Florence Nightingale was born in a rich family. When she was young, she took lessons in music and drawing, and read great books. She also travelled a great deal with her mother and father. As a child, she felt that visiting sick people was both a duty and a pleasure. She enjoyed helping them. At last, her mind was made up. "I'm going to be a nurse," she decided. "Nursing isn't the right work for a lady," her father told her. "Then I will make it so," she smiled. And she went to learn nursing in Germany and France. When she returned to England, Florence started a nursing home for women. During the Crimean War in 1854, she went with a group of thirty-eight nurses to the front hospital. What they saw there was terrible. Dirt and death were everywhere to be seen and smelled. The officer there did not want any woman to tell him how to run a hospital, either. But the brave nurses went to work. Florence used her own money and some from friends to buy clothes, beds, medicines and food for the men. Her only pay was the smiles from the lips of dying soldiers. But they were more than enough for this kind woman. After war, she returned to England and was honoured for her service by Queen Victoria. But Florence said that her work had just begun. She raised money to build the Nightingale Home for Nurses in London. She also wrote a book on public health, which was printed in several countries. Florence Nightingale died at the age of ninety, still trying to serve others through her work as a nurse. Indeed, it is because of her that we honour nurses today. The passage can be best described as_. A) the life story of a famous woman B) a description of the nursing work C) an example of successful education D) the history of nursing in England
A
1 On Friday, January 14, 2005, my cousin, Kara Rose, came into the world. 2 She looked perfectly healthy from the outside, but on the inside, the doctors had failed to discover a serious problem. 3 She often had trouble breathing and then turned blue. 4 The doctors found that Kara had been born without part of her heart. 5 They didn't think she would live long enough to leave the hospital. 6 When she was four days old, she had her first operation. 7 My family stayed together during this hard time, hoping everything would turn out for the best. Kara's strength and determination to live were strong. Eventually, she could go home. We all waited patiently for new technology that could give Kara a new heart. When she was eighteen months old, her parents took her to a famous surgeon who performed a series of operations. There was no guarantee she would make it through the operation, but she succeeded. Kara grew stronger every day, and it was not long before she was well enough to be around people. She had an amazing character and always wore a sweet smile. When she fell asleep against my body, happy and content, I realized how valuable life really is. As I took her in my arms with her warm breath against my neck, I decided to live every day of my life to the fullest. This child, who is 15 years younger than I, has gone through more suffering and pain than I ever have. I admire her strength and determination. Kara has taught me that no matter how bad things seem, they can work out in the end. Knowing this small, beautiful child has made me a stronger person, I now believe that difficulty can be beaten. When did Kara have the first operation? A) 15 years old. B) 4 years old. C) 4 days old. D) 18 months old.
C
Q: The light from the campfire brightened the darkness, but it could not prevent the damp cold of Dennis's Swamp creeping into their bones. It was a strange place. Martin and Tom wished that they had not accepted Jack's _ . They liked camping, but not near this swamp. "So," Martin asked as they sat watching the hot coals. "How did this place get its name?" "Are you sure you want to hear it ? It's a scary story," warned Jack. "Of course!" cried out Tom. "If there were anything to be scared of, you wouldn't have chosen this place!" "Ok, but don't say I didn't warn you," said Jack, and he began this tale. "Way back in time, a man called Dennis tried to start a farm here. He built that cottage over there to live in. In those days, the area looked quite different ---- it was covered with tall trees and the swamp was a crystal-clear river. After three hard years, Dennis had cleared several fields and planted crops. He was so proud of his success that he refused to listen to advice. "'You are clearing too much land,' warned one old man. ' The land is a living thing. It will hit back at you if you abuse it. ' "'Silly fool,' said Dennis to himself. 'If I clear more land, I can grow more crops. I'll become wealthier. He's just jealous!'" "Dennis continued to chop down trees. Small animals that relied on them for food and shelter were destroyed. He was so eager to expand his farm that he did not notice the river flowing slowly towards his door. He did not notice salt seeping to the surface of the land. He did not notice swamp plants choking all the native plants." "What happened?" Martin asked. It was growing colder. He trembled, twisting his body closer to the fire. "The land hit back ---- just as the old man warned," Jack shrugged. "Dennis disappeared. Old folks around here believe that swamp plants moved up from the river and dragged him underwater. His body was never found." "What a stupid story," laughed Tom. "Plants can't ..." Before he had finished speaking, he screamed and fainted . The other two boys jumped up... What lesson can we learn from the story of Dennis? A) Grasp all, lose all B) No sweat, no sweet. C) It is no use crying over spilt milk D) He who makes no mistakes makes nothing.
A: A
Q: Almost every machine with moving parts has wheels, yet no one knows exactly when the first wheel was invented or what it was used for. We do know, however, that they existed over 5,500 years ago in ancient Asia. The oldest known transport wheel was discovered in 2002 in Slovenia. It is over 5,100 years old. Evidence suggests that wheels for transport didn't become popular for a while, though. This could be because animals did a perfectly good job of carrying farming tools and humans around. But it could also be because of a difficult situation. While wheels need to roll on smooth surfaces, roads with smooth surfaces weren't going to be constructed until there was plenty of demand for them. Eventually, road surfaces did become smoother, but this difficult situation appeared again a few centuries later. There had been no important changes in wheel and vehicle design before the arrival of modem road design. In the mid-1700s, a Frenchman came up with a new design of road--a base layer of large stones covered with a thin layer of smaller stones. A Scotsman improved on this design in the 1820s and a strong, lasting road surface became a reality. At around the same lime, metal hubs (the central part of a wheel) came into being, followed by the pneumatic tyre in 1846. Alloy wheels were invented in 1967, sixty years after the appearance of tarmacked roads . As wheel design took off, vehicles got faster and faster. What is the passage mainly about? A) The beginning of road design. B) The development of transport wheels. C) The history of public transport. D) The invention of fast-moving vehicles.
A: B