Ques: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Every day we are bombarded with images, videos, music and news. In this age of visual and aural hyper-stimulation, the medium of radio is making a phenomenal comeback. "We're at the dawn of a golden age of audio," said US-based podcaster Alex Blumberg in an article in The Sydney Morning Herald. In the last month alone, 15 percent of US adults listened to a radio podcast. These statistics, released by Edison Research, reveal the successful evolution of traditional radio broadcasts to the present day's digital podcast format. The term "podcast," was coined in 2004, but the trend only started gaining mainstream popularity in recent years. Since the leap in consumer demand for smartphones and tablets, podcast subscription rates have only accelerated. The appeal of the podcast partially resides in its multiplatform delivery and on-demand capabilities. You can tune in during those extra minutes of the day when you're walking to the shops, waiting in a queue or riding the subway. Similar to television shows, podcasts are generally free to download and most offer new content every week. Donna Jackson, 22, Sydney university media graduate, listens to podcasts two or three times a week, via iTunes ."I listen while I'm pottering around the house doing something else. It makes completing a boring task a lot more enjoyable..... And it's an easy way of keeping in touch with what's going on in the rest of the world," she said. Unlike television and music, the audio format has the potential to create a deep impression on readers. Blumberg says this comes down to the podcast's ability "to create intimacy and emotional connection." Sydney University undergraduate Hazel Proust, major in social work and arts, agrees. "When you're tuned in, it feels as if the voice of the podcast's narrator is talking directly to you. It's comforting," said Proust. Question: For podcast, which is wrong? Options: A: You can listen to it at any time and any place. B: You can download it without pay. C: You can learn new content every week from it. D: You can listen to it according to your own demand.
Ans: A

Ques: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Editor's notes: AWL is well known for its dictionaries and English language teaching materials. Some readers have written in to ask us for the latest information on high quality books on English, so here we introduce two texts that aim to improve spoken English fluency. Let's speak (Beginner) By Bev Dusuya, Naoko Ozeki and Kevin Bergman ISBN: 962001359X Speak Up(Pre-Intermediate) By Bev Kusuya, Nako Zeki ISBN: 0583338050 "Teach the students about your culture and help them talk about their own." How often are these worthy goals kept from being achieved by the limitations of your beginner level learners? Students at all levels want to talk about culture. Topics include food, shopping, sports, fashion, the roles of men and women, health, music, and many more. These are all chosen from surveys of over 15,000 students about their own interests in cross-cultural communication. "Let's Speak" and "Speak Up" share a special but excellent way that allows all students to take part in. The series has questions which start thinking and then help collect opinions about personal topics. Conversation practice is provided by ready to use models of basic exchanges on the topic. Also, the cultural information presented in the series comes in the form of interesting, relevant facts and ideas from other countries through listening tasks and Culture Quiz exercises. Team activities in books provide lively problem solving games to enable sharing and comparison of cultural values. "Let's Speak" is fit for entry level students of all ages. "Speak Up" provides for the needs of higher level beginners, offering the same careful listening and speaking help, but with slightly more open ended discussion. For any information about AWL's books, please get in touch with the following addresses: prefix = st1 /Beijing AddisonWesleyLongmanInformationCenter Room 2306, FLTRP Beijing 19 Xi San Huan Beilu, Beijing100081 Tel: (010)68917488 (010) 68917788 Fax: (010) 68917499 E-mail: zrh@public.bat.net.cn Question: The two books have in common everything EXCEPT_. Options: A: the same interesting topics B: the same level of learners C: proper ways to excite the learners to talk D: right kinds of activities for cultural communication
Ans: B

Ques: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: The national schools' first aid competition is an interesting way for young people to practice their first aid skills in a safe environment. A school may have three teams. The deadline for this competition has now been continued to April 21, 2012. All teams will compete at an elimination round, with the winners going forward to the National Final for the chance to become the winner. A team has three formal members, and a reserve is also needed. All team members, together with the reserve, will take part. There are two age sections: Junior: 7 to11 Senior: 12 to 16 This competition is based on the Young First Aid Course from St. John Ambulance Training Officer. Support will be given to make sure everyone has equal chances to win. The winners of this competition will be invited to take part in the Young Grand Prior Competition. This competition improves the practical first aid skills of young people and tests their knowledge and skills with a series of realistic accidents and injuries. Youth teams are aged between 12 and 16 years old and should have three members. Young adults are aged between 17 and 21 and should have two members. All teams may bring a reserve. The Young Grand Prior Competition will be held at the Spa Complex, Scarborough, on November 28, 2012. Those who want to take part in the national schools' first aid competition will have to complete our application form. Question: How many students will stand for a school? Options: A: Sixteen B: Twelve C: Four D: Three
Ans: B

Ques: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Jane Austen, a famous English writer, was bom at Steventon, Hampshire, on December 16, 1775, and died on July 18, 1817. She began writing early in life, although the prejudices of her times forced her to have her books published anonymously . But Jane Austen is perhaps the best known and best loved of prefix = st1 /Bath's many famous local people and visitors. She paid two long visits here during the last five years of the eighteenth century and from 1801 to 1806,Bathwas her home. Her deep knowledge of the city is fully seen in two of her novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, which are largely set inBath. The city is still very much as Jane Austen knew it, keeping in its streets and public buildings the well-ordered world that she described so well in her novels. Now the pleasure of learning Jane Austen's Bath can be enhanced by visiting the Jane Austen Centre in Gay Street. Here, in a Georgian town house in the heart of the city, you can find out more about Bath in Jane Austen's time and the importance of Bathin her life and work. The Centre has been set up with the help and guidance of members of the Jane Austen Society. After your visit to the Centre, you can look round the attractive shop, which offers a huge collection of Jane Austen related books, cards and many specially designed gifts. Jane Austen quizzes are offered to keep the children busy. You can also have walking tours of Jane Austen'sBath, which is a great way to find out more about Jane Austen and discover the wonderful Georgian city of Bath. The tour lasts about one and a half hours. The experienced guides will take you to the places where Jane lived, walked and shopped. Question: What can we learn about Bath from the passage? Options: A: Bath has greatly changed since Jane Austen's death. B: The city has changed as much as Jane Austen knew it. C: Bath remains almost the same as in Jane Austen's time. D: No changes have taken place in Bathsince Jane Austen's time.
Ans:
C