A man had seven sons, who were always quarreling. They left their studies and work, to quarrel among themselves. Some bad men were looking forward to the death of their father, to cheat them out of their property by making them quarrel about it. The good old man, one day, called his sons around him. He laid before them seven sticks, which were tied together. He said, "I will pay a hundred dollars to the one who can break this bundle ." Each one tried their best to break the bundle. After a long but useless efforts, they all said that it could not be done. "And yet, my boys," said the father, "nothing is easier to do." He then untied the bundle, and broke the sticks, one by one, with perfect ease. "Ah!" said his sons, "It is easy enough to do it so; anybody could do it in that way." Their father replied, "As it is with these sticks, so it is with you, my sons. So long as you hold fast together and help each other, you will be much richer, and none can harm you. "But if the brotherhood bundle is broken, it will happen to you just as it has to these sticks, which lie there broken on the ground." Home, city, country, all are property found, When they hold tightly together. How many sticks does the old man ask his sons to break? A) 2 B) 3 C) 5 D) 7
D
There's nothing like a good night's sleep -- but what does that really mean? It turns out that the answer depends not only on your age, but also on your lifestyle. Some people are productive and happy with fewer hours of sleep, while others need more. Still, experts can determine guidelines that work for most people. The National Sleep Foundation researched the topic and gave new recommendations this week. The foundation acknowledges that sleep needs will vary -- lifestyle and stress should be taken into consideration -- but their recommendations offer a general guideline. For example, teenagers (14 --17 years old) need 8--10 hours' sleep every day. To create the recommendations, some sleep and medical experts reviewed 312 articles from journals published during the last decade. This is the first time that any professional organization has developed age-specific recommended sleep durations based on a systematic review of the world scientific literature. A lack of sleep can be linked to weight gain, because that causes an increase in appetite, according to the foundation. It can also have serious consequences on the brain. People who do not get enough sleep are at increased risk for depression, and can endanger others. Those that become sleepy while driving, for example, risk both their lives and the lives of those around them. Researchers also have found in the past that too much sleep can have negative effects. Low socioeconomic status and depression reportedly are significantly associated with longer sleep. However, experts nowadays find that research on oversleeping is still unconvincing and needs more attention. Currently, there is no strong evidence that sleeping too much has health consequences. There is, however, laboratory evidence that short sleep durations of four to five hours have negative consequences. We need similar laboratory studies to determine whether long sleep durations result in physiological changes that could lead to disease before we make any recommendations against sleep extension. How did the National Sleeping Foundation do the research? A) By interviewing different people. B) By consulting other experts. C) By reading lots of articles. D) By doing systematic experiments.
C
Q: What would it be like to take a walk on the surface of Mars? If you could design the tallest building in the world, what would it look like? Do you dream of being the next J.K. Rowling? This summer, you can experience all of these things, and more. All you need is an Internet connection and your imagination. A recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that kids spend an average of 1 hour and 29 minutes online each day. Many kids like to use that time to chat with friends, play games or check emails. But the next time you get on the Web, try exploring the world instead. "With the Internet, you can go back 11,000 years in time, or go 11,000 kilometers across the planet." said Russell, Web search expert of Google. "The whole scope of history and the world is open to you." There is a wealth of information to be found online. For example, if your family is going on vacation somewhere,do a quick online search on the area before you even get in the car. "What's the background of the place; what's the history?" says Russell. "I like to tell my kids, 'Whenever you have a question, whenever you have a doubt, search it out.'" Ready to launch a virtual journey of your own? Here are a few starting points to get you thinking and to help you on your way. You can invite your parents along for the ride, too. Always ask for permission before downloading programs and software onto your computer. And check with a parent or an adult before visiting a new Web site. Navigate the world in 3D with Google Earth. Begin in outer space and zoom into the streets of any city, from Hong Kong to San Francisco. Or visit ancient monuments, watch the changing rainforests over time, and dive underwater to explore tropical reef. With the Moon in Google Earth tool, you can walk in Neil Armstrong's famous footsteps. Take a guided tour of the moon's surface with Armstrong's fellow shuttle mate astronaut Buzz Aldrin. When you're exploring that part of the solar system, hop on over to the Red Planet with Google Mars. There, you can move very... The author uses questions in the first passage to _ . A) introduce the topic of the paragraph B) question the possibility of realizing the dream C) attract the readers' attention D) let the readers answer it
A: C
To learn English well you must learn about yourself. You must discover what your own special needs are in English. You should pick out what makes English different from your own language and concentrate on those parts. And above all, you should pick out your own personal weaknesses in English, pick out your own special problems, find out what mistakes you most often make and make a list of them. It will be best if, in your preparation, you can practise doing all sorts of work that you will be asked to do in examination. You should then make a careful note of any mistakes that you make more than once. Count up how many times you make for each mistake, and the mistake you make most often should be at the top of your list, the next most common in the second place, and so on. For example, if your native language is Japanese, you may find the problem of articles comes at the top of your list. If you speak German, you may find using some of the conjunctions is your biggest problem. If your mother tongue is French, you find you are always having trouble with some of prepositions. And if Italian is your language, you may constantly forget to use a suitable pronoun when you should. But these are only examples of mistakes typical of certain languages. They may or may not be your particular personal mistakes. As I say, these personal ones are the most important of all to discover. .To make a list of personal mistakes _ . A) is a must for any English learner B) is a time-consuming job C) needs careful work D) can help your study of prepositions
C