Imagine picking apples on Christmas or going skating on May Day. What about going for a swim on Thanksgiving? Without Leap Day ,which takes place every four years, that could happen. Our calendar is normally 365 days long. It was created to match the cycles of the seasons. But Roman ruler Julius Caesar noticed a problem: The earth doesn't circle the sun in exactly 365 days. It actually cakes 365 and one-quarter days. He figured out that the extra part of a day would cause the calendar to grow apart from the seasons over time. Over 100 years, the seasons would shift about 24 days. Spring would start on April 13 instead of March 20. Caesar used math to figure out a way to stop the calendar from shifting. He decided to add an extra day to the month of February every four years. His idea helped keep the seasons and calendar matched up. Even so, it still wasn't perfect--his calendar was adding too many days. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII worked on Caesar's idea. His calendar, called the Gregorian calendar, declares that every year that is equally divided by 400 is a leap year. Turn-of-the-century years, or years ending in "00", would not be leap years unless they could be divided equally by 400. These complicated equations help keep the calendar in balance with the orbit of the earth. Today, we still use the Gregorian calendar. In about 3,000 years, the calendar will be only one day out of step with the seasons, It's still not perfect, but mathematicians decided it was as close as we could get. In which section of a website can you probably read this text? A) Opinion. B) Policy. C) Entertainment. D) Science.
D
(Question)
Henderson Island is a coral island raised above the South Pacific Ocean, No people live on it. The island is 9. 6 km long and 5. 1 km wide. It has an area of 37, 3 square kilometers. It became a World Heritage Site in 1988 because of its bird life. All the four kinds of special land birds can only be seen on Henderson Island. There are also fifteen non-local seabirds. Other local things include nine kinds of plants, four kinds of land snails, and one butterfly. Although no people live on the island, archaeological evidence suggests that a small Polynesian group lived here between the 12th and 15th centuries until it disappeared. The reasons for its disappearance are unknown, but are probably related to the similar disappearance of the Polynesians on Pitcairn Island. Then Hendersonians would have depended on them for many of the basics of life. On January 29* 1606, Henderson Island was discovered by Portuguese sailor Pedro Fermandes, who named it San Joao Baptista. On January 17, 1819, the island was rediscovered by British Captain Henderson, who named it Henderson Island. On March 2* 1819* Captain Henry King, sailing on the Elizabeth, landed on the island to find the Union flag already flying. His crew scratched the name of their ship on a tree, and for some years the name of the island was Elizabeth or Henderson. In the early 1980's, American businessman Arthur expressed interest in buying Henderson Island, and establishing a small settlement with an airport, farm and large houses. But the British government refused it at last* after environmentalist groups persuaded them to protect the natural ecology and environment of the island which became a World Heritage Site later. Who gave the Henderson Island its present name? A) Some archaeologists. B) The Polynesians. C) Pedro Fermandes. D) A British captain.
(Answer)
D
Ques: When someone says, "Well, I guess I'll have to go to face the music", it does not mean he is planning to go to a concert. It is something far less pleasant, like being called in by your boss to explain why you did this or that, and why you did not do this or that. Sour(; )music, indeed, but it has to be faced. The phrase "to face the music" is familiar to every American, young and old. It is at least 100 years old. Where did the expression come from? The first information comes from the American writer James Fennimore Cooper. He said in 1851 that the expression was first used by actors while waiting in the wings to go on stage. After they got their cue(,) to go on, they often said, "It's time to go to face the music." And that is exactly what they did--- face the orchestra which was just below the stage. An actor might be frightened or nervous as he moved on to the stage in front of the audience that might be friendly or perhaps unfriendly especially if he forgot his lines. But he had to go out. So, "to face the music" came to mean having to go through something, no matter how unpleasant the experience might be, because you knew you had no choice. The other explanation comes from the army. Men had to face inspection by their leader. The soldiers worried about how well they looked. Was their equipment clean--shiny enough to pass inspection? Still, the men had to go out, and face the music of the band, as well as the inspection. What else could they do? The passage is mainly about _ . A) the meaning of the phrase 'to face the music" B) how to deal with something unpleasant C) how to learn English phrase D) how to go through difficulty
Ans: A
Ques:During all this time I never stopped thinking about escape. When I traveled across to the other side of the island, I could see the other islands, and I said to myself, "Perhaps I can get there with a boat. Perhaps I can get back to England one day." So I decided to make myself a boat. I cut down a big tree, and then began to make a long hole in it. It was hard work, but about six months later, I had a very fine canoe . Next, I had to get it down to the sea. How silly I was! Why didn't I think before I began work? Of course, the canoe was too heavy. I couldn't move it! I pulled and pushed and tried everything, but it didn't move. I was very unhappy for a long time after that. That happened in my fourth year on the island. In my sixth year I did make myself a smaller canoe, but I did not try to escape in it. The boat was too small for a long journey, and I did not want to die at sea. The island was my home now, not my prison, and I was just happy to be alive. A year or two later, I made myself a second canoe on the other side of the island. I also built myself a second house there, and so I had two homes. My life was still busy from morning to night. There were always things to do or to make. I learnt to make new clothes for myself from the skins of dead animals. They looked very strange, it is true, but they kept me dry in the rain. I kept food and tools at both my houses, and also wild goats. There were many goats on the island, and I made fields with high fences to keep them in. They learnt to take food from me, and soon I had goats' milk to drink every day. I also worked hard in my corn fields. And so many years went by. From the story, we can learn that _ . A) the writer tried to make his stay comfortable on the island B) the writer had nothing to do on the wild island C) the writer tried to escape in the second canoe, but failed D) the writer was in prison on the island, losing his freedom

Ans:
A