A ship was damaged during a storm at sea and only two of the men aboard were able to swim to a small island. Not knowing what else to do, the two survivors decided that they should pray to God. However, to find out whose prayers were more powerful, they agreed to divide the land between them and stay on opposite sides of the island. The first thing they prayed for was food. The next morning, the first man saw a tree on his side of the island, and he was able to eat its fruit. But the other man's side of land remained _ After a week, the first man became lonely and decided to pray for a wife. The next day, another ship was damaged and the only survivor was a woman who swam to his side of the island. But on the other side of the island, there was nothing. Soon the first man prayed for a house, clothes and more food. The next day, like magic, all of these things were given to him. However, the second man still had nothing. Finally, the first man prayed for a ship so that he and his wife could leave the island, and in the morning he found a ship stopped at his side of the island. The first man boarded the ship with his wife and decided to leave the second man on the island. As the ship was about to leave, the first man heard a voice from Heaven, "Why are you leaving your partner on the island?" "My blessings are mine alone since I was the one who prayed for them." The first man answered. " His prayers were all unanswered so he doesn't deserve anything." "You are mistaken!" the voice said. "He had only one prayer, which I answered. He prayed that all your prayers would be answered." What does the author try to express through the story? A) God helps those who help themselves B) A life without a friend is a life without a sun C) A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds D) What we do for others is more important than what we do for ourselves
D
(Question)
When the Apollo astronauts landed on the Moon in 1969, millions of people were rather sad. The person to blame for this was an artist named Chesley Bonestell. For many years, Bonestell had been creating beautifully detailed paintings of the Moon and planets. Viewers of his artwork were unhappy because the real Moon did not look like Bonestell's pictures of it. As a space artist, Bonestell tried to make his drawings look exciting and as true as the Moon is. He worked closely with astronomers and scientists to get the most up-to-date scientific information available. But in the 1940s and 1950s, no one had ever seen another planet up close. Yet Bonestell's paintings looked so real that some people thought they were photographs. Even though Bonestell was interested in astronomy, he did not start out as a space artist. As a young man he studied architecture -- the art and science of designing and making buildings. In 1938 Bonestell became a special effects artist in Hollywood. It was here that he learned he could improve his paintings by following the methods used in the movies. In 1944, a popular magazine published a series of Bonestell's paintings of the planet Saturn. He drew Saturn as if it were seen by someone standing on each of the planet's moons. The results were _ . Within a few years, Bonestell's artwork was appearing regularly in magazines and books on astronomy and space flight. Many of Bonestell's artworks had been right all along. But the biggest surprise was the Moon. Someone asked Bonestell what he was thinking when he saw the first pictures from the Moon. "I thought how wrong I was!" he said. "My mountains were sharp , and they aren't on the Moon." But he shouldn't have felt bad. No space artist had ever before taken so many people to so many faraway worlds. In the years just before the first manned space flights, Bonestell's artwork prepared people for the amazing space adventure to come. What would be the best title for the text? A) The space art of Chesley Bonestell B) The first men on the Moon C) The journeys of the Apollo astronauts D) Spacewalking: through an astronaut's eyes
(Answer)
A
Our children feel stressed out by an educational system that actually uses stress as an educational technique. It's a constant pressure of homework deadlines,essays and exams. And our children are told at a young age that failing a test means that they are failures in life. They'll end up nowhere if they don't pass this or that exam. Our educational system is based on a very Western idea that life is a struggle and you'd better measure up. It's survival of the fittest. While there is some truth to this,not as much as people think. Our ancestors didn't develop a constant stress environment. Back then,stress came quickly and was over quickly,it wasn't like the stress of modern education. Stress was originally just a shortterm biological response to danger;however,the constant stress of modern education rarely stops. It's long term,at least ten years and usually more. Recent research has shown that the neurological response to stress is the same response that is found in depression. So,what's the solution? A number have been proposed,including but not limited to the following. _ .Exercise consumes energy that would otherwise build up in the stress response and could cause physical and mental problems. Teach relaxation exercises. Allowing the mind and body to relax cuts off the stress response and reduces the neurological fatigue ,enabling the individual to recover at least somewhat. Pay attention to thinking. Training the stressed student to pay attention to his or her own mind to a point where he or she is sufficiently aware to shut off the stress response when necessary. Of course,there's a logical answer to the problem. Just rearrange our teaching methods to encourage,rather than prevent,the natural curiosity and joy in learning that we are all born with. This would remove the stress and probably cut learning time in half. If you are a teacher in a high school, _ . A) you should leave students in a good mood B) you should ignore the stressed student C) you should relax yourself as far as possible D) you should stick to your teaching methods
A