Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Wide awake in Aunt Bet's Southern house, Annie Van Lew shivered at the sounds of distant guns. It was bad enough that America was at war, but the young Virginia girl was not used to battles being fought this close. _ .Annie sat up in bed and listened.Had a stranger broken in? Earlier, the family had heard that captured officers recently escaped from a prison nearby. Quietly opening her bedroom door, Annie walked out. A figure in a black gown was walking down the hall. It was Aunt Bet, carrying a candle in one hand and a plate of fried chicken in the other. Annie followed her aunt to a stairway at the far end of the house. Aunt Bet climbed to the top, and opened a door leading to the attic . Annie followed closely behind. In the attic, Aunt Bet stopped at a chest of drawers, moved it aside, and felt along the wall behind it. Slowly a door sprang open, revealing a hidden room. A thin man stepped out of the opening. As Aunt Bet handed him the plate of food, the young man saw Annie in the doorway and froze. Desperately shaking her head "no", the girl raised one finger to her lips. The officer understood and shifted his look. Quickly Annie went back downstairs and hid, waiting until after Aunt Bet left to return. Back inside the attic,Annie called softly to the man inside, who told her where to find the hidden spring. Soon the young officer stood in the open doorway. A small candle burned on a table behind him and, in its soft light, Annie studied his face. Clear eyes reflected the calm of one who faced death bravely. Smiling, he said,"What trouble you should have gotten into if your aunt had turned around!" That night, Annie learned Aunt Bet was one of many daring Southerners whose hatred of slavery drove them to risk their lives by spying for the North. The girl chatted as she dared, wishing her new friend luck when he said he would leave at dawn. Back in her room, Annie felt proud and was determined to guard her family's secret to the end. Question: Why did the officer look away when Annie put her finger to her lips? - So he could look Aunt Bet in the eye - So Aunt Bet would not know she was there - Because the candle was shining in his eyes - Because he did not want to appear unfriendly
So Aunt Bet would not know she was there

Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: In the past, people who graduated from college felt proud of their academic achievements and felt confident that their degree would help them to find a good job. However, in the past five years the job market has changed greatly. This year's college graduates are facing one of the worst job markets. For example, Ryan Stewart, a graduate of San Jose State University, got a degree in religious studies, but no job _ He points out that many people already working are getting laid off and don't have jobs, so it's even harder for new college graduates to find jobs. Five years ago, the future looked bright for the class of 2006. There were many high-tech job chances. Graduates received many job offers, and they were able to get jobs with high salaries and benefits such as insurance and paid vacations. However, "Times have changed and it's a new market," according to an officer of the San Jose State Career Center. The officer says students who do find jobs started preparing two years ago. They worked during summer vacations, they have had several short-time jobs, and they've majored in one of the few fields that are still hot, like chemical engineering, accounting, or nursing, where average starting salaries have actually increased over last year. Other popular fields (like information system management, computer science, and political science) have seen big declines in starting salaries. Ryan Stewart (he had hoped to become a teacher) may go back to school in order to become a college teacher. He thinks college teaching could be a good career even in a bad economy. In conclusion, _ For now, they can only hope the value of their degree will increase over time. Question: The main idea of the passage is that _ . - a lot of graduates are losing their jobs - Ryan Stewart has been able to find a job - salaries in some fields have increased in the past year - the job market has changed greatly over the past five years
the job market has changed greatly over the past five years

Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: A new report says promising children money to pass exams does not help exam grades. The report says parents could be wasting their money by using cash to get their kids to study more. However, the promise of a trip somewhere nice could encourage students to try harder and do better at school. Researchers from the University of Bristol (in England) and the University of Chicago (in the USA) looked at how promises of cash and tickets to events affected students' studying and learning. Over 10,000 pupils took part in the research throughout the year 2012. There was an improvement in classwork and homework, but this did not result in better test scores. Lead researcher Dr Simon Burgess suggested the research looked at the wrong areas. He said it had not looked at the things that really got students to increase their effort. He added that: "Clearly, some pupils have a lot of goals and believe that education is a way of getting what they want out of life, but there are kids who think that working hard doesn't make a difference." He said these children think exam success is "all in your genes" because of their family background. Education expert Dr Kevan Collins said good teachers were better than promises of rewards to get children to study, especially for children from low-income families. He wrote: "What really makes the difference is how students are taught." Question: What can encourage students to study more? - music - trips - an iPad - money
trips

Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Books are not Nadia Konyk's thing. Her mother brings them home from the library, but Nadia rarely shows interest. Instead, like so many other teenagers, Nadia, 15, is addicted to the Internet. She regularly spends at least six hours a day in front of the computer, spending most of her time reading and commenting on stories written by other users. Her mother, Deborah Konyk, would prefer that Nadia read books for a change. As teenagers' scores on reading tests have declined, some argue that the hours spent surfing the Internet are the enemy of reading--destroying a precious common culture that exists only through the reading of books. Critics have warned that electronic media would destroy reading. Others say the Internet has created a new kind of reading. The Web inspires a teenager like Nadia, who might otherwise spend most of her leisure time watching television, to read and write. What is different now, some literacy experts say, is that spending time on the Web engages viewers with text. Web supporters believe that strong readers on the Web may eventually surpass those who rely on books. Reading five Web sites, experts say, can be more enriching than reading one book. "It takes a long time to read a 400-page book," said Spiro. "In a tenth of the time," he said, the Internet allows a reader to "cover a lot more of the topic from different points of view." Some literacy experts say that reading itself should be redefined. Interpreting videos or pictures, they say, may be as important a skill as analyzing a novel or a poem. "Kids are using sound and images so they have a world of ideas to put together," said Donna Alvermann, a professor of literacy education at the University of Georgia. "Books aren't out of the picture, but they're only one way of experiencing information in the world today." Next year, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which gives reading, math and science tests to 15-year-old students in more than 50 countries, will add an electronic reading component . The United... Question: Why are books not the thing of Nadia Konyk? - She does reading - Her mother doesn't provide her with enough books. - She has become addicted to playing games on the web. - Like many youngsters, she has lost interest in
She does reading