Fortunately, I've been able to avoid the traffic jam brought by presidential visits because ! don't have to commute anywhere. Barack Obama visited Los Angeles recently which paralyzed large sections of a city and you could almost hear the collective pain of unhappy commuters. I am among the l0 percent of people in the US that regularly work from home. You could include Obama among them, although I suspect his working area in the White House is better-equipped than my small space on to the back of the garage. He also probably doesn't have a problem with three little kids interrupting his phone calls or bursting into his office at inappropriate moments. Every day there they are, knocking on my window and peering inside, as if looking at an animal in a zoo. Once, a telephone interview I was doing with the former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was interrupted by my older son, then three years old, and completely naked "Ahaaar!" he shouted to my face. "What was that?" said Schwarzenegger. I stammered something about the joys of children and silently managed to shoo the boy out of the room without putting down the phone. I shouldn't complain. I no longer have to stand having someone's armpit being pressed into my face on a crowded train and home status means ! should be a more productive worker although working from home could also lead to "avoiding duties from home". I would argue that a bigger problem is going nuts: Staring at the same walls every day and not going anywhere can do strange things to a person. I realized I had to get out of the house at least once a day to avoid turning into an unshaven and unshoweredrecluse who was still in his pyjamas at dinner time. I would work for an hour or so in a local coffee shop but, like most routine, this became boring because I would constantly see the same faces: Screenwriters poring over screenplays, elderly women heading to the yoga studio next door and hordes of overweight middle-aged male cycling by. And yet here I am several years later, still... The incident of three-year-old son is described to prove that _ A) working from home has some drawbacks B) working from home is a pleasant experience C) Barack Obama has better working conditions than the author D) it's unfortunate for the author to have a naughty boy
A

Henry Ford, the famous U.S. inventor and car manufacturer, once said, "The business of America is business." By this he meant that the U.S. way of life is based on the values of the business world. Few would argue with Ford's statement. A brief glimpse at a daily newspaper vividly shows how much people in the United States think about business. For example, nearly every newspaper has a business section, in which the deals and projects, finances and management, stock prices and labor problems of corporations are reported daily. In addition, business news can appear in every other section. Most national news has an important financial aspect to it. Welfare, foreign aid, the federal budget, and the policies of the Federal Reserve Bank are all heavily affected by business. Moreover, business news appears in some of the unlikeliest places. The world of arts and entertainment is often referred to as"the entertainment industry"or"show business." The positive side of Henry Ford's statement can be seen in the prosperity that business has brought to U.S. life. One of the most important reasons so many people from all over the world come to live in the United States is the dream of a better job. Jobs are produced in abundance because the U.S. economic system is driven by competition. People believe that this system creates more wealth, more jobs, and a materially better way of life. The negative side of Henry Ford's statement, however, can be seen when the word business is taken to mean big business. And the term big business--referring to the biggest companies, is seen in opposition to labor. Throughout U.S. history working people have had to fight hard for higher wages, better working conditions, and the fight to form unions. Today, many of the old labor disputes are over, but there is still some employee anxiety. Downsizing--the laying off of thousands of workers to keep expenses low and profits high--creates feelings of insecurity for many. The influence of business in the U.S. is evidenced by the fact that _ . A) most newspapers are run by big businesses B) even public organizations concentrate on working for profits C) Americans of all professions know how to do business D) even arts and entertainment are regarded as business
D

In the September of my gap year, I left school to take a semester-long outdoor leadership course run by the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) in the region of South America called Patagonia. The concept of the course is to give students a chance to really develop both outdoor skills and life skills. The NOLS does an amazing job in designing their courses so that students get a full range of experiences from which they can learn many new things. We spent the first part of our semester obtaining our Wilderness First Responder certificates. This involved a 10-day, 80-hour, EMT taught course at the NOLS base camp in Patagonia. We learned many medical skills that all could be applied to everyday environments as well as the wilderness we were about to enter. After the first part of the semester, we set off on a 30-day sea expedition along the coast of the southern tip of Chile. During this expedition we learned a lot of useful skills for our future life. What excited me most was to see a large glacier pouring right out into the sea. It was unlike anything I had ever seen, and the satisfaction of reaching such a remote place all with my own power was amazing. The next part of our semester was another 30-day expedition traveling through the Andes mountain range of southern Chile and Argentina. Again we learned many technical outdoor skills and some great life skills, such as how to be effective leaders and how to function as a single group. The highlight of this part was being able to ice climb on a glacier using anchors and ropes that we set up ourselves. The final part of the NOLS semester was a 10-day small group expedition. This was an opportunity for us to get into small groups of 4 or 5 and put all the skills we had developed over the course. We planned our own routes, prepared our own clothes and equipment, and _ our plans without the help of instructors. It was a great sense of achievement to be out there on our own and ensure safety with our own knowledge. I really enjoyed my first experience of my... We can learn from the next that the whole NOLS semester lasted _ . A) 40 days B) 60 days C) 70 days D) 80 days
D