As one of the world's oldest holidays, Halloween is still celebrated today in several countries around the globe, but it is in North America and Canada that it maintains its highest level of popularity. Every year, 65% of Americans decorate their homes and offices for Halloween. Halloween is the holiday when the most candy is sold and is second only to Christians in terms of total sales. Austria In Austria, some people will leave bread, water and a lighted lamp on the table before retiring on Halloween night. The reason for this is that it was once believed such items would welcome the dead souls back to earth on a night which for the Austrians was considered to be brimming with strong cosmic energies. Belgium The Belgians believe that it is unlucky for a black cat to cross one's path and also unlucky if it should enter a home or travel on a ship. The custom in Belgium on Halloween night is to light candles in memory of dead relatives. Canada Modern Halloween celebrations in Canada began with the arrival of Scottish and Irish immigrants in the 1800s. Jack- O- Lantern is carved and the festivities include parties, trick-or-treating and the decorating of homes with pumpkins and corn stalks. France Unlike most nation of the world, Halloween is not celebrated by the French in order to honor the dead and departed ancestors. It is regarded as an "American" holiday in France and was unknown in the country until around 1996. In which country does Halloween is not celebrated as the others? A) Canada. B) Belgium. C) Austria. D) France.
D

(NEW YORK)---Scientists have discovered small signs of awareness in some vegetative  brain injury patients and have even communicated with one of them---findings that are beneficial to how to assess and care for such people. The new research suggests that standard tests may ignore patients who have some consciousness, and that someday some kind of communication may be possible. In the strongest example, a 29-year-old patient was able to answer yes-or-no questions by picturing specific scenes the doctors asked him to imagine. "We were stunned when this happened," said one study author, Martin Monti of the Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge. "I find it really amazing. This was a patient who was believed to be vegetative for five years." Ever since a research paper four years ago described obvious signs of awareness in a vegetative patient, families of patients have been demanding brain scans, said Dr. James Bernat, a spokesman for the American Academy for Neurology. But experts said more study is needed before the specialized brain scans could be used in medical treatment. "It's still a research tool," Bernat said. Experts also pointed out that only a few tested patients showed evidence of awareness. And they said it is not clear what degree of consciousness and mental abilities the signs imply. They also noted that the positive signals appeared only in people with traumatic  brain injury---not in patients whose brains had been lacking in oxygen, as can happen when the heart stops. The new study used brain scanning called functional MRI, for 23 patients in a vegetative state and 31 that are minimally  conscious. Patients are said to be in a vegetative state if they are tested and found unable to do such things as move on command or follow a moving object with their eyes. Minimally conscious patients show signs of awareness, but they are minimal and discontinuous. What is the practical use of the research? A) It leads to studying how to cure vegetative patients. B) It attracts society to pay more attention to vegetative patients. C) It helps doctors know whether patients are vegetative or not. D) It drives the government to care about vegetative patients.
C

Jeremy Shu-How Lin, who was born in California, 1988, world-famous now,is the first Chinese-American professional basketball player with the New York Knicks of NBA. It hasn't been an easy road for Lin. After high school, Lin sent his resume  and a DVD of highlights to all the Ivy League schools, and his dream schools Stanford and UCLA. Harvard and Brown were the only schools that guaranteed him a spot on their basketball teams, but Ivy League schools do not offer athletic scholarships. After graduating from Harvard University, Lin went undrafted in the 2010 NBA Draft . Lin spent his first season with his hometown the Golden State Warriors. He saw limited minutes with the Warriors, but was cheered in arenas  around the country, particularly in cities with large Asian communities, as fans came out in crowds to cheer their homegrown star. In late 2011, Lin spent less than two weeks with the Houston Rockets, moving to the New York Knicks at the very end of the year. He has made several trips to the NBA's Development League, a minor league for players who show promise but need seasoning before they can compete at the highest level. It appears to have paid off. In February 2012, after keying the Knicks victory over New Jersey, Lin was named the starter for the Utah game, a position he appears to have a hold on in the short term, as Baron Davis, who signed in December to play the position, stays on the disabled list. Lin will likely get stronger the more minutes he plays, and even if Davis returns, spelling the older, recovering player could be productive for Lin: a proven good student who can learn a lot from practicing against a veteran. Without the services of All-Stars Carmelo and Amare, Lin led New York to a 4-0 record last week. He became the first player in NBA history to record at least 20 points and seven assists in each of his first four starts, which generated a global following known as Linsanity. The Associated Press called Lin "the most Surprising story in the NBA". Which of the following can be the main idea of this text? A) How the word Linsanity came into being. B) Introduction to Jeremy Shu-How Lin. C) How Lin becomes successful. D) Lin and New York Knicks

B