Choose the best answer:
Television also interferes _________ family life and communication
Suy nghĩ và trả lời câu hỏi trước khi xem đáp án
Lời giải:
Báo saiGiải thích:
interfere with: cản trở cái gì
Dịch: Ti vi cũng cản trở cuộc sống gia đình và giao tiếp.
Câu hỏi liên quan
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Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
The aviation industry, especially the commercial aviation sector, is constantly striving to improve both the way it works and its customer satisfaction. It has begun using artificial intelligence. Though AI in the aviation industry is still in the nascent stage, some progress has been made already as certain leading carriers invest in AI. To make a long story short, AI can redefine how the aviation industry goes about its work. In 2017, American Airlines conducted an app development competition with the goal of having an app developed for making baggage screening easier for passengers. The competition, named HackWars, was themed upon artificial intelligence, drones and augmented and virtual reality. The winner, known as “Team Avatar,” developed an app that would not only allow passengers determine their baggage size before arriving at the airport, but also prepay any potential baggage-related expenses. United Airlines is using Amazon’s Alexa to have certain common customer queries answered. In September 2017, United announced a collaboration with Alexa. The feature is known as the United skill. To get started, all passengers need to do is to add the United skill to their Alexa app and then start asking questions. Alexa answers common queries correctly, such as the status of a flight by number, check-in requests and availability of Wi-Fi on a flight. The reviews so far have been mixed, which points to the fact that there is a learning curve, and it is still a long way to go before AI can fully handle customer assistance. Tracking progress is an enormous challenge that airlines will face. The first thing they need to do is to develop analytics that will help them develop and process accurate data. However, that in itself is a challenge. What kind of analytics will help? For example, customer satisfaction is going to be one of the most important factors in success. What kind of analytics will determine that airlines have been improving on customer satisfaction parameters? AI needs huge investments, and probably the biggest risk in this is smaller, especially budget airlines are going to miss out on reaping the benefits of AI fully. Does that mean that the performance of the smaller carriers will be impacted? That might not be the case, because we might be moving toward more acquisitions and mergers. Bigger airlines will have a massive appetite for acquiring smaller airlines with an eye on the market. It is not all gloom and doom though, because smaller airlines like Southwest have already shown some initiatives toward embracing AI. It is surprising that a sector as important as aviation has woken up to AI so late. As AI in aviation picks up its pace, there could probably be a few mergers, acquisitions or even closure of small airlines which will not be able to afford the investments. Now, AI seems the best option to take aviation to the next level.
3. What does author want to convey in paragraph 2? -
Each sentence has a mistake. Find it bychosing A B C or D
From the beginning of the twentieth century to the present, technology has developed too much that people begin to think that there are no litmits to what we can achieve
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Read the following passage and then choose the best answer.
Communication in general is process of sending and receiving messages that enables humans to share knowledge, attitudes, and skills. Although we usually identify communication with speech, communication is composed of two dimensions - verbal and nonverbal.
Nonverbal communication has been defined as communication without words. It includes apparent behaviors such as facial expressions, eyes, touching, tone of voice, as well as less obvious messages such as dress, posture and spatial distance between two or more people.
Activity or inactivity, words or silence all have message value: they influence others and these others, in turn, respond to these communications and thus they are communicating.
Commonly, nonverbal communication is learned shortly after birth and practiced and refined throughout a person's lifetime. Children first learn nonverbal expressions by watching and imitating, much as they learn verbal skills.
Young children know far more than they can verbalize and are generally more adept at reading nonverbal cues than adults are because of their limited verbal skills and their recent reliance on the nonverbal to communicate. As children develop verbal skills, nonverbal channels of communication do not cease to exist although become entwined in the total communication process.
Which is not included in nonverbal communication?
