a piece of office furniture with deep drawers for storing documents

an area of a town or city that people live in

a letter where you ask for a job

a business that provides a particular service

What does this word mean?

1. How many pillars of Islam are there in total? A) Three B) Five (Correct) C) Six D) Seven Hint: Think about the famous Hadith of Gabriel where he asks about the basic practices of Islam. 2. What is the first pillar of Islam? A) Salah (Prayer) B) Zakat (Charity) C) Shahadah (Declaration of faith) (Correct) D) Sawm (Fasting) Hint: It is the declaration that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger. 3. How many times a day must a Muslim perform Salah (prayer)? A) Three times B) Five times (Correct) C) Four times D) Six times Hint: Count Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha. 4. What does the word 'Zakat' mean in terms of practice? A) Fasting all day B) Giving charity to the poor (Correct) C) Traveling to Makkah D) Reading the Quran Hint: It involves sharing a small part of your saved wealth to purify the rest of it. 5. During which Islamic month do Muslims fast (Sawm)? A) Muharram B) Ramadan (Correct) C) Shawwal D) Dhul-Hijjah Hint: It is the month in which the Quran was first revealed. 6. Where must a Muslim go to perform Hajj? A) Madinah B) Jerusalem C) Makkah (Correct) D) Cairo Hint: This city contains the Kaaba, the direction Muslims face during prayer. 7. Which pillar of Islam directly trains a Muslim in patience and feeling the hunger of the poor? A) Shahadah B) Sawm (Fasting) (Correct) C) Salah D) Hajj Hint: It is done during the daylight hours of Ramadan. Part 2: Pillars of Iman (أركان الإيمان) 8. How many pillars of Iman (faith) are there? A) Five B) Six (Correct) C) Four D) Eight Hint: It is one more than the number of pillars of Islam. 9. What is the first and most important pillar of Iman? A) Belief in Angels B) Belief in Allah (Correct) C) Belief in the Books D) Belief in the Last Day Hint: This is the belief in Monotheism (Tawhid). 10. Muslims believe that angels are created from what? A) Fire B) Clay C) Light (Correct) D) Water Hint: Think of a bright source that illuminates the dark, which matches their pure and luminous nature. 11. Which angel was responsible for bringing the revelation (Quran) to the Prophet Muhammad? A) Angel Mikaeel (Michael) B) Angel Jibreel (Gabriel) (Correct) C) Angel Israfeel D) Angel Malak al-Mawt Hint: He is the leader of all angels and visited the Prophet in the cave of Hira. 12. Belief in the Holy Books is a pillar of Iman. Which book was given to Prophet Isa (Jesus)? A) The Torah B) The Zabur C) The Injeel (Correct) D) The Quran Hint: The English translation often links this word closely to the 'Gospel'. 13. Who is the final Prophet and Messenger sent by Allah to mankind? A) Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) B) Prophet Musa (Moses) C) Prophet Muhammad (Correct) D) Prophet Nuh (Noah) Hint: He was born in Makkah and received the Quran. 14. What does 'Belief in the Last Day' mean? A) Belief in the last day of Ramadan B) Belief in the Day of Judgment (Correct) C) Belief in the weekend D) Belief that the sun will never set Hint: It is the day when people will be rewarded with Paradise or punished based on their deeds. 15. What is the sixth pillar of Iman? A) Belief in Qadar (Divine Decree/Fate) (Correct) B) Belief in Hellfire C) Belief in the Companions D) Belief in Charity Hint: It relates to destiny and accepting whatever Allah has written for us. 16. What is the Arabic word for the 'Divine Decree' or destiny in the pillars of Iman? A) Zakat B) Qadar (Correct) C) Injeel D) Tawhid Hint: It sounds like 'Al-Qadr', as in the night of decree (Laylat al-Qadr). 17. Belief in Prophets includes believing in messengers mentioned in other scriptures. Who did Allah speak to directly? A) Prophet Musa (Moses) (Correct) B) Prophet Nuh (Noah) C) Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) D) Prophet Yunus (Jonah) Hint: He is the prophet associated with Mount Sinai and parting the sea. Part 3: Ihsan (الإحسان) 18. What is the meaning of 'Ihsan' according to the famous Hadith? A) To give all your money away B) To worship Allah as if you see Him (Correct) C) To memorize the whole Quran D) To fast twice a week Hint: It is the highest level of religion, focusing on absolute perfection and sincerity in worship. 19. If you cannot see Allah during worship, what must you always remember according to Ihsan? A) That other people are watching you B) That Allah sees you (Correct) C) That you should finish quickly D) That the angels will pray for you Hint: Allah is All-Seeing (Al-Baseer) and All-Knowing (Al-Aleem). 20. Which of the following represents the correct order of levels in religion from lowest to highest? A) Ihsan, then Iman, then Islam B) Islam, then Iman, then Ihsan (Correct) C) Iman, then Islam, then Ihsan D) Islam, then Ihsan, then Iman Hint: Every Muhsin (person of Ihsan) is a Mu'min (person of Iman) and a Muslim, but not vice versa.

