*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: John keeps a record of new words and expressions in English. He usually writes them in a note-book. Then, later in the day, he asks his teacher about them. "Mrs. Thomas, these expressions are new to me. 'She's blue today.', 'You're yellow', 'A little white lie', 'She has green fingers'." After looking at the note-book, Mrs. Thomas says, "In everyday English, John,'blue' sometimes means sad. 'Yellow' means afraid. A person with 'green fingers' grows plants successfully. And 'a white lie' is not a bad lie." "I don't understand. Please give me an example." " For example, I offer you some cake. The truth is that you don't like my cake. You don't say that. Instead, you say, 'No, thanks, I'm not hungry.' That's a white lie." John says, "I see , thanks for the explanation!" Question: A person with "green fingers" is one who _ planting. Options: A: is a new hand in B: is good at C: works hard at D: is interested in
**Answer**
B

*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: I had five hours in the company of First Great Western(FGW) last weekend, on a train full of passengers, all the way from Cornwall to London. I got to know some of my fellow passengers rather well. Not through talking to them, you understand. There was the youth who was explaining to his friend exactly how he enjoyed a party with his friends last night. Opposite him was a young woman who was very excited to be going to Lanzarote for her summer holiday. And then there was the man who I took to be a car mechanic ; so detailed and technical was his conversation about a second-hand Audi. Everyone had a different, noisy ringtone, and none of the mobile phone conversations I was forced to hear was interesting. By the end of the journey, I was silently complaining about the modern world, and feeling mad with FGW who, at the very moment when our carriage fell silent, would make an announcement about the buffet car (a carriage where food and drinks are sold) either opening or closing. FGW seems to be campaigning against peace and quietness, having removed quiet carriage spaces where passengers were requested not to use mobiles so that their trains could carry more passengers. How so? I cannot understand why FGW takes no notice of passengers like me, who have suffered a lot from hearing endless telephone conversations. I have no interest in the smallest details of others' lives. Making people listen to boring mobile phone conversations should be regarded as a rude act." Every train carriage should, in theory, be quiet. Why can't that be the standard? It is possible to change public custom and practice. It was not so long ago that sidewalks were littered with dog waste:now it's a general rule that dog owners clean it up after their pets. And once we restore peace and quietness to trains, we can then move on and stop people bringing fast food onto them, too. Question: At the end of the journey, the author _ . Options: A: became satisfied with FGW's service B: felt uneasy about the silence C: was filled with anger D: went to the buffet car
**Answer**
C

*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Sometimes having a teenager at home can be a real headache. Many teenagers smoke, drink, wear strange hairdos and even fight. Basically, they are often taking risks. Earlier studies have shown that teenagers are more likely to make _ decisions than people from any other age group, including children and adults. Is it that teenagers are too young to tell right from wrong? Not really. So what explains their risky behavior? According to Laurence Steinberg, a professor at Temple University, US, the reason is that teens care a lot about how their peers view them - that's the effect of "peer influence", reported Science Daily. As children enter their teenage years, they spend more time with their friends and classmates and also become more sensitive to their feedback . This sensitivity drives teenagers to concentrate on the short-term benefits of making risky choices and overlook the costs. In a test, a group of teenagers were asked to play a video driving game. When they played with their friends watching, they took more chances and drove more carelessly because that would increase their possibility of winning. But when they played alone, they tended to drive more safely. Why does pressure from peers have such a big influence on teens' behavior? As Steinberg sees it, a teenager's brain is like a car with a good accelerator but a weak brake . The "accelerator", the brain's ability to notice the benefits of things, is fully developed by teenage years while the "brake", the brain part related to controlling impulses and long-term thinking, is still immature . When teens are under the pressure of being judged by their peers, they tend to push hard on the accelerator. Given how weak the brake is, it is likely that they are going to end up in a crash. But the good news here, according to Steinberg, is that a violent teenager doesn't necessarily become a violent adult. About two-thirds to three-quarters of violent youth grow out of it. "They get more self-controlled," Steinberg told Live Science. Also, people who... Question: How does Steinberg explain the influence of peer pressure on teens' behavior? Options: A: By performing an in-depth analysis. B: By giving examples. C: By using a metaphor . D: By presenting research findings.
**Answer**
C

*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Hundreds of Chinese officials are to be sacked or demoted for their part in a vaccine scandal that has added to discontent at poor oversight of food and drug safety, especially relating to children. Xinhua, the state news agency, said late on Wednesday that 357 officials are to face punishment, with 192 criminal cases already filed and 202 people detained after improperly stored or transported vaccines were sent to 59 health institutions. This is the latest in a string of food and drug safety scandals in a country where parents often import products for infants and babies from overseas to ensure quality. Many remember with fear the 2008 milk powder scandal, in which infant formula laced with melamine caused at least six deaths and 300,000 children to fall ill. Beijing last month made public an illegal operation in eastern Shandong province in which a hospital pharmacist and her daughter traded $88m in vaccines that may have been compromised because they were expired or improperly stored or transported. The China Food and Drug Administration said, however, that the vaccines posed no greater than the normal risk to patients. "We don't see that the vaccines' effectiveness has been reduced," added the health watchdog in a report. Nonetheless, health officials fear a backlash against Chinese-manufactured vaccines, which already have a reputation for being more dangerous than those made overseas. Wang Yuedan, deputy director of Peking University's immunology department, said the key to evaluating risks is to check whether package seals are broken or for pollution with micro-organisms. "The vaccines in the Shandong case don't have those problems," he said. Those vaccines had been subject to higher than normal temperatures that could have lowered their effectiveness and reduced their protective value. But the official investigation showed the vaccines "are still effective", he said. Beijing, which publicized the affair almost a year after it was exposed, and several years after it started, appeared eager to show... Question: What's the WHO's attitude toward Chinese vaccines? Options: A: Indifferent B: Skeptical C: Objective D: Hopeful
**Answer**
D