user: The young man (boy, really) played with his fingers in the garish light cast from the lone bulb in the concrete bunker. He scratched at an imaginary itch on his right hand (just below his thumb) to take his mind off the man in the lab coat who sat across from him at the beaten, scarred, wood table. It didn't work. And whoever this man in the lab coat was, he was insistent about paperwork. He had three inches clipped onto a weathered clipboard which he flipped through with precision. "Can I offer you a glass of water?" asked the boy's captor in a calm, sensitive tenor. The boy, Kurt, continued to scratch the imaginary itch, which had leapt magically from his right hand to the left. Eventually the falseness of the itch would be deduced, and the lab coated man would disappear out of the cell and return with... God knows what. He had seen torture hundreds-if not thousands-of times on TV, and he was glumly certain that there would be no commercial breaks for him. "Can I offer you a glass of water?" The question was repeated without urgency, like a forgetful waiter. The itch now leaped with the dexterity of a trained flea onto the boy's leg, and the dutiful fingers followed. He watched as the man in the lab coat, without name tag or company insignia, studied his stack of papers attached to the clipboard. Several yellow forms near the top half inch were labeled 27B. The man frowned and wrote a note on the top page. "Note: Find out who isn't duplicating 27B in Pink." "I'm sorry," he said, "I wasn't listening. Was that a yes or no to the water?" Kurt remained in his chair, almost motionless, except for the itching-and-scratching routine. It had leapt again, this time onto his scalp, and the twitching fingers followed. He wondered how long he could keep this up without drawing blood. Question: The bunker Kurt was kept in was: Options:  A. Had pink walls  B. Was nice and clean  C. not enough information  D. Made of concrete  === The correct answer is
D

When I was entering my Sophomore year in High School, we had just moved from a single 4-way stop-sign town, to a bigger city with actual city buses! In order to get to school, I had to ride a city bus for the 1st time, without information/assistance! I barely managed to squeeze in and had to stand on the step of the packed bus on the way to school. BTW, smoking was STILL happening on these buses! I noticed every time we went around a corner, it seemed a bell would ring. I falsely assumed it meant HANG ON! So, when it was time to return home, the bus was not as crowded, and I actually was able to sit down. Again, every time we turned the corner, a bell would ring. So I held on tight! As we neared my bus stop to get off, the bus whizzed past it, without stopping! Panic began to set in quickly. I already had a very strange, long day in a new 3 story school building, and I smelled like cigarette smoke! I quickly moved to the empty seat behind the driver, and told him he didn’t stop where I needed to get off. He asked me if I rang the bell. I admitted to him, I had no knowledge of riding on a city bus. He was kind, explained to pull the bell pull 1 block prior to my stop. He explained he would circle back around and I could get off at my stop on the return trip. I was SO relieved! However, now I was 1/2 hour late getting home, especially stressed and tired from the new school and bus fiasco, AND I smelled like cigarette smoke! When I walked into my house, I was immediately confronted on why was I late, why did I smell like smoke, etc.! I burst into tears, and had to tell about my horrible day, but I didn’t get into trouble! WHEW! Question: When did the writer move to the big city? Options:  A. His sophomore year in High School  B. When he was 10 years old  C. not enough information  D. Last year  === The correct answer is
A

Kadin loved the desert. Many creatures lived in the desert. Some learned to survive within her harsh burning grip. Some even learned to thrive in her, building stone monuments to themselves and living their lives surrounded in the lavish luxuries of Gods. How puny their monuments were compared to the desert herself. Where they had castles surrounded by dry moats, the desert had mountains surrounded by thousand year sandstorms. Where they had silks and the most beautiful slaves serving their every greatest desire, she had dunes that stretched for a thousand leagues and a sun that burned huge and deep crimson in the violet sky. Where desert kings, the Danken, dined on the finest food and drank the finest wine, the desert drank every drop of water from the air itself and feasted on men. Kadin knew the desert. He knew her voice whispering in the dark of night like a dangerous lover. The sound he heard now was not her voice but a cry from one trapped within the desert's teeth. It was the cry of a woman. Kadin rose from his makeshift bed in the dip of two dunes. He stood quickly, tying the leather straps of his knife belt around his waist. He pulled on his boots and silently mounted White Ash. THe mare felt his soft touch and made no sound. Kadin listened and heard the cry again. He studied the dunes in the darkness of night. THe blood moon painted the desert a deep red. He felt the echos and turned White Ash towards their origin. He rode quietly into the night. Kadin saw the glow of torchlight long before cresting the hill. He guessed four riders from the sound of their horses and confirmed it when he rose above them. Three men, now on foot, chased a woman in black across the dune. Their horses stood back, panting from a hard ride. The woman's own stallion lay dead, a black arrow buried in its flank. Question: What did Kadin hear? Options:  A. The cry of four riders.  B. The neigh of a horse.  C. not enough information  D. The cry of a woman.  === The correct answer is


assistant: D