Identify the one underlined word or phrase - A, B, C or D - that must be changed for the sentence to be correct.
During a curfew it is not possible walking on the streets after a specified hour.
Suy nghĩ và trả lời câu hỏi trước khi xem đáp án
Lời giải:
Báo saikiến thức: đọc hiểu
Giải thích: to walk
Dịch: Trong giờ giới nghiêm, không thể đi bộ trên đường phố sau một giờ quy định.
Câu hỏi liên quan
-
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Perhaps the most striking quality of satiric literature is its freshness and its originality of perspective. Satire itself, however, rarely offers original ideas. Instead, it presents the familiar in a new form. Satirists do not offer the world new philosophies. What they do is look at familiar conditions from a perspective that makes these conditions seem foolish, harmful, or affected. Satire jars us out of complacence into a pleasantly shocked realization that many of the values we unquestioningly accept are false. Don Quixote makes chivalry seem absurd; Brave New World ridicules the pretensions of science; A Modest Proposal dramatizes starvation by advocating cannibalism. None of these ideas is original. Chivalry was suspect before Cervantes, humanists objected to the claims of pure science before Aldous Huxley, and people were aware of famine before Swift. It was not the originality of the idea that made these satires popular. It was the manner of expression, the satiric method, that made them interesting and entertaining. Satires are read because they are aesthetically satisfying works of art, not because they are morally wholesome or ethically instructive. They are stimulating and refreshing because with commonsense briskness they brush away illusions and secondhand opinions. With spontaneous irreverence, satire rearranges perspectives, scrambles familiar objects into incongruous juxtaposition, and speaks in a personal idiom instead of abstract platitude. Satire exists because there is need for it. It has lived because readers appreciate a refreshing stimulus, an irreverent reminder that they live in a world of platitudinous thinking, cheap moralizing, and foolish philosophy. Satire serves to prod people into an awareness of truth, though rarely to any action on behalf of truth. Satire tends to remind people that much of what they see, hear, and read in popular media is sanctimonious, sentimental, and only partially true. Life resembles in only a slight degree the popular image of it.
7. The word "sanctimonious" may be new to you. It most probably means " " in this context: -
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
According to anthropologists, people in preindustrial societies spent 3 to 4 hours per day or about 20 hours per week doing the work necessaryfor life. Modern comparisons of the amount of work performed per week, however, begin with the Industrial Revolution (1760-1840) when 10- to 12-hour workdays with six workdays per week were the norm. Even with extensive time devoted to work, however, both incomes and standards of living were low. As incomes rose near the end of the Industrial Revolution, it became increasingly common to treat Saturday afternoons as a half-day holiday. The half-day holiday had become standard practice in Britain by the 1870's, but did not become common in the United States until the 1920's. In the United States, the first third of the twentieth century saw the workweek move from 60 hours per week to just under 50 hours by the start of the 1930s. In 1914 Henry Ford reduced daily work hours at his automobile plants from 9 to 8. In 1926 he announced that henceforth his factories would close for the entire day on Saturday. At the time, Ford received criticism from other firms such as United States Steel and Westinghouse, but the idea was popular with workers. The Depression years of the 1930s brought with them the notion of job sharing to spread available work around; the workweek dropped to a modem low for the United States of 35 hours. In 1938 the Fair Labor Standards Act mandated a weekly maximum of 40 hours to begin in 1940, and since that time the 8-hour day, 5-day workweek has been the standard in the United States. Adjustments in various places, however, show that this standard is not immutable. In 1987, for example, German metal workers struck for and received a 37.5-hour workweek; and in 1990 many workers in Britain won a 37-hour week. Since 1989, the Japanese government has moved from a 6- to a 5-day workweek and has set a national target of 1,800 work hours per year for the average worker. The average amount of work per year in Japan in 1989 was 2,088 hours per worker, compared to 1,957 for the United States and 1,646 for France.
8: The word "mandated" in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to: -
Read the passage and choose one correct answer for each question.
