BLOOMINGTON --- Once Staci Roper, 14, starts sending text messages, she finds it hard to stop. " Sometimes I text from the time I get up until I go to bed, except during school," said the eighth-grader at Kingsley Junior High. Her sister Sara Roper, 18, also texts a lot, saying "It is a lot easier than using the telephone." For teens, technology has become a common way to start and keep social contacts. Richard Sullivan, a teacher at Illinois State University, said text messaging has become "the new way of passing notes." "It is an important tool for social communication, especially for the youth," Sullivan said. But the girls have to store their mobile phones during school because they can be a distraction , Sullivan said. That is why parents must monitor their children's mobile phone use, said Tim Shannon, a child psychologist at Carle Clinic in Bloomington. The same technologies that can help communication can be _ if children use them to ignore their family at supper, Shannon said. While Linda Roper does not allow her children to text massages during meals, she usually does not need to intervene . "My kids are both very disciplined and good about doing their homework," she said. Gary and Mary Carstens also do not allow their children to text at supper or at family get-togethers. Their daughter, Kayla, 14, usually texts more on weekends when she has more free time. Kayla likes text messaging "because others can't hear you." The Carstens got Kayla a mobile phone several years ago because she is active in after-class sports and the phone allows her parents to keep in touch with her. Mary Carstens believes all the communication allowed by modern technology is good for her kids. Kayla prefers text messaging because _ . A) her mother tells her to do so B) she doesn't like communicating face to face C) she has a lot of free tome to do so D) she can keep what she says a secret
D
Last year I lived in Chile for half a year as an exchange student with the American Field Service. Compared to most visitors, I didn't travel much. I lived with a Chilean family and had the responsibilities of any Chilean teenager. I went to school every day, in uniform. I had good days and bad days and days that I didn't understand. Chuquicamata, my host community, is a mining camp in the Atacama Desert. There is no disco, no shopping center, no museum or beach. Driveways must be watered daily to keep the dust down. When I arrived here, I was scared. It was so different from the urban middle-class America I was accustomed to. There were lost dogs on the streets, and a constant cloud of brick-colored dust came from the mine. There was no downtown, few smoothly paved streets, and little to do for amusement. The people worked extremely hard. Rain was a rare phenomenon; earthquakes and windstorms were frequent. I had studied Spanish for two and a half years and was always one of the best students in my class. But in my first week in Chile I was barely able to communicate and desperate for one person to whom I could explain my shock. I couldn't speak the thoughts in my head --- and there were so many. Most exchange students experience this like me. Culture shock presents itself in everything from increased aggression toward the people to lack of appetite or weight gain and depression. I was required to overcome all difficulties. Being an exchange student is not easy. As time passed, everything changed. I began to forget words in English and to dream in Spanish and love Chilean food. I got used to not depending on expensive things for fun. Fun in Chuquicamata was being with people. And I took math, physics, chemistry, biology, Spanish, art, and philosophy --- for which I received half a credit in global studies. Somehow my high school couldn't figure out a way to relate my experience to its curriculum. But the sacrifices were nothing compared to the gain. I learned how to accept as well as to succeed in another... According to the text, the author most probably thinks that his life in Chile was _ . A) wonderful but tiring B) hard but meaningful C) difficult and terrible D) boring and disappointing
B
(Q).
There's no shortage of web sites offering deals-everything from daily deals to members-only private sales.But when it comes to real jaw-dropping deals, there's one company that seems to have figured out a out a way to really deliver. The company is called QuiBids and they auction the hottest, in-demand electronics like Apple ipads and ipods, as well as other items like gift cards from the top retailers .Unlike other sites, the prices people pay are nowhere near retail.How low are the prices? $33.84 for a new Apple ipad 32 GB(retail $600) $22.10 for a new Nikon D90 Digital SLR Camera(retail $1070) Our first reaction on seeing these prices was disbelief.After all, how cold QuiBids possibly afford to sell these items for so little-surely they must be losing a lot of money. That's where its unique business model comes into play.You see, for every bid a buyer places for an item on QuiBids, the company collects a small fee from the bidder.The fee to bid is only about 60 cents, but based on the volume of sales and bids, the company is able to collect enough to make up for the ridiculous prices the items sell for. But best of all, participating in the QuiBids auction is incredibly fun.Because each each bid costs a little to place, shoppers can strategize when to place their bids.Each auction has a strict time limit.When you place your bid, the system adds a little time to the auction to see if any other bids cone in.If you have the winning bid when the cock runs out-you win the item for that price. But the best part of Quibids may be the "Buy-It-Now"feature.This allows bidders who did not win an auction to still buy the product they want and apply the cost of the bids they placed as a discount on the regular product price. So you still get the item and the bids you placed previously in the auction don't cost you anything! According to the text , the success of Quibids mainly lies in _ . A) the change in people's shopping model B) how its buying and selling is conducted C) the quality of the goods and service D) their willingness to risk losing money
(A).
B