Question: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: What's the most expensive place to station an employee overseas? London? Tokyo? Sao Paulo? Try Luanda, Angola. That's the finding of a survey by Mercer, the world's largest human resources consulting firm, headquartered in New York City. Two African cities (Luanda, N'Djamena) were in the top 10, along with four (Moscow, Geneva, Zurich, Bern) in Europe, three (Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong) in Asia and one (Sydney) in Australia. Switzerland alone has three cities in the top 10. Mercer's 2013 Cost of Living Survey examined data from 214 cities worldwide, comparing a market basket of over 200 goods and services, including unfurnished luxury two-bedroom apartments or three-bedroom houses, movie tickets, blue jeans, international newspapers, coffee, fast food restaurant meals, gasoline, milk and soda. If it sounds odd that Angola would be the most expensive, Mercer's Barb Marder explains that"Despite being one of Africa's major oil producers, Angola is a  ly poor country yet expensive for expatriates   since imported goods can be dear. In addition, finding secure living accommodations that meet the standards of expatriates can be challenging and quite costly."The survey found similar supply issues in N'Djamena, Chad, the other top 10 city in Africa. Mercer measured locations worldwide against New York, on a U.S. dollar basis, meaning that exchange rate shifts could impact the rankings. For example, although Tokyo is Asia's most expensive city for people who live in a foreign country, the weakening of the Japanese yen against the dollar makes it seem cheaper than it was a year ago. Canada, too, has become a   bargain as the U.S. dollar strengthens against the Canadian dollar. Measurements were taken in March, 2013. What's the trend in the United States?"Overall, U.S. cities either remain stable in the ranking or have slightly decreased due to the movement of the U.S. dollar against the majority of currencies worldwide,"explains Mercer's Steven Nurney. However, that may change as real estate  prices rise nationwide.... Question: The key factor that impacts the ranking is    . - the general standard of income - prices of daily necessities - the exchange rate against U.S. dollars - the housing prices
the housing prices

Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: If You Make a Mistake, Don't Worry!        Yeah, you'll want to forget about them, but mistakes can be useful. Making a mistake doesn't mean it's the end of the world. In real life you have to grow and mature, and with that comes some growing pains. You know you should have studied hard but you went out with some friends instead. You know you should have put the money into the bank for a rainy day instead of spending it on all kinds of things you didn't need.  It's the growing pains called mistakes that most people make when they are growing up. Face them. You are going to make them. Learn from them. All of the people you wish to copy, such as all the experts in your business field, have made mistakes. They'll continue to make mistakes for all their successes.  One of the major differences between people like them and the vast majority of others is that they don't let their mistakes stop them. Instead, they use their mistakes as learning tools.  At the very least, when you make a mistake, you'll know what not to do. And you can help others by warning them of the mistakes you've made. Don't let mistakes stop you from doing anything. Learn from them, don't hide in a closet. Facing up to your mistakes now and later will mature. What mistakes are you making right now? Take a look at anything you might be doing wrong. Take a step back and evaluate your situation, then fix whatever needs to be corrected. Then move forward.  Always remember your mistakes to remind yourself of what not to do for the future. Question: From the text, we can infer that   _  . - facing mistakes, some people lose heart - mistakes can be useful - mistakes can be called growing pains - Put away money when it is rainy
facing mistakes, some people lose heart

Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: No opera smells of the sea quite like Britten's Peter Grimes. The music makes us constantly aware of the sea's immensity, it's potential for threat, and the play of light on its waves. But the sea isn't just a special background, it weighs on the lives of the characters, offering them a living, but at a price. In the first act the laboured sound of the strings evokes   the complete heaviness of the sailor's work, as they haul  the boats up the shingle  . Then a storm gathers which rages  through the scene at the Inn, and stirs up an orchestral hurricane. Even when it's calm and favorable, the sea is inescapable. In the comfortable enclosed world of the opera house, this can only be suggested. In the production of Peter Grimes about to open at the Aldeburgh Festival, it will be really present, because the opera is taking place on the beach, the setting for much of the narrative of Britten's opera, and also the poem by the Suffolk poet George Crabbe that inspired it. This won't be the first opera production to be set in the actual landscape in which the action takes place. There's a well-known filmed production of Tosca shot in Castel Gandolfo in Rome, and a production of Donizetti's Anna Bolena was once mounted in the moat  surrounding the Tower of London. But those were manageable urban landscapes, with comfortingly solid buildings to act as wind shields and acoustic blocks. On the Aldeburgh beach there's actually nothing, apart from a few boats, some whole, some wrecked. Here anything more complicated than walking the dog is hard to solve. The wind blows away one's words, so conversation is hard, and anything not tied down tends to blow away. The sliding shingle turns one's steps into a drunken stagger. The idea of performing an opera in these conditions seems quite _ -- an accusation Aldeburgh director Jonathan Reakie takes cheerfully on the chin. Why has he done it? "Well, Grimes is the opera of Britten's that's most associated with Aldeburgh, but it's never been produced at the Festival which he founded.... Question: Which of the following can best describe the sailor's work in the first act? - Pleasant. - Hard. - Comfortable. - Attractive.

Answer: Hard.