Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: About 150 years ago, a village church priest, Patric Bronte, in Yorkshire, England, had three lovely, intelligent daughters but his hopes fell entirely on the only male heir, Branwell, a youth with remarkable talent in both art and literature. Branwell's father and sisters saved their pennies to pack him off to London's Royal Academy of Arts, but if art was his calling, he dialed a wrong number. Within weeks he hightailed it home, a penniless failure. Hopes still high, the family landed Branwell a job as a private tutor, hoping this would free him to develop his literary skills and achieve the success and fame that he deserved. Failure again.  Still, the selfless sisters squelched their own goals, farming themselves out as teachers and governesses in support of their increasingly indebted brother, convinced the world must eventually recognize his genius. As failure multiplied, Branwell turned to alcohol, then opium, and eventually died as he had lived: a failure. So died hope in the one male -- but what of the three sisters? During Branwell's last years, the girls published a book of poetry at their own expense (under a pen name, for fear of reviewers' bias against females). Even Branwell might have laughed: they sold only two copies. They didn't give up. Instead, they continued in their spare time, late at night by candlelight, to pour out their contained emotion, writing of what they knew best, of women in conflict with their natural desires and social condition, in reality, less fiction than autobiography! And 19th century literature was transformed by Anne's Agnes Grey, Emily's Wuthering Heights, and Charlotte's Jane Eyre. But years of sacrifice for Branwell had eventually ruined their health. Emily took ill at her brother's funeral and died within 3 months, aged 29; Anne died 5 months later, aged 30; Charlotte lived only to age 39. If only they had been nurtured instead of sacrificed. No one remembers Branwell's name, much less of his art or literature, but the Bronte sisters' tragically short lives... Question: Were Patric Bronte alive, what might he regret most? - Not taking good care of his children. - Intending his son for an artist or a writer. - Putting all of his eggs in one male basket. - Sacrificing too many pennies for his son.
Putting all of his eggs in one male basket.
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Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. The other woman my wife wanted me to visit was my mother, who has been a widow  for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children had made it impossible to visit her often. That Friday after work, when I arrived at her house, my mother waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary.  We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice and comfortable. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady. During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation, nothing extraordinary but catching up on recent events of each other's life. We talked so much that we missed the movie. As we arrived at her house later, she said, "I'll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you." I agreed. A few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn't have a chance to do anything for her. Some time later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place Mother and I had dined. An attached note said "I paid this bill in advance. I wasn't sure that I could be there; but, nevertheless, I paid for two plates--one for you and the other for your wife. You w ill never know what that night meant for me. I love you, son." At that moment, I understood the importance of saying in time 'I love YOU' and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve. Nothing in life is more important than your family. Give them the time they deserve because these things cannot be put off till some "other" time. Question: From the passage we can see   _  . - the mother was happy to have dinner with her son - the author doesn't like his work and his three children - the author and his mother went to a high-class restaurant - the author saw a movie with his mother after dinner
the mother was happy to have dinner with her son
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Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Death Valley, one of America's great national parks, is a place of strange and silent beauty. As beautiful as this place is, its name provides evidence of very real danger. Death Valley is a land of beautiful yet dangerous extremes. There are mountains that reach more than 3,000 meters into the sky. There is a place called Badwater that is the lowest area of land in the Western Hemisphere. If there were water there, it would be 86 meters below the level of the ocean. Death Valley can be dangerously cold during the winter months. Storms in the mountains can produce sudden flooding on the floor of the Valley. The air temperature during the summer has been as high as 57degC. The sun can heat the ground so that the temperature of the rocks and soil can be as high as 74degC. The extreme heat of Death Valley has killed people in the past. It will continue to kill those who do not honor this extreme climate. Death Valley does not forgive those who are not careful. Death Valley is a good example of the violence of nature. It contains evidence of several ancient volcanoes that caused huge explosions. Evidence of one of these explosions is called Ubehebe Crater. The explosion left a huge hole in the ground almost a kilometer and a half wide. In many areas of Death Valley it is easy to see where the ground has been pushed up violently by movement deep in the Earth. This movement has created unusual and beautiful rock formations. Some are red. Others are dark brown, gray, yellow or black. Other areas of rock look as if some huge creature violently broke and _ the Earth to create unusual, sometimes frightening shapes. In other parts of Death Valley there are lines in the rock that show clearly that this area was deep under an ocean for many thousands of years. Much of the Valley is flat and extremely dry. In fact, scientists believe it is the driest place in the United States. Death Valley, part of the Great Mojave Desert, is a huge place. It extends more than 225 kilometers across the southern part of California, and... Question: Why were some people killed by Death Valley? - Because they didn't respect Death Valley and thus they were punished. - Because it is extremely hot in summer and dangerously cold in winter. - Because they were not careful enough to take with them what they needed. - Because several volcanoes erupted and caused huge explosions.
