Read the article and select the best answer. Article: On the eve of our daughters' weddings, I gave both of them what I considered to be excellent marital advice: never leave your husband unsupervised with pruning shears . _ I recently let my guard down. Thirty-some years of marriage can do that to a woman. Give a man pruning shears and electric trimmers and he will give new meaning to "armed and dangerous." One day earlier this year, my husband said that the crab apple tree was dead. "Why do you think it is dead?" I asked. "Look at it. There's not a leaf on it." "There's not a leaf on anything. It's March," I said. "It looked sick last fall and with this bitter winter we had, I'm convinced it's dead." The truth is he's never liked the crab apple. Sure, it has beautiful blooms in the spring, but then it gets a disease, the leaves curl, and it drops those little apples that sit on the driveway. Each passing week he pronounced the tree dead. Eventually I began to believe him. Though he agreed it would be a regrettable loss, there was a twinkle in his eye. He armed himself a couple of weeks ago and began trimming. A branch here, a branch there, a small limb, then a large limb. I watched and then decided to check the wood on some of the branches closer to the trunk. I broke one off and saw green. The crab apple was not dead. It just hadn't had time to leaf out. The tree was now falling to one side, but it was not dead. I would have told him so, but he had moved on to a maple. Once the man starts, he can't stop. One trim leads to another. "Please, stop!" I called. He smiled and nodded, but he couldn't hear because he had started the hedge trimmers and was getting ready to fix a line of hedges. Zip , zip, zip. "What do you think?" he shouted. "It's supposed to be a privacy hedge; now all that will be private are our ankles." He started the trimmers again. "Stop!" I called, "Come back!" "Why?" he shouted. "You're in the neighbor's yard." Question: We can learn from the article that the author's husband _ . Options: A: has a great talent for gardening B: had never used pruning shears before C: mistook their crab apple tree for a maple tree D: nearly ruined their neighbor's garden
D

(Question)
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Some people don't mind being fat. Other people can keep slim without any effort. But a lot of people do put on too much weight and don't like it. The question is, what can they do about it? Some believe exercise can be helpful. But the trouble is that it only makes you want to eat more. You might sweat out a couple of pounds playing tennis or climbing a mountain, but you put it all back on again with a big steak or bread and jam. A helpful way is food choosing. But what sort of food should you choose? Some believe that the less they eat, the slimmer they will be. They don't eat anything until they become weak with hunger. Some stick to milk and bananas. You'll find you need a lot of bananas, and unless you live where they grow, they aren't cheap. Others say that if you eat things like hard-boiled eggs, and apples with their skins on which are hard for your stomach to digest, the more you eat, the thinner you get. This is because you use up the fat in your body to get the energy to digest the food. For most of us these methods are too extreme. The simplest way is just to cut down on the carbohydrates that means not eating bread, potatoes, cakes, sugar, rice, and so on and eating anything else you like. It's straight forward and often quite effective. Question: According to the passage, the best way to keep slim is _ . Options: A: Exercising B: Hunger C: Food-choosing D: Eating milk and bananas
(Answer)
C

Ques: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Chinese writer Mo Yan's Nobel Prize for Literature might _ an explosion of global interest in Chinese literature and lead to more titles translated into English, European experts say. "Hopefully, the award means more people will read Chinese literature and more works will get translated," says Michel Hockx, professor of the Languages and Cultures of China and Inner Asia from University of London. "Many very good Chinese writers have been accepted globally for a long time already. Mo Yan is probably the most translated Chinese writer alive, with at least five of his novels made available in English over the past 20 years." Jonathan Ruppin, web editor of bookseller Foyles, says Mo's win coincides with growing interest in Chinese literature and recognizes the talents of a distinctive and visionary writer. "We are very excited by the fact that English translations of more of his books should now become available," Ruppin says. He made the comment after Mo became the first Chinese citizen to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in its century-long history. As East-West cultural exchange has been booming, Chinese literature has been attracting growing attention in recent years. Hockx explains, "It's mainly because there are many more opportunities for Chinese writers to visit other countries, to publish their works outside China and to interact with readers abroad. At the same time, more and more people globally are learning Chinese and taking an interest in the Chinese language and culture." University of Oxford lecturer in modern Chinese literature Margaret Hillenbrand says, "The obvious reason for the growing global presence of Chinese literature is the growing global presence of China itself. People have come to realize that there is a serious knowledge deficit between China and its international counterparts -- in particular, _ -- and reading Chinese literature is an effective, simple means of solving that gap." Question: Which of the following is true according to the passage? Options: A: Chinese literature has spread with the development of China. B: The Nobel Prize for Literature has a history of hundreds of years. C: In the past, no Chinese writers were accepted outside China. D: Foreigners know about China mainly by reading Mo Yan's works.
Ans: A

Ques:Read the article and select the best answer. Article: French people pride themselves on their delicious foods, such as cheese, baguettes and croissants(two kinds of food). In fact, food is an important part of French culture. Families and friends spend hours over the dinner table each night. It is the opposite of the fast-food habit common in other parts of the West. It's the reason why the French are very angry that a McDonald's is opening beneath Paris's most famous museum: the Louvre . The new restaurant will be the 1,142nd McDonald's in France, and will open in the underground approach to the museum. But many French people can't understand why this American chain is opening in the heart of French culture. However, McDonald's is paying no notice to the complaint. McDonald's now has 31,000 chains worldwide. Tourists are hungry, and opening chains in tourist spots pays well. There is another chain threatening France's heritage. This time it is coffee rather than burgers. As more and more Starbucks open in Paris, traditional French cafes are forced to close. The trouble with American companies opening chains throughout the world is the destructive effect they can have on a country's culture. How can a small, independent coffee shop compete with the multi-billion dollar chain? You can go to a Starbucks in any city in the world, but you can only go to a Parisian cafe in France. Responsibility is with the tourists. A McDonald's wouldn't open so near the Louvre if it weren't not going to make money. Similarly, a Pizza Hut wouldn't overlook Egypt's Great Pyramid if no one wants to sit in it. Maybe next time you visit the Great Wall, you should think twice before ordering a Cappuccino in the Starbucks. Question: Why are the French very angry when a McDonald's is opening beneath the Louvre? Options: A: Because they will spend many hours in McDonald's. B: Because French food culture is very impressive. C: Because they also have the fast-food habit. D: Because they are proud of their own food.

Ans:
D