Dear Sharon Draper, A lot of books have flashes of insight, but only few of them can open the readers' mind and make them realize something new. Your book, Out of My Mind, filled me with those sparks. I enjoyed getting to know Melody. Despite the fact that she had cerebral palsy ,Melody had an amazing character that shone brightly. Out of My Mind helped me learn a life-long lesson. Your book has changed my point of view. I never teased those who had special needs, but I never really felt comfortable around them either. When I started reading your novel, I saw how Melody was a smart and talented girl. At the beginning of the book, I asked myself, "Would I be Melody's friend?" The voice in my stomach told me the sad truth: no. I carried on with your book from start to finish, and when I closed it, I asked myself the same question, "Would I be Melody's friend?" I realized, with a smile, that the answer was right in front of me. Throughout Out of My Mind, I had become Melody's friend. Last year, there was a boy in my class who had Asperger's syndrome . I didn't really know him; he just seemed different to me. This was around the time that I read your novel. Melody showed me how she was just as good as anyone else in her classroom and how the same goes for anyone else with disabilities. The boy in my class amazed me by what he was capable of doing. As the days went by, I started helping him instead of avoiding him. Melody opened my eyes and cleared the world around me. She showed me how a girl with cerebral palsy was the same as a girl like me. Now it is time for me to thank you for writing this amazing novel. I will never forget your fantastic book. Sincerely, Margaret Lim According to the passage, the author mainly thinks Out of My Mind is _ . A) beautiful in words B) influential to readers C) skillful at writing D) successful in sales
B
Home improvements such as using insulation and energy-efficient windows to lower heating and air-conditioning bills can greatly affect quality of life for low-income families. In 2014, researchers at New York's Columbia University interviewed 20 renters and homeowners in a low-income community in New York City before and after helping those people make energy-efficiency upgrades to their homes. The researchers found cold and heat caused not only extreme physical discomfort but health problems as well. Increased heating costs in winter months also used up so much of people's budgets they were forced to reduce their calorie intake. Additionally, poor air quality due to reduced air-conditioner use can increase the risk of illness. People whose homes were upgraded reported greater physical and mental ease, as well as energy savings of around 30 percent, averaging $20-$60 per month. Despite these benefits, a study by University of Chicago economists was critical of the cost-effectiveness of government programs that provide money for energy-efficiency upgrades for low-income households. Around 7,500 households in Michigan were given an average of $5,000 worth of free upgrades as part of a larger energy-efficiency program. The researchers found that the measures reduced the households' energy consumption by about 10-20 percent each month. However, these savings would amount to an average of just $2,400 over the lifetime of the upgrades--in other words, less than half the amount of the initial investment. The study also highlighted another issue regarding energy-efficiency programs. It had long been believed that low-income earners tended not to participate because they were unaware of the programs' existence. In the University of Chicago study, however, an intensive marketing campaign consisting of thousands of telephone calls and home visits raised the Michigan program's participation rate by only a few percentage points. The great expense and effort required for such a tiny effect indicates that it may be time to... The University of Chicago study suggested that _ . A) major increases in participation rates for energy-efficiency upgrade programs could be achieved by targeting low-income earners B) it is common for campaigns marketing energy-efficiency upgrades to be dishonest with low-income earners C) combing energy-efficiency upgrades for low-income earners with in-home education programs makes the results more effective D) it is untrue that if more people knew about them, energy-efficiency upgrade programs for low-income earners would be successful
D
Sometimes life gets a little dull. What used to be fun and different becomes boring. That is the time to look for something new. It is the time for a big idea to get your mind off everyday life. So why not search for extraterrestrial intelligence? Or even better, why not get your computer to do it for you? Over two million people have joined the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence(SETI)project. Based in California, the SETI project analyzes information taken from a giant radio telescope based in South America. Its task is to look for signals from outer space that might prove that life exists on other planets. Processing this information is far too big a job for one computer. So the SETI project workers divide the work among volunteers who visit their website. Each computer gets some information to work out from the SETI network through the Internet. This process is often known as "meta-computing". It is a wonderful thought. You are sleeping, eating a meal or going out with friends. All this time, your computer is searching the stars for signs that might show something is out there trying to get in touch. Volunteers are proud of being involved in the SETI project. It shows that they understand the potential of computing. They know that it is more than just a way of working or playing games. Meta-computing may also be creating intelligence as well as looking for _ . This idea is based on the theory that human intelligence is created by the way in which different parts of the brain communicate with each other. As the saying goes, "The whole is more than the sum of its parts." People who join the SETI project sometimes wonder whether their computer will become part of a huge network that has learned to think for itself. Which of the following shows the order in which the SETI network works? A) Radio telescope-SETI website-Volunteers' computer-SETI base B) Radio telescope-SETI base-SETI website-Volunteers' computer C) SETI base-SETI website-Volunteers' computers-Radio telescope D) SETI base-Radio telescope-SETI website-Volunteers' computers
B