For families on vacation,a playground provides a welcome break from sightseeing.It can also provide a glimpse into the local culture,from the setup of the park to the ways families interact.Here are the designs that live up to that challenge. Fruit and Scent Park, Stockholm Is there a picky eater on a steady diet of chicken fingers and cheese? Perhaps a trip to Sweden's Fruit and Scent Park will change his or her culinary tune.This playground features a banana slide,an orange seesaw,pear huts,a watermelon jungle gym and a pair of cherry swings,all designed by public artist Johan Ferner Strom.Now,who can say you can't play with your food? Nishi Rokugo Park, Tokyo Located between central Tokyo and the city of Kawasaki,Nishi Rokugo combines recycled rubber tires with traditional playground equipment.In total,more than 3,000 tires of different sizes are used to create tunnels,bridges,tall sculptures for climbing and,of course,tire swings.There's little shade,so you can visit here in the early morning or late afternoon for the most comfortable weather, and be sure to wear your play clothes. $?Bicentennial Children's Park, Santiago,Chile Set a top San Cristobal Hill,the Bicentennial Children's playground in Metropolitan Park was built to celebrate 200 years of Chilean independence and improve the lives of Santiago citizens.Dozens of slides are built into the slope,creating a design completely complementary of the surrounding landscape.Fountains offer some relief from the sun,and ample seating gives parents a place to relax. Why does the author recommend Bicentennial Children's Park? A) It becomes part of the surroundings. B) It was built to improve people's lives. C) It amuses kids and helps parents get relaxed. D) It provides slides for both children and adults.
C
If my life were a movie, I would fast-forward through junior high.Like every junior high kid, I was struggling with who I was and how I would make my mark in life.But I was sure I was alone with these strange feelings. I was trying and failing in a number of things.I wanted to do well in athletics but had not yet figured out that would never happen.I wasn't academic enough to spell academic.I was trying to gain a spot as a new kid in school.All the while, I remember suffering the rejection of most of my peer, being cut from the basketball team, failing to play football that I so wanted to play.To be loved and accepted seemed to me at the time something I could never, in all my life, achieve. During that time I would go through the cafeteria line and eat alone, feeling unloved and unnoticed.As spring came, one day I was starting out the door and complaining that I had no one to eat with.Mom said to me, "If you want, you can come home for lunch." That day, when lunch came, it was a beautiful spring day in the hills of central Ohio.The bell rang at noon and I _ from the school and ran across the little village home to eat. That was in about 1972.thirty years ago.My mom sat across the table for about 15 minutes and looked at me and listened to me and three decades later I still remember those times with fondness.She just paid attention to me.It's a powerful thing to pay attention to people. I now know that I didn't need my stomach filled as much as I needed my emotional fuel tank refilled.I just needed a friendly place of warm acceptance for a few minutes a day.And refueling an emotional fuel tank is a good mother's specialty. Now you know a little more about how I see home.Home is a place where you don't have to sit alone and eat.Home is a place where people don't ignore you and avoid you.Moms are people who listen to you when no one else is interested.And moms don't ever think the small unexciting things you do don't matter.Moms don't laugh at your dreams.Good moms pay attention.Great moms fix you something... In the author's opinion, _ . A) good moms help you repair daily things B) where there is warm acceptance, there is home C) where your fuel tank is filled, there is home D) great moms provide food and emotional support
D
Q: The air hostess was in a small kitchen at the back of the plane, preparing the plates for lunch, when a little old lady came and spoke to her, "Could you please tell me," she asked, "where is the ladies' lavatory in the plane?" "Yes, madam," said the air hostess and smiled. "It is right at the other end of the plane---at the front." The little lady went too far. She walked all the way to the front of the plane, opened the door in front of her, and saw the captain of the plane and the other officers. They were all busy with their work and did not see her. She went out again, shut the door and returned to the air hostess. "Oh, didn't you find it, madam?" the girl asked her. "Yes, I did," said the little lady. "But there are four men in the ladies' lavatory watching television." What were the four men doing when the little old lady opened the door? A) They were busy working in the control room. B) They were working while watching television. C) They were watching television in the ladies' lavatory. D) They were enjoying themselves by watching television.
A: A
*Question*
I was stuck in O'hare airport on an extremely long weather delay, pacing up and down the waiting hall for some exercise, when I passed a wine bar for the twentieth time or so. But this time there was a young woman behind the piano, playing what I could only describe as absolutely beautiful classical music. She had not been there ten minutes earlier when I passed. I sat down at an empty table for four very near the piano, and began to be warmed by her music and a bit by the wine! She played so effortlessly and with such beauty in every note. Her music immediately brought a huge smile to my face! Soon, on a break, I thanked her and she told me that after a long day traveling, and now also facing long weather delays, she "just needed to _ ." Wow! Her version of blowing off steam was a gift to get. As I sat alone drinking my wine, absorbed in this young woman's celebration of her musical passion, two women approached my table and asked if they could join me. I invited them to sit and we immediately began sharing our love of music and celebrating the happiness the piano music was bringing us at that moment. The two women and I began to talk about our travels, life journeys, and passions. Hearing that unbelievable piano music, and then meeting such interesting women, who generously shared with me their wisdom, perspectives, and feelings of love for each other, was truly joyous. Faced with an 11-hour travel day -- to get what normally takes 45 minutes -- could have been physically and emotionally exhausting. Rather, by accident of walking by a wine bar at the right moment, and having a couple of seats open at my table, my life was filled with joy. I will cherish those moments for some time to come. This experience highlights the critical need in our lives to stop and listen to the music, to invite others to sit at your life table, to open yourself up to a stranger or two, sharing some of your deepest perspectives and experiences. Be open to noticing, absorbing, and also contributing to the joy around you! The author writes the text in order to encourage people _ . A) to make the acquaintance of strangers B) to share your experiences with others C) to communicate with others more often D) to notice and enjoy the happiness around you
**Answer**
D