I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: Why do Chinese people love hot pot so much? As the winter months begin to settle in, I find myself wondering what it is about this traditional meal, which has existed for more than 1,000 years, that makes it a Chinese food favorite.But it seems that the answer lies beyond the dish itself. Hot pot isn't just designed to keep you warm during the cold months; it's also a social experience.It's a "theater" cuisine that turns a meal into an event.There is a lot of fun for everyone to have in adding ingredients to the hot pot. Hot pot is eaten over two to three hours.For this reason, it is often, considered an evening's entertainment, and time to spend with friends and family.However, many westerners would be _ by the idea of other people sticking chopsticks in their food.When we come to eat at the table in the UK, we tend to have our own individual portions , although the experience is still a social one. A similar experience to the hot pot one can be found in Korean barbecue restaurants, which let you cook your own meat.This allows people to have their meat done however they want. For most Westerners, the idea of going to a restaurant to cook their own food is bizarre .But having given hot pot a go, I find it's now one of my favorite meals in Beijing.The steam from the pot left my clothes smelling of food when I got home, but perhaps this is also part of the experience.When the chilly wind is blowing outside, just grab some chopsticks, some good friends, and dig in.For me it's like throwing a dinner party where my taste buds and my appetite are equally satisfied in the warm company of friends. Question: We can conclude from the article that generally British people _ . Options: A: prefer a Korean barbecue to Chinese hot pot B: find it interesting to cook their own food in restaurants C: don't like sharing food with others D: don't mind the smell of food staying on their clothes after dinner
C

I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: In business, there's a speed difference: It's the difference between how important a firm's leaders say speed is to their competitive strategy and how fast the company actually moves.The difference is important regardless of industry and company size. Companies fearful of losing their competitive advantage spend much time and money looking for ways to pick up the speed. In our study of 343 businesses, the companies that chose to go, go, go to try to _ ended up with lower sales and operating incomes than those that paused at key moments to make sure they were on the right track.What's more, the firms that "slowed down to speed up" improved their top and bottom lines, averaging 40% higher sales and 52% higher operating incomes over a three-year period. How did they disobey the laws of business physics, taking more time than competitors yet performing better? They thought differently about what "slower" and "faster" mean.Firms sometimes fail to understand the difference between operational speed (moving quickly) and strategic speed (reducing the time it takes to deliver value).Simply increasing the speed of production, for example, may be one way to try to reduce the speed difference.But that often leads to reduced value over time, in the form of lower-quality products and services. In our study, higher-performing companies with strategic speed always made changes when necessary. They became more open to ideas and discussion.They encouraged new ways of thinking.And they allowed time to look back and learn.By contrast , performance suffered at firms that moved fast all the time, paid too much attention to improving efficiency, stuck to tested methods, didn't develop team spirit among their employees, and had little time thinking about changes. Strategic speed serves as a kind of leadership.Teams that regularly take time to get things right, rather than plough ahead full bore, are more successful in meeting their business goals.That kind of strategy must come from the top. Question: What can we learn from the text? Options: A: How fast a firm moves depends on how big it is. B: How competitive a firm is depends on what it produces. C: Firms guided by strategic speed take time to make necessary changes. D: Firms guided by operational speed take time to develop necessary team spirit.
C

I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: China is casting such a huge shadow on the United States that many Americans are struggling to learn Chinese in order to maintain their competitive edge, "Interest in learning Chinese among American youth and their parents has grown dramatically in the past five years," said Vivien Stewart at the Asia Society, a US group trying to bridge the gap between Americans and people of Asia and the Pacific. China, the world's most popular nation, is critical to the United States because it is a leading trader, consumer and investor- Its political influence is also rising across the globe.It has replaced the United States as the world's largest consumer and become the second largest economy in the world after the superpower status and its telling effects politically, economically and culturally are driving the interest to learn the language, experts say. From kindergartens to high schools, studies by the Asia Society show, there is a "rapid rise" in interest among pupils to study the Chinese language. Even though the US State Department has stressed the Chinese language "critical " to national prosperity and security, the "current infrastructure to support recruitment of students and teachers as well as the growth of high quality programs is -badly inadequate," an Asia Society study says.The Society has set a target of having at least 5% of American high school students learning Chinese by 2015."Millions of Chinese are learning English, but only 24,000 Americans are learning Chinese," said Andrew Corcoran of the San Francisco - based Chinese American International School. The most popular languages after English in the United States at present are Spanish and French. Question: The passage mainly tells the readers that _ , Options: A: China is getting under a shadow from USA B: American competitive edge is shaking C: Americans object to learning Chinese D: Chinese appeals to more Americans
D

I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: People fell in love with Elizabeth Taylor in 1944, when she starred inNational Velvet-the story of Velvet Brown, a young girl who wins first place in a famous horse race, At first, the producers of the movie told Taylor that she was too small to play the part of Velvet. However, they waited for her for a few months as she exercised and trained--and added three inches to her height in four months! Her acting inNational Velvetis still considered the best by a child actress. Elizabeth Taylor was born in London in 1932. Her parents, both Americans, had moved there for business reasons. When World War II started, the Taylor moved to Beverly Hills, California, and there Elizabeth started acting in movies. After her success as a child star, Taylor had no trouble moving into adult roles and won twice for Best Actress:Butterfield8 (1960) andWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? (1966) Taylor's fame and popularity gave her a lot of power with the movie industry, so she was able to demand very high pay for her movies. In 1963, she received $1 million for her part inCleopatra--the highest pay received by any star up to that time. Elizabeth Taylor is a legend of our time. Like Velvet Brown inNational Velvet, she has been lucky, she has beauty, fame and wealth. But she is also a hard worker. Taylor seldom acts in movies any more. Instead, she puts her time and efforts into her businesses, and into helping others--several years ago, she founded an organization that has raised more than $40 million for research and education. Question: Taylor became Best Actress at the age of _ . Options: A: 12 B: 28 C: 31 D: 34
B