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Pollution is a threat to many species on Earth, but sometimes it can cause species to thrive. Such is the case with Pfiesteria piscicida. A one-celled creature called a dinoflagellate, Pfiesteria inhabits warm coastal areas and river mouths, especially along the eastern United States. Although scientists have found evidence of Pfiesteria in 3,000-year-old sea floor sediments and dinoflagellates are thought to be one of the oldest life forms on earth, few people took notice of Pfiesteria.

Lately, however, blooms – or huge, dense populations – of Pfiesteria are appearing in coastal waters, and in such large concentrations the dinoflagellates become ruthless killers. The blooms emit powerful toxins that weaken and entrap fish that swim into the area. The toxins eventually cause the fish to develop large bleeding sores through which the tiny creatures attack, feasting on blood and flesh. Often the damage is astounding. During a 1991 fish kill, which was blamed on Pfiesteria on North Carolina’s Neuse River, nearly one billion fish died and bulldozers had to be brought in to clear the remains from the river. Of course, such events can have a devastating effect on commercially important fish, but that is just one way that Pfiesteria causes problems. The toxins it emits affect human skin in much the same way as they affect fish skin. Additionally, fisherman and others who have spent time near Pfiesteria blooms report that the toxins seem to get into the air, where once inhaled they affect the nervous system, causing severe headaches, blurred vision, nausea, breathing difficulty, short-term memory loss and even cognitive impairment.

 For a while, it seemed that deadly Pfiesteria blooms were a threat only to North Carolina waters, but the problem seems to be spreading. More and more, conditions along the east coast seem to be favorable for Pfiesteria. Researchers suspect that pollutants such as animal waste from livestock operations, fertilizers washed from farmlands and waste water from mining operations have probably all combined to promote the growth of Pfiesteria in coastal waters.

All of the following are true, according to the passage, EXCEPT _____

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

Another form of body language that is used differently, depending on the culture, is distance. In North America people don't generally stand as close to each other as in South America. Two North Body language is a vital form of communication. In fact, it is believed that the various forms of body language contribute about 70 percent to our comprehension. It is important to note, however, that body language varies in different cultures. Take for example, eye movement. In the USA a child is expected to look directly at a parent or teacher who is scolding him/her. In other cultures the opposite is true. Looking directly at a teacher or parent in such a situation is considered a sign of disrespect.

Americans who don't know each other well will keep a distance of four feet between them, whereas South Americans in the same situation will stand two to three feet apart. North Americans will stand closer than two feet apart only if they are having a confidential conversation or if there is intimacy between them.

Gestures are often used to communicate. We point a finger, raise an eyebrow, wave an arm – or move any other part of the body – to show what we want to say. However, this does not mean that people all over the world use the same gestures to express the same meanings. Very often we find that the same gestures can communicate different meanings, depending on the country. An example of a gesture that could be misinterpreted is sticking out the tongue. In many cultures it is a sign of making a mistake, but in some places it communicates ridicule.

The dangers of misunderstanding one another are great. Obviously, it is not enough to learn the language of another culture. You must also learn its non-verbal signals if you want to communicate successfully.

The word it in paragraph 3 refers to __________

A. an example

B. making a mistake

C. the country

D.sticking out the tongue

One of the factors contributing to the intense nature of twenty-first-century stress is our continual exposure to media – particularly to an overabundance of news. If you feel stressed out by the news, you are far from alone. Yet somehow many of us seem unable to prevent ourselves from tuning in to an extreme degree.

The further back we go in human history, the longer news took to travel from place to place, and the less news we had of distant people and lands altogether. The printing press obviously changed all that, as did every subsequent development in transportation and telecommunication.

When television came along, it proliferated like a poplulation of rabbits. In 1950, there were 100,000 television sets in North American homes; one year later there were more then a million. Today, it’s not unusual for a home to have three or more television sets, each with cable access to perhaps over a hundred channels. News is the subject of many of those channels, and on several of them it runs 24 hours a day.

What’s more, after the traumatic events of Sptember 11, 2001, live newcasts were paired with perennial text crawls across the bottom of the screen – so that viewers could stay abreast of every story all the time.

