Tom arrived at the bus station quite early for the London bus. The bus for London would not leave until five to twelve. He saw a lot of people waiting in the station. Some were standing in lines, others were walking about. There was a group of school-girls. Their teacher was trying to keep them in order. Tom looked around but there was nowhere for him to sit. He walked into the station cafe. He looked up at the clock there. It was only twenty to twelve. He found a seat and sat down, facing a large mirror on the wall. Just then, John, one of Tom's friends, came in and sat with Tom. "What time is your bus?" asked John. "Oh, there is plenty of time yet," answered Tom. "Oh, I'll get you some more tea then," said John. They talked while drinking. Then Tom looked at the clock again. "Good heavens! It's going back-ward!" he cried. "A few minutes ago it was twenty to twelve and now it's half past eleven." "You are looking at the clock in the mirror," said John. Tom wanted to kick himself for being so foolish. The next bus was not to leave for another hour. He has never liked mirror since then. Which of the following is true? A) Tom missed his bus. B) He liked mirror even before. C) The next bus would leave soon. D) Tom arrived in London on time.
A
(Question)
Good readers know that reading isn't just about knowing words--it's a way of thinking. Some readers think before, during and after reading. Here are some suggestions that may be of some help. Think before you read. Before you read the text, ask yourself the questions that why you are reading it and what you want to get from it. Answering the questions will help you choose what words you need to know and what words you can skip or scan. Think while you are reading. Can you get the meaning of the text without looking up new words in a dictionary? Are there any clues in the text? A text will often give examples that may help you understand what some of the words mean, let's take the following sentence for example. Many large Russian cities such as Chelayabinsk and Irkutsk, have taken steps to protect their culture. The words "Chelyabinsk"and"Irkutsk" may be new to us, but the sentence tells us that they are examples of _ Think after you read. Do you understand the text? What is the main idea of the text? Can you guess the meaning of the new words? Which words do you need to look up? Is the text too easy or too hard for you? If you practice reading and thinking in this way, you will become a smarter reader and you will learn more, faster and better. Which of the following can best be put in the blank in the passage? A) countries B) mountains C) rivers D) cities
(Answer)
D
Ques: Taxpayers in America pay less in income tax than many Europeans, according to a Pew Research Center report. Belgium has the highest income tax rate, at nearly 56 percent of income, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD. Taxpayers in the U.S. pay less than 36 percent of their incomes into the national treasury. Taxes pay for services provided by the government. The U.S. ranks 25 of the 34 developed countries polled in the report. An unmarried person with no children was used as an example in the report. In America, an unmarried person, with no children, making the average wage of $50,000 in 2014 paid 24.8 percent of their income in federal income tax and payroll taxes . A similar person living in Belgium would pay 42.3 percent of their income. The average among the 39 countries in the poll was 27.3 percent income tax. The deadline to pay taxes in America is usually April 15. This year, the deadline is April 18. American taxpayers complain that wealthy people and large companies pay too little tax, according to a Pew Research Center poll from 2015. Americans pay tax to fund programs like Social Security and Medicaid, according to the Pew Research Center. Last year, American taxes paid for $888 billion in Social Security benefits. Social Security pays the elderly an income after they stop working. The government also paid more than $546 billion in Medicaid and Medicare benefits. Those programs pay for health and medical care to people who cannot afford it, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The majority of people benefiting from the taxes in America are _ . A) wealthy people and corporations B) unmarried people C) married couples D) the elderly retirees
Ans: D
(Q).
When Frida Kahlo's paintings were on show in London, a poet described her paintings as " a ribbon around a bomb". Such comments seem to suggest Kahlo had a big influence on the art world of her time. Sadly, she is actually _ today than she was during her time. Born in 1907 in a village near Mexico City , Kahlo suffered from polio at the age of seven. Her spine become bent as she grew older. Then, in 1925, her back was broken in several places in a school-bus accident. Throughout the rest of her life, the artist had many operations, but nothing was able to cure the terrible pain in her back. However, the accident had an unexpected side effect. While lying in her bed recovering, Kahlo taught herself to paint. In 1929, she got married to Diego Rivera, another famous Mexican artist. Rivera's strong influences on Kahlo's style can be seen in her early works, but her later works from the 1940s, known today as her best works, show less influence from her husband. Unfortunately, her works did not attract much attention in the 1930s and1940s, even in her home country. Her first one-woman show in Mexico was not held until 1953.For more than a decade after her death in 1954, Kahlo's works remained largely unnoticed by the world, but in the 1970s her works began to gain international fame at last. The terrible pain Kahlo suffered was caused by _ A) polio B) back injuries C) the operations she had D) her bent spine
(A).
B
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A line of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes marched across the South on Friday, peeling away roofs, overturning cars and killing at least 11 people in Tennessee, officials said. It was the second wave of violent weather to hit the state in less than a week. Last weekend, tornadoes killed 24 people in the western part of the state and destroyed more than 1,000 homes and buildings. The storms crossed an area from northern Mississippi to northern Virginia as they moved to the northeast late Friday after developing from a low-pressure system in the central Plains. The Nashville suburbs were the hardest hit, with at least eight deaths happening northeast of the city. Three more people were killed in a rural area about 65 miles southeast of Nashville. Tornadoes were also reported in some other places. The storms pulled up trees, knocked down power lines and damaged buildings. What's worse, phone lines and most businesses were out of service. Hospitals admitted at least 60 people with storm-related injuries and transferred at least nine badly injured patients to Nashville hospitals. In southern Indiana, the storms damaged some areas with golf ball-sized hail. High winds blew the roof off a country club and overthrew a semitrailer . As the storms moved farther east, parts of West Virginia were lashed with heavy rain and winds, great damages caused. The number of tornadoes in the US has jumped through the first part of 2006 compared with the past few years. Through the end of March, an estimated 286 tornadoes had hit the US, compared with an average of 70 for the same three-month period in each of the past three years. The number of tornado-related deaths was 38 before Friday's storms. The average number of deaths from 2003 to 2005 was 45 a year, the prediction center said. How many deaths have the thunderstorms and tornadoes on Friday caused? A) Three. B) Eight. C) Eleven. D) Twenty-two.
C