Article: Brazil has become one of the developing world's great successes at reducing population growth, but more by accident than design. While countries such as India have made joint efforts to reduce birth rates, Brazil has had better result without really trying, says George Martine at Harvard. Brazil's population growth rate has dropped from 2.99% a year between 1951 and 1960 to 1.93% a year between 1981 and 1990, and Brazilian women now have only 2.7 children on average. Martine says this figure may have fallen still further since 1990, an achievement that makes it the envy of many other Third World countries. Martine puts it down to, among other things, soap operas and installment plans introduced in the 1970s. Both played an important, although indirect, role in lowering the birth rate. Brazil is one of the world's biggest producers of soap operas. Globo, Brazil's most popular television network, shows three hours of soaps six nights a week, while three others show at least one hour a night. Most soaps are based on wealthy characters living the high life in big cities. "Although they have never really tried to work in a message towards the problems of reproduction, they describe middle and upper class values-not many children, different attitudes towards life, women working," says Martine. "They sent this image to all parts of Brazil and made people aware of other patterns of behavior and other values, which were put into a very attractive package." Question: According to the passage, Brazil has cut back its population growth _ . Yes or no, is the answer "by chance"?
No

Article: Foxes and farmers have never got on well. These small dog-like animals have long been accused of killing farm animals. They are officially classified as harmful and farmers try to keep their numbers down by shooting or poisoning them. Famers can also call on the services of their local hunt to control the fox population. Hunting consists of running after a fox across the countryside, with a group of specially trained dogs, followed by men and women riding horses. When the dogs eventually catch the fox, the kill it or a hunter shoots it. People who take part in hunting think of it as a sport. They wear a special uniform of red coats and white trousers, and follow strict rules of behavior. But owning a horse and hunting regularly are expensive, so most hunters are wealthy. It is estimated that up to 100,000 people watch or take part in fox-hunting. But over the last couple of decades the number of people who are against fox-hunting, because they think it is brutal , has risen sharply. Nowadays it is rare for a hunt to pass off without some kind of conflict between hunters and hunt opponents . Sometimes these incidents lead to violence, but mostly opponents discourage the hunt by misleading riders and disturbing the trail of the fox's smell, which the dogs follow. Noisy conflicts between hunters and opponents have become so common that they are almost as much a part of hunting as running after foxes itself. But this year supporters of fox-hunting face a much bigger threat to their sport. A Labour Party member of Parliament , Mike Foster, is trying to get Parliament to approve a new law which will make the hunting of wild animals with dogs illegal. If the law is passed, wild animals like foxes will be protected under the ban in Britain. Question: The opponents of fox-hunting often discourage the game by _ . Yes or no, is the answer "confusing the fox hunters"?
No

Q: Article: SYDNEY--- An Australian state is offering internationally what it calls "the best job in the world"---- earning a top salary for lazing around a beautiful tropical island for six months. The job pays 150,000 Australian dollars ($105,000) and includes free airfares from the winner's home country to Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland's state government announced on Tuesday. In return, the island caretaker will be expected to stroll the white sands, snorkel the reef, take care of "a few minor tasks"----- and report to a global audience via weekly blogs, photo dairies and video updates. The successful applicant, who will stay rent-free in a three-bedroom beach home complete with plunge pool and golf cart, must be a good swimmer, excellent communicator and be able to speak and write English. "They also have to talk to media from time to time about what they are doing so they can't be too shy and they'll have to love the sea, the sun, the outdoors," said acting state Premier Paul Lucas. "The fact that they will be paid to explore the islands of the Great Barrier Reef, swim, snorkel and generally live the Queensland lifestyle makes this undoubtedly the best job in the world. " Lucas said that the campaign was part of a drive to protect the state's 18 billion Australian dollar a year tourism industry during th tough economic climate caused by the global financial meltdown. "Traditional tourism advertising just doesn't cut it sometimes and we are thinking outside the box by launching this campaign." Queensland Tourism Minister Desley Boyle said some people might question whether it was risky to let an unknown person become an unofficial tourism spokesperson for the state. "I think the biggest risk will be that the successful candidate won't want to go home at the end of the six months," she said. "This is a legal job which is open to anyone and everyone." Applications are open until February 22, 2009. Eleven shortlisted candidates will be flown to... Question: What is the main purpose of this news report? Yes or no, is the answer "To further promote the Great Barrier Reef."?
A: No

*Question*
Article: Every time you go to the supermarket, you come away with your purchases in plastic bags. But wouldn't it be kinder to the environment if you asked for paper bags instead? The answer is not the easy as it might seem. Environmentalists say there are _ to using both plastic bags and paper bags. According to the American Plastics Council 80 percent of groceries in the US are packed in plastic bags. "The numbers are becoming huge," said Vincent Cobb, a businessman from Chicago who set up "reusable bags. com" on the Internet. He notes that consumers use between 500 billion and 1 trillion plastic bags per year worldwide. Some experts believe that all these bags harm the environment. Plastic takes hundreds of years to break down and, as it does so, poisonous materials are released into the water and soil. Further damage is caused if plastic bags enter the sea. For example, endangered sea turtles cannot tell the bags from jellyfish , their main source of food, and often choke on them. Floating plastic bags have been spotted as far north as the Arctic Ocean and as far south as the southern end of South America. One expert predicts that, within ten years, plastic bags will wash up in Antarctica! However, this kind of bag does have its advantages. "Plastic grocery bags are some of the most reused things around the house," explained Laurie Kusek of the American Plastics Council. According to the Film and Bag Federation, a trade group in the US plastics industry, paper bags use more energy and create more waste than plastic bags. Plastic bags require 40 per cent less energy to produce and cause 70 per cent less air pollution, the group explained. They also release as much as 94 percent less waste into the water than paper ones. But paper bags do break down more quickly than plastic bags. They don't endanger wildlife, either. So what should we do? One possible solution would be to use biodegradable plastic bags. But until biodegradable technology improves, it might be easier to pack things you buy in reusable cloth bags. Question: Which of the following shows that paper bags are better than plastic ones? Yes or no, is the answer "Paper bags take less time to rot."?
**Answer**
No