Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: At first, the earth's surface layer was made up of huge blocks of hard, solid rocks. Then slowly, the rocks broke up into smaller and smaller pieces. Finally stones, pebbles and grains of sand were formed. Many sorts of plants and animals lived and died on the surface of the earth. Their remains mixed up with the stones, pebbles and formed soil. The outmost layer of the earth is soil. There are many ways in which large pieces of rock break into smaller ones. Wind, water, heat and cold help to break up rocks. When winds blow grains of sand against a large rock for a long time, the softer layers of the rock are slowly worn away. These leave holes and cracks in the rock, which become bigger and finally the rock breaks up into smaller pieces. The moving water of streams and rivers also helps to break up rocks. As the water moves along, it carries with it small pieces of rock. These rub the larger ones. Thus, the larger rocks are worn down to smaller pieces. The heat of the sun is also helpful to breaking up rocks. When the sun shines, the rocks become very hot. If these rocks are suddenly cooled, they may crack. Ice also plays a part in making soil. Water in the cracks can turn into ice in cold weather. As this happens, it becomes bigger and the cracks become wider, and finally break into smaller pieces. Question: According to the passage, soil _ . Options: A: forms very slowly B: is a mixture of stones, pebbles and sand C: makes up the layers of the earth D: is becoming smaller and smaller
A: A

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: STOCKHOLM---William Campbell, Satoshi Omura and Tu Youyou jointly won the 2015 Nbel Prize for medicine for their work against diseases caused by parasites , the award-giving body said on Monday. Irish-born Campbell and Japanese Omura won half of the prize for discovering a new drug, avermectin, that has helped the battle against river blindness and lymphatic filariasis, as well as showing effectiveness against other parasitic diseases. The Chinese scientist Tu Youyou was awarded the other half of the prize for discovering artemisinin, a drug that has significantly reduced the mortality rates for patients suffering from malaria. "These two discoveries have provided humankind with powerful new means to combat these debilitating diseases that affect hundreds of millions of people annually," the Nobel Assembly at Sweden's Karolinska Institute said in a statement in awarding the prize of 8 million Swedish crowns ($960,000)." "The consequences in terms of improved human health and reduced suffering are immeasurable. " In an interview after the announcement, Juleen R. ZAierath, chairman of the Nobel Committee told Xinhua that Tu's "inspiration from traditional Chinese medicine" was important. "But what was really important was that Tu Youyou identified the active agent in that plant extract ," said Zierath, adding " there was a lot of modern chemistry, bi0-chemistry attached to this to bring forward this new drug." Despite rapid progress in controlling malaria in the past decade, the mosquito-borne disease still kills more than half a million people a year, the vast majority of them babies and young children in the poorest parts of Africa. Question: What can we learn about malaria from this report? Options: A: It is a kind of parasitie disease B: Mosquitoes suffer a lot from it C: Little progress has been made in controlling it in the past 10 years D: More than a million babies and young kids are killed by it annually
A: A

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: A lawyer and a young lady were sitting next to each other on a long flight. The lawyer asked if she would like to play a fun game. The lady just wanted to take a nap, so she politely refused. The lawyer explained that the game was actually very easy. He explained "I ask you a question, and if you don't know the answer, you pay me, and vice versa ." Again, the lady politely refused and tried to get some sleep. The lawyer added eagerly, "Okay, if you don't know the answer, you pay me $5, and if I don't know the answer, I will pay you $50!" Considering that there would be no end to this suffering unless she played, the lady agreed. The lawyer asked the first question, "What is the distance from the earth to the moon?" The young lady didn't say a word, pulled out five dollars from her purse and handed it to the lawyer. Now, it was the lady's turn. She asked the lawyer, "What goes up a hill with three legs, and comes down with four?" The lawyer was greatly puzzled. He took out his computer and searched all of his references. He searched the Net and sent e-mails to all of his friends, but it was all _ . After over an hour, he woke up the lady and handed her $50. The lady politely took the money and turned away to get back to sleep. The lawyer, very puzzled now, woke the lady up again and asked, "Well, what on earth is the answer?" Without a word, the lady reached into her purse, handed the lawyer another $5 and went back to sleep. Question: The author's purpose for writing the story is to _ . Options: A: tell us how clever the lady is B: describe the rules of playing games C: show that it is interesting to play games D: make fun of the lawyer
A: B

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Shanghai-More Shanghai people are renting cars to travel over the coming National Day holiday, Tom reported today. Most cars in large local car-rental companies such as Yongda, Anji and Dazhong are leased so far with the Buick Sport Utility Vehichle (SUV) in high demand. Santana and Jetta were previously the most popular car models rented by Shanghai people for travel, while the high-end Buick models have generated great interest among locals renting cars these years. However, the rent on a Buick GL or GS model is between 650 yuan and 750 yuan a day, nearly double those of the Santana and Jetta cars. Compared with Santana, Buick looks better, has greater capabilities and is safer and more comfortable, said a car leaser. "I don't mind paying a higher cost for a Buick to enjoy the holiday," he said. SUV cars are very popular in the car renting market, according to some car rental firms. "All the 31 Buick GL8SUV cars were leased out several days ago," said an employee with the Shanghai Yongda Car Rental Co. Local people are more inclined to go travel with groups of friends, so SUV cars are a better choice, said an industry analyst . Moreover, SUV car are safer on rugged and rough roads, the analyst said. According to the data, most people rented cars for seven days; a less number rented them for two or three days. Question: What's the best title for the passage ? Options: A: How Shanghai People Spend Their Holidays B: Why So Many Shanghai People Rented Cars for Holidays C: More Shanghai Rent Cars for Holidays D: Shanghai Rent SUV Instead of Santana and Jetta
A: C