Love goes on against Vanity. - Love is different from happiness.
Ans: Love takes a long period.

Ques: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: More than 40 years ago, John Williams gave away all of his belongings and went off to the mountains to live the way people lived 100 years ago. For food he traps wild animals, fishes in the rivers, and plants whatever he can. John lives in a cabin he made by hand, out of trees he chopped down with an ax. Though he has no s he knows of, he does have a deer he raised from a fawn. The deer lives in the house in the winter and goes with John when he goes into the forest for food. Nobody lives within fifty miles of his cabin in the mountains and John has not been out of the mountains during the entire forty years. One day last year I hiked in to see how John lives. It was like going back in time. There were no roads, no stores, no noise, no pollution, not even a post office. Most notable of all, there were no people and that's just the way John Williams wants to keep his part of the world--without people. But there is a paradox in his story. John is an educated man. He has books and nobody knows how he got them. Mostly he reads about his world, the forest, the animals, the plants, and the mountains. He has seen airplanes flying overhead but does not want to know about them. For him, electricity is lightning, not light bulbs, refrigerators, televisions, or washing machines. John Williams is 85 years old and had not had a sick day in his life. He attributes his long life to the fact that it has nothing to do with people and in order that he might enjoy many more years of health, happiness, and solitude, I will not tell you where his kingdom lies. There is no room there for you or me. Question: John Williams has lived in his present location _ . - since he was born - since his wife died - almost half his life - since he graduated from college
Ans: almost half his life

Ques: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Corned Beef & Cabbage. From Quick Cooking "I've been making this meal for more than 40 years," remarks Ruth Warner of Wheat Ridge, Colorado. "It is so easy and so delicious. It's especially good served with a salad of peaches and cottage cheese." INGREDIENTS 4 cups water 1 corned beef brisket with spice packet (2 pounds) 1 medium head cabbage , cut into 8 wedges 2 large red potatoes , cut into 2-inch chunks 1 can (14--1/2 ounces ) chicken broth 4 large carrots , cut into 2--inch chunks 1 medium onion , cut into 2--inch pieces SERVINGS, 4--6 CATEGORY , Main Dish PREP , 10 min. METHOD, Pressure Cooker COOK, 45 min. TOTAL, 55 min.DIRECTIONS In a 6-qt. pressure cooker ,combine water and contents of corned beef seasoning packet; add beef. Close cover securely ;place pressure regulator on vent pipe .Bring cooker to full pressure over high heat .Reduce heat to medium-high and cook for 45 minutes .(Pressure regulator should maintain a slow steady rocking motion; adjust heat if needed.) Meanwhile ,in a large saucepan ,combine the cabbage ,potatoes and broth .Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes .Add carrots and onion. Cover and simmer 20--25 minutes longer or until vegetables are tender ;drain. Remove pressure cooker from the heat; allow pressure to drop on its own. Remove beef to a serving platter. Discard cooking liquid .Serve beef with cabbage ,potatoes ,carrots and onion. Yield: 4--6 servings. For more recipes ,click here. Question: How long will it take to get cabbage ,carrots and other materials cooked? - About 10 minutes. - About 60 minutes. - About 55 minutes. - About 35 minutes.
Ans:
About 35 minutes.