Question: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: A small, white envelope has peeked through the branches of our Christmas tree for the past 10 years. It has no name, no identification, no inscription . My husband Mike hated Christmas. He hated the overspending and the crazy running around at the last minute for the gifts given in desperation because you couldn't think of anything else. So one year I searched for something special to give Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way. Our son Kevin was 12 and was on the school wrestling team. Shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team of poor kids. They were dressed in ragged sneakers, and presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their golden uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without helmets . Their team obviously could not afford them. We beat them hands down . Mike shook his head sadly. "I wish just one of them could have won," he said. Mike loved kids and enjoyed coaching football and baseball. That's when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a sports store and bought a load of wrestling headgear and shoes. I sent them anonymously to the poor team. On Christmas Eve, I placed a small, white envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. Mike's smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year. In the years that followed, I sent a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, and a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas. The white envelope became the highlight of Christmas. Mike died last year, but on Christmas Eve I still placed an envelope on the tree. The next morning it was joined by three more. Each of our three children had placed a white envelope on the tree for their dad. Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us. By Nancy W. Gavin Question: When Mike said those words after the match, he meant that _ . - there was a big contrast in skills in the two teams - defeat was always a hard lesson to take for kids - dress and shoes could affect a sports players' confidence - the defeat might cause the poor kids to lose faith in themselves
Answer: the defeat might cause the poor kids to lose faith in themselves

Question: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Red squirrels have been wiped out from a large area of northern Italy, threatening a further biodiversity crisis for the species similar to its near extinction in the British Isles. There are now no red squirrels left in an area of more than 1,150 square kilometres (sq km) in Piedmont, according to research from the universities of Turin, Genoa and Varese. On the edge of this large region, the species is also under threat from the invasions of grey squirrels. If the spread of the grey squirrel continues uncontrolled, the species could spread as far as France, the scientists fear. They are calling for more research and control and conservation measures aimed at preserving the remaining red squirrel populations and containing the spread of the greys. Grey squirrels were introduced into Italy ly recently, in 1948. They were a gift from the US ambassador and kept in Turin, but escaped into the wild and rapidly colonized the surrounding area - despite warnings from the UK, where importing grey squirrels was forbidden from before the Second World War, when the destructive effects of having imported greys in the 1880s had become clear. Grey squirrels are not only more aggressive than the native European red squirrel, which causes them to invade red-dominated areas and take over, but they also carry a deadly virus, the squirrel pox. While greys are largely immune to the virus, it is deadly to red squirrels, which typically die within one or two weeks of being infected. From only four animals in 1948, at Stupinigi near Turin, the greys spread rapidly in recent years. Until 1970 the distribution of greys was limited to the Stupinigi woods, occupying an area of about 12 sq km. By 1990 this area had expanded to more than 200 sq km, stretching mainly southwards into the Cuneo province. By 2000, grey squirrels occupied 900 sq km and this year, fresh research from the three universities shows that their distribution now extends to more than 2,000 sq km. In more than half of that area, the native reds have been entirely... Question: Red squirrels are nearly extinct in Northern Italy as a result of_. - the biodiversity crisis - the invasion of grey squirrels - being weaker than other animals - the similar extinction in the British Isles
Answer: the invasion of grey squirrels

Question: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: The host poured the tea into the cup and placed it on the small table in front of his guests,who were a father and his daughter,and put the lid on the cup with a clink.Obviously thinking of something.he hurried into the inner room,leaving the thermos on the table.His two guests heard a chest of drawers opening and rustling. They remained sitting in the sitting room,the ten-year-old daughter looking at the flowers outside the window,the father just about to take his cup,when the crash came,right there in the sitting room.Something was hopelessly broken. It was the thermos,which had fallen to the floor.The girls looked over her shoulder suddenly,shocked, staring. It was mysterious;neither of them had touched it,not even a little bit.True.it hadn't stood steadily when their host placed it on the table,but it hadn't fallen then. The crash of the thermos caused the host,with a box of sugar cubes in his hand,to rush back from the inner room.He looked foolishly at the steaming floor and blurted out. "It doesn't matter! It doesn't matter!'' The father started to say something.Then he said in a low voice,"Sorry I touched it and it fell." "It doesn't matter,"the host said. Later,when they left the house,the daughter said,"Daddy,did you touch it?'' "No.But it stood so close to me." "But you didn't touch it.I saw your reflection in the window .You were sitting perfectly still." The father laughed."Then how would you explain the cause of its fall?" "The thermos fell by itself , The floor is uneven. It wasn't steady when Mr. Li put it there. Daddy,why did you say that?" "That won't do,girl.It sounds more acceptable when I say I knocked it down.There are things which people accept less true it sounds." The daughter was lost in silence for a while.Then she said,"Can you explain it only this way?" "Only this way."her father said. Question: Which statement is a possible main idea of this story? - People seldom tell the truth. - You can't always make people believe the truth - If you try to defend yourself,people will believe you. - People never believe others.
Answer:
You can't always make people believe the truth