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I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: The end of my sophomore year was approaching.Mom called me at the dorm one evening during the last week of May.My summer break would be spent with grandma and grandpa, helping out around their farm.The arrangement made good sense to all the family.I wasn't fully convinced of that myself but guessed it was just one summer.Next year would be my little brother's turn. I arrived late that afternoon.Grandma had fixed more food than the three of us could possibly eat.She loved me entirely too much.The next morning, Grandpa fixed breakfast for the two of us. He told me Grandma had tired herself out yesterday and was going to rest in bed a little longer.I made a mental note to myself to not ask her to do things for me while I was there.I was there to help, not be a burden.               Weeks passed.I gradually settled into a routine of daily work with Grandpa.In the evenings I usually read or talked with Grandma.She never grew tired of hearing about college or anything I was involved in.She told me stories about her childhood, family and the early years after she and Grandpa had married.               The last Saturday in June, Grandpa suggested going fishing.We hadn't expected what we saw when we got to the pond that morning: One of the swans was dead.Grandpa had given the pair of swans to Grandma on their 50th anniversary."Why don't we see about buying another one," I suggested, hoping the situation could somehow be righted.Grandpa thought for a few moments before answering.               He finally said, "no...it's not that easy, Bruce.You see, swans mate for life." He raised his finger to point, holding the fishing pole in his other hand."There's nothing we can do for the one that's left.He has to work it out for himself." A few days later, we drove by the pond while doing our morning check on the cows.We found the other swan lying near the same spot we had found the first one.It, too, was dead.               The month of July started with me and Grandpa putting up a new stretch of fence.Then July 12 came.That... Question: What did the writer think at the sight of the first dead swan? Options: A: Another swan should be bought in place of the dead one. B: The other was bound to die since swans mate for life. C: Grandma would be in deep sorrow over its death. D: The living can do nothing for the dead.
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A


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I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: When it's five o'clock, people leave their office. The length of the workday, for many workers, is defined by time. They leave when the clock tells them they're done. These days, the time is everywhere: not just on clocks or watches, but on cell-phones and computers. That may be a bad thing, particularly at work. New research shows that clock-based work schedules hinder morale and creativity. Clock-timers organize their day by blocks of minutes and hours. For example: a meeting from 9 am to 10 a.m., research from 10 a.m. to noon, etc. On the other hand, task-timers have a list of things they want to accomplish. They work down the list, each task starts when the previous task is completed. It is said that all of us employ a mix of both these types of planning. What, then, are the effects of thinking about time in these different ways? Does one make us more productive? Better at the tasks at hand? Happier? In experiments conducted by Tamar Avnet and Anne-Laure Sellier, they had participants organize different activities--from project planning, holiday shopping, to yoga--by time or to-do list to measure how they performed under "clock time" vs "task time." They found clock timers to be more efficient but less happy because they felt little control over their lives. Task timers are happier and more creative, but less productive. They tend to enjoy the moment when something good is happening, and seize opportunities that come up. The researchers argue that task-based organizing tends to be undervalued and under-supported in the business culture. Smart companies, they believe, will try to bake more task-based planning into their strategies. This might be a small change to the way we view work and the office, but the researchers argue that it challenges a widespread characteristic of the economy: work organized by clock time. While most people will still probably need,and be, to some extent, clock-timers, task-based timing should be used when performing a job that requires more creativity. It'll make those tasks... Question: What do the researchers say about today's business culture? Options: A: It does not support the strategies adopted by smart companies. B: It does not attach enough importance to task-based practice. C: It places more emphasis on work efficiency than on workers' lives. D: It aims to bring employees' potential and creativity into full play.
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B


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I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: The quality of drinking water in Shanghai will meet European Union standard by 2010 and, a decade later, citizens in Shanghai will drink the best water in the world. These were the goals set out by the Shanghai Water Authority. With the city's population expected to increase only slightly and the economy to boom by 2020, Chen Yin, an official in the water authority, said Shanghai's water consumption will not increase from its present amount. Zhang Yue, director of the Urban Construction Division under the Ministry of Construction, said, "Shanghai is the first city in the country to publicize these ambitions. They will not be easy to achieve." He said water saving will help keep the sustainable development of China's economy. Saving one cubic meter of water means saving the city's infrastructure costs by 10,000 Yuan. Last year, Shanghai saved 300 million cubic meters of water either from readjustment of industrial structure or the employment of new technology. "The aim is to arouse public awareness of the seriousness of water shortages," Chen said. "The abundant surface water and amount of rain of the city are so misleading that they result in improper use of water." Shanghai lacks drinkable water. The Huangpu River, which supplies 80 percent of the city's drinkable water, is nearing exhaustion. The city, therefore, has been exploring new sources from the Yangtze River and growing forests along it to conserve quality water. Besides penning regulations, the authority is popularizing technology among the public to efficiently cut the amount of water used. At present, the city has 600,000 family toilets, each using 13 liters of water per flush. These are to be renovated to use only 9 liters of water per flush. The authority is renovating the first 200 toilets for households - at a cost of Yuan each. In three years, all the toilets will be renovated, which saves the city nearly 15 million Yuan every year in water conservation. Another task the city is engaged in is the treatment of sewage to improve the water... Question: People in Shanghai get their daily water mainly from   _  now. Options: A: the underground B: the Huangpu River C: the rain D: the Yangtze River
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