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Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
There are three main periods in Beethoven’s music career: early, middle and late. The beginning of his early period was in 1792 when he moved to Vienna, Austria. Beethoven quickly (1) ________ a name for himself as a talented pianist. His compositions during this period consisted mainly of works for his main instrument, the piano, and were classical in nature. (2)___________, Beethoven’s hearing was beginning to deteriorate during this period, and he tried to hide this fact from those around him. In 1800, Beethoven turned from the classical forms of the previous century to a more expressive or romantic music. His musical imagination began to grow (3)______ that of the piano. The middle period was believed to be Beethoven’s greatest and most productive stage. In less than a decade, he produced countless masterpieces in every genre. In 1809, however, his musical (4)_________ began to decline, possibly due to his health problems and mental state. Beethoven stopped conducting and performing in public, but continued to compose – many of his most admired works were created during this period. By 1815, he was almost completely deaf and his manners became increasingly rude. In 1827, he died after a long illness. Nearly 20,000 people lined the streets of Vienna to (5)_________ their last respect to the composer who had changed the music scene of Western Europe -
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
An integral part of human life is the sports. As we all know, many competitive and entertaining activities are engaged in sports. A sport is a way to stay fit and healthy. If we want to be physically fit we have to have an active life to stay healthy, so it is always a good idea to participate in sports and games. The sport has inherent discipline and physical demands so that enthusiasts tend to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Weight loss, more energy, better mobility and a lot of things can come from the sport. All of this can describe a good person’s health. People are taught by sports and games to appreciate their health. The energy and vitality necessary to participate cannot be sustained without health. For professional athletes, their fitness and health depend on their livelihood. Sport also aims to keep individuals in good health and endurance. Water is the most important nutrient that we cannot live without. If you do sports, you tend to sweat more thus increase your metabolic rate. If you do not replace these fluids, you can have very serious health problems or you can even die. To have a healthy and active body we need to eat essential nutrients. Participating in sports activities will encourage you to drink more water since we develop the urge to do so when we participate in physical activities. When participating in sports activities we come to learn new things. It makes us learn how to tackle things the difficult situation. Sports develop a sense of unity and brotherliness. It develops team spirit in us. It helps in developing mental and physical toughness. It improves our efficiency. With our day-in-day-out activities, we tend to become exhausted the more reason we need sports in our lives to help us forget stressful things we go through. Everybody should always play a sport once a week to keep themselves fit and healthy. Sport is a fundamental phase for a child who is learning. In education, it helps the students keep their value in life, students are taught various games in the very early stage of life at school. Nurturing sports talents from school encourages a lot of talented children and it affirms the sportsmanship in them. Those students who perform well are promoted to play at the national and international level. Sports can be a carrier developing option for many students. As we know, a physical activity governed by a set of rules or habits is called sport. Sport is often involved in the competition. The sport was originally developed for recreation. When people want to do the distraction or recovery, they usually do sports, sports games or skill tests. From this, we can conclude that sport has large and varied manifestations. Sport can be played indoors or outdoors. It can be done by individual or team, with or without competition. And we know that sport requires skill and physical effort. The growth and development of sport and its related industries were witnessed by modern sport. Because we know that a healthy person is a wealthy person, the sport is the secret of both health and prosperity.