SPANISH STUDENTS 10/22/25 In the sentence 'The author chose to juxtapose the wealthy neighborhood with the impoverished area to highlight social inequality,' what does 'juxtapose' most likely mean based on context clues? * 1 point to separate completely to describe in detail to criticize harshly to place side by side for comparison When reading 'This paradox confused everyone: the more he tried to save time, the less time he seemed to have,' what can you infer about a paradox? * 1 point a mathematical equation a simple solution a type of poem a contradictory statement that reveals truth The passage states: 'The author's use of symbolism was evident when the broken mirror represented the character's shattered dreams.' Based on this context, symbolism involves: * 1 point using objects to represent deeper meanings creating rhyming patterns writing in chronological order using literal descriptions only In the text 'Please elaborate on your answer by providing specific examples and detailed explanations,' the word 'elaborate' suggests the need to: * 1 point use simpler words change the topic add more detail make it shorter The critic wrote: 'The actor's performance captured every nuance of emotion, from subtle sadness to barely contained rage.' What does 'nuance' refer to in this context? * 1 point subtle variations in meaning simple emotions loud expressions obvious differences When the text says 'The implication of her silence was clear to everyone in the room, though she never spoke a word,' what does 'implication' mean? * 1 point a command given a direct statement a question asked a conclusion drawn indirectly The scientist stated: 'Based on our limited observations, our hypothesis suggests that plants grow faster with classical music.' What is a hypothesis? * 1 point a type of experiment a proven fact a final conclusion a possible explanation needing more evidence In 'Three witnesses were able to corroborate the defendant's alibi, strengthening his case significantly,' the word 'corroborate' most likely means: * 1 point to question or doubt to confirm or support to change the story to ignore completely The passage reads: 'The student needed to justify her controversial thesis with solid evidence and logical reasoning.' What does 'justify' mean here? * 1 point to make it longer to make excuses for to avoid explaining to prove something is reasonable When the text states 'The researcher was able to synthesize information from five different studies to create a comprehensive theory,' what does 'synthesize' involve? * 1 point copying one source exactly combining multiple sources to create something new rejecting all previous research focusing on only one idea When a reader encounters 'The symbolism in the novel was complex, with the recurring image of doors representing new opportunities throughout the story,' they should: * 1 point memorize all symbols skip symbolic passages look for deeper representational meanings focus only on the literal meaning If a teacher says 'Your essay needs more elaboration - expand on your main points with examples and analysis,' what critical thinking skill is being requested? * 1 point developing ideas with supporting details summarizing briefly using fewer examples changing the topic entirely In the passage 'The dark clouds gathering on the horizon seemed to foreshadow the troubles that would soon befall the village,' what literary technique is being demonstrated? * 1 point The author is using environmental details to hint at future plot developments The author is focusing on realistic weather descriptions The author is using weather to predict actual meteorological events The author is describing a coincidental weather pattern When analyzing 'Sarah knew the antagonist in her favorite novel wasn't just evil—he represented the fear of change that many people experience,' what deeper understanding about antagonists is revealed? * 1 point Antagonists are always completely evil characters Antagonists can represent abstract concepts or human struggles Antagonists must be human characters Antagonists only exist to create action scenes In the sentence 'The protagonist's journey wasn't just about reaching the destination—it was about discovering who she truly was,' what does this suggest about effective protagonists? * 1 point Protagonists must always succeed in their missions Protagonists should remain unchanged throughout the story Protagonists undergo both external and internal development Protagonists should focus only on external goals When the text states 'The word 'home' carried different connotations for each character—warmth and safety for some, confinement and obligation for others,' what critical reading skill is being highlighted? * 1 point Memorizing dictionary definitions Understanding that words have only one correct meaning Identifying grammatical structures Recognizing that word meanings can vary based on personal experience In 'While the denotation of 'snake' is simply a reptile, the author's use of it to describe the character suggests something far more sinister,' what analytical skill is required? * 1 point Understanding reptile biology Memorizing animal classifications Distinguishing between literal and figurative meanings Identifying sentence structure When examining 'The author's tone shifted from hopeful in the opening chapters to increasingly cynical as the story progressed,' what does this reveal about sophisticated writing? * 1 point Tone is unimportant in storytelling Tone changes reflect the author's developing attitude toward the subject Only the ending tone matters Authors should maintain the same tone throughout In analyzing 'The theme of the novel wasn't stated directly but emerged through the characters' repeated struggles with moral choices,' what does this demonstrate about themes? * 1 point Themes develop through patterns in the narrative Themes are only found in the conclusion Themes should always be explicitly stated Themes must be simple moral lessons When the passage reads 'From the character's nervous glances and hesitant speech, readers can infer that she's hiding something important,' what critical thinking process is being described? * 1 point Following explicit plot statements Memorizing character descriptions Making random guesses about character motivations Using textual evidence to draw logical conclusions In 'The ending was deliberately ambiguous, allowing readers to decide whether the character's actions were heroic or selfish,' what does this suggest about sophisticated literature? * 1 point Good stories always have clear, definitive endings Unclear endings indicate poor writing Ambiguity can enhance reader engagement and interpretation Authors should avoid confusing readers When analyzing 'The controversial decision to ban the book sparked