*Question*
Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Schoolgirls have been wearing such short skirts that a Staffordshire school has ordered them to wear trousers instead. All skirts will be banned from September at Paget High School in Branston. Tight-fitting trousers will also be banned and Muslim head-dressed will have to be "School blue" colour. Head teacher Don Smith said, "one of the big problems for us at the school has been the number of girls who have been wearing improperly short skirts. This has been an area of special concern at a time when there have been a lot of wrong ideas of being beautiful." Mr Smith said it would be impossible to determine how long girls' skirts should be and that _ would be easier for teachers to carry out. The head teacher said pupils' and other teachers' opinions were asked for before the new rule was set. The new clothing policy has been explained in a letter sent to parents of the school's 1,000 pupils and will come into force after the summer holiday. The school also wants pupils to wear clip-on ties instead of traditional neckwear. This rule will be gradually out over the next year and support will be given to parents unable to afford the new tie. One parent, whose teenage daughter studies at school, said, "I completely agree some girls were wearing skirts that were too short. However, I think girls should be allowed to wear skirts. Other school manage to let girls wear skirts while making sure they are not improperly dressed. I don't see why Paget can't do the same" Question: What can we know from the passage? - Teachers called the pupils' parents to explain the new rule. - Pupils will have to wear clip-on ties after the summer holiday. - Paget High School will provide clip-on ties for pupils for free. - Opinions were collected before the new clothing policy was made.
**Answer**
Opinions were collected before the new clothing policy was made.

*Question*
Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Marco Polo was from Venice, Italy. In 1271, at age 17, Marco went on a trip with his father and uncle to China. Today people often travel to different places around the world. But it was very hard for people from Europe to visit China then. After three and a half years, the Polos reached China on 1275. While he was there, Marco Polo worked for Kublai Khan, the emperor of China. He was able to learn and experience many things that were new to Europeans. In his diary, he wrote, "Kublai Khan's palace is the greatest I've ever seen. The streets of the new capital. Daidu, are so straight and so wide." Paper money also took him by surprise, since it was not yet in use in the West at that time. Homes were heated with "black stones... which burn like wood." These stones were coal, and most of the Europeans knew little about it then. After 17 years in China, Marco and his family finally returned to Venice in 1292. After he returned home, Marco completed a book about his trip, full of facts about his wonderful experiences in China. Question: How was Marco Polo's three-and-a-half-year journey to China? - Expensive. - Comfortable. - Difficult. - Smooth.
**Answer**
Difficult.

*Question*
Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Ding-Dong! "Jason, honey? Can you answer the door?" "I am busy, mom!" Jason shouted back at his mother. He had spent three hours so far working to this point in the game. He couldn't stop now. Ding-Dong!Mom's footsteps approached the front door. "Jason, it's your friend Todd." Mom called from the doorway. Todd, his best friend, stepped into the room. " Jason!I need a partner for playing basketball. "He sounded excited. Jason snorted. "No way, Todd. I'm playing a game here." Jason gave his friend a dirty look, and his character in the game almost got killed while he looked away, " I almost died because of you!" Todd looked at Jason's mother. Jason's mother looked back at him. They both looked at Jason. "Why don't you play basketball with your friend?" Jason's mother suggested. "Tomorrow, maybe..." There were more levels to beat tomorrow, though, Maybe he had played tomorrow. He'd have to see what mood he was in. He thought he heard footsteps walking away, but he was too busy beating the next level to care. An hour later, Jason's father came home. It was dinner time after his father washed up and sat down. Jason didn't even hear his name being called to the table. He didn't hear his father walk at behind him and ask him to turn the game off, either. When the screen suddenly went black and his father's angry face loomed in front of him, Jason finally heard. "No more game for a month." Jason's father shouted at him. "You don't play basketball, you don't come to dinner, and you don't do your chores. We'll make you do something else before you play any more." Jason nodded slowly. He knew better than to argue with his father, and when he thought about it, he had been playing quite a bit. It was fun, but he was letting down his friends, his family, and himself by paying too much. He'd try harder in the future. Question: Which of the following is the best title of this passage? - Inside the game - Games or Supper. - Jason's Angry Father - Use of the Computer.
**Answer**
Inside the game

*Question*
Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: When did you last see a polar bear? On a trip to a zoo, perhaps? If you had attended a winter activity in New York a few years ago, you would have seen a whole polar bear club. These "Polar Bears" are people who meet frequently in winter to swim in freezing cold water. That day, air temperature was 3degC, and the water temperature was a bit higher. The members of the Polar Bear Club at Coney Island , New York are usually about the age of 60. Members must satisfy two requirements. First, they must get along well with everyone else in the group, this is very important because there are so many different kinds of people in the club. Polar Bears must also agree to swim outdoors at least twice a month from November through February. Doctors do not agree about the medical effects of cold-water swimming. Some are worried about the dangers of a condition in which the body's temperature drops so low that finally the heart stops. Other doctors, however, point out that there is more danger of a heart attack during summer swimming because the difference between the air temperature and water temperature is much greater in summer than in winter. The Polar Bears themselves are satisfied with the benefits(or advantages) of cold-water swimming. They say that their favorite form of exercise is very good for the circulatory system because it forces the blood to move fast to keep the body warm. Cold-water swimmers usually turn bright red after a few minutes in the water. A person who turns blue probably has a very poor circulatory system and should not try cold-water swimming. The main benefits(or advantages) of cold-water swimming are probably mental . The Polar Bears love to swim year-round; they find it fun and relaxing. As one 70-year-old woman says,"When I go into the water, I pour my troubles into the ocean and let them float away ." Question: According to the passage, some doctors believe it is true that _ . - you are healthy if cold-water swimming turns your skin color blue - cold-water swimming causes more heart attacks in summer than in winter - cold-water swimming can make the body temperature dangerously high - Polar Bears are bears swimming in freezing water
**Answer**
cold-water swimming causes more heart attacks in summer than in winter