questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "rabbits may enter by digging holes under it"
},
"options": [
"coyotes can climb over it easily",
"the strong wind might blow it away",
"snakes can cross it from under the ground",
"rabbits may enter by digging holes und... | The United States Department of Agriculture has a program called Wildlife Services. Its job is to help protect agricultural and other resources from threats and damage by wildlife. Often that means helping farmers deal with unwelcome visitors. This organization has experts from different fields and it has set up thousands of inquiry agencies all over the country where farmers can explain their difficulty and get practical help. ks5u
One example from Wildlife Services of its work involved a farmer in Washington State, in the Pacific Northwest. Several years ago, thousands of Canada geese landed on his fields. The geese began to eat his carrot crop. Biologists from the program suggested that the farmer use noise-making devices and other measures to scare the large birds away. These efforts apparently succeeded, which made the farmer quite happy.
Wildlife Services also has a livestock protection program. The program just offers suggestions to keep those _ away instead of killing them. The Wildlife Services program is part of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS. APHIS offers some suggestions of ways to keep away predators .For example, try to keep food and water safe from wildlife. Fences may help keep out coyotes , especially if the fences are at least two meters high. For best results, the bottom of the fence should extend about fifteen centimeters into the ground.
Experts suggest providing secure shelter for chickens, sheep and other animals that could be attacked. The experts also suggest using lights above places where animals are kept. And they advise people who see coyotes around their property to chase them away by shouting, making loud noises or throwing rocks. For home gardeners, a two-meter fence might help keep out deer. To keep out rabbits, a wire fence has to be only about a half-meter high. It should extend fifteen centimeters underground to keep rabbits from digging under it. If snakes are a problem, remove dead trees and cut high grass to destroy their hiding places. And to protect livestock, consider using guard animals such as dogs and donkeys, which are very effective. Due to its effective work, ever since the Wildlife Services was started, it has been well received by farmers all over the States and neighboring countries such as Canada and Mexico. | high22323.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Their academic career can benefit from it."
},
"options": [
"Their academic career can benefit from it.",
"It is an access to better wine cellars.",
"Reasons beside glory.",
"They can win honour."
],
"question":... | Most academics would view a post at an elite university like Oxford or Harvard as the crowning achievement of a career--bringing both honour and access to better wine cellars. But scholars desire such places for reasons beyond glory. They believe perching on one of the topmost branches of the academic tree will also improve the quality of their work, by bringing them together with other geniuses with whom they can collaborate and who may help spark new ideas. This sounds reasonable. Unfortunately,as Albert Laszlo Barabasi of Northeastern University,in Boston (and also, it must be said, of Harvard), shows in a study published in Scientific Reports, it is not true.
Dr Barabasi and his team examined the careers of physicists who began publishing between 1950 and 1980 and continued to do so for at least 20 years. They ranked the impact of the institutions these people attended by counting the number of citations each institution's papers received within five years of publication. By tracking the association of individual physicists and counting their citations in a similar way, Dr Barabasi was able to work out whether moving from a low to a high-ranking university improved a physicist's impact. In total, he and his team analysed 2,725 careers.
They found that, though an average physicist moved once or twice during his career, moving from a low-rank university to an elite one did not increase his scientific impact. Going in the opposite direction, however, did have a small negative influence. The consequence is that elite university do not,at least as far as physicists are concerned,add value to output. That surprising conclusion is one which the authorities in countries such as Britain, who are seeking to concentrate expensive subjects such as physics in fewer, more elite institutions--partly to save money, but also to create what are seen as centers of excellence--might wish to consider. | high14685.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "to attract more subscribers"
},
"options": [
"to introduce a new magazine",
"to help parents with their daily life",
"to attract more subscribers",
"to collect more money for charity"
],
"question": "The purpose... | Get a FREE YEAR! Order NOW and get a FREE YEAR of Parents(r) magazine! That's 2 full years (24 issues) for the regular 1-year rate - just $12. But HURRY, this offer won't last! (U.S. orders only, please.)
Every issue of PARENTS is filled with practical advice from leading doctors and child experts ... toys and games that develop reader-tested products and more!
100% Money-Back Guarantee: You must be pleased, or you may cancel any time during the life of your subscription and get all your money back - no questions asked. Parents(r) Magazine is published 12 times per year. Savings are based on $12.00 annual subscription rate. State taxes may apply to your order.
E-mail address required to access your account and member benefits online. We will not share your e-mail address with anyone. Click here: www.parents.com/privacy to view our privacy policy. | high139.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the failure to keep to a set timetable of work"
},
"options": [
"changing from one subject to another",
"the failure to keep to a set timetable of work",
"the unwillingness to work out a systematic plan",
"working on a ... | By far the most common difficulty in study is simple failure to get down to regular concentrated work . This difficulty is much greater for those who do not work to a plan and have no regular routine of study . Many students muddle along , doing a bit of this subject or that , as the mood takes them , or letting their set work pile up until the last possible moment .
Few students work to a set timetable . They say that if they did work out a timetable for themselves they would not keep to it , or would have to change it frequently , since they can never predict from one day to the next what their activities will be .
No doubt some students take much more kindly to a regular routine than others . There are many who shy away from a self-controlled weekly timetable , and dislike being tied down to a fixed program of work . Many able students state that they work in cycles . When they become interested in a topic they work on it attentively for three or four days at a time . On other days they avoid work completely . It has to be admitted that we do not fully understand the motivation to work . Most people over 25 years of age have become used to a work routine , and the majority of really productive workers set aside regular hours for the more important areas of their work . The " tough-minded " school of workers doesn't fully accept the idea that good work can only be done naturally , under the influence of inspiration .
Those who believe that they need only work and study _ have a mistaken belief either in their own talent or in the value of " freedom " . Freedom from control and discipline leads to unhappiness rather than to " self-expression " or " personality development " . Our society insists on regular habits , timekeeping and punctuality ( being on time ) , and whether we like it or not , if we mean to make our way in society , we have to meet its demands . | high22337.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "it reduces waste and can help others"
},
"options": [
"it reduces waste and can help others",
"it prevents waste and can earn lots of money",
"it can send the waste produced by developed countries to other countries",
"... | When we think about giving help to developing countries, we often think about giving money so that these countries can build schools and hospitals, buy food and medicine, or find clean water supplies. These seem to be the most important basic needs of the people we are trying to help. However, it's far from enough. Ladies and gentlemen, we've got to come up with some better ideas to help them.
I was very surprised, then, when I read about a plan to make cheap laptop computers for children in developing countries. A man called Nicholas Negroponte invented a cheap laptop computer, which can run without electricity. He decided to invent this computer after he visited a school in Cambodia.
The laptop which Mr. Negroponte has designed is a little different from the normal laptop computers you can buy in the shops. One difference is that it is covered in rubber so that it is very strong and won't be damaged easily. As an electricity supply can be a problem in developing countries, the computer also has a special handle so that children can wind the computer up to give it extra power when needed.
These special laptop computers will cost less than 100 US dollars and Mr. Negroponte wants to build as many as 15 million machines in the first year of production. The idea is that these computers will help the children's education as they will be able to access the Internet. These computers might not help the people in developing countries immediately, but by improving children's education they should help people to find their own solutions to their problems in the long term.
Another idea to help children in developing countries is to recycle old mobile phones so that they can be used again. In the UK, and, probably in many other countries too, millions of mobile phones are thrown away every year. The waste created by throwing away these old phones is very bad for the environment, so it seems to be an excellent idea to recycle them. In this way we will be able to achieve two important goals at the same time. We will reduce the waste we produce and help others. In other words, we will be able to 'kill two birds with one stone', and that is always a good thing. | high16092.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "looked a little nervous"
},
"options": [
"felt a little excited",
"walked energetically",
"looked a little nervous",
"showed up with his teacher"
],
"question": "When he first met the author,David _ .",
"q... | (2013*,C)One day,when I was working as a psychologist in England,an adolescent boy showed up in my office.It was David.He kept walking up and down restlessly,his face pale,and his hands shaking slightly.His head teacher had referred him to me."This boy has lost his family,"he wrote."He is understandably very sad and refuses to talk to others,and I'm very worried about him.Can you help?"
I looked at David and showed him to a chair.How could I help him? There are problems psychology doesn't have the answer to,and which no words can describe.Sometimes the best thing one can do is to listen openly and sympathetically.
The first two times we met,David didn't say a word.He sat there,only looking up to look at the children's drawings on the wall behind me.I suggested we play a game of chess.He nodded.After that he played chess with me every Wednesday afternoon--in complete silence and without looking at me.It's not easy to cheat in chess,but I admit I made sure David won once or twice.
Usually,he arrived earlier than agreed,took the chess board and pieces from the shelf and began setting them up before I even got a chance to sit down.It seemed as if he enjoyed my company.But why did he never look at me?
"Perhaps he simply needs someone to share his pain with,"I thought."Perhaps he senses that I respect his suffering."Some months later,when we were playing chess,he looked up at me suddenly.
"It's your turn,"he said.
After that day,David started talking.He got friends in school and joined a bicycle club.He wrote to me a few times,about his biking with some friends,and about his plan to get into university.Now he had really started to live his own life.
Maybe I gave David something.But I also learned that one--without any words--can reach out to another person.All it takes is a hug,a shoulder to cry on,a friendly touch,and an ear that listens. | high5813.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Monthly Returns"
},
"options": [
"Big City Savers",
"Monthly Returns",
"Weekend Returns",
"Family Returns"
],
"question": "Which is the best ticket to buy if you live in London and want to go to a small town 80m... | Want to save money when travelling by train? Here are some ways.
Day Returns
This ticket can save you up to 45% on the standard fare . You have to travel after the rush hour period Mon.-Fri., but can travel at any time on Sat. or Sun.
Big city Saves
These are special low-priced tickets on certain trains. Yon have to book in advance----- at the latest by 16:00 the day before you travel. It's first come, first served.
Weekend Returns
Weekend Returns are available for most journeys over 60 miles. Go on Fri. Sat. or Sun, and return the same weekend on Sat. or Sun, and save up to 35% the standard fare.
Monthly Returns
There are available for most journeys over 65 miles. Go any day and return within a month. Monthly returns save you up to 25% on the standard fare.
Family Returns
For PS20 this railcard allows you to take a second adult and up to 4 children for only PS3 each when you buy single or return tickets. You can travel as often as you like until the card becomes out of date. (200 words.3min.) | high11925.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "2012 had a higher box office in China than in the US"
},
"options": [
"Avatar is a newly-released 3D movie",
"Transformer held the record of box office in China",
"Avatar is directed by him alone",
"2012 had a higher bo... | China has become an increasingly appealing market for Hollywood films, so it was inevitable that Academy Award-winning director James Cameron would touch down in Beijing Wednesday to promote his latest big-budget movie, Avatar.
During his 20-hour stay in the city, he shared with local media and some lucky fans details of his new film and shared his insights on China's growing film industry.
Having toured numerous countries for the promotion of Avatar since the film globally premiered on December 10, Cameron said he _ the visit to China for some time and apologized for his hoarse and tired voice.
"It is so sad for a director not being able to shout," he joked at the beginning of the press conference Wednesday afternoon, announcing that the 3D science fiction film will open in China on January 4.
Cameron collected 360 million yuan (US$52.7 million) at the box office in China with his blockbuster Titanic in 1998, a record that held for ten years until it was broken by Transformers in 2008.
Considering that another computer-generated, live action flick, 2012, has sold more movie tickets in China than in the US, the director said he is positive about Avatar's performance in China.
"Our partner here, the China Film Group, has given us great confidence," he explained, saying that the number of 3D screens has grown from 500 to 600 in the past month, a never-seen-before growth in Chinese mainland.
China is second only to the US as the country with the most 3D screens. Cameron said the screening of Avatar in China has specific importance as a test of future 3D film development.
"I'm very interested in the 3D film market in China. I cannot predict the box office results here, but I look forward to the test results." | high20520.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Stay@4ever"
},
"options": [
"Seeme@2",
"Dream4future",
"Visit$me",
"Stay@4ever"
],
"question": "Which of the following passwords fits the company's requirements?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer"... | "YOUR password has expired ," a message said on my screen, with instructions for changing it. Coming up with a new code doesn't seem like a big deal, unless you work at my company, where we have to change it monthly, using at least one uppercase character, one lowercase character, one symbol, and one number. Oh, the whole password can't be fewer than eight characters. And I can't use any of the same passwords I've used in the past three months.
Suddenly I was furious . What didn't make it any better was that I was deeply depressed after my recent divorce. Disbelief about what she had done to me was all I thought about every day.
I remembered a tip I'd heard from my former boss. He'd said: "I'm going to use a password to change my life."
I couldn't focus on getting things done in my current mood. There were clear signs of what I needed to do to get control of my life again.
My password became the sign. My password reminded me that I shouldn't let myself be a victim of my recent breakup and that I was strong enough to do something about it.
I made my password Forgive@h3r.
I had to type this several times a day. The simple action changed the way I looked at my ex-wife. That constant reminder led me to accept the way things had happened and find a new way of dealing with my depression. As the month wore on, I felt a slow healing begin to happen. By the time my server asked me to reset my password the following month, I felt free.
One month later, my dear Exchange server asked me yet again to reset my password. I thought about the next thing that I had to get done.
My password became Quit@smoking4ever.
I quit smoking overnight.
This password was a painful one to type during that month, but doing it helped me to yell at myself in my mind as I typed that statement. It motivated me to follow my monthly goal.
One month later, my password became Save4trip@thailand.
Guess where I went three months later: Thailand.
Seeing how these reminders helped to achieve my goals kept me motivated and excited. While it's sometimes difficult to come up with your next goal, keeping at it brings great results | high10385.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "he wanted to experience his daughter's milestones"
},
"options": [
"his daughter has been missing him badly",
"he was getting bored with the endless flights",
"he hoped to get his daughter to listen to her",
"he wanted ... | A U.S. dad quit his job, giving up a massive salary, after his 10-year-old daughter gave him a 22-point list outlining all the events he missed so far during the year. As the CEO of the $2 trillion global investment fund PIMCO, Mohamed El-Erian shocked the finance industry when he quit in January.
El-Erian said it was about a year ago when he was repeatedly asking his daughter to brush her teeth, but she wasn't listening. When he asked her why, she responded with a list of 22 milestones he had missed: like the first day of school and the first soccer game of the season.
"And the school year wasn't yet over," El-Erian wrote. "I felt awful and got defensive: I had a good excuse for each missed event! Travel, important meetings, and urgent phone call, sudden to-dos. But it dawned on me that I was missing an infinitely more important point. My work-life balance had gotten out of whack, and the imbalance was hurting my very special relationship with my daughter. I was not making enough time for her." El-Erian explained he was struggling with the same thing so many parents do--work-life balance.
Dads who are quitting their profit-making jobs to improve work-life balance is a subject that is getting more traction as some high-profile executive have recently written about their experiences.
Last month, former MongoDB CEO Max Schireson wrote a blog post for Time about his decision to step down from the company's top job. He wrote that he struggled to make time for his three children because he was flying around half a million kilometres a year for work.
"I was not with my kids when our puppy was hit by a car, or when my son had an emergency surgery," Schireson wrote.
On an overnight flight to Texas he woke up in Arizona to discover the plane made an emergency landing and some traumatized crew members had to be replaced. He decided it was time to address his work-life balance.
Quitting is something El-Erian and Schireson were financially able to do, but El-Erian recognizes most people don't have this luxury. He hopes companies will pay attention to improving work-life balance for their employees.
El-Erian now manages "a portfolio of part-time jobs" that don't require as much travel. He alternates mornings with his wife taking their daughter to school and he often picks her up from school.
"So far, it's been the right decision for me," he wrote. "I'm so grateful that this is providing me greater opportunity to experience key moments in my daughter's life before they're all too quickly gone." | high18901.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "In 2010."
},
"options": [
"In 2008.",
"In 2009.",
"In 2010.",
"In 2011."
],
"question": "When did the accident happen?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,... | A teenager realized her dream of becoming a professional model three years after a serious car accident.
Marita Davies was on her way home from a party when the crash happened. The car that Marita took as a passenger was going the wrong way and crashed into another car driven by a drunken driver named David Hudson, which left her with a broken leg and back. It took the firefighters more than two hours to free the teenager from the damaged car before she was taken to hospital. Marita was in a wheelchair for a year after being bed-ridden for nine months.
Marita feared her dream of a modeling career was over. She said, "I was extremely upset and shocked when I knew about my terrible injuries. I thought my dream of becoming a model was over. My leg and back were broken. The crash had broken my confidence and I became quiet and spent less time with other people. I was 16, and at that age all I wanted to do was to go out with my friends."
But as her health took a turn for the better, Marita finally came out of the wheelchair and learned to walk. She decided she would still try to follow her dreams, and sent some photos off to some modeling agencies. She did a few unpaid jobs while studying at college. Soon, paid commercial modeling jobs started coming in. Marita was a bit doubtful at first, because the crash had left her with huge scars on her leg and back. She was worried that people wouldn't want her to model for them, but this didn't stop her.
Marita had done amazingly well to overcome everything that had been thrown at her in the three years. Finally, Marita became a professional model in 2013. She was signed up for advertising campaigns and appeared in TV ads. | high8489.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "on their way to Shreveport to sell a car"
},
"options": [
"when they were just warned not to pick up a stranger",
"on their way to Shreveport to sell a car",
"on their way to the west for a trip",
"when their car was ru... | On Sunday while I was having my own Father's Day celebration, I thought about my dad a lot. By the time I called to tell him that I loved him, he had already gone to bed. So I wrote the following to show what my dad means to me.
About 28 years ago, my dad was a used car salesman. Every Thursday night, he would head off to Shreveport, LA for theauction . Most of the time, I drove a car over there for him so he could sell it there.
One day, I was riding with my dad to Shreveport for the auction when he found ahitchhiker with a backpack. As soon as dad saw him, he pulled the car over and offered him a ride. Dad asked him his name and continued to talk to him about all sorts of things. I can't recall why but he told dad a lot of terrible things that had occurred to him. I sat in the back seat and watched the scene with amazement. I could see that the hitchhiker changed his attitude as he could tell someone who was really listening to him.
We drove another forty-five minutes before we had to exit the interstate . We pulled over and dad told him to keep his head up and things would start looking up for him soon. He reached into his pocket and handed the hitchhiker a twenty-dollar bill and then a the-dollar bill.
We drove on and my dad did not say a single thing. I was still completely amazed by what I just witnessed. I was always told everyone to never pick up a hitchhiker and yet my dad did it every single time he saw one. I'm sure that it made that poor man's day, probably a month to follow.
While reflecting upon that story, I learned a lot about my dad and life. I learned that if you come from a place of service or compassion, you can change people's lives. Just one single kind act can change someone's life. It never occurred to my dad about not stopping to help him.
This is the type of person my dad is. Thank you for setting such high standards for me to follow.
Dad, I love you. Happy Father's Day! | high887.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "On June 15, 2015."