debates about censorship versus protecting young readers,' what critical thinking skill is most important? * 1 point Choosing one side immediately Examining multiple perspectives before forming an opinion Avoiding difficult topics entirely Following popular opinion In 'Each character's perspective on the same event revealed how personal experiences shape our understanding of truth,' what deeper concept is being explored? * 1 point All perspectives are equally valid Perspective is unimportant in understanding events There is only one correct way to view any situation Personal background influences how we interpret events When the text states 'The community proved resilient, rebuilding not just their homes but their hope after the disaster,' what does this reveal about the concept of resilience? * 1 point Resilience encompasses both practical and emotional recovery Resilience is an innate trait that cannot be developed Resilience means avoiding all difficulties Resilience only involves physical recovery In analyzing 'The author's portrayal of the character's empathy—her ability to understand her enemy's pain even while fighting him—added complexity to the conflict,' what does this suggest about empathy? * 1 point Empathy means agreeing with everyone Empathy makes people weak in conflicts Empathy should be avoided in difficult situations Empathy can coexist with opposition and create moral complexity When examining 'The character's integrity was tested when telling the truth would hurt people she loved,' what does this reveal about integrity? * 1 point Integrity means always following rules regardless of consequences Integrity means never causing any harm to others Integrity is only important in public situations Integrity involves making difficult moral choices even when costly In 'The student learned to advocate for her ideas by presenting evidence rather than just stating opinions,' what critical skill is being developed? * 1 point Supporting positions with logical reasoning and evidence Avoiding controversial topics entirely Learning to argue loudly and persistently Always agreeing with authority figures If you rewrote a scene from 'The Birchbark House' from Omakayas's grandmother's first-person perspective instead of Omakayas's, how would this most likely change the reader's understanding? * 1 point Nothing would change since they're both female characters The language would become more formal and difficult The story would become less interesting because adults are boring Readers would gain wisdom from experience but lose the innocence of childhood discovery In a plot diagram, the rising action serves which critical purpose beyond simply building toward the climax? * 1 point To provide background information about the setting To confuse readers so the ending is surprising To develop character relationships and establish stakes that make the climax meaningful To make the story longer and more detailed When analyzing the falling action in 'The Birchbark House,' which element would be most important to consider when writing an alternate version? * 1 point Whether the consequences of the climax align with the new direction you want the story to take Making sure it's shorter than the rising action Including a moral lesson for readers How quickly the conflicts get resolved In the exposition of a story, conflict serves which essential function that many readers don't realize? * 1 point To immediately grab attention with action scenes To provide comic relief before serious events To show off the author's writing skills To establish what the characters characterization/personality, which determines what they' must learn to overcome as they face more problems

She went by the name of Belisa Crepusculario, not because she had been baptized with that name or given it by her mother, but because she herself had searched until she found the poetry of "beauty" and "twilight" and cloaked herself in it. She made her living selling words. She journeyed through the country from the high cold mountains to the burning coasts, stopping at fairs and in markets where she set up four poles covered by a canvas awning under which she took refuge from the sun and rain to minister to her customers. She did not have to peddle her merchandise because from having wandered far and near, everyone knew who she was. Some people waited for her from one year to the next, and when she appeared in the village with her bundle beneath her arm, they would form a line in front of her stall. Her prices were fair. For five centavos she delivered verses from memory, for seven she improved the quality of dreams, for nine she wrote love letters, for twelve she invented insults for irreconcilable enemies. She also sold stories, not fantasies but long, true stories she recited at one telling, never skipping a word. This is how she carried news from one town to another. People paid her to add a line or two: our son was born, so-and-so died, our children got married, the crops burned in the field. Wherever she went a small crowd gathered around to listen as she began to speak, and that was how they learned about each others' doings, about distant relatives, about what was going on in the civil war. To anyone who paid her fifty centavos in trade, she gave the gift of a secret word to drive away melancholy. It was not the same word for everyone, naturally, because that would have been collective dece it. Each person received his or her own word, with the assurance that no one else would use it that way in this universe or the Beyond. Belisa Crepusculario had been born into a family so poor they did not even have names to give their children. She came into the world and grew up in an inhospitable land where some years the rains became avalanches of water that bore everything away before them and others when not a drop fell from the sky and the sun swelled to fill the horizon and the world became a desert. Until she was twelve, Belisa had no occupation or virtue other than having withstood hunger and the exhaustion of centuries. During one interminable drought, it fell to her to bury four younger brothers and sisters, when she realized that her turn was next, she decided to set out across the 2 plains in the direction of the sea, in hopes that she might trick death along the way. The land was eroded, split with deep cracks, strewn with rocks, fossils of trees and thorny bushes, and skeletons of animals bleached by the sun. From time to time she ran into families who, like her, were heading south, following the mirage of water. Some had begun the march carrying their belongings on their back or in small carts, but they could barely move their own bones, and after a while they had to abandon their possessions. They dragged themselves along painfully, their skin turned