*Question*
To Whom It May Concern: Your address was forwarded to us by How to Magazine.All of us here think The International Institute of Not Doing Much is the best organization in the world.You know how to avoid unnecessary activities! As a matter of fact, we closely followed the advice in your article.First, we replaced all our telephones with carrier pigeons.Simply removing the jingle of telephones and replacing them with the pleasant sounds of birds has had a remarkable effect on everyone.Besides, birds are cheaper than telephone service.After all, we are a business.We have to think of the bottom line.As a side benefit, the birds also fertilize the lawn outside the new employees' sauna . Next, we sold the computers off to Stab, Grab, Grit, and Nasty, a firm of lawyers nearby.Our electricity bill went way down.Big savings! The boss is impressed.We have completely embraced paper technology.Now that we all use pencils, doodling is on the increase, and the quality of pencil woman ship is impressive, as you can tell from my handwriting in this letter.By the way, if you can, please send this letter back to us.We can erase and reuse it.Just tie it to Maggie's leg and she'll know where to take it. Now it's very calm and quiet here.You can notice the difference.No more loud chatter on the telephones! All we hear is the scratching of pencil on paper, the sound of pigeons, and the delivery of inter-office correspondence by paper airplane. Wonderful! I've always wanted to work for an insurance company ever since I was a little girl.Now it's perfect. Sincerely yours, Eleanor Lightly Spokeswoman and Company Hair Stylist ABC Activity Insurance: insure against overdoing it Which of the following best describes the life the author is leading? A) A simple, slow-paced life. B) A life of hard work and security. C) A religious, peasant-like life. D) A life away from paper and pencils.
**Answer**
A

*Question*
Alan took an early interest in gardening---first on his grandfather's Yorkshire allotment in Ilkley, and then in his parents' back garden. Small polythene greenhouses appeared in the back garden, and cacti were bought from church markets. Alan left school at fifteen with one `O' level in Art and took a job as an apprentice gardener in Ilkley Parks Department nursery, studying for his City and Guilds in Horticulture in the evening. He went on to horticultural college at Oaklands in Hertfordshire where he studied for one year full-time, being awarded the National Certificate in Horticultural. This was followed by three years at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, resulting in the award of the Kew Diploma. After two years as supervisor of staff training at Kew, Alan entered journalism where he became first a gardening books editor, and then Deputy Editor of Amateur Gardening magazine. He appeared regularly on BBC Radio and Television in programs such as Nationwide , Breakfast Time, Open Air, Pebble Mill, Songs of Praise, Titchmarsh's Travels, and the Chelsea Flower Show. He presented the 100th edition of The Word for Channel 4, and hosted the quiz show Ask the Family. Gardeners' World and the hugely popular Ground Force, second only to Easterners in the BBC1 ratings, are broadcast as far as Australia, New Zealand and North America. After leaving both programs, Alan worked on two other series for the BBC to be transmitted in 2003 and 2004, one of them a landmark series on the natural history of Britain. Alan writes for the Daily Express, Sunday Express, Radio Times and BBC Gardeners' World magazine, and has more than thirty gardening books to his credit. His four novels, as well as a book about his own life, have been best sellers. Alan, 53, gardens organically, and lives with his wife, two daughters and a medley of animals. According to this passage, we can learn that  _  . A) Alanaccepted little education B) Alan wrote many books about food C) Alan had never been married D) Alan was first a gardening books editor
**Answer**
D

*Question*
One baby born with a defective windpipe   now has hope of breathing normally thanks to 3-D printing technology, NPR reported. Garrett Peterson, now 18 months old, was born with tracheomalacia  , leaving him unable to breathe. The condition terrified his parents, who turned to specialist Dr. Glenn Green at the University of Michigan for a possible treatment. Along with Scott Hollister, a biomedical engineer who runs the university's 3-D printing lab, Green designed a device that can hold open Garrett's windpipe until it's strong enough to function independently. After taking a CT scan of Garrett's windpipe to make a replica of it, they made the "splint" with a 3-D printer. "It's like a protective shell that goes on the outside of the windpipe, and it allows the windpipe to be tacked to the inside of that shell to open it up directly," Green told NPR. On January 31, Garrett had his surgery. Surgeon Dr. Richard Ohye opened up Garrett's chest and saw that his windpipe had completely collapsed and one of his lungs was completely white -- a condition Ohye had only seen in dead bodies. After eight hours of surgery and careful placement of a splint on either side of Garrett's windpipe, it was time for the big test: What would happen when they let air flow through the windpipe into Garrett's lungs? Though he still remains in the hospital, Garrett has gotten stronger and needs less assistance breathing in the weeks since his surgery.  His parents are overjoyed, saying he's starting to act more interactive and alert. As Garrett grows, the splint will expand and eventually dissolve in his body as his own windpipe strengthens enough to work independently. 3-D printing technology has allowed doctors to help patients in ways that they hope will continue to grow. "We're talking about taking something like dust and converting it into body parts," Green said. "And we're able to do things that were never possible before." We can learn from the passage that   _  . A) Garrett is out of hospital with the help of 3-D printing technology. B) The splint will exist in Garrett's body for ever. C) It is difficult to operate the 3-D printer. D) Garrett's condition is critical.
**Answer**
D

*Question*
Stop wasting your time thinking of reasons for your failures.  Instead, realize that the seeds of success were planted within you when you were born. Only you have the power to make those seeds grow. The seeds, and the power to grow them, are contained in the most awesome machine ever created: the human mind. Success is a choice and not a chance. You were born a winner. You were born rich. You can be a success if only you make the right choice. You cannot be successful without first developing your self-confidence. Your level of self-confidence is always based on the degree of control that you are able to exercise over yourself, and thus over your life. People with low self-confidence are people who do not believe that they have any power, or responsibility for their lives. They are always victims. They are leaves tossed   by the winds of chance blown about with any sudden change in the weather. You can exercise control over your life only to the degree that you believe you are responsible for everything that happens in your life.  Failures think that everything happens by accident and chance. Successful people realize that they are responsible. Everything happens as a result of something.  If we can identify  the cause, we can control the effect. We are responsible for what we choose to think and believe. One generally rises to the level that one expects. We are responsible for setting our expectations. Our success is dependent upon our level of confidence. In all areas of your life, whether they are financial, physical, or spiritual, you are responsible. Once you recognize this, accept it, and firmly believe it. You are on the road to success. People with low self-confidence are compared to leaves because they  _  . A) don't have the power to face their lives B) are ready to change their minds C) can't exercise control over themselves D) are easily affected by windy weather
**Answer**

C