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I'd rather_____ in the field than_____ at home.

 

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Make Home a Little Nicer
Some people think that if they don’t have a yard, they can’t keep a garden. Fortunately, that’s not true. For people who live in apartment buildings, there is another option: rooftop gardens. A rooftop garden is just a garden that you keep on your roof. Rooftop gardens are very popular in cities. Most building roofs go to waste – people don’t use that space for anything. Putting a garden on your roof is a nice way to turn an empty space into something that is pretty and relaxing. Rooftop gardens are not a new idea. About 2,600 years ago, people in Ancient Mesopotamia planted rooftop gardens. There were similar gardens in Ancient Rome and Ancient Egypt. These gardens had a very important purpose. Many ancient cities had walls. The enemy army usually tried to destroy the city’s food, so the people in the city kept their gardens on top of their walls. That way, they could continue to grow food. Today’s rooftop gardens don’t keep us alive, but they still have nice benefits. Plants absorb heat, so if there are a lot of them on a rooftop, they make the whole building cooler. As a result, people in the building use the air conditioning less which means they use less electricity. One study said that if every roof in Tokyo had a garden, the city would save more than one million dollars a day on electricity. Rooftop gardening is harder than regular gardening. Here are some tips. First of all, be safe. Build a fence around your garden. You don’t want the wind to blow plants off your roof! Also, remember that rooftop gardens get more sun. If you have a plant that shouldn’t get too much sun, remember to put it in the shade sometimes. There are many other things that you need to know before you start a rooftop garden. Do some research and then give it a try. You’ll make your little part of the city much nicer.
3. What can be inferred for ancient cities?

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We are __________ funds to recycle old plastic bottles.

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Do you remember how we used to go to the cinema ______?

They ____ for 3 hours when the storm suddenly broke.

(200)_______

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Traveling in the Future
These days, if you want to travel from New York to Beijing, the flight takes about 16 hours. You also have to wait at the airport, and sometimes you have to transfer onto a different airplane. If you add all of that extra time, the trip takes at least 20 hours. But in the future, the trip from New York to Beijing might only take two hours. Right now, a private company is developing something called ET3. ET3 stands for “evacuated tube transport technology”. Here is how it works. A tube goes all the way from New York to Beijing. The tube is only a few meters wide. Capsules move through the tube. Six people can sit in one capsule. The capsules use electricity instead of gasoline. For international travel, the capsules can travel at about 6,500 kilometers per hour. That is much faster than airplane – most modern airplanes usually only fly at about 800 kilometers per hour. So how is this possible? How can these capsules travel so fast? The answer is that there is no air inside the tube. When airplanes fly, they have to move through the air. The air slows the airplanes down. Because there is no air in the ET3 tubes, the capsules are able to move at a very high speed. Besides, the capsules are quite light. They only weigh 183 kilograms. There are other advantages to ET3. Because it uses electricity, it is quite clean. In addition, it is much quieter than airplanes and cars. Finally, ET3 tubes and capsules don’t require very much building material. Of course, ET3 doesn’t exist yet. The technology is still being developed. Developers still have to solve a lot of problems. The biggest problem is that right now, ET3 would be far too expensive. In order to make ET3 cheaper, we will need much better technology. It is exciting to think of how ET3 will change travel in the future. Maybe someday, you will be able to have lunch in New York and dinner in Beijing.
6. According to the passage, which statement is true?