My name’s Mandi. Three months ago, I went to disco where I met a boy called Tom. I guessed he was older than me, but I liked him and thought it didn’t matter. We danced a couple of times, then we chatted. He said he was 18, then asked how old I was. I told him I was 16. I thought that if I told him my real age, he wouldn’t want to know me, as I’m only 13.
After the dicso we arranged to meet the following weekend. The next Saturday we went for a burger and had a real laugh. Afterwards he walked me to my street and kissed me goodnight. Things went really well. We see each other a couple of times a week, but I’ve had to lie to my parents about where I’m going and who with. I’ve always got on with them, but I know if they found out how Tom was they’d stop me seeing him.
Now I really don’t know what to do. I can’t go on lying to my parents every time I go out, and Ton keeps asking he can’t come around to my house. I’m really worried and I need some advice.
Why can’t Tom come to Mandi’s house?
-
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Fifty-five delegates representing all thirteen states except Rhode Island attended the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia from May to September 1787. The delegates had been instructed by the Continental Congress to revise the old Articles of Confederation, but most believed that a stronger central government was needed. There were differences, however, about what structure the government should take and how much influence large states should have. Virginia was by far the most populous state, with twice as many as people as New York, four times as many as New Jersey, and ten times as many as Delaware. The leader of the Virginia delegation, James Madison, had already drawn up a plan for government, which became known as the Large State Plan. Its essence was that congressional representation would be based on population. It provided for two or more national executives. The smaller states feared that under this plan, a few large states would lord over the rest. New Jersey countered with the Small State Plan. It provided for equal representation for all states in a national legislature and for a single national executive. Angry debate, heightened by a stifling heat wave, led to deadlock. A cooling of tempers seemed to come with lower temperatures. The delegates hammered out an agreement known as the Great Compromise - actually a bundle of shrewd compromises. They decided that Congress would consist of two houses. The larger states were granted representation based on population in the lower house, the House of Representatives. The smaller states were given equal representation in the upper house, the Senate, in which each state would have two senators regardless of population. It was also agreed that there would be a single executive, the president. This critical compromise broke the logjam, and from then on, success seemed within reach.
9. The author uses the phrase broke the iogjam to indicate that . -
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
When jazz began to lose its reputation as "low-down" music and to gain well-deserved acclaim among intellectuals, musicians began to feature many instruments previously considered inappropriate for jazz. Whereas before the 1950s, jazz musicians played only eight basic instruments in strict tempo, in this decade they started to improvise on the flite, electric organ, piccolo, accordion, cello, and even bagpipes, with the rhythm section composed for strings or piano. Big bands no longer dominated jazz, and most changes emerged from small combos, such as the Dave Brubeck Quartet and the Gerry Mulligan Quartet. The Gerry Mulligan Quartet proved that a small, modern band could sound complete without a piano; the rhythm section consisted only of a set of drums and a string bass. Jazz continued to move in new directions during the 1960s. Saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman led a quartet playing "free" jazz that was atonal. Pianist Cecil Taylor also conducted similar experiments with music, and John Coltrane included melodies from India in his compositions. In the 1970s musicians blended jazz and rock music into fusion jazz which combined the melodies and the improvisations of jazz with the rhythmic qualities of rock'n' roll, with three or five beats to the bar and in other meters. The form of jazz music was greatly affected by electric instruments and electronic implements to intensify, distort, or amplify their sounds. However, the younger musicians of the time felt compelled to include a steady, swinging rhythm which they saw as a permanent and essential element in great jazz.
9. It can be inferred from the passage that small jazz bands -
Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.
Technology has utterly transformed our ability to communicate with each other. Linking to each other both literally and figuratively, many of us connect through cell phones, email, instant messaging, blogs, and networking web sites, yet we may be less connected to each other than we think.
According to a study, Americans are becoming increasingly socially isolated. The study reveals, for example, that one quarter of Americans say that they have no one to discuss important personal issues with, and that the number of close friends that American have has dropped from three to two. Meanwhile, the Boston Globe reports that this spreading isolation is experienced more sharply among those with less education, people of color, and older Americans. Unsurprisingly, those who are young, white, and well educated tend to have stronger social networks.
