The addictive pull of Internet shopping is dragging thousands of victims into a rise of debt, including thousands of women who have run up huge credit card bills they cannot repay.  The appeal of 24-hour access and the explosion in goods and services on offer has seen a 10 percent increase in credit card debts in the UK this year.  Much of it has accounted for online spending. The latest report on Internet usage shows the number of adults logging on at home has risen from 10 million in October last year to 15.5m this month.  The report by Continental Research, which has monitored Internet access in the UK for the past six years, found that while online shopping used to be experimental it is now becoming habitual, especially for women.  Colin Shaddick, who heads the company, said, "Women are logging on in record numbers ---online shopping has certainly played a big role in this." The study found that average annual spending online is PS700 a year for each Internet shopper.  The draw of the Internet is especially strong for collectors. Business lecturer Stephen Hall, who has been buying and selling books since he was a child, now has a collection worth PS40,000.  He is passionate about the opportunities offered by shopping online. "You can find a book in minutes that you could spend months hunting down at auctions or second-hand bookshops," he said. "It can easily become addictive, and all the collectors I know use the Internet. I suspect you do waste money because you are less likely to send back a book to Little Rock, Arkansas, than take it back to the high-street shop." Like Stephen Hall, most of us can shop online sensibly---but for some it provides an easy, anonymous and accessible way to feed their habit. It also provides secrecy---a central part of any addiction. Dr Samantha Haslett, a psychologist and expert in addiction at the Promos counseling centre, said, "It's compulsive in the same way as alcohol and gambling, and addicts find themselves completely unable to stop themselves, despite debt mounting... It can be learned from the passage that  _  . A) people have run into debts mainly because of their Internet shopping addiction B) many people don't tend to get back their refund though the goods quality is poor C) avoiding been noticed by the public entirely leads to Serena's shopping addiction D) the reason for online shopping results from much less credit fraud on the Internet
B


(Question)
If you don't prepare yourself now, retirement may be some of the most boring and dull years of your life. To have a happy, fulfilling retirement, you need to start preparing right away. The most obvious thing for people to do when they retire is to take up a hobby. The most important step to take before retiring, though, is to make sure that you actually have started some hobbies. Once you're retired, unless you 've already started a hobby, you'll find it very hard to get into something new. Some hobbies aren't for everyone. Think about what you enjoy doing and start participating on a casual basis now. Another thing many people participate in is volunteering. Not only does volunteering give you something to do, it also gives you a sense of accomplishment  and can add meaning to your life .Volunteering is also rewarding in other ways, too. There are hundreds of different types of volunteer services and you'll always be able to meet new and interesting people. Also, don't think that volunteering is always only about helping someone for free. Many companies pay their volunteers after they've had enough experience and prove themselves to be valuable workers. There are plenty of other potions, as well. Going back to school is a great way to keep yourself feeling young. Taking a vacation around the world with your loved ones is another great way to spend your retirement. Ultimately, though, the key to a happy retirement is simply keeping yourself busy and doing whatever you love. If there's nothing you love doing now, then you'll find that once you have a vast amount of free time, your life will be pretty empty. Now is the time to find out what you want to do when you retire. Why does the author suggest starting a hobby before retirement? A) Because we are likely to have difficulty starting a hobby after retirement. B) Because we are gong to have a vast amount of free time after retirement. C) Because we will only have a limited choice of hobbies after retirement D) Because not every one of us has already started some hobbies already.
(Answer)
A


Ques: Christmas has never looked as beautiful as it is now, when this one-foot-tall mini tree grew from a pothole in the streets of London. London pothole gardener Steve Wheen , 34 , has created over 150 little gardens so far the smallest one of which is just one-inch-square. "I really enjoy the reactions of people who come across my work and love them ."said  Steve.  "London can be so grey, especially at this time of year. When l was thinking about  how to brighten it up, gardening came to my mind." Steve has been pothole gardening for four years, mainly around the streets of London  His  pothole gardens are made with some plants he chooses from his local garden centre.  Each of them  usually costs between five and ten pounds. Although they are often temporary to the streets, Steve is sure that they can be in people's mind for a long time, if they are lucky enough to come  across these small gardens while they go about their daily lives. "I'm always surprised when I ask people what they think the message is behind my Work ."he said.  "Often they think I'm against or in honor of something.  One person even  considered that l was marking the places where people had died in car accidents." "I think in a city like London, where it's easy to feel short of green space, my message can be seen as a green one and that's fine with me. "he said.  "The environment is something we all need to be thinking about more and more.  But most importantly, it's all about making people smile and giving them an unexpected moment of happiness." Steve thinks the main color of London around Christmas is A) white B) blue C) grey D) green
Ans: C


Ques:In recent years, a growing body of research has shown that our appetite and food intake are influenced by a large number of factors besides our biological need for energy, including our eating environment and our perception of the food in front of us.      Studies have shown. for instance. that eating in front of the TV (or a similar distraction) can increase both hunger and the amount of food consumed. Even simple visual cues( ). like plate size and lighting, have been shown to affect portion size and consumption.       A new study suggested that our shot-term memory also may play a role in appetite.  Several hours after a meal, people's hunger levels were predicted not by how much they'd eaten but rather by how much food they'd seen in front of them --- in other words, how much they remembered eating.       This difference suggests the memory of our previous meal may have a bigger influence on our appetite than the actual size of the meal. says Jeffrey M . Brunstrom , a professor of experimental psychology at the University of Bristol.     "Hunger isn't. controlled solely by the physical characteristics of a recent meal. We have identified an independent role for memory for that meal." Brunstrom says. "This shows that the relationship between hunger and food intake is more complex than we thought."      These findings echo earlier research that suggests our perception of food can sometimes trick our body's response to the food itself. In a 2011 study, for instance, people who drank the same 380-calorie milkshake on two separate occasions produced different levels of hunger-related hormones, depending on whether the shake's label said it contained 620 0r 140 calories. Moreover, the participants reported feeling more full when they thought they'd consumed a higher-calorie shake.      What does this means for our eating habits? Although it hardly seems practical to trick ourselves in to eating less, the new findings do highlight the benefits of focusing on our food avoiding TV and multitasking while eating.   ... What is said to be a factor affecting our appetite and food intake? A) How we perceive the food we eat. B) What ingredients the food contains. C) When we eat our meals. D) How fast we eat our meals.

Ans:
A