*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Back in the days when I wrote my first songs, I hated my voice. I saw myself as a songwriter and guitarist but never a singer! I continued to write songs, and to search for the perfect singer. After a few years I did discover a singer, so we started a project together. We held a few concerts, and put a lot of work into it. She forces me to sing some songs at concerts myself, so I started going to a bar to practice them. This was my first, small breakthrough. One day she came round to my flat and informed me that she could no longer work with me, and also that the bar owner at the open mic venue had replaced us at short notice because some New York jazz star happened to be in town, and was available that evening to perform. The first bit of news made me sad and disappointed, but the second made me angry. However, that same evening, with as much determination as I could muster , I resolved to play three new songs at the bar, just as I had planned before. I was quite nervous, but I dragged myself down to the bar and sang those songs! I never felt so liberated . That night I couldn't get to sleep. I was simply astonished, hardly believing that I was a person who acted so courageously, and that I'd been able to sing my songs myself. Since then I've begun to encourage others to adopt a similar approach when they aren't able to see their own potential. One example is an amateur fiddler who could barely bring herself to lift her instrument to play in front of people. I forced her to ignore her fear, and simply get on with it. Now, a year or two later, she is a passionate, happy performer in front of any crowd! Once you get the ball rolling in yourself, you can start inspiring those around you. Question: What was the author's first breakthrough? Options: A: She found the perfect singer. B: She started a project with her partner. C: She started to practice songs at a bar. D: She was able to sing all of her songs.
**Answer**
C

*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: The regular use of text messages and e-mails can lower the IQ more than twice as much as smoking marijuana . Psychologists say that sending/receiving messages or looking through the many menu options your mobile phone has, lowers a person's IQ by almost 10 points. British researchers have named this situation "infomania". Instead of fixed on what they are doing, people's minds are constantly focused on reacting to the technology surrounding them. This means they don't pay full attention to the work they are paid to do. The report also added that the brain can not do so many things at once. If you try to do too many things, mistakes begin to occur. And while modern technology can have huge benefits, too much use can be damaging not only to a person's mind, but to their social life. The more televisions 4-year-old children watch, the more likely they are to become bullies later on in school, a newest U.S. study said. At the same time, children whose parents read to them, take them on outings and just generally pay attention to them are less likely to become bullies, said the report from the University of Washington. Researchers also found gaps in learning and understanding such things as social skills early in life makes it more difficult for children to relate with other children. Watching violence on television leads to aggressive behavior. You could soon be able to add your favorite perfume to your e-mails. UK net provider Telewest Broadband is testing a system to let people send e-mails over the Internet with sweet smell. It has developed a kind of hi-tech air freshener that plugs into a PC and sprays a smell linked to the message. Telewest says it could be used by supermarkets to attract people with the smell of fresh bread or by holiday companies seeking to stir up images of sun-kissed beachers. Question: . Options: A: children whose parents care about them B: children whose parents give them more freedom C: children whose parents direct them over watching TV D: children whose parents stop them watching TV
**Answer**
A

*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Nowadays they are giving homework even during the holidays and I hate that very much. But I think there is a reason for it. Homework is given so that we can remember whatever we have learnt. Regular drilling and repetition make perfect. But teachers have started to give too much homework. Anything in excess is bad. Jane What's the use of just homework without allowing children to get an insight into the subject? It just makes them bookworms but nothing else. Homework such as writing some things 5 times at home will just make them memorize things but not put them into use. I regret to say that teachers find it easy to bundle the children with homework rather than making them get interested to understand what they learn. The same trend continues even in college. I find that most of the so-called high scorers are unable to answer simple things in an interview. Sally It is OK to give homework. But it should be given less. We are spending most of our time in school and at least we must be free in our home. If you give homework, we will be very tired and we wouldn't be able to pay attention to extra-curricular activities, which in turn may affect our physical and mental health. So please give less homework to us. Johnson It is part of our work to give students homework. There will be some punishments if we won't do our work. So I have to do that though I know such a teacher is not liked by students. Question: Who thinks that too much homework may do harm to students' physical and mental health? Options: A: Sunny. B: Jane. C: Sally. D: Johnson.
**Answer**
C

*Question*
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: This year some twenty-three hundred teen-agers (young people aged from 13-19) from all over the world will spend about ten months in U.S. homes . They will attend U. S. schools , meet U.S. teenagers , and form impressions of the real America . At the same time , about thirteen hundred American teenagers will go to other countries to learn new languages and gain a new understanding of the rest of the world . Here is a two-way student exchange in action . Fred , nineteen ,spent last year in Gemany with George's family . In turn , George's son Mike spent a year in Fred's home in America . Fred , a lively young man , knew little German when he arrived , but after two months' study , the language began to come to him . School was completely different from what he had expected-much harder . Students rose respectfully when the teacher entered the room . They took fourteen subjects instead of the six that are usual in the United States . There were almost no outside activities . Family life , too , was different . The father's word was law , and all activities were around the family rather than the individual. Fred found the food too simple at first . Also , he missed having a car . "Back home ,you pick up some friends in a car and go out and have a good time . In Germany , you walk , but you soon learn to like it ." At the same time , in America , Mike , a friendly German boy , was also forming his idea . "I suppose I should criticize American schools ." He says , "it is far too easy by our level . But I have to say that I like it very much . In Germany we do nothing but study . Here we take part in many outside activities . I think that maybe your schools are better in training for citizens . There ought to be some middle ground between the two ." Question: The whole exchange programme is mainly to _ . Options: A: help teenagers in other countries know the real America B: send students in America to travel in Germany C: let students learn something about other countries D: have teenagers learn new languages
**Answer**
C