I have heard having a good sense of humour often helps in breaking the ice. Also people remember you because of your humour. But I think I don't have a very good sense of humour. Could you suggest how to build on this? ----Radha Karnik This is a great question that is unfortunately difficult to answer. I can only give you my views on this topic, which may or may not be correct. I know that my sense of humour developed over time. When I was younger I was not funny at all, now I can easily make people laugh. At the same time, sometimes I say things that I think are very funny but others do not. Improving wit and humour, I believe, is an ongoing process. Now, there are various forms of humour and everyone has their individual style. Overall, I believe being fluent in a language is very important for being witty or funny. The way we play around with words adds the "funny" tag to an otherwise normal sentence. Also, seeing irony is very important. I think humour is often the link between two unrelated things. In my experience, laughing frequently and appreciating other people's jokes and wit are very important. Within these, finding humour in everyday normal situations is the key. I often notice what is going on around me and say funny things in my head and laugh to myself. That serves almost as practice for when I am in a group. I watch comedy shows and movies and I am sure that has some effect on helping me improve my sense of humour. And last, having confidence that you are witty is important. There will always be someone wittier or funnier than you, which is fine. Just work on building your own style. Remember, if you are trying to be funny and witty in order to break the ice at a business function, be careful. In those situations, humour has to be mild and politically correct. Yours, Brad Radha Karnik's problem is that he doesn't _ . A) have friends B) have a good sense of humour C) understand others' humour D) know the functions of humour
B
(Question)
Long-time exposure to air pollution can lead to physical changes in the brain and cause trouble in learning and memory, and even anxiety. This is suggested by the results of new research on mice. While other studies have shown the harmful effects of polluted air in the lungs and heart, this is the first to show the negative effect on the brain. The team of Laura Fonken, Randy Nelson , from the Ohio State University, the USA, has spread to the brain a previous line of research which found that fine particulate matter floating in the air mainly because of air pollution caused by humans, causes swelling in much of the body, and may be related to high blood pressure problems, and some other diseases. In the research Fonken and his colleagues exposed mice to polluted air for six hours each day, five days a week, over a period of 10 months, almost half the average life length of mice. Polluted air contains fine particles created by cars, factories and natural dust. Fine particles of this kind are tiny, about 2.5 micrometers in diameter , or about one-thirtieth the width of a human hair. These particles can go deep into lungs and other organs. The concentration of this particulate material to which they exposed mice is equal to the concentration at which people can be exposed in some polluted urban areas. After a period of 10 months, the researchers got the animals to have a series of behavioral tests. Both the behavior of mice and the results of neurological tests done to them show that those within the polluted air had more problems in learning and memory, and higher levels of anxiety. The results suggest that long-time exposure to polluted air can have measurable negative effects on the human brain and can cause a variety of mental health problems. This could have important consequences for those living and working in polluted urban areas. The results of new research on mice first suggest that polluted air mainly does harm to _ . A) normal organs B) lungs and heart C) mental health D) blood pressure
(Answer)
C
Ques: While in college, Tim started to look for easy ways to make money. One of the opportunities he saw was gambling . He started learning about all forms of gambling. He got lucky enough to make $9,000, but sadly it didn't last long and over the next year he lost all of that money. It was at this point that Tim realized that he needed to stop gambling and focus on learning about finance. One day, he was talking to one of his friends about creating a business, and his friend turned him onto Quick Sprout. So he started reading every blog post on Quick Sprout in the hope that he could learn about how to become a successful businessman and meet some people through Quick Sprout that he could partner up with. A year ago Tim read a blog post on Quick Sprout about another businessman by the name of Timothy Sykes. Tim visited Timothysykes.com and learned about his Millionaire Challenge program that taught people how to buy and sell penny stocks . Tim thought it would be worth giving a try. Tim spent the next few months learning from Timothy Sykes on how to trade stocks. After he felt that he had learned enough, he wanted to start trading. Within the first 6 months of using what he learned in the Millionaire Challenge program, he made over $40,000. At one point he even made $11,000 in 15 minutes. Over the next 12 months Tim is on track to make even more money. So far things are looking good and he is already ahead of schedule. The Millionaire Challenge program has worked out so well for him and he is now starting to enjoy the finer things of life. By visiting Timothysykes.com, Tim _ . A) found a business opportunity B) knew how Quick Sprout developed C) posted a blog he wrote on the website D) set up the Millionaire Challenge program
Ans: A
Ques: Will there be a time in our lives when cars don't crash? When we can just sit back and relax and our cars will drive themselves. Auto technology experts say "yes". And they say that some of those advances may happen quicker than you might think. They will require the users to input the name of the destination or the complete address of the location that they want to go and the cars' artificial intelligence takes them there automatically without a driver. They will run on solar power in the daytime and ethanol fuel at night. Toyota, BMW and Honda will completely control the trade of driverless car business together and will have the cheapest driverless cars. Fossil fuels will be completely incompatible with these cars. Driverless cars will not require a driver's license of any grade to operate. Anyone with basic literacy and computer skills who are at least 16 years of age will be legally allowed to operate the vehicle with absolutely no restrictions. This would give the young users permission to operate the driverless cars on major highways as well as secondary roads without needing a separate classification. In addition to all this, drunken people will be able to use their own automobiles to return home because they are not "driving" the vehicle. What's more, car insurance will become _ because there will be no more automobile accidents after the year 2025. This is because the driverless car will have all safety methods in place by the car's artificial intelligence to prevent automobile accidents. Global positioning systems will become mandatory in all newly-manufactured cars after 2010, and will be the most important part in the driverless car. Who will not be able to use driverless cars? A) Adults with basic literacy and computer skills. B) Adults who are drunk. C) Adults without computer skills. D) Adults without a driver's license.
Ans:
C