Ques: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Dress codes cause us arguments The first day of school is always a chaotic time. For many students in the US, this year was even more so. It was all due to one extra school policy. They are now required to wear clothes that meet a new standardized dress code . According to the handbooks of all high schools in Allentown, Pennsylvania, students must wear short or long sleeve polo shirts and khaki or black pants. Skinny jeans, leggings , and open toe shoes are not allowed. Allentown schools are not alone. Overall, about 57 percent of American public schools now have a "strict dress code", up from more than 47 percent a decade earlier, said USA Today. Some students don't mind wearing a similar attire every day. "It takes away the daily fashion show and helps level the playing fields a little bit with the haves and have-nots," longtime school safety consultant Ken Trump told USA Today. But others aren't happy, claiming that uniforms rob students of individuality . While school uniforms have been a popular topic to discuss recently in the US, however, in the UK there are much fewer questions about them-they are a tradition. School uniforms in England were first introduced during the reign of King Henry VIII in the 16thcentury. They became popular following the Elementary Education Act of 1870. The UK Department of Education's website states: "The Department strongly encourages schools to have a uniform as it can...contribute to the beliefs of a school and set the correct tone. The uniform is now a strong part of school culture in the UK. Schools sometimes even have "Mufti" days on which students can wear their own clothes if they make a small donation to charity. However, the tradition does not mean that school uniforms are popular there. Many "children hate them", according to Aisha on the BBC Newsround website. Ask UK students why they wear a school uniform and their answer will mostly likely be, "because we have to". Question: According to the article, on Mufti days, students in some UK schools _ . Options: A: are required to make a donation to charity B: can vote to choose their own school uniforms C: can wear their own clothes if they contribute to charity D: are allowed to wear whatever they like for the morning
Ans: C

Ques: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: The Celerifere, an early version of the bicycle, was built around 1791 by a French man, Comte Mede de Sivrac. It was basically a scooter with a high seat. There were no pedals---you had to push with your feet like you do with a skateboard or a scooter. Around 1816 Baron Karl Drais de Sauerbrun in Germany added a moveable steering handle. These early machines were often known as dandy horses or hobby horses, but weren't very popular. The improvement that made them popular was added by a Scottish blacksmith around 1839. Kirkpatrick Macmillan added pedals to enable it to get up hills. It was this improvement that made the bicycle a serious form of transportation. Bike were called velocipedes or bone-shakers, because of the lack of the proper tires made for a rough ride! It wasn't until around 1869 that they began to be called bicycles ("two-wheels"). Carriage makers in Paris (either Pierre and Ernest Michaux, or their employee Pierre Lallement) switched the pedal to the front wheel. That's why it is usually either Lallement or the Michauxs, not Macmillan, who are considered as the inventor of the bicycle. In 1869 the penny-farthing or high-wheeler was invented. With the large wheel the rider could go much farther with each push of the pedal, but caused many accidents because the seat was so far off the ground. In the mid-1880s Englishman James Starley manufactured what he called the "safety bicycle" , which had two similarly-sized wheels and a major improvement--- a chain and sprocket driven rear wheel, with the pedals between the two wheels like modern bicycles. One more historical note---it's possible that the idea of the bicycle was thought of almost 400 years before it was actually invented. There is a drawing of a bicycle-like machine in one of Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks, which dates back to about 1493. Question: Why was the bicycle not popular in the early 1800's? Options: A: It was too expensive. B: The seat was too high. C: There were no pedals. D: It had no tires.
Ans: C

Ques: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: He almost didn't see the old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front her Mercedes and got out. Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe; he looked poor and hungry. He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. He said, "I am here to help you, ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson." Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt. As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was just passing through. She couldn't thank him enough for coming to her aid. Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened, had he not stopped. Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were many people who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way. He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Bryan added, "And think of me." He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight. Question: This story most probably took place _ . Options: A: in a garage B: on a highway C: in a busy street D: near a gas station
Ans:
B