From my own experience I have to say that I’ve never felt more connected, thanks to a web of friends, family, and colleagues. One of my closest friends is someone I met through an online discussion group who lives hundreds of miles away from me. We have met face-to-face only twice, yet our regular electronic correspondence and cell phone calls sustain our close friendship. And, speaking of blogging, my blog has introduced me to people I would never have met otherwise and has led to enduring and important friendships.
On the other hand, I recently saw a scene unfold that proved to me how deeply disconnected we as Americans have become. I had just wrapped up a presentation on mediation at a family therapy center. As I was leaving, I noticed a mother and her teenage son who had just completed their session with their family therapist. After making their next appointment, they both took out their cell phones, placed calls, and began loud conversations with whoever was on the other end. I walked out behind them to the parking lot to my car. They both jumped into their SUV, and, as I saw them drive off, they were still talking on their cell phones. But, alas, not to each other.
The word “those” in paragraph 2 refers to __________.
-
Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.
A rather surprising geographical feature of Antarctica is that a huge freshwater, one of the world’s largest and deepest, lies hidden there under four kilometers of ice. Now known as Lake Vostok, this huge body of water is located under the ice block that comprises Antarctica. The lake is able to exist in its unfrozen state beneath this block of ice because its waters are warned by geothermal heat from the earth’s core. This thick glacier above Lake Vostok actually insulates it from frigid temperatures (the lowest ever recorded on Earth) on the surface.
The lake was first discovered in the 1970s while a research team was conducting an aerial survey of the area. Radio waves from the survey equipment penetrated the ice and revealed a body of water of indeterminate size. It was not until much more recently that data collected by satellite made scientists aware of the tremendous size of the lake; satellite-borne radar detected an extremely flat region where the ice remains level because it is floating on the water of the lake.
The discovery of such a huge fresh water lake trapped under Antarctica is of interest to the scientific community because of the potential that the lake contains ancient microbes that have survived for thousands upon thousands of years, unaffected by factors such as nuclear fallout and elevated ultraviolet light that have conducting research on the lake in such a harsh climate and in the problems associated with obtaining uncontaminated sampled from the lake without actually exposing the lake to contamination. Scientists are looking for possible ways to accomplish this.
The purpose of the passage is to __________.
-
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Simply being bilingual doesn’t qualify someone to interpret. Interpreting is not only a mechanical process of converting one sentence in language A into the same sentence in language B. Rather, its a complex art in which thoughts and idioms that have no obvious counterparts from tongue to tongue - or words that have several meanings must be quickly transformed in such a way that the message is clearly and accurately expressed to the listener. At one international conference, an American speaker said, “You can’t make a silk purse out of a sows ear”, which meant nothing to the Spanish audience. The interpretation was, “A monkey in a silk dress is still a monkey” - an idiom the Spanish understood and that expressed the same idea. There are 2 kinds of interpreters, simultaneous and consecutive. The former, sitting in a separated booth, usually at a large multilingual conference, speaks to listeners wearing headphones, interpreting what a foreign language speaker says - actually a sentence behind. Consecutive interpreters are the ones most international negotiations use. They are employed for smaller meetings without sound booths and headphones. Consecutive interpretation also requires two-person teams. A foreign speaker says his piece while the interpreter, using a special shorthand, takes notes and during a pause, tells the client what was said.
3. A precondition of being a translator is: -
Choose the best anwers for the following questions.
The generation gap, which refers to a broad difference between one generation and another, especially between young people and their parents, usually leads to numerous conflicts. Such family conflicts can seriously threaten the relationship between parents and children at times.
It goes without saying that, however old their children are, parents still regard them as small kids and keep in mind that their offspring are too young to protect themselves cautiously or have wise choices. Therefore, they tend to make a great attempt to help their children to discover the outside world. Nevertheless, they forget that as children grow up, they want to be more independent and develop their own identity by creating their own opinions, thoughts, styles and values about life.
One common issue that drives conflicts is the clothes of teenagers. While teens are keen on wearing fashionable clothes which try to catch up with the youth trends, parents who value traditional clothes believe that those kinds of attire violate the rules and the norms of the society. It becomes worse when the expensive brand name clothes teens choose seem to be beyond the financial capacity of parents.
