SHE dresses in saggy   pants and is crazy about the pop star, Rain. Bin Xue is in love with South Korean culture. The 19-year-old from Sichuan Province feels a strong connection with the neighbouring country. "The two nations have a long history of friendship and there are many similarities between them," she said. "But Koreans are iron-willed, and we could learn this quality from them." Bin is not the only Chinese deeply affected by Korean culture. A recent survey shows that most Chinese teenagers think highly of their eastern neighbour. However, Koreans do not view the Chinese in the same good light. In a recent survey, only 5.5 per cent of Korean teens thought the Chinese people friendly. The survey among high school students in China, Japan, South Korea and the United States, was conducted in 156 high schools. More than 7,000 teenagers were questioned on success, family, their self-identity  , as well as their opinions about the world at large. Results showed that most Korean teens gave a low score to the Chinese for patriotism  , responsibility and honesty. In their eyes, Chinese people are not hard-working and don't obey the rules. "The result is surprising, but it does reflect a real information gap between teenagers in the two countries," said Lei Li, a psychology professor from the Capital Normal University. Experts say that Chinese students' positive feelings about South Korea were a result of the booming   popularity of Korean pop music. Korean movies and TV series have flooded China. And 73 per cent of the Chinese respondents said they watched Korean TV serials and cartoons. On the other hand, Lei added, Korean teenagers don't have much access to China. The survey found that only 6.7 per cent of Korean students have ever read Chinese books or news magazines or watch Chinese TV programmes.1 Professor Lei thinks that Chinese teens should give themselves a better basis for appreciating the cultures of their neighbours. It's not enough to simply enjoy their music, TV and fashion sense. "The survey... Korean teens probably have low opinions of Chinese because   _  . A) they are friendly and iron-willed B) they don't know much about China C) they hate Chinese because of historical conflicts D) they only watch Korean TV serials and cartoons
B
------
Everybody hates rats. But in the earthquake capitals of the world - Japan, Los Angeles, Turkey - rats will soon be man's new best friends. What happens after an earthquake? We send in rescue dogs. Why? Because they can smell people. Dogs save lives. They help rescuers to find living people. But dogs are big and they can't get into small spaces. So now a new research project is using a smaller animal to save lives: the rat. How does it work? First, the rat is trained to smell people. When this happens, the rat's brain gives a signal .This is sent to a small radio on its back, and then the rescuers follow the radio signals. When rat's brain activity jumps, the rescuers know that someone is alive. The rat has smelled that person. Although there are already robots which can do this job, rats are better. Christian Linster at Cornell University, New York, says, "Robots' noses don't work well when there are other smells around. Rats are good at that. " Rats can also see in the dark. They are cheaper and quicker to train than dogs, and unlike robots, they don't need electricity! The "rat project" is not finished, but Julie Ryan of International Rescue Corps in Scotland says, "It would be fantastic. A rat could get into spaces we couldn't get to, and a rat would get out if it wasn't safe." Perhaps for the first time in history, people will be happy to see a rat in a building(but only after an earthquake, of course.) Rats have all the following advantages except that  _  . A) they are more fantastic than other animals B) they are less expensive to train than dogs C) they don't need electricity D) they are small and can get into small places
A
------
A Groundbreaking Event It was an unforgettable field trip. Twenty-six fifth-graders from George Bancroft Elementary School, in Washington, D.C., went to the White House on Friday. They used shovels, rakes and wheelbarrows to help First Lady Michelle Obama break ground on a new vegetable garden. This White House garden is the first since World War II. In the 1940s, First lady Eleanor Roosevelt planted a White House "Victory Garden" to encourage Americans to grow gardens at home. Mrs. Obama's new garden is an L-shaped patch near the fountain on the South Lawn. Vegetables to be planted include lettuce, peas, collard greens, onions and spinach. A herb garden will grow garlic, sage and cilantro. These herbs are used in Mexican food, an Obama family favourite. White House chefs will prepare meals for the First Family with food from the garden and some of the produce will be donated to Miriam's Kitchen, a soup kitchen near the White House. Health food is important to Mrs. Obama. She said that the purpose of the garden is to make sure that her family, the White House staff, and guests eat fresh vegetables. Mrs. Obama has also said that she hopes the new White House garden will help educate Americans about the importance of fresh, nutritious food at a time when obesity is a national crisis. A diet high in natural, unprocessed foods helps people maintain a healthy weight. Mrs. Obama said she has found that her daughters, Malia, 16, and Sasha, 13, like vegetables more if they have been involved in growing them. "If they have been involved in planting and picking the vegetables, they are much more curious about giving them a try," she said. When Bancroft students go back to the White House this summer they will get to taste the vegetables they helped to grow. After they help to harvest the crops, they will cook them in the White House kitchen and then eat them. Why did Mrs. Obama plan to plant the garden? A) Because she wanted her children to become gardeners. B) Because she wanted to know what gardening is like. C) Because she wanted to become a second Eleanor Roosevelt. D) Because she wanted people in the white house to eat a healthy food.
D
------
The education of thousands of children with reading and sight trouble is being held back because of a lack of awareness of their legal rights, say campaigners. They are calling for greater efforts to increase awareness of the rights of such children to have text books in design other than standard   print. The campaign is being supported by five times Olympic gold medalist, Sir Steve Redgrave, who has reading trouble. Pupils have the right to receive text in another way, and parents can take action under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) if they feel their children are being treated in a different way through a lack of support. But new research suggests 89 per cent of print disabled pupils and their parents are unaware of software which changes standard print into other substitutes like combined text and audio files   which can be read or listened to. Sir Steve has teamed up with software company Dolphin Computer Access to raise awareness of software turning tools. He said: "I recognize that schools have competing priorities   for their resources  , but I would like to see a much greater effort on the part of the government and schools to raise awareness among parents that these additional solutions exist and that their children have a right to use them." Mike Foster, Dolphin's local MP in Worcester, is _ the campaign. "There is clearly an issue to solve concerning software for special needs. I'll be asking ministers what steps can be taken to improve the situation", he said. Sir Steve Redgrave suggests that  _  . A) government and schools raise awareness of disabled children's legal rights B) parents take greater efforts to ask the government and schools for help C) parents should take action to raise awareness of software turning tools D) software company work with him to make the products

A
------