Most of the time, answer, reply, and respond can be used interchangeably; they are synonyms. But you are right, an answer is always a response to a question. Reply and respond can be used to describe conversation even when a question was not asked.

#2 is correct. "Most consumers today demand that plates made out of porcelain be microwave safe." If you take out the word 'that' in sentence #1, it is also correct. "Most consumers today demand plates made out of porcelain to be microwave safe." It sounds a little awkard this way, though, so #2 above is the better choice.

You should use "at." I don't know if your goal is to learn British English or American, but just in case it's American: 'cinema' is no longer commonly used in American English. Instead of saying, "we are at the cinema," Americans say, "we are at the theater," or "to see a movie." Examples: We are at the theater. Meet us at the north entrance. We're going to the theater at 7 pm. We're going to see a movie on Friday, you're welcome to join us. I'm going to a movie. Do you want to come? You could also say,"I'm in the theater," but it means something slightly different. You might say this if you were trying to find someone you planned to meet, to tell him/her your location. It means you are inside the theater building.

I think you might get a different answer from every American you ask, but I am American, and on the weekends we like to go on hiking trips with our dogs or short road trips to nearby towns/cities, where we usually see the sites, shop, and try new restaurants. On more mundane weekends, we run errands (shop for necessities), see movies, dine at familiar restaurants, or sometimes hang around at home watching movies; we might be alone (my husband and I) or with friends. We very rarely visit family on weekends since we do not live near our families.

These are references to war, being used as metaphors. The "trenches" are literal trenches dug for battles, where soldiers would take cover from enemy fire. "Dashing toward the trenches" means something like, 'eagerly volunteering,' or 'still enthusiastic.' If the "careerists" are the veteran (experienced) soldiers, the new restaurant staffers are the new army recruits. While the careerists have seen it all and probably given up their acting dreams for a career in food service, the new kids are still hopeful, still enthusiastic about their acting dreams. "In-country" means 'outdoors' or 'out of the city' and it also refers to the new recruits' excitement. They're all excited about the prospect of volunteering for war, they are even excited just to be outside doing something.

In this case, this is several unrelated words strung together to describe the characrter. Together, they don't mean anything different than each word separately.The writer means to describe the character as being a poor white man from the country (not a city), who seems out of place in his new environment and was admitted to the school because he was poor and unusual, or was not privileged like their usual students. Oddity refers to someone or something who is unusual or out of place. Affirmative Action representative refers to a US Legal called Affirmative Action, which made it a priority for universities to accept students from poor backgrounds, minority races, women and those from underserved areas/neighborhoods. If someone is an "affirmative action representative" he was admitted to the school because he was poor and underserved, not because he was the most qualified student who applied for the position.

Harry Potter is often recommended. It is great for language learners because it is widely available and starts with relatively simple language and then increases in difficulty as the series progresses. The only difficulty is that there are quite a lot of words that belong to the fantasy world and are not used in real live English. There are seven books in the series. The 'His Dark Materials' series by Phillip Pullman is another good series that starts out easier and gradually becomes more difficult. The same problem exists as with Harry Potter, though. The story takes place in another world, similar to but not identical to ours; many of the words are invented for the story, or spellings of real English words are slightly altered. There are three books in the series. 'Where the Red Fern Grows' is a classic young adults book. It is written in simple language, but it's a good length. It's a standalone book. Mary Higgins Clark writes simple to follow mysteries for adults. They're easy to find, each of a good length and she has at least 30 books, so if you end up liking them there are plenty to choose from. The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon is most popular with women, so it might not appeal to you, but the books are LONG, the language is pretty easy in the early books and there are many books in the series. And I can't think of the author's name, but there are is a series known as the Stephanie Plum books. They're comedy thrillers. Again, most popular with women, but I know some men do read them. Lots of books in the series, very easy language, and most people find them really funny.

It's wrong. Instead, you should say: "I don't want her to ask any questions."