Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Short and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. "Football, tennis,cricket -- anything with a round ball, I was useless." he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the object of jokes in school gym classes in England's rural Devonshire. It was a mountain bike he received for his 15th birthday that changed him. At first the teen went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to cycle along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders set his mind building up his body, increasing his speed, strength and endurance. At age 18, he ran his first marathon. The following year, he met John Ridgway, who became famous in the 1960s for rowing an open boat across the Atlantic Ocean. Saunders was hired as an instructor at Ridgway's school of Adventure in Scotland, where he learned about the older man's cold-water exploits . _ , Saunders read all he could about Arctic explorers and North Pole expeditions, then decided that this would be his future. Journeys to the Pole aren't the usual holidays for British country boys, and many people dismissed his dream as fantasy. "John Ridgway was one of the few who didn't say, 'You are completely crazy,'" Saunders says. In 2001, after becoming a skilled skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition toward the North Pole. He suffered frostbite, had a closer encounter with a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit. Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he's skied more of the Arctic by himself than any other Briton. His old playmates would not believe the transformation. This October, Saunders, 27, heads south to explore from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, an 1800-mile journey that has never been completed on skis. Question: It can be inferred that Saunders' journey to the North Pole _ . - was accompanied by his old playmates - set a record in the North Pole expedition - was supported by other Arctic explorers - made him well-known in the 1960s
set a record in the North Pole expedition

Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: At thirteen, I was diagnosed with kind of attention disorder. It made school difficult for me. When everyone else in the class was focusing on tasks, I could not. In my first literature class, Mrs.Smith asked us to read a story and then write on it, all within 45 minutes. I raised my hand right away and said,"Mrs.Smith, you see, the doctor said I have attention problems. I might not be able to do it." She glanced down at me through her glasses, "you are no different from your classmates, young man." I tried, but I didn't finish the reading when the bell rang. I had to take it home. In the quietness of my bedroom, the story suddenly all became clear to me. It was about a blind person, Louis Braille. He lived in a time when the blind couldn't get much education. But Louis didn't give up. Instead, he invented a reading system of raised dots , which opened up a whole new world of knowledge to the blind. Wasn't I the "blind" in my class, being made to learn like the "sighted" students? My thoughts spilled out and my pen started to dance. I completed the task within 40 minutes. Indeed, I was no different from others; I just needed a quieter place. If Louis could find his way out of his problems, why should I ever give up? I didn't expect anything when I handed in my paper to Mrs.Smith, so it was quite a surprise when it came back to me the next day- with an"A" on it. At the bottom of the paper were these words:" See what you can do when you keep trying?" Question: What is the main idea of the passage? - The disabled should be treated with respect. - A teacher can open up a new world to students. - One can find his way out of difficulties with efforts. - Everyone needs a hand when faced with challenges.
One can find his way out of difficulties with efforts.

Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Searching the Internet may help middle-aged and older adults keep their memories sharp,US researchers said. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles ,studied people doing web searches by recording their brain activity. "What we saw was people who had Internet experience used more of their brain during the search,"Dr.Gary Small, a UCLA expert on aging, said,"This suggests that just searching on the Internet may train the brain and that it may keep it active and healthy." "This is the first time anyone has simulated an Internet search task while scanning the brain,"Small said. His team studied 24 normal volunteers between the ages of 55 and 76. Half were experienced at searching the Internet and the other half had no web experience. However, the two groups were similar in age, gender and education. Both groups were asked to do Internet searches and book reading tasks while their brain activity was monitored. "We found that in the book reading task, the visual cortex-- the part of the brain that controls reading and language -- was activated,"Small said,"In doing the Internet search task, there was much greater activity, but only in the Internet-savvy group." He said it appears that people who are familiar with the Internet can engage in much deeper level of brain activity. Activities that keep the brain engaged can preserve brain health and thinking ability. Small thinks learning to do Internet searches may be one of those activities. Question: The two volunteer groups were _ . - similar in education - of the same age - good at the computer - book lovers
similar in education

Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: There once lived a rich businessman who had a lazy son. The businessman wanted his son to realize the value of labour and said: "Today, I want you to go out and earn something, failing which you won't have your meals tonight." He went crying straight to his mother. Her heart melted at her son's eyes. She gave him a gold coin. When the father asked his son what he had earned, the son presented him the gold coin. The father asked him to throw it into a well. The next day, he asked his son to earn something. This time he went crying to his sister who gave him a coin. When he showed it to his father he again asked him to throw it in a well. Then the father asked him to earn more money. This time since there was no one to help him, the son was forced to go to the market. One shopkeeper told him he would pay him two coins if he carried his trunk to his house. He did so and sweated plenty. As he returned home he was asked to do the same. The son almost cried out. He could not imagine throwing his hard-earned money like this. He cried, "My entire body is aching. You are asking me to throw the money into the well." At this moment, the businessman told him one feels the pain only when the fruits of hard labour are wasted. On the earlier two occasions he was helped and therefore had no pain in throwing the coins into the well. The son had now realized the value of hard work. He promised never to be lazy and to safely keep the father's wealth. The father handed over the keys of his shop to the son and promised to guide him through the rest of the life. Question: It can be inferred from the passage that _ . - the mother was very generous - the sister was very warm-hearted - the father was very strict - the shopkeeper was very cruel
the father was very strict