Chicago's children's Hospital is the lucky receiver of a surprise $18million gift from Gladys Holm.She once was a secretary who never earned more than $15000 a year and never married.She lived alone in a small flat in Chicago,and was a volunteer at the Children's Hospital.She was called the "Teddy Bear lady" because she brought toy animals to sick children on her regular visits.But Miss Holm,who died in 1996 at the age of  86 ,was also a long-time buyer of stocks .Over the years,she saved money that rose up to $18 million ,which she left to the Children's Hospital .It was the largest single donation in the hospital's 115-year  history.The hospital president,Jan Jennings,was shocked when she heard the news "when Miss Holm's lawyer called to tell me how much that money was,I asked him to repeat it ,since I was certain I had misheard." Why did Gladys Holm fell so strongly about the Children's Hospital? Jennings said the hospital first touched Miss Holm's heart nearly 50 years ago,when doctors there saved the life of her friend's daughter.She never forgot the happiness she felt all those years ago. Holm's gift will be devoted to heart disease research.People at the hospital said they regretted that they couldn't thank Miss Holm for the surprising gift. Why did Jan Jennings ask the lawyer to repeat what he said? A) she never expected Miss Holm would donate anything. B) she want to make sure who Gladys Holm was C) she had seldom received donations before D) she thought there was a mistake
D


(Question)
Worms,antis,and flowers live in soil.Fish,crabs,and seaweeds live in oceans.Birds,insects,and moss live in trees.soil,oceans,and trees are habitatsplaces where animals and plants live .Besides offering food and shelter, habitats allow for growth and reproduction.     Humans, however,have destroyed many habitats.We change forests into parking lots. We turn grasslands into neighborhoods.We turn beach land into resorts.We turn 0ceans into chemical dumps.Some plants and animals adapt and survive.Others,however die.The changes are too much,too fast.Sometimes the death rate becomes greater than the birth rate.then the extinction occurs.An example of this happened on Florida's east coast,the habitat of the dusky seaside sparrow.This habitat changed suddenly as land was developed. And the sparrows were not able to adapt. More sparrows died than were born. In 1987 the  dusky seaside sparrow became extinct.None exist in the world today.     Fortunately,conservation efforts are underway.Many states have set aside land for nature preserves. Here,plants and animals live in their natural habitats.Some states have created man-made habitats .Artificial reefs,for example,have been put in ocean waters. The artificial reefs are habitats for hundreds of fish and other marine life.In 1970 the federal government passed a law to protect habitats.'Ibis~that the efforts of development must be studied.A highway,dam,or power plant may not be built if plants and animals,endangered.We were too late to save the dusky sparrow.Hopefully,however,these new efforts will save other plants and animals. The author's feeling about conservation efforts is one of  _  . A) surprise B) disrespect C) hope D) enthusiasm
(Answer)
C


Ques: Tornadoes are nature's most violent storms, which can cause deaths and destroy a neighborhood in seconds. A tornado appears as a funnel-shaped   cloud from a thunderstorm to the ground with whirling   winds that can reach 300 miles per hour. Damage paths can be over one mile wide and 50 miles long. Every state is at some risk from this disaster. Some tornadoes can be seen clearly, while rain or nearby low-hanging clouds _ others. At many times, tornadoes develop so rapidly that little, if any, advance warning is possible. Before a tornado hits, the air may become very still. A cloud of debris   can mark the location of a tornado even if a funnel can not be seen. Tornadoes generally occur near the edge of a thunderstorm, when the strong wind may die down. It is not uncommon to see clear, sunlit skies behind a tornado. The following are facts about tornadoes: The average forward speed of a tornado is 30 MPH, but may also vary from still to 70 MPH. Debris is picked up or a cloud forms in the funnel. The average tornado moves from southwest to northeast, but tornadoes have been known to move in any direction. Tornadoes are most often reported east of the Rocky Mountains during spring and summer months. Tornadoes can happen together with tropical storms and hurricanes as they move onto land. Waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water. The tornado season in the southern states of America is March through May; in the northern states, it is late spring through early summer. Tornadoes are most likely to occur between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m., but can occur at any time. From the passage, where may tornadoes come from? A) Hurricanes. B) Great heat. C) Thunderstorms. D) Sandstorms.
Ans: C


Ques:When school was out, I hurried to find my sister and get out of the schoolyard before seeing anybody in my class. But Barbara and her friends had beaten us to the playground entrance and they seemed to be waiting for us. Barbara said, "So now you' re in the A class. "    She sounded impressed.    "What' s the A class? "I asked.    Everybody made superior yet faintly envious giggling sounds. "Well, why did you think the teacher moved you to the front of the room, Dopey? Didn' t you know you were in the C class before, way in the back of the room? "    Of course I hadn' t known. The Wenatchee fifth grade was bigger than my whole school which had been in North Dakota, and the idea of subdivisions within a grade had never occurred to me. The subdividing for the first marking period had been done before I came to the school, and I had never, in the six weeks I' d been there, talked to anyone long enough to find out about the A, B, and C classes.    I still could not understand why that had made such a difference to Barbara and her friends. I didn' t yet know that it was shameful and dirty to be a transient laborer and ridiculous to be from North Dakota. I thought living in a tent was more fun than living in a house.    I didn' t know that we were gypsies, really (how that thought would have excited me then! ), and that we were regarded with the suspicion felt by those who plant toward those who do not plant. It didn' t occur to me that we were all looked upon as one more of the untrustworthy natural phenomena, drifting here and there like mists or winds, I didn' t know that I was the only child who had camped on the Baumann' s land ever to get out of the C class. I didn' t know that school administrators and civic leaders held conferences to talk about the problem of transient laborers.    I only knew that for two happy days I walked to school with Barbara and her friends, played hopscotch and jumped rope with them at class intervals, and was even invited into the house for some ginger ale--a strange drink I had... The basic reason why the people in the community distrusted the transient workers was that the transient workers   _  . A) tended to be lawbreakers B) were temporary residents C) were afraid of strangers D) had little schooling

Ans:
B