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Fruit Fly Fix

It is breakfast time. You have been looking forward to eating a nice ripe banana ever since you woke up. Just when
you reach for the delicious piece of fruit on your counter, you see something that makes you much less hungry: a
swarm of fruit flies!
Fruit flies are tiny insects that are attracted to ripe or rotting fruits and vegetables. The flies not only eat the fruit,
they also lay their eggs there. A single fruit fly can lay up to 500 eggs on the surface of a piece of fruit. Within eight
days, the fruit flies that hatch from these eggs are full adults that can then lay their own eggs. As you can see, what
might start out as a small fruit fly problem can become very large very quickly.
Although there is a chance fruit flies can carry germs on to your food, this is not very likely. Fruit flies are annoying,
but they probably will not hurt you. Because they are such a nuisance, however, most people want to get rid of
these pesky bugs as quickly as possible. Some people use pesticide sprays on the fruit flies. Although this will kill
the flies, it will also spread harmful poison all over your kitchen. Luckily, there is also a completely safe way for you
to get rid of fruit flies in your house.
The first step is for you to remove all fruits or vegetables from your counter. Store these items in the refrigerator or
in sealed containers. Clean up any spilled juice or bits of food that might be on the floor. Take out the trash and
empty the recycling bin. Wash any dirty dishes that are in your sink. Doing all of these things will stop new fruit flies
from finding food or places to lay their eggs.
Next, make a trap to catch all of the remaining fruit flies in your house. First, fill a small bowl with a few tablespoons
of vinegar. Then, put a piece of very ripe or rotting fruit into the vinegar. Cover the bowl very tightly with a sheet of
plastic wrap and poke a few very small holes in the wrap with a fork. If all goes according to plan, the flies will enter
the trap through the holes but will be unable to fly back out. This trap will catch all of the remaining fruit flies. You
can either kill these flies or release them outdoors.
Fruit flies can be a pest, but they do not have to make you crazy. With a little effort, you can get existing flies out of
your house and prevent new ones from taking over your kitchen.
1) In reading this passage, we learn that fruit flies
I. die immediately after they lay their eggs
II. can grow into adults after only 8 days
III. are mostly harmless
A. I only
B. I and II only
C. II and III only
D. I, II, and III
Ans c
2) As used in paragraph 3, a nuisance is something that
A. bothers you
B. can be dangerous
C. grows fast
D. is very small
Ans a
3) According to the passage, why should you not use pesticide spray to kill fruit flies?
A. most sprays do not actually kill all of the fruit flies
B. buying sprays can get expensive if you need to use a lot of them
C. the sprays take too much time to work
D. it can be dangerous to use them in your kitchen
Ans d
4) Based on the information in the penultimate (next-to-last) paragraph, we can understand that the author thinks
that
A. some people do not mind having fruit flies in their house
B. some people do not like killing insects
C. fruit flies do not like vinegar
D. making a fruit fly trap can be difficult
Ans b

Materials
A material is what something is made of. There are 5 basic materials. Most things are made with these materials.
Some things are made of metal. Some things are made of glass. Some things are made of wood. Some things are
made of cloth. And some things are made of plastic. There are some other materials. But they are not used as
much as these 5 materials.
Lets talk about metal first. Metal is very heavy. And it is very hard and strong. It usually feels cool if you touch it. We
use metal to make lots of things. We use it for forks and knives. We use it for keys. We use it for cars. We use it for
these things because it is very strong.
Next, lets talk about glass. Glass is very smooth. It feels cool to touch. It is not as heavy as metal. It is hard. But it
is not strong. It breaks very easily! Then why do we use it? We use it because it is clear! You can see through
glass! Thats why we use it for windows. Thats also why we use it for glasses.
Now, lets talk about wood. Wood is lighter than metal and glass. It is not as strong as metal. But it is much stronger
than glass. We use wood to make lots of things. Things made from wood are usually light and hard and strong.
Chairs and tables are made from wood. Pencils are made from wood.
Now lets talk about cloth. Cloth is very light. It is much lighter than wood. And it is very soft. We use cloth to make
lots of things. For example, it is used to make clothing. And it is used to make blankets.
Last, lets talk about plastic. Plastic is also very light. But it is different from cloth. Sometimes it is
soft. And sometimes it is hard. Plastic can be used to make thin plastic bags. These are light, soft,
and strong. But plastic can also be used to make bicycle helmets. These are light, hard, and strong. A
helmet and a bag seem different. But they are both made from plastic.

1) Which sentence from the passage best describes the main idea?

Ans "There are 5 basic materials."


2) According to the passage, how does glass feel?

Ans
smooth and cool
3) Which material would you use if you wanted to make something that was strong and very light?

Ans plastic
4) In this passage, the author talks about which material first then other?
heavy things first, then light things

The New year is the time for resolution .Mentally, at least most of us could compile
formidable lists of dos and donts. The same old favourites recur year in and year out
with the children, do a thousand and one job abut the house, be nice to people we dont
like, drive carefully, and take the dog for a walk every day. Past experience has tahght us
that certain accomplishments are beyond attainment. If we remain deep rooted liars, it is
only because we have so often experienced the frustration that results from failure.
Most of us fail in our efforts at self improvement because our schemes are too
ambitious and we never have time to carry them out. We also make the fundamental error
of announcing our resolution to everybody so that we look even more foolish when we
slipback into our bad old ways. Aware of these pitfalls, this year I attempted to keep my

resolution to myself. I limited myself to two modest ambitions, to do physicat exericese


every mornimg and to read more in the evening. An overnight party on New years eve
provided me with a good excuse for not carrying out eiter of these new resolution on the
first day of the year, but on the second, Iapplied myself assiduously to the task.
The daily exercise lasted only eleven minutes and I proposed to do them early in the
morning before anyone had got up. The self discipline reqired to drag myself out of bed
eleven minutes earlier than usual was considerable. Nevertheless, I managed to creep down
into the living room for two days before anyone found me out. After jumping about in the
carpet and twisted the human frame into uncomfortable positions.I sat down at the
breakfast table in an exhausted condition. It was this that betrayed me. The next morning
the whole family trooped into watch the performance. That was really unsettling but I
fended off the taunts and jibes of the family good humouredly and soon everybody got used
to the idea. However, my enthusiasm waned , the time I spent at exercises gradually
diminished. Little by little the eleven minutes fell to zero. By January10th I was back to
where I had started from. I argued that if I spent less time exhausting myself at exercises
in the morning. I would keep my mind fresh for reading when I got home from work.
Resisting the hypnotizing effect of television, Isat in my room for a few evenings with my
eyes glued to a book. One night, however, feeling cold and lonely, I went downstairs and sat
in front of the television pretending to read. That proved to be my undoing, for I soon got
back to the old bad habit of dozing off in front of the screen. I still havent given up my
resolution to do more reading. In fact, I have just bought a book entitled How to Read a
Thousand Words a Minute. Perhaps it will solve my problem, but Ijust have not had time to
read it.
Q.1. Why most of us fail in our efforts for self-improvement?
Ans. Value Points: because our schemes are too ambitious and we never have
time to carry them out.
Q.2. Why is it a basic mistake to announce our resolution to everybody ?
Ans. Value Points: look even more foolish when we slipback into our bad old
ways.
Q.3. Why did the writer not carry out his resolution on New Years Day
Ans. Value Points: An overnight party on New Years Eve provided the writer with
a good excuse for not carrying out either of these new resolutions on the first day
of the year.

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