Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Around three forty-five on a rainy Saturday morning, I was woken up by the sound of my pager  beeping. As a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician, I can never count on a full night of sleep. I pulled myself out of bed and went toward the desk to grab my radio. Our crew was being sent to a nearby home where a man was in cardiac arrest  . We found the man lying on the kitchen floor with his wife beside him. We rushed the patient to the hospital, but despite our efforts, we were unable to save his life. In my line of life, I rarely get any recognition from the patients we treat, or from their loved ones. But that night, a man's wife approached us, and through her tears, whispered, "Thank you." Then she hugged each of us. She knew we answered her late-night call for help, even though the ending was not positive. There is something deeply rewarding about helping people in these circumstances. Sometimes, I'm able to make their worst day a bit better: like seeing the tears of an injured child turn into a smile when I gave him an interesting toy; or watching a terrified mother's screams turn into tears of joy when she realized her baby was going to be fine. Experiences like these allow me to see the impact my work has on others. At the same time, I also know the effect _ has had on my own life. As a teenager, I felt awkward when my dad hugged me and said, " I love you, my dear son." I was equally uncomfortable and responded, "I love you." But then I imagined him lying on the kitchen floor that rainy night and realized that my opportunity to say those three words could---at any moment---be taken away forever. Now, I extremely treasure the moment when my father says those three words to me. I've learned to appreciate every relationship I have, to tell people I care about them, and to never take anything in life for granted. Question: The author mentioned the injured child and the terrified mother to show that  _  . Options: A: Life was not always pleasant B: His help could bring people happiness C: He saved a lot of people D: They were very grateful to him
B

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: There is an English saying, "Laughter is the best medicine." Until recently, few people took the saying seriously. Now however, doctors have begun to look into laughter and the effects it has on the human body. They have found that laughter really can improve people's health. Tests were carried out to study the effects of laughter on the body. People watched funny films while doctors checked their heart, blood pressure, breathing and muscles. It was found that laughter has similar effects to physical exercise. It increases blood pressure, makes the heart beat quicker and makes people breathe deeper; it also works several groups of muscles in the face, the stomach, and even the feet. If laughter exercises the body, it must be beneficial. Other tests have shown that laughter appears to be able to reduce the effect of pain on the body. In one experiment doctors produced pain in groups of students who listened to different radio programmes. The group that tolerated   the pain for the longest time was the group which listened to a funny programme. The reason why laughter can reduce pain seems to be that it helps to produce a kind of chemical in the brain which _ both stress and pain. As a result of these discoveries, some doctors in the United States now hold laughter clinics, in which they help to improve their patients' condition by encouraging them to laugh. They have found that even if their patients do not really feel like laughing, making them smile is enough to produce beneficial effects similar to those caused by laughter. Question: Why do doctors hold laughter clinics? Options: A: Because they want to earn more money. B: Because they think they will help the patients recover from illnesses. C: Because they want to improve their patients' health. D: Because they want their patients to laugh more.
C

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: A single night of taking the drug Ecstasy   can cause serious brain damage and speed up the start of Parkinson's disease , scientists say. Just two or three Ecstasy tablets can permanently destroy brain cells that affect movement and reasoning, according to American research that links the drug to Parkinson's for the first time. A study by a team at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, involving squirrel monkeys and baboons   found that both species suffered permanent damage to key cells, which are lost in Parkinson's, after receiving three low doses of Ecstasy at three-hour periods. The study is particularly important because baboons are one of the best animal models for the human brain. George Ricaurte, who led the research, said that the widespread abuse of drug might have caused severe damage. "The most troubling result is that young adults using Ecstasy may be increasing their risk of developing Parkinsonism as they get older." Alan Leshner, a former director of the US National Institute on Drug Abuse, said, "This study emphasizes the multi-aspect damage that Ecstasy causes to users. We've long known that repeated use damages brain cells. But this study shows that even very occasional  use can have long-lasting effects on many different brain systems. It sends an important message to young people: don't experiment with your own brain." Janet Betts, a mother whose teenage daughter Leah died after a single Ecstasy tablet in 1995, said, "This comes as no surprise. But people can't see the effects at first, and they say it won't happen to them. We'll see the symptoms later, just as we have with smoking." Question: The article is intended to   _  . Options: A: explain the bad effects of drugs on people's health B: warn young people of the risk of taking the drug Ecstasy C: persuade people out of such bad habits as smoking and using drugs D: tell us the links between the drug Ecstasy and the animal models
B

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: What do you do when you need to look something up? Go to the library? Open an encyclopedia ? Click onto the Internet? These days, most people go straight to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia. But how reliable is it? There is no denying the popularity and usefulness of Wikipedia. It attracts as many as 78 million visitors every month, and the site is available in more than 270 different languages. It's one of the most comprehensive resources available, which includes almost all details, facts and information that maybe concerned. It's got much more information than an ordinary encyclopedia. The site is updated on a daily basis by thousands of people around the world. Anyone with an Internet connection can log on and edit the contents or add a new page. And you don't need any formal training. Of course, there are some controls. Wikipedia has a team of more than 1,500 administrators who check for false information. And main targets for harmful comments(such as politicians) are _ to public editing. But with more than 16 million articles to keep an eye on, it isn't easy. So, while Wikipedia benefits from being constantly updated with information from all over the world, it's also open to "vandals"  . Some of the damage is easy to notice. One person drew devil horns and a moustache on Microsoft chairman Bill Gates' photo, while another edited Greek philosopher Plato's biography to say he was a "Hawaiian weather man who is wildly believed to have been a student of'Barney the purple Dinosaur' and to have been deeply influenced by his dog, Cutie". But other things are harder to spot. The most common form of vandalism involves adding tiny items of false information into the biography of a famous person. Unbelievably, some of this misinformation has appeared in newspapers, with The Daily Mail, The Guardian and The Independent all having fallen victim to the dirty tricks. For example, in an article about British comedian Sir Norman Wisdom, one newspaper claimed that he co-wrote Dame Vera Lynn's wartime hit There'll be... Question: We can learn from the passage that   _   . Options: A: because of its popularity, 78 million people from 270 countries visit Wikipedia monthly B: Wikipedia is the most comprehensive resource with all information we need C: anyone who has access to the Internet can edit any contents of Wikipedia as they like D: the primary job of the administrator is to make sure true information is conveyed
