The other day an acquaintance of mine, an outgoing and charming man, told me he had found himself unexpectedly alone in New York for an hour or two between appointments. He went to the Whitney and spent the "empty" time looking at things in solitary happiness. For him it proved to be a shock nearly as great as falling in love to discover that he could enjoy himself so much alone. What had he been afraid of, I asked myself? That, suddenly alone, he would discover that he bored himself, or that there was, quite simply, no self there to meet? But having taken a decisive step, he is now on the edge of adventure; he is about to be launched into his own inner space to the astronaut. His every perception will come to him with a new freshness and, for a time, seem surprisingly original. For anyone who can see things for himself with a naked eye becomes, for a moment or two, something of a genius. With another human being present, vision becomes double vision, unavoidably. We are busy wondering, what does my companion see or think of this, and what do I think of it? The original impact gets lost. "Music I heard with you was more than music." Exactly. And therefore music itself can only be heard alone. Solitude is the salt of personhood. It brings out the authentic flavor of every experience. "Alone one is never lonely: the spirit adventures, walking in a quiet garden, in a cool house, staying single there." Loneliness is very strongly felt with other people, for with others, even with a lover sometimes, we suffer from our differences of taste, temperament and mood. Human intercourse often demands that we soften the edge of perception, or withdraw at the very instant of personal truth for fear of hurting, or of being inappropriately present, which is to say naked, in a social situation. Alone we can afford to be wholly whatever we are, and to feel whatever we feel ly. That is a great luxury! For me the most interesting thing about a solitary life, and mine has been that for the last twenty years, is that it... The writer's purpose for writing this article is to _ . A) persuade people to live alone and pursue the true meaning of life B) teach the young in the modern society to focus on their inner space C) advocate people to have a simple way of living D) share her understanding of solitude with the readers
D
(Question)
Difficult times often bring out the best in people. And this was the case for basketball star Yao Ming, who hosted a television show in Shanghai that raised US $ 300, 000 to help researchers find a cure for SARS. Fund-raising, or charity, is an act of goodwill towards others. Charities in the West have more ways. Look at a typical day for Ruth, a wealthy woman in the UK, for example. Ruth wakes up in the morning and collects her post. There's a letter addressed to her with a picture of a half-dead, beaten horse. It's from a charity asking Ruth to donate money to save the animals. The door bell rings and there, on Ruth's doorstep, is an old woman asking for money to help the aged. She turns on the television, hears sad music and sees a picture of a wide-eyed child dying of hunger in Africa with an appeal for money to help the child. Ruth then goes shopping for a dress to wear to that evening's large party for the rich and famous. The tickets for charity shows often cost her a large sum of money, but she doesn't mind because most of the money is going to a charity that fights AIDS. She feels good about going because she's helping the sick. Edna, a little old lady, looks after an old secondhand shop. Any profit it has made goes to a cancer charity. Now that she has retired, she has plenty of spare time to offer her services for free. www.ks5u.com For people like Yao Ming, Ruth and Edna, charity is a virtue that holds the same importance in life as faith and hope. "As you look back on your life, the moments that stand out are the moments when you have done things for others," said Scottish author Henry Drummond. What's the writer's attitude towards charity? A) It's something only people like Ruth can afford to do. B) The writer only informs us of the ways to perform charity. C) Charity is a virtue and he admires those who practice it. D) The writer doesn't make it clear in the passage.
(Answer)
C
Ques: Background music may seem harmless, but it can have a powerful effect on those who hear it. Recorded background music first found its way into factories, shops and restaurants in the USA. Very soon it spread to other parts of the world. Now it is becoming difficult to go shopping or eat a meal without listening to background music. To begin with, background music was intended simply to create a soothing atmosphere. Recently, however, it's becoming a big business. An American marketing expert has shown that music can boost sales or increase factory production by as much as a third. But it has to be the light music. Lively music has no effect at all on sales. Slow music can increase receipts by 34%. This is probably because shoppers slow down and have more opportunity to spot items they would like to buy. Yet, slow music isn't always the answer. The expert found that in restaurants slow music meant customers took longer to eat their meals, which reduced overall sales. So restaurant owners might be well advised to play faster music to keep the customers moving-unless, of course, the resulting indigestion leads to complaints. Background music was first used _ . A) in the cinemas and theatres in the USA B) in the offices and hospitals in the USA C) in the schools and churches in the USA D) in the factories, shops and restaurants in the USA
Ans: D
Question: Below is a selection from a popular science book. If blood is red, why are veins blue? Actually, veins are not blue at all. They are more of a clear, yellowish colour. Although blood looks red when it's outside the body, when it's sitting in a vein near the surface of the skin, it's more of a dark reddish purple colour. At the right depth, these blood-filled veins reflect less red light than the surrounding skin, making them look blue by comparison. Which works harder, your heart or your brain? This question depends on whether you're busy thinking or busy exercising. Your heart works up to three times harder during exercise, and shifts enough blood over a lifetime to fill a supertanker. But, in the long run, your brain probably tips it, because even when you're sitting still your brain is using twice as much energy as your heart, and it takes four to five times as much blood to feed it. Do old people shrink as they age? Yes and no. Many people do get shorter as they age. But, when they do, it isn't because they're shrinking all over. They simply lose height as their spine becomes shorter and more curved due to disuse and the effects of gravity . Many (but not all) men and women do lose height as they get older. Men lose an average of 3-4 cm in height as they age, while women may lose 5 cm or more. If you live to be 200 years old, would you keep shrinking till you were, like 60 cm tall, like a little boy again?No, because old people don't really shrink!It is not that they are growing backwards--their legs, arms and backbones getting shorter. When they do get shorter, it's because the spine has shortened a little. Or, more often, become more bent and curved. Why does spinning make you dizzy ? Because your brain gets confused between what you're seeing and what you're feeling. The brain senses that you're spinning using special gravity and motion sensing organs in your inner ear, which work together with your eyes to keep your vision and balance stable. But when you suddenly stop spinning , the system goes out... Which of the following statements about our brain is TRUE? A) In the long run, our brain probably works harder than our heart. B) When our brain senses the spinning, we will feel dizzy. C) The brains of the other mammals are as complex as those of humans. D) Our feelings and emotions come from the most developed area in our brain.
Answer:
A