Tom was a poor boy. He made a living by cleaning leather shoes for others in the street. Tom was also a clever boy. One day, a very rich man with the name Miser appeared in front of Tom. He watched his dirty shoes for a while, and then looked at Tom. Tom knew this kind of people well: they love money very much and hate to spend it. Tom said, "Let me clean your shoes, sir." "For nothing?" the rich man asked. "Only two pence, sir." Mr Miser shook his head and walked away. Tom thought for a moment and then called out, "I'd like to clean it for nothing!" This time Mr Miser agreed. And soon one of his shoes was shining brightly. When the rich man put his other shoe on the stool , Tom said he wouldn't clean it for him unless he was paid two pence for his work. Mr Miser was very angry. He refused to pay anything and went away with a smile on his face. But to his surprise, the well-cleaned shoe was so bright that it made the other one look even dirtier. Mr Miser took a look around. People in the street were laughing at him. He couldn't walk on any further. Finally the rich man returned and gave Tom two pence. In a very short time his two shoes shone brightly. Which of the following is true? A) The boy was waiting for the rich man that day. B) Mr. Miser didn't want to have his shoes cleaned. C) The rich man won at last. D) The rich man had to pay the boy for his work.
D


There was good news last week for people who struggle to get eight hours of sleep a night: they may not need so much shut-eye after all. Researchers from UCLA and elsewhere looked at sleep habits of remote hunter-gatherers in Tanzania, Namibia and Bolivia -- groups with pre-industrial lifestyles whose sleep patterns are believed to reflect those of ancient humans. The researchers found that, on average, members of each group sleep a bit less than six and a half hours a night. The study, published in the academic journalCurrent Biology, indicates that "natural" sleep is less than eight hours a night and that modern society's numerous electronic distractions   aren't necessarily to blame for people getting just six or seven hours of sleep. "The story that often gets out is that if you sleep for less than seven hours, you're going to die early," he told me. "That's not true." Yet Americans are addicted to getting more sleep -- and on turning to medical shortcuts to help them. According to the Centers for Disease Control, as many as 70 million U.S. adults suffer from sleep disorders or sleeplessness. Only a third of Americans get the government's recommended seven to nine hours of sleep a night. About 9 million American adults use sleeping pills to help get a good night's rest, the CDC found. Siegel said the number of people relying on medicines "has gone up rather rapidly since then." Industry consulting firm GlobalData estimates that worldwide sales for sleeplessness medicines will run about $1.4 billion next year and reach $1.8 billion by 2023, recovering from lower sales in recent years because of cheaper generics  hitting the market. Dr. Roy Artal, a sleep specialist in West Los Angeles, said it's understandable that busy people in today's go-go world would turn to medicines to speed up the sleep process. But all they're doing is building a reliance on powerful drugs for relatively little improvement. "There's no magic pill that makes us sleep when we want and wake up when we want," Artal said. "The effects... Jerome Siegel believes that   _  . A) we need to take sleeping pills to improve sleep B) modern electronic products do harm to a good sleep C) those who sleep for less than 7 hours will die early D) there is nothing wrong with a 6 or 7 hours' sleep
D


Q: The evidence for harmony may not be obvious in some families. But it seems that four out of five young people now get on well with their parents, which is the opposite of the popularly-held image of unhappy teenagers locked in their room after endless family quarrels. An important new study into teenage attitudes surprisingly shows that their family life is more harmonious than it had ever been in the past. "We were surprised by just how positive today's young people seem to be about their families," said one number of the research team. "They're expected to be rebellious and selfish but actually they have other things on their minds: they want a car and material goods, and they worry about whether school is serving them well. There's more negotiation and discussion between parents and children, and children expect to take part in the family decision-making process. They don't want to rock the boat." So it seems that this generation of parents is much more likely than parents of 30 years ago to treat their children as friends. "My parents are happy to discuss things with me and willing to listen to me," says 17-year-old Daniel Lazall. "I always tell them when I'm going out clubbing. As long as they know what I'm doing, they're fine with me." Susan Crome, who is now 21, agrees. "Looking back on the last 10 years, there was a lot of what you could call negotiation. For example, as long as I'd done all my homework, I could go out on a Saturday night. But I think my grandparents were a lot stricter with my parents than that." Maybe this positive view of family life should not be unexpected. It is possible that the idea of teenage rebellion is not rooted in real facts. A researcher comments, "Our surprise that teenagers say they get along well with their parents comes because of a brief period in our social history when teenagers were regarded as different beings. But that idea of rebelling and breaking away from their parents really happened during that one time in the 1960s when everyone rebelled. The normal... What is the passage mainly about? A) Negotiation in family. B) Education in family. C) Harmony in family. D) Teenage trouble in family.
A: C


(Question)
Herta Muller, the Romanian-born German writer, has won the 2009 Nobel Prize for Literature.The award was announced in Stockholm on Thursday.          Ms.Muller, 56, immigrated to Germany from Romania in 1987.She is the first German writer to win the Nobel in literature since Gunter Grass in 1999 and the 13th winner writing in German since the prize was first given in 1901.She is the 12th woman to win the literature prize.But unlike previous winners like Doris Lessing and V.S.Naipaul, Ms.Muller is  ly unknown outside of literary circles in Germany.          "I am very surprised and still cannot believe it," Ms.Muller said in a statement delivered by her publisher in Germany."I can't say anything more at the moment."          She has written some 20 books, but just 5 have been translated into English, including the novels "The Land of Green Plums" and "The Appointment."          At the news conference on Thursday at the German Publishers & Booksellers Association in Berlin, where she lives, Ms.Muller, wearing all black and sitting on a leopard-print chair, appeared nervous with all the cameras flashing on her.          When asked what it meant that her name would now be mentioned in the same breath as German greats like Thomas Mann and Heinrich Boll, Ms.Muller remained philosophical."I am now nothing better and I'm nothing worse," she said, adding: "My inner thing is writing.That's what I can hold on to."          Earlier in the day, at a news conference in Stockholm, Peter England, secretary of the Swedish Academy, said Ms.Muller was honored for her "very, very distinct special language" and because "she has really a story to tell about cruelty and repression in a village much like the one Muller grew up in."          The awards ceremony is planned for Dec.10 in Stockholm.As the winner, Ms.Muller will receive about $1.4 million. What's the best title of the passage? A) The Biography of Herta Muller B) Herta Muller Wins Literature Nobel Prize C) Herta Muller, a Great Successful Romanian Writer D) The Great Awards Ceremony for Herta Muller
(Answer)

B