Swine influenza (also called swine flu, hog flu and pig flu) is an infection of a host animal by any one of several specific types of microscopic organisms called "swine influenza virus". A swine influenza virus (SIV) is any strain of the influenza family of viruses that is usually hosted by (is endemic in) pigs. As of 2009, the known SIV strains are the influenza c virus and the subtypes of the influenza A virus known as HI N1, H1N2, H3N1, H3N2 and H2N3. Swine influenza is common in pigs in the mid-western United States (and occasionally in other states), Mexico, Canada, South America, Europe (including the UK, Sweden and Italy) Kenya Mainland China, Taiwan Japan and other parts of eastern Asia.

Transmission of swine influenza vims from pigs to humans is not common and does not always cause human influenza, often only resulting in the production of antibodies in the blood. The meat of the animal poses no risk of transmitting the virus when properly cooked. If transmission does cause human influenza, it is called zoonotic swine flu. People who work with pigs, especially people with intense exposures, are at increased risk of catching swine flu. In the mid-20th century, identification of influenza subtypes became possible. This allows accurate diagnosis of transmission to humans. Since then, fifty confirmed transmissions have been recorded. Rarely, these strains of swine flu can pass from human to human. In humans, the symptoms of swine flu are similar to those of influenza and of influenza-like illness in general namely chills fever sore throat, muscle pains severe headache, coughing, weakness and general discomfort.

The 2009 flu outbreak in humans known as "swine flu" is due to a new strain of influenza A virus subtype H1N1 that contains genes closely related to swine influenza. The origin of this new strain is unknown. However, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) reports that this strain has not been isolated in pigs. This strain can be transmitted from human to human, and causes the normal symptoms of influenza.

 Where is the swine influenza not common?

 

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The British are particular about timings and being late is frowned upon, but being on  time is a complicated matter because in some situations, being a few minutes early on others means being exactly on time and in some instances, it is completely acceptable to arrive 10 minutes to a few hours later than the stated time. This can be a minefield for someone who is new to the UK, so here are some basics rules that will help you get your timings right whatever the situation.  In formal meetings, such as job interviews, you should arrive at least five minutes before your meeting. This will give you time to compose yourself before your big meeting. In the UK, arriving late for a formal meeting is seen as unprofessional and will reflect badly on you. If you are running late, ring your host to let them know you will be late. On arrival, apologize sincerely and offer a reason for your lateness, such as you got lost or the train was delayed. It will help you redeem yourself. However, if you are late because you set off later than you should have, it’s wise to keep that to yourself! With appointments such as visits to the doctor or dentist, the time you are given for your appointment isn’t necessarily the time you will be seen. It is not uncommon you may have to wait between 15-30 minutes before you are seen by a doctor and that can be much longer if it is a hospital appointment. Nevertheless, you should arrive at least five minutes before your appointment and it is recommended you take a drink and something to read.  When you start a new job, you are given your typical working hours. For example, if you are expected to start at 9am, it is not acceptable to arrive after this time. Most employers make an exception if you are late once in a while. If you have an appointment, you need to seek permission from your employer to arrive later on that day. Being late consistently will land you in trouble and you can be sacked from your job if after three warnings you are still late.  There is an unsaid rule that you can be a few minutes late for a lecture or seminar once in a while. When you are late, you should enter quietly and find a seat at the back of the room. At the end of lecture or seminar, you should offer your apology to the lecturer. If you have been invited to a dinner party, you should arrive exactly on time as the host will have planned when they will serve the food. You will find that your host will serve their guests a pre-dinner drink, so that gives you a bit of wiggle room, but if you are running later than 10 minutes, you should ring your host and let them know how late you might be. That way they can decide whether to go ahead and serve the other guests. When you arrive you should offer the host and the other guests your apology for being late. 
8. What is the best advice when you have an appointment in the UK?

