Ques: If you put all the books you own on the street outside your house, you might expect them to disappear immediately. But one man, Hernando Guanlao in Manila, tried it and found that his collections grew. He's a lovely man in his early 60s, with one ever-lasting love--books. They're his pride and joy, because, whether he likes it or not, they seem to be taking over his house. Guanlao has set up a "library" outside his home in central Manila. Readers can take as many books as they want, for as long as they want. As Guanlao says, "The only rule is that there are no rules." You might consider it would end very quickly. But in fact, in the 12 years he's been running his library. He's found that his collection has grown rather than become smaller, as more and more people help the activity. "It seems to me that the books are speaking to me," he says with a smile, "The books are telling me they want to be read." Guanlao started his library in 2000, shortly after the death of his parents. He was looking for something to honor their memory, and that was when he hit upon the idea of promoting the reading habit passed on to him from his parents. So he put the books outside the door of his house to see if anyone wanted to borrow them. They did, and they brought the books back with others to add to the collection. The library was born. The library is not advertised, but somehow, every day, a steady stream of people find their way there. To help the poorest communities in Manila, Guanlao doesn't wait for them to find him on his "book bike". He wants to set up a "book boat", traveling around the islands of Sulu and Basilan. As we sat outside Hernando Guanlao's house in the midday sun, watching people look through his collection, he thought it was worth spending all his time. What was beyond people's expectation after the library was set up? A) The library took over his house. B) The library was Guanlao's life center. C) The library lasted a long time. D) The library needed help from more people.
Ans: C

Ques: In Florida,one McDonald's customer started a pay-it-forward chain that inspired other 249 customers to be generous and do the same. ABC News reports the spirit of giving is in the air as 250 drive-thru  customer at a local McDonald's paid for the meals of the people next to the them.Lakeland customer Torie Keene was paying for her food on Wednesday morning when she decided to pay for the meal of the car next to her. Keene then purposely told McDonald's cashier Marisabel Figueroa to greet the other  customer "Merry Christmas" and not "Happy Holidays."The next customer was moved when Figueroa said her food was already paid by the previous car.That's when she thought that she would love to do the same and the domino effect followed. Figueroa,who worked from 9 a.m.to 3 p.m.on Wednesday,said that the chain reaction almost lasted for her entire shift."I just kept giving everyone the same message,and they were all so stunned and so happy,"she continued."One lady even paid for the meals of the next three cars behind her." While people were amazed by how generous they could get,Figueroa said she had "never experienced something like that before" in her 12 years of working for McDonald's."I feel very blessed to have been a part of a11 that,"the cashier said. Keene contacted Figueroa on Facebook when the pay-it-forward chain came out in the local news.She revealed that she was the "mystery customer" that started the long chain of kindness. Keene added that she was surprised by the number of people who continued her good deed when she was only trying to brighten someone's day. Who started the pay-it-forward chain? A) Father Christmas. B) Marisabel Figueroa. C) Manager of a McDonald's. D) Torie Keene from Lakeland.
Ans: D

Ques: Everyone needs safe drinking water, but about 1.1 billion people have no access to clean water. Most of the world's water is salty ocean water or frozen polar ice. By 2050, the world's population could grow from 6.7 billion to more than 9 billion. All of those people will need water to drink. But the bad news is that some areas of the world are growing drier because of climate change. The total area of the Earth's surface classified  as very dry has doubled since the 1970s. Sadly, the precious resource is still misused in industry, in farming and at homes.  Therefore, the world is facing a crisis over water. "You do the math, and it gets a little scary," says Stuart Minchin, a water expert in Australia. "We're waking up," he says. "But not fast enough."  In southern Australia, farmers have been hit hard. They can't irrigate  their fields well enough. The Australian government has launched a $1.3 billion project to improve Australia's irrigation system to stop the crop production dropping further.  Australians have serious water worries, but it could be worse. They don't have to fear that when they turn on the tap, nothing will come out. That's the case in India. Many people in New Delhi, the capital, go without clean water for days.  City leaders have taken stricter measures to save water. Users pay a very high but affordable price for it. Homeowners who waste water are given large fines. There are 1.9 million people who live in Las Vegas, Nevada. Now it has grown by more than 300,000 people since 2002. But it uses less water today than it did seven years ago. What do people in Las Vegas think of the water-saving measures in their city? A) They have reduced the water usage. B) They are strongly against the measures. C) They feel they can't afford the high price. D) They doubt the effects of the measures.
Ans:
A