Childhood was an illusion and the illusion was this: everything was bigger. No, I mean everything, not just houses and shops and grown-ups, but colors and flowers and journeys, especially journeys which seemed endless. "Are we there yet, Daddy?" Funfairs were huge things that spread for miles around you with noise and lights and exciting danger. Rainy days at home when you were ill seemed to last for ever. Being a grown-up yourself was an unthinkable distant possibility. Every sound was louder, every game was grander, every pain unbearable. As I've grown old, life has become smaller. Tastes have dulled. Surprises have turned into shocks. Days go by unnoticed. How can I regain childhood when it was an illusion? I have only one repeatable and wonderful way and even in this way I can regain only part of that larger world. I can play upon the stage like a child and make the crowd laugh and laugh with them, sometimes helplessly like a child, and then, even though I'm a sixty-one-year-old man, I can almost catch the colors and sounds and stillness of those bigger years when I was little. How does the author feel about his childhood? A) It was endless. B) It was unpleasant. C) He is glad that it is over. D) He misses it as a grown-up
D
(Question)
Edinburgh Mela Time: 25th - 31st August 2008 Tel / Fax: 0131 557 1400 E-mail: info@edinburgh-mela.co.uk Website: www.edinburgh-mela.co.uk Each year Edinburgh Mela is Scotland's biggest multicultural arts festival that celebrates in Scotland. Although Edinburgh Mela's roots are in South Asian cultures, this is a festival for everybody. Music, colour, dance, art, fashion, food, children's activities, the Mela bazaar and much more! Edinburgh International Book Festival Time: 9th - 25th August 2008 Tel: 0131 718 5666 Fax: 0131 226 5335 E-mail: admin@edbookfest.co.uk Website: www.edbookfest.co.uk Edinburgh International Book Festival is the world's biggest book festival. We present different programs for both adults and children including discussions, lectures, debates and workshops, all in one of Edinburgh's most beautiful spaces, Charlotte Square Gardens. Edinburgh International Festival Time: 8th - 31st August 2008 Tel: + 44 (0) 131 473 2000 Fax: +44 (0) 131 473 2002 E-mail: eif@eif.co.uk Website: www.eif@eif.co.uk Each year the Edinburgh International Festival stages one of the greatest celebrations of the arts, attracting audiences from around the world to the city's exciting atmosphere. The festivities offer a special opportunity to experience the excitement of live performance by internationally well-known artists as well as the joy of discovering new and unfamiliar works. Edinburgh International Science Festival Time: 25th March-5th April 2008 Tel: 0131 558 7666 Fax: 0131 557 9177 E-mail: esf@scifest.demon.co.uk Website: www.sciencefestival.co.uk The UK's largest Science Festival is back with one of the most exciting line-ups in the Festival's 16-year history. The Science Festival is an unbelievable place for everyone, with events at all levels, all ages and all purses. On offer are 10 days of non-stop shows workshops, presentations, hands-on activities, exhibitions and tours designed to amuse and entertain. Call our ticket hotline on 0131 557 5588. What do we know about Edinburgh Mela? A) It is deeply rooted in Edinburgh. B) It is a place to buy and sell things. C) It shows kinds of cultures in Scotland. D) It offers a chance for you to buy books.
(Answer)
C
Ques: More than 6,000 children were expelled from US school last year for bringing guns and bombs to school, the US Department of Education said on May 8. The department gave a report to the expulsions as saying handguns accounted for 58 percent of the 6,093 expulsions in 1996--1997, against 7 percent for rifles or shotguns and 35 percent for other types of firearms. "The report is a clear sign that our nation's public schools are cracking down on students who bring guns to school," Education Secretary Richard Riley said in a statement. "We need to be tough-minded about keeping guns out of our schools and do everything to keep our children safe." In March 1997, an 11-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy using handguns and rifles shot dead four children and a teacher at a school in Jonesboro, Arkansas. In October, two students were killed and seven wounded in a shooting at a Mississippi school. Two months later, a 14-year-old boy killed three high school students and wounded five in Dasucah, Kentucky. Most of the expulsions, 56 percent, were from high schools, which have students from about age 13. 34 percent were from junior high schools and 9 percent were from elementary schools, the report said. It can be known from the report of the US Department of Education that _ . A) guns are out of control in US schools B) American children don't have the right to go to school C) the number of the expulsions in the USA is smaller than that in other countries D) expelling students is the best way to control guns
Ans: A
Ques: I don't often lose things and I'm always careful with money, so I was quite surprised when I reached for my wallet and it wasn't there. At first, I thought it was possible that I could have left it at home. Then I remembered taking it out to pay the taxi, so I knew I had it with me just before I walked into the restaurant. I wondered if it was possible that it could have dropped out of my pocket while I was eating dinner. I turned and walked back to the table where I had been sitting. Unluckily, there were several people sitting at the table at that time, so I had the waiter go over to the table to see if my wallet was on the floor. While the waiter was looking for it, the head of the restaurant came up to me and asked me if anything was wrong. I told him what had happened. He asked me to report the missing wallet to the police. I told him I didn't want to do so; I was in a hurry because I had to reach my waiting room before two o'clock, where some people were waiting to see me. I also told him that my biggest worry at the moment was how I was going to pay for the meal. He told me not to worry about that. He asked me to write down my name and address, and he said he would send me a bill . When the writer couldn't find his wallet, his first thought was that _ A) it had been given to the taxi-driver B) he had dropped it in the taxi C) he had lost his wallet again D) it might be left at home
Ans:
D