Problem:

Read the following article and answer the question. Article: One fine afternoon I was walking along Fifth Avenue when I remembered that it was necessary to buy a pair of socks. I turned into the first sock shop that caught my eye, and a boy clerk who could not have been more than 17 years old came forward. "What can I do for you, sir?" "I wish to buy a pair of socks." His eyes glowed. "Did you know that you had come into the best place in the world to buy socks?" I had not been aware of that. "Come with me," said the boy happily. He began to haul   down from the shelves box after box. "Hold on, boy, I am going to buy only one pair!" "I know that," said he, "but I want you to see how beautiful these are. Aren't they wonderful?" There was on his face an expression of joy, as if he were showing to me the mysteries of his religion. "My friend," said I, "if this is not just the enthusiasm   that comes from novelty  , if you can keep up this day after day, in ten years you will own every sock in the United States." In many shops the customer has to wait for someone to serve him. And when finally some clerk does notice you, you are made to feel as if you were disturbing him. He displays no interest either in you or in the goods he is paid to sell. Yet possibly that very clerk who is now so cold began his career with enthusiasm. As time goes by, the enthusiasm is gradually gone; his only pleasures were found outside of working hours. He became a mechanical  , not inspired, salesman. I have observed such change in the lives of so many people in so many occupations that I have come to the conclusion that the fastest road to failure is to do things mechanically. Question: The writer wrote this article to   _  . Answer:
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A: inspire people to go about their work with great interest


Problem:

Read the following article and answer the question. Article: It was a cold night in Washington, D.C. and I was heading back to the hotel when a beggar walked up to me. He asked if I would give him some money so he could get something to eat. After a short hesitation, I shook my head and kept walking. With helplessness, he said, "I really am homeless and I really am hungry! You can come with me and watch me eat!" But still, I kept on walking. The incident bothered me for the rest of the week. In fact, I had money in my pocket and it wouldn't have killed me to hand over a dollar or two even if he had been lying. On a freezing cold night, I wondered what would happen to a hungry man. Flying back to my hometown, Anchorage, I couldn't help thinking of him. I tried to find excuses for my failure to help. After all, government agencies, churches and charities were there to feed him. Besides, you're not supposed to give money to beggars. But I just couldn't forget the incident and began to think I must do something. At that time, I was writing a garden column  for the local Daily News. Suddenly, I came up with an idea. Why not try to get all my readers to plant one row in their gardens donated to Bean's? Bean's Cafe, the soup kitchen which has volunteered to feed hundreds of hungry people every day for many years. The idea began to _ . I began to receive more e-mails and calls from kind people. They tried their best to show their concerns about the hungry. Food was sent by different warm-hearted people and even those who only grew flowers sent their flowers. They are food for the spirit, which comforted me a lot. Next year, the Garden Writers Association of America held their annual conference in Anchorage and after learning of Anchorage's program, Plant a Row for Bean's became Plant a Row for the Hungry. You can imagine how happy I was then. Question: Why did the author can't help thinking of the beggar ? Answer:
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A: Because he felt he had done wrong for his failure to help him.


Problem:

Read the following article and answer the question. Article: "Keep out or I'll chase you out! This is my property!" You hear this every spring. It is a long musical sound --- a bird song! Birds use their songs to communicate different messages to one another. People who study bird sounds are learning their meanings. Usually it is the male that sings. Early in spring he sings to say that he has picked out a piece of property. He sings to attract a female of his same kind. Together they will raise a family in his territory  . He sings to tell all other birds of his kind to keep out. Each kind of bird has its own type of song. Cardinals sing something that sounds a little like "What cheer, cheer, cheer." Towhees sing, "Drink your tea." Most of the time, birds pay attention only to the songs of birds of their own kind. Cardinals answer cardinals, and song sparrows answer song sparrows. A cardinal knows that a song sparrow will not try to steal its mate. So you can see one reason why a cardinal may chase away another cardinal but will not bother a song sparrow. Most different kinds of birds eat different things. To find enough to eat, a bird needs a big piece of land to search in. Many kinds of birds have some ways of dividing up the land into territories. Song sparrows, cardinals ovenbirds, and white-throated sparrows are some of the birds that have territorial systems. Especially in early spring, birds work out the boundaries between their territories by singing "keep out" threats and by chasing and fighting each other. The birds continue singing to tell females that they have set up territories. Neighboring birds seem to agree that there are make believe fences between their pieces of property. Then they do not have to waste energy chasing each other instead of taking care of their young. Scientists guessed that some birds could recognize their neighbors by small differences in their songs. Two scientists who studied white-throated sparrows found that these birds can even tell the difference between songs of individual birds of their own kind. White-throated sparrows... Question: What is the article mainly about? Answer:
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A:
How birds sing to communicate.