Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: SAN FRANCISCO--A phone app in San Francisco gives information about open parking spots.City officials in San Francisco introduced the app to try to reduce traffic jams in the city, but some say it raises safety concerns. In this city, drivers searching for parking spots lead to 30 percent of all downtown jams, city officials think.Now San Francisco has found a solution -- a phone app for spot-seekers that shows information about areas with available spaces.The system, introduced last month, relies on wireless sensors fixed in streets and city garages that can tell within seconds if a spot has opened up. But the system could come with serious consequences.Some people say that drivers searching for parking could end up focusing on their phones, not the road."It could be really distracting ," said Daniel Simons, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois. City officials admitted the hidden problem.They are urging drivers to pull over before they use the city's iPhone app, or to do so before they leave home. Nathaniel Ford, executive director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, said safety could actually improve if drivers quickly found a spot instead of circling and getting frustrated. San Francisco has put sensors into 7,000 parking spots and 12,250 spots in city garages.If spaces in an area open up, the sensors communicate wirelessly with computers that in turn make the information available to app users within a minute, said Mr. Ford, of the transportation agency.On the app, a map shows which blocks have lots of places(blue)and which are full(red). More than 12,000 people have downloaded San Francisco's app, which is available now only for the iPhone. Question: What is the phone app mentioned in the text mainly aimed at? Options: A: Benefiting iPhone users. B: Preventing traffic accidents. C: Making the traffic flow smoothly. D: Making full use of the parking spots.
A: C

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Recent research has claimed that an excess of positive ions in the air can have an ill effect on people's physical or psychological health. What are positive ions? Well, the air is full of ions, electrically charged particles, and generally there is a rough balance between the positive and the negative charged. But sometimes this balance becomes disturbed and a larger proportion of positive ions are found. This happens naturally before thunderstorm, earthquakes when winds are blowing in certain countries. Or it can be caused by a build-up of static electricity indoors from carpets or clothing, or from TV sets, duplicators or computer display screens. When a large number of positive ions are present in the air many people experience unpleasant effects such as headaches, fatigue , excessive anger, and some particularly sensitive people feel sick or even suffer mental disturbance. Animals are also affected, particularly before earthquakes, snakes have been observed to come out, rats to flee from their burrows, dogs howl and cats jump about unaccountably. This has led the US Geographical Survey to fund a network of volunteers to watch animals in an effort to foresee such disasters before they hit vulnerable areas such as California. Conversely, when large numbers of negative ions are present, then people have a feeling of well-being. Natural conditions that produce these large amounts are near the sea, close to waterfalls or fountains, or in any place where water is sprayed, or forms a spray. This probably accounts for the beneficial effect of a holiday by the sea, or in the mountains with streams or waterfalls. To increase the supply of negative ions indoors, some scientists recommend the use of ionisers. They claim that ionisers not only clean and refresh the air but also improve the health of people sensitive to excess positive ions. Of course, there are the detractors, other scientists, who dismiss such claims and are skeptical about negative/positive ion research. Therefore people can only make up their own... Question: A high negative ion count is likely to be found _ . Options: A: in a mountainous area. B: by a water spray in a garden. C: close to a slow-flowing river. D: near a pound with a water pump.
A: B

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Last night was the last game for my eight-year-old son's soccer team. It was the final quarter. The score was two to one, my son's team in the lead. Parents surrounded the playground, offering encouragement. With less than ten seconds remaining, the ball suddenly rolled in front of my son's teammate, Mickey O' Donnel. With shouts of "Kick it!" echoing across the playground, Mickey turned around and gave it everything he had. All around me the crowd erupted . O'Donnel had scored! Then there was silence. Mickey had scored all right, but in the wrong goal, ending the game in a tie. For a moment there was a total _ . You see, Mickey has Down syndrome and for him there is no such thing as a wrong goal. All goals were celebrated by a joyous hug from Mickey. He had even been known to hug the opposing players when they scored. The silence was finally broken when Mickey, his face filled with joy, hugged my son tightly and shouted, "I scored! I scored. Everybody won! Everybody won!" For a moment I held my breath, not sure how my son would react. I need not have worried. I watched, through tears, as my son threw up his hand in the classic high-five salute and started chanting, "Way to go Mickey! Way to go Mickey!" Within moments both teams surrounded Mickey, joining in the chant and congratulating him on his goal. Mike happily and everyone sent their wishes to him. Later that night, when my daughter asked who had won, I smiled as I replied, "It was a tie. Everybody won." Question: Which is the most correct description of the author's too? He was/had _ . Options: A: brave B: honest C: sympathy D: pride
A: C

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Everybody loves to play board games sometimes, but it is surprising to know how long this pastime has been in existence. Some of the earliest board games are over 5,000 years old. The oldest is probably Senet, an American Egyptian game which has been found in burials from before 3000 BC. The game involves an element of luck, and so it was thought by the Ancient Egyptians that those who won the game were protected by God. For this reason, games of Senet were often buried alongside the dead body, to be used on the dangerous game board is set out as a grid of three by ten rows, and uses two sets of at least five pawns. The actual rules are unknown, although some historians have proposed rules which were used in the Senet sets available today. The Royal Game of Ur, also known as the Game of Twenty Squares, is another ancient game which dates back to the First Dynasty of Ur, in 2600 BC Mesopotamia. It was played with two sets of seven counters, one black and one white, and three four-sided dice . Although the ancient rules are unknown, a stone tablet has been found which describes a reliable record of how the game was played in 177-176 BC. Both Senet and The Royal Game of Ur probably came into existence long before the game backgammon ,which itself has a long history. The game of Nard, which existed in Iran in around 3000 BC, used two sets of fifteen counters, four dice and same board as the one used in backgammon today, although the initial starting positions and rules are different. Similar games were played in Ancient Rome and India. Question: The text is meant to introduce _ . Options: A: a common origin of board games B: several kinds of earliest board games C: the unknown rules of board game D: the newly discovered board games
A: B