Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: The painter Georgia O'keeffe was born in Wisconsin in 1887 and grew up on her family's farm. At seventeen she decided she wanted to be an artist and left the farm for schools in Chicago and New York, but she never lost her bond with the land. Like most painters, O'Keeffe painted the things that were most important to her, and nearly all her works are simplified portrayals of nature. O'Keeffe became famous when her paintings were discovered and exhibited in New York by the photographer Levered Stieglitz, whom she married in 1924. During a visit to New York in 1929, O'Keeffe was so moved by the bleak landscape and broad skies of the Western desert that she began to paint its images. Cows' skulls and other bleached bones found in the desert figured prominently in her paintings. When her husband died in 1946, she moved to New Mexico permanently and used the horizon lines of the desert, colorful flowers, rocks, barren hills, and the sky as subjects for her paintings. Although O'Keeffe painted her best known works in the 1920's, 1930's and 1940's, she continued to produce tributes(, ) to the Western desert until her death in 1986. O'Keeffe is widely considered to have been a pioneering American modernist painter. While most early modern American artists were strongly influenced by European art, O'Keeffe's position was more independent. She established her own vision and preferred to view her painting as a private endeavor. Almost from the beginning, her work was more indentifiably American than that of her contemporaries in its simplified and idealized treatment of color, light, space, and natural forms. Question: Which of the following is NOT mentioned as an influence on O'Keeffe's paintings ? - Her rural upbringing - Her life in the West - The works of European artists - The appearance of the natural landscape
The works of European artists

Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Although man has known asbestos for hundreds of years, it was not until 160 years ago that it was mined for the first time on the North American continent. H.W.Johns, owner of a New York City Supply Shop for roofers,was responsible for the opening of that first mine. Mr. Johns was given a piece of asbestos which had been found in Italy. He experimented with the material and then showed its surprising powers to his customers. After putting on a pair of asbestos gloves,which looked much like ordinary work gloves,he took red-hot coals from the fireplace and played with them in his hands. How astonished the customers were to discover that he was not burned at all. You can well imagine that he had increased business in asbestos roofing materials. However,because it was very expensive to transport them from Italy to the United States, Mr. Johns sent out a young scientist to seek a source nearer home. This young man found great vein, in the province of Quebec in Canada. Ever since 1881 Quebec has led the world in the production of this unusual mineral,which is made up of magnesium, silicon, iron, and oxygen. When it is mined, the asbestos is heavy, just as you would expect a mineral to be. When it is separated,a strange thing happens; the rock breaks down into fine, soft, soapy fibers. Scientists do not know why the rock can be separated easily into threads ,but they have found thousands of uses of this fireproof material, of the so- called "cloth of stone." Question: Which title best expresses the main idea of this passage? - Asbestos mined in Canada - Fireproof material - A "wonder" material - A new roofing material
A "wonder" material

Q: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Despite knowing he was dying, Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple, worked for more than a year to make plans for four years of new products that he believed would maintain the company's future. It was also revealed that Jobs fought hard to get plans approved for a spaceship-style company headquarters in California. It will be big enough to hold 12,000 employees in a park-like setting near the existing base in Cupertino, the global headquarters of Apple. He appeared at a town council meeting in June to promote the planning. He was also overseeing the development of the delayed iCloud project, which will allow Apple users to store their music, photos and other documents remotely, and designing updated versions of the iPod, iPad, iPhone and MacBooks, ensuring that at least four years' worth of products will go smoothly. Pre-order sales of the first official biography of Steve Jobs have increased by 44,000 percent. According to the official description, the book, out on October 24, 2011, is based on more than 40 interviews with Jobs conducted over two years - as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, competitors and colleagues. Steve Jobs died on October 5, 2011, aged 56, following a long battle with cancer. Jobs is survived by a wife, a son and two daughters. With his passing being confirmed, world leaders, the most famous technology bosses and thousands of fans throughout the world all paid tribute in their way to the life of the man they honored as a hero. Question: What did Steve Jobs do when he knew he was dying, according to this passage? - Enjoy life with his family. - Contact his friends and colleagues. - Be interviewed by the media. - Make plans for his company
A: Make plans for his company

Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: NASA has opened the door to the next generation of space discovery by announcing great plans for a base for humans to live on the surface of the moon forever. The project to build a base on the moon will begin soon after 2020, with astronauts living there within four years. The project comes after several excellent scientists and environmentalists asked humans to look beyond Earth to ensure the survival of the species . Eventually, the moon will be a base for humans to explore the solar system and one day land on Mars. NASA began planning for the first moon landing since 1972 when George Bush, the US president, announced his new plan for space exploration four years ago. NASA has already talked about the design of the Orion spacecraft that will replace the old space shuttle fleet in 2010. The plan for the moon base, however, is the first detailed explanation of how NASA intends to prepare for the first manned exploration of deep space and a possible Mars mission within 30 years. Scientists also believe that the south pole on the moon contain rich natural gases such as the rare helium-3 that could be used as fuel for the generation of nuclear power. Besides, teams of astronauts living there for six months at a time would mine for hydrogen and oxygen to make water and possibly rocket fuel. Question: The reasons why NASA has begun the plan to explore space include the followings except _ . - to protect Earth - to explore deep space - to finish Mars mission - to show how powerful the USA is
to show how powerful the USA is