America is growing older. Fifty - eight years ago, only 4 out of every 100 people in the United States were 65 or older. To day, 10 out of every 100 Americans are over 65. The aging of the population will affect American society in many ways--education, medicine, and business. Quietly, the graying of America has made us a very different society-- _ in which people have a quite different idea of what kind of behavior is suitable at various , ages. A person s age no longer tells you anything about his/her social position, marriage or health. There's no longer a particular year in which one goes to school or goes to work or gets married or starts a family. The social clock that kept us on time and told us when to go to school, get a job, or stop working isn't as strong as it used to be. It doesn't surprise us to hear of a 29 - year - old university president or a 35 - year -old grandmother, or a 70 year - old man who has become a father for the first time. Public ideas are changing. Many people say, "I am much younger than my mother-- or my father-- was at my age. "No one says"Act your age" any more. We've stopped looking with surprise at older people who act in youthful ways. It can be learnt from the text that the aging of the population in America _ . A) has made people feel younger B) has changed people's social position C) has changed people's understanding of age D) has slowed down the country's social development
C
Ginny Ruffner is one of the best-known glass artists in the United States. Her one-of-a-kind pieces are colorful, detailed and often humorous. Over the years, she became famous for a method called lamp working, also known as flame working. It involves using a torch to melt and shape the glass instead of blowing on it. Ginny Ruffner almost died in a three-car accident in 1991. No one thought the Seattle-based artist would ever walk or talk again. An award-winning film documentary explores that period of her life. "It's scary when you can't talk, you can't do... all your life." said Ruffner. Ms. Ruffner was in a coma for five weeks and a wheelchair for five years. But she overcame her injuries. And although she still has difficulty walking and talking, she has willed herself back to work. Now, she has a team that helps bring her dream to life. Her team recently finished an eight point five meter-high flowerpot made of steel and aluminum. It is now in downtown Seattle. Ms. Ruffner was recently honored in Washington, DC. The Renwick Gallery presented a special showing of the film, "A Not So Still Life, the Ginny Ruffner Story." Ms. Ruffner says "it has been a long battle, but the hardest part has not been the physical problems. I hate being taken for granted, being ignored. The way I talk, people assume that I'm either really old, or kind of retarded , and that is so frustrating." But she is firm. She says "Fortunately I've done a lot of stuff in my life, so I know that the best thing is to be open to the mystery, who knows what great things will happen. I'm sure they're many more to come." Ginny Ruffner's art can be seen in more than forty museums around the world. Her work and her life continue to motivate people of all ages. From this passage we can know Ginny Ruffner is _ . A) determined and optimistic B) ambitious and stubborn C) hopeful and energetic D) devoted and active
A
Q: Is it time to kick Russia out of the BRICs ? If so, it may end up sounding like a famous ball-point pen maker-BIC. An argument is being made that Goldman Sach's famous marketing device ,the BRICs, should really be the BICs. "Is Russia really worth the name BRICs?" asks Anders Aslund, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, in an article for Foreigh Policy. Aslund, who is also co-author with Andrew Kuchins of "The Russian Balance Sheet", thinks the Russia of Putin and Medvedev is just not worthy of inclusion alongside Brazil, India and China in the list of future economic powerhouses. He writes: "The country's economic performance has fallen to such a weak level that one must ask whether it has any say at all on the global economy, compared with the other members of its group. I have just returned from Moscow, which is always dull around this season. For the last seven years, Russia has taken very few measures to improve its economy. Instead, the state has been living on oil and gas. " Economically, Aslund has the numbers on his side. The International Monetary Fund figures that the Russian economy will fall by 6.7 percent in 2009, while China will grow 8.5 percent and India 5.4 percent. There is less of a case for Brazil, with a fall of 0.7 percent, but it is still doing far better than Russia. But the BRICs are not just about economy. As is mentioned above, it is a marketing device to encourage investors to focus on the big promising players. From an investment standpoint, it could be argued that Russia is leading the BRICs. Its stock market is up 128 percent this year while around 80 percent is for the other three. At very least, however, Russia's economic underperformance and stock market outperfoumance does suggest it is indeed one of the group. According to Aslund, Russia shouldn't be a BRIC partly because _ . A) Russia's economic performance is far worse than the other three B) Russia's leaders are not good at managing economy C) Russia has taken effective measures to improve its economy D) Russia will no longer attract investors from other countries
A: A
(Question)
China has a long tradition of respecting education. But its present education is not that respectable. According to the Hurun Report, which conducted one-on-one interviews with 980 wealthy Chinese people with net assets of more than 60 million yuan ($9.5 million) in 18 mainland cities from May to September, about 14 percent of them said they had either already moved overseas or had applied to do so, and another 46 percent said they planned to emigrate within three years. All cited the higher-quality education available for their children overseas as the reason. Such a mindset has resulted in a growing number of Chinese students studying abroad. To be fair, our primary and high schools are a leader in content throughout the world. The Program for International Student Assessment last year offered a feather in the cap for our education. Participating in the program administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, teenagers in Shanghai were far in advance of their peers from 64 countries, including the United States, in reading literacy, mathematics and science. So why does education in this country leave so many wealthy parents cold? Children in China have no say in what they learn. They normally learn by rote and are forced to study the subjects that help them in examinations for a school of a higher grade, especially the college entrance exams. Studies conducted by the China Youth and Children Research Center show that more than half of Chinese secondary school students study overtime and they don't get enough sleep. And more than 70 percent of students in primary and middle schools take after-school tutoring classes, which is considered a heavy burden on children. And this situation turns many parents into demons like "Wolf Father" Xiao Baiyou in Guangdong province, who supported his children's learning with verbal abuse and physical violence. Xiao doesn't pale in comparison to Tiger Mother Amy Chua in the United States. He is satisfied with his parenting skills, as he... What is the author's opinion of "Wolf Father" and "Tiger Mother" parenting style? A) Supportive. B) Satisfactory. C) Stimulating. D) Scary.
(Answer)
D