Parties, iPods, concerts, movies, TV shows, video games, traffic. All of these things of the modern world make life entertaining and enjoyable. But our 21st-century lifestyle is also loud and, if we don't take notice, it can have an effect on our hearing. Most teenagers don't think about hearing loss. But if you experience any of the followingsymptoms , you may already be hearing damaged: you make efforts to hear normal talk, you have to turn up the TV or radio so high that others complain, you watch other people's expressions to understand what they are saying, you ask people to repeat themselves, you misunderstand what people are saying or you hear ringing in your ears. iPods and other MP3 players are as common as the clothes you wear, and just as fashionable. But if you turn up an iPod to more than 60 percent of itsmaximum volume , and listen to music for more than an hour, you are asking for trouble. And, it does not matter if the music you play is classical, rock or heavy metal. Some researchers find that young people who break the so-called 60-percent/60-minute rule in listening to iPods are at the risk of suffering hearing loss. Why is an iPod dangerous? With ear buds placed directly in the ear canal and high-volume music played over a long period of time, it's like working in a loud factory all day, being amaintenance person under a jet airplane or using ajackhammer on a building site. Similarly, iPod music can cause a short time orpermanent hearing damage. A loud iPod can cause aruptured eardrum and, over time, may cause permanent damage to the tiny hairs in the inner ear. If these tiny hairs are damaged, they cannot effectively send sounds to theauditory nerves that connect to the brain. If this happens, hearing loss becomes permanent. Which of the following shows that you are suffering hearing loss? A) You are interested to listen to others' talking. B) You have to read others' expressions to understand them. C) You can only understand others over the phone. D) You always think you hear the ringing of the phone.
B


The United States Capitol Dome  in Washington, DC, is recognized around the world as a symbol of the U.S. Government. Since last November, the dome has been surrounded by metal poles and heavy cloth as part of a repair project. The last major repair work on the U.S. Capitol took place in 1960. Since then, the dome has become weathered and worn. The Architect of the Capitol group reports that the dome has more than 1,000 narrow breaks on its surface and other damage. The dome was completed around 1863. U. S. Senate Historian Don Ritchie says the dome's cast  iron frame is at special risk of weathering. "The capitol dome, being cast iron, has been hit by lightning countless times. And so the current construction is to repair the leaks, to fill the cracks, to take off extra layers of paint." Some recent visitors to the Capitol were unhappy about its current appearance. They had hoped to get a picture of the usually shining dome. Joyce said, "It was impressive, and very fantastic, and all white, but when I come here today, it is under construction so my family cannot see it clearly, it is kind of a disappointment." Others were more understanding of the repairs. Rick Jones, another visitor, said, "It's a little inconvenient for us not to see the dome but you have to think about the future and the people will be coming to this place for centuries...and you know ,there just needs to be preventive maintenance . I am not upset with that at all." The project is expected to take more than two years to complete. The dome should be ready for a new president in January 2017. Which of the following is NOT included in the current construction? A) To replace the cast iron frame. B) To stop the leaks . C) To remove the old paint. D) To fill up the narrow breaks.
A


Q: In the depths of my memory, many things I did with my father still live. These things come to represent, in fact, what I call joy and love.  I don't remember my father ever getting into a swimming pool. But he did love the water. Any kind of boat ride seemed to give him pleasure. And he loved to fish; sometimes he took me along.  But I never really liked being on the water, the way my father did. I liked being in the water, moving through it, having it all around me. I was not a strong swimmer, or one who learned to swim early, for I had my fears. But I loved being in the swimming pool close to my father's office and spending those summer days with my father, who would come by on a break. I needed him to see what I could do. My father would stand there in his suit, the only person not in swimsuit.  After swimming, I would go inside his office and sit on the wooden chair in front of his big desk, where he let me play with anything I found in his top desk drawer. Sometimes, if I was left alone at his desk while he worked in the lab, an assistant or a student might come in and tell me perhaps I shouldn't be playing with his office things. But my father always showed up and said easily, "Oh, no, it's fine." Sometimes he handed me coins and told me to get myself an ice cream...  A poet once said, "We look at life once, in childhood; the rest is memory." And I think it is not only what we "look at once, in childhood" that decides our memories, but who, in that childhood, looks at us. What was probably the author's father? A) A poet. B) A professor. C) A fisherman. D) An ice-cream man.
A: B


(Q).
GAOMI,  Shandong, Oct.11( Xinhua)--Chinese writer Mo Yan said last Thursday that he was "very surprised" at winning the Nobel Literature Prize. Speaking to reporters at a hotel in his hometown Gaomi city in east China's Shandong Province, Mo said, "(I was)very surprised upon winning the prize because I felt I was not very senior in terms of qualification(among Chinese writers).There are many good writers and my ranking was not so high." "I am very happy," he said."I was having dinner when I received the news.I was surprised." "Thank you for coming all the way to Gaomi.This should be a season of red sorghum, but no such crop is planted any more.I believe none of you have seen the crop," he said. "The Nobel Literature Prize is a very important literature prize, but not the top award.It represents the opinions of the jury( ).I am satisfied with my major works and I still keep writing by hand.My works are Chinese literature, which is part of world literature.They show the life of Chinese people as well as the country's unique culture and folk customs.Meanwhile, my novels described human beings in the broad sense.I wrote in the perspective of a human being.These works stand beyond regions and ethnic groups," he said. "The folk arts and folk culture accompanied my growth and I was influenced by the cultural elements I witnessed through my childhood.When I picked up the pen for literature creation, the folk cultural elements inevitably entered my novels and affected and even determined the artistic styles of my works," he added. Mo's win brought joy to other writers and readers throughout the country as he is the first Chinese national to win the Nobel Literature Prize in its century--long history. Born into a farmer's family in a village in Gaomi, Mo has been known since the late 1980s for his novels such asBig BreastsandWide Hips and Red Sorghum, which was later adapted into a film by director Zhang Yimou. By reading Mo Yan's works, we can  _  . A) increase our sense of national pride B) learn a lot about the Chinese folk culture C) form a vivid picture of his childhood D) learn more about the history of the Nobel Prize
(A).

B