Ques:My grandfather spent most of his life in a turbulent   India. After settling in New York, he took up his true passion: gardening. Grandfather's garden was where I took refuge   from a world of adults and schoolwork. My grandfather cultivated squash   and tomatoes -- it was not rare to find me somewhere in the garden, either secretly eating a tomato, or just sitting and admiring my grandfather's hard work. However, as time went by, I did not have the chance to visit his house as often as I used to. On my eleventh birthday, I received a gift bag wrapped in pretty paper from my grandfather. Excited to see what he had given to me for my birthday, I tore apart the paper only to find a yellow squash. I was very angry. What a stupid present! But gradually, I realized that in my developing a relationship with his garden, I had unknowingly grown very close to my grandfather himself, something he wished to remind me of through his gift. His commitment towards doing things definitely influenced me. It could bring him a sense of accomplishment. Because of him, I try to model the idea of approaching everything with both drive and passion. My grandfather passed away five years ago, but his influence on me could not be bigger than it is today. As I prepare to enter college and move on from my relatively sheltered high school life toward achieving complete independence, allowing my passions to find their way into whatever I may be doing will be very necessary. I still look up to my grandfather very much to this day, and I hope that one day I will be able to sow in my own garden, and give someone else a squash on his or her birthday -- it was the most meaningful gift I have ever received.[:ZXXK] When the author saw the squash gift from her grandfather, she was   _  . A) excited B) confused C) curious D) upset

Ans:D
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Ques:Efforts to reduce the damage from the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are under way . How can you help ?A number of organizations are recruiting volunteers. The Deep Water Horizon response team is looking for help in identifying shoreline and animals affected . Oiled wildlife should not be captured but instead reported at 1-866-557-1401. To report areas with oil ashore or to leave contact information to volunteers in the affected areas , call 1-866-448-5816. The National Wildlife Federation is looking for volunteers and support to help spot distressed or oiled wildlife , and to assist in the cleanup and restoration efforts along the coast of Louisiana. You can text the word "NWF" to 20222. That'ss donate $10 to the National Wildlife Federation through your phone bill. United Way has launched the Gulf Recovery Fund . which is providing emergency assistance and long-term recovery support for the communities affected by this oil spill . Those who need help or want to volunteer can dial 2-1-1.You can donate to this fund by going to liveunited . org/gulfrecovery.or text the word "United" to 50555 to donate $10 from your mobile phone. The First Response Team of America is working with the National Guard in Southern Louisiana to build dams to hold back the oil from the fragile coastal habitats . Their founder , Tad Agoglia --who was named a CNN Hero in 2008--has made their work on the oil . spill their top Priority until the disaster is contained.They are looking for volunteers . Call 941-388-3010. AmenCares is providing medical care and supplies to oilspill victims along the Gulf , and is funding and assisting mental health assessments and counseling needs for the immediate and long-term health and mental health issues affecting children as a result of this disaster . Mental health experts are in great demand . The Children's Health Fund can be reached at 1-800-535-7418. If you are good at treating mental health problems and willing to volunteer ,you can dial the telephone number  _  . A) 1-800-486-4357 B) 1-800-535-744 C) 1-866-448-5816 D) 941-388-3010

Ans:A
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Ques:Tony Morrison has won this year's Nobel Prize for Literature. Tony Morrison is sixty-two years old. She was born in Lorain, Ohio. She is the daughter of farmers who moved to Ohio from the southern state of Alabama. She studied at Harvard University in Washington  D.C. and Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Her first success came in 1970 with the book calledThe Bluest Eye. It tells the story of a young black girl in a society where golden hair and blue eyes are considered beautiful. Her next book was calledSulla. It tells the story of two black girls and pain in their lives as they grow up in a small town in Ohio. Her bookThe Song of Solomonis about a black man who tries to forget his past as a slave and begin a new life. AndTar Babyexplores the relationship of a black man and a black woman. In the story the writer argues that black men and women can not get along with each other until they join together to fight racial hatred . Miss Morrison won America's highest prize for literature, the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 for her bookBeloved. It is a powerful story of a slave woman who kills her baby daughter so she will not grow up to be a slave, too. Her latest bookJazzwas published last year. It tells about the sad stories in the lives of a black man and woman who moved from a small town in the south to New York City. It took place in the 1920s,a time when Jazz music became popular in America. Tony Morrison is a professor in literature at Princeton University in New Jersey. She says the most wonderful thing about winning the Nobel Prize is that it has finally been awarded to an African American writer. The prize is valued at more than 800,000 dollars. It will be awarded on Dec.10 in Stockholm in Sweden. Morrison has been awarded the Nobel Prize perhaps because   _  . A) she is an important professor in literature B) her books are widely read C) what she has written attracted people's attention to the Blacks' life D) she mostly writes about the black women

Ans:C
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Ques:A new study shows that fat people in the United States suffer direct economic and social effects because of their size. The findings are from an 8-year study of about 100,000 people. The people who were studied were between the age of 18 and 24 when the research began. The researchers who carried out the study say they consider the people fat if they are in the top of 5% of the measurement in which weight is linked to height. For example, fat women in the study were about 160 centimeters tall and weighed about 90 kilograms. Fat men in the study were about 175 centimeters tall and weighed 100 kilograms. The researchers say that more than 1,000,000 Americans are that big. The researchers found that fat young women were from wealthy families. The fat women also were 20% less likely to get married and they earned an average of about $6,700 a year less than other women. The study showed less effects on fat men. They earned an average of about $3,000 a year less than other men. Fat men also were 11% less likely to get married. The researchers consider the people fat if    _   . A) they eat lots of food and do less exercise B) they are fatter than others C) they are in the top of 5% of the measurement of weight D) they are in the top of the measurement in which weight is linked to height.

Ans:
D
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