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Growth in industry, agriculture, and transportation since the Industrial Revolution has produced additional quantities of the natural greenhouse gases plus chlorofluorocarbons and other gases, augmenting the thermal blanket. It is generally accepted that this increase in the quantity of greenhouse gases is trapping more heat and increasing global temperatures, making a process that has been beneficial to life potentially disruptive and harmful. During the past century, the atmospheric temperature has risen 1.1°F (0.6℃), and sea level has risen several inches. Some projected, longer-term results of global warming include melting of polar ice, with a resulting rise in sea level and coastal flooding; disruption of drinking water supplies dependent on snow melts; profound changes in agriculture due to climate change; extinction of species as ecological niches disappear; more frequent tropical storms; and an increased incidence of tropical diseases.
Among factors that may be contributing to global warming are the burning of coal and petroleum products (sources of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone); deforestation, which increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere; methane gas released in animal waste; and increased cattle production, which contributes to deforestation, methane production, and use of fossil fuels.
Much of the debate surrounding global warming has centered on the accuracy of scientific predictions concerning future warming. To predict global climatic trends, climatologists accumulate large historical databases and use them to create computerized models that simulate the earth's climate. The validity of these models has been a subject of controversy. Skeptics say that the climate is too complicated to be accurately modeled, and that there are too many unknowns. Some also question whether the observed climate changes might simply represent normal fluctuations in global temperature. Nonetheless, for some time there has been general agreement that at least part of the observed warming is the result of human activity, and that the problem needs to be addressed.
A UN Conference on Climate Change, held in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997 resulted in an international agreement to fight global warming, which called for reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases by industrialized nations. Not all industrial countries, however, immediately signed or ratified the accord. In 2001 the G. W. Bush administration announced it would abandon the Kyoto Protocol: because the United States produces about one quarter of the world's greenhouse gases, this was regarded as a severe blow to the effort to slow global warming. Despite the American move, most other nations agreed later in the year (in Bonn, Germany, and in Marrakech, Morocco) on the details necessary to convert the agreement into a binding international treaty, which came into force in 2005 after ratification by more than 125 nations.
Which process caused the increased temperature?

A. Global warming.
B. Greenhouse effect.
C. Water evaporation.
D. Light reflection.

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What does "spin" in Para. 3 mean?

A swift whirling motion.
B. A state of mental confusion.
C. The distinctive complex of connotations or implications.
D. A distinctive character.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States and Britain want a new U.N. resolution to call for full sovereignty in Iraq (news - web sites) but have not agreed to a firm date for foreign forces to leave the country, diplomats said on Friday.
A council diplomat said the resolution, not yet circulated, was expected to call for a "full transfer of sovereignty" on June 30 to an Iraqi caretaker government, which would then set its own limitations.
Such a government, for example, could not adopt any long-term legislation or agreements, except on a pact to alleviate the country's debt.
Debates have centered at the United Nations (news - web sites) and elsewhere on precisely what sovereignty means in view of a large U.S. military presence and obvious limitations on the government's power. Some ambassadors were concerned that the United Nations would be asked to approve an occupation under another name.
What is not hue according to the passage?

A. UN resolution has not yet been circulated
B. The resolution was expected to call for a "full transfer of sovereignty" on June 30 to an Iraqi caretaker government
C. LIN members agreed on the understanding of sovereignty
D. Some ambassadors were concerned that the United Nations would be asked to approve an occupation under another name.

Socrates became convinced that his calling was to search for wisdom about right conduct by which he might guide the intellectual and moral improvement of the Athenians. Neglecting his own affairs, he spent his time discussing virtue, justice, and piety wherever his fellow citizens congregated. Some felt that he also neglected public duty, for he never sought public office, although he was famous for his courage in the military campaigns in which he served. In his self-appointed task as gadfly to the Athenians, Socrates made numerous enemies.
Aristophanes burlesqued Socrates in his play "The Clouds" and attributed to him some of the faults of the Sophists (professional teachers of rhetoric). Although Socrates in fact baited the Sophists, his other critics seem to have held a view similar to that of Aristophanes. In 399 he was brought to trial for corrupting youth and for religious heresies. Obscure political issues surrounded the trial, but it seems that Socrates was trialed also for being the friend and teacher of Alcibiades and Critias, both of whom had betrayed Athens. The trial and death of Socrates, who was given poison hemlock to drink, are described with great dramatic power in the "Apology", the "Crito", and the "Phaedo" of Plato.
Socrates's contributions to philosophy were a new method of approaching knowledge, a conception of the soul as the seat both of normal waking consciousness and of moral character, and a sense of the universe as purposively mind-ordered. His method, called dialectic, consisted in examining statements by pursuing their implications, on the assumption that if a statement were true it could not lead to false consequences. The method may have been suggested by Zeno of Flea, but Socrates refined it and applied it to ethical problems.
His doctrine of the soul led him to the belief that all virtues converge into one, which is the good, or knowledge of one's true self and purposes through the course of a lifetime. Knowledge in turn depends on the nature or essence of things as they really are, for the underlying forms of things are more real than their experienced exemplifications. This conception leads to a teleological view of the world that all the forms participate in and lead to the highest form, the form. of the good. Plato later elaborated this doctrine as central to his own philosophy. Socrates's view is often described as holding virtue and knowledge to be identical, so that no man knowingly does wrong. Since virtue is identical with knowledge, it can be taught, but not as a professional specialty as the Sophists had pretended to teach it. However, Socrates himself gave no final answer to how virtue can be learned.
Which of the following is TRUE about Socrates's life?

A. The legend of Socrates's wife is well-grounded.
B. Socrates is a disciple of Parmenides.
C. Socrates was not famous until he was 40.
D. Socrates didn't realize he was the wisest man in Greece at first.

The memories of experiences such as vocations last longer and can contribute more to happiness than can material possessions, says happiness researcher Leaf Van Boven of the University of Colorado at Boulder. He suggests that experiences are more open to positive reinterpretation years after the fact--your mental editing will help you forget how long you stood in line and remember more vividly your child's joy on the merry-go-round.
"The nice thing about memory is that we sort of forget about all those inconveniences," Van Boven explains. "We put this very favorable spin on experiences, and that's harder to do for material possessions, because they are what they are." And if the high-def TV goes on the fritz, so you can't watch your home movies anyway, it's great to have memories to rely on.
Memory-malting experiences have even more value than material possessions in their contribution to social relationships, Van Bovan argues. Experiences have "social value, and we know that social relationships are a huge component of well-being and life satisfaction."
Experiences also help individuals achieve personal goals in ways that material goods usually cannot, such as challenging oneself to overcome fear by rock climbing, learning a new skill such as dancing, or cleansing one's soul by volunteering for a summer.
Material things are less likely to have this effect on people's lives, or even to be viewed this way, says Van Boven. He adds that people who pursue experiences rather than possessions are often more admired by others: "When you are known as being experiential, you become a more likeable person than when you are known as a materialistic person."
But it may be easier just to buy toys to make as happy, rather than planning a memorable and rewarding vacation, and the trend in the United States is toward fewer and shorter vacations.
"I think part of the reason is that it's very easy to believe that we are going to take a lot of vacations in the future, but for right now, we need to work hard to earn the money so that we can go take these vacations. We know this doesn't always happen," Van Boven concludes.
What is the psychologist's point of view?

A. Material possession can not keep family happy.
B. Memories of experience contribute more to happiness.
C. Material possessions are more valuable.
D. We're inclined to remember those unhappy experiences.

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