Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Inland waters may be grouped into two general classes: standing waters and flowing waters. As is often the case, the boundary between these two classes is not sharp and clear. A pond is an example of standing water. But most ponds are fed by springs or brooks and most have an outlet. Thus some current of changing water flows through them. On the other hand, a river is an example of flowing water. In some places, however, a river may have such a slow current that it is very difficult to detect. Standing inland waters differ in size, in age, and in many _ environmental characteristics. They range in size from roadside puddles to the Caspian Sea. Puddles may last for only a few days or weeks; ponds, for a few hundred to a thousand years. In general, lakes are older, though the waters of some tropical "lakes" disappear completely during each dry season. Standing waters vary from very shallow to very deep, from clear to muddy, from fresh to salty. In flowing waters we roughly distinguish between brooks, creeks, and rivers. The size and age of flowing waters are unimportant. Speed of flow, clearness, oxygen content, and other chemical characteristics are used by scientists in studying flowing-water ecosystems. Question: According to the passage, which of the following characteristics of flowing waters is unimportant? Options: A: Clarity. B: Size. C: Speed of flow. D: Oxygen content.
B

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Global Positioning Systems are now a part of everyday driving in many countries.These satellitebased systems provide turnbyturn directions to help people get to where they want to go.However,they can also cause a lot of problems,send you to the wrong place or leave you completely lost.Many times,the driver is to blame.Sometimes a GPS error is responsible.Most often,says Barry Brown,it is a combination of the two. Barry Brown is with the Mobile Life Centre in Stockholm,Sweden.He told us about an incident involving a friend who had flown to an airport in the eastern United States.There he borrowed a GPSequipped car to use during his stay.Mr Brown says,"They just plugged in an address and then set off to their destination.And,then it wasn't until they were driving for thirty minutes that they realized they actually put in a destination back on the West Coast where they lived.They actually put their home address in.So again,the GPS is kind of 'garbage in garbage out'." Mr Brown says this is a common human error,but what makes the problem worse has to do with some of the shortcomings,or failures,of GPS equipment.He says,"One problem with a lot of the GPS units is they have a very small screen and they just tell you the next turn.Because they just give you the next turn,sometimes that means that it is not really giving you the overview that you would need to know that it's going to the wrong place." Mr Brown says,"One of the things that struck us,perhaps the most important thing was that you have to know what you're doing when you use a GPS.There are these new skills that people have developed.There are these new competencies that you need to have to be able to use a GPS because they sometimes go wrong.This goes against a common belief that GPS systems are for passive drivers who lack navigational skills." Barry Brown says to make GPS systems better we need a better understanding of how drivers,passengers and GPS systems work together. Question: According to Barry Brow,in most cases, _ are blame for the problems. Options: A: human errors B: GPS errors C: errors caused by both drivers and GPS D: errors caused by putting in a wrong address
C

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Amanda Clement grew up in Hudson, South Dakota. Baseball was always her favorite sport. Once in a while her brother Hank and his friends would let her play first base in their games. More often, however, they asked her to umpire for them, because they knew her calls would be fair and there would be no arguing. One day in 1904, Amanda and her mother traveled to Hawarden, Iowa, to watch Hank play for the home team against Hawarden. When they arrived at the ball field, two local teams were waiting to play a preliminary game. The umpire hadn't arrived, so Hank argued that the teams should let his sister serve as umpire. The players finally agreed. Amanda, then sixteen and standing five feet, ten inches tall, made perfect calls. She was so good that players for the main game asked her to umpire for them and even offered to pay her. Thus, at sixteen, Amanda Clement became the first paid female baseball umpire of all time. She is honored in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Question: Amanda went to Hawarden in order to _ . Options: A: serve as umpire B: watch her brother play C: make money D: help the local teams
B

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Intellectual property (IP) is a product of the mind that has commercial value. The concept dates back to 1623, when the first patent law to protect IP rights was passed. IP rights protect an artist from having his/her creative ideas copied by another. For example, if somebody generated an idea for a novel, that idea is protected by IP rights. If someone else wishes to represent the idea or develop it further, he/she must consult the original artists, who will normally be rewarded financially for its use. Back in the 17thcentury, IP rights were primarily carried out to protect newly developed manufacturing processes against stealing, but today intellectual property rights are also enjoyed by those who create music, art and literature. In recent years, IP rights have been the focus of a great deal of discussion because of a technology which looks set to weaken them altogether: the Internet. Many years ago, if you wanted a recoding of a song, you would have to purchase it from a music store; if a novel, from a book store. In those days, IP rights were easily protected since it was very difficult to obtain intellectual property without paying for it. However, a lot of IP, including songs, films, books and artwork, can be downloaded today free of charge using the internet. This practice has now taken the world by storm, dramatically affecting the way in which we view IP rights. Question: A possible title for this passage could be _ . Options: A: IP Rights and Our Attitudes B: Ways to Protect Your IP Rights C: The Present and the Future of IP rights D: A History of IP Rights
A