Lisa Pina never thought she would need the fire safety training she received during her apprenticeship as a union painter and dry waller. On Friday morning,she was thanking God she had _ . On Thursday night,while Pina was babysitting her granddaughter,nephew and two nieces in her sister's apartment,she smelled smoke and realized the apartment building was on fire. When her 4yearold granddaughter Ilean Garcia began saying,"We're going to die,"she knew she had to act.Pina,39,first sealed the door,and then told all four children to get on the floor. After calling 911,she told the children to start singing and promised them all treats as soon as they reached safety. "I said,'OK,we're going to lie down and we're all going to play a game,'" Pina said. "We all started singing our ABCs and 123s.I was just trying to make it fun." Pina patiently waited,and a few minutes later,Riverside County sheriff's deputies arrived. Pina,Ilean,8yearold Gabriel Parga,5yearold Aubreyana Parga and 4yearold Meriyah Parga were all trapped on the second floor as flames filled the first story. Pina did the only thing she could. She opened the window and dropped the children,onebyone,into the arms of the sheriff's deputies about 15 to 20 feet below. "I just needed to keep the kids calm so they wouldn't be afraid,"Pina said."I was deathly afraid inside,but I couldn't let them know that."[Not long after dropping the children out of the window,firefighters arrived with a ladder and rescued her. Ten people were treated at the scene for suffering smoke,but nobody was seriously injured. Before Lisa Pina called 911,in order to prevent the fire,she _ . A) let children get on the floor B) opened the windows of the second floor C) closed the door hard D) had children start singing
C
(Question)
Volunteering abroad is great. Not only do you travel to an exotic country, you also meet like-minded people, and at the end of it all you have something to put on your CV to impress employers with. But did you ever stop to think about how great it is for the people on the receiving end? In this context, Daniela Papi has a point---foreigners rushing heroically to volunteer in a country they've never heard of are unlikely to make a difference. But turning volunteering camps into classrooms, as Papi seems to advocate in her article, risks throwing the baby out with the bath water by putting people off of volunteering. Rather, learning should be a natural part of the experience, and the key to creating such an environment is positioning everyone as equals. In order for _ to happen, volunteers need competent leaders who create an environment of equality: When, a few years ago, I joined a group of international volunteers to help a small farming community in the Swiss Alps, we were all quite ignorant about the local conditions. But thanks to our group leader, it was both a helpful project for the locals and a fun and eye-opening experience for us.Before we had even traveled (at our own expense) to the mountaintop village, our group leader had spent time with the villagers preparing the project to make sure it would be of benefit to them. She arranged for us to help in different areas, ensuring that we always worked alongside locals rather than for them. It was never "us" and "them", but always "we", like a big family. As a result, conversation flowed and we learned a great deal just by casually talking to the locals as we worked.At the end, we left with a deep appreciation for the labor of love that goes into producing the food we eat every dayan appreciation we could treasure ourselves and share with our peers. Volunteering isn't about saving someone's life, or even about changing it. It's about touching a different world and reminding ourselves that there is much, much more to life than the daily routines we take... From the author's viewpoint, what should international volunteers avoid? A) Placing themselves above the locals. B) Taking food for granted. C) Disrespecting others' labor. D) Being proud of volunteering.
(Answer)
A
Ques: Pasta is the world's favorite food. Asurveytaken in 17 countriesconfirmedthat pasta is what people like to eat most. Not only is pasta the number one food in its home country -Italy, but is alsoenjoyedin faraway places like the Philippines, Mexico andSouth Africa. Pasta has become popular, for one thing, because it is cheap and easy to prepare. Just cook noodles or other forms of pasta, make a sauce to go with it and you're finished. Many different types of meals can becreatedwith pasta. It tastes good and fills your stomach. It produces energy in the form ofcarbohydrates , which is whyathleteseat pasta regularly. Pasta can also be kept for a longer time. You don't have to use it up at once. Pasta has also become popular because it stands for the Italian way of life. People all over the world like it because it's so simple. It has two basic ingredients , wheatand water, just like bread. Legend has itthat Marco Polo brought pasta back to Italy with him but this is not true. Arabs probably brought a noodle-likedishtoSicilyin the 8th century. Farmers have been growing wheat, the mainingredientof pasta, there for ages. The worldwide sales of pasta have risen sharply over the past decade. Italy leads the pasta-eatingcommunityof the world. The Italians are the number one consumers followed by Venezuela and Tunisia. Sports people often have pasta because _ . A) it costs less money B) it can be kept longer C) it provides proper energy D) it contains no carbohydrates
Ans: C
Most teenagers in the United States spend their time trying to make time for school,family and friends.But some choose bigger goals. At age 15,Winter Vinecki has already had more successes than most people have in their lifetime."I recently completed a marathon on all seven continents and became the youngest person in the world to do so.And I was really doing this for my dad." Doctors discovered that Winter's father had a rare and deadly form of prostate cancer when she was nine years old.Then he died 10 months later."When he was first diagnosed with prostate cancer I immediately knew I had to do something to help him.That's when I formed Team Winter for prostate cancer research and awareness." Through Team Winter and social media,Winter Vinecki has raised almost 500,000 dollars.She has taken prostate cancer education worldwide through foot races called marathons,on seven continents.In the United States she travels continually to talk about prostate cancer and urge others to act. Winter Vinecki attended a conference recently in Los Angeles,California and spoke at the conference as one of several teenagers who spoke about young people who were living extraordinary lives. "So prostate cancer is much more common but men don't want to talk about it.So that is why a ten-year-old girl had to go out there and start talking about it for them." Another speaker was Jack Andraka who invented a sensor which is not as expensive as traditional equipment that can't be afforded by most common people.It can identify cancers of the pancreas and lungs.He was 15 at the time. Jack is now 17 and seeking patents for his latest inventions.He has developed low-cost water quality equipment which can help identify and remove heavy metals and poisonous chemicals from water. "I hope to see them used in the developing nations such as Bangladesh and parts of China and India,especially as well as in parts of Africa,where these heavy metal and pesticides and other kinds of waste are a major problem." What do you know about Jack Andraka's new invention? A) It was invented when he was 15. B) It is widely used in developing countries. C) It is designed to make polluted water cleaner. D) It is under improvement because it costs too much.
C