Q: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: The first newspaper were handwritten sheets which were posted in pubic places. The earliest recorded newspaper was started in Rom in 59 BC. In the 700's the world's first printed newspaper was developed in China. The paper was printed from carved wooden blocks and sent out among the citizens. Europe didn't have a regularly published newspaper until 1609, when one was started in Germany. The fist regularly published newspaper in the English language was printed in 1620. In 1621, an English newspaper was started in London and was published weekly. The first daily English newspaper was the Daily Courant, which didn't appear until March 1702. In 1690, Benjamin Harris printed the first American newspaper in Boston. But the local government soon stopped its publication. In 1704, John Campbell started The Boston News-letter, the first newspaper to be published daily in America. By 1760, the whole America had more than thirty daily newspapers. There are now about 1800 daily papers in the United States. Today, as a group, English language newspapers have the largest circulation in the world. The largest circulation for a newspaper, however, is that of the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, which sells over eleven million copies every day. Question: The first English newspaper printed and sold every day appeared _ . - in 1620 - at the beginning of the 18 th century. - at the end of the 17 th century - in 1609
A: at the beginning of the 18th century.

Q: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Mirth Pham was born in Vietnam. He left his native country when he was 21 years old. Minh has been in America for almost two years. There is still much he does not understand about America. Once Minh was in a supermarket. He saw an old man and an old woman. They wanted a box of cereal .The box was on a high shelf. The man and the woman couldn't reach it. Minh saw a ladder. He got on the ladder and got the box. He handed it to the elderly couple. They thanked him. "Where are your children?" asked Minh. "Why don' t they help you buy food?" "Our children have their own lives," said the man and the woman. "We like to be independent." Mirth doesn't think this is right. In his country, .children help their parents. Minh gave the elderly couple his phone number. He told them to call him if they needed help. One night they asked Mirth to dinner, but they never asked him for help. One day, Minh was walking with a Vietnamese friend. The two were going to a movie. Minh wanted to go to a restaurant first. Minh took his friend's hand. He pulled him toward the restaurant. People on the street stared at Minh. In Vietnam, friends often hold hands. Minh found out that people in America are not used to holding hands. Minh Pham is going through a process known as re-socialization. Socialization is the process in which a person learns to live in a society. Everyone goes through this process. Minh went through it when he lived in Vietnam. But the Vietnamese way of life is much different from the American way of life. When Mirth came to America, he had to learn a new way of life. He had to learn how to live in a new society. Minh has learned a lot about American life in two years. He still has a lot to learn. The process of re-socialization can take many years. Question: What the elderly couple said gave us an example that American people, young or old, try to be _ . - kind - independent - helpful - friendly
A: independent

Q: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Plants have family values, too; it seems, with new research suggesting they can recognize close relatives in order to work together. An ability to tell family from strangers is well known in animals, allowing them to cooperate and share resources, but plants may possess similar social skills, scientists believe. Susan Dudley and Amanda File of McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, report they have demonstrated for the first time that plants can recognize their kin. This suggests that plants, though lacking recognition and memory, are capable of complex social interactions. "Plants have this kind of hidden but complicated social life," Dudley said. The study found plants from the same species of beach-dwelling wildflower grew aggressively alongside unrelated neighbors but were less competitive when they shared soil with their families. Sea rocket, a North American species, showed stronger and healthier root growth when planted in pots with strangers than when raised with relatives from the same maternal family, the study found. This is an example of kin selection, a behavior common in animals in which closely related individuals take a group approach to succeeding in their environment, the researchers said. Kin selection also applies to competition, because if family members compete less with each other, the group will do better overall. "Everywhere you look, plants are growing right up next to other plants," Dudley said," Usually it's a case of each plant for itself. But sometimes those plants are related, and there are benefits to not wasting resources on being competitive, and there is not really a cost to not being competitive as long as your neighbor is also not being competitive." Learning and memory appear to be important for kin recognition in animals, but this isn't an option for plants, she noted. Some researchers speculate that plants communicate through their roots, identifying themselves using tiny chemical signatures specific to each plant's family. Question: What's the main idea of the message? - Studies find plants can recognize, communicate with relatives. - Kin selection is important for plants. - Animals can recognize and memorize their relatives. - Competition asks plants to recognize their relatives.
A: Studies find plants can recognize, communicate with relatives.

Q: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Being the boss might mean more money and challenging work but it can also cause damage to physical and mental well-being, according to a Canadian study. For years studies have shown people in lower-status jobs generally have higher rates of heart disease and other illnesses and die earlier than those in higher-status positions while job authority has shown no relationship with workers' health. But University of Toronto researchers, using data from 1,800 US workers, found the health of people in higher positions is affected by work as they are more likely to report conflicts with co-workers and say work disturbs their home life. However, the positive aspects of having a power position at work, such as higher status, more pay and greater independence, seemed to cancel out the negative aspects when it came to people's physical and psychological health. These latest findings, reported in the journal Social Science & Medicine, suggest that the advantages and disadvantages of authority positions basically cancel each other out, giving the general impression that job authority has no health effects. For the study, the researchers surveyed participants about various aspects of their work, life and well-being. Job authority was judged based on whether a person managed other employees and had power over hiring, firing and pay. Physical health complaints included problems like headaches, body aches, heartburn and tiredness. Psychological complaints included sleep problems, difficulty concentrating and feelings of sadness, worry and anxiety. "This isn't to suggest that having authority is 'bad' -- in fact, we show it has benefits ... but it is important to identify the negative sides and deal with them." researcher Scott Schieman said. Schieman said conflicts with co-workers or involvement of work into home life may destroy physical and mental well-being by creating stress. "These are key stressors that can tax individuals' ability to function effectively," Schieman said. Question: From the passage we can infer that the study aims to _ . - warn people not to be a boss for ever - remind the boss to deal with the bad effects of their work - show that having authority is harmful to one's health - prove that being a boss can benefit a lot
A: remind the boss to deal with the bad effects of their work