Washington -- The largest ozone hole ever observed has opened up over Antarctica, according to the scientists of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). They believe it is a sign that ozone -- destroying gases produced years ago are just now causing the largest quantities of ozone to disappear. This year's South Pole ozone hole spreads over about 28.5 million square kilometers, an area three times larger than the landmass of the prefix = st1 /United States. Pictures of the hole have been offered by NASA. The hole appears as a giant blue mass, totally covering Antarctica and stretching to the southern tip of South America. "The last time the ozone hole was close to this size was in 1998, when it spread over about 27.2 million square kilometers," NASA said. Paul Newman, who works with NASA's Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) instrument on a NASA satellite, said ozone watchers had expected a big hole this year, but not this big. The Antarctica ozone hole, first observed in 1985, is caused by the depletion of Earth protecting ozone by human-made chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons, known as CFCs. "Even though these chemicals were not allowed to use from the beginning of 1987, they remain in the atmosphere and will continue to do so for years," Newman said. "This year's large hole may have been caused by a change in a swirling high-level air current over Antarctica, which circles the area and contains the zone hole," Newman said. The time 1985 was talked about in the text because it was when the Antarctica ozone hole _ . A) was watched by Newman B) was first closed C) disappeared D) was first watched
D
(Question)
Mouth bacteria grow fast in airless conditions. Oxygen rich saliva keeps their numbers down. When we sleep, for example, the saliva stream slows, and sulfur producing bacteria gains the upper hand, producing classic "morning breath". Alcohol drinking, too much talking, breathing through the mouth during exercise, anything that dries the mouth produces bad breath. So can stress, though it's not understood why. Some people's breath turns sour every time they go on a job interview. Saliva flow gradually slows with age, which explains why the elderly have more bad breath trouble than younger people do. Babies, however, who make plenty of saliva and whose mouths contain ly few bacteria have characteristically sweet breath. For most of us, the simple, dry mouth variety of bad breath is easily cured. Eating or drinking starts saliva and sweeps away many of the bacteria. Breakfast often stops morning breath. Those with constant dry mouth find that it helps to keep gum, hard candy, or a bottle of water or juice around. Brushing the teeth wipes out dry mouth bad breath because it clears away many of the offending bacteria. Surprisingly, one thing that rarely works is mouthwash. The liquid can mask bad breath smell with its own smell, but the effect lasts no more than an hour. Some mouthwashes claim to kill the bacteria responsible for bad breath. The trouble is, they don't necessarily reach all offending germs. Most bacteria are well protected from mouthwash under thick layers of mucus . If the mouthwash contains alcohol--as most do--it can worsen the problem by drying out the mouth. Which of the following is mentioned as one of the causes of bad breath? A) Tooth trouble. B) Sulfur rich food. C) Too much exercise. D) Mental pressure.
(Answer)
D
Ques: Last Friday a storm tore through two villages and destroyed fourteen homes. Seven others were so badly damaged that their owners had to leave them, and fifteen others had broken windows or torn roofs. One person was killed, seven were badly injured and taken to hospital, and a number of other people received smaller injuries. Altogether over two hundred people were homeless as a result of the storm. A farmer, Mr. C.Y. Tan said that the storm began early in the morning and lasted for over an hour. " I was in the kitchen with my wife and children ,"he said, "when we heard a loud noise. A few minutes later our house fell down on top of us. We managed to climb out but then I saw that one of my children was missing. I went back inside and found him, safe but very frightened." Mrs. Fong said that her husband had just left for work when she noticed that her house was shaking. She rushed outside immediately with her children. " There was no time to take anything, " she said. " A few minutes later, the roof came down. " Soldiers helped to bring people out of the flooded area and the Welfare Department provided food, clothes and _ Which of the following is the nearest in meaning to " shelter" as it is used in the last line of the passage? A) " safety". B) " somewhere to stay". C) " furniture and things or the house". D) " warmth".
Ans: B
Ques:These days, it's easy to fly across oceans for vacation. Centuries ago, however, crossing the open seas required thorough and accurate planning, handmade boats, and courage. Scientists and historians have long been looking for clues to explain who crossed which oceans first. When it comes to the trip between Polynesia and South America, chickens may have been among the first ocean voyagers, according to new evidence. After studying an ancient chicken bone, anthropologists from the University of Auckland in New Zealand now say that people and chickens traveled from Polynesia to what is now Chile by about 620 years ago. By then, the Inca people were already living in South America, but the Polynesians would have been the first to get there by sea. Previous theories claimed that European explorers and their chickens sailed to South America first -- but those voyagers didn't arrive until about a century later. In 2002, archaeologists dug up 50 chicken bones from a site in Chile called El Arenal. The team from New Zealand analyzed one to these bones. According to their calculations, the bone is about 650 years old. The researchers also compared the genetic material, or DNA, from the South American chicken bone with DNA from 11 chicken bones that had been found on the Polynesian islands of Tonga and American Samoa. These islands are 6,000 miles west of Chile. The bones found on the Polynesian islands are been 600 and 2,000 years old. Results of the comparisons showed that the chicken bones from both the Polynesian and South American sites had part of DNA in common. The researchers found the same part of DNA in feathers of two living chickens in Chile that belong to a modem breed that lays blue eggs. That DNA evidence suggests a close relationship among the chickens. "However, the weight of scientific evidence is now behind the hypothesis that it was seafaring ( ) Polynesians who sailed from the islands to South America and returned," says archaeologist Patrick V. Kirch of the University of... What is the passage mainly about? A) It was difficult for ancient people to travel between Polynesia and South America. B) The first people who lived in Chile and Polynesia. C) Valuable chicken bones have been found in Chile. D) Chickens -- the first to travel between Polynesia and South America.

Ans:
D