Which of these is not essential to being an active reader?
O A. Asking questions and making comments
B. Highlighting and note-taking
O C. Staying focused on the text
O D. Having a large vocabulary

answer: i chose a.

explanation:

as we know, the english language is spoken all over the world by native and non-native speakers and has become the most certain tool when it comes to communicating. businesses, schools, even romantic relationships depend on it to keep thriving. in addition, it is the language of the internet not only because most of the content available is in english, but also because people prefer to use it when talking to others, since it's the language everyone supposedly learns.

yet, there have been some current claims that chinese will soon take over as the most important language in the world. china's magnitude has never been more evident and doing business with the chinese is a gold mine for any country. we now see language schools offering chinese courses as commonly as english.

however - even though we cannot deny china's importance and the advantage it is when someone takes the time to learn the language their business contact speaks-, people in general seem to be ignoring the aspects that seem to keep english as the chosen one of languages. one of them has been mentioned above: it is the language of the internet. also, chinese people are still learning english, since it opens doors in communicating with practically everyone else, from every single country.

note: if this is not the sort of transition you need, let me know. : d

homework should not be banned because it tells the teacher if you were paying attention in class or not. it assures the teacher that you understand the material so you can move on to different material.

when connie willis was 12 years old, her mother died. in january of 2003, willis was interviewed for locus magazine. she recognized that death is a major issue in her writing, specially because the vacuous and appalling things that people tend to say in order to support you when someone you loved dies.

but there is another aspect that i have learned from connie willis's quote. in his famous work "danubio", the italian writer claudio magris describes literature as house removals. some messages reach us, other messages get lost in the labyrinth. those messages which are our inheritance teach us how to live and how to die, how to love and how to hate, how to laugh and how to cry. i think that tales really shape us if we listen to them. maybe through the stories we read we learn how to emphatize with others, knowing that the bells tolls for every each of us.