Q: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: Early one morning, more than a hundred years ago, an American inventor called Elias Howe finally fell asleep. He had been working all night on the design of a sewing machine but he had run into a very difficult problem. It seemed impossible to get the thread to run smoothly around the needle. Despite his exhaustion, Howe slept badly. He tossed and turned. Then he had a nightmare He dreamt that he had been caught by terrible savages whose king wanted to kill him and eat him unless he could build a perfect sewing machine. When he tried to do so, Howe ran into the same problem as before. The thread kept getting caught around the needle. The king flew into the cage and ordered his soldiers to kill Howe. They came up towards him with their spears raised. But suddenly the inventor noticed something. There was a hole in the tip of each spear. The inventor awoke from the dream, realizing that he had just found the answer to the problem. Instead of trying to get the thread to run around the needle, he should make a small hole in the center of the needle and have the thread run through it. This was the simple idea that finally made Howe design and build the first really practical sewing machine. Thomas Edison, the inventor of the electric light, said his best ideas came into him in dreams. So did the great physicist Albert Einstein. To appreciate the value of dreams, you have to understand what happens when you are asleep. Even then, a part of your mind is still working. This unconscious , but still active part digests your experiences and goes to work on the problems you have had during the day. However, the unconscious part expresses itself through its own logic and its own language.. It uses strange images which the conscious part may not understand at first. This is why dreams are sometimes called "secret messages to ourselves". Question: Thomas Edison is mentioned because _ . Options: A: he also tried to invent a sewing machine B: he was one of Howe's best friends C: he also had difficulty in falling asleep D: he got some of his ideas from dreams
A: D

Q: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: Who is the most powerful woman in the world? According to the US media, it's Janet Yellen, or at least she's about to be. On Oct 9, 2013,US President Barack Obama nominated Yellen to serve as the next US Federal Reserve (the Fed, )chair. If confirmed by the Senate, Yellen will become the first woman to serve in the top spot. Aged 67, silver-haired and tiny, Yellen is said to be the most qualified nominee ever. She chaired President Bill Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers, taught at Harvard and Berkeley, and was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. She is currently the Fed's vice chair. Many think Yellen is the right choice to deal with the challenges the Fed now faces:First, to bring interest rates back to more normal levels without triggering a new recession .Second, to reduce the US unemployment rate, which remains at historically high levels. A CNN opinion piece says Yellen is unusual for an economist of her caliber ."She has kept her eyes on what's critical-the people. Her research has centered on unemployment, on the best way to modulate government policies to benefit the people." Past records also show that Yellen is exceptionally good at predicting where the economy is headed. An article in The Washington Post points out that she was one of the few voices at the Fed inDecember 2009 warning about the subprime crisis and the following recession. The reason why Yellen will be the most powerful woman in the world has to do with the unique position of the Federal Reserve, explains an article on Quartz, a US news outlet for business people in the new global economy, First of all, the Fed is independent. Unlike US Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Hilary Clinton, the decisions made by the organization Yellen will lead next year are not subject to approval by anyone in the government. Within the Fed, the chair alone sets the agenda. The Fed chairperson has huge influence on monetary policy and financial regulation. And don't forget how powerful the Fed itself is. It controls... Question: What is the author's attitude towards Yellen's being nominated? Options: A: Optimistic. B: Negative. C: Understanding. D: Doubtful.
A: A

Q: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: Trapped on the 37thFloor Melinda Skaar wasn't expecting any phone calls.Skaar was working late in her office at the First Interstate bank of California.By 10:45 that night she was almost ready to go home when the phone rang. Picking it up,she heard a guard shouting."There is a fire! Get out of there!" Skaar didn't panic.She figured that it was just a small fire.Her office building was huge.There were 62 floors and her desk was on the 37th floor. Skaar called out to office mate Stephen Oksas.who also stayed late to work.But when they got to the hallway, they were met by a cloud of black smoke.Rushing back,Skaar shut the door and filled the space at the bottom of the door with her jacket to keep the smoke out. Then they called 911.Before they could call their families,however, the line went dead.That meant that they were completely cut off from the outside world.All they could do was wait and hope someone would come to rescue them. Minutes ticked by.Smoke began to float into the office.Soon it became hard for them to breathe. Looking around,Skaar noticed a small workroom.It seemed to have cleaner air.So they crowded there.That helped for a while,but in time even the workroom was filled with deadly smoke. Hopeless,they tried to break the windows,but the glass was not breakable.Everything they threw at just bounced back. Defeated,they struggled back to the workroom.They felt weak and dizzy.Soon Skaar found Oksas had passed out. As Skaar and Oksas lay near death,rescuers were rushing to find them.At last,at about 4 a.m.,firefighters found them. Skaar and Oksas knew they were lucky to be alive."Sunday is my birthday,"Skaar told a reporter. She would be turning 29.But she knew she had already got the best present possible--the gift of life. Question: The following helped Skaar and Oksas survive the fire EXCEPT _ . Options: A: calling 911 for help B: breaking the windows to get some fresh air C: crowding in a small workroom for clean air D: shutting the door and keeping the smoke out with a jacket
A: B

Q: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: Seth A. DeShane, 14, pronounced dead late Thursday at the family home, which was destroyed in the fire. "He really saved his aunt," said the Rev. Kris Dietzen, pastor at Cambridge Lutheran church. "He woke his aunt up and told her the Christmas tree was on fire." "He got her out of the house. She thought he (Seth) was behind her, but he went back inside." Dietzen said that when Seth's aunt realized the boy had gone back inside, she tried to get back in herself, but by then the smoke was so thick and the fire so intense, she had to leave the house. "She ran to a neighbor's farm, and they proceeded to call 911," Dietzen said. The fire is being blamed on malfunctioning lights on the Christmas tree on the first floor, Chief Edward Bole of the Cambridge Fire Department, said. The front half of the two - story home was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived. Question: What caused the fire? Options: A: The lights on the Christmas tree. B: We don't know. C: The cats. D: The Christmas tree.
A: A