When you're a junior in high school, three little letters quickly become larger than life: SAT. At the start of my junior year, I realized that the environment was packed with competition. Surprisingly, this pressure didn't come from adults. It came from the other students. Everyone in my grade had college on the brain. To get into the college of our choice, we all believed, we had to outcompete and outscore everyone else with less sleep, because time for sleeping was time you didn't spend studying for the SAT. I let myself get swept up in the pressure. My new motto was, if I wasn't in every single honor level class, I wasn't doing enough. I was bad-tempered and I couldn't focus. I stopped talking to my friends and my mom, and I couldn't figure out who I was. I didn't have the confidence to know that my own passions and unique skills were what would make me stand out to colleges. That's when I realized: I am not my SAT score. Trying to stick to what I thought colleges wanted masked who I really am. I decided to rely on my strengths and get away from the crazy pressure I was putting on myself. Instead of forcing myself into higher levels of math, I took on an extra history class. I learned how to love what I was doing and not what I thought I was supposed to do. I learned to shine as an individual, not a faceless member of the crowd. And I found that not only was this better for my happiness, but it also made me more effective and efficient when I studied. To me, individuality means having the confidence to decide who I am and who I want to be, and a number on a page is never going to change that. I am more sure of myself, and more ready to apply for college, than ever. At the start of the junior year, the author decided to study for the SAT   _  . A) to overcome the pressure from other high school students B) to test how good she was at studying compared to others C) because it was exciting to compete with others to get into college D) because she was eager to get an advantage over others in the competition
D


(Question)
Scientists are worried that an asteroid  will possibly hit the earth in 2036. If scientists are right, planet earth is 24 years away from a major disaster. Scientists have been monitoring the progress of a 390-metre-wide asteroid ever since it was discovered last June. They have announced that it could hit the earth, causing huge damage, in 2036. NASA estimates that the impact from the asteroid named after Apophis and ancient Egyptian demon  would release more than 100,000 times the energy released in the nuclear explosion over Hiroshima. Thousands of square kilometers would be directly affected by the explosion. The whole planet would see the effects of the dust released into the atmosphere. This is the worst possible scenario  of any asteroid in recorded history. Having more than 20 years' warning of possible impact might seem plenty of time. But scientists insist that there is actually very little time left to decide. Luckily, however, they aren't short on ideas for the asteroid. The favored method is also probably the easiest--throwing a spacecraft at the asteroid to change its direction. The European Space Agency plans to test this in the next decade. One idea that seems to have no support from astronomers is the use of explosive, although this sounds more likely to the public or Hollywood producer. At present, scientists are trying to make a better estimate of how much time we have, through more observations. In spring of next year, there will be another chance for radar observation of Apophis. This will help astronomers calculate the orbits of the asteroid more accurately. If, at that stage, they can't rule out an impact with the earth in 2036, the next chance to make better observations will not be until 2016, then 2029. "If we wait until 2029 and the worst--case scenario turns out to be true, it would seem unlikely that we'd be able to do anything about 2036," warns Prof Fitzsimmons. According to the scientists' observation,    _   . A) the asteroid named Apophis will explode in 2036. B) the asteroid named Apophis might hit the earth in 2036. C) the asteroid named Apophis is 24 years old. D) there is plenty of time to decide the way we deal with the asteroid.
(Answer)
B


Ques: Scientists explain why people often blame others when things don't work out. Researchers say that when it comes to fixing blame, we can't always trust our own judgment .When things go wrong and we're to blame, we 're supposed to feel guilty. Right? Not necessarily.      It turns out that when we do something that causes a negative result, we actually feel less responsible     for our actions.  But we see the entire situation differently if things turn out well.      The  "blame game" is nothing new. Behavior experts have long known that people push responsibility to others, or to outside factors, when things don't work out. But the new research shows that this reaction is more than about wanting to escape blame. We actually don't believe that what happened is our fault. To learn more about the  "blame game", researchers conducted a study. They asked 34 people to press keys that produced three different noises. The noises were positive (amusement, laughter), negative (fear, upset, or anger), or neutral  .      The volunteers were asked to try to judge the time that it took between when they pushed the button and when they heard the sounds. Volunteers felt there was longer time between their actions and the negative sounds than that between their actions and the positive  ones. In their minds, the negative results were separate from their actions. Therefore, they were able to feel less responsible for them.     The findings suggest that perhaps more of us need to realize that unpleasant or negative situations may actually be our fault - even if we don't see it that way. And taking more responsibility for our actions could lead to better relationships with others. Which of the following does the new research probably agree with? A) Negative results have nothing to do with others. B) People always feel responsible for their fault. C) All the people are fond of escaping blame. D) People often believe that what they do is right.
Ans: D


Ques:There have been discussions about retire age limit recently. Does it make sense to make people retire at a particular age, say, 55? 60? Some people work well into their 70s and 80s, running families, countries or corporations while other people, despite being fit and highly talented, are forced to retire in their fifties or even earlier. Here I will examine whether people should be allowed to continue working as long as they want or whether they should be encouraged to retire at a particular stage. Some people think there are several reasons for allowing older people to continue working. Firstly, older employees are more experienced and their knowledge can be lost to his company or business if they are made to retire. Secondly, older employees are often extremely loyal and more willing to carry out company policies than younger staff. Another point is related to our society's attitudes to the old. To force someone to retire at 50 or 60 indicates that the society does not value the contribution of these people, which may be regarded as age discrimination. However, others believe that allowing older people to work indefinitely  is not a good policy. Age alone is no guarantee of ability. Old people are ambitious workaholics. Many young employees are more skillful than older staff, who may have been stuck in one area or unit for most of their working lives. _ . In addition, without age limits, many people would continue to work purely because they did not have any other plans. Another reason is that older people should be rewarded by society for their life's labor by being given generous pensions and the freedom to enjoy their leisure. We now have youngsters who can't find jobs because old people refuse to retire. This new generation of "old people" may think they will never die due to modern advances in medicine. With many young people unemployed or frustrated in low-level positions, older workers are expected to retire. However, this can affect their right to work. I feel that giving workers more flexibility... The author is likely to agree that   _  ' A) it's not wise to suggest lengthening the retirement age B) it does make sense to set a particular retirement age C) having different retirement age sounds unreasonable D) when to retire should depend on the employees themselves

Ans:
D