I IMCKKD up the phone. Without so much as a hello ,a voice said: "What's new? We have an eagle in the backyard. It look me three second* lo recognize my nephew's a voice. He was excited. "He's sitting on top of a dead tree in the backyard .He's been there a long lime. We're tilling in the sunroom watching him." But actually, my nephew is blind. Ketinitis pigmentosa brgan stealing his sight when he was 12. He' s in his 20s now. "It's a big thing. Dad said it must have a wingspan of 6 feet (1.88 meters). We've got an eagle out hack!" I could believe they had the rare pleasure of spotting an eagle. What I couldn't believe was that my nephew, without sight, was giving the comment. It shouldn't have been that surprising,really? His sight might be gone, but he sees plenty. From memory, mostly; from conventions around him; from listening to television and radio. He has an amazing memory. We took him into town with us when we were visiting his parents once. Our GPS wasn' t working, so he gave us directions turn by turn, complete with landmarks, approximate distances and cautions on curves in the road. He knew exactly where we were and got us to where wanted to go. Second to his family, there are two things that have been important in this young man's life: a guide dog and a job. The guide dog gave him the confidence he didn't know he had. The job, "well" as his dad said: "Having a job makes him like everybody else. Now, he has something to come home and complain about at the end of the day." I never have a conversation with my nephew without asking about his job in case lie wants to complain. But I know-and I know that he knows work is a gift. We were created to work. We were made to produce goods and services, to invent and solve problems. Work is what drags us out of bed in the morning. Work gives us something to do and somewhere to go. If that doesn't I sound like a big deal, talk to someone who' s unemployed. It is working hard that enhances the lime that you don't work, from kicking back and reading a book to... What surprised the author when she received her nephew's phone call? A) An eagle remained in her nephew' s backyard for a long time. B) The sight of an eagle made her nephew so excited. C) Her nephew regained his sight after he had been blind for several years. D) Despite being blind, her nephew described the eagle as if he could really see it.
D
(Question)
As I walked along the Edgware Road, I felt as though the world was closing in on me. All the sounds I take for granted, had gone. I had entered a world of silence. This unsettling experience occurred a few weeks ago when I agreed to go deaf for the day to support the work of the charity Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, for which I am an ambassador. When I managed to take a cab to the office of my manager, Gavin, I couldn't hear what the taxi driver was saying to me. Conversation was impossible. Then, when I reached the office, I had to ring the intercom five times as I couldn't hear a response. Everybody said I was shouting at them--- I simply wasn't aware of how loudly I was speaking as I couldn't hear my own voice. Gavin kept telling me my phone was ringing, but I didn't realize. I was too busy trying to concentrate on reading his lips. And when he tried to tell me a code to put into my phone, I had to keep asking him to repeat it, more slowly. Eventually he lost his patience and snapped at me: "Just give me the phone!" I was shocked. People couldn't be bothered to repeat themselves, so they kept trying to do things for me that I was perfectly capable of doing myself. I felt I'd lost control. Being deaf for the day was extraordinarily tiring. I had to work so hard to "listen" with my eyes, get people's attention and use my other senses to make up for my lack of hearing. It was a huge, exhausting effort. Until that experience I didn't realize how much I took my own hearing for granted, or the sorts of emotions and experiences deaf people go through. If a deaf person asks you to repeat something, never think: "It doesn't matter." It does matter. Why did the author focus on reading Gavin's lips? A) By doing this he could understand what Gavin was saying. B) He wanted to be aware of what the code was. C) He attempted to get the code into the phone by himself. D) He didn't want to bother Gavin to repeat what he was saying.
(Answer)
A
Ques: My destination is the River Walk, one of the most popular places in all of Texas. In the first half of 20 century, to control flooding, the city fathers began redirecting the San Antonio River. They built a network of canals that pass through the downtown area. At nearly every street corner, stairs lead down to walkways on both sides of the canals. The River Walk is linked with cafes, bars, shops --- and, of course, plenty of bridges. You can easily cross over to the other side without having to return to the street. It's a constant party along the River Walk, with music and festivals throughout the year. The Mud Festival, for example, takes place each January, when the city empties this section of the river to clean it out. That's when the Mud King and Mud Queen are crowned. No visit to Texas would be complete without seeing a --- another aspect of this part of the country that is completely foreign to someone from New England. The announcer walks on stage and gets the crowd excited with talk about the courageous cowboys who'll be performing. While he's talking, a band plays sad songs about love gone wrong. Suddenly the announcer calls for silence. He takes off his tall hat and asks us to join him in prayer. We pray for the cowboys who are, we are told, risking their lives to entertain us, as well as for the bulls and other animals taking part in the shows. We pray for the tourists who are visiting. The rodeo gets going and the fun begins. Our prayers for the cowboys and animals are answered, and nobody gets hurt. But as we walk over to the cowboy dance hall after the show to enjoy a Texas-size barbecue, it's clear that not enough prayers were said for the bulls' less athletic relatives --- the ones not chosen for rodeo work. They'll be our meal. It seems that moving too slowly has its disadvantages, too. Which of the following words can NOT be used to describe the writer's mood? A) light-hearted B) excited C) anxious D) humorous
Ans:
C