Q: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: I am a 21-year-old boy, and this is my story. One month after I graduated from high school in 2009, I was coming home from swim practice and was involved in a car accident. I was so seriously injured that I was in a coma for over two months at Prince Georges Hospital. I died eight times during my coma and I couldn't talk or communicate when I woke up. Walking was never going to happen again due to all the extreme injuries. Just like my body, my dreams were almost _ . But I was not going to let my injuries prevent me from living my dreams. After 14 operations and blood transfusions, I had to learn how to talk, eat, walk, shower and live independently again. When I was out of hospital, I still had to go to outpatient therapy in Waldorf, Maryland. After spending a few months in a wheelchair, I took baby steps to walk on my own. It was a miracle that I could walk again, but I wanted to prove that I could not only walk, but run. When it came true, I wanted to get back in the pool again. After a few lung tests, I was able to go in the pool a little bit each week. After a few months of swim training, I began my freshman year at St. Mary's College of Maryland and became a proud member of the swim team. By telling my story, I want to make a positive influence on the world. I am just trying to live each day to the fullest and inspire other people never to give up their dreams no matter how bad a situation is. I remember when I was still in my hospital bed, I would have my mom and dad push me around in my wheelchair to the other rooms to see the other patients and talk to them and their families. I wanted to let them know that everything was going to be okay. Somehow, things would work out for the best. Question: When the car accident happened, the author _ . Options: A: was a high school student B: had finished his high school education C: was a college student D: was returning home from a swim competition
A: B

Q: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: Scientists believe that one of our most important means of knowing what is going on around us is the sense of sound. We are warned of danger by sounds. Sounds serve to please us in music. Sound has a waste product, too, in the form of noise. Noise has been called unwanted sound. Noise is growing and it may get much worse before it gets any better. In order to know how noise affects people and animals, scientists have been studying for several years. They are surprised by what they have learned. Peace and quiet are becoming harder to find. Noise pollution is a threat that should be looked at carefully. Sounds is measured in units called decibels . At a level of 140 decibels people feel pain in their ears. Trucks , buses , motorcycles, airplanes, boats, factories---all these things make noise. They trouble not only our ears, but minds and bodies as well. There is a saying that it is so noisy that you can't hear yourself think. Doctors who study noise believe that we must sometimes hear ourselves think. If we don't, we may have headaches, other aches and pains, or even worse mental problems. Noise adds more tension to a society that has already faced enough stress. Question: Why does the passage say peace and quiet are becoming harder to find? Options: A: Because the world is making more and more noise. B: Because wars and battles happen here and there in the world. C: Because all the sounds are becoming over 140 decibels. D: Because some machines can make noise.
A: A

Q: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: When you have a question about something, where do you go? For many people the answer is simple. They go online to a search engine like Google or Yahoo. But what about people in rural or underdeveloped areas who may have no way to get on the Internet? Luckily, Rose Shuman, a business and international development consultant in California, has found a way for them. Her amazing solution is "Question Box". Question Box is a service that provides answers--free of charge--for people who cannot search the Internet directly. They might not be able to read, or they simply have no access. Question Box began two years ago in India.People use a metal call box with a pushtotalk button to connect to a live operator, as Rose Shuman explains, "You just push a button, a big green button, and that will connect you directly to our operators who are sitting in front of computers, and speak your language. And you can ask them any sort of question you want, and they'll look it up in English or in Hindi, or whatever the main language is, and translate the answer right back for you." The service is currently offered in two villages. The latest version of the box uses mobile phone technology and solar panels in case the electrical power fails. Rose Shuman says the aim was to make the box as easy as possible for users. "Rather than try to bring a lot of infrastructure to them and expect them to learn how to use the Internet, the idea was to make a technology that even Grandma could use, figuring that Grandma could probably walk up to a box and push a button," added Shuman. In April, Question Box expanded to Uganda.Forty community workers with mobile phones connect villagers to call center operators in Kampala.The community workers go around telling people about the service. They wear Tshirts that say "Ask Me." But Internet service in Uganda proved slow and undependable. So Question Box teamed up with a local technology company to store information on a local server. That way, the researchers in Kampala can quickly search the... Question: Which of the following is true about Question Box according to the passage? Options: A: Uganda is the original place where the service started. B: Some modern technologies have been used for improving the service. C: Question Box won't be able to work if there is no electrical power. D: It was impossible for a grandma to use Question Box.
A: B

Q: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: Sitting too much is now listed with smoking and junk food as a bad habit that increases your risk of heart disease. New Australian research shows that half-an-hour in the gym will not make up for the waist-expanding damage caused by spending the rest of the day sitting. But the good news is that doing chores in the house or gently walking around the office while on the phone might be enough to keep you fit. The study joins the growing body of evidence suggesting too much sitting might undo the benefits of exercise. The study measured the intensity of physical activities in 168 subjects over seven days. It found that, regardless of how much exercise they did or their total sitting time, those who took more breaks from sitting had lower risk of thick waists and lower levels of blood lipids . "Higher levels of blood lipids have been linked to a heightened risk of heart disease," principal researcher Genevieve Healy of the University of Queensland said. "What the study shows is that there are benefits in just getting up regularly and interrupting your sitting time." Researchers behind the Stand Up Australia project have written to the Rudd Government requesting $3.5 million for a two-year study into the impact how long sitting offects health and productivity of workers. The study would also develop and test strategies for reducing sitting time on the job. The latest study builds on work that is shifting the health promotion focus from purposeful exercise, such as running, to lower intensity activities throughout the day. The Australian research has been backed up by US studies. "To hold a body that weighs 77 kilograms upright takes a fair amount of energy from muscles," said Professor Marc Hamilton from the University of Missouri. "There is a large amount of energy associated with standing every day that cannot easily be replaced by 30 to 60 minutes in the gym." Question: The best title for the text could be _ . Options: A: Exercise in the Gym Is out B: Your Office Chair Is Killing you C: A Cause of Health Disease D: Good News for Workers
A: B