In December of l 992.I was a happy husband and father of two young children.A month later,I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia . After two years of chemo that helped control the disease,my body was weak and lifeless.I felt as if I were a puppet who needed help to lift his arms or hold up his head. I began to run.After six months my strength had come back.On one of my runs,one where I felt I could run forever,I decided I was going to try to run a marathon. After telling my Dad about my plan,he told me of a program that trains people to run a marathon,while raising funds for Leukemia research at the same time.So that summer,through the Leukemia Society's Team in Training program,I started to train for the Marine Corps Marathon.During mile after mile of uncertainty,the day finally came to run the marathon. On October 27,1996,at 8 A.M.,along with l9,000 other brave souls I started on a 26.2-mile journey that I will never forget. I first saw my wife Patty at the six-mile mark . She seemed happy that I was still looking as if I knew what I was doing,and having a good time doing it.At Mile l7,my mind was going back to those two horrible years that tried to bring my family and me down.I saw her again.The concern in her face told me she knew I was starting to struggle.I felt as if we were thinking the same,nine more miles and these last few years will be behind us. That thought alone pulled me forward.Mile 22,23,slowing but going,24,25,then there it was.The Iwo Jima War Memorial.I have seen nothing so grand and inspiring in my life.Three hours and forty-one minutes after I started,I crossed what I think has to be the most fitting finish line in all of road racing! That night the Leukemia Society gave me a pin at a post-race party that simply says,"Leukemia 26.2". If God wills,my cancer may once again take away my hair and my strength,maybe even my life.But it can never take away my pin,or the fact that I am a marathoner . Which of the following can best describe the writer? A) Optimistic and outspoken B) Strong-willed and determined C) Generous and easy-going D) Brave and warm-hearted
B
(Question)
Originally, both the British and the American spoke with a rhotic accent. Rhotic essentially means an accent where the letter "r" is pronounced strongly after a vowel . Rhotic accents are strong in both the US and Scotland, but seem to have disappeared from British English and its _ , such as Australian English and New Zealand English. The major American accent -- the typical accent of the mid-western US -- is rhotic, and British English is, as a rule, non-rhotic. Specifically, US speakers pronounce every "r", wherever they appear in a word. Most British speakers (and you will note that there are some British Isle accents that are strongly rhotic, like US) do not pronounce every "r". Americans stress the "r" at the end of words such as "teacher" or "neighbour", but in many non-rhotic British accents it is more of a "schwa" (an unstressed sound) so it comes out as, "teacha" (unstressed) or "neighba". This main difference also differs across the country of origin. For example, the US has a clear difference in the accents between people of the north and south, not to mention less clear differences across the states. Similarly, British people have a different accent according to their locality. The "cockney " accent is greatly different to the middle and upper class accents. Another common difference appears to be that Americans pronounce words such as "herbal" without the "h". Syllables may be stressed differently, too. "Oregano" in the US tends to be pronounced "o-reg-a-no" while in British English it is more likely to be "o-reg-AH-no". American people trend to pronounce words like "herbal" with the "h" _ . A) stressed B) silent C) changed D) loud
(Answer)
B
Ques: Heather Jack and her family, including her two children, usually spend the Christmas holidays preparing a feast--for others to eat. Last Christmas Eve, they went to a house in the neighborhood and prepared a dinner for an elderly woman and her son, who has muscular dystrophy . They stayed for an hour and chatted before heading home to prepare for a visit from Santa . "I think it is that kind of direct experience that many find so meaningful," says Heather, president and founder of The Volunteer Family, a Boston-based organization dedicated to matching families with volunteer opportunities, both during the holidays and year-round. "It's a great way for parents to involve the kids." In a holiday season that stretches from before Thanksgiving to just after the New Year, it's nice to hear stories about people with their children giving instead of receiving. Last December Gary and Debra Danoff and their two teenage sons drove to the Washington, D. C. Jewish Community Center(JCC) and spent Christmas morning in the Center's kitchen preparing a feast for homeless shelters. By choosing to prepare meals for the homeless, the Danoffs bring together a belief in community service with their love of cooking, "It feels good to prepare food with our kids for other people at Christmas," says Gary. "We want them to know that many people don't have the ability to go to the supermarket and pick the foods they want to eat and pay for them." The Danoffs were in good company. Across the city, at least 1000 volunteers with their children went across the region to provide food to the poor people as part of the D. C. JCC's annual "December 25th Day of Service", now in its 22nd year. What does "The Volunteer Family" do? A) It matches families with volunteer opportunities. B) It supplies food and service to the poor families. C) It encourages parents to involve their kids in volunteer work. D) It earns much money by organizing volunteer families.
Ans: A
The US space agency NASA is looking for people to go to Mars, and stay there. This attractive career is for people who want a huge change of scenery and planet. The project is called the Hundred Years Starship, which aims to colonize other lands such as the red planet Mars. Settlers would travel to the red planet and live there forever. NASA says it would be too expensive to bring humans back to Earth. The space agency can afford, however, to send supplies to the astronaut pioneers from Earth. Astronauts would be landed on the planet's surface and would never be able to return home due to the cost. NASA has started the project with $1.6 million, and hopes to attract investment from space-living billionaires. Google co-founder Larry Page told NASA he would be interested if the cost of a one-way ticket can go down from $10 billion to $2 billion. The journey to Mars could take 4 months. Setting on the red planet would be extremely dangerous, especially given the freezing temperatures there. The thin atmosphere would be another problem as it is mostly carbon dioxide, so oxygen supplies are a must. A director in NASA said that he believed the trip might start with visiting Mars's moons first. He claimed that humans could be on Mars's moons by 2030. Many scientists think colonizing space is absolutely necessary. Steven Hawking believes we must move to other planets to survive as a species. He said: "Once we spread out into space and establish independent colonies, our future should be safe." Scientists Dirk' Schulze-Makuch and Paul Davies also call it a "desirable goal", though there surely are huge risks to explore new lands. Which of the following is TRUE about the Hundred Years Starship? A) It has cost NASA around $10 billion. B) It is expected to be conducted on Mars in 2030. C) It aims to explore new lands in the universe. D) It is a project first raise by Steven Hawking.
C