Did the endangered animal--pandas in China's Wolong Reserve know that Monday's earthquake was coming before it hit? A British tourist, who was watching the pandas as the earthquake hit, offered a deep observation. He said, "They had been very lazy, just eating a little bit of bamboo then, and all of a sudden they were moving rapidly around their pen and looking back. They must have sensed something was wrong." Some scientists say animals can sense danger by discovering subtle or sudden changes in the environment. When the tsunami hit in 2004, there were reports that elephants in Sri Lanka fled to higher ground well before the waves crashed into the coastline. Panda researcher Marc Brody says some animal species, such as elephants who are known to hear low frequency sound waves, hear things very quickly and may get an early warning. Some animal species have a greater awareness of shaking in the ground than humans, so they may sense smaller _ before a big earthquake. The tourist said, "We were looking forward to seeing the pandas, but we were not sure whether the pandas were going to come out of the pen or not, So we were waiting for that to happen when we heard this huge noise which is just what you can't describe. What was it like? It was just a huge noise and the land was shaking underneath you. Certainly it was a terrible experience to be standing there going through the earthquake." Form the passage we can conclude that the author _ . A) experienced the tsunami in 2004 B) is a panda researcher from Britain C) knew why the pandas moved rapidly before the earthquake D) was frightened by the earthquake
D
In October, Ubayd Steed, a sixth grader in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was taking a math test when he noticed a classmate looking at his paper. " I quickly turned my paper over," he said. Later that day, Ubayd met the cheater and told him not to do it again. Unfortunately, Ubayd' s experience is not unusual. Whether it's kids copying class -mates' answers during tests or friends sharing homework, cheating happens in schools every day. Experts say the behavior starts in the lower grades. Surveys show that one in three elementary students admits to cheating. Jacob Harder, a fourth grader in Ware, Massachusetts, has had classmates ask to copy his homework. "I wouldn't want to just tell them the answers," he says. So instead, he explains the task and encourages his classmates to do it themselves. But many kids find it hard to say no. "l hear from kids all the time, ' I can' t say no to a friend,'" says Eric Anderman, a professor at The Ohio State University who studies cheating in school. He says it' s important to say no from the start. "Then you _ , and the other kid gets the message," he says. Plus, he points out, "a real friend is not going to disown you because he or she couldn't copy your math homework." The kids doing the copying may feel they need to cheat to be accepted by other kids. And some students may cheat simply because others do. "If you' re in an atmosphere where cheating is common, you may think that if you don' t cheat, you' re at a disadvantage," says Michael Josephson, founder of the Josephson Institute of Ethics. But Josephson says students shouldn't think that way. "There are a lot of things kids do," he says. "You have to decide what kind of person you' re going to be." When school becomes too challenging, Anderman suggests going to the teacher rather than relying on the work of others. "It' s good to ask for help," he says. Ubayd' s experience serves as a(n) _ A) explanation B) introduction C) comment D) background
B
Q: How much rain has fallen on the earth in the past? Man has not always kept weather records. Because scientists need a way to learn about past rainfall, they study the tree rings. A tree's trunk keeps growing year by year. Under its bark , a tree adds a layer of new wood each year it lives. If you look at a tree stump, you can see the layers. They are called annual ring . On some trees, all of the rings are of the same width. But the ponderosa that grows in the American southwest have rings in different withes. The soil in he southwest is dry. The pines depend on rainfall for water. In a year of good rainfall, they form wide rings. In a dry year, they form narrow ones. Scientists do not have to cut down a pine to study its rings. With a special tool, they remove a narrow piece of wood from the trunk without harming the tree. Then they look at the width of each ring to see how much rain fell in the year it formed. Some pines are hundreds of years old and have hundreds of rings. These rings are from an annual record o0f past rainfall in the southwest. Which of he following is true according to the passage? A) Young trees have fewer annual rings than old one. B) The trunk of a tree never changes in size. C) Trees in the southwest do not need rain. D) Soil in the southwest is fit for the growth of trees.
A: A
*Question*
Dear Mr.Watson, CLAIM AL54323432--STORM DAMAGE TO ROOF I received a cheque for $623 dated 26 January in payment of my recent claim .However, I wish to tell you how upset I have been by the way your Claims Assessor, Mr.Michael Tan, handled this claim. When Mr.Tan first called me, he specifically told me that he believed I had been overcharged, and he would expect to pay that price for work on a double garage, rather than a single garage like mine.Mr.Tan suggested that I neither use nor recommend _ again.He continued to tell me it was unlikely for me to receive full payment.Never during this conversation did he mention that the reason for not receiving full payment was because of the nature of my insurance policy. Consequently, I wrote to Mr.Lance Ashe to complain about his pricing, stating that I was very upset thinking that he could have taken advantage by overcharging a 73-year-old woman.Mr.Ashe telephoned me immediately and explained his charges in detail.He later reported back to me that Mr.Tan explained that I would not receive full payment because of the type of policy I hold, which does not cover wear and tear.This was the first time this issue had been brought to my attention, so you can imagine my surprise. When I received Mr.Tan's letter of 2 February, this situation was explained.If this had been explained in the first place I would have accepted it and would not have questioned Mr.Ashe's charges.Instead, by telling me initially that I had been overcharged for this work, he caused a great deal of upset, not only for me but also for Mr.Ashe. I believed this claim was handled badly by Mr.Tan from the beginning.Therefore, a great deal of embarrassment has been caused over this issue. I felt you should know how disappointed and upset I am.I trust you will look into this and ensure that such claims are handled more appropriately in the future. Yours sincerely, Mrs.Richard The author could not receive full payment because _ . A) her policy doesn't cover some of the items B) the contractor overcharged her for the work C) Mr.Watson doesn't take the matter seriously D) she spent too much money fixing her garage
**Answer**
A