Last year, Jack Bleed cut through the bone of his ring finger while working. The 31-year-old resident of North Little Rock, Arkansas, waited for about six hours at a nearby medical center while the medical staff there called all over town -- even as far away as Dallas and Memphis -- to find a hand surgeon to reattach his finger. Finally, a willing doctor was located in Louisville, Kentucky. But even though Bleed had insurance , he would have to hire a private plane to get himself there, at a cost of $4,300. In the end, he charged the cost to two credit cards, and his finger was saved. His insurance company eventually covered the cost of the plane, but his experience makes people aware of the fact that trauma care in the United States is not only geographically limited, but in many places, non-existent. Only eight states -- New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Illinois, New Mexico, California, Oregon, and Washington -- have local, fully functional trauma systems. The remaining states have partial systems, and 12 -- including Arkansas -- have no trauma system at all. Although the President has signed a bill of $12 million for the purpose of supporting trauma care systems nationwide, many in Congress are unwilling to spend government money for a service they think should be paid for by states, says Wayne Meredith, medical director for trauma programs at the American College of Surgeons. Meanwhile, many states have also failed to find the dollars to support trauma systems. To make matters worse, many people without insurance depend heavily on the emergency care services, placing a huge financial burden on the medical centers that serve them. For the same reason, doctors, too, often go unpaid. They are unwilling to perform emergency care, worsening critical shortages of neurosurgeons, orthopedists, and hand surgeons -- the very types of specialists Bleed needed at short notice. Supporting a trauma care system doesn't take much. A half-penny sales tax in Miami-Dade County makes its outstanding system work. In Arkansas... In Paragraph 1, the writer uses Bleed's case to _ . A) make a comparison B) describe a person C) introduce a topic D) tell a story
C
(Question)
Where should an adventurous tourist go? After you've done sightseeing in London, shopping in New York tasted the local food in Paris, and danced to your heart's content at the Brazilian carnival, where else can you go? What exotic tourist destination awaits you? Well, Antarctica sounds like the holiday of a lifetime! It's considered the last great wildemess on Earth. Just a few scientists in research stations share the icy landscape with penguins and other animals which can cope with the low temperatures. Tourism began in Antarctica in the 1950s and it's still small scale. About 37,000 tourists are expected there this season, but many won't even leave the boat. The BBC's Juliet Rix visited the frozen continent and asked herself if she should be there at all, causing potential problems to such a sensitive environment. Her tour guide admitted that all visitors leave a footprint and they all go to the same places, the accessible coastline, which is also where the penguins and seals go to breed. But some people believe that if carefully controlled, tourism can be good for Antarctica. It has no native population and it needs advocates. 'Visitors to the icy continent might be ready to support and even to fund its preservation. And they're likely to engage in the discussion about global warming, which has led to the melting of glaciers. According to Rix, guidelines are followed when you're about to set foot in Antarctica and tourists have to disinfect their boots to make sure no alien species are introduced. And once on land, there's no eating or smoking. Rocks, bone fragments - nothing should be taken as a souvenir and nothing should be left behind. Tourists fortunate enough to visit the Antarctica must be aware that this is not their home and keep their fingers crossed that future generations will also be able to enjoy such breathtaking views. Which of the following statements is true according to Rix? A) Tourists can eat and smoke in Antarctica. B) Tourists can take something they like from Antarctica. C) Tourists can throw away something they don't need in Antarctica. D) Tourists can enjoy the beautiful scenery in Antarctica.
(Answer)
D
Ques: Welcome to the Ambassador Hotel. To make your stay as enjoyable as possible, we hope you can make full use of our facilities . Dining Room Breakfast is served in the dining room from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. The room staff will bring a breakfast tray to your room at any time after 7 a.m. Please fill out a card and hang it outside your door when you go to bed. Lunch: 12:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Dinner: 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Room Service This operates 24 hours a day; phone the Reception Desk, and your message will be passed on to the room staff. Telephones To make a phone call, dial 0 for Reception and ask to be connected. We apologize for delays in putting calls through when the staffs are very busy. There are also public telephone boxes near the Reception Desk. Early calls should be booked with Reception. Laundry We have a laundry in the hotel, and will wash, iron and return your clothes within 24 hours. Ask the room staff to collect them. Bar The hotel bar is open from 12 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. You would see this notice _ . A) in a hotel bar B) in a hotel dining room C) in a bedroom of a large hotel D) in the entrance of a small family hotel
Ans: C
Ques: When you think of an artist, you probably think of someone painting on canvas . But Guido Daniele creates fantastic paintings of birds, elephants, tigers, and giraffes by painting on skin. Born in Soverato, Italy, Guido Daniele has been called"Ha nd Gogh" (after artist Vincent van Gogh) since he began creating works of art on people' s hands in 1990. Painting on the hands can be a challenge because, unlike canvas, the skin moves when rubbed. Daniele' s models must remain perfectly still for hours as he paints. He often uses his daughter and his son as his "canvases". Before he can begin to create his "manimals" ( the artist' s name for his hand animals), Daniele studies photographs of the animal that he will be painting in order to be able to understand its character and give it life. "Next," he says, "I look at the hand from different perspectives ,and I begin to imagine what is the best way to position the hand for me to paint the animal. "He also studies the skin of the model, preferring it to have little hair and few blemishes . Daniele starts by drawing on the model' s hand with a pencil. He next paints the skin using watercolor1s made specifically for body art. The eyes of Daniele' s painted animals look amazingly real, and they are the most difficult part to paint. Paintings on hands must eventually be washed away. Guido Daniele says that he's gotten used to this part and that he doesn' t really mind seeing his work washed down the drain . " Tomorrow, I will paint the next one. The important thing is to take many good photo- graphs before washing the hand!" Daniele' s paintings are mainly about _ . A) scenery B) plan ts C) stories D) animals
Ans:
D