Ques:Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Nowadays more and more young athletes are taking part in the risky activities called "extreme sports" or "X-sports". In the past young athletes would play baseball. Today, they want risk and excitement -- the closer to the edge, the better. They snowboard over cliff and hike deep mountains. Extreme sports started as an alternative to more expensive sports such as golf. A city kid who couldn't afford expensive sports equipment could get a skateboard and have fun. But now it has become a whole new area of sports, with specialized equipment and high levels of skill. There is even an Olympics for extreme sports, called the winter x-game, which includes snow mountain hiking and ice climbing. What makes extreme sports so popular? Maybe it's because people love the risk. City people want to be outdoors on the weekends and do something challenging. The new equipment is so much better that people can take more risks without getting hurt. Sure there's a risk. Once you go mountain hiking or snowboarding, it's impossible to go back to have riding or skiing. It's just too boring. Now even the older crowd is starting to join in. Every weekend, groups of friends in their early 30s get together. On weekdays they work as computer programmers in the same office. On weekends they hike mountains together. Extreme sports are certainly not for everyone. Most people still prefer to play basketball or watch sports on TV. But it has been a fact that extreme sports are gaining popularity. Question: Extreme sports started as an alternative to more expensive sports because _ . - people didn't like to play golf - some city kids couldn't afford expensive sports equipment - there is an Olympics for extreme sports - extreme sports are gaining popularity

Ans:some city kids couldn't afford expensive sports equipment
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Ques:Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: When McKenna Pope, 13, went shopping for a Christmas gift for her little brother, she planned to buy him an Easy-Bake Oven, a toy that allows kids to bake treats. Her brother, Gavyn Boscio, 4, loves to cook. But McKenna changed her mind when she discovered that Hasbro, the toy company that produces the popular oven, only makes the toy in purple and pink--and only features girls on the box and in commercials. So instead of buying an oven, McKenna cooked up another plan. She started a campaign to get Hasbro to make a gender-neutral oven. "I don't want them to make a boys' Easy-Bake Oven and a girls' Easy-Bake Oven," McKenna, from Garfield, New Jersey, told the Associated Press. "I want them to make an Easy-Bake Oven for kids." The Easy-only Bake Oven was first introduced in 1963. At the time, the stereotype was that only women cooked. Today, that's changed, in part thanks to famous male chefs like, Bobby Flay, who used an Easy-Bake Oven when he was a kid. Over the years, Hasbro says the company has featured boys on the packaging and offered the product in several different color1 schemes. But this year, just the purple and pink model is available. McKenna wants that to change, and she's not alone. Her petition , posted on change.org, has received more than 45,000 signatures. By next summer, McKenna should have her wish. On December 17, Hasbro invited the New Jersey teen and her family to their headquarters in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, to meet with the Easy-Bake Oven team. They showed her a prototype, or model, of their newest Easy-Bake Oven, which is scheduled to hit stores in 2013. The new color1 scheme is black, silver and blue. The company also told McKenna they plan to feature boys in ads. McKenna was happy with what she saw at Hasbro. "They really met most or even all of what I wanted them to, and they really amazed me," McKenna said. She added that Gavyn thought the new design was "awesome". Question: We know that when the Easy-Bake Oven was first introduced in 1963, _ . - many famous chefs were men - boys liked the toy more than girls - it was aimed at both boys and girls - it was believed that men didn't cook

Ans:it was believed that men didn't cook
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Ques:Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Do you know how to be happy? Here are six ways for you to find more pleasure in your life. Play that song you love so much. As a preschooler can tell you, repetition can lead to pleasure. When you experience something more than once, you notice more details about it each time, and it increases your enjoyment. That's why you love revisiting that jazz club, favourite restaurant, and beloved old Woody Allen movie. Of course, you can overdo it. Don't buy boxed sets of DVDs. Economist Tyler says that much of the joy we get from our buying lies in the experience of finding them out, getting them home, and opening them up. If you receive 18 DVDs in one package, you'll use up the excitement all at once. Buy things one a time and space out the pleasure. Look outside. People long ago spent almost all of their time outside with trees, water, and sky around. The world in which most of us spend our time nowadays is unnatural and can harm the spirit. Even being close to nature for a short time can make us happy. _ . Physical contact with animals works wonders. You can pet an animal. It increases the brain chemicals connected with pleasure and decreases those connected with stress . Even people without pets can get some of the effect by hanging out for a few minutes at a dog shelter. Smile. Well, like it or not, smiling improves your mood. Here's why: people react better to you when you look happy, which in turn leads you to be happy. What's more, looking happy fools your brain into thinking that you are happy. Question: According to the writer, buying things one at a time can _ . - helps us save some money. - spare time for other activities - increase our experience of happiness - give us more time to consider buying things.

Ans:increase our experience of happiness
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Ques:Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Once there was a poor farmer and his farm belonged to a rich man. One day he brought a basket of apples to the rich man's house. On the doorsteps, he met two monkeys dressed like children. They jumped onto the basket to eat the apples and threw some on the ground. The farmer politely took off his hat and asked the monkeys to get off. They obeyed and the farmer went into the house. He asked to see the rich man. A servant took him to the room where the rich man was sitting. "I have brought you the basket of apples you asked for," he said. "But why have you brought a half-empty basket?" the rich man asked. "I met your children outside, and they stole some of the apples." Question: What did the monkeys do when the farmer was on the doorsteps? - They jumped and jumped. - They played. - They ate some of the apples. - They ran away.

Ans:
They ran away.
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