Q: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: After a while, Tommy's parents, who had recently separated, would arrive for a meeting on his failing schoolwork and bad behavior. Neither parent knew that I had called the other. Tommy, an only child, had always been a happy, cooperative and top student. How could I make his father and mother believe that his recent failing grades meant a broken-hearted child's reaction to his parents' separation and divorce ? Tommy's mother entered and took one of the chairs. Soon the father arrived. Good! At least they were enough to be here in time. They ignored each other. As I gave a detailed introduction of Tommy's behavior and schoolwork, I waited for the right words to bring these two together to help them see what they were doing to their son. But somehow the words wouldn't come. Perhaps if they saw one of his dirty, carelessly done papers? I found a sheet in the back of his desk. Writing covered both sides: not the exercises, but a single sentence scribbled over and over. Silently I gave it to Tommy's mother. She read it and then handed it to her husband. Then his face softened. At last he folded the paper carefully, placed it in his pocket, and reached for his wife's hand. She wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled up at him. He helped with her coat and they left together. In his own way God had given me the words to reunite that family. He had guided me to the sheet of yellow copy paper covered with the pain outpouring of a small boy's troubled heart. The words are "Dear Mom... Dear Daddy... I love..." Question: The author called Tommy's parents in order to _ . - blame Tommy for his failing grades - ask them the reason for their divorce - help them realize their influence on Tommy - solve the couple's problem of separation
A: help them realize their influence on Tommy

Q: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Hawking's Five Easy Steps for Making Yourself a Genius As we all know,Stephen Hawking writes the book A Brief History of Time that explains the origin of the universe. The book spent 147 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List and has sold 10 million copies. He is,most agree,very smart. In his recently published autobiography My Brief History,Hawking offers five life lessons on how to become a genius. 1)Don't miss opportunities by being too cool "We showed an air of complete boredom and the feeling that nothing was worth making an effort for. One result of my illness has been to change all that. When you are faced with the possibility of an early death, it makes you realize that life is worth living and that there are lots of things you want to do. "Seize the moment,as Oxford types would say. 2)Keep it simple When writing A Brief History of Time,he tried to make science understandable for the rest of us. "I was sure that nearly everyone is interested in how the universe operates,but most people cannot follow mathematical equations . "He has trouble with them,too. "This is partly because it is difficult for me to write them down,but mainly because I don't have an inborn feeling for equations. My aim in the book was to describe these mental images in words. It is such an easy book that everybody can understand it." The moral:You don't have to be a genius to know everything. 3)Have fun Hawking has a long history of being a joker,and he has placed lots of bets with other scientists on the nature of black holes. One was with Cal-Tech scientist John Preskill. After paying off his bet by giving Preskill a baseball encyclopedia,Hawking wrote,"but maybe I should have just given him the ashes. "So lighten up! Geniuses like bad jokes too. 4) Always look for a silver lining (even if you are seriously ill) Hawking's disease has slowly robbed him of the ability to walk,move his arms,even speak. But,Hawking says,"in some ways I guess my disability has been an assist:I haven't had to lecture or teach students, and I... Question: The passage tells us the facts about A Brief History of Time EXCEPT that _ . - it included Hawking's five life lessons on how to become a genius - it has sold 10 million copies up to now - it spent 147 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List - it explained the origin of the universe
A: it included Hawking's five life lessons on how to become a genius

Q: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: EACH of us fails from time to time. If we are wise, we accept these failures as a necessary part of the learning process. But all too often we convey to our children either by words or by actions that failure is something to be ashamed of, that nothing but top performance meets our approval. Donnie was my youngest third-grader. His fear of failure kept him from classroom games that other children played excitedly. He seldom answered questions - he might be wrong. He seldom finished his work because he repeatedly checked with me to be sure he hadn't made a mistake. I tried my best to build his self-confidence. But nothing changed until midterm, when Mary Anne, a student teacher, was assigned to our classroom. She was young and pretty, and she loved children. My pupils, Donnie included, adored her. But even enthusiastic, loving Mary was _ by this little boy who feared he might make a mistake. Then one morning we were working math problems. Donnie had copied the problems with painstaking neatness and filled in answers for the first row. Pleased with his progress, I left the children with Mary. But when I returned, Donnie was in tears. He'd missed the third problem. Mary looked at me in despair. Suddenly her face brightened. From the desk we shared, she got a canister filled with pencils. "Look, Donnie," she said, "I've got something to show you." She removed the pencils and placed them on his desk. "See these pencils, Donnie?" she continued. "They belong to Mrs. Lindstrom and me. See how the erasers are worn? That's because we make mistakes too. Lots of them. But we erase the mistakes and try again. That's what you must learn to do, too." She kissed him and continued: "I'll leave one of these pencils on your desk so you'll remember that everybody makes mistakes, even teachers." Donnie looked up with love in his eyes and just a glimmer of a smile. The pencil became Donnie's prized possession. That, together with Mary Anne's frequent encouragement and praise for even Donnie's small successes, gradually... Question: Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the article? - Each of us should try our best to be a perfectionist. - Donnie rarely finished his work because he seldom answered questions and thus had difficulties. - The story was written mainly to sing high praise for Mary Anne. - The author seems to believe that failure is an opportunity to learn and make progress.
A: The author seems to believe that failure is an opportunity to learn and make progress.