Ques: Just saw the superhero movie, Kick-Ass, and it raised an interesting question: just because we are not superhuman, can we lead a super-heroic life? I believe we can do it in some easy steps! Activate  our super powers. Superheroes are all good at different things. Some are really fast, some can see things others can't, and some can move things with their mind. Also we all have special talents and passions. We just have to know what they are and develop them. Try this. List several things you're especially good at-- we'll say these are your core super powers. Next, write down what makes each of your core super powers and look for chances to use them and improve them. Get a _ or two. Superheroes are out there all day, fighting the good fight. And who's there to help? Every superhero has teamed up with someone else to defeat some enemies they couldn't deal with alone. We need a support team: one or more who can be trusted and will help us when necessary. Our team members should bring different, constructive perspectives  and all kinds of super powers. But we must choose wisely. Be brave and bold. Does it take more courage to venture  down a dark road or to face a life of no ventures at all? Both can be pretty scary. But we should be brave and bold just as some successful person said: "Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition ." Live the code. Superheroes die to protect others. They don't cheat or lie or steal. They're good role models, and they do the right things even when nobody is watching. Though nobody's perfect, yet we should learn from superheroes and struggle not to disobey the superhero code. Turn a friend down who trusts me? Of course I won't. What is the passage mostly about? A) How we can become a superhero. B) What a superhero should be like. C) How we can live like a superhero. D) Why we should learn from a superhero.
Ans: C

Ques: Have you heard of snake robots? Scientists and doctors are already using tiny snakes that coil through the human body armed with sharp surgical tools to perform operations on hearts, prostate cancer, and other diseased organs. The snake robots that carry tiny cameras, scissors and forceps, and even more advanced sensors are being developed. The next generation of the robots will be wireless, and will explore inside your body on their own--- not attached to any cables. For now, they are powered by cables that humans control. Experts say the day is coming when some robots will roam around the body on their own. But the experts in robotics say the new creations work best when they are designed for very specific tasks. Howie Choset has been researching and building robots, particularly snake robots. He believes that his snake robot and others like it can help reduce medical costs by making complex surgery faster and easier. Choset says his new design is smaller and more flexible than earlier models. The size of surgical robots allows surgeons to operate with far less damage to the body, helping the patient heal faster. Choset has also built larger snake robots designed for search and rescue, or just exploration. They can climb poles and trees and then look around through a camera in the head and slither through places that humans cannot reach. " We sent our snake robots into these caves in the Red Sea to look for evidence of ancient Egyptian ships," he said. " To me, archeology is like search and rescue, but everyone has been dead for 5,000 years." The doctors are very excited about the potential for surgical robots to do things that humans can't do. The variety of sensors available for surgical robots keeps expanding. As they get smaller, maybe one day they will be able to test chemicals or blood in the body, or even the electrical connections in nerves. How can snake robots work best, according to the passage? A) When they carry tiny cameras, scissors and forceps. B) When they are operated by experienced doctors. C) When they are given a wireless function. D) When they are designed for particular tasks.
Ans: D

Ques: Educating girls quite possibly outputs a higher rate of return than any other investment   available in the developing world. Women's education may be an unusual field for economists, but raising women's contribution to development is actually as much an economic as a social problem. And economics, with its emphasis on motivation, provides an explanation for why so many girls can't receive education. Parents in low-income countries fail to invest in their daughters because they do not expect them to make an economic contribution to the family: girls grow up only to marry into somebody else's family and bear children. Girls are thus seen as less valuable than boys and are kept at home to do housework while their brothers are sent to school-- _ , trapping women in a vicious circle   of neglect. An educated mother, on the other hand, has greater earning abilities outside the home and faces an entirely different set of choices. She is likely to have fewer but healthier children and can insist on the development of all her children, ensuring that her daughters are given a fair chance. The education of her daughters then makes it much more likely that the next generation of girls, as well as of boys, will be educated and healthy. The vicious circle is thus transformed into a good circle. Few will disagree with it that educating women has great social benefits. But it has enormous economic advantages as well. Most obviously, there is the direct effect of education on the wages of female workers. Wages rise by 10 to 20 per cent for each additional year of schooling. Such big returns are impressive by the standard of other available investments, but they are just the beginning. Educating women also has a significant influence on health practices, including family planning. The author believes that a vicious circle can turn into a good one when   _  . A) women care more about education B) girls can gain equal access to education C) a family has fewer but healthier children D) parents can afford their daughters' education
Ans: B

Ques: Life is not easy in senior high school. You've got the pressure of studies and exams. From time to time, you may feel depressed and frustrated. When depression strikes, you have to take measures to fight it. One of the strangest ways to fight depression is to eat salt, scientists have found. Salt acts as a natural anti-depressant  , researchers say. While too much can lead to high blood pressure and heart disease, not enough can cause "psychological  depressions", a study has reported. The study, by researchers at the University of Iowa in the US, discovered that when rats are _ in salt, they don't do activities they normally enjoy. The recommended daily salt intake for an adult is four grams, although experts say the body needs only half as much. However, most adults in the developed world consume around ten grams a day, mainly because their diets contain high salt amounts. Today, 77 percent of US salt intake comes from processed and restaurant foods, like frozen dinners and fast food. The minerals in salt are required by the body--in small quantities--to help move liquid in and out of cells. But too much can cause diseases, for example high blood pressure. Today scientists are finding that salt is an addictive substance--almost like a drug. One sign of addiction is using a substance even when it's known to be harmful. Many people are told to eat less salt due to health concerns, but they have trouble doing so because they like the taste and find low-salt foods tasteless. Humans have a long history of eating salt. In the Stone Age, people didn't need to find salt, because they hunted most of their food, and ate a lot of red meat, which has plenty of salt in it. But when people began to farm, about 10,000 BC, they started to eat mainly grains like rice and wheat, and very little meat. Then they had to find another way to get salt. What kind of food should people eat more of? A) Frozen food B) Fast food C) Red meat D) Low-salt food
Ans:
D