},
"options": [
"On June 15, 2015.",
"On October 15, 2015.",
"On October 15, 2030.",
"On June 15, 2032."
],
"question": "When will the six volunteers end their mission about mimicking life on ... | Six volunteers are about to find out what it would be like to live on Mars without ever leaving the Earth. Three men and three women will spend eight months living in a special place on the side of a volcano in Hawaii. They are part of an experiment that is designed to mimic life on Mars. Their mission began on October 15, 2014. NASA says it could send astronauts to Mars as early as the 2030s. The mission would take more than two years, so NASA needs to know how people would react to living in a small group, isolated from the rest of the world, for such a long time. Some people may become depressed or bored living under those conditions. By studying people living in similar conditions here on Eares NASA hopes to learn how to choose the most suitable people for a space mission, and how to help them get along.
They will live in a two-story building. The ground floor is about 86 square meters, roughly the size of a small two-bedroom apartment. It includes shared areas like kitchen, dining room, bathroom, laboratory and an exercise room. The upstairs is less than half the size of the downstairs. It contains another bathroom and six small bedrooms. The building is located in an abandoned quarry about 2,400 meters up the side of Mauna Loa, the second biggest volcano in the world. It is constantly monitored for signs of volcanic activity. NASA chose the location because the appearance looks very similar to Mars.
To make it more like being on Mars in the future, they are only able to communicate by email during the experiment. Meanwhile, there will be a 20-minute delay between the time when a message is sent and that when it is received. When they go outside, they will have to suit up in full spacesuits, just as if they were on Mars.
The commander is Martha Lenio, a 34-year-old Canadian. During the mission, she will run experiments on growing food. The other members have backgrounds in physics and so on. None of them are astronauts. | high13854.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "a family secret"
},
"options": [
"a family honor",
"a family wealth",
"a family story",
"a family secret"
],
"question": "According to Mary's mother, \"a skeleton in a closet\" means _ .",
"question_type"... | One day, Mary asked her mother, "Mum, what do people mean by saying they have a skeleton in the closet ?" Her mother paused thoughtfully and said, "Well, it's something that you would rather not have anyone else know about. For example, if in the past, someone in Dad's family had been arrested for stealing a horse, it would be a skeleton in his family's closet. He really wouldn't want any neighbor to know about it."
"Why pick my family?" Mary's father said with anger. "Your family history isn't so good, you know. Wasn't your great-great-grandfather a prisoner who was transported to Australia for his crimes?" "Yes, but people these days say that you are not a real Australian unless your ancestors arrived as prisoners." "Gosh, sorry I asked. I think I understand now." Mary cut in before things grew worse.
After dinner, the house was quiet. Mary's parents were quite angry with each other. Her mother was ironing clothes and every now and then she glared at her husband, who hid behind his newspaper pretending to read. When she finished, she gathered the freshly pressed clothes in her arms and walked to Mary's closet. Just as she opened the door and reached in to hang a skirt, a bony arm stuck out from the dark depths and a bundle of white bones fell to the floor. Mary's mother sank into a faint , waking only when Mary put a cold, wet cloth on her forehead. She looked up to see the worried faces of her husband and daughter.
"What happened? Where am I?" she asked. "You just destroyed the school's skeleton, Mum," explained Mary. "I brought it home to help me with my health project. I meant to tell you, but it seemed that as soon as I mentioned skeletons and closets, it caused a problem between you and Dad." Mary looked in amazement as her parents began to laugh madly. "They're crazy," she thought. Ks5u | high23997.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Deaf Basketball"
},
"options": [
"Bankshot Basketball",
"Deaf Basketball",
"Wheelchair Basketball",
"Beach Basketball"
],
"question": "Which of the following types of basketball has the longest history?",
"q... | In addition to the official basketball world, various other types of basketball are practiced around the world.
Wheelchair Basketball
Wheelchair basketball was invented in 1946 by former American basketball players, who, after wartime injury, wanted once again to experience the excitement of a highly athletic sport within a team environment. It is now played in more than 80 countries by over 25,000 men, women and children with a physical disability which prevents them playing competitive basketball on their feet.
http://www.iwbf.org
Beach Basketball
Beach basketball is an exciting, non-stop action game played in the sand. The game was born more than forty years ago on the physical education fields of Gulf Shores School. This kind of basketball, invented by Philip Bryant, has grown from an extremely effective skill improvement game to a very popular, widespread competitive sport.
http://www.beachbasketball.com
Street Basketball
Street Basketball or streetball is mainly played as a leisure game, but streetball players can also compete against each other. There are no specific streetball rules and the game is played outdoors; the players make up their own rules to play. Streetball is very popular among younger players and allows players to publicly show their own individual skills.
http://www.streetball.com
Deaf Basketball
Basketball for the deaf (unable to hear in one or both ears) men and women has been played since the early 1920s. The game today has exactly the same rules as FIBA.
http://wwwdibf.org
Bankshot Basketball
Bankshot is a new game of skill and challenge that is often described as "mini golf, but with a basketball." Bankshot is the only sports system that allows the able-bodied and athletes with a disability to play together at the same time. This game is about no running, jumping, or body contact and relies on the shooting skill.
http://www.bankshot.com | high24020.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "by experiment on mice."
},
"options": [
"by questionnaire on parents.",
"by experiment on mice.",
"by raising babies themselves.",
"by experiment on humans."
],
"question": "The researchers proved their idea _... | Children who are brought up by two parents grow up to be cleverer than those raised by just one person, new research suggests. Being with both parents in the earliest years of life leads to a child developing more brain cells, the scientists believe. Being brought up by both parents causes boys to have better memory and learning functions. By contrast, it causes girls to develop improved co-ordination and sociability.
It is believed that babies with two parents tend to get more attention and more stability , and that they are less likely to suffer emotional distress in the first years of life. This leads to greater brain cell production ------ for boys it is grey matter brain cells that develop and for girls is white matter brain cells.
The researchers from Canada studied mice and experimented by creating one-parent and two-parent family groups. They then measured the offspring's brain cell development from birth to adulthood. Adult mice with the highest number of brain cells turned out to be those who had been brought up by two parents rather than one. As babies they had received more attention and more nursing as both parents took turns to lick and tend to their youngsters, said Dr Samuel Weiss.
As a result, the babies with two parents are less likely to suffer early life hurt which can have a massive impact on how their brains develop in later life, the research shows. However, what did surprise the researchers is that female babies who grew up with both parents turned out to be good single mothers, as if good parenting was passed on.
The researchers said," In the mouse model, parenting and the environment directly _ adult brain cell production. It is possible that similar effects could be seen in other mammals, such as humans." | high7962.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "1878"
},
"options": [
"2008",
"1878",
"1920",
"1974"
],
"question": "The University of Oxford did not take in female students until _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | As the oldest university in the English-speaking world, Oxford is a unique and historic institution. There is no clear date of foundation, but teaching existed at Oxford in some form in 1096 and developed rapidly from 1167, when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris. From 1878, academic halls were established for women and they were admitted to full membership of the University in 1920. Five all-male colleges first admitted women in 1974. St Hilda's College, which was originally for women only, was the last of Oxford's single sex colleges. It has admitted both men and women since 2008.
By 1200, the town of Cambridge had at least one school of some distinction. Then, in 1209, some scholars settled there. By 1226 the scholars were numerous enough to have set up an organisation, and seem to have arranged regular courses of study, taught by their own members. From the start there was conflict between the town and the students. Students, usually aged about fourteen or fifteen, often caused disturbances; citizens of the town, on the other hand, were known to overcharge for rooms and food. King Henry III took the scholars under his protection as early as 1231 and arranged for them to be sheltered from exploitation by their landlords.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1861 in response to the increasing industrialization of the United States, MIT adopted a European university model and stressed laboratory instruction in applied science and engineering. The current 168-acre campus opened in 1916 and extends over 1 mile (1.6 km) along the northern bank of the Charles River basin.
On April 29, 1911, Tsinghua Xuetang began its first term of study, and from that year on, the Tsinghua's anniversary has fallen on the last Sunday of April. Following the outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japan in 1937, Tsinghua University, Peking University and Nankai University combined to form the National Southwest Associated University in Kunming. After the war, Tsinghua University moved back to its original Beijing campus. | high9797.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the cost of food has gone up"
},
"options": [
"there is less healthful food on the menus",
"the cost of food has gone up",
"kids often forget to bring lunch money",
"some school dining-halls are serving smaller portions... | More than 30 million kids buy school lunch each day. This year, many schools raised lunch prices to fight raising costs. Students pay about $2 a meal now. That is 27 cents more than last year. But they still get a good deal. The average cost for schools to produce one meal has gone up 30 cents, and is now $3.
So, how do schools neither make money nor lose money? To start, the government pays for a small part of the difference. Schools have to make up the rest. Peggy Eller, a leader of school nutrition service in Hudson, Wisconsin, said her district is cutting costs by using fewer paper products and serving smaller portion . Well, portion control is one key to healthful eating!
The push for more healthful food has grown in recent years. One in five kids aged 6 to 19 is overweight. Being overweight can cause health problems. Many states passed laws that require schools to serve nutritious meals.
Since 2004, more than 90% of all U.S. Schools have removed the fat from lunches. Foods high in fat, salt and sugar have been replaced by low-fat milk, fresh fruits and vegetables. These new items on lunch menus have encouraged kids to change their eating habits. "It makes easier to try new things at home, "said Savanna Mackey, a Florida fifth-grader.
Students need healthful meals to grow strong and do well in school. "Rising prices won't stand in the way,"says school nutritionist Jane Thornton. "We'll just be more clever in how we do things." | high5185.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Father dies sheltering daughter from snowstorm"
},
"options": [
"Snowstorm takes away 9-year-old girl's father",
"Father dies sheltering daughter from snowstorm",
"8-year-old girl made orphan in snowstorm",
"Japanese da... | JANUARY 15, 2014 KYOTO -- A father froze to death while sheltering his eight years old daughter from severe weekend snowstorms that swept northern Japan. Fujita Makoto, one of at least nine people killed as snowstorms swept across Hokkaido , died as he tried to protect his only child Yumi against winds of up to 113 kilometers per hour in Hokkaido, as temperatures fell sharply to minus 6 degrees centigrade.
Makoto's body was uncovered by rescuers looking for the pair after s raised the alarm. Yumi was wearing her father's jacket and was wrapped in his arms. The pair had last been heard from at 4 p. m. on Saturday, after fisherman Makoto picked his daughter up from a school where she was being looked after while he was at work. Makoto called his s to say his truck had become stuck in the driving snow, which was several meters deep in places. He told them he and Yumi would walk the remaining kilometers. The two were found just 300 meters from the truck at 7 a.m. on Sunday.
Makoto had his body bent over his daughter, gently holding her in his arms and apparently using his body and a warehouse wall to provide shelter. The small girl was taken to hospital, where she was found to have no serious injuries. Her father was officially pronounced dead by doctors at the same hospital.
The newspaper Yomiuri said Yumi's mother had died of illness two years earlier. The paper quoted neighbors as saying Makoto had been an extremely caring father who would often delay the start of his working day to enjoy breakfast with his daughter.
His death came as families all over Japan celebrated Girls' Day, a festival in which they gather at home and decorate houses with dolls. "He reserved a cake for his only daughter and was looking forward to celebrating Dolls' Festival together," a neighbor told the Yomiuri. | high18929.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Classroom stress and parental pressure"
},
"options": [
"Competitiveness in education system",
"Classroom stress and parental pressure",
"Physical punishment from their parents",
"Endless homework from school teachers\n... | A third of primary schoolchildren in China are suffering from psychological ill-health as a result of classroom stress and parental pressure, according to a study published on Tuesday.
The problem is so bad that urgent measures are needed, warns the study, led by British and Chinese researchers.
The investigation surveyed 2,191 pupils aged nine to 12 in nine schools in urban and rural Zhejiang, a ly prosperous coastal province in eastern China.
Eighty-one percent of the youngsters said they worried "a lot" about exams, 63 percent feared being punished by their teacher, 44 percent had been physically bullied at least sometimes - with boys likelier to be victims than girls - and 73 percent had been physically punished by their parents.
Most of the children complained they struggled to cope with the amount of homework they were assigned.
Over one-third reported headaches or abdominal pains - psychosomatic symptoms of stress - at least once a week. The most stressed children reported incidence of aches or pains of four times a week.
The investigation, led by Therese Hesketh, a professor at University College London (UCL) Centre for International Health and Development, pointed the finger at extreme competitiveness in China's education system, from the onset of primary school.
"The competitive and punitive educational environment leads to high levels of stress and psychosomatic symptoms," the authors say.
"Measures to reduce unnecessary stress on children in schools should be introduced urgently."
The paper appears in Archives of Disease in Childhood, a peer-reviewed journal of the British Medical Association (BMA).
The "urban" setting for the study was Hangzhou, the provincial capital of Zhejiang, while the "rural" setting was a poor county in Quzhou prefecture, in the west of the province.
The study highlights some of the complexities that, it says, explain the demands for academic excellence and intolerance of failure.
One factor is the country's dramatic rise in prosperity, which has created "previously unheard-off possibilities for upward mobility" and in turn stoked pressures on children to do well at school.
Other reasons are China's one-child policy and the Confucian traditions of respect for parents and elders, filial piety, obedience and discipline.
"The aspirations of many parents, who had limited educational opportunities themselves are now invested in their only children," it says.
Previous studies on school-related stress and its impact on health are few and generally come from Scandinavia.
A 2008 assessment among 10- to 13-year-old in Sweden found that 21 percent of boys of 30 percent of girls experienced headache, and 17 percent of boys and 28 percent of girls experienced abdominal pain at least once per week. | high21170.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because we'll never forget some of our friends."
},
"options": [
"Because everyone has a changing circle of friends.",
"Because we sometimes forget to renew phone books.",
"Because we'll never forget some of our friends.",
... | TS said that everyone has a changing circle of friends. However, no matter how frequently we renew our phone books, some names always remain. These names remind us of the good times we spent together with our friends. Though we may not see them every day, they will always stay in our hearts.
Tom was often called "Big Head" at school because of his extraordinarily large head. He was one of my close friends at primary school. But since graduation, we have been studying in different cities and haven't seen each other for a long time.
Several days ago, I received an e-mail saying that my former classmates from primary school were holding a party to get together and chat about past memories. I was so excited because [ would get to see Tom again. What would he look like now? Would we still feel as close to each other as we had done back then? I was a little frightened about what I would find.
When I arrived at the party, I did manage to recognize Tom. However, he was much taller than he had been before. What's more, his head was no longer big.
"Hi, Buddy. Do you recognize me?" Tom walked towards me.
"Of course. How could I ever forget our ' Big Head' ," I said jokingly, "But where has your big head gone?"
"Haha, maybe it didn't keep up with the steps of time and stayed in the past," Tom patted his own head and answered with a laugh.
All my _ suddenly disappeared. I realized that time had changed us outwardly, but our friendship hadn't changed at all. I chatted happily with Tom about our shared experiences in primary school.
Then I looked around the small room and saw different faces, both familiar and unfamiliar, but none of them the faces of strangers. The whole party was filled with a warm atmosphere. Everyone was lost in the sweet memories of childhood. They forgot all their present-day stresses and pressures.
"Hey, what are you thinking about? Come and get some pizza!" A call from a friend woke me up from my thoughts. I hurried towards the table. "Wait! That biggest piece is mine!" | high2832.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the hot weather is a big problem for Olympic athletes"
},
"options": [
"why it is very hot in Athens",
"the hot weather is a big problem for Olympic athletes",
"how important science is to every athlete",
"the Olympics ... | It will be hot--hot enough that most locals will have cleared town for cooler places. But because athletes competing at the 2004 Olympics have no choice but to stay in the hot weather, many plan to turn to science to stay cool.
Some will put their hands in ice water just before competing and nearly all will be wearing fabrics designed with hot weather in mind.
"Normally we warm up before exercise,"said Gordon Sleivert, director of sports science and medicine at the Canadian Sport Center in Victoria, British Columbia."But in this case we're taking the warm out of warm up. It's like pre-cooling."
Experts are predicting the average high this August in Athens will be 90 degrees Fahrenheit, with temperatures often reaching above 100(the average temperature in Sydney for the 2000 summer games was 64).
Although some events, such as the marathon, will start early(1 a.m.) to avoid hot weather, _ Drinking lots of water will help athletes keep cool, but humidity remains a problem. The body's ability to cool down is weakened by damp air since sweat drips off the skin rather than evaporates ,resulting in dehydration without the cooling.
"Getting hot is a real problem because when our brains heats up, the brain waves are more like when you're really sleepy. Everything feels harder," said Sleivert. | high7792.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because Ted was not free at that moment."
},
"options": [
"Because Ted was tired of listening to Spotty barking.",
"Because Ted only cared about Brownie's safety.",
"Because Ted was not free at that moment.",
"Because T... | Brownie and Spotty were neighbor dogs who met every day to play together. These two loved each other and played together so often that they had worn a path through the grass of the field between their respective houses.
One evening, Brownie's family noticed that Brownie hadn't returned home. They went looking for him with no success and by the next week he was still missing.
Curiously, Spotty showed up at Brownie's house alone. Barking, whining and generally pestering Brownie's human family. Busy with their own lives, they just ignored the nervous little neighbor dog.
Continuously,Ted, Brownie's owner, was disturbed by the angry, determined little dog. Spotty followed Ted about, barking insistently, then rushing toward a nearby empty lot and back, as if to say, "Follow me! It's urgent!"
Eventually, Ted followed Spotty to a deserted spot half a mile from the house. There Ted found his beloved Brownie alive, one of his hind legs crushed in a steel leghold trap. Horrified, Ted now wished he'd taken Spotty's earlier appeals seriously. Then Ted noticed something quite remarkable.
Spotty had done more than simply led Brownie's human owner to his trapped friend. In a circle around the injured dog, Ted found an array of dog food and table scraps which were later identified as the remains of every meal Spotty had been fed that week!
Spotty had been visiting Brownie regularly, in the hope of keeping his friend alive by sacrificing his own comfort. Spotty had evidently stayed with Brownie to protect him from hunger and other dangers, and keep his spirits up.
Brownie's leg was treated by a veterinarian and he recovered. For many years thereafter, the two families watched the faithful friends chasing each other down that well worn path between their houses. | high9967.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "are the most valuable part of one's personal education"
},
"options": [
"will give one encouragement and direction",
"are helpful in finding the right information",
"are the most valuable part of one's personal education",
... | The most exciting kind of education is also the most personal. Nothing can exceed the joy of discovering for yourself something that is important to you! It may be an idea or a bit of information you come across accidentally--or a sudden insight, fitting together pieces of information or working through a problem. Such personal encounters are the "payoff" in education. A teacher may direct you to learning and even encourage you in it--but no teacher can make the excitement or the joy happen. That's up to you.
