Whenever we see a button, we are eager to press it because we know something will happen. This is true in most cases, for example on a doorbell and on the "on/off" button on the TV. But some buttons are actually fake, like the "close" button on a lift. Many people are in the habit of pressing the "close" button because they don't have the patience to wait for the lift doors to shut. But lifts' "close" buttons are a complete scam , at least in the US-the doors will not close any faster no matter how hard you press. It started in the 1990s when the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in the US, making sure that all lifts stayed open long enough so that people with disabilities could enter. Only US firefighters and repairmen can use the buttons to speed up the door-closing process if they have a code or special keys. But to normal lift riders, the buttons aren't completely useless. According to psychologists, fake buttons can actually make you feel better by offering you a sense of control. "Perceived control is very important. It reduces stress and increases well-being," Ellen J. Langer, a psychology professor, said, " having a lack of control is associated with depression." Experts have revealed that a lot of buttons that don't do anything exist in our lives _ . For example, many offices in the US have fake thermostats because people tend to feel better when they think they can control the temperature in their workspace. But psychologists found it interesting that even when people are aware of these little "white lies", they still continue to push fake buttons because as long as the doors eventually close, it is considered to be worth the effort. "That habit is here to stay," John Kounios, a psychology professor, said. "Even though I have real doubts about the traffic light buttons, I always press them. After all, I've got nothing else to do while waiting. So why not press the button in the hope that this one will work?" What was the author's main purpose in writing the article? A) To analyze the functions of fake buttons. B) To describe some different kinds of fake buttons. C) To explain the advantages and disadvantages of fake buttons. D) To explore people's different habits when it comes to pushing buttons.
A
(Question)
Born in a fishing village in Japan, Fujiyama, 25, recalls a childhood dominated by health concerns. Doctors told his parents that he had a hole in his heart and "they didn't think I had a lot longer to live". But during a later visit to the doctor, his family learned the hole had closed. "Somehow I was cured and I became a normal kid," Fujiyama says. "And I had a second chance." During his second year at the University of Mary Washington, he volunteered in Honduras with a campus group and was struck by the extreme poverty he saw--barefoot children collecting cans and sleeping in the streets. Fujiyama realized he could help give other children their own second chance. Today, his organization, Students Helping Honduras, brings education and community projects to children and families in need. He started by telling his friends about his experience and collecting spare change at his two campus jobs. "When I had my very first meeting, only two people showed up," he says. "I knew I had to keep fighting." He persuaded his younger sister, Cosmo, to join the cause. "She's dynamite,." He says. "When she talks in front of a crowd, she can move mountains. Knowing that she was behind it, I knew I could do anything." Since 2006, the _ organization has grown to 25 campuses and raised more than $750,000 to fund projects, including the construction of two schools and the establishment of scholarships to help young women attend college. Fujiyama says students are deeply committed to the organization. They raise money and then travel to Honduras to help building houses. While Fujiyama spends his summers in Honduras working alongside volunteers, he spends a large portion of the year on the road visiting colleges to raise funds. Cosmo Fujiyama, 23, lives in Honduras full time to coordinate the group's building efforts on the ground. Students Helping Honduras is working with community members of Siete de Abril to build a new village. Many of the families lost their belongings in Hurricane Mitch in 1998. A lot of them didn't have... Which of the following is the best title for the passage? A) Help the people in need B) Students lend a hand in America C) Fujiyama helps build "Sunshine Village" D) Fujiyama gives poor people in Honduras a second chance
(Answer)
D
Question: The Nobel Prizes in physiology or medicine, physics and chemistry are the most respected prizes in science. But talk to scientists in private, and many will complain why (besides jealousy, perhaps) are some scientists unhappy with the Nobels? One reason is that the committees can often be slow to recognize achievement. Alfred Nobel specified in his will that the prizes should reward work done in the previous year. But experience soon showed that this was risky, as medals were given out for discoveries that later proved questionable. So a degree of caution is probably advisable. Sometimes, though, it can lead to strange results. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, for instance, had to wait until 1983 to win a prize for work he had done in the 1930s on the structure of stars. However, Albert Einstein never won a prize for his theory of relativity. Even though some pretty suggestive evidence had been produced by Arthur Eddington in 1919, relativity, which has later passed every experimental test ever thrown at it, was still considered somewhat risky and obscure. Another criticism concerns the tradition that no more than three people can share a prize. Science is rarely this clear-cut. Take this year's physics prize, which recognised Peter Higgs for predicting the existence of the mass-bestowing particle that now bears his name. Dr Higgs was only one of several people with a claim. Two other teams---- Rober Brout and Francois Englert, as well as Gerald Guralnik, Carl Hageh and Tom Kibble----- submitted papers on the same idea to the same journal that published Dr Higgs's work, all within a few months of each other. Science often works like this, with different people coming up with similar ideas at similar times. In the event, the committee decided to honour Dr Engler (Brout is dead, therefore unqualified), whose paper was earlier than Dr Higgs's but did not explicitly predict a particle, over Dr Guralnik and his collaborators, who were more comprehensive but published a few weeks later. The passage is most probably coming from_? A) a magazine B) a book review C) a literature work D) a science fiction
Answer:
A