Experimental programs were once tested around the country to see how a “cashless society” would work. In 1972 the nation’s first automatic paperless deposit and bill-paying plan began in California. Similar programs followed in Atlanta, Boston, and Minneapolis. Under these programs, employees authorized their employers to deposit their pay into their checking accounts automatically each payday in lieu of the conventional procedure. They also arranged to automatically pay recurring bills.

#27 Which of the following describe something that is inexplicable?
a. Observers watch as a fly tries to free itself from a spider’s web.
b. Medical authorities are baffled by strange, unexpected deaths.
c. Relatives are unable to figure out what caused a man’s sudden, bizarre behavior.
d. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the earth and the sun so that we cannot see the sun.

#26 In which of the following sentences does in lieu of mean the same as the underlined words?
a. Instead of a birthday gift, Laura’s parents gave her money.
b. A monument was erected in honor of the dead war hero.
c. If it rains, we will have indoor games in place of our Field Day trip.
d. In case of an emergency, call the police or your local emergency squad.

For 4,500 years, give or take five centuries, acupuncture — the art of inserting needles into the body at specific points to stimulate the nervous system — has cured illness. To the bewilderment of the analytical Western mind, (educated in the tradition of Greek logic), it inexplicably continues to do so. This is true although, as Dr. Wu Wei-Ping is the first to admit, these days most people who submit themselves to the needles do so only as a last resort. In Taiwan, very few Chinese turn to acupuncture until they have exhausted the resources of that country’s well-equipped, Western-style physicians.