In Mexico, girls mark their fifteenth birthday with a celebration called Quinceanera. In the morning, the birthday girl goes to the church with her family and her best friends. She wears a beautiful dress. Later in the day, there is a huge party, with a big cake that matches the girl's dress, and a night filled with music and dancing. Becoming an adult is a very important life change, and Japan has a special holiday to celebrate this. The second Sunday in January is Coming-of-Age Day. On that day, everyone who had their twentieth birthday in the last year goes to their Town Hall for a special activity. Everyone dresses up, and many women wear beautiful dresses. The mayor makes a speech and gives presents to all the new adults. Some kids are afraid to start school, but six-year-olds in Germany can't wait. For them, Schulanfang is a big holiday. To celebrate a child's first day of school, parents or friends give the child a Zuckertuete, a big color box filled with candy and little presents. People take pictures of the kids holding their Zuckertuete, and there is a school party later for the parents with cake and coffee. What is the passage mainly about? A) Celebrating birthdays. B) Celebrating school holidays. C) Celebrating life changes. D) Celebrating national holidays.
C
George Gershwin, born in 1998, was one of America's greatest composers. He published his first song when he was eighteen years old. During the next twenty years he wrote more than five hundred songs. Many of Gershwin's songs were first written for musical plays performed in theatres in New York City. These plays were a popular form of entertainment in the 1920s and 1930s. Many of his songs have remained popular as ever. Over the years they have been sung and played in every possible way -- from jazz to country. In the 1920s there was a debate in the United States about jazz music. Could jazz, some people asked, be considered serious music? In 1924 jazz musician and orchestra leader Paul Whiteman decided to organize a special concert to show that jazz was serious music. Gershwin agreed to compose something for the concert before he realized he had just a few weeks to do it. And in that short time, he composed a piece for piano and orchestra which he called Rhapsody in Blue. Gershwin himself played the piano at the concert. The audience were thrilled when they heard his music. It made him world-famous and showed that jazz music could be both serious and popular. In 1928, Gershwin went to Paris. He applied to study composition with the well-known musician Nadia Boulanger, but she rejected him. She was afraid that classical study would ruin his jazz-influenced style. While there, Gershwin wrote An American in Paris. When it was first performed, critics were divided over the music. Some called it happy and full of life, to others it was silly and boring. But it quickly became popular in Europe and the United States. It still remains one of his most famous works. George Gershwin died in 1937, just days after doctors learned he had brain cancer. He was only thirty-nine years old. Newspapers all over the world reported his death on their front pages. People mourned the loss of the man and all the music he might have still written. Which of the following best describes Gershwin? A) Talented and productive B) Serious and boring C) popular and unhappy D) Friendly and honest
A
Q: More than ever, kids today have given up reading for activities like watching TV, playing video games and surfing the Internet, but recently a new trend has been _ that will hopefully change that. In fact, book clubs are becoming more popular among American kids. 11-year-old Kenya Debarros read about singer Lena Horne. "It was just amazing to see a black woman as the star and not just a mammy or a maid," she says. But did all these kids come enthusiastically ? No, not exactly. "I like book club, uh, I don't know, but I am just trying it out. My mom didn't make me, but I just tried it out," says 16-year-old Antonio Nash. And if they'll try it, the experts say, there are ways to get them to come back. Make it fun, serve pizza, serve chocolate cakes and have door prizes . It also helps to connect books to the real world. They talk about things that are happening in the community, so they can relate whatever they've read in the book to what's happening now. Here they have long talks about the books they have selected, which most kids don't get to do when they're in school, and these kids say, in book clubs they're learning to love books and love reading. "I feel like I'm actually in the book and doing what the actual main character is doing," says 13-year- -old Justin Woodard. 16-year-old Antonia McManus says reading gives her a nice break from the day, "Sitting down and reading a book gives me some time to get away from the world, and get my mind straight." Why does Antonia McManus like going to the book club? A) She finds reading restful. B) She could get some sound sleep. C) She likes the noisy conditions there. D) She can deal with her problems there.
A: A
*Question*
Starbucks coffee shops can be found all overprefix = st1 /Americaand in more than thirty countries around the world. Many people think they are great places. to enjoy a cup of hot coffee or tea. But others dislike the company. If you are in any major city in America,the chances are great that you are not far from a Stalbucks. in fact, you might be very close to several of these coffee shops. The company started in the West Coast city of Seattle,Washington, in 1971. Starbucks was named after a character in the famous American novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. Today, there are more than 1 2. 000 Stalbucks around,the world. Sales in 2008 were almost eight billion dollars. Starbucks sells more than just plain coffee. It started a whole coffee culture with its own special language and coffee workers called "baristas". It sells many kinds of hot and cold coffee drinks;like White Chocolate Mocha and Frappuccino. It also sells music recorders,coffee makers,food,and even books. But most of all,it sells the idea of being a warm and friendly place for people to sit,read or talk. Starbucks is a great success story. Buyers ate willing to pay as much as five dollars for coffee drink. Many people say they go to Starbucks because they can depend on it to have exactly what they want and it is nearby. Some say Starbucks has helped to educate people about coffee from many countries. However, some people do not like the company's expansion. Owners of independent coffee stores cannot compete with Starbucks. Some small coffee sellers even took the company to court,saying Starbucks controls the market and foxes out competition. Which of the following may be the best title of the passage? A) Starbucks,tile Coffee Giant B) The World's Starbucks C) Starbucks,Selling Ideas D) Starbucks,In or Out
**Answer**
A