A primary school in UK has banned Valentine's Day cards because of concerns that young pupils spend too much time talking about boyfriends and girlfriends. Ashcombe Primary School in WestonSuperMare,Somerset,has told parents that cards declaring love can be"confusing" for children under the age of 11,who are still emotionally and socially developing. In this month's newsletter ,Peter Turner,the head teacher,warned that any cards found in school would be confiscated .He wrote:"We do not wish to see any Valentine's Day cards in school this year. Some children and parents encourage a lot of talk about boyfriends and girlfriends. We believe that such ideas should wait until children are mature enough emotionally and socially to understand the commitment involved in having or being a boyfriend or girlfriend."Mr.Turner said any families wanting to support the Valentine's Day idea should send cards in the post or deliver them to home addresses by hand. His views were _ by Ruth Rice,46,who has twins Harriet and Olivia at the school. She said,"Children at that age shouldn't really be thinking about Valentine's Day,they should be concentrating on their schoolwork."They are at an age when they are impressionable and most parents including myself are with Mr.Turner. "She added that the cards cause" too much competition. If someone gets a card and another doesn't,then someone will be disappointed. However,Rajeev Takyar,40,who has two children Jai,11,and Aryan,five,at the school,said he was "outraged".He said,"There are schools that have banned conkers and snowballs,and now Valentine's Cards."I think banning the cards stops children from having social skills. How are they going to learn about relationships otherwise?It's ridiculous. Alec Suttenwood,father of three children,said of the ban:"It's totally ridiculous. Young children just send the cards to each other as friends and to their parents. It's just a bit of harmless fun. There is no difference between this and Mother's or Father's Day." What do you know about Harriet and Olivia? A) They will send Valentine's Day cards this year. B) They are strongly against the school's decision. C) They are of the same age. D) They are the children of Rajeev Takyar.
C
(Question)
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... By saying that "my spirits ebb" (Para. 1), the author means that _ . A) he feels relieved B) he feels blue C) he is surprised D) he is tired
(Answer)
B
Question: Something roared like thunder. The earth shook a little and we heard the rat-a-tat-tat of gunfire. "Father!" Hassan cried. We sprung to our feet and raced out of the living room. "Father! What's that sound? Hassan screamed, his hands outstretched toward Ali. Ali wrapped his arms around us. A white light flashed and lit the sky in silver. It flashed again and was followed by rapid sharp sounds of gunfire. "They're hunting ducks." Ali said in a hoarse voice. "They hunt ducks at night, you know." Don't be afraid. A siren went off in the distance. Somewhere glass broke and someone shouted. I heard people on the street, jolted from sleep and probably still in their pajamas, with ruffled hair and puffy eyes. Hassan was crying. Ali pulled him close, clutched him with tenderness. We stayed huddled that way until the early hours of the morning. The shootings and explosions had lasted less than an hour, but they had frightened us badly, because none of us had ever heard gunshots in the streets. They were foreign sounds to us then. The generation of Afghan children whose ears would know nothing but the sounds of bombs and gunfire was not yet born. Huddled together in the dining room and waiting for the sun to rise, none of us had any notion that a way of life had ended. The end came when Russian tanks were rolling into the very same streets where Hassan and I played, bringing the death of the Afghanistan I knew and marking the start of a still ongoing era of bloodletting. Just before sunrise, Baba's car peeled into the driveway. His door slammed shut and his running footsteps pounded the stairs. Then he appeared in the doorway and I saw something on his face. Something I didn't recognize right away because I'd never seen it before: fear. "Amir! Hassan!" He cried as he ran to us, opening his arms wide. "They blocked all the roads and the telephone didn't work. I was so worried!" We let him wrap us in his arms and, for a brief moment, I was glad about whatever had happened that night. Who is the author of the passage? A) Hassan B) Ali C) Baba D) Amir
Answer:
D