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Space Tourism
If you are like most people, you probably dream of spending your next vacation sightseeing or relaxing in a tropical spot. But pretty soon, you may have the option of blasting into space and exploring the universe. It appears that space tourism may start to experience a boom that is sure to be out of this world. Since ancient times, humans have surely dreamed about visiting space. However, it was just a fantasy until 1961, when Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to fly into space. Yet in the years following, only a few highly-trained Soviet and American astronauts managed to leave the Earth’s atmosphere. In the mid-1980s, the US began to relax some of its restrictions. In 1986, an engineer named Charles Walker became the first non-government employee to fly into space. A year later, an American teacher named Christa McAuliffe was chosen to be the first teacher in space. Unfortunately, the Space Shuttle she was on, The Challenger, crashed during takeoff, killing everyone on board. Space tourism got an unexpected boost from the collapse of the Soviet Union. With Russia’s space programme in dire need of money, it became open to offers for space tourism. In 1990, a Japanese reporter was allowed to fly with a Russian crew into space, but the trip would cost his employer $28 million. In the late 1990s, a private company, MirCorp, started organizing trips to space for wealthy individuals. Now, many other companies are trying to do the same. Still, most people who want to become space tourists face a major barrier: the price. Early space tourists have paid dozens of millions of dollars for a seven-to- ten-day stay outside the Earth. However, there are some indications that the price will come down in the near future. Some corporations are gearing up for this with big plans to make space a more hospitable place. The luxurious hotel chain Hilton has expressed interest in opening a space hotel in the next 15 to 20 years. Meanwhile, some experts believe that flights to and from the moon could become a common occurrence within a few decades. Hopefully someday soon we will all have the chance to get to know our solar system a little bit better.
8. It can be inferred from the passage that _________.

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India’s Classical Jewel
If you are looking for a refreshing break from the standard pop songs on the radio and you have an open mind, give Indian classical music a try. It dates back to thousands of years to when the Vedas, India’s sacred holy texts were written. This makes it one of the oldest unbroken musical traditions in the world. In fact, the music itself is closely linked to Hinduism. The songs and chants were originally parts of devotional rituals performed to please the gods. The music features several instruments that are uniquely Indian, but two in particular are featured prominently. The first is the sitar, a stringed instrument with an extremely long neck. The sitar is a far more complex instrument than the guitar, as it can have as many as 20 strings. When played, it lets off a buzzing vibration that has a relaxing effect on listeners. The other instrument which is essential for classical Indian music is the tabla. Tablas are a special kind of hand drum that provides the tempo and rhythm. Tabla players sit on the floor and keep the drum in place by locking it between their knees. Unlike Western drummers, tabla players use their hands and fingers to play the instrument. The player’s fingers keep the beat, while a sudden flick of the wrist and a slide of the palm can change the pitch of the drum. Instead of songs, classical Indian music revolves around the concept of ragas, which are more accurately defined as musical themes. Players take these ideas and begin to improvise their own melodies around them. Ragas tend to be a bit longer than typical songs, and in some cases they can go for several hours. Each raga is expected to have a wide range of tempos to help viewers experience different emotions during the performance. One of the most influential classical Indian musicians was a sitar player named Ravi Shankar. After training for years to master his craft, he travelled to the US and Europe during the 1950s to perform for Western audiences. He would eventually become close friends with Beaties’ guitarist George Harrison, and his music would influence several of the band’s songs. Although he passed away in 2012, his music continues to inspire both Eastern and Western musicians alike.
7. Who would probably enjoy classical Indian music the most?

Sometimes forest fires have caused serious damage to both private and public property. They destroy many houses and cause deaths, particularly when they have reached villages which are close to the forests. It is more dangerous if a destructive fire burns away plants and trees that prevent erosion. If heavy rains occur after such a fire, landslides, ash flows, and flash floods can occur. This can result in property damage in the immediate fire area, and can affect the water quality of streams, rivers and lakes. Wind sometimes makes contributions to forest fires. In southern California, under the influence of Santa Ana winds, fires could move at tremendous speeds, up to 40 miles (60 km) in a single day, consuming up to 1,000 acres (4 km2) per hour.

