(Question)
Burn rate is the speed at which a startup business consumes money. My rate was $ 75,000 a month. Four months after my company was set up, I had only a quarter of the starting capital left in the bank. Looking for guidance, I went to talk to my friend, Arthur Walworth about my new venture. "Times of great change always bring out the risk-takers," he said. "And they leave winners and losers. My grandfather invested a lot of money in a project of Thomas Edison's that ended up in failure. " I was lost in thought at the notion (an idea or belief about something) of a Thomas Edison project ending in failure. Damn. It could happen to anybody! I must continue. At that time CD-ROM sales had bombed, so investors were fleeing from the field. I didn't turn away from mine entirely, but instead linked it to the Internet. My plan was to offer consumers descriptions of home-design products by using a special software and let them modify the designs. Then we can enable them to get online professional and constructional help to have their houses built, decorated and furnished according to their own choice. To realize my plan I needed investors, so I continued to meet regularly with venture capitalists. One said I had a great idea. But I needed to test it. Get the money somewhere. To get this money from a venture capitalist is going to cost my wife and my children! He turned down my request. Wife? Children? I hardly remembered them. I was working nonstop --- struggling to turn the key in the lock, to find the right way ahead. The pressure was terrible. It was just at this time that my parents and sisters stepped up. Two hundred thousand dollars. A lot of money to them, invested in this crazy son and brother without a moment's hesitation. Dad and Mom had driven out from Chicago and seen the passion in my little office and the trouble at home. With their help my company survived and has been prospering ever since. The author's company was engaged in _ A) furniture design and production B) online home-design service C) traditional home designing D) home decoration business
(Answer)
B

(Question)
Small discoveries in Indonesia are causing a stir in the science world. Researchers have unearthed tiny bones that they believe belong to an entire new human species. If that's true, it will change how we think about our ancestors. Clues that the little people may have lived long ago were first revealed last year in the scientific journal Nature. Scientists said that they had found the bones of a three-foot-tall female on the island of Flores, in Indonesia. When they looked more closely, they saw that the nearly complete skeleton belonged to a full-grown adult. Researchers named her Hobbit, after the tiny heroes of the Lord of the Rings books. Now the team is saying it has unearthed even more pieces of the puzzle, including a jawbone and parts of arms, legs and hands from several individuals, as well as stone tools. They reported their find in Nature this month. "The new evidence makes it very clear that these people are a new species, distinct from modern humans," Peter Brown, a scientist on the team, said. They named these ancient humans Homo floresiensis. Brown says that these little people lived as recently as 12,000 years ago. If Homo floresiensis was a different species from modern humans, that would make our family tree bigger than we knew. It means, says Brown, that "until recently, a shared the planet with us." Many scientists think a new species is unlikely. Some argue that the bones must have belonged to modern humans whose small size was the result of a genetic problem. Daniel E. Lieberman, a scientist at Harvard University, thinks that the debate over the discovery is healthy. He believes that the questions and arguments raised by critics will help us learn more about these unusual skeletons. "Disagreement is an important part of the scientific process," Lieberman said. "As far as I'm concerned, the story's only just begun." Which of the following might be the best title of the passage? A) Comparison between Different Peoples. B) Arguments over Human Origin. C) Discovery of a Possible New Human Species. D) History of Indonesian People.
(Answer)
C

(Question)
People in cities all over the world shop in supermarkets. When you enter the supermarket, you see shelves full of food. You walk in the aisles, pushing your shopping cart. You probably hear soft, slow music in the supermarket. This kind of music is playing to relax you and make you walk slowly. Thus, you will probably stay longer and buy more food. Where do you go in the supermarket when you first arrive? Many people go to the meat section first. This area of the store has many different kinds of meat. Some kinds are expensive and others are not. Usually, some kinds of meat are on sale. So it has a special low price. The manager of the store knows where the customers usually enter the meat section. The meat on sale is usually at the other end of the section, away from where the customers enter. If you want to buy this specially priced meat, you have to walk by the more expensive meat first. Maybe you will see something that you want to buy before you reach the cheaper, inexpensive meat. Then you will spend more money in the meat section. The diary section sells milk that is low in fat. Some supermarkets sell three different containers of low-fat milk. Each container looks different, but each contains the same product. One says "1% fat", one says "99% fat free" and one says "low-fat" in big letters and "1%"in very small letters. If you look carefully you can see that all the milk has the same amount of fat, and each container is the same size. The prices of all these three should be the same. However, in many stores these three containers of milk would each have a different price. The store will make more money if a customer chooses the milk that costs the most. Most of the food in supermarkets is very attractive. People often stop to look at the products in attractive containers. But remember, many products will say, "Buy me!". Stop and think which ones are the best value for your money. Supermarket managers make the food attractive so _ . A) it is cheap B) the customers will buy more C) it is expensive D) it is in the diary section
(Answer)
B