Have you ever been afraid to talk back when you were treated unfairly? Have you ever bought something just because the salesman talked you into it? Many people are afraid to assert (,) themselves.Dr.Robert Albert, author of STAND UP, SPEAK OUT and TALK BACK, thinks it is because their self-respect is low."There's always a superior around--a parent, a teacher, a boss who knows better.'' But Albert and other scientists are doing something to help people assert themselves. They offer assertiveness training courses, A.T.for short.In the A.T.course people learn that they have a right to be themselves.They learn to speak out and feel good about doing so.They learn to be confident without hurting other people. In one way, learning to speak out is to get rid of fear.A group taking an A.T.course will help the _ person to lose his fear.But A.T.uses an even stronger motive to share the need.The timid person speaks out in the group because he wants to tell how he feels. Whether or not you speak up for yourself depends on your self-respect.If your face is more important than you, you may feel less of a person.You start to doubt your answers to problems.However, once you get to feel good about yourself, you can learn to speak out. Which of the following is NOT the thing the A.T.course does? A) Encourage people to speak out . B) Showing people they have a right to be themselves. C) Helping them to be brave enough. D) Helping people to assert themselves even if others are hurt.
D
It's a bicyclist's dream: a bike that can't be stolen. The Yerka, designed by three young Chilean engineering students, is the latest entry in a trend of bikes. They use their saddle seat as a lock. They can also use their handlebar as a lock. But the inventors of the Yerka have made an improvement to it. The bike's lower frame opens up into two arms that are then connected to the seat post and locked to a post, so thieves would have to destroy a Yerka to get it unlocked. "That's why our motto is 'A bike that gets stolen is no longer a bike'. What we have here is truly an unstealable bike," said Cristobal Cabello, who came up with the design during a college engineering class with childhood friends Andres Roi Eggers and Juan Jose Monsalve. In Chile and elsewhere in Latin America, the spread of cycling lanes, storage racks and bike share programs are encouraging people to change from cars to bikes , which are cheaper and environmentally friendly. Cristobal Galban said a study by his team in 2013 found that the use of bikes has doubled among Chileans in five years. The main problem in Chile and elsewhere is robberies. The most effective strategy commonly used in London today is to take the bike into the office with the rider. Other strategies involve using a bike that looks so unattractive that nobody will want to steal it. But now the Yerka can help solve the problem. Now, while waiting for the patent to be approved and carrying out more tests the team plans to raise funds. They're also looking for a partner who can invest $300,000 needed to produce 1,000 bikes first that they hope will be sold by mid-2016. What is the main idea of the passage? A) Bikes in Chile can easily get stolen B) Chile is encouraging the use of bikes C) An expensive bike drew the world's attention D) Three Chileans designed an unstealable bike
D
Q: The way people in the US travel to and from work has changed a lot in the last fifty years. Before the Second World War, most people lived in the town or the city where they worked. Almost everyone either walked to work or used a good inexpensive transportation system Many of these systems were electrified and ran on tracks, so they used very little energy. After 1945, the US government built many new roads and highways. People moved farther and farther form the cities where they worked because they could drive their cars on these new roads from their suburban homes to work in the city. Some of the big car makers also bought the electrified transportation systems and destroyed them. As people stopped using public transporation , cities spent less money fixing old buses and trains or buying new ones. Public transportation got worse and worse. In the late 1960s, people found out that the increase in the use of cars led to many problems. There were always too many cars for the highway system, and terrible traffic problems developed. People were spending hours in traffic jams getting to and from work every day. In addition, the air in many cities became dirty because of pollution from millions of cars, and many people died in traffic accidents. As people began to get worried about how the use of cars was hurting the environment, cities began to spend more money on public transportation again, so fewer people would have to drive cars. When gas became very expensive in the mid-1970s, the number of people taking public transportation began to increase .It's terribly expensive to build new public transportation systems. so it's very difficult to make big changes in the way people travel .However ,an increase in the use of public transportation has begun. It can be inferred from the passage that the author seems to favor _ . A) gas cars B) busses and trains C) bicycles D) electric cars
A: B
*Question*
Animal moms are great moms. You might be surprised at some of these moms. Octopuses The mother octopus lays about 50,000 eggs. For about 300 days, she stays with the eggs, cleans them and protects them. She does not leave to feed. However, this animal mom dies as soon as the eggs are hatched . Crocodiles A crocodile mother puts a lot of time and effort into raising her babies. She starts by building a nest , which she guards for over two months! When the eggs are ready to hatch, the young crocs call out to their mother, who digs them out and helps them hatch. She then carries them in her mouth down to the water, where she will guard them for several more weeks or months until they learn to hunt on their own. Bats Bats become moms by hanging head up in a cave, giving birth. Catching the youngster before it can fall to the ground below, she puts it in a pouch . Bat moms may carry babies with them when feeding for the first few days. As the little bats get bigger and heavier, moms help them hang on the wall of their caves and return often to feed them. It continues for about three weeks, until the babies are grown up and able to fly on their own. Koalas The animal mom gives birth after a pregnancy of only 35 days. The hairless baby climbs into its mother's pouch and lives there for another five months. When the little koala is between five and eight months old, it leaves the pouch for short periods of time but returns for safety. Once it is too big to return to the pouch, it will climb onto its mother's back and ride there until it is about 12 months old. How long does a young koala usually stay with its mom? A) 35 days. B) 5 months. C) 8 months. D) 12 months.
**Answer**
D