I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: Americans have always been hungry for the holidays. After all, a big Thanksgiving feast is one of our country's oldest traditions, older than America itself. Thankfully, the spirit behind Thanksgiving has never changed, either. It has always been a special time to be thankful for the blessings of the past year. The feast that has become known as the First Thanksgiving was actually a harvest festival celebrated in December of 1621. That's when English settlers in Plymouth, Massachusetts, gave thanks for the progress they had made after a harsh winter in their new country. Guests at outdoor tables gobbled up ducks, geese turkeys, clams, eels, fish, wild plums, corn bread and other goodies. About 90 Native Americans also came and brought five deer to add to the feast. The festival lasted for three days. Thanksgiving customs spread and expanded along with the rest of America. After the American Revolution, George Washington proclaimed that the first national Thanksgiving would be on November 26, 1789. In the decades to follow, however, people celebrate Thanksgiving locally and with no official date. A women's magazine editor named Sarah Josepha Hale wanted to change this. After years of trying hard to get support, she finally persuaded President Abraham Lincoln to proclaim the last Thursday in November 1863 as a national day of Thanksgiving. It stayed that way for 75 years afterward until 1939, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt set it one week earlier. He wanted to lengthen the shopping period before Christmas to encourage gift-buyers and help businesses. So Congress ruled that, after 1941, Thanksgiving would be an official federal holiday falling each year on the fourth Thursday of November. This year we celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 26. Question: What does the passage mainly talk about? Options: A: The history of Thanksgiving. B: The food on Thanksgiving. C: The meaning of Thanksgiving. D: The activities on Thanksgiving.
A
I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: A cafe owner has defended her decision to pen a Facebook post (an Internet message to be discussed) stating "No, we are not child-friendly," saying it breaks her heart when children damage her possessions. On Monday, the Little French Cafe in Newcastle, Australia, posted an announcement on their Facebook page: "Are we child-friendly? If you are looking for a cafe with a children' s menu, a play area, lounges for your children to jump on, vast space for your baby carriages, an area for your children to run around, and annoy other customers, while you are unaware of them--then the short answer is 'No, we are not child-friendly.' However, if you would like to bring your children here and they are happy to sit at a table with you and behave properly, please come in. Otherwise, there are plenty of places that are specifically designed to entertain your children." The post has since been deleted. Some Facebook users called the post "arrogant " and an "attack on parents," The Newcastle Herald reports. The cafe owner responded with this statement: "I built the cafe myself. It has my blood, sweat and plenty of tears in it." The post came about after the cafe owner was asked by a customer, who had left a one-star review on the cafe's business page, about whether the cafe was child-friendly. Ms Kotz told news.com.au she wrote the bad review because she felt staff reacted negatively towards children at the cafe. The cafe owner said it broke a piece of her heart every time when she was watching children emptying salt and pepper shakers into her fireplaces, parents changing nappies on her lounges, or kids throwing their own food onto her carpet. Although the cafe's policy has attracted a lot of criticism, most people who commented on the Little French Cafe's Facebook page stood by the owner. One woman named Lesley wrote, "I don't think there was anything wrong with what you said by any means. If parents want to take their children to your cafe, they need to be responsible for their behavior." Question: What did Lesley think of the cafe owner's action? Options: A: It was slightly unfair. B: It was very misleading. C: It was highly controversial. D: It was quite understandable.
D
Q: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: While watching a swimming competition one night, I came across an unbelievable sight. It was not a gold medal, or a world record broken, but a show of courage. The event started with only three men on the blocks. For one reason or another, two of them false started, so they were disqualified. That left only one to complete. In fact, it is difficult enough, not having anyone to race against. I watched the man dive off the block and knew right away that something was wrong. I'm not an expert swimmer, but I can tell a good dive from a poor one, and this was not exactly medal quality. When he resurfaced, it was obvious that the man was not out for gold -- his arms were waving in an attempt at freestyle. The crowd started to laugh. Clearly this man was not a medal competitor. I listened to the crowd beginning to laugh at this poor man who was clearly having a hard time. Finally he made his turn to start back. It was pitiful. He made a few desperate strokes and you could tell he was exhausted. But in those few awful strokes, the crowd had changed. No longer were they laughing, but beginning to cheer. Some even began to stand and shout "Come on, you can do it!" and he did. This young man finally finished his race. The crowd went wild. Even though he recorded one of the slowest times in swimming history, this man gave more heart than any of the other competitors. Just a short year ago, he had never even swum, let alone race. His country had been invited to the competition. In a competition, we usually watch the brilliant athletes competing for medals, but _ . Question: From the passage we learn that the young man _ . Options: A: made his turn to start back pitifully B: was skillful at freestyle swimming C: swam faster than the average swimmer D: seemed unlikely to win a gold medal
A: D
(Question)
I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: Researchers have established that when people are mentally engaged, biochemical changes occur in the brain that allow it to act more effectively in cognitive areas such as attention and memory. This is true regardless of age. People will be alert and receptive if they are faced with information that gets them to think about things they are interested in. And someone with a history of doing more rather than less will go into old age more cognitively sound than someone who has not had an active mind. Many experts are so convinced of the benefits of challenging in the brain that they are putting the theory to work in their own lives. "The idea is not necessarily to learn to memorize large amounts of information," says James Fozard, associate director of the National Institute of Ageing. "Most of us don't need that kind of skill. Such specific training is of less interest than being able to maintain mental alertness." Fozard and others say they challenge their brains with different mental skills, both because they enjoy them and because they are sure that their range of activities will help the way their brains work. Gene Cohen, acting director of the same institute, suggests that people in their old age should engage in mental and physical activities individually as well as in groups. Cohen says that we are frequently advised to keep physically active as we age, but older people need to keep mentally active as well. Those who do are more likely to maintain their intellectual abilities and to be generally happier and better adjusted. "The point is, you need to do both," Cohen says. Intellectual activity actually influences brain-cell health and size. Question: The findings of James and other scientists in their work _ . Options: A: remain a theory to be further proved B: have been challenged by many other experts C: are practiced by the researchers themselves D: have been generally accepted
(Answer)
C