"Mark Twain" was the name used by Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835~1910) when he wrote books.His father was a lawyer,but a poor one,who lived in Florida,Missouri.The family was so poor that Samuel did not receive much teaching.He had to learn all that he could from the people whom he met.His father died when he was very young,and then there was even less money than before. Many of the men in this part of America worked in the ships on the great Mississippi River,and he did this himself at one time (1857). Where did he find the name "Mark Twain"? It came from the great river itself.It was part of one of the cries used by men who worked in the ships.When a man called "By the mark twain!" he meant that the river was "two marks deep" there,that is to say,six feet deep ( "Twain" is an old form of the word "Two".) Samuel Clemens often heard these words when he was young,and he used them as a pen name all his life. During his work on the Mississippi he met travelers of all kinds,and this helped him a great deal when he started to write.But the number of travelers became smaller when war started in America in 1861.Many of the great ships on the river stopped work.Samuel left then and went to Nevada with his brother,who was at that time Governor of Nevada.There,near the town of Carson,Samuel became a gold miner,but he never made much money at the time.He soon saw that life in the gold mines was not for him.He also tried writing for the newspapers in Nevada,and this seemed more hopeful.He found that he could write. He went to Europe in 1867 and visited France and Italy.In 1870 he married Olivia Langdon,and two years later he was spending nearly all his time writing.Among his books is his own story (1908). He is now always known as Mark Twain,and many people do not even know that his family name was Clemens.He traveled in America and in England,and went to Oxford in 1907.He was one of the great American writers of the time,and could make his readers laugh--a thing which few writers can do.He died in 1910. "Mark Twain" was _ . A) a famous American writer B) name of a book C) a great river in America D) a large ship
A
(Question)
Pocket money Most British parents give their teenagers pocker money. Teenagers get between PS7 and PS20 a week. They spend it on fast food, designer clothes, the cinema, concert, magazines and mobile phones. Lazy parents? 37% of parents pay teenagers to clean the lounge, 66% of parents pay teenagers to take the rubbish out. Lazy teens? 51% of teenagers don't make their beds before they leave home.Only 13% of teenagers wash the car for money.Some parents even pay their teenagers to do their homework. Equality? Not yet! Boys get more money than girls for most odd jobs.For washing the dishes, boys get about PS4 and girls get about PS1. And if you need some more money? Teens get an extra PS250 a year out of their parents on top of pocket money!About 50% of teens get gifts of money from their grandparents.Go to Mum if you need extra money!She gives more than Dad. Where you live makes a difference! Parents in prefix = st1 /Scotlandand the North of England give most pocket money. Spending 51% spend their money on clothes.39%buy cosmetics, juwellery and toiletries.Less than 40% of teenagers save any money.Here are some children who tell us about their pocket money:I get PS30 a month, I have to take the rubbish out and tidy my room. --Emma,15, Edinburgh .I get PS10 a week. But I have to clean the car, hoover the house and load and unload the dishwasher. I usually save the money. --James, 12, Sheffield..I getPS7.5 a week.I have to be "good" but I don't have to do any jobs for the money. --Lain, 13, Cardiff.I getPS5 a week. But our neighbors go away a lot and they give me PS25 a week for looking after their cats. --Richard, 13, Belfast We can infer from the text that _ . A) boys earn more money at home than girls B) girls earn more money at home than boys C) only rich parents give children pocket money D) most children spend their pocket money
(Answer)
D
Question: A few degrees can make a big difference when it comes to food storage. Foods can go bad if they get too warm. But for many of the world's poor, finding a good way to keep food cool is difficult. Refrigerators are costly and they need electricity. Yet spoiled food not only creates health risks but also economic losses. Farmers lose money when they have to throw away products that they can not sell quickly. But in 1995, a teacher in northernprefix = st1 /Nigerianamed Mohammed Bath Abba found a solution. He developed the "Pot-in-Pot Preservation/Cooling System". It uses two round containers made of clay. A smaller pot is placed inside a larger one. The space between the two pots is filled with wet sand. The inner pot can be filled with fruit, vegetables or drinks. A piece of wet cloth covers the whole cooling system. Food stored in the smaller pot is kept from spoiling through a simple evaporation process. Water in the sand between the two pots evaporates through the surface of the larger pot, where drier outside air is moving. The evaporation process creates a drop in temperature of several degrees. This cools the inner pot and helps keep food safe from harmful bacteria. Some foods can be kept fresh this way for several weeks. People throughoutNigeriabegan using the invention. And it became popular with farmers in other African countries. Mohammed Bah Abba personally financed the first five thousand pot-in-pot systems for his own community and five villages nearby. In 2000, the Rolex Watch Company ofSwitzerlandhonored him with the Rolex Award forEnterprise. This award recognizes people trying to develop projects aimed at improving human knowledge and well-being. A committee considers projects in science and medicine, technology, exploration and discovery, the environment and cultural history. Winners receive financial assistance to help develop and extend their projects. The award is given every two years. The next one will be given in 2008. What makes foods go bad if they get too warm according to the text? A) The water in the food. B) The air around the food. C) The harmful bacteria. D) The writer doesn't mention it.
Answer:
C