Question:
Read the text and answer the questions.
(CNN) -- Only two Republican presidential candidates will appear on the ballot in Virginia next year, regardless of how many are in the race.

Mitt Romney and Ron Paul will have the Dominion State all to themselves. Supporters of Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Jon Huntsman and Michele Bachmann will have to be content with yard signs or donations as ways of cheering on their favorite would-be nominee.

That's because their campaigns failed to gain the requisite 10,000 signatures. It is, to be sure, a self-inflicted wound, a measure of some organizational chaos. But it is also a function of illogically restrictive local laws. They not only impede ballot access but end up denying open representative democracy to operate on the road to the Oval Office.

The United States is the only nation in the world, save Switzerland, that does not have uniform federal ballot access laws, according to Ballot Access News, a website run by Richard Winger that is dedicated to the issue. This may reflect the country's closely held federalism, but it can create chaos in a presidential year. In many cases, the rules are imposed by state party bosses who are less interested in democracy than in rigging the system to benefit their favored candidates.

Take, for example, my home state of New York. It votes reliably Democratic in presidential years, at least since Ronald Reagan thrashed Walter Mondale in 1984. But the state's primary delegates can still be a prize in a protracted Republican nomination fight. In 1999, John McCain had to sue to even have his name appear on the ballot alongside George W. Bush because the Republican state party chair and his committee essentially decided that Bush would be their nominee without the inconvenience of putting it to a vote. Local laws allowed them to restrict ballot access until public pressure and a court injunction overruled their attempted end-run around democracy. Each presidential cycle, the corrupt kabuki continues.
1. How many Republicans candidates are on the ballot?
2. In which state?

Numbered answers:
1. Two
2. Dominion State

Question:
Read the text and answer the questions.
The Internet has greatly changed the way people communicate. But some teachers think the changes are not all for the better.

Eleanor Johnson, an English professor, thinks that text messaging has made students believe that it is far more acceptable than it actually is to just make terrible spelling and grammatical errors. And she says her students over the past several years have increasingly used less formal English in their writing. Words and phrases like "guy" and "you know" now appear in research papers.

Professor Johnson supposes there is a strong relationship between the rise of informal online communication and an increase in writing mistakes. But she says there may not be much scientific information, at least not yet.

David Crystal, a British linguist , says the actively changing nature of the Internet makes it difficult to keep up-to-date in studying its effects. But he believes its influence on language is small. The main effect of the Internet on language is the way it has added to the expressive richness of language, providing language with a new set of communicative tools that haven't existed in the past.

Erin Jansen is founder of NetLingo.com, an online dictionary of the Internet and text messaging terms. She says the new technology has not changed existing language but has greatly added to its vocabulary. Basically it's freedom of expression.

And what about those teachers who find these new kinds of mistakes in spelling and grammar in their students' work? What is her message to them?

Erin Jansen said, "I am always on the students' side and won't get angry or upset about that. If it's helping the kids write more or communicate more, that's great. That's what teachers and educators want--to get kids communicating."

But Erin Jansen and David Crystal agree with Eleanor Johnson on at least one thing. Teachers need to make sure students understand the uses and rules of language.
1. What has greatly changed the way people communicate?
2. Does everyone think these changes are all for the better?
3. Who does not agree with the changes?
4. What does she blame for the acceptance of spelling errors?
5. What is one of the example phrases that has started appearing in research papers?
6. What is David Crystal's occupation?
7. And his nationality?
8. Does he believe the internet's influence on language is large?
9. What aspect of language does he believe it has added to?
10. What website did Erin Jansen start?
11. And does she believe that technology has changed existing language?
12. Does she believe it has added to or subtracted from existing language?
13. What freedom is this compared to?
14. Do Erin Jansen and David Crystal agree with Professor Johnson on anything?

Numbered answers:
1. The Internet
2. no
3. Eleanor Johnson
4. text messaging
5. guy
6. linguist
7. British
8. no
9. expressive richness
10. NetLingo.com
11. no
12. added
13. expression
14. yes

Question:
Read the text and answer the questions.
Phone Soap: Charge and Clean Your Phone

You may charge your phone every day, but do you clean your phone as much? Whatever your hands touch, your phones touch. It has been discovered that some phones have 18 times more bacteria and viruses than any surface in a public restroom. So it probably won't surprise you that a 2011 University of London study found that one in six of our phones have bacteria and viruses on them--specifically, the bacteria called E. coli.

The research on bacteria and viruses led to the invention of Phone Soap. It is not actually liquid like dishwasher soap. It is a phone charger that uses the electromagnetic radiation used in hospitals to kill 99.9 percent of bacteria and viruses, cleaning your phone while it charges.

"There are really certain types of bacteria and viruses that we should not be in touch with, and they are really on our phones," says Wes Barnes, the Phone Soap co-founder. It all started while his cousin and co-founder, Dan LaPorte, was in his cancer research lab at college. "He realized he got the idea of getting rid of bacteria and viruses on the phones," said Barnes. "In the lab they used UV-C light for destroying them. He realized this would be the fastest, most powerful way to kill any bacteria and viruses living on electronic machines."

Phone Soap looks like a little metal suitcase. Your phone rests in to charge and get cleaned at the same time. Instead of plugging your phone into the wall, you'd plug it into the Phone Soap charger box. The process only takes a few minutes but, Barnes says, "The idea is that you can leave it in there overnight if you want to keep charging. Reflective paint keeps the light completely around the phone so it cleans the phone fully."

The co-founders spent 2013 finding the right companies and they started shipping the product in late November. By last week's International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Phone Soap was all grown-up. Both co-founders have left their previous jobs and are selling Phone Soap nonstop. "We're shipping almost more than we can handle each day," Barnes says. "It's been a great adventure."
1. What is the subject of the article?
2. What is it used for?
3. How effective is it?
4. Who conducted a study on phone cleanliness?
5. When?
6. What did they find?
7. What led to the invention of Phone Soap?
8. Who were the founders?
9. Are they related?
10. How?
11. How were bacteria and viruses destroyed in LaPorte's lab?
12. What was LaPorte's realization?
13. What does Phone Soap look like?
14. Does a phone have to be charging for it to work?
15. Is the phone plugged in the wall?
16. Where?
17. How long does the process take?
18. Can the phone be left charging overnight?
19. What is used to make sure the phone is completely cleaned?
20. Where did the inventors showcase Phone Soap?
Numbered answers:
1. Phone Soap
2. kills bacteria and viruses on phone
3. 99.9 percent
4. University of London
5. 2011
6. ne in six of our phones have bacteria and viruses on them
7. research on bacteria and viruses
8. Wes Barnes and Dan LaPorte
9. yes
10. cousins
11. UV-C light
12. UV-C light is fastest to kill bacteria & viruses
13. little metal suitcase
14. yes
15. no
16. Phone Soap charger box
17. a few minutes
18. yes
19. Reflective paint
20. International Consumer Electronics Show