Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Andy rode slowly on his way to school, day-dreaming about the fishing trip that his father had promised him. He was so busy dreaming about all the fish he would catch that he was unaware of everything else around him. He rode along until a strange sound drew him to the present. He came to a stop and looked curiously up to the sky. What he saw shocked and terrified him. A huge swarm of bees filled the sky like a black cloud and the buzzing mass seemed to be heading angrily towards him. With no time to waste, Andy sped off in the opposite direction, riding furiously--but without knowing how to escape the swarm. As the bees came closer, his panic increased. Andy knew that he was sensitive to bee stings . The last sting had landed him in hospital--and that was only one bee sting! Suddenly, his father's words came to him. "When you are in a tight situation, don't panic. Use your brain and think your way out of it." On a nearby hill, he could see smoke waving slowly skywards from the chimney of the Nelson family home. "Bees don't like smoke," he thought. "They couldn't get into the house." But Andy knew he could not reach the house in time. He estimated that the bees would catch up with him soon. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted a small dam used by Mr. Nelson. Off his bike and into the cool water he dived, disappearing below the surface and away from the savage insects. After holding his breath for as long as he could, Andy came up for air and noticed the bees had gone. Dragging himself out of the dam, he struggled up the hilly slope and rang the doorbell. Mrs. Nelson took him inside and rang his mother. Question: Which of the following can best describe Andy's escape from the bees? - No pains, no gains. - Once bitten, twice shy. - Where there is a will, there is a way. - In time of danger, one's mind works fast.
In time of danger, one's mind works fast.

Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Since the nineteen nineties, education has been required for all South Africans from age seven to fifteen. Last December, the government announced that seventy percent of students passed their final examination to finish high school. In 2008 the passage rate was about sixty-three percent. There have been increases each year since then. Professor Shireen Motala at the University of Johannesburg says access to basic education is no longer the problem in South Africa. She says most children stay in school until they are about sixteen. The problem now, she says, is that large numbers of them leave without completing high school. Students take an examination known as the matric in grade twelve, their final or "matriculation" year. Professor Motala notes that less than half the children who started school in 2000 sat for the matric last year. He said, "Only around forty-five percent survived, which means that a large number of children are falling by the wayside. And the concern is that where do those learners actually go to." Educational researchers also point to another problem. They say South African schools do not produce enough students with the skills for higher education in math and science. One of those researchers is Graeme Bloch. He says many schools are not well-equipped. "Because of poverty and limited resources, many children do not see laboratories and ninety-two percent of the schools do not have libraries." Also, education specialists say in many cases, teachers and school principals do not have the skills or training to do their jobs. In other cases, they are simply not doing their duty to provide an education. Professor Motala says a number of teachers were poorly trained during the system of apartheid, or racial separation in South Africa. Apartheid ended in 1994. Secondly, she says, teachers have been confused by the many educational reform efforts in the last fifteen years. And, finally, she thinks language differences in the classroom have not gotten as much attention as they should. Subjects... Question: What's the writer's attitude towards the future of education in South African? - pessimistic - optimistic - indifferent - worried
optimistic

Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: There's a story told about an elderly lady in Arkansas.The state voted to increase welfare payments to the poor.Hoping for a tear-jerker story,a television interviewer went into the back hills where many welfare recipients lived. The old woman he chose to interview lived in a one-room shack :cold in winter;hot in summer.Her bed was a few rough planks nailed together,with a pine-needle mattress.A couple thin blankets,and a fireplace,did little to protect her from the cold. Her furniture,a table and two chairs,were fashioned from the same rough wood as her bed.Some shelves held a few cans of food from the general store.a three mile walk down the road.Several jars of preserves and a few squash completed her larder . She had no fridge or freezer.The fireplace provided heat for cooking.With no phone or television her only connection with the outside world was an old radio that pulled in two or three local stations on a good day. The old woman had one convenience, running water.A crystal clear stream.flowed a short distance behind her home. A small garden near her back door provided fresh vegetables during the summer,and some squash and turnips for the winter.A tidy flower garden brightened the front of her house. The television crew arrived and set up their big expensive cameras.Their mobile station. broadcast pictures of the woman and the place she called home. Eventually the interviewer asked the old woman,"If the government gave you $200 more each month,what would you do with it?" Without hesitation the woman replied,"I'd give it to the poor." Question: How did the woman get water? - From the tap. - From a stream. - From a spring. - From a well behind her house.
From a stream.

Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: The need to feed a growing population is putting much pressure on the world's supply of water. With 97% of the world's water too salty to be drunk or used in agriculture, the worldwide supply of water needs careful management, especially in agriculture. Although the idea of a water shortage seems strange to someone fortunate enough to live in a high rainfall country, many of the world's agricultural industries experience constant water shortages. Although dams can be built to store water for agricultural use in dry areas and dry seasons, the costs of water redistribution are very high. Not only is there the cost of the engineering itself, but there is also an environmental cost to be considered. Where valleys are flooded to create dams, houses are lost and wildlife homes destroyed. Besides, water may flow easily through pipes to fields, but it cannot be transported from one side of the world to the other. Each country must therefore rely on the management of its own water to supply its farming requirements. This is particularly troubling for countries with agricultural industries in areas dependent on irrigation . In Texas, farmers' overuse of irrigation water has resulted in a 25% reduction of the water stores. In the Central Valley area of southwestern USA, a huge water engineering project provided water for farming in dry valleys, but much of the water use has been poorly managed. Saudi Arabia's attempts to grow wheat in desert areas have seen the pumping of huge quantities of irrigation water from underground reserves. Because there is no rainfall in these areas, such reserves can only decrease, and it is believed that fifty years of pumping will see them run dry. Question: The text is mainly about _ . - water supply and increasing population - water use management and agriculture - water redistribution and wildlife protection - water shortages and environmental protection
water use management and agriculture