*Question*
Global warming may or may not be the great environmental crisis of the 21st century, but--regardless of whether it is or isn't -- we won't do much about it. We will argue over it and may even, as a nation, make some fairly solemn-sounding commitments to avoid it. But the more dramatic and meaningful these commitments seem, the less likely they are to be observed. Al Gore calls global warming an "inconvenient truth," as if merely recognizing it could put us on a path to a solution. But the real truth is that we don't know enough to relieve global warming, and--without major technological breakthroughs--we can't do much about it. From 2003 to 2050, the world's population is estimated to grow from 6.4 billion to 9.1 billion, a 42% increase. If energy use per person and technology remain the same, total energy use and greenhouse gas emissions (mainly, CO2) will be 42% higher in 2050. But that's too low, because societies that grow richer use more energy. We need economic growth unless we condemn the world's poor people to their present poverty and freeze everyone else's living standards. With modest economic growth, energy use and greenhouse emissions more than double by 2050. No government will adopt rigid restrictions on economic growth and personal freedom (limits on electricity usage, driving and travel) that might cut back global warming. Still, politicians want to show they're "doing something." Consider the Kyoto Protocol . It allowed countries that joined to punish those that didn't. But it hasn't reduced CO2 emissions (up about 25% since 1990), and many signatories didn't adopt tough enough policies to hit their 2008-2012 targets. The practical conclusion is that if global warming is a potential disaster, the only solution is new technology. Only an aggressive research and development program might find ways of breaking our dependence on fossil fuels or dealing with it. The trouble with the global warming debate is that it has become a moral problem when it's really an engineering one. The... Greenhouse emissions will more than double by 2050 because of _ . A) economic growth B) wasteful use of energy C) the widening gap between the rich and poor D) the rapid advances of science and technology
**Answer**
A

*Question*
I was walking along the deserted main street of a small seaside town in the north of England looking somewhere to make a phone call. My car had broken down outside the town and I wanted to get in touch with the Automobile Association .Low gray clouds were drifting across the sky and there was a cold damp wind blowing off the sea. It had rained in the night and water was dripping from the bare trees that lined the street. I was glad that I was wearing a thick coat. I could see no call box, nor was there anyone at that early hour I could ask. I had thought I might find a shop selling the Sunday papers or a milkman doing his job, but the town was completely dead. Then suddenly I found what I was looking for. There was a small post office, and almost hidden from sight in a dark narrow street next to it was the town's only public call box, which badly needed a coat of paint, I hurried forward but stopped in astonishment when I saw through the dirty glass that there was a man inside. He was very fat, and was wearing a cheap blue plastic raincoat and rubber boots. I could not see his face - he was bending forward over the phone with his back pressed against the glass and didn't even raise his head at the sound of my coming nearer and nearer. Carefully and surprisedly, I remained standing a few feet away and lit a cigarette to wait my turn. It was when I threw the dead match on the ground that I noticed something bright red trickling from under the call box door. Why was the author astonished when he saw that there was a man in the call box? Because _ A) the man inside was still wearing a raincoat B) he didn't expect it to be taken up C) the man had his back with him D) the man did not seem to be moving
**Answer**
B

*Question*
Some people surveyed tasted the sweet, salty, and crunchy together with other tastes of food as they listen to different noises. It shows that louder noises reduced the reported sweetness or saltiness of food while increasing the measure of crunchiness . It may go some way to explain why airline food is widely complained about by both the workers and passengers. Andy Woods, a researcher, said, "It's a general opinion that plane foods aren't fantastic, but I'm sure airlines do their best, so we wondered if there were other reasons. One thought was that perhaps the background noise may have an effect. NASA gives their space explorers very strong-tasting foods, because for some reason, they can't taste food that strongly--again, it may have something to do with the background noise." In a study, 48 people were fed sweet foods or salty ones, while listening to nothing or noise through earphones. Meanwhile they rated the foods. In noisier settings, foods were rated less salty or sweet than they were when it was silent, but were rated crunchier. "The evidence shows that if the background noise is loud, your attention might be drawn to that, away from the food." Dr. Woods said. "We are still at an early stage of progressing and this is a rather small study to really draw definitive conclusions from," Dr Woods said, "but they suggest that restaurants could well adapt their choice of food for a given environment." Also in the group's findings there is the suggestion that the overall satisfaction with the food is also related to the degree to which people like what they are hearing. How does the food taste when it is eaten in a noisy environment? A) Less salty but crunchier. B) Sweeter and saltier. C) Sweeter but less crunchy. D) Less sweet and crunchy.
**Answer**
A

*Question*
A man was on the side of the road hitchhiking on a very dark night in the middle of a terrible rainstorm, with no cars on the road.The storm was so strong that the man could hardly see a few feet ahead of him.Suddenly, he saw a car come towards him and stop.The man, without thinking about it, got in the car and closed the door and only then did he realize that there was nobody behind the steering wheel ! The car started to move very slowly. The man looked at the road and saw a curve coming his way. Terrified, he started to pray, begging for his life. He had not come out of shock when, just before the car hit the curve, a hand suddenly appeared through the window and moved the wheel. The man, paralyzed with fear, watched how the hand appeared every time the car was drawing near a curve.Finally, although terrified, the man managed to open the door and jump out of the spooky car. Without looking back, the man ran through the storm all the way to the nearest town. In a state of complete horror, the man walked into a nearby bar and asked for two glasses of Scotch whisky. Then, still shaking with fright, he started telling everybody in the bar about the horrible experience he just went through in the spooky car. Everyone in the bar listened in silence and became frightened, with hair standing on end, when they realized the man was telling the truth because he was crying and he was certainly not drunk! About half an hour later, two other young men walked into the same bar and one said to the other, "Hey, there's a stupid man who jumped into the car while we were pushing it!" When the car was first drawing near a curve, the man _ . A) felt very curious B) was extremely frightened C) cried for help D) remained as calm as possible
**Answer**
B