Another reason contributing to conflicts is the interest in choosing a career path or education between parents and teenagers. Young people are told that they have the world at their feet and that dazzling future opportunities are just waiting for them to seize. However, their parents try to impose their choices of university or career on them regardless of their children's preference.
Indeed, conflicts between parents and children are the everlasting family phenomena. It seems that the best way to solve the matter is open communication to create mutual trust and understanding.The word “seize” in the fourth paragraph is closest in meaning to________.
-
Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.
Technology has utterly transformed our ability to communicate with each other. Linking to each other both literally and figuratively, many of us connect through cell phones, email, instant messaging, blogs, and networking web sites, yet we may be less connected to each other than we think.
According to a study, Americans are becoming increasingly socially isolated. The study reveals, for example, that one quarter of Americans say that they have no one to discuss important personal issues with, and that the number of close friends that American have has dropped from three to two. Meanwhile, the Boston Globe reports that this spreading isolation is experienced more sharply among those with less education, people of color, and older Americans. Unsurprisingly, those who are young, white, and well educated tend to have stronger social networks.
From my own experience I have to say that I’ve never felt more connected, thanks to a web of friends, family, and colleagues. One of my closest friends is someone I met through an online discussion group who lives hundreds of miles away from me. We have met face-to-face only twice, yet our regular electronic correspondence and cell phone calls sustain our close friendship. And, speaking of blogging, my blog has introduced me to people I would never have met otherwise and has led to enduring and important friendships.
On the other hand, I recently saw a scene unfold that proved to me how deeply disconnected we as Americans have become. I had just wrapped up a presentation on mediation at a family therapy center. As I was leaving, I noticed a mother and her teenage son who had just completed their session with their family therapist. After making their next appointment, they both took out their cell phones, placed calls, and began loud conversations with whoever was on the other end. I walked out behind them to the parking lot to my car. They both jumped into their SUV, and, as I saw them drive off, they were still talking on their cell phones. But, alas, not to each other.
Which of the following is NOT true, according to the passage?
-
Read the passage and choose the correct option (A, B, C, or D) to answer each of the given questions.
In 1959, the government of Egypt was working on a plan to build a dam on the River Nile. It was called the Aswan Dam, and it was intended to generate electricity and allow the river water to be used for agriculture. There was one big problem with the plan, though. The dam would flood a nearby valley that contained ancient Egyptian treasures, including two enormous stone temples.
It can be difficult for governments to choose culture and history over economics. However, if countries always made decisions like this, the majority of the world's ancient sites would end up being destroyed. Luckily, UNESCO stepped in. They formed a committee that tried to convince Egypt to protect its ancient treasures. With support from many countries, they were finally successful. The huge temples were carefully removed from their original site and moved to a safe location so that the dam could be built.After their success in saving the temples in Egypt, UNESCO went on to save more sites around the world. They protected lagoons in Venice, ruins in Pakistan, and temples in Indonesia. With industrialisation changing the world rapidly, there were many sites that needed to be saved. Eventually, UNESCO formed the World Heritage Organisation to protect important natural and historic sites wherever it was necessary.
By now, the World Heritage Organisation has protected hundreds of sites ranging from beautiful natural islands to buildings in large cities and ancient ruins. If you're able to visit any of the many protected sites, you'll agree it was worth it.
Why is the World Heritage Organisation more important now than it would have been 200 years ago?
-
Read the passage and choose the correct option (A, B, C, or D) to answer each of the given questions.
In 1959, the government of Egypt was working on a plan to build a dam on the River Nile. It was called the Aswan Dam, and it was intended to generate electricity and allow the river water to be used for agriculture. There was one big problem with the plan, though. The dam would flood a nearby valley that contained ancient Egyptian treasures, including two enormous stone temples.