to lizard hide and their eyes burned by the reverberating glare. Belisa greeted them with a wave as she passed, but she did not stop, because she had no strength to waste in acts of compassion. Many people fell by the wayside, but she was so stubborn that she survived to cross through that hell and at long last reach the first trickles of water, fine, almost invisible threads that fed spindly vegetation and farther down widened into small streams and marshes. Belisa Crepusculario saved her life and in the process accidentally discovered writing. In a village near the coast, the wind blew a page of newspaper at her feet. She picked up the brittle yellow paper and stood a long while looking at it, unable to determine its purpose, until curiosity overcame her shyness. She walked over to a man who was washing his horse in the muddy pool where she had quenched her thirst. "What is this?" she asked. "The sports page of the newspaper," the man replied, concealing his surprise at her ignorance. The answer astounded the girl, but she did not want to seem rude, so she merely inquired about the significance of the fly tracks scattered across the page. "Those are words, child. Here it says that Fulgencio Barba knocked out El Negro Tiznao in the third round." That was the day Belisa Crepusculario found out that words make their way in the world without a master, and that anyone with a little cleverness can appropriate them and do business with them. She made a quick assessment of her situation and concluded that aside from becoming a prostitute or working as a servant in the kitchens of the rich there were few occupations she was qualified for. It seemed to her that selling words would be an honorable alternative. From that moment on, she worked at that profession, and was never tempted by any other. At the beginning, she offered her merchandise unaware that words could be written outside of newspapers. When she learned otherwise, she calculated the infinite possibilities of her trade and with her savings paid a priest twenty pesos to teach her to read and write, with her three 3 remaining coins she bought a dictionary. She poured over it from A to Z and then threw it into the sea, because it was not her intention to defraud her customers with packaged words. One August morning several years later, Belisa Crepusculario was sitting in her tent in the middle of a plaza, surrounded by the uproar of market day, selling legal arguments to an old man who had been trying for sixteen years to get his pension. Suddenly she heard yelling and thudding hoofbeats. She looked up from her writing and saw, first, a cloud of dust, and then a band of horsemen come galloping into the plaza. They were the Colonel's men, sent under orders of El Mulato, a giant known throughout the land for the speed of his knife and his loyalty to his chief. Both the Colonel and El Mulato had spent their lives fighting in the civil war, and their names were ineradicably linked to devastation and calamity. The rebels swept into town like a stampeding herd, wrapped in noise, bathed in sweat, and leaving a hurricane of fear in their trail. Chickens took wing, dogs ran for their lives, women and children scurried out of sight, until the only living soul left in the market was Belisa Crepusculario. She had never seen El Mulato and was surprised to see him walking toward her. "I'm looking for you," he shouted, pointing his coiled whip at her, even before the words were out, two men rushed her -- knocking over her canopy and shattering her inkwell -- bound her hand and foot, and threw her like a sea bag across the rump of El Mulato's mount. Then they thundered off toward the hills. Hours later, just as Belisa Crepusculario was near death, her heart ground to sand by the pounding of the horse, they stopped, and four strong hands set her down. She tried to stand on her feet and hold her head high, but her strength failed her and she slumped to the ground, sinking into a confused dream. She awakened several hours later to the murmur of night in the camp, but before she had time to sort out the sounds, she opened her eyes and found herself staring into the impatient glare of El Mulato, kneeling beside her. "Well, woman, at last you've come to," he said. To speed her to her senses, he tipped his canteen and offered her a sip of liquor laced with gunpowder. She demanded to know the reason for such rough treatment, and El Mulato explained that the Colonel needed her services. He allowed her to splash water on her face, and then led her to the far end of the camp where the most feared man in all the land was lazing in a hammock strung between two trees. She could not see his face, because he lay in the deceptive shadow of the leaves and the indelible shadow of all his years as a bandit, but she imagined from the way his 4 gigantic aide addressed him with such humility that he must have a very menacing expression. She was surprised by the Colonel's voice, as soft and well-modulated as a professor's. "Are you the woman who sells words?" he asked. "At your service," she stammered, peering into the dark and trying to see him better. The Colonel stood up, and turned straight toward her. She saw dark skin and the eyes of a ferocious puma, and she knew immediately that she was standing before the loneliest man in the world. "I want to be President," he announced. The Colonel was weary of riding across that godforsaken land, waging useless wars and suffering defeats that no subterfuge could transform into victories. For years he had been sleeping in the open air, bitten by mosquitoes, eating iguanas and snake soup, but those minor inconveniences were not why he wanted to change his destiny. What truly troubled him was the terror he saw in people's eyes. He longed to ride into a town beneath a triumphal arch with bright flags and flowers everywhere, he wanted to be cheered, and be given newly laid eggs and freshly baked bread. Men fled at the sight of him, children trembled, and women miscarried from fright, he had had enough, and so he had decided to become President. El Mulato had suggested that they ride to the capital, gallop up to the Palace, and take over the government, the way they had taken so many other things without anyone's permission. The Colonel, however, did not want to be just another tyrant, there had been enough of those before him and, besides, if he did that, he would never win people's hearts. It was his aspiration to win the popular vote in the December elections. "To do that, I have to talk like a candidate. Can you sell me the words for a speech?" the Colonel asked Belisa Crepusculario. She had accepted many assignments, but none like this. She did not dare refuse, fearing that El Mulato would shoot her between the eyes, or worse still, that the Colonel would