It was evening rush hour on Pacific Coast Highway in Redondo Beach, CA. Drivers lined up from traffic signal to traffic signal and were anxious to get home. On a side street merging into this highway was a timid driver who was afraid to edge in and no one let her in. Some of the drivers backed up behind her and loudly blasted their horns. This made her more upset and nervous. On the right of this side street, the signal on Pacific Coast Highway turned red and traffic stopped. A driver who saw what was happening to this woman stopped a few car lengths behind her car and motioned to her to pull in front of his car. She quickly did and as he waited, two more cars dashed in behind her car. While the woman he'd helped waited for the signal to turn green, she sank into her driver's seat and was deeply relieved. Although this thoughtful man couldn't see it, her body language expressed her gratitude. If you've been in a traffic situation like the one she was in, you know how upsetting it can be. But this little act of kindness allowed her to safely reach her home. She told others about this, which encouraged them to do something nice for someone else. This kindness spreads. Someone does something nice for you and in turn you're likely to do something nice for that person or for someone else. A simple act of kindness could have a widespread effect. It's like a stone that drops in a pond and causes ripples in each direction. No one knows how far those ripples will travel but they will affect everything they touch along the way. What can we know about most of the drivers on Pacific Coast Highway from the story? A) They were not friendly or thoughtful. B) They are thankful to the driver who helped the lady. C) They blasted their horns to encourage the lady driver. D) They were not anxious to get home.
A
(Question)
Forget chip fat, sugar cane or rapeseed oil -- the latest source of biofuel could be watermelons. Scientists have discovered that the fruit is a great source of sugar that can be readily distilled into alcohol to power cars and farm machinery. And sellers reject 360,000 tons of "substandard" fruit every year in America alone which could be used as an economical way to make fuel. The waste from US growers could produce nearly two million gallons (nine million litres) of biofuel per year. In the study, researchers at the United States Department of Agriculture set out to determine the biofuel potential of juice from rejected watermelons --those not sold due to imperfections, and currently ploughed back into the field. About a fifth of each yearly watermelon crop is left in the field because of surface blemishes or because they are misshapen. Dr. Wayne Fish, who led the team, found that 50 percent of the fruit was fermentable into alcohol which could provide valuable fuel. "We've shown that the juice of these watermelons is a source of readily fermentable sugars, representing an unexploited raw material for alcohol biofuel production," he said. The study, published in the journal Biotechnology for Biofuels, discovered that watermelons could produce around 20 gallons of fuel per acre from fruit that otherwise would go to waste. Production of biofuels has been targeted by Western governments as a way to support renewable energy targets. The European Union has a target for 2010 that 5.75 percent of transport fuels should come from biological sources, but the target is unlikely to be met. The British government's Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation requires five percent of the fuel sold at the pump by 2010 to be biofuel. The passage mainly tells us _ . A) watermelon juice will be the largest source of renewable energy B) the advantages of fuel made from watermelons C) Western countries aim at producing biofuels D) watermelons could be used to make fuel
(Answer)
D
Question: The 9.2magnitude earthquake which caused the tsunami in the Indian Ocean on Boxing Day last year occurred at 7:58 a.m.,95 miles off the west coast of Aceh, Indonesia. Eighteen minutes later.10-metre high waves crashed the ashore along a 500----mile-long stretch of Aceh. Two hours later the tsunami hit Thailand and Malaysia and then Burma, Bangladesh, India,the Maldives,Sri Lanka,Kenya and Somalia.The final death toll is thought to be about 280,000,with tens of thousands more listed as missing.More than l.8 million people lost their homes. *What Is Tsunami? A tsunami is a chain of fast moving waves caused by a sudden strong quake in the ocean.They can be caused by earthquakes,volcanic eruptions ,or even the collision of meteorites .Tsunamis are also incorrectly known as tidal waves,but unlike tidal waves they are not caused by changes in the tides. They are also most common around the edge of the Pacific,where more than half of the world's volcanoes are found.These fast moving waves can attack coastlines,often with little or no warning.Rocks weighing as much as 20 metric tonnes have been pulled from sea walls and carried l 80m inland. *Wave Power Atsunami can have a wavelength in excess of 1 00km and there may be an hour between them.They travel at great speeds across an ocean with hardly any energy losses and are barely noticeable out at sea. Over the deep Pacific Ocean,a tsunami travels at about 800kph.If an earthquake happened in Los Angeles.a tsunami could hit Tokyo quicker than you could fly between the cities by jet. *Strange Animal Behaviors Ten days before giant waves slammed into Sri Lanka and India coastlines,wild and domestic animals seemed to know what was about to happen and fled to safety. Elephants screamed and ran for higher ground. Dogs refused to go outdoors. Zoo animals rushed into their shelters and could not be enticed to come back out. ..What does the first part of the passage mainly tell us? A) The great speed of a tsunami. B) The number of deaths caused by a tsunami. C) The countries which were struck by a tsunami. D) The serious destruction caused by the great power of a tsunaml.
Answer:
D