Read the article and select the best answer. Article: When I was seven years old my mom was diagnosed with cancer. For this type of cancer the survival rate was low. My family was extremely upset and shocked. I was too young to understand. I had no idea that everyday with my mom had to be the absolute best because we didn't know if it would be our last. I didn't understand why everyone was suddenly taking time out of their busy lives to come over and sit on our couch. The doctors told us my mom might survive with surgery . But it could also kill her. She agreed to have it. The surgery was scheduled for the day after the Columbus Day. The day before the surgery I had off from school, and my mom planned the best day of my life. The day began with her waking me up saying, "Kate, I have a surprise for you. Come see." The surprise was a doll I had wanted for the longest time. Throughout the day, she told me everything that she thought I would need to know to grow up and be a good person; she told me to be the best I could be and that I would always make her proud. The day was filled with laughter. For the first time in a long time I could see she was happy. Really happy. The day passed and the next day, it was time for the surgery. There were no tears; I think I understood that I could lose my mom, because they did tell me she could die. We waited all day for news from the doctor. Everyone jumped when a door opened or anyone walked into the waiting room. Finally the doctor came in, and the news was what we had prayed for. I will never forget that day together, and how her illness pulled our family closer. I understand now how lucky we were. I truly appreciate life and honor my mom for being so strong. Question: After the author's mother fell ill, people _ . Options: A: took turns to look after the author B: tried to spend more time on their work C: spared more time to stay with the mother D: asked the doctors to operate on the mother at once
C

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: On a cool November afternoon in Fleming Island, Florida, Melissa Hawkinson, 41, was driving her five-year-old twins home from school when she saw a sudden splash in Doctors Lake just ahead. What was that? She thought. As she drove up to the scene, she saw a half-submerged car sinking about 30 yards offshore. "It was going down pretty quickly," Hawkinson recalls. She stopped the car near the boat ramp and ran toward the water. Water is going to be cold, she thought. She took off her vest and leather boots, got into the icy water, and swam to the car, where she found Cameron Dorsey, five, trapped into his car as the swirling water rose around him. Hawkinson tried to open the door, but it was locked. So she pushed and pulled hard on the partially open window until she could reach through and unlock the door. She pulled the boy free, swam to shore, and handed him off to onlookers who were only watching them on a dock. The driver, the boy's suicidal father, swam back to land on his own. Afterward, Hawkinson sat on the shore wrapped in a blanket. "For ten or 15 minutes, I couldn't stop shaking," she said. There's nothing visibly extraordinary about Melissa Hawkinson, an energetic stay-at-home mom with brown hair and a sweet smile. Yet something made her different from the dockside onlookers that day. Why do some people act quickly, willing to take a risk for a stranger? What makes them run toward danger rather than away from it? Hawkinson, the Granite Mountain Hotshots (,)---19 of whom lost their life this past summer in Arizona--- every hero who puts his or her life on the line to save another: what makes them brave? Moreover, can bravery be learned, or is it a quality with which you are born? The answer is complex. Bravery taps the mind, brain and heart. It comes from instinct, training and sympathy. Today, neurologists, psychologists and other researchers are studying bravery, trying to uncover the mystery. Question: What is the writer's purpose of writing this passage? Options: A: To set us thinking what makes people brave. B: To call on us to learn from such people as Hawkinson. C: To remind people of risk while saving others. D: To show people bravery can be learned.
A

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: The two things - snow and mountains - which are needed for a ski area are the two things that cause avalanches, large mass of snow and ice crushing down the side of a mountain--often called "White Death." It was the threat of the avalanche and its record as a killer of man in the western mountains that created the snow ranger. He first started on avalanche control work in the winter of 1937 -38 at Alta, Utah, in Wasatch National Forest. This mountain valley was becoming well known to skiers. It was dangerous. In fact, more than 120 persons had lost their lives in 1936 and another 200 died in 1937 as a result of avalanches before it became a major ski area. Thus, development of Alta and other major ski resorts in the west was dependent upon controlling the avalanche. The Forest Service set out to do it, and did, with its corps of snow rangers. It takes many things to make a snow ranger. The snow ranger must be in excellent physical condition. He must be a good skier and a skilled mountain climber He should have at least a high school education, and the more college courses in geology, physics, and related fields he has, the better. He studies snow, terrain, wind, and weather. He learns the conditions that produce avalanches. He learns to forecast avalanches and to bring them roaring on down the mountainsides to reduce their killing strength. . The snow ranger learns to do this by using artillery, by blasting with TNT, and by the difficult and skillful art of skiing avalanches down. The snow ranger, dressed in a green parka which has a bright yellow shoulder patch, means safety for people on ski slopes. He pulls the trigger on a 75 mm. Recoilless rifle, skis waist deep in powder testing snow stability, or talks with the ski area's operator as he goes about his work to protect the public from the hazards of deep snow on steep mountain slopes. Question: A snow ranger uses very powerful guns Options: A: to warn skiers of an approaching avalanche. B: to signal for help in an emergency. C: to create an avalanche. D: to communicate with the ski area' operator.
A: C