Ques:It is a wonderful morning,as I write this:hot,but without being too hot. Outside my window,I can see the sunniest sky of the year reflected in a huge natural expand of water. It is the kind of sun that makes you well aware of summer's temporary nature --a reminder that if I am ever to go around to book this year's holiday,time is running out . It is now close to four years since I last took a holiday. This is because I have come to the conclusion, over the course of my adult life, that I am not very good at it. _ What could possibly be difficult about the natural act of putting your working life on hold for a couple of weeks and going somewhere to do nothing? So what is my problem? On the surface, I'm probably a bit of homebody. And I just find the pressure of being on holidy too severe: it always feels like having a gun held to my head and being forced to have fun. Somehow, packing a carefully itemized list of possessions and meeting a scheduled flight has none of the excitement of suddenly deciding to take a day off and driving somewhere for the fun of it. Thankfully, I am not alone. This summer, most of my friends have decided not to have a break. And a recent survey highlighted the downside of holidays, with the results shoeing that nearly two thirds of people found that the calming effects of a holiday wore off within 24 hours, as stress levels returned to normal. And this year's the Idler magazine published its book of awful holidays .Here you will find a list of the five most ecologically--damaging vacations it's possible to take, along with 50 horrible holidays experiences voted for on the idler website. Over the last decade, The Idler has become well known for promoting the idea of an easy, lazy life. The leisure industry might seem an unlikely target of its criticism, but Dan Kienan, the book's editor, says that he was flooded with entries from readers for his list of awful holidays. The writer takes the book of Awful Holidays as an example to  _  . A) damage the reputation of the magazine B) prove his idea to be more popular than expected C) indicate that his dislike of holidays is widely shared D) foucs entirely on bad personal experiences of holidays

Ans:C
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Ques:It is often said that politeness costs nothing. In fact, it seems that a little more could save businesses PS5 billion every year. Frequently hearing the phrase "thank you" or "well done" means the same to staff as a modest pay rise, researchers say. Praise and encouragement also makes employees more likely to work hard and stay in their jobs, saving on the cost of finding replacements. A third of 1,000 workers surveyed by the famous firm White Water Strategies said they did not get thanked at all when they did well----and a further third said they were not thanked enough, meaning they were less likely to put themselves into work and were more likely to look for employment elsewhere. The final result is around PS5.2 billion in lost productivity from employees who would raise their interests in work if they felt more appreciated, White Water claimed. According to the company, praising staff has the same motivational kick as a 1 per cent pay rise - and works out much cheaper for bosses. Three out of four employees said that regular acknowledgement  by their bosses was important to them, but only a quarter said they were actually given as much praise as they felt they needed. The survey found that those blue-collar and manual workers were less likely to be given any recognition for doing well. In regional terms, Scottish staff felt most undervalued. Four out of ten workers said they were never thanked and eight out of ten said they would like more praise. However, workers in the North-East are less impressed by being praised by the boss, as only 69 per cent said they felt the need to be told "well done" regularly. Older employees and women need the most praise, according to psychologist Averill Lemmon. The survey done by White Water Strategies shows that    _    . A) giving workers a pay rise can't make them work hard B) most workers not praised have no interest in their work C) workers who got few praise are more likely to change their jobs D) sometimes politeness and encouragement cost nothing

Ans:C
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Ques:Native American sand paintings are a very beautiful and popular art form for collectors today. But traditionally, the paintings are created to heal a person during a ceremony. The type of image and ceremony used is determined by the disease which the person is suffering from. The sand painting may contain an image of the Holy People. The tribe medicine man may ask the Holy People to help him paint the image and therefore help heal the person in need. When the medicine man finishes painting, he checks its accuracy. The order and the symmetry  of the painting symbolize the harmony which a patient wishes to achieve in his or her life. The accuracy of a sand painting is believed to determine its healing effects. In some cases, more than one sand painting might be used in a healing ceremony. During the ceremony, the person who needs healing will sit on the Native American sand painting. The sand painting serves as an entrance for the spirits and through the painting, the person can absorb the healing energies from these spirits. The sand paintings were not originally meant to be sold or hung on the wall. Once the ceremony is completed, the sand painting must be destroyed, thus allowing the sand to return to the Earth. This is necessary because the sand painting is now seen as poisonous, having absorbed the illness, and must be destroyed. The entire ceremony, from the painting to the destroying is usually completed within a 12-hour period. The medicine man never wrote down how to perform the healing ceremony, but it was passed down from generation to generation. The Pueblo tribe was the first tribe to create Native American sand paintings, but the art soon spread to many other tribes. Today, it is the Navajos who are the most active in creating Native American sand paintings. It is believed that it was a medicine man named Fred Stevens who was the first person to create a Native American sand painting for sale in the 1950s. A trader, Rex Bollin, recommended Fred to sell sand paintings since they were so beautiful.... During a healing ceremony, it is necessary for   _  . A) many people to draw together B) the sick person to sit on the sand painting C) the sick person to eat some sand D) the medicine man to use several sand paintings

Ans:
B
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