*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Compulsive shoppers may have a new psychological excuse to blame for their wild shopping. Psychologists at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand are studying the "shop-till-you-drop" habit as a behavioral disorder similar to compulsive eating. Compulsive shoppers frequently buy more than they can afford or more than they need, and it causes them distress . "It becomes a problem when you are out of control," psychology lecturer Neville Blampied said. "When you are feeling bad and blue, what do you do? Some people eat chocolate cake and ice cream. Some people take the credit card and go out to the shop." Bank managers understand the problem because they have to deal with people who have to be persuaded to stop using their cards drawing money. Compulsive shopping was first discovered in 1915, although it was then known as monomania. Few studies have been done on the problem. An advertisement in a Christchurch paper, calling for people to take part in an experimental treatment program designed by Mr. Wilson, attracted 10 replies. But the problem, said Mr. Wilson, is "clearly not rare". He thinks that compulsive shopping should be treated with drugs. "As psychologists we are interested in non-drug treatments for behavioral difficulties," Mr. Wilson said. Compulsive eaters or shoppers get a kick from their habit. "Both activities provide an immediate kind of kick and you feel a bit better," he said. "You have long-term problems, but human beings are extremely good at not seeing long-term problems and are very sensitive to short-term benefits," he said. The aim of the treatment was to help people find better ways of managing their emotions. The program, consisting of 10 one-hour weekly lessons and two follow-up treatments, is loosely based on teaching stress management. "You often have to start to get people to correctly recognize their emotions. Not being able to know what you really feel weakens your ability to solve the problems connected with what's making you feel that way," Mr. Wilson said. Question: Which of the following is considered important in treating compulsive shoppers? Options: A: Teaching them to manage their money better. B: Teaching them to understand their emotions. C: Persuading them not to draw money from the bank. D: Treating them with right drugs.
**Answer**
B

*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: American high school students are terrible writers, and one education reform group thinks it has an answer: robots. Or, more accurately, robot-readers-computers programmed to scan student essays and _ a grade. Mark Shermis, professor of the College of Education at the University of Akron, is helping to hold a contest, set up by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation ( WFHF), which promises $ 100,000 in prize money to programmers who write the best automated grading software. "If you're a high school teacher and you give a writing task, you're walking home with 150 essays, " Shermis said, "You're going to need some help. " Automated essay grading was first proposed in the 1960s, but computers back then were not up to the task. In the late 1990s, as technology improved, several textbook and testing companies jumped into the field. Today, computers are used to grade essays on South Dakota's student writing assessments and a handful of other exams, including the TOEFL test of English fluency, taken by foreign students. The Hewlett contest aims to show that computers can grade as well as English teachers---- only much more quickly and without all that depressing red ink. Automated essay scoring is "objective," Shermis said, " And it can be done immediately. If students finish an essay at l0 pm, they get a result at 10 :00 pm . " Take, for instance, the Intelligent Essay Assessor, a web-based tool marketed by Pearson Education, Inc. Within seconds it can analyze an essay for spelling, grammar, organization, and help students to make revisions. The program scans for key words and analyzes semantic patterns , and Pearson claims that it can understand the meaning of text much the same as a human reader. Question: The text is written to introduce _ . Options: A: Hewlett contest B: education reform in America C: robot-readers D: William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
**Answer**
C

*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: LONDON (AP) -- England joins on Sunday the growing list of places that ban smoking in public buildings, taxis and other places including even Buckingham Palace with a tough law. Pubs, clubs and restaurants will all be smoke-free. Taxi and delivery drivers have been warned that they too could be fined 50 pounds, or about $100, if caught lighting up inside work vehicles. Experts say the bans have become an irreversible tread because of greatly rising health costs and public uneasiness over second-hand smoke. Some of the strictest smoking bans are in the United States, even though there is no federal anti-smoking policy. New York and Florida have strict bans, while California has certain outdoor smoking bans. Spain, Italy, Iran, Norway, Sweden, Singapore, South Africa, Uruguay and new Zealand have passed legislation to restrict smoking. France banned smoking in many public places in February and plans to extend the ban to cafes and restaurants next year. Finland is introducing a ban in 2009. Despite the spread of bans, the World Health Organization predicts a steady rise in tobacco sales. In its Tobacco Atlas, the WHO said that by 2030 there will be "at least another two billion smokers in the world" and an expected decrease in male smokers "will be _ by an increase in female smoking rates, especially in developing countries." In advance of the English ban, anti-smoking ads have coated bus stops and the British government has subsidized programs to help people quit. The rest of Britain--Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland --already have smoking bans in place. Question: What do we know from the passage? Options: A: Smoking has strictly been forbidden in cafes in France. B: There is an extremely strict smoking ban everywhere in America. C: Smoking situation is still serious across the world. D: Related ads didn't appear in England until the English ban was lifted.
**Answer**
C

*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: The Coalition for the Homeless is an organization that seeks to _ the needs of the homeless population in the United States. It is a network of offices, some of which provide food and houses for the homeless population, and some of which fight for the passing of laws that would give every American the right to a place to call home. According to the Coalition's studies, of over two hundred million people living in the United States, up to three million are homeless--and the number is still growing. Since the late 1970s, fast-rising house prices, large cuts in government supported housing programs, and economic recession have make it impossible for many Americans to meet housing costs. Sadly, this has resulted in a number of persons being forced to leave their homes and/or unable to find new affordable homes. According to another research, families with children appear to be the fastest-growing part of the homeless population, making up 39% of it. The old idea of a homeless person, that of the single man who gets drunk all the time, is no longer true. A much larger part of the population now finds itself homeless. Even worse, once a person becomes homeless, he often finds it impossible to find a job, since most employers require anyone who wants a job from them to provide a home address on a job application. Question: The word " address" in the first line probably means " _ ". Options: A: talk about B: write to C: fight for D: deal with
**Answer**
D