I discovered the power of fear when I became stuck to my driveway, as if my feet were crazy--glued to the cement .As much as I tried, I could not move them. The realization that my daughters were playing in Nancy's house, just one-half block away, paralyzed  my legs, making me unable to move when I neared the end of our driveway. Dense, black smoke was rising from behind the Sycamore Maple trees on the other side of the street and was enveloping three houses, making them barely visible. Nancy's house was one of them. I tried to call out for my daughters hoping to see them run safely to my arms, but my voice was also stuck - stuck in my throat with no intention of coming out. There I stood, helpless, paralyzed and silenced by fear, unable to protect the two little girls I loved more than even I had realized. Although trapped in a body that couldn't move or speak, I could still hear. I could hear other mothers anxiously calling their children. I could hear a frightening silence that covered the neighborhood instead of the usual happy voices of children. And, finally, I could hear the alarm of the fire engine. As the alarm announced, "We're on our way," it instantly dissolved the crazy glue that had held my feet to the cement and it unlocked the soundproof box that had silenced my voice. I was free to make sure my daughters were safe. As I continued down the driveway, two little girls, my two little girls, ran toward me from across the street. They had come home to tell me about the fire in the garage next to Nancy's house. Not only did my feet and voice work now, but my eyes were also in good working order and had no trouble producing tears. What does the author suggest at the end of the story? A) She burst into tears of relief and happiness. B) She was really thankful to see her girls saved. C) She was too excited to believe what she saw. D) She overcame her fear and fully recovered,
A


A woman was walking her dog along a beach in New Zealand in late June when she saw something that looked like a white ball in the sand. It turned out to be a young Emperor penguin that was lost. At his age, he should have been close to Antarctic, swimming for fish and playing on the ice floes . But this penguin started swimming north and just kept going. The penguin attracted a lot of attention in New Zealand. It has been 40 years since an Emperor penguin was last seen there. Researchers at the Department of Conservation were called in. They decided to watch the penguin closely, but not to disturb it in any way. Many New Zealanders came to Peka Peka Beach to look at the elegant penguin. They were careful to keep their dogs away from it so it wouldn't be frightened. The public nicknamed the animal Happy Feet. Researchers started to notice that Happy Feet didn't seem well. It turns out that he had been eating the sand from the beach, likely thinking it was snow. The public raised more than 11,000 pounds for an operation to get the sand out of his stomach. The operation was a success, and Happy Feet was taken to a zoo in Wellington, NZ. A group of experts met to decide how to help Happy Feet return to the wild. Last Sunday, they put him on a boat called the Tangaroa, in a specially built ice-filled box and took him out into the Southern Ocean, southeast of New Zealand. There, they released him into the ocean, which is his natural habitat. He took one last look at his human helpers and then dived into the ocean. "Emperor penguins spend their first five years at sea," said Peter Simpson of New Zealand's Department of Conservation. " What happens now is up to the penguin." Happy Feet was fitted with a satellite transmitter so they can monitor his progress using the Internet. So far, the trackers shows that he swam northeast for a little while before getting his bearings and heading south. Where is the young penguin supposed to appear? A) On the sunny beach. B) Near the Antarctic. C) Inside the hole in the ice. D) In the depths of the ocean.
B


Q: I was small for my age. I was shy and sometimes it was hard for me to make friends with the others. However, learning came fairly easy for me. I was the best in most of my classes, but PE class was my nightmare   and made me feel that I was not as good as the others. Miss Forsythe was our PE teacher. She was young and energetic. Everyone liked her. She said that we all had to come to her classes. No one could hide from Miss Forsythe! One day she told me that she wanted me to play a game with another girl in a PE show. I was rather worried that I wouldn't do a good job when she explained her idea, but she was excited. With her encouragement, I had no choice but to agree. It was a "boy meets girl" game. I played the boy and my classmate, Margaret Ann, played the girl. We were dressed in evening clothes and danced around the floor. According to Miss Forsythe, I had to pick up Margaret Ann when we finished the dance. Since I was not strong enough to pick the tallest girl up, it was she who picked me up. I suddenly felt ten feet tall! It was a huge success and everybody applauded   for our excellent performance. What a wonderful ending! Afterwards, I smiled confidently  . Miss Forsythe's understanding and willingness to create a place for me in her show (which certainly did not need me) gave me some much needed confidence. She was and always will be my favorite teacher. How did the author feel about the game at first? A) She was excited. B) She thought it would be fun. C) She was glad. D) She was nervous.
A: D


(Q).
A lot of management training each year for Circle K Corporation, a national chain of convenience stores. Among the topics we address in our course is the retention  of quality employees-a real challenge to managers when you consider the pay scale in the service industry. During these discussions, I ask the participants , "What has caused you to stay long enough to become a manager?" Some time back a new manager took the question and slowly, with her voice almost breaking, said, "It was a $19 baseball glove." Cynthia told the group that she originally took a Circle K clerk job as an interim  position while she looked for something better. On her second or third day behind the counter, she received a phone call from her nine-year-old son, Jessie. He needed a baseball glove for Little League. She explained that as a single mother, money was very tight, and her first check would have to go for paying bills. Perhaps she could buy his baseball glove with her second or third check. When Cynthia arrived for work the next morning, Patricia, the store manager, asked her to come to the small room in the back of the store that served as an office. Cynthia wondered if she had done something wrong or left some part of her job incomplete from the day before. She was concerned and confused. Patricia handed her a box. "I overheard you talking to your son yesterday," she said, "and I know that it is hard to explain things to kids. This is a baseball glove for Jessie because he may not understand how important he is, even though you have to pay bills before you can buy gloves. You know we can't pay good people like you as much as we would like to; but we do care, and I want you to know you are important to us." The thoughtfulness, empathy and love of this convenience store manager demonstrates vividly that people remember more how much an employer cares than how much the employer pays. An important lesson for the price of a Little League baseball glove. This passage shows us that to run a business well it is necessary for managers to let their employees know    _    . A) how much they can get for their job. B) what good positions they can get later C) they are very necessary to the business D) they are nice as well as useful
(A).

C