Q: On a hot summer's day Jonathan and his classmates were anxiously sitting in their classroom, waiting for the final bell of the day to sound. Jonathan prayed that the bell would ring soon, because he wanted to quickly run home before the three huge, fat, smelly bullies could see him. Every day the three bullies would wait there for an innocent school kid to tease and bully. The moment the bell sounded, Jonathan rushed out with his bag. He sped off across the school field and out onto the walkway. However, all of his effort was useless because leaning on a fence were the three bullies. Jonathan thought about crossing the street next to him, but it would be too risky. So he hid behind a small bush in hope that the three would leave. But he moved too quickly and was seen by one of the bullies. They approached him then. One bully grabbed Jonathan by the collar of his shirt and grabbed the money out of Jonathan's pocket and put it into his own. "G-Give it back", Jonathan weakly said. "G-G-Give it b-back", mocked the bully. The other two bullies laughed. Beside them was a small dirty stream. "Let's throw him in there", said one of the bullies. Then they threw Jonathan into the stream and walked off down the walkway. Jonathan shakily picked himself up out of the creek and continued his walk home with his head down and tears in his eyes. He dared not cry because he knew boys didn't cry. Jonathan arrived at his house where his mother was waiting outside the front door with an angry look on her face. "Why are you so late and dirty?" she asked curiously. "I slipped", he quietly replied. Why did Jonathan run home immediately after school? A) Because his mother was strict with him. B) Because he was afraid of his mother. C) Because he had to escape being bullied D) Because he didn't like to go to school.
A: C

Q: Research has long backed the therapeutic value of diary-keeping for teenage girls and boys.But according to a new study, when teenagers detail their sadness onto a blog, the therapeutic value is even greater.Blogging, it seems, can be good for you. The study, published in the journal Psychological Services and conducted by Meyran Boniel-Nissim and Azy Barak, psychology professors at the University of Haifa, Israel, found the contact with an online community through a blog made it more effective in relieving the writer's social anxiety than a private diary would be. To track teenagers' experiences with blogging, the researchers randomly surveyed high school students in Israel and selected 161 of them who exhibited some level of social anxiety or stress.The teenagers, who averaged 15 years old, said they had difficulty making new friends or relating to their existing friends. The teenagers were divided into six groups.The first two groups were asked to blog about their social difficulties, with one group asked to open their posts to comments.The second two groups were asked to blog about whatever struck their adolescent fancy; again, with one group allowing comments.All four groups were told to write in their blogs at least twice a week.As a control, two more groups were told to keep either an old-fashioned print diary or to do nothing at all. All of their blog records were then read through by four psychologists to determine the authors' social and emotional state.In all the groups, the greatest improvement in mood occurred among those bloggers who wrote about their problems and allowed commenters to respond. Interestingly, the commenters on the blogs were quite supportive."The only kind of surprise we had was that almost all comments made by readers were very positive and constructive in trying to offer support for anxious bloggers," Dr.Barak wrote in an e-mail. The researchers surveyed the students in Israel in order to _ . A) make us believe that blogging is a must for teenagers B) prove blogging is more effective in solving teens' emotional problems C) find out their social and emotional state and help them out D) check if blogging can help improve teens' emotional state
A: B

Q: Digital technology -- email and smart phones especially--have vastly improved workers' ability to be productive outside of a traditional office. Even so, most white-collar work still happens in an office. One reason is that, according to findings of a new survey of office workers conducted by Wakefield Research for the IT company Citrix, most bosses are doubtful about remote working. Half of the workers say their boss doesn't accept it, and only 35 percent say it's tolerated. Skeptical bosses will likely have their doubts reinforced by the same survey, which shows that 43 percent of workers say they've watched TV or a movie while "working" remotely, while 35 percent have done housework,and 28 percent have cooked dinner. It is true, however, that working at home makes people much more efficient , because it allows workers to take care of annoying housework while still getting their jobs done. It's much faster, for example, to shop for groceries at a quarter to three than to stand in line during the after-work rush. The fact that such practices remain officially unaccepted reflects how far we haven't come as a society from the days when we expected every full-time worker to be supported by a full-time homemaker. More broadly the Wakefield survey suggests that employers may be missing a low-cost way to give workers something of value. Sixty-four percent of those survey participants who haven't worked remotely would rather give up some bonus in order to get even one day a week working from home. Under such circumstances, smart firms need to find ways to let their employees have enough ability to change or be changed easily to suit a different situation to manage their time efficiently. What does the author suggest smart firms do? A) Shorten their office hours. B) Give employees a pay raise. C) Adopt flexible work patterns. D) Reduce their staff's workload.
A: C

Q: Welcome to this Website on the British Isles. Over the coming months it will be expanded to allow you to find information on all aspects of life in the British Isles. The British Isles is visited by millions of people each year, many returning time and again. Wales: Wales is full of fascinating places to visit and stay. The castles of Beaumaris, Conwy, Harlech and Caernarfon are officially listed as world heritage sites and provide an insight into the troubled past of this great land. The national park of Snowdonia is stunning and provides walkers and climbers with many opportunities to challenge their limits. South Wales also has interesting places to visit: Pembrokeshire is especially inviting for tourists. England: We all know about the attractions lf London but England has a lot more to offer outside of the city. The "English Riviers", Torquay, is blessed with good weather and is a major tourist attraction. This is a great place to stay and explore the local seaside resorts. Windsor castle is a great place to visit and the town and surrounding areas are beautiful. Warwick castle in the centre of England is world famous and holds regular evens to show how life was like in the time it was built. Scotland: A great place to visit, Scotland still has many places that are relatively uninhabited and are great for getting away from it all. Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the British Isles and the numerous lakes provide great fishing. In parts you can still hear Gaelic spoken and we all know about the Scottish expertise in making Whisky! You can also visit the ski resorts of Aviemore in the Cairngorms. Glasgow, the capital is now recognized as a centre of culture as well as being a great shopping centre. A mountain-climber will probably visit _ . A) Wales and England B) Wales and Scotland C) England and Wales D) Pembrokeshire and Torquay
A: B