Have your parents ever inspected your room to see if you cleaned it properly? Imagine having your entire houses, garage, and yard inspected at any time -- with no warning. Inspections were a regular part of lighthouse living, and a keeper's reputation depended on results. A few times each year, an inspector arrived to look over the entire light station. The inspections were supposed to be a surprise, but keeper sometimes had advance notice. Once lighthouses had telephones, keepers would call each other to warn that the inspector was approaching. After boats began flying special flags noting the inspector aboard, the keeper's family made it a game to see who could notice the boat first. As soon as someone spotted the boat, everyone would do last-minute tidying and change into fancy clothes. The keeper then scurried to put on his dress uniform and cap. Children of keepers remember inspectors wearing white gloves to run their fingers over door frames and windowsills looking for dust. Despite the serious nature of inspections, they resulted in some funny moments. Betty Byrnes remembered when her mother did not have time to wash all the dishes before an inspection. At the time, people did not have dishwashers in their homes. In an effort to clean up quickly, Mrs. Byrnes tossed all the dishes into a big bread pan, covered them with a cloth and stuck them in the oven. If the inspector opened the oven door, it would look like bread was baking. he never did. One day, Glenn Furst's mother put oil on the kitchen floor just before the inspector entered their house. Like floor wax, the oil made the floors shiny and helped protect the wood. This time, though, she used a little too much oil. When the inspector extended his hand to greet Glenn's mother, he slipped on the freshly oiled surface. "He came across that floor waving his arms like a young bird attempting its first flight," Glenn late wrote. After he steadied himself, he shook Glenn's mother's hand, and the inspection continued as though nothing had happened. The family began making preparations immediately after _ . A) one of the members saw the boat B) a warning call reached the lighthouse C) the keeper put on the dress uniform and cap D) the inspector flew special flags in the distance
A
(Question)
Parents are creating an "I want it now" generation by satisfying children's every demand at Christmas, say experts. Youngsters in Britain are becoming increasingly selfish, claim the education analysts. Behavioral consultant Chris Calland said: "Parents want to make Christmas into magical fairytale for their kids. "There's nothing wrong with that. The problem arises when it means always giving into all our children's demands--- even if they are beyond our price range or not age-appropriate." Ms Calland, who runs "Santa Says No" style sessions with colleague Nicky Hutchinson, added: "Many of us go into so much debt providing the gifts our children want that we spend the rest of the year paying off the bills. But so often the gifts we've carefully wrapped, once opened, are just pushed away because the very thing our little boy or girl was once so desperate for, they have now lost interest in." Ms Calland and Ms Hutchinson have drawn up a list of guidelines to help parents manage their offspring's Christmas lists this year. They say that adults can actually improve their relationships with their children by resisting "pester power". Ms Calland said: "All too often we say yes because we want an easier life when the fact is that we're only building up problems for the future. We are helping create a generation of youngsters who are blind to the needs of others and the necessity of hard work. "Children learn fast--- if we sometimes change our mind, they quickly realize it might be worth lying on the floor and screaming for it. Make sure you and your partner are working together on this. Be consistent. And try not to get caught up in competition with other families or friends. According to the passage, we can infer that Ms Calland intends to _ . A) analyze children's behavior B) give advice to parents. C) introduce a new generation D) give her support to parents.
(Answer)
B
Ques: More American people take their troubles with them on holiday, according to a new _ . Although 40 percent said that the main reason for going away is to escape pressure from work, almost all said they worry more than they do at home. Only four in every 100 said that they are happy and free of care. The most common worry is burglary ( ) , with four out of 10 worrying about their homes being broken into while they're abroad.More than a quarter fear they will feel crazy with some other noisy and rough holiday-makers and 22 percent worry they may be attacked or their possessions will be missing. One in five think the car may break down; and the same number worry about the chances of bad weather. The survey also showed that the stay-at-home Americans are no more. Three out of every five want to have a holiday abroad, a great increase from the figures only three years ago. The hotel holiday is still a winner, with about one third of all Americana preferring to go on a self-catering ( ) holiday. According to the text, about _ of people worry more on holiday than when they are at home. A) 25% B) 40% C) 80% D) 95%
Ans: D
Question: Accidents and illness are unhappy things to talk about, but no one can expect to live a lifetime without having some kind of accident or becoming ill. Some accidents and illnesses are serious and may result in long periods of invalidism. The newspapers contain spectacular accounts of accidents in the street and highways and public places, but nearly as many accidents occur around the home. Somebody trips on a rug. Somebody falls off a stepladder. Somebody is careless in cooking dinner, and is burned. Accidents incurred in the playing of sports and swimming also accounts for a large number of injuries, big and little. Despite constant campaigns to reduce the number of accidents, there are still approximately 100,000 accidental deaths and nearly 9,000,000 nonfatal injuries in the United States each year. It has been estimated that around 3,000,000 people are constantly ill in the United States throughout the year and that over half the illness is caused by respiratory diseases, chiefly colds and influenza. The pain and suffering caused by accidents and illness tell only half the story. Loss of time from school and work and medical and hospital expenses often make the pain seem worse. Money spent in this country for doctors, services, hospitalization, nursing care, drugs, medicines, Xrays, and special treatments, amounts to a huge annual sum. Added to this expense is another much larger amount that is lost to wage earners throughout the nation by reason of their loss of wages or income while sick or otherwise disabled. Accident and health insurance is a form of insurance devised to protect against these economic losses. It protects the earning of wage earners and finishes financial aid to the family of the breadwinner by the payment of his doctor and hospital bills. Today, business and professional men, farmers, industrial workers, clerks and those engaged in various occupations, whose earning power is shut off for a week, a month, or sometimes years, because of accidents or illness can insure themselves against... The heaviest pain and suffering caused by accidents and illness are _ . A) colds and influenza B) financial losses C) loss of time D) invalidism
Answer:
B