Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: I heard many parents complaining that their teenage children are rebelling. I wish it were so. At your age you ought to be growing away from your parents. You should be learning to stand on your own two feet. But take a good look at the present rebellion. It seems that teenagers are taking the same way of showing that they disagree with their parents. Instead of striking out boldly on their own, most of them are clutching at one another's hands for reassurance. They claim they want to dress as they please. But they all wear the same clothes. They set off in new directions in music. But somehow they all end up huddled round listening to the same record. Their reason for thinking or acting in thus-and-such a way is that the crowd is doing it. They have come out of their cocoon into a larger cocoon. It has become harder and harder for a teenager to stand up against the popularity wave and to go his or her own way. Industry has firmly carved out a teenage market. These days every teenager can learn from the advertisements what a teenager should have and be. And many of today's parents have come to award high marks for the popularity of their children. All this adds up to a great barrier for the teenager who wants to find his or her own path. But the barrier is worth climbing over. The path is worth following. You may want to listen to classical music instead of going to a party. You may want to collect rocks when everyone else is collecting records. You may have some thoughts that you don't care to share at once with your classmates. Well, go to it. Find yourself. Be yourself. Popularity will come -- with the people who respect you for who you are. That is the only kind of popularity that really counts. Question: According to the author, what might happen when a teenager stands up against the popularity wave and follows his/her own path? - He/She falls behind the time. - He/She loses good friends. - He/She faces all kinds of criticism. - He/She gains valuable popularity.
He/She gains valuable popularity.
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Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: We bought a pair of geese one spring when they were both two weeks old. One was a female Chinese goose I named Su and her mate was a white goose I named Goose. They would follow us all around the yard talking to us whenever we came outside. At night, they stayed in a box in our kitchen until they were too big and then they stayed at night outside. They loved the river and soon began staying out all night on the river. Whenever I wanted to know where they were, I would make a honking noise , and they would answer me and come into the yard for their corn. One night, I was woken up by loud noise. We ran out to see what was wrong. A raccoon had decided that some goose eggs would taste good and had come too close to the setting.When we found Su, the raccoon had caught her by her neck and was biting it.We drove it away and took Su to the garage, washed her wound and wrapped it up in a bandage.Goose knew she was there and wanted to be with her, so we opened the small garage door and he hurried in.After two days and nights, I released them back outside. For the first three nights at dusk, we would get her and carry her into the garage for the night and Goose would come running behind us to join her there.We were touched by his devotion to her.We took off her bandage and she was fine so that next night, we had not planned to take her to the garage any longer.We were amazed, however, that when dusk fell that night, she climbed the back steps to our garage door waiting for us to come and get her in! They do not speak our language, but they know when people care about them and love them and they respond in kind. Question: The raccoon attacked Su one night because _ . - it thought goose eggs were delicious - Su's nest was too close to the raccoon's - it wanted to hunt the goose for food - Su's appearance in the area annoyed it
it thought goose eggs were delicious
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Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: When the film opens, the Oakland A's have just lost a game to the New York Yankees. And they're about to lose three of their best players to richer teams. Beane is sad, because he doesn't have enough money to compete with the big teams. But then he meets Peter Brand, a young Yale graduate and statistics expert. Brand introduces Beane to sabermetrics---a controversial system for measuring how good a baseball player is. It applies computer-generated( )statistical analysis to work out a player's ability. It's completely different from the more traditional methods of talent spotting that all the other teams are using. With sabermetrics, Beane begins buying players other teams aren't interested in. And he manages to build a winning team with very little money. Monayball is based on a true story, but characters have combined, dates have been changed and some events have been invented all for dramatic effect. For example, Peter Brand, Beane's assistant, never existed. However, he is largely based on Beane's former assistant Paul DePodesta. Though there are these changes, critics think that Brad Pitt's portrayal of Beane is _ One journalist wrote, " Pitt imitates Beane's gestures and speech patterns." Beane's use of sabermetrics changed baseball. Now many teams rely on the method. But this form of complex computer-generated statistical analysis is used in business too. And these days, many businesses use sabermetrics to help plan their business strategies. But Moneyballisn't just about facts and figures. Billy Beane himself was once a major-league baseball player. At the start of his career people expected big things from him. But he didn't achieve what is expected of him and in 1990 he retired with an average record. This past failure always returns to his mind, and the film is also about whether Beane will finally achieve success in his life. The critics love Moneyball. One called it " the most soulful of baseball movies", another described it as a " home run". And most agree it's on track for some major awards. Question: In the film Moneyball, Beane _ . - is interested in competition - is good at statistical analysis - is in charge of the Oakland A's - is the leading player of his team
is in charge of the Oakland A's
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