Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Standard English is the formal English that you need to use when you write in coursework or in the exam. Standard English is the form of English you learn in school. All written English should be standard -- that means it should be clear enough for anyone in Britain to understand it. Standard English developed as the main form of printed English in the 15th Century. At the time, every region of Britain used to spell words differently, but printers needed a fixed spelling. Printers like Caxton chose the East Midlands dialect form which was used in London and the South East. Soon Standard English replaced all written dialect forms -- the other forms of English spoken around the country. It also replaced French and Latin in law and in academic work. In the 18th Century, people wrote dictionaries and grammar books which standardized spelling -- Dr Johnson's Dictionary of 1755 fixed many of the spellings we still use today. All written English should be Standard English -- any grammar rules you learn are for Standard English and you will definitely need to learn them to avoid making mistakes in your work. The rules of Standard English mean using the correct forms of words with the correct spellings. Avoid slang words -- words that your teachers or friends wouldn't understand. You'll lose marks if the examiners can't understand what you say or write. Don't use dialect words. Every region has words or phrases that are only used there. Don't use them in your coursework, because you won't be understood. Make sure you revise grammar and punctuation you have learned, and learn the list of commonly misspelled words you have made. Cliches are ideas or sayings which have been used so often that they've become boring and unoriginal. Phrases like, "As good as it gets" "At the end of the day" "In the fullness of time" are all cliches. So are images like, "as fierce as a lion" "as cunning as a fox". If you use them you will sound boring and unimaginative -- that could mean you lose marks for writing and speaking style. So... Question: What is the cliche according to the passage? - the English full of slang words. - the boring ideas or sayings because of being used often. - the long phrases which are used often. - all the English which is used outside of London and the southeast of Britain.
the boring ideas or sayings because of being used often.

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Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Planning a visit to the UK? Here we help with ways to cut your costs. AVOID BIG EVENTS Big sporting events, concerts and exhibitions can increase the accommodation and make it harder to find a room. A standard double room at the Thistle Brighton on the final Friday of the Brighton Comedy Festival (19, Oct.) cost PS 169.15 at Booking. Com. A week later, the same room cost PS 118.15. If you can be flexible and want to know dates to avoid - or you're looking for a big event to pass your time - check out sites such as Whatsonwhen.com, which allow you to search for events in the UK by city, date and category. STAY AWAY FROM THE STATION If travelling to your destination by train, you may want to find a base close to the station, but you could end up paying more for the sake of convenience at the start of your holiday. Don't be too choosy about the part of town you stay in. Booking two months in advance, the cheapest room at Travelodge's Central Euston hotel in London for Saturday 22 September was PS 95.95. A room just a tube journey away at its Covent Garden hotel was PS 75.75. And at Farringdon, a double room cost just PS 62.95. LOOK AFTER YOURSELF Really central hotels in cities such as London, Edinburgh and Cardiff can cost a fortune, especially at weekends and during big events. As an alternative consider checking into a self-catering flat with its own kitchen. Often these flats are hidden away on the top floors of city centre buildings. A great example is the historic O'Neill Flat on Edinburgh's Royal Mile, available for PS 420 for five days in late September, with room for four adults. GET ON A BIKE London's 'Boris bikes' have attracted the most attention, but other cities also have similar programmes that let you rent a bicycle and explore at your own pace, saving you on public transport or car parking costs. Among the smaller cities with their own programmes are Newcastle (casual members pay around PS 1.50 for two hours) and Cardiff (free for up to 30 minutes, or PS 5 per day). Question: Cardiff's programme allows a free bike for a maximum period of _ . - half an hour - one hour - one hour and a half - two hours
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half an hour

Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: When I was quite young, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember well the polished old case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with great interest when my mother used to talk to it. Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person-- her name was Information Please and there was nothing she did not know. Information Please could supply anybody's number. My first personal experience with Information Please came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbor. I accidentally hit my finger with a hammer. The pain was terrible, but there didn't seem to be any reason in crying because there was no one home to give sympathy. I walked around the house sucking my hurting finger, finally arriving at the stairway--the telephone! Climbing up I unhooked the receiver and held it to my ear. "Information Please," I said. A click or two and a small clear voice spoke into my ear, "Information." "I hurt my finger..." I cried. The tears came readily enough now that I had an audience. "Isn't your mother home?" came the question. "Nobody's home but me." I sobbed. "Are you bleeding?" "No," I replied. "I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts." "Can you open your icebox?" she asked. I said I could. "Then chip off a little piece of ice and hold it to your finger." After that I called Information Please for everything. I asked her for help with my geography and she told me where Philadelphia was. And there was the time that Petey, our pet canary died. I called Information Please and told her the sad story. She listened, and then said the usual things grown-ups say to comfort a child. But I was Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up as a heap of feathers, feet up on the bottom of a cage? She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said quietly, "Paul, always remember that there are other worlds to sing in."... Question: The author picked up the telephone for the first time to _ . - call his mother who was visiting a neighbor - call the doctor for his wounded finger - find out what exactly lived in the telephone - find someone to give him sympathy
find someone to give him sympathy