A research paper, assigned in a course and perhaps checked at various stages by an instructor, leads you beyond classrooms, beyond the texts for classes and into a process where the joy of discovery and learning can come to you many times. Preparing the research paper is an active and individual process, and ideal learning process. It provides a structure within which you can make exciting discoveries, of knowledge and of self, that are basic to education. But the research paper also gives you a chance to individualize a school assignment, to suit a piece of work to your own interests and abilities, to show others what you can do. Writing a research paper is more than just a classroom exercise. It is an experience in searching out, understanding and synthesizing , which forms the basis of many skills applicable to both academic and nonacademic tasks. It is, in the fullest sense, a discovering of an education. So, to produce a good research paper is both a useful and a thoroughly satisfying experience!
To some, the thought of having to write an assigned number of pages, often more than ever produced before, is upsetting. To others, the very idea of having to work independently is threatening. But there is no need to approach paper assignment with anxiety, and nobody should view the research paper as an obstacle to overcome. Instead, consider it a goal to accomplish, a goal within reach if you use the help this book can give you. | high23767.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Actors Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward are asked to act Joe, Matilda and Rosie's parents."
},
"options": [
"Children envy each other and can't get along well enough.",
"Joe, Matilda and Rosie's parents are mentioned in the passage.",
... | Five-year-old Joe Brown isn't backward at coming forward about what he thinks of his big sisters, Rosie and Matilda.
"They're horrible and ugly," he said, with a grin . "Horrible and ugly."
Then again, his sisters aren't always over-fond of their young brother, either.
"When Joe was born, Matilda said she was going to kill him before he was three because she really envied him," said the eldest, 13-year-old Rosie. "She used to get all the special attention and now she doesn't any more."
As for Matilda, 11, she too can be quite cruel. "Joe's the one that's most annoying," she said.
It's somehow certain to know that kids act the same no matter who their parents are -- in this case actors Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward.
And the couple agreed to let their children have freedom when it came to them participating in a Telling-the-Truth ABC TV program about brothers and sisters. The TV program invites an American expert on the subject, Frank J. Sulloway, who tells how our personalities are often shaped by our order of birth, position in the family and relationships between brothers and sisters.
First-borns tend to be conservative , ambitious and close to their parents. Those coming later have to make a conscious effort to be different in order to successfully compete for their parents' attention. As a result, the youngest children tend to end up history's great risk-takers, rebels or movers and shakers.
"This kind of relationships is really the key personality-forming relationships of all our lives," said Ms Sauers, a secondary school teacher. "The relationships are generally the longest relationships we have; they go from childhood to old age."
"A lot of people feel those relationships really _ because, with brothers and sisters, you can't get away with anything bad."
"As for Joe, Rosie and Matilda, their daily battles over clothes, musical instruments, who performs best in sport and parental love are as regular as any other kids."
"And considering who their mum and dad are, they're very normal and unaffected." | high23001.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "in an exam room"
},
"options": [
"in the teacher's office",
"in an exam room",
"in the school",
"in the language lab"
],
"question": "The story took place exactly _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"... | I found out one time that doing a favor for someone could get you into a lot of trouble. I was in the eighth grade at the time, and we were having a final test. During the test, the girl sitting next to me whispered something, but I didn't understand. So I leaned over her way and found out that she was trying to ask me if I had an extra pen. She showed me that hers was out of ink and would not write. I happened to have an extra one, so I took it out of my pocket and put it on her desk.
Later, after the test papers had been turned in, the teacher asked me to stay in the room when all the other students were dismissed . As soon as we were alone she began to talk to me about what it meant to grow up; she talked about how important it was to stand on your own two feet and be responsible for your own acts. For a long time, she talked about honesty and emphasized the fact that when people do something dishonest, they are really cheating themselves. She made me promise that I would think seriously about all the things she had said, and then she told me I could leave. I walked out of the room wondering why she had chosen to talk to me about all those things.
Later on, I found out that she thought I had cheated on the test. When she saw me lean over to talk to the girl next to me, it looked as if I was copying answers from the girl's test paper. I tried to explain about the pen, but all she could say was it seemed very very strange to her that I hadn't talked of anything about the pen the day she talked to me right after the test. Even if I tried to explain that I was just doing the girl a favor by letting her use my pen, I am sure she continued to believe that I had cheated on the test. | high111.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Holland is not the birthplace of tulips."
},
"options": [
"Carolus Clusius' book made people import tulips into Holland.",
"Holland is called \"the flower shop of the world\" because of the tulip.",
"The tulip festival in the... | Tulips are the national flower of Iran and Turkey. The European name for the flower is a misuse of the Persian word for turban , a mistake probably arising in the common Turkish custom of wearing flowers in the folds of the turban. Alternatively, the misuse may have arisen because this eastern flower, when not yet in full bloom, looks like a turban. In Persia, to give a red tulip was to declare your love for someone. The black center of the red tulip was said to represent the lover's heart, burned to a coal by love's passion.
Originally growing in the Ottoman Empire (present-day Turkey), tulips were imported into Holland in the sixteenth century. When Carolus Clusius wrote the first major book on tulips in 1592, they became so popular that the tulips in his garden were stolen from time to time. As the Dutch Golden Age grew, so did this colorful flower. They were commonly seen in paintings and at festivals. In the mid-seventeenth century, tulips even created the first economics bubble , known as "Tulip Mania". At that time, tulips were so expensive that they were used as money until the market for them crashed.
Today, Holland is still known for its tulips and other flowers, often sincerely called "the flower shop of the world." Tulips are planted in great fields of beautiful color, and transform the landscape into a sea of different colors. Tulip festivals are held throughout the country in spring. However, the most well-known tulip festival is organized in the Noordoostpolder, a province in the central Netherlands, each year. Held in the middle of the tulip fields, this flower festival runs from late April to early May. The Dutch people took their love of tulips abroad when they settled, and tulips and tulip festivals are now found in New York and Michigan, where the connection to their Dutch roots is still very strong. | high14875.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "How to be a Friend."
},
"options": [
"A friend in Need is a Friend Indeed",
"How to be a Friend.",
"Honesty is the Most Important Quality.",
"three Important Points in Life."
],
"question": "What's the best titl... | Too many people want others to be friends,but they don't give friendship back.That is why some friendships don't last long.To have a friend,you must learn to be one.You must learn to treat your friend the way you want your friend to treat you.Learning to be a good friend means learning three rules:be honest,be generous,be understanding.
Honesty is where a good friend starts.Friends must be able to trust one another.If you do not tell the truth,people usually find out.If a friend finds out that you have't been honest,you may lose your friend's trust.Good friends always count on one another to speak and act honestly.
Generosity means sharing and sharing makes a friendship grow.You do not have to give your lunch money or your clothes of course.Instead you have to learn how to share things you enjoy,like your hobbies and your interests.Naturally you will want to share your ideas and feelings.These can be very valuable to a friend.They tell your friend what is important to you. By sharing them,you help your friend know better.
Sooner or later everyone needs understanding and help with a problem. Something may go wrong at school. Talking about the problem can make it easier to solve. Turning to a friend can be the first step in solving the problem. So a friend must listen and understand. You must try to put yourself in your friend's place so you can understand the problem better.
No two friendships are ever exactly alike. But true friendships have three things in common. If you plan to keep your friends,you must practice honesty,generosity,and understanding. | high21616.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Opinions about competition are different among people."
},
"options": [
"Competition helps to set up self-respect.",
"Opinions about competition are different among people.",
"Competition is harmful to personal quality develo... | In modem society there is a great deal of argument about competition.Some value it highly,believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity.Others say that competition is bad, that it sets one person against another and that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.
I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills.For them,playing well and winning are often life-and-death affair. In their single-minded pursuit of success,the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten.
However,while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed,others take an opposite attitude.In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players,they strongly blame competition.Among _ are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society.Teaching these young people,I often observe in them a desire to fail.They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success .By not trying,they always have an excuse:"I may have lost,but it doesn't matter because I really didn't try.'' What is not usually admitted by themselves is the belief that if they had really tried and lost,that would mean a lot.Such a loss would be a measure of their worth.
Clearly,this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves.Both are based on the mistaken belief that one's self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others.Both are afraid of not being valued.Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve can we discover a new meaning in competition. | high3292.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "It's part of Occupy Wall Street movement."
},
"options": [
"It's a name of the computer game.",
"It's part of Occupy Wall Street movement.",
"It's a book about millionaires in America.",
"It's the name of a special day ... | By the growing national Occupy Wall Street movement, hundreds of protesters moved through midtown Manhattan on Tuesday. They called this "Millionaires March".
They marched two by two up the sidewalk, planning to pass the homes of some of New York City's wealthiest people. They said they didn't have a permit and didn't want to lead the traffic jam.
"No Billionaire Left Behind," said on a card that was written by Arlene Geiger, who teaches economics at Manhattan's John Hay College of Criminal Justice.
New York's 2 percent "millionaires' tax" will last till this December. Protesters expressed they cared about how much less the wealthy would pay and who would get less money then. Protesters have been camped out for weeks in lower Manhattan's Zuccotti Park, near Wall Street. They say they're fighting for the "99 percent" of Americans who do not fall into the wealthiest 1 percent of population.
Their causes range from bringing down Wall Street to fighting global warning. The movement gained _ through social media, and has taken place in several other cities.
In Boston, hundreds of college students marched through downtown Boston on Monday and gathered on Boston Common, holding signs that read "Fund education, not corporations". The protesters were angry with the education system. They said it was like "irresponsible, unaccountable, and unethical financial practices" of Wall Street.
And now, a lot more movements have taken places in some European countries. | high20508.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Eddie's mother missed her husband so much that she was at a loss"
},
"options": [
"Eddie's mother liked to listen to the radio",
"Eddie often helped his mother wash the dishes",
"Eddie and his wife lived in his mother's apart... | Eddie's father used to say he'd spent so many years by the ocean, breathing seawater. Now, away from that ocean, in the hospital bed, his body began to look like a beached fish. His condition went from fair to stable and from stable to serious. Friends went from saying, "He'll be home in a day" to "He'll be home in a week." In his father's absence, Eddie helped out at the pier , working evenings after his taxi job.
When Eddie was a teenager, if he ever complained or seemed bored with the pier, his father would shout, "What? This isn't good enough for you?" And later, when he'd suggested Eddie take a job there after high school, Eddie almost laughed, and his father again said, "What? This isn't good enough for you?" And before Eddie went to war, when he'd talked of marrying Marguerite and becoming an engineer, his father said, "What? This isn't good enough for you?"
And now, regardless of all that, here he was, at the pier, doing his father's labor.
Parents rarely let go of their children, so children let go of them. They move on. They move away. It is not until much later, as the heart weakens, that children understand; their stories, and all their accomplishments, sit on top of the stories of their mothers and fathers, stones upon stones, beneath the waters of their lives.
Finally, one night, at his mother's urging, Eddie visited the hospital. He entered the room slowly. His father, who for years had refused to speak to Eddie, now lacked the strength to even try.
"Don't sweat it, kid," the other workers told him. "Your old man will pull through. He's the toughest man we've ever seen."
When the news came that his father had died, Eddie felt the emptiest kind of anger, the kind that circles in its cage.
In the weeks that followed, Eddie's mother lived in a confused state. She spoke to her husband as if he were still there. She yelled at him to turn down the radio. She cooked enough food for two. One night, when Eddie offered to help with the dishes, she said. "Your father will put them away." Eddie put a hand on her shoulder. "Ma," he said, softly, "Dad's gone."
"Gone where?" | high18097.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "whale sharks"
},
"options": [
"polar bears",
"penguins",
"whale sharks",
"dolphins"
],
"question": "According to this passage, Ralph and Norton are _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"a... | Ralph and Norton can grow to be 40 feet long and live in a tank as large as a football field.What are they? They're the only two whale sharks at a North American aquarium .
You can see Ralph and Norton at the world's largest aquarium, the new Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.
The aquarium's giant tanks hold eight million gallons of water and will be home to about 100,000 fish!
The aquarium was designed to look like a giant ship breaking through the waves.It has 60 different habitats from the sea and five galleries , each with a different theme.About 2.4 million visitors are expected to come each year. _ " Said Jeff Swanagan, the aquarium's executive director.
Ralph and Norton arrived in June, 2005 from Taiwan.They were only 15 and 13 feet long, but they may grow to be more than 40 feet long! Whale sharks are the world's largest fish.Three full-time vets will work there to make sure that Ralph, Norton, and all of the aquarium's sea life stay healthy.Students from the University of Georgia will help run the aquarium and conduct research at the animal hospital.
The aquarium was paid for almost completely by a $ 200 million gift from Bemie Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot Inc, and his wife, Billi."It's going to be the most unique aquarium in the world," said Marcus.Marcus said the aquarium was a "thank you" note to the city of Atlanta and the State of Georgia, where the Home Depot first opened for business. | high3286.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "strange"
},
"options": [
"unfair",
"normal",
"easy",
"strange"
],
"question": "According to British newspapers, questions for Oxbridge applicants are very _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{... | Every year, British newspapers report on the stranger questions asked in Oxbridge (Oxford & Cambridge) interviews. Often, though, these questions are not as strange as they first seem. And they are all designed to give applicants a chance to think.
Arriving for her first Oxford interview, my sister Jen saw that there was only one chair in the waiting room. On the chair was a large fork. Jen had heard about the strange things in Oxbridge interviews, and believed that this was a test. "What if they're watching me?" she thought. "If I move the fork, it will show initiative ; if I don't move it, it will show that I can easily fit into new situations." In the end, she sat uncomfortably on the edge of the chair!
Applicants must be prepared for the unexpected. Now it was Jen's turn. She was handed a monkey skull and asked to talk about it. At first, this seemed unfair --- what could she say? But she soon calmed down, started thinking, and found that there was plenty to talk about.
Oxbridge interviews are designed to find out how you think, not just what you think. And there are no wrong answers. Jen learnt that, and she passed the interview. What advice does she give? " Don't be nervous, and be prepared for the unexpected!" | high2198.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the first American to orbit the earth"
},
"options": [
"talking to ships at sea around the world",
"breaks in the worldwide network",
"the first American to orbit the earth",
"a satellite which fell into the ocean"
... | One night in February 1962, John H. Glenn. Jr., flew over Australia. The man in the Mercury capsule was alone, but friendly voices reached him by radio. On the dark land 100 miles below, he saw a sprinkling of light. They marked the city of Perth, where people had turned on their lights as a greeting to him.
In Friendship7, Glenn radioed, " The lights show up very well. Thank for everybody for turning them on." His capsule raced on to the east.
During his three orbits(......) of the earth, Glenn could always reach one of eighteen tracking stations. Some of them were on ship at sea. Others were in the United States.
Many of the stations had been built with the help of other countries. These countries allowed Americans to bring in radio equipment and set it up. Without the help of such lands as Nigeria , Zanzibar(,), and Mexico, there would have been breaks in the worldwide radio network.
John H. Glenn. Jr., was the first America to orbit the earth. For his flight, the tracking network covered 60,000 route miles. Five hundred men worked in the stations along the route. Since his flight, the network has grown. Today, it covers more than 100,000 route miles and has about one hundred stations. One-third of these stations are outside of the United States. | high11919.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "go to your friend and let him know your dissatisfaction"
},
"options": [
"think about his reaction and avoid letting him know it",
"go to your friend and let him know your dissatisfaction",
"try to find someone else to pass o... | Giving bad news is a difficult ball game. To help you get through an already difficult situation, try these tips when you have to tell someone bad news.
Think about your audience. People respond differently to bad news. Think about who you're talking to and how best to pass on unpleasant information to that person.
Consider the news. Are you the best person to give this news? If not, then you should consider letting others do it. Remember, however, that if you're talking to someone about your relationship, there is no other choice. It is something you yourself have to face.
Look for an appropriate moment to break the news. You don't tell the bride her grandfather died right before she walks down the passage. Wait until the time is right and you are at a private place where you won't be interrupted.
Find a chair. No one should be standing when receiving bad news.
Go straightforward. Give bad news the same way you take off a bandage: QUICKLY. Say that you have bad news and then tell it. Don't leave the receiver twisting in the wind.
Let it sink in. Many people mentally shut down when hearing bad news. There's no reason to keep talking if someone can't hear you any more.
Be ready for anything. Your audience may do nothing or may instead scream and throw things when you give unwelcome news. You just never know. If things get out of hand, you may need to temporarily excuse yourself or seek the help of friends or s.
Offer your help. Let people know you are there for them. If you're breaking up with someone, however, you should consider skipping this step, because the last thing she'll want is your help. | high18083.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "health and safety are more important than personal freedom"
},
"options": [
"one should not take risks of dealing with old people",
"old people should have the idea of cleaning their rooms",
"personal freedom is more importan... | Very old people do raise moral problems for almost everyone who comes into touch with them.
Their values - this can't be repeated too often - are not necessarily our values. Physical comfort, cleanness and order are not necessarily the most important for them. The social services from time to time find themselves faced with a flat with going bad food covered with dust on the table, and an old person lying alone on bed, taking no notice of anything. Is it doing harm to personal freedom to insist that they go to live with some of their s so that they might be taken better care of? Some social workers are the ones who clean up the dust, thinking we are in danger of carrying this idea of personal freedom to the point where serious risks are being taken with the health and safety of the old.
Indeed, the old can be easily hurt or harmed. The body is like a car; it needs more care as it gets older. You can carry this comparison right through to the provision of spare parts. Never forget that such operations are painful experiences, however good the results. At what point should you stop treating the old body? Is it right to try to push off death by using drugs to excite the forgetful old mind and to activate the old body, knowing that there is little hope? You cannot ask doctors or scientists to decide, because so long as they can see the technical opportunities, they will feel sure to have a try on the belief that while there's life, there's hope.
When you talk to the old people, however, you are forced to the conclusion that whether age is happy or unpleasant depends less on money or on health than _ does on your ability to have fun. | high23015.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "is more than four hours a day"
},
"options": [
"is more than four hours a day",
"is less than four hours a day",
"doubled in the last twenty years",
"is more than on any other activities"
],
"question": "Accordi... | PALO ALTO, California----"Switching off the television may help prevent children from getting fatter---- even if they do not change their diet or increase the amount they exercise," US researchers said last week.
A study of 192 third and fourth graders, generally aged eight and nine, found that children who cut the number of hours spent watching television gained nearly two pounds(0.9kg) less over a one-year period than those who did not change their television diet.
"The findings are important because they show that weight loss can only be the result of a reduction in television viewing and not any other activity," said Thomas Robinson, a pediatrician at Stanford University.
"American children spend an average of more than four hours per day watching television and videos or playing video games, and rates of childhood being very fat have doubled over the past 20 years," Robinson said.
In the study, presented this week to the Pediatric Academic Societies' annual meeting in San Francisco, the researchers persuaded about 100 of the students to reduce their television viewing by one-quarter to one-third.
Children watching fewer hours of television showed a significantly smaller increase in waist size and had less body fat than other students who continued their normal television viewing, even though neither group ate a special diet or took part in any extra exercise.
"One explanation for the weight loss could be the children unstuck to the television may simply have been moving around more and burning off calories," Robinson said.
