Read the article and select the best answer. Article: An Ofsted study reports that teachers are discouraging students who want to leave school and work as apprentices in beauty salons or hair dressers. Inspectors questioned 105 young people for a report on apprenticeships published on Wednesday. They found several examples of young people who felt they had been laughed at by their teachers for wanting to progress to work-based learning, particularly in care or hairdressing, rather than stay on at school. Right or wrong, is it any surprise that this is happening? From 2014,the government will measure schools according to the rate of their pupils who go to university. Brian Lightman , general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, says the government has already put teachers under "very great pressure to focus on academic subjects" On the other hand, the Education Act 2011,which came into force in November, places schools under a duty to give fair career advice to pupils. This advice must include information on all post-16 education and training choices, including apprenticeships. This doesn't appear to be happening in several schools, according to Ofsted9S report. Many of the young people the inspectors talked to said the advice they had received on apprenticeships was "unsatisfactory". Schools were also blamed for lack of work experience courses, which are particularly important for teenagers considering an apprenticeship. _ help students decide whether they enjoy a line of work and enable employers to see whether those on work experience have the potential to be hired as apprentices in future years. But there is a good reason why they can't do this: they'd be unable to adapt to GCSE exams if they did. Sometimes, it seems, schools just can't win. Question: What does the author think of teachers' discouraging students working as apprentices? Options: A: Surprising B: Understandable C: Wrong D: Right
B

(Question)
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: All parents tell their children little white lies from time to time. "Of course Father Christmas comes down the chimney!" "Eat your spinach -- you'll get as strong as Popeye.". . . and so on. However, there's one fib that's bigger than all the others. It's "I don't have a favorite child." In his fascinating new book, The Sibling Effect: What Bonds Among Brothers and Sisters Reveal About Us, Jeffrey Kluger, a father of two daughters, aged eight and ten, claims that " 95 percent of parents in the world have a favorite child -- and the other 5 percent are lying." Kluger may be exaggerating the figures for dramatic effect -- but despite every parent's vehement denial that they have a favorite child -- scientific research shows that he is not far off the truth. According to one recent study by researchers from the University of California -- which followed 384 _ pairs and their parents for three years -- 65 percent of the mothers and 70 percent of fathers exhibited a preference for one child. As this was among families that knew they were being monitored, there's a strong possibility the true figures could be significantly higher. Favoritism is certainly a controversial topic. When raised as a subject for discussion on parenting websites, it always arouses a stream of angry denials. But interestingly, a lot of personal anecdotes appear from parents who say they were overshadowed by a favored sibling, or were, indeed, their mother or father's favorite. It seems everyone knows favoritism exists -- but nobody wants to put their hand up and say they're guilty of it themselves. Another research, where siblings have been asked to say who their mother and father favor, suggests that mothers do tend to a show a preference for their first-born son, but fathers often dote on their youngest daughters. Parents will often be drawn to the child who is easiest to get along with -- or the child that shares similar traits to them. For example, mum will have a special bond with her sensitive, arty son, while dad lavishes... Question: Which of the following is most likely a white lie? Options: A: I am determined to go and nothing will stop me. B: A good idea, without action, is worth nothing. C: Those who complain the most, accomplish the least. D: Thank you so much for the gift! I just love it!
(Answer)
D

Ques: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: When should a child start learning to read and write? This is one of the questions I am most frequently asked. There is no hard and fast rule, for no two are alike, and it would be wrong to set a time when all should start being taught the intricacies of reading letters to form words. If a three-year-old wants to read(or even a two-year-old for that matter), the child has the right to be given every encouragement. The fact that he or she might later be "bored" when joining a class of non-readers at child school is the teacher's affair. It is up to the teacher to see that such a child is given more advanced reading material. Similarly, the child who still cannot read by the time he goes to junior school at the age of seven should be given every help by teachers and parents alike. They should make certain that he is not dyslexic(having difficulty in reading). Although parents should be careful not to force youngsters aged two to five to learn to read( if badly done it could put them off reading for life ), there is no harm in preparing them for simple recognition of letters by labeling various items in their rooms. For instance, tie a nice piece of cardboard to their bed with BED written in neat, big letters. Should the young child ask his parents to teach him to read, and if the parents are capable of doing so, such an attraction should not be ignored. But the task should never be made to look like a hard job and the child should never be forced to continue, or his interest should start to flag. Question: The purpose of labeling items in the room is to _ . Options: A: make it more colorful B: help children recognize simple letters C: force children to develop the habit of reading D: teach children to write neatly
Ans: B

Ques: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: National Forecast LONDON --This Evening and Tonight: Rain, locally heavy across northwest Scotland. Mostly cloudy but dry in other northern and western areas. Dry with clear spells in more central and eastern parts, but some low cloud and fog will develop. Generally mild with light winds. Saturday: Cloud and rain over western Scotland at the beginning will gradually push down over N. Ireland and northwest England. Largely dry, warm with sunny spells elsewhere, once early fog and low cloud clears. http://www.times.online.co.uk/tol/news/weather/ The Nation's Weather Fri, Aug 24, NEW YORK--Heavy rain was forecast throughout Friday in parts of the Midwest. The heaviest rainfall was over northern Illinois, with more than 4 inches possible around Chicago. Wet weather was also expected in the Plains as the same storm system tracks through the region. Periods of heavy rain were also forecast for the Northeast as the remnant of tropical storm Erin moves into the Canadian Maritimes. Hot weather was expected to continue in the South and West. http://www.underground.com Death toll rises to 36 in China typhoon Wed, Aug 22, BEIJING-- At least 36 people were killed by Typhoon Sepat in four provinces in eastern and central China in widespread destruction that also forced the evacuation of l.37 million people. More than 60,000 homes in the provinces of Fujian, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Hunan also were destroyed or damaged, Xinhua News Agency said. Total economic losses in the provinces have reached $ 663 million. Fujian was the worst-hit province, with 18 people killed, Xinhua said. Earlier, the storm, named after a Malaysian fish, killed at least one person in Taiwan, and left three dead in the Philippines. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap Question: On August 25, in N. Ireland and northwest England, there will be _ . Options: A: low cloud and fog B: typhoon and flood C: cloud and rain D: sunshine and mild wind
Ans:
C