Forestfires______ 

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The custom of paying a bride price before marriage is still a well-established part of many African cultures. In paying a bride price, the family of the groom must provide payment to the family of the bride before the marriage is allowed. The bride price can vary greatly from culture to culture in Africa. In the Zulu and Swazi tribes of southern Africa, the bride price often takes the form of cattle. In Western African, kola nuts, shells, and other goods are often used for the payment of the bride price. The actual payment of money sometimes takes place, but the payment of goods is more frequent. The amount of paid in a bride price can also vary. In modern times, the bride price is occasionally quite small and its value is mainly symbolic. However, the bride price can still be quite high, especially among prominent or highly traditional families.There are a number of justifications used to explain the payment of bride price. The first is that the bride price represents an acknowledgement of the expense the bride's family has gone in order to raise her and bring her up as a suitable bride for the groom. It also represents payment for the loss of a family member, since the bride will officially become a member of her husband's family and will leave her own. On a deeper level the bride price represents payment for the fact that the bride will bring children into the family of the groom, thereby increasing the wealth of the family. This concept is reinforced by the fact that the bride price must often be returned if the bride fails to bear children.The payment of the bride price has quite a number of effects on African society. First, the payment of bride price acts to increase the stability of African family structures. Sons are dependent on their fathers and older relatives to help them pay the bride price of their wives, and this generally leads to greater levels of obedience and respect. The negotiations between the two families concerning the bride price allow the parents and other family members to meet and get to know one another before the marriage. Finally, since the bride price must often be repaid in case of divorce, the bride's family often works to make sure that any marital problems are solved quickly. Bride prices also work as a system of wealth distribution in African cultures. Wealthier families can afford to support the marriage of their son, and thus their wealth is transferred to other families.Not all of the effects of bride price are so positive, however. One major disadvantage to the system of bride price is that women are often married to men much older than themselves. In many African cultures, the typical age for marriage amongst women is still quite young, lower than in many cases. Yet few men at this age would have the ability to raise the bride price to marry. Thus there is sometimes a significant age gap between husbands and wives. This cuts short the education of many young women. In addition, the husband, being far older, may die whilst the wife is still relatively young, leaving her with the burden of raising the children alone.
2. Why does the author mention “the payment of money” in paragraph 1?

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He made me _____________they had left the district.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the undelined part that needs correction in each of the following questions:
The cause of tooth decay is acid, which is produced by bacteria in the mouth. The acid removes minerals from tooth enamel, allowing tooth decay to begin; the saliva in your mouth encourages remineralization and neutralizes the acid. The rate at which bacteria in the mouth produce acid depends on the amount of plaque on the teeth, the composition of the microbial flora, and whether the bacteria of the plaque have been "primed" by frequent exposure to sugar. To keep your teeth healthy, a regular dental hygiene program should be followed.
Removing plaque with a toothbrush and dental floss temporarily reduces the numbers of bacteria in the mouth and thus reduces tooth decay. It also makes the surfaces of the teeth more accessible, enabling saliva to neutralize acid and remineralize lesions. If fluoride is present in drinking water when teeth are forming, some fluoride is incorporated into the enamel of the teeth, making them more resistant to attack by acid. Fluoride toothpaste seems to act in another way, by promoting the remineralization of early carious lesions.
In addition to a regular dental hygiene program, a good way to keep your teeth healthy is to reduce your intake of sweet food. The least cavity-causing way to eat sweets is to have them with meals and not between. The number of times you eat sweets rather than the total amount determines how much harmful acid the bacteria in your saliva produce. But the amount of sweets influences the quality of your saliva. Avoid, if you can, sticky sweets that stay in your mouth a long time. Also try to brush and floss your teeth after eating sugary foods. Even rinsing your mouth with water is effective. Whenever possible, eat foods with fiber, such as raw carrot sticks, apples, celery sticks, etc., that scrape off plaque, acting as a toothbrush. Cavities can be greatly reduced if these rules are followed when eating sweets.

What does this passage mainly discuss?

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Aspirin's origins go back at least as early as 1758. In that year, Englishman Edward Stone noticed a distinctive bitter flvor in the bark of the willow tree. To Stone, this particular bark seem to have much in common with "Peruvian Bark", which had been used medicinally since the 1640s to bring down fevers and to treat malaria, stone decided to test the effectiveness of the willow bark. He obtained some, pulverized it into tiny pieces, and conducted experiments on its properties. His tests demonstrated that this pulverized willow bark was effective both in reducing high temperatures and in relieving aches and pains. In 1763, stone presented his tiding to the British Royal Society. Several decades later, further studies on the medicinal value of the willow bark were being conducted by two Italian scientists. These chemists, Brugnatelli and Fontana, determined that the active chemical that was responsible for the medicinal characteristics in the willow bark was the chemical salicin, which is the active ingredient of today's aspirin. The name "aspirin" is the trade name of the drug based on the chemical salicin, properly known as acetylsalicylic acid.The trade name "aspirin" was invented for the drug in the 1890s by the Bayer Drug Company in Germany. The fist bottles of aspirin actually went on sale to the publicjust prior to the turn of the century, in 1899.
1. According to the passage, aspirin originated: 

