The 1920s was a decade of wealth, decadence and social changes. They were known as the Roaring Twenties, and the best place to experience this exciting time was New York City. But what was it really like? Prohibition In 1919, a new law in the US known as Prohibition made it illegal to buy and sell alcohol. But Prohibition didn't stop people drinking; it just drove the sale of strong alcoholic drink underground. Bootleggers waited off the coast of New York after dark and brought illegal alcohol into the city. Jazz Jazz was the music of New York in the 1920s. In fact, the decade is called Jazz Age. The best place to listen to this new form of music was the Cotton Club in Harlem. All the great jazz musicians played at the Cotton Club, including Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie and Duke Ellington. Also, in 1942 George Gershwin composed the jazz--influenced Rhapsody in Blue. The piece has been called "a musical portrait of New York" and was used by Woody Allen in his filmManhattan. Art Deco Art Deco was the most popular style of the 1920s, with bright colors and geometric designs; it can be seen in the art, architecture and inside designs of the period. New York is full of Art Deco buildings, but the most famous ones are the Chrysler Building (built between 1928 and 1930) and the Empire State Building (built between 1930 and 1931). The Great Depression On 29th October, 1929, the Roaring Twenties came to a dramatic end. On that day (known as "Black Tuesday"), the US stock market crashed, causing the Great Depression. The economic downturn lasted ten years and affected most of the Western world. Unemployment in America reached 25% and the country didn't recover until after World War II. We infer from the passage that the US _ in the year 1930. A) was in a bad economic state B) was in good economic condition C) developed at a rapid speed D) had many dramatic plays
A
(Question)
Nearly everyone agrees that money doesn't buy as much as it used to, no matter when you want to spend it. This is certainly true of the paper money that passes so quickly through one's hands. But what about coins that seem to do very little except stay in purses and pockets? Unlike notes, metal money becomes more valuable the longer it is held, especially if it is put away where it won't get scratched or worn. Why is this? One reason is that coins, being more durable, fall more readily into a category for collectors. Naturally, the rarer gold pieces must become more valuable as the price of this metal goes up. But, curiously, one of the rarest coins in the world is not made of gold, but of the relatively cheaper silver. In 1840, the United States mint struck 19570 silver dollars. That is what its records show. Today only six of this original number remain and these are unlikely ever to reach the auction market. So what happened to some 19564 large silver coins, not the easiest sort of things to lose? One of the more romantic theories is that they were part of the payment to Napoleon for the American land then known as Louisiana. But they never reached France. Somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico, the ship transporting them was sunk, either by a storm or by pirates. The probable answer to the mystery is that they were melted down -- since the silver value was greater than the actual value of the coin. What really happened to the rest will probably always remain a mystery. What is known is that whoever can come up with one will find himself instantly rich. We can learn from the passage that _ . A) money buys as much as it did before B) money does not buy as much as it did before C) paper money buys more than metal money D) metal money buys more than paper money
(Answer)
B
Ques: Mr King was the manager of a hotel. One weekend all the hotels in the city were full because there was a large meeting. On Friday night, three men came into the hotel and asked for rooms. Mr King said there were no rooms ready because of the meeting. The men were unhappy. Mr King wanted to help them. He remembered that Room 418, a very small room, was empty. He asked them if they would share a room. The three men said they would. Mr King said the room would be thirty dollars: ten for each one. Each man gave him the money and then went up to the room. Mr King soon began to feel sorry. "Thirty dollars is a lot to ask as price for that small room. " he thought. He called his assistant over and said, "Here is five dollars. Take it to the men in Room 418. I asked too much for their room." The assistant took the money. While he was on the way there, he started to think, "How can three men divide five dollars? I'll give them each only one dollar and keep the two dollars for myself. The men will be happy to get something back, and Mr King will never know. " So the assistant returned one dollar to each man. Each man had at first paid ten dollars. After the assistant returned them one dollar each, each had paid nine. There were three men, $ 9 x3 = $ 27. The assistant kept $ 2. $ 27 + $ 2 = $ 29. Where is the missing dollar? Where is the missing dollar? A) there wasn't any missing dollar. B) It was taken by the assistant, too. C) It was taken by Mr King D) It was taken by the three men.
Ans: A
Ques:Learning a second language can improve brain power, scientists believe. US researchers from Northwestern University say bilingualism is a form of brain training -- a mental "work out" that adjusts the mind finely. Speaking two languages well affects the brain and changes how the nervous system reacts to sound, lab tests showed. Experts say the experiment performed by the National Academy of Sciences provides "biological" evidence of this. In an attempt to prove the guess that speaking two languages is good for one's mind, the team monitored how the brain of 48 healthy student volunteers reacted to different sounds. Twenty three of these volunteers were bilingual. The scientists used special equipment to trace the pattern of brainwaves. Under quiet, laboratory conditions, the bilingual students responded in a similar way to the English-only-speaking students, who formed the control group. But the bilingual group were far superior at processing sounds even when there were a lot of people talking in the room. They were better able to focus on to the important information -- the speaker's voice -- and block out other _ noises. Prof Nina Kraus, who led the research, said: "The bilingual's better experience with sound results in a hearing system that is highly efficient, flexible and focused in its automatic sound processing, especially in challenging or novel listening conditions." Co-author Viorica Marian said: "People do crossword puzzles and other activities to keep their minds sharp. But the advantages we've discovered in double language speakers come automatically simply from knowing and using two languages.'' Musicians appear to gain a similar benefit when rehearsing , say the researchers. According to some theories, being bilingual might help avoid dementia . What does Viorica Marian seem to believe? A) People should do crossword puzzles to keep their minds sharp. B) Bilingual students have more advantages in study than non-bilingual ones. C) Speaking two languages is an easier way for people to increase their brain power. D) Bilingual students are better at solving crossword puzzles.

Ans:
C