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Middle born children will tell you that they usually didn’t feel all that special while growing up. The first born had his spot- carrier of the family banner and responsible for everything. The last born had his comfy little role, but the middle born had no distinctive place to call his own.Middle-borns just seem to be easily overlooked, and maybe that’s why there are so few pictures of them in the family photo album. There may be hundreds, seemingly thousands, of pictures of the firstborn. For some strange reason, however, which I have confirmed by polling middle-born children around the world, there are seldom many pictures of the middle child, and what photos there are have him included with the others—squeezed again between the older sibling and the younger sibling. Another thing that can be said of many middle-born children is that they typically place great importance on their peer group. The middle child is well known for going outside the home to make friends faster than anybody else in the family. When a child feels like a fifth wheel at home, friends become very important; as a result, many middle children (but not all, of course) tend to be the social lions of the family. While firstborns, typically, have fewer friends, middle children often have many. Middle children have a propensity to leave home first and live farther away from the family than anyone else. I observed a dramatic illustration of this tendency while I was a guest on Oprah Winfrey’s show. The subject that day was sibling rivalry. Three charming young women, all sisters, were among the guests, and we quickly learned that the firstborn and the last born were residents of the Eastern state where they had grown up. They had settled down near their parents and other family members. But the middle child had moved to the West Coast. I suppose she could have gotten another two thousand miles farther away by moving to Hawaii, but her point was still well made. Middle children are the ones who will most often physically distance themselves from the rest of the family. It’s not necessarily because they’re on the outs with everyone else. They simply like to do their own thing, make their own friends, and live their own lives. All of this is not to say that middle children totally ignore their siblings or the rest of the family. One common characteristic of the middle child is that she is a good mediator or negotiator. She comes naturally into this role because she’s often right in the middle, between big brother and little sister, whatever the case may be. And because she can’t have Mom or Dad all to herself, she learns the fine art of compromise. Obviously, these skills are assets in adult life, and middle children often become the best adjusted adults in the family. According to the passage, middle children are likely to______.

A. distance themselves from the rest of the family
B. outdo their siblings in adult life
C. become good diplomatic mediators or negotiators
D. learn the fine art of compromise from their parents

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Bernard Jackson is a free man today, but he has many bitter memories. Jackson spent five years in prison after a jury wrongly convicted him of raping two women. At Jackson’s trial, although two witnesses testified that Jackson was with them in another location at the times of the crimes, he was convicted anyway. Why The jury believed the testimony of the two victims, who positively identified Jackson as the man who has attacked them. The court eventually freed Jackson after the police found the man who had really committed the crimes. Jackson was similar in appearance to the guilty man. The two women has made a mistake in identity. As a result, Jackson has lost five years of his life. The two women in this case were eyewitnesses. They clearly saw the man who attacked them, yet they mistakenly identified an innocent person. Similar incidents have occurred before. Eyewitnesses to other crimes have identified the wrong person in a police lineup or in photographs. Many factors influence the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. For instance, witnesses sometimes see photographs of several suspects before they try to identify the person they saw in a lineup of people. They can become confused by seeing many photographs or similar faces. The number of people in the lineup, and whether it is a live lineup or a photograph, may also affect a witnesses decision. People sometimes have difficulty in identifying people of other races. The questions the police ask witnesses also have an effect on them. Are some witnesses more reliable than others Many people believe that police officers are more reliable than ordinary people. Psychologists decided to test this idea, and they discovered that it is not true. Two psychologists showed a film of crimes to both police officers and civilians. The psychologists found no difference between the police and the civilians in correctly remembering the details of the crimes. Despite all the possibilities for inaccuracy, courts cannot exclude eyewitness testimony from a trial. American courts depend almost completely on eyewitness testimony to resolve court cases. Sometimes it is the only evidence to a crime, such as rape. Furthermore, eyewitness testimony is often correct. Although people do sometimes make mistakes, many times they really do identify individuals correctly. American courts depend on the ability of the 12 jurors, and not the judges, to determine the accuracy of the witnesses testimony. It is their responsibility to decide if a certain witness could actually see, hear, and remember what occurred. In a few cases, the testimony of eyewitnesses has convicted innocent people. More importantly, it has rightly convicted a larger number of guilty people; consequently, it continues to be of great value in the American judicial system. Why was Bernard Jackson found guilty and imprisoned for five years

A. He committed the crime of raping two women.
B. The victims mistook him for the real criminal.
C. He had a previous criminal record.
D. No witness testified that he was in another location at the time of the crime.

