When I decided to quit my job as a wedding photographer, I was in my late twenties, fresh from my divorce from Bob who had left me empty and confused. I decided to leave the US and travel. I had no savings, plus more than $5,000 in debt. What I did have were two sponsored tasks as a travel photographer- and with that along, I thought, it would be easy. My first experience was a road trip from Toronto to Las Vegas, paid for by a car delivery service. Other trips followed and then I started a travel blog . It was intended to be my calling card for assignment travel photography. Yet even with my blog and past experience, email after email I sent to publications, trying to get work, went unanswered. When they did get in touch, editors told me that I had no chance of making a career with travel photography. While I struggled to get on the path that I wanted, and as I expanded my blog to help get me there, I found myself wearing the hat of a full-time blogger. Luckily, I got in at the right time. It was 2010,and the travel industry was just starting to turn its attention to bloggers. As I never could have predicted, my blogging-not my photography-did take me around the world successfully. At first,I thought it was for personal reasons, but I realized later that it was for free marketing for my blogging. Within two years, I was being asked to speak at travel blogging conferences, which helped me to raise a network of friends around the world. Even more meaningful, however, was when I saw that my travels were also helping other people. My blog and social media followers saw that I chased my dreams and told me over and over again how they needed that kind of example, which was absent in their lives elsewhere. The author believed her success mainly resulted from _ . A) her personal reasons B) her photographing skills C) free marketing for blogging D) booming of travel industry
C
(Question)
Japanese couples, too busy for a normal social life, are increasingly turning to actors to play their friends on the most important days of their lives. Several agencies have sprung up offering actors to attend weddings or even funerals.The first guest-for-hire company was established about nine years ago and around 10 agencies now send out dozens of pretend friends to family events. Agencies such as Hagemashi Tai, which means "I want to cheer you up", charge around PS100 for each "guest". Other services such as giving a speech in praise of a bride or the groom cost extra. The appearance of the small fake friends industry has been linked to social and economic changes in Japan.With lifetime employment a thing of the past, couples feel uncomfortable about inviting work colleagues to their wedding.Increasingly busy and put upon, many Japanese surround themselves with only a very small circle of friends. When they marry, however, they are under pressure to match the number of their new partner's wedding guests. Office Agents, the largest provider of pretend friends, makes sure that its employees have done their homework and know all about the bride or groom before the wedding. Hiroshi Mizutani, the company's founder, said the fake friends he provides must look happy, be well dressed and look like people with good jobs. Pretend friends will be present at the following occasions except _ . A) weddings B) funerals C) work D) family gathering
(Answer)
C
Ques: No one really knows how and why people change as they get older. Also, no theory sufficiently explains all the changes of the aging process. Aging is a complex and varied process that varies in how it affects different people and organs. In fact, even in one person , different organ systems "age " at a different rate. At a certain point in our lives our body systems will begin to weaken . It may become more difficult for us to see and hear. The slow change of aging causes our bodies to lose some of their ability to _ from disease and injury. In order to live longer , we have always tried to slow or stop this change that leads us toward the end of our lives. Many factors decide our health . A good diet plays an important role. The amount and the type of exercise we get are another two factors. Our living condition is yet another. But scientists studying the aging problem want to know: Why do people grow old? They hope that by studying the aging medical science they may be able to make the length of life longer. There is nothing to be afraid of as the old age comes. Many consider the later part of life to be the best time for living. Physical activity may become less, but often we get better understanding of the world and ourselves. What we consider the old age now may only be middle-aged some day soon. Who knows ,with so many advances in medical science happening so quickly, life length may one day be measured in centuries ,rather than in years! How many factors which decide our health are mentioned in the text? A) Two B) Four C) Five D) Six
Ans: B
Nearly everyone agrees that money doesn't buy as much as it used to, no matter when you want to spend it. This is certainly true of the paper money that passes so quickly through one's hands. But what about coins that seem to do very little except stay in purses and pockets? Unlike notes, metal money becomes more valuable the longer it is held, especially if it is put away where it won't get scratched or worn. Why is this? One reason is that coins, being more durable, fall more readily into a category for collectors. Naturally, the rarer gold pieces must become more valuable as the price of this metal goes up. But, curiously, one of the rarest coins in the world is not made of gold, but of the relatively cheaper silver. In 1840, the United States mint struck 19570 silver dollars. That is what its records show. Today only six of this original number remain and these are unlikely ever to reach the auction market. So what happened to some 19564 large silver coins, not the easiest sort of things to lose? One of the more romantic theories is that they were part of the payment to Napoleon for the American land then known as Louisiana. But they never reached France. Somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico, the ship transporting them was sunk, either by a storm or by pirates. The probable answer to the mystery is that they were melted down -- since the silver value was greater than the actual value of the coin. What really happened to the rest will probably always remain a mystery. What is known is that whoever can come up with one will find himself instantly rich. What really happened to some 19564 large silver coins? A) They were melted down. B) They were sunk in the Gulf of Mexico. C) It is still a mystery. D) They were stolen by pirates.
C