Half of the world's population is affected by Asian monsoons , but monsoons are difficult to predict. American researchers have put together a 700-year record of the rainy seasons, which is expected to provide guidance for experts making weather predictions. Every year, damp air masses,known as monsoon,produce large amounts of rainfall in India, East Asia, Northern Australia and East Africa. All this wet air is pulled in by a high pressure area over the Indian Ocean and a low pressure area to the south. According to Edward Cook , a weather expert at Columbia University in New York., the complex nature of the climate systems across Asia makes monsoons hard to predict. In addition, climate records for the area are too recent and not detailed enough to be of much use. Therefore, he and a team of researchers spent more than fifteen years traveling across Asia, looking for trees old enough to provide long-term records. They measured the rings, or circles, inside thousands of ancient trees in more than 300 places. Rainfall has a direct link to the growth and width of rings on some kinds of trees. The researchers developed a document they are calling a Monsoon Asia Drought Atlas. It shows the effect of monsoons over seven centuries, beginning in the 1300s. Professor Cook says the tree-ring records show periods of wet and dry weather. "If the monsoon basically fails or is a very weak one, the trees affected by monsoons at that location might put on a very narrow ring. But if the monsoon is very strong, the trees affected by that monsoon might put on a wide ring for that year. So, the wide and narrow ring widths of the chronology that we developed in Asia provide us with a measure of monsoon variability." With all this information, researchers say they can begin to improve computer climate models for predicting the behavior of monsoons. "There has been widespread famine and starvation and human dying in the past in large droughts. And on the other hand, if the monsoon is particularly heavy, it can cause extensive... It is difficult for experts to predict Asian monsoons because _ . A) it is hard to keep long-term climate records. B) they are formed under complex climate systems. C) they influence many nations. D) there is heavy rainfall in Asia.
B
Every people uses its own special word to show its ideas and feelings. Some of these expressions are commonly used for many years. Others are popular for just a short time. One such American expression is "Where's the beef?" It is used when something is not as good as it is said to be. In the early 1980s "Where's the beef?" was one of the most popular expressions in the United States. It seemed as if everyone using it at the time. Beef, of course, is the meat from a cow, and food is more popular in America than a hamburger made from beef. In the 1960s a businessman named Ray began building small restaurants that sold hamburgers at a low price. Ray called this "McDonald's". Ray became one of the richest businessmen at last in America. Other business people watched his success. Some of them opened their own hamburger restaurants. One company called "Wendy's" said its hamburgers were bigger than those sold by McDonald's or anyone else. The Wendy's Company began to use the expression "Where's the beef?" to make people know that Wendy's hamburgers were the biggest. The Wendy's television advertisement showed three old women eating hamburgers. The bread that covered the meat was very big, but inside there was only a bit of meat. One of the women said she would not eat a hamburger with such a little piece of beef. "Where's the beef?" she shouted in a funny way. The advertisement for Wendy's hamburger restaurants was a success. As we said, it seemed everyone began using the expression "Where's the beef?" We can learn from the passage that the expression "Where's the beef?" means that _ . A) the beef in hamburgers is not as much as it is said to be. B) the hamburgers are not as good as they are said to be. C) Wendy's beef is the biggest one in American restaurant. D) it is used when something is not as good as it is said to be.
D
*Question*
Linda Evans was my best friend -like the sister I never had ,We did everything to-- gether :piano lessons ,movies, swimming , horseback riding. When I was 13, my family moved away , Linda and I kept in touch through letters ,and we saw each other on special times - like my wedding and Linda's. Soon we were busy with childern and moving to new homes, and we wrote less often , One day a card that I sent came back , stamped "Address Unknown", I had no idea about how to find Linda. Over the years, I missed Linda very much, I wanted to share happiness of my children and then grandchildren , And I needed to share my sadness when my brother and then moth-er died, There was an empty place in my heart that only a friend like Linda could fill. One day, I was reading a newspaper when I noticed a photo of a young woman who looked very much like Linda and whose last name was Wagman --Linda's married name."There must be thousands of Wagmans."I thought, but I still wrote to her. She called as soon as she got my letter, "Mrs , Tobin!"she said excitedly, "Linda Ev-ans Wagman is my mother." Minutes later I heard a voice that I recognized at once, even after 40 years ,We laughed and cried and caught up on each other's lives, Now the empty place in my heart is filled, And there's one thing that Linda and I know for sure; We won't lose each other again! The writer went to piano lessons with Linda Evans _ . A) at the age of 13 B) before she got married C) before the writer's family moved away D) after they moved to new homes
**Answer**
C