As a foreigner,I don' t know the situation in the US well. Seeing all kinds of recent shooting incidents,I think it should be controlled more strictly than now. Somebody said that the person who has it in mind to kill another can do it without a gun,so the causes of murders are not guns but the trend of despising   life in the US. And they also insist that there is no clear evidence that the increasing number of murders is connected with possession  of guns,so the personal rights should not be restricted  by the reason that there is not enough evidence. Several months ago,I agreed with that partly. But as we know,the private groups like NRA have used the public opinion and persuaded the government to protect their profit. Other weapons such as knives,razors ,bats are made for their own usage. But guns are made for only one reason--to kill someone. Of course,there are people who have guns to protect themselves from the criminals. But crime is getting more cruel and severe nowadays,so actually even if someone has a gun,it is impossible to guard himself completely. As a substitute ,I think,if the possession of guns is controlled more strictly,people can live safer lives than now. There are other reasons to oppose the gun control (e.g.the possession of guns is historical inheritance  and represents that people's resistance  will be against tyrannical   government),but none of them can justify and explain today's serious situation in the US. Which of the following supports the writer's opinion? A) The causes of crime are not guns. B) People are accustomed to  having guns. C) People can live a safer life without guns. D) Guns are used for selfdefence.
C


(Question)
Imagine that the genome   is a book.The book consists of 23 chapters with thousands of stories made up of paragraphs, words and letters on different levels.There are one billion words in the book, as long as 800 Bibles; if I read the genome out to you at the rate of one word per second for eight hours a day, it would take me centuries; if I wrote out the human genome, one letter per millimeter, my text would be as long as the River Danube.This is a huge volume, a book of great length, but it all fits inside an extremely small cell nuclear  that fits easily upon the head of a pin. The idea of the genome as a book is not, strictly speaking, even a metaphor.It is true to a great extent.A book is a piece of digital information, written in one-directional form and defined by a code that translates a small alphabet of signs into a large dictionary of meanings through the order of their groupings.So is a genome.The only difference is that all English books read from left to right, while some parts of the genome read from left to right while some from right to left, but never both at the same time. While English books are written in words of different lengthens using twenty-six letters, genomes are written entirely in words of three-letter length, using only four letters, and instead of being written on flat pages, they are written on long chains of DNA molecules  . The genome is a very clever book, because in the right condition it can both photocopy itself and read itself. The real purpose of the author's comparison of the genome to a book is   _  . A) to focus on the differences between the two B) to lay emphasis on the similarities between the two C) to simplify the concept of the human genome D) to give an exact description of the human genome
(Answer)
C


Ques: Many immigrants  to the United States find the decision to seek better lives for their families in America can have an unexpected and tragic consequence . Deep differences with their children develop over language and culture. "Many immigrants arrive here without much education. Their kids soon gain language skills and also street marts  on how to live in America, leaving the parents at a disadvantage," Ileana , Roses, pastor of a Methodist church group operating in Virginia, said. "Not only that but they find they cannot relate to children who quickly absorb American culture," she said. According to the US Census Bureau , the number of foreign born or first generation Americans reached 55 million last year, a record one in five of the total population. A government survey of 922 immigrants in 2000 found that nearly 40 percent of those who had been in the United States for more than 15 years would still like to take English classes if they had the time. Two thirds of low income households depended on their children for translation. Psychologists  and sociologists say parents can lose their position of authority  in a family as a result and the effects of that can be far-reaching. Children exposed to American pop culture that glorifies  youth and sexuality  often rebel when their parents try to impose the conservative values they brought with them. "Americanization erodes  all important aspects of parenting," said Richard Weissbourd, who teaches education at Harvard University. "I feel a part of me is dying with my children. They don't listen to my music. I have to play it on Sunday morning when they are not around," said an immigrant. From the passage we can infer that the population of the states at present is about  _  . A) 275 million B) 220 million C) 255 million D) smaller than 250 million
Ans: A


Ques: Across the globe, single parent homes are on the rise. In the US, the 2000 census   showed 24.8 million, or nearly 24 percent of the nation's 105.5 million households, were traditional two-parent homes. By comparison, 9.8 million households, or 9 percent of all US households were headed by an adult raising a child alone. The 1990 census showed 26 percent of homes were led by a married mother and father, and 8 percent of homes were led by a single parent. Similar increases occurred in other countries. In the UK, lone-parent homes increased from 3.3 percent in 1990 to 5.5 percent in 1999. Single parent households in Australia rose from 5.8 percent in 1990 to 7.6 percent in 1999. Belgium saw the increase from 1.8 percent to 2.7 percent during the same period of time. These countries tend to have greater acceptance of the single parent because there are fewer nearby family members to disapprove, Riche, a Census Bureau director, said. Just as in the US, those changes raised new questions about how involved govenment should be in helping single parent families. Some research suggests children raised in two-parent families are better off than those who depend on one. "The position of one-parent families in any country is very much a gender   issue-women's opportunities, especially working-class women on low income," said Sue Cohen, coordinator   of the Single Action Parents Network in England. Not considering the exact number of the single-parent families, which country saw the fastest rise rate in 1999, compared with 1990? A) UK. B) Australia. C) America. D) Belgium.
Ans:
A