TOKYO (Reuters) - "Who played the father in the movie 'Kramer versus Kramer'?" That's one of the 50 questions Japanese men could face in a "daddy exam", meant to raise awareness about fatherhood in a country where men tend to work long hours and leave their wives in charge of childcare and household work. Even men who remember Dustin Hoffman struggling as a father in the movie may have a hard time answering questions ranging from baby food to politics. Tetsuya Ando, director of Fathering Japan, a Tokyo non-profit organization that came up with the test and will offer it to eager dads from next March, said the exam was an attracting way to get fathers into parenting. "There just isn't enough information about parenting for fathers. Through the exam, we want men to realize that they don't know anything about bringing up kids," he said. For the price of 3,900 yen ($34), fathers can find out whether they qualify as a "Super Dad," or are in need of more effort as a "Challenge Dad." "We have received inquiries from fathers, single men, to-be-dads, grandfathers ... even an aunt who was concerned that her nephew is too busy with work to notice the fun of parenting," Ando said. The image of fathers is gradually changing in Japan as younger men _ their own dads' hands-off way in favor of closer involvement, and a wave of new parenting magazines for male readers has been hitting newsstands. But it is still hard for Japanese fathers to cut down on their work hours and spend more time with their families. Only 0.5 percent of employed men in Japan took parental leave in 2011, compared with 14 percent in the United States and 12 percent in Britain in 2000. From the whole report, it can be inferred that _ . A) Japanese fathers show no interest in parenting B) young Japanese men tend to set about parenting C) young fathers value parenting less than their fathers D) Japanese fathers value parenting more than British fathers
B
(Question)
"If you want to see a thing well,reach out and touch it!" That may seem a strange thing to say.But touching things can help you to see them better. Your eyes can tell you that glass ball is round.But by holding it in your hands,you can feel how smooth and cool the ball is.You can feel how heavy the glass is. When you feel all these about the ball,you really see it. With your skin,you can feel better.For example,your fingers can tell the difference between two coins in your pocket.You can feel a little drop of water on the back of your hand,too. You can even feel sounds against your skin.Have you ever wanted to know why some people like very loud music? They must like to feel the sounds of music. All children soon learn what "Don't touch!" means.They hear it often.Yet most of us keep on touching things as we grow up.In shops,we touch things we might buy,such as food,clothes and so on.To see something well,we have to touch it. The bottoms of our feet can feel things,too.You know this when you walk on warm sand,cool grass or a bad floor.All feel different under your feet. There are ways of learning to see well by feeling. One way is to close your eyes and try to feel everything that is touching your skin.Feel the shoes on your feet,the clothes on your body,the air on your skin.At first,it is not easy to feel these things.You are too used to them! Most museums are just for looking.But today some museums have some things to touch.Their signs say,"Do touch! There you can feel everything on show.If you want to see better,reach out and touch.Then you'll really see!" Why does it say,"At first,it is not easy to feel these things?" A) The things are used by people,too. B) People are used to the things. C) People know how to use the things. D) The things are easy to feel.
(Answer)
B
Ques: If there is any single factor that makes for success in living, it is the ability to profit by defeat. Every success I know have achieved because the person was able to analyze defeat and actually profit by it in his next undertaking. Confuse defeat with failure, and you are doomed indeed to failure. For it isn't defeat that makes you fail: it is your own refusal to see in defeat the guide and encouragement to success. Defeats are nothing to be ashamed of. They are routine incidents in the life of every man who achieves success. But defeat is a dead loss unless you face it without _ , analyze it and leave why you have failed. Defeat, in other words, can help to cure its own cause. Not only does defeat prepare us for success, but nothing can arouse within us such a compelling desire to succeed. If you let a baby grasp a rod and try to pull it away, he will hold more and more tightly until his whole weight is suspended. It is the same reaction as should give you new and greater strength every time you are defeated. If you exploit the power which defeats give, you can accomplish with it far more than you are capable of. The word "humiliation" (in Para. 2) could best be replaced by which of the following? A) being encouraged. B) being confused C) being ashamed D) being defeated
Ans: C
Question: 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. What's the main idea of the message? A) Studies find plants can recognize, communicate with relatives. B) Kin selection is important for plants. C) Animals can recognize and memorize their relatives. D) Competition asks plants to recognize their relatives.
Answer:
A