Cassandra Feeley finds it hard to manage on her husband' s income. So this year she did something more than a hobby: She planted vegetables in her yard. For her fist garden, Ms Feeley has put in 15 tomato plants, and five rows of a variety of vegetables. The family' s old farm house has become a chicke n house, its residents arriving next month. Last year, Ms. Rita Gartin kept a small garden. This year she has made it much larger because, she said,"The cost of everything is going up and I was looking to lose a few pounds too; so it' s a win-win situation all around." They are among the growing number of Americans who, driven by higher living costs and a falling economy , have taken up vegetable gardening for the first time. Others have increased the size of their existing gardens. Seed companies and garden shops say that not since the 1970s has there been such an increase in interest in growing food at home. Now many gardens across the country have been sold out for several months. In Austin, Tex, some of the gardens have a three-year waiting list. George C. Ball Jr, owner of a company, said sales of vegetable seeds and plants are up by 40%, over last year, double the averag e growth of last five years. Mr. Ball argues that some of the reasons have been building for the last few years. The big one is striking rise in the cost of food like bread and milk, together with the increases in the price of fruit and vegetables. Food prices have increase of higher oil price. People are driving less, taking fewer vacations, so there more time to garden. Which of the following might be the best title for the text? A) Family Food Planning B) Banking on Gardening C) A Belt-tightening Move D) Gardening as a Hobby
B
Can you remember the day when you spoke your first word? If you can, you are unusual. Try to imagine what first few months of your life were like. I am sure you just spent most of your time eating, sleeping and crying. As you grow older, you were awake more of the time. It took your parents more time to play with you and talk to you. You watched and listened curiously. You began to know that people made certain sounds to go with certain things. Then you began to try making the sounds you heard. And step by step you were able to make the right sound for one thing.On that day you came to understand the secret of language. The secret is that a certain sound means a certain thing. One sound might be as good as another. But it is no good as a word unless everybody agrees on its meaning. Only when a group of people use the same set of sounds of things, can they understand each other. Then, and only then do these people have a LANGUAGE. After you found the secret of language, you learned words. Some of the words meant things, such as BOOKS, CHAIRS and SHOES. Some words meant doing things, such as GO and SWIM. And other words describe things, such as GOOD and DIRTY. Soon you learned to put words together to express one's idea, such as "I want to go out and play with my friends." This is language. By means of language people can communicate. So we say languages are means of communication. You could learn words _ . A) before you knew what the language was B) after you knew what the language was C) if you knew the secret of the language D) when you were a baby
B
Q: A planned visit to Trinidad and Tobago sometime ago by a former American president, suddenly took an amazing turn form the initial plan. The presidential aircraft could not land in Trinidad and Tobago. It was reported that the runway of the airport was too short. Therefore, the aircraft had to land in a nearby country and they came into the country by road. Everyone has a runway by which events enter into his life. The events here could be favors, miracle, connections, job opportunities, etc. The size of your runway determines the level of results that will be attracted into your life. I have a story of two good friends. They finished high school together. One wanted to further his studies while the other decided to look for a job. As time went on, the one that wanted to work was always there to support the other one especially in the area of fees in school for a long time. As destiny would have it, they both lost contact and after a very long time, they met again but on a very different level. The one that added values to himself by going back to school had stepped up greatly to become the general manager of a big company and the other was just a little lifted. So, it was time to pay back. The one of general manager could only support him financially and make him the chief driving officer in the company. Even though he would have loved to give him a higher post he was not qualified especially in terms of skills, orientation , experience and so on. In other words, his runway was too short for such an opportunity. Everyone must increase in knowledge and training . You must step up in your education level, human, business and communication skills. Your relationship with people must improve by being a good person. Your runway is enlarged anytime you add values to your life. There are some jobs, opportunities, favor that cannot protect base in your life. They will have to be coming from other people into your life because you have failed to work on your own runway by improving on your abilities. It is not too... The two friends had different final results because _ A) they had different life goals B) one always wanted to beat the other C) they had different education levels D) they wanted to show their different success
A: C
Q: My horse,Treasure,is my hero because she helped me discover how to relate to her.In the process,she " fixed " my relationship with my husband and my children. When I got her,she was 2 years old, _ . She was not going to accept any kind of instructions from me. In the interest of not getting myself killed,I started to read and educate myself on ways to manage a high-spirited horse. I discovered natural horsemanship ,a method of training that focuses on communication.In order to communicate with another person,you must be understood.The very definition of understanding is two or more persons share the same idea. This simple definition had a big influence on me.I realized that communication is a two-way street! When I started to adopt horsemanship in my life,I noticed a change in the way other people related to me.My husband,when I stopped ordering him around,became happier and more helpful.My children,when I practiced being fair,firm and most of all,considerate,were motivated to act sooner,at a polite request instead of the orders from me. I think the most valuable life skill I learned from my horse is that pressure motivates. As soon as I applied these basic skills to my daily activities, I started to notice positive changes. My children were more considerate of each other.and started to ask first,without telling.I became aware of my position as a role model. Today,five years later,I have the perfect horse.I also have very polite kids and a very happy husband.There's nothing in the world that can compare to being loved by ones you love most---even if it all started with the attitude of a very special horse. Why were the author's children slow to respond to her in the past? A) She was unfair and used to order them to do things. B) She didn't know how to manage the female horse. C) Her children were too naughty to listen to her. D) She would be unhappy if they responded quickly to her.
A: A