Hi, everybody. Over the past couple months, most of the political headlines you've read have probably been about the government shutdown and the launch of the Affordable Care Act . And I know that many of you have rightly never been more frustrated with Washington. But if you look beyond those headlines, there are some good things happening in our economy. And that's been my top priority since the day I walked into the Oval Office. After decades in which the middle class was working harder and harder just to keep up, and a punishing recession that made it worse, we made the tough choices required not just to recover from crisis, but to rebuild on a new foundation for stronger, more durable economic growth. Five years later, we have fought our way back. Our businesses have created 7.8 million new jobs in the past 44 months. Another 200,000 Americans went back to work last month. The American auto industry has come back with more than 350,000 new jobs --- jobs putting out and selling the high-tech, fuel-efficient cars the world wants to buy. And they're leading the charge in a business that has added jobs for the first time since the 1990s --- a big reason why our businesses sell more goods and services "Made in America" than ever before. We decided to stop our addiction to foreign oil. And today, we produce more renewable energy than ever, more natural gas than anybody, and for the first time in nearly 20 years, America now produces more oil than we buy from other countries. We decided to fix a broken health care system. And even though the task has been rough, so far, about 500,000 Americans gain health coverage starting January 1st. And by the way, health care costs are growing at the slowest rate in 50 years. And one more thing: since I took office, we've cut our deficits by more than half. And that makes it easier to invest in the things that create jobs --- education, research, and so on. Imagine how much farther along we could be if both parties were working together. Think about what we could do if... According to the speech, which of the following can be implied? A) American people have every reason to feel frustrated with the government. B) Health care costs are growing at the slowest rate in 50 years. C) The president feels sorry that the economy is not moving in the right direction. D) Some government officials don't agree with the president on the medical care system.
D
(Question)
These are some signs that you can see on the roads of Great Britain. Number one is a sign with the number thirty on it. When drivers see this sign they must not go at more than thirty miles an hour. We see this sign when we get to parts of the country where there are many houses and other buildings, for example, when we are getting near a town. Thirty miles an hour is the speed limit. Number two is sign for the end of the speed limit. We are out of the town now and may go at more than thirty miles an hour. Number three is a sign that we are near a crossroads, that is, a place where two roads cross. We must drive carefully. Number four is a sign that there is a bend in the road. Again, we must drive slowly and carefully. Number five is a sign that there is a hill and number six is a sign that the roads get narrow. Drivers must go slowly and carefully. Number seven has the word "school" on it. This is a sign that there is a school at the side of a street or road. Perhaps there are children going to school or leaving school. So drivers must look carefully and go slowly until they are past the school building. Number eight is a sign with the letter P on it. The letter P is for "parking." A parking place is a place where drivers may leave their cars. If the driver of a car wants to leave his car and go to the shops, he looks for this sign. Then he knows that he may leave his or her car there. Now , you--three drivers are driving side by side along the road, if you see the No. six sign, you have to _ . A) drive along one after one because the road is not wide enough B) drive more slowly because of the speed limit C) drive more carefully because school children maycrossthe road D) drive slowly because you have got to drive uphill
(Answer)
A
Our lives and our songs Do you ever listen to the songs that your parents like? Chances are that you don't. You probably think the music that they like is old and dull and that the songs on your playlist are much cooler. But here is what scientists found recently : People's music tastes change as they age, according to a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. So it is likely that your own musical preferences will follow a similar path to your parents', whether you like it or not. We used to think that culture and personality are the only factors that affect one's music choice. But researchers at the University of Cambridge, UK, gathered data from more than 250,000 people over the past 10 years. They noticed that as people age, their social circumstances change, and so does their music taste. There are three musical periods that people pass through as they mature -- "intense ", "contemporary" and " sophisticated ". The first period comes in the teenage years , during which people like intense music such as punk and rock because teenagers tend to be aggressive and want to establish their identities as independent individuals. But as people move into early adulthood, their lifestyle changes --they socialize more and want to build close relationships with others. As a result, they become more fond of contemporary music ,such as pop and R&B, which is usually uplifting and danceable and played at parties where people hang out together and chat. When middle age comes, things have settled down for most people. This period will be dominated by more "sophisticated" music, such as jazz and classical, as well as more catchy music like country, folk and blues. " For many , this life stage is frequently exhausted by work and family, and there is a requirement for relaxing , emotive music,"Jason Rentfrow, a research member , told The Telegraph. But you must be thinking : "Aren't there old people who are still into rock music ?" Of course there are.... What is the main purpose of the article ? A) To explain why parents and children don't share music preferences. B) To show how music helps shape people's social lives. C) To present a new study about how people's music tastes change. D) To discuss research into the varied factors that determine people's music tastes .
C