Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Dick was a twenty-year-old man. His father was a teacher and taught chemistry in a middle school and his mother worked in a shop. They lived a happy life until his parents died one night when suddenly an earthquake broke out. Luckily his sister took him to see their aunt in the city and they did not stay at home. Everything was destroyed in the earthquake and the two children got into trouble. Thanks to their aunt who was not rich enough, they grew up but they lived a hard life. His sister was so sad that she became a nun . After he finished middle school, he was introduced to an owner of a hotel and began to work there. One day the young man fell to the ground while he was cleaning a window on the second floor. He was sent to the hospital and the doctor looked him over. One of his legs was broken and he had to be in hospital. He said to the nurse, "I'm a poor man, madam. Arrange a third-class ward for me, please." "Can't anybody help you?" "No, madam," answered Dick. "I have only a sister. She's a nun and she's poor, too." "I don't think so," the nurse said angrily. "Nuns usually marry God. And God is the richest in the world, you know!" "Well, then," Dick said with a smile. "Please arrange a first-class ward for me and post the bill to my brother-in-law." Question: After Dick finished middle school, _ . Options: A: he stayed at home B: he began to work in the hotel C: he began to look for a job D: he broke his leg
A: B

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: When former American President Bill Clinton traveled to South Korea to visit President Kim Young Sam, he repeatedly referred to the Korean president's wife as Mrs. Kim. By mistake, President Clinton's advisers thought that Koreans have the same naming customs as the Japanese. Clinton had not been told that, in Korea, wives keep their family names. President Kim Young Sam's wife was named Sohm Myong Suk. Therefore, she should be addressed as Mrs. Sohm. President Clinton arrived in Korea directly after leaving Japan and had not changed his culture _ . His failure to follow Korean customs gave the impression that Korea was not as important to him as Japan. In addition to Koreans some Asian husbands and wives do not share the same family names. This practice often puzzles English-speaking teachers when talking with a pupil's parents. They become puzzled about the student's correct last name. Placing the family name first is common among a number of Asian cultures. Mexican naming customs are different as well. When a woman marries, she keeps her family name and adds her husband's name after the word "de", which means "of". This affects how they fill in forms in the United States. When requested to fill in a middle name, they generally write the father's family name. But Mexicans are addressed by the family name of the mother. This often causes puzzlement. Here are a few ways to deal with such difficult situations: don't always think that a married woman uses her husband's last name. Remember that in many Asian cultures, the order of first and last names is reversed . Ask which name a person would prefer to use. If the name is difficult to pronounce, admit it, and ask the person to help you say it correctly. Question: The story of Bill Clinton is used to _ . Options: A: improve US Korean relations B: introduce the topic of the text C: describe his visit to Korea D: tell us how to address a person
A: B

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: King Juan Carlos of Spain once insisted "kings don't give up the throne , they die in their sleep." But embarrassing scandals and the popularity of the republican left in the recent Euro-elections have forced him to eat his words and stand down. So does the Spanish crisis suggest that monarchy is seeing its last days? Does that mean the writing is on the wall for all European royals, with their magnificent uniforms and majestic lifestyles? The Spanish case provides arguments both for and against monarchy. When public opinion is particularly polarized, as it was following the end of the Franco regime, monarchs can rise above mere politics and symbolize a spirit of national unity. It is this apparent transcendence of politics that explains monarchs continuing popularity as heads of state. And so, the Middle East excepted, Europe is the most monarch- filled region in the world, with 10 kingdoms (not counting Vatican City and Andorra). Most royal families have survived because they allow voters to avoid the difficult search for a non-controversial but respected public figure. Even so, kings and queens undoubtedly have a downside. Symbolic of national unity as they claim to be, their very history and sometimes the way they behave today symbolizes outdated and indefensible privileges and inequalities. At a time when Thomas Piketty and other economists are warning of rising inequality and the increasing power of inherited wealth, it is strange that wealthy noble families should still be the symbolic heart of modern democratic states. The most successful monarchies try their best to abandon or hide their old noble ways. Princes and princesses have day-jobs and ride bicycles, not horses (or helicopters). Even so, these are wealthy families who party with the international 1%, and media interference makes it increasingly difficult to maintain the right image. Question: Monarchs are kept as heads of state in Europe mostly Options: A: owing to their undoubted and respectable status B: to achieve a balance between tradition and reality C: to give voters more public figures to look up to D: due to their everlasting political symbolizing
A: A

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: In communities north of prefix = st1 /Denver, residents are pitching in to help teachers and administrators as the Vrain school District tries to solve a $13.8 million budget shortage blamed on mismanagement . " We're worried about out teachers and principals, and we really don't want to lose them because of this," one parent said," If we can help ease their financial burden, we will." Teachers are grateful, but know it may be years before the district is solvent . They feel really good about the parent support, but they realize it's impossible for them to solve this problem. The 22,000-student district discovered the shortage last month. " It's extraordinary. Nobody would have imagined something happening like this at this level," said State Treasurer Mike Coffman. Coffman and district officials last week agreed on a state emergency plan freeing up a $ 9.8 million loan that enabled the payroll to be met for 2,700 teachers and staff in time for the holidays. District officials also took $ 1.7 million from student -activity accounts of its 38 schools. At Coffman's request, the District Attorney has begun investigating the district's finances. Coffman says he wants to know whether district officials hid the budget shortage until after the November election, when voters approved a $ 212 million bond issue for schools. In Frederick, students' parents are buying classroom supplies and offering to pay for groceries and utilities to keep first-year teachers and principals in their jobs. Some $ 36,000 has been raised in donations from Safeway. A Chevrolet dealership donated $ 10,000 and forgave the district's $ 10,750 bill for renting the driver educating cars. IBM contributed 4,500 packs of paper. " We employ thousands of people in this community," said Mitch Carson, a hospital chief executive, who helped raise funds." We have children in the school, and we see how they could be affected." At Creek High School, three students started a website that displays newspaper articles, district information... Question: Three high school students started a website in order to Options: A: attract greater public attention to their needs B: appeal to the public for contributions and donations C: expose officials who neglected their duties D: keep people properly informed of the crisis
A: D