Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: When I was eight years old, I had a big accident. I get scared even now when I think about that time. There were many people skating near my house, and seeing them skate so wonderfully, I couldn't wait to have a try, just a piece of cake, I thought . I went with a friend who was very skillful. He spent a long time teaching me how to skate , but I still didn't learn much , which made him very angry. Finally , he left me and skated all around. I skated alone and soon got bored because I kept falling down so I took off my skates and just walked around on the ice in my shoes. It was cold and my feet were frozen. Suddenly, I stepped on something that was not hard. What was it ? It was a weak place in the ice . When I stepped there, I sank under the ice. I thought that I was going to die, but I did my best to grab something to get out from under the ice. I would have climbed out myself by grabbing the edge of the ice, but at that time I was only a child of eight . I cried out. Fortunately, someone helped me. He grabbed my arms and pulled me up. Those several minutes seemed a year to me. I thanked him. At that time, my friend came back. I was annoyed at him because he was supposed to take care of me, but he didn't. He was embarrassed. When I took a taxi home, the taxi driver was surprised and asked what had happened. I didn't want to say anything because I was tired and scared. Since then, I have never touched skating. Question: At first the writer thought that skating _ . - was hard to learn - was only suitable to watch - was easy to learn - can only be done with support
was easy to learn

Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: I still remember--my hands and my fingers still remember--what used to lie in store for us on our return to school from the holidays. The trees in the school yard would be in full leaf again and the old leaves would be lying around like a muddy sea of leaves. "Get that all swept up!" the headmaster would tell us. "I want the whole place cleaned up, at once!" There was enough work there, to last over a week. Especially since the only tools with which we were provided were our hands, our fingers, and our nails. "Now see that it's done properly, and be quick about it," the headmaster would say to the older pupils, "or you'll have to answer for it!" So at an order from the older boys we would all line up like peanuts about to cut and gather in crops. If the work was not going as quickly as the headmaster expected, the big boys, instead of giving us a helping hand, used to find it simpler to beat us with branches pulled from the trees. In order to avoid these blows , we used to bribe the older boys with the juicy cakes we used to bring for our midday meals. And if we happened to have any money on us, the coins changed hands at once. If we did not do this, if we were afraid of going home with an empty stomach or an empty purse, the blows were redoubled. They hit us so violently and with such evil enjoyment that even a deaf and dumb person would have realized that we were being whipped not so much to make us work harder, but rather to beat us into a state of obedience in which we would be only too glad to give up our food and money. Occasionally one of us, worn out by such calculated cruelty, would have the courage to complain to the headmaster. He would of course be very angry, but the punishment he gave the older boys was always very small--nothing compared to what they had done to us. And the fact is that however much we complained, our situation did not improve in the slightest. Perhaps we should have let our parents know what was going on, but somehow we never dreamed of doing so; I don't know whether it was... Question: The headmaster asked the older boys to _ . - beat those who worked slowly - treat the small boys as peanuts - take charge of the process of the cleaning up - do the cleaning up all by themselves
take charge of the process of the cleaning up

Q: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Ask a question! Email it to Letters@Highlights.com. Gift Giving I'm going to China and everyone in my class is asking me to buy them something. What should I do? Reply from the Highlights Editor: Your classmates are probably just excited about your trip. Most likely they don't expect you to buy gifts for everyone. Sending a few postcards to the entire class during your trip would be a wonderful way to share your experiences. The pictures on the cards and your words of description will be the best gift of all. Dog Begging My dog always begs for food at the dinner table. I really want to feed him, but my mom says I can't. I'm afraid he won't like me anymore. What should I do? Reply from the Highlights Editor: Your dog loves you for many more reasons than just for what you feed him. You can show him that you care about him by playing with him, by petting him and speaking kindly to him and by making sure he has fresh water. It might be best if your dog is not near the dinner table while you are eating. You could teach him to stay in another room. Being Bilingual My aunt insists that we speak our language(Tagalog) at home and English outside the house. Do you think she is right? Reply from the Highlights Editor: It is a great gift to have someone in your family who is willing to take the time to teach you another language. It's a good way to keep family traditions alive, and it helps develop your language skills. Your ability to use both English and Tagalog will help you learn a third and fourth language later in life. So it sounds like a great idea! Question: The Highlights editor suggests the student who is going to China _ . - send postcards as the gifts to the class - make phone calls to all the classmates - buy gifts for some of the classmates - give each classmate a picture as a gift
A: send postcards as the gifts to the class

Q: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: The next time you get caught jumping on your bed you can tell your parents with a straight face that you are not playing, simply getting ready got a promising career in "Mattress Jumping". Believe it or not, there are some people who actually get paid to do that! According to Reuben Reynoso, a professional mattress tester at San Francisco's McRoskey Mattress Factory that still makes every mattress by hand, it is real work and needs some training. For a start, it's not all about jumping to new heights or doing tricks like professional athletes, but rather about feeling each area of the mattress carefully to detect the filling. In order to do it right, every bit of the mattress has to be tested slowly and deliberately. Over the years, Reynoso has figured out the perfect routine. He begins by placing a protective mat over the mattress so that it doesn't get dirty or absorb the smell from his feet. Then begins the fun---he steps to the middle of an edge and then takes five steps back and five steps forward. In this way, he slowly but surely, covers the entire surface. The key according to him is to find the perfect number of jumps---Too many and he will end up destroying the mattress completely. Too few? And it will not fit into the giant machine for that final sewing! Who knew a job that sounds so simple could have so many skills! While Reuben will not reveal how he got into this profession, he will admit that it is more fun than being a carpenter, roofer, construction worker and railroad engineer---all jobs he has tried previous to finding his true profession! Question: We can learn from the text that Reynoso _ . - has been injured several times in his work - liked mattress jumping in his childhood - didn't choose mattress testing as his first job - dreamt about becoming a jumping athlete
A: didn't choose mattress testing as his first job