Lang Lang,one of the best-known Chinese pianists in the world,was born in 1982 in Shenyang.He began to take piano lessons at the age of three.At the age of five he won the Shenyang Piano Competition and played his first public recital.Four years later,he got the chance to study at the Central Music Conservatory in Beijing. What made him sad was that his piano teacher in Beijing didn't like him."You have no talent.You will never be a pianist,"said the teacher.Lang Lang was badly hurt.He decided that he didn't want to be a pianist any more.For the next two weeks he didn't touch the piano.Wisely,his father didn't push,but waited. Luckily,the day came when his teacher asked him to play some holiday songs.He didn't want to,but as he placed his fingers on the piano keys,he realised that he could show others that he had talent after all.From that point on,everything turned around.Lang Lang's father even quit his job and followed Lang Lang everywhere he went,not only as a father,but also as a manager,tutor and friend. He started winning competitions.In the 1994 International Young Pianists Competition,Lang Lang impressed the audience with his splendid piano skills.In 1997 Lang Lang went to Philadelphia,US,where he spent two years practising.During his study there he made rapid progress and became a top professional pianist.After his successful performance at Chicago's Ravinia Festival,gigs in Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall he started pouring in.Lang Lang finally worked to reach the place where fortune spotted him and let him shine. The passage wants to   . A) tell us Lang Lang's father is great B) let us know Lang Lang is successful C) tell us Lang Lang has won many competitions D) encourage us to study hard to realise our dreams just like Lang Lang
D


(Question)
Asian parents are spending billions of dollars on private tutors   for their children and the practice is growing despite doubts about its effectiveness, according to an Asian Development Bank study published Wednesday, AFP reported. "Shadow education" is an expanding business not only in wealthy countries, but also in some of the region's poorer nations as parents try to give their children the best start in life, the study said. Nearly nine out of 10 South Korean elementary pupils receive private tutoring, while the figure for primary school children in India's West Bengal state stands at six out of 10. The study estimated that the costs of private tutoring in South Korea were equivalent   to 80 percent of government spending on public education. Japan spent $12 billion on extra teaching in 2011, while the figure for Singapore stood at US$ 680 million in 2009. Extra academic work aims to help slow learners and support high achievers. Many Asian parents view it as a constructive way for adolescents to spend their spare time. However, it can also reduce the students' time for sports and other activities important for their overall development as well as cause social tensions as richer families are able to pay for better-quality tutoring, the study said. The study calls for a review of educational systems to make such extra teaching less attractive. Which disadvantage of extra academic work is NOT mentioned? A) Causing social tensions. B) Spending more extra money. C) Lacking the chance to communicate with others. D) Reducing the students' time for sports and other activities.
(Answer)
C


Ques: Last Sunday I made a visit to some new neighbors down the block.No specific in mind, just an opportunity to sit at the kitchen table, have some tea and chat.As I did so, it occurred to me how rare the Sunday visit has become. When I was a kid in New Jersey of the 1960s, Sunday visits were routine.Most stores were closed, almost nobody worked, and the highways, as a result, were not desperate steeplechases they have become today.My family normally traveled eight city blocks to the home of my grandmother, where adults would sit on the front porch and chat while we children played hide-and-seek. The Sunday visit was something to desire strongly.It was the repetition to church, our reward for an hour of devotion, an opportunity to take advantage of the fact that Dad was not at work, we were not in school, and there was no housework that couldn't wait until Monday.Sunday was, indeed, different from the other days of the week, because everyone seemed to be on the same schedule, which means that there was one day when everyone seemed to have time for everybody else. Sunday as a day of rest is, or was, so deeply rooted in the culture that it's surprising to find that, in a short span of time, it has almost entirely lost this association.In my childhood, it was assumed that everyone would either be home or visiting someone else's home on Sunday.But now the question is, "What do you plan to DO this Sunday?" The answer can range from going to the mall, to participating in a road race, to Montreal for lunch.If one were to respond, "I'm making a Sunday visit to family," such an answer would feel strange, which sounds like an echo from another era. I suppose I should be grateful to live in Maine, a state of small towns, abundant land and tight relationships.Even though folks work as hard here as they do anywhere else, the state's powerfully rural feature still keeps at least remnants of the moral of yesterday's America, where people had to depend on one another in the face of economic vagaries and a challenging environment. The writer's general impression of the Sunday in the past was a day when  _  . A) everyone was paying a visit to some relatives far away B) everyone seemed to be free for others C) Dad was not at work while Mom was busy cleaning the house D) nearly every adult would go to church and children weren't at school
Ans: B


Question: Today most Chinese teenagers are happy to be favored by two parents and four grandparents in their families. But have you ever thought about how to take care of four to twelve old people when you grow up and get married? This could be a problem for most Chinese youths as China is entering a new stage of an aging society. An aging society refers to one where 10 percent or more of its population is over 60. By the end of 2007, Chinese over 60 years old have made up 11.7 percent of the nation's total population. "China is getting old before becoming rich,"said Cai Chuang, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The population increase that has powered Chinese growth for three decades will give way over the next ten years to a rapid aging of the society. This will lead to weaker economic growth, because of a lack of labor resources. As a result of the family planning policy, it is expected that the country's total working population will decrease after 2015. China is not the only country getting old. More that 60 countries have become aging societies and one in three people in the European Union is a senior citizen. However, experts said that China doesn't have a highly developed social security network to support the old. Social security is an insurance program protecting those in need, including the old, the disabled and others. If China enters an aging society,   _  . A) there will not be enough labor resources B) the family planning policy will be ended C) everyone needs to take care of four to twelve old people D) China will have a highly developed social security network
Answer:
A