Ques:After almost 30 years of arguing that a black hole swallows up everything that falls into it, British astrophysicist   Stephen Hawking moved backward last week. The world-famous writer of "Brief History of Time" said he and other scientists had got it wrong. "I've been thinking about this problem for the last 30 years, and I think I now have the answer to it," said Hawking. "A black hole only appears to form but later opens up and set free information about what fell inside. So we can be sure of the past and can predict the future." The findings could help solve the "black hole information paradox ", an important puzzle in modern physics. A black hole is an area in space where matter is under such pressure that even light can not escape from its gravitational pull . But, exactly what happens there has long puzzled scientists. Black holes occur when a powerful star burns up its nuclear fuel and gravity forces it to break down in on itself. The great weight of the star's outer layers moves in towards its center. The force of gravity keeps nearly all light from escaping and nothing inside can be seen from the outside. The star actually disappears from the universe into a point of infinite density . That is a place where the laws of general relativity that govern space and time break down. Hawking has devoted most of his life to studying these questions. At the beginning,  _ believed the holes were like a "universal vacuum   cleaner", sucking up everything in their path. Hawking revolutionized the study of black holes when he proved, in 1976 that, under the strange rules of quantum physics , when black holes form they send out energy and lose mass in the process. In thinking up this so-called "Hawking radiation", the prefix = st1 /Cambridgemathematician also created one of the biggest puzzles in physics. These particles  , he said, contained no information about what has been occurring inside the black hole, or how it formed. Under his theory, once the black hole disappears, all the information within it is lost. What's the importance of Hawking's new findings? A) They could help solve the puzzle about black holes. B) They has solved the mystery of "black holes". C) We can now know what is going on inside "black holes". D) Scientists have already predicted the future of "black holes" now.

Ans:A
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Ques:People tend to be more impressed by evidence that seems to confirm some relationship. Thus many are convinced that their dreams are prophetic because a few have come true; they  fail to notice the many that have not. Consider also the belief that "the phone always rings when I'm in the shower. " If it does ring while you are in the shower, the event will stand out and be remembered. If it doesn't ring, that nonevent probably won't even be remembered. People want to see order, pattern and meaning in the world. Consider, for example, the common belief that things like personal misfortunes, plane crashes, and deaths "happen in threes. " Such beliefs stem from the tendency of people to allow the third event to define the time period. I if three plane crashes occur in a month, then the period of time that counts as their "happening together" is one month; if three crashes occur in a year, the period of time is stretched. Flexible end strengthens such beliefs.  We also tend to believe what we want to believe. A majority of people think they are more intelligent, more fair-minded and more skilled behind the wheel of an automobile than the average person. Part of the reason we view ourselves so favorably is that we use standards that work to our advantage. As economist Thomas Schelling explains, "Everybody ranks himself high in qualities. " He values: careful drives give weight to care, skilled drivers give weight to skill, and those who are polite give weight to courtesy. " This way everyone ranks high on his own scale.  Perhaps the most important mental habit we can learn is to be cautions in drawing conclusions. The "evidence" of everyday life is sometimes misleading. It can be concluded from the passage that_. A) we should not base our conclusions on accidental evidence. B) there is some truth even in the wildest dreams. C) one should take notice of other people's merits . D) there is no order or pattern in world events.

Ans:A
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Ques:On April 20,2013, a big and powerful earthquake attacked Ya'an, Sichuan Province. A great many buildings and houses _ a lot of people were killed and even more people lost their homes in the earthquake . Death toll from the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Ya'an in southwestern China's Sichuan Province has risen to 188 (as of 18:00 pm, April 22, ), according to latest calculations by local Civil Affairs Bureau. At least 11,826 were reportedly injured in the quake while 25 are still missing, the bureau said. Experts are anticipating much less casualties in the quake than that from the 8.0 magnitude quake hit Wenchuan on May 12, 2008, also in Sichuan Province, which killed more than 80,000 and injured over 300,000. Energy released from Wenchuan earthquake would be 30 times of that from Ya'an quake, according to Zhang Xiaonan, an expert with China's Geophysical Union. Dai Junwu with Harbin-based seismological bureau expects the death toll at less than 1,000, and economic losses from the quake could reach up to 100 billion yuan. Police and expert teams have already rushed for rescue in the quick stricken areas, and the State Council has banned unauthorized rescue efforts and individual vehicles from going to the quake zone to avoid congestion . Rescue efforts were carried "timely and orderly", said Chinese Premier Li Keqiang who flew to the quicken-stricken area on Sunday, the second day of the quake. He was quoted as saying that "the current priority is to save lives". How many people injured in the earth(as of 18:00 pm, April 22 ) according to the passage? A) About188 B) At least 11,826 C) More than 80,000 D) Over 300,000.

Ans:B
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Ques:The revolution was over by the time Tom Ford started working in the fashion world. The expensive fashion design houses such as Channel, Yves Saint Laurent, and Christian Dior, which earned money by designing and making very expensive custom clothes, had lost many of their wealthy customers. To stay in business, they started selling more reasonably priced ready-to-wear clothing along with a wide range of accessories , that is, related products such as shoes, bags, watches. All of these products needed to blend  with the clothing and with each other so that they made up a brand that everyone would recognize and wanted to buy. Though they did not use that name, each company needed a "master designer." Born in Texas and growing up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Ford had a diverse background in the arts. Soon after completing high school, he moved to New York, where he studied art history, trained as an actor, and worked as a model. Following that, Ford completed a program in indoor design, but later decided that he was more interested in designing clothes than in decorating house. He was hired by the firm Cathy Hardwick in 1986, where he began to work as a fashion designer. His talent stood out from the rest and soon he moved to Perry Ellis, where he became design director. Then in 1990 he made an important move by taking a position with the New York branch of Gucci, the famous design house based in Milan, Italy. During his first years at Gucci, the company was going through a very difficult period. Its products were once considered highly desirable, and were worn by famous women such as Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, and Jacqueline Kennedy. However, by the early 1990s they had lost their reputation for quality. Other producers had started making cheap, widely available imitations of the brand, and the sales of Gucci's own products had dropped. Things were so bad at one point that Ford was almost fired. However, some people at the company believed in his talent, and in 1994 they hired him to work in Milan as the creative... Why did the author most likely write this passage? A) To describe the career of Tom Ford. B) To show why Tom Ford is the world's greatest fashion designer. C) To explain why Tom Ford was constantly changing jobs. D) To show the fierce competition Tom had in the fashion world.

Ans:
B
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