*Question*
Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Recently I spoke to some of my students about what they wanted to do after they graduated, and what kind of job prospects they thought they had. Given that I teach students who are training to be doctors, I was surprised to find that most thought that they would not be able to get the jobs they wanted without "outside help". "What kind of help is that?" I asked, expecting them to tell me that they would need a relative or family friend to help them out. "Surgery ", one replied. I was pretty alarmed by that response. It seems that the graduates of today are increasingly willing to go under the knife to get ahead of others when it comes to getting a job. One girl told me that she was considering surgery to increase her height. "They break your legs, put in special extending screws, and slowly expand the gap between the two ends of the bone as it regrows, you can get at least 5cm taller!" At that point, I was shocked. I am short, I can't deny that, but I don't think I would put myself through months of agony  just to be a few centimeters taller. I don't even bother to wear shoes with thick soles, as I'm not trying to hide the fact that I am just not tall! It seems to me that there is a trend toward wanting "perfection", and that is an ideal that just does not exist in reality. No one is born perfect, yet magazines, TV shows and movies present images of thin, tall, beautiful people as being the norm. Advertisements for slimming aids, beauty treatments and cosmetic surgery clinics fill the pages of newspapers, further creating an idea that "perfection" is a requirement, and that it must be purchased, no matter what the cost. In my opinion, skills, rather than appearance, should determine how successful a person is in his chosen career. Question: We can know from the passage that the author works as   _  . - a doctor - a model - a teacher - a reporter
**Answer**
a teacher

*Question*
Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: In 1996 I wanted to buy a Honda Civic. I went to the local dealer. "Oh, you want a Civic, do you?" said the fellow. "And I suppose you'd also like us to throw in a couple of front-row Superbowl tickets? Haw! Haw! Haw! Haw!" When his laughter ended, he explained that the Civic was such a hit in Europe that Honda was getting an extra $ 2,000 per car there, making Civic practically unavailable in the States. But he did offer to let me add my name to the waiting list--if I agreed to pay $1,000 over the sticker   price. When Honda dealerships No. 2 and No. 3 gave me the same story, I was ready to try anything. I carefully looked over to www.autobytel.com. For a  _ like me, Auto-By-Tel's scheme   is nearly irresistible. You indicate the car you want to buy, compete with the freedom to choose. The nearest participating car dealer mails you back with a cut rate offer. There's no charge for any of this -- and no obligation to accept the offer. It surely seemed no less to me. Sure enough, two days later, a dealer 30 minutes away wrote me. "Unfortunately, 96 Civics are in very short supply," his message said, "The best we can offer you is $1,200 under sticker price. "I was in happiness. Ah! Bliss! Ah, saving! Ah, revenge! When I picked up the car, it got better. Since there was no haggling  , the dealership fellow was friendly and congratulatory instead of everything. Now this, I thought, is the way to buy a car.       Auto-By-Tel makes money by charging a fee to each participating dealer. The dealers make money by receiving hundreds of ready-to-buy customer names off the Web. And you save money because your price doesn't reflect advertising, test drives, sales commissions, and so on. My only regret is that I didn't think up Auto-By-Tel first. Question: This text mainly tells about the story of   _  . - saving money charging - quarrelling with the dealers - the experience of buying a car - regretting buying a new Civic
**Answer**
the experience of buying a car

*Question*
Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: We've all heard the old saying,"Sticks and stones can break my bones,but words can never hurt me." Don't you believe it?Words are powerful,and they can hurt--a lot. In fact,if you're not careful,you can even hurt yourself,by using the wrong word in your writing. Recently a friend sent me a copy of an email she received from the customer service department of her credit card company,after she contacted them with a question about her account. She was happy with their positive response. But as I read the email,one line jumped out at me:"In lieu of good customer service..." Did they really mean they were offering her a few extra reward points instead of good customer service?I doubt it. More likely,what the customer service department meant to say was,"Because good customer service is important to us..." followed by the details of what they were doing to make sure she remained a happy customer. So why didn't the writer say that?I can only guess that perhaps the writer liked the phrase "in lieu of",thought it sounded more interesting than saying "because",and so used it--without bothering to check the true meaning. Have you ever done that?Try to impress others with a big word,only to find out you've used the word incorrectly?It's just the opposite effect,isn't it?You may impress people all right,but it's not the impression you were going for. When you write,remember to choose your words carefully. People may still disagree with what you say,but they won't be able to dismiss you because you made careless mistakes in how you said it. Question: It can be inferred that the writer's friend   _  . - was the manager of the customer service department - was the customer of the credit card company - emailed a company to complain - used a phrase incorrectly
**Answer**
