(Q).
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: A new report says sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is melting more quickly than expected. American scientists say the ice is melting even faster than computer programs had estimated. Scientists know that climate change has a major effect on the Arctic Ocean partly because sea ice is disappearing. They also know that areas of open seawater are expanding. Such areas are known to take in sunlight and increase temperatures. Scientists say this has helped to cause the loss of the Arctic's ice cover. For the study, the American scientists compared eighteen computer programs with observations made by satellites and other instruments. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change used the computer programs to prepare its 2007 estimates of climate change. The computer programs gave estimates of the amount of ice in the Arctic Ocean in the month of September. September is when the Arctic has the least ice, after the warm, summer months. The computer estimates suggested an ice loss of two and a half percent for every ten-year period between 1953 and 2006. Newer studies of the Arctic have used information gathered by aircraft, satellites and ships. This information showed a loss of September ice cover of almost eight percent for every ten-year period between 1953 and last year. This means the ice is disappearing about thirty years faster than the computer programs estimated. The scientists say the programs might not have recognized the full effect of increased carbon dioxide and other gases in Earth's atmosphere. They say their study suggests the gases may have more of an effect than had been thought. Question: Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage? Options: A: The figures of the computer estimates are wrong. B: Scientists study climate change through studying sea level. C: Newer studies show gases may have more effect on sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. D: The ice is melting even faster than satellites have estimated.
(A).
C

(Q).
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Once I mentioned the story of a friend getting something made for me to give my daughter as a present, and then not letting me pay her back. Writing about that made me think about the problem of communicating feelings, particularly in cross - cultural situations. Let me explain. If I say to a fellow English - speaker, "I know how you feel," what I am actually saying is that I can imagine myself in the same position, and therefore can imagine how I would feel. But my friend could perfectly correctly reply, "No, you don't! You can't." In truth we can communicate how strongly we feel, but we cannot communicate exactly what we feel. But if we come from the same linguistic and cultural background, the match can be close enough. Culture and language cannot be separated, and I think that we have the feelings that are recognized in our culture and therefore represented in our language. One might say that we feel the things that our language allows us to express. So when it comes to trying to explain feelings to someone of a different mother tongue, the difficulties are huge. I could not explain to my friend how I felt about her not letting me repay her, because Chinese culture, it seems, does not recognize the same feelings on such occasions. She could understand the words that I was using, but could not understand what I was trying to say. Some time ago, I was going up in the lift, and a colleague with whom I merely have a nodding acquaintance was offering round some sweetmeat. I knew that I really could not eat it, so I refused politely, only to be told that I was making her lose face. I have no idea how serious the colleague was being. Causing someone to lose face is a serious social mistake. We have to do all we can to learn the types of situation in which it happens, and to try to avoid them. But we can only know about losing face, we can't feel losing face, as the term is merely a literal translation of Chinese, not one that is native to English. Question: What does the author mean by saying "... the match can be close enough." Options: A: They can share similar opinions and thoughts. B: They can make a perfect couple. C: There can be some competition between them. D: They are even in a match.
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A

(Q).
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Technology is making life easier for some dairy farmers.They use robotic systems to milk their cows.Cows are trained to follow a series of paths that lead to milking stations.Only one cow at a time can enter a station. Once inside,the cow is rewarded with food.As the cow eats,a robotic arm cleans and connects the animal to the milking machine.A few minutes later,milking is complete.The gate is opened,the cow is released and the next cow enters. The robotic systems are designed to operate 24 hours a day.The cows get to decide when they want to be milked.Cows are milked an average of about three times a day.Some are milked four to six times a day. The cows wear collars around their necks that identify them to the system.A computer keeps records on their eating and milking.A cow is released from the station if the computer decides it should not be milked. The automated system also measures the temperature and color of freshly produced milk.Milk is thrown away if it does not pass the tests. Professor Plaut believes the systems will appeal especially to the next generation of farmers.She means young people who are more interested in technology and less interested in working all the time on the farm.Still,she says the price of robotic milking systems will continue to limit their use. Doug and Tina Suhr have more than 100 cows on their family farm.Last year it became the fourth farm in southeast Minnesota to get a robotic milking system.A recent story in a local agricultural newspaper said the first robot cost 175 000 dollars.The second cost 150 000. Doug told AgriNews that wages that would have been paid for one employee in five years will pay for one robot.He says the increase in milk production reaches a high of more than six kilograms per cow per day. Question: Why is the robotic system not popular now? Options: A: Because young people have no interest in it. B: Because it is difficult to learn how to use it. C: Because people can't afford to buy it. D: Because it usually causes the waste of milk.
(A).
C