Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: The advantages of using flashcards to build up a vocabulary are well known. You can buy sets of cards, or make your own, and carry them with you wherever you go. There's no question this is useful and because you can use them in short bursts, it's not too much for you. It can be fun. I don't recommend drilling for hours at a time with flashcards. If you want to use flashcard software, things get even better. There are many packages out there for maintaining and drilling flashcards. I recommend VTrain though there are many others. One stands out, however: SuperMemo. Similar to Pimsleur, SuperMemo is engineered according to a carefully researched methodology in order to test you on a card the very minimum number of times you need to see it for it to stick. When you look at a card, you give some feedback to the software on whether you got it right and how easy you found it. It uses this information, and that of your previous attempts, to decide when you will be shown the card next. It's smart and it really works. If you're like me, the news is even better! I have a version of SuperMemo that runs on my PalmOS phone. Wherever I am, if I have my phone handy, I have thousands of flashcards with me too. Honestly, it would be worth purchasing a cheap Palm device only for this. You can pick one up for $20 or even less on eBay or elsewhere. Consider it, at least. Question: What is the main purpose of the author in writing the passage? - To introduce to us a way to build up a vocabulary. - To teach us how to make flashcards. - To suggest us buying flashcards. - To tell us how to use flashcard software.
To introduce to us a way to build up a vocabulary.

Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: For the last 10 years, job listing site CareerBuilder has put out a list called "The Most Unbelievable Excuses for Calling in Sick." For example, an employee said he couldn't come in because his false teeth flew out the window while he was driving down the highway. The excuses were gathered through a survey that ran among 3,000 workers and 2,000 hiring managers. The list is entertaining but there is a more serious issue hidden in this story. Federal law does not require private employers to give any paid sick leave, making the US the only one of the world's wealthiest nations that doesn'tguarantee workers this right. Since 2006, cities and states have been adopting their own paid sick leave laws. California, Washington. DC and 13 cities including New York now require many employers to provide some sort of paid sick leave. But according to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, 39% of private employees still have no access to paid days off. In the CareerBuilder survey, 38% of respondents said they go to work when they're sick because they can't afford to miss a day's pay. The survey also shows that workers are taking a risk when they come up with _ excuses. Nearly one in five employers says they have fired an employee for calling in sick with a fake excuse. If you're spending the day at the beach while pretending to be ill, don't post about it on Facebook. Nearly one in four employers (24%) has caught an employee lying about being sick by checking social media. The motto of this story: If you really are sick, don't come to work and spread your bacteria around the office. But if you just want to stay home, go with "I'm running a fever." rather than one of these ridiculous excuses. Question: What problem is exposed in the survey? - Many employees have no access to paid sick leave. - Private employers make their workers work extra hours. - Some employees are not satisfied with their boss. - Private employers sometimes break the Federal law.
Many employees have no access to paid sick leave.

Q: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Old tennis balls are being used in an unusual way to help us learn more about one of the rarest mammals in the country. Harvest mice are only about 2 inches ( 5 cm) long. This spring and summer, wildlife experts are encouraging people to report sightings of harvest mice so that records can be built up about numbers and locations. Meadows and grassland are animals' traditional homes but as farming methods change over time, the habitats are being lost and numbers are thought to be _ . Old tennis balls, complete with penny-sized holes, make a strong and popular choice of home for the mice and around 200 are available for surveyors to distribute and monitor, after being donated by a local tennis club. The project, supported by the Leicestershire County Council, is thought to be the biggest of its kind ever run in Leicestershire. County Council wildlife expert, Helen O'Brien; said, " Little is known about the creature's present situation locally so we need people to look in tall grass and fields and send in their information. The information will help us track numbers and tell us where we need to focus our attention to safeguard their future. " Anyone interested in getting involved , can pick up tips and learn more about harvest mice on a training day. This is taking place between 7:30 pm and 9:30 pm on Monday, 14th June at the County Council's Environmental Resource Centre in Birstall. People living in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland can get involved with the survey or book a place on the training day by calling Gareth Price at 0116-267-1950. Question: According to the passage, old tennis balls are _ . - seriously polluting harvest mice's homes - being used to kill harmful animals in the fields - being provided for harvest mice as homes - being collected to raise money to save animals
A: being provided for harvest mice as homes

*Question*
Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: In Africa, listening is a guiding principle .It's a principle that' been lost in the constant chat of the Western world .From my own past experience , I noticed how much faster I had to answer a question during a TV interview .It is as if we have completely lost the ability to listen .We talk and talk , and we end up frightened by silence . Everywhere, people on the African continent write and tell stories. Even the nomads who still live in the Kalahari Desert are said to tell one another stories on their daylong wanderings, during which they search for roots and animals to hunt. A number of years ago I sat down on a stone bench outside the Teatro Avenida in Maputo, Mozambique, where I worked as an artistic consultant. It was a hot day, and we were taking a break, hoping that a cool gentle wind would move past. Two old African men were sitting on that bench, but there was room for me, too. In Africa people share more than just water. Even when it comes to shade, people are generous. I heard the two men talking about a third old man who had recently died. One of them said, "I was visiting him at his home. He started to tell me an amazing story about something that had happened to him when he was young. But it was a long story. Night came, and I decided that I should come back the next day to hear the rest. But when I arrived, he was dead." The man fell silent. I decided not to leave that bench until I heard how the other man would respond to what he'd heard. Finally he, too, spoke. "That's not a good way to die--before you've told the end of your story." What separates us from animals is the fact that we are storytelling creatures and we can listen to other people's dreams, fears, joys, sorrows, desires and defeats--and they in turn can listen to ours. Many people make the mistake of confusing information with knowledge. They are not the same thing. Knowledge involves the interpretation of information. Knowledge involves listening. Many words will be written on the wind and the sand, or end up in store. But... Question: From the very beginning of the passage, we can know Europeans _ . - actually lose the ability to listen - seldom chat constantly with each other - feel frightened when they are alone and silent - tend to talk more and listen less
**Answer**
tend to talk more and listen less