*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Inside the pleasingly fragrant cafe, So All May Eat(SAME) in downtown Denver ,the spirit of generosity is instantly noticeable :A donation box stands in place of a cash register. Customers here pay only what they can afford, no questions asked. A risky business plan, perhaps, but SAME Cafe has done one unchangeable thing in the Mile High City for six years: Open only at midday, the restaurant provides poor local can instead volunteer as waiters and waitresses, and dishwashers, or took after the buildings and equipment for the cafe. "It's based on trust, and it's working all right" , says co-owner Brad Birky , who started the cafe in 2006. With his wife Libby. Previously volunteering at soup kitchens, the Birkys were dissatisfied with the often unhealthy meals they served there. "We wanted to offer quality food in a restaurant where everyone felt comfortable ,regardless of their circumstances," Birky says. SAME's special lunch menu changes daily and most food materials are natural and grown by local farmers. The cafe now averages 65 to 70 customers (and eight volunteers) a day. And the spirit of generosity behind the project appears to be spreading. In early 2007,one volunteer who had cleared snow for his meals during the long winter said goodbye to the Birkys," He said he was going to New Orleans to help with the hurricane clear up," says Birky. 68.What can we learn about the soup kitchens the Birkys previously worked for? Question: The author's attitude towards running such a cafe is _ Options: A: unfavorable B: approving C: doubtful D: cautious
**Answer**
B

*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: But what is teacher quality? How can one measure it reliably? An analysis is issued on a sample of data from a Texas school district. Experts argue convincingly that teacher effectiveness should be measured by students' gains on standardized tests: Mr. Smith is probably a better teacher than Ms. Brown if his students consistently improve their test scores more than hers do. Though this approach is appealing, there are tricky issues. For example, what if Ms. Brown teaches in a school where students score so high there is little room for improvement? The authors try to correct for this problem, as well as other sorts of measurement issues, to generate a measurement of teacher effectiveness. The paper is primarily concerned with how this measure is related to other observable characteristics. The first finding is that there is a large variation in teacher effectiveness: some teachers consistently have a larger impact on their students' achievement than others. Second, easily observable characteristics like having a master's degree or a passing score on the teacher certification exam are not correlated with teacher effectiveness. Then what does matter? The most important single influence is experience: first-year teachers are much less effective than others. The second year is significantly better, and by the fourth year, _ . It is not entirely clear whether this experience effect is learning by doing (the more you teach, the more effective you become) or survival of the fittest (those who are not good at teaching tend to drop out early.) From my reading of the paper, both effects appear important and there is no simple answer. The data do suggest, however, that teacher effectiveness is pretty clear by the end of the second year, so the information to make an informed decision is available at that time. The authors also investigate the contentious issue of racial matching of students and teachers. Here they find strong evidence that minority teachers tend to be more effective with minority students. Again, it is... Question: Which of the following may serve as the best title? Options: A: The Quality of Teaching B: Impact of Teacher Quality on Student Learning C: Different Sorts of Measurement Issues D: Survival-of-the-fittest Model vs. Learning-by-doing Model
**Answer**
C

*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Nearly everyone agrees that money doesn't buy as much as it used to, no matter when you want to spend it. This is certainly true of the paper money that passes so quickly through one's hands. But what about coins that seem to do very little except stay in purses and pockets? Unlike notes, metal money becomes more valuable the longer it is held, especially if it is put away where it won't get scratched or worn. Why is this? One reason is that coins, being more durable, fall more readily into a category for collectors. Naturally, the rarer gold pieces must become more valuable as the price of this metal goes up. But, curiously, one of the rarest coins in the world is not made of gold, but of the relatively cheaper silver. In 1840, the United States mint struck 19570 silver dollars. That is what its records show. Today only six of this original number remain and these are unlikely ever to reach the auction market. So what happened to some 19564 large silver coins, not the easiest sort of things to lose? One of the more romantic theories is that they were part of the payment to Napoleon for the American land then known as Louisiana. But they never reached France. Somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico, the ship transporting them was sunk, either by a storm or by pirates. The probable answer to the mystery is that they were melted down -- since the silver value was greater than the actual value of the coin. What really happened to the rest will probably always remain a mystery. What is known is that whoever can come up with one will find himself instantly rich. Question: Coins become more valuable because _ . Options: A: they stay in purses and pockets B: the price of metal goes up C: they fall more readily into a category for collectors due to their duration D: Both B and C
**Answer**
D

*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: When my sister Gina was born, she had a problem with her heart. Her heart was pretty bad in the beginning and she stayed in the hospital for a month. The first few years were very difficult because she was very sick. She had five operations before she was three years old. She had trouble walking, playing with other children, and going to school. Although Gina couldn't laugh and talk, we all knew that she just needed love and care. Our parents wanted to take Gina to a special place in Florida. There she could swim with dolphins. Gina was afraid of swimming with them because she had never been around dolphins before. We had also never traveled that far as a family. When we got to Florida, we saw where the dolphins lived. It was a place where kids with special needs like Gina could come and spend time. I thought it was going to be a vacation, but it wasn't. Gina had to work hard every day for a week. The trip was amazing. Gina laughed and clapped when she saw the dolphin. The dolphin splashed when it saw Gina. They swam together all day. Gina was able to move her body more than she normally did at home. Mom and Dad were proud of Gina. I was , too. Question: We know from the text that Gina _ . Options: A: experienced five operations in a month B: got along well with other children C: stayed in the hospital before three D: was born with a heart disease
**Answer**
D