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The Greatest Light Show on the Earth
If you are a fan of amazing visual displays, planetariums around the world offer some entertaining laser-light shows that are often accompanied by popular music. Yet if you want to see the world’s greatest light show, you won’t be able to catch it indoors. Instead, you will have to head to one of the Poles. In certain spots, you will be treated to colourful streaks of light dancing across the sky. This incredible display is the aurora borealis, and every year people from all corners of the globe flock to witness its wonders firsthand. The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, got its official name in 1621. The name combines the name of the Roman goddess of the dawn, Aurora, and the Roman god of the north wind, Boreas. In ancient times, the aurora completely baffled people’s minds, as science was far more primitive than it is today. Nevertheless, they created many myths to explain them. The Vikings believed the lights were the reflection of dead maidens. The Scots thought they were supernatural beings battling in heaven. Meanwhile, Eskimos thought that the lights were dead souls, and when the colours changed, it was their attempt to contact living friends and relatives. It was not until 2008 that a team of scientists from ULCA finally concluded with certainty what the true cause of these dancing light is. The process begins when solar winds carry charged particles from the Sun through space and into the Earth’s atmosphere. When these charged particles enter the Earth’s atmosphere, they are magnetically attracted to the Earth’s poles. During their journey to these points, they come in contact with nitrogen and oxygen atoms in the sky. These collisions are what cause the aurora. The heights at which the collisions occur determine the colours of the individual lights. For example, when the solar winds collide with nitrogen at least than 96 kilometres above the Earth’s surface, the lights will be blue. If the same collision occurs above 96 kilometres, however, the light will be purple. Or, if the solar wind particles collide with oxygen, the colours produced will be either red or green. However, merely understanding how the aurora works does not do this phenomena justice. To truly appreciate the full splendor of the aurora, you will have to see this Natural Wonder of the World in person.
3. According to the passage, what did the Viking and Eskimo have in common?

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I was born to dance. I've been dancing all my life, ever since my mother, who gave up a dancing career on the stage when she married my father, picked me up and twirled me around as an infant. As much as I loved dancing with her, her greatest gift to me was her “unconditional love” during her lifetime.

My parents divorced after only 5 years of marriage, but my father remarried a lovely lady who also loved to dance. They used to take me to a dancing club where I would listen to the music and watch them dance-occasionally my step-mother, Mary, invited me to dance.

I also met my wife, Charlotte, in a dancing party. I danced with her for about 15 minutes, and during that brief span, I realized that I fell in love with her. We kept dancing throughout our marriage. My earliest memories of dancing with my daughters started when I came home from work to our small home in Marblehead, Massachusetts, and my daughter Laura was about 3 years old. It was very relaxing for me to turn on the record player, pick up Laura in my arms, and dance her around the room!

Our family danced a lot. My daughters, Laura and Anne, and I continued to dance on every occasion. One favorite memory I have of dancing with Laura and Anne was when I took each of them when they were seniors in high school to the Daddy-Daughter dance. We won both dance competitions!

As their father, I have tried to provide my daughters with unconditional love, as my Mother provided to me, endless emotional and loving support, and good educations and life experiences which have helped prepare them for happy and successful adult lives. Being a father who is worthy of their love and respect, I consider fatherhood a privilege, not an entitlement.

In 1994, my oldest daughter Laura gave me a lovely book, which I still have, entitled “Fathers and Daughters.” My Father’s Day suggestion to every father is to dance with your daughters at every opportunity. It will not only bring you closer, it will give them memories of you “to hang onto” long after we are gone.

The writer _____.

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It is the recommendation of many psychologists that a learner ought to use mental images to associate word and remember them.

Only a few of the many species at risk of extinction actually make it to the lists and obtain legal ______.

