Friends and Buddies This program is planned for teenagers who have special needs with the goal of meeting within a community with other peers . The purpose of the program is that it will lead to a better understanding of friendships. Gym, Swim, Surprise Guest, and Pizza are included. Ages 12-18, numbers of members are limited. Contact: Gloria Bass. This program is held 2 Fridays per month. Fees: $65/$85 Club Saturday Swim This program is available to anyone aged 5-14 who is challenged by mental, physical, or emotional trouble. The program will be held each Saturday afternoon, 12:00-12:30 pm or 12:30-1:00 pm. Fees: $136/$260 Sibshops (Ages 10-13) Sibshops is a program for siblings of children with challenges. It includes group activities and talk treatment ways with the focus on improving sibling relationships and whole family happiness. Location: Hope Church, Wilton CT. Wednesday: 4:00-5:00 pm. Fees: $50/$65 Banana Splits Banana Splits is an educational support group for children in family trouble. Children aged 9-13 will have the opportunity to meet other children whose parents have separated or divorced, learn to recognize feelings, think of healthy coping skills and have a place to share their struggles through verbal , physical, and artistic experiences. Location: Hope Church, Wilton CT. Tuesday:4:30-5:30 pm. Fees: $50/$65 If you go to Sibshops (Ages 10-13) , you can _ . A) meet with other peers B) solve your mental problem C) improve sibling relationships D) think of healthy coping skills
C
The longest bull run in a century of art-market history ended on a dramatic note with a sale of 56 works by Damien Hirst, Beautiful Inside My Head Forever, at Sotheby's in London on September 15th 2008. All but two pieces sold, fetching more than PS70m, a record for a sale by a single artist. It was a last victory. As the auctioneer called out bids, in New York one of the oldest banks on Wall Street, Lehman Brothers, filed for bankruptcy, starting the most severe financial crisis since the 1920s. The world art market had already been losing momentum for a while after rising confusingly since 2003. At its peak in 2007 it was worth some $65 billion, thinks Clare McAndrew, founder of Arts Economics, a research firm -- double the figure five years earlier. Since then it may have come down to $50 billion. But the market generates interest far beyond its size because it brings together great wealth, enormous egos , greed, passion and controversy in a way matched by few other industries. In the weeks and months that followed Mr. Hirst's sale, spending of any sort became deeply unfashionable. In the art world that meant collectors stayed away from galleries and salerooms. Sales of contemporary art fell by two-thirds, and in the most overheated sector, they were down by nearly 90% in the year to November 2008. Within weeks the world's two biggest auction houses, Sotheby's and Christie's, had to pay out nearly $200m in guarantees to clients who had placed works for sale with them. The current downturn in the art market is the worst since the Japanese stopped buying Impressionists at the end of 1989. This time experts suppose that prices are about 40% down on their peak on average, though some have been far more volatile . But Edward Dolman, Christie's chief executive, says, "I'm pretty confident we're at the bottom." What makes this fall different from the last, he says, is that there are still buyers in the market, while in the early 1990s, when interest rates were high, there was no demand even though many... What is mainly discussed in the passage? A) Art market in decline. B) Up-to-date art auctions. C) Volatility of art prices. D) Shifted interest in arts.
A
Q: In the United States and several other countries, 2.5 million children play baseball in an organization called Little League. They play on teams in their hometowns. Their parents and other adults in the community coach or instruct them and serve as umpires to make sure that everyone follows the rules. Local businesses give money for the ball fields and the uniforms. Local teams compete against each other and the winners get to play teams that are more distant. Eventually, the top teams go to the Little League World Series. One hundred years after Abner Doubleday invented baseball in Cooperstown, New York, in 1839, Little League got started in Pennsylvania. Three men started the game for neighborhood boys with a smaller playing field and fewer innings than adult baseball. Little League became popular after World War II when the game spread across the United States. By 1955 it was played throughout North America and within five years it had spread to Europe. Children's baseball really caught on in Japan and Taiwan of China and teams from those areas won the World Series seven out of eight years. After this, the organization tried banning foreign teams from the World Series, but the ban came to an end after one year. At first, Little League was only for boys aged nine to twelve. However, in 1974, the parents of girl baseball players brought a law suit. The courts ruled that Little League had to include both boys and girls. Later Little League added on softball and other games for teenagers up to age eighteen. Occasionally a Little Leaguer becomes a professional player. For example, Gary Carter went from Little League to play nineteen seasons in the Major Leagues, ten of them as an All-Star player. But, by and large, youngsters play baseball for fun and because their parents are proud of them. The mothers and fathers of Little League players _ . A) help run the games B) travel in coaches C) give the teams money D) play in the World Series
A: A
Q: When it comes to social behaviour,mammals are in a league of their own.Some birds may form pairs,or even cooperate to hunt,but the complexity of their relationships can hardly compare to those within a school of dolphins,a herd of elephants or a group of humans.What makes mammalian social groups different from a flock of starlings or a shoal of fish,is that in many cases the individuals could recognize each other.Although we may think that all elephants look pretty much the same,we can easily tell individuals of our own species apart and it has become clear through studies that the same is true of other species.Dolphins have their own signature whistles that act like "names",and elephants can recognize and greet other individuals they have known but not seen for many years.This is something that only a few species of birds appear to be able to do. Mammals in complex social groups not only recognize each other as individuals,but also they remember a lot of information about that individual.Social groups often rely on this memory--such as knowing who is dominant to whom,who is related to whom,and who has done what to whom in the past.It's like remembering who you have lent money to or done a favour for,and who hasn't repaid that money or has talked about you behind your back.You have to learn who to trust,who your friends are,and who to watch out for. All this remembering goes on in a particular part of the brain called the neocortex .If you compare the size of a mammal's social group with the size of this part of the brain,you will find they are remarkably closely related.This area seems to take a long time to develop fully and animals in which it is very large take a very long time to grow up to adulthood.During this time,the youngster has to learn all the rules of social behaviour in their group and to piece together all the relationships between the group members:Knowledge that will be needed to avoid getting into trouble. What is special about a mammalian social group according to the passage? A) All the individuals cooperate to hunt. B) The individuals can communicate with each other. C) The individuals can recognize each other. D) The individuals form closer relationship.
A: C