Needless to say, the news that is reported to us is not good news, but rather disturbing images and sound bytes alluding to diasater (natural and man-made), upheaval, crime, scandal, war, and the like. Compounding the proplem is that when actual breaking news is scarce, most broadcasts fill in with waistline, hairline, or very existence in the future. This variety of story tends to treat with equal alarm a potentially lethal flu outbreak and the bogus claims of a wrinkle cream that overpromises smooth skin.

Are humans meant to be able to process so much trauma – not to mention so much overblown anticipation of potetial trauma – at once? The human brain, remember, is programmed to slip into alarm mode when danger looms. Danger looms for someone, somewhere at every moment. Exposing ourslves to such input without respite and without perspective cannot be anything other than a source of chronic stress.

Question 36. The word “slip” in paragraph 6 is closest in meaning to ______.

Homeopathy, the alternative therapy created in 1796 by Samuel Hahnemann, and now widely used all over the world, is based on the belief that the body can be stimulated to heal itself. A central principle of the "treatment" is that ―like cures like‖, meaning a subtance that causes certain symptoms can also help to remove those symptoms. Medicines used in homeopathy are created by heavily diluting in water the subtance in question and subsequently shaking the liquid vigorously. They can then be made into tablets and pills. Practitioners believe that the more a subtance is diluted in this way, the greater its power to treat symptoms.

Question 44. According to the reading passage, homeopathic medicines are ______.

 

A rainbow is an optical display of color that usually appears in the sky when a beam of sunlight refracts through millions of raindrops. Each (31)________ color from the spectrum is then sent to your eyes. For this to happen, the angle between the ray of light, the raindrop and the human eye must be between 40 and 42 degrees.

 After studying rainbows in (32)________, Sir Isaac Newton was able to explain how they are formed. However, he was color blind, so he had to rely on the eyes of his assistant, who could easily (33)________all the seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. His assistant could also clearly tell the difference between indigo and violet.

 There are two types of rainbows. Primary rainbows are the most common and have the most distinctive colors, with red appearing on the outside of the arc and violet on the inside. Secondary rainbows are unusual because the light is reflected twice within the raindrop before it (34)________ a rainbow, so the colors are in reverse order and not as bright as primary rainbows.

 There is a popular myth that if you reach the end of a rainbow, you will find a pot of gold waiting for you. In fact, it is impossible to do this, because a rainbow has no end - as you go towards the point where the rainbow seems to touch the ground, it moves away from you as quickly as you (35)________.

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 from 35 to 42.

No sooner had the first intrepid male aviators safely returned to Earth than it seemed that women. too, had been smitten by an urge to fly. From mere spectators, they became willing passengers and finally pilots in their own right, plotting their skills and daring line against the hazards of the air and the skepticism of their male counterparts. In doing so they enlarged the traditional bounds of a women's world, won for their sex a new sense of competence and achievement, and contributed handsomely to the progress of aviation.

But recognition of their abilities did not come easily. "Men do not believe us capable." the famed aviator Amelia Earhart once remarked to a friend. "Because we are women, seldom are we trusted to do an efficient job." Indeed old attitudes died hard: when Charles Lindbergh visited the Soviet Union in i938 with his wife, Anne-herself a pilot and gifted proponent of aviation - he was astonished to discover both men and women flying in the Soviet Air Force.

Such conventional wisdom made it difficult for women to raise money for the up - to - date equipment they needed to compete on an equal basis with men. Yet they did compete, and often they triumphed finally despite the odds.

Ruth Law, whose 590 - mile flight from Chicago to Hornell, New York, set a new nonstop distance record in 1916, exemplified the resourcefulness and grit demanded of any woman who wanted to fly. And when she addressed the Aero Club of America after completing her historic journey, her plainspoken words testified to a universal human motivation that was unaffected by gender: "My flight was done with no expectation of reward," she declared, "just purely for the love of accomplishment."

Question 39. The word "resoursefulness" in the paragraph is closest in meaning to which of the following?

(A) indigestion

(B) ingenuity

(C) acrimony

(D) hyperacidity