"Another reason might be due to eating fewer meals in front of the television. Some studies have suggested that eating in front of the TV encourages people to eat more," Robinson said. | high105.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "long-term smoking"
},
"options": [
"his bad eating habit",
"overmuch work",
"long-term smoking",
"the old age"
],
"question": "Anchor Peter Jennings died of lung cancer which was possibly caused by _ .",... | ABC News anchor Peter Jennings died on Aug.7, 2005 at home in New York after a brief battle with lung cancer. ABC News anchors said they hope if anything good can be taken from Jennings' death, it is a great awareness of the dangers of smoking.
"I want to give a message," Barbara Walters said. "If you have kids who are smoking, tell them that we lost Peter."
Lung cancer is the worst killer in America, taking more lives each year than any other cancer, according to the America Cancer Society. About 160,440 Americans die each year of cancer, making up 28 percent of all cancer deaths. More than 87 percent of lung cancers are smoking related.
Dr. Derek Raghavan, director of the Cleveland Clinic' s Taussing Cancer Center , said that once a person stops smoking, he starts getting better. Three to five years after quitting, the possibility of getting lung cancer is reduced by half.
Warning signs of lung cancer can also be mixed with symptoms connected with long-term smoking. The three main warning signs are an increase of coughing that doesn't clear up, coughing up blood and sharp chest pains.
People with those symptoms should see a doctor. Raghavan said there have been promising developments in the treatment of lung cancer, including uses of radiation and surgery and drugs. "But the fact is that stopping smoking is the most important thing we can do," Raghavan said. "There is no treatment that even comes close." | high13868.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "He showed little interest in it."
},
"options": [
"He thought it interesting.",
"He wanted to try it at once.",
"He showed little interest in it.",
"He found it unsuitable for him."
],
"question": "What was the ... | When I first heard about geocaching ,I was skeptical. But the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like an interesting idea.I at least wanted to try it once.
Having familiarized myself with how the game works,I set out in search of my first cache. My trip took me through a series of lively hutong ,past a number of small temples, and right into the courtyard of a quiet youth hotel.I spent several minutes looking around, but couldn't find anything. Just before l was about to give up,I spotted a colorful object in the crack of a wall. Could it be the hidden cache?
At that moment a group of backpackers amved. According to the game's rules, people who are not in the game must not be allowed to find out about secret caches. So I pretended to make a phone call while waiting for them to leave. When the coast was clear,I grabbed the object. It was the cache! I opened it and pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper with several names and celebratory messages written on it.I added my own and replaced the cache in its hiding place, ready for the next geocacher to find.
It may seem like a simple game, but the idea that there are caches hidden all around us is exciting. Once you're hooked, it's easy to set yourself the goal of finding every single cache in a neighborhood or even an entire city. The real treasure, however, is not the cache itself, but the places it takes you to.
Hunting for further caches has since introduced me to places which I didn't even know existed. Some are peaceful parks, while others are forgotten historical sites.A few caches have even been in places I passed regularly without giving them any thought. Now,Ifeel a much closer connection. | high9973.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "How Bruce Wayne develops into a superhero."
},
"options": [
"How Bruce Wayne develops into a superhero.",
"How to overcome childhood fears.",
"What makes a superhero.",
"Why superheroes enjoy great popularity in Britain... | Superman, Spider-Man, Batman and Iron Man ... .There is no shortage of superheroes. You find them in comic books, on the TV and the big screen.
In a survey of fans by the sci-fi and fantasy website, SFX.co.uk, Batman, 70 years old this year, was voted Britain's favorite superhero.
Unlike many crime-fighting superheroes Batman has no special powers. He can't fly like Superman or shoot a sticky web like Spider-Man.
Bruce Wayne is born to a wealthy Gotham City business family. However, when his parents are murdered his life changes completely.
Wayne feels anger at their deaths and guilty that he did not prevent them. He travels around the world learning how to fight. Upon returning to Gotham, he creates a disguise to enable him to fight crime without being recognized.
A childhood fear of bats leads him to choose to dress as one. His idea is that through the bat person he can prove to himself that he has overcome his childhood fears.
Wayne is the CEO of the company he inherits from his father. He seems to live the lifestyle of a millionaire playboy. But this is a ruse . He works hard at the image to allow himself the freedom he needs to do his work as a crime fighter. "Bruce Wayne, playboy" is the disguise Batman is the real person.
"Wayne is not a born superhero. Instead, he is a real, complex person," said Dace Golder, editor of the website. "He is the most realistic of all the superheroes. I am particularly interested in the emotional process by which a boy becomes a hero. His superhero qualities come from within." | high663.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Because William had no experience of doing it in the wild."
},
"options": [
"Because William didn't know how to use the kits.",
"Because the author didn't trust William.",
"Because the author hurt himself severely.",
"B... | I spend a lot of time backpacking and hiking the outdoors and there are two pieces of equipment that are with me on each trip: an Adventure Medical Kits Weekender and an Adventure Medical Kits Suture Syringe Kit. Both proved very helpful on my most recent adventures to the Wrangell in Alaska.
On that day, we were "blessed" with rain, making our water crossing on the Dixie Pass very difficult. Our party of 12 had almost reached our destination when I slipped, severely gashing my knee open in the process. While I could not see the wound at first because of the rain pants I was wearing, I knew _ was severe.
Blood was running freely and I made those standing nearby aware of the damage. They quickly came over to assist, pulled my pack off and removed the Weekender First Aid Kit and Suture Kit from it. Fortunately, one of my partners is a doctor called William, who has often performed this type of work in the operating room, not out in the wild.
I seriously think he was more nervous about all this than me! I, of course, was more than happy that I did not have to stitch myself up. As a marine, I've had to do it before. Fortunately, the sky had cleared up about two hours before, so we had great sunlight to work with. The doctor worked quickly with the assistance of another fellow camper acting as a nurse and placed seven stitches into my knee once the wound had been cleaned up.
Later that evening we used a syringe we set aside loaded with Iodine to clean the wound and then bandaged it again. The doctor was very impressed with the kits contents!
I've already ordered another Suture Syringe Kit. I have to say the kits are worth their weight in gold! Thanks for the contents in the kits! | high5191.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Wild Water Wilderness"
},
"options": [
"Fiesta Village",
"the Boardwalk",
"Wild Water Wilderness",
"Camp Snoopy"
],
"question": "Besides Indian Trails, you can also experience Native American culture in _ .",... | Knott's Berry Farm is the nation's oldest, and first, theme park and draws around five million visitors each year. Knott's Berry Farm hardly had a very good start. Arriving in Southern California in the 1920s, the Knott Family farmed about 20 acres of land and finally started a restaurant called Mrs. Knott' s Chicken Dinner Restaurant. Mrs. Knott's food became well known and her husband Walter built a Ghost Town as a way of entertaining waiting customers. Today Knott's Berry Farm has 165 rides, shows, attractions and restaurants. For more than 80 years, Knott's Berry Farm has been entertaining families and visitors from around the world.
There are six different themed areas with rides and attractions in Knott's Berry Farm. Fiesta Village throws attention to California's Spanish heritage . Indian Trails is similar to Fiesta Village but with an accent on Native American legends, crafts, music and dancing. The heart and soul of Knott's, Ghost Town is an 1880s California Boom Town with cowboys, gunfights, and a real steam train. The Boardwalk makes people think of Southern California beach. Wild Water Wilderness is an 1800s-style park with water rapids and a magical journey into Native North America. For Peanuts fans, Camp Snoopy is a six-acre children's wonderland with 30 rides and attractions. Knott's Berry Farm is in Buena Vista, Orange County, California. It is about half an hour from downtown Los Angeles and 10 minutes from Disneyland. Knott's Berry Farm is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the week. The park is open on Saturdays from 10 a. m. to 10 p.m. and from 10 a. m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays. During the summer months, the park is open later. The theme park is closed on Christmas Day. | high2826.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Campus"
},
"options": [
"Forum",
"Campus",
"Advertisement",
"Culture"
],
"question": "In which column of a newspaper would you most probably read this passage?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": ... | It's a nightmare for Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST): within a week, two students committed suicide by jumping off dorm buildings.
Officials from the university are reluctant to give interviews.
"We had a hard time calming down students who were shocked at the suicides," said Zhang Jingyuan, head of HUST's center for research and guidance for students' development.
"Media coverage may arouse some students' negative emotions again. Suicide can be contagious ," Zhang said.
The university reacted promptly to the first suicide on October 23.
Advisors and class leaders conducted dorm-to-dorm checks to find students suffering depression. Then psychologists offered one-on-one counseling to them.
Notice boards publicizing tips for identifying peers' mental problems and offering help were set up in front of dorm buildings. Leaflets carrying similar information were handed out to each dorm.
However, the second suicide came seven days later.
Both students were described as men of few words. Their schoolmates didn't see anything to indicate suicide.
Zhang revealed that the two students had been bothered by mental disorders. But the school didn't know this until the students' close friends outside school and their parents unveiled the truth after the suicides.
According to Zhang, there are only three full-time counselors working in the university's counseling center for its 60,000 students. He complained: "It's unrealistic to rely only on counselors to detect students' mental problems."
Some universities in the US may be able to offer solutions to Zhang's worries. They have established programs to train students to be the bridge between troubled friends and counselors.
At Worcester Polytechnic Institute, at Worcester, Massachusetts, US, young people in the Student Support Network role play to learn how to detect SOS signals from their schoolmates.
They also practice how to gently persuade emotionally troubled students to go for professional help.
To develop such empathy , many universities in China have organized campus events to popularize knowledge about mental health. But these are not that attractive to students.
Ke Juanjuan, 24, is pursuing a master's degree in English translation at HUST. Ke has found that few of her peers will pay attention to activities about mental health when they are not troubled by it.
Rather than bombard students with the words "mental health", Ke suggested the school organize lectures and workshops concerning study, job-hunting and relationships. She explained: "Students care about these topics. They tend to have problems in these areas and may thus get stuck in depression.
"By helping students better deal with these problems, the school can effectively prevent self-inflicted injury and suicide among students."
Effective prevention comes from long-term education for life instead of temporary intervention to meet an emergency, said Hu Yi'an. Hu delivers a course of lectures on life and death at Guangzhou University. He worries that universities have paid little attention to education for life.
"Education for life helps students respect and love life so they won't resort to ending their lives when they have difficulties," said Hu.
According to Hu, the principles can be incorporated into everyday teaching. | high21164.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Italy"
},
"options": [
"India",
"Britain",
"China",
"Italy"
],
"question": "Yellow is concerned with anger in _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
... | Many people take it for granted that black is a color of bad things while white should always mean something good. This may be because, in their opinion, black is related to darkness and white to purity. However, that is not always the case. Did you know that the same one color may mean something differently in different places of the world?
In the English-speaking world, black is the color of mourning--people wear black at the funeral. Red is concerned with danger or bloodshed . Yellow is the word for fear. If you are afraid, you are yellow. Yet none of these sayings is true outside the English-speaking world. In China and Korea white is the color of mourning. In Russia, China and some other countries, red stands for beauty, life and excellence. In Italy and Germany, you are yellow with anger, not with fear.
Even within the English-speaking area, it is not difficult to find color contradictions .A redcap in the United States is a porter in a railway station. In Britain, however, a redcap is a military policeman. Both names are logical, because both men wear red caps. Similarly, the British term for an American white-collar worker is sometimes called a black-coated worker.
One does not have to cross an area to find color differences. Would you rather be red-blooded or a blue-blooded? If we go back to the origin, we find that both terms are logical as both names suggest. The expression "blueblood" comes from Spain, where some noble families proudly told the world that they had "blue blood". Actually they meant that they had no Moorish or Jewish blood. But then why "blue" blood? Because they were fair-skinned, and it is only natural that their blood vessels stood out appearing blue. | high11528.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "older than 20"
},
"options": [
"in their 30s",
"around 20",
"older than 20",
"in their 40s"
],
"question": "We can infer from the text that most millionaires are_.",
"question_type": "summarization_questions... | Everyone would like to be a millionaire but can you imagine having over $30 million and only being 20 years old? Britney Spears from Kentwood, a small town in Louisiana, is only 20 years old; she is an international pop superstar with not only $30 million but also a $2 million house in LA. At her young age, she can look after her family financially all her life.
This year is a big year for Britney. She is currently on a 31 day tour of the US and every concert is a sell-out. That means she plays in front of a crowd of around 18,000 every time. It's tiring schedule but brings great rewards. When touring, she goes to bed around l a.m. and then has a lie-in until l p.m. or 2 p.m. the next day. Her philosophy is to take care of the body and relax but always make sure you work hard and have fun.
Spears is not satisfied with only touring and selling nearly 40 million records, so she decided to branch out into the movie business and try a bit of acting. She made an appearance in " Austin Powers 3" this year and she is filming a teenage comedy that will be released in March 2003. In this movie, she has a starring role. The movie was her own concept and she picked the writer.
For Britney, acting is another way to express herself and she is enthusiastic about it all. If her movies are successful, her bank account is sure to grow by another few million dollars but she has been quoted as saying she does it for the love, not the money. | high16247.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": ".Australia is confident that the Reef is not\"in danger\",."
},
"options": [
".Much remains to be done for Australia to save the Reef.",
".Australian government is on good terms with UNESCO.",
".Australia is confident that th... | Australia said on Friday that it had done enough to prevent the UN from listing the Great Barrier Reef ,the world's biggest coral reef ecosystem ,as being'in danger'*
The Great Barrier Reef covers an area of 348,000 square kilometers off Australia's east coast and ontains some 2,500 smalll reefs.Its width ranges between 60 and 250 kilometers.It is a collection of ore than 2 , 900 coral reefs,600 continental islands,and thousands of sea species ,making it one of the world's most complex and varied ecosystems.
It was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1981 .But in 2011 UNESCO declared"extreme concern"at the approval of natural gas processing and port facilities within the site and afterwards warned the reef could be considered"in danger".Worried about planned coastal developments,including ports,UNESCO is set to announce overnight a draft decision on the site,which is rich in sea life.
"They can see we are doing real work to improve the reef,"Environment Minister Greg Hunt told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation."I firmly believe that we're making once in a century changes to ensure that a century from now,the reef won't just be as it is,but will be better and stronger than it has been since European settlement."
Australia has recently ordered a ban on the century-old practice of emptying dredge waste which environmentalists smakes corals and seagrasses die because of lack of airacross most of the reef,and funded efforts to improve water quality.
Queensland State,the gateway to the reef,has also promised to introduce laws to limit port develop ment as it balances environmental concerns with the needs of the resources industry | high19174.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The lunches contain too much fat."
},
"options": [
"The meat in the lunches is mysterious.",
"The lunches are too expensive.",
"The lunches contain too much fat.",
"There is inadequate nutrition in the lunches."
],
... | WASHINGTON-School lunches have been called many things, but a group of retired military officers is giving them a new label: national security threat.
That's not a reference to the mystery meat served up in the cafeteria line either. The retired officers are saying that school lunches have helped make the nation's young people so fat that fewer of them can meet the military's physical fitness standards, and recruitment will be difficult.
A new report being released Tuesday says more than 9 million young adults, or 27 percent of all Americans ages 17 to 24, are too overweight to join the military. Now, the officers are advocating for passage of a wideranging nutrition bill that aims to make the nation's school lunches healthier.
The military group acknowledges that other things keep young adults out of the armed services, such as a criminal record or the lack of a high school diploma. But weight problems that have worsened over the past 15 years are now the leading medical reason that recruits are rejected.
Although all branches of the military now meet or exceed recruitment goals, retired Navy Rear Adm. James Barnett Jr., a member of the officers group, says the _ trend could affect that.
"When over a quarter of young adults are too fat to fight, we need to take notice," Barnett said. He noted that national security in the year 2030 is "absolutely dependent" on reversing child obesity rates.
This isn't the first time the military has gotten involved in the debate over school lunches. During World War II, military leaders had the opposite problem, reporting that many recruits were rejected because of stunted growth and inadequate nutrition. After the war, military leaders pushed Congress to establish the national school lunch program so children would grow up healthier.
Today, the group is urging Congress to eliminate junk food and highcalorie beverages from schools, put more money into the school lunch program and develop new strategies that help children develop healthier habits. | high4700.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Melatonin production."
},
"options": [
"Bleary eyes.",
"Colorectal cancer",
"Melatonin production.",
"Breast cancer."
],
"question": "Which of the following is NOT caused by working on the night shift?",
"qu... | Working the night shift a few nights a month can do more than leave your eyes bleary-eyed ,suggests a study on Wednesday.
It just might increase your risk of color1ectal cancer .Nurses who worked the night shift at least three times a month for t5 years or more were 35%more likely to develop that type of cancer than nurses who never worked nights,Harvard University researchers report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
The finding,from the ongoing Nurses Health Study,is the first to link night shift work with a higher risk of color1ectal cancer,expected to kill 57,100 Americans this, according to the American Cancer Society.Another research,including a report out of the Nurses Health Study, has suggested that working night shifts increases women's breast cancer risk.
The researchers asked 78,586 nurses whether they had ever worked three or more night shifts a month.The nurses indicated whether they had done so for less than 15 years or 15 years or more.The scientists followed the women to see who developed color1ectal cancer.
Researchers believe that lowered levels of melatonin might increase night-shift workers' cancer risk.Melatonin levels usually reach the highest point in the middle of the night.
Turn on the lights,though,and _ dropped measurably in just 10 minutes,says Richard Stevens a cancer epidemiologist at the University of Connecticut who did not take part in the new study.After two weeks of continuous nightly exposure to light,humans experience a sharp drop in melatonin production,Nurses Health Study researchers write.
In the lab,melatonin appears to stop tumor growth.Other studies suggest that color1ectal cancer patients have lower blood levels of melatonin than healthy people,the authors write.However,that could be a result of the disease,not a cause of it.Stevens says. | high17159.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "it is very different from America"
},
"options": [
"no dogs are permitted in the capital",
"the police do not carry handguns",
"it is very different from America",
"the climate is rather mild."
],
"question": "A... | To American visitors, Iceland is a very interesting country, partly because it is different in so many ways from what he or she is used to seeing at home. There are quite a few things that are not done, or that do not exist on the island - quite a few "No's".
There is no pollution, for instance. No dogs are permitted in Reykjavik, the capital. There is no television on Thursdays or during the entire month of July, and only three hours of black-and-white TV the rest of the time. There is no hard liquor on Wednesdays and no beer at any time. There are no handguns; only one jail of thirty-five cells in the entire land - an admirable figure, even for a small country of 313,376 people.
There is no army, air force or navy. There is no tipping for anything. There are no large stores open on Saturdays or Sundays. Since Iceland is situated just under the Arctic Circle, there is no darkness in summer and do daylight in winter. But thanks to Gulf Stream, the climate is rather mild, with temperatures ranging from 34 degrees Fahrenheit to 52 degrees in July.
The rules on television, liquor, and guns are the result of governmental decision. But the absence of pollution is due in great part to the fact that Iceland gets its power from the enormous geyser and the thousands of hot springs that come out of the ground. They provide all the energy needed by the country. In fact, Iceland uses only 3 percent of all its available power.
