My teenage son Karl became _ after his father died. As a single parent, I tried to do my best to talk to him. But the more I tried, the more he pulled away. When his report card arrived during his junior year, it said that he had been absent 95 times from classes and had six failing grades for the year. In this way he would never graduate. I sent him to the school adviser, and I even begged him. Nothing worked. One night I was at work when I got a phone call. A man introduced himself as the headmaster. "I want to talk to you about Karl's absences." Before he could say another word I choked up and said sadly, "I love my son. I've tried everything to get Karl to go back to school and nothing has worked. It's out of my hands." For a moment there was silence on the other end of the line. The headmaster seriously said, "Thank you for your time." and hung up. Karl's next report card showed a marked improvement in his grades. He was even on the list of the best students at school. In his fourth year, I attended a parent-teacher meeting. I noticed that his teachers were surprised at the way he had turned himself around. On our way home, he said, "Mum, remember that call from the headmaster last year?" I nodded. "That was me. I thought I'd play a joke but when I heard what you said, it really hit me how much I was hurting you. That's when I knew I had to make you proud. When the mother said "It's out of my hands" to the headmaster, she meant that she _ . A) didn't know what to do about her son B) would drive her son away from the house C) had no money to support the family D) would have to hang up
A
The next time you try for a high-ranking post, you could let your possible boss listen to a recommending phone call "made" by US President George W Bush or British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Of course, neither of them could really do that for you-you would just "borrow" their voices. AT & T labs will start selling speech software that it says is so good at reproducing the sounds of a human voice that it can recreate voices and even bring the voices of long-dead famous people back to life. The software, which turns printed text into speech, makes it possible for a company to use recordings of a person's voice to say things that the person never actually said. Possible customers for the software, which is priced in the thousands of dollars, include telephone call centers, companies that make software that reads digital files aloud, and makers of automated voice devices . The advances raise several problems. Who, for example, owns the rights to a famous person's voice? (Some experts even believe that new contracts will be drawn that include voice-licensing clauses.) And although scientists say the technology is not yet good enough to commit fraud , would the synthesized voices at last be able to trick people into thinking that they were getting phone calls or digital audio recordings from people they know? Even Mr Fruchterman, one of AT & T lab's possible first customers, said he wondered what the new technology might bring. "Just like you can't trust a photograph anymore." He said, "you won't be able to trust a voice either." According to the passage, you can infer that _ . A) the software will turn out to be an immediate success in the market B) the government will forbid the sale of the software in the market C) it's hard to decide whether the software will enjoy popularity D) the software will soon prove to be nothing but rubbish
C
Q: "Get out of the plane!" Justin shouted. Teddy and he dropped to the ground,.... When Kathy and Victor reached the edge of the grassland, flames were shooting more than five meters into the air. Kathy couldn't believe what she was seeing. One glance told her they needed medical attention immediately. She questioned Justin, " Is there anyone in the plane?" "No," he said. "Where are you able to radio for help?" "There was no time." " I'm a distance runner." Kathy said, "I'll go for help." Looking at the seriously injured men, she said, "It may take me several hours to get out." She started out. When she was 23, Kathy set a women's-course record in a Marathon. She had run 42 kilometers. But now she was running the race of her life. She had nearly 30 kilometers of hard wilderness to cover to get help. Kathy had been running for two hours. This was far back into the wilderness. The trail grew unclear. She stopped to take a quick compass reading. She had run for more than 20 kilometers. Her heart fell, her muscle aching. Finally she saw her car in the distance. She jumped into the car and sped away. She reached a holiday house and called the police. During the wait she walked around, relaxing her legs and drinking water. It took almost two hours for a helicopter to reach her. They needed her for one more task. What do you think of her final task was? A) Giving the injured food and drinks. B) Taking them to the nearest hospital. C) To show the police where the injured was. D) To go back to put out the big fire.
A: C
(Q).
Taiwan police cannot decide whether to treat it as an extremely clever act of stealing or an even cleverer cheat .Either way, it could be a perfect crime , because the criminals are birds----homing pigeons. The crime begins with a telephone message to the owner of a stolen car: if you want the car back, pay some money. Then, the car owner is directed to a park, told where to find a bird cage and how to attach money to the neck of the pigeon inside. Carrying the money in a tiny bag, the pigeon flies off. There have been at least four such pigeon pick-ups in Changwa. What at first seemed like the work of a clever stay-at-home car thief, however, may in fact be the work of an even lazier and more inventive criminal mind---- one that avoids not only collecting money but going out to steal the car in the first place. Police officer Chen says that the criminal probably has pulled a double trick: he gets money for things he cannot possibly return. Instead of stealing cars, he lets someone else do it and then waits for the car owner to place an ad in the newspaper asking for help. The theory is supportd by the fact that, so far,none of the stolen cars have been returned. Also, the amount of money demanded----under 3,000 Taiwanese dollars-----seems too little for a car worth many times more. Demands for pigeon-delivered money stopped as soon as the press reported the story. And even if they start again, Chen holds little hope of catching the criminal. "We have more important things to do,"he said. We may infer from the text that the criminal knows how to reach the car owners because _ . A) he reads the ads in the newspaper B) he lives in the same neighborhood C) he has seen the car owners in the park D) he has trained the pigeons to follow them
(A).
A