Read the following article and answer the question. Article: Spending as little as $5 a day on someone else could significantly boost happiness, the team at the University of British Columbia and Harvard Business School found on Thursday. Their experiments on more than 630 Americans showed they were measurably happier when they spent money on others--even if they thought spending the money on themselves would make them happier. "We wanted to test our theory that how people spend their money is at least as important as how much money they earn," said Elizabeth Dunn, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia. They asked their 600 volunteers first to rate their general happiness, report their annual (yearly) income and detail their monthly spending including bills, gifts for themselves, girls for others and donations to charity. "Regardless of how much income each person made, those who spent money on others reported greater happiness, while those who spent more on themselves did not," Dunn said in a statement. Dunn's team also surveyed 16 employees at a company in Boston before and after they received an annual profit-sharing bonus of between $3,000 and $8,000. "Employees who devoted more of their bonus to pro-social spending experienced greater happiness after receiving the bonus and the manner in which they spent that bonus was a more important predictor of their happiness than the size of the bonus itself" they wrote in their report, published in the journal Science. They gave their volunteers $5 or $20 and half got clear instructions on how to spend it. Those who spent the money on someone or something else reported feeling happier about it. "These findings suggest that very minor alterations (changes) in spending allocations (shares)--as little as $5--may be enough to produce real gains in happiness on a given day,"Dunn said. Question: What is the general idea of the passage? Answer:
OPTIONS:
- The more you earn, the greater happiness you will get.
- Spending more money on yourself will make you happier.
- Money can buy happiness, but only if you spend it on someone else.
- You can spend only 5$ a day to get happiness.
Money can buy happiness, but only if you spend it on someone else.
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Read the following article and answer the question. Article: Do women's minds work the same as men's? Absolutely not. At least, that is what most men are convinced of. Psychologists view the subject either as a matter or frustration or a joke. Now the biologists have moved into this minefield, and some of them have found that there are real differences between the brains of men and women. But being different, they point out hurriedly, is not the same as being better or worse. There is, however, a definite structural variation between the male and female brain. The difference is in a part of the brain that is used in the most complex intellectual processes-the link between the two halves of the brain. The two halves are linked by a trunkline of between 200 and 300 million nerves, the corpus callosum. Scientists have found quite recently that the corpus callosum in women is always larger and probably richer in nerve fibres than it is in men. This is the first time that a structural difference has been found between the brains of women and men and it must have some significance. The question is "What?", and, if this difference exists, are there others? Research shows that present-day women think differently and behave differently from men. Are some of these differences biological and inborn, a result of evolution? We tend to think that is the influence of society that produces these differences. But could we be wrong? Research showed that these two halves of the brain had different functions, and that the corpus callosum enabled them to work together. For most people, the left half is used for word handing, analytical and logical activities; the right half works on pictures, patterns and forms. We need both halves working together. And the better the connections, the more harmoniously the two halves work. And, according to research findings, women have the better connections. But it isn't all that easy to explain the actual differences between skills of men and women on this basis. In schools throughout the world girls tend to be better than boys at "language subjects"... Question: According to the passage it is commonly believed that brain differences are caused by _ factors. Answer:
OPTIONS:
- social
- psychological
- physical
- biological
social
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Read the following article and answer the question. Article: If you are not comfortable with school learning, there is another option for you--cyberschool. Cyberschool can also provide a comprehensive teaching service that offers academic guidance and assistance. This is in order to promote the learning process and create a formal, wellstructured environment for learning to take place. The center for Education Reform says the United States has 67 public "cyberschools" and that is about twice as many as two years ago. The money for students to attend a cyberschool comes from the governments of the states where they live. Some educators say cyberschools receive money that should support traditional public schools. They also say it is difficult to know if students are learning well. Other educators praise this new form of education for letting students work at their own speed. These people say cyberschools help students who were unhappy or unsuccessful in traditional schools. They say learning at home by computer ends long bus rides for children who live far from school. Whatever the judgment of cyberschools, they are getting more and more popular. Children get free equipment for their online education. This includes a computer, a printer, books and technical services. Parents and students talk with teachers by telephone or by sending emails through their computers when necessary. Even though cyberschools are therefore not technically a school, mostly they offer a fully complete and comprehensive program that covers a full school day to children up to Grade 9, after which schooling is no longer mandatory . Question: What is a problem with cyberschools? Answer:
OPTIONS:
- Their equipment costs a lot of money.
- They get little support from the state government.
- It is hard to know students' progress in learning.
- The students can only have a halfday schedule.
It is hard to know students' progress in learning.
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Read the following article and answer the question. Article: Caught in the Web A few months ago, it wasn't unusual for 47-year-old Carla Toebe to spend 15 hours per day online. She'd wake up early, turn on her laptop and chat on Internet dating sites and instant-messaging programs - leaving her bed for only brief intervals. Her household bills piled up, along with the dishes and dirty laundry, but it took near-constant complaints from her four daughters before she realized she had a problem. "I was starting to feel like my whole world was falling apart - kind of slipping into a depression," said Carla. "I knew that if I didn't get off the dating sites, I'd just keep going," detaching herself further from the outside world. Toebe's conclusion: She felt like she was "addicted" to the Internet. She's not alone. Concern about excessive Internet use isn't new. As far back as 1995, articles in medical journals and the establishment of a Pennsylvania treatment center for overusers generated interest in the subject. There's still no consensus on how much time online constitutes too much or whether addiction is possible. But as reliance on the Web grows, there are signs that the question is getting more serious attention: Last month, a study published in CNS Spectrums claimed to be the first large-scale look at excessive Internet use. The American Psychiatric Association may consider listing Internet addiction in the next edition of its diagnostic manual. And scores of online discussion boards have popped up on which people discuss negative experiences tied to too much time on the Web. "There's no question that there're people who're seriously in trouble because they're overdoing their Internet involvement," said psychiatrist Ivan Goldberg. Goldberg calls the problem a disorder rather than a true addiction. Jonathan Bishop, a researcher in Wales specializing in online communities, is more skeptical. "The Internet is an environment," he said. "You can't be addicted to the environment." Bishop describes the problem as simply a matter of priorities, which can be solved by... Question: What eventually made Carla Toebe realize she was spending too much time on the Internet? Answer:
OPTIONS:
- Her daughter's repeated complaints.
- Fatigue resulting from lack of sleep.
- The poorly managed state of her house.
- The high financial costs adding up.
Her daughter's repeated complaints.
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