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Jupiter is the largest and most massive planet and is fifth in order of distance from the sun. It is well placed for observation for several months in every year and on average is the brightest of the planets apart from Venus, though for relatively brief periods Mars may outshine it. Jupiter’s less than 10 hour rotation period gives it the shortest day in the solar system in so far as the principal planets are concerned. There are no true seasons on Jupiter because the axial inclination to the perpendicular of the orbital plane is only just over 3°-less than that for any other planet. The most famous mark on Jupiter is the Great Red Spot. It has shown variations in both intensity and color, and at times it has been invisible, but it always returns after a few years. At its greatest extent it may be 40,000 kilometers long and 14,000 kilometers wide, so its surface area is greater than that of Earth. Though the latitude of the Red Spot varies little, it drifts about in longitude. Over the past century the total longitudinal drift has amounted to approximately 1200°. The latitude is generally very close to – 22°. It was once thought that the Red Spot might be a solid or semisolid body floating in Jupiter’s outer gas. However, the Pioneer and Voyager results have refuted that idea and proven the Red Spot to be a phenomenon of Jovian meteorology. Its longevity may well due to its exceptional size, but there are signs that it is decreasing in size, and it may not be permanent. Several smaller red spots have been seen occasionally but have not lasted.
2. According to the passage, which planet typically shines the most brightly?

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After inventing dynamite, Swedish-born Alfred Nobel became a very rich man. However, he foresaw its universally destructive powers too late. Nobel preferred not to be remembered as the inventor of dynamite, so in 1895, just two weeks before his death·, he created a fund to be used for awarding prizes to people who had made worthwhile contributions to humanity. Originally there were five awards: literature, physics, chemistry, medicine, and peace. Economics was added in 1968, just sixty-seven years after the first awards ceremony.
Nobel's original legacy of nine million dollars was invested, and the interest on this sum is used for the awards which vary from $30,000 to $125,000. Every year on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death, the awards (gold medal, illuminated diploma, and money) are presented to the winners. Sometimes politics plays an important role in the judges' decisions. Americans have won numerous science awards, but relatively few literature prizes.
No awards were presented from 1940 to 1942 at the beginning of World War 11. Some people have won two prizes, but this is rare; others have shared their prizes.

The word “foresaw” in the first paragraph is nearest in meaning to -     .

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Dr. Daniel Quon has been an oral surgeon in Jackson for over 30 years. “Growing up  in the family business, I knew that in order for you to gain something, you have to give back,” Quon said. “And being in the field of dentistry, we have a special gift that we can help people and I thought that was an appropriate way to help out.”  Quon volunteers his dental services at the Jackson Free Health Clinic to patients who can’t afford it. Through the Mississippi Dental Association, Quon also provides free dental care for the Mission Service of Mercy program. Dental Assistant Carley Welch has been a part of this experience. “We actually did that last year together and we plan on doing that again this year together,” he said. “Best boss you can ask for,” Welch continued. “Very patient, always willing to teach you; even things that most people wouldn’t go very far to teach you, he will. Just so you have the experience.” But Quon serves in other ways too. “Wife and I volunteer at the Stewpot. We serve lunch on Saturdays when we can. I was actually on the board of Stewpot for 3 years until this passed year.” And he donates blood platelet at the Mississippi Blood services. “I’m almost up to 18 gallons right now in donations. That’s a lot of blood! still got a little bit left though.” “It takes very little time to volunteer. It’s a great thing where you can help someone who needs an extra hand or helping hand.” “I think he does his part to contribute as much as possible,” Welch added. “Whether it’s helping dental wise or even just in general with the public.” 
5. According to paragraph 3, what can be concluded about the thought of Carley Welch for Dr. Daniel Quon? 

