President Donald Trump is shifting his focus back to domestic issues after returning late Tuesday from a 12-day trip to Asia. This week, Trump will resume pressing congressional Republicans to pass a tax reform measure to follow through on one of his key campaign promises. Trump appears to be working closely with Republican congressional leaders, including House Speaker Paul Ryan. "We ran in 2016 on doing this tax reform," Ryan told reporters at the Capitol. "The president ran on doing this tax cut and tax reform. So this is about fulfilling our promises to the American people." However, since the president was last in the country, he and his Republican allies in Congress face a new political landscape in the wake of last week's gubernatorial election victories by Democrats in Virginia and New Jersey. In Virginia, exit polls showed that many voters were motivated primarily by their opposition to the president. "The fact that the president is so polarizing and so unpopular with approval ratings generally under about 40 percent, and Democrats are going to be extra-motivated to come out," said University of Virginia political analyst Kyle Kondik. Kondik said the strong Democratic showing in statewide races in Virginia last week was the best non-presidential election showing for the party since 2006, the last time Democrats nationally won control of the House of Representatives. Many Democrats believe a focus on Trump could help them retake control of the House next year. "You can sort of smell when a wave is beginning, no guarantee it continues, but it is likely to," said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. "And that smell that was in the air in 2005 is in the air now." Trump's approval ratings remain historically low for a first-year president with several recent polls showing him below 40 percent which could be a warning sign for Republicans ahead of next year's elections. "If the president is where he is today, I think that is going to be very difficult for the party to even hold the House of... Schumer probably believes A. the republicans will continue to prevail B. independents will take votes from the democrats C. the democrats will take over the majority of government D. not enough information
C

I was driving on Highway 35 on my way home from work. Up in front of me was a giant billboard advertising yet another jeweler, in ten-foot letters and bright silver watches like massive alien machines. The traffic slowed and stopped on the ramp as it bottlenecked further into the city, and my head turned to examine the sign and the blocked view of the cityscape and land beyond. Past it was another billboard, with the name of a casino as its only text, filled with collaged images of money, plush rooms, and dancers. A quarter mile further brought me to an advertisement for business management solutions. Another few hundred yards and I was urged to try the new sandwich at the new sandwich place. The sun set and the signs stayed bright as automatic light switched on. The city grew dark and the hills beyond feebled out, existing only in our minds and finally not even there. All that remained were the well-lit and shiny reminders that lawyers were standing by to take my case to court, and that somebody's air conditioners would outlast somebody else's. I had an idea. I made the call the next day. It would put me back a good half grand, but it would be worth it. There would be no design meeting; I sent them the image and it was printed. A few weeks later it went up. Now on my commute, when I paused in the crush of metal bodies, I looked up and saw mountains by Maxfield Parrish, reaching up to the clouds in impossible cragginess, rivulets and gushing streams painted down their sides, with the sun striking vibrant oranges and reds into the shadows of the rocks. There were trees in copper-patina green and still pools quieter than the middle of winter but warm as the first day of summer. No doubt people thought it was the first part of a two-stage advertising gimmick, or a filler to be used when no one was renting space on the sign. But I was happy. After the events outlined by the story, the narrator feels: A. Happy B. Confused C. not enough information D. Tired
A

Called the PURE (Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology) study, this was a very large observational study looking at the link between fat and carbohydrate consumption and longevity in 18 countries across 5 continents. Running for 7 years and involving over 135,000 people, this was a very big study so its conclusions are right to take notice of. The key finding from the work that attracted the most media attention was that a high carbohydrate diet was linked with a higher risk of earlier mortality, whereas total fat and individual types of fat were related to a lower risk of earlier mortality. Digging deeper into the study, the research team found that global diets consisted of 61 percent energy coming from carbohydrates and 24 percent energy from fats. And while those in the highest carbohydrate consumption group (a whopping 77 percent of energy) had a higher risk of earlier death, it wasn't cardiovascular disease they were dying from. What those other causes of death were exactly is unclear. Perhaps getting hit by a car running for a Mars Bar was one of them as a recent commenter on my Facebook page theorised. A paradigm shift? Not quite Does this study turn on its head 'everything we knew about nutrition?' Not quite. And here's why. Before the PURE study, there were many studies showing the opposite link between carbohydrates and longevity. So, when a conflicting study comes along, this grabs the media spotlight for the day. Here is just one example a major systematic review and meta-analysis from 2013 involving 17 individual studies and over 242,000 people showing a higher risk of earlier mortality as carbohydrate intake decreased. And this is the problem at times with observational research in that two studies can give polar opposite results so the findings of the PURE study should be seen through this filter. I'm not going to pick apart the PURE study for its flaws. Such issues are consistent across all observational studies no matter if the conclusions support consensus views or not. What is of value to... What is probably true about the researchers? A. they like carbohydrates B. they don't like carbohydrates C. they don't eat carbohydrates D. not enough information
B