BOGOTA (Reuters) -- Colombian mobile telephone users are being tricked by criminals who pretend to be phone operators and instruct them to turn off their cellphones just long enough to demand a large amount of money from their families. prefix = st1 /Colombia has seen a large number of cases in which mobile phone customers receive messages telling them to turn off their cellphones for two hours because their telephones havebeen cloned, police say. The criminals then contact family members of the phone user to say that he or she has been taken hostage . Families who have no way of contacting their are directed where to drop off money before the two hours are up. "If you get a call telling you to turn off your cellphone, contact the official department." Local television channel Caracol told viewers during a Tuesday news program. BERLIN (Reuters) -- A Berlin court has sentenced a man known as "Schnitzel Stephan" to 18 months in prison for cheating 64 restaurants in the past year. The man of 160 kg, with a thin grey beard, would regularly order lamb chops, steak or Viennese schnitzel along with several beers. When the bill came, he either ran for the door or told the waiter he had no money. Iris Berger, a spokeswoman for the Berlin Justice Department, said on Thursday the 43-year-old jobless truck driver had been convicted ( ) on 64 counts of fraud ( ). The total damage to restaurants was $4,100. If cellphone users are told to turn off their phones, what are they advised to do? A) Contact TV stations. B) Keep in touch with their family members. C) Report it to the police. D) Think twice before doing something.
C
(Question)
Former Irish President Mary Robinson was just making a polite conversation with an Ethiopian teenager about her wedding day. The 16yearold had already been married for a year. "She looked at me with the saddest eyes and said, 'I had to drop out of school'," Robinson said in a telephone interview. "That conveyed to me the reality," said Robinson, the first woman to serve as Ireland's president and former U.N. high commissioner for human fights. "Her life, as far as she is concerned, had more or less ended." Robinson said keeping girls in school was one of the most important things policymakers could do to address the coming challenges of an ever-increasing population, predicted by the United Nations to reach 7 billion soon. "European countries are concerned about aging populations as is Japan, but this is much less of an issue than the huge number of people which we are going to see over the next 40 years when the population goes from 7 billion to 9 billion," she said. "Almost all of that increase will be in poor developing countries, so that we have a very big challenge." Family planning experts worry in particular about the future population explosion in subSaharan Africa. In May, the United Nations projected the world population would reach 9.3billion in 2050 and 10.1 billion by 2100. Much of that growth will come from Africa, where the population is growing at 2.3 percent a year--more than double Asia's 1 percent growth rate. If that rate stays consistent, which is not certain, Africa's population will reach 3.6 billion by 2100 from the present 1 billion. Joel Cohen, a professor of population studies at Rockefeller University and Columbia University in New York, said universal secondary education offered a way to reduce population in high birthrate regions. In addition to providing information about birth control, a secondary education teaches women to reduce their own fertility , improve the health of their children and allows them to move from a mindset of having many children, in the hopes that some... What is Joel Cohen's view about secondary education? A) It provides basic knowledge of health. B) It improves the health of children. C) It makes people pay more attention to education. D) It can change people's parenting ideas.
(Answer)
D
Ques: Many of us are used to hearing stories of people being pickpocketed in busy places. But most of us are aware of the dangers, so we are safe - at least, we think we are. According to a BBC report, a growing number of thieves are trying to "hack our mind's weaknesses" to get their hands on our possessions. "In fact, the key requirement for a successful pickpocket isn't having quick fingers," said the report. By using psychology, some pickpockets are taking advantage of the loopholes in our brains. Our lack of ability to multitask is one of the most important loopholes used by pickpockets, the report explains. While this can often be a good trait , allowing us to focus on the most important details in our surroundings, "a good trickster can use it against you, " said neuroscientist Auzana Martinez-Conde. "It's all about directing people's attention toward something else," said James Brown, who studies the tricks of pickpocketing. Confidence, the power of suggestion, and certain hand movements such as moving your hands in an arc are all said to be things that fool us. Groups of pickpockets use a common trick designed to create a scene and confuse victims. The first gang member, a "blocker", walks in front of the victim and suddenly bumps into them. A second member of the gang then bumps into both of them from behind and stages an argument with the "blocker". In the confusion, both men steal what they can and pass it to a third thief who quickly runs off with the stolen goods. Some thieves go even further to exploit our psychology by hanging out near signs reading "beware of pickpockets". Since this is one of the last places people expect to be robbed, many check where their valuables are, giving away their location to thieves. But according to Brown, as long as we don't daydream in public, we shouldn't be worried. "A street thief will avoid like the plague " people who are demonstrating a very open awareness of their environment," he said. Why do some thieves hang out near signs saying things like "beware of pickpocketers"? A) They think it is more thrilling to steal in those areas. B) Normally there are no police officers around. C) They don't know common people's psychology. D) They have a better chance of locating people's valuables there.
Ans: D
Question: Drinking a lot of water does not do any good to the body, according to two experts in the United States. In fact, they warn, drinking too much water could be, in certain cases, harmful. In a study, Dr Stanly Goldfarb and Dr Dan Negoianu, both of the Renal, Electrolyte and Hypertension Division at the University of Pensylvania, the United States, have denied the popular belief that drinking a lot of water clears body toxins better, improves skin, and helps reduce weight. Dr Goldfarb and Dr Negoianu say that they found little proof to back the public opinion that drinking 8 glasses of water every day benefits health. At the same time, they fond little proof of harm in drinking 8 glasses of water every day. It is widely believed that in some cases-such as athletes, people who live in hot, dry environments, and those with certain medical conditions-drinking a lot of water indeed helps, but no studies have been done to prove the benefits of this practice in average, healthy people, the website medheadlines.com reports. The study at the University of Pennsylvania also examined reports that some people experienced increased headaches when their consumption of water was low. In one small study, which the doctors reviewed, the group drinking the most water reported fewer headaches than the control group, "but the difference in the number of headaches was o small between the two groups as to be considered unimportant." The researchers concluded that there is no scientific proof to support that average, healthy people need to drink at least 8 glasses of water each each day. The website medheadines.com says that, according to an Indian doctor, drinking too much water is harmful. If water enters the body more quickly than it can be removed, problems can occur. According to the passage, we know that _ . A) the website medheadlnes.com is developed by an Indian doctor B) the study was carried out by two experts with an Indian doctor C) the two experts performed the study at the University of Pennsylvania D) drinking 8 glasses of water every day can cure certain diseases
Answer:
C