Read the article and select the best answer. Article: As the economy begins to recover, salary increases should do the same. In the past few years, employers have raised workers' salaries by about 4 percent per year--except for 2009, when the figure dropped to a historically low 2.1 percent, according to a survey of World at Word. About one-third of companies froze raises altogether. For 2010, World at Work's survey projects an average salary increase budget of 2.7 percent, a figure that shows the situation has improved but the job market is still weak. Between 10 percent and 15 percent of companies said they would freeze raises--far fewer than in 2009, but still more than in most years. How can you get a raise? Avalos and others offer the following tips: * Do your job well. This means producing high-quality work, of course, but also keeping the big picture in mind. "It really comes down to positioning yourself as a high performer, somebody who is aware of business goals and helps the company meet their goals as an organization", Avalos said * Be visible. When times are tough, some workers think. "I'm going to hunker down and hope that nobody notices me, because I don't want to be on a layoff list," said Richard Phillips, owner of Advantage Career Solutions. This is a mistake, because you're unlikely to get a raise if no one knows what you have accomplished. "If anything, what you want to do is be more visible." * Make your boss's life easier. This means everything from having a good attitude to taking on extra tasks. If you don't know how you can help your boss, ask. * Ask for a raise. Talk to your boss and present your case: Here's what I've done, here's how it fits with the company's goals, and here is why I think it's worth a salary increase. In some cases, even if your company has an official raise freeze, you can get a raise if you make good case. If the answer is no -- or if you're not ready to ask directly -- Phillips suggests asking, "What would you like to see from me that would put me in line for a raise?" A question like this can improve your... Question: If you want to get a raise, the most important thing you should keep in your mind is to _ . Options: A: have your job done well B: be visible everywhere as possible as you can C: ask your boss for a raise directly D: change your job
A

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: "Some day, there'll be no Americans left in the NBA," said 12-year-old Xing Tao, who joined his school team two weeks ago after watching Yao Ming in a televised NBA game, "The players will all be Chinese, like Yao." To China, Yao is a home-grown superstar who helped make the world's first basketball league closer to Chinese players. To the NBA, the 2.23-meter center offers an opening of a different sort into the world's largest new market. Yao's NBA first appearance against the Indiana Pacers in October reached 287 million families in the US. That game might have been a bit of a _ to Yao's fans: He played just 11 of the 48 minutes, had two rebounds and got no points. Comparing that with his performance on December 19, also against Indiana, Yao won 29 points and 10 rebounds. "This was one of the most exciting games I've had," Yao said after Houston's 95-83 victory. The NBA has to be excited about his on-count success. In all his games, he's averaging 12.7 points and 7.7 rebounds, quite good for a new star. "Yao Ming has brought the NBA closer to the Chinese," said NBA spokeswoman Cheong Sau Ching, "That makes the dream seem practical for other people in China and proud to be Chinese." The 22-year-old Yao is not the country's first player in the NBA: Wang Zhizhi broke down the Dallas Mavericks in November 2003. But Yao's combination of modesty and skills make him a favorite back home. Question: How many points did Yao Ming win in his first game in the NBA? Options: A: zero B: two C: 29 D: 10
A

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: In South America, the rich soil of the Amazon River basin in Brazil is known as "black gold". Scientists found that the secret of this rich soil was charcoal . Local people made it from animal bones and tree branches. They mixed the charcoal with the soil about 1.500 years ago. Now, scientists in the United States have done a modern demonstration. They say charcoal fertilization offers a revolutionary way to improve soil quality for hundreds or even thousands of years. Mingxin Guo and his team at Delavare State University heated tree leaves, corn stalks , small pieces of wood and poultry waste into "biochar" . They reported their findings at a recent meeting of the American Chemical Society in New Orleans. Biochar could be good news for farmers with poor soil and hungry populations to feed. Professor Guo says it could even help against global warming. Intensive farming and overuse of chemical fertilizer give out carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Biochar does the opposite, he says. It traps carbon in the ground. The researchers planted winter wheat in containers of soil in a greenhouse -- some with biochar, some without. Professor Guo says the wheat grows much better in the pots with biochar. The soil was added two percent charcoal to. But he says even a one percent treatment will increase productivity. The results demonstrated that biochar can increase organic matter in soil. Loss of nutrients in soil is an increasing problem worldwide as farmers try to grow more food for growing populations. Next, the team will carry out a five-year study of biochar with spinach , green peppers and tomatoes. Mingxin Guo says he learns about the "black gold" in Brazil from a magazine story. He explains that it was discovered in the jungle, in the area where waters flow to the Amazon, in the 1960's. But it was not until recent years that scientists began to bring public attention to it. Question: According to the research, the biochar can help against global warming because it can _ . Options: A: reduce the carbon dioxide B: keep the carbon in the soil C: reduce the loss of nutrients in the soil D: absorb the carbon dioxide
B

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Face book, the world's biggest social networking site, is celebrating its sixth birthday. The site's founder, Mark Zuckergerg, states that Face book will continue to work as hard as it has worked in the last six years in order to stay the web's number one communication site. The company started in a dorm room in 2004. Today it has 150 million active users, more than the 130 million of its competitor MySpace. Face book set itself apart from other social networking sites because you can communicate with people you really know and trust. Before, most people didn't want to share their real identities online. Face book has given people a safe and trusted environment for people to interact online. It has changed the way people view the world. A friend from any country is only a few clicks away. It was back in February 2004 when Zuckerberg started "the Face book" from a Harvard student's room. The aim was to help students get in touch with each other over the Internet. Within 24 hours over a thousand students had signed up and soon after that the network spread out to other universities. By 2005 a research study showed that about 85% of the students in the network had a Face book account. Another survey showed that Face book was almost as important as an iPod. At the end of 2005 Face book came to the UK. And up to today the site has been translated into 35 languages. Six years after its start, Face book has escaped the universities and colleges. More than half of its users are not at college any more and the fastest growing group are the 30 to 40-year-olds. Every day 15 million users update their profiles to tell their friends and the world what's happening to them. They also share photos, upload videos, chat, make friends, join groups and simply have fun. Question: The passage mainly discusses _ . Options: A: when Face book is started B: what Face book is used for C: how Face book is developed D: why Face book is so popular
C