Still seeking a destination for your long summer holidays? There is a good place which may be your favorite option. Arts of Hope is an overnight performing arts summer camp in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the USA for kids aged 10 and older from around the world. More than just a performing arts camp, Arts of Hope offers participants a unique opportunity to live with kids from other cultures while learning and performing music from many countries. Each summer, up to 75 children venture to Minnesota from Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and the US. They arrive as strangers but soon become friends as they learn popular songs and dances from each other's cultures. The lessons learned during these six weeks are profound. The friendships are enduring. And the stories are inspirational. Taking part in the Arts of Hope camp is a life-changing experience. DATES The Arts of Hope 2013 session will run from June 17 to July 30. Because Arts of Hope is a global camp, it is impossible for us to schedule the program to fit all the school schedules of all the schools in the world. Therefore, we understand that some participants may need to arrive late or leave early. Don't let that stop you from applying! We are happy to make special arrangements as needed. Just send us an email to explain your scheduling challenges. We are happy to arrange a special study room for late arrivals to make up for the missed lessons. PARTICIPANT FEE For the 2013 summer, the fee for new, first-time participants is $2,950, subject to the special discounts offered below. SPECIAL DISCOUNTS If you apply before February 28, you can get a special fee reduction of $100. Also, there is a 20% fee discount for additional participants from your family if you have a brother or sister who is a Arts of Hope participant. The discount applies to the second, third, and any other additional siblings attending in the same year from the same family. Apply early to assure your place! Please sign up now! If you and your sister apply for the first time on May 16, how much will both of you pay in total? A) $4,720 B) $5,310 C) $5,900 D) $5,700
B
I don't want to talk about being a woman scientist again. There was a time in my life when people asked constantly for stories about what it's like to work in a field dominated (controlled) by men. I was never very good at telling those stories because truthfully I never found them interesting. What I do find interesting is the origin of the universe, the shape of space, time and the nature of black holes. At 19, when I began studying astrophysics , it did not bother me in the least to be the only woman in the classroom. But while earning my Ph.D. at MIT and then as a post-doctor doing space research, the issue started to bother me. My every achievement--jobs, research papers, awards--was viewed through the lens of gender politics. So were my failures. Sometimes, when I was pushed into an argument on left brain versus right brain, or nature versus nurture , I would instantly fight fiercely on my behalf and all womankind. Then one day a few years ago, out of my mouth came a sentence that would eventually become my reply to any and all provocations : I don't talk about that anymore. It took me 10 years to get back the confidence I had at 19 and to realize that I didn't want to deal with gender issues. Why should curing sexism be yet another terrible burden on every female scientist? After all, I don't study sociology or political theory. Today I research and teach at Barnard, a women's college in New York City. Recently, someone asked me how many of the 45 students in my class were women. You cannot imagine my satisfaction at being able to answer, 45. I know some of my students worry how they will manage their scientific research and a desire for children. And I don't dismiss those concerns. Still, I don't tell them "war" stories. Instead, I have given them this: the visual of their physics professor heavily pregnant doing physics experiments. And in turn they have given me the image of 45 women driven by a love of science. And that's a sight worth talking about. Why doesn't the author want to talk about being a woman scientist again? A) She is fed up with the issue of gender discrimination . B) She feels unhappy working in male-dominated fields. C) She is not good at telling stories of the kind. D) She finds space research more important.
A
Q: Health insurance is a great concern to Americans now. It's likely that many Americans lack health insurance with the economy having no sign of picking up. The National Academy of Sciences reported Thursday. "Unless health insurance is made more affordable, the number of uninsured Americans is likely to continue growing over time," said Mary Sue Coleman, co-chairwoman of the committee that wrote the report. The report is the first six planned by the institute of Medicine over two years. The series is planned to find out who lacks health insurance and why, and determine what the consequences are and provide the groundwork for debate on how to correct the problem. The institute is part of the academy, a private organization supported by Congress to advise the government of scientific matters. This first report seeks to draw a picture of the millions who lack insurance. It does not offer any recommendations. "Much of what Americans think they know about the uninsured is wrong," said Dr. Arthur Kellermann, a public health professor at Emory University Schools of Medicine in Atlanta, who also worked on the report. The Census Bureau reported last month that 38.7 million Americans went without coverage for all of 2000, compared with 39.3 million the year before, thanks to the booming economy. Experts say the trend is likely to reverse this year, given that the economy was slowing even before the Sep. 11 terrorist attacks. "Unfortunately, the recent economic slowdown might have reversed the modest gains in coverage for shorter periods." The report said that with insurance costs rising, more employers and individuals may conclude they are unable to afford coverage. Premium increases were often absorbed by employers in the strong economy of the 1990s, but that may not continue as the economy softens, the report said. The panel found that about 13.6 million of the uninsured work for employers that do not offer health insurance. Individually purchased coverage may be prohibitively costly. The chief objective of the first of the six reports is to _ . A) explain why certain groups of people lack health insurance B) find out who lack health insurance C) determine the consequences from the lack of health insurance D) provide suggestions to address the health insurance issue
A: B
(Question)
The ancient city is in Pingyao county, Shanxi Province. The city wall was first built during the Zhou Dynasty. Since 1997, it has been listed as a World Heritage Site. Now Pingyao city is the only one in China completely protected as it was hundreds of years ago. The perimeter of this square city is 6.4km long and the city wall is the earliest and largest city wall in China. It is 12 m high with width of 5 m. The wall was built with earth and covered with bricks. Outside the city wall there is a river, 4 m wide and 4 m deep. There are several gates of the city, two each on the east and west and one each on the south and north side. All the gates have two doors each. This has given the city the name "Turtle City" with the two gates on the south and north standing for the head and tail of the turtle and four gates on the east and west as the four legs. The doors on the south and north stand opposite each other, like the head of the turtle extending out and two wells just beyond southern gate are like a turtle's two eyes. Located on the trade route between Beijing and Xi'an, Pingyao developed into a merchant center where the local people set up the nation's earliest banks. These banks were the first in China to use checks. Several old courtyards have been turned into museums, most of which were homes and offices of Pingyao's old banks. One of the most unusual aspects of a visit here is realizing that this place was very important to China's financial history. Which gate in Pingyao city stands for the head of the turtle? A) The gate on the north. B) The gate on the south. C) The gate on the east. D) The gate on the west.
(Answer)
B