The famous director of a big and expensive movie planned to film a beautiful sunset over the ocean, so that the audiences could see his hero and heroine in front of it at the end of the film as they said goodbye to each other for ever. He sent his camera crew out one evening to film the sunset for him. The next morning he said to the men, "Have you provided me with that sunset?" "No, sir," the men answered. The director was angry. "Why not?" he asked. "Well, sir," one of the men answered, "we're on the east coast here, and the sun sets in the west. We can get you a sunrise over the sea, if necessary, but not a sunset." "But I want a sunset!" the director shouted. "Go to the airport, take the next flight to the west coast, and get one." But then a young secretary had an idea. "Why don't you photograph a sunrise," she suggested, "and then play it backwards? Then it'll look like a sunset." "That's a very good idea!" the director said. Then he turned to the camera crew and said, "Tomorrow morning I want you to get me a beautiful sunrise over the sea." The camera crew went out early the next morning and filmed a bright sunrise over the beach in the middle of a beautiful bay. Then at nine o'clock they took it to the director. "Here it is, sir," they said, and gave it to him. He was very pleased. They all went into the studio. "All right," the director explained, "now our hero and heroine are going to say goodbye. Run the film backwards so that we can see the 'sunset' behind them." The "sunset" began, but after a quarter of a minute, the director suddenly put his face in his hands and shouted to the camera crew to stop. The birds in the film were flying backwards, and the waves on the sea were going away from the beach. Why did the director want to send his crew to the west coast? A) Because he changed his mind about getting a sunset. B) Because he was angry with his crew. C) Because he wanted to get a scene of sunset. D) Because it was his secretary's suggestion.
C
New York University (NYU) is one of the best universities in the United States and it has just opened a school in Shanghai in partnership with East China Normal University(ECNU). The arrival of the American university on China mainland is an example of what is being called the "globalization" of education and it is hoped that this trend will influence the quality of education in all of China's universities by raising the standard of teaching. NYU Shanghai's class of 2017(students will graduate in 2017) is made up of 295 students from China, America and other countries. The students will study liberal arts courses for two years before choosing a major and when they graduate, they will receive a degree from NYU and a degree from ECNU. All the classes will be taught in English, using the teaching methods in American universities. Students will be pushed to take risks in the classroom, pushed to speak up and pushed to say things that are not completely correct, which can make them understand that it's OK for them to make mistakes in class. This style of learning will be challenging for many Chinese students, because they will be mixed with the foreign students both in the classroom and in the dormitory. Living and studying with foreigners day to day will provide Chinese students with a cultural as well as academic education and it's hoped that this cross-cultural experience will benefit them when they seek jobs in the competitive global market. China's interest in partnering with foreign universities comes at a time when western universities are trying to expand. They realize that information, technology and business are now borderless; they also realize education should be borderless too. This trend will have a deep effect on bringing the world closer together and the students at NYU Shanghai should be excited to be on the leading edge of this trend. What is the NYU Shanghai's class like? A) It offers the same courses as NYU does in the US. B) It's hard to follow the classes without knowing English. C) The students are majoring in liberal arts courses. D) Only two-year courses will be provided in this class.
B
Q: The world itself is becoming much smaller by using modern traffic and modern communication means. Life today is much easier than it was hundreds of years ago; but it has brought new problems. One of the biggest is pollution. To pollute mean to make things dirty. Pollution comes in many ways. We see it, smell it, drink it and even hear _ . Man has been polluting the earth. The more people, the more pollution. Many years ago, the problem was not so serious because there were not so many people. When the land was used up or the river was dirty in a place, men moved to another place. But this is no longer true. Man is now slowly polluting the whole world. Air pollution is still the most serious. It's bad to all living things in the world, but it is not only one kind of pollution. Water pollution kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us become angry more easily. Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. They stop the people from burning coal in houses and factories in the city, and from blowing dirty smoke into the air. The pollution of SO2 is now the most dangerous problem of air pollution. It is caused by heavy traffic. It is sure that if there are fewer people driving, there will be less air pollution. The earth is our home. We must take care of it. That means keeping the land, water and air clean. And we must keep careful of the rise in pollution at the same time. Pollution comes in many ways. We can even hear it. Here "it" means _ . A) water pollution B) air pollution C) noise pollution D) rubbish
A: C
Consider yourself warned. Sunday is April Fools' Day, a day when you are encouraged to play tricks on loved ones and even the people you meet at the bus stop. It's a strange tradition, but how did it get started? Nobody is completely sure about the origin of this, the silliest of holidays. However, the urban legend experts at Snopes. com say that most experts owe it to Pope Gregory XIII, who, in the 1500s, gave the world the Gregorian calendar. In 1562, the Gregorian calendar moved the first day of the year from April l to January l. Word did eventually get around, but some people were a bit slow to hear the news. These folks continued celebrating the new year on April l , unaware that they were now three months behind the times. These "April fools" were tricked by those who knew it. The tradition eventually made its way to the US. And it's still going strong. Over the past week, Web searches on " April Fools' Day jokes" and " April Fools' Day tricks" have more than doubled, and related lookups for "easy April Fools' Day tricks" and "April Fools' Day jokes for work" have also increased greatly. Bottom line: Keep your guard up, especially if somebody offers you a word search puzzle. Lookups for "impossible April Fools' Day word searches" are up by 200%. But really, there is no way to be certain you'll escape trickery because even companies are out to trick you on April l. In 1957, the BBC reported Swiss farmers were harvesting spaghetti from trees. And in 1996, Taco Bell took out ads in major newspapers announcing that the company had purchased the Liberty Bell and renamed it the Taco Liberty Bell. What is the author's purpose of writing the text? A) To teach us how to avoid being tricked. B) To point out the best way to trick others. C) To introduce the history of April Fools' Day. D) To stress the importance of April Fools' Day.
C