Iceland has been described as a democratic independent country where more fish are caught and more books published per person than anywhere else in the world. The Icelanders have always felt a particular love for literature. They composed their first works in the ninth and tenth centuries AD. These works were poems and tales about the kings, heroes, and heroines of Iceland and Norway. At first the stories were memorized and passed from generation to generation. The Icelanders have never stopped writing ever since. "Rather shoeless than bookless," they proudly say. | high2371.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The author thinks it meaningless to argue whether Paris is better than London or vice versa."
},
"options": [
"Paris welcomed more foreign visitors than London did last year.",
"Anne Hidalgo didn't respond to Boris Johnson's remark... | Which city would you prefer to visit, London or Paris?London had welcomed 16.8 million foreign visitors in 2014, compared with 15.2 million visitors to Paris, according to a new report released by UK research firm Euromonitor International in January.
Boris Johnson, London's mayor, is very proud."With so many fascinating museums, the best theater scene in the world, more green space than any other European city, numerous top sporting venues , a low crime rate and much else besides, it is no wonder that people from all over the globe are flocking to London in record numbers. These figures prove that London is without doubt the greatest city on the planet,"he told The Telegraph.
However, Paris' mayor, Anne Hidalgo, is not as pleased. "London is in some ways a suburb of Paris," she said.The Huffington Post used the word " _ " to describe these back-and-forth insults . It refers to arguments about unimportant things, like small children fighting over a toy, or lovers arguing over the TV remote.
France and Britain are separated only by the English Channel. For centuries, they fought over territory .But in fact, Paris and London are very similar. Both are centers of fashion and the arts. Even their most famous landmarks are a little similar --- the Palace of Versailles outside Paris and Buckingham Palace in London, for example.
That's the trouble - they're as good as each other. As the Daily Mail put it: London and Paris are "head-to-head" in their battle for supremacy. In fact, visitors to these great cities love them equally.Hidalgo also wrote an article in The Telegraph, but changed her words slightly: "London is a suburb of Paris and Paris is a suburb of London."Does this mean these two cities could one day "grow up", stop bickering, and become friends. | high10636.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "his arms touched the ground when he moved"
},
"options": [
"he didn't talk to then",
"he kept away from them",
"his arms touched the ground when he moved",
"he couldn't use his arms"
],
"question": "Children lau... | Hank Viscardi was born without legs.He had not legs but stumps that could be fitted with a kind of special boots, People stared at him with cruel interest.Children laughed at him and called him 'Ape Man' because his arms practically dragged on the ground.
Hank went to school like other boys.His grades were good and he needed only eight years to finish his schooling instead of the usual twelve.After graduating from school, he worked his way through college.He swept floors, waited on table, or worked in one of the college offices.During all this busy life, he had been moving around on his stumps.But one day the doctor told him even the stumps were not going to last much longer.He would soon have to use a wheel chair.
Hank felt himself got cold all over.However, the doctor said there was a chance that he could be fitted with artificial legs .Finally a leg maker was found and the day came when Hank stood up before the mirror, for the first time he saw himself as he has always wanted to be a full five feet eight inches tall.By this time he was already 26 years old.
Hank had to learn to use his new legs.Again and again he marched the length of the room, and marched back again.There were times when he fell down on the floor, but he pulled himself up and went back to the endless marching.He went out on the street.He climbed stairs and learned to dance.He built a boat and learned to sail it.
When World War II came, he talked the Red Cross into giving him a job.He took the regular training.He marched and drilled along with the other soldiers.Few knew that he was legless.This was the true story of Hank Viscardi, a man without legs. | high1678.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "irresponsible manufacturers of automobiles"
},
"options": [
"careless bicycle riders",
"people walking in the street",
"irresponsible drivers",
"irresponsible manufacturers of automobiles"
],
"question": "The fo... | The motor vehicle has killed and disabled more people in its brief history than any bomb or weapon ever invented. Much of the blood on the street flows essentially from uncivil behavior of drivers who refuse to respect the legal and moral rights of others. So the massacre on the road may be regarded as a social problem .
In fact, the enemies of society on wheels are rather harmless people just ordinary people acting carelessly, you might say. But it is a principle both of law and common morality that carelessness is no excuse when one's actions could bring death or damage to others. A minority of the killers go even beyond carelessness to total negligence .
Researchers have pointed out that as many as 80 percent of all automobile accidents can result from the psychological condition of the driver. Emotional upsets can affect drivers' reactions, slow their judgment, and blind them to dangers that might otherwise be clear. The experts warn that it is important for every driver to make a conscious effort to keep one's emotion under control.
Yet the irresponsibility that accounts for much of the problem is not only caused by drivers. Street walkers regularly go against traffic rules, they are to blame in most vehicle walker accidents , and many cyclists even believe that they don't obey the basic rules of the road.
Significant legal advances have been made towards safer driving in the past few years. Safety standards for vehicle have been raised both at the point of manufacture and through regular road-worthiness inspections . In addition, speed limits have been lowered. Due to these measures, the accident rate has decreased. But the accident experts still worry because there has been little or no improvement in the way drivers behave. The only real and lasting solution, say the experts, is to convince people that driving is a skilled task requiring constant care and concentration. Those who fail to do all these things present a threat to those with whom they share the road. | high15996.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Europe"
},
"options": [
"Asia",
"Europe",
"America",
"Africa"
],
"question": "Milton set off for a travel on the continent here \"continent\" means _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"a... | John Milton was born in 1606. His father expected him to enter the church of England, but Milton wanted to be a poet. At twenty-nine Milton set off for a travel on the _ He traveled in France, Switzerland and Italy, winning the friendship of many artists and scientists, including Galileo, the famous Italian scientist who suffered for his discovery in prison. In 1639, he was planning to go on this journey when the news reached him of the break between the king and Parliament . Milton returned to England immediately, and put himself into the struggle against the king, for which he had long been prepared. During the Civil war, Milton worked as the spokesman of the revolution. By the beginning of 1652, Milton had become completely blind, yet he didn't stop fighting. After the Restoration , his books were burnt, and he himself avoided being killed because of his blindness.
John Milton was not only a brave revolutionary but also a great poet. His famous poem Paradise Lost was an immediate success. But, for its publication (being published), Milton received only 18 pounds. He died in 1671. | high9224.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The customer had ever been to the store before."
},
"options": [
"The owner often did business by using her camera.",
"The customer had ever been to the store before.",
"The owner and the customer discussed the price on the c... | I wandered into the small store where I usually buy milk, when the store owner received a call from a customer. The customer and his wife had shopped there several months earlier. He noticed that his wife really liked one thing in the store, so he wanted to buy it as a surprise.
But the customer was in Tennessee, far away from the store which was in Maine. What was more, he had been to the store several months earlier, and it was difficult to believe that the store owner would remember him, or what he was looking for.
The store owner took a few close-up photos with her camera, and e-mailed them to the customer on the computer. The customer looked at the photos, and decided which one he wanted. They talked and discussed a price over the phone. She took care of the credit card transaction online, and promised the gift would be shipped out that afternoon.
The store owner was really smart. She was willing to push herself to find new ways to make the transaction actually happen. And it did work. However, it was the first time she had ever done it.
I was amazed that the store owner discovered a creative solution that could lead to a new way of doing business. I was impressed by what she did---so easily, but how difficult it is for many of us to make that leap . I'm not just talking about technology, but about learning how to adapt to change. Most people hate or fear change unless they get to know exactly what change needs to be made. However, we should realize that challenge and opportunity go hand in hand. | high14450.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Ad messages were shouted out in public places."
},
"options": [
"Merchants were employed to promote products.",
"Ad messages were shouted out in public places.",
"Product information was included in books.",
"Ad signs w... | The word advertising refers to any kind of public announcement that brings products and services to the attention of people.Throughout history, advertising has been an effective way to promote the trading and selling of goods.In the Middle Ages,merchants employed "town criers" to read public messages aloud to promote their goods.When printing was invented in the fifteenth century, pages of advertisements (ads) could be printed easily and were either hung in public places or put in books.
By the end of the seventeenth century, when newspapers were beginning to be read by more people, printed materials became an important way to promote products and services.The London Gazette was the first newspaper to set aside a place just for advertising. _ was so successful that by the end of the century several companies started businesses for the purpose of making newspaper ads for merchants.
Advertising spread quickly throughout the eighteenth century.Ad writers were starting to pay more attention to the design of the ad text.Everything,from clothes to drinks,was promoted with clever methods such as repetition of the firm's name or product, words organized in eye-catching patterns,the use of pretty pictures and expressions easy to remember.
Near the end of the nineteenth century, companies that were devoted to the production of ads came to be known as "advertising agencies " . The agencies developed new ways to get people to think of themselves as members of a group.Throughout the twentieth century, advertising agencies promoted consumerism as a way of life,spreading the belief that people could be happy only if they bought the "right" products. | high7209.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "they have formed the habit of sitting"
},
"options": [
"they are cleverer than younger students",
"they are easily tired of standing long",
"they have formed the habit of sitting",
"they do badly in class while standing... | Love to sink into your chairs and relax when you get to school? Then you will not be happy to hear that schools all over the world are seriously considering exchanging traditional desks for ones with no seats at all -- Yes, that means you will be encouraged to stand through those already too long math and science lessons! Why would anyone even think of putting kids to such cruelty? Experts say it improves their health and helps fight obesity. While that may seem a little far-fetched , the officials at the few schools around the world seem to agree.
Among them are educators from the College Station Independent School District in Texas, who recently completed a week-long experiment involving 480 students across three elementary schools. The 374 kids that agreed to participate in the study were provided with a device that helped record step count and calorie consumption over the entire period.
All 25 teachers involved in the study reported that students appeared to be more alert and concentrate better, when allowed to stand. The one thing that did surprise the researchers was that younger kids were more willing to stay standing than kids in higher grades. They believe this may have something to do with the fact that after years of being asked to "sit still", older kids have a harder time adjusting to this unexpected freedom.
American schools are not the only ones reporting success with stand-up desks. Four Catholic schools in Perth, Australia, which have been testing them since October 2013, have seen similar results. In May 2014, Grove House Primary School in Bradford, West Yorkshire, became Europe's first test one, with a seven-week trial that involved the use of desks made by Ergotron in their fifth-grade classrooms. While official results are not out yet, early reactions from both teachers and students, have been extremely encouraging.
The findings of these studies and others done previously, all seem to mean that allowing kids to move around in classrooms is a win-win for students and teachers -- it helps kids get healthier and provides educators with a more engaged audience. | high12021.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "a balloon"
},
"options": [
"a jet plane",
"an aircraft",
"a balloon",
"a ship"
],
"question": "The first kind of air travel was in _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"a... | The first kind of air transportation was not a plane. It was a balloon. People traveled by balloon 100 years before there were planes or jet aircraft. Those early days of ballooning were exciting, but they were also dangerous. Sometimes the balloons fell suddenly. Sometimes they burned. However, the danger did not stop the balloonists.
The first real balloon flight was in France in 1783. Two Frenchmen, the Montgolfier brothers, made a balloon. They filled a very large paper bag with hot air. Hot air is lighter than cold air, so it goes up. The Montgolfier's hot air balloon went up 1,000 feet in the sky.
Later that same year, two other Frenchmen ascended in a basket under a balloon. They built a fire under the balloon to make the air hot. This made the balloon stay up in the air for a few hours. But their balloon was tied to the ground. So it could not go anywhere.
The first free balloon flight was in December, 1783. The balloon flew for 25 minutes over Paris. It traveled about 5.5 miles. Flying a balloon is not like flying a plane. The balloon has no engine and therefore no power of its own. The wind directs the balloon. It goes where the wind blows. The pilot can control only the altitude of the balloon to find the right wind direction. That is how a good pilot controls where the balloons goes.
Soon balloonists tried longer flights. A major event in the history of ballooning was the first long flight over water. In 1785, an American and a Frenchman flew over the English Channel.
During the nineteenth century, ballooning became a popular sport. There were balloon races in Europe. Balloons were also used by scientists to study the air and by armies in wartime. After the airplane was invented, people lost interest in balloons. Planes were much faster and easier to control. But some people today still like to go up in balloons. High up in the balloon basket, they find quietness. They have wonderful view of the world below. | high12747.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "was still in good condition"
},
"options": [
"was still in good condition",
"was a little damaged",
"had just lost color1",
"was just repaired"
],
"question": "When the wallet was found, it _ .",
"question... | Bill Fulton doesn't remember losing his wallet, but its return helped him remember the past. The leather stayed smooth and the cowboy design unblemished . And when he looked inside, the contents brought back memories from 1946, when he apparently dropped the wallet behind the balcony bleachers in the Baker Middle School gym.
Fulton's Social Security Card and bicycle license, bearing the address where he lived during his teenage years, were positioned in their respective compartments, apparently untouched since the year after World War Il ended.
Worker Nathan Osborne found the wallet -- along with old homework, lost library books and a 1964 talent show program -- while removing the bleachers for renovations on June 17. It was brought to Fulton's door the following day by Melanie Trindle, the Baker Middle School secretary.
Middle School Principal Mindi Vaughan said the brown pine bleachers were connected to the gym balcony's brick wall and had remained in the same place since the school, known as the Helen M. Stack Building, opened in 1936.
Fulton, 78, said he probably lost the wallet while cheering for the Baker High basketball team with a group of friends. Fulton said the bicycle ID was needed because he delivered medicine for Rodamar Drug. He was surprised, however, that his bicycle ID wasn't inside. He said he always kept it there.
But rather than focus on what was inside the wallet, Fulton said the recovery has led him to reflect on his life -- one that took him to the Korean War and Berlin before the return to Baker City. He worked at Ellingson Lumber Company for 30 years, from March 1964 to April 1994.
Since his retirement, Fulton has enjoyed spending time with his 11-year-old black dog, Smokey. The two often hike the nearby mountains.
Trindle's knock on the door, wallet in hand, induced a slight ripple in his life, prompting him to consider the times he hadn't thought about in many years. "Where did all the times go?" Fulton said with a deep sigh. "It' s hard to believe that the times have gone so fast." | high22684.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "It made them feel comfortable."
},
"options": [
"It brought warmth to them.",
"It made them feel comfortable.",
"It improved the quality of the air.",
"It left the sky blue and beautiful."
],
"question": "Why di... | Soft winds blew throughout the Windy City today. We welcomed the winds, as it was another hot day in Chicago. The wind blew, bringing us some coolness and making the weather not that hot. But it was a beautiful summer day with a blue sky.
Chicago is a great city for eating, and we have enjoyed tasting the different foods. Last night, we tried one of the city's most famous foods: deep-dish pizza. Chicago claims credit for the rich and cheesy thick-crust pizza, covered with a sweet tomato sauce. We topped it with olives and green peppers.
We were touring the city, mainly looking for delicious local foods. Today, we enjoyed a Polish specialty at lunch: Pierogis, an Eastern European dumpling-like dish, filled with foods like potatoes, cheese, mushrooms, cabbage and meat. Polish immigrants started settling in Chicago in the 1850s, and the city has one of the largest Polish communities in the U.S.
We took a break from exploring the city to talk with some of you! Ashley and Caty logged onto the Internet for an on-the-road version of TALK2US. We spoke to an English teacher in Tokyo, Japan, and a graduate student in India.
Meanwhile, Adam searched for some locations around the city to shoot some video. He chose a spectacular spot: Navy Pier, Chicago's most-visited attraction. The winds from Lake Michigan keep visitors cool, and the view of the Chicago skyline never fails to impress. In fact, the view made all of us _ !
Our time in Chicago has come to an end. Tomorrow, the true journey begins, as we pass through Illinois and into Missouri via Route 66. Springfield, the home of Abe Lincoln, and St. Louis, the "gateway to the West," wait for us. | high14336.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "To express concern about recent trends in online news."
},
"options": [
"To report on a new computer service offered by Facebook.",
"To advise readers against reading computer-written news.",
"To express concern about recent ... | This year, Face book, the social media website announced that it would cooperate with several news organizations -- including The New York Times, The Guardian, and the BBC -- to place news stories directly into users' personal Face book webpage. Stories published using Face book Instant will load more quickly and keep the style of the original publisher, who will keep all the advertising income the stories earn -- at least for now. The deal shows how important social media has become to news organizations, and is a clear sign of how the world of news is changing -- and has been for a while.
Many thought of it as the death of the newspaper, when Google News began in 2002. It had no human editor. Instead Google used, and still uses, a secret computer program that selects and displays news stories according to the reader's personal interests, More recently, Associated Press and Yahoo have been publishing computer-written articles. Both use special software to automatically produce stories about company financial results and sports reports -- areas where the quality of writing is felt to be of secondary importance to the accuracy of the data.
I think we should be concerned about such developments. One concern is that Facebook, Google and other social media websites see journalism as a sideline , a way of putting people in front of advertisements. _ isn't their primary function -- so if it stops making them lots of money, they're likely to stop doing it.
There's another concern that computer-written articles are not actually journalism at all, because what a human news team produces is actually quite complex. A well-written news story puts information in context, offers a voice to each side of an argument and brings the public new knowledge.
Although economics and speed of delivery mean readers will probably choose a computer-written story over a carefully shaped article -- at least for daily news -- I don't think the computers will be writing any in-depth articles for a while yet. | high13459.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Monkey King will return to screens with 3D effects."
},
"options": [
"The origin of the story about Monkey King",
"Monkey King will return to screens with 3D effects.",
"The brief introduction to the TV series Journey to the ... | Passage 1
As one of China's most popular and widely known story ,Monkey King, is set to return to screens with 3D effects. It may feature many of the same leading actors from the earliest 1986TV series Journey to the West. According to the producer, which can be got easily in the market? The TV drama, with a total investment of 150 million yuan, will be broadcast on Sichuan TV. Almost 90 million yuan has been put into 3D effects with each 45-mniute episode containing eight minutes of 3D. "The 3D effects not only cost us a lot of money but also a lot of time," director Kan Weiping said. "We had to put off its broadcasting time, which was set at first this summer."
Passage 2
The Solar Roadway is an intelligent road that provides clean renewable energy using power from the sun, while providing safer driving conditions along with power. American inventors of the Solar Road said that it will power itself, and reduce the country's carbon marks. Many panels are fixed on the Solar Road. The top of the Solar Road panels is made of glass and the inventors are working together with top glass researchers to develop super strong glass that would offer vehicles pulling power they need. The Solar Roadway creates and carries clean renewable electricity and, therefore, electric vehicles can be recharged at any rest stop, or at any business that uses solar road panels in their parking lots. Such parking lots will be safer at night with the light provided by LED within the road panels. The inventors say their solar roadway has many applications and advantages from main roads to driveways, parking lots, bike paths and runways. | high2417.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "3397 yuan"
},
"options": [
"3397 yuan",
"1510 yuan",
"2397 yuan",
"2510 yuan"
],
"question": "How much money is he likely to spend on some of the products if a man is an enthusiastic musical fan?",
"question... | Its often interesting to take a look at some of the lists that arrive toward the end of the year such as top devices, best gadgets, most desirable high-tech gift and more. Apart from cell phones and tablets, and Apple and Samsung products, this year many other gadgets made it on the most wanted list from Yahoo Tech and the most searched list from Bing. com. Read on to find out what they are.
