Ques: The growing popularity of digital reading has encouraged best-selling young Chinese author Han Han to release   his new novel on the Internet. Ta De Guo (His Country), of which Han Han has finished only one tenth so far, will be available for paid reading from December 1ston Qidian.com, the online library has announced. Han Han will update the story every day and finish the book before the end of the year. A printed edition will only be produced after all of the content goes online, sources said. To read the entire book, readers will have to pay eight yuan, or 0.08yuanper 1,000 words. This is almost four times the price of an average writer on Qidian.com. Lu Jinbo, a well-known publisher, estimated that a popular writer like Han Han is likely to attract 20 million subscribers. That means this high-school-dropout-turned popular author could bring in 160 million yuan, nearly 40 times as much as he earned in copyright royalties   last year. On the 2007 list of Chinese millionaire writers, Han Han ranked 13th with 3.8 million yuan. The richest, Guo Jingming, earned 11 millionyuan. Statistics from China Internet Network Information Center show that there are at least 253 million Internet users in prefix = st1 /China. Such a large-scale Internet population has developed a prosperous industry for online novel writing. Among the many success stories is Zhang Muye, an office worker whose fantasy novel Ghost Blows out the Lightmade him the 19th wealthiest author in 2007. Besides the potential to gain a large readership base, the Internet writers are being recognized professionally. The jury of the Mao Dun Literature Prize, the most prestigious honor for Chinese writers, is considering adding a category for online writers. From the passage, we can learn that Ta De Guois a novel of   _   words. A) 300,000 B) 200,000 C) 150,000 D) 100,000
Ans: D

Ques: A cancer-stricken British teenager said on Thursday she had been moved by messages of support from around the world after writing an online "Bucket List" of things she wanted to do before dying. Alice Pyne, 15, created an Internet blog in which she described her fight against a cancer of the white blood cells. "I've been fighting cancer for almost four years and now I know that the cancer is gaining on me and it doesn't look like I'm going to win this one," she wrote. For her list, at the site www. alicepyne. blogspot. com, she has included making everyone sign up to be a bone marrow donor  , swimming with sharks, meeting boy band Take That and getting a purple iPad computer. Messages of support and offers of help quickly flooded her webpage and it became one of the most talked about subjects on Twitter. "Oh dear! And I thought that I was just doing a little blog for a few friends!" she wrote after her site attracted huge attention. "Thank you so much for all your lovely messages to me." Alice, who lives with her family in the northwest English town of Ulverston, said the manager of Take That had arranged for her to see the band after reading her blog. A group of local lawmakers have also made efforts with the Anthony blood cancer charity to encourage people to join its stem cell   projects. About Alice Pyne's "Bucket List", which is NOT true? A) To ask people to donate bone marrow. B) To get a cool computer. C) To swim with sharks. D) To meet a boy.
Ans: D

Ques: Italians were reminded to slow down and relax on World Slow Day, an annual event celebrating life's simple pleasures. "Let's take this day to stop and think about all the things we miss while we're rushing through our lives," said Bruno Contigiani, the President of the Art of Living Slowly Association. Contigiani, 62, a one-time high-powered manager, is now an ambassador for the slow life movement around the world. He started the first World Slow Day in 2007 to encourage the values of living and working at a more natural pace, and to make people rethink their daily lifestyle. Contigiani's association suggests "14 commandments   " for living better, such as waking up five minutes earlier to enjoy breakfast without rushing. Others include walking whenever possible, and reading in the evenings instead of watching television. This year, Contigiani left Italy where the event has spread around the country for Shanghai, one of the fastest moving cities in the world. The slow-living supporter said he wandered around the busiest streets of the commercial center for an entire afternoon, inviting people to "slow down". "Among the '14 commandments', the one about waking up five minutes earlier was the most popular by far, " Contigiani said. Back in Italy, the now well-known event hosts a lot of activities, such as reminding people to stop and smell the roses. In central Milan you would probably be fined if you walk too fast. In parks and public spaces, free yoga and Tai Chi   lessons are important parts of the events. Italian farmers' union noted that Italians spent less and less time preparing meals, a habit connected to rising levels of obesity . Therefore, the group said World Slow Day was a good opportunity to remind Italians to take extra time at meals in particular. World Slow Day is by now an international event. A total of 90 "Slow Cities" in 11 countries inspired by the "live well" philosophy are supporting the day. Which of the following goes against the "commandments"? A) Walking whenever possible. B) Slowing down to smell flowers. C) Watching TV in the evenings instead of reading. D) Waking up five minutes earlier to enjoy breakfast.
Ans: C

Ques: Working the night shift a few nights a month can do more than leave your eyes bleary-eyed ,suggests a study on Wednesday.     It just might increase your risk of color1ectal cancer .Nurses who worked the night shift at least three times a month for t5 years or more were 35%more likely to develop that type of cancer than nurses who never worked nights,Harvard University researchers report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.     The finding,from the ongoing Nurses Health Study,is the first to link night shift work with a higher risk of color1ectal cancer,expected to kill 57,100 Americans this, according to the American Cancer Society.Another research,including a report out of the Nurses Health Study, has suggested that working night shifts increases women's breast cancer risk.     The researchers asked 78,586 nurses whether they had ever worked three or more night shifts a month.The nurses indicated whether they had done so for less than 15 years or 15 years or more.The scientists followed the women to see who developed color1ectal cancer.     Researchers believe that lowered levels of melatonin might increase night-shift workers' cancer risk.Melatonin levels usually reach the highest point in the middle of the night. Turn on the lights,though,and  _ dropped measurably in just 10 minutes,says Richard Stevens a cancer epidemiologist at the University of Connecticut who did not take part in the new study.After two weeks of continuous nightly exposure to light,humans experience a sharp drop in melatonin production,Nurses Health Study researchers write.    In the lab,melatonin appears to stop tumor growth.Other studies suggest that color1ectal cancer patients have lower blood levels of melatonin than healthy people,the authors write.However,that could be a result of the disease,not a cause of it.Stevens says. According to Nurses Health Study,which of the following statements is NOT true? A) Working on night shifts will do harm to nurses' health. B) Nurses who don't work at night don't suffer color1ectal cancer. C) Nurses working on night shifts will have a higher risk of color1ectal cancer D) Working on night shifts will increase women's breast cancer risk
Ans:
B