This is the age of being busy. Many of us live in busy places and have busy lives. Even the roads are busy as we try to get from here to there. Adults are busy going to jobs and taking care of their families. Kids are busy, too, going to school and doing a lot of homework after school and on weekends. Busy isn't bad, necessarily. If you are not busy enough you might be bored. But if you are too busy, you might break down. For example, if you have a soccer game that runs late on a school night and you haven't eaten dinner or done your homework, that's a not-so-fun kind of busy. We wanted to know what kids thought, so we did a kidsPoll about being busy with 882girls and boys aged 9 to 13. Almost all of them said they felt stressed because they were too busy. About half said they felt this way once in a while or some of the time. But 17% said they felt this way most of the time and 24% said they felt this all the time! Oh dear, that's no fun. Only 4% of kids said they wanted less free time and 18% said they already had just the right amount. But, no big surprise, 61% of kids wish they had a lot more free time. If they had more time, most would spend it hanging out or playing with friends. Often, adults plan large parts of a kid 's day, especially during the school year. kids can't tell their parents they'll be skipping school today to get more free time! But they can tell their parents they'd like to play a game or read a book during their free time instead of watching TV. From the passage, we can infer that the writer agrees kids can _ . A) Spend their free time hanging or playing out B) Get a lot more free time from their parents C) Have a right amount of free time with permission D) Get more free time from school work sometimes
C
I got married in 2008. My husband and I are very emotional and have loads of dreams in life. Now I want to share a hidden part of my life. After one month of my marriage, I started working because I could not sit home. To accomplish our dreams, we are both working hard day and night in spite of belonging to a good family. Life is very strange. When any turn happens, one cannot know. I started working because I was very ambitious. I used to wonder about people who worked to earn their bread but I never knew in my wildest dreams that I would be part of the crowd who work to earn a livelihood. I was blessed with a daughter in November, 2009. She was just three months and 15 days old when I rejoined my job. My husband supported me and my family supported me but I never wanted to work again because I belonged to a family where a mother should give her full attention to her child. Keeping all the values aside that I learnt from my parents, I went back to work and will work till my last breath. I missed my daughter every second. She has started recognizing and throwing expressions for likes and dislikes. I cannot share my feelings with anyone, as I do not want anyone to know that I am broken completely from inside. My husband and my daughter are my greatest strength but I ignore them just to earn money and fulfill my dreams that I have. If one day, my daughter complains to someone about her mom, please tell her that she is my reason for survival and happiness and she is the only one who brings smile to my face. What is the best title of this passage? A) The secret of a working mother B) A working family is continuing C) A husband's support for his wife's career D) The comparison between the family and career for a mother
A
Q: As a society we might want to rethink the time and money spent on education,so that these resources can benefit a greater percentage of the population.Ideally,both high schools and colleges can prepare individuals for the ever-changing roles. High school degrees offer far less in the way of preparation for work than they might,or than many other nations currently offer,creating a growing skills gap in our economy.We encourage students to go on to college whether they are prepared or not,or have a clear sense of purpose or interest,and now have the highest college dropout rate in the world. We might look to other countries for models of how high schools can offer better training,as well as the development of a work ethic and the intellectual skills needed for continued learning and development. Meanwhile,the liberal arts become more important than ever.In a knowledge economy where professional roles change rapidly and many college students are preparing for positions that may not even exist yet,the skillneeded is one that prepares them for change and continued learning. Learning to express ideas well in both writing and speech,knowing how to find information,and knowing how to do research are all solid background skills for a wide variety of roles,and such training is more important than any particular major in a liberal arts college.We need to continue to value broad preparation in thinking skills that will serve for a lifetime. Students also need to learn to work independently and to make responsible decisions.The lengthening path to adulthood appears exacerbated by parental involvement in the college years.Given the rising investment in college education,parental concern is not surprising,but learning where and when to intervene willhelp students take more ownership of the outcomes of these increasingly costly educations. According to the author,a liberal arts college should focus on _ ? A) solid background knowledge in a particular field B) practical skills urgently needed in current society C) basic skills needed for change and lifelong learning D) useful thinking skills for advanced academic research
A: C
Q: He has climbed a high mountain, raced the 24-hour motorcycle track in France and even, walked from Tokyo to Kyoto, a distance of 500 km. Now Evolta, Panasonic's 7-inch Humanoid Robot is getting ready for his biggest challenge -- the Ironman Triathlon Championship in Hawaii. To compete in this exhausting contest, the green & white robot which is small enough to fit on a human palm, will have to swim 2.4 miles in the rough ocean, bike 112 miles across the hot Hawaiian desert and, run a full marathon distance of 26.2 miles in the painfully hot weather. Given that he is so tiny and powered by rechargeable batteries of Panasonic, he will be allowed some freedom in the way he competes. For one, he will be starting the race on October 23rd, 2011, three weeks following the real event and, while human competitors have at most 17 hours to complete the triathlon, Evolta will be given 7 days, during which his only "breaks" will be to recharge his batteries. The biggest difference however, will be that unlike a single human body doing all three races, there will be three different "Evolta" robot bodies competing -- each built for the specific race. Evolta the swimmer will be equipped with special arms to swim forward. Evolta the biker, will be on a little two-wheeler with training wheels, while Evolta the runner, will be fixed on what looks like a wheel. In spite of all these advantages, the robot's creator Tomotaka Takahashi believes that the race will be a huge challenge -- not only will Evolta have to battle the wind and sun, but also, small road obstacles that humans just step over. The water will be even worse thanks to the strong waves, tides and ocean winds. But if he does complete it, Evolta will add another feather in his cap and just prove the already well-known fact that Panasonic's rechargeable Evolta batteries are indeed the "world's longest-lasting batteries"! When competing in the triathlon, Evolta _ . A) has to finish the competition in 17 hours B) will be allowed to have a break from time to time C) will start three weeks earlier than other competitors D) will have three specially-built bodies for the competition
A: D