Wireless headphone
Portable Bluetooth headphones represent the next evolution in headphone technology. If you have a compatible smartphone with Bluetooth, the obvious benefit is that you can get rid of the wires snaking from your backpack or pocket. Many of the wireless headphones in the market also have a built-in microphone for taking calls hands-free.
Product to buy: Beats Studio Wireless
Features: Signature look, and powerful audio performance with intense bass and high-mid boosting, plus plenty of accessories.
Price: 1898 yuan
Smartwatch
The primary advantage of a smartwatch over traditional watches is that they reduce how often you have to pull your phone out of your pocket. With it, the information on your smartphone goes straight to your wrist, and you can decide first if they are worth dealing with.
Product to buy: Pebble smartwatch
Features: Understated design, with easy setup and instant information, and customizable watch faces, plus synes with Android or IOS.
Price: $99 (about 612 yuan)
Portable Bluetooth speaker
Bluetooth speakers are steadily growing in popularity because they let you take the party anywhere. They can be paired with your music device, and they are able to withstand incidental bumps. Though small in size, Bluetooth speakers provide a steady soundtrack for even the lengthiest bacchanalia .
Product to buy: Logitech UE Boom
Features: Water and stain resistant, 360-degree sound, 15 hour battery life, with a variety of color patterns.
Price: 1499 yuan
Fitness band
Basically, fitness bands are smartwatches without the watch. They keep track of your exercise progress and, at the same time, allow you to monitor vitals such as your heart rate, calories burned and amount of time spent exercising. Some even monitor your sleep patterns.
Product to buy: Fitbit Flex
Features: Long battery life (five days), with silent vibrating alarm, and wireless syncing to smartphones.
Price: 898 yuan | high10150.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "tell people the impact divorce has on the environment"
},
"options": [
"inform the reader of the increasing divorce in America",
"emphasize the importance of protecting the environment",
"appeal to married people to keep thei... | Soaring divorce rates around the globe are _ the environment ,American researchers suggested in a study released Monday .
Michigan State University researcher Jianguo "Jack "Liu and his assistant Eunice Yu said the increasing number of divorces leads to more households with fewer people and greater consumption of water and energy .They said housing units require space ,construction materials and fuel to heat and cool ,regardless of the number of inhabitants .
For example ,in the United States in 2005, divorced households consumed an extra 73 billion kilowatt hours of electricity and 627 billion gallons of water ,An additional 38 million extra rooms required heating and lighting that same year due to divorced households .
"A married household actually uses resources more efficiently than a divorced household ", Liu said ,He said that in cohabitating households ,people will watch the same television ,share the air conditioning and heat and use the same refrigerator ,all things that use energy at a regularly stable rate regardless of the number of uses .
Liu said he was not condemning divorce ," Some people really need to get divorces "He said cohabitation ---- whether by a family ,friends or even in a commune ------ was simply a more environmentally friendly option ,Additionally ,the researchers noted that trends other than divorce are also changing family living structures ,such as the end of multiple generations of a family sharing a home and people remaining single longer .
"People's first reaction to this research is surprise ,and then it seems simple ":Liu said in a release " But a lot of things become simple after research is done .Our challenges were to connect the dots and quantify their relationships People have been talking about how to protect the environment and combat climate change ,but divorce is an overlooked factor that needs to be considered . "
He said the increasing energy demands caused by divorce should be considered by governments when they are creating environmental policies . | high20093.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "have high emotional intelligence"
},
"options": [
"are ready to help others",
"are very successful in their lives",
"have high emotional intelligence",
"know how to control their temper"
],
"question": "Accordin... | We probably all know people, either at work or in our personal lives, who are really good listeners. No matter what kind of situation we're in, they always seem to know just what to say and how to say it so that we're not offended or upset. We probably also know people who are masters at managing their emotions . They don't get angry in stressful situations. Instead, they have the ability to calmly look at a problem and find a solution. They take criticism well, and they know when to use it to improve their performance.
People like these who have a high degree of emotional intelligence, or EI . They know themselves very well, and they're also able to sense the emotional needs of others.
As more and more people accept that emotional intelligence is just as important to professional success as technical ability, companies are increasingly using EI when they hire and promote someone. For example, one large cosmetics company recently changed their hiring process for salespeople to choose candidates based on emotional intelligence. The result? Salespeople hired with the new system have sold, on average, $91,000 more than salespeople selected under the old system.
Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize your emotions, understand what _ are telling you, and realize how your emotions affect people around you. Emotional intelligence also involves your perception of others: when you understand how they feel, this allows you to manage relationships more effectively.
People with high emotional intelligence are usually successful in most things they do. Why? Because they are the ones that others want on their team. When people with high EI send an email, it get answered. When they need help, they get it. Because they make others feel good, they go through life much more easily than people who are easily angered or upset.
The good news is that emotional intelligence can be taught and developed. Many books and tests are available to help you determine your current EI, and identify where you may need to do some work. | high5378.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "with the help of one of his customers"
},
"options": [
"so that he could become famous",
"with the help of one of his customers",
"when he moved to a Cherokee Nation",
"in order to save the Cherokee language"
],
... | Sequoyah was born in the 1770s and grew up in the Cherokee village of Tuskegee, Tennessee. He was good at working with silver jewelry . One day Sequoyah was asked to put his name on the jewelry he made. However, he couldn't write his name because Cherokee was only a spoken language. Sequoyah decided to learn how to write his name, so he asked one of his customers to teach him. From then on, Sequoyah signed his work in English.
Then Sequoyah realized that a written language was necessary for his people. In 1809, he started by making small drawings, and tried creating a letter for each sound in the Cherokee language. First, Sequoyah picked out all the sounds in the Cherokee language. Then he gave each sound a symbol. Unlike English, however, no two sounds shared the same symbol.
Sequoyah's work was difficult and took a lot of time. What's worse, few people around him understood him. However, Sequoyah didn't stop working. In 1821, Sequoyah completed his alphabet . Each symbol in the alphabet symbolized one of the eight-five sounds in the Cherokee language. By saying the name of each symbol, a person could read the spoken word.
Sequoyah taught his six-year-old daughter, Ayoka, the symbols. One day they visited the elders of the Cherokee Nation. Sequoyah asked Ayoka to leave while he wrote down what the elders said. When Akoya returned, she read out what Sequoyah had written. The elders were stunned because she was able to repeat the words without being present. Sequoyah's alphabet was soon accepted as the written language of the Cherokee Nation. | high19612.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "They both have experiences as daughter, mother and writer."
},
"options": [
"They both have gone through difficult times.",
"They have strong emotional ties with each other.",
"They have the same joys and pains, and love and ... | Mothers and daughters go through so much--yet when was the last time a mother and daughter sat down to write a book together about it all? Perri Klass and her mother, Sheila Solomon Klass, both gifted professional writers, prove to be ideal co-writers as they examine their decades of motherhood, daughterhood, and the wonderful ways their lives have overlapped .
Perri notes with amazement how closely her own life has mirrored her mother's: both have full-time careers; both have published books, articles, and stories; each has three children; they both love to read. They also love to travel--in fact, they often take trips together. But in truth, the harder they look at their lives, the more they acknowledge their big differences in circumstance and basic nature.
A child of the Depression , Sheila was raised in Brooklyn by parents who considered education a _ for girls. Starting with her college education, she has fought for everything she's ever accomplished. Perri, on the other hand, grew up privileged in the New Jersey suburbs of the 1960s and 1970s. For Sheila, wasting time or money is a crime, and luxury is unthinkable while Perri enjoys the occasional small luxury, but has not been successful at trying to persuade her mother into enjoying even the tiniest thing she likes.
Each writing in her own unmistakable voice, Perri and Sheila take turns exploring the joys and pains, the love and bitterness, the minor troubles and lasting respect that have always bonded them together. Sheila describes the adventure of giving birth to Perri in a tiny town in Trinidad where her husband was doing research fieldwork. Perri admits that she can't sort out all the mess in the households, even though she knows it drives her mother crazy. Together they compare thoughts on bringing up children and working, admit long-hidden sorrows, and enjoy precious memories.
Looking deep into the lives they have lived separately and together, Perri and Sheila tell their mother-daughter story with honesty, humor, enthusiasm, and admiration for each other. A written account in two voices, Every Mother Is a Daughter is a duet that produces a deep, strong sound with the experiences that all mothers and daughters will recognize. | high4066.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "three parts"
},
"options": [
"one part only",
"two parts",
"three parts",
"four parts"
],
"question": "A potato has _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": ... | Most American children eat potatoes every day, but they don't know which part of potato is most nourishing .Take a sharp knife and cut a very thin slice from it and hold it to the light, and you will see that the potato has skin, an outside rim and the inner part. The outside rim which is right under the skin is most nutritious.But this part is often thrown away with the skin. Even the skin itself is better for food than the inside. When eating a cooked potato, if you choose the inside and leave the outside, you are wasting the best part of it. If you can't eat the whole potato, it is better to eat the outside rim and leave the inner part. | high3709.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "improve their listening ability"
},
"options": [
"improve their listening ability",
"read fast",
"write better English and read faster",
"speak correctly"
],
"question": "This is a piece of advice to learners of... | Learners of English, especially self-taught learners may have trouble in understanding speeches by native speakers. The following ways might help improve their listening ability.
First of all, do things step by step. It is not good to listen to something beyond your level. Better choose a suitable course and start with the first book. Go on to the second book only after you are sure you understand the first one.
Secondly, stick to one course of study. Don't change books often. Never let your attention be attracted by another course just because it seems to be more "fashionable".
Thirdly, listen to the English news program over the radio from time to time. Better go through the news stories in the Chinese-language newspaper first. That will make it easy for you to understand the English news on the radio.
Fourthly, if you have time, listen to some interesting stories in "Special English from the V.O.A. or other listening materials of the same level as that of your textbook". | high2403.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Eco City Farms are gaining popularity."
},
"options": [
"Eco City Farms save a lot of energy.",
"Eco City Farms are gaining popularity.",
"Eco City Farms are influencing community life.",
"Eco City Farms helps the worki... | Eco City Farms are becoming more popular in cities and towns around the Unites States.
Eco City Farms in Edmonton, Maryland, is located near shopping centers, car repair shops and homes. The neighborhood is a working-class community . People do not have very much money. And they have limited access to fresh food in markets.
Over the past two years, the farm has attracted volunteers from the community like Marcy Clark. She schools her four children at home. On a recent day she brought them to Eco City Farms for a lesson. Her son Alston Clark thinks his experience is very valuable."I like coming out here,"he says,"You know, you connect with the earth, where your food comes from. You appreciate the food a little bit more."
Margaret Morgan started Eco City Farms. She thinks of it as a place where people can learn to live healthier lives. "Growing food in a community brings people together,"she continues,"Every piece of what we do here is a demonstration to show people everything about how to have an eco-friendly community."she says. From the Eco City Farms people come to know that they are not only growing food and raising chickens and bees, but improving the soil with compost made from food waste.
Eco City Farms is an experimental operation. The farm gets its power not from the local electricity networks, but from the sun with solar panels. In winter, the green house use a geothermal system.
Vegetables can be grown all year. So once a week, all winter long, neighbors like Chris Moss and her three children bike to the farm to pick up a share of the harvest.
"I like eating the vegetables "say five-year-old Owen Moss. | high10144.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "London plans to make the cleanest and greenest city on Earth by 2012."
},
"options": [
"The third summit on global warming.",
"London plans to make the cleanest and greenest city on Earth by 2012.",
"Some measures to deal wit... | Mayor Boris Johnson Monday outlined plans to make London "the cleanest, greenest city on Earth" by the 2012 Olympics and called for commitments from other world cities at a climate change conference, leaders of the world' s 40 largest cities are meeting in Seoul this week for a summit on combating global warming -- the third to be held since 2005.
"What we should do in Seoul is agree that we will stop the endless addiction of mankind to the internal combustion engine ," said Johnson. He said at a press conference the world's cities consume 75 percent of the world's energy and produce 80 percent of the emissions which cause climate change. "The problem of our planet is an urban problem," Johnson said.
He said the British capital wants to use the Olympics "to drive the greening and the improvement of our city" and noted that London is committed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 60 percent by 2025.
Johnson said the key measure was being taken to solve problems relating to housing and commercial buildings, which accounted for 70 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in London. This involved retrofitting -- installing lagging -- in large numbers of public buildings.
Johnson proclaimed himself a "passionate cyclist" and said he would push ahead with cycle superhighways around London.
London's air quality problem, he said, was caused by vehicle emissions from 8,300 worn and used diesel buses, which could be replaced by low-carbon vehicles. In addition, there were also 32,000 taxis running on diesel fuel, which could be replaced by electric vehicles.
Johnson said there would be a few programs in the next few years to produce a "cleaner, greener" bus for the city. "The age of the diesel bus has got to be over in London." | high20087.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "he holds political views about regional conflicts that differ from Obama's"
},
"options": [
"he has stolen state secrets for personal interests",
"he knows so much secret information about President Obama",
"he holds politica... | Former President Jimmy Carter believes U.S central intelligence agency is spying on him -- so much so, he gives up email to avoid government spies.
"You know, I have felt that my own communications are probably monitored," Carter told NBC's Andrea Mitchell in an interview broadcast Sunday. "And when I want to communicate with a foreign leader privately, I type or write a letter myself, put it in the post office and mail it.
"I believe if I send an email, it will be monitored," Carter continued.
The 89-year-old said the National Security Agency and others have abused the argument that gathering intelligence is important to homeland security.
"That has been extremely liberalized and, I think, abused by our own intelligence agencies," Carter said.
The 39th president, however, stopped short of criticizing No. 44 over the handling of the N.S.A. scandal , the crisis in Ukraine or anything else.
"I don't have any criticism of him," Carter said of Obama.
He was asked if the president ever asks him for advice.
"Unfortunately, the answer is no," Carter said. "President Obama doesn't. But previous presidents have called on me and the Carter Center to take action."
Why not Obama?
"That's a hard question for me to answer, you know, with complete directness," he said. "I think the problem was that in dealing with the issue of peace between Israel and Egypt, the Carter Center took a very strong and public position of equal treatment between the Palestinians and the Israelis. And I think this was a sensitive area in which the president didn't want to be involved." | high18518.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "should learn how to carry out research"
},
"options": [
"needs to know every country's culture",
"should learn how to carry out research",
"needs to learn about the Egyptians' way of life",
"won't be successful without ... | Part of the magic in movies is the costumes. They can transform a normal-looking actor into a cowboy, a space alien or even a superhero. Costumes for movies are designed and created by a whole team of people, according to Courtney Daniel, a Toronto-based costume designer who worked on the recent movie Night At The Museum.
As a designer, she does research to find out what details are needed to make a costume work, and what makes sense for a specific movie. In Night At The Museum, she and a few other designers spent time at libraries and museums studying everything from what cowboys should wear, to what ancient Egyptians and Huns would have put on. Once they got the information they needed, they figured out what fabrics to use and how to put them together.
The designers even changed a few details to make the costumes more "movie friendly". For example, more colour and extra touches helped historical costumes to be alive for kids. One example of this is the costume for the role in the movie Night At The Museum, an Indian woman Sacagawea, which has a shorter skirt and fits more closely than the clothes the real Sacagawea would have worn.
Daniel has also worked on costumes for other big-name movies, such as the second and third X-Men movies, and Catwoman. If you are. interested in being a costume designer, it helps to have an interest in sewing. She said,"Learning how to sew, and how different fabrics and materials work is important."So is knowing how to carry out research, Daniel's degree in art history helped in this area. | high21399.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "end economic decline"
},
"options": [
"take over the White House",
"end economic decline",
"understand each other better",
"negotiate political issues"
],
"question": "Barack Obama urged congressional leaders an... | Barack Obama urged congressional leaders on Monday to act quickly to pass a huge stimulus package for the U.S. economy. He met with a
(concerning or involving two different political parties) group of lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Later he met individually with Democratic and Republican House and Senate leaders and spoke to a bipartisan leadership gathering. In comments to reporters early on Monday, he emphasized the urgency of finalizing economic
. "We have got an extraordinary economic challenge ahead of us," he said, "We are expecting a sobering job report at the end of the week. Nancy Pelosi and her staff have been extraordinarily helpful in working with our team so that we can shape an economic recovery and reinvestment plan that starts putting people back to work."
Mr. Obama wants tax cuts for individual Americans and businesses to make up a significant portion of expected legislation. This could involve as much as $300 billion of a bill that is likely to go beyond $700 billion and include aid to cash-poor U.S. states, and money for alternative energy and a range of
projects. Later, Mr. Obama said he expects to be able to sign legislation as soon as the end of this month, adding that quick action is necessary to "break the drive of the U.S. economic depression".
Emerging later from bipartisan talks with Mr. Obama, Nancy Pelosi said lawmakers discussed with the president how to pass a stimulus package as quickly as possible. "An economic recovery package that will create jobs immediately and will grow the economy and that is what we talked about today," said Nancy Pelosi. "How we could do this fast, deliberatively and to act upon it soon." Just how soon that would be, Pelosi would not say.
How much support Democrats can obtain from Republicans will depend on the details. But the severity of the U.S. economic depression has created considerable bipartisan backing for quick action. Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid said: "There are investments that we need to make on behalf of the American people to turn around this economy. We felt very good about the meeting; we are confident that we can do this and we have to do this."
"I think the best thing I can do is to decline to comment on what they are going to do going forward," said Dana Perino. "Obviously, we think that tax cuts were the right way to help our economy get out of the economic depression that this president inherited and we know that tax cuts can stimulate innovation." Asked by reporters how large the economic stimulus package might be, Senate Majority Leader Reid said Obama indicated that all but one of some 28 economists advising him had said it should range from $800 billion to $1.3 trillion. | high16535.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Austen's success lies in her wisdom."
},
"options": [
"Austen was born 200 years ago.",
"Austen rewrote Pride and Prejudice.",
"Austen's success lies in her wisdom.",
"Austen's updated work gains popularity."
],
... | Pride and Prejudice for the Modern Woman
Let us imagine how Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen's most famous work, might be updated, 200 years on.
Austen's popularity is rooted in her intelligence. But today she would certainly have had a very different life, as would her characters. Here's my own suggestion. . .
It is a truth finally and universally acknowledged that a single woman with brains deserves to have equal opportunities to men, however disadvantaged she may feel by sexism.
" My dear husband," said his hopeful wife one day, " have you heard that the local store, standing empty for so long, is taken over by a bright young businesswoman?"
Her dull and indifferent husband replied that he had not. "But it is, it is," she replied excitedly. Mr Dull-Husband made no reply.
"Don't you want to know her plans?" she cried with some impatience.
