My mother's shopping lists were ordered by rules known only to her. As you slid your finger down the columns of groceries and toiletries, you would invariably be stopped by something along the lines of "2dozjumHerbal Essences" or "1pepperoni TC," with the "TC" underlined twice and flanked by gnarled masses of pencil scratch-outs. When we were kids, we dreaded accompanying her to Wal-Mart, or worse, the Cosco at the edge of town, where the echoing rafters and limitless aisles seemed to mock the confusion into which we were inevitably thrown when handed torn-off fragments of the list. Of course, it was easy enough to see in hindsight that "2dozjumHerbal Essences" was merely the bastard child of two drunkenly weaving columns--we had been supposed to get two dozen jumbo eggs and a bottle of my mother's favourite brand of shampoo (ever inventive in creating proprietary abbreviations--"TC" standing for, what else, thin crust pizza--my mother scrupulously wrote out brand names in full). It was a little like ordering chemicals for a laboratory, sans any knowledge of chemistry--or, for that matter, laboratories, although my ignorance of the distinction between baking soda and baking powder cannot be entirely the root of my confusion. Eventually I--and my siblings--learned the difference between tomato paste and tomato sauce, and could readily distinguish one brand of laundry detergent from a similarly-styled knock-off, but my shame-faced trips back to the mothercart never ceased. I would track her down, most often in the produce section--she was usually loath to trust us with the delicate task of selecting the very best fruits and vegetables--and hand her back my portion of the list, asking for an explanation. Usually it amounted to a failure of awareness on my part--get the kind of soap we always get, of course! The author thinks his/her mother's list is: Pick the correct answer from the following options: - Disorganized - Confusing because of bad handwriting - Confusing because of the weird abbreviations - not enough information
Confusing because of the weird abbreviations
(Question)
Jenny and I were twins, and we were always close growing up despite our very different personalities. Besides a birthday and a couple dead parents, there wasn't much else we shared in common. She was an over-achiever and a bit of a kiss-ass, always trying to make mom and dad proud, which she seemed to pull off with ease. She was the girl in high school who played every sport, joined every club, ran the student council, and somehow still managed to pull A's without breaking a sweat. Intense doesn't even begin to describe her. I could never compete with that, so instead I decided to build an identity for myself as the rebel. Unfortunately, I somehow equated rebelling with turning into a giant asshole. We grew up in a middle-class suburban family. Our father was a teacher and our mother an architect. They were the kind of couple that kept a date night to go dancing every Friday for the 31 years they were married. They died when Jenny and I were twenty-two. We sold the house where we grew up and split the cash; neither of us wanted to set foot in it again. Jenny used the money to pay for her Master's. After school she went to work for James McPherson, one of the most powerful and richest men in the city. Aside from owning the St. Augustine, McPherson had interests in real estate, land development, venture capital, and other things I really should've known more about. The McPherson family was old money here going back to when this valley was nothing but orchards. If I said that at one time or another the McPherson family had owned every single square foot of land in our city, I'd probably be exaggerating - but not much. Jenny ran the McPhersons' charitable foundation, which basically meant that not only did they have so much money that they had to start giving it away, but they even had to hire someone else just to get rid of it for them. Why did the twins sell the house? Pick the correct answer from the following options: - It was too large for the two of them. - Neither wanted to set a foot it in again. - So they could invest in other real estate. - not enough information
(Answer)
Neither wanted to set a foot it in again.
Ques: You may have read some of the scary research recently that links parabens (a preservative ingredient found in loads of health and beauty products) with breast cancer, and whilst there is no evidence yet to prove that using parabens causes breast cancer more and more people are choosing to ditch parabens in favour of something more natural. I’m gradually trying to replace all of my old skincare and bodycare products with natural alternatives so that my body comes into contact with less parabens and other nasty chemicals. One of the types of products which seems to be very late to the natural table is deodorant, there isn’t a wide variety of paraben-free products available yet but I was really pleased to see that Soft & Gentle, a well-known household brand, had brought out this new 0% Aluminium Dry Deodorant. It’s free from parabens, allergens and aluminium and uses astringent plant extracts that shrink the sweat pores to reduce perspiration whilst natural herb sage acts as a deodoriser. Available in three fragrances – Active, Floral and Care – I’ve been using the Floral Soft & Gentle 0% Aluminium Dry Deodorant for over 2 weeks and I’ve really put it through its paces as the temperature has been fairly hot and humid for the last fortnight. With a deodorant there are 2 main factors that we can look at to evaluate its success – dryness and odour control. So how did this paraben free Soft & Gentle deodorant fare? With regard to dryness I found that it kept me dry all day. I’ve been walking 2 miles or more most days and the weather has been warm, over 25 degrees some days, and I’ve been feeling generally a bit hot and sticky. But not on my underarms, they’ve been dry and I feel confident that this deodorant controls my sweat. In the first couple of days I did notice a little bit of unpleasant odour, but then I increased the amount that I was spraying under each arm and after this I’ve experienced no problems whatsoever, even after doing exercise or going on a long walk. What brand is has paraben-free deordorant? Pick the correct answer from the following options: - Soft & Gentle - Some brand other than Soft & Gentle - No brand  is paraben-free. - not enough information
Ans:
Soft & Gentle