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Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Picasso, the famous Spanish painter, was born in 1881. His father was an art teacher. Picasso began to paint very early. He was admitted to the Royal Academy of Art at the age of 15. After 1900, he spent much time in Paris, living there from 1904 to 1947, when he moved to the south of France. Throughout his career, Picasso moved from style to style with ease. He practiced sculpture, illustrated books and also showed great interest in pottery design and other fields of art. Picasso produced a great number of drawings during his lifetime. No later artist of the School of Paris has replaced him in international influence. Picasso is generally considered to be the foremost figure in 20th century French art. His paintings are now exhibited in leading European and American galleries. Question: According to the writer, Picasso was _ . Options: A: more important than any other French artist in international influence B: more important than any other Spanish artist in international influence C: the most important figure in Spain D: the most important figure in France
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A

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Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Elephants are the only species on the earth known to have death ritual besides man. They show a strong interest in the bones of their own kind.They are often seen gently touching the bones with their trunks and feet while remaining very quiet.Sometimes elephants completely unrelated to the dead will still visit their graves. Elephant researcher Meredith recalls something in his book about a typical elephant death ritual.The entire family of a dead elephant,including her young baby,were all gently touching her body with their trunks,trying to lift her. The elephant herd were all rumbling :The baby elephant was even observed to be weeping and made sounds that sounded like a scream,but then the entire herd fell incredibly silent.Then they began to throw leaves and dirt over the body and broke off tree branches to cover her.They spent the next two days quietly standing over her body.They sometimes had to leave to get water or food,but they would always return. Events of elephants behaving this way around human beings are common throughout Africa. On many occasions,they have buried dead or sleeping humans or helped them when they are hurt. An old woman fell asleep under a tree.When she woke up,there was an elephant standing over her,gently touching her.She kept very still because she was frightened.As other elephants arrived,they began to scream loudly and buried her under branches.She was found the next morning by the local people,unharmed. George Adamson also recalls when he shot all elephant from a herd that kept breaking into the farmers'gardens.George gave the:elephant's meat to 1ocal men and then dragged the rest of the body miles away.That night,the other elephants found the body,took the leg bones,returned them to the exact spot the elephant was killed,and made the death ritual. Question: What is the best title for the passage? Options: A: Humans and elephants B: The intelligenee of elephants C: The feelings of elephants D: The death rituals of elephants
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D

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Read the article and select the best answer. Article: "Plants were expected to get larger with increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but changes in temperature, humidity and nutrient availability seem to have _ the benefits of increased carbon dioxide," said researchers from the National University of Singapore. 45 percent of the species studied now reach smaller adult sizes than they did in the past. The researchers point out that warmer temperatures and changing habitats, caused by climate change, are possible reasons for the shrinking of creatures. "We do not yet know the exact mechanisms involved, or why some organisms are getting smaller while others are unaffected," the researchers said. "Until we understand more, we could be risking negative consequences that we can't yet quantify." The change was big in cold-blooded animals. Only two decades of warmer temperatures were enough to make reptiles smaller. An increase of only 1degC caused nearly a 10 percent increase in metabolism . Greater use of energy resulted in tiny tortoises and little lizards. Fish are smaller now too. Though overfishing has played a part in reducing numbers, experiments show that warmer temperatures also stop fish growth. There is a recent report on warmer temperatures' negative effects on plankton ,the base of the marine ecosystem. Warm-blooded animals weren't immune from the size change caused by climate change. Many birds are now smaller; Mammals have been miniaturized too. Soay sheep are thinner. Red deer are weaker. And polar bears are smaller, compared with historical records. This isn't the first time this has happened in Earth's history. 55 million years ago, a warming event similar to the current climate change caused bees, spiders and ants to shrink by 50 to 75 percent over several thousand years. That event happened over a longer time than the current climate change. The speed of modern climate change could mean organisms may not respond or adapt quickly enough, especially those with long generation times. So, it is likely that more negative influences of climate... Question: What can we learn from the passage? Options: A: Climate change has even affected plankton negatively. B: Birds have suffered more from climate change than fish. C: Cold-blooded animals become smaller because of the lack of food. D: The warming event has never happened in Earth's history before.
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A