*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Well, it's time for Words and Their Stories. We present more expressions about food from Elenir Scardueli, a listener in Brazil. My mother believes you are what you eat. Then she'd always give us nutritious food. She likes serving us meat and potatoes, which can also mean the most important part of something. Here's another expression about meat: one man's meat is another man's poison--one might like something very much while another person might hate it. My father's a good and honest person. People say he's the salt of the earth. He'd never pour salt on a wound, or make someone feel worse about something. However, sometimes he tells us a story that seems bigger than life. So we have to take it with a grain of salt. My husband makes enough money to support our family. So we say he brings home the bacon. He can cut the mustard, or do what is expected of him at work. Besides, he stands almost two meters tall, so it's easy to find my husband in a crowd. He is a tall drink of water. I take the train to work. It is not a pleasant ride because the train is so crowded that we are packed like sardines. When we fail to see problems at work, my boss tells us to wake up and smell the coffee. We need to pay more attention and fix the problem. I once made a big mistake at the office and felt foolish. I had egg on my face. Over the weekend, my friend invited me to watch a football game on television. But I do not like football. It is not my cup of tea. We hope this has given you food for thought and stay with us next time. Thank you. Question: When you doubt something, you might _ . Options: A: wake up and smell the coffee B: take it with a grain of salt C: bring home the bacon D: have egg on your face
**Answer**
B

*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: A new study says electronic toys are not helping babies learn. "Even if companies are marketing them as educational, they're not teaching the babies anything at this time," said Anna Sosa the study's author. Researchers listened to audio recordings of parents playing with their babies aged 10 months to 16 months. The researchers compared the experiences when the children played with electronic toys, traditional toys such as blocks, or when the children looked at books. What they found is that parents talked less with their babies when the babies played with electronic toys. Why is this important? Research shows that how quickly children develop language is often based on what they hear from parents. When the infants played with electronic toys, parents said little to their children. But with traditional toys, such as blocks, parents shared the names and descriptions of the animals, colors and shapes as their children played. There was even more information given by parents as their babies looked at the pictures in books. Of course, there is no need for parents to throw out electronic toys, but they should look at their infants' play with such toys as entertainment, not a learning experience. Toy Industry Association spokeswoman Adrienne Appell responded to the study. She said it is important that parents make time to play with their children. "Playing is a way that kids can learn so much, not only cognitive skills, but social and developmental skills," she said. She added that play should be balanced, including time for just "make believe" activities, as well as traditional and electronic toys. Question: According to Adrienne Appell, playing _ . Options: A: can't take the place of learning B: shouldn't take most of children's time C: can't develop children's cognitive skills D: is good to children's overall development
**Answer**
D

*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: I was never very neat, while my roommate Kate was extremely organized. Each of her objects had its place, but mine always hid somewhere. She even labeled ( ) everything. I always looked for everything. Over time, Kate got neater and I got messier. She would push my dirty clothing over, and I would lay my books on her tidy desk. We both got tired of each other. War broke out one evening. Kate came into the room. Soon, I heard her screaming, "Take your shoes away! Why under my bed!" Deafened, I saw my shoes flying at me. I jumped to my feet and started yelling. She yelled back louder. The room was filled with anger. We could not have stayed together for a single minute but for a phone call. Kate answered it. From her end of the conversation, I could tell right away her grandma was seriously ill. When she hung up, she quickly crawled ( ) under her covers, sobbing. Obviously, that was something she should not go through alone. All of a sudden, a warm feeling of sympathy rose up in my heart. Slowly, I collected the pencils, took back the books, made my bed, cleaned the socks and swept the floor, even on her side. I got so into my work that I even didn't notice Kate had sat up. She was watching, her tears dried and her expression one of disbelief. Then, she reached out her hands to grasp mine. I looked up into her eyes. She smiled at me. "Thanks." Kate and I stayed roommates for the rest of the year. We didn't always agree, but we learned the key to living together: giving in cleaning up and holding on. Question: What made Kate so angry one evening? Options: A: She couldn't find her books. B: She heard the author shouting loud. C: She got the news that her grandma was ill. D: She saw the author's shoes beneath her bed.
**Answer**
D

*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Shakespeare, perhaps more than any other writer, made full use of the great resources of the English language. Most of us use about five thousand words in our normal employment of English; Shakespeare in his works used about twenty-five thousand! There is probably no better way for a foreigner (or an Englishman!) to appreciate the richness and variety of the English language than by studying the various ways in which Shakespeare used it. Such a study is well worth the effort, even though some aspects of English usage, and the meaning of many words, have changed since Shakespeare's day. However ,it is surprising that we should know comparatively little about the life of the greatest English author. We know that Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford--on--Avon ,and that he died there in 1616.He almost certainly attended the Grammar School in the town ,but of this we cannot be sure .We know he was married there in 1582 to Anne Hathaway and that he had three children .We know that he spent much of his life in London writing his masterpieces .But this is almost all that we do know . However, what is important about Shakespeare's life is not its incidental details but its products, the plays and the poems. For many years scholars have been trying to add a few facts about Shakespeare's life to the small number we already possess and for an equally long time critics have been theorizing about the plays. Sometimes, indeed, it seems that the poetry of Shakespeare will disappear under the greatest masses of comment that has been written about it. Fortunately this is not likely to happen. Shakespeare's poetry and Shakespeare's people (Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet, Falstaff and all the others) have long delighted not just the English but lovers of literature everywhere, and will continue to do so after the scholars and _ and all their works have been forgotten. Question: According to the writer, which of the following remains uncertain about Shakespeare? Options: A: His marriage. B: The year of his birth. C: The year of his death. D: His life in the Grammar School.
**Answer**
D