Directions: In this section, you will read several passages. Each passage is followed by several questions based on its content. You are to choose ONE best answer to each question. Answer all the questions following each passage on the basis of what is stated or implied in that passage and write the letter of the answer you have chosen in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET Researchers have known that secondhand smoke can be just as dangerous for nonsmokers as smoking is for smokers, but now there’s fresh evidence quantifying just how hazardous the after-burn from cigarettes can be, and how quickly it affects your body. Scientists at the Oregon Department of Health documented for the first time an hourly buildup of a cancer- causing compound from cigarette smoke in the blood of nonsmokers working in bars and restaurants in the state. Reporting in the American Journal of Public Health, the researchers found that waitstaff and bartenders working a typical night shift gradually accumulated higher levels of NNK, a carcinogen in cigarette smoke, at the rate of 6% each hour they worked. NNK is known to be involved in inducing lung cancer in both lab rats and smokers. "We were somewhat surprised by the immediacy of the effect and the fact that we could measure the average hourly increase," says Michael Stark, the lead author of the study and a principal investigator at the Mulmomah County Health Department in Oregon. The authors are confident that the increases in NNK in the workers they tested most likely came from their exposure to smoke—the study included a control group of similar subjects in restaurants where no smoking was allowed. "There is experimental evidence from studies where you put nonsmokers in a room, blow smoke into the room and measure their artery function, that you see the platelets get sticky, which can cause clots and lead to a heart attack, and the ability of the arteries to dilate decreases very rapidly," says Dr. Matthew McKenna, director of the office on smoking and public health for the Centers for Disease Control. All of which could mean more time loitering outside buildings and in alleyways for smokers intent on grabbing a puff. Thirteen states now prohibit smoking in restaurants altogether (most of these include bars as well), and while 11 states still put no restrictions on lighting up, individual cities within those states—such as Austin in Texas, for example have passed legislation banning smoking in eating establishments and other public areas. It’s just getting harder to refute the scientific evidence; in a study done in Scotland several months after that nation instituted a ban on smoking in public places, researchers found that following the ban, bar patrons showed stronger lung capacity and reduced levels of inflammation (a red flag for a number of chronic diseases, including heart disease and asthma). "We made it pretty clear that the science on this is pretty irrefutable," says McKenna. And if smokers have fewer places to smoke, that message may finally get heard. How many states in the United States have banned smoking in restaurants

A. 12.
B. 13.
C. 14.
D. 15.

In its everyday life, Italy is very much the man’s world. However, because of the Italian’s understanding of foreigners, the woman tourist is able to invade many of the male places that are prohibited to Italian women. These places include the caffe and the wine shop. In the large cities the caffe is a combination of club and office. Here, for the price of a coffee, an Italian can read all the newspapers brought to him. And he can transact business, with the waiter producing pen, ink, and stamps as needed. Or if he wants, he can sit outside under a canvas covering before the door and enjoy the sight of beautiful women passing by. The wine shop, as a rule, is a more vigorous place than the caffe, and is filled almost exclusively with men. Wandering singers, generally in groups of two or three, add to the noise of these places with their songs and music. Many of the songs are of a political character and make fun of the leading statesmen of Italy, America, England, France, and Russia. But the songs are generally showing off a spirit of mischief. And when the criticism is about America, the American tourists find themselves laughing as much as anyone else. The Italian is a master at making fun of you and making you like it. The Italian men are deep-rooted gamblers. They have been brought up to it as children, but they are cautious gamblers and never go too much in it. The national lottery used to be one of the most popular forms of gambling. But later a football stake had taken away much of the interest in the lottery. But here the important thing is that gambling, the same as drinking, seldom goes to an Italian’s head and his bets are not really dangerous risks. Even at cards the Italian plays for low stakes, generally for a cup of coffee or wine. In this world of the Italian male it would be careless if the romanticism of the Italian were neglected. The Italian might well be described as the world’s greatest romanticist. From any boat in Venice to any member of the government in Rome, the Italian is always aware of romance, of love and of the importance of being a good lover. On the beaches of Italy, the visitor is aware that the Italian really lives for romance. His manners, his compliments, his charm and his general way of behaving are those of a romanticist. Almost every Italian you meet is convinced that he is another Casanova. Romance is as much a part of Italy as its art and its history. Perhaps the feeling of romance that wells up in you when you come to Italy is one of the greatest things that Italy has to offer a world that is tired of war and political intrigue. It is the ideal place for a honeymoon because hotel managers and waiters make you conscious of your own love and stress it in such a way that you feel more in love in this country than in any other. "Almost every Italian you meet is convinced that he is another Casanova. (Para. 6)" According to the context, "Casanova" is most probably______.

