I suddenly felt like drinking some wine last night, because I had a tough decision to make. It's been too long for me to live in the shadow created by myself! Darkness has taken me but fortunately, I finally woke up and decided to make my way out. Amanda bought me a bottle of wine which tasted as bitter as the life I had been undergoing. I told her what I had experienced. It is I who chose to be like this! It's my own choicer. Had I not come back from Singapore, not decided to leave FX, not divorced with Maggie, I would not have met you! There are too many things, which are not supposed to happen, but happened to me! My job is stable but not well-paid, interesting but not challenging, relaxing but not what I want. There's nothing about the job I am proud of, except that I can be the interpreter for the vice mayor sometimes. But is it a big deal? No, I don't think so! There are now two options in front of me. I can either choose to stay in government or leave for foreign companies. I asked Amanda for advice, who suggested me to stay still in the government, and my parents also asked me to be patient! But my mind is totally blank now, and I don't know which to choose. I'm confused! Neither option is convincing, in terms of payment and long-term improvement. Working for the government will give me a stable career life. I won't need to worry about my sales targets and whatever insurance. But I will never be rich again! Working for a foreign company will bring good salaries and bonus to me. But I will be under great pressure to achieve whatever goals made by the company! I'm no longer a young salesman. My confidence is no longer as strong as before! God, it's so hard to make the decision! Who is responsible for this situation? A) Amanda. B) The author's parents. C) Maggie. D) The author himself.
D
It was only a few weeks after my surgery, and I went to Dr. Belt's office for a checkup. It was just after my first chemotherapy treatment. My scar was still very tender. My arm was numb underneath. As usual, I was taken to an examination room to have my blood drawn, again --a terrifying process for me, since I'm so frightened of needles. I lay down on the examining table. Ramona entered the room. Her warm smile was familiar, and stood out in contrast to my fears. She knew about my fear of needles, and she kindly hid the equipment under a magazine. As we opened the blouse, the fresh scar on my chest could be seen. She said, "How is your scar healing?" I said, "I think pretty well. I wash around it gently each day." The memory of the shower water hitting my numb chest flashed across my face. She gently reached over and ran her hand across the scar, examining the smoothness of the healing skin and looking for any irregularities. I began to cry gently and quietly. She brought her warm eyes to mine and said, "You haven't touched it yet, have you?" And I said, "No." So this wonderful, warm woman laid the hand on my chest and she gently held it there. For a long time, I continued to cry quietly. In soft tones she said, "This is part of your body. This is you. It's okay to touch it." But I couldn't. So she touched it for me. The scar. The healing wound. And beneath it, she touched my heart. Then Ramona said, "I'll hold your hand while you touch it." So she placed her hand next to mine, and we both were quiet. That was the gift that Ramona gave me. What is the author's attitude towards Ramona? A) Objective B) Grateful C) Doubtful D) Helpless
B
Q: Eat,drink and be merry. That's what Spring Festival is all about. But there are millions of people,too,who love to let happiness go up in smoke. Offering cigarettes to guests is a traditional Chinese way of showing respect for them. A cup of tea and cigarettes are perhaps the most common way of welcoming a guest in China,especially during festive occasions. No wonder,40 percent of the people surveyed recently said they would smoke at least twice the usual number of cigarettes during the Spring Festival because of all those gatherings and parties. Only 20 percent of the respondents said they would refuse a cigarette when offered one. Why can't the others do the same?Because they could be seen as being rude,said more than half of the respondents. Fifteen percent feared they could be taken as "someone who cannot get along well with others". The Think tank Research Center for Health Development and sohu.com survey shows 61 percent Chinese think offering a cigarette is useful for socializing,and 52 percent have offered cigarettes to others. The study surveyed 3,800 people,64 percent of them men. One third of those surveyed were smokers,out of which 57 percent said they couldn't give up smoking because of the offering and accepting culture. "People have accepted offering cigarettes as an effective way of making friends," research center director Wu Yiqun says. China has more than 350 million smokers,catering to the tobacco market that is worth 500 billion yuan. "The survey shows we still have a lot of work to do," Wu says. "Since Beijing is trying to make the Olympic Games smoke free,it is time to let people know that offering a cigarette is a bad habit and it should be given up immediately." The passage is written with the purpose of _ . A) telling us a custom about the Chinese Spring Festival B) introducing a way to make friends with Chinese C) stopping smoking during the Beijing Olympic D) telling us that offering cigarettes is a bad habit
A: D
(Question)
The Internet brings us many advantages. With the Internet, people can send and receive emails. On the Internet, people can skim over news. Using the Telnet, the user anywhere on the Internet can log into any other machine on which he has an account. It is possible to use the FTP program to copy files from one machine on the Internet to another. But the Internet also brings us troubles. Internet use seems to cause a fall in psychological health, according to research at Carnegie Mellon University. Even people who spent just a few hours a week on the Internet experienced more depression and loneliness than those who logged on less often, the twoyear study showed. And it wasn't that people who were already feeling bad spent more time on the Internet, but that using the Net actually seemed to cause the bad feelings. Researchers are puzzled over the results, which were completely opposite to what they had expected. They expected that the Net would prove socially healthier than television, since the Net allows users to choose their information and to communicate with others.The fact that Internet use reduces time used for family and friends may be the reason for the drop in health, researchers said. Faceless, bodiless"virtual" communication may be less psychologically satisfying than actual conversations, and the relationships formed through it may not be so deep. Another possibility is that exposure to the wider world through the Net makes users less satisfied with their lives. "But _ it's _ important _ to _ remember _ this _ is _ not _ about _ the _ technology; _ it's _ about _ how _ it _ is _ used,"said one of the researchers. "It really points to the need for considering social factors when you design new inventions." The writer mainly wants to tell us that _ . A) the Internet can bring people many advantages B) the Internet use may cause psychological problems C) the Internet users are not satisfied with their lives D) we shouldn't use the Internet
(Answer)
B