If you've been joining in chat room conversation, or trading e-mail with your e-pals, you have become one of the millions who write in a special short form of English. And you've got a sense of humor about short forms like SOHF(="sense" of humor failure) to describe Internet newcomers who understand you. Across the globe, every night teenagers and their elders are "talking" online -- many of them all talking at the same time. It's fast: try talking to six people at once. It's brief: three or four words per exchange. It takes wit , and quick fingers. Want to enter a conversation? Just type PMFJI(="pardon" me for jumping in). Interested in whom you're talking to? A/S/L, the nearly universal request to know your pal's age, sex and location. You may get 15/M/NY as a response from your pal. If something makes you laugh, say you're OTF(="on" the floor), or LOL(="laughing" out loud), or combine the two into ROTFL(="rolling" on the floor laughing). And when it's time to get back to work or go to bed, you type GTG(got to go) or TTYL(="talk" to you later).People want to write as fast as possible, and they want to get their ideas across as quickly as they can. Capital letters are left in the dust, except when expressing strong feelings, as it takes more time to hold down the "shift" key and use capitals. Punctuation is going, too. If you get 17/F/NY as an answer to your A/S/L, it means _ . A) you are talking to a girl who is 17 and lives in New York B) the person who is talking to you is a 17-foot-tall New York girl C) you are talking to 17 girls who are from New York D) the person on the other end is 17 from New York and he is fine
A
Nervous suspects locked up in Britain's newest police station may feel relieved by a pleasant yellow Colour on the door. If they are close to confessing a crime, the blue on the wall might tip the balance. Gwent Police have abandoned colours such as greys and browns of the 20th-century police cell and have used colour psychology to decorate them. Ystrad Mynach station, which recently opened at a cost ofPS5 million, has four cells with glass doors for prisoners who suffer from claustrophobia . Designers have painted the frames yellow, which researchers say is a calming colour. Other cells contain a royal blue line because psychologists believe that the colour is likely to encourage truthfulness. The station has 31 cells, including 12 with a "live scan" system for drunken or disturbed prisoners, which detects the rise and fall of their chest. An alarm alerts officers if a prisoner's breathing stops and carries on ringing until the door is opened. Designers and psychologists have worked for years on colour. Blue is said to suggest trust, efficiency, duty, logic, coolness, thinking and calm. It also suggests coldness and unfriendliness. It is thought that strong blues will stimulate clear thought and lighter, soft colours will calm the mind and aid concentration. Yellow is linked with confidence, self-respect and friendliness. Get the colour wrong and it could cause fear, depression and anxiety, but the right yellow can lift spirits and self-respect. Ingrid Collins, a psychologist who specializes in the effects of colour, said that colour was an "energy force". She said: "Blue does enhance communication but I am not sure it would enhance truthful communication." Yellow, she said, affected the mind. Red, on the other hand, should never be considered because it could increase aggression. Mrs Collins praised the designers for using colours in the cells. Gwent is not the first British force to experiment with colour to calm down or persuade prisoners to co-operate. In the 1990s... The passage is mainly concerned with _ A) the relationship between colours and psychology B) a comparison of different functions of colours C) the use of colours in cells to affect criminals' psychology D) scientific ways to help criminals reform themselves in prison
C
Q: World Expo 2010 Shanghai China is to be staged in Shanghai from May 1 to October 31, 2010. If you plan to visit the Shanghai Expo this summer, China Pavilion is a must - see area for you. China Pavilion, which is called Oriental Crown, is located at the center of the Expo site. Standing 63 meters tall, the China Pavilion takes the shape of an emperor's crown, with the upper layers larger than the lower ones. Covering 160,000 square meters in floor space, the pavilion is made up of a national hall and a regional( ) hall. Buildings on the China Pavilion began on Dec. 18, 2007. The design of the China Pavilion was picked from a total of 344 designs put forward by Chinese from around the world. The pavilion has both traditional and modern features, which helps develop the theme of the 2010 Expo; "Better City, Better Life. For example, it is red in appearance, which covers the traditional Chinese culture, and it is green indoors, with the use of energy - saving techniques. The Shanghai World Expo is expected to attract 70 million visitors from across the globe. It is estimated that 400,000 people will visit the Expo and its 140 pavilions every day during the period, but the China Pavilion is only able to receive about one tenth of the total. How to hold so many people in the pavilion remains a tough task. Luckily, the China Pavilion is built as a permanent landmark. During the Expo, the main structure( ) will be used for an exhibition based on the theme of " Chinese wisdom in urban development" by explaining the values of harmony( ), nature and spirit. The three - story pavilion has three sections. The top floor's "Footprint of the East" will show some of the changes in Chinese cities. There, you can see a film which shows how Chinese cities have changed, especially in the past 30 years. According to Lu Chuan, director of the film, the scenery is like something from Lord of the Rings. On the second floor, "Journey of Wisdom" will explain China's four great inventions. And the ground's " Blossoming" City... Which of the following words can be used to describe the China Pavilion? A) Tiny. B) Imagination C) Foreign D) Environment - friendly.
A: D
Can feeling of nostalgia be good for you? or is it unhealthy to have a strong love for the past? For years, medical experts have studied nostalgia and the reasons for it. Many experts warn that too much nostalgia is harmful. They say linger in the past shows that a person is unhappy with his present life. These feelings keep the person from living his life to its fullest. Dr. Louise Kaplan has written several books about nostalgia. She says these feelings often begin when a young person is between 13 and 19 years old. "This is the time when you must face the loss of your childhood, " Kaplan says. "You see your new life is easily destroyed. But you think romantically about a golden past. You remember your childhood as a time when life was perfect." These feelings continue as a person gets older, Kaplan adds. She says many grown persons have a hard time keeping up with changes in the modem world, so they think back to their younger years. At that time the world seemed simple and more harmless. Kaplan says these feelings are not always actually existing. The good old days weren't always good. However, she says nostalgia can be helpful, if used properly. "Feelings of nostalgia can cause you to remember a time when you had high hopes and dreams, " Kaplan says. "It might give you the strong wish to catch those dreams today, in your present life." She adds that nostalgia can prevent you from "cutting yourself off from your aim." "At its best, " Kaplan says, "nostalgia has the ideas for the future." We may also use _ as the topic of the article. A) Thoughts on Nostalgia B) The reasons for Nostalgia C) Why Do They Think Back to the Past D) Nostalgia, Good or Bad
D