Customs are social habits. They have been handed down through generations among groups, social classes, etc. Customs can be described as ways of doing things. They are particularly strong in social practices on the occasions of births, marriages and deaths. In China, these days, some people in cities are learning from Western customs. For example, some brides dress in the long white dress that is usual bridal wear in many Western countries. Every people has special customs for New Year. The Han people have many interesting Spring Festival customs. And now, quite a number of people living in the cities have followed the Western customs of sending New Year greeting cards for January 1st. One interesting custom in China is that mothers wrap up their babies tightly .This is not the custom in Western countries, where babies are usually dressed in loose garments. How do the Chinese young people learn from Western countries at their marriages? A) The brides have on the white clothes. B) Men wear the white coats. C) Their parents all have attended their marriages. D) Their marriages are only held in the men's homes.
A
Fish have ears. Really. They're quite small and have no opening to the outside world carrying sound through the body. For the past seven years, Simon Thorrold, a university professor, has been examining fish ears, small round ear bones called otoliths. As fish grow, so do their otoliths. Each day, their otoliths gain a ring of calcium carbonate . By looking through a microscope and counting these rings, Thorrold can determine the exact age of a young fish. As a fish gets older, its otoliths no longer get daily rings. Instead, they get yearly rings, which can also be counted, giving information about the fish's age, just like the growth rings of a tree. Ring counting is nothing new to fish scientists. But Thorrold has turned to a new direction. They're examining the chemical elements of each otolith ring. The daily ring gives us the time, but chemistry tells us about the environment in which the fish swam on any given day. These elements tell us about the chemistry of the water that the fish was in. It also says something about water temperature, which determines how much of these elements will gather within each otolith ring. Thorrold can tell, for example, if a fish spent time in the open ocean before entering the less salty water of coastal areas. He can basically tell where fish are spending their time at any given stage of history. In the case of the Atlantic croaker, a popular saltwater food fish, Thorrold and his assistant have successfully followed the travelling of young fish from mid-ocean to the coast, a journey of many hundreds of miles. This is important to managers in the fish industry, who know nearly nothing about the track of the young fish for most food fish in the ocean. Eager to learn about his technology, fish scientists are now lending Thorrold their ears. If the passage goes on, it possibly refers to _ . A) fish life B) food fish C) fish industry D) young fish
C
Q: Confucius said, "In a group of three people, there is always something I can learn. Choose to follow the strengths of others, and use their shortcomings to reflect upon ourselves." As you can see from what Confucius said, everyone that we come across can teach us something useful. As long as we reflect on the lessons learnt from and by other people, we can continuously improve ourselves. But take note that when you reflect on these lessons, you apply some wisdom to each lesson because each situation is unique although they share some common principles. We can learn a lot from everyone. We always tend to think that we can only learn from those who are higher in status or have more knowledge than us, but that is not really the case. We learn from those who are lower in status than us as well, because the experience and knowledge of each person is very different. The best thing about _ learning, reflecting other people's strengths and shortcomings onto ourselves, is that we do not pay for the mistakes that are made. The only cost to us is the time that is needed to learn about and reflect on these lessons from other people's lives. As we all know, some mistakes can be ones which people cannot afford to make, for instance, a broken friendship or a financial loss. Thus constantly using other people's strengths and shortcomings to reflect upon ourselves makes us realize the costs of these mistakes and reduces the possibility that we will make similar mistakes. What can we do now to learn from others? By keeping our eyes and ears open. Be observant and able to realize what strengths and shortcomings other people have. A lot of people in this world like to complain about their lives. Listen to them and make you own assessment and from your own assessment, reflect upon your life and make improvements where necessary. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true? A) Confucius thought we should learn from strengths of others. B) Only from those who have more knowledge than us can we learn. C) It is by reflecting on the lessons learnt by others that we can improve ourselves. D) Reflecting upon other people's strengths and shortcomings can help us make fewer mistakes.
A: B
(Q).
Nowadays, people have a heated discussion on whether the pressure on international sports players kills the essence of sport --the pursuit of personal excellence. Children kick a football around for fun. When they get older and play for local school teams, they become competitive but they still enjoy playing. The individual representing his country cannot afford to think about enjoying himself; he has to think only about winning. He is responsible for the entire nation's hopes, dreams and reputation. A good example is the football Word Cup. Football is the world's most important sport. Winning the World Cup is perhaps the summit of international sporting success. Mention Argentina to someone and the chances are that he'll think of football. In a sense, winning the World Cup put Argentina on the map. Sports fans and supporters get quite _ about the World Cup. People in England felt that their country was somehow important after they won in 1966. Last year thousands of Scots sold their cars, and even their houses, and spent all their money traveling to Argentina, where the finals were played. So, am I arguing that international competition kills the idea of sport? Certainly not! Do the Argentineans really believe that because eleven of their men proved the most skillful at football, their nation is in every way better than all others? Not really, But it's nice to know that you won and that in one way at least your country is the best. What does the speaker mean when he says "In a sense, winning the World Cup put Argentina on the map"? A) Winning the World Cup makes Argentina a football power in the world. B) Winning the World Cup gives weight to Argentina's position in the world. C) Argentina is not important before it wins the World Cup. D) Argentina is world-famous for its football because of its obvious position on the map.
(A).
B