The Rockford police chief and some city officials want to install video cameras in all 100 police cars. They think this will reduce the number of lawsuits against the city. In the last five years, Rockford has paid out more than five million dollars to settle about 40 lawsuits. The chief said, "If cameras had been in those cars, we wouldn't have had to pay one penny. We're always pulling over drunks or drug users who try to fight the policemen or shoot them. Then they always say that the police started beating them first or started shooting at them first. What nonsense!" The cost of installing cameras will be about $500 per car. The city council will vote on the plan next Monday. Ten of the 13 council members, when asked about the plan, said that they liked the idea. One member said that it made good financial sense and common sense. If the cameras are supported, they can be installed in all the cars within six weeks. The police officers gladly support camera use. One officer said that too many people thought the police were _ ; cameras would show citizens that the police told the truth. Citizen reaction to the idea of police car cameras is mixed. One person said that the police should have started doing this years ago when video cameras were invented. But an elderly man said that cameras were against privacy. "These police are trying to stick their nose into everything," he said. He was going to attend the council meeting to fight the plan. He hoped that other citizens would join him. Rockford should pay about $ _ dollars for the plan. A) 5,000,000 B) 50,000 C) 40,000 D) 1,300
B
(Question)
As a young girl, Margaret "Mattie" Knight never played with dolls, preferring to make toys for her brothers instead. In 1849, Knight went to work in a cotton factory where she witnessed a "shuttle," a device that carries thread back and forth across a textile loom , fly off the machine when the thread broke, striking and killing a young boy about her own age. The 12-year-old Knight developed a safety mechanism that made it impossible for a shuttle to leave the loom. The design was so effective, soon virtually every new power loom carried her invention, saving countless workers from injury or death. Being so young, she didn't bother to patent the device, so she never received payment. Knight wouldn't make the same mistake later in life when she invented a machine that could produce flat-bottomed paper bags. Knight had built a small wooden model in her home, but she needed a metal version to show it could hold up to the stress of mass production. So she hired Charles Annan to make the full-sized machine for her, only to have him try to claim the patent for himself. When Knight sued , Annan's argument was that the design had to be his, because no woman could possibly understand the complex mechanics. Knight proved him wrong when she brought back her wooden prototype and explained how every part worked. She won the case in 1871, making her the second woman to hold an American patent. Over a hundred years later, her design is still used as the basis for many modern flat-bottom bag machines. But that wasn't the last the world heard of Mattie Knight. During her lifetime, she made about 90 inventions and received 26 patents, becoming one of the most productive female inventors of the 19th century. What would be the best title for the text? A) Mattie Knight's fight for her patent B) A great woman in the 19 thcentury C) "The female Edison", Mattie Knight D) Great inventions, great woman
(Answer)
C
Ques: Guo Jingming is a best-selling author in China. He was born in Zigong, Sichuan Province on June 6, 1983. He is well-known for his essays and fictions, such as On the Edge of Love and Hurt, City of Fantasy, and Tiny Times. His essays and fictions are especially popular with teenagers. He is also a director and once directed his movie Tiny Times successfully. In June 2013, Guo was awarded the Best New Director at the Shanghai International Film Festival for his first movie Tiny Times. The movie has sold 6.7 million copies. In 2001, Guo Jingming started to gain _ after winning the New Concept Writing Competition's top award. Lots of young people got to know Guo Jingming little by little. A year later, Guo entered the writing competition again and won the top prize for the second time. At the same time, a collection of his prose On the Edge of Love and Hurt was published. In 2003, his first novel City of Fantasy came out. It was the novel that made Guo Jingming famous all over the country. In 2008, Guo was elected to the Chinese Writers' Association. He became the youngest member of the association. Guo's Tiny Times series was published between 2008 and 2012. A collection of his prose " On the Edge of Love and Hurt" was published _ . A) In 2001 B) In 2002 C) In 2003 D) In 2005
Ans: B
Students across the country are finding ways, with the help of devoted teachers, to raise funds for causes near and dear to their hearts. While kids raise funds for bird habitats and heart health, they learn lessons that will help them succeed in school -- and in life. Feathered Friends To collect money for an important nature fund and use skills right out of a science textbook, The Branch School of West Houston, Texas, took to the fields and forests to find more than 45 species of birds in their Bird-A-Thon's largest annual fundraising event and the world's biggest bird watching competition. Teams earn pledges for each donation to benefit the 40-year-old Houston Audubon (houstonaudubon.org), a chapter of the National Audubon Society. The 24th Houston Audubon Bird-A-Thon raised over $56,000 to promote the conservation and appreciation of birds and wildlife habitat. Bonus: In identifying specific species, students learn about habitats, ecology, and preservation, all while getting exercise. Jump Rope for Heart This program has raised a lot of money for AHA (the American Heart Association). French Road Elementary of Rochester, New York, topped the 2012 list of participating schools in Jump Rope for Heart, a jump-rope-a-thon, with $67,432. A "Wall of Honor" stands at one end of the gym, each paper heart bearing the name of a patient for students to see as they jump in honor of that child. The program, organized by physical education teachers, earned pledges per jump. Bonus: Per jump pledges offer students practice with multiplication and money handling skills, with science and health, too! What do "Feathered Friends" probably refer to? A) Birds. B) New friends. C) Students. D) Close friends
A