Brrriiinnng. The alarm clock announces the start of another busy weekday in the morning. You jump out of bed, rush into the shower, into your clothes and out the door with hardly a moment to think. A stressful journey to work gets your blood pressure climbing. Once at the office, you glance through the newspaper with depressing stories or reports of disasters. In that sort of mood, who can get down to work, particularly some creative, original problem-solving work? The way most of us spend our mornings is exactly opposite to the conditions that promote flexible, open-minded thinking. Imaginative ideas are most likely to come to us when we're unfocused. If you are one of those energetic morning people, your most inventive time comes in the early evening when you are relaxed. Sleepy people's lack of focus leads to an increase in creative problem solving. By not giving yourself time to tune into your wandering mind, you're missing out on the surprising solutions it may offer. The trip you take to work doesn't help, either. The stress slows down the speed with which signals travel between neurons , making inspirations less likely to occur. And while we all should read a lot about what's going on in the world, it would not make you feel good for sure, so put that news website or newspaper aside until after the day's work is done. So what would our mornings look like if we wanted to start them with a full capacity for creative problem solving? We'd set the alarm a few minutes early and lie awake in bed, following our thoughts where they lead. We'd stand a little longer under the warm water of the shower, stopping thinking about tasks in favor of a few more minutes of relaxation. We'd take some deep breaths on our way to work, instead of complaining about heavy traffic. And once in the office--after we get a cup of coffee--we'd click on links not to the news of the day but to the funniest videos the web has to offer. What does the author imply about newspapers? A) They are solution providers. B) They are a source of inspiration. C) They are normally full of bad news. D) They are more educational than websites.
C
(Question)
The pickle jar , as I can remember, sat beside the dresser in my parents' bedroom. When ready for bed, Dad would toss any coins in his pockets into the jar. As they dropped, they landed with a merry jingle. Whenever the jar was full, Dad would roll up the coins. Every time he slid the box of rolled coins across the counter at the bank toward the cashier, he would smile proudly and say,"All for my son's college." We would always celebrate each deposit by stopping for an ice cream cone. Dad would show me the coins in his change, saying "When we get home, we'll start filling the jar again." He always let me drop the first coins into the empty jar. "You might have to get to college on loose change," he said. "But you'll get there." As years passed, I went to college, got married and took a job. Once, while visiting my parents, I noticed the jar was gone. It had served its purpose. My dad was a man of few words and never lectured me on the values of determination, perseverance or faith. The jar had taught me those far better than the most flowery of words could have done. Soon, my daughter Jessica was born. We spent Christmas that year with my parents. After dinner, Mom and Dad sat next to each other, taking turns holding their first grandchild. When Jessica began crying, my wife Susan took her from Dad's arms to put her in my parents' room. Susan came back, tears in her eyes and led me into the room. "Look," she said softly. To my amazement, there, next to the dresser, stood the old pickle jar, as if never removed, the bottom already covered with coins. I walked over to it, dug down into my pocket, and pulled out several coins. Choked by emotion, I dropped them into the jar. Dad had slipped quietly into the room when I looked up. Our eyes locked, but neither of us spoke, because we knew nothing had to be said. The pickle jar in the article represents _ . A) advice of parents. B) one's purpose in life. C) determination to reach a goal. D) healthy family relations.
(Answer)
C
Ques: The legal age for drinking alcohol in the Unite States is twenty-one. Underage drinking is a crime but also a common part of college social life. This week in our Foreign Student Series, we look at alcohol rules at American colleges and universities. These rules differ from school to school, but many schools have been moving to strengthen their rules. The United States has more than 17,000,000 students in higher education. Each year, 1700 of them die from alcohol-related road crashes and other injuries. 600,000 more are injured while under the influence of alcohol. And almost 700,000 are attacked by another drunken. One behavior that college officials are trying to prevent is too much drink. Some researchers have found that students who think binge drinking is normal often think extremely how much other students really drink. A person can die of alcohol poisoning. At Oklahoma University, a nineteen-year-old student died from drinking heavily at a party in 2005. Now alcohol is banned from all sorority houses and university housing. Student organizations can serve alcohol at events but only on Friday and Saturday nights. Other new requirements include an alcohol education program that first-year students take online. The rules govern behavior on campus and off. With a first violation ,students pay seventy-five dollars and their parents are told. They must also take an alcohol education class. For a second "strike", they have to pay one hundred fifty dollars. A third strike means that they have to be suspended school for at least one semester. Since 2005,363 students have had a first strike. 30 have had a second strike-and only one hasn't allowed to go to school for one semester. The president at Oklahoma tells us the aim is not just to punish but to change the behavior and culture at the university. If a student has a third strike, he or she should _ . A) have to stop going to school for a time. B) be removed to another school C) be locked at home for a period. D) be forced to leave school forever.
Ans: A
Ques:A new report says sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is melting more quickly than expected. American scientists say the ice is melting even faster than computer programs had estimated. Scientists know that climate change has a major effect on the Arctic Ocean partly because sea ice is disappearing. They also know that areas of open seawater are expanding. Such areas are known to take in sunlight and increase temperatures. Scientists say this has helped to cause the loss of the Arctic's ice cover. For the study, the American scientists compared eighteen computer programs with observations made by satellites and other instruments. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change used the computer programs to prepare its 2007 estimates of climate change. The computer programs gave estimates of the amount of ice in the Arctic Ocean in the month of September. September is when the Arctic has the least ice, after the warm, summer months. The computer estimates suggested an ice loss of two and a half percent for every ten-year period between 1953 and 2006. Newer studies of the Arctic have used information gathered by aircraft, satellites and ships. This information showed a loss of September ice cover of almost eight percent for every ten-year period between 1953 and last year. This means the ice is disappearing about thirty years faster than the computer programs estimated. The scientists say the programs might not have recognized the full effect of increased carbon dioxide and other gases in Earth's atmosphere. They say their study suggests the gases may have more of an effect than had been thought. It is reported that sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is melting more quickly than expected mainly because _ . A) climate change B) sea ice's disappearance C) seawater's expansion D) the loss of the Arctic's ice cover

Ans:
A