Dear Betty, My roommate's family wants me to celebrate Thanksgiving Day with them in their home. I accepted the invitation, and I'm excited about going, but I'm a little nervous about it, too. The social customs in my country are different from those here, so I'm a little worried about making mistakes. Should I bring a gift, such as candy or flowers? Should I arrive on time or a little late? At the dinner table, how can I know which fork or knife to use? How can I let the family know that I'm thankful for their kindness? Yours, Knowing Nothing Dear Knowing Nothing, It's a good idea to bring a gift when you go to a dinner party. Flowers are always welcome, or you can bring a bottle of wine if you know the family drink it. You should arrive on time or five to ten minutes late. Don't get there early. If you are going to be more than fifteen minutes late, you should call and tell them. Try to relax at the dinner table. If you don't know how to use the right fork, knife or spoon, just watch the other guests, and follow them. If you still have no idea of what to do, don't be shy about asking the person next to you; it's better to ask them than to be silently uncomfortable and nervous. If you like the food, say so. Of course, you'll thank the host and hostess for the meal and for their kindness. It's also a good idea to send a card to thank them the day after. Yours, Betty Knowing Nothing wrote a letter to Betty to _ . A) tell Betty some good news B) ask for some advice C) answer some questions D) invite her to dinner
B
(Question)
My husband Ollie had retired from teaching and we were making plans to travel together to Florida. Then he was terribly ill and became very weak, hardly able to speak. Weeks passed and it became clear that Ollie was near death, but I prayed day and night that he could get better. One of us was always in Ollie's hospital room--either me, or our grown children, Bruce and Karen. One day, in his broken and weak speech, Ollie told Bruce, "Go home. You should be with Gwen." Gwen was Bruce's wife. They had been married for six years and lived hundreds of miles away. Gwen was about to have a baby. We felt an extra sadness, knowing Ollie would never see his first grandchild. "I don't want to leave you, Dad," Bruce said. Ollie repeated, "You should be with Gwen." _ , Bruce left. "When the baby comes," he promised Ollie, "you will be the first to know." A few days later, around 2 p.m., Ollie awoke from a sleep. He turned and looked at me. I sat close to hear his weak words. "The baby is coming now. It's a boy," he said. For a moment his eyes were filled with tears. Then he went back to sleep again. Not long after that, Karen ran into the room. "Bruce called," she said, a smile lighting her face. "Gwen gave birth to a healthy baby boy around two o' clock." Ollie smiled; he had been the first to know. That night, Ollie died in his sleep. Why did Ollie want Bruce to be with Gwen? A) Ollie thought it was too much trouble for Bruce to stay at hospital. B) Ollie wanted Bruce to bring the baby along as soon as it was born. C) Ollie didn't want his son to be absent when his baby was born. D) Ollie couldn't bear his son seeing him dying with a broken heart.
(Answer)
C
Ques: Dogs have long been used to find explosives and drugs.Now,a new study shows that man's best friend can also help to find lung and breast cancer,researchers report in integrative Cancer Therapies.The findings show that trained ordinary household dogs can detect early--stage lung and breast cancers by smelling the breath samples of patients. Researchers have found that cancer cells send out molecules different from those of healthy ones,and that might be sensed by smell by the highly sensitive dog's nose. For the study,five dogs were trained by a professional instructor to respond differently to breath samples of healthy and cancer patients."The dogs learned to sit or lie down in front of cancer patient samples and to ignore control samples through the method of food reward," McCulloch explained. After a period of training,researchers tested the animals'ability to distinguish cancer patients from controls.The animals were given breath samples from 55 patients with lung cancer,3 1 with breast cancer and 83 healthy controls who were not included in the original training period. McCulloch's group found that the dogs were able to correctly distinguish the breath samples of cancer patients from those of the control subjects in about 90 percent of the cases.The dogs were also able to detecting early-stage lung and breast cancers. "These results show that there is hope for early detection,"McCulloch said.The re-searches are planning to conduct further studies on the breath composition of cancer patients to possibly design an electronic device that can do the dogs'job."A dog's nose is so powerful it can detect odors 10 000 to 100 000 times better than a human nose can.I hope people will be interested in doing this research,"McCulloch added,"It shows that there is definitely something out there." Which of the following would be the best title? A) Special Noses of Dogs B) Dogs and Cancer C) Dogs Smell Signs of Cancer D) McCulloch'S New Discovery
Ans: C
Sometimes just when we need the power of miracles to change our beliefs, they materialize in the places we'd least expect. They can come to us as a drastic alteration in our physical reality or as a simple synchronicity in our lives. Sometimes they're big and can't be missed Other times they're so subtle that if we aren't aware, we may miss them altogether. They can come from the lips of a stranger we suddenly and mysteriously encounter at just the right instant. If we listen carefully, we'll always hear the right words,at the right time, to dazzle us into a realization of something that we may have failed to notice only moments before. On a cold January afternoon in 1989,I was hiking up the trail that leads to the top of Egypt's Mt. Horeb. I'd spent the day at St. Catherine's Monastery and wanted to get to the peak by sunset to see the valley below. As I was winding up the narrow path,I'd occasionally see other hikers who were coming down from a day on the mountain. While they would generally pass with simply a nod or a greeting in another language,there was one man that day who did neither. I saw him coming from the last switchback on the trail that led to the backside of the mountain. As he got closer,I could see that he was dressed differently from the other hikers I'd seen. Rather than the high-tech fabrics and styles that had been the norm,this man was wearing traditional Egyptian clothing. He wore a tattered, rust-colored galabia and obviously old and thick-soled sandals that were covered in dust. What made his appearance so odd,though,was that the man didn't even appear to be Egyptian! He was a small-framed Asian man, had very little hair,and was wearing round,wire-rimmed glasses. As we neared one another,I was the first to speak."Hello,"I said,stopping on the trail for a moment to catch my breath. Not a sound came from the man as he walked closer. I thought that maybe he hadn't heard me or the wind had carried my voice away from him in another direction. Suddenly he stopped directly in front of me on... The author viewed the encounter with the Asian man as a miracle in his life in that _ . A) the Asian man's appearance had a deciding effect on his future life B) his words were in perfect response to the need he had at that moment C) what the Asian man said was abundant in the philosophy of life D) the Asian man impressed on him the worth of what he had possessed
B