Ques: My father's playing the violin lights up any room. To him, it is an instrument of faith, hope and charity. My mother used to joke, "Your papa would play his violin if the world was about to blow up."  _  In the early years of the 20th century, the boll weevil   began destroying the cotton farms in the southern USA. In May 1910, folks all over the nation were talking about Halley's Comet  . There were all sorts of frightening stories about it, the main one being that the world would pass through its tail, said to be millions of miles long. Between the threats of the comet and weevils, the farmers were running low on optimism. One night, they gathered at our farm to discuss what to do. Will Bowen, a local man, suggested, "Charley, how about giving us a little music?" "I don't think anybody'd want to hear me tonight," Dad replied. "Come on, Mr. Nordyke," one of the younger women urged. "Play for us!" Dad got the hang of getting people in the mood for his music. He played church songs, and then switched to war songs. By the time he had finished performing, people were stamping their feet, clapping their hands and yelling. All of our neighbors went home whistling. Very few remembered to look to see whether the comet was still around. Another evening, Will Bowen called Dad on the telephone and said, "Charley, I'm downhearted and blue. Could you play a tune or two for me through the phone?" Dad handed the receiver to me and then set about playing the songs he had performed that night. I could hear Mr. Bowen whistling and yelling. By the time the tune was finished there were half a dozen neighbors on the line. They talked about how wonderful the music sounded over the telephone. They made numerous requests; I relayed them to Dad and he played. Our broadcasts became regular features of community life. When the weather was bad in winter and farmers were forced to remain in the house, someone would ring us and ask Dad to play. Usually it developed into a network affair. Our phone kept ringing with requests for music... All the following statements are FALSE except   _  . A) The neighbors often dropped in to hear Mr. Nordyke's performance. B) Mr. Nordyke's music entertained and comforted people in the community. C) The farmers knew listening to music would help them avoid being destroyed by Halley's Comet. D) At that time people loved all sorts of music deeply.
Ans: B

Ques: In 1996 I wanted to buy a Honda Civic. I went to the local dealer. "Oh, you want a Civic, do you?" said the fellow. "And I suppose you'd also like us to throw in a couple of front-row Superbowl tickets? Haw! Haw! Haw! Haw!" When his laughter ended, he explained that the Civic was such a hit in Europe that Honda was getting an extra $ 2,000 per car there, making Civic practically unavailable in the States. But he did offer to let me add my name to the waiting list--if I agreed to pay $1,000 over the sticker   price. When Honda dealerships No. 2 and No. 3 gave me the same story, I was ready to try anything. I carefully looked over to www.autobytel.com. For a  _ like me, Auto-By-Tel's scheme   is nearly irresistible. You indicate the car you want to buy, compete with the freedom to choose. The nearest participating car dealer mails you back with a cut rate offer. There's no charge for any of this -- and no obligation to accept the offer. It surely seemed no less to me. Sure enough, two days later, a dealer 30 minutes away wrote me. "Unfortunately, 96 Civics are in very short supply," his message said, "The best we can offer you is $1,200 under sticker price. "I was in happiness. Ah! Bliss! Ah, saving! Ah, revenge! When I picked up the car, it got better. Since there was no haggling  , the dealership fellow was friendly and congratulatory instead of everything. Now this, I thought, is the way to buy a car.       Auto-By-Tel makes money by charging a fee to each participating dealer. The dealers make money by receiving hundreds of ready-to-buy customer names off the Web. And you save money because your price doesn't reflect advertising, test drives, sales commissions, and so on. My only regret is that I didn't think up Auto-By-Tel first. From the text, we can draw a conclusion:  _  . A) Believe others' good remarks while buying something B) If you want to do anything, you must have a will C) The writer was not generous at all and he loved money very much D) Be sure of yourself and you will fail
Ans: B

Ques: Rain and cold weather this summer saw honey yields from hives fall by almost three-quarters, the British Beekeepers Association(BBKA)said today. The average crop per hive was down 72% compared to last year, with just 3.6kg (81b) of honey produced compared to an annual average, the annual honey survey by the BBKA revealed. The survey of 2,712 beekeepers in England, Northern Ireland and Wales found that 88% said this summer's bad weather caused the _ in honey yields. The bad weather made it difficult for bees to excrete ,which led to disease easily, and the bad weather also increased the risk of keeping bees for heavy rain caused the places which bees regularly visited to meet natural disasters. The bad weather also influenced the plants flowering which increased the cost of keeping bees. The BBKA issued a midsummer warning to feed bees if necessary to avoid dying from hunger. But in London, which recorded the worst results with just 2.5kg (5.61b)of honey harvested on average, beekeeping experts said that in addition to the bad weather there was a lack of food for bees in the city. Angela Woods, secretary of the London Beekeepers Association, said, "Rather than putting beehives on office roofs, we encourage companies in London that want to help to look at different ways of supporting bees and beekeepers. We need more food for the bees and better-educated beekeepers." Elsewhere, the weather was the main problem. Peter Hutton, a beekeeper in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, said, "It has been the most difficult year I have known in my 53 years of beekeeping. Bad weather in spring prevented bees in many areas from collecting nectar from early-flowering crops such as oilseed rape ,and the rain continued in many places throughout June and July, preventing honeybees from searching for food on later crops." The BBKA warned that as well as reducing the honey harvest, the bad weather is likely to have a longer-term influence as it will have affected the normal process of breeding for the queens, which mate on the wing on fine,... Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage? A) The quality of the honeybees is influenced by the bad weather. B) London companies are encouraged to take part in helping bees and beekeepers. C) Both the cost and the risk of keeping bees are increased because of the bad weather. D) Better-educated beekeepers are needed to improve the bad situations that the bad weather brought to bees.
Ans:
A