"Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents," grumbled Jo, lying on the rug. "It's so dreadful to be poor!" sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress. "I don't think it's fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things, and other girls nothing at all," added little Amy, with an injured sniff. "We've got father and mother and each other," said Beth, contentedly. The four young faces on which the firelight shone brightened at the cheerful words, but darkened again as Jo said sadly: "We haven't got father, and shall not have him for a long time." She didn't say "perhaps never", but each silently added it, thinking of father far away, where the fighting was. Nobody spoke for a minute; then Meg said in an altered tone: "You know the reason mother proposed not having any presents this Christmas was because it is going to be a hard winter for everyone; and she thinks we ought not to spend money for pleasure when our men are suffering so in the army. We can't do much, but we can make our little sacrifices, and ought to do it gladly. But I am afraid I don't"; and Meg shook her head, and she thought regretfully of all the pretty things she wanted. "But I don't think the little we should spend would do any good. We've each got a dollar, and the army wouldn't be much helped by our giving that. I agree not to expect anything from mother or you, but I do want to buy UNDINE AND SINTRAM for myself; I've wanted it so long," said Jo, who was a bookworm. "I planned to spend mine on new music," said Beth, with a little sigh. "I shall get a nice box of Faber's drawing pencils; I really need them," said Amy, decidedly. "Mother didn't say anything about our money, and she won't wish us to give up everything. Let's each buy what we want, and have a little fun; I'm sure we work hard enough to earn it," cried Jo, examining the heels of her shoes in a gentlemanly manner. "I know I do - teaching those tiresome children nearly all day when I am longing to enjoy myself at home," began Meg, in the complaining tone... The King children are mentioned to show that _ . A) The King family is rich while Beth's family is poor. B) Beth's family is poor and they are unhappy about it. C) Money can bring much happiness to their family. D) Money does not necessarily mean happiness.
D
The crowd cheered as the young man walked across the stage to receive his award as the company's top producer. He looked over the audience and trembled, and there was a clear pause that brought a silence to the room. It took him a moment to control himself. "The last three months hit me pretty hard," he began. "And I feel the need to share a piece of my story though I'm not sure why. A friend called me about his new marketing system, an outbound fax service that could reach thousands of potential customers at very little cost. I checked it out, got excited and accepted it. After thousands of faxes, it seemed that what I did was illegal . I was punished a dollar for every one sent out. The crowd was surprised. "I failed to do proper research, and didn't pay attention to the details. Now I am heavily in debt. As some of you know, I recently move up here from down south. I stored my stuff in my old office, which I closed down. When I drove back to pick it all up, I found that everything except my computer and the clothes I brought with me was gone." He continued, "I drive a sports car. I love that car. One day while driving it, I stepped on the accelerator , lost control at 85 miles an hour, and hit the guard rail. I damaged my car very badly." "In three months, I got charged, lost everything I owned, and damaged my car. We all face challenges," he smiled. "I guess I wanted to share mine with you. Thanks for listening. " He left to a standing ovation . Standing in the back of the room, I realized how much respect that young man earned. He faced his fear, publicly admitted his mistakes and never gave up, in spite of the difficulties. That day, he won much more than a trophy . Why was the young man punished? A) He made a serious mistake in his research. B) He illegally sent faxes to customers. C) He stole a computer from an office. D) He drove his car at a high speed.
B
Q: Alan worked in an office in the city. He worked very hard and really looked forward to his holiday. He usually went to the seaside, but one year he saw an ad. in a newspaper "Enjoy country life. Spend a few weeks at William Farm. Good food, fresh air, horse riding, walking, fishing..." "This sounds like a good idea." he thought, I'll spend a month at William Farm. I'll go horse riding, walking and fishing. It'll be different from the seaside." Four days later, he returned home. "What's wrong with William Farm?" his friend Jack asked him, "Didn't you enjoy country life?" "Country life was fine," Alan said, "But there was another problem." "Oh, what problem?" "Well, the first day I was there, a sheep died, and we had roast mutton for dinner." "Fresh meat is the best." "I know, but on the second day a cow died, and we had roast beef for dinner." "Lucky you!" "You don't understand," Alan said, "On the third day a pig died and we had roast pork for dinner." "A different roast every day." Jack said. "Let me finish." Alan said, "On the fourth day a farmer died and I didn't want to stay there for dinner." Alan saw _ in a news paper. A) an ad. B) a letter C) a story D) a report
A: A
If a city wishes to host the Olympics, it must submit a proposal to the IOC. After all proposals have been submitted, the IOC votes. If no city with the fewest votes is eliminated, the voting continues, until a majority winner is determined. Typically the Games are awarded several years in advance, allowing the winning city time to prepare for the Games. In selecting the site of the Olympic Games, the IOC considers a number of factors, and chiefly among them is which organizing committee seems most likely to stage the Games effectively. The IOC also considers which parts of the world have not yet hosted the Games. For instance, Tokyo, the host of the 1964 Summer Games, and Beijing, that of the 2008 Games, were chosen in part to popularize the Olympic movement in Asia. Because of growing importance television worldwide, the IOC in recent years has also taken into account the host city's time zone. Whenever the Games take place in the USA or Canada, for example, American television networks are willing to pay specially higher amounts for television rights because they can broadcast popular events live in the best viewing hours. Once the Games have been awarded, it is the duty of the local organizing committee----not the IOC or the NOC of the host city's country to provide them with money. This is often done with a part of the Olympic television revenues , and corporate sponsorships , tickets sales, and other smaller revenue sources. In many cases there is also direct government support. Although many cities have achieved amounts of money by hosting the Games, the Olympics can be financially risky. When the financial gains from the Games were less than expected, the city was left with large debts. _ will be determined to host the Olympic Games by the IOC. A) A city that submits a proposal B) A majority winner in voting C) A city that has perfect time zone D) One that hasn't hosted the Games
B