My teenage son Karl became withdrawn after his father died . As a single parent . I tried to do my best to talk to him . But the more I tried , the more he pulled away . When his report card arrived during his junior year , it said that he had been absent 95 times from classes and had six falling grades for the year . At this rate he would never graduate . I sent him to the school adviser , and I even begged him . Nothing worked . One night I felt so powerless that I got down on my knees and pleaded for help . "Please God ,I can't do anything more for my son . I'm at the end of my rope . I'm giving the whole thing up to you ." I was at work when I got a phone call . A man introduced himself as the headmaster . "I want to talk to you about Karl's absences ." Before he could say another word , I choked up and all my disappointment and sadness over Karl came pouring out into the ears of this stranger . "I love my son but I just don't know what to do . I've tried everything to get Karl to go back to school and nothing has worked . It's out of my hands . "For a moment there was silence on the other end of the line . The headmaster seriously said , "Thank you for your time", and hung up . Karl's next report card showed a marked improvement in his grades . Finally , he even made the honor roll .In his fourth year , I attended a parent-teacher meeting with Karl . I noticed that his teachers were astonished at the way he had turned himself around . On our way home , he said , "Mum, remember that call from the headmaster last year ?" I nodded . "That was me . I thought I'd play a joke but when I heard what you said , it really hit me how much I was hurting you . That's when I knew I had to make you proud ." What is the main idea of this passage ? A) Children in single-parent families often have mental problems . B) Mother's love plays an important role in teenagers' life . C) Being understood by parents is very important to teenagers . D) School education doesn't work without full support from parents .
B
(Question)
The structure and workings of the university are ever changing. The university of the past is not like the university of the present and the university of the present will not be like the university of the future. This "adaptation" to the times is what can make some universities great or make some universities among the worst in the nation. In the past the university was very set in their ways. They did things the way they wanted them done. They paid no attention to the rest of the society and the way the ones paying the bills wanted them done. In the past the professors would lecture endlessly to the students, which often left the students bored and with no idea what was really said to them in the lecture. This is no way to try and teach students; students need interaction with the professors that are paid to teach them. As Paulo Freire believed there needs to be communication between the students and the professors and the class should not be totally memorization. This is the way that things were done in the past. In the present many universities have either changed or are changing the way that they run their universities. The universities now are taking on many of the modern educational beliefs in order to make changes in the teaching methods. Universities are breaking down many of the divides between majors that they offer. By breaking these barriers the universities are becoming less specialized and more diverse. This goes along with the ideas of Berry who believes that the schools are over-specialized and that the universities are now just machines that are merely meant to produce workers. In the past few years the colleges have been lowering the standards of admission, which in turn lowers the standards of all the schools below the college level. The universities are now on the right track by increasing the standards of admission into their colleges. What would the author most probably focus on in the following part of this passage? A) Universities in the future. B) The standards of schools. C) The admission into some colleges. D) Other changes of teaching methods.
(Answer)
A
Ques: NASA is moving ahead with plans to put a long-armed Lander on Mars' icy North Pole to search for clues for water and possible signs of life. The $386 million Phoenix Mars is planned to touch down in the Martian arctic in 2008. The stationary probe will use its robotic arm to dig into the icy land and pick up soil samples to analyze. In 2002, the Mars Odyssey orbiter spotted evidence of ice-rich soil near the arctic surface. Scientists hope the Phoenix mission will find clues to the geologic history of water on the Red Planet and determine whether microbes existed in the ice. Phoenix will be the first mission of the Mars Scout program, a renewed, low-cost effort to study the Red Planet. "The Phoenix mission explores new territory in the northern plains of Mars analogous to the permafrost regions on Earth," Peter Smith said. True to its name, Phoenix rose from the ashes of previous missions. The lander for Phoenix was built to fly as part of the 2001 Mars Surveyor program. But the program broke down after the well-known disappearance of the Mars Polar Lander in 1999. The Polar Lander lost contact during a landing attempt near the planet's south pole after its rocket engine shut off _ , causing the spacecraft to fall about 130 feet to almost certain destruction. The Phoenix probe had been in storage at a Lockheed Martin clean room in Denver before it was reused for its present mission. It will carry science instruments that were designed for the Mars Surveyor program including an improved panoramic camera and a trench-digging robotic arm. Phoenix will lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in August 2007 and land on the planet nine months later. According to the passage, we know Phoenix will land on Mars _ . A) in May 2008 B) in August 2007 C) in August 2008 D) in September 2008
Ans: A
First it was jogging. Then aerobics . Not too long ago, Americans discovered race walking. Now Americans are into a newfitnesscraze. They'retaking up bicycling. Over hills and down mountainsides and across quiet country roads, Americans are busily rolling along. The number of adults who ride for fitness is around 17 million, an increase of 70 percent over four years ago. Twice as many women as men are coming to the sport. Americans arefalling in love withbiking because it has speed, the benefitsofjoggingand beautiful scenery. Bicycling is a very appropriate sport, which is important to people who injured their knees while jogging or whosejointsareachingfrom aerobics. And biking is a real awakening for people who have been into race walking in the past. Race walking isas dull as watching paint dry. The most popular kind of bicycle for people who are new to the sport is the mountain bike, which has afixed framewith wide tires andupright handles. Mountain bikes also have manygears to make it easier to climb hills. About 5 million Americans ride mountain bikes, compared with 200,000 who rode them only five years ago. Costsrangefrom about $130 for abottom-of-the-linebicycle to more than $2,700 for an expensive bicycle. Mountain biking has attracted somepeoplewho race down the sides of mountainslike a bat out of hell. But most riders ride slowly and theyrarelyventurefar from home. The biking craze has brought an unexpected profit to clothing and bicycle accessory makers. Last year, bikers paid $ 630 million for biking clothes and accessories. Bicycling seems likely to continue its fantastic growth. Race walking is about as dull as watching paint dry because _ A) race walking is a slow-moving sport B) the number of adults who ride for fitness has grown 70 percent in four years. C) it has speed, the benefits of jogging and beautiful scenery. D) Americans are taking up bicycling.
A