"Well, clearly you think it matters to your silly little head. .. so I'd better listen. "
"Well, my dear, the rumour is that she has already set up a string of successful businesses in northern England, though _ She will move in herself next month. " "What is her name?" "Bingley. "
"Is she married or single?"
"What a question! And none of your business. But her coming will be a fine thing for our five boys. " "How so? How can it possibly affect them? "
"My dear love; those lazy boys need something to wake them up. There are bound to be jobs going. "
" Is that her point in settling here? Surely as a woman she has simply taken a fancy to the place. "
" Nonsense, my love, how little you've noticed the world has changed. She's got a first-rate degree and some sort of business qualification, I'm told. She surely needs one of our boys! Perhaps you might give her a call. "
" Me? No. Perhaps you can take an interest. You still have your looks, after all. She may even offer you a job. " "Oh, that's not likely. These new chances belong to the younger generation. But now you mention it, I think I'll go along all the same. "
And Mrs Bennet went along. That was 10 years ago. She is now managing director of a FTSE-listed company.
... It would remain the case, of course, that Mrs Bennet would be one of very few women on the company board, that her salary would be lower than her male colleagues, her bonus of a more "female" dimension and her lifespan among the city's business leaders shorter than theirs. Still, she'd no doubt have enjoyed Davos--and might even have hobnobbed with influential figures. | high4072.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "revising their financial aid policies"
},
"options": [
"offering students more merit-based aid",
"revising their financial aid policies",
"increasing the amount of financial aid",
"changing their admission processes"
... | Colleges taking another look at value of merit-based aid
Good grades and high tests scores still matter--a lot--to many colleges as they award financial aid.
But with low-income students projected to make up an ever-larger share of the college-bound population in coming years, some schools are re-examining whether that aid, typically known as "merit aid", is the most effective use of precious institutional dollars.
George Washington University in Washington, D.C., for example, said last week that it would cut the value of its average merit scholarships by about one-third and reduce the number of recipients , pouring the savings, about $2.5 million, into need-based aid. Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa., made a similar decision three years ago.
Now, Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., says it will phase out merit scholarships altogether. No current merit-aid recipients will lose their scholarships, but need-based aid alone will be awarded beginning with students entering in fall 2008.
Not all colleges offer merit aid; generally, the more selective a school, the less likely it is to do so. Harvard and Princeton, for example, offer generous need-based packages, but many families who don't meet need eligibility have been willing to pay whatever they must for a big-name school.
For small regional colleges that struggle just to fill seats, merit aid can be an important revenue-builder because many recipients still pay enough tuition dollars over and above the scholarship amount to keep the institution running.
But for rankings-conscious schools in between, merit aid has served primarily as a tool to recruit top students and to improve their academic profits. "They're trying to buy students," says Skidmore College economist Sandy Baum.
Studies show merit aid also tends to benefit disproportionately students who could afford to enroll without it.
"As we look to the future, we see a more pressing need to invest in need-based aid," says Monica Inzer, dean of admission and financial aid at Hamilton, which has offered merit scholarships for 10 years. During that time, it rose in US News & World Report's ranking of the best liberal arts colleges, from 25 to 17.
Merit aid, which benefited about 75 students a year, or about 4% of its student body, at a cost of about $ 1 million a year, "served us well," Inzer says, but "to be discounting the price for families that don't need financial aid doesn't feel right any more."
Need-based aid remains by far the largest share of all student aid, which includes state, federal and institutional grants. But merit aid, offered primarily by schools and states, is growing faster, both overall and at the institutional level.
Between 1995-96 and 2003-04, institutional merit aid alone increased 212%, compared with 47% for need-based grants. At least 15 states also offer merit aid, typically in a bid to enroll top students in the state's public institutions.
But in recent years, a growing chorus of critics has begun pressuring schools to drop the practice. Recent decisions by Hamilton and others may be "a sign that people are starting to realize that there's this destructive competition going on," says Baum, co-author of a recent College Report that raises concerns about the role of institutional aid not based on need.
David Laird, president of the Minnesota Private College Council, says many of his schools would like to reduce their merit aid but fear that in doing so, they would lose top students to their competitors.
"No one can take one-sided action," says Laird, who is exploring whether to seek an exemption from federal anti-trust laws so member colleges can discuss how they could jointly reduce merit aid, "This is a merry-go-round that's going very fast, and none of the institutions believe they can sustain the risks of trying to break away by themselves."
A complicating factor is that merit aid has become so popular with middle-income families, who don't qualify for need-based aid, that many have come to depend on it. And, as tuitions continue to increase, the line between merit and need blurs.
That's one reason Allegheny College doesn't plan to drop merit aid entirely.
"We still believe in rewarding superior achievements and know that these top students truly value the scholarship," says Scott Friedhoff, Allegheny's vice president for enrollment.
Emory University in Atlanta, which boasts a $4.7 billion endowment , meanwhile, is taking another approach. This year, it announced it would eliminate loans for needy students and cap them for middle-income families. At the same time, it would expand its 28-year-old merit program.
"Yeah, we're playing the merit game," acknowledges Tom Lancaster, associate dean for undergraduate education. But it has its strong point, too, he says. "The fact of the matter is, it's not just about the lowest-income people. It's the average American middle-class family who's being priced out of the market."
A few words about merit-based aid:
Merit-based aid is aid offered to students who achieve excellence in a given area, and is generally known as academic, athletic and artistic merit scholarships.
Academic merit scholarships are based on students' grades, GPA and overall academic performance during high school. They are typically meant for students going straight to college right after high school. However, there are scholarships for current college students with exceptional grades as well. These merit scholarships usually help students pay tuition bills, and they can be renewed each year as long as the recipients continue to qualify. In some cases, students may need to be recommended by their school or a teacher as part of the qualification process.
Athletic merit scholarships are meant for students that excel in sports of any kind, from football to track and field events. Recommendation for these scholarships is required, since exceptional athletic performance has to be recognized by a coach or a referee . Applicants need to send in a tape containing their best performance.
Artistic merit scholarships require that applicants excel in a given artistic area. This generally includes any creative field such as art, design, fashion, music, dance or writing. Applying for artistic merit scholarships usually requires that students submit a portfolio of some sort, whether that includes a collection of artwork, a recording of a musical performance or a video of them dancing. | high19606.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "an art collector"
},
"options": [
"a museum director",
"a master of art",
"an art collector",
"an art dealer"
],
"question": "The English Baron Fitzgerald was _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},... | The very wealthy English Baron Fitzgerald had only one child, a son, who understandably was the apple of his eye. His wife died when the child was in his early teens. So Fitzgerald devoted himself to (...) fathering the kid. Unfortunately the son died in his late teens.
Meanwhile, Fitzgerald's wealth greatly increased. He spent a lot on art works of the masters . Later Fitzgerald himself became seriously ill. Before his death, he had carefully prepared his will as to how his wealth would be settled - to sell his entire collection at an auction .
Because of the large quantity and high quality of his collection, a huge crowd of possible buyers gathered for the auction. Many of them were museum directors and private collectors eager to bid . Before the auction, the art works were shown, among which was a painting of Fitzgerald's son by an unknown artist. Because of its poor quality, it received little attention.
When it was time for the auction, the auctioneer gaveled the crowd to attention. First the lawyer read from Fitzgerald's will that the first art work to be auctioned was the painting of his son.
The poor-quality painting didn't receive any bidders, except one old servant who had served the son and loved him, and who for emotional reasons offered the only bid.
As soon as the servant bought the painting for less than one English pound, the auctioneer stopped the bidding and asked the lawyer to read again from the will. The crowd became quiet, and the lawyer read from the will: "Whoever buys the painting of my son gets all my collection." Then the auction was over. | high22690.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "to pay the rent of the farmland."
},
"options": [
"to make money for his son's school fees.",
"to earn the officer's admiration.",
"to pay the rent of the farmland.",
"The family could not afford the horse's cost."
... | The cruelty and inhumanity of the war is just as cruel an inhumane through the eyes of a horse. Or at least in the eyes of Joey, the star of War Horse (<< >> ). The film has come out in cinemas on February 28, 2012 on the Chinese mainland.
The story starts on a farm in Devon, southwest England. The Narracott family--Dad, Mum, and their teenage son Albert - rent the farm. When Dad buys a beautiful horse, Albert falls in love with him. He trains him and names him Joey. They become as close as it is possible for a human and an animal to be.
But World War I breaks out. Dad has to sell the horse to an English Army officer to pay the rent. Joey and Albert can no longer be together. Albert promises Joey that they'll find each other again one day. Then Albert goes on a journey to search for his friend.
But the four years of war are about Joey's journey. He starts as the mount of the English officer. Then he becomes a German workhorse. He is given to a French teenager and her grandpa. He has to face the tanks on the front line. The story ends in a sunset scene on the battlefield. Albert has become a soldier. The two are reunited.
Battle scenes are part of the story , but the movie's Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg said that War Horse is not a war movie.
"I consider it to be a love between a horse and a young man... It's about the connectivity that an animal can bring to human characters," Spielberg said.
Roger Moore of the Chicago Tribune said Spielberg manages in the film to "measure a man by how he acts toward animals".
In one scene, a British soldier and a German soldier join hands to _ Joey.
" Men on opposing sides of war find their shared humanity in their love of animals in War Horse, I appreciated this work." Moore concluded. | high6665.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Hard word-success-happiness."
},
"options": [
"Hard word-success-happiness.",
"Success-happiness-hard word.",
"Happiness-hard word-success.",
"Hard work- happiness-success."
],
"question": "Which of the followin... | Our most commonly held code for success is broken. Conventional wisdom holds that if we work hard we will be more successful, and if we are more successful, then we'll be happy. If we can just find that great job, win that next promotion, lose those five pounds, happiness will follow. But recent discoveries in the field of positive psychology have shown that this code is actually backward: Happiness fuels success, not the other way around. When we are positive, our brains become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, and productive at work. This discovery has been repeatedly borne out by rigid research in psychology and neuroscience , management studies, and the bottom lines of organizations around the globe.
In The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor, who spent over a decade living, researching, and lecturing at Harvard University, draws on his own research--including one of the largest studies of happiness and potential at Harvard and others at companies like UBS to fix this broken code. Using stories and case studies from his work with CEOs of Fortune 500 in 42 countries, Achor explains how we can reprogram our brains to become more positive in order to gain a competitive ability at work.
Based on seven practical, actionable principles that have been tried and tested everywhere from classrooms to boardrooms, stretching from Argentina to Zimbabwe, he shows us how we can _ the Happiness Advantage to improve our performance and maximize our potential.
A must-read for everyone trying to stand out in a world of increasing workloads and stress, The Happiness Advantage isn't only about how to become happier at work. It's about how to acquire the benefits of a happier and more positive mode of thinking to achieve the extraordinary in our work and in our lives. | high9556.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Make full preparations for the Black Friday shopping."
},
"options": [
"Make full preparations for the Black Friday shopping.",
"Visit some newly-opened shopping centers in advance.",
"Find it difficult to choose a store for ... | Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for family, health, and life in general. However, Black Friday has turned it into a business.
Traditionally, the true value of Thanksgiving lies at home not the shopping centers. However, Black Friday has nowadays allowed society to ignore _ as individuals long for something that they do not need or even truly want. Shopping on Black Friday becomes a sign of a shift into a culture that values material wealth over spending time with loved ones. People are willing to force their way through the crowds in their desperate search for marked-down sweaters and necklaces.
In recent years, Thanksgiving has become a pre-Black Friday holiday for many families. They are devoted to mapping out shopping routes and making organized schedules for which stores to hit first. By drawing individuals out to shopping centers with "matchless savings", businesses encourage this behavior of ignoring Thanksgiving. Many families take their home-cooked meals while camping out at the door of shopping centers. With each new year, Thanksgiving is becoming victim to over-commercialization--switching from a meaningful time of thanks and family to a day dedicated to products and profit.
Black Friday has shown that with current common standards, people cannot even set aside a single day to appreciate what they already have without immediately buying more. Families have lost sight of what is truly important in life, and have found reasons in debating between a low cost HD television and an appreciation for what they already have. Remember, Thanksgiving should be a day in which people are grateful for all that they have. | high6103.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "more difficult"
},
"options": [
"more difficult",
"easier",
"more uninteresting",
"more interesting"
],
"question": "In the writer's view, dealing with parents is _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
... | Living and dealing with kids can be a difficult job these days, but living and dealing with parents can be even more complex.
If I have learned anything in my 16 years, it is that communication is very important. With any relationship, you need to let other people know how you are feeling. If you are not able to communicate, you drift apart . When you are mad at your parents, or anyone else, not talking to them doesn't solve anything.
Communication begins with the concerns of others. It means that you can't just come home from school, go up to your room and ignore everyone. To keep a good relationship, you must keep communication, even if it's just by writing a note.
When dealing with parents, you always have to make them feel good about how they are doing as a parent. If you are trying to make them see something as you see it, tell them that you'll listen to what they have to say, but ask them politely to listen to you. Yelling or walking away only makes the situation worse.
This is an example: one night, Sophie went to a street party with her friends. She knew she had to be home by midnight after the fireworks, but she didn't. She was late getting home. Her parents were mad at first, not giving Sophie a chance to explain why she was late. Later, they kept calm and listened to her. Communication is the key factor here. If Sophie's parents had not been willing to listen, Sophie would have been in a lot of trouble. | high14444.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Internet web"
},
"options": [
"Internet web",
"daily newspaper",
"science text book",
"computer magazine"
],
"question": "You can find this passage in a _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
... | This is the legal part of the show. It's just so everybody knows the rules for Nickelodeon on the Web. Be sure to get your parents to review and discuss these rules with you:
1.All the toys and games here are just for you to play with. You can't sell them,give them to anyone,or pretend you made them. You can't do anything EXCEPT play with them,unless you ask us first and we say it's OK.
2.If you see something you don't like,remember that all the stuff on the message boards ,chat rooms and "Write to Nick"comes straight from other kids,not from someone at nick.com. Nick.com wouldn't tell kids what to say,because kids have minds of their own!But if someone sends ugly messages,we'll do our best to take care of it. We all want nick.com to be a good,clean place to hang out.
3.If you write something that catches our eye in "Write to Nick"on a message board or in a chat room,we might want to use it on the site. By sending in your thoughts and hanging out in the chat rooms,and getting your parent's permission to do so,you and your parents are telling us it's OK to repeat what you say. It's even OK to put it in an advertisement. It means we can use it in any way we want,anywhere,until the end of time.
Remember to ALWAYS check with your parents before you send anything to us. And of course,the folks in the legal office upstairs have their own code for saying all that. Please read these terms and conditions carefully before using this website. This site at nick.com is fully controlled and operated by Nickelodeon Online,a business unit of MTV Networks. | high9230.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "he was unwilling to let others know about his disease"
},
"options": [
"he didn't know about his disease at all",
"he was unwilling to let others know about his disease",
"doctors had no good ways to treat his bad toe",
... | A dog who chewed off his owner's infected toe while he was passed-out drunk has been called a lifesaver. Jerry Douthett had been out drinking when his dog Kiko bit off a large part if his big toe. His wife, Rosee, rushed him to hospital where tests showed the 48-year-old musician had dangerous high blood-sugar levels. Doctors told him his toe would have had to be cut off anyway.
Mr Douthett said he had refused to get medical advice despite his toe being swollen for months. "I was hiding it from people, Rosee included," he said. "It smelled , and I look back now and realize every time we'd visit someone with a dog, their dog would smell all over my foot."
The night before Mr Douthett had agreed to see a doctor, he passed out at home after going out drinking. He said, "I woke up and the dog was lying along side by foot. I said, 'Ah, there's blood everywhere.' I ran to the bathroom and started to scream."
However, he believes Kiko could sense the disease coming from his big toe. "He's a hero," Mr Douthett said. "It wasn't an aggressive attack. He just ate the infection. He saved my life. He ate it. I mean, he must have eaten it, because we couldn't find it anywhere else in the house. I look down. There's blood all over, and my toe is gone."
Before the operation, Mr Douthett asked a nurse, "Is there any chance I can get whatever's left of my toe, so I can give it to Kiko as a treat?" Kiko is still with the family but is under observation by authorities. | high12035.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "deals with language learning"
},
"options": [
"deals with language learning",
"opens its door to all the students of English",
"changes its members every year",
"mainly takes charge of scientific publications"
],
... | Dear Teresa Silva,
The official of the university has reported to us that you are an English major who meets the high standards for membership in Sigma Tau Delta. As is known, Sigma Tau Delta was founded in 1924 at Dakota Wesleyan University. It is an international collegiate honor societyfor students of English. It presently has over 850 chapters in theUnited States, Europe, the Middle East, and theCaribbean. Over 9,000 new members are admitted into the organization annually.
Sigma Tau Delta's purpose is to promote literature and writing and to advance the study of the written word. Members gather annually in the spring at the international meeting to present papers and share experiences and ideas within the English subject. The Society offers tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships, awards, as well as publication chances in its journals The Rectangle and The Sigma Tau Delta Review.
It is our pleasure if you can complete the application for Sigma Tau Delta membership. If you would like to be included in this spring's induction ceremony, please complete the application form, and include amount to cover both local and international fees. Your completed form must be received by date to be considered for the upcoming induction ceremony.
We congratulate you on your outstanding academic record and hope you will join us as a Sigma Tau Delta member. If you want to get more information, please visit our website www.sigmataudelta.org, or give us a call. The phone number is 583-2864.
Sincerely,
Emily Lister | high20939.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Digital cameras and film cameras have something in common. ."
},
"options": [
"Both digital and film cameras focus light onto the film.",
"All cameras have a sensor.",
"Digital cameras and film cameras have something in commo... | Film cameras and digital cameras work in a similar way.
Film cameras
After all, a film camera is basically a light - proof box. It has a lens system to focus light onto the film at the back of the camera.
Let's suppose that we are outside on a beautiful summer day trying to take a picture of the family dog. We are using a film camera. We finally get the dog to lie still. You point the camera at him. What happens? Light goes into the camera lens and hits the shutter. In other words, nothing happens yet. Now let's say that the dog looks really cute and you decide to snap a picture. What happens? When you press the button, the shutter opens for a very short period of time. A small amount of light passes through and hits the film at the back of the camera. This creates an upside-down and reversed image on the film.
When you finish the roll of the film, you can take it to the photo shop to develop it and you will have a great picture of your dog!
Cameras come with different lens lengths. Why does it matter? Many small cameras have shorter focal lengths, which means that there is a small distance between the lens and the place where the light focuses at the back of the camera. This gives you a large view of the area you are taking a picture of. Lenses with a long focal length show a smaller area but allow you to focus on distant objects and make them bigger. They are often called telephoto lenses. A good example of a long focus lens is one that is used by sports photographers to get photos of football players as if they were standing right beside them.
Digital cameras
In digital cameras, the light falls not on film but onto a sensor called a CCD (Charge Coupled Device). This digitally converts light and color into a digital information or pixels . The CCD is the heart of any digital camera and usually the most expensive part ---- depending on how good it is. | high16253.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "about half a century"
},
"options": [
"120 years",
"about half a century",
"100 years",
"about half a year"
],
"question": "Miss World Beauty Contest in Britain has a history of _ .",
"question_type": "cl... | It may be one of Britain's most successful exports - Miss World. This 53-year-old event took place in China last week and attracted over 120 women worldwide with knockout looks in a mad struggle for the crown.
