(Q).
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: One year ago, I worked at a Chinese traditional medicine store. Business was not bad. Every day we mixed medicinal herbs for patients, so the store was always full of a strong herbal smell. After I had worked there for a time, a boy of 13 or 14 started coming and sitting on the stairs outside the store for a while every day. It seemed strange to me. "Do you like the herbal smell?" I asked him one day. "I grew up with this kind of smell," he said. He told me that his mother took herbal medicine for years, so he could mix herbs for his mother when he was very young. He mixed the herbs with deep love, hoping his mother would get better as soon as possible. "Is your mother well now? I asked. He shook his head. "My mother passed away three years ago." Looking up into the sky, he went on: "When I first passed by here and smelled the herbs, I thought of my mother. It is comforting to remember those days when she was alive. So I come here every day to sit for a moment. When I sit around this smell, I feel as if my mother is still alive and is waiting for her medicine in her room. Question: The writer felt _ when seeing a boy sitting on the stairs at the beginning of the story. Options: A: strange B: angry C: excited D: bored
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A

(Q).
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: On Christmas Eve--the night before Christmas, children are very happy. They put their stockings at the end of their beds before they go to bed. They want Santa Claus to give them some presents. Mr. Green tells his children that Santa Claus is a very kind man. He comes on Christmas Eve. He lands on the top of each house and comes down the chimney into the fireplace and brings them a lot of presents. Christmas Day always begins before breakfast. The children wake up very early. They can't wait to open the presents in their stockings. Then they wake up their parents and shout "Merry Christmas!" Do you know what Christmas means? Christmas Day is the birthday of Jesus Christ. When Christ was born, many people gave him presents. So today, people still do the same thing to each other. Question: On Christmas Day, people often give _ to each other. Options: A: presents B: lucky money C: Christmas trees D: stockings
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A

(Q).
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: In Western society, especially in the English-speaking world, the chance for young people to see the other countries and experience life is considered important. Many young people, when they finish school at the age of 18, take a gap year before they go to university. Parents often want their children to grow up a little and see what the real world is like when they finish school. Although they are worried about their safety, many think that the advantages of independence and experience are worth the worries. Children are encouraged to be brave, independent and to explore the world on their own or with friends. Young people also want to experience freedom and see what life is like on the other side. This other side could be the other side of the world or just the other side of life. For example, if they have a rich life, they may want to see how people in poor areas live. A gap year after school is also an important chance for young people to spend time thinking about what they want to do with their lives. A little bit of growing up and experience will help them make their important career decisions, especially when they are unsure about what they want to study. Another reason for going straight after school is to get a break from studying before they start the next few years of university. So anywhere you travel in the world, you will meet young European people exploring the world. So much of the world has been travelled and explored. The young people are now looking for more worthy experiences. Some of them work as volunteers to do something for the country they are visiting. Many gap year volunteers are now spending a few months teaching English in Thailand, helping feed giant pandas in China or building a well in a village in Africa. These young people's wish to explore the world is an expression of the values of the societies that they are part of. Both discovering the world and making a positive difference in it are important parts of the Western mind. Question: By taking a gap year, young people may _ . Options: A: stay with their parents all the time B: make money for their further study C: help change the world for the better D: change the Western mind completely
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C