A bargain is something offered at a low and advantageous price. A more recent definition is: a bargain is a dirty trick to force money out of the pockets of silly and innocent people. The cost of producing a new - for example - toothpaste would make 80p the proper price for it, so we will market it at PS1.20. It is not a bad toothpaste, and as people like to try new things it will sell well to start with; but the attraction of _ soon fades, so sales will fall. When that happens we will reduce the price to PS1.15. And we will turn it into a bargain by printing 5p OFF all over it. Sometimes it is not 5p OFF but 1p OFF. What breathtaking rudeness to advertise 1p OFF your soap or washing powder or whatever! Even the poorest old-age pensioner ought to regard this as an insult , but he doesn't. A bargain must not be missed. People say one has to have washing powder (or whatever) and one might as well buy it a penny cheaper. The real danger starts when unnecessary things become 'bargains'. Many people just cannot resist bargains. Provided they think they are getting a bargain they will buy clothes they will never wear or furniture they have no space for. Once I heard of a man who bought an electric saw as a bargain and cut off two of his fingers the next day. But he had no regrets: the saw had been truly cheap. Quite a few people actually believe that they make money on such bargains. A lady once told me: "I've had a lucky day today. I bought a dress for PS120, reduced from PS400; and I bought a beautiful Persian carpet for PS600, reduced from PS900." It will never occur to her that she has actually wasted PS720. She feels as though she had made PS580. She also feels, I am sure, that if she had more time for shopping, she could make a living out of it. Some people buy in large quantities because it is cheaper. Once a couple bought enough sugar for their lifetime and the lifetime of their children and grandchildren. They thought it a bargain not to be missed. When the sugar arrived they didn't know where to store it... Which word best describes the language style of the passage? A) Polite. B) Foolish. C) Humorous. D) Serious.
C
(Question)
It took 100 years, but finally, scientists proved Albert Einstein's theory that gravitational waves exist. The waves were predicted as part of Einstein's general theory of relativity nearly 100 years ago. It was the theory of the physics behind the workings of our world and the universe. The idea was that the waves are like ripples in space, caused by some of the violent and energetic processes in the universe. For example, two black holes crashing into each other. Now a group of scientists, including ones from Caltech, MIT and the LIGO Scientific, Collaboration finally found the gravitational waves. David Reitze is the executive director of the LIGO observatory at Caltech. "We have detected gravitational waves. We did it!" What are these gravitational waves? Well, imagine throwing a rock into a pond. When the rock hits the flat surface of the water, it creates ripples or waves. Space-time is like the surface of the water. So that means gravitational waves are like the ripples moving out from where the rock hits the water. It might be hard to understand, but those gravitational waves expand and contract space and time as they move through space. And when they get to the Earth, the waves pass through, and they contract and expand the planet as the waves go by. It was Einstein who said these gravitational waves should be observable. But these are not huge waves. They are very, very small, which is why it took so long to find them. You cannot see them with your eyes. They are smaller than the size of an atom. How did the scientists find them? They used a giant scientific tool called LIGO, which stands for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. The billion-dollar LIGO project is two L-shaped observatories. One is in Louisiana and the other in Washington state. For years, scientists have been watching two black holes in another faraway galaxy. The two were spinning around each other, moving closer and closer together. When they finally crashed into each other, it was with such power and force... What are gravitational waves about? A) About the workings of the universe. B) About how black holes form. C) About how the universe began. D) About how the ripples form on the surface of water.
(Answer)
A
Ques: How can we measure animals' emotions? A new study of animal's emotions suggests that, as in humans, emotions can tell animals about how dangerous their world is, and guide the choices that they make. The article of the study by Bristol University's professor Mike Mendl was published online. An animal living in an environment where it is often threatened by predators will develop a negative emotion or "mood", such as anxiety. However, one in an environment with plenty of opportunities to get resources for survival will be in a more positive mood state. The researchers say that these emotional states not only show the animal's experiences, but also help it decide how to make choices, especially in unclear situations. This could have good or bad results. An animal in a negative mood state will make a safety-first with a "pessimistic" response to an unclear event. For example, it considers a noise in the grass as a signal of the predator. At the same time, an animal in a positive mood state will benefit from a more "optimistic" response. It considers the noise as a signal of prey . Professor Mike Mendl, head of the Animal Welfare and Behavior Research Group at Bristol University's School of Clinical Veterinary Science said, " We can use "optimistic" or "pessimistic"decision-making as a symbol of an animal's emotional state. Recent studies by our group and others suggest that this is a _ new approach to studying a variety of animal species." "Public interest in animal welfare remains high, with widespread concern about the way in which animals are treated, used and included in society. To understand how animals should be treated, we need to better understand their emotional lives," Mike Mendl said. The researchers believe Mike Mendl's study can help them to better understand and assess an animal's emotions. What would be the best title for the passage? A) Different kinds of Animals' Emotions B) Emotions Helps Animals to Make Choice C) The Living Environment of Wild Animals D) The Best Way to Measure Animals' Emotions
Ans: B
Ques:Once there was a poor farmer and his farm belonged to a rich man. One day he brought a basket of apples to the rich man's house. On the doorsteps, he met two monkeys dressed like children. They jumped onto the basket to eat the apples and threw some on the ground. The farmer politely took off his hat and asked the monkeys to get off. They obeyed and the farmer went into the house. He asked to see the rich man. A servant took him to the room where the rich man was sitting. "I have brought you the basket of apples you asked for," he said. "But why have you brought a half-empty basket?" the rich man asked. "I met your children outside, and they stole some of the apples." Why did the farmer bring apples to the rich man? Because A) his farm belonged to the rich man B) he liked the rich man C) he was poor D) the rich man's children liked apples

Ans:
C