Question: Before my first summer vacation at college, my roommate Ted asked to me to work with him on his father's farm in Argentina. The idea of spending two months in Argentine was exciting. Then I began having second thoughts. I had never been far from New England, and I had been homesick my first few weeks at college. What would it be like in a strange country? What about the language? The more I thought about it, the more the idea worried me.  In the end I turned down the invitation. As soon as Ted asked somebody else to go, I began kicking myself. I had turned down something I wanted to do because I was scared, and had ended up feeling depressed. That unhappy summer taught me a valuable lesson out of which I developed a rule for myself: do what makes you anxious; don't do what makes you depressed.  At the end of my senior year, I began to think about becoming a writer. But my professor was urging me to aim at teaching. I hesitated. The idea of trying to live by writing was a lot scarier than spending a summer in Argentina. Back and forth I went, making my decision, unmaking it. Suddenly I realized that every time I gave up the idea of writing, that downhearted feeling went through me. Giving up on what I really wanted to do depressed me. Right then I learned another lesson. To avoid that kind of depression meant having to bear a certain amount of worry and concern. When I first began writing articles, I was frequently required to interview big names. Before each interview I would get butterflies in the stomach and my hands would shake. One person I particularly admired was the great composer Duke Ellington. On the stage and on television, he seemed the very model of confidence. Then I learned Ellington still got stage fright. If the highly honored Ellington, who had appeared on the bandstand some 10,000 times over 30years, had anxiety attacks, who was I to think I could avoid them? I went on doing those frightening interviews. Then I realized to my astonishment that I was even looking forward to the interviews.... We can infer from the passage that the author  _  . A) finds it difficult to make decision B) has found out what causes anxiety C) was inspired by Duke Ellington's stage fright D) no longer feels anxious about new experiences
Answer: C

Question: Almost every family in America or England buys at least one copy of a newspaper each day. Some people buy as many as two or three different papers. Why do people read newspapers? Newspapers supply us with news about events in our hometowns, in our country, and in other parts of the world. Today we can read about important things that took place in foreign countries on the same day they happened, even in countries far away. But hundreds of years ago, news of things took months or even years to travel from one country to another. In those times, news was often passed from one person to another and never completely true. Newspapers today supply us with more than just what happened in our country or in other countries. If we want to know what the weather will be like, we can read the weather reports. If we want to find out what films are being shown, or what plays or concerts we can go to we can look in the newspapers. In many countries people put notices in newspapers if they are trying to get a job, hunting for a house or rooms that they can rent, or even when looking for a person who is lost. Newspapers supply us with   _  . A) only home news B) only world news C) home news and world news D) important things
Answer: C

Question: At first Kate thought the Romanian girl could not speak and understand English. Nadia would not reply to anything Kate said. Kate was in charge of showing Nadia around on her first day at Buck Minister Grade School. Kate could not figure out why the school had put Nadia in a class where she could not understand what people were saying. "Why did they do this?" Kate wondered aloud. "I mean, you can't learn if you can't understand the teacher." Nadia's voice was a whisper (speaking in a very low voice). "I understand English. I will learn." Nadia's English was perfect. Kate was _ . She couldn't understand why Nadia did not like to speak. Then she realized that moving to a new country probably wasn't the easiest thing to do. There were hundreds of unfamiliar and unusual things to learn - all at the same time. "There're a lot of new things to learn, huh?" said Kate. Nadia nodded rapidly. In a quiet voice she replied, "Many things people say, I do not understand. I have been speaking English and Romanian all my life, but I do not know what some children are saying. For example, yesterday a boy asked if I could help him find the USB port on a thin black box he was carrying. Isn't a port a place for ships? It made no sense to me." "Don't worry." said Kate. "You'll figure everything out in time. You see, that thin black box was a computer. A USB port is a place where you can connect other machines to a computer." Nadia and Kate were quiet after that. They took notes while the teacher gave a maths lesson. To Kate's surprise, Nadia put up her hand and offered to answer the questions at the blackboard. Nadia handled every question the teacher gave her. Some of the questions were really difficult, and no one understood what was going on except Nadia and the teacher. When the teacher said that Nadia answered everything correctly, the whole class clapped their hands. Nadia was smiling when she sat back down next to Kate. "Some things," she said in a normal voice, "are the same all over the world." At the beginning of Nadia's first day at school, she was  _  . A) disappointed. B) helpful. C) lively. D) shy.
Answer:
D