Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Way back in 1662,John Evelyn,a brilliant Englishman known for his detailed diaries,wrote About disastrous effects of coal-burning on the city of London .In it,he described an infernal scene of smog.air filled with "Columns and Clouds of Smoke''given out by small industries and residences that burned coal for fuel. I found the description in the 2003 book When Smoke Ran like Water,by epidemiologist and environmental advocator Devra Davis.In it,Davis looks back at several historic pollution events and their disastrous effect on human human health-and at how these phenomena were often Ignored or even actively covered up by then people in charge at that time. As Davis points out,John Evelyn was ahead of his time when writing about how London's polluted air affected the well-being of its residents.It wasn't until nearly 300 years later,after what became well-known as the Great Smog of 1952,that the government began to address the problem in a systematic way. For four days.Between December 5th"and 9th",due to all accident of the weather pattern,the city was buried in a heavy fog .People were still burning coal for fuel,and low-grade coal at that time, because 0f wartime condition.A temperature inversion trapped the smoke from the city's fires, creating a black cloud in which people could barely find their way down the most familiar streets Some tried to protect themselves,but most people simply went about their business But l952's fog was far worse than any other in memory.In the same week of the previous year, 1852 people had died in London;inl952,that number was 4703 And the deaths didn't stop when the weather changed and the fog lifted.Davis and her colleagues analyzed data from the next several months and found that about 13000 more people died between December and March than one would have predicted from historical averages Many of them died of pneumonia .The government, she writes.Tried to blame a bad flu season.Her detailed analysis found that explanation simply did not pan out. Davis... Question: The passage is written to - warn people of the danger from air pollution - introduce London's Great Smog of l952 - blame the government for the smog - explain the reasons for air pollution
warn people of the danger from air pollution
------
Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: London, Reuters--What could annoy teenagers enough to make them stop hanging out with friends and go home? No, it's not a visit from their mothers, and not a threat to take away their cellphones or pocket money. It's high-frequency noise. The UK police recently agreed to use a device called the Sonic Teenager Deterrent. It sends out a sound that makes teenagers become so impatient and angry that they have to cover their ears tightly and walk away. The sound is at extreme high-pitch that can be heard by those under 20. The body's natural ability to detect some wave bands decreases almost entirely after 20, so few adults can hear the sounds. The black-box device, nicknamed the Mosquito because of its sound, can be fixed to the outside walls of shops, offices and homes. It sounds to youngsters like a crazy insect or a badly played violin. But it causes no physical damage. A number of police forces and councils have given permission to use the system and want to install it at trouble spots. Staffordshire Police Inspector Amanda Davies, who has given the device to shopkeepers in the Moorlands area, said," It is controlled by the shopkeepers--if they can see through their window that there is a problem, they turn the device on for a while until the group has run away." Question: From the passage we can know that _ . - young people often suffer from pains in ears - shopkeepers are troubled by noisy insects - high-frequency noise is beyond the listening ability of people over 20 - the police invented a new device to deal with teenagers
high-frequency noise is beyond the listening ability of people over 20
------
Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: The first visit to a foreign country that I can remember was when I was about seven years old. We live about 5 miles away from the Canadian border . My family and I went to Parc Safari, Quebec, a wonderful place that has animals and rides. We drove down a nice long road. My sister and I sat in the back of the car, and it was a hatchback so we opened it up. I remember feeding the animals snacks we had bought for ourselves. The time we went we were told there would not be monkeys because they had escaped and had not been found. I remember thinking to myself, how cool it would be to see a monkey in our backyard. Even though the monkeys were not there it was still so much fun. When we reached the area that had camels, giraffes and other animals, I remember one of the camels reached into the car to get our snacks. However, we were a little _ because the camels seemed to froth at the mouth and we had camel slobber all over the car and us. It was one of the best family vacations that I can remember. It was not too far from home, it was in a different country and it was with my family. I cannot remember if we went on the rides or not but seeing many animals was a great time. Now I am grown up and have a son, and I am planning to go there again. He is 7 years old and I think he is at a great age to enjoy a trip like this. I am sure it has changed a lot over the years but it will still be a great family trip. Question: What does the author intend to do? - To revisit the place he went to at seven. - To take his 7-year-old son to a zoo. - To have a family trip in his own country. - To have a holiday abroad with his parents.
To revisit the place he went to at seven.
------
Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Something strange was unbelievable. Take Robert for example. After the terrible car accident, his whole world had been completely dark and quiet for almost ten years. The loss of sight and hearing made him try many times to put end to his life. His family especially his wife did their best to tend and comfort him. By and by he finally regained the courage to live on. On a hot summer afternoon he was taking a walk with a stick near his house when a thunderstorm started suddenly. He stood under a large tree in order not to get himself wet. Unfortunately he was struck down to the ground by a lightning. The witnesses thought him dead but he woke up some 20 minutes later lying face down in muddy water below the tree. He felt that he was trembling badly, but when he opened his eyes ,he didn't dare to believe that he saw a plough( )lying near the wall. When Mrs Edwards came running up to him, she shouted their neighbours for help. And he saw her and heard her voice for the first time in nearly ten years. The news of Robert's regaining his sight and hearing quickly spread in his area. And many doctors came to prove the truth of the news. Most of them said that he gained sight and hearing again obviously from the knock of lightning; none of them could give convincing reasons, however. The only reasonable explanation given by one doctor was that, since Edwards lost his sight and hearing as a result of sudden shock in a terrible accident, perhaps the only way for them to regain was by another sudden shock. Question: Which of the following is NOT true? - Edwards had been deaf and blind for nearly ten years - Edwards lost all his senses for about 20 minutes after the lightning had struck him down - Doctor held the belief that Edwards was never really blind and deaf. - Edwards woke up with face in mud.
Doctor held the belief that Edwards was never really blind and deaf.
------