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A good memory is often seen as something that comes naturally, and a bad memory as something that cannot be changed, but actually (1)______ is a lot that you can do to improve your memory. We all remember the things we are interested in and forget the ones that bore us. This no doubt explains the reason (2)______ schoolboys remember football results effortlessly but struggle with dates from their history lessons! Take an active interest in what you want to remember, and focus on it (3)______. One way to ‘make’ yourself more interested is to ask questions — the more the better! Physical exercise is also important for your memory, because it increases your heart
(4)______ and sends more oxygen to your brain, and that makes your memory work better. Exercise also reduces stress, which is very bad for the memory. The old saying that “eating fish makes you brainy” may be true after all. Scientists have discovered that the fats (5)______ in fish like tuna, sardines and salmon — as well as in olive oil — help to improve the memory. Vitamin-rich fruits such as oranges, strawberries and red grapes are all good brain food‘, too.

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My children can’t live without media. At age 14, 15 and 18, my daughters Sussy and Anni and my son Bill don’t use media. They inhabit media. And they do so exactly as fish inhabit a pond. Gracefully, and without consciousness and curiosity as to how they got there. They don’t remember a time before email or instant messaging or Google. When my children laugh, they don’t say “Ha, ha”. They say “LOL”. These are children who shrug indifferently when they lose their iPods, with all 5000 tunes plus video clips, feature films, and TV shows (like who watches TV on a television anymore?). “There is plenty more where that came from”, their attitude says. And they seem right. The digital content that powers their world can never truly be destroyed. As a social scientist, journalist, and mother, I’ve always been an enthusiastic user of information technology. But I’d noticed that the more we seemed to communicate as individuals, the less we seemed to function together as a family. And on a broader scale, that the more facts we have at our fingertips, the less we seem to know. That the “convenience” of messaging media (email, SMS, IM) consumes ever larger amounts of our time. That as a culture we are practically swimming in entertainment, yet remain more depressed than any people who have ever lived. Our family’s self-imposed exile from the information age changed our lives infinitely for the better. I watched as my children became more focused. I watched as their attention spans increased, allowing them to read for hours at a time; to hold longer and more complex conversations with adults and among themselves. They probably did no more homework during The Experiment than they had done before, but they all completed it far more efficiently and far more quickly The Experiment also forced us to notice food more. Before, eating had been a side dish. Now it was the main course, or at least one of them. Our approach to cooking changed, too, especially for the girls. They’d started out as reasonably competent cooks, but by the end of The Experiment they were capable of turning out entire meals with ease The Experiment also confirmed my strong suspicion that media has been robbing Sussy of sleep for years. Unplugged, the changes to her sleep patterns were dramatic. The evidence strongly suggests she is no isolated case. One study found that children who spend more time online also drink more caffeinated beverages, with a resulting effect on their prospects of sleeping well  
4. The writer says that the period without electronic media enabled her children 

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A group of Tri-City residents and volunteers from BC Housing gathered at a  neglected therapeutic garden on the old Riverview Hospital grounds last weekend to breathe life into a green space. First planted by psychiatric nurse Art Finnie in the 1950s after he was injured on the job, Finnie’s Garden grew into one of the first experiments in horticultural  therapy. As Lauren English, director of land development for Riverview, put it, gardening as therapy was a revolutionary practice. “He understood the value of nature and how therapeutic it was before it became the rage — to find peace and to find solace and to find comfort,” added MLA Selina Robinson, who attended last Saturday’s event.  At that time, Riverview Hospital was the largest psychiatric hospital in British Columbia, with more than 5,000 patients on site. And Finnie’s was more than a garden. Beyond the rows of corn, flowers and a fish pond, residents could lounge in a picnic area or curve bowls across their own bowling green. But while the idea of Finnie’s Garden was to have a place of gathering that residents created themselves, they weren’t the first ones to make themselves at home.  Archeologists, including one on site last weekend, have found evidence Indigenous people occupied the area for thousands of years. Today, the Kwikwetlem First Nation maintains a land claim over the Riverview lands, and in its language, the area is known as Smu’q wa ala," or “Place of the Great Blue Heron”. "They found fire-altered rocks, they found boiling rocks, they found arrowheads, they found tools," said English, under the watchful eye of the group’s archeologist. “It’s not just colonial history, it’s the precontact history that goes back thousands of years.” Today, while many of the former hospital’s buildings lay in disrepair, 184 people still call the hilltop facility home, and one day in the near future, perhaps, they’ll get to use it again on their road to recovery. The event comes in a year when Treefest was cancelled because of a lack of organizers, and while the renewed work at Finnie’s Garden isn’t meant to replace Treefest, it does offer a outlet for green-thumbs without a patch of dirt.  A final community gardening event at Finnie’s Garden will likely take place in October. By removing weeds, invasive plants and adding mulch, the group plans to have the area ready to plant next spring. 
3. According to paragraph 1, what kind of therapeutic effects does Finnie’s Garden serve? 

