*Question*
Scientists are making new studies of color and its effects on our health. They have known for a long time that the color of a room or the color of the light in it can affect our feelings and emotions. Many prisons and hospitals have at least one room that is painted pink. Officials have found that light and color can produce physical changes in our bodies. Professor Falfan worked with a group of 9 disabled children at school in Albert. Two of the children were blind. The other seven had normal sight. The scientists changed the color of the school room, then looked for changes in blood pressure, heart beat and breathing rate. The effects of color changes were the same for the blind children as for those with normal sight. Their blood pressure dropped from about 120 to 100. Similar changes were reported in heart-beat and the breathing. The children also were calmer and less excited. Then the colors of the room were returned to orange and white. Blood pressure, heart-beat and breathing rate went up and the children became excited again. Professor Falfan said different colors produce different levels of light energy. He said the differences seem to affect chemicals in the brain that carry messages from nerve to nerve and from nerve to muscle. The colors in the school room mentioned in the passage were changed from   _  . A) orange to white B) orange and white to dark blue C) orange and white to pink or some other colors D) gray to more colors
**Answer**
C

*Question*
Days after celebrations honoring his bicentennial  , Abraham Lincoln kept his rank as best US president, according to a survey of 65 historians that landed George W. Bush 36th out of 42 overall.   Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865), the first US president George Washington (1789-1797) and New Deal architect Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) were ranked the top three out of the 42 men who have been the country's former chiefs, according to a survey by cable channel C-SPAN.   John F. Kennedy came in sixth, ahead of Ronald Reagan (10th) and Bill Clinton, who jumped to 15th from 21st during the last survey in 2000, when prefix = st1 /Lincolnalso ranked first.   Of all modern presidents, Bush, who left office last month after an eight-year term, behaved worst at 36th, nearly 10 spots behind Richard Nixon (27th), who was forced to resign in disgrace in consequence of the Watergate Scandal  .   Bush scored lowest in international relations, where he ranked 41st, and in economic management, where he placed 40th. His best ranking was 24th, in having "pursued equal justice for all." He came 25thin crisis leadership, and for his vision and agenda setting.   Reagan behaved well in public persuasion, where he was pushed to 3rd spot, from his 10th place overall.   Bill Clinton also received honors for his public persuasion, landing a 10th spot in that category, up from 15th overall. But presidential historians were critical of his moral authority, placing him 37th, ahead of Richard Nixon (41st), but behind Bush (35th).   Jimmy Carter fell from 22nd to 25th overall, and many other presidents moved positions. The fluidity   of opinions of past presidents reflects contemporary concerns, according to Edna Medford, a survey leader and participant.   "Today's concerns shape our views of the past, he it in the area of foreign policy, managing the economy or human rights," she said in a statement.   Presidents James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Franklin Pierce and William Henry Harrison ranked worst overall. What has the greatest influence on people's rankings in the survey according to the passage? A) Their personal likes and dislikes. B) Their worry about today. C) Their understanding of the presidents. D) Their historical knowledge.
**Answer**
B

*Question*
Marjorie Gestring Marjorie Gestring was a springboard  diver from the United States who won the gold medal in 3-meter springboard diving at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany at the age of 13 years. With the cancellation  of the Olympics in 1940 and 1944 because of World War II, Gestring did not get a chance to defend her title, and her comeback attempt for the 1948 Summer Olympics failed.  Bob Mathias 17-year-old American Bob Mathias won the decathlon  only four months after taking up the sport. He is the youngest athlete in Olympic history to win a men's track and field event. By the time Mathias retired from decathlon competition in 1952, he had nine victories in nine competitions. He had won two gold medals separately in 1948 and 1952. In 1954 a film about his early life called The Bob Mathias Story was made, in which he and his wife played themselves. Fu Mingxia Fu Mingxia was born on August 16, 1978 in Wuhan, Hubei Province. At an early age, her father taught her to swim at a nearby river. She started exercising gymnastics at age 5, soon turning to diving. Fu Mingxia left home at age 9 to train in Beijing. In the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona, Fu Mingxia became China's youngest Olympic champion ever when she won the 10-meter platform gold at the age of 13. Ian Thorpe Ian Thorpe was born on 13 October, 1982. He is a former Australian freestyle swimmer. At the age of 14, he became the youngest male ever to represent Australia. Ian Thorpe, 17 years old, won the gold medal in the 400m freestyle by breaking his own world record in Sydney 2000. He has won five Olympic gold medals. According to the passage, the youngest athlete who won the most Olympic gold medals came from   _  . A) Australia B) America C) China D) Germany
**Answer**
A

*Question*
XUE Bai, a 21-year-old university student, hopes to volunteer for Beijing's 2008 Olympics. "I want to do something for the Olympics. It is also a kind of learning for me," said the fourth-year student at Beijing Foreign Studies University. Now it is time for Xue to act on her plan. The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the 2008 Olympiad  will start to recruit volunteers on August 28. The Olympics will need around 70,000 volunteers and the Paralympic Games  will need another 30,000. University students like Xue will make up the majority of the volunteers. But the Olympics also need other volunteers - ordinary citizens and foreigners, for example. Students in Beijing should apply through their universities. Other volunteers may apply online or submit a written application. The online application system and a hotline will be open next Monday. For applicants outside Beijing, the application process begins in December. There is plenty of work for volunteers to do. For example, there will be chances to help publicize the games over the next two years. During the games themselves, volunteers will clean, serve food, marshal or offer language help. The Sydney Olympics in 2000 was the first that placed special emphasis on the role of volunteers. It used more than 45,000 volunteers in different roles. In the 2004 Athens Olympics, around 45,000 volunteers were used. More than 70,000 volunteers will be needed for the Olympic games and Paralympic Games in 2012, the London Olympic Organizing Committee has said. Xue Bai is willing to be a volunteer for the Beijing Olympics for the purpose of  _  . A) watching live Olympic matches B) learning more C) meeting his favorite sports stars D) making money
**Answer**

B