I came to India a year ago to find a village in which I could live and write but it was many months before I settled down happily in this Himalayan community.I wasted a lot of time looking for the "typical" village, yet no such thing exists. Conditions vary too widely.But the villages I stayed in had much in common--poverty, dirt, ignorance. Often the villagers themselves were puzzled, suspicious. Why had I come? I had put aside my work as a political journalist because my ideas had changed. I had come to believe that what was happening in the Third World was more important than anything else. But to understand how three quarters of the world's people live, and how their future might affect ours, I felt that I first had to try and share their way of life.In the end I chose a mountain village because it was a little cooler than those in the plains. I took the bus from town along a bumpy road. Then came a rough walk down a steep path to the river. After this I began the climb into the Mils. Whenever I stopped to catch my breath, there was a magnificent view. After several hours' walk the village came into view. After the writer had arrived in India,  _  . A) he spent a year writing about the place he lived in B) he spent quite some time looking for a suitable place to live in C) he stayed in an Indian village working for the poor D) he lived in a Himalayan community for many months.
B


I've always felt a bit sad for weekend fathers, who are divorced and must maintain a bond with their children through visits on the weekend.Not having the opportunity for a lot of quality time, they go in for quantity  giving lots of gifts and taking the children on non stop outings. But now I can understand.I'm a weekend mom.My child, Henry, is a dog. Henry just returned to his father, Jack, after a happy stay with me.For ten days, I fed him the best food, canceled plans to stay home with him and let him sleep on the bed every night. Jack and I broke up a year ago.But neither of us wanted to part with Henry, so we share him.Not surprisingly, Henry is a willing participant in our contest for his love. Jack doesn't let Henry sleep on his bed, so that's where I can always gain big points.I feed Henry higher        quality food.I am always replacing his expensive "thingy" ,a cotton knot he likes chewing on.It' s his favorite toy, and the only one he has is at my house.Score another one for me. Jack now has a girlfriend, Lucy.At first she was afraid of dogs, which secretly delighted me.But that Henry, just trying to be polite(the way I taught him to be),won her over. If truth be told, as time passes, there has been a slight change in Henry' s behavior toward me.The worst was one day when Jack dropped him off for a two        week stay.Henry and I were in the backyard playing as Jack was driving off.When he heard Jack's truck, he ran after it for two blocks until Jack had to stop and bring him back. That hurt, especially since I had friends over at the time.In a rare conciliatory   mood, Jack said to me, "You know, I' m his best friend, but you'll always be his mom." Whatever it takes, I plan to make sure it stays that way. At the writer's home, Henry  _  . A) does a lot of running B) enjoys high quality food C) has many expensive toys D) is not allowed to sleep on her bed
B


Q: What if handheld   tools know what needs to be done and were even able to guide and help inexperienced users to complete jobs that require skill? Researchers at the University of Bristol have developed and started studying a novel concept in robotics--intelligent handheld robots. Historically, handheld tools have been straight, unintelligent instruments that are _ of the context they operate in, are fully directed by the user, and therefore, lack any understanding about the task they are performing. Dr. Walterio Mayol-Cuevas and PhD student, Austin Gregg-Smith, from the University's Department of Computer Science, have been working in the design of the robot as well as in understanding how best to be with a tool that "knows and acts". Compared to other tools such as power tools that have a motor and perhaps some basic sensors  , the handheld robots developed at Bristol are designed to have more degrees of freedom to allow greater independence from the instructions of the user, and importantly, understand the steps being carried out. This allows for a new level of co-operation between user and tool, such as the user providing directions and the tool performing the detailed task. Handheld robots, aim to share physical similarity with users but are neither fully independent as is a humanoid robot nor are part of the user's body. The aim with handheld robots is to develop the intuitiveness   of using traditional handheld tools while adding planted intelligence and action to allow for new abilities. Dr. Mayol-Cuevas, Reader in Robotics Computer Vision and Mobile Systems, said, "There are three basic levels of autonomy   we are considering: no autonomy, semi-autonomous when the robot advises the user but does not act, and fully autonomous when the robot advises and acts even by correcting or refusing to perform incorrect user actions." What is the new concept in robotics? A) Full control by the user. B) Improvement in intelligence. C) Larger size of the robots. D) Help for the experienced users.
A: B


*Question*
Old age may not sound exciting. But recent findings offer good news for older people and for people worried about getting older. Researchers found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of fifty. In fact, they say by the age of eighty-five, people are happier with their life than they were when they were eighteen years old. The findings came from a survey of more than three hundred forty thousand adults in the United States. The Gallup Organization questioned them by telephone in 2008. At that time, the people were between the ages of eighteen and eighty-five. The researchers asked questions about emotions like happiness, sadness and worry. They also asked about mental or emotional stress. Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-five. The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties. The study also showed that men and women have similar feeling patterns as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men. Researchers say they do not know why happiness increases as people get older. One theory is that, as people grow older, they grow older, they grow more thankful for what they have and have better control of their feelings. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences. Professor Stone says the emotional patterns could be linked to changes in how people see the world, or maybe even changes in brain chemistry. The researchers also considered possible influences like having young children, being unemployed or being single. But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being related to age. According to the survey of The Gallup Organization people are most likely to become happier   _  . A) when they are between ages of 18 and 85 B) when they come to their old age C) when they are in their twenties D) when they are eighteen years old
**Answer**

B