Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Back in the days when I wrote my first songs, I hated my voice. I saw myself as a songwriter and guitarist but never a singer! I continued to write songs, and to search for the perfect singer. After a few years I did discover a singer, so we started a project together. We held a few concerts, and put a lot of work into it. She forces me to sing some songs at concerts myself, so I started going to a bar to practice them. This was my first, small breakthrough. One day she came round to my flat and informed me that she could no longer work with me, and also that the bar owner at the open mic venue had replaced us at short notice because some New York jazz star happened to be in town, and was available that evening to perform. The first bit of news made me sad and disappointed, but the second made me angry. However, that same evening, with as much determination as I could muster , I resolved to play three new songs at the bar, just as I had planned before. I was quite nervous, but I dragged myself down to the bar and sang those songs! I never felt so liberated . That night I couldn't get to sleep. I was simply astonished, hardly believing that I was a person who acted so courageously, and that I'd been able to sing my songs myself. Since then I've begun to encourage others to adopt a similar approach when they aren't able to see their own potential. One example is an amateur fiddler who could barely bring herself to lift her instrument to play in front of people. I forced her to ignore her fear, and simply get on with it. Now, a year or two later, she is a passionate, happy performer in front of any crowd! Once you get the ball rolling in yourself, you can start inspiring those around you. Question: How did the author feel when she heard that her partner could no longer work with her? Options: A: Sad and disappointed. B: Sad and angry. C: Disappointed and angry. D: Astonished and angry.
A

(Question)
Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Avalanches are one of those natural disasters that can cause great damage and only Mother Nature knows when and where they are going to occur. Even with modern technology it is still impossible to know exactly when or where one is going to occur. Mountain climbers are wise to be careful, as avalanches kill many of them each year. The physics of how and why an avalanche occurs is complex. There are times of higher probability. During the year, the transition( from winter to spring will cause some snow and ice to melt, which may trigger avalanches. Also at daybreak there is a higher probability due to the temperature change . While climbers hike up slopes, some distance between the climbers should be kept. If an avalanche occurs, then there will be fewer lives lost and a higher probability that someone will be able to seek help. Since an accident is more likely to happen when a top layer of snow is loose, avoid areas where heavy snow or rain has recently occurred. Try to choose areas that you are familiar with and stay in areas with rocks, bushes and trees. Trees and bushes allow snow to pile up and keep the layers stable. If an avalanche occurs, trees will take the impact of the snow, so there is a better chance of being safe. Climbers must pay attention to the degree of the slope. Avalanches won't occur on level ground and there is little snowfall on very steep areas. The greatest danger is in areas where the slope is between 25 and 40 degrees. Remember that, if you get stuck in an avalanche, there is no car hire available to take you to the nearest airport. Question: Why is there a higher probability that an avalanche occurs at daybreak? Options: A: Because daybreak is the coldest time of the day in the mountain. B: Because it often snows heavily in the mountains at daybreak. C: Because temperature changes at daybreak. D: Because the top layer snow is loose at daybreak.
(Answer)
C

Ques: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: A neighbor of mine, while visiting his mother in Boston, took her to a shoe store to buy a new pair of shoes. While she was trying on different styles, my neighbor took the manager aside. "When she picks out a pair that she likes," he said, "Just tell her that the price is 12 dollars. I'll pay the regular price. I don't care how much it is." The following week, my neighbor was walking by the shoe store and the manager recognized him and called him in. "What's the problem?" asked my neighbor as he entered the store. "Wasn't my check any good?" "That's not it," answered the manager, "The problem is that your mother is bringing all her friends in for those 12-dollar shoes!" Question: What do we know about the character of my neighbor's mother? Options: A: She would like to buy expensive things. B: She would like to buy cheap things. C: She would like to help others when they're in trouble. D: She would like to have her son pay for her shopping.
Ans: B

Ques: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: When next year's crop of high-school graduates arrive at Oxford University in the fall, they will be joined by a new face: Andrew Hamilton, the 55-year-old provost of Yale, who will become Oxford's vice-chancellor -- a position equal to university president in America. Hamilton isn't the only educator crossing the Atlantic. Schools in France, Egypt, Singapore, etc. have also recently made top-level hires from abroad. Yet the talent flow isn't universal. High-level personnel tend to head in only one direction: Outward from America. The chief reason is that American schools don't tend to seriously consider looking abroad. For example, when the board of the University of Colorado searched for a new president, it wanted a leader familiar with the state government, a major source of the university's budget. "We didn't do any global consideration," says Patricia Hayes, the board's chair. The board finally picked Bruce Benson, a 69-year-old Colorado businessman and political activist who is likely to do well in the main task of modern university presidents: fund-raising. Fund-raising is a particularly American thing, since U.S. schools rely heavily on donations. The fund-raising ability is largely a product of experience and necessity. Many European universities, meanwhile, are still mostly dependent on government funding. But government support has failed to keep pace with rising student numbers. The decline in government support has made fund-raising an increasingly necessary ability among administrators , and has made hiring committees hungry for Americans. In the past few years, well-known schools around the world have joined the trend. In 2011, when Cambridge University appointed Alison Richard, another former Yale provost, as its vice-chancellor, the university publicly stressed that in her previous job she had overseen " a major strengthening of Yale's financial position". Of course, fund-raising isn't the only skill outsiders offer. The globalization of education means more universities will be... Question: What do we learn about European universities from the text? Options: A: The tuition they charge has been rising considerably. B: They are strengthening their position by globalization. C: Their operation is under strict government control. D: Most of their money comes from the government.
Ans:
D