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The past fifty years or so have seen the gradual disappearing of animals from this earth, fishes from the sea, trees and plants from the land. Many factors result in this unpleasant phenomenon. Among them, hunting is the main factor that endangers wildlife. Some people kill wildlife for sport. They take pleasure in collecting heads and hides. Yet others specialize in commercial hunting like killing whales. Apart from this, the rapidly growing human population threatens wildlife on land, too. Towns expand and roads have to be built, so forests are burnt and trees are chopped down. It seems that man needs every inch of land within his reach, so he moves on to the natural habitat of wildlife. Tigers, lions and leopards slowly die off without the food and shelter that the forests provide. In addition, rapid urbanization means industrial expansion. Very often, poisonous chemicals, industrial wastes and oil are dumped into the rivers and seas. Fish and birds are threatened. Man depends greatly on animals for survival. He needs their flesh, hides and furs. Thus, man cannot do without wildlife; or he himself would become extinct. The public should be made aware that it would be better to shoot the animals with a camera than with a gun. In this way, they can preserve and help wildlife to continue living rather than to remove all signs of it. Man must learn to farm the sea as he does the land. He should regulate the amount and the frequency of his catch. He should allow fish to breed and multiply before netting them. Man also needs to build forest reserves, and to pass laws prohibiting the killing of animals, especially those that are already rare. To retain the present animal kingdom, the least that man can do is to clean the seas and rivers and to prevent pollution. The cycle of nature is such that it forms a vicious circle. The insecticides and pesticides that we spray on crops can kill the birds and animals that feed on them. When man eats these poisoned animals, he himself can die. We must therefore test the chemicals to be used before they are sprayed or it might mean the death of man!
6. The phrase “natural habitat of wildlife” in paragraph 3 refers to________

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Prosthetic body parts have been around in many shapes and forms for thousands of years. But up until just a few decades ago, they were often uncomfortable, provided little to no control for the user and didn’t look all that great either. Fast-forward to the present day and thanks to advances in medicine, robotics and neuroscience, a number of bionic body parts have been developed that have the power to be truly life-changing for those who need them the most, from a bionic eye to an artificial kidney to a thought-controlled robotic leg. Many of these bionic body parts are still in the early stages of production and are far from being rolled out to those that need them. That’s because there are all kinds of challenges to consider – not only the materials the body part is made from, but also integrating it into our bodies so it isn’t rejected, as well as developing ways for it to become part of our nervous system, so it behaves like any other limb or organ. Add to that the huge raft of financial, ethical, moral and political implications of enhancing our bodies with the help of technology. But it’s easy to overlook all of these concerns when the tech sounds so exciting, promising and like the robotic hands, arms and whole bodies of our sci-fi dreams. “The public perception of bionics is vastly different from the reality of prosthetics,” Kia Nazarpour, director of expertise in bio and environmental engineering, at Newcastle University, told us. "That’s thanks to science writers and researchers who showcase their work in a sci-fi oriented way to increase publicity."  
3. The word “it” in paragraph 2 refers to _______

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Which ____________ is the documentary on?