4. According to paragraph 3, what can give you serious health problems or you can even die? -
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452, in the small Tuscan town of Vinci, near Florence. Leonardo was the son of a wealthy Florentine public official and a peasant woman. In the mid- 1460s, the family settled in Florence, where Leonardo was given the best education that Florence could offer. He rapidly advanced socially and intellectually. He was handsome, persuasive in conversation and a fine musician and improviser. About in 1466, he apprenticed as a studio boy to Andrea Del Verrocchio. In Verrocchio’s workshop, Leonardo was introduced to many activities, from the painting of altarpieces and panel pictures to the creation of large sculptural projects. In 1472, he was entered in the painter’s guild of Florence, and in 1476, he was still mentioned as Verrocchio’s assistant. In Verrocchio’s Baptism of Christ, the kneeling angel at the left of the painting is by Leonardo. In 1478, Leonardo became an independent master. His first commission, to paint an altarpiece for the chapel of the Palazzo Vecchino, the Florentine town hall, was never executed. His first large painting, The Adoration of the Magi, left unfinished, was ordered in 1481 for the Monastery of San Donato a Scopeto, Florence. Other works ascribed to his youth are the so-called Benois Madonna, the portrait Ginerva de’ Benci, and the unfinished Saint Jerome. In 1482, Leonardo’s career moved into high gear when he entered the service of the duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, having written the duke an astonishing letter in which he stated that he could build portable bridges; that he knew the techniques of constructing bombardments and of making cannons; that he could build ships as well as armored vehicles, catapults, and other war machines; and that he could execute sculpture in marble, bronze, and clay. He served as a principal engineer in the duke’s numerous military enterprises and was so active also as an architect. In addition, he assisted the Italian mathematician Luca Pacioli in the celebrated work Divina Proportione. Evidence indicates that Leonardo had apprentices and pupils in Milan, for whom he probably wrote the various texts later compiled as Treatise on Painting. The most important of his own paintings during the early Milan period was The Virgin of the Rocks, two versions of which exist; he worked on the compositions for a long time, as was his custom, seemingly unwilling to finish what he had begun. From 1495 to 1496, Leonardo labored on his masterpiece, The Last Super, a mural in the refectory of the Monastery of Santa Maria Delle Grazie, Milan. Unfortunately, his experimental use of oil on dry plaster was technically unsound, and by 1500 its deterioration had begun. Since 1726 attempts have been made, unsuccessfully, to restore it; a concerted restoration and conservation program, making use of the latest technology, was begun in 1977 and is reversing some of the damage. Although much of the original surface is gone, the majesty of the composition and the penetrating characterization of the figures give a fleeting vision of its vanished splendor. During his long stay in Milan, Leonardo also produced other paintings and drawings, most of which have been lost theater designs, architectural drawings, and models for the dome of Milan Cathedral. His largest commission was for a colossal bronze monument to Francesco Sforza, father of Ludovico, in the courtyard of Castello Sforzesco. In December 1499, however, the Sforza family was driven from Milan by French forces; Leonardo left the statue unfinished and he returned to Florence in 1500.
4. The word “apprenticed” in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to __________ -
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Hundreds of years ago, life was harder than it is today. People didn’t have modern machines. Yet life today has brought new problems. One of the biggest is pollution. Water pollution has made our rivers and lakes dirty. It kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us talk (1)______ and become angry more easily. Air pollution is the most serious kind of pollution to all living things in the world. Cars, planes and factories all pollute our air every day. Sometimes the polluted air is (2)________thick that it is like a quilt over a city. This kind of quilt is called smog. Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. Factories must now (3)______ their water before it is thrown away, and they mustn’t let dirty smoke go into the air. We need to do many other things. We (4)_______ put waste things in the dustbin and do not throw them on the ground. We can go to work by bus with our friends in the (5)________car. If there are fewer people driving, there will be less pollution. Rules are not enough. Every person must help to fight pollution -
Choose the best answer:
Louis is virtually bilingual_________ Dutch and German. -
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Improving girls’ educational levels has been demonstrated to have clear impacts on the health and economic future of young women, which in turn improves the prospects of their entire community. The infant mortality rate of babies whose mothers have received primary education is half that of children whose mothers are illiterate. In the poorest countries of the world, 50% of girls do not attend secondary school. Yet, research shows that every extra year of school for girls increases their lifetime income by 15%. Improving female education, and thus the earning potential of women, improves the standard of living for their own children, as women invest more of their income in their families than men do. Yet, many barriers to education for girls remain. In some African countries, such as Burkina Faso, girls are unlikely to attend school for such basic reasons as a lack of private latrine facilities for girls. Higher attendance rates of high schools and university education among women, particularly in developing countries, have helped them make inroads to professional careers with better-paying salaries and wages. Education increases a woman’s (and her partner and the family’s) level of health and health awareness. Furthering women’s levels of education and advanced training also tends to lead to later ages of initiation of sexual activity and first intercourse, later age at first marriage, and later age at first childbirth, as well as an increased likelihood to remain single, have no children, or have no formal marriage and alternatively, have increasing levels of long-term partnerships. It can lead to higher rates of barrier and chemical contraceptive use (and a lower level of sexually transmitted infections among women and their partners and children), and can increase the level of resources available to women who divorce or are in a situation of domestic violence. It has been shown, in addition, to increase women’s communication with their partners and their employers, and to improve rates of civic participation such as voting or the holding of office.
