I grew up with a fat dad--450 pounds at his heaviest.Every week he would try a new diet,and my family ended up eating whatever strange food he was trying at that moment. After my thirdgrade year,my dad landed a lifechanging job in Manhattan.My mom,my little sister and I had to move away from our hometown,Chicago,and leave my grandmother and her beautiful food behind. Leaving my grandmother was far more frightening than the move to New York City.There would be no more special weekends at my grandmother's house,the only place I can remember feeling happy,safe and nourished  .It was what I desired.In this new city,I felt extremely alone and lost,and I missed my grandmother terribly. My grandmother knew just how I felt--And she knew the _ .Every week,she would send me a card with a $20 bill,a recipe and a list of what to buy at the market.It kept us bonded,and her recipes filled my body and soul. Over the years,I have grown to better understand my father's struggles with weight and the toll   it took on him and those who love him.I have come to realize he was driven not by vanity   or selfishness as much as by a deep pain.And in spite of growing up in such an unhealthy eating environment (or perhaps because of it),as an adult I found a passion and a career as a nutrition consultant. Today,my father weighs 220 pounds and is a vegan  .How he got there is a story I hope to share in the coming weeks.More importantly,food is no longer a barrier that keeps us apart,but a bridge that keep us connected.There is nothing my dad enjoys more than talking with me about dietary theories and his weightloss victories.And now I am the one regularly sending recipe cards to my father's house,just as my grandmother did for me. The author desired to go to his grandmother's  _  . A) to see his father B) for tasty food C) for pocket money D) to avoid his family
A


(Question)
Below is a web page from http:// www.tvguide.com/ Tonight's TV Hot List:Sunday January 27,2013 Grammy Awards Beyonce and Taylor Swift are ready to take home a lot of hardware tonight as they lead all artists with ten and eight nominations.The ladies also perform,along with fellow Album of the Year nominees the Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga and the Dave Matthews Band.In addition,Bon Jovi,Green Day,Lady Antebellum,Maxwell, Pink and Zac Brown Band will also take the stage.But perhaps the most expected moment is the Michael Jackson tribute ,which features the 3--D mini-movie "Earth Song" and will be highlighted by performers Celine Dion,Jennifer Hudson,Smokey Robinson, Carrie Underwood and Usher. Maurer A mysterious company named Sabre, headed by an attractive,stubborn CEO(Kathy Bates),appears out of nowhere and buys out  Dunder Mifflin. As Michael is unwilling to follow Sabre's new policies, Andy and Erin write a welcome song to greet the company.Meanwhile,Pam and Jim hope to get accepted into a desired local day-care center. Surviving Survivor It's hard to believe it's been ten years since the first season of Survivor.But tonight ten of the game's most iconic players,including previous winners Richard Hatch,Parvati Shallow and Tom Westman,discuss the series in detail and provide insights into how the game is actually played and the impact it's had on their lives. Private Practice So Maya's pregnant and wants to have the baby. What to do now? Dink(Stephen Lunsford),the boy who did his part to get her into this mess,has a solution:he wants to marry her.You can imagine how Sam and Naomi will feel about that.And if that won't raise the histrionic level enough for you, how about this:a couple has two dying daughters,and only one can be saved.Their choice.And Brian Benben is back,so expect more Pete -Violet-Sheldon angst. Edna is crazy about pop stars, so she will most likely choose   _   to enjoy. A) Grammy Awards B) Maurer C) Surviving Survivor D) Private Practice
(Answer)
A


Ques: Anna Riviere was one of the most admired of 19th-century English sopranos . She was also one of the most adventuresome. She was born in London on January 9th, 1810. She entered the Royal Academy of Music at the age of 14. Seven years later, just after her first show, Anna married Sir Henry Bishop, who was 24 years her senior. Her reputation as a singer grew rapidly, based largely on her tours with Sir Henry and harpist Nicholas Bochsa. After a tour of Dublin, Edinburgh, and London, Anna Bishop deserted her husband and three children and ran away with Bochsa. From then on, Madame Bishop--as she continued to be known--traveled and sang as if her life depended on it. Between 1839 and 1843 she traveled to every major town in Europe, where she sang in 260 concerts. In the course of two years in Naples, she performed in 20 operas. In 1855 she and Bochsa sailed for Sydney, Australia. He died there the following year, and Anna went on to tour South America before returning to New York, where she married a diamond merchant. Then she began what proved her most dangerous adventure. After another American tour in 1866, she and her husband set sail across the Pacific. They were shipwrecked on a small coral reef, and for more than a month they drifted in a small boat before they finally reaching Guam. She had lost her music, her wardrobe, and her jewelry, but Madame Bishop was not to be stopped. She went on to Manila and began a concert tour that led to Hong Kong, Singapore, and India before she went back to England. After another two-year world tour she returned eventually to New York, where she gave her last public performance in 1883--at age 73. Meanwhile the husband she left behind, Sir Henry, had become famous for writing the music to lyrics that might eventually have been meaningful to Anna Bishop--"Home, Sweet Home." The best title for this passage is  _  . A) The English soprano B) The soprano toured around the world C) A soprano and her husband D) The adventuresome soprano
Ans: D


The size and location of the world's deserts are always changing. Over millions of years, as climates change and mountains rise, new dry and wet areas appear. But within the last hundred years deserts have been increasing after frightful speed. This is partly because of natural changes, but most responsible for creating deserts are men.     Man can make deserts, but they can also prevent them from getting bigger. Algeria is planning a green belt of trees along the edge of the Sahara Desert to stop the sand. In China, too,  _ are being built in the northwest to keep the desert from growing.     But desert still threaten the world. Experts believe that land that is on the way to becoming deserts equals the size of Australia, Russia and US put together. Can we stop the spread of the world's deserts and save the land that is so essential to mankind? Yes, we can, and we must. The reason for the land that turns into deserts is mostly because of   _ A) the changing of the climate B) man C) the natural changes D) the wind

B