"Fire! Fire!" What terrible words to hear when one wakes up in a strange house in the middle of the night! It was a large, old, wooden house and my room was on the top floor. I jumped out of bed, opened the door and stepped outside the house. There was full of thick smoke. I began to run, but as I was still only half-awake, instead of going towards the stairs I went in the opposite direction. The smoke grew thicker and I could see fire all around. The floor became hot under my bare feet. I found an open door and ran into a room to get to the window. But before I could reach it, one of my feet caught in something soft and I fell down. The thing I had fallen over felt like a bundle of clothes, and I picked it up to protect my face from the smoke and heat. Just then the floor gave way under me and I crashed to the floor below with pieces of burning wood all around me. I saw a doorway in fire, then I put the bundle over my face and ran. My feet burned me terrible, but I got through. As I reached the cold air outside, my bundle of clothes gave a thin cry, I nearly dropped it in my surprise. Then I was in a crowd gathered in the street. A woman in a night-dress and a borrowed man's coat screamed as she saw me and came running madly. She was the Mayor's wife, and I had saved her baby. He put the bundle over his face and ran in order to _ . A) save the baby B) call for help C) protect his face D) run quickly
C
Educators across the U.S. are calling for major changes to the admission process in higher education. The National Center for Educational Statistics (or NCES) reported that U.S. colleges and universities received more than 9 million applications between 2013 and 2014 and admitted more than 5 million students. But the problem is not in the number of students, a new report says. The report is called "Turning the Tide -- Making Caring Common." The report argues that the process schools use to choose students causes major problems. David Hawkins is the Executive Director for Educational Content and Policy. He says that most colleges and universities require many things from students when they apply. Schools usually require an essay describing a student's interests or why they want to study at that school. The schools also ask for letters from teachers describing why a student is a good candidate. But, Hawkins says, schools are most concerned with a student's high school grades and standardized test results. The Education Conservancy is an organization that fights to make higher education equal and available. Lloyd Thacker is the Executive Director of the Education Conservancy, saying that the college admission process has changed a lot. "Over the past 30 years, college admissions have become more complex." He says that ranking systems for colleges and universities are a big part of the problem. U.S. News and World Report is a media company that creates a list of what it calls "America's Best Colleges." The company bases the list on information collected from colleges and universities across the country. This information includes results of standardized tests like the SAT from all of a school's students. Higher average test results help put schools higher on the list. Thacker claims, "Too many students are learning to do whatever it takes in order to get ahead, even if that means sacrificing their own individuality, their health, their happiness and behavior..." "The impact on students and on parents is that... When choosing students, colleges and universities attach greatest importance to _ . A) their personal interest B) their academic performance C) their teachers' opinion D) their reasons for application
B
Q: So far, scientists have named about 1.8 million living species ,and that's just a small part of what probably exists on Earth.With so many plants,animals,fungi,and other organisms covering the planet,it can be tough to figure out what type of spider is crawling up your leg or what kind of bird just flew by. A soon-to-be-launched Website might help.An international team of researchers has announced the creation of a Web -- based Encyclopedia of Life (EOL).The project aims to catalogue every species on Earth in a single,easy-to-use reference guide. To get the encyclopedia started,the creators will use information from scientific databases that already exist.And eventually,in special sections of the site,nonscientists with specialized knowledge will join.Gardeners,for example,will be able to record the dates that their flowers first bloom each year.Bird-watchers will be able to input which birds they've seen and where.The technology for this kind of tool has only recently become available. As the EOL develops, you might find it useful for school projects.The site will have special pages for kids who are studying ecosystems in their neighborhoods.To make sure the encyclopedia is accurate,scientists will review much of the information added to it.People who visit the site will be able to choose to skip pages that haven't been reviewed. Another convenient characteristic of the EOL is that you'11 be able to pick the level of detail you see to match your interests,age,and current knowledge. If you wanted to learn about polar bears for a science class report,for example,you could use the _ setting to get basic information about the animals.On the "expert" setting,on the other hand.you could get much more detailed information about the history,literature,and exploration of polar bears. It now takes years for scientists to collect all the data they need to describe and analyze species.The creators of the Encyclopedia of Life hope that their new tool will speed that process. Keep an eye on _ .Pages will begin to... Who are the intended readers of this passage? A) Students. B) Researchers. C) Bird watchers or Gardeners. D) People in general.
A: A
(Question)
Bears and humans often meet in National Parks. Although campers and hikers are warned not to feed the bears, many people ignore these warnings and feed the beasts anyway. When bears are used to people's food, problems soon arise. Bears like to eat a large variety of things, both meat and vegetable. Without human assistance, bears live nicely on roots, twigs, leaves of trees, insects and small animals. With people around, the bears' tastes quickly expand to include sandwiches, hot dogs, hamburgers, and anything else they can temp humans into giving up. Bears often develop clever strategies for getting people to let go their food supplies. More often than not, an unsuspecting hiker has taken off his or her pack for a rest only to have a bear charge out of the woods, grab the pack and quickly disappear into the underbrush with it. Hanging the pack on a tree branch won't help. Bears have been known to climb up, jump off, and catch the pack on the way down. One mother bear stretched up with her baby on her shoulders to reach a pack stored on a pole. Many bears threaten people into giving up their supplies. Although a bear is unlikely to attack a person and would probably run away if screamed at, few people are willing to do so. Most people drop the pack and run the other way. This, of course, delights the bear. In some places, the Park Service installed some metal barrels with lids to help campers keep their supplies safe from bears. Although the bears were unable to open these containers, the effort was less than successful. Most campers, unable to tell the metal drums from rubbish cans, never used them for the intended purpose. If people had never fed bears, the bears_. A) might be satisfied with what they had originally B) would have starved long before C) wouldn't have enough food supply D) would have hunted for other kind of food
(Answer)
A