When I arrived in Beijing more than five years ago, I had already given blood 79 times. I wanted to continue to be a donor and asked around if there was a Red Cross clinic in Beijing. There was one, and I went. I was very surprised to be received as a hero; for me, a blood donation was simply a good habit and a gift of love to Humanity. In Canada, donors can give 450ml each time every 51 days. That means six times a year. In China, we can give only 200ml, every four months. In 1984, there were only 19 donors in Beijing who offered their blood for free. One year later, there were 141. In 1986, 1,083, and so on until the figure reached 10,046 in 1990,14,016 in 1992 and more than double that the following year. There were 41,037 in 1994, and my statistics stop here. I'm so glad to see that the Chinese have understood that giving blood is not dangerous, and that it's a way to say, in a real communist spirit, "brother, I love you". In fact, every time I give blood, I think of my blood running in a man or a woman's veins, someone who has become my brother or my sister through a transfusion. Thirteen Chinese have become my s now; isn't that great? Giving blood is like giving birth. Some of these thirteen people may have died without my donation; doesn't that make it worth becoming a volunteer? What makes me even happier is when I can convince a Chinese friend to come with me and become a donor too. Up till now, how many times have the author given blood? A) 79 B) 51 C) 13 D) 92
D
(Question)
At the age of 16, Julia Butterfly Hill quit school and worked at a restaurant. For many years, she was only interested in making money and material things. Then one day she had a serious car accident, which changed her life. Hill said: "I realized I wanted to find a more powerful purpose for being here on this planet." As soon as she recovered, Hill traveled to California. There she saw ancient redwood trees, which are the largest trees in the whole world. The wood from redwood trunks is very hard. So the Pacific Lumber Company cut down many of the huge redwoods to use for construction. There are not many forests of these trees left. Many environmental activists want to protect the remaining trees. The redwoods are very important to the environment. In 1997 Hill learned a group called Earth First was working to protect a particular group of trees. They decided to send someone up into a redwood tree, hoping this would stop the company from cutting the trees down. Julia Butterfly Hill volunteered. Hill lived in the tree for over two years without ever coming down. Her home was a 6-by-8-foot tree house, 180 feet up. It is always cold and wet in a redwood tree. There were even very serious winter storms while Hill was in the tree. The wind and cold almost knocked Hill out of the tree. But she did not fall -- she survived. Finally, after years of arguing, the company decided to protect Luna, the tree Hill lived in. They signed an agreement to never cut down this huge redwood tree or the trees around it. When Hill put her feet on the earth again, she began to cry. But from that moment on Hill hasn't stopped working to protect the environment. The redwood trees were cut down mainly _ . A) because they might fall over at any time B) because they had great economic value C) to protect other trees in the forest D) to make space for constructions
(Answer)
B
Ques: Adrian's "Amazing Race started early when his parents realized that he, as a baby, couldn't hear a thing, not even loud noises.In a special school for the hearing.impaired , he learned sign language and got to mix with other disabled childRn. However, the sight of all the disabled children communicating with one another upset his mother. She wanted him to lead a normal life. So after speaking to an advisor, she sent him to private classes where he learned to read lips and pronounce words. Later OHg Adrian's paRnts decided to send him to a regular school. But the headmaster tried to prevent them from doing so, saying regular schools couldn-t take care of a special-needs student His parents were determined to take the risk and push him hard to go through his work every day because they want to prove that, given the opportunity, he could do anything.Adrian made the grade and got accepted.lt was a big challenge. The pace was faster so he had to sit at the front of the class and really pay attention to the teacher, which wasn' t always easy. But he stuck to it and did a lot of extra work after schooL The effort made by Adrian and his parents paid off. Adrian graduated with good grades and got into a top high school. He also achieved a lot in life outside school. He developed a love for the outdoors and went to Nepal to climb mountains. He even entered the World Yacht Race 05/06-being the first hearing-impaired Asian to do so. But none of these achievements would have been possible without one of the most important lessons from his mother. "If you believe in yourself and work hard, you can achieve great result, she often said. How did Adrian communicate with other children in the special school? A) By spealding. B) By using sign language. C) By reading lips. D) By making loud noises.
Ans: B
Question: He wrote that the "human mind is capable of excitement without the application of gross and violent stimulants ". And it appears that simply reading those words by William Wordsworth proves his point. Researchers at the University of Liverpool found the works of Shakespeare and Wordsworth and the like had a beneficial effect on the mind, lifting the readers' spirits by catching their attention and leading to moments of self-reflection. Using equipment, they examined the brain activity of volunteers as they read pieces of classical English literature both in their original form and in a more simplified, modern translation. And, according to the Sunday Telegraph, the experiment showed the more "challenging" works set off far more electrical activity in the brain than the ordinary versions. The research also found poetry, in particular, increased activity in the right hemisphere of the brain, an area concerned with "autobiographical memory", which helped the reader to reflect on and reevaluate their own experiences in light of what they had read. The academics said this meant the classics were more useful than self-help books. The brain responses of 30 volunteers was monitored in the first part of the research as they read Shakespeare in its original and "modern" form. In one example, volunteers read a line from King Lear, "A father and a gracious aged man: him have you madded ", before reading the simpler "A father and a gracious aged man: him you have enraged ". Shakespeare's use of the adjective "mad" as a verb caused a higher level of brain activity than the straightforward translation. "Reading classics is not just a matter of style. It is a matter of deep versions of experience that promotes the cognitive ability," said Prof Davis, who will present the findings at the North of England education conference in Sheffield this week. Which of the following sets off the most electrical activity in the brain? A) Reading nursery rhymes. B) Reading self-help books. C) Reading adapted version of King Lear. D) Reading Shakespeare's sonnets in Middle English.
Answer:
D