In Europe, many people make friends between their countries through town twinning. Town or city twinning means two towns in different countries agree and decide to become "twins" with a sister-city relationship. The people find pen friends in the twin town. They exchange newspapers and stamps. The school teachers discuss teaching methods with the teachers in the twin town. Officials visit the twin town for celebrations. Ordinary people travel to the twin town, too, but not very often if it is far away. Sometimes, schools even exchange their classes for two or three weeks! For example, German middle school students study for a while at the school in their twin town in Britain, staying with British families. A few months later, their British friends come to study in Germany. Many British towns are so pleased with the results of the twinning that they set out to find more than one twin town! Tonbridge, a small town in Kent, for example, has twin towns in both Germany and France. Richmond near London has relationships with Germany, France and even a town in a Balkan country! Town twinning can help make friends. It helps students improve their language skill, and also helps people to understand the differences between nations. One of the advantages of town twinning is to _ . A) earn more money B) set up schools C) improve students' language skills D) develop industry and agriculture
C
(Question)
Good evening,ladies and gentlemen and welcome to this of the Box Bill Tennis Club. It's good to see so many of you here this evening. I'm sure you're all enjoyed the fine food,and that you are ready to hear our guest speaker. Ladies and gentlemen,we're pleased to welcome our most famous club champion,Billy Rogers,to our meeting. Billy needs no introduction because he is one of the most well-known tennis players in our country. However,I must mention a few things about him. Billy has won the US Open three times,and Wimbledon twice. He has won more tennis tournaments than any player from this country. He has been ranked number one in the world in both singles and doubles. He has played in the Davis Cup and the Hopman Cup for his country. His Wimbledon victory two years ago has been called one of the bravest in the modern time. Had he not been injured,he would undoubtedly have won a third Wimbledon Championship. Billy is regarded by many as perhaps the finest player ever in international tennis. But of course Billy is much more than a tennis champion. He is like an ambassador for the sport and for his country. He has done great work to help children around the world,and his generosity to children's charity funds is well known. And of course,Billy is the most successful graduate of our club. He won the club championships when he was twelve--yes,at only twelve. And Billy has not forgotten where it all started. That's why he accepted our invitation to speak to us tonight. We're proud to have played a small part in Billy's success. Won't you please give a big hand to our own Billy Rogers? Why did Billy Rogers not win the third Wimbledon? A) Because he had no chance to take part in it. B) Because he was too old to beat his opposite. C) Because he got himself hurt. D) Because he was too busy to well prepare it.
(Answer)
C
Ques: The TV shows a baby's pram rolling off a train platform as the mother makes a mad rush to save her son, but she is too late and it falls onto the rails in front of an incoming train. This heart-stopping scene happened yesterday at Ashburton station in Melbourne, Australia. But the story has a happy ending: the six-month-old baby survived with just a cut on his forehead, although the pram was dragged about 35 metres by the braking train. The nurse Jon Wright said the boy just "needed a feed and a sleep" and didn't need to stay in hospital. "Luckily, he was strapped into his pram at the time, which probably saved his life. I think the child is extremely lucky, " Wright told theHerald Sunnewspaper after the baby was taken to hospital with minor injuries. Fortunately the train was already slowing down to stop at the station so it stopped quickly when the driver put on the brakes as soon as he saw the pram fall in front of him. Rail firm Connex is to look into how the pram rolled off the platform. The accident came one day after Connex started a child safety awareness activity warning parents to keep babies strapped into their prams at all times while on platforms. The accident happened at the same time as the "balloon boy "story in the US, in which a six-year-old Colorado boy was reported to be trapped in a flyaway balloon. However, he was later found hiding in the family's garage. Many people believe that it had all been a publicity _ by the parents. No such doubts surround the baby on the train platform. Why could the train stop quickly? A) Because it had just begun to move. B) Because it was moving slowly at that time. C) Because the mother took measures quickly. D) Because the driver saw the pram fall.
Ans: B
Ques: Edda, a Little Valkyrie's First Day of School Written and illustrated by Adam Auerbach. 32 pp. Christy Ottaviano/Holt. $15.50. Edda's home is in Asgard, "a land full of magic and adventure." But Edda, the littlest Valkyrie, doesn't have quite enough to do, until her father flies her "all the way to Earth for the first day of school." The contrast between home and school is hard to get used to (in one, she can ride reindeer; in the other she gazes guinea pig through glass at the classroom). In his first picture book, Auerbach mixes the two worlds perfectly. Children are likely to appreciate the joke. Planet Kindergarten By Sue Ganz-Schmitt. Illustrated by Shane Prigmore. 32 pp. Chronicle. $14.99. After careful preparations and a successful blastoff, a boy finds himself in a very unfamiliar environment. "We're aliens from many galaxies on Planet Kindergarten," he reflects as he sees his very varied classmates for the first time. Prigmore, who designs for the movie industry, uses black backgrounds and bright colors to give this space adventure visual excitement and humor. The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade By Justin Roberts. Illustrated by Christian Robinson. 42 pp. Putnam. $18.99. It makes sense that the author of the long, rhyming lines in "The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade" is a children's music performer. The story is about the power of one small person to fight prejudice. Sally, whom no one ever seems to notice, is "paying super extra special attention" to the "terrible stuff" happening around her. When she decides to take action, she's not alone for long. And Two Boys Booed By Judith Viorst. 32 pp. Margaret Ferguson/Farrar, Straus & Giroux. $16.59. Ever felt quietly confident one minute, and a shaking mess the next? In Viorst's story about determination, a little boy wakes up thinking about singing his song in the class talent show. All of the four books mentioned _ . A) are for children B) have the same number of pages C) have colorful pictures in them D) need reading under parents' guidance
Ans:
A