Many ESL (English as a Second Language) students in the United States enroll in academic preparation programs and are in their late teens or early twenties. This is often a time when students are looking back on childhood in a different way. Their childhood memories and their viewpoint on those memories can be very useful for the production of wonderfully creative writing. For this project, the students began in class by closing their eyes and trying to return to their childhood years in order to bring early memories to their mind. After imagining for a few minutes, they began to tell each other what they remembered about those years and tried to describe a particular incident that stood out in their memories. That evening they wrote in their journals about the incident, embellishing the story as much as possible. The next day, they read the story to a different partner and got feedback . The partner's job was to: ask more questions to bring back the writer's memory; help the writer make sure that past tense verbs were used correctly, focusing on the difference between those things that were still true and needed present tense and those things that belonged specifically to the past. Two days later, students made necessary changes or additions and turned in a typed copy of their story. I then made my own comments about their work and asked them to revise their work. The third draft produced some very good work. A partner may help do the following things EXCEPT _ . A) make the memory more complete B) find spelling mistakes C) check the tense of the verbs D) give some feedback
B
In many cultures white is often associated with something positive. A white-collar job, for instance, is the kind of job many people look for, working with your brain and not your hands. White has a clean and pure image. That is why doctors, dentists, and nurses usually wear white uniforms. Babies are dressed in white at baptisms and brides wear white wedding gowns at weddings. White in these cases is the symbol of innocence or purity. Sometimes white is used in expressions that are not good. "Whitewash" is one such expression. At first, "whitewash" meant to paint over something with white paint to make it look better. However, it means something different today: to hide or to cover up mistakes or failures. A "white elephant" is another example of white used in a negative way. In ancient Thailand, a white elephant was regarded as a sacred animal, but it was very expensive to keep. The kings of those days presented a white elephant to the people they wanted to ruin. Once they received this holy, royal animal as a gift, they were not allowed to sell or kill it. Today, a "white elephant" means something that is big, useless, and unwanted. In America, when people want to get rid of their furniture or clothes, they often have a "white elephant sale". In which statement does "white" have a negative meaning? A) A boy is dressed in white at baptisms. B) A bride wears a white wedding gown. C) A man whitewashes his crime. D) A girl finds a white collar job.
C
Q: Advertising gives useful information about which products to buy. But modern advertising does more than gives news about products and services. Today's advertisements, or ads, try to get consumers to buy certain brands. Writers of advertising are so skillful that they can, sometimes persuade a consumer to wear a certain kind of clothing, eat a special kind of cereal, or see a movie. Consumers might never even want a product if they did not see or hear advertisements for it. For example, you probab1y do not need the newest cereal in the supermarket. There are probably many cereal brands on your kitchen shelves. You may not have space on a shelf for another. But if you see ads about a new cereal that is your extra-tasty and has a free prize in the box, you may want it. Advertising must get attention. To be effective, it must be exciting, entertaining, or provide some pleasure. The secret of writing good advertising copy is to offer a good idea as well as a product. The idea is what the ad is really selling. One example is an ad that says eating a certain cereal will make a person do well in sports. That cereal brand may sell better if consumers think it offers strength and energy. According to the passage, a good advertisement should _ . A) be both persuasive and effective B) give people useful information C) show people a product D) show people a new idea of a product
A: A
(Question)
We are not who we think we are. The American self-image is spread with the golden glow of opportunity. We think of the United States as a land of unlimited possibility, not so much a classless society but as a place where class is mutable--a place where brains, energy and ambition are what counts, not the circumstances of one's birth. The Economic Mobility Project, an ambitious research led by Pew Charitable Trusts, looked at the economic fortunes of a large group of families over time, comparing the income of parents in the late 1960s with the income of their children in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Here is the finding: "The 'rags to riches' story is much more common in Hollywood than on Main Street. Only 6 percent of children born to parents with family income at the very bottom move to the top. That is right, just 6 percent of children born to parents who ranked in the bottom of the study sample, in terms of income, were able to bootstrap their way into the top . Meanwhile, an incredible 42 percent of children born into that lowest are still stuck at the bottom, having been unable to climb a single rung of the income ladder. It is noted that even in Britain---a nation we think of as burdened with a hidebound class system-children who are born poor have a better chance of moving up. When the studies were released, most reporters focused on the finding that African-Americans born to middle-class or upper middle-class families are earning slightly less, in inflation-adjusted dollars, than did their parents. One of the studies indicates, in fact, that most of the financial gains white families have made in the past three decades can be attributed to the entry of white women into the labor force. This is much less true for African-Americans. The picture that emerges from all the quintiles, correlations and percentages is of a nation in which, overall, "the current generation of adults is better off than the previous one", as one of the studies notes. The median income of the families in the sample group was... Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage? A) The US is a land where brains, energy and ambition are what counts. B) Inequality persists between whites and blacks in financial gains. C) Middle-class families earn slightly less with inflation considered. D) Children in lowest-income families manage to climb a single rung of the ladder.
(Answer)
B