During my high school years, the most important thing was what I was wearing to the Friday night dance and who I was taking. Although college was talked about, it was the least of my worries. When I was graduating eighth grade and starting high school, my older brother was graduating twelfth grade and going onto college. For my graduation, he gave me a card in which he wrote, "Enjoy your four years..., they go by fast." I remember not believe him then, but looking back..., he was right. Those four years shaped who I was as a person, pushed me to my limit and encouraged me to become an adult. However, I was so completely absorbed in my junior and senior years of high school, that when someone spoke of college I brushed it off. I wasn't ready to leave my comfort zone of having all of my closest friends together and knowing what every single day was going to be like . Studying was something I did only AFTER I nailed my half-time dance performance. I knew my parents wanted me to go to college, so I told them I would go to commuity college and I didn't worry about my SAT scores. When my senior year passed and everyone graduated and went off to their own college ,I started to wish I had done the same. My friends were living away, meeting new people, discovering new places, and I was living at home and driving to and from class every day. It seemed exactly like high school. I hated it! I thought college was supposed to be different! Why didn't I take more time to research colleges and do the same? I ended up loving college and wishing I had four years to enjoy the campus atmosphere instead of two. My advice to anyone thinking about attending college is to think about it very seriously and look into all of your choices well ahead of time. Now I have graduate and I am working full time and I would do anything to go back to my high school days for a second chance! What did the author's brother mean by "Enjoy your four years..., they go by fast."? A) He wished the author to have more dance. B) He advised the author to value the years. C) He encouraged the author to leave his comfort zone. D) He suggested the author aim at a community college.
B
John Smith was a writer, who wrote detective stories for magazines , though he never dealt with criminals . One evening he could not finish an end for a story. He sat in his study , but he had no ideas. So he decided to go to the cinema. When he came back, he found that he had had a visitor. Someone had broken into his house. The visitor had had a drink, smoked several of his cigarettes and had read his story. The visitor left him a note. "I have read your story and I don't think it is very good. Please read my suggestions and you can finish it. By the way, I am a thief. I'm not going to steal anything tonight. But if you become a successful writer, I will return." John read the thief's suggestions. Then he sat down and wrote the rest of the story. He is still not a successful writer, and he is waiting for his "visitor" to return. Before he goes out in the evening, he always leaves a half-finished story in his study. John would like to _ . A) have a talk with his visitor B) get more ideas from the visitor C) make friends with the visitor D) catch the visitor and take him to the police
B
Q: When was the last time you laughed a lot? Most people are the victim of an uncontrollable fit of laughter at least once in their lives. But when it happens in front of the television cameras, it can become an internet sensation. Do you think there's anything funny about spicy meat? Swiss finance minister Hans-Rudolf Merz seemed to think it was hilarious. Mr. Merz was making a speech in the Swiss parliament on meat imports when he started laughing and couldn't stop. The meat in question is known as "bundnerfleisch"-- a type of air-dried beef product. Herr Merz later admitted that he was amused by the bureaucratic language in which the bill was written. Since then, Mr. Merz has become an internet hit. A video of the incident shows a grey-suited minister giggling away, accompanied by applause from his parliamentary colleagues. So far, the video has been seen by more than 500,000 people on YouYube and other websites. "I don't understand what he's talking about," said one viewer, "but it's just so funny." The recent publicity will be good news for the minister, too. Mr. Merz had been criticized recently for signing away much of Switzerland's banking secrecy, and for failing to do enough to help two Swiss citizens who were detained by Libya. But now, with retirement a few months away, Mr. Merz may leave on a high note. Some even suggest he may have a future career as a comedian. Of course, Mr. Merz isn't the first person to _ on air. BBC Radio 4 newsreader Charlotte Green lost control on the programmeTodaynot so long ago. It all happened after a clip of the oldest known recording of the human voice was played. A studio member remarked that the 1860 recording of a woman singing the French song "Au Clair de la Lune" sounded like a "bee buzzing in a bottle". That seemed to set Ms. Green off as she broke down into a fit of the giggles. Later, the editor of the show, Ceri Thomas, said most listeners who contacted the show had commented on "how much they had enjoyed the moment". He added, "When Charlotte loses it, she... It can be inferred from the passage that _ .[ ] A) uncontrollable fits of laughter is very common among people. B) Mr. Merz will be a comedian after retirement. C) Charlotte Green will be dismissed due to this incident. D) most of the listeners who contacted the show thought it inappropriate for a newsreader to laugh away on the programme.
A: A
(Question)
Mary Jean Price Walls graduated second in her class in 1950.She had high hopes when she applied to a local college,Southwest Missouri State College.But after sending off her application,she spent months waiting for a reply.It never came. Worse than simply being denied admission ,the school didn't reply to her at all.It wasn't a matter of her school records,but of her skin color:Wallsis African American,and in those days,that fact alone closed a lot of doors. "I was sad and I was hurt,"Walls toldABCNews."I did not expect the skin color would affect my application.I thought I could go to university like other students." Four years later,the government declared that all schools should not discriminate against African Americans-- but it was too late for Walls.She'd moved on with her life, becoming a wife and a mother,and working as an elevator operator.She retired last year,at the age of 77. She stayed quiet about the unfairness she'd faced in Missouri State.Her son,Terry,went through school records and found that she'd been the first black student to ever apply to the college.Today,four percent of the Southwest Missouri State College body is African American--including Terry. Although it's too late for Missouri State to change the past,the school is awarding Walls with an honorary degree from the school.While she knows it's too late for herto change the course of her own life with the degree,it's a chance for her to show her family that Missouri State has changed in the last 60 years,and there's not a single door closed to them anymore. Before she was denied Walls thought that _ . A) her application would be accepted as others' B) it was hard to become a college student C) it was impossible for her to be admitted D) she could be the best student in her college
(Answer)
A