Can noncombustion technology create a no-pollution way to drive?Imagine pulling into a service station to fuel up your car. But not at the gas pump or electric battery charger --at the air pump! That's not hot air, either! The next generation of cars may run on thin air. Wouldn't that be an incredible way to cut both pollution and dependence on foreign oil? If you've ever inflated a balloon and then let it go, you've got the basics to test-drive the amazing MiniCAT, currently being developed by Noteur Development International (MDI), headquartered in Luxembourg. Invented by Formula One racing car designer Guy Negre, this experimental vehicle is unlike any car you've ever seen. While your family's traditional car or SUV draws its horsepower using combustion, the only fuel that MiniCAT needs (CAT stands for Compressed Air Technology) is the air we breathe. Start with about 25,000 gallons of air. Now, press it all into a space smaller than your school locker--because that's the size of two super-strong, high-pressure air tanks, made from fiber and fixed beneath the air car. _ that much air inside those small tanks generates an internal pressure of over 4,000 pounds per square inch. That's over 300 times normal air pressure. When this cold, high-pressure air enters MiniCAT's unique engine, it interacts with warmer air to create pressure waves that pump the engine's engineered pistons to move the car. MiniCAT's projected top speed is 60 miles per hour, with a range of 120 miles on a full air supply. What is MiniCAT according to the passage? A) The name of a car. B) The name of a balloon. C) The name of a car company. D) The name of a car designer.
A
(Question)
This brief book is aimed at high school students, but speaks to anyone learning at any stage of life. Its formal, serious style closely matches its content, a school-masterly book on schooling.The author, W.H.Armstrong, starts with the basics: reading and writing.In his opinion, reading doesn't just mean recognizing each word on the page; it means taking in the information, digesting it and incorporating it into oneself just as one digests a sandwich and makes it a part of himself.The goal is to bring the information back to life, not just to treat it as dead facts on paper from dead trees.Reading and writing cannot be completely separated from each other; in fact, the aim of reading is to express the information you have got from the text.I've seen it again and again:some-one who can't express an idea after reading a text is just as ineffective as someone who hasn't read it at all. Only a third of the book remains after that discussion, which Armstrong devotes to specific tips for studying languages, math, science and history.He generally handles these topics thoroughly and equally, except for some weakness in the science and math sections and a bit too much passion regarding history to his students, that was a hundred times more than my history teachers ever got across.To my disappointment, in this part of the book he ignores the arts.As a matter of fact, they demand all the concentration and study that math and science do, though the study differs slightly in kind.Although it's commonly believed that the arts can only be naturally acquired, actually, learning the arts is no more natural than learning French or mathematics. My other comment is that the text aged.The first edition apparently dates to the 1960s--none of the references seem newer than the late 1950s.As a result, the discussion misses the entire computer age. These are small points, though, and don't affect the main discussion.I recommend it to any student and any teacher, including the self-taught student. What is a shortcoming of Armstrong's work according to the author? A) Some ideas are slightly contradictory B) There is too much discussion on studying science C) The style is too serious D) It lacks new information
(Answer)
D
Ques: Once again, I was in a new school. There was a girl in my class named Paris. That's where the similarities ended. I was tall and she was small. I was one of the oldest in the class while she was the youngest. I was awkward and shy. She wasn't. I couldn't stand her, considering her my enemy. But she wanted to be friends with me. One day, she invited me over and I said yes---I was too shocked to say no. Actually no one had invited me over to play before. But the girl, who wore the latest fashions, wanted to see me. She lived on the fourth floor in a two-room place with her mother, her stepfather, her two brothers and her sister. When we got to the room she shared with her sister, she took out a big case of Barbies which was my next surprise. I would have thought she'd outgrown them. I had never played with them. But we sat on the floor of a walk-in cupboard laughing as we made up crazy stories about the Barbies. That's when we found out that we both wanted to be writers when we were older. We both had wild imaginations. We had a great day that afternoon. Our jaws ached from smiling so much. She showed me her outfits , which had mostly come from a designer clothing store down the block. T he woman who owned it used her as a model sometimes for her newspaper ads and gave her clothes in exchange. Paris had the whole neighborhood attracted. The bookstore owners lent her fashion magazines, the movie theater gave her free passes and the pizza place let her have free pieces. Soon I included in her magic world. We slept over at each other's house, spent ever free moment together. My dark hair grew out and I learned to love being tall. Paris, my first real friend since childhood, helped me get through th tough teenage years and taught me and amazing thing about making friends: your "worst enemy" can turn out to be your best friend. Which of the following is most probably the best title? A) A story about Paris B) An unlikely best friend C) Life in a new school D) A secret of how to make friends
Ans: B
Humans may not have landed on Mars just yet, but that isn't stopping a European company from devising a plan to send four people to the Red Planet within the next few years. This project, called Mars One, aims to send a small group of people to Mars in 2022 and eventually establish a permanent colony on the planet. "Everything we need to go to Mars exists," said Mars One co-founder Bas Lansdorp in March 2014. "We have the rockets to send people to Mars, the equipment to land on Mars, the robots to prepare the settlement for humans. For a one-way mission, all the technology exists." Yet the four astronauts chosen for the trip will be stuck on Mars--forever. And despite Mars One's thorough planning, there are a number of challenges that may prevent the mission from ever taking place. The biggest road block could be the mission's huge cost ($6 billion). However, Lansdorp is confident that Mars One will be able to fund the project by selling the broadcast rights for the mission and subsequent experiences living on the planet. Those broadcast rights will also play a part in helping to select the people who will be sent to Mars. Lansdorp said the company will hold a selection process similar to a reality show. Lansdorp is expecting at least 1 million applications from people around the world. In addition to the cost, several other potential problems could inhibit the mission to Mars. "It's even more challenging to send people there with life support, with food, with air, with all the other things like books, entertainment, means of communication and of providing for their own resources for a long stay on Mars," said Adam Baker, senior lecturer in space engineering at Kingston University in London. "The size of the rockets you'd need to do this would be absolutely _ " According to Bas Lansdorp, which of the following is NOT TRUE? A) Robots are prepared for the settlement for humans. B) He could not come up with the fund for Mars One. C) We humans have the rockets to send people to Mars. D) The equipment is ready for humans to land on Mars.
B