In the Netherlands,cycling isn't seen as an eco-friendly exercise; it's part of everyday life, as it's people's top choice to school and work. "There are more bicycles than residents in the Netherlands. In cities like Amsterdam and The Hague, up to 70 percent of all journeys are made by bike," said BBC. So how did cycling become such a popular means of transportation in the European country? In the 1970s, the Dutch government began to improve its cycling infrastructure due to both a social movement demanding safer cycling condition for children and the oil crisis in the Middle East, when oil producing countries stopped their exports to Western Europe. To make cycling safer and more appealing, the Dutch have built the widest cycling network in the world. The country has over 40,000 kilometers of bicycle lanes and paths,which are clearly marked. They have smooth surfaces,separate signs and lights for those on two wheels. The lanes are wide enough to allow side-by-side cycling and passing. In many cities the bike lanes are completely segregated from motorized traffic. And in many traffic situations cyclists are given priority over drivers. Sometimes,where space is limited and both must share, you can see signs showing an image of a cyclist with a car behind accompanied by the words "Bike Street:Cars are guests". As young people aren't allowed to drive alone until they are 18, cycling offers Dutch teenagers an alternative form of freedom. The government also makes cycling training lessons a compulsory part of the Dutch school curriculum . Bike parking facilities are everywhere in the country. Cyclists are accommodated in the way motorists are elsewhere. Take Groningen, a city in the northeastern part of the Netherlands, for example. The city's central train station has underground parking for 10,000 bikes. For many Dutch people, bikes are trusty friends for life's adventures. In that kind of relationship it is longevity that matters--that's why many Dutch people ride older bikes. What is the author's main purpose in writing the article? A) To explain why in Holland cycling isn't eco-friendly. B) To describe how cyclists are supported in the Netherlands. C) To inform us of important cycling rules in the Netherlands. D) To describe laws passed by the Dutch government related to cycling.
B
(Question)
As I made my way to my office last Thursday, I noticed an A4 poster stuck to the lift door. Then I noticed one on the wall, one on the noticeboard, and then one on my classroom door. In fact, they were stuck to nearly every available surface along the corridor. And they all had the same statement:"All I'm asking for is a little respect seeing I pay you PS9,000 a year." I still don't know what led to this flyer campaign -- it is said that it's linked to a group of students who were not given extra assignment grade for their examination -- but I could not help but become annoyed at the impolite language. I started to think about the ways that my students act and speak, and the way I acted and spoke during my time at university. I will admit that I didn't do all of the readings, and yes, I may have missed a couple of lectures throughout the year, but I completed all assignments and followed the guidelines presented to me, without expecting my lecturers to chase after me. I wish I could say the same for my students. As I walked through the car park with a colleague at the end of the day, we discussed the unrest that the posters had caused:"If you ask me,"he said,"all universities are going to need a customer services department before long."And there it was, plain and simple, the issue that I hadn't been able to explain: these young people weren't behaving like university students, they were behaving like customers. I recalled the student who told me he was disappointed with his low grade because he had"paid so much money". My colleague topped it: when one of his students was asked to leave a seminar for not completing the reading, he responded:"I pay you to teach me what's in the article, not the other way around." Last week I sent out the first round of grades for a module and had 12 emails of complaint within an hour. One in particular stood out for its misunderstanding of what it means to be a scholar. The student said the grade must be incorrect because he had turned up to all the lectures -- as if simply... Among students complaining to the author, the one standing out questioned his score because . A) he paid the author more B) he used to get good grades C) he had studied very hard D) he had attended every lecture
(Answer)
D
Ques: If you think English means endless new words, difficult grammar and sometimes strange pronunciation, you are wrong. Haven't you noticed that you have become smarter since you started to learn a language? According to a new study by a British university, learning a second language can lead to an increase in your brain power. Researchers found that learning other languages changes _ . This is the area of the brain which processes information. It is similar to the way that exercise builds muscles. The study also found the earlier people learn a second language, the greater the effect is. A team led by Dr. Andrea Mechelli, from University College London(UCL), took a group of Britons who only spoke English. They were compared with a group of"early bilinguals ", who had learnt a second language before the age of five, as well as a number of later learners. Scans showed that grey matter density in the brain was greater in bilinguals than in people without a second language. But the longer a person waited before mastering a new language, the smaller the difference was. "Our findings suggest that the structure of the brain is changed by the experience of learning a second language,"said the scientists. It means that the change itself increases the ability to learn. Professor Dylan Vaughan Jones of the University of Wales, has researched the link between bilingualism and maths skills. "Having two languages gives you two windows on the world and makes the brain more flexible,"he said,"You are actually going beyond language and have a better understanding of different ideas." The findings were matched in a study of native Italian speakers who had learned English as a second language between the ages of 2 and 34. Reading, writing and comprehension were all tested. The results showed that the earlier they started to learn, the better."Studying a language means you get an entrance to another world,"explained the scientists. What's the main idea of the passage? A) Learning a second language can help improve your brain power. B) You should learn a second language in English that is not your native language. C) If you want to learn a second language, you should do it at a certain age. D) The research done by the researchers from UCL is very successful.
Ans:
A