Ques: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: For any person who must speak in public, to business or pleasure groups, humor is a helpful, and necessary, tool for getting your message across. Why does humor work a lot? There are several reasons. People will enjoy what you have to say if it is presented with humor. But, more importantly, if you are in a situation where important, and perhaps controversial , ideas must be presented to less than open minds, humor allows those ideas to be presented in a non-threatening manner. Abraham Lincoln was famous for his ability to relate humorous stories to make a point. Humor used carefully throughout a presentation will also keep the listener's interest high. In a word, individuals learning how to use humor in their speeches can strengthen arguments, support interesting presentations and, most of all, entertain their audience in a positive and comfortable way. While popular culture may well hold many kinds of humor, some of it has no place in presentations that are designed to educate and encourage the audience. If you want to become a professional stand-up comedian whose goal is 100% entertainment, then you may be able to use some of the reference materials like The Art of Using Humor in Public Speaking. They can help you develop your skills and sources of humor. To that _ , your participation in this study of humor will become necessary. Hopefully, you will come to appreciate the special difficulty of entertaining the audience with good and clean humor. Question: The passage is most likely to benefit _ a lot. Options: A: science researchers B: public speakers C: dress designers D: sports players
Ans: B

Ques: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: The heat was intense as we moved down the long corridor. Not only was it a difficult blaze, but the July heat made things even worse as we struggled to get the best of the flames. As we finally made the turn into the apartment where the fire had started, the words of the young mother outside screamed in my brain, 'Please help! My baby is in there!' We moved into the bedroom and I started looking in the usual spots where a child might seek refuge: under the bed, in the corners. As I groped my way through the thick smoke, I suddenly fell forward, tripping over something on the floor. It was the child. Ripping off my mask to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, I grabbed the child and raced for the stairs. When we reached the waiting Rescue Squad members, I collapsed in a heap in the gutter. The ambulance sped off into the night, its siren wailing. Later that evening, we received word that the child had died in the hospital's emergency room. Another small life lost in the city. Why do little children such as that one have to pay the price for the neglect of others? During my career as a fire fighter, I have seen this happen many times. You would think that we would become hard and callous, but we don't. We mourn each person who dies. What bothers me is that many senseless tragedies could have been prevented. An overwhelming number of deaths in fires can be prevented by just one thing - a smoke detector. It is estimated that fewer than 50 percent of all dwellings in the United States are protected by smoke detectors. Why are so many people ignorant about the need for smoke detectors? Smoke detectors save lives. They are easy to install. Their cost is reasonable, and they offer immediate protection. People must persuade their communities to provide fire education for everyone. The money spent on fire education reaps a reward that cannot be measured. If you do not think so, then consider your reactions if the child I carried out of that flaming apartment had been a member of your own family. You would probably then... Question: The author's main purpose in the passage is to _ . Options: A: advertise a new brand of smoke detector. B: persuade readers to become fire fighters. C: plead for donations from the public. D: encourage fire safety measures.
Ans: D

Ques: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: A recent Living Social survey showed that Americans may live up to their poor reputation while travelling abroad. But what's more surprising is that many of those surveyed self-identified themselves as 'ugly' Americans and the world's worst travelers. Those in the U.S. ranked themselves as the worst travellers by a shocking 20 per cent, followed by 15 per cent saying the Chinese were the most substandard tourists. Americans topped the list as being the worst-behaved travelers in a survey of 5,600 respondents, 4,000 of whom were Americans. Other respondents were in Australia, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom. But even American respondents considered their compatriots as the worst travelers from a list of 16 nationalities. Canadians and Australians also put Americans in the No. 1 spot. Irish respondents pointed to U.K. residents and U.K. respondents gave Germans the nod. On the other hand, 37% of Americans opted for "none of the above" in answer to the worst-tourists question, displaying more tolerance and open-mindedness than the other nationalities. Other survey questions had respondents admitting _ from hotels. Four in ten U.S. survey-takers said they'd stolen something - mostly towels (28%) and bathrobes (8%). Other popular pinched items included pillows, remote controls, Bibles and sheets. Not surprising is that Americans have less time off from work than other nationalities. Americans reported getting 16 days off, compared with 28 days for the Irish, 27 days for Australians, 23 days for U.K. workers; and 21 days for Canadians. In the travel mishaps department, the most common travel disaster reported by Americans was lost luggage on an airline (21%); bad weather (21%); and getting very lost (16%). As for places Americans most want to see, Disney World and Las Vegas made the top 10, but they weren't at the top of the heap. And New York didn't make the cut. Question: According to the survey, what kind of things are most taken away by Americans? Options: A: towels and pillows B: bathrobes and remote controls. C: towels and Bibles D: bathrobes and towels.
Ans: D

Ques: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: The following card includes a brief summary and a short assessment of a research paper. It can provide a guide for further reading on the topic. Trevor, C. O., Lansford, B. and Black, J. W., 2004, "Employee turnover and job performance: monitoring the influences of salary growth and promotion", Journal of Armchair Psychology, vol. 113, no.1, pp. 56-64. In this article Trevor et al. review the influences of pay and job opportunities in respect of job performance, turnover rates and employees' job attitude. The authors use data gained through organizational surveys of blue-chip companies in Vancouver, Canada to try to identify the main cause of employee turnover and whether it is linked to salary growth. Their research focuses on assessing a range of pay structures such as pay for performance and organizational reward plans. The article is useful as Trevor et al. suggest that there are numerous reasons for employee turnover and a variety of differences in employees' job attitude and performance. The main limitation of the article is that the survey sample was restricted to mid-level management, thus the authors indicate that further, more extensive research needs to be undertaken to develop a more in-depth understanding of employee turnover and job performance. As this article was published in a professional journal, the findings can be considered reliable. It will be useful additional information for the research on pay structures. Question: The research paper published is primarily concerned with _ Options: A: the way of preventing employee turnover B: methods of improving employee performance C: factors affecting employee turnover and performance D: pay structures based on employee performance
Ans:
C