*Question*
Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Life on earth depends on water, and there is no substitute for it. The current assumption is that our basic needs for water--whether for drinking, agriculture, industry or the raising of fish--will always have to be met. Given this premise , there are two basic routes we can go; more equal access to water or better engineering solutions. Look at the engineering solutions first. A lot of my research concentrates on what happens to wetlands when you build dams in river basins, particularly in Africa. The ecology of such areas is almost entirely driven by the seasonal changes of the river--the pulse of the water. And the fact is that if you build a dam, you generally spoil the downstream ecology. In the past, such problems have been hidden by a lack of information. But in the near future, governments will have no excuses for their ignorance. The engineers' ability to control water flows has created new kinds of unpredictability, too. Dams in Africa have meant fewer fish, less grazing and less floodplain agriculture, none of which were expected. And there average economic life is assumed to be thirty years. Dams don't exist forever, but what will replace them is not clear. The challenge for the future is to find new means of controlling water. Although GM technology will allow us to breed better dry-land crops, there is no market for companies to develop crops suitable for the micro-climates of the Sahel and elsewhere in Africa. Who is going to pay for research on locally appropriate crops in the Third World? Question: What's the main idea of this passage? - The engineering solutions to water resource and their limitation. - The challenge for the future. - The basic means of controlling water. - The challenge for developing crops.
**Answer**
The engineering solutions to water resource and their limitation.

*Question*
Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: "That's right." said the old man. "Ninety-nine years old, and I haven't an enemy in the world. They're all dead." "Well, sir." said the interviewer , "I hope very much to have the honour of interviewing you on your hundredth birthday." The old man looked at the young man closely, and said, "I can't see why you shouldn't. you look fit and healthy to me!" Question: When the interviewer said that he hoped very much to have the honor of interviewing the old man again the following year, _ . - he was trying to make the old man happy - he wished he himself would live another year - he did not believe the old man would live to be one hundred - he did not believe he would interview the old man again
**Answer**
he was trying to make the old man happy

*Question*
Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: The popular college rankings focus primarily on prestige as measured by the SAT scores of incoming students and how many applicants are turned away. An initiative started last fall by the Obama administration could help families go beyond these limited, and far too easily exploited, indexes to learn quickly and easily how a college is compared with its competitors nationally on important criteria like graduation rates, what a degree actually costs and how much debt a student can expect to run up by graduation day. If the federal government makes it legally necessary to disclose this information in a clear and consistent way, as it should, families will be better able to make informed college choices. And this will help put pressure on colleges that perform poorly to improve. Critics may regard this initiative as an example of government overreach. But given that the federal government spends nearly $190 billion a year on higher education aid to students, it has a legitimate interest in making sure that the money flows to the schools that best meet their responsibilities to families and students. Congress has taken some steps to require greater transparency from colleges. The 1990 Student Right to Know Act, for example, required colleges and universities that receive federal aid to disclose graduation rates. And the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act required schools to offer a way for consumers to determine actual costs after student aid is taken into account. But many colleges have done a poor job of obeying federal disclosure rules, and much of the available information is not in one place. The administration's new efforts would enforce reporting requirements and provide some new tools. President Obama wants to expand campus-based aid to about $10 billion from the current $2.7 billion. He has proposed moving money away from colleges that fail to control tuition increases or provide good value to others that do a better job. That is a worthy idea in principle, but he will need strong data-based evidence... Question: What attitude does the author hold towards the transparency initiative? - supportive - critical - indifferent - not stated
**Answer**
supportive

*Question*
Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: For many of us, printed books are satisfying in ways beyond the words they contain. Billions of printed books have been published, read and saved in the 600 years since movable type was invented, so why mess with a good things? Sony Electronics is doing just that, betting that readers will be won over by the convenience of readability of its new electronic book devices. Sony's reader, the PRS-505, can hold 160 books in its fixed memory, enough to line the shelves on a good-sized wall in the average American home. The $299 device is about the size of a paperback book, but a half-inch thick and weighs less than a pound. The Sony book reader is revolutionary not only in its storage capacity. The font is highly readable and adjustable by size. Unlike laptop computers, you can put the Sony in your purse, read it in direct sunlight and even bookmark the pages. And you can connect it to your PC to download books. Surprisingly, though the reader has liberated the book from paper, electronic books aren't always a bargain. For example, David Baldacci's "Stone Cold" download retails for $15.19 at the Sony site, while Amazon will deliver a hard copy to your mailbox for $16.19. The Sony reader also lets you store and play or display music. So what's not to like about the Sony? Well, for many _ , a lot. Book lovers like to have, hold and keep their volumes, which don't need charging. You can write notes in the margin1s, and enjoy the ambience they provide on your book shelves. The need for electronic reading devices is likely to grow as more people worried about the billions of tons of paper used for printed material. Many believe the time will come when devices like the Sony reader are as common as printed newspapers and magazines today. Question: What is the author's point when he mentions "Stone Cold"? - Amazon's printed books are very cheap - "Stone Cold" can be got from the Sony site and Amazon - The Sony book reader is not very cheap to use - The Sony book reader can benefit its buyers a lot
**Answer**
The Sony book reader is not very cheap to use