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Read the article and select the best answer. Article: A scientist who developed a way to calculate how much water is used in the production of anything from a cup of coffee to a hamburger was awarded the 2008 Stockholm Water Prize. Professor John Anthony Allan of the University of London in Britain won the award for introducing the idea of "virtual water  ", a calculation method that has changed the nature of trade policy and research. Allan has written seven books and published more than 100 papers. The Stockholm International Water Institute said this idea is now embedded   in the production of foods and industrial products. The institute said Allan's work had made a big effect on global trade policy and research, especially in water-scarce   regions. "The improved understanding of trade and water management issues on local, regional and global scales are of the highest value for the successful and sustainable   use of water resources," it said. "People do not only use water when they drink it or take a shower," the institute said. "Behind the morning cup of coffee, there are 140 liters of water that was used to grow, produce, package and ship the beans." That is about as much water as a person in England uses on average for all daily drinking and household needs. "For a single hamburger, about 2,400 liters of water are needed. In the USA, the average person uses nearly 7,000 liters of virtual water every day." It said that was more than three times the average use of a Chinese person. Question: What effect does the idea of virtual water have? Options: A: It helps us realize the importance of trade. B: It helps people do successful business. C: It helps us make use of water scientifically. D: It tells us how much water we use a day.
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C


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Read the article and select the best answer. Article: The National Geographic Channel has unearthed a time capsule    buried by late Apple chairman and co-founder Steve Jobs thirty years ago. The time capsule was buried in Aspen .Colorado .in 1983, shortly after Jobs attended the International Design Conference being held in that city. Organizers called the device the Aspen Time Tube and contributed items like Rubik's cubes  and some iconic music. Jobs added his own items to the capsule ,including the " Lisa"  ( also known as an "Apple" )"mouse he used for his presentation at the conference. ' Younger readers may not recognize the name but the Lisa Apple mouse was one of the first commercial mice released to consumers. The mouse was specially designed for the Apple  Lisa computer. It's also the first personal computer to offer users a graphical user interface  Initially ,the plan was to dig up the time capsule in the year2000,but organizers forgot its exact location. Recently .they brought in researchers working with the National Geographic Channel show Diggers to find the device. Eventually they came across the 13-foot-long.1. 5-foot-diameter tube. inside they found a lot of 1980s artifacts that are still being catalogued. "When the end came off .literally things just poured out ."noted Diggers host Tim Saylor "There must be literally thousands of things in there." "They had the foresight to put a bunch of stuff in  plastic bags." Saylor said ."I could see at least a dozen plastic bags and other items. But I know for sure there got to be photographs in there. People had hand-written things on the back of the photographs ,so there will be some really interesting things inside." Among the artifacts researchers expect to discover inside :a Steve Jobs speech in which the Apple visionary outlines his predictions  for future technologies. We should know more about the researchers ,discoveries once the Diggers program airs this fall. Question: From the passage we can infer that  _  . Options: A: there were some special photographs found-inside the time capsule B: a Steve Jobs speech with future predictions was found inside the cap C: Steve Jobs predictions for future technologies have come true D: more about the capsule will be discovered in the Diggers program
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D


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Read the article and select the best answer. Article: As goods and services improved, people were persuaded to spend their money on changing from old to new, and found the change worth the expense.  When an airline equipped itself with jets, for example, its costs (and therefore air fare) would go up, but the new planes meant such an improvement that the higher cost was justified. A new car (or wireless, washing machine, electric kettle) made life so much more comfortable than the old one that the high cost of replacement was fully repaid.  Manufacturers still cry their goods as persuasively as ever, but are the improvements really worth paying for? In many fields, things have now reached such a high standard of performance that further progress is very limited and very, very expensive. Airlines, for example, go to enormous expense in buying the latest jets , in which vast research costs have been spent on  ly small improvements. If we abandon these vast costs we might lose the chance of cutting minutes away from flying times; but wouldn't it be better to see airfares drop dramatically, as capital costs become  ly insignificant? Again, in the context of a 70 m. p. h. Limit, with lines of cars traveling so close as to control each other's speeds, improvements in performance are actually irrelevant; improvements in handling are unnecessary, as most production cars grip  the road perfectly, and comfort has now reached a very high level. Small improvements here are unlikely to be worth the thousands that anybody replacing an ordinary family car every two years may have spent on them. Let us instead have cars -- or wireless, electric kettles, washing machines, television sets -- which are made to last, and not to be replaced. Significant progress is obviously a good thing, but the insignificant progression from model-change to model-change is not. Question: According to the author, passengers would be happier if they   _  . Options: A: could fly in the latest model of good planes B: could get tickets at much lower prices C: see the airlines make vital changes in their services D: could spend less time flying in the air
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