My father was a foreman of a sugar-cane plantation in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. My first job was to drive the oxen that ploughed the cane fields. I would walk behind an ox, guiding him with a broomstick. For $ 1 a day, I worked eight hours straight, with no food breaks. It was very _ work, but it prepared me for life and taught me many lasting lessons. Because the plantation owners were always watching us, I had to be on time every day and work as hard as I could. I've never been late for any job since. I also learned about being respectful and faithful to the people you work for. More important, I earned my pay; it never entered my mind to say I was sick just because I didn't want to work. I was only six years old, but I was doing a man's job. Our family needed every dollar we could make because my father never earned more than $ 18 a week. Our home was a three-room wood shack with a dirty floor and no toilet. Nothing made me prouder than bringing home money to help my mother, father, two brothers and three sisters. This gave me self-esteem , one of the most important things a person can have. When I was seven, I got work at a golf course near our house. My job was to stand down the fairway and spot the balls as they landed, so the golfers could find them. Losing a ball meant you were fired, so I never missed one. Some nights I would lie in bed and dreamt of making thousands of dollars by playing golf and being able to buy a bicycle. The more I dreamed, the more I thought. Why not? I made my first golf club out of guava limb and a piece of pipe. Then I hammered an empty tin can into the shape of a ball. And finally I dug two small holes in the ground and hit the ball back and forth. I practiced with the same devotion and intensity . I learned working in the field -- except now I was driving golf balls with club, not oxen with a broomstick . _ gave the writer serf-esteem. A) Having a family of eight people B) Owning his own golf course C) Bringing money back home to help the family D) Helping his father with the work on the plantation
C
(Question)
It is said that most people have not more than 30 friends at any given time, and 400 over the whole of their lives. However, on social networking sites, most users have about 150 friends. If these numbers are correct, then friendship means different things in different situations. Also, there are no rules about friendship. There are no instructions about how to make friends, how to keep friendships going, and how to finish friendships if we want to move on. People have very different opinions about this: some people would die for their friends and they value them more than family. Others say that friends are temporary, only there to help each other until they are no longer needed. If people with such different views become friends, this can lead to problems. Because of these different definitions of friendship, it is easy to be unhappy about our friendships. We may want them to be deeper or closer, or we may want to have more friends in our lives. Sometimes we simply do not have the time to develop our friendships, or we fear we have left it too late in life to start. If we move to another country or city, we have to find ways to make new friends again. This dissatisfaction shows us how important friendships are for most of us. We should not think that it could be too late to build friendships. We also need to understand that the need to be around other people is one that is shared by many. Therefore, we should not be too frightened about starting to talk to people who in the future may become our friends: it is likely that they too would like to get closer to us. Remember what people say: strangers are friends we have not met yet. According to the text, how many friends do the majority of people probably have? A) Over 400 friends in their whole lives. B) 30 friends or fewer at a certain stage. C) 400 internet friends in their whole lives. D) 150 internet friends at a certain stage.
(Answer)
B
Ques: Ever felt like destroying the car in front of you when you're stuck in an endless traffic jam? Well, the Spanish company StopStress is offering clients the possibility of doing just that-but in controlled, safe conditions. Clients can also destroy computers, mobile phones and TV sets in what the company calls" ". "We target the machines that cause the most stress in modern life," company co-founder Jorge Arribas said in a telephone interview."People get rid of stress by screaming and beating the machines until they are tired out,"he explained. The company, based in the northern Spanish city of Sofia, uses deserted cars that still work. Heavy-metal music is used to excite the clients. They are given protective suits and glasses, helmets and huge hammers. Most people's rage only lasts for 5 to 10 minutes. But some go on for hours: they beat cars on which they've put the names of people or ideas they would like to get rid of. "Some even get together to turn the car over,"Arribas says. A session costs 60 euros (US$80) per person. Arribas says the idea came to him when he was having trouble parking his car. Dozens of people have used the therapy, which helps people become aware of their stress level and helps them to slow down, Arribas explained. "It's better to channel violence in a controlled way than to get it out on one's wife or in a traffic husband and jam,"he added. StopStress already has branches in three Spanish cities, and is planning to extend its market beyond Spain's borders. The Spanish company StopStress offers people the chance to _ . A) calm down when they are angry B) destroy things they no longer need C) get rid of stress by destroying things D) get rid of stress by screaming and shouting
Ans: C
The State Council submitted a bill which aims to allow couples to have two children if either parent is an only child. It focuses on adjusting and improving the family planning policy. The State Council argues adjustment to the policy in the face of a steadily declining birth rate. The birth rate has remained relatively low and shows a tendency to fall further. The rate has dropped to between 1.5 and 1.6 since the 1990s, which means each Chinese woman of child-bearing age gives birth to 1.5 to 1.6 children on average. The working population began to drop in 2012 by 3.45 million every year, and it is likely to fall by 8 million each year after 2023. The population aged 60 and above will reach 400 million and account for one-fourth of the total population in the early 2030s, up from one-seventh now. "If the current family planning policy continues, the birth rate will continue to fall and lead to a sharp drop of the total population after reaching a peak," said Li Bin, minister in charge of the National Health and Family Planning Commission. "It is the right time to make changes: The low birth rate is stable, the working population is still large and the burden of supporting the elderly remains relatively light," he added. An increase in birth is expected if the policy changes but will not seriously affect the food supply, public education, health care or employment. China's food safety and public service plans are designed to meet the needs of 1.43 billion population in 2020 and 1.5 billion in 2033. Even with the policy change, the total population will reach no more than 1.38 billion in 2015, Li said. The new policy may have an effect on the following expect _ . A) public education B) the food supply C) the divorce rate D) employment
C