Although findings are inconclusive,________that new solar systems are currently evolving around a number of stars in the universe.

I don't think anyone understood what I was saying at the meeting, did they? I totally failed to get my point________.

Read the following passage and mark the letter on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer

Before photography was invented in 1839, painted portraits, and engravings based on them, were one of the few ways to record likenesses. From the Colonial era through the 1820s, portraiture was the most widely practiced genre of American art, and it continued to be a significant form through the 19th century. The demand for likenesses was incessant, and portraiture was often the primary source of income for artists. Artists frequently made portraits of famous people to attract interest and potential patrons. For example, in 1834 Chester Harding painted frontiersman Davy Crockett, then a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, for display in his Boston gallery.

A consistent belief through most of the 18th and 19th centuries was that character could be read from a person's face, or the bumps on his or her head, or from facial expressions, and that portraits should convey these indicators of character. These theories of physiognomy and phrenology have since been debunked, but they were important considerations in depicting the nation's leaders, since such portraits were often made for posterity. Most people had only one portrait painted in their lifetime, if at all, so artists were selected with great care, and expectations were high.

Before the 1840s, American portraiture was influenced primarily by English techniques, poses, compositions and gestures, and many artists received at least part of their training in England. Even canvas sizes followed the British example. Portraits made on commission were priced according to canvas size and the materials and labor involved.

In the late 19th century as European portraitists began traveling to the United States to acquire commissions from the growing upper class, American artists increasingly felt they needed to train abroad in order to succeed at home. Paris continued to be the main lure. as painters such as Eakins, Whistler, Beaux and Sargent went to study there. Some of America's best-known portraitists, in fact, became expatriates.

Exhaustion prevented any of the runners from finishing the race. 

A few hours after the infection the feeling of numbness in your arm will       .

Seldom________games been of practical use in playing real games.

Despite his seeming control over nature, there are still some points where man remains helpless against her

We know that animals need vitamins for growth and development. Plants need them, too.

Read the following passage and mark the letter on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word for each blank.

We are descendents of the ice age. Periods of glaciation have spanned the whole of human existence for the past 2 million years. The rapid melting of the continental glaciers at the end of the last ice age spurred one of the most dramatic climate changes in the history of the planet. During this interglacial time, people were caught up in a cataclysm of human accomplishment, including the development of agriculture and animal husbandry. Over the past few thousand years, the Earth’s climate has been extraordinarily beneficial, and humans have prospered exceedingly well under a benign atmosphere.

Ice ages have dramatically affected life on Earth almost from the very beginning. It is even possible that life itself significantly changed the climate. All living organisms pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and eventually store it in sedimentary rocks within the Earth’s crust. If too much carbon dioxide is lost, too much heat escapes out into the atmosphere. This can cause the Earth to cool enough for glacial ice to spread across the land.

In general the reduction of the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been equalized by the input of carbon dioxide from such events as volcanic eruptions. Man, however, is upsetting the equation by burning fossil fuels and destroying tropical rain forests, both of which release stored carbon dioxide. This energizes the greenhouse effect and causes the Earth to warm. If the warming is significant enough, the polar ice caps eventually melt.

The polar ice caps drive the atmospheric and oceanic circulation systems. Should the ice caps melt, warm tropical waters could circle the globe and make this a very warm, inhospitable planet.

Over the past century, the global sea level has apparently risen upwards of 6 inches, mainly because of the melting of glacial ice. If present warming trends continue, the seas could rise as much as 6 feet by the next century. This could flood coastal cities and fertile river deltas, where half the human population lives. Delicate wetlands, where many marine species breed, also would be reclaimed by the sea. In addition, more frequent and severe storms would batter coastal areas, adding to the disaster of the higher seas.

The continued melting of the great ice sheets in polar regions could cause massive amounts of ice to crash into the ocean. This would further raise the sea level and release more ice, which could more than double the area of sea ice and increase correspondingly the amount of sunlight reflected back into space. The cycle would then be complete as this could cause global temperatures to drop enough to initiate another ice age.

It can be inferred from the passage that the development of agriculture 

Read the following passage and mark the letter on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word for each blank.

We are descendents of the ice age. Periods of glaciation have spanned the whole of human existence for the past 2 million years. The rapid melting of the continental glaciers at the end of the last ice age spurred one of the most dramatic climate changes in the history of the planet. During this interglacial time, people were caught up in a cataclysm of human accomplishment, including the development of agriculture and animal husbandry. Over the past few thousand years, the Earth’s climate has been extraordinarily beneficial, and humans have prospered exceedingly well under a benign atmosphere.

Ice ages have dramatically affected life on Earth almost from the very beginning. It is even possible that life itself significantly changed the climate. All living organisms pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and eventually store it in sedimentary rocks within the Earth’s crust. If too much carbon dioxide is lost, too much heat escapes out into the atmosphere. This can cause the Earth to cool enough for glacial ice to spread across the land.

In general the reduction of the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been equalized by the input of carbon dioxide from such events as volcanic eruptions. Man, however, is upsetting the equation by burning fossil fuels and destroying tropical rain forests, both of which release stored carbon dioxide. This energizes the greenhouse effect and causes the Earth to warm. If the warming is significant enough, the polar ice caps eventually melt.

The polar ice caps drive the atmospheric and oceanic circulation systems. Should the ice caps melt, warm tropical waters could circle the globe and make this a very warm, inhospitable planet.

Over the past century, the global sea level has apparently risen upwards of 6 inches, mainly because of the melting of glacial ice. If present warming trends continue, the seas could rise as much as 6 feet by the next century. This could flood coastal cities and fertile river deltas, where half the human population lives. Delicate wetlands, where many marine species breed, also would be reclaimed by the sea. In addition, more frequent and severe storms would batter coastal areas, adding to the disaster of the higher seas.

The continued melting of the great ice sheets in polar regions could cause massive amounts of ice to crash into the ocean. This would further raise the sea level and release more ice, which could more than double the area of sea ice and increase correspondingly the amount of sunlight reflected back into space. The cycle would then be complete as this could cause global temperatures to drop enough to initiate another ice age.

 The word “inhospitable” is closest in meaning to

The teacher gave some instructions. I don’t understand any of them.

First designed in 1970, Earth Day has become an international event________concerns about environmental issues such as pollution.

Mr. Lam insisted that we show our best knowledge, our enthusiasm, our keen on work and our sense of responsibility when working in a team.

After 116 million dollars had been spent, the Supreme Court stopped construction of the dam because of a little fish,________.

You should’t read that file; it contains________information.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to show the underlined part that needs correction.

An increasing number of companies has changed dress codes, allowing employees to wear casual clothing in the work place.

He objected to________.