Years ago, I was watching a detective show on TV where the fingerprints of a criminal are required. The hero invites the bad guy to his home and offers him a glass of water. The man takes the glass and drinks the water. After he leaves the hero dramatically brings out a handkerchief and picks up the glass. His expressions show the satisfaction at a job well done. The bad guy will soon be arrested. At that time, I found it amazing - how can prints on a glass identify people? My dad explained that if you were to press your thumb on an inkpad and then on a sheet of white paper you will leave a smudge or print, which no one else in the world can make. The same would be true for each of your fingers. The Chinese were the first to use a fingerprint as a type of identification - it was used as a signature on important documents, although they had no way of independently matching it with the owner. Each print is one-of-a-kind and no two people have the same characteristic. Scientists and criminologists (those who study criminal characteristics) determine the differences between fingerprints by a careful study of their curves and not by their general shape or pattern. In 1892, an English scientist, Sir Francis Galton, published a book on using fingerprints to solve crimes. At the same time in Argentina, a police researcher Juan Vucetich was also working towards a fingerprint classification system. However, it was in 1896 that Sir Edward Henry, then serving as Inspector General of Police in India, developed the print classification system that would eventually be used globally. Sir Edward Henry and his assistant Khan Haque discovered that all fingerprints could be systematically classified according to their general curve patterns. He divided them into three classes on the basis of their general pattern: loops , whorls , and arches . By counting the curve between any two points in the pattern, each of the ten fingers could be classified into a particular group. Taking the group together as a unit you have a... In which country was today's fingerprint classification system developed? A) China B) Scotland C) Argentina D) India
D
(Question)
In elementary school, Guadalupe Quintanilla was often referred to as a "slow learner" by her teachers. But she really wasn't slow at all. She just didn't understand the language used in the classroom. Her problem was that she didn't speak English. So she left school after the fourth grade. When Guadalupe grew up, married, and had children of her own, she knew that her children were clever. But some of their teachers didn't think so. The children were having trouble in school because they didn't speak English. Mrs Quintanilla was angry. She didn't want people to think that her children were slow learners. So she decided to learn English herself as a way of helping them. She practiced English. She looked up words in the dictionary. She asked the school headmaster to let her sit in on classes. It wasn't easy, but she passed all her exams. She said that many of the other students helped her. Mrs Quintanilla has helped her children with their lessons. Her two sons have won success. One is a teacher, and the other is a doctor. Her youngest child, a daughter, is studying in a university. The story is mainly about _ . A) learning to sing and dance B) the problem of slow learning C) going to a university D) Mrs Quintanilla's success
(Answer)
D
Ques: It's the place where smart people make smart machines work even smarter. It's also in the heart of sunny California, a great place to start a family and raise kids. What could be better? But something is happening to their children. Up until the age of two they develop normally. But then everything seems to go backwards. The children become locked into their own small world, unable to communicate at all. They call it the "curse of Silicon Valley," but the medical name for the condition is autism . It used to be thought that autism was a kind of mental illness. Now doctors are sure that it is a neurological disease transmitted genetically. It seems that the people leading the communications revolution are having children who cannot communicate at all. But even the parents have trouble communicating. Asperger's Syndrome is a mild version of autism. People who have it are highly intelligent and often brilliant with numbers or system but have no social skill. This very combination of symptoms makes Asperger's sufferers into ideal computer professionals. The Asperger's sufferer has always been a well--known figure in popular culture. He or she was the eccentric but dedicated scholar or the strange uncle or auntie who never married. But the high numbers of such people in Silicon Valley mean that they can meet others who understand them and share their interests. And while they might not be personally attractive, they can earn truly attractive amounts of money. They can get married and have kids. Unfortunately, many of the children of two Asperger's parents seem to be developing serious autism. There is little anyone can do. It takes hours of work just to make autistic child realize that anyone else exists. And there is no cure in sight. Some argue that no cure should be found. "It may be that autistics are essentially different from normal people, but that these differences make them invaluable for the evolution of the human race," says Dr. Kirk Whilhelmsen of the University of California. "To eliminate the genes... Why do people call autism "curse of Silicon Valley"? A) Because autistic people live in Silicon Valley. B) Because many people working in Silicon Valley have autism children. C) Because people with autism will be driven out of Silicon Valley. D) Because people with autism are not personally attractive and not liked by others.
Ans: B
The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Copenhagen is offering a free meal to any guest who is able to produce electricity for the hotel on an exercise bike linked to a generator ,The idea is to get people fit and reduce their carbon footprint. Guests will have to produce at least 10 watt hours of electricity -- roughly 15 minutes of cycling for someone of average fitness. Guests staying at Plaza Hotel will be given meat tickets worth $36 once they have produced 10 watt hours of electricity. The bicycles will have smart phones attached to the handlebars measuring how much power is being generated for the hotel. The plan, a world-first, will start on 19 April and run for a year. Only guests staying at the hotel will be able to take part. Frederikke Toemmergaard, hotel spokeswoman, said, "Many of our visitors are business people who enjoy going to the gym. There might be people who will cycle just to get a free meal, but generally I don't think people will take advantage of our programme," Copenhagen has a long-standing cycling tradition and 36% of locals cycle to work each day, one of the highest percentages in the world, according to the website visitcopenhagen.dk. US environmental website treehugger.com recently voted Copenhagen the world's best city for cyclists. "Because Copenhagen is strongly connected with cycling, we felt the bicycle would work well as a symbol of the hotel's green profile ." If successful, the electric bicycle meal programme will be spread to all Crowne Plaza hotels in the UK, the hotel said in a statement. What is the main purpose of the free meal programme? A) To promote the hotel's green concept. B) To make the city known to the world. C) To attract people to the hotel restaurant. D) To get guests to stay longer at the hotel.
A