*Question*
I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: Every April I am troubled by the same concern -- that spring might not occur this year. The landscape looks dull, with hills, sky and forest appearing gray. My spirits ebb, as they did during an April snowfall when I first came to Maine 15 years ago. "Just wait," a neighbor advised. "You'll wake up one morning and spring will just be here." And look, on May 3 that year I awoke to a green so amazing as to be almost electric, as if spring were simply a matter of flipping a switch. Hills, sky and forest revealed their purples, blues and green. Leaves had unfolded and daffodils were fighting their way heavenward. Then there was the old apple tree. It sits on an undeveloped lot in my neighborhood. It belongs to no one and therefore to everyone. The tree's dark twisted branches stretch out in unpruned abandon. Each spring it blossoms so freely that the air becomes filled with the scent of apple. Until last year, I thought I was the only one aware of this tree. And then one day, in a bit of spring madness, I set out with pruner to remove a few disorderly branches. No sooner had I arrived under the tree than neighbors opened their windows and stepped onto their porches. These were people I barely knew and seldom spoke to, but it was as if I had come uninvited into their personal gardens. My mobile-home neighbor was the first to speak."You're not cutting it down, are you?" she asked anxiously. Another neighbor frowned as I cut off a branch. "Don't kill it, now," he warned. Soon half the neighborhood had joined me under the apple tree. It struck me that I had lived there for five years and only now was learning these people's names, what they did for a living and how they passed the winter. It was as if the old apple tree was gathering us under its branches for the purpose of both acquaintanceship and shared wonder. I couldn't help recalling Robert Frost's words: The trees that have it in their pent-up buds To darken nature and be summer woods One thaw led to another. Just the other day I saw one of my... Question: In Para. 4, "neighbors opened their windows and stepped onto their porches" probably because _ . Options: A: they were surprised that someone unknown was pruning the tree B: they wanted to prevent the author from pruning the tree C: they were concerned about the safety of the tree D: they wanted to get to know the author
**Answer**
C

*Question*
I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: To understand how Americans think about things, it is necessary to understand "the point". Americans mention it often: "Let's get right to the point." They will say, "My point is..." "What's the point of all this?" The "point" is the idea or piece of information that Americans suppose is, or should be, at the center of people's thinking, writings, and spoken comments. Speakers and writers are supposed to "make their points clear", meaning that they are supposed to say or write clearly the idea or piece of information they wish to express. People from many other cultures have different ideas about the point. Africans traditionally tell stories that express the thoughts they have in mind, rather than stating the point clearly. Japanese traditionally speak indirectly, leaving the listener to figure out what the point is. Thus, while an American might say to a friend, "I don't think that coat goes very well with the rest of your _ ," a Japanese might say, "Maybe another coat would look even better than the one you have on." Americans value a person who "gets right to the point". Japanese are likely to consider such a person insensitive if not rude. The Chinese and Japanese languages are characterized by vagueness and ambiguity. The precision and directness Americans associate with "the point" cannot be achieved, at least not with any grace, in Chinese and Japanese. Speakers of those languages thus have to learn a new way of reasoning and expressing their ideas if they are going to communicate satisfactorily with Americans. Question: According to the passage, Americans expect speakers and writers to _ . Options: A: express their personal views B: be clear about their main ideas C: be honest about their true feelings D: give as much information as possible
**Answer**
B

*Question*
I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: When early colonial settlers went to America, they took many forms of dance to _ . Square dancing, one of the oldest forms of American folk dancing, developed from several different Old World group dances, mainly English country dances, and the French quadrille . In the American version of square dancing, four couples form a square and dance to music. An American addition to square dancing is the caller. What do you think a caller does? The callers---someone who calls out the dance steps in time to the music--- was a completely American invention. At first dancers memorized all the steps for a particular dance, but eventually the dances became so complicated that it was necessary to have someone call out cues so that dancers didn't have to remember so many steps. The caller didn't just call out "do-se-do your partner"; a good caller also came up with colorful sayings or witty lines that he said in between the cues such as "Don't be shy and don't be afraid. Swing on the corner in a waltz promenade ." A caller might also come up with new dance steps and routines. Although popular for years, square dancing seemed to be going out of style and fading away until the early 1930s, when Henry Ford helped revive interest in it. Ford, the automobile manufacturer, used to vacation at the Wayside Inn in Massachusetts, where he enjoyed the dance programme run by a man named Benjamin Lovett. Ford asked Lovett to come to Detroit and teach dances, but Lovett said he couldn't because he had a contract with the inn. Ford solved that problem by buying the inn and Lovett's contract. He took Lovett back to Detroit, where together they established a programme for teaching squares and rounds. Square dancing was updated and groups began forming all over the country. Question: Why did the caller call out the steps for the dancers? Options: A: Because the dance was invented by the caller. B: Because the dancers didn't know the names of the steps. C: Because the steps were very particular. D: Because it was hard for the dancers to remember all the steps.
**Answer**
D