Read the article and select the best answer. Article: "Life is speeding up. Everyone is getting unwell." This may sound like something someone would say today. But in fact, an unknown person who lived in Rome in AD 53 wrote it. We all love new inventions. They are exciting, amazing and can even change our lives. But have all these developments really improved the quality of our lives? Picture this. You're rushing to finish your homework on the computer. Your mobile phone rings, a QQ message from your friend appears on the screen, the noise from the television is getting louder and louder. Suddenly the computer goes blank and you lose all your work. Now you have to stay up all night to get it done. How happy do you feel? Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often leave up feeling stressed and tired. Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, who have no telephones, no cars, not even any electricity often seem to be happier? Perhaps because they live simpler lives. One family in the UK went "back in time" to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today. The grandparents, with their daughter, and grandsons Benjamin, 10 and Thomas, 7, spent nine weeks in a 1940s house. They had no washing machine, microwave , computer or mobile phones. The grandmother, Lyn, said, "The more things you have, the more difficult life becomes." The boys said they fought less. Probably, they said, because there was less to fight over, such as their computer. Benjamin also noticed that his grandmother had changed from being a "trendy , beer-drinking granny", to one who cooked things. Question: The writer uses the quote at the beginning of the story to _ . Options: A: tell us a truth about our lives B: tell us what life was like long time ago C: point out what causes such a thing to happen D: point out some problems we will meet in the life
A

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Last week Lu visited England. He stayed with my grandmother. He found it was strange. 'I don't know why, but I frightened your grandmother a lot. When I arrived, I gave her a purse from Dongtai. She looked in it and asked me to take it back. Then I saw a red spider on the table, and I killed it for her. She seemed very unhappy. Do English people like spiders? 'Later we went shopping. Someone was painting a shop front, so there was a ladder. Grandmother stopped me from walking under it and said I must walk around it. I liked the shops and bought some lovely rose soap for my mother, a smart umbrella for my father and some new shoes for myself. When we got back, I put the shoes on the table and opened the umbrella to check if it was all right. Your grandmother came in and screamed! 'Then I broke a small mirror in the bathroom. Your grandmother's face went white. I felt very sorry. When I left, I gave your grandmother some flowers. She counted and there were 13. She didn't like them.' I explained to Lu, 'My grandmother follows the old customs. You must not give someone an empty purse, or they will have no money. You must not kill a "money spider", or the same will happen. Also it is very unlucky to walk under a ladder or put new shoes on the table. An open umbrella in a house means someone will die. Breaking a mirror brings seven years' bad luck, and 13 is also a very unlucky number. You were really making my grandmother very afraid.' Question: What did the writer's grandmother feel when she saw the umbrella? Options: A: Excited. B: Satisfied. C: Afraid. D: Happy.
C

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Dolphins are our friends. They can use tools to solve problems although they don't have hands. For example, scientists have ever found that a dolphin can make a shy eel come out of its hole with a dead fish. Dolphins use different sounds to exchange information with each other. Scientists in Hawaii have developed a sign language to give instructions to dolphins, and the results are amazing. They find that dolphins not only understand the meaning of individual words, but also understand the importance of word order in a sentence. Most animals enjoy playing -- but dolphins seem to like making their games as challenging as possible. On a beautiful day in 1997, scientists at a beach watched a little dog going into the sea and swimming towards the dolphins. To their surprise, the dolphins came up to the dog and then started throwing it into the air. The dog seemed to enjoy the "game" and continued playing with the dolphins for more than an hour. Dolphins live in a very different world from ours, but they are very good at our "IQ tests" . For example, they will jump out of the water when they hear a whistle noise. They do this because they will get a fish as a prize. There is still much to learn about these cute problem-solvers, but it is certain that watching a dolphin show is fun. ,. (5) Question: Where did the dolphins throw the dog when playing? Options: A: Onto its back. B: Into the air. C: Onto the beach. D: Into the water.
A: B

Question: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Gina is an English girl. She has a brother. His name is Mike. They are good students. Their father and mother are English teachers, and they work very long hours every day. So the family usually go to the park on Saturday or Sunday. Today is Saturday. It's a nice day. They want to go there with their dog. They leave home at 8:30 a.m. and go to the park by car. They get there at 9:10 a.m. Gina and Mike start to play tennis. Their parents are under a tree. Their father reads a book and their mother listens to music. The dog plays on the grass. At 12:00 they have lunch in KFC in the park. In the afternoon they go boating. And they get home at 4:00 p.m. they are very tired, but very happy. Question: How many children are there in the family? Options: A: Three. B: Four. C: Two. D: One.
Answer: B

*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: An old porter had worked for the railway for a very long time. One morning he was standing in one of the big railway stations and waiting for travelers to ask him to help them with their luggage, when he saw a small man running toward the trains with a big bag in his hand. The porter watched the man for a few seconds, and the man saw the porter. At once the small man ran up the porter and said, "Can I catch the 10:35 train to London, porter?" He was breathing very fast, and he seemed worried. The old porter looked at him for a moment and then said with a smile, "Well, sir, I'd like to help you, but I can't answer your question because I don't know how fast you can run along rails. You see," he explained, "the 10:35 train to London left five minutes ago." Question: The old porter's job was _ Options: A: to stand in the railway station B: to answer the traveler's question C: to help the travelers carry their luggage D: to ask the travelers to help him
**Answer**
C