A captain of a boat lost his way in the middle of a storm. While trying to control the ship and avoid sinking, he started feeling annoyed. The water became bigger; the noise of the water hitting the boat, like a feather carried by the wind, almost led him to hopelessness. But he did not give up and tried harder every time the waves hit the boat. In his desperate attempts to stay strong and keep the boat steady, he was unable to hear one of his crew officers yelling at him. "Captain, Captain!" kept yelling the officer. He held on to one of the deck's bars in order not to fall off the boat, "Captain, Captain!" insisted the officer. This time, while the officer was trying to approach him, a huge wave almost made the boat turn over and he fell and rolled on the deck till he luckily found another bar to hold on to. After several attempts, the officer finally was able to reach his fighting and tired captain, who had started to yell out his frustration and thoughts to the angry waves. "If I am a good and hard-working man, why does this happen to me? And why can't I get out of this one? I have been sailing the open ocean for years to fish the best catch and get support for my family!! Why, why, why?!!!" At that moment, his crew officer was able to catch the captain's shoulder and make him turn so that the captain could hear him. "Captain, Captain!" yelled again the officer. The captain looked at him angrily because the officer distracted him from his difficult task. "What do you need, officer? Don't you see I am trying to control the ship and find our way back?" complained the captain. His officer kept holding on to the captain and pointed at the opposite direction, towards the stern . "Captain!" he replied. "The lighthouse is right over there, on the other side. We are going in the wrong direction!!" According to the officer, what was the problem with the boat? A) It was like a feather carried by the wind. B) It was not going in the right direction. C) There were not enough sailors at that time. D) There was something wrong with the engine.
B
People talk about energy everywhere. Green energy, for example. Then, energy independence. It has a nice ring to it. Doesn't it? If you think so, you're not alone, because energy independence has been the dream of American president for decades, and never more so than in the past few years, when the most recent oil price shock has been partly responsible for kicking off the great recession . "Energy independence" and its rhetorical companion "energy security" are, however, unreliable concepts that are rarely thought through. What is it that we want independence from, exactly? Most people would probably say that they want to be independent from imported oil. But there are reasons that we buy all that oil from elsewhere. The first reason is that we need it to keep our economy running. Yes, there is a trickle of biofuel available, and more may become available, but most biofuels cause economic waste and environmental destruction. Second, Americans have basically decided that they don't really want to produce all their own oil. They value the environmental quality they preserve over their oil imports from abroad. Vast areas of the United States are off-limits to oil exploration and production in the name of environmental protection. To what extent are Americans really willing to tolerate the environmental influence of domestic energy production in order to cut back imports? Third, there are benefits to trade. It allows for economic efficiency, and when we buy things from places that have lower production costs than we do, we benefit. And although you don't read about this much, the United States is also a large exporter of oil products, selling about 2 million barrels of petroleum products per day to about 90 countries. There is no question that the United States imports a great deal of energy and, in fact, relies on that steady flow to keep its economy stable. When that flow is interrupted, we feel the pain in short supplies and higher prices. At the same time, we get massive economic benefits when we buy... What is the author's purpose in writing the passage? A) To explain the increase of international oil trade. B) To raise Americans' awareness of the energy crisis. C) To argue for America's dependence on oil imports. D) To stress the importance of energy protection.
C
It's really a tough job for automakers doing marketing and sales in China, where competition is acute and customers have little loyalty. They have tried a range of tricks in recent years. But there should be a moral bottom line. Unfortunately, a Buick dealership used the tragedy of a two-month-old infant to advertise its cars last week on Weibo - Micro blog. And Hyundai Motor followed suit. On March 4, an SUV was stolen with the infant left inside alone in the northeastern city of Changchun. The news spread widely on Weibo after the baby's father called the local police and radio station for help. The next day it was revealed that the infant was choked to death and buried in snow by the thief. The online community expressed its deeply felt sympathy and condolences. The Buick dealership posted a photo of the baby and two of its cars on its official Weibo account to advertise its GPS system that can locate the stolen car. "A few thoughts on the Changchun stolen car and baby incident: when buying a car it's entirely OK to choose a brand with advanced technology," said the post. Though the post was made before tragic fate of the infant was known, the action generated a storm of outrage on Weibo. Some online commentators said it is "marketing at the cost of lives" and "extremely _ ." Worse was the post on Hyundai's official Weibo account that advertised the anti - theft system on its new SUV Santa Fe, an entry made after the child was known to have died. The action also enraged micro bloggers. Both posts were soon deleted. The Buick dealership made an apology on Weibo to the family of the victim and the public. But screenshots saved by users continued to be posted and the negative impact on both brands persists. The two brands probably didn't expect such a firestorm of fury from the Internet community, but they really made a big mistake sinking below the moral bottom line. They certainly ruined their own brand images. The Chinese have the same proverb as the English language - a little leak will sink a great ship.... Which of the following statements is correct? A) The missing infant was found alive in the stolen car. B) Micro blog marketing of tragic infant death fuels firestorm of criticism. C) People can't see the two posts any more because they were deleted. D) The two car brands mentioned in the passage spoiled their own reputation by selling the stolen car.
B