You can mail a letter or package under 16 oz. (unit of weight, 454g) in a mailbox, a blue box found on many street corners in U.S. cities and towns. Each mail box should have pick-up times clearly posted on top. !Packages over 16 oz. placed in a mailbox will not be sent. Bring the package to the post office or retail mailing shop instead. The clerk will process if for you. The Post Office In the larger cities, when you go to the post office you must take a number and wait in line. Post offices tend to be extremely crowded around Christmas. Try to go as early in the morning as possible. Post office branches open at 9 a.m. and close at 5 p.m. while main branches close at 6 p.m. Buying Stamps ! The cost of a first-class postage stamp to mail a letter is currently 39 cents, although rates tend to change often. Stamps are sold individually or in booklets of 10 (US$3.90) or 20(US$7.80) or in rolls of 100(US$9.00). You can buy stamps at the following locations: *online, if you have a computer. Link to the U.S. Postal Service website (http://www. usps.com) and click on "stamps online". *at your local post office *at some ATMs (automated teller machine) *at some supermarkets *by mail *retail mailing stores(you may have to pay extra for stamps and to mail packages through the U.S. Postal Service) Postal Rates and Fees The U.S. Postal Service's online postage calculator tells you the cost to mail a letter or package anywhere in the world. But you should know the weight of the package and the post code of the package's origin and destination. If you don't know the weight of the letter or package to be mailed, you can go to your local post office and the postal clerk will weigh it for you. When do the post office main branches close? A) At 9 p.m. B) At 6 p.m. C) At 5 p.m. D) At 5:30 p.m.
B
The common cold is the world's most widespread illness, which is a serious infection that man receives. The most widespread mistake of all is that colds are caused by cold. They are not. They are caused by viruses passing on from person to person. You catch a cold by touching directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one. If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them forever. But they do not. And in separate Arctic areas, explorers have reported being free from colds until touching again with infected people from the outside world by way of packages and mail dropped from airplanes. During the First World War, soldiers who spent long periods in the trenches, cold and wet, seldom caught colds. In the Second World War, prisoners at Auschwitz concentration camp, bare and starved, were astonished to find that they seldom had colds. At the Common Cold Research Unit in England, volunteers took part in experiments in which they gave themselves to the discomforts of being cold and wet for a long time. After taking hot baths, they put on bathing suits, allowed themselves to be with cold water, and then stood about dripping wet in a room. Some wore wet socks all day while others exercised in the rain until close to exhaustion. Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose. If then, cold and wet have nothing to do with catching colds, why are they more frequent in winter? Despite the most hard research, no one has yet found out the answer. One explanation offered by scientists is that people tend to stay together indoors more in cold weather than at other times, and that makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on. No one has yet found a cure for the cold. There are drugs and pain-killers such as aspirin, but all that they do is to reduce the symptoms. Volunteers taking part in the experiments in the Common Cold Research Unit _ . A) suffered a lot B) never caught colds C) often caught colds D) became very strong
A
Q: Although man has known asbestos for hundreds of years, it was not until 160 years ago that it was mined for the first time on the North American continent. H.W.Johns, owner of a New York City Supply Shop for roofers,was responsible for the opening of that first mine. Mr. Johns was given a piece of asbestos which had been found in Italy. He experimented with the material and then showed its surprising powers to his customers. After putting on a pair of asbestos gloves,which looked much like ordinary work gloves,he took red-hot coals from the fireplace and played with them in his hands. How astonished the customers were to discover that he was not burned at all. You can well imagine that he had increased business in asbestos roofing materials. However,because it was very expensive to transport them from Italy to the United States, Mr. Johns sent out a young scientist to seek a source nearer home. This young man found great vein, in the province of Quebec in Canada. Ever since 1881 Quebec has led the world in the production of this unusual mineral,which is made up of magnesium, silicon, iron, and oxygen. When it is mined, the asbestos is heavy, just as you would expect a mineral to be. When it is separated,a strange thing happens; the rock breaks down into fine, soft, soapy fibers. Scientists do not know why the rock can be separated easily into threads ,but they have found thousands of uses of this fireproof material, of the so- called "cloth of stone." Johns proved his ability as a salesman by _ . A) going into roofing business B) carrying asbestos from Italy C) sending out a trained scientist D) showing the use of asbestos gloves
A: D
*Question*
It is reported that today in China, 50% of people who write blogs do so as a personal diary and 83% use their blogs for sending messages to friends. It is also found that there is a strong East-West difference. In places like the US, blogs that offer information on news attract more readers but in China, blogs are more likely to be about sharing personal feelings. It seems that bloggers can be divided into three types: IT bloggers, bloggers who record their ordinary feelings and media bloggers. When blogging first started, the IT people had the technological advantage and they took the chance to put their thoughts on the web. Some of these IT people read their blogs. The next wave of bloggers did not have any training as writes or in IT and wrote about normal daily life. Media bloggers, however, are trained writers, such as journalists and editors. When the many media bloggers showed up, the everyday blogs lost most of their readers. Media bloggers have the advantage of knowing how to communicate well through the written word. However, the normal bloggers are still out there and increasing in number. It seems that blogging is the new way to express your feelings. People feel like the world is listening to, or rather reading, their problems, even if they are not . What is the writer's tone? A) Humorous and light-hearted. B) Serious and factual. C) Conversational. D) Informal.
**Answer**
B