About five states in Nigeria will experience a total eclipse of the sun on March 29, 2006, according to a forecast by the Ministry of Science and Technology this week. An eclipse occurs in one of two ways: when the moon passes between the earth and the sun so that all or part of the sun cannot be seen for a time, or when the earth passes between the moon and the sun so that you cannot see all or part of the moon for a time. The first case is a solar eclipse or eclipse of the sun, which occurs as the earth enters the shadow of the moon. The second describes a lunar eclipse or eclipse of the moon, which happens when the moon enters the shadow of the earth. More than 60 percent of Nigerians are uneducated, and eclipses in some parts of the country in the past have caused commotions in which people have been killed and property destroyed. Some Nigerians believe an eclipse is punishment from the gods for evil doing. The March 29th eclipse would be the fifth in prefix = st1 /Nigeria's history, and it is expected to last for 30 minutes -- 9:15AM to 9:45AM, according to the official prediction.Nigeriawitnessed eclipses in 1898, 1947, 1959, and 2001. The shadows in an eclipse have a central dark part called umbra, and a less dark external section called penumbra. In the umbra, all the sun's light is cut off, and this is called total eclipse; while in the penumbra, only a part of the light from the sun is cut off from the moon, and it is called partial eclipse. Five Nigerian states -- Oyo, Kwara,Niger, Zamfara, and Katsina -- are expected to have total eclipse, while other parts of the country will experience partial eclipse. If this passage is taken from a newspaper, which section is the passage probably from? A) Entertainment. B) Economy. C) Education. D) Science.
D
Bruce Alberts, the former President of the National Academies (USA), has now taken over as Editor-in Chief of Science. Judging by his editorial in this week's issueConsidering Science Education there could be some interesting times ahead inScience offices. Here's part of what Bruce has to say about science education... I consider science education to be critically important to both science and the world, and I shall frequently deal with this topic on this page. Let's start with a big-picture view. Science has greatly advanced our understanding of the natural world and has enabled the creation of countless medicines and useful devices. It has also led to behaviors that have improved lives. The public appreciates these practical benefits of science, and science and scientists are generally respected, even by those who are not familiar with how science works or what exactly it has discovered. But society may less appreciate the advantage of having everyone acquire the ways of thinking and behaving that are central to practice of successful science: scientific habits of mind. These habits include a critical attitude toward established claims and a strong desire for logic and evidence. As famous astronomer Carl Sagan put it, science is our best detector . Individuals and societies clearly need a means to logically test the constant clever attempts to operate our purchasing and political decisions. They also need to challenge what is unreasonable, including the intolerance that led to so many regional and global conflicts. So how does this relate of science education? Might it be possible to encourage, across the world, scientific habits of mind, so as to create more rational societies everywhere? In principle, a strong expansion of science education could provide the world with _ , but only if scientists, educators, and policy-makers redefine the goals of science education, beginning with college-level teaching. Rather than only conveying what science has discovered about the natural world,... Which of the following would be the best title for this passage? A) Bruce Alberts, a great science educator B) Science education and world peace C) The government and science education D) Bruce Alberts' opinion on science education
D
Q: During the week days, they are luckily busy office people; but on weekends, they are just a brood of stay-home animals. A recent survey shows that office workers in China prefer quiet and easy ways to spend their weekends. In the survey, conducted by job seeking and offering website Zhaopin.com, 32.8 percent of the 6,000 respondents choose to stay home at weekends and have a good rest, the Beijing Morning Post reported. Twenty percent use their days-off to do housework. And only 19.3 percent are willing to have fun during the break time from work. Their first choice of fun is shopping. Other choices, though practiced by few, include meeting friends, accompanying the children, trips to the suburbs, and lessons for more skills. When they. go shopping, 54.5 percent of the white-collars actually shop in supermarkets, while 27.9. percent attend other stores, especially when discounts are offered. These activities don't seem to cost much, as 60 percent spend average less than 200 yuan (US$26) during weekends, and 30 percent no more than 500 yuan. When asked whom they would spend the weekends with, about 40 percent mention their partners, and 30 percent prefer a weekend all by themselves. Less than 20 percent hang out with friends. Only 5.8 percent would kill the time with their colleagues. This is because we tend to avoid too many personal contacts with our co-workers when we don't have to work with them, according to some experts. What is the best title of the passage? A) How to spend the weekends B) Several ways of spending their weekends for office people C) How to go shopping on the weekends for office people D) Office people prefer easy weekends
A: D
Q: Why are we addicted to upgrades? According to Donald Norman, American author of the book The Design of Everyday Things, "planned obsolescence" is the trick behind the upgrading culture of today's consumer electronics industry. The New York Times cited Norman last month, saying that electronics manufactures strategically release new upgrades periodically, both for hardware and software, so that customers on every level feel the need to buy the newest version. "This is an old-time trick- they're not inventing anything new," he said. Thomas Wensma, a Dutch designer, despises the "planned obsolescence" of companies, as recently reported by UK-based The Guardian. Wensma said this is a wasteful system through which companies - many of them producing personal electronics - release shoddy products simply because "they know that, in six months or a year, they'll put out a new one". But the new psychology of consumers is part of this system, as Wensma said to the newspaper: "We now want something new, something pretty, the next shiny thing." _ "It's to the damage of the consumer and the environment," as the New York Times quoted Norman. "But perhaps to the betterment of the stockholder." In its most recent fiscal year, Apple's profit margin was more than 21 percent, reported the Los Angeles Times. At Hewlett-Packard, the world's biggest PC manufacturer, it was only 7 percent. "Steven Jobs pushed the principle of 'planned obsolescence' to new heights," the newspaper commented on the company's profits and marketing strategy. "Apple's annual upgrades of its products generate sales of millions of units as owners of one year's MacBook or iPhone line up to buy the newest version, even when the changes are incremental." Peer pressure As to Li Jijia, the need for upgrading his smart phone comes mainly from friends and classmates. When the majority of friends are switching to the latest devices, he worries about feeling left out. "Some apps and games require better hardware to run," said Li. "If you don't join in, you lose... The writer takes the example of Li Jijia to show that _ . A) the new psychology of consumers is also to blame for the wasteful system B) young people are always fond of something new, pretty and shiny C) if you don't upgrade your smart phone, you will lose contact with your friends D) needs of consumers help to promote the development of electronics industry
A: A