2. Which of the following statements is true according to the first paragraph? -
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
IN ONE CUBIC FOOT In any environment - forest, mountain or water - you always see big animals first: birds, mammals, fish. But under your feet, on land or in water there are many smaller organisms: insects, tiny plants, miniature sea creatures. They seem unimportant, but, in fact, these sea creatures and ground dwellers are “the heart of life on the Earth”, say naturalist E.O Wilson. Without them, our world would change dramatically. Most organisms on the Earth live on the ground or just below it. Here, they are part of an important cycle. Plants and animals fall to the ground when they die. Later, tiny insects and other organisms break down the dead plant and animal material. This process eventually returns nutrients to the soil and give plants energy. Plants can then help to maintain healthy environment for humans and other animals. Despite their importance, scientists know very little about most ground organisms. To learn more, photographer David Liittschwager went to different places around the world, including a forest, a river, a mountain, and a coral reef. In each place, he put a green 12-inch cube on the ground or in the water. Then he and his team counted and photographed the organisms that lived in or moved through the cube. Often they discovered hundreds, some only a millimeter in size. “It was like finding little germs”, he says. In the coral reef in French Polynesia, he saw thousands of creatures in the cube and photographed 600. The team identified as many as possible, but it was difficult. Many of the animals they found were new species.
2. The word "miniature" in paragraph 1 mean _________ -
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Where smart cities were once regarded purely as a vision of the future, they are now becoming a reality in numerous urban centres across the globe. From Dubai, Singapore, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Madrid to Southampton in the UK, we’re already beginning to see smart cities provide inhabitants with improved living conditions, easier mobility and cleaner, safer environments, by using cloud computing to power services. But as with all public sector initiatives, smart city services need to be delivered as cost effectively as possible to minimise the taxpayer burden. Often, key decision makers are met with obstacles when it comes to deploying smart services, preventing smart cities initiatives from reaching their full potential – or worse, blocking them altogether. Central to the functioning of most ‘normal’ city ecosystems is the underlying data they run on. Regardless as to whether that data is stored on local servers or using cloud storage, when that data is fragmented or incomplete, identifying emerging trends for strategic planning and cost reduction becomes extremely difficult – and because of this, authorities have to adopt an entirely reactive approach. Conversely, in a smart city environment, connected sensors forming an Internet of Things (IoT) provide valuable data for analysis and, in turn, insight into the specific city’s behavioural trends. With this level of information, services can be optimised to reduce costs and risk, increase urban flows and manage assets. Importantly, they can also provide real-time connections and interactions between the city’s businesses, local governments, service providers and citizens. In this way, operations and services are elevated through the integration and connection of physical devices via IoT networks, ultimately transforming how a city runs.
