I'll be the first to admit that I am a technophobe .Who would have guessed that a website would help repay a 20-year-old loan? I'1l always remember my last day at school. My best friend, Jenny, had organized a party in the Sixth Form Common Room; Jenny asked me to go to the supermarket with her to buy all the snacks. "I'm really looking forward to this party, Stingy," she said. Everyone called me Stingy instead of Debbie because they thought I didn't like to spend money. Actually, it was true. "There's lots of money in the kitty . Let's go crazy!" Going crazy meant buying enough snacks to feed an army. It came to PS 19.90,which was a lot of money in 1982. Jenny gave me a guilty( ) look. "I've left-the kitty money in the common room. Can you pay and I'll give you back the money?" "Sure," I replied, trying to look relaxed. ' Neither a lender or a borrower be' was my motto but I didn't want to look stingy . I gave PS20 to the impatient shop assistant. Well, the Party was a great success. So great that I completely forgot about my loan until I was flying to America the next day. I was going to live with my uncle's family until I started university. I tried to get in touch with Jenny but her family had moved. My PS20 was lost. Until... I'd heard about a website called Friends Reunited which helped people contact old school friends. My husband helped me log on and find my school. There she was,Jenny Frost. I'm now married with a beautiful daughter called Debbie. Does anyone know how to get in touch with Debbie 'Stingy' Jones? I still owe her PS20! We met two months later and the PS20 was returned, plus interest of course. After all, I'm a bank manager now, so loans are my business. How did Debbie get her money at last? A) Her husband found Jenny. B) Jenny had a website on the Internet. C) Debbie met Jenny. D) Debbie put a message on the Friends Reunited website.
D
Zoe Chambers was a successful PR(Public Relations) consultant and life was going well--she had a great job, a beautiful life in London. Then one evening in June last year, she received a text message telling her she was out of work. "The first two weeks were the most difficult to live through," she said. "After everything I'd done for the company, they dismiss me by text! I was so angry and I just didn't feel like looking for another job. I hated everything about the city and my life." Then, Zoe received an invitation from an old school friend, Kathy, to come and stay. Kathy and her husband, Huw, had just bought a farm in north west Wales. Zoe jumped at the chance to spend a weekend away from London, and now, then months later, she is still on the farm. "The moment I arrived at Kathy's farm, I loved it and I knew I wanted to stay." said Zoe. "Everything about my past life suddenly seemed meaningless." Zoe has been working on the farm since October of last year and says she has no regrets. "It's a hard life, physically very tiring." she says. "In London I was stressed and often mentally exhausted. But this is a good, healthy tiredness. Here, all I need to put me in a good mood is a hot bath and on of Kathy's wonderful dinners." Zoe says she has never bored on the farm. Every day brings a new experience. Kathy has been teaching her how to ride a horse and she has learnt to drive a tractor. Since Christmas, she has been helping with the lambing-watching a lamb being born is unbelievable. She says, "It's one of the most moving experiences I've ever had. I could never go back to city life now " Which of the following is closest to the main idea of the passage? A) Kill two birds with one stone. B) A misfortune may turn out a blessing. C) Where there is a will, there is a way. D) A friend in need is a friend indeed.
B
Ocean Park Hong Kong is a theme park in the Southern District of Hong Kong Island. The park was built with donations from the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club (now Hong Kong Jockey Club) and opened on 10 January 1977. Today it offers affordable marine animal education and entertainment and is a private organization for commercial purpose. In the early operation of the park, the main sources of income for the park were the ticket prices and the funding from the Jockey Club. Since the ticket price was low, most of the time Ocean Park was operating under deficit . In July 1987, the government established a 200 million trust from the funding of Jockey Club, under the Ocean Park Corporation Ordinance. This separated Ocean Park from Jockey Club and became a non-profit organization; it needs to be responsible for its own income and was allowed to use commercial means to operate the park. Since it was permitted to use commercial means to operate, it gradually raised its ticket price and the deficit turned into profit. In 1992, 3 million visitors visited the park. Since 1998, the East Asian financial crisis , aging attractions, and the passing away of the killer whale, the park recorded a deficit for a couple years. Although it was allowed to host 2 pandas in 1999, the number of visitors did not go up and Ocean Park was forced to close its water attractions and the "Old Village" attraction and turned to bring in more rides in an attempt to capture the youth demand. Together with the opening up of mainland visitors under the Individual Visit Scheme, Ocean Park recorded an astonishing 4 million visitors in the year 2004-2005, the highest since the park opened. In March 2005, Ocean Park made its redevelopment plan. On 23 November 2006, Ocean Park held a groundbreaking ceremony for its redevelopment. At the beginning, Ocean Park Hong Kong _ . A) was built with the money from the government B) sold its tickets at a high price C) was a great success once it was opened D) mainly got income from the ticket prices and donations
D