It can be difficult for governments to choose culture and history over economics. However, if countries always made decisions like this, the majority of the world's ancient sites would end up being destroyed. Luckily, UNESCO stepped in. They formed a committee that tried to convince Egypt to protect its ancient treasures. With support from many countries, they were finally successful. The huge temples were carefully removed from their original site and moved to a safe location so that the dam could be built.After their success in saving the temples in Egypt, UNESCO went on to save more sites around the world. They protected lagoons in Venice, ruins in Pakistan, and temples in Indonesia. With industrialisation changing the world rapidly, there were many sites that needed to be saved. Eventually, UNESCO formed the World Heritage Organisation to protect important natural and historic sites wherever it was necessary.
By now, the World Heritage Organisation has protected hundreds of sites ranging from beautiful natural islands to buildings in large cities and ancient ruins. If you're able to visit any of the many protected sites, you'll agree it was worth it.
The word “this” in paragraph 2 refers to ____________.
-
Read the passage and choose the best option to fill in each blank.
An important part of being an adult is becoming more independent from your parents. _____(24)_____ independent, you'll need to focus on your living situation, your financial resources, your budgeting behavior and possibly how you interact with your parents in your day-to-day life.
Make sure you are living somewhere other than your parents' house or in a residence that your parents have paid ____(25)____. If you want to be independent and make your own decisions about how you live, you will need to obtain your own housing that is completely separate from your parents both physically and financially.
One of the main challenges in becoming independent as an adult is acquiring a sufficient income to allow you to live without the financial ____(26)____of your parents. This can be particularly difficult if you are still a university student, but it is not impossible. Seek scholarships and part-time jobs. If you are ___(27)____ a student, find employment that offers a salary that can cover your expenses. Avoid relying on your parents as the first option for help of any kind. Although your parents will always be an important source of social support in your life, your parents should not be the first people you approach with requests for help, or requests for financial assistance. This means that you may never ask your parents for help again, it just means that as an independent adult, there should be ___(28)____ sources of support within your life that you can turn to when necessary.
Question 26..................
-
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
When jazz began to lose its reputation as "low-down" music and to gain well-deserved acclaim among intellectuals, musicians began to feature many instruments previously considered inappropriate for jazz. Whereas before the 1950s, jazz musicians played only eight basic instruments in strict tempo, in this decade they started to improvise on the flite, electric organ, piccolo, accordion, cello, and even bagpipes, with the rhythm section composed for strings or piano. Big bands no longer dominated jazz, and most changes emerged from small combos, such as the Dave Brubeck Quartet and the Gerry Mulligan Quartet. The Gerry Mulligan Quartet proved that a small, modern band could sound complete without a piano; the rhythm section consisted only of a set of drums and a string bass. Jazz continued to move in new directions during the 1960s. Saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman led a quartet playing "free" jazz that was atonal. Pianist Cecil Taylor also conducted similar experiments with music, and John Coltrane included melodies from India in his compositions. In the 1970s musicians blended jazz and rock music into fusion jazz which combined the melodies and the improvisations of jazz with the rhythmic qualities of rock'n' roll, with three or five beats to the bar and in other meters. The form of jazz music was greatly affected by electric instruments and electronic implements to intensify, distort, or amplify their sounds. However, the younger musicians of the time felt compelled to include a steady, swinging rhythm which they saw as a permanent and essential element in great jazz.
10. The author of the passage mentions all of the following EXCEPT: -
Read the passage and choose the best answers
In many aspects of life, effective communication skills are extremely important. With good communication skills, people can enjoy better interpersonal relationships with friends and family. The following are some guides that can help you improve your communication skills.
Learn to listen
Listening is not the same as hearing; you should learn to listen not only to the words being spoken but also how they are being spoken and the non-verbal messages sent with them. You shouldn't think about what to say next while listening; instead clear your mind and focus on the message being received. Your friends, colleagues and other acquaintances will appreciate your good listening skills.
Try to understand other people's emotions
To understand other people's emotions, you should be sympathetic to other people's misfortunes and congratulate them on their achievements. To do this, you need to be aware of what is going on in other people's lives. It's crucial to maintain eye contact and do not be afraid to ask others for their opinions as this will help to make them feel valued.
