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Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Farmer Ed Rawlings smiles as he looks at his orange trees. The young oranges are growing well in Florida's weather. Warm sunshine and gentle rains, along with Ed Rawlings' expert care, will produce a good crop of oranges this year. However, Ed has to guard against Florida's changeable winter weather. In January and February, temperatures can destroy Ed's entire orange crop. Having farmed in Florida for the past 35 years, Ed is prepared for the frost . When temperatures drop below freezing, Ed tries to save his crop by watering his orange trees. The water freezes and forms a thin layer of ice around the trees. Strange as it may sound, this thin layer of ice actually keeps the fruit warm. What happens is simple. When the trees are watered, the water loses heat and becomes ice. The warmth of the heat it loses is taken in by the fruit and keeps its temperature at a safe level. Ed has effectively used this method to save many orange crops. But Ed still faces difficulties. The trees must be watered at the exact moment the temperature drops to the freezing point. Also, just the right quantity of water must be used. Too much water can form a thicker layer of ice that will break the tree's branches . Another difficulty is that wind blows away the heat, so Ed has to worry about not only when but also how often his trees should be watered, and how much water should be used. Computer technology may help Ed with some of these worries. With equipment , air and soil temperatures and wind speed can be measured. The information is fed into a computer which can calculate when the temperature will drop below freezing. The computer can correctly decide the quantity of water to be used and how frequently( ) the trees should be watered. Ed finds looking after his orange trees a lot easier with the help of a computer, and, his customers will have the benefits of computer--age oranges. Question: The passage is mainly about _ . Options: A: a farmer expert cares for his orange trees B: the different uses of computers C: growing oranges in Florida's changeable weather D: different ways of frost protection
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A

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Read the article and select the best answer. Article: There are some stories behind English words. You've spent a lot of time studying how to use English in a proper way. But have you ever wondered why English speakers say some of the things they say? For example, why do they say "an easy task" is "a piece of cake"? Why do the two letters "OK" means "all right"? Many English words and phrases have stories behind them. Sometimes these stories can help us look back into old western history. Let's take a look at a few of the original * common English words and phrases: OK "OK" was an American who lived in the 19th century. His name was "Old Kinderhook". In one year he was trying to take the place of the leader of his town. His supporters went around the town shouting " OK \ OK " The supporters thought their future leader was " all right". The expression caught on, and now if something is "all right" , people like to say "OK|" Boss* Is your boss nice to you? If not, just be glad you weren't living in the old times. Back to that time, bosses could do anything bad to their men and could even beat* them! That explains why the word "boss" comes from an old German word meaning "to beat". A piece of cake A famous American writer named Ogden Nash lived in the 1930s. Many readers enjoyed his poems and wrote them down in their notebooks. In one of his poems, Nash wrote, " Her picture's in the papers now, and life's a piece of cake. " His readers found these words interesting and quickly wrote them down. They thought that if one picture in a newspaper could make you famous, wouldn't life be easy? For nearly 70 years, "a piece of cake" has meant any task or activity that is easy. Question: In this passage "a piece of cake" means " _ ". Options: A: an easy task or activity B: a difficult task or activity C: a simple newspaper to read D: a famous picture in a newspaper
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A

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Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Six Chinese Characters Dear students, our country has a long history. Chinese characters usually have more than one meaning and some of them are particularly loved by Chinese people. Here are the top six lucky ones. Please note we use "pinyin" here because "pinyin" is the Chinese spelling system for the characters. For example, "fu" is the "pinyin" for good luck in Chinese. "pinyin" "fu" is only the phonic ( ) part of the character and if you want to know the meaning of good luck "fu", you must read the Chinese character because "fu" also represents other Chinese characters that sound the same. 1. "fu" means blessing, good fortune, good luck. Chinese character "fu" is one of the most popular ones used during Chinese New Year. It is often displayed upside down on the front door of a house or an apartment. The upside down"fu" means good luck comes since the character for upside down in Chinese sounds the same as the character for "come". 2. "Iu" means prosperity. It is used to mean official's salary( ) in feudal ( ) China. 3. "shou" means longevity. Chinese character "shou" also means life, age or birthday. 4. "xi" is happiness. The doubled character "xi" means double happiness. It is usually displayed everywhere at Chinese weddings. 5. "cai" is wealth or money. Chinese often say "money can make a ghost turn a millstone". It is to say money really can do a lot of things. But, still-money can't buy everything. 6. "he" means harmomous. People's harmony is an important part of Chinese culture. When you have harmomous relations with others, things will be a lot easier for you. Question: What does the upside down "fu" mean? Options: A: It means coming . B: It means that good luck comes . C: It means good fortune. D: It means that "fu" is upside down.
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B