Ques: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: I watch documentaries, not movies.I read history books, not fiction.I use every free moment to accomplish one of the tasks on my never-ending checklist, and I am completely filled with thoughts of productivity.An hour sleeping is an hour wasted.And like the rest of 21st century America, I like it.But this fixation on productivity is increasingly destroying character and transforming men into robots. New York Times columnist David Brooks warned American University students of this cultural decline in a speech."We cut off all things spiritual and emotional in a competitive urge to stand out", he said, "The pressure to succeed professionally, to acquire skills, to do the things you need to do to succeed in an information age economy really became the overwhelming pressures, and it sort of _ the thinking about character and morality." Many students happily go to college, viewing it as a next step on their rise to professional achievement.Forcing as many success-building activities into their schedules as they can, they enjoy keeping busy with little sleep."Today's outstanding kids are likely to spend their afternoons and weekends shuttling from one skill-improving activity to the next," Brooks wrote in an article, "We fear failure more than we desire success." A century ago, college was about character building.Today, our characters are in decline.We are experts on economics, material things and professional skills.We fail to discuss and understand relationships, emotions and all things spiritual. Philosopher Karl Popper divided the world into two categories: Clocks and Clouds.Clock problems are those that can be taken apart, examined and solved through deductive reasoning .Clouds cannot be taken apart.Cloud problems represent whole systems that need to be understood in a different way. "When we have a Cloud problem, we try to turn it into a Clock problem," Brooks said.And in a reason-centered culture, adding titles to one's resume becomes a trend.At American University, 85 percent of seniors (and 89 percent of... Question: The purpose of this passage is to _ . Options: A: bring awareness to character building B: stress the importance of productivity C: warn about the pressure to seek success D: criticize students' desire for achievements
Ans: A

Ques: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: "I don't like my parents. They always tell me I should do this, and should not do that. It sometimes makes me angry," said Li Ping, a middle school student in Hunan. Do you have the same problem? Perhaps your parents had the same problem when they were your age long ago. Why does it seem that some parents are not so friendly in their children's eyes? One of the biggest things is when someone becomes a parent, he / she likes worrying things. They worry about everything about you, from the time you were born. They do a lot for you, though something would make you angry, because they care about you and worry about you. They worry about your choice of friends, the food you eat, your work at school, how much sleep you get, etc. All these things are part of your life. They want you to grow up healthily and happily. So how can you make things easier on yourself? It's easier than you think. Just make sure your parents know what you're doing. Get them to know your friends. Phone if you stay somewhere else so that your parents don't call every hospital in the phone book looking for your body. Say sorry to them when you make mistakes. Take responsibility for what you have done. Talk about your ideas with them. They may talk about theirs with you. Most of all, try to think about why your parents do this or do that. They are still practicing being parents and need help you can give them. Someday, when you become a parent, they may be able to help you know how to get on with your children. Question: What does the writer think we should do if we go back home later than usual? We should _ . Options: A: tell our friends B: tell the teacher C: say sorry to our parents D: make a telephone call to our parents
Ans: D

Ques: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: Last Sunday I made a visit to some new neighbors down the block.No specific in mind, just an opportunity to sit at the kitchen table, have some tea and chat.As I did so, it occurred to me how rare the Sunday visit has become. When I was a kid in New Jersey of the 1960s, Sunday visits were routine.Most stores were closed, almost nobody worked, and the highways, as a result, were not desperate steeplechases they have become today.My family normally traveled eight city blocks to the home of my grandmother, where adults would sit on the front porch and chat while we children played hide-and-seek. The Sunday visit was something to desire strongly.It was the repetition to church, our reward for an hour of devotion, an opportunity to take advantage of the fact that Dad was not at work, we were not in school, and there was no housework that couldn't wait until Monday.Sunday was, indeed, different from the other days of the week, because everyone seemed to be on the same schedule, which means that there was one day when everyone seemed to have time for everybody else. Sunday as a day of rest is, or was, so deeply rooted in the culture that it's surprising to find that, in a short span of time, it has almost entirely lost this association.In my childhood, it was assumed that everyone would either be home or visiting someone else's home on Sunday.But now the question is, "What do you plan to DO this Sunday?" The answer can range from going to the mall, to participating in a road race, to Montreal for lunch.If one were to respond, "I'm making a Sunday visit to family," such an answer would feel strange, which sounds like an echo from another era. I suppose I should be grateful to live in Maine, a state of small towns, abundant land and tight relationships.Even though folks work as hard here as they do anywhere else, the state's powerfully rural feature still keeps at least remnants of the moral of yesterday's America, where people had to depend on one another in the face of economic vagaries and a challenging environment. Question: The writer's general impression of the Sunday in the past was a day when _ . Options: A: everyone was paying a visit to some relatives far away B: everyone seemed to be free for others C: Dad was not at work while Mom was busy cleaning the house D: nearly every adult would go to church and children weren't at school
Ans:
B