Ques:Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: As we all know , the language is a very important tool for people to communicate with each other. In most of the languages , people usually begin their conversations by a kind of small talk -a casual form of conversation that "breaks the ice" or fills an awkward silence between people . That is to say , small talk means the little things we talk about to start a conversation . In English-speaking countries such as Britain, people often make small talk about the weather. " Nice day, isn't it?" "Terrible weather , isn't it?" However, we still have something special about small talk. It must be about something which both people have the same opinion about. The purpose of small talk is to let both people agree on something. This makes meeting people easier and more comfortable . People usually agree about the weather, so it is a safe topic for small talk. But people often disagree about religion or politics so these are not suitable topics for small talk. The topics for small talk also depend on where the conversation is taking place. At basketball matches, people make small talk about the game they are watching. "Great game , isn't it?" At train stations, people may talk about the transport system . " The train service is terrible, isn't it?" Question: According to the passage , small talk is _ . - a kind of conversation with short words. - a greeting used when people meet each other. - something we talk about to start a conversation. - to let people disagree about something.

Ans:something we talk about to start a conversation.
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Ques:Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: It's 10:30 p.m., and 11-year-old Brandon Blanco is sound asleep at home. Suddenly, a loud noise wakes him up. Naturally, Brandon reaches for his cell phone. He blinks twice, and the message on the screen becomes clear: "R U awake?" But the late-night text does not annoy Brandon. He gets frequent messages and calls, even after bedtime. And he can't imagine life without them. "If I didn't have a cell phone, I wouldn't be able to talk to my friends or family as often," he told the Kaiser Family Foundation. Brandon's use of technology doesn't stop there. He also has a computer, a TV and three video-game consoles in his room. With so many devices, it is no surprise that when he is not at school, he spends nearly every waking minute using one or more of these devices. Brandon is hardly alone. According to a recent study by TFK, kids aged 8 to 18 are spending more time than ever before using electronic devices. How much time? More than seven and a half hours a day on average, the study found. That's about an hour more than just five years ago. The jump is the result of a huge explosion in mobile devices, says Victoria Rideout, the lead author of the study. "These devices have opened up many more opportunities for young people to use media, whether it's on the bus, on the way to school or waiting in line at the pizza parlor," says Rideout. Often, kids multitask, or use more than one device at a time. "If you've got a chance to do something on your computer and take a phone call and have the TV on in the background, why not?" Media expert Cheryl Olson says. Most experts agree technology has much to offer kids. But some worry the kids could be missing out on other activities like playing outside or hanging out with friends. "It's a matter of balance," says Olson. Multitasking while doing homework is another concern. Some kids listen to music, watch TV or use the phone while doing their homework. "It's important to make sure that you can stop and concentrate on one thing deeply," says Rideout. With new and exciting... Question: It can be learned from the text that _ . - many teenagers lack friends in their middle school - kids have too many electronic devices to choose from - Brandon feels annoyed about his late-night message - Olson is against teenagers' using mobile phones

Ans:kids have too many electronic devices to choose from
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Ques:Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Do people ever consider the possibility that, if they're exposed to increased reports about a social problem, it's the reporting that has increased rather than the problem? It's increasingly clear that this is the case with school bullying :Only news reports about it have increased, not the behavior itself. In fact, both bullying and fear of it are down among US middle school students The rate of students who reported fearing an attack or harm at school at all has dropped dramatically, from nearly 12% in 1995 to less than 4% in 2011. For black and Hispanic students, it's an even more encouraging shift--from more than 20% of both groups of students worried about being attacked at school to less than 5% in 2011. The decline in actual physical violence in schools is even more dramatic: It was down 74% between 1992 and 2010, according to the latest US Department of Justice data. What about cyberbullying? Online _ increased from 6% in 2000 to 9% in 2005 to 11% in 2010 between, and it's interesting to note that it increased less between 2005 and '10 than in the first 5 years tracked. Because social media is very much a reflection of school social life for young people, the peer aggression seen in social media is a lot like the peer aggression seen on school bathroom walls. So once it finds its "dead level," it will probably decline in the same way verbal and written aggression have. Besides education and crime prevention at the social level, medicine treatment and better access to mental healthcare also contribute to this downward trend in victimization of self and others. The rise of social media is what people don't typically think of as a positive force in society. But Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire says, "These technologies might have prevented crime and bullying by providing more ways of help, more forms of social supervision, and interesting activities that destroy forms of alienation that lead to crime". Question: The cyberbullying is still increasing probably because _ . - it isn't as easy to control as the other school bullying - it hasn't been concerned by the governments - it isn't part of school social life - it hasn't come to its top level

Ans:
it hasn't come to its top level
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