Today I was at the mall waiting for friends, when a lady wearing a knit hat and a sweater came up to me and, shivering, said, "I'm homeless. Would you mind buying me some food?" In that split second, everything I'd learned since kindergarten flashed through my mind. Don't talk to strangers ... Be a good citizen ... People will take advantage of you ... Treat others as you wish to be treated ... The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return ... I guess love won the debate. "Sure," I said. "What would you like?" She thought and then said, "I'd like to get Chinese food." We headed upstairs. On the way she told me about when she was a teenager. She remembers taking pictures for the yearbook with her best friend. She was in the band and played basketball. She got good grades and was a good student. She ordered soup, an egg roll, white rice, and pepper chicken. I would normally think that was a lot, but she had probably barely eaten in the last few days. I got my usual - lo mein and General Tso's chicken. As we ate, we got to know each other. She asked if I played any instruments. I replied that I played the violin, cello, and guitar. She told me she played the flute, piano, guitar, and violin. In the middle of our meal, I realized something. And she thought of it at exactly the same time. "So, what's your name?" she asked. "I'm Claire," I said, startled at our exact same thought. "What's yours?" "Joyce," she said with a smile. We continued talking, and she asked my favorite subjects in school and if I wanted to go to college. "Hopefully," I replied. "I'm interested in nursing." "I went to college for nursing," she said. I was taken aback. How could we have so much in common? Was she pretending so I'd feel sympathy for her? But her eyes were genuine as she said this. Meanwhile I was eating my lo mein, picking around the cabbage and the other vegetables. Joyce said, "If you don't like it you can take it back." I told her that I liked it, but was not fond of the vegetables. She broke... The writer was very happy to have met Joyce because _ . A) she didn't know what she was going to be until then. B) this chance meeting changed her attitudes towards life in a way. C) she was glad to be able to pay for someone in need. D) hopefully the force that brought them together may bring good luck to Joyce.
B
(Question)
Imagine a school where there are no academic requirements,no curriculum,and no tests.Children have total contro1 of their education and are free to do what they want all day,every day.Sudbury Valley School in Framingham,Massachusetts has been operating this way since 1968.More than 30 schools worldwide have imitated the Sudbury model,and over 200 schools identify similarly as "democratic schools."These schools are designed based on the belief that children have an innate curiosity to learn and do best when they direct their own learning. Sudbury Vallev School admits anyone who wants to enroll between the ages of 4 and 18.Many parents send their kids from a young age because they believe that kids do best when they learn what they want to learn.Other students come to Sudbury because they had various issues in traditional school systems including rebellion,learning difficulties,and emotional problems. Sudbury is administered through a democratic process where every student and staff member has an equal vote.In fact,students outnumber staff 20 to 1.There's no age segregation ;four-year-olds can hang out with teenagers.Many staff members are part time and have rich careers as historians,businessmen,psychologists,artists,among others. Learning is self-directed and occurs informally through having conversations,starting projects.reading for enjoyment,and playing games.If students are interested in a particular topic,they work with staff and other students to organize courses and find resources.The requirement for getting a high school diploma is to write an essay about how they are prepared t0 be an adult.95%of students graduate.90%of graduates end up going to college,better than the national average of 66%. Most graduates say that they benefited from a self-directed education because they were more motivated than their peers,lacked fear of authority figures,and got a head start in their field of interest.They work hard at doing the things they love to do. How can the students in Sudbury get their diploma? A) By having conversations. B) By reading for enjoyment. C) By playing games. D) By submitting a qualified paper.
(Answer)
D
Ques: The loss of a job can have a very serious impact on the individual. The immediate effect, of course, is a sharp drop in income. Unemployment benefits typically offer less than half the individual's previous earnings, and many people are not even entitled to these benefits-for example, the self-employed, recent graduates who have not held a steady job in the previous year, and people who have been unemployed for a long period. The economic pressure on the jobless is very severe, particularly for those who have young children or long-term commitments for expenses for houses and education. But the effects of unemployment are not merely financial; they are also social and psychological. As one out-of-work teacher puts it: "It's difficult when you strip away all the things that supposedly hold you together in terms of an identity. Your work, your money, whatever is power to you, whatever is responsibility, whatever means freedom and choice." I had to ask myself, "Who am I now? What will I do now?" All too often, long-term unemployment may thrust the individual into boredom, despair, ill-temper, and perhaps, conflict with other family members. Even those who keep their jobs are affected by rates of unemployment, for they begin to fear for own future. Lacking the confidence that workers have in times of full employment, they negotiate less aggressively for improvements in pay or working conditions, for they and the employers know that if they do not like the job as it is, others will gladly take it. Unemployment is always accompanied, in fact, by underemployment-the situation in which people are working either for extremely low wages or at jobs below their level of skill. According to the passage, _ . A) the loss of a job can have little impact on the individual B) unemployment benefits are normally about the same as a person's previous earnings C) unemployment benefits are normally less than half of a person's previous earnings D) the economic pressure on the jobless is typically not very severe
Ans: C
Most people think the first pies were made by early Romans. They may have learned about pie making from the Greeks. These pies were sometimes made in"reeds ", which were used for the purpose of holding the filling ( ), and were not eaten. The Romans spread the word about pies around Europe and the word"pie"became a popular word in the 14th century. The first pie recipe was also published by the Romans. Pies first appeared in England as early as the twelfth century. The early pies were mostly meat pies. There was actually more crust than filling. Often these pies were made from fowl ( ) and the fowl's legs were left to hang over the side of the dish and used as handles. Fruit pies were probably first made in the 1500s. It is said that Queen Elizabeth I made the first cherry pie. Pie came to America with the first English settlers. The early settlers cooked their pies in long narrow pans. As in the Roman times, the early American pie crusts were often not eaten, but simply used to hold the filling during baking(@&*). Over the years, pie has become what it is today --- "the most traditional American dessert". Pie has become so much a part of American culture that we now often use the phrase "as American as apple pie". The best title of this passage is " _ ". A) The History of Pies B) Pies, the Delicious Food C) Pies, American Dessert D) How to Make Pies
A