Question: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Dear Michelle, My mother is not a good example for me and my sister. She smokes, stays out late, and she curses. I love her but I am ashamed of her. I do not want to bring home my friends because she does not act like any of the other mothers. She says I am a loser because I sit at home and I study. I wish I could live in another family that is normal, but that will not be for another 5 years when I am 18 and legal. What am I supposed to do until then? Prisoner of a Crazy House Dear 7th Grade, I am glad that you love your mother because the rest of your feelings about her may change as you mature and get older. While it is true that your mother's smoking, partying and cursing bring you shame, the fact that you want to stay separate from her doing is notable and very smart. It shows that you are a winner, not a loser. I am guessing, therefore, that you do not bring shame to yourself, and that is a good thing. So, keep it that way and keep away from your mother's habits. In the meantime, get the best grades as possible and join clubs and after-school activities. Offer social service on weekends and visit with your friends at their homes. Unfortunately, you are not alone. Many teens live in homes with immature, misguided, selfish parents. Those kids often feel lonely and separate from the rest of their friends because of their parents' terrible deeds. Yet, despite this, some of these very teens grow up to be just fine. They develop good friendships with nice kids, do well in school, and often find a teacher of guidance advisor who makes all the difference! Do it, Miss Winning 13-year-old, and keep looking forward to your own fine future. Maybe by then your mother may even see the light and realize how surprising you really are. Best luck! Michelle Question: The kids asks for advice on how to _ . Options: A: make her mother change B: grow up in her present situation C: get along well with her mother D: start a new family with her sister
Answer: B

Question: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Does solving a math problem give you a headache? Doyou feel nervous when you sit a math exam? For most students, math can be tough but scientists have proved that math problems can actually trigger physical pain. Scientists came to his conclusion with an in-depth experiment, which was published in the Public Library of Science One journal. They began by finding out how much participants fearmath. Those involved were asked a series of questions such as how they feel when they receive amathtextbook orwhenthey walkinto amathlesson. Based on their answers, participants were divided into groups. One group was made up of peoplewhowere particularly afraid ofmath and participantsinthe other group weremore comfortablewiththesubject. Both groups were then given either math tasks or word tasks. When a math task was going to come next, a yellow circle would appear but when a word task was soon to come, a blue squarewould beshown. Using a brain-scan machine, scientists noticed that whenever people from Group One saw ayellow circle, their brain would respond in a way similar to when their bodyis feeling pain. It waslike the pain they would fee, for example, if they burnt their hand on a hot stove. But theyreactedlessstrongly whenthey knew that they would befaced with awordtask. However, scientistssaw no strong brainresponsefrom peopleinthesecond group. Math can be difficult, and for those with high levels of mathematics-anxiety (HMA), math is associated with tension, apprehension and fear. "When you are really thinking about the math problems, your mind is racing and you are worrying about all the things that could go wrong," explained Ian Lyons from University of Chicago, US, leader of the study. "The higher a person's anxiety of a maths task, the more he activated brain regions associated with threat detection, andthe experience of pain." More interestingly, the brain activity disappeared when participants actually started dealingwiththemathtasks. "This means that it'snot that mathitself hurts; rather, the anticipation... Question: Inthefirst stage,scientistsask participantssome questionsto _ . Options: A: seewhethermath hurts B: findout how muchthey fear math C: observe how their brainresponse D: test their endurance of pain
Answer: B

Question: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Hi guys! I'm Lucy the ladybird and while I'm very much of a lady, I'm not actually a bird but a glowing red bettle with decorative black spots. I'm a friendly little bug, to be honest, and simply like to be close with my pals as long as they handle me very gently. I don't bite humans but I do sink my teeth into aphids which, unlike me, are very harmful to all the plants. I milk the aphids just like people do with cows and I milk them dry of all the sap they have got from your poor plants. I'm a real gardeners' friend and love helping out around the place by pollinating flowers, tidying up plants' fallen leaves and helping to turn them into nice rich fertilizer to feed everything both above and below the soil, and naturally, being so attractive to look at, we are perfect living garden decorations. One thing I can not tolerate is all that poisonous pollution from vehicles, garbage burning and other environmentally unfriendly acts that occur in the cities every single minute of the day and night. Pollution of any kind really chokes me to death, so these days, I only live in clean countryside areas, particularly cool ones where it rains and everything grows fresh and green from spring right through to autumn. In winter, when the weather is too cold for me to bear, then I find a nice place to sleep until the snow has gone and I can come back out to play. Oh! I almost forgot to tell you that although I am not a bird I do have wings and can fly for short distances. So if you pick me up and let me run up and down your hands and arms, then please don't frighten me by screaming if I suddenly decide to take off! Question: What makes Lucy the Ladybird suffer most? Options: A: Heavy rains. B: Cold weather. C: Air pollution. D: Aphids.
Answer:
C