My parents lived to be ninety-three and ninety-four. Mother lived longer and kept her mental sharpness until a few days before she died. Dad suffered from dementia probably for the last six months of his life. It's hard to say how long because his dear wife knew how to cover his forgetfulness or sometimes strange behavior up for him. There were times, however, when mother became totally frustrated with the changes she saw taking place and she would blame him for doing things on purpose just to make her angry. He loved juicy fruit gum, but she kept it hidden from sight and rationed it because he could chew five or six sticks in an hour and ask for another package. "I have to watch him like a hawk." she said. Even though they lived in an assisted-living facility, my father would not bathe himself and would not let any staff person help him. So mother adjusted his shower temperature, washed his back, brought him a dry towel, and helped him dress. With her heart failure and the need for oxygen full time, this chore wore her out, both physically and emotionally. Then he started getting up in the middle of night. He would go into their bathroom, which was actually a part of their bedroom, turn on all the lights, and shave. Mother could not convince him to return to bed until he finished. As a result, mother couldn't get enough sleep at night. I don't have any answers that might have made their last months together any easier. Since they were very private people, sometimes it was hard to know what was really going on. When I stopped by their place, mother would talk nonstop as usual and daddy would smile a lot, like what he used to do. I took along food they enjoyed to them, like smoothies or milkshakes. Mother lovedorchids and they thrived under her care so she usually received one for any special occasion. Daddy would often let me brush his "angel hair", as mother named it, and I might help her fasten jewelry. All of these little things were ways to say "I love you", but we didn't often discuss some of the truly... The writer didn't know much about her father's dementia, because _ . A) she didn't visit her parents much B) her father hid his conditions carefully C) her father's conditions weren't serious D) her mother kept her father's dementia a secret
D
(Question)
Swaying palm trees,turquoiseblue water and sugarwhite sand make beach lovers sigh with delight.But not all beaches have those ingredients.The most interesting beaches come in different shapes,sizes and colors. Those who want beauty and something unique can go to the Seychells' La Digue Island.Large granite rock formations overlook beautiful,whitesand beaches.The pinkishgrey rocks look like sculptures that have been forgotten on the beach.Tourists traveling to La Digue Island to see the unique rocks will also discover one of the world's most beautiful islands. Hawaii's Big Island has one of the rarest beaches of all--a beach made up entirely of green sand.The sand,which is formed by dark green crystals called olivine ,is deposited by volcanic activity.Green Sand Beach lies on the slopes of the world's largest active volcano,Mauna Loa. One of the world's most unusual beaches lies on the island of Santorini,Greece.The sand on Red Beach gets its reddish color from the red volcanic rocks that make up the cliffs around the beach.Tourists flock to see the red sand,making Red Beach one of Santorini's most popular beach destinations. Black sand makes up the huge beach of Karakare.Through the years,volcanic sand mixed with iron ash to form this black beach on New Zealand's wild,west coast.Many have seen Karekare in the movie The Piano and the TV show Xena:Warrior Princess. With all the beautiful beaches in the world,beach lovers have lots of choices.But for those ready for something different,a unique beach vacation might be just the ticket! What would be the best title of the passage? A) One of the world's most unusual beaches. B) Beach lovers having more choices. C) A unique beach vacation. D) Unique beaches around the world.
(Answer)
D
Ques: You are seeing a film in which two men are having a fight. They hit one another over the heads with chairs. And so it goes on until one of the men crashes through a window and falls thirty feet to the ground below. He is dead! Of course he isn't really dead. With any luck he isn't even hurt. Why? Because the men who fall out of high windows or jump from fast moving trains, who crash cars or even catch fire, are professionals. They do this for a living. These men are called stuntmen. That is to say, they perform tricks. They actually do most of the things you see on the screen. For example, they fall from a high building. However, they do not fall onto hard ground but onto empty cardboard boxes covered with a mattress. Again, when they hit one another with chairs, the chairs are made of soft wood and when they crash through windows, the glass is made of sugar! But although their work depends on tricks of this sort, it also requires a high degree of skill and training. Often a stuntman's success depends on careful timing. For example, when he is " blown up" in a battle scene, he has to jump out of the way of the explosion just at the right moment. Naturally stuntmen are well paid for their work, but they lead dangerous lives. They sometimes get seriously injured, and even killed. A Norwegian stuntman, for example, skied over the edge of a cliff a thousand feet high. His parachute ( ) failed to open and he was killed. In spite of all the risks, this is no longer a profession for men only. Men no longer dress up as women to perform some dangerous actions. For nowadays there are stunt girls , too. When a stuntman falls from a high building, _ A) he needs little protection. B) he will be covered with a mattress. C) his life is in danger. D) his safety is generally all right.
Ans: D
Ques: Space is where our future is -- trips to the Moon, Mars and beyond. Most people would think that aside from comets and stars, there is little else out there. But, since our space journey started we have left so much trash there that scientists are now concerned that if we don't clean it up, we may all be in mortal danger. The first piece of space junk was created in 1964, when the American satellite Vanguard I stopped operating and lost its connection with the ground center. However, since it kept orbiting around the Earth without any consequences, scientists became increasingly comfortable abandoning things that no longer served any useful purpose in space. It is estimated that there are now over 500,000 pieces of man-made trash orbiting the Earth at speeds of up to 17,500 miles per hour. The junk varies from tiny pieces of paint chipped off rockets to cameras, huge fuel tanks, and even odd items like the million-dollar tool kit that astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn Piper lost during a spacewalk. The major problem with the space trash is that it may hit working satellites and damage traveling spacecraft . Moreover, pieces of junk may collide with each other and break into pieces which fall back to the Earth. To avoid this, scientists have invented several ways for clearing the sky. Ground stations have been built to monitor larger pieces of space trash to prevent them from crashing into working satellites or space shuttles. Future plans include a cooperative effort among many nations to stop littering in space and to clean up the trash already there. What was the first piece of man-made space trash? A) A camera. B) A tool kit. C) A fuel tank. D) A broken satellite.
Ans:
D