A. a very mischievous man
B. a very romantic man
C. a man who enjoys wine
D. a man who enjoys music

Every generation has its emblematic boy’s toy. Once upon a time there was the golf cart: a little toy car specifically designed for middle-aged men too rich to care about looking ridiculous. Later came the beach buggy, a briefly fashionable, wildly impractical, single-terrain vehicle. One might include the motorcycle or the snowmobile on this list, were they not, in certain contexts, quite useful, but there is no doubt which pointless recreational vehicle has captured the imagination of the landed, middle-aged celebrity: it’s the quad bike. What is it about this squat, ungainly, easy-to-flip machine that celebrities love so much As recreational vehicles go, the quad bike is hardly sophisticated. They are to the countryside what the jet-ski is to Lake Windermere. "There’s nothing cool about a quad", says Simon Tiffin, editor of a well-known magazine. "It’s a strange thing to want to hare round beautiful bits of the country in a petrol-guzzling machine." But celebrities love quad bikes. Musicians, comedians, DJs, actors and sportsmen have all been photographed aboard quads. "They’re the latest rich person’s toy", says Tiffin. "Spoilt children get them for Christmas." Provided you~ ye got a large estate to go with it, however, the quad bike can remain a secret indulgence. You can go out and tear up your own piece of countryside without anyone knowing you’re doing it. The quad bike’s nonsensical name—"quad" means four, but "bike" is an abbreviation of "bicycle", which means two—that comes to six—hints at its odd history. Originally the ATV, or all-terrain vehicle, as quads are sometimes known, was developed in Japan as a three-wheeled farm vehicle, an inexpensive mini-tractor that could go just about anywhere. In the 1980s the more stable four-wheeled quad was officially introduced—enthusiasts had been converting their trikes for some time—again primarily for farming, but its recreational appeal soon became apparent. At the same time a market for racing models was developing. Paul Anderson, a former British quad racing champion, says the quad’s recreational appeal lies in its potential to deliver a safe thrill. It’s a mix between a motorbike and driving a car; when you turn a corner, you’ve got to lean into the corner, and then if the ground’s greasy, the rear end slides out, he says. "Plus they’re much easier to ride than a two-wheeled motorcycle." The quad bike, in short, provides middle-aged excitement for men who think a Harley might be a bit dangerous. Anderson is keen to point out that quad bikes are, in his experience, much safer than motorcycles. "With quad racing it’s very rare that we see anybody having an accident and getting injured," he says. "In the right hands, personally, I think a quad bike is a very safe recreational vehicle", he adds. Outside of racing, quad bikes are growing in popularity and injuries have trebled in the last five years. Although retailers offer would-be purchasers basic safety instructions and recommend that riders wear gloves, helmets, goggles, boots and elbow pads, there is no licence required to drive a quad bike and few ways to encourage people to ride them wisely. Employers are required to provide training to workers who use quad bikes, but there is nothing to stop other buyers hurting themselves. For the rest of the world, quad bikes are here to stay. They feature heavily in the programmes of holiday activity centres, they have all but replaced the tractor as the all-purpose agricultural workhorse and now police constables ride them while patrolling the Merseyside coastline. It has more or less usurped the beach buggy, the dirt bike and the snowmobile, anywhere they can go the quad bike can. They even race them on ice. You can’t drive round Lake Windermere on one, or at least nobody’s tried it yet. Just wait. What does Paul Anderson think about quad bike riding

A. The only danger is when the rider is turning a corner.
B. Anyone who can ride a quad bike can ride a motorcycle.
C. Most accidents occur when people are racing quad bikes.
D. A quad bike can be exciting without being dangerous.

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