burst into tears. There was more to it than that, however, she felt the urge to help him because she felt a throbbing warmth beneath her skin, a powerful desire to touch that man, to fondle him, to clasp him in her arms. All night and a good part of the following day, Belisa Crepusculario searched her repertory for words adequate for a presidential speech, closely watched by El Mulato, who could not take his eyes from her firm wanderer's legs and virginal breasts. She discarded harsh, cold words, words 5 that were too flowery, words worn from abuse, words that offered improbable promises, untruthful and confusing words, until all she had left were words sure to touch the minds of men and women's intuition. Calling upon the knowledge she had purchased from the priest for twenty pesos, she wrote the speech on a sheet of paper and then signaled El Mulato to untie the rope that bound her ankles to a tree. He led her once more to the Colonel, and again she felt the throbbing anxiety that had seized her when she first saw him. She handed him the paper and waited while he looked at it, holding it gingerly between thumbs and fingertips. "What the shit does this say," he asked finally. "Don't you know how to read?" "War's what I know," he replied. She read the speech aloud. She read it three times, so her client could engrave it on his memory. When she finished, she saw the emotion in the faces of the soldiers who had gathered round to listen, and saw that the Colonel's eyes glittered with enthusiasm, convinced that with those words the presidential chair would be his. "If after they've heard it three times, the boys are still standing there with their mouths hanging open, it must mean the thing's damn good, Colonel" was El Mulato's approval. "All right, woman. How much do I owe you?" the leader asked. "One peso, Colonel." "That's not much," he said, opening the pouch he wore at his belt, heavy with proceeds from the last foray. "The peso entitles you to a bonus. I'm going to give you two secret words," said Belisa Crepusculario. "What for?" She explained that for every fifty centavos a client paid, she gave him the gift of a word for his exclusive use. The Colonel shrugged. He had no interest at all in her offer, but he did not want to be impolite to someone who had served him so well. She walked slowly to the leather stool where he was sitting, and bent down to give him her gift. The man smelled the scent of a mountain cat issuing from the woman, a fiery heat radiating from her hips, he heard the terrible whisper of her hair, and a breath of sweetmint murmured into his ear the two secret words that were his alone. "They are yours, Colonel," she said as she stepped back. "You may use them as much as you 6 please." El Mulato accompanied Belisa to the roadside, his eyes as entreating as a stray dog's, but when he reached out to touch her, he was stopped by an avalanche of words he had never heard before; believing them to be an irrevocable curse, the flame of his desire was extinguished. During the months of September, October, and November the Colonel delivered his speech so many times that had it not been crafted from glowing and durable words it would have turned to ash as he spoke. He travelled up and down and across the country, riding into cities with a triumphal air, stopping in even the most forgotten villages where only the dump heap betrayed a human presence, to convince his fellow citizens to vote for him. While he spoke from a platform erected in the middle of the plaza, El Mulato and his men handed out sweets and painted his name on all the walls in gold frost. No one paid the least attention to those advertising ploys; they were dazzled by the clarity of the Colonel's proposals and the poetic lucidity of his arguments, infected by his powerful wish to right the wrongs of history, happy for the first time in their lives. When the Candidate had finished his speech, his soldiers would fire their pistols into the air and set off firecrackers, and when finally they rode off, they left behind a wake of hope that lingered for days on the air, like the splendid memory of a comet's tail. Soon the Colonel was the favorite. No one had ever witnessed such a phenomenon: a man who surfaced from the civil war, covered with scars and speaking like a professor, a man whose fame spread to every corner of the land and captured the nation's heart. The press focused their attention on him. Newspapermen came from far away to interview him and repeat his phrases, and the number of his followers and enemies continued to grow. "We're doing great, Colonel," said El Mulato, after twelve successful weeks of campaigning. But the Candidate did not hear. He was repeating his secret words, as he did more and more obsessively. He said them when he was mellow with nostalgia; he murmured them in his sleep; he carried them with him on horseback; he thought them before delivering his famous speech; and he caught himself savoring them in his leisure time. And every time he thought of those two words, he thought of Belisa Crepusculario, and his senses were inflamed with the memory of her feral scent, her fiery heat, the whisper of her hair, and her sweetmint breath in his ear, until he began to go around like a sleepwalker, and his men realized that he might die before he ever sat in the presidential chair. "What's got hold of you, Colonel," El Mulato asked so often that finally one day his chief broke 7 down and told him the source of his befuddlement: those two words that were buried like two daggers in his gut. "Tell me what they are and maybe they'll lose their magic," his faithful aide suggested. "I can't tell them, they're for me alone," the Colonel replied. Saddened by watching his chief decline like a man with a death sentence on his head, El Mulato slung his rifle over his shoulder and set out to find Belisa Crepusculario. He followed her trail through all that vast country, until he found her in a village in the far south, sitting under her tent reciting her rosary of news. He planted himself, spraddle-legged, before her, weapon in hand. "You! You're coming with me," he ordered. She had been waiting. She picked up her inkwell, folded the canvas of her small stall, arranged her shawl around her shoulders, and without a word took her place behind El Mulato's saddle. They did not exchange so much as a word in all the trip; El Mulato's desire for her had turned into rage, and only his fear of her tongue prevented his cutting her to shreds with his whip. Nor was he inclined to tell her that the Colonel was in a fog, and that a spell whispered into his ear had done what years of battle had not been able to do. Three days later they arrived at the encampment, and immediately, in view of all the troops, El Mulato led his prisoner before the Candidate. "I brought this witch here so you can give her back her words, Colonel," El Mulato said, pointing the barrel of his rifle at the woman's head. "And then she can give you back your manhood." The Colonel and Belisa Crepusculario stared at each other, measuring one another from a distance. The men knew then that their leader would never undo the witchcraft of those accursed words, because the whole world could see the voracious-puma eyes soften as the woman walked to him and took his hand in hers. Copyright © 1989 by Isabel Allende From The Stories of Eva Luna, Translated by Margaret Sayers Peden

