Ques: One of the serious problems for today's society is who should be responsible for the old and how to improve their lives. It is not only a financial problem but also a question of the system we want for our society. I would like to suggest several possible solutions to this problem. First,employers should take the responsibility for their retired employees. To make this possible,a percentage of profits should be set aside for this purpose. But when a company must take lifelong responsibility for its employees,it may suffer from a commercial disadvantage due to higher employee costs. Another way of solving the problem is to return the responsibility to the individual. This means each person must save during his working years to pay for his years of retirement. This does not seem a very fair model since some people have enough trouble paying for their daily life without trying to earn extra to cover their retirement years. This means the government might have to step in to care for the poor. In addition,the government could take the responsibility for the care of the old. This could be financed through government taxes to increase the level of pensions. Furthermore,some institutions should be created for senior citizens,which can help provide a comfortable life for them. Unfortunately,as the present situation in our country shows,this is not a truly viable answer. The government can seldom afford to care for the old,particularly when it is busy trying to care for the young. One further solution is that the government or social organizations establish some workplaces especially for the old where they are independent. To sum up,all these options have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore,it is reasonable to expect that some combination of these options may be needed to provide the care we hope to give to the old generations. What is the writer's main purpose of writing this passage? A) To point out the need for government supporting for old people. B) To make general readers aware of the problems of the retired people. C) To discuss some possible solutions to an important social problem. D) To instruct the retired people on how they can have a happier life.
Ans: C

Ques: They are the little sweeties who look pretty cute in a photo, or when sleeping--but a lot less appealing at 30, 000 ft, crying loudly in the seat right next to you. According to a new survey, almost seven in ten Britons dislike flying with babies so much that they would like to see child-free areas introduced on planes. As for long-distance flights where people want to sleep, almost one in four British travelers believes that no-kid-zones should be fixed as required sections. The survey was conducted by bookings website LateDeals.co.uk, with 1,108 UK consumers questioned as to what they hate most about air travel. And our dislike of noisy children and babies on planes runs deep, it seems. More than a third of us--35 percent--would pay extra to travel on a childless service. Long-distance passengers would be prepared to pay an additional PS63 to the cost of a return ticket if it meant adults only on board. And on short-distance flights, an extra PS28 on the price of a return fare would be considered good value if it guaranteed an absence of angry babies in the middle of the economy-class aisle . However, screaming babies are not the only source of annoyance for British travelers. In fact, according to the research on the most annoying types of airline passengers, a crying baby ranks as only the fourth. Over half of those surveyed--58 percent--selected "drunk travelers" as their _ . People with "bad personal hygiene " and travelers who kick the back of the seat in front were also near the top of the list, causing anger to 48 and 47 percent of us respectively . Crying babies came in at fourth on the list, a pet peeve for 43 percent of those surveyed. Britons dislike flying with babies because they  _  . A) make too much noise B) get angry easily C) sleep right next to them D) stay in the economy-class aisle
Ans: A

Ques: My aunt died back in about 2003. She was eighty-four and so was my uncle. When she passed he felt miserable. They had been married for over 60 years. After my aunt's death, he attended his church more frequently and his mourning was nearly unbearable to witness. His only daughter lived clear across the country in the south so he had only himself to make a comfort. My cousin talked him into selling the house that he and my aunt had built together about twenty-five years before. It was very hard to part with the home they built together. One day he called my cousin who was living in Texas and told her that he reconnected with a lady from a church that he and my aunt went to forty years previously. She played the piano and his church was looking for new music. Her husband had died about seven years previously. He said he just wanted someone to go out to dinner with and spend time with. We were happy for them but had no idea how it would turn out. They were both almost eighty-seven years old. They were like lovebirds and spent as much time together as they could. They both had one child each, she a son, he a daughter. The conflict in their relationship came one day when they neither wanted to leave their respective churches. Before too long they realized that they did not want to be apart. They would find a new church together. They planned to marry. When he took her to a jewelry store and bought her a diamond, the employees were so impressed that they had a big write up in our own local paper, "The 'Truth for Valentines' Day. " They prepared for their wedding. They moved the wedding date up because neither wanted to wait any longer to "be together". They got married in her house, where her first marriage took place. It was such a beautiful refreshing thing to see, two people who you would have thought had pretty much lived their lives, were beginning a new one together. How many characters are mentioned altogether in the story? A) Three. B) Four. C) Five. D) Six.
Ans: D

Ques: As a little boy I read a book with a picture showing a man reading while floating in the Dead Sea. What a miracle! How would it feel to lie back in water so thick with salt that it was impossible to sink?               Fed by the Jordan River and smaller streams, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on the earth's surface, and its water is ten times saltier than the Mediterranean. As evaporation  is its only outlet, salt and other minerals become super-concentrated. Earlier this year, I drove down the long, steep hill to realize my dream. The shoreline was a broad area of bare salt-mud, but the water edge was out of sight. It seemed as if somebody had pulled the Dead Sea's plug . Eli Dior, an Israeli official, explained the problem "The Dead Sea is drying up. Every year, the surface falls about one meter, and as the water level falls, shallow areas are left high and dry." Over the last half-century, the five neighboring countries have used up almost all the water flowing into the Dead Sea to meet human and agriculture needs. Result the Dead Sea is being emptied.               With population in the neighbouring countries to double at least in the next 50 years, there is little hope of restoring the water being used in this area. No country has a drop to spare for the Dead Sea, where they know it will just evaporate. To dream of opening the dams and restoring natural balance is unrealistic. Yet one ambitious high-tech dream may turn out to be not only the solution to the Dead Sea but also a ticket to peace around its shores. The "Red-Dead" is a proposed $5 billion project to bring sea water some 240 kilometers by pipeline and canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. The Red-Dead may be the only solution, but even if the project is carried out successfully, the Dead Sea will be 10 to 20 meters lower than now and two thirds of its current size. Whatever the future holds, the Dead Sea's magical mix of sun, mud, sea and salt will surely survive. Many might complain that the Dead Sea is half empty--but for me the Dead... According to the passage,the Dead Sea is drying up mainly because   _  . A) nearly no water flows into the Dead Sea B) the water is evaporated in the Dead Sea area C) much water is drawn from the Dead Sea D) there is low annual rainfall in the Dead Sea area
Ans:
A