If prefix = st1 /U.S.software companies don't pay more attention to quality, they could kiss their business good-bye. BothIndiaandBrazilare developing a world-class software industry. Their weapon is quality and one of their jobs is to attract the topU.S.quality specialists whose voices are not listened to in their country. Already, of the world's 12 software houses that have earned the highest rating in the world, seven are in India. That's largely because they have used new methods rejected by American software specialists. For example, for decades, quality specialists, W. Edwards Deming and J. M. Juran had urgedU.S.software companies to change their attitudes to quality. But their quality call mainly fell on deaf ears in the U.S -- but not in Japan. By the 1970s and 1980s,Japanwas grabbing market share with better, cheaper products. They used Deming's and Juran's ideas to bring down the cost of good quality to as little as 5% of total production costs. InU.S.factories, the cost of quality then was 10 times as high: 50%. In software, it still is. Watts S. Humphrey spent 27 years at IBM heading up software production and then quality assurance. But his advice was seldom paid attention to. He retired from IBM in 1986. In 1987, he worked out a system for assessing(evaluating) and improving software quality. It has proved its value time and again. For example, in 1990 the cost of quality at Raytheon Electronics Systems was almost 60% of total software production costs. It fell to 15% in 1996 and has since further dropped to below 10%. Like Deming and Juran, Humphrey seems to be winning more praises overseas than at home. The Indian government and several companies have just founded the Watts Humphrey Software Quality Institute at the Software Technology Park in Chennai,India. Let's hope thatU.S.lead in software will not be eaten up by its quality problems. What is the writer worrying about? A) Many USsoftware specialists are working forJapan. B) The quality problem has become a worldwide problem. C) India and Japanare joining hands to compete with theUS. D) The US will no longer be the first software player in the world.
D

Facebook means never having to say goodbye. The social media website has earned a reputation for reconnecting old friends. Last week, a guy whom I hadn't seen since my bachelor party five years ago sent me a friend request. I accepted and waited for "Easy E" to send me a greeting of some kind. He had sought me out, after all. I learned from his profile that he was in a relationship and had a son. However, I'm pretty sure we won't ever write wall-to-wall, let alone e-mail each other. But he'll remain a friend of online until one of us makes a point of removing the other from his official list. My pool of friends consists of family members, college buddies, co-workers from past and present, and friends of friends. There are 35 in all. If I spent some time uploading old e-mail addresses, I'm confident that I could increase my friend count actually. A person could make a mission out of reconnecting with childhood friends, former classmates, distant cousins, and those one would like to get to know better. And some people can even handle hundreds of on-screen relationships, keeping up with the daily happenings of their small army of companions. After all, there are worse fates than having too many friends. Thanks to e-mail, the inability to schedule face-to-face meetings no longer means a friendship must come to a close. But even with e-mail, people will lose touch if one or both parties stop writing back. That's normal. People move from school to school, job to job, city to city. You never have to feel guilty for breaking away. Every day, the masterminds of Web 2.0 find new ways of making human communication easier. _ . Some things shouldn't be simplified. When it comes to friendship, there can be no shortcuts. Which of the following statements is NOT true? A) The author communicates with all the 35 friends by e-mails. B) There are 35 people in the author's list of friends right now. C) The list of 35 friends doesn't include the old e-mail addresses. D) It is not difficult for the author to increase his friend count.
A

While some music festivals were canceled because the economy isn't good, plenty remain for music lovers. Here's a guide to the best rock and jazz festivals this summer. Krayina Mriy When and where: June20-21, Kyiv, Pyrohovo folk museum Lineup, TNMK, Boombox, Vopli Vidoplyasova, Onuka Krayina Mriy is an annual rock music festival that promotes modern music. Besides music, the festival will offer dances as well as literary and theatrical performances and also playing a traditional music instrument. Alfa Fest When and where: June 26-28, Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet So far all tickets are booked, but a waiting list is available at _ This annual festival held in Lviv will be interesting for experienced jazz lovers. The performers on the lineup come from Ukraine, Japan, Cuba and the US. Koktebel Festival When and where:Aug.22-Sep.6. Zatoka village, Odesa Oblast Koktebel Jazz is the biggest outdoor jazz festival. The Cinematic Orchestra, Parov Stelar, Nino Katamadze, Bonobo, Submotion Orchestra, Billy's Band were the gala's superstars in previous years. This year the list of festival' participants and tickets prices still remain unknown but the organizers revealed that apart from good jazz, the guests will be offered music lectures and movies screenings. Respublica When and where: Sep4-7, Kamyanets-Podilsky, Khmelnytska Oblast Folk music and street art festival Respublica will take place in Kamyanets-Podilsky, one of the most beautiful cities in the west. Kyiv Post staff writer Nataliya Trach can be reached at _ Where can people enjoy the rock music? A) Kyiv, Pyrohovo folk museum. B) Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet C) Zatoka village, Odesa Oblast D) yanets-Podilsky, Khmelnytska Oblast
A