Many articles have appeared in recent years, claiming that there are no more heroes in the world. The authors says that the young now refuse to admire anyone and that we are living in a world too well informed, too curious showing us the faults of the public figures who could become today's stars, until we lose faith and start looking for defects in any person who seems worthy of respect. Is it true that we know too much? Were our ancestors lucky to be only partly informed? Those who read the first biographies of George Washington, Joan of Arc, or other great men and women of the past were not told that their hero had bad breath or disliked his mother; they only found a description of his great accomplishments and their admiration was strengthened. In fact, early biographers didn't hesitate to make up an admirable story or two about their hero. The man who wrote the first biography of Washington, for instance, invented the cherry tree; he admitted later that there was no truth in it, but he said that it would give young men a good example to follow. His readers didn't seem to object; the book was reprinted eighty times--a great success in those days. Modern biographers do not invent such stories; they respect the facts, as indeed they should. But we pay a price for their truthfulness, for in their efforts to show "the whole person," they tell us more than we really need to know about private lives, family secrets, and human weakness. The true greatness of a fine man is often forgotten in the display; and people lose not only their admiration for him, but their willingness to trust any other "star" completely. It may be difficult to be a hero in the world these days, under the searching eyes of the society. But surely excellence has not disappeared completely; there are still individuals who are superior to their fellow men by their wisdom, their courage, or their character. They can be heroes if people are willing to ignore their human imperfection and to admit the respect that their admirable qualities... Early biographers of great people _ . A) knew little about their heroes B) were willing to invent stories C) were disliked by readers D) hid some achievements of their heroes
B
Do you wake up in the morning dreading the moment that your feet have to hit the floor for you to get ready for work? If that's the case, join most of Americans. Very few people wake up to that annoying alarm clock and spring out of bed excited about having to go to work. As if that were not enough, most of us have to fight traffic getting there, usually an hour's drive. Then, when we get to work, we have to fight with unruly co-workers or a nagging boss. And to make matters worse, you have to fight the same traffic going in the opposite direction just to get back home. Making dinner, fixing plates, eating and then straightening up afterwards is a job within itself. If that sounds like your life, you probably have a J-O-B. you know what J-O-B stands for? Just Over Broke, that's what! With a job, most Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck and hating every minute of it. I know because I was doing the same thing: trading time for money. And, I came to a conclusion that it stinks ! Big time! Looking around at my co-workers, friends and relatives, I saw that they were all doing the same thing I was doing. They were complaining about the same things I was complaining about : not having enough time or money. And, I decided that I wanted to do .[:** So, I started a home-based business. There are several to choose from. The extra income has done so much for our family. We can vacation more. We have been able to give more. And, we've even been able to do something calling save! It's been amazing. Therefore, if you're sick and tired of being sick and tired, it's time you make a change, too. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I know you aren't stupid. If you continue to do what everyone else is doing: trading time for money, you're going to keep getting what everyone else is getting: being broke and not having the time to do what is really important to you. Do your due diligence. Find a home-based business that works well for you. Go to work, and live... According to Paragraph 1, which of the following statements is TRUE about most Americans? A) Most Americans are excited to go to work every day. B) Most Americans are used to sleeping in the morning. C) Most Americans are tired of having to go to work every morning. D) Most Americans have alarm clocks to wake them up in the morning.
C
(Q).
Albert Szent-Gyorgyi was born in Budapest on September 16, 1893. In 1911 he entered his uncle's laboratory where he studied until the outbreak of World War One, when he joined the army. He served on the Italian and Russian fronts, and he was permitted to leave the army in 1917 after being wounded in action. He completed his studies in Budapest before he went to Hamburg for a two-year course in physical chemistry. In 1920 he became an assistant at a university in Leiden, the Netherlands and from 1922 to 1926 he worked with H. J. Hamburger at the Physiology Institute, Groningen, the Netherlands. In 1926, Szent-Gyorgyi was ready to end his own life after an embarrassing problem in his career. The scientist, thirty-two, had written a paper and handed it to his boss for approval to publish. His boss threw it in the dustbin. Concluding his life was a failure, the young researcher quit. Unable to support his wife and child, he sent them home to her parents. His final wish was to attend one last scientific meeting, to be among scientists, to have one last good time. So he went to the 1926 International Physiological Society Congress in Sweden. Sitting in the audience, lost in self-pity, Szent-Gyorgyi listened to the president of the society, Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins, refer to the fine work of a researcher: Szent-Gyorgyi! After the speech, collecting his courage, he introduced himself to Hopkins. The great man invited the young scientist to Cambridge to do further work. Szent-Gyorgyi's life changed. He discovered the oxidation-preventing action of vitamin C. He won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937. He accounted for his success by saying that discovery is seeing what everyone else has seen but thinking what nobody else has thought. The passage is organized in the pattern of _ . A) cause and effect B) comparison and contrast C) time and events D) definition and classification
(A).
C