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.

        Industrialization came to the United State after 1790 as North American entrepreneurs increased productivity by reorganizing work and building factories. These innovations in manufacturing boosted output and living standards to an unprecedented extent; the average per capita wealth increased by nearly 1 percent per year - 30 percent over the course of a generation. Goods that had once been luxury items became part of everyday life.

        The impressive gain in output stemmed primarily from the way in which workers made goods, since the 1790’s, North American entrepreneurs - even without technological improvements - had broadened the scope of the outwork system that made manufacturing more efficient by distributing materials to a succession of workers who each performed a single step of the production process. For example, during the 1820’s and 1830’s the shoe industry greatly expanded the scale of the outwork system. Tens of thousands of rural women, paid according to the amount they produced, fabricated the “uppers” of shoes, which were bound to the soles by wage-earning journeymen shoemakers in dozens of Massachusetts towns, whereas previously journeymen would have made the enduring shoe. This system of production made the employer a powerful “shoe boss” and eroded workers’ control over the pace and conditions of labor. However, it also dramatically increased the output of shoes while cutting their price.

        For tasks that were not suited to the outwork system, entrepreneurs created an even more important new organization, the modem factory, which used power-driven machines and assembly­line techniques to turn out large quantities of well-made goods. As early as 1782 the prolific Delaware inventor Oliver Evans had built a highly automated, laborsaving flour mill driven by water power. His machinery lifted the grain to the top of the milt, cleaned it as it fell into containers known as hoppers, ground the grain into flour, and then conveyed the flour back to the top of the mill to allow it to cool as it descended into barrels. Subsequently, manufacturers made use of new improved stationary steam engines to power their mills. This new technology enabled them to build factories in the nation’s largest cities, taking advantage of urban concentrations of inexpensive labor, good transportation networks, and eager customers.

The word “prolific” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to _________.

A. famous

B. productive

C. self-employed 

D. progressive

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 3 to 9.

        Most people can remember a phone number for up to thirty seconds. When this short amount of time elapses, however, the numbers are erased from the memory. How did the information get there in the first place? Information that makes its way to the short term memory (STM) does so via the sensory storage area. The brain has a filter which only allows stimuli that is of immediate interest to pass on to the STM, also known as the working memory.

        There is much debate about the capacity and duration of the short term memory. The most accepted theory comes from George A. Miller, a cognitive psychologist who suggested that humans can remember approximately seven chunks of information. A chunk is defined as a meaningful unit of information, such as a word or name rather than just a letter or number. Modern theorists suggest that one can increase the capacity of the short term memory by chunking, or classifying similar information together. By organizing information, one can optimize the STM, and improve the chances of a memory being passed on to long term storage.

        When making a conscious effort to memorize something, such as information for an exam, many people engage in "rote rehearsal". By repeating something over and over again, one is able to keep a memory alive. Unfortunately, this type of memory maintenance only succeeds if there are no interruptions. As soon as a person stops rehearsing the information, it has the tendency to disappear. When a pen and paper are not handy, people often attempt to remember a phone number by repeating it aloud. If the doorbell rings or the dog barks to come in before a person has the opportunity to make a phone call, he will likely forget the number instantly. Therefore, rote rehearsal is not an efficient way to pass information from the short term to long term memory. A better way is to practice "elaborate rehearsal". This involves assigning semantic meaning to a piece of information so that it can be filed along with other pre-existing long term memories.

  Encoding information semantically also makes it more retrievable. Retrieving information can be done by recognition or recall. Humans can easily recall memories that are stored in the long term memory and used often; however, if a memory seems to be forgotten, it may eventually be retrieved by prompting. The more cues a person is given (such as pictures), the more likely a memory can be retrieved. This is why multiple choice tests are often used for subjects that require a lot of memorization.

Which of the following is NOT supported by the passage?

A. A memory is kept alive through constant repetition.

B. Multiple choice exams are the most difficult.

C. The working memory is the same as the short term memory.

D. Cues help people to recognize information

Read the passage then answer the question. 

The most important celebration holiday in China is the Lunar New Year. At this time, shops are closed. People celebrate by having parties, by paying friendly phone calls to their neighbours, and by visiting the temples or pagodas to make promises for the New Year. Children walk through the streets, carrying colourful lanterns and paper figures. Fireworks are also set off to light up the sky.

The time of the New Year is also the time at which Chinese people decorate their homes. For example, the windows, which are made of thick rice paper are torn down, and new ones are put up. This is also the time during which people pay their debts. Everyone tries to settle all his bills before the beginning of the New Year. Before New Year's Eve, people make their homes attractive by decorating them with flowers and plants, and hanging brightly-coloured decorations.

 Which of these sentences is NOT true?

A. Fireworks are set off to light up the sky. 

B. Chinese houses are made of paper. 

C. Chinese people pay debts at New Year's. 

D. People also decorate the windows.

Choose the best answer.

Every nation has respect for their long-preserved ______.

A. behaviours

B. practices

C. traditions

D. traditional