Question: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: In the United States you will find yourself being urged from every page of every newspaper and every television station to buy all kinds of goods. Not only is there a wide range of prices for goods in America, there is also a wide range in the quality of goods offered for sale. Unlike some countries, Americans generally pay the price of a product without question, instead of trying to get a lower price by bargaining. However, there are many "sales" in the United States, during which time stores will lower their normal prices. This may all be very confusing to visitors. How are you going to know how to "get your money's worth" when you shop? Perhaps the best advice is: Don't hurry. Visit various stores and determine the quality of goods. Read the advertisements so that you can compare prices. There is a great variety of shops in the United States, ranging from very large stores called "department stores" to very small shops. There are "discount houses" offering goods at low prices, and "dime stores" specializing in a wide range of inexpensive items. Most department stores in large cities carry better quality products at higher prices. However, they offer the shoppers great convenience since they contain such a wide variety of products. If convenience isn't as important to you as price, you may want to shop in discount houses. These stores have nearly as great a variety of goods as department stores, but offer lower prices. They can do so for several reasons. They don't offer the same services to buyers that department stores do; there may be fewer sales people; and the store probably doesn't deliver purchases. Another popular shop is the "dime store". No longer selling many things for five or ten cents, these stores got their name in the last century when it was decided that a small profit on a great quantity of goods would be better than a large profit on fewer sales. Dime stores specialize in a wide variety of inexpensive items and today, prices range from a quarter or 50 cents up to several dollars. Question: The passage is mainly about  _ - American hospitality. - the life of Americans. - American stores. - the business of Americans.
American stores.
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Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Our little boy came up to his mother in the kitchen one evening while she was preparing supper, and handed her a piece of paper that he had been writing on. After his mom dried her hands on her apron   , she read it, and this is what was said: For going to the store for you $2. For cutting the grass in the garden $3. For cleaning up the yard this week $2.5. For cleaning up my room this week $2. For setting the table for meals this week $1. For baby-sitting my kid brother while you went shopping $1.5. For getting a good school report $5. Total owed: $17. His mother looked at him, who was standing there with expectation. Memories flashed through her mind. Then she picked up a pen, turned over the paper he had written on, and wrote: For the nine months I carried you while you were growing inside me, No Charge  .  For all the nights that I've sat up with you and taken care of you, No Charge. For all the problems and troubles that you've caused through the years, there is No Charge. When you add it all up, the cost of my love is No Charge. For all the nights that were filled with fear and for the worries I knew were ahead, No Charge. For the toys, food, clothes, and even wiping up your nose? There is No Charge. And when you add it all up, the full cost of real love is, No Charge, Son. Well, friends, when our son finished reading what his mother had written, there were big tears in his eyes, and he looked straight up at his mother and said, "Mom, I sure do love you.." And then he took the pen and in great letters he wrote, " PAID IN FULL." Question: What might the mother be doing when the boy came into the kitchen? - Getting the dishes ready. - Repairing the cooker. - Washing dirty dishes. - Laying the table for dinner.
Getting the dishes ready.
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Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: "I've changed my mind.I wanted to have a telescope,but now I want my dad back." Lucien Lawrence's letter to his father for Christmas written after his father had been knifed to death outside his school gate,must have touched everyone's  heart.Lucien went on to say that without his father he couldn't see the stars in the sky.When those whom we love depart from us,we cannot see the stars for a while. But Lucien,the stars are still there,and one day,when you are older and your tears have gone,you will see them again.And,in a strange way,I expect that you will find your father there,too,in your mind and heart.I find that my parents,who died years ago,still figure in many of my dreams and that I think of them perhaps more than I ever did when they were alive.I still live to please them and I'm still surprised by their reactions.I remember that when I became a professor,I was so proud,or rather so pleased with myself that I couldn't wait to cable my parents.The reply was a long time in coming,but when it did,all my mother said was "I hope this means that now you will have more time for the children!" I haven't forgotten.The values of my parents still live on. It makes me pause and think about how I will live on in the hearts and minds of my children and of those for whom I care.Would I have been as ready as Philip Lawrence have been to face the aggressors,and to lay down my life for those in my care?How many people would want me back for Christmas?It's a serious thought,one to give me pause. I pray silently,sometimes,in the dead of night,that ancient cry of a poet "Deliver my soul from the sword,and my darling from the power of the dog." Yet I know the death comes to us all,and sometimes comes suddenly.We must therefore plan to live forever,but live as if we will die tomorrow.We live on,I'm sure,in the lives of those we love,and therefore we ought to have a care for what they will remember and what they will treasure.If more parents knew this in their hearts to be true,there might be fewer knives on our streets today. Question: In the author's opinion,the value of a person's life is   _  . - to leave a precious memory to those he loves and cares for - to have a high sense of duty to the whole society - to care for what others will remember and treasure - to share happiness and sadness with his family

Answer: to leave a precious memory to those he loves and cares for
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