After a year of being prepared, Laura Dekker can't wait to set sail .Last August ,the Dutch government decided that Laura Dekker was too young to take on the challenge of sailing around the world alone. But after a year of preparing herself , Laura has been allowed to sail. "I was so happy I almost jump into the water," Laura said , after learning of the court's judgement. She was born on a yacht in the South Pacific ,and now lives with her father in a boat. When Dutch child protection groups first heard about her plan to sail alone , they stopped her from doing so . Since the decision, though, Laura had been preparing with her father to persuade the courts that she was ready. Last week she received the books and other materials she would need for school while she was at sea. She added safety equipment to a new, big ship. And she took her first aid course to learn several survival skills, like how to put out fires on the boat, take care of her own injuries and deal with lack of sleep. She also planned a safer course --- adding alternate routes to avoid pirate attacks, and planning a course that would have her on dry land as she moved from port to port across the world. Laura is using a larger and more safer boat. If she finished successfully in less than two years, she will take the title from current record-holder Jessica Watson, of Australia, who was 16 when she completed the journey. When Laura is at sea ,she might _ . A) learn some lessons by herself B) learn some lessons with the help of her father C) stop her school lessons for some time D) not learn any lessons of her schooling
A
(Question)
Three English dictionaries published recently all lay claim to possessing a "new" feature. The BBC English Dictionary contains background information on 1,000 people and places prominent in the news since 1988; the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary: Encyclopedic Edition is the OALD plus encyclopedic entries; the Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture is the LDOCE plus cultural information. The key fact is that all three dictionaries can be seen to have a distinctly "cultural" as well as language learning content. That being said, the way in which they approach the cultural element is not identical, making direct comparisons between the three difficult. While there is some common ground between the encyclopedic/cultural entries for the Oxford and Longman dictionaries, there is a clear difference. Oxford lays claim to being encyclopedic on content whereas Longman distinctly concentrates on the language and culture of the English speaking world. The Oxford dictionary can therefore stand more vigorous scrutiny for cultural bias than the Longman publication because the latter does not hesitate about viewing the rest of the world from the cultural perspectives of the English-speaking world. The cultural objectives of the BBC dictionary are in turn more distinct still. Based on an analysis of over 70 million words recorded from the BBC World Service and National Public Radio of Washington over a period of four years, their 1,000 brief encyclopedic entries are based on people and places that have featured in the news recently. The intended user they have in mind is a regular listener to the World Service who will have a reasonable standard of English and a developed skill in listening comprehension. In reality, though, the BBC dictionary will be purchased by a far wider range of language learners, as will the other two dictionaries. We will be faced with a situation where many of the users of these dictionaries will at the very least have distinct socio-cultural perspectives and may have world views... What feature sets apart the three dictionaries discussed in the passage from traditional ones? A) The combination of two dictionaries into one. B) The new approach to defining words. C) The inclusion of cultural content. D) The increase in the number of entries.
(Answer)
C
Ques: China's top labor official said the country is planning to push back the age at which workers can retire. Yin Weimin, minister of human resources and social security, demonstrated that we did not put a timetable on the move when he spoke about it during a forum at the weekend. "Delaying the retirement age is a very complicated issue and we will study it according to the situations of population and employment and consider different groups of people," Yin said. He noted that _ in the retirement age have been brought in by many countries and can be a good way to deal with an aging population and ensure the healthy and stable development of social security. The life expectancy of Chinese people is now 73 years and is expected to rise to 74 during the next five years, he said. Nearly three out of 10 Chinese people will be older than 60 by 2040, according to a United Nations forecast. The retirement age in China currently is 60 for men and 55 for female civil servants and 50 for female workers. The idea of delaying the retirement age is being widely supported by government officials, while many laborers and non-government employees were less enthusiastic about the prospect of working for longer. Currently, they have to pay into their pension plans for at least 15 years before they can retire. Chen Xianlian, a female worker at a motorcycle parts manufacturer in Chongqing municipality is among those who would like to see the retirement age left as it is. "I have to do lots of tough and repetitive work every day and I feel very tired after my working day," the 41-year-old said. "All my colleagues are discussing the government's possible move to lift the retirement age. None of us wants to work any extra years." University graduates also fear that any rise in the retirement age could limit their employment opportunities. According to the current policy, Chen Xianlian has to work _ more years from now before her retirement A) 14 B) 9 C) 19 D) 15
Ans: B
Question: Koalas are found only in prefix = st1 /Australia. Even if called koala bear, this animal has nothing to do with the actual bear; it is not even a mammal , but a marsupial , like the kangaroo. Its closest living s are the wombats . A koala is about 60-80cm long and weighs 5-14kg. The name "koala" means "no drink", and refers to the koala's ability to go for days without water. Koalas get the water content they need from the eucalyptus leaves on which they feed. The koala is the only mammal with a digestive system that can feed only on eucalyptus leaves--incidentally, these leaves are highly poisonous if eaten by humans. One individual consumes about 5kg of eucalyptus leaves daily and it may never drink water! The koala is a _ mammal. They prefer to move around just after sunset, spending daytime sleeping in the fork of a tree. A koala spends sleeping 75% of its time. The eucalyptus leaves they eat are rich in fiber and poor in proteins and fats. The adult must detoxify leaves with energy expense, while fiber is hard to break down. Because of this poor diet, koalas save energy by sleeping most of the day, while their movements are very slow. Koalas only have one young per year. In summer, baby koalas are born about a month after mating. The female takes it with her mouth and places it into her poach. In 6 months, the young can get out and feed on leaves. There are probably around 2,000 to 8,000 wild koalas in Australiaat present. The extremely fine gray fur is the reason why koala has been heavily hunted in the past. Koalas are killed every year by dogs, cats, dingoes, eagles and owls. They also die of disease and accidents. Koalas do not get poisoned when eating eucalyptus simply because of their _ . A) special need B) living habitat C) digestive system D) born laziness
Answer:
C