*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: In the course of working my ways through school , I took many jobs I would rather forget . But none of these jobs was as dreadful as my job in an apple plant. The work was hard ; the pay was poor ; and, most of all , the working conditions were terrible. First of all , the job made huge demands on my strength . For ten hours a night , I took boxes that rolled down a metal track and piled them onto a truck . Each box contained twelve heavy bottles of apple juice. I once figured out that I was lifting an average of twelve tons of apple juice every night . I would not have minded the difficulty of the work so much if the pay had not been so poor. I was paid the lowest wage of that time -- two dollars an hour. Because of the low pay , I felt eager to get as much as possible . I usually worked twelve hours a night but did not take home more than $ 100 a week. But even more than the low pay, what made me unhappy was the working conditions. During work I was limited to two ten-minute breaks and an unpaid half hour for lunch. Most of my time was spent outside loading trucks with those heavy boxes in near-zero-degree temperatures. The steel floors of the trucks were like ice, which made my feet feel like stone. And after the production line shut down at night and most people left, I had to spend two hours alone cleaning the floor. I stayed on the job for five months , all the while hating the difficulty of the work, the poor money , and the conditions under which I worked . By the time I left , I was determined never to go back there again. Question: Why did the writer have to take many jobs at that time ? Options: A: To pay for his schooling B: To save for his future C: To support his family D: To gain some experience
**Answer**
A

*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Have you eaten too much over the holidays? You should try fidgeting for a while. Those around you might not like it, but scratching (moving your nails against a part of your body) and twitching (moving suddenly and quickly when you don't want to) is an important way of burning up calories . American researchers have found that some people's squirming (continuously turn your body when nervous) and wigging (move in small movements, especially from side to side) equals several miles of slow running each day. The scientists, based at the National Institute of Health's laboratory in Phenix, Arizona, are studying why some people get fat and other stay slim. In one study 177 people each spent 24 hours in a room in the institute where the amount of energy is measured by their oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. By the end of the day, some people had burned up 800 calories in toe-tapping, (moving the front part of your foot up and down) finger-drumming (hitting your fingers continuously and lightly against something hard) and other nervous habits. However, others had burned up only 100 calories. The researchers found that slim women fidget more than fat women, but there was no significant difference in men. Heavy people burn up more energy when they fidget than thin people do. Question: Scientists found in the experiment that _ . Options: A: the energy burned up by fat people when they fidget was more than that burned up by thin people when they fidget B: some people's fidgeting burned up more than 800 calories, but some people's fidgeting burned up less than 100 calories C: slim women fidget more than fat women but fat men fidget more than thin men D: thin men fidget more than fat men
**Answer**
A

*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Do you often find yourself crying in arguments? Does it feel like you just can't stop your emotions defeating you completely when you are in the middle of a heated discussion with someone, and you particularly want to make clear strong points and express yourself effectively? Many people think that someone who bursts into tears during an argument or a quarrel is 9 / 17 trying to handle the situation by bringing emotion into it. But the person who wells up tears during some heated discussion is not in control of those tears. They just can't control blushing or stop themselves breaking out in a sweat if they feel nervous. The body has a number of such automatic responses that switch on without your decision that you want to respond like this. These instinctive behaviors have evolved over millions of years to protect us. Basically, our brains make associations between things that seem similar, which is important for automatic responses. For example, a snake is a potentially dangerous creature, and you can see why it might be useful if, whenever you see a snake, you will run like crazy. And you can see why it might still be useful if you see a flexible stick and get the same reaction. However, these very simple associations can sometimes be really unhelpful. It's not useful to try to calmly argue an important point with someone, and suddenly find tears running down your cheeks. Tears can generally make you seem weak, or foolish, and less credible. Who's going to take what you say seriously if you're crying? But if these reactions are not under your control, what can you do about it? The good news is that although you can't control automatic reactions directly, you can unlink unhelpful associations. And that means that an unwanted reaction won't get started, and so won't happen. Besides, you can try the following: Begin to notice a change in how you feel about previous times when you were defeated by emotion; Develop a growing sense of confidence and optimism about how things will go in the future. Question: What matters when people are making some automatic responses? Options: A: Firm determination. B: Great imagination. C: Rich knowledge. D: Different personalities.
**Answer**
B

*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: About 18,000 refugees from Burma have come to the United States each year since 2007. Some have settled in Howard County, Maryland between Baltimore and Washington. A local school began teaching English to the children of the refugees. But while the children learned the language, their parents did not. That made communication with teachers _ . At present, almost fifty children from Burma attend Bollman Bridge Elementary School. Laurel Conran is a teacher there. She said, "The main idea is the global idea." She teaches English to speakers of other languages. One of her students is Tha Neih Ciang. Another student is Tha Neih's mother, Tin Iang. Ms. Conran practices English with Tin Iang at the mother's workplace. Many refugees from Burma work at Coastal Sunbelt Produce, a supplier of fruits and vegetables to restaurants and other businesses. Laurel Conran started classes at the company to help refugees from Burma learn English. Laurel Conran said, "The program is a six-week session. It's once a week, on every Wednesday, from twelve to one o'clock. So every Wednesday I go to Coastal Sunbelt." As the workers eat lunch, they also practice their new language skills. Lisa Chertok has a child at Bollman Bridge. She is also a manager at Coastal Sunbelt. She helped Ms. Conran develop the lessons, which she says have really helped. Lisa Chertok said, "Well, when the Burmese employees got here, they were very, very shy. Now I find that they are more outspoken than before. They're more communicative. As parents, they are also more involved in their children's school." Jonathan Davis is the headmaster of Bollman Bridge Elementary School. Mr. Davis hopes the lessons will help these parents feel better about communicating with the school. He said, "Even as simple as making a phone call to say that their son or daughter is sick, even if that's the amount of English that they have got from the program, that truly will help us." Question: When the refugees from Burma first arrived in Howard County, _ . Options: A: neither the children nor the parents could speak English B: the parents liked communicating with the teachers C: the parents could help their children speak English D: the children could speak very good English
**Answer**
A