When we are unfamiliar with something,we may feel nervous and fearful.The assistance of others is a good way to help us pull through. I write for a big newspaper, and I wanted to write a story about parachute jumping.To make it a realistic as well as exciting story,I decided that I first had to make a jump myself. Unfortunately,I am not good at any sports of any kind,let alone parachute jumping. My friend Mr. Smith was willing to give me a hand.He took me to a ground school.The first day's training included several hours of instruction but not my first drop from an airplane For this,I had to wait until the following morning. The next morning,after a hurried,anxious breakfast,I was taken to the airfield.There,two heavy parachutes were put on my back,and an orange helmet was pushed down onto my head.Then I was asked to make my way to a small plane which had just stopped slowly on the runway. Once on board,the plane was soon climbing.I began to feel nervous.As we reached one thousand metres,Harry,my teacher, hooked a line from my parachute to a steel ring inside the plane.The line was to pull my parachute open after I jumped. "Get ready, Henry,"Harry said.I moved carefully to the door.I wanted to cry,"No,no,no!"But no word came. "Jump!"Harry called loudly."Jump!" To my surprise,kicking like a frog I did jump.Away from the plane,and down,down I fell,arms stretched.It worked! The air seemed to hold me up.All at once I was very happy. Then I felt a quick pull.My big parachute had opened! It was the best surprise I ever had. I looked down.There were rivers,trees,fields and houses.I heard the soft sound of the air This was fun ! The writer made a parachute jump himself_. A) to learn more about parachute jumping B) to make his story realistic and exciting C) to reduce pressure from his busy work D) to prove to others his skill and courage
B
(Question)
In today's prefix = st1 /Ireland, it seems hard to imagine the grim days of the 19thcentury when so many of the population starved, or that, in those days, many poor people had no clue how to prepare any food other than boil a potato. Nowadays, it is quite possible to eat both well and heartily all over the island. Tourism has made a _ difference to the standards of cooking inIreland. Until recently there was hardly any tradition of eating out in many districts, except perhaps on very few occasions at a local hotel. Patterns of diet were old-styled, based firmly on 'meat and two vegetables' (somewhat overcooked), potatoes (of course) and large quantities of dairy produce. Now things are very different. Tourist demands for predictable, inexpensive fast-food are met, as everywhere, with hamburgers and pizzas - a better bet being fish and chips. But more sophisticated tastes have introduced wholefoods and vegetarian restaurants (almost unheard of before), and a vast number of new restaurants, often French in style, have opened in the main tourist centres. Food 'events' such as Kinsale's Gourmet festival or Galway's Oyster Festival attract large numbers of visitors and reflect the new interest in food. Whatever Irish cooking lacks in finesse , it nearly always makes up for in plenty, and ingredients are of a high quality. Home-grown produce includes rich dairy foods, beef, lamb and pork, and a great variety of seafood. One of its great specialities is soda bread. It is made with buttermilk and is served fresh and warm with every meal. Recently there has been a return to simple Irish foods such as stews and potato dishes. One of the best-value meals in Irelandis breakfast. A 'traditional Irish breakfast' is a plateful of bacon and eggs with soda and potato breads. Accommodation rates are nearly always quoted with a full breakfast included, so you might as well eat enough to keep you going all day and get your money's worth! What was Irish food like until quite recently? A) It was very conservative and uninteresting. B) It was influenced by French cooking. C) It was very unhealthy. D) It was plentiful
(Answer)
A
A young man approached the foreman of a logging crew and asked for a job. "That depends," replied the foreman. "Let's see you fell this tree." The young man stepped forward and skillfully felled a great tree. Impressed, the foreman said, "You can start Monday." Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday went by -- and on Thursday afternoon the foreman approached the young man and said, "You can pick up your wages on the way out today." Shocked, the young man replied, "I thought you would pay me on Friday." "Normally we do," said the foreman. "But we're letting you go today because you've fallen behind. Our daily felling charts show that you've dropped from first place on Monday to the last place today." "But I'm quite hardworking," the young man disagreed. "I am the first to arrive and the last to leave and even have worked through my coffee breaks!" The foreman thought for a minute and then asked "Have you sharpened your axe?" The young man replied, "No, sir. I've been working too hard to take time for that!" Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we don't take time to "sharpen" the axe. In today's world it seems that everyone is busier than ever, but less happy than ever. Why is that? Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay sharp? There's nothing wrong with hard work. But we shouldn't get so busy that we ignore the truly important things in life. We all need time to relax, to think, to learn and to grow. If we don't take time to sharpen the axe, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness. By telling the story, the writer wanted to tell us _ . A) where there is a will, there is a way B) all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy C) hard work can make up for lack of intelligence D) health is over wealth
B