"Community" is not a concept that is easy to define . In this essay I will examine what turns individuals into a community, and discuss some different types. I will also look at what all communities have in common, the benefits they offer and draw conclusions about their increasing importance. The word "community" may make you think of traditional communities in the developing world, where large families live together. We may also imagine the neighbours as people who are happy to help out whenever it is needed. The stereotypical view is that of a village, where people have little but can feel very rich because everyone takes responsibility for the welfare of the others. On the other hand, there are other types of communities: ultramodern ones, where the community members are unlikely to have actually met each other. These are online communities, where people blog or chat about particular issues that are important to them. They come across others on websites and may develop a relationship there with like-minded people, discussing the same topics. The view is often that these are artificial connections between people who are, in fact, still isolated strangers. In reality, the connections are real. Moreover, there are many types of communities in between these extremes: people who join clubs, who sign up with voluntary, political or other organizations, or who take part in group discussions in their local area. They may be campaigning about issues or simply getting together for companionship and support. Human beings are social by nature, so it should not be a surprise that we organize ourselves in groups. However, there is more going on: these groups provide something that we cannot achieve on our own. The main benefit of being part of a larger group is strength in numbers. For example, we can access and share more information, we can take part in team sports, we can complain and campaign more effectively and even if we are just having a chat, online or in person, we can feel supported in whatever we... According to the text, online community members _ . A) develop a close working relationship B) share opinions about issues on websites C) communicate with each other in person D) share the same interest but have no relations
B
(Question)
High-tech gadget shows draw throngs of excited consumers each year in the United States, Japan, Europe and the Arabian peninsula. Though many people are already surrounded with all kinds of smart electronic devices, some always need one more -- better and smarter than the previous one. At electronic shows, visitors flock around the newest tablet computers, cameras, 3D television screens, even small robots, dreaming of taking one home. Consumers spend hours waiting in lines and spend hundreds of dollars to be among the first to get the latest smart phone. The modern world seems to _ shiny expensive objects that keep us connected, help us navigate, record our thoughts and memorable events, and even talk to us. So infatuated, we no longer merely "own" our gadgets -- we have relationships with them, according to clinical psychologist and life transition therapist Francine Lederer. "It's a lot easier to have, right, a one-sided relationship with your computer, your phone, than it is with a live person. So that at the end of the day, you don't need to worry about somebody being angry with you, you don't need to worry about getting blamed for anything," she said. Magical devices Although having a thousand Facebook friends may be perceived as equivalent to having a thousand real, authentic friendships, Lederer said in reality it is not so. "It comes down to a lot of the internal stuff. How we feel about ourselves, our own sense of self-esteem, our self-worth, a lot of those things," she said. But gadgets are magical. They fascinate us the same way we are intrigued by a magician's trick, said psychology professor at the University of the South Pacific, Robert Epstein. "If you don't know how they're doing it, that's very fascinating and intriguing. But if they do it 10 times or 20 times or 100 times, it gets boring and you want something else. That's why magicians do not repeat the same trick over and over again," he said. Plugged in, isolated Epstein, former editor-in-chief of Psychology Today magazine, said he is... What's the similarity between gadgets and magicians according to the passage? A) They both make people happy. B) We will be bored with them. C) They both cheat people. D) They both don't use the same trick repeatedly.
(Answer)
D
Question: On a grassy plain in South Africa,thousands of miles from home,two pairs of Zoo--bred South China tiger cubs----one-year-o1d Hope and Cathay and six-month-old Tiger Woods and Madonna--are learning to hunt in the wild.The hope is that they will one day pass on their skills to their young,allowing the next generation to get back to wildlife reserves in China. A survey shows that the tigers are in more danger of dying out than China's most famous animal,the giant panda.Forty years ago,about 4,000 South China tigers lived in the wild.Today there are only about 30.An additional 64 live in 19 zoos in China,,which are all descendants of six wild animals seized in 1956. The cubs were born in zoos in China and removed from their mothers when they were three months old.Their first home in South Africa was a one-acre camp where they stayed for a month.Their next home was a ten acre area,where they lived for three months to help them gradually get used to life outside a cage. When the cubs first arrived in South Africa,they didn't even want to leave their cages.It took weeks to get them to eat chicken,used as they were to being fed beef at the Zoo in China where they were born.It took months of practice to hunt a live animal and then make the link between the kill and food.Now just a few months on,and living in a 150-acre camp,they have become remarkably skilled hunters. All four animals will finally return to Zoos in China while the pioneering pairs' cubs will grow up completely wild.The aim is for _ to go to reserves developed in China by 2008,when the Olympic Games will be held in Beijing. Which of the following is true? A) There are about 100 South China tigers at the Zoos in China. B) South China tigers at the Zoos in China usually eat chicken. C) In the hunting practice cubs didn't eat what they hunted at first. D) The four tigers will appear in the Olympic Games.
Answer:
C