Article: At the age of 45 I decided to learn the English language. Not that I didn't know the language, but to improve my command over the language, I joined English academic classes close to my house. In one class, the instructor gave us a sheet of a hundred words and told us to write the opposite of each word as homework. At home I sat with that page but though I could manage the easy words quickly, for certain words I had to take the help of the dictionary. Feeling relaxed and like an achiever, my new found enthusiasm forced me to explore some more words. Exploring the dictionary, for every word I found the opposite word (except all forms of nouns). The entire night went on exploring words, but the night was not enough to complete the dictionary. I had enough time to hand in my homework, so the next day, after work once again I sat in through the night and started exploring opposite words from the dictionary. The exercise was easy, but suddenly something struck my mind. Instead of finding the words which have opposite words, I should look for words that do NOT have any opposite word. After going through sleepless nights that week, I could not find a single word which doesn't have an opposite word. This amazed me and forced me to conclude that without the opposite word the original word doesn't have its real meaning or value. In other words, every word is incomplete without its opposite. The conclusion forced me to think differently. Although many questions remained unanswered in my mind, the one thing I concluded was that these words are created by humans and every human possesses two qualities within himself, Positive and Negative. Similarly he created words with opposites. This proves that whatever we welcome in our life, we will also be welcoming the opposite of it. And at the end of the day we will complain about the negative forces surrounding us, making us weak, dull, pessimistic and so on...Isn't this strange? Question: Which of the following idioms may the author agree more with? Yes or no, is the answer "Every coin has two sides."?
No
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Article: "Where is Papa going with that ax ?" said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast. "Out to the hoghouse," replied Mrs. Arable. "Some pigs were born last night." "I don't see why he needs an ax," continued Fern, who was only eight. "Well," said her mother, "one of the pigs is a runt . It's very small and weak. So your father has decided to do away with it." "Do away with it?" shouted Fern. "You mean kill it?" "Don't shout, Fern!" she said. "Your father is right. The pig would probably die anyway." Fern pushed a chair out of the way and ran outdoors. The grass was wet and the earth smelled springtime. Fern's shoes were wetting by the time she caught up with her father. "Please don't kill it! It's unfair," she said. Mr. Arable stopped. "Fern," he said gently, "you will have to learn to control yourself." "This is a matter of life and death, and you talk about controlling myself." Tears ran down her cheeks and she took hold of the ax and tried to pull it out of her father's hand. "Fern," said Mr. Arable, "I know more about raising a group of pigs than you do. A weak pig makes trouble." "But it's unfair," cried Fern. "The pig couldn't help being born small. If I had been very small at birth, would you have killed me?" Mr. Arable smiled. "Certainly not," he said, looking down at his daughter with love. "But this is different. It's a pig." "There is no difference," replied Fern. Question: It can be inferred from the passage that Fern was _ . Yes or no, is the answer "kind-hearted"?
No
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Article: In my eyes, the most basic and powerful way to communicate with another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention. And especially if it's given from the heart. When people are talking,there's no need to do anything but receive them. Listen to what they're saying. Care about it. Most times caring about it is even more important than understanding it. Most of us don't value ourselves or our love enough to know this. It has taken me a long time to believe in the power of simple saying "I'm so sorry," when someone is in pain. One of my patients told me that when she tried to tell her story people often interrupted to tell her that they once had something just like that happening to them. Her pain became a story about themselves. Eventually she stopped talking to most people. We connect through listening. When we interrupt what someone is saying to let them know that we understand,we move the focus of attention to ourselves. When we listen,they know we care. I have even learned to respond to someone crying by just listening. In the old days I used to reach for the handkerchiefs,until I realized that passing a person a handkerchief may be just another way to shut him down,to take them out of their experience of sadness. Now I just listen. When they have cried all they need to cry,they find me there with them. This simple thing has not been that easy to learn. It certainly went against everything I had been taught since I was very young. I thought people listened only because they were too shy to speak or did not know the answer. But now I know that a loving silence often has far more power to heal than the kindest words. Question: Which of the following might be the author's opinion about communication? Yes or no, is the answer "Just listen."?
Yes
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Article: English, as we all know, is considered as the universal language. It is spoken all over the world. However, you will also notice that people all over the world are using different types of English. Let's take a closer look at these two popular types: UK and US English. Even if both types of English are wildly used, there are some differences that will be worth knowing to find out the type of English that you are using. US English is what we know as the American English which is wildly used in the United States. UK English, on the other hand, is known as the British English. Some also call _ the BBC English since it is the English used by British reporters, and another name for it is the Queen's English. In terms of vocabulary, some words in US English may mean something different in the UK English. For example, the word biscuit for the British means baked sweet or salty cake that is hard when baked and softened over time; while in the US it is a quick bread served with salty foods. With regards to pronunciation, American English is more nasal . Stress is also another difference to consider. Just like in the word princess, British stress the second syllable while Americans stress the first. Spelling is another area of difference. American English spelling is more simple. Example of which includes, color for the US and colour for the UK, same goes with honor and honour. The doubling of letters in words is another good example. It will be traveler in the US and traveller in the UK. The use of "-og" instead of "-ogue" in word such as dialog and dialogue or catalog and catalogue. Question: he word biscuit in UK English refers to the cake which may be _ finally. Yes or no, is the answer "salty and soft"?
Yes
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