When Johnson called again, the manager received him very politely. "That is a most remarkable oil you brought us, Mr Johnson," he said. Johnson nodded his smooth, dark head. That was something he knew very well. "I've never seen anything like it," the manager admitted. Johnson nodded again. "No?" he said politely. Then he added, "But I think you will, sir. A very great deal of it." He appeared to think for a moment. "I think you will find it will be on sale seven, perhaps, eight years from now." He smiled. The manager thought that was uncertain. He said, "It is better than our fish oils. I admit that." "So I am told, sir," agreed Johnson. "Have you any plans to produce it yourself, Mr Johnson?" Johnson smiled again. "Would I be showing it to you if I had?" "We might add some chemicals to one of our own fish oils," said the manager. "It would be expensive to do that, even if you could." Johnson said gently. "Besides," he added, "I am told that this oil will be much cheaper than your best fish oils. Cheaper than any vegetable oil, in fact." "Perhaps," said the manager. "Well, I suppose you want to make an arrangement, Mr Johnson, Shall we discuss it?" "Of course," said Johnson. "There are two ways of dealing with a situation of this sort. The usual one is to prevent it altogether or at least to delay it as long as possible. That is, of course, the best way," The manager nodded. He knew plenty about all that. "But I am so sorry for you, because, you see, that is not possible this time." The manager had his doubts, but all he said was an inquiring(asking), "Oh?" "The other way," continued Johnson, "is to produce yourself before the trouble starts." Johnson expressed his regret that the manager   _  . A) could not stop the new oil being made B) would never know how to make it C) had spent a lot of money on it D) didn't know enough about it
A

Is it time to kick Russia out of the BRICs  ? If so, it may end up sounding like a famous ball-point pen maker-BIC. An argument is being made that Goldman Sach's famous marketing device ,the BRICs, should really be the BICs. "Is Russia really worth the name BRICs?" asks Anders Aslund, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, in an article for Foreigh Policy. Aslund, who is also co-author with Andrew Kuchins of "The Russian Balance Sheet", thinks the Russia of Putin and Medvedev is just not worthy of inclusion alongside Brazil, India and China in the list of future economic powerhouses. He writes: "The country's economic performance has fallen to such a weak level that one must ask whether it has any say at all on the global economy, compared with the other members of its group. I have just returned from Moscow, which is always dull around this season. For the last seven years, Russia has taken very few measures to improve its economy. Instead, the state has been living on oil and gas. " Economically, Aslund has the numbers on his side. The International Monetary Fund figures that the Russian economy will fall by 6.7 percent in 2009, while China will grow 8.5 percent and India 5.4 percent. There is less of a case for Brazil, with a fall of 0.7 percent, but it is still doing far better than Russia. But the BRICs are not just about economy. As is mentioned above, it is a marketing device to encourage investors to focus on the big promising players. From an investment standpoint, it could be argued that Russia is leading the BRICs. Its stock market is up 128 percent this year while around 80 percent is for the other three. At very least, however, Russia's economic underperformance and stock market outperfoumance does suggest it is indeed one of the group. From the passage we know that   _  . A) Anders Aslund is working for the Russian government B) Russia outperfoumed the other three countries in stock market C) most people disagree Russia is included in BRICs D) the BRICs would end up being the BICs sooner or later
B

Pessimistic,anxious and depressed people may have a higher risk of dementia  ,US researchers reported on Thursday. A study of a group of 3,500 people showed that those who scored high for pessimism on a standardized personality test had a 30 percent increased risk of developing dementia 30 to 40 years later. Those scoring very high on both anxiety and pessimism scales had a 40 percent higher risk,the study showed. "There appears to be a doseresponse pattern.That is,the higher the scores,the higher the risk of dementia,"Dr Yonas Geda,a neuropsychiatrist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester,Minnesota who led the study,said in a statement. Geda and his colleagues looked at the medical records of 3,500 men and women who lived near the clinic between 1962 and 1965. They all took the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory,a standard personality and life experience test,Geda's team told a meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Miami. In 2004,the team interviewed the participants or family members. Those who scored higher for anxiety and pessimism on the test were more likely,as a group,to have developed dementia by 2004,including Alzheimer's disease and vascular   dementia. This did not mean a person who is pessimistic could assume he or she has a higher risk of developing dementia. "One has to be cautious in interpreting a study like this,"Geda said. "One cannot make a leap from group level data to the individual.Certainly the last thing you want to do is to say,'Well,I am a pessimist;thus,I am doomed to develop dementia 20 or 30 years later,'because this may end up becoming a selffulfilling prophecy  ." And there is NOT any specific way to prevent dementia,although many studies have shown that a healthy diet,exercise,keeping active in other ways,doing puzzles and other activities lower the risk. What is the passage mainly about? A) It is impossible for people to avoid dementia. B) People who always have negative feelings may have a higher risk of getting dementia. C) If we have a healthy diet,we would have no chance of getting dementia. D) A person who is pessimistic has a higher risk of developing dementia.

B