Q: Have you ever been offered an alcoholic drink? What about someone saying "Don't worry, just have one little sip"? Most people have their first drink by the time they're 13. That first drink can be the start of a troubled life. Drinking can make teens feel good, but that lasts only a short time. Alcohol clouds your brain and limits your ability to make decisions. Excessive drinking gradually makes your brain shrink and can cause serious damage. Over-drinking can cause learning disabilities and damage your memory. It distorts your vision and leads to blackouts. Teenagers often think that drinking will give you more energy, but alcohol isn't an energy drink; it's a depressant. Drinking and driving is one of the top causes of death for teen boys. An alcohol-related motor vehicle crash kills one person every 33 minutes and injures someone every two minutes. The rate of teenagers driving drunk is so high that the government is trying to pass new laws restricting teen driving. When we get to high school, friends start pressuring us to drink. High school students see alcohol as glamorous and a way to become popular. I created a survey at my school. Twenty-four of the 63 respondents predicted they would drink in high school. Eleven said maybe, and 28 said they don't plan on drinking. Regardless of what they say now, things can change. Teens starting high school want to fit in. Some people will do anything to be accepted, including potentially(,) hurting themselves. They think that one drink won't do anything. A little bit of alcohol probably won't kill you, but it can lead to poor decisions. High school is the time to experiment with what you want to do in life, but if you're experimenting with alcohol you could hurt someone, including yourself. (300 words) The government is passing laws to restrict teen driving because   _  . A) most teens are poor in driving skills B) many teens like driving after drinking C) alcohol weakens the driving skills of teens D) teens' drunk driving causes deaths easily
A: D


Q: On December 26, a ten-year-old British schoolgirl, Tilly Smith, felt that something was wrong while she was on the beach with her family. Her mind kept going back to the geography lesson Mr. Kearney gave just two weeks before she flew to Thailand with her family.  "The water was swelling and kept coming in," said Tilly's mother. "There was froth on it like you get on the top of a beer." The Smiths were celebrating Christmas at Maikhao Beach in southern Thailand. Deadly tsunami waves were already on their way. There had been an earthquake not far away earlier that morning.  The beach was getting smaller and smaller. Tilly's parents felt strange but they didn't know what was happening. Then Tilly said she'd just studied this at school. She told her parents that a tsunami was coming. In the end she screamed at everyone to get off the beach. Tilly's parents even didn't know what a tsunami was. Seeing their daughter so frightened, they thought that something serious must have been happening. Her parents soon took her and her seven-year-old sister back to the hotel. Many other tourists also left the beach with them. The family stayed on the third floor of their hotel. Fortunately, the hotel wasn't destroyed during the tsunami. Tilly's mother said that if they had stayed on the beach, they wouldn't have survived.  After the disaster, the Smiths met people from nearby resorts who had lost their whole families. More than 100 people were saved because of Tilly's warning. How did Tilly know that the tsunami was coming? A) Her mother told her that there was something wrong. B) Mr. Kearney told her in the geography lesson two weeks ago. C) She got the news from other people on the beach. D) She had just studied the knowledge about this at school.
A: D


Q: A weather map is an important tool for geographers.   A succession of three or four maps presents continuous picture of weather changes. Weather forecasters are able to determine the speed of air masses and fronts   to determine whether an individual pressure aroa is deepening or becoming shallow and whether a front is increasing or decreasing in intensity  .They are also able to determine whether an air mass is retaining its original characteristics or taking on those of the surface over which it is moving. Thus, a most significant function of the map is to reveal a summary picture of conditions in the atmosphere at a given time. All students of geography should be able to interpret a weather map accurately.Weather maps contain an enormous amount of information about weather conditions existing at the time of observation over a large geographical area. They reveal in a few minutes what otherwise would take hours to describe. The United States  Weather Bureau issues information about approaching storms, floods, frosts and all climatic conditions in general. Twice a month it issues a 30-day"outlook" which is a rough guide to weather conditions likely to occur over broad areas of the United States. These 30-day outlooks are based upon an anaiysis of the upper air levels which often set the stage for development of air masses, fronts and storms. Considerable effort is being exerted today to achieve more accurate weather predictions, with identifying and tracking storms over regions which have but few meteorological  stations. Extensive experiments are also in progress for weathef modification studies. A weather map is a summary because it  _ A) sums up a great deal of information B) appears daily C) shows changing fronts D) is a science book
A: A


Q: Todd McHugh doesn't think he is a hero, but police say the California teenager probably saved a mother and her two young children from serious injury or death last month. He pulled them out of their car, stuck on light-rail tracks in Folsom, California, about 90 seconds before a train smashed into it. McHugh, 17, was northbound on his way to meet friends when the silver car in front of him turned off the road, went into a ditch and jolted  to a stop on the tracks. McHugh jumped out of his vehicle and went to help. The driver, a woman who police say had fallen asleep, was behind the wheel and dazed. Her two daughters aged 7 and 10, were in the back seat, buckled  in. McHugh took the woman's hand and helped her from the car. She unbuckled the kids. Another driver who had pulled over to help shouted that a train was coming, McHugh recalled. Police said the other man ran along the tracks and tried to wave down the train. It was dark and there was a bend in the tracks. The train operator probably never saw him. McHugh said the driver applied the brakes, but the train was still going fast when it came up on them. The woman, her daughters and McHugh took shelter behind his truck as the train smashed into their car, dragging it down the tracks, the teenager said. The woman's car was destroyed. Officials said the train was damaged. But none of the crew and four passengers were injured. Police said the outcome could have been far worse: "Had she sat there for another minute or two, she and her daughters could have been in that vehicle when the train struck it, and they could have been severely injured or killed." McHugh said he "didn't do anything anyone else wouldn't have done." Todd McHugh can be best described as   _  . A) brave and modest B) calm and proud C) kind and patient D) clever and diligent

A: A