Types of questions: Here are common categories of comprehension questions: Literal/Factual Questions: These ask for information explicitly stated in the text. Example: Who was the first person to discover the new island? Vocabulary Questions: These test understanding of a word or phrase's meaning as used in the passage. Example: In the sentence, "The ancient scroll was fragile," what does "fragile" mean? Inferential Questions: These require you to "read between the lines" and draw conclusions not directly stated in the text. Example: Why do you think the character felt so nervous before the interview? Main Idea Questions: These ask you to identify the central message or key point of the passage. Example: What is the primary purpose of this article? Author's Purpose/Tone Questions: These questions assess your understanding of why the author wrote the text and the attitude they convey. Example: What emotion is the author trying to evoke in the reader? Figurative Language Questions: These test your knowledge of literary devices like metaphors, similes, and personification. Example: What does the author mean by "the world is a stage"? Synthesis Questions: These ask you to combine information from different parts of the text to form a new idea or understanding. Example: How do the first and last paragraphs relate to each other to create a unified message? Evaluative Questions: These go beyond the text to ask for your opinion or judgment about the content. Example: Do you agree with the author's conclusion? Why or why not?

Teaching English Introduction to the course: Language learning and teaching A 2 Characteristics of the language learners: Studying a system that aligns with international standards. A3 Cognitive factors in language learning: Addressing questions and obtaining necessary information regarding phenomena such as transfer, interference, and generalization; A4 Inductive and deductive language learning: ability and intelligence; and the phenomenon of systematic forgetting A5 Language learning methods and strategies: Familiarizing with foreign language learning methods, strategies for learning foreign languages, and communication strategies A6 International Assessment System of language skills in CEFR, IELTS, TOEFL: effective methods and strategies used to improve language skills (listening, reading, writing, speaking) A7 Psychological factors in language learning: Exploring various psychological factors such as self-esteem, shyness, risk-taking, anxiety, attitude, and motivation A8 The effectiveness of authentic materials during the learning process: The role of tasks and games in teaching foreign languages A9 Errors in language learning: Discussing types of errors, identifying and describing errors, causes of errors, and fossilized errors A10 Error correction or error analysis approaches: developing students' ability to apply their knowledge in practicing error correction A11 Age-related factors in language learning: Exploring types of comparisonand contrast, focusing on topics such as the age hypothesis and bilingualism, and providing a detailed explanation of these concepts A12 Teaching grammar: Studying grammar teaching methods; deductive and inductive approaches in grammar teaching; A13 Teaching grammar through context: linguistic intuition; language phenomena; using grammatical dictionaries; analyzing grammatical tasks; and designing exercises, tasks, and tests through completing grammarbased activities. A14 Teaching vocabulary. Seeking answers to questions such as 'What is a word?' and 'What does it mean to learn a word?' A15 Teaching vocabulary in context: teaching lexical units/phrases/collocations; introducing new vocabulary; using corpus data for pedagogical purposes; developing students' vocabulary learning strategies A16 Assessing vocabulary tasks: designing vocabulary tasks, exercises, and tests. In international assessment systems such as CEFR, IELTS, and TOEFL, grammar accuracy and lexical resource A 17 Teaching pronunciation: Understanding the importance of pronunciation for successful communication; teaching stress; teaching intonation A18 Modern technologies in teaching pronunciation A19 Error correction methods: watching to various experiences in this area and analyzing video lessons from international experts in the field A20 Analysis of skill integration in language learning: Understanding the stages of developing skill integration; integration of the four language skills; task-based integration; and project-based integration. A21 Teaching listening comprehension A22 Modern technologies in teaching listening comprehension A23 Teaching Speaking A24 Modern technologies in teaching Speaking A25 Teaching Reading A26 Modern technologies in teaching Reading A27 Teaching Writing A28 Modern technologies in teaching Writing A29 The role and importance of translation in teaching a foreign language A30 Module 2. International standards for teaching and assessment Classroom Language: The teacher's actions; the teacher's voice; the teacher's intonation; using the foreign language in the classroom A31 Foreign language environment: asking questions in the foreign language, giving instructions in the foreign language, providing oral explanations in the foreign language, and issues related to the use of the native language in the foreign language class. A 32 Designing curriculum: Studying, analyzing, and working with curricula designed for schools, lyceums, and colleges. A33 Planning lessons and the structure of lesson plans: determining thesequence of lessons, objectives, tasks, and expected outcomes; choosing the lesson structure for planning A34 Designing tasks for different stages of the lesson: Starting the lesson; concluding the lesson; connecting tasks within the lesson A35 Time management: allocating appropriate time for tasks during the lesson; and providing homework assignments A36 Educational materials and resources: Effective use of existing educational materials and resources; anticipating and addressing potential issues Planning and adapting materials: to the situation during teaching and working on lesson planning for groups of students with different abilities. A37 Classroom research: Stages of classroom research, data collection, analysis, and planning; creating/preparing the materials needed for data collection; distinguishing between the positive and negative aspects of the research A38 Data analysis: creating/preparing the materials needed for data collection; distinguishing between the positive and negative aspects of the research. A39 Peer lesson observation: Observing lessons; conducting interviews; questionnaires for teachers and students; maintaining a daily record; discussing problematic situations/events; notes and other aspects; the process of lesson observation: stages of observation; presenting observation results both orally and in writing. A40 Educational materials and national values: important tool for implementing and promoting educational standards, as well as national values. A41 Differences between methods of teaching foreign languages: practical application of modern methods in language teaching; foreign experiences in language teaching: the grammar-translation method; the method of conducting lessons entirely in the foreign language; the audio-linguistic method; and communicative methods. A42 Methods used in the local environment and their analysis: Discussion of the positive and negative aspects of various methods; language and culture; teaching/learning processes; the role of the native language in learning a foreign language; and the psychological foundations of foreign language teaching. A43 Teaching a foreign language through computer technologies A44 Types of independent work and its implementation A45 Principles of Assessment in foreign language teaching А46 Issues in Language Assessment А47 Alternatives in Assessment А48 Test methods. Methods and criteria for assessing language aspects: written expression, reading, listening comprehension, speaking, А49 integrating language skills: vocabulary; grammar; alternative forms of assessment; planning assessment; critical analysis; principles for designingtest tasks: scientific rigor, consistency, conciseness, clarity, informality, logical sequence, and systematic approach. А50 Foreign language for ESP. Studying and analyzing needs; setting objectives for teaching a foreign language in a specific field or professional area; defining teaching approaches in curriculum development; and discussing topics related to these areas. А51 Selecting textbooks, materials and resources А52 Content-based Instruction (CBI) А53 Strategies-based Instruction А54 Lifelong Learning: Teacher development, PreSETT, InSETT А55 The Role of Teaching Practice A56 Organization and implementation of compulsory and non-compulsory course process in foreign language teaching A57 Organization in and outclass activities A58 Defining the goals and content of foreign language teaching at various levels of the education system in the Republic of Uzbekistan: evaluating educational materials; adapting educational materials; creating educational materials; and discussing the role of the foreign language teacher in specialized fields to gain relevant information. A59 The role of independent study skills: foreign language focused on reading, research and study skills; make revision questions. incclude mcq question. answer the question. true false

Commas Directions: Correct the sentences by adding commas where needed. 1. After the sound of the bell we realized it was a false alarm. 2. Mr. Yoshino the head of the department resigned yesterday. 3. The gentleman with the black umbrella who is an ambassador to the United States said hello to us as we were entering the hotel. 4. Even though we won the game the players unfortunately did not play their best. 5. Heather walked quickly up to the door and knocked hoping that someone would answer. Author’s Purpose 6. An author writes a story about a boy who saves his town from a flood by using his quick thinking. The author includes exciting descriptions of the boy's bravery. What is the author’s most likely purpose for writing this story? A. To inform readers about the dangers of floods B. To entertain readers with a heroic tale C. To explain how to prevent floods D. To persuade readers to prepare for emergencies 7. Which of the following is an example of an author writing to persuade? A. A science textbook chapter explaining the water cycle B. A commercial encouraging people to adopt shelter pets C. A short story about a girl who finds a magical necklace D. A recipe for making chocolate chip cookies 8. Read the following sentence: "Studies show that students who read for 20 minutes a day score higher on tests. Reading is one of the best habits you can develop for success in school and life." What is the author’s purpose in this passage? A. To entertain readers with a fun story B. To persuade readers to read more often C. To inform readers about how books are written D. To explain how to find books to read 9. An author writes a how-to guide titled 10 Easy Steps to Plant a Garden. What is the author’s primary purpose? A. To persuade readers to grow their own vegetables B. To inform readers how to plant a garden C. To entertain readers with funny garden tips 10. Read the excerpt: "Long ago, in a village surrounded by mountains, the people discovered a secret about their water well. Every full moon, the well water turned to gold for just one night. But no one knew why. This mystery brought travelers from far and wide, hoping to uncover the truth." What is the author’s purpose in this excerpt? A. To persuade readers to visit the village B. To inform readers about a historical event C. To entertain readers with a mysterious tale D. To explain the science behind the water Main Idea When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home. I was wishing I looked like Paul Newman--- he looks tough and I don't--- but I guess my own looks aren't so bad. I have light-brown, almost-red hair and greenish-gray eyes. I wish they were more gray because I hate most guys that have green eyes, but I have to be content with what I have. My hair is longer than a lot of boys wear theirs, squared off in back and long at the front and sides, but I am a greaser and most of my neighborhood rarely bothers to get a haircut. Besides, I look better with long hair. 11. What is the main idea? The narrator likes movies. The narrator wishes he was Paul Newman. The narrator is content with his appearance. The narrator looks better with long hair. 12. The narrator believes. . . looks are important. he should get a haircut. green eyes are bad. that he has red hair. Once there were four girls who shared a pair of pants. The girls were all different sizes and shapes, and yet the pants fit each of them. You may think this is a suburban myth. But I know it's true, because I am one of them, one of the sisters of the Traveling Pants. We discovered their magic last summer, purely by accident. The four of us were splitting up for the first time in our lives. Carmen had gotten them from a secondhand place without even bothering to try them on. She was going to throw them away, but by chance, Tibby spotted them. First Tibby tried them; then me, Lena; then Bridget; then Carmen. By the time Carmen pulled them on, we knew something extraordinary was happening. If the same pants fit and I mean really fit the four of us, they aren't ordinary. They don't belong completely to the world of things you can see and touch. My sister, Effie, claims I don't believe in magic, and maybe I didn't then. But after the first summer of the Traveling Pants, I do. 13. What is the main idea? Four friends were connected through a special pair of pants. A pair of pants called the Traveling Pants. Carmen finding a pair of pants from a second-hand shop. The girls believing in magic. 