Article: I moved to this area seven years ago. For years I have had noisy neighbours. Ever since I moved into this flat, I've had to put up with noise during the night. I decided I'd had enough and I've been looking for a new flat since the beginning of the year. I haven't found anything till now. Every week I go to the estate agent's office, but it's the same story. "I might have something by the end of the week" he says, or, "Wait till next week. I think I might have a few flats by then." I've seen a few flats during my search, but I don't like any of them. One flat I saw has been empty for two years. "It's got a busy road on one side and a railway on the other!" I said loudly, "I want peace and quiet." Last week I visited the agent again. "I won't leave till you show me something," I said. "I've got just the flat for you." I went to see it and I was frightened. "But it's next to a cemetery!" I cried. "But you won't have noisy neighbours," my agent said. "It's exactly right for peace and quiet!" Question: The writer has had to bear the noise in this area for _ years. Yes or no, is the answer "about seven"?
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Article: I still remember--my hands and my fingers still remember--what used to lie in store for us on our return to school from the holidays. The trees in the school yard would be in full leaf again and the old leaves would be lying around like a muddy sea of leaves. "Get that all swept up!" the headmaster would tell us. "I want the whole place cleaned up, at once!" There was enough work there, to last over a week. Especially since the only tools with which we were provided were our hands, our fingers, and our nails. "Now see that it's done properly, and be quick about it," the headmaster would say to the older pupils, "or you'll have to answer for it!" So at an order from the older boys we would all line up like peanuts about to cut and gather in crops. If the work was not going as quickly as the headmaster expected, the big boys, instead of giving us a helping hand, used to find it simpler to beat us with branches pulled from the trees. In order to avoid these blows , we used to bribe the older boys with the juicy cakes we used to bring for our midday meals. And if we happened to have any money on us, the coins changed hands at once. If we did not do this, if we were afraid of going home with an empty stomach or an empty purse, the blows were redoubled. They hit us so violently and with such evil enjoyment that even a deaf and dumb person would have realized that we were being whipped not so much to make us work harder, but rather to beat us into a state of obedience in which we would be only too glad to give up our food and money. Occasionally one of us, worn out by such calculated cruelty, would have the courage to complain to the headmaster. He would of course be very angry, but the punishment he gave the older boys was always very small--nothing compared to what they had done to us. And the fact is that however much we complained, our situation did not improve in the slightest. Perhaps we should have let our parents know what was going on, but somehow we never dreamed of doing so; I don't know whether it was... Question: According to Para. 3, if the author had any money on him, he most probably _ . Yes or no, is the answer "gave it to the big boys so as to please them"?
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Article: College graduation brings both the satisfaction of academic achievement and the expectation of a well-paid job. But for 6,000 graduates at prefix = st1 /San JoseStatethis year, there's uncertainty as they enter one of the worst job markets in decades. Ryan Stewart has a freshly-minted degree in religious studies, but no job prospects. "You look at everybody's parents and neighbors, and they're getting laid off and don't have jobs," said Stewart, "then you look at the young people just coming into the workforce... it's just scary." When the class of 2003 entered college, the future never looked brighter. But in the four years they've been here, the world outside has changed greatly. "Those were the exciting times, lots of _ opportunities, exploding offers, students getting top dollar with lots of benefits," said Cheryl Allmen-Vinnidge of theSan JoseStateCareerCenter. "Times have changed. It's a mew market." Cheryl Allmen-Vinnidge ought to know. She runs the San JoseStateCareerCenter, sort of a crossroad between college and the real world. Allmen-Vinnidge says students who do find jobs after college have done their homework. "The typical graduate who does have a job offer started working on it two years ago. They've postured themselves well during the summer. They've had several internships ", she said. And they've majored in one of the few fields that are still hot, like chemical engineering, accounting, or nursing, where average starting salaries have actually increased over last year. Other popular fields have seen big declines in starting salaries. Ryan Stewart may just end up going back to school. "I'd like to teach college some day and that requires more schooling, which would be great in a bad economy," he said. To some students, a degree may not be a ticket to instant wealth. For now, they can only hope its value will increase overtime. Question: The purpose of a college career center is probably to _ . Yes or no, is the answer "prepare students to find jobs after they graduate"?
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Article: During the week days,they are luckily busy office people; but on weekends,they are just a brood of stay home animals.A recent survey shows that office workers in China prefer quiet and easy ways to spend their weekends. In the survey,conducted by job seeking and offering website Zhaopin.com,32.8 percent of the 6000 respondents choose to stay home at weekends and have a good rest,the Beijing Morning Post reported. Twenty percent use their days off to do housework. And only 19.3 percent are willing to have fun during the break time from work.Their first choice of fun is shopping. Other choices,though practiced by few,include meeting friends,accompanying the children,trips to the suburbs,and lessons for more skills. When they go shopping,54.5 percent of the white collars actually shop in supermarkets,while 27.9 percent attend other stores,especially when discounts are offered. These activities don't seem to cost much,as 60 percent spend average less than 200 yuan(US$26)during weekends,and 30 percent no more than 500 yuan. When asked whom they would spend the weekends with,about 40 percent mention their partners,and 30 percent prefer a weekend all by themselves.Less than 20 percent hang out with friends. Only 5.8 percent would kill the time with their colleagues.This is because we tend to avoid too many personal contacts with our coworkers when we don't have to work with them,according to some experts. Question: Why will less than ten percent of office workers kill the time with their colleagues at weekends? Yes or no, is the answer "Because they tend to avoid too many personal contacts with them when they don't have to."?
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