The story I would like to tell happened about a year ago. I accepted a position in a company. John, an acquaintance of mine, told me much about the job and took my curriculum vitae to his supervisor. I did not refer to him as a friend because at the time we did not take part in activities together outside of work, nor did our wives. The first week was fine. Nothing was obviously strange with John at first until the second week, when our communication began to get a little strange. John began making comments like "you would have had to pay an employment agency several hundred dollars for a job like this". I soon forgot his words till the next day when he made another similar comment. Right then I started to really pay attention to what he meant. He acted as if I owed him money for helping me to get the job. He began to get short with me and I had only been there for two weeks. He was supposed to train me in building our e-mail servers and setting up the entire standard monitor software. Instead, he went through the process so fast that even an experienced worker could hardly keep up. He would not slow down or check whether I was with him or not. If there was something wrong with a server, he would just buzz through the solution and not stop to say anything like "you might want to remember this." I began to get very frustrated. By the third week I began to get tired of his condescension . So I began to challenge him in a way that was only one to one. He would respond to a question of mine with a question or just make me repeat it, and then interrupt me. I began to hate him. Later I tried to avoid him as much as I could, so I wouldn't run into him. He stopped me one day and asked me what had happened. I told him he was very condescending in his tone and manner. He asked me, "What can I do so that you will not feel like this way in the future?" I simply asked him to treat me with the same respect he would like to be treated with. He did it and we got along better gradually. I believed there was hope and... Why didn't the author refer to John as a friend at first? A) They seldom spent free time together. B) They had only met for two weeks. C) Their wives didn't know each other. D) They had many disagreements on work.
A
(Question)
At the entrance to one of the ruined temples of Petra in Jordan, there is an inscription in the soft red rock. It looks as if it has been there for centuries. It could have been carved by one of King Herod's soldiers, when they were imprisoned in the town in 40 BC. But closer examination reveals that it is not so ancient after all. It reads: Shane and Wendy from Sydney were here. April 16th 1996, The ruins of Petra were discovered in 1810 by a Swiss explorer, and a recent report has just concluded that 66they are in grave danger of being destroyed by the unstoppable march of tourism". More than 4,000 tourists a day pour into Petra's rocky tombs. They wear away the soft red sandstone to powder and (occasionally!) scratch their names into the rock. It is not just Petra that is under threat of destruction. With more than 60,000 visitors to Venice each day, cruise ships that have made Venice tourists' top destination bring one of the most significant dangers to the city, leading to tides that are further damaging the foundation of the Venetian structures. The prehistoric cave paintings at Lascaux in France were being slowly ruined by the breath and bacteria from 200,000 visitors a year. The caves have now been closed to the public and a replica has been built, Will there be more replicas like in Lascaux? There already are. Heritage theme parks are springing up everywhere. Many of the great cities of Europe are finding that their historic centers are fast becoming theme parks, filled with clicking cameras and whirring camcorders, abandoned by all local residents except for the souvenir sellers. Until recently, we all believed that travel broadened the mind, but now many believe the exact opposite: "Modem travel narrows the mind". What's the author's attitude towards tourism? A) Critical B) Supportive C) Objective D) Unclear
(Answer)
A
Ques: The word "sport" first meant something that people did in their free time. Later it often meant hunting wild animals and birds. About a hundred years ago the word was first used for organized games. This is the usual meaning of the word today. People spend a lot of their spare time playing football, basketball, tennis and many other sports. Such people play because they want to. A few people are paid for the sport they play. These people are called professional sportsmen. They may be sportsmen for only a few years, but during that time the best ones can earn a lot of money. For example, a professional footballer in England earns more than 30,000 dollars a year. The stars earn a lot more. International golf and tennis champions can make more than 500,000 dollars a year. Of course, only a few sportsmen can earn as much money as that. Perhaps the most surprising thing about sportsmen and money is that the stars can earn more money from advertising than from sports. An advertisement for sports equipment does not simply say "Buy our things". It says "Buy the same shirt and shoes as ...". Famous sportsmen can even advertise things like watches and food. They allow the companies to use their names or a photograph of them and they are paid for this. Sport is no longer just something for people's spare time. What surprises people most is that _ . A) the word "sport" meant hunting animals B) the stars get more money from advertising than from sports C) professional sportsmen are paid for what they do D) only a few sportsmen can earn $ 500, 000 a year
Ans: B
Ques:A study of older men in The Netherlands, known for its delicious chocolate, showed those who ate the same amount of one-third of a chocolate bar every day had lower blood pressure and a reduced risk of death. The researchers say, however, it's too early to conclude that it was the chocolate that led to better health. The men who ate more cocoa products could have eaten other food that made them healthier. Experts also point out that eating too much chocolate can make you fat -- a risk for both heart disease and high blood pressure. "It's why too early to make recommendations about whether people should eat more cocoa or chocolate," said Brian Buijsse, an expert for nutrition at prefix = st1 /WageningenUniversityin The Netherlands, who co-authored the study. Still, the Dutch Study, supported by grants from the Netherlands Prevention Foundation, appears to be the largest so far to document a health effect for cocoa beans. And it confirms findings of smaller, shorter-term studies that also linked chocolate with lower blood pressure. Researchers examined the eating habits of 470 healthy men who were not taking blood pressure medicine. The men who ate the most products made from cocoa beans -- including cocoa drinks, chocolate bars and chocolate pudding -- had lower blood pressure and a 50 percent lower risk of death. "This is a very important article providing epidemiological support for what many researchers have been observing is experimental models," said Cesar Fraga of the University of California Davis, who does similar research but was not involved in the new study. Could the study results apply to women? "Our study consisted of elderly inch," Buijsse said. "If you look at the other studies, you will see the same effects in men and women, younger people and older people. The findings may be _ to women, but you never know." Which of the following might NOT be considered a product made from cocoa beans? A) Chocolate bars B) Coffee drink C) Chocolate pudding D) Cocoa drink

Ans:
B