14. The narrator included that the pants fit all of them to emphasize how the girls become friends. the girls are different sizes. why the pants are special. where the pants came from. If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book. In this book, not only is there no happy ending, there is no happy beginning and very few happy things in the middle. This is because not very many happy things happened in the lives of the three Baudelaire youngsters. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire were intelligent children, and they were charming, and resourceful, and had pleasant facial features, but they were extremely unlucky, and most everything that happened to them was rife with misfortune, misery, and despair. I'm sorry to tell you this, but that is how the story goes. 15. What is the main idea? description about the story to come. A warning about the story and its sad content. A declaration about the Baudelaire family. A beginning for the end of the story. 16. The narrator believes the reader does not like sad stories. likes stories with happy endings. can’t enjoy the story. will find the story unhappy. 17. Read the following sentence: Of course you can exaggerate your story, but what you say must be based on truth. Which word means the same as exaggerate? repeat reveal overstate increase 18. What is the meaning of the word inaugurated, used in the following sentence: Less than two months after Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated President in 1861, he encountered one of the most difficult tasks ever experienced by a United States leader: civil war. elected by a vote brought into office identified by name viewed as an authority 19. What does the phrase “practice your presentation so much that you could do it in your sleep” suggest in the following sentence: The best advice is to practice your presentation so much that you could do it in your sleep. get plenty of sleep the night before giving a presentation give their presentations in front of a small audience first take advice from their teachers on how to write a presentation memorize their presentations before they give them 20. Read the following sentence: The Phoenix Mars Lander is a NASA spacecraft that landed on the Red Planet in May 2009 to study the history of water and potential for life on the planet. What is another word for potential? existence situation possibility qualification

Create MCQs from this text "For as long as we can remember, innovation has been a top priority—and a top frustration—for leaders. In a recent McKinsey poll, 84% of global executives reported that innovation was extremely important to their growth strategies, but a staggering 94% were dissatisfied with their organizations’ innovation performance. Most people would agree that the vast majority of innovations fall far short of ambitions. On paper, this makes no sense. Never have businesses known more about their customers. Thanks to the big data revolution, companies now can collect an enormous variety and volume of customer information, at unprecedented speed, and perform sophisticated analyses of it. Many firms have established structured, disciplined innovation processes and brought in highly skilled talent to run them. Most firms carefully calculate and mitigate innovations’ risks. From the outside, it looks as if companies have mastered a precise, scientific process. But for most of them, innovation is still painfully hit-or-miss. What has gone so wrong? The fundamental problem is, most of the masses of customer data companies create is structured to show correlations: This customer looks like that one, or 68% of customers say they prefer version A to version B. While it’s exciting to find patterns in the numbers, they don’t mean that one thing actually caused another. And though it’s no surprise that correlation isn’t causality, we suspect that most managers have grown comfortable basing decisions on correlations. Why is this misguided? Consider the case of one of this article’s coauthors, Clayton Christensen. He’s 64 years old. He’s six feet eight inches tall. His shoe size is 16. He and his wife have sent all their children off to college. He drives a Honda minivan to work. He has a lot of characteristics, but none of them has caused him to go out and buy the New York Times. His reasons for buying the paper are much more specific. He might buy it because he needs something to read on a plane or because he’s a basketball fan and it’s March Madness time. Marketers who collect demographic or psychographic information about him—and look for correlations with other buyer segments—are not going to capture those reasons. After decades of watching great companies fail, we’ve come to the conclusion that the focus on correlation—and on knowing more and more about customers—is taking firms in the wrong direction. What they really need to home in on is the progress that the customer is trying to make in a given circumstance—what the customer hopes to accomplish. This is what we’ve come to call the job to be done. We all have many jobs to be done in our lives. Some are little (pass the time while waiting in line); some are big (find a more fulfilling career). Some surface unpredictably (dress for an out-of-town business meeting after the airline lost my suitcase); some regularly (pack a healthful lunch for my daughter to take to school). When we buy a product, we essentially “hire” it to help us do a job. If it does the job well, the next time we’re confronted with the same job, we tend to hire that product again. And if it does a crummy job, we “fire” it and look for an alternative. (We’re using the word “product” here as shorthand for any solution that companies can sell; of course, the full set of “candidates” we consider hiring can often go well beyond just offerings from companies.)"

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