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Many AI researchers roll their eyes when seeing this headline: “Stephen Hawking warns that rise of robots may be disastrous for mankind.” And as many have lost count of how many similar articles they’ve seen. Typically, these articles suggest we should worry about robots rising up and killing us because they’ve become conscious and/or evil. On a lighter note, such articles are actually rather impressive, because they succinctly summarize the scenario that AI researchers don’t worry about. That scenario combines as many as three separate misconceptions: concern about consciousness, evil, and robots. If you drive down the road, you have a subjective experience of colors, sounds, etc. But does a self-driving car have a subjective experience? Does it feel like anything at all to be a self-driving car? Although this mystery of consciousness is interesting in its own right, it’s irrelevant to AI risk. If you get struck by a driverless car, it makes no difference to you whether it subjectively feels conscious. In the same way, what will affect us humans is what superintelligent AI does, not how it subjectively feels. The fear of machines turning evil is another red herring. The real worry isn’t malevolence, but competence. A superintelligent AI is by definition very good at attaining its goals, whatever they may be, so we need to ensure that its goals are aligned with ours. Humans don’t generally hate ants, but we’re more intelligent than they are – so if we want to build a hydroelectric dam and there’s an anthill there, too bad for the ants. The beneficial-AI movement wants to avoid placing humanity in the position of those ants In fact, the main concern of the beneficial-AI movement isn’t with robots but with intelligence itself: specifically, intelligence whose goals are misaligned with ours. To cause us trouble, such misaligned superhuman intelligence needs no robotic body, merely an internet connection – this may enable outsmarting financial markets, out-inventing human researchers, out-manipulating human leaders, and developing weapons we cannot even understand. Even if building robots were physically impossible, a super-intelligent and superwealthy AI could easily pay or manipulate many humans to unwittingly do its bidding. The robot misconception is related to the myth that machines can’t control humans. Intelligence enables control: humans control tigers not because we are stronger, but because we are smarter.  
5. The word “it” in paragraph 2 refers to _____

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Don’t look now, but artificial intelligence is watching you. Artificial intelligence has tremendous power to enhance spying, and both authoritarian governments and democracies are adopting the technology as a tool of political and social control. Data collected from apps and websites already help optimize ads and social feeds. The same data can also reveal someone’s personal life and political leanings to the authorities. The trend is advancing thanks to smartphones, smart cameras, and more advanced AI. An algorithm developed at Stanford in 2017 claimed to tell from a photograph whether a person is gay. Accurate or not, such a tool creates a new opportunity for persecution. “Take this type of technology, feed it to a citywide CCTV surveillance system, and go to a place like Saudi Arabia where being gay is considered a crime,” says Lisa Talia Moretti, a digital sociologist. “Suddenly you’re pulling people off the street and arresting them because you’re gay, because the computer said so.”  No country has embraced facial recognition and AI surveillance as keenly as China. The AI industry there has flourished thanks to fierce competition and unrivaled access to personal data, and the rise of AI is enabling tighter government control of information, speech, and freedoms. In some Chinese cities, facial recognition is used to catch criminals in surveillance footage, and to publicly shame those who commit minor offenses. Most troubling, AI is being used in Xinjiang, a province in Western China, to persecute Muslims. Even if China’s AI capabilities are exaggerated, the AI boom there is having a chilling effect on personal freedom, says Ian Bremmer, an expert on global political risk and founder of the Eurasia Group. “You just need a government that is starting to get that capacity and make it known, and have a few people that are sort of strung up as examples, and suddenly everyone is scared,” he says. This might feel like a distant reality, but similar tools are being developed and used in the West. Just ask Glenn Rodriguez, who faced judgment from an algorithm when seeking parole from prison in the US. Despite 10 years of good behavior, Rodriguez saw how an algorithm called COMPAS, designed to predict inmates’ likelihood of reoffending, would be biased against him. And even though the parole board went against the computer program’s  
2. The word “leanings” in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to _______

