When I first saw the bookAlice in Lace, I thought I was going to like it. And as it turned out, I love it! I love books about life and being a kid. And Alice in Laceis just that kind. It's a humorous book about being thirteen and the problems kids might face. Alice and her friends get a strange assignment from their totally cool teacher, Mr. Everett. It was like playing the game of "Life," but you had to act it out. So Pamela is pregnant, Elizabeth buys a car and Alice gets married. Well, of course, Pamela wasn't really pregnant, but she walked around with a pillow under her shirt to get people's reactions. Elizabeth didn't really buy a car, but she went to the car lot and made the sales guy think she was. The whole class got assignments like these! I would love to do something like that for school. In the book Alice has a lot to think about. "Getting married is hard!" Alice says. She has to plan the ceremony, the honeymoon, find a place to live, pay for furniture and two months' rent and food. Maybe she and her "husband" could work it out -- if they were getting on fine! Although this book was funny, it really made me think about how problems like these could really mess up your life. Take teenage pregnancy for example. How could you have a baby and stay in school? You couldn't find a babysitter every day to stay with your kid. A child really consumes your life. I understand what the teacher was trying to do. He was trying to discourage the class from getting into these problems by giving them a glimpse of life. As someone about to become a teenager myself, I can say sometimes a story makes you think about what's up ahead. Overall, I would say this book is wonderful. My favorite part of the book is discovering that if I like it, there are seven other Alice books I can check out at my local library. I love this book, and I hope you will too. The author writes the passage mainly to   _  . A) advise us to buy  Alice in Lace B) tell us how wonderful Mr. Everett's idea is C) share her inspiration from  Alice in Lace D) show off her reading ability
C


Heroes of Our Time A good heart  Dikembe Mutombo grew up in Africa among great poverty and disease. He came to Georgetown University on a scholarship to study medicine--but Coach John Thompson got a look at Dikembe and had a different idea. Dikembe became a star in the NBA, and a citizen of the United States. But he never forgot the land of his birth, or the duty to share his fortune with others. He built a new hospital in his old hometown in the Congo. A friend has said of this goodhearted man: " Mutombo believes that God has given him this chance to do great things." Success and kindness     After her daughter was born, Julie Aigner-Clark searched for ways to share her love of music and art with her child. So she borrowed some equipment, and began filming children's videos in her own house. The Baby Einstein Company was born, and in just five years her business grew to more than $20 million in sales. And she is using her success to help others--producing child safety videos with John Walsh of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Julie says of her new program: " I believe it's the most important thing that I have ever done. I believe that children have the right to live in a world that is safe." Bravery and courage     A few weeks ago, Wesley Autrey was waiting at a Harlen subway station with his two little girls when he saw a man fall into the path of a train. With seconds to act, Wesley jumped onto the tracks, pulled the man into the space between the rails, and held him as the train passed right above their heads. He insists he's not a hero. He says: " We have got to show each other some love." What was Mutombo praised for? A) His work in the church B) Being a student of medicine C) His willingness to help the needy D) Being a star in the NBA
C


Q: Each year, about 10,000 to 100,000 animal species die off. They join the countless species that have gone extinct   over the course of Earth's history - and extinction means forever. At least it used to. Scientists are now closing in on the ability to bring back extinct species. No, this doesn't mean the plot of Jurassic Park is going to become a reality. Researchers need DNA to bring back a species. DNA is the chemical that carries the structure for a living thing. Dinosaurs have been gone too long for any of their DNA to remain in fossils. But there's a very real chance that we will be able to bring back more recently extinct species. This could even include Ice Age animals like the woolly mammoth. In 2003, a team of Spanish and French scientists re-created the Pyrenean ibex, which had gone extinct three years earlier. The new animal didn't survive long, but scientific advances should improve the success rate. In January, Australian scientists announced that they were on their way to bringing back the gastric brooding frog. That we can bring species back doesn't mean that we should. There may be benefits to reviving a species. But there's no way to know how it will turn out. For example, would a passenger pigeon fit into its old habitat? Or might it crowd out existing species? Environmentalists worry that our ability to bring species back might cut down support for the hard work of traditional conservation. Why worry about preserving a wildlife habitat or fighting poachers if we know we can just make up for our mistakes? But those extinctions are our mistakes to correct, which may give us an obligation   to do so. As businessman and environmentalist Stewart Brand recently said, "Humans have made a huge hole in nature. We have the ability now to repair some of that damage." We would do well to remember the lesson of Jurassic Park: Proceed with caution. The Pyrenean ibex was mentioned to show that   _  . A) scientists are only able to bring back small species B) scientists are likely to bring back recently extinct species C) scientists have managed to bring back Ice Age species D) animals can live very well after being brought back to life
A: B


(Question)
We know the westerners like to plan for their time carefully in order to do all the things that are important to them. So if your American or English friend asks you to dinner, he usually invites you a week ahead. But if you really have no time and can't go to the dinner, you can ring him to say sorry. The dinner is usually served at home, sometimes at a restaurant. You should get there on time, and don't forget to put on your fine clothes. It is also a good idea to take some little presents to your friend, such as flowers, chocolates and so on. When you are at dinner, you should also observe   some other customs. Here I'll give you some dos and don'ts about them in the following: 1) Don't leave bones on the table or the floor. (You should put them on your plate with fingers.) 2) Don't use your bowl to drink soup, but use your spoon to help you instead. 3) Don't talk with much food in your mouth. 4) Don't ask others to have more wine. (This is quite different from that in China.) 5) After dinner, use your napkin   to clean your mouth and hands. 6) Make sure small pieces of food are not left on your face. Then after dinner, you can stay there a little time. And your friend will be pleased if you leave in half an hour or so. Next day, you had better ring him up to thank him for the good dinner. Which of the following is not true? A) After dinner, you'd better stay and talk with your friends for a long time to show your thanks. B) You'd better ring your friend the next day to show your thanks. C) After dinner, you'd better leave in half an hour. D) After dinner, use napkin to clean your mouth.
(Answer)

A