user: Ques: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: It appears that the police now have a device that can read license plates and check if a car is unregistered, uninsured or stolen. We already know that National Security Agency can dip into your Facebook page and Google searches. And it seems that almost every store we go into these days wants your home phone number and ZIP code as part of any deal. So when Edward Snowden -- now cooling his heels in Russia -- revealed the extent to which the NSA is spying on Americans, collecting data on phone calls we make, it's not as if we should have been surprised. We live in a world that George Orwell predicted in 1984. And that realization has caused sales of the 1949, dystopian  novel to spike dramatically upward recently -- a 9,000% increase at one point on Amazon. com. Comparisons between Orwell's novel about a tightly controlled totalitarian  future ruled by the everywhere-present Big Brother and today are, in fact, quite similar. Here are a few of the most obvious ones. Telescreens -- in the novel, nearly all public and private places have large TV screens that broadcast government propaganda  , news and approved entertainment. But they are also two-way monitors that spy on citizens, private lives. Today websites like Facebook track our likes and dislikes, and governments and private individuals hack into our computers and find out what they want to know. Then there are the ever-present monitoring cameras that spy on the ordinary people as they go about their daily routine. The endless war -- In Orwell's book, there's global war that has been going on seemingly forever, and as the book's hero, Winston Smith, realizes the enemy keeps changing. One week we're at war with Eastasia and friends with Eurasia. The next week, it's just the opposite. There seems little to distinguish the two opponents, and they are used primarily to keep the people of Oceania, where Smith lives, in a constant state of fear, thereby making disagreement unthinkable -- or punishable. Today we have the so-called war on terror, with no end in... Question: What is the writer's attitude towards the phenomenon? - Optimistic. - Concerned. - Angry. - Indifferent.
Ans: Concerned.

Ques: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: What's your opinion about gun control in the US? Figures tell a different story: Countries that allow their citizens to carry guns seem to have more killings than those that do not allow them. It's easy to kill with a gun. The media is filled with violence. People, especially young people, watch television. Having a gun does not cause someone to kill. The problem is within that person's mind. Controlling guns will not control killing. Changing the mindset will, however. --- Bobby Walker, U.S. Guns are deadly to all others who are near or know someone who has one. People don't understand the danger it holds, and don't realize what will happen just by cleaning it of if a younger child gets a hold of it. This weapon  is dangerous and we don't need teens, kids, anyone to have them. Society can get along without guns. ---Ann Miller, U.S I have a very large farm near Austin, Texas, USA. Because it is far from the city, I need to protect my property  and cattle from thieves and wild dogs. The wildlife, such as coyotes and puma , can feed on deer, mice, rabbits--they don't bother me and I don't bother them. I lost 45 animals to thieves that cut a fence. This will never happen again. You ask if I would shoot--of course--that's why I carry a gun. --- Texas Rancher, U.S Some people think guns are very bad because they lead to violence. In my opinion, when people kill themselves or others, they do not have any feelings because they do not know anything about love, sympathy , and promise. The only way those persons can get these feelings is when they keep close to family, friends and people who matter to them. Now, having a gun is not a problem: the problem is what the people feel when they use one. ---Connie Faille, Colombia Question: Which of the following may help the gun problem according to Connie Faille? - Education about gun safety. - Stricter laws against violence. - Nice feelings when using guns. - close relationships between people.
Ans: close relationships between people.

Ques: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Many centuries ago, birthdays were considered a time when the bad spirits were able to harm you. It was believed that you should have your friends and family around you so that their good wishes and present-giving would keep the bad spirits away. People also believed that, by lighting candles, they were sending a signal or wishes to the gods. Later on, candles started to be used on birthday cakes. One story about the beginnings of the birthday cake is that it started with the Greeks, who made round cakes standing for the full moon for their moon goddess . They also placed candles on the cake to make it light, again like the moon. However, the Germans are said to have first used cakes and candles. They used a sweet cake and they put a large candle in the centre of the cake to mean "the light of life". The "Happy Birthday" song is more than a hundred years old. The music was written in 1893 by two sisters, Patty and Mildred Hill, who were schoolteachers in Louisville, Kentucky. The music was first used as a morning greeting to their students with the title, "Good Morning To All". In 1935, the words legally belonged to the Hill sisters, and the copyright has been bought and sold for millions of dollars ever since. The present copyright is owned by Warner Communications. They bought it in 1989 for more than $22 million. Question: People celebrated birthdays many centuries ago to  _  . - have a great dinner - get birthday presents - light birthday candles - keep the bad spirits away
Ans: keep the bad spirits away

Ques: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: The history of the Winter Games, however, has been even more troubled than that of the Summer Games. Until 1924 all the winter sports competitions, held every four years from 1901 to 1917 and again in 1922, had been in the Scandinavian countries - Sweden, Norway and Finland. The sportsmen of these countries believed that the Winter Games could only be held in the Scandinavian way. Coubertin, himself, was against a separate Winter Olympics as he felt that they would cause trouble within the Olympic movement. However, as winter holidays in the Alps became more and more popular, so did the idea of a truly international Winter Games. The first Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix in 1924, though they were only recognized by the International Olympic Committee as "Olympic" two years later in 1926. Although there were many arguments before them, the first Games were a success, but the problems did not end there. In 1935, it was decided by the IOC that ski teachers could not compete in the Olympics because they were professionals. This caused a big argument between the IOC and the International Ski Federation, who agreed with the ski teachers. However, war came and with it an end to the discussions. When the war was finally over, the Winter Games were started up again, as before, in St Moritz in 1948 and the crisis had passed. Question: Before 1924, all the winter sports competitions were held in_. - Asia - Africa - Latin America - Europe
Ans:

assistant: Europe