Owning a smartphone may not be as smart as you think. It may let you surf the Internet, listen to music and snap photos wherever you are...but it also turns you into a workaholic, it seems. A study suggests that, by giving you access to emails at all times, the all-singing, all-dancing mobilephone adds as much as two hours to your working day. Researchers found that Britons work an additional 460 hours a year on average as they are able to respond to emails on their mobiles. The study by technology retailer Pixmania reveals the average UK working day is between 9 and 10 hours, but a further two hours is spent responding to or sending work emails, or making work calls. More than 90 percent of office workers have email-enabled phones, with a third _ them more than 20 times a day. Almost one in ten admits spending up to three hours outside their normal working day checking work emails. Some workers confess they are on call almost 24 hours a day, with nine out of ten saying they make work emails and calls outside their normal working hours. The average time for first checking emails is between 6 am and 7 am, with more than a third checking their first emails in this period, and a quarter checking them between 11 pm and midnight. Ghadi Hobeika, marketing director of Pixmania, said, "The ability to access literally millions of apps, keep in contact via social networks and take photos and video as well as text and call has made smartphones invaluable for many people. However, there are drawbacks. Many companies expect their employees to be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and smartphones mean that people literally cannot get away from work. The more constantly in contact we become , the more is expected of us in a work capacity ." Which of the following is true according to the text? A) The average UK working time is between nine and twelve hours B) Nine- tenths spent over three hours checking work emails C) One-fourth check their first mail between 11 pm and midnight. D) The average time for first checking emails is between 6 am and 8 am.
C
In 2012, I had just recovered from a serious illness when I received an invitation to a writer's conference in Orlando, Florida. My family and friends persuaded me that a holiday might be just what the doctor ordered, so off I went. Arriving in the Sunshine State was not easy, but I managed to catch a taxi to the hotel. The next morning, I caught another taxi to do some shopping. Later I went to a cafe to buy some lunch, but having my sandwich and drink in my hands, I saw that all the tables were occupied . Then I heard a friendly voice saying, "You can share my table." I thankfully sat down with the smiling elderly lady and we shared a happy lunch together. As the meal drew to a close she asked how long I would be in Orlando. I had already told her that I hadn't hired a car, and hadn't realized how costly taking taxis would be. After a while she said, "My dear, don't use any more taxis. It would be my pleasure to drive you wherever you wish." I told her that I couldn't put her to that trouble, but she insisted. She took details of where I was staying and the next morning she drove me to Disney World. She took me through the park's gates and spent some time with me before leaving me to explore alone. At the end of the day, she returned to take me back to my hotel. The next few days, she drove me around Orlando's tourist areas. I offered her money but she refused to take any. When we had lunch on my last day, I thanked her for her kindness. I'll never forget that wonderful lady who filled my holiday in Florida with wonderful memories. What did the elderly lady do? A) She helped the author hire a car. B) She drove the author to a park. C) She bought the author a lunch. D) She offered her seat to the author.
B
Q: As thousands of communities in the USA -- especially in the South -- became booming gateways for immigrant families from Central and South America during the 1990s and the early years of the new century, public schools struggled with the unfamiliar task of serving the large numbers of English learners arriving in their classrooms. Education programs needed _ . "We had no teaching resources suitable for English learners here before. We had to develop them all ourselves," a Texas principal said. Throughout the country, districts had to train their own teachers to teach English to non-native speakers or recruit teachers from elsewhere. School staff members had to figure out how to communicate with parents who spoke no English. But even as immigration has slowed or stopped in many places, and instructional programs for English-learners have matured, serving immigrant families and their children remains a work in progress in many public schools, especially those in communities that are skeptical, or sometimes unwelcoming, to the newcomers. One of the biggest challenges educators face, is communicating effectively with parents who don't speak English -- an issue that, in part, has contributed to recent complaints of discrimination by Latino students in some cities. "The parents' role is very important for the success of these students, but it's also one of the most difficult things we've had to tackle ," said Jim D. Rollins, the president of the Springdale school district, where the 19,000-student school system has gone from having no English-learners 15 years ago to more than 7,500 now. "You have to make it a priority and work on it, work on it, and work on it." Aside from the practical challenges, such as finding bilingual staff members, guiding districts through such dramatic changes requires school leaders to bridge difficult political and cultural divides. For school leaders in the South, especially in the last few years, this difficult job has been made harder still by the negative attitudes of some locals... According to the passage, what is the problem that public schools are facing? A) Handling more cases from the immigrant Mexican communities. B) Offering services to immigrant families in the southern states. C) Offering enough communicative lessons to immigrant parents. D) Providing education for non-native English learners.
A: D
Q: If your child does well on a test,of course,you're going to praise or her-but if you focus too often on achievements, children may not get the right message.Why? An experiment by psychologist Carol Dweck at Columbia University in New York shows what happens when kids are praised for their efforts,and what happens when they're praised for their intelligence. Dweck got a group of ten--yearolds to do a series of puzzles easy enough so that all could do them well.Then they were told either,"You must be smart at this,"or,"You must have worked really hard." In the following tests,the kids praised for their efforts chose to do a harder set of puzzles.when give a task two years beyond their grade levels ,they worked hard and enjoyed the challenge , even when they didn't succeed. And in a final test at the same level as the first ,their scores improved by 25 percent. And the "smart" kids? They refused to try the harder puzzles, choosing the one that guaranteed them good scores. When they did work in the "too hard" tests , they became discouraged and upset. And when retested with the original puzzles, their scores declined by 20 percent. Dweck's conclusion:"When we praise kids for their intelligence,we tell them: 'Look smart,don't risk making mistakes.'"By contrast,"emphasizing effort gives children an inspiring factor that they can control." What does the author intend to tell readers? A) Rewald your kids and students whenever they make progress. B) Different praises will all benefit your students. C) Praise your students as much as you can. D) Focusing on kids' efforts will improve their intelligence.
A: D