Encourage
It's advised that you offer words and actions of encouragement, as well as praise, to others, which make other people feel welcome, valued and appreciated in your communications. If you let others know that they are valued, they are much more likely to give you their best. You should also try to ensure that everyone get involved in an interaction or conversation by using effective body language and open questions.
According to the writer, what is the way to feel other people's emotions?
-
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
When Malaysia takes the ASEAN chair next year, it will face a huge challenge. Too few of us know enough about this grouping we call the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. We do not know what it means to be a part of ASEAN and why it is important to us. At the same time, pressure is mounting to reinvent ASEAN to make it more people-centric and less government-centric. The Heat speaks to Global Movement of Moderates CEO Saifuddin Abdullah on why ASEAN should mean more to us than just acronyms.
ASEAN people do not feel like they are a part of the community of Southeast Asian nations. This statement, backed up by survey findings, is pretty bizarre, and extremely hurtful too, considering that ASEAN is 47 years old today. “Interview 10 persons on the Street and you would perhaps get only one of them who knows about ASEAN,” says Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah. This CEO of Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) is not running down ASEAN; he’s confronting the truth as it impacts the project he has been entrusted with. Here’s more, in 2012, the ASEAN Secretariat conducted a survey that showed only 34% of Malaysians had heard of the ASEAN community. This compares with 96% of Laotians. Malaysia chairs ASEAN next year, and GMM is a member of the national steering committee organizing the ASEAN People’s Forum (APF), a platform designed to bridge the gap between governments and civil society. Never heard of it? You’re forgiven. The APF actually started off life in the 1990s, except it was called the ASEAN People’s Assembly (APA). It was held back to back with the ASEAN Summit, which is held twice a year. The APA is the forum where 10 leaders of government engage with 10 leaders of civil society in a half-hour meeting. “It was going well until one year when the chairman decided not to hold the APA, so it was discontinued until 2005 when Malaysia took the chairmanship of ASEAN again and founded the ASEAN People’s Forum (APF),” Saifuddin explains. In a perfect world, forums such as the APF or its predecessor APA would have worked perfectly to bridge the gap between government and civil society. However, as Saifuddin points out, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) often do not see eye to eye with their governments. For instance this year, Myanmar is chair of ASEAN and in the APF, three member nations – including Malaysia – decided not to recognize the CSO leaders chosen as representatives so the APF did not take place. “This is where the GMM wants to play a role in ensuring that this situation does not arise again,” Saituddin says.
7. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage? -
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
A useful definition of an air pollutant is a compound added directly or indirectly by humans to the atmosphere in such quantities as to affect humans, animals vegetations, or materials adversely. Air pollution requires a very flexible definition that permits continuous change. When the first air pollution laws were established in England in the fourteenth century, air pollutants were limited to compounds that could be seen or smelled-a far cry from the extensive list of harmful substances known today. As technology has developed and knowledge of the health aspects of various chemicals has increased, the list of air pollutants has lengthened. In the future, even water vapor might be considered an air pollutant under certain conditions. Many of the more important air pollutants, such as sulfur oxides, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides, are found in nature. As the Earth developed, the concentrations of these pollutants were altered by various chemical reactions; they became components in biogeochemical cycle. These serve as an air purifiation scheme by allowing the compounds to move from the air to the water or soil on a global basis, nature's output of these compounds dwarfs that resulting from human activities. However, human production usually occurs in a localized area, such as a city. In this localized regions, human output may be dominant and may temporarily overload the natural purifiation scheme of the cycle. The result is an increased concentration of noxious chemicals in the air. The concentrations at which the adverse effects appear will be greater than the concentrations that the pollutants would have in the absence of human activities.The actual concentration need not be large for a substance to be a pollutant; in fact the numerical value tells US little until we know how much of an increase this represents over the concentration that would occur naturally in the area. For example, sulfur dioxide has detectable health effects at 0.08 parts per million (ppm), which is about 400 times its natural level. Carbon monoxide, however, has a natural level of 0.1 ppm and is not usually a pollutant until its level reaches about 15 ppm.
