(Question)
A crisis is on the way.Global warming? The world economy? No,the decline of reading.People are just not doing it anymore,especially the young.Who's responsible? What is responsible? The Internet,of course,and everything that comes with it--Facebook,Twitter,etc.. There's been a warning about the coming death of literate civilization for a long time.In the 20th century,first it was the movies,then radio,then television that seemed to end the written world.None did.Reading survived;in fact it not only survived,it has developed better.The world is more literate than ever before -- there are more and more readers.and more and more books. The fact that we often get our reading material online today is not something we should worry over.The electronic and digital revolution of the last two decades has arguably shown the way forward for reading and for writing.Interconnectivity allows for the possibility of a reading experience that was barely imaginable before.Where traditional books had to make do with photographs and illustrations,an e-book can provide readers with an unlimited number of links:to texts,pictures,and videos. On the other hand,there is the danger of trivialization .One Twitter group is offering its followers single-sentence-long"digests"of the great novels.War and Peace in a sentence? You must be joking.We should fear the fragmentation of reading.There is the danger that the high-speed connectivity of the Internet will reduce our attention span--that we will be incapable of reading anything of length or which requires deep concentration. In such a fast-changing world,in which reality seems to be remade each day,we need the ability to focus and understand what is happening to us.This has always been the function of literature and we should be careful not to let it disappear.Our society needs to be able to imagine the possibility of someone entirely in pace with modern technology but able to make sense of a dynamic,confusing world. According to the passage,the advantage of e-books is  _  . A) 1imited link B) imaginative design C) low cost D) varied contents
(Answer)
D


(Question)
Everyone's at it, even my neighbors. I thought I might be the only person left in the world who hadn't done an eBay deal. So I decided to try my hand at online auction. Buying for beginners: Sign up on www.eBay.co.uk. Most items (e.g. tables, computers, and books) ready for auction will come with a picture and a short description; others may be marked with "Buy It Now" and have a fixed price. You can buy these right away. If the item is being auctioned, you offer the highest price you are prepared to pay and eBay bids for you.The bid will be increased little by little until it goes beyond your highest bid, then you are emailed and asked if you would like to bid again. Auctions last up to 10 days, and when they finish you get an email telling you whether you have won the item. How to pay: Sellers decide how they would like to be paid and you need to check this before placing a bid as you might not want to post a cheque or postal orders. The easiest way is through PayPal, an online payment system that takes the money away from your credit card. Selling made simple: If you plan to sell on eBay, it helps to include a picture of the item.I followed my friends' advice and put up the items I wanted to sell for a 10-day auction, starting on a Thursday.This way buyers had two weekends to bid. The big things in life: It's easy to post a small item, but furniture is a big part of eBay and this has to be collected or sent by delivery men.Check the ways of delivery before you bid. The passage suggests that a buyer   _  . A) has more than one chance to bid B) should make payment immediately C) can only buy one item D) must give the credit card to the seller
(Answer)
A


(Question)
A light drizzle was falling as my sister Jill and I ran out of the Methodist Church, eager to get home and play with the presents that Santa had left for us and our baby sister, Sharon. Across the street from the church was a Pan American gas station where the Greyhound bus stopped.It was closed for Christmas, but I noticed a family standing outside the locked door, huddled under the narrow overhang  in an attempt to keep dry. I wondered briefly why they were there but then forgot about them as I raced to keep up with Jill.     Once we got home, there was barely time to enjoy our presents. We had to go off to our grandparents' house for our annual Christmas dinner. As we drove down the highway through town,I noticed that the family were still there, standing outside the closed gas station.       My father was driving very slowly down the highway. The closer we got to the turnoff for my grandparents' house, the slower the car went. Suddenly, my father U-turned in the middle of the road and said, ''I can't stand it!" ''What?" asked my mother. ''They've got children. It's Christmas. I can't stand _ ." When my father pulled into the service station, I saw that there were five of them: the parents and three children--two girls and a small boy. My father rolled down his window. "Merry Christmas," he said. "Howdy ,''the man replied. ''You are waiting for the bus?'' my father asked. The man said that they were. They were going to Birmingham, where he had a brother and prospects of a job.     "Well, that bus isn't going to come along for several hours, and you're getting wet standing here. Winborn is just a couple miles up the road. They've got a shed with a cover there and some benches". My father said. ''Why don't you all get in the car and I'll run you up there."     The man thought about it for a moment, and then he beckoned to his family. They climbed into the car. They had no luggage, only the clothes they were wearing.     Once they settled in, my father looked back over his shoulder and asked the children if... Which of the follow words can best describe the father? A) Kindhearted. B) Enthusiastic. C) Energetic. D) Determined.
(Answer)

A