4. According to paragraph 2, what is the matter that the author want to emphasise? -
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
There are three main periods in Beethoven’s music career: early, middle and late. The beginning of his early period was in 1792 when he moved to Vienna, Austria. Beethoven quickly (1) ________ a name for himself as a talented pianist. His compositions during this period consisted mainly of works for his main instrument, the piano, and were classical in nature. (2)___________, Beethoven’s hearing was beginning to deteriorate during this period, and he tried to hide this fact from those around him. In 1800, Beethoven turned from the classical forms of the previous century to a more expressive or romantic music. His musical imagination began to grow (3)______ that of the piano. The middle period was believed to be Beethoven’s greatest and most productive stage. In less than a decade, he produced countless masterpieces in every genre. In 1809, however, his musical (4)_________ began to decline, possibly due to his health problems and mental state. Beethoven stopped conducting and performing in public, but continued to compose – many of his most admired works were created during this period. By 1815, he was almost completely deaf and his manners became increasingly rude. In 1827, he died after a long illness. Nearly 20,000 people lined the streets of Vienna to (5)_________ their last respect to the composer who had changed the music scene of Western Europe -
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Mohammed BK, who aims to connect Somalis in Bristol with their heritage, has been confirmed for the Somali Week Festival, in 2020. Mohammed BK has been named as “cultural ambassador” for the Somali community. Ayan Mohamoud who is UK’s Somaliland Ambassador told the BBC he will now become a fixed part of the annual festivities. She said: “Young people who don’t speak Somali at all have memorised his music word-for-word and that is something that has never been done before by any Somali artist. He has been touring the country promoting citizenship and cultural unity throughout his career.” Susan Elmi, 25, has been a fan of Mohammed BK for many years. She said: "In the Somali culture many people communicated their emotions and thoughts through songs and poetry and this is going back centuries. This man is bringing that back and making the younger generation question and explore our rich legacy. I think it’s just what the Somali Diaspora needs to say well connected to the identity.” Mohammed BK also promotes education and advises young people to “use their time and resources wisely here in the UK because that is something their parents sacrificed fleeing from their homeland”. He added: “I thought to myself if I have that much influence on thousands and thousands of young people from my community, I need to put my platform to good use in encouraging them to do good and seek opportunities”. Festival fan Ameira Hassan, 45, said: “It’s a huge thing for our kids to take part in their history and culture. It’s important to us because they are learning a lot. Twenty years ago we never used to have anything like this in the UK and our kids never had any knowledge of the Somali culture.”
1. What is main topic of the passage? -
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Although the “lie detectors” are being used by governments, police departments, and businesses that all want guaranteed ways of detecting the truth, the results are not always accurate. Lie detectors are properly called emotion detectors, for their aim is to measure bodily changes that contradict what a person says. The polygraph machine records changes in heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, and the electrical activity of the skin (galvanic skin response, or GSR). In the first part of the polygraph test, you are electronically connected to the machine and asked a few neutral questions (“What is your name?”, “Where do you live?”). Your physical reactions serve as the standard (baseline) for evaluating what comes next. Then you are asked a few critical questions among the neutral ones (“When did you rob the bank?”). The assumption is that if you are guilty, your body will reveal the truth, even if you try to deny it. Your heart rate, respiration, and GSR will change abruptly as you respond to the incriminating questions. That is the theory; but psychologists have found that lie detectors are simply not reliable. Since most physical changes are the same across all emotions, machines cannot tell whether you are feeling guilty, angry, nervous, thrilled, or revved up form an exciting day. Innocent people may be tense and nervous about the whole procedure. They may react physiologically to a certain word (“bank”) not because they robbed it, but because they recently bounced a check. In either case the machine will record a “lie”. The reverse mistake is also common. Some practiced liars can lie without flinching, and others learn to beat the machine by tensing muscles or thinking about an exciting experience during neutral questions
1. What is the main idea of this passage? -
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Just as optical fibers have transformed communication, they are also revolutionizing medicine. These ultra - thin, flxible fiers have opened a window into the living tissues of the body. By inserting optical fibers through natural openings or small incisions and the threading them along the body's established pathways, physicians can look into the lungs, intestines, heart and other areas that were formerly inaccessible to them. The basic fiber-optics system is called fiberscope, which consists of two bundles of fibers. One, the illuminating bundle, carries light to the tissues. It is coupled to a high-intensity light source. Light enters the cores of the high-purity silicon glass and travels along the fibers. A lens at the end of the bundle collects the light and focuses it into the other bundle, the imaging bundle. Each fibers in the bundle transmits only a tiny fraction of the total image. The reconstructed image can be viewed through an eyepiece or displayed on a television screen. During the last five years, improved methods of fabricating optical fibers have led to a reduction in fiberscope diameter and an increase in the number of fibers, which in turn has increased resolution. Optical fibers can also be used to deliver laser light. By use of laser beams, physicians can perform surgery inside the body, sometimes eliminating the need of invasive procedures in which healthy tissue must be cut through to reach the site of disease. Many of these procedures do not require anesthesia and can be performed in a physician's office. These techniques have reduced the risk and the cost of medical care.
