In all the world's cultures, people sing, play instruments, and celebrate with music. It plays such an important role in our lives that all fields focus on its study, including one looking at the biology of music. Experts are finding that because of the way our brains process music, learning to play an instrument or just listening to music can have a wide range of benefits. Music education has received a lot of attention. Learning to play an instrument can help children improve math, science, and language skills. One study in Canada tracked children's IQ scores for nine months, discovering that children who studied music had the biggest test score improvements. The secret may lie in the way reading music and playing notes uses several areas of the brain, increasing our ability to learn school subjects. For example, reading notes improves spatial reasoning skills, which are helpful in solving math problems like fractions . Music is also used for medical purposes, such as the treatment of diseases which affect memory. The secret lies in the way the brain processes music. One area near the forehead, the medial prefrontal cortex, connects music with memories stored in two other areas: the amygdale and hippocampus. That's why an old song can remind you of something that happened years ago. For patients suffering from diseases like Alzheimer's, listening to music can help unlock buried memories by strengthening musical pathways to memories. With the evidence of music's benefits pouring in, it's no wonder some countries make music study a part of their education systems. People are recognizing that more than just a form of entertainment, music is also great for the brain. What can be the best title for the text? A) Music and health B) Music and the mind C) Music and education D) Music and instruments
B
(Question)
Investors soon will be able to own shares of Facebook stock. The world's biggest social media network presented documents to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday. The documents are required before the company can make its initial public offering or IPO. A date for the stock sale has yet to be announced. Experts say Facebook could raise about five billion dollars. That would be one of the biggest IPO sales ever. And it would be much bigger than Google's first public stock sale in 2004. At that time, the Internet search company raised almost two billion dollars. Facebook has 800 million users around the world. It is the second most visited website after Google. Now, experts say the social media network is in a position to become one of the most valuable Internet companies. Stock expert Anupam Palit at Greencrest Capital says that among social media sites, Facebook is in a class by itself. "It is the biggest company in this space and we believe what makes it very unique from every other company that went public last year in this space is that it is very, very profitable." said Anupam Palit. Early estimates place the total value of the social network between 75 and 100 billion dollars. That includes earlier investments by other companies. David Kirkpatrick wrote the book The Facebook Effect. He says Facebook's IPO will be historic. The stock sale could also make Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg one of the world's youngest billionaires. He is only 27. Investment companies are likely to buy Facebook stock first. But investment manager Jim O'Shaugnessy says that is not so bad. He says the prices of some IPO stocks are too high and fall not long after they first go on sale. Recently, share prices of some Internet businesses have fallen after their stocks were first offered. For example, stocks of Linkedln, Groupon and Zynga, dropped in price by as much as 25% after going public. There were similar questions eight years ago when Google first sold stock to the public. Today, Google is one of the world's... We can infer from the passage that _ . A) Facebook stock is being sold very well B) Mark Zuckerberg will get much money from the stock sale C) Mark Zuckerberg was only 27 when Facebook was founded D) investment companies have bought many Facebook shares
(Answer)
B
Ques: THIS WEEK'S TOURS of CATTY SHACK Thursday, January 8, 2015--Daytime Tours Hours: 1:00~4:00 PM, last admittance at 3:15 PM Admission: Adults: $10 Children (3~11): $5 2 & Under: Free Purchase Tickets: Tickets may be pre-purchased up to 24 hours prior to the event by using the button below. Tickets may also be purchased at the ranch--cash, credit Visa, Mastercard & Discover are accepted forms of payment at the ranch. Tickets cannot be exchanged or money refunded. No reservations required. Enjoy a leisurely, guided tour of our sanctuary and see all the residents (Siberian tigers, lions, cougars, black leopards, a bobcat, a coatimundi and foxes)! Tours last approximately 45 minutes. Saturday, January 10, 2015--Night Feeding Tours Hours: Gates open at 6:00 PM. Tours from 6:00 PM -7:00 PM. Last admittance at 7:15 PM. Feeding begins at 7:30 PM. Admission: Adults: $15 Children (3~11): $10 2 & Under: Free Purchase Tickets: Tickets may be pre-purchased up to 24 hours prior to the event by using the button below. Tickets may also be purchased at the ranch -- cash, credit Visa, Mastercard & Discover are accepted forms of payment at the ranch. Tickets cannot be exchanged or money refunded.No reservations required. Enjoy a guided tour of all the residents (Siberian tigers, lions, cougars, black leopards, a bobcat, a coatimundi and foxes) at our sanctuary! Tours begin at 6:00 PM and leave approximately every 15 minutes. Tours last about 45 minutes and include a viewing of all our residents, as time allows, along with facts about the animals. To see the feeding, we suggest everyone arrive at the ranch by 7:15 PM to allow for adequate time for check-in and walking to the feeding point. At 7:30 PM, you will get to watch over 450 pounds of meat distributed throughout the sanctuary! Get ready to see their "wild" side -- there's sure to be plenty of roaring! To learn about more upcoming tours, you can click on the calendar event listing for full details. Where can you find the text? A) On the website. B) In the textbook. C) In the magazine. D) On the poster board.
Ans: A
Bamboo is one of the nature's most surprising plants. Many people call this plant a tree, but it is a kind of grass. Like other kinds of grass, a bamboo plant may be cut very low to the ground, but it will grow back very quickly. A Japanese scientist recorded one bamboo plant that grew almost 1.5 meters in 24 hours! Bamboo grows almost everywhere in the world except Europe . There are more than 1,000 kinds of bamboo that grow around the world on both mountains and plains. Not all bamboo looks the same. Some bamboo plants are very thin. They may only grow to be a few centimeters wide while others may grow to more than 30 centimeters across. This plant also comes in different colors, from yellow to black to green. Many Asian countries have been using bamboo for hundreds of years. They often use bamboo for building new buildings. As a matter of fact, the cables hold up the hanging bridge across the Min River in Sichuan are made of bamboo. The bridge has been in use for more than 1,000 years, and is still holding strong. In Africa, engineers are teaching poor farmers how to find water using bamboo. These African countries need cheap ways to find water because they have no money, and their fields often die from no rain and no water. It seems that bamboo is one of the best things they can use. Bamboo pipes and drills can help to make the poor thirsty fields be watered. Which of the following is NOT true? A) There are many different kinds of bamboo with different colors. B) Cables made of bamboo can last for over a thousand years. C) Bamboo can be used for buildings, bridges and watering projects . D) Bamboo plants are able to grow well in any part of the world.
D