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The biological community changes again as one moves from the city to the suburbs. Around all cities is a biome called the "suburban forest". The trees of this forest are species that are favored by man, and most of them have been deliberately planted. Mammals such as rabbits, skunks, and opossums have moved in from the surrounding countryside. Raccoons have become experts at opening garbage cans, and in some places even deer wander suburban thoroughfares. Several species of squirrel get along nicely in suburbia, but usually only one species is predominant in any given suburb -fox squirrels in one place, red squirrels in another, gray squirrels in a third - for reasons that are little understood. The diversity of birds in the suburbs is great, and in the South, lizards thrive in gardens and even houses. Of course, insects are always present. There is an odd biological sameness in these suburban communities. True, the palms of Los Angeles are missing from the suburbs of Boston, and there are species of insects in Miami not found in Seattle. But over wide stretches of the United States, ecological conditions in suburban biomes vary much less than do those of natural biome. And unlike the natural biomes, the urban and suburban communities exist in spite of, not because of, the climate.

The author implies that the mammals of the "suburban forest" differ from most species of trees there in which of the following ways?

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What results in good health and longevity? It’s good genes, good lifestyle and good luck. But since we can’t choose our parents, or know what fate holds in store for us, we must treat lifestyle with tender, loving care. Now, a report “Circulation” proves that a sound lifestyle adds 12 to 14 more years to life. For instance, a woman, aged 50, who follows these lifestyle rules can expect to live to 93 years. This compares to a woman who indulges in an unhealthy lifestyle and dies at 79. In men, the increase in longevity from a healthy lifestyle is from 76 to 88 years. In the general population, the U.S. spends more money on health care than any other country. So why are so many people in North America suffering from ill health? It is quite apparent that the epidemic of obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart attack will continue to be the big killers. At the moment there is little evidence this battle is being won. But a study that followed both staff and students at the University of Liverpool shows it’s not an impossible dream. In its first experiment, female diners were randomly divided to receive either a small or large quiche for lunch. The next day, the same group were all allowed to serve themselves any portion they desired. Researchers discovered the ones who had been served the smaller portion, tended to choose the smaller portion. A second experiment tested male diners and it produced the same result. In the third experiment both sexes were included, but it was done one week later. This time diners were asked to look at various photos of portion size and asked which looked normal. Those who were previously given the smaller portions considered the smaller ones normal.  These studies showed that it is possible to shift people from what they think is a normal portion to what is actually the proper amount to eat. And that the perception of what is normal lasts at least to one week later. Remember, a voyage of a thousand miles begins with the first step. The same philosophy applies to longevity. So, gradually incorporate one thing at a time into your lifestyle. Don’t forget the importance of smaller portions, add more fruits and vegetables, buy a pedometer to check the number of steps taken each day, and to measure your progress, step on the scale every day  
2. The word “tender” in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to _______

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When I tell people about the idea of moving out, many people’s reaction is like, “what do your parents say?” because they assume the parents would not like their children to leave them. Well I don’t know if my parents like it but I can tell you my parents support and respect my decision. They think it is good for me to try and live on my own and then I would know it is the best to stay with my family. The most important reason for independent living is to save the travelling time to work. It used to take me one hour fifteen minutes to travel to work from my previous living place. From my new apartment, it just takes me thirty minutes so I saved forty-five minutes’ traveling time. I don’t have to get up so early and I save two-third of my traveling cost. It does not only save my time to travel for work but also from most of the places in Hong Kong. In addition, I gain my personal space and freedom by independent living. I make my own decision all the time, I do not have to say whether I would go home for dinner, I can invite my friends to come up and stay late. Of course, there are some trade-offs in living on your own. If you want to rent an apartment, there are lots of preparatory work to do. You have to keep visiting the apartments to search for your ideal one. You have to negotiate with the landlord about the price, furniture inclusion, who is responsible for the maintenance of the furniture and equipment. My experience was that after we moved into the apartment, it was not until the kitchen cupboard was soaked with water that we found out there was water leakage in the kitchen sink. Money is the main issue in living on your own. You have to be responsible for all the expenses, for example, the rent, electricity, gas, water, telephone, internet bills, etc.  Therefore, you’ve got to be well prepared and save up for your bills. Although I find my transportation time much shorter, the saved time is spent on other things, such as cooking and some other household chores. I think preparing and cooking the food do occupy a significant portion of my time, therefore I always try to make simple meals. On the other hand, I have to regularly tidy up my apartment and wash my clothes, so it doesn’t really save much of my time after all. Now everything is settled down, I’m getting used to my new life and I am enjoying it. I feel that moving out makes it easier for me to strike a balance between my work, my social life, my study and my family. It may be troublesome but it may worth  
3. The word "trade-offs" in the passage is closest in meaning to ____