7. According to the passage, how do the fiberscopes used today differ from those used in five years ago? -
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While trust in media as a whole may be at an all-time low, a new study by the EBU has shown the public’s trust in traditional media (broadcast and the written press) is actually on the rise. However, people’s trust in new media continues to fall: 61% of European countries distrust the internet while 97% have no faith in social networks. The EBU’s new report – Trust in Media 2018 – shows the figures illustrating the differences between people’s trust in traditional and new media. Broadcast media remain the most trusted forms of media with 59% of people tending to trust radio (equivalent to 2017) and 51% trusting TV in the EU (an increase of 1 percentage point on 2017). Trust in the written press has also slowly improved over the last 5 years and it is now trusted by 47% of EU citizens. At the same time, people’s trust in the internet and social media has been eroded by fake news, misinformation and disinformation. Only 34% of EU citizens trust the internet and a mere 20% now trust social networks (down from 36% and 21% respectively in 2017). Trust in Media 2018 is based on data published in the 88th Eurobarometer survey and gives an idea of European citizens’ perception of the trustworthiness of different types of media. The survey consists of approximately 1000 face-to-face interviews in the 33 countries covered by the study. The report shows how European citizens’ trust in broadcast media is closely connected with a free and independent press. The higher the level of trust in a country’s radio and TV, the higher press freedom in that country tends to be. There are also strong regional differences with the Nordics and Albania tending to trust traditional media the most while Eastern Europeans tend to trust social networks and the internet more. The EBU’s Head of Strategy and the Media Intelligence Service Roberto Suárez Candel said: “The results of our research show that good quality, impartial media is highly valued by the public. “Public service media play an important role in that and, together, our Members make an invaluable contribution to society. The role of our public service Members in upholding democratic values and supporting media freedom is clearly demonstrated by the results of our research.”
8. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage? -
Rewrite the sentence:
Visitors come to admire the relics that were excavated from the ancient tombs -
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Last week, China declared “mission accomplished” after landing a spacecraft, Chang’e-4, on the far side of the Moon. It was a remarkable endeavour. As the far side of the Moon never faces the Earth, mission control cannot communicate directly with the spacecraft, but only via an orbiting satellite. The terrain is more broken and cratered than the near side, so landing a craft is that much more difficult. Even Nasa was impressed: “a first for humanity and an impressive accomplishment!”. Yet mixed with admiration was trepidation. China, a latecomer to the space race, is now beginning to threaten the supremacy of America and Russia. But then Russia and America have long played their space exploration programmes for propaganda purposes. From the beginning, the space race was intimately bound up with the needs of the cold war. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first human craft to orbit the Earth. Four years later, Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. Eight years later, on 21 July 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to tread on the Moon. Their journey may have been fuelled in part by cold war desperation, but it was also an extraordinary triumph of knowledge and will, an act of the technological sublime. Once America was satisfied that the Soviet Union had been put in its place, space exploration became politically less important. As America downgraded its space ambitions, Chinese aspirations took flight. In 1992, the Chinese government approved the Shenzhou manned spaceflight programme. Eleven years later, Yang Liwei became the first Chinese astronaut in space. Fears about Chinese ambitions have been heightened by the changing context of the space race. During the cold war, America feared the Soviet Union, but was determined to thwart Moscow’s aims. Today, American apprehension stems from the worry that China’s emergence as the dominant global force cannot be checked, nor Beijing’s brutal despotism challenged. As liberal democracy frays in the west and authoritarian capitalism becomes entrenched in the east, self-doubt shapes US attitudes to China. Space exploration has long been fuelled by a mixture of humanistic dreams, technological leaps and tawdry politics. The Chang’e-4 mission is no different. How the space race will play out over the next decade, and what role China will adopt in global politics, remains uncertain. In the meantime, let us celebrate our new perspective of the dark side of the Moon.
8. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage? -
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Belgium is a very old country, with a fascinating mixture of old customs and modern laws. Belgium weddings may be performed as a civil ceremony or as a religious ceremony. Traditionally, when a couple in Belgium wishes to announce their marriage, the wedding invitations are printed on two sheets of paper, one from the bride’s family and one sheet from the groom’s family. These wedding invitations symbolize the union of the two families and the partnership of the new union. An ancient Belgium custom that is designed to unite the two families calls for the bride to stop as she walks up the aisle and to hand her mother a single flower. The two then embrace. Then, during the recessional, the bride and groom walk to the groom’s mother and the new bride hands her new mother-in-law a single flower and the two of them embrace, symbolizing the bride’s acceptance of her new mother. One of the most important and enduring traditions of the Belgium wedding is for the bride to carry a specially embroidered handkerchief that has her name embroidered on it. After the wedding this handkerchief is framed and hung on the wall in a place of honor. When the next female member of the bride’s family is to be wed, the handkerchief is removed from its frame, the new bride’s name is embroidered onto it, and it is passed down. The wedding handkerchief is passed from generation to generation, and is considered an important family heirloom. During the wedding mass, the bride and the groom are enthroned in two large chairs placed near the altar, symbolizing that on this day and in this place they are the king and the queen. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the groom slips the wedding ring onto the third finger of his bride’s left hand. The ring, being an endless circle, symbolizes never-ending love, and the third finger of the left hand is believed to hold the vein that travels to the heart, symbolizing love. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the bride and groom share their first kiss as husband and wife. The kiss is considered a symbolic act of sharing each other’s spirit as the couple each breathes in a portion of their new mate’s soul. The bridesmaids traditionally take up a collection of coins and as the bride and groom exit the church, the bridesmaids toss the coins to the poor outside the church. Giving gifts of money to the poor helps to insure prosperity for the new bride and groom. Following the wedding the bride and groom are off on their honeymoon. In ancient times the honeymoon, which was celebrated by the drinking of mead, or honey wine, would last 28 days, one complete cycle of the moon. This was to make sure that the bride’s family did not try to steal their daughter back from her new husband.
1. Which of the following could be the best title of the passage? -
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In 1860 the United States was predominantly rural. Most people were engaged in agriculture, and about 80 percent of the population actually resided on farms or in small villages. Only 20 percent lived in towns and cities of 2,500 or more, the census definition of an urban area after 1880. New York alone in 1860 had more than 1 million people, and only 8 cities could boast about a population of more than 100,000. Thereafter the transition from a rural to a predominantly urban nation was especially remarkable because of its speed. By 1900, urbanization, with all of its benefits, problems, and prospects for a fuller life, became the mark of modern America The changing physical landscape reflected the shift to an urbanized society. Railroad terminals, factories, skyscrapers, apartment houses, streetcars, electric engines, department stores, and the increased pace of life were all signs of an emerging urban America. Indeed, the vitality, dynamic quality, variety, and restless experimentalism in society centered in the urban communities where the only constant factor was change itself. Urbanization did not proceed uniformly throughout the nation. New England and the Middle Atlantic states contained the highest percentage of city dwellers. In the Middle West, the growth of cities such as Chicago, Milwaukee, Cleveland, and St. Louis showed the importance of urbanization in that region. The three West Coast states also experienced rapid urban growth. In the South, urbanization developed much more slowly, although by 1910 the expansion of transportation, commerce, and industry had greatly increased the population of older cities such as New Orleans and stimulated the growth of new urban centers such as Birmingham. However, the South remained predominantly rural. Only somewhat more than 20 percent of the population in that region was urban by 1910. In some regions the urban impact had a depressing effect upon the surrounding rural communities. Much of New England in the late nineteenth century presented a discouraging picture of abandoned farms and sickly villages as people forsook the countryside and rushed to the larger towns and cities. In the Middle West, particularly Ohio and Illinois, hundreds of townships lost population in the 1880’s.
5. Which of the following are mentioned in the passage as a sign of urbanized society in the United States in the late 1800’s?