Q: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Researchers have revealed 25 major life milestones - and the ages by which we should have achieved them. A new study has unveiled the ultimate guide to life, which involves passing a driving test at the age of 20, moving out at 22 and getting married at 27. The comprehensive study, which draws on the wisdom, life experience and regrets of almost 2,000 adults between the ages of 16 and 65, also found we should be earning the average wage by the age of 30. Researchers also revealed 19 is the best age to start a full-time job, while we should feel free to enjoy the first holiday without mum and dad two years later. Early 20s should also include moving out of home, buying our first car and flying to sunnier places for the first time with a boyfriend or girlfriend. A spokeswoman for Amigo Loans, which commissioned the study, said: "It's normal to want to achieve certain things by certain ages and it's good to be ambitious. "Borrowing money to achieve life's milestones, such as moving out, buying a car or starting a business is harder than ever for ordinary, hard-working people and our research shows nearly half of 16-34 year-olds expect to turn to their family and friends for financial help to achieve their life goals. Indeed, nearly 80 per cent of our guarantors are family members." As we head to late 30s and early 40s, we ought to be aiming to have moved to slightly bigger second home, have earnings of around PS40k a year or more, and even set up our own business. The study also looked into the subject of pressure and the part it plays in helping us achieve our goals. One in three people said they felt there was more pressure on the current generation to reach milestones within specific time frames. But according to the data, a large percentage of us also put the pressure on ourselves to achieve things by certain times. Question: According to the passage, pressure _ - Is beneficial to many people - Is always the subject of life milestones - Plays a passive role in milestone - Has nothing to do with life milestones
A: Is beneficial to many people

Q: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: A few minutes ago , walking back from lunch , I started to cross the street when I heard the sound of a coin dropping . It wasn't much but , as I turned , my eyes caught the heads of several other people turning too . A woman had dropped what appeared to be a dime . The tinkling sound of a coin dropping on sidewalk is an attention-getter . It can be nothing more than a penny . Whatever the coin is , no one ignores the sound of it . It got me thinking about sounds again . We are surrounded by so many sounds that attract the most attention . People in prefix = st1 /New York Cityseldom turn to look when a fire engine, a police car or an ambulance comes screaming along the street . When I'm in New York, I'm a New Yorker . I don't turn either . Like the natives . I hardly hear a siren there . At home in my little town in Connecticut, it's different . The distant loud noise of a police car , an emergency vehicle or a fire siren brings me to my feet if I'm seated and brings me to the window if I'm in bed . It's the quietest sounds that have most effect on us , not the loudest . In the middle of the night , I can hear a dripping tap a hundred yards away through three closed doors . I've been hearing little creaking noises and sounds which my imagination turns into footsteps in the middle of the night for twenty-five years in our house . How come I never hear those sounds in the daytime ? I'm quite clear in my mind what the good sounds are and what the bad sounds are . I've turned against whistling , for instance . I used to think of it as the mark of a happy worker but lately I've been connecting the whistler with a nervous person making noises . The tapping , tapping ,tapping of my typewriter as the keys hit the paper is a lovely sound to me . I often like the sound of what I write better than the looks of it . Question: What kind of sound does he find pleasant ? - Tapping of his typewriter . - Clinking sound of keys . - Tinkling sound of a coin dropping . - Creaking sounds .
A: Tapping of his typewriter .

Q: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: In ancient Greece,there were four major athletic meetings and the Olympian meeting played the most important part in the lives of the people. As time passed,the Olympian meeting gradually lost its local character and became first a national event and then international. No one knows exactly how far back the Olympic Games go but some official records date from 776 BC. The Games took place every four years on the plain by Mount Olympus. Thousands of people came from all parts of the Greek world to watch the games. The winner of the foot race had the great honor of giving his name to the year of his history. After a long history of almost 1,200 years,the Games were stopped for religious reasons. It was then decided in 1896 to start the Olympic Games again. The meeting was held in Athens and 311 athletes from 13 countries took part in it but the idea of such an international meeting attracted the world's attention. After the 1908 London Olympics,many nations sent their best athletes. Although the Games have been time and again threatened by some unfavorable political events, the Games have taken place every four years. Nowadays, the Games are held in different countries in turn. As the biggest international gathering of any kind in the world,athletes from different countries play games together and this provides them with good chances to learn to live together. The friendly feelings in the Olympic Village make people think of the world as one big family. The Olympic Games will be hosted in Beijing in 2008. It is believed that the Games will be a wonder of the world. Question: The first old Olympic Games took place _ . - a thousand years ago - in the seventh century AD - in modern times - before 700 BC
A: before 700 BC

Q: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Scientists around the world have been studying the warming of waters in the Pacific Ocean known as El Nino . The appearance of El Nino is known to affect the weather around the world. Scientists still do not completely understand it. Yet they now find they can use it to tell about the future in different areas of the world. One example is the work of two scientists at Columbia University in New York, Mark Cane and Gordon Eshel. A scientist of Zimbabwe , Roger Buckland worked with them. They have found that when El Nino appears, Zimbabwe has little or no rain. This means corn crops in Zimbabwe are poor. The last El Nino was in 1991 to 1993. That was when southeastern Africa suffered a serious lack of rain. The scientists wrote about their recent work in the publication Nature. Their computer program can tell when an El Nino will develop up to a year before it does. They suggest that this could provide an effective early warning system for southern Africa, and could prevent many people from starving. Question: El Nino is known as _ . - the changing of the weather in southern Africa - the warming of waters in the Pacific Ocean - the weather which brings drought to Africa - the weather phenomenon that brings heavy rains to Africa
A: the warming of waters in the Pacific Ocean