(RAMALLAH, West Bank) -- Israel freed 26 Palestinian prisoners early Wednesday, the second of four groups to be released as part of an agreement that started the current Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which had broken down since 2008. In all, 104 prisoners are to be released in four rounds over the coming months. In the West Bank and Gaza , the mood was overexcited as hundreds of Palestinians welcomed the prisoners back home, after many had spent more than 20 years behind bars. Crowds of people rushed toward the 5 prisoners released to Gaza, raising them on their shoulders, waving Palestinian flags and dancing to music. Relatives held signs that read "we will never forget our heroes." More than 2,000 people welcomed the 21 prisoners released to the West Bank, who were greeted at a ceremony by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. Hazem Shubair, thrown into prison in 1994 for the death of an Israeli according to the Israeli Prison Service, was over delighted upon his return to Gaza. "I am speechless," he said. "Thanks to God. God is greater than the aggressors (meaning Israel)". Abbas said a final peace agreement with Israel was possible on the release of the prisoners. "There will be no final agreement without the release of all the prisoners," he told the violent crowd. Israel's Supreme Court earlier refused an appeal that intended to cancel the prisoner release. An organization of bereaved families behind the appeal has said it fears the prisoners, all in connection to the deaths of Israelis, will return to violence once freed. How many Palestinian prisoners had been released by Wednesday? A) 21 B) 26. C) Over 26. D) 104.
C
(Question)
As a newspaper reporter, Inez' s father traveled around the world. He wrote stories about the interesting people he met. On her fifteenth birthday, Inez could hardly believe it when her father announced that she was old enough to go with him on one of his trips! He said his next story would be about salt mining in Europe. Inez had never thought much about salt,she didn' t know what to expect,but she knew she would love being with her father. Months later, when Inez and her father arrived at the salt mine ,they found themselves walking into the middle of a busy workday. Mrs. Walker, the owner, said she would not be available to talk until the workday was over. She suggested that Inez and her father should help out so Inez ' s father would have first-hand experience for his story. Before Inez realized what was happening, she was in the factory. This was not what she had imagined her trip would be like. People rushed past her carrying hammers, nails, and wood to make boxes for the salt. Everyone seemed to be in such a hurry. As another newly constructed box was pushed at her, Inez spread a label with glue and stuck it on the side of the box. When she had agreed to go with her father on his newspaper assignment, she had pictured an adventure, not hard labor. Inez looked at the salt covering her father' s once-blue pants and sighed. She could taste the salt in her mouth and smell it in the air. Inez had been using salt all her life, but she had never imagined that it existed in such quantities or that it was so hard to package. Inez' s father rubbed his hands together and grinned at her. ''I know this probably isn't what you had in mind," he said, "but sometimes the best days are the ones that don' t go as planned. Best? she wondered. She had learned two lessons today. One was to value every grain of salt to fall from a shaker. The other was to hear the details before agreeing to go on a job with her father! Why does the author most likely write this story? A) To discuss what it is like when a child travels with a parent. B) To describe how places around the world are different. C) To explain which tools are used when packaging salt. D) To show that sometimes events turn out differently than expected.
(Answer)
D
Ques: The Board Meeting had come to an end. Bob started to stand up and knocked into the table, spilling his coffee over his notes. "How embarrassing! I am getting so clumsy in my old age." Everyone had a good laugh, and soon we were all telling stories of our most embarrassing moments. It came around to Frank, who sat quietly listening to the others. Someone said, "Come on, Frank. Tell us your most embarrassing moment." Frank laughed and began to tell us of his childhood. "I grew up in San Pedro. My Dad was a fisherman, and he loved the sea. He had his own boat, but it was hard making a living on the sea. He worked hard and would stay out until he caught enough to feed the family. Not just enough for our family, but also for his Mom and Dad and the other kids that were still at home." He looked at us and said, "I wish you could have met my Dad. He was a big man, and he was strong from pulling the nets and fighting the seas for his catch. When you got close to him, he smelled like the ocean. He would wear his old canvas, foul-weather coat and his bibbed overalls. His rain hat would be pulled down over his brow. No matter how much my mother washed them, they would still smell of the sea and of fish." Frank's voice dropped a bit. "When the weather was bad he would drive me to school. He had this old truck that he used in his fishing business. That truck was older than he was. It would wheeze and rattle down the road. You could hear it coming for blocks. As he would drive toward the school, I would shrink down into the seat hoping to disappear. Half the time, he would slam to a stop and the old truck would belch a cloud of smoke. He would pull right up in front, and it seemed like everybody would be standing around and watching. Then he would lean over and give me a big kiss on the cheek and tell me to be a good boy. It was so embarrassing for me. Here, I was twelve years old, and my Dad would lean over and kiss me goodbye!" He paused and then went on, "I remember the day I decided I was too old for a goodbye... When his father drove him to the school, Frank would shrink down into the seat hoping to disappear because _ . A) he was ashamed of his father's old truck B) he didn't want his schoolmates to see his father C) he thought he was old enough to go to school alone D) he hated the way his schoolmates stared at his father
Ans: A
At the time, I would go out in the evening with my parents. But this time I had borrowed a bicycle from a friend of mine. I didn't know why, but once I was on my own bicycle, a kind of free feeling flooded through me. The faster I rode, the faster I wanted to go! Far ahead, I rode as if my life depended on it, head down, hands grasping the handbars. I meant to get to Jinghai Bar as fast as I could. . . Oh! My hands! Don't come any closer. . . Don't touch me! That poor doctor just couldn't get my gloves off. Each time he took a step towards me, I broke into painful shouting. Much later, I discovered that I had crashed heavily with another bicycle, and I hadn't spoken one word of sense for at least three hours! After some time, my mother arrived at the hospital, her face as white as a sheet, and gave me a hug , only then did the doctor begin to stitch my head wound, not only did he merrily cut off a long lock of my hair, but used no anaesthetic either! Later, I seemed to hear faraway voices saying that my right hand was broken. I almost burst into tears. How would I ever play the piano again? On her way to Jinghai Bar, the writer felt _ . A) nervous B) comfortable C) light-hearted D) upset
C