8: According to the passage, the numerical value of the concentration level of a substance is only useful if . -
Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.
Orchids are unique in having the most highly developed of all blossoms, in which the usual male and female reproductive organs are fused in a single structure called the column. The column is designed so that a single pollination will fertilize hundreds of thousands, and in some cases millions, of seeds, so microscopic and light they are easily carried by the breeze. Surrounding the column are three sepals and three petals, sometimes easily recognizable as such, often distorted into gorgeous, weird, but always functional shapes. The most noticeable of the petals is called the labellum, or lip. It is often dramatically marked as an unmistakable landing strip to attract the specific insect the orchid has chosen as its pollinator.
To lure their pollinators from afar, orchids use appropriately intriguing shapes, colors, and scents. At least 50 different aromatic compounds have been analyzed in the orchid family, each blended to attract one, or at most a few, species of insects or birds. Some orchids even change their scents to interest different insects at different times.
Once the right insect has been attracted, some orchids present all sorts of one-way obstacle courses to make sure it does not leave until pollen has been accurately placed or removed. By such ingenious adaptations to specific pollinators, orchids have avoided the hazards of rampant crossbreeding in the wild, assuring the survival of species as discrete identities. At the same time they have made themselves irresistible to collectors.
The “labellum” (line 7) is most comparable to................
-
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Perhaps the most striking quality of satiric literature is its freshness and its originality of perspective. Satire itself, however, rarely offers original ideas. Instead, it presents the familiar in a new form. Satirists do not offer the world new philosophies. What they do is look at familiar conditions from a perspective that makes these conditions seem foolish, harmful, or affected. Satire jars us out of complacence into a pleasantly shocked realization that many of the values we unquestioningly accept are false. Don Quixote makes chivalry seem absurd; Brave New World ridicules the pretensions of science; A Modest Proposal dramatizes starvation by advocating cannibalism. None of these ideas is original. Chivalry was suspect before Cervantes, humanists objected to the claims of pure science before Aldous Huxley, and people were aware of famine before Swift. It was not the originality of the idea that made these satires popular. It was the manner of expression, the satiric method, that made them interesting and entertaining. Satires are read because they are aesthetically satisfying works of art, not because they are morally wholesome or ethically instructive. They are stimulating and refreshing because with commonsense briskness they brush away illusions and secondhand opinions. With spontaneous irreverence, satire rearranges perspectives, scrambles familiar objects into incongruous juxtaposition, and speaks in a personal idiom instead of abstract platitude. Satire exists because there is need for it. It has lived because readers appreciate a refreshing stimulus, an irreverent reminder that they live in a world of platitudinous thinking, cheap moralizing, and foolish philosophy. Satire serves to prod people into an awareness of truth, though rarely to any action on behalf of truth. Satire tends to remind people that much of what they see, hear, and read in popular media is sanctimonious, sentimental, and only partially true. Life resembles in only a slight degree the popular image of it.
2. Don Quixote, Brave New World, and A Modest Proposal are cited by the author as . -
Read the passage and choose the best answers
In many aspects of life, effective communication skills are extremely important. With good communication skills, people can enjoy better interpersonal relationships with friends and family. The following are some guides that can help you improve your communication skills.
Learn to listen
Listening is not the same as hearing; you should learn to listen not only to the words being spoken but also how they are being spoken and the non-verbal messages sent with them. You shouldn't think about what to say next while listening; instead clear your mind and focus on the message being received. Your friends, colleagues and other acquaintances will appreciate your good listening skills.
Try to understand other people's emotions
To understand other people's emotions, you should be sympathetic to other people's misfortunes and congratulate them on their achievements. To do this, you need to be aware of what is going on in other people's lives. It's crucial to maintain eye contact and do not be afraid to ask others for their opinions as this will help to make them feel valued.
Encourage
It's advised that you offer words and actions of encouragement, as well as praise, to others, which make other people feel welcome, valued and appreciated in your communications. If you let others know that they are valued, they are much more likely to give you their best. You should also try to ensure that everyone get involved in an interaction or conversation by using effective body language and open questions.
Why are effective communication skills important in our lives?