Q: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: The Ministry of Education in Singapore is releasing a new book this month that summarizes the thinking behind the model method for teaching math.The approach has drawn interest from many comers of the world thanks to the country's top performance on international exams.Last night, education officials and researchers from the US and Singapore highlighted some key differences between the two systems. Singapore's method is highly visual and explores fewer topics, but in greater depth.While Singapore's text books have an average of 34 lessons with 15 pages of explanation for each, much bulkier texts in the US include an average of 157 lessons, with about four pages of explanation per lesson.There arc some more surprising differences. Professional development is intensive for all teachers in Singapore, but strangely about half of the elementary teachers do not have university degrees.That is certain to change, though, as education standards for entering teachers are increasing, said Madame Low, the director of curriculum, planning and development with Singapore's Ministry of Education." Starting salaries for math teachers match public sector accountants or engineers.Teachers are treated as professionals," added Madame Low. Mentoring programs for new teachers in Singapore last five years! Teacher evaluations there are extremely comprehensive, and teachers who succeed receive bonuses worth one to three months of salary.Grades one and two have smaller class sizes--only 30 students.Students are taught in English, not their native tongue.Many are bilingual or trilingual. People often ask, how applicable is a successful model in Singapore to the more diverse and much larger US? I'm also interested in the practical challenges.Given that books in the US are written with state standards and assessments in mind, matching them up with another country's approach might be tough. What do you think? How applicable is a successful model in Singapore to the US? Question: From the book by the Ministry of Education in Singapore, we know _ . - Singapore's math teachers offer more explanation in the class - Singapore has as good math methods as the US - mentoring programs in Singapore may benefit new teachers - math teachers get higher salaries than the other teachers in Singapore
A: mentoring programs in Singapore may benefit new teachers

Q: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Jeffery Deaver looks more like a brainy villain in a James Bond movie than a "00" agent in Her Majesty's secret service.Best known for his thrillers starring criminalist Lincoln Rhyme, Jeffery Deaver has a new mission: Bring Bond into the 21st century in a new 007 novel. The yet-to-be-named book is cryptically referred to as "Project X" by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd., which owns the rights to Fleming's work.Most of the details surrounding Project X, to be published in May, are being kept under wraps, but under gentle coaxing Deaver begins to spill his guts."The novel," he says, "is set in the present day, in 2011.Bond is a young agent for the British secret service.He's 29 or 30 years old, and he's an Afghan war vet." That in itself is big news.After all, if Bond were aging in real time -- he first appeared on the screen in 1953 -- the now doddering 007 would be nearly 90. But first up: a new stand-alone Deaver novel, Edge (Simon & Schuster, $26.99), to be published Tuesday.It's about a federal agent who risks his life to protect a Washington police detective from a man hired to extract information from him using any means at his disposal . Sipping coffee while seated on a leather chair in a sitting room decorated with portraits of his dogs and show ribbons, the mild-mannered author who writes about murderers and serial killers talks about his career and the solid fan base that has allowed him to pursue writing full time since 1990."I may not sell as many books as John Grisham(although he has sold a cool 20 million), but I have a very loyal fan base," says Deaver, 60, who wrote some of his novels while working as a Wall Street lawyer.Deaver's initiation into the Bond family -- more than 100 million 007 novels have sold worldwide -- could significantly raise his profile . Other novelists have written Bond novels since Ian Fleming's death in 1964 -- including Kingsley Amis, John Gardner and, most recently, Sebastian Faulks -- but they all took place in the original era.Deaver is taking a new... Question: Which of the following is NOT true about Jeffery Deaver? - Jeffery Deaver is a "00" agent in Her Majesty's secret service in a James Bond movie. - Jeffery Deaver was working as a lawyer while he wrote some novels about murderers and serial killers. - It is the loyal fan base that has allowed Jeffery Deaver to keep on writing since 1990. - Jeffery Deaver is best known for his thrillers rather than for 007 novels.
A: Jeffery Deaver is a "00" agent in Her Majesty's secret service in a James Bond movie.

Q: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Now and again I have had horrible dreams, but not enough of them to make me lose my delight in dreams. To begin with. I like the idea of dreaming, of going to bed and lying still and then, by some queer magic, wandering into another kind of existence. As a child, I could never understand why grown-ups took dreaming so calmly when they could make such a fuss about any holiday, this still puzzles me. I am puzzled by people who say they never dream and appear to have no interest in the subject. It is much more astonishing than it would be if they said they never went out for a walk. Most people do not seem to accept dreaming as part of their lives. They appear to see it as an irritating little habit, like sneezing or yawning I can never understand this. My dream life does not seem as important as my waking life because there is far less of it, but to me it is important. Question: What is the author's attitude toward dreaming? - He thinks it puzzling - He likes it - He is interested in it - He doesn't accept it as part of his life
A: He likes it