Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: In the last years of the Warring States period, the State of Qin attacked the State of Wei on a large scale repeatedly and occupied large areas of land, for the State of Wei was too weak to defend itself. In 273 B.C., the Qin army launched a more serious attack upon the State of Wei than ever. The king of the State of Wei gathered his officials, and asked with a worried look if anyone could propose a way to defeat the Qin army. After years of chaos caused by the wars, the officials trembled when fighting was mentioned, and no one dared to speak of resistance. At the critical moment when a large enemy force was bearing down upon the border, most of the officials persuaded the king to peace, at the cost of giving away to the State of Qin the large area of land north of the Huanghe River and south of the Taihang Mountain. However Su Dai, a counselor, did not agree. He hurried up to the king and said, "Your Majesty, they don't think about the interests of the country at all. It is just because they are afraid of death that they ask you to sue for peace by betraying the country. Of course you can temporarily satisfy the ambition of Qin, but it will never stop attacking us until our land is totally given away." He added,"Once there was a man whose house was on fire. People told him to put out the fire with water, but he would not listen. Instead, he carried a faggot to put out the fire, only to make the fire fiercer. Isn't it similar to carrying faggots to put out a fire if you agree to sue for peace at the cost of the land of the State of Wei?" Though Su Dai's argument was very convincing, the king accepted the suggestion of those officials and gave away to the State of Qin a large area of the land of the State of Wei. As might be expected, the Qin army attacked the State of Wei in 225 B.C. again, surrounding the capital city Daliang and flooding it by digging open the dykes of the Huanghe River. The State of Wei was finally destroyed. Question: The story is mainly developed by _ . - time - logic - making comparison - cause and effect
time

(Question)
Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: If your parents were to surprise you with a present on your birthday, which one would you prefer, a trip to the amusement park or a new pair of shoes? According to Science Daily, about onethird of the people are likely to prefer shoes to a fun trip. These people are called "materialists", namely, those who value material goods more than experiences. But which of the two choices makes people happier? Back in 2009, Ryan Howell, a professor at San Francisco State University, found that in the long run, experiences make people happier than possessions. This is because the joy of receiving a new object fades over time as you get used to seeing it every day. Experiences, on the other hand, can continue to bring you joy in the future through happy memories. But materialists should at least be happy when they first buy something, shouldn't they? To figure it out, Howell did another study. He classified a group of adults according to their personality types, ranging from less materialistic to more materialistic. Each person was asked different questions to see how they felt about spending money on material goods versus spending money on experiences. As expected, the more materialistic participants got less happiness from purchases than the less materialistic, because such purchases didn't fit with their personalities and values. But to Howell's surprise, he found that materialists weren't any happier even if they spent money on material items. This is because materialists worry that others may criticize or look down on their choices. "There are certain value systems that are rejected by society," said Howell. "When we find out someone is materialistic, we think less of them, and that drives their happiness down." Another reason is that materialistic people always focus on what they don't have instead of what they have now. This makes them feel less satisfied and grateful. If you happen to be a materialistic person, there's something you can try. "If materialists make more accurate purchases, rather than trying to... Question: What did Ryan Howell find in his studies? - Material goods bring people less happiness than experiences. - About onethird of the people prefer material goods to experiences. - Materialists have more fun spending money on goods than on experiences. - Receiving a new object brings lasting joy while the joy of an experience fades soon.
(Answer)
Material goods bring people less happiness than experiences.

Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: What is most likely to affect your success at school or at a job? The ability to read. And that goes for your kids too. The declining literacy of our society has been a main concern of educators for a while now, and yet things are not getting better. In most cases, how well we learn to read will depend largely on our exposure to language as children. If we hear people around us talking about all kinds of subjects as children, we naturally pick up the words and phrases they use. If we pick up a lot of words, we will learn to read better. Much of the traditional advice to struggling readers, theses days, seems to include developing "cognitive strategies" . In this way, readers are asked to centre more, to think, to be interested and ask questions, to analyze, to predict, to reason, and to check their understanding, or worse still to answer questions of what they have read. In other words they are asked to become self-conscious readers. I do not agree with this approach. Here are my several strategies for reading improvement. Read about things that interest you. If you are interested in what you are reading about, the words will come alive, and you will understand better. The more you read, the better you will become at reading. Just get started and it will become a habit, as long as you are interested in what you are reading. Read material that is at your level or just a little difficult for you. Read material that you find easy to read, or just a little challenging. Looking up many unknown words in a dictionary is dull, and the results of the dictionary search are quickly forgotten. _ If you can hear the new words and phrases that you are reading, you will have an easier time understanding and remembering them. Hearing the rhythm of someone reading a text will help your own reading. Don't worry about what you don't understand. Most of your reading should be for pleasure. You can still enjoy reading without understanding all of what you read. You may even understand some things in your own personal... Question: What is the purpose of the author in writing the passage? - To tell us some ways to improve reading ability. - To show that poor literacy has been a big problem. - To teach us how to look for fun in reading. - To tell us some ways to pick up new words and phrases.
To tell us some ways to improve reading ability.