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That girl tried to avoid _______ some of my questions.

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Once restricted to luxury or super-tech buildings, home automation is proving to be an increasingly fundamental and affordable addition to architectural projects. The idea is to connect devices, which in turn connect and talk through a centralized control unit, accessible by computers, tablets, and mobile phones. For example, home automation users can turn the lights on or off at specific times each day, adjust the heater or air conditioner to turn on a few minutes before they arrive home. In addition to these immediate effects, monitoring applications can also provide accurate home information by generating detailed reports on equipment that could be working better or spending less. That is, in addition to smartphones and personal computers, appliances and sensors are able to identify patterns, process information, and perform tasks both through commands and automatically. Although it sounds like a science fiction script, these are technologies that are not so far from us.  Artificial intelligence can be used to automate threat detection and perhaps more proactively alert us if something looks wrong, such as heat sensors and video cameras setting off alarms and calling firefighters in the event of a short circuit. Through facial recognition algorithms on social media, the system itself can tell if someone outside your circle of acquaintances is trying to access your space and send a message to your mobile phone. This type of technology can improve the efficiency of security systems and reduce false alarms. Automation can be useful for people with disabilities and for the elderly. People with Parkinson’s disease or other motor diseases can trigger switches without touching them, and motion sensors can trigger safety lights automatically. Blood pressure sensors and blood sugar levels can be incorporated into these systems, providing peace of mind to close relatives. The ability to automate repetitive housekeeping can free time for more important things. For example, an internet-connected refrigerator can check for missing items and make purchases online. It is important to mention that these systems must be highly protected, as a single attempt to break into this centralized system can lead to the invasion of privacy and the loss of valuable confidential information. Still, most people who have experienced life in an automated space will likely be uncomfortable returning to traditional systems  
6. Which of the following statements is TRUE, according to the passage?

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Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace do not help you make more  genuine close friends, according to a survey by researchers who studied how the websites are changing the nature of friendship networks. Although social networking on the internet helps people to collect hundreds or even thousands of acquaintances, the researchers believe that face to face contact is nearly always necessary to form truly close friendships.  “Although the numbers of friends people have on these sites can be massive, the actual number of close friends is approximately the same in the face to face real world,” said psychologist Will Reader, from Sheffield Hallam University. Social networking websites such as Facebook, Bebo and MySpace have taken off rapidly in recent years. Facebook was launched initially in 2004 for Harvard University members but has since expanded to more than 34 million users worldwide. MySpace, which was set up in 2003, has more than 200 million users and was bought by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation in 2005 for $580m (£285m). Previous research has suggested that a person’s conventional friendship group consists of around 150 people, with five very close friends but larger numbers of people whom we keep in touch with less regularly. This figure is so consistent that scientists have suggested it is determined by the cognitive constraints of keeping up with large numbers of people. But Dr. Reader and his team have found that social networking sites do allow people to stretch this figure. The team asked more than 200 people to fill in questionnaires about their online networking, asking for example how many online friends they had, how many of these were close friends and how many they had met face to face. The team found that although the sites allowed contact with hundreds of acquaintances, as with conventional friendship networks, people tend to have around five close friends. Ninety per cent of contacts whom the subjects regarded as close friends were people they had met face to face. “People see face to face contact as being absolutely imperative in forming close friendships,” added Dr. Reader. He told the British Association Festival of Science in York that social networking sites allow people to broaden their list of nodding acquaintances because staying in touch online is easy. “What social network sites can do is decrease the cost of maintaining and forming these social networks because we can post information to multiple people,” he said.  But to develop a real friendship we need to see that the other person is trustworthy, said Dr. Reader. "What we need is to be absolutely sure that a person is really going to invest in us, is really going to be there for us when we need them … It’s very easy to be deceptive on the internet."
4. What does the word “they” in paragraph 3 refer to? 

