Who owns the large American companies that produce cars, washing machines, and television sets? They are owned by a large group of people called stockholders. A company must have money to build factories and to buy machinery. To get this money, it sells shares of stock . Each share of stock is a share in the ownership of the company. The person who buys a share of stock becomes a part owner of the company. He is called a stockholder. A company can have thousands of stockholders. Sometimes a very large company is owned by millions of stockholders. Few persons can afford to buy a whole company, but the average individual can become part owner of a business. He can save his dollars and buy a share of stock in a large company. A person does not have to be wealthy to be a stockholder. When a company makes money, each stockholder may receive a dividend check, which is his share of the profits . Parts of a company's profits are not paid out to the stockholders. This money is used by the company so it can grow larger. If the company does well, its shares of stock become more valuable. More than 20 million people own shares of stock in America's companies. By owning stock, they are helping America's businesses grow. They are also putting their money to work to earn more money. Why do companies keep part of their profits? A) They want to buy the shares of stock, too. B) They cannot find all the names of their stockholders. C) They use the money to help the company grow larger. D) They think they have sent their stockholders enough money.
C
(Question)
"It was amazing, just impressive," Holly Budge, a 29-year-old British woman, said after making a safe landing at a spot 12,350 feet (3,765 meters) above sea level -- the highest "drop zone" achieved by a parachutist . "We had one minute of freefall and while we were above the clouds you could see Everest and the other high mountains popping out of the top," she said. Ms Budge and her two fellow daredevils, Wendy Smith, from New Zealand, and Neil Jones, from Canada, jumped out of an aircraft at about 29,500 feet, just higher than the peak of the world's highest mountain. They fell at speeds reaching 140mph, past the highest ridges of the snow-covering Himalayas, before each released a parachute . The jumpers wore oxygen masks to keep their lungs working as they fell. Wearing neoprene underwear was compulsory -- to prevent them from being frozen to death. The adventure, advertised by its organizers as "a feast for those who seek to stimulate all their senses to the full", appeared to have lived up to its billing. "I had never seen so many mountains before," Ms Smith said. "To be on top of the world was simply stunning ." The expedition also offered a way by which to celebrate her 30th birthday later this month, she said. Besides, her jump raised funds for charities in Britain and Nepal, including more than PS10,000 for the Hampshire Autistic Society. In the next few days the feat will be repeated by about 30 others, weather permitting. Each has paid at least PS12,675 to High and Wild, the British adventure travel company behind the project. Ms Budge said: "It was worth the money. It is something that has never been done before." Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage? _ A) The successful diving is a good way to celebrate Ms Budge's 31st birthday. B) This skydiving has set a new national record. C) Ms Budge has managed to contribute all her money to charities. D) As a wonderful experience, this skydiving is recommended to other people.
(Answer)
D
Ques: London has become a cycle friendly zone after the launch of a new bike hire scheme. It has been designed to encourage more people to cycle in and around central London. So how does it work?First you have to sign up to the scheme to be sent a key. The key will unlock one of the bikes,which are kept at docking stations in and around central London. You have to pay an access fee for the key and then you pay as you go,for the length of time you use the bike. Transport for London,which runs the scheme,are hoping to have 6,000 bikes and 400 docking stations in place by the end of the year. The new hire system is hoping to ease congestion in London and is expected to create up to 40,000 extra cycle trips a day into the city centre. London Mayor Boris Johnston launched the scheme and said London had been "filled with thousands of gleaming machines that will transform the look and feel of our streets and become as commonplace on our roads as black cabs and red buses". However,there have been a few problems since the scheme was launched last Friday. On the first day some people found they couldn't dock their bike properly and their usage of the bike had not registered. Transport for London did admit they had been expecting a few "teething problems" and have said they wouldn't charge for the first day as a "gesture of goodwill". Some other people have criticized the lack of docking stations and locks for the bikes as well as the price it costs to hire the bicycles. Despite the comments,the green-thinking London Mayor still seems very positive about things,saying,"My campaign for the capital to become the greatest big cycling city in the world has taken a big pedal-powered push forwards." From the passage we can infer that _ A) the London Mayor is confident in the scheme B) the scheme will be cancelled because of the problems C) all the citizens in London support the scheme D) the cycling revolution is not successful
Ans: A
Ques:The loss of a job can have a very serious impact on the individual. The immediate effect, of course, is a sharp drop in income. Unemployment benefits typically offer less than half the individual's previous earnings, and many people are not even entitled to these benefits-for example, the self-employed, recent graduates who have not held a steady job in the previous year, and people who have been unemployed for a long period. The economic pressure on the jobless is very severe, particularly for those who have young children or long-term commitments for expenses for houses and education. But the effects of unemployment are not merely financial; they are also social and psychological. As one out-of-work teacher puts it: "It's difficult when you strip away all the things that supposedly hold you together in terms of an identity. Your work, your money, whatever is power to you, whatever is responsibility, whatever means freedom and choice." I had to ask myself, "Who am I now? What will I do now?" All too often, long-term unemployment may thrust the individual into boredom, despair, ill-temper, and perhaps, conflict with other family members. Even those who keep their jobs are affected by rates of unemployment, for they begin to fear for own future. Lacking the confidence that workers have in times of full employment, they negotiate less aggressively for improvements in pay or working conditions, for they and the employers know that if they do not like the job as it is, others will gladly take it. Unemployment is always accompanied, in fact, by underemployment-the situation in which people are working either for extremely low wages or at jobs below their level of skill. By "underemployment"(Line 12, Para. 2), the writer means the situation in which _ . A) people are unemployed or low skills are required B) some people are unemployed and poorly paid C) people are working for less than eight hours a day D) people are working for low wages or at jobs below their level of skill

Ans:
D