I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: Cassandra Feeley finds it hard to manage on her husband's income. So this year she did something more than a hobby :She planted vegetables in her yard. For her first garden, Ms. Feeley has put in 15 tomato plants, and five rows of a variety of vegetables. The family's old farm house has become a chicken house, its residents arriving next month. Last year, Ms. Rita Gartin kept a small garden. This year she has made it much larger because, she said, "The cost of everything is going up and I was looking to lose a few pounds, too;so it's a win-win situation all around." They are among the growing number of Americans who, driven by higher living costs and a falling economy , have taken up vegetable gardening for the first time. Others have increased the size of their existing gardens. Seed companies and garden shops say that not since the 1970s there has been such an increase in interest in growing food at home. Now many gardens across the country have been sold out for several months. In Austin, Tex, some of the gardens have a three-year waiting list. George C.Ball Jr., owner of a company, said sales of vegetable seeds and plants are up by 40% over last year, double the average growth of the last five years. Mr. Ball argues that some of the reasons have been building for the last few years. The big one is the striking rise in the cost of food like bread and milk, together with the increases in the price of fruits and vegetables. Food prices have increased because of higher oil prices. People are now driving less, taking fewer vacations, so there is more time to garden. Question: Which of the following might be the best title for the text? Options: A: Family Food Planning B: Banking on Gardening C: A Belt - tightening Move D: Gardening as a Hobby
B
I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: The holiday is upon us. Finally, after months of study, you have some time to yourself. So, why not read a book? Well, some people will say, "Why bother with books? We have the Internet and other media that offer a lot of more colorful entertainment. Books are history!" But don't be fooled. I'm sure there's still a lot to be said for reading. One clear reason is that a well-chosen book is a wonderful source of vocabulary, so long as you have a good dictionary, of course. Believe me, it's far easier to get new English words and phrases from a book or an article than it is from the TV or the Internet. But another more important point is that books give you something that modern media simply can not. The average webpage is picture-heavy and the text is often designed to make it as easy to read as possible. While "easy" may be attractive, unfortunately it's of little use for any long-term development of reading skills and the general language level. Because of that, there's still no substitute of a book. But perhaps the best single reason is that simply choosing what you read and doing it independently means that it's something you do by and for yourself. You can choose what you want to read. It's hard work, but somewhere down the line, you'll find that what once seemed like a duty is now a pleasure. Question: The passage is written mainly to _ . Options: A: share the pleasure of reading books B: advise readers to read books C: stress the importance of reading online D: help readers to choose good books
B
Q: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: When it comes to friends, I desire those who will share my happiness, who possess wings of their own and who will fly with me. I seek friends whose qualities illuminate me and train me up for love. It is for these people that I reserve the glowing hours, too good not to share. When I was in the eighth grade, I had a friend. We were shy and "too serious" about our studies when it was becoming fashionable with our classmates to learn acceptable social behaviors. We said little at school, but she would come to my house and we would sit down with pencils and paper, and one of us would say: "Let's start with a train whistle today." We would sit quietly together and write separate poems or stories that grew out of a train whistle. Then we would read them aloud. At the end of that school year, we, too, were changing into social creatures and the stories and poems stopped. When I lived for a time in London, I had a friend. He was in despair and I was in despair. But our friendship was based on the idea in each of us that we would be sorry later if we did not explore this great city because we had felt bad at the time. We met every Sunday for five weeks and found many excellent things. We walked until our despairs disappeared and then we parted. _ . For almost four years I have had a remarkable friend whose imagination illuminates mine. We write long letters in which we often discover our strangest selves. Each of us appears, sometimes in a funny way, in the other's dreams. She and I agree that, at certain times, we seem to be parts of the same mind. In my most interesting moments, I often think: "Yes, I must tell..." We have never met. It is such comforting companions I wish to keep. One bright hour with their kind is worth more to me than the lifetime services of a psychologist, who will only fill up the healing silence necessary to those darkest moments in which I would rather be my own best friend. Question: In the darkest moments, the author would prefer to _ . Options: A: seek professional help B: break the silence C: stay with her best friend D: be left alone
A: D
Q: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: Did you ever wonder who invented products like Liquid Paper, Kevlar or paper bags? Most would think a man invented these items. Guess what? Women invented each of these. What? You don't believe me? Well, read this: Liquid Paper was invented by Bette Nesmith Graham in 1951 and originally called Mistake Out. Being a typist, Bette was increasingly _ with being unable to erase her typing mistakes. The messy business left her hands black and the paper dirty. Bette was good at painting and remembered that an artist paints over mistakes. She applied that same principle to typing mistakes and Liquid Paper was born, making Bette into a self-made millionaire. Kevlar, yes, the Kevlar of the bullet proof vest --what police officers and soldiers wear, was invented by Stephanie Kwolek. Stephanie worked for the DuPont Company as a research chemist. She was asked to find a high-performance fiber. Originally, this fiber was intended to be used for car tires . However, the fiber she developed in 1964 was amazing and is still used in products such as sailboats, skis, shoes, and yes, bullet proof vests. In 1995 Stephanie was named to the National Inventor's Hall of Fame. Margaret Knight invented a machine that revolutionized the making of paper bags. Paper bags had been made like envelopes but Margaret developed a machine that would fold and paste a flat-bottom paper bag, the very same type we still use today. Margaret's family was poor and she started working at the age of nine. Her first invention at the age of twelve was a safety tool for a loom . Later she worked for the Columbia Paper Bag Company. It was there that she worked on improving the making of paper bags. She was issued her patent in 1870. So next time you use a new product or an old one, will you wonder who made it? Do some research on the web and answer a few questions like: Who invented it? How was it invented? You may be surprised at some of the stories you uncover. Question: What do we know about Margaret? Options: A: She was a member of the National Inventor's Hall of Fame. B: Her first invention was made when she was twenty. C: Her invention was designed to produce envelopes. D: She began working when she was very young.
A: D