Once upon a time, there was a wonderful old man who loved everything on the land ---- animals and plants. One day while walking through the woods, the old man found a cocoon of a butterfly. He took it home. A few days later, a small opening appeared; he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and cut the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then came out easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, or they would be smaller. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly. What the man in his kindness and hurry did not understand was that the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening was nature's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were allowed to go through our life without any difficulties, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. And we could never fly. The old man cut the cocoon in order to _ . A) kill the butterfly B) play with the butterfly C) make the butterfly come out easily D) have the butterfly
C
Maggie was very glad that James was not a frequent visitor to the house. So far as the children were concerned, they had a mystery about him that stirred their imagination. He stirred Maggie's anger, however, so that she often said to her husband, "It's mercy that brother of yours doesn't come oftener." In fact James came once a year, unexpectedly, around eight o'clock in the evening, and he stayed for six hours of close discussion with his brother. His arrival was a signal to the children that their bedtime would be delayed. Not that he ever spoke to them or played with them. He took no notice of them, as if he was unable to see children, at least until the time came for him to go. Instead, after his first greeting and a careless kiss, James took no notice of Maggie either, except to add, "You'll be getting on with the supper, Maggie." Such was his regard for her. Maggie paid him back in her own way. She kept the children up, the four of them, to keep her company, she said, but of course they sang and made a noise and broke the endless sound of James's voice. Very late, they dropped off to sleep in their chairs. Then, when James was about to go, Maggie woke them up and so more or less forced him to part with four shillings before he left. That gave her some satisfaction, for James, though rich, was mean. He always went home by the last train, just after two o'clock. Maggie's children secretly stared at their uncle. They could not forget that he had, in their mother's words, "lost two wives and taken a third, " They wondered about those two unfortunate lost ladies. They asked each other what their fate had been, and if neither could ever be found again. James never brought his third wife with him nor ever mentioned her. The children decided that he must be so frightened of losing her that he never allowed her outside the door. What do we know about James' behavior? A) He was a kind man, with love for the family. B) He was generous, especially towards his brother. C) He was anxious to please the family, especially the kids. D) He was rude to his sister-in-law.
D
*Question*
Parents divorced, little Buddy was in the care of his mother's large Alabama family. Over the years, Buddy seldom saw either of his parents. But he was happy where he was and he had many kindly s, among whom Miss Sook was by far his best friend. Before Christmas, Buddy's father had managed to get legal custody of him for this Christmas. So, he had a new suit, with a card pinned with his name and address and made the trip alone, by bus, to New Orleans. Several things occurred that kept me awake the whole night. First, the footfalls, the noise of my father running up and down the stairs, breathing heavily, I had to see what he was up to. So I hid and watched. There was a Christmas tree and the fireplace downstairs. Moreover, I could see my father. He was crawling around under the tree arranging a pyramid of packages. I felt dizzy, for what I saw forced me to reconsider everything. If these were presents intended for me, then obviously they had not been ordered by the Lord and delivered by Santa Claus; no, they were gifts bought and wrapped by my father. Which meant that my rotten little cousin Billy Bob and other rotten kids like him weren't lying when they laughed at me and told me there was no Santa Claus. The worst thought was: Had Sook known the truth, and lied to me? No, Sook would never lie to me. She believed. It was just that--well, though she was sixty-something, in some ways she was at least as much of a child as I was. I waited until I was sure he was in bed and sound asleep. Then I crept downstairs and examined the tags attached to each of the packages. They all said: "For Buddy." I decided to open the packages: It was Christmas morning. I was awake, so why not? I won't bother to describe what was inside them: just shirts and sweaters and dull stuff like that. The only thing I appreciated was a toy gun. Somehow I got the idea it would be fun to waken my father by firing it. So I did. Bang. Bang. Bang. He raced out of his room, wild-eyed, Bang. Bang. Bang. "Buddy--what the hell do you think you're... The following words can describe Miss Sook except _ . A) old B) clever C) naughty D) trusted
**Answer**
C