The National Automobile Show in New York has been one of the top auto shows in the United States since 1900. On November 3 of that year, about 8,000 people looked over the "horseless carriages." It was the opening day and the first opportunity for the automobile industry to show off its wares to a large crowd; however, the black-tie audience treated the occasion more as a social affair than as a sales extravaganza. It was also on the first day of this show that William McKinley became the first U.S. president to ride in a car.
The automobile was not invented in the United States. That distinction belongs to Germany. Nikolaus Otto built the first practical internal-combustion engine there in 1876. Then, German engineer Karl Benz built what are regarded as the first modern automobiles in the mid-1880s. But the United States pioneered the merchandising of the automobile. The auto show proved to be an effective means of getting the public excited about automotive products.

By happenstance, the number of people at the first New York show equaled the entire car population of the United States at that time. In 1900,10 million bicycles and an unknown number of horse-drawn carriages provided the prime means of personal transportation. Only about 4,000 cars were assembled in the United States in 1900, and only a quarter of those were gasoline powered. The rest ran on steam or electricity.

After viewing the cars made by forty car makers, the show's audience favored electric cars because they were quiet. The risk of a boiler explosion turned people away from steamers, and the gasoline-powered cars produced smelly fumes. The Duryea Motor Wagon Company, which launched the American auto industry in 1895, offered a fragrant additive designed to mask the smells of the naphtha that it burned. Many of the 1900 models were cumbersome—the Gasmobile, the Franklin, and the Orient, for example, steered with a tiller like a boat instead of with a steering wheel. None of them was equipped with an automatic starter.

These early model cars were practically handmade and were not very dependable. They were basically toys of the well-to-do. In fact, Woodrow Wilson, then a professor at Princeton University and later President of the United States, predicted that automobiles would cause conflict between the wealthy and the poor. However, among the exhibitors at the 1900 show was a young engineer named Henry Ford. But before the end of the decade, he would revolutionize the automobile industry with his Model T Ford. The Model T, first produced in 1909, featured a standardized design and a streamlined method of production—the assembly line. Its lower costs made it available to the mass market.

Cars at the 1900 show ranged in price from $1,000 to $1,500, or roughly $14,000 to $21,000 in today's prices. By 1913, the Model T was selling for less than $300, and soon the price would drop even further. "I will build cars for the multitudes," Ford said, and he kept his promise

Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as steering with a tiller rather than with a steering wheel?

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
A (1) ______ teacher can reach thousands of students in an online course, opening up a world of knowledge to anyone with an internet connection. This limitless reach also offers substantial benefits for school districts that need to save money, by reducing the number of teachers. (2) __________, in high schools and colleges, there is mounting evidence that the growth of online education is hurting a critical group: the less proficient students (3) _______ are precisely those most in need of skilled classroom teachers. Online courses can be broken down into several categories, and some are more effective than others. In “blended” courses, for example, students don’t do their work only online: They also spend time in a classroom with a flesh-and-blood teacher. Research suggests that students — at nearly all levels of achievement — do just as well in these blended classes as they do in traditional classrooms. In this model, online resources supplement traditional instruction but don’t replace it. In the fully online model, on the other hand, a student may never be in the same room with an instructor. This category is the main problem. It is where less proficient students tend to (4) _________ trouble. After all, taking a class without a teacher requires high levels of self-motivation, self-regulation and organization. Yet, in high schools across the country, students who are struggling in (5) ________classrooms are increasingly steered into online courses