Passage 4

Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage:

I recently wrote an autobiography in which I recalled many old memories. One of them was from my school days, when our ninth grade teacher, Miss Raber, would pick out words from the Reader’s Digest to test our vocabulary.

Today, more than 45 years later, I always check out “It pays to Enrich Your Word Power” first when the Digest comes each month. I am impressed with that idea, word power. Reader’s Digest knows the power that words have to move people—to entertain, inform, and inspire. The Digest editors know that the big word isn’t always the best word. Take just one example, a Quotable Quote form the February 1985 issue: ”Time is a playful thing. It slips quickly and drinks the day like a bowl of milk.”

Nineteen words, only two of them more than one syllable, yet how much they convey! That’s usually how it is with Reader’s Digest. Small and simple can be profound.

As chairman of a foundation to restore the Statue of Liberty, I’ve been making a lot of speeches lately. I try to keep them fairly short. I use small but vivid words: words like “hope”, “guts”, “faith”, “dreams”. Those are words that move people and say so much about the spirit of America.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against using big words, when it is right to do so, but I have also learned that a small word can work a small miracle—if it’s right word, in the right place, at the right time. It’s a “secret” that I hope never forget.

16. The passage is mainly about .

A. one of the many old memories

B. using simple words to express profound ideas

C. Reader’s Digest and school speeches

D. how to make effective speeches

17. It seems that Reader’s Digest is a magazine popular with .

A. people of all ages B. teenagers C. school teachers D. elderly readers

18. The example the author gives in the second paragraph might mean .

A. one spends his day playing and drinking

B. don’t waste your time as one does

C. time slips easily if you don’t make good use of it

D. time is just like drinking milk from a bowl

19. The author’s “secret” is .

A. to avoid using big words at any time

B. to use words that have the power to move people

C. to work a miracle by using a small word

D. to use small and simple words where possible

20. Accoeding to the author, well-chosen words can give people .

A. hope, courage and ideas

B. confidence, determination and strength

C. pleasure, knowledge and encourage

D. entertainment, information and power

Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage: