Facebook means never having to say goodbye. The social media web site has earned a reputation for reconnecting old friends. Last week,a guy whom I hadn't seen since my bachelor party five years ago sent me a friend request. I accepted and waited for "Easy E" to send me a greeting of some kind. He had sought me out,after all. I learned from his profile that he was in a relationship and had a son. However,I'm pretty sure we won't ever write wall--to--wall,let alone e--mail each other. But he'll remain a friend of online until one of us makes a point of removing the other from his official list. My pool of friends consists of family members,college buddies,co--workers from past and present,and friends of friends. There are 35 in all. If I spent some time uploading old e--mail addresses,I'm confident that I could increase my friend count actually. A person could make a mission out of reconnecting with childhood friends,former classmates,distant cousins, and those one would like to get to know better. And some people can even handle hundreds of on--screen relationships,keeping up with the daily happenings of their small army of companions. After all,there are worse fates than having too many friends. Thanks to e--mail,the inability to schedule face--to--face meetings no longer means a friendship must come to a close. But even with e--mail,people will lose touch if one or both parties stop writing back. That's normal. People move from school to school,job to job,city to city. You never have to feel guilty for breaking away. Every day,the masterminds of Web 2. 0 find new ways of making human communication easier. However,convenience Call be a crutch . Some things shouldn't be simplified. When it comes to friendship,there can be no shortcts. What does the author think of the convenience of communicating on line? A) The technology could not keep true friendship forever. B) The social web site of Facebook means nothing at all. C) There will be no ways of making real friends on line. D) People will not lose friends with the help of the Facebook.
A
(Question)
It was 3:12 a.m. when nine-year-old Glenn Kreamer awoke to the smell of burning. Except for the crackling of flames somewhere below there was not a sound in the two-storey house at Baldwin, Long Island. With his father away on night duty at a local factory, Glenn was worried about the safety of his mother, his sister Karen, 14 and his 12-year-old brother Todd. He ran downstairs through the smoke-filled house to push and pull at Karen and Todd until they sat up. Then he helped each one through the house to the safety of the garden. There, his sister and brother, taking short and quick breaths and coughing, collapsed on the lawn. The nine-year-old raced back into the house and upstairs to his mother's room. He found it impossible to wake her up. Mrs. Kreamer, a victim of the smoke, was unconscious, and there was nobody to help Glenn carry her to the garden. But the boy remained calm and , as a fireman said later, "acted with all the self-control of a trained adult." On the bedroom telephone, luckily still working, Glenn called his father and, leaving Mr. Kreamer to telephone the fire brigade and ambulance service, got on with the task of saving his mother. First he filled a bucket with water from the bathroom and threw water over his mother and her bed. Then, with a wet cloth around his head he went back to the garden. He could hear the fire engine coming up, but how would the firemen find his mother in the smoke-filled house where flames had almost swallowed up the ground floor? Grasping firmly a ball of string from the garage, Glenn raced back into the house and dashed upstairs to his mother's room. Tying one end of the string to her hand, he ran back, laying out the string as he went, through the hall and back out into the garden. Minutes later he was telling fire chief John Coughlan: "The string will lead you to my mother." Mrs. Kreamer was carried to safety as the flames were breaking through her bedroom floor. How did Glenn help the firemen to save his mother? A) By throwing water all over her and her bed. B) By carrying her to safety with his brother. C) By pushing and pulling at her. D) By tying a string to her hand.
(Answer)
D
Bea, a five-year-old girl, was born with a severe illness which means she has to be kept away from other children of her age, because her body is so weak that she would be unable to fight off a common cold. Bea was diagnosed with this disease when she was five months old. Since then, the hospital has become her second home, medicines for food, and all kinds of treatments her friends. Bea received a very special treatment when she was four years old, which would allow her to be like a normal child if successful. After that, she spent two weeks in ICU before living for four months on a separate ward . Bea was allowed home in February but still needed a special tube in her nose to send in medicines every two days. Her parents clean the house from top to bottom every two days and hoover each morning to make sure Bea is free from any possible bacteria. Anna, Bea's mother, said, "she is weak but so strong. We've never seen any child stronger than her. It seems as if nothing in the world could beat her. We really hope to send her to school next year." She used to drive on the local playground, but Bea was only allowed to watch sitting in the car. "It was heartbreaking to see Bea staring at the running and laughing children there. She never stopped fighting the disease. I know she's dying for such a normal life." Hearing of Bea's story, the Make-A-Wish Foundation has paid for a play park to be built in her back garden. "Bea is very brave and she has encouraged many children like her," said the chairman of the foundation. The Make-A-Wish Foundation had a play park built for Bea to_. A) honor her bravery in fighting against her disease B) call for attention to this immune system deficiency C) encourage more children like Bea to be optimistic D) launch a campaign against this serious disease
A