(355)_______

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.
Together, the thousands of scientists and conservation organizations that contribute to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and other systems of assessment provide the world's largest knowledge base on the global status of species. The aim of these systems is to provide the general public, conservationists, nongovernmental organizations, the media, decision makers, and policy makers with comprehensive and scientifically rigorous information on the conservation status of the world's species and the threats that drive the observed patterns of population decline. Scientists in conservation and protected area management agencies use data on species status in the development of conservation planning and prioritization, the identification of important sites and species for dedicated conservation action and recovery planning, and educational programs. Although the IUCN Red List and other similar species-assessment tools do not prescribe the action to be taken, the data within the list are often used to inform legislation and policy and to determine conservation priorities at regional, national, and international levels. In contrast, the listing criteria of other categorization systems (such as the United States Endangered Species Act, the CITES) are prescriptive; they often require that landowners and various governmental agencies take specific mandatory steps to protect species falling within particular categories of threat It is likely that many undescribed or unassessed species of plants, animals, and other organisms have become or are in the process of becoming extinct. To maintain healthy populations of both known and unknown species, assessments and reassessments are valuable tools. Such monitoring work must continue so that the most current knowledge can be applied to effective environmental monitoring and management efforts. For many threatened species, large well-protected conservation areas (biological reserves) often play major roles in curbing population declines. Such reserves are often cited by conservation biologists and other authorities as the best way to protect individual species as well as the ecosystems they inhabit. In addition, large biological reserves may harbor several undescribed and unassessed species. Despite the creation of several large reserves around the world, poaching and illegal trafficking plague many areas. Consequently, even species in those areas require continued monitored and periodic assessment.
9. It is understood from the passage that ____.

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For many American university students, the weeklong spring break holiday means an endless party on a sunny beach in Florida or Mexico. In Panama City Beach, Florida, a city with a permanent population of around 36,000, more than half a million university students arrive during the month of March to play and party, making it the number one spring break destination in the United States. A weeklong drinking binge is not for anyone, however, and a growing number of American university students have found a way to make spring break matter. For them, joining or leading a group of volunteers to travel locally or internationally and work to show problems such as poverty, homelessness, or environmental damage makes spring break a unique learning experience that university students can feel good about. Students who participate in alternative spring break projects find them very rewarding. While most university students have to get their degrees before they can start helping people, student volunteers are able to help people now. On the other hand, the accommodations are far from glamorous. Students often sleep on the floor of a school or spend the week camping in tents. But students only pay around $250 for meals and transportation, which is much less than some of their peers spend to travel to more traditional spring break hotspots. Alternative spring break trips appear to be growing in popularity at universities across the United States. Students cite a number of reason for participating. Some appreciate the opportunity to socialize and meet new friends. Others want to exercise their beliefs about people’s obligation to serve humanity and make the world a better place. Whatever their reason, these students have discovered something that gives them rich rewards along with a break from school work.
1. How many university students travel to Panama Beach City every March for spring break?

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Students usually have a____each year.

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Drawing a Line in the Sand
Artists are known to be a picky bunch. Over years of practice, they often develop a preference for certain materials. For instance, some sculptors will only work with marble, whereas some painters may insist on only using watercolour paints. Yet, only a select few have become masters working with a common material that you can find on any beach: sand. As children, we all made sand castles, but some skilled artists have taken this activity to the next level. They have created impressive, massive sand constructions in the shape of dragons, castles, and everything else you can imagine. A major benefit for many artists who build with sand is its simplicity. To get started, all you need is sand and water. However, mastering this medium takes years of practice and great attention to detail. For example, different tasks require different ratio of water to sand to get the job done. Deciding on the proper tools can also be complicated. Some artists prefer using buckets and shovels, while others are purists who refuse to use anything but their hands. Sand painting is another form of sand art. The practice dates back dozens of thousands of years and has been used by several different cultures. It involves spreading different coloured particles, which often come from crystals and rocks, onto a surface and then arranging them to make a picture. Interestingly enough, many sand paintings are designed to be temporary. Tibetan monks will spend days creating beautiful sand paintings which are blown away by winds shortly after they are finished. They view the natural destruction of their work as a symbol of impermanence in life. Meanwhile, Native Americans consider their temporary sand paintings as living creatures and they treat them with great respect while they exist. Recently, filmmakers have also discovered a way to work with sand by creating sand animation. Like other forms of animation, an artist will create one image and then capture it on camera. Then, they will make some subtle changes and then move on to the next frame and so on. After they have created and captured hundreds of images, the frames will be strung together. In the final product, it will appear as if the sand images are moving or changing shape. The next time you are at the beach, let your mind run free as you look at the shore. Who knows, you might get the urge to create some remarkable sand art of your own.
6. According to the passage, most sand paintings ___________.