Traditional values have long kept the Chinese, especially women, from displaying beauty. But Chinese people have now changed their attitude toward beauty contest, although some men will still be shouting that the winner is no more beautiful than his wife or his former girl friend or even his mother in a sour tone. But such men are not shouting for the right reason. The question to be asked is : Why isn't there a Mr. World Beauty Contest?
And a further question to be asked is: Does taking part in a beauty contest show a woman's courage, wisdom and liberation or rather the opposite - a forced choice and a revolting act made under conditions of long-term discrimination?
Organizers of such beauty contests claim that the contestants are judged on qualities other than just their physical appearance. But still no answer is given to why there isn't a Mr. Beauty or a Mr. World Contest? Or at least, why isn't that kind of contest popular? Why is it that only women's "qualities" need to be recognized but not men's?
Think about who is always standing beside a fancy car on show? Is it a boy or a girl? And this is how "qualities" are judged: if the girl looks good, there is little reason why the car beside her is not of high quality.
The beauty contests go on year after year, with winners enjoying fame which quickly disappears. While such events go on and on, what never changes is the routine practice that in every fancy car show, a girl stands beside a fancy car. What never changes is the need to hold a women's conference every year to appeal for the promotion of respect for and improvement of women. What never changes is the fate of women as a class. So let's put more time and resources into trying to change all this rather than holding beauty contests. | high4714.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "A brief introduction to Frank McCourt and one of his works."
},
"options": [
"A brief introduction to Frank McCourt and one of his works.",
"A literary review on Frank McCourt's book Angela's Ashes.",
"An account of Frank McC... | "When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood. The happy childhood is hardly worth your while. "Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood. And worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." That was Frank McCourt reading the opening lines of his book Angela's Ashes, released in nineteen ninety-six.
This Irish American author best known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography Angela's Ashes that recorded his poor upbringing, died of cancer on Sunday, The New York Times reported. He was 78.
Born in New York City, he was the eldest of seven children born to Irish immigrant parents. Angela's Ashes was a memoir that captured an irresponsible, drunkard father with a gift for story-telling. When not drunk, his father was absent, turning his back on a family so poor, McCourt wrote, that they were reduced to burning the furniture in their rented hut to keep warm. His mother struggled to raise her many children after his father left the family.
Already struggling when the Great Depression hit, the family moved back to Limerick, where they slipped ever deeper into poverty in the 1930s.
Three of McCourt's siblings died of diseases worsened by hunger and the wretchedness of their surroundings. McCourt himself almost died of typhoid fever as a child.
In Angela's Ashes, he wrote of hunger, a home flooded with rainwater and the unbearable humiliation of seeking handouts from charities in the Irish city. But he told the story in a way that is expressive, warm and light-hearted.
Frank McCourt left Ireland at the age of nineteen to return to New York City where he was born. He earned a degree in- English education and taught creative writing for nearly thirty years. After retiring in nineteen eighty-seven, he decided to write about his childhood. "Angela's Ashes" became a huge success and brought McCourt a 1997 Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award and other honors. Millions of copies of the book were sold worldwide and it was adapted into a 1999 movie starring Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle. | high2365.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "talk about giving students who are doing poorly a second chance to redo the work"
},
"options": [
"analyse the reason for the huge achievement gap between students",
"find out who is to blame for the huge achievement gap between st... | I am truly saddened about what is going on in my school district, especially in the school where I am currently working.
Why are so many students not doing well? Why is there such a huge achievement gap between urban and suburban students? Just this week, in my school the seventh grade team leader called a meeting to discuss academic detention . The purpose of the detention is to allow students who are doing poorly a second chance to redo the work. Now if a st udent did not understand an assignment, I have no trouble allowing that student to redo a test or give some extra credit work, but if a student did poorly because he/she opted not to do the work out of sheer laziness, that student should not be given a second chance.
And parents should be responsible for their children. That is another reason why there is such a huge achievement gap. All children should be monitored at home in order to achieve great success in school. Perhaps it might be a great idea for urban school districts to offer free classes to parents on how to help their students at home. Of course this idea is far-fetched(,), after all we do not want to offend the parents. What we will do instead is to spend a large amount of money on teacher training because if the kids are not doing well it must be the fault of the teacher. That kind of mindset, if allowed to continue will be a perfect recipe for greater achievement gaps.
I started working at my current school in August and I have been in the teaching field for 25 years. What I believe is that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make that horse drink. You can't force kids to change bad habits overnight, nor can we afford to lower standards just so a kid can pass a class. | high10622.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "a woman was walking by herself up the street."
},
"options": [
"a woman was driving the car",
"someone was standing by a street lamp.",
"a man and a woman were walking up the street.",
"a woman was walking by herself up... | For some minutes, all was quiet in the street. Then from across the street someone came walking.
It looked like a man of middle height, dressed in a big raincoat, a soft hat and rubber-soled boots or shoes, and making little sound while walking. No one was in sight. It was a street with two rows of about fifty small houses and there were three lamps on either side. The lamp nearest to the child's house could be seen clearly, but the others were almost hidden by the smoky air. A car passed the end of the street and its lights showed faintly,but clearly enough to show the smooth skin of a woman's face. The car disappeared as the woman, wrapped up in her coat, reached the doorway of the child's house. She put a key in the lock quickly, pushed the door open and stepped inside, then closed the door without looking round. She began to breathe hard.
She leaned against the door for a moment, then straightened up as if with an effort, and walked towards the door of the front room, the passage leading to the kitchen, and the narrow staircase. She hesitated outside the door, then went up the stairs quickly but with hardly a sound. There was enough light from the narrow hall to show the four doors leading off a small landing . She pushed each door open in turn and shone a torch inside, and the light fell upon beds, walls, furniture, a bathroom hand-basin, a mirror which flashed brightness back; but this was not what the woman was looking for. She turned away and went downstairs, and hesitated again at the foot of the stairs, then turned towards the kitchen. Clearly there was nothing there, or in the small washroom that she wanted. Two rooms remained; the front room and a smaller one next to it. She opened the front room door. After a moment, she saw the child's bed and the child. | high1644.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Studying animals to help them survive."
},
"options": [
"Studying the rhino cells.",
"Collecting cell samples from plants.",
"Preventing rhinos from being hunted.",
"Studying animals to help them survive."
],
"q... | Nola is a 41-year-old northern white rhino that lives at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, California. She is one of only four remaining northern white rhinos in the world, and the only one in the western part of the earth. The other three live in Kenya .
Rhinos have lived on earth for more than 40 million years, but they are now at the risk of dying out. Hunters illegally hunt rhinos for their horns , which are used for art, jewelry, and decorations. They sell the horns for thousands of dollars per pound, though it is not allowed by law. Rhino horns are also prized as a key part in traditional medicine, even though scientific tests have proven that the horns cannot cure illnesses. Experts say that every eight hours, one rhino will be hunted.
Scientists are trying to find ways to prevent rhinos from dying out. In 1975, the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research started the Frozen Zoo, a program through which researchers have collected cell samples from more than 8,000 different animal species until now, including the northern white rhino. Scientists hope that by studying the rhino cells, they will gain greater understanding of the species, and will find ways to increase its number.
Jeanne Loring works with the Frozen Zoo. Loring's research focuses on pluripotent stem cells, which are cells that can renew and become any cell type. Loring's lab at TSRI is working together with scientist Oliver Ryder of the San Diego Zoo to use pluripotent stem cells to try to increase the number of the northern white rhino. Loring said the goal is to start producing new rhinos through this method over the next couple of years. | high13303.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "To make the flames of love burning forever."
},
"options": [
"To fall in love with a person.",
"To find a real person loving you.",
"To make the flames of love burning forever.",
"To keep good relations with friends."
... | Suppose you have everything: a good job, good health, good relationships and a lot of money to spend. But still there is something missing from your life. Guess what? The love. It is not something that you should ignore. Life without love is just like body without soul.
Love gives meaning to life as without love life is meaningless. Lucky is the person who gets love and keeps the flames of love burning for ever. It is not a matter of days or months. _
It is easy to fall in love but difficult to keep the flames of love burning. Before having serious long term love relationships, be sure that the person you love is also sincere with you. A selfish person can make your life terrible. If this is the case with you then try to get rid of that person as soon as possible.
Most people do not give importance to their love life as they give importance to their professional life. This is a bad choice which ruins the whole life. A balance between the two is necessary in order to enjoy life in its entirety. Do not lose the love you need.
In order to make your life more exciting and enjoyable, you need a loving and caring person with whom you can share your values, dreams, joys and jokes. In difficult times of failure, pain, or loss of dear ones, this person should stand firm beside you and comfort you in every possible manner.
Love your life and love the person who is in your life. Keep the flames of love burning to live a great, great life. | high8106.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "St. Johns Town Center"
},
"options": [
"St. Johns Town Center",
"River City Marketplace",
"Gateway Town Center",
"Regency Square Shopping Center"
],
"question": "If you want to enjoy a good dining during shoppin... | Jacksonville is the largest city in Florida and has a large number of shopping malls to suit different tastes for tourists and guests to shop. Here are some great places where you can shop in Jacksonville.
Gateway Town Center
The venerable Gateway Town Center is one of Jacksonville's oldest shopping malls, providing an eclectic mix of exciting stores and fun amusements! Gateway Town Center is located at 5184 Norwood Avenue and owns a mixture of retail boutiques , like Footlocker and Ashley Stewart. You can visit Gateway Town Center Mondays through Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 6:00.
St. Johns Town Center
The newest and trendiest shopping destination in the city is St. Johns Town Center. This center has all your national favorites like Dillard's, Barnes & Noble and Target as well as a great restaurant selection. St. Johns Towns Center is open from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Sundays.
Regency Square Shopping Center
On 9501 Arlington Expressway stands the Regency Square Mall. Children like riding on the mall's mini train while adults like to shop and socialize. Movie fans will like knowing that the Regency Square Mall has a 24 screen AMC theater. You can visit this mall from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and Sundays from noon to 6:00 p.m.
River City Marketplace
River City Marketplace located in Jacksonville is the largest shopping mall in the city with 70 shops including such stores as Lowes, Wal-Mart Super Center, Pet Smart and Old Navy. All these shops can be found at the open-air plaza. The mall's 14 screen Hollywood theaters are a great attraction for movie buffs. River City Marketplace's hours of operation are 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Sundays. | high7235.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "takes in some unusual food"
},
"options": [
"has to eat something strange like bugs",
"enjoys cow tongue with Grylls",
"takes in some unusual food",
"never has any difficulty"
],
"question": "On his adventure, O... | Barack Obama has really gone wild. The US president has taken part in the survival television show Running Wild With Bear Grylls, which will air on NBC later this year. In the show, Obama goes on an adventure with host Bear Grylls, learning how to survive in the Alaskan wilderness.
Edward Michael "Bear" Grylls, 41, has become known around the world as one of the most famous outdoor adventurers. The Briton has appeared on a number of wilderness survival shows in which he has climbed, sailed, and eaten bugs or cow tongue.
Obama doesn't have to eat bugs or cow tongue on his adventure with Grylls. But he does have to eat leftovers - a bloody salmon . It was partly enjoyed by a bear that left some meat behind.
Although he is far from the White House kitchen, Obama seems to enjoy the outdoors. "As president, I am in what's called the bubble , and the Secret Service makes sure that I'm always out of danger ... but I sometimes want to get out," he said in a video.
However, Obama's appearance on the show isn't just for fun. He took part to raise awareness of the effect global warming has had on the US's largest state, Alaska. | high11514.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "6"
},
"options": [
"4",
"5",
"6",
"7"
],
"question": "_ controllers since February have been caught sleeping on duty at night or early morning.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {... | WASHINGTON---At least four more U.S. air-traffic controllers are caught nodding off on the job at three separate airports across the nation, the government said Wednesday.
The controller working alone in the tower fell asleep and was out of communication for 16 minutes while a medical flight carrying a patient was trying to land at about 2 A.M. Wednesday at Reno-Tahoe International Airport in Nevada, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement.
The FAA announced that it is also investigating a controller who fell asleep Monday at Boeing King County International Airport in Seattle and two controllers who were unresponsive at Preston Smith International Airport in Lubbock, Texas, on March 29.The agency had earlier revealed that an air-traffic supervisor fell asleep March 23 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and a controller slept for five hours at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tennessee on Feb.19.
"I am sick of this," Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Chairman Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, said in a statement. "We can't have an aviation system where some of the people responsible for safety are asleep at the switch."
As the incidents pile up, sleep experts say it demonstrates that the agency faces a systemic issue with the thousands of people expected to work through the night in safety-critical jobs. Scientific research shows that workers on midnight shifts make more errors because it is so difficult for the body to adapt to sleeping during the day, they say. ks5u
The agency will add an extra controller at the 27 towers staffed with one worker on the midnight shift, the FAA statement said. Agency chief Randy Babbitt and the controllers' union president, Paul Rinaldi, will visit facilities around the country next week to reinforce the need for "the highest professional standards," according to the FAA.
Doug Church, a spokesman for Rinaldi of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, didn't immediately return a telephone call for comment.
Representative John Mica, the Florida Republican who chairs the House transportation committee, criticized the decision to add controllers. "Only in the federal government would you _ , averaging $161,000 per year in salary and benefits, that aren't doing their job," Mica said in a statement. Mica has pushed legislation that would allow as many as 90 smaller airports to switch from federal to private controllers.
"People have known these problems with fatigue have existed for years," said John Goglia, a Boston-based aviation safety consultant. "They're now showing up. The FAA is admitting they exist. Now the FAA needs to work on it."
Babbitt said April 6 a controller was in the process of being fired for deliberately sleeping on the job at the McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tennessee, on February 19.
The four controllers in Nevada, Seattle and Texas have been suspended pending investigations, the FAA said. | high20911.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "plants are important for life"
},
"options": [
"plants are important for life",
"plants cannot grow without air",
"there are many plants around us",
"we cannot live without water"
],
"question": "The main idea o... | Plants are very important living things. Life could not go if there were no plants. This is because plants can make food from air, water and sunlight. Animals and man cannot make food from air, water and sunlight. Animals get their food by eating plants and other animals. So animals and man need plants in order to live. This is why we find that there are so many plants around us.
If you look carefully at the plants around you, you will find that there are two kinds of plants: flowering plants and _ plants.
Flowering plants can make seeds. The seeds are protected by the fruits. Some fruits have one seed, some have two, three or four, and some have many seeds. But a few fruits have no seeds at all. An example of a fruit without seeds is the banana fruit.
Most non-flowering plants don't grow from seeds. They grow from spores. Spores are so small and light that they can float in the air. We may say that spores are quite the same as the seeds. When these spores fall on wet and _ , they usually grow into new plants. | high19148.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "your way of managing money is a reflection of your value or belief"
},
"options": [
"we spend money because we have earned it",
"saving money is a good way to manage money",
"your way of managing money is a reflection of your... | EVERYBODY in this world is different from one another. But do you know that understanding differences can help you better manage your money?
As we grow up, we gradually develop a set of our own values or beliefs. These are influenced by society, our family, the education we receive and so on. Once this value system is set up, it's not easy to change later in life.
Financial experts say that everyone also has their own belief of how to manage their finances. This is part of our value system and it has a great impact on the way we look after our money.
According to our different values, experts put us in three categories. They are: the ant, the cricket and the snail.
The ant--works first
Just like ants who work heart and soul in summer in order to store food for winter, these people don't care about enjoying the moment. They work very hard and save money they earn so that they can enjoy life when they get old and retire. The ant loves to save but they could make more out of their money if they were willing to invest in some funds and stocks with low risk.
The cricket--fun first
The cricket wants to enjoy everything now and doesn't think too much about the future. They even borrow money when they really want something. Many young people now belong to this group. These people have little savings. When they get old, they might have problems. They should learn to save and buy insurance.
The snail--lives under pressure
The snail refers to people who make life difficult for themselves. They take big long-term loans from the bank in order to buy things such as luxury houses. They are happy to take big loans even though they are not sure they can afford it. This can cause problems in the future. They should plan more carefully. | high5422.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "help both Chinese and foreigners to find one they want to marry"
},
"options": [
"help foreigners to travel in China",
"help both Chinese and foreigners to find one they want to marry",
"help Chinese and foreigners make frien... | To all of you at Chinese love links, I am 44 years old and never married. I have always wanted to find that perfect someone that I dream about. For about the last five years I have almost given up the hope of ever finding the one I truly wish to spend the rest of my life with.
I have always tried to be a nice guy. I had found your website some four or five months before. I did not know what to expect. I don't know how to speak Chinese and never thought truly of how I was to an Asian woman.
Well, I had a lot of replies from some very nice and pretty women. I had a hard time finding only a couple to write to. But one stood out from the rest. She was cute, nice and seemed to hold a lot of the same values as I do. In a short time I had decided to write only to her. We communicated via e - mails 2 - 3 times a day and phone calls once or twice a week.
I went and met her and her family only a week ago. Her name is Ying and she lives in prefix = st1 /Nanning. I foundNanningto be one of the most beautiful cities I had ever been to. We had even decided to marry and to bring her to theUSAunder the fiancee visa. Not only did she meet everything I had ever hoped to find in someone else but turned out to be what every woman should be like, at least the ones I have met. We plan to marry as soon as she is here and start a family together as neither of us has children but we both want them.
So to anyone out there reading this, I can only say this: You may not find what you are looking for if you're not honest with your partner and yourself. This site worked for me mostly because I was honest with something that I wanted in someone else. When I did find her, love can work even across the other side of the world, between language differences and cultural differences. I wish you all luck in finding your perfect match. I have finally found mine and wishto give all my thanks to those at Chinese love links to help make it happen.
Sincerely yours,
Arthur | high18256.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "To wear a headphone."
},
"options": [
"To wear an earplug.",
"To wear a headphone.",
"To wear a microphone.",
"To wear electronics."
],
"question": "What is the best way to keep out the unwanted noise?",
"qu... | A New Headphone
The answer to a very great noise may not be blocking it out with earplugs but taking that noise and bearing it as its own game.
Earplugs have been the simple but effective way to stop noise affecting your mind, but their shortcoming is that they also block out sounds you may want or need to hear, such as music or someone talking to you.
The answer to this problem is " active noise cancellation " headphones that are made up of a microphone and electronics that take all background low-frequency noise, turn the sound waves upside down and rebroadcast them into your ears.
The result is that all the unwanted noises around are blocked out.
In effect, one set of electronically produced around wave has sucked away the unwanted sound waves of noise.
Stand next to a busy road wearing the noise cancellation headphones and the traffic noise disappears. Sit in an airplane and the engine noise dies away. In a noisy office, the noise of office equipment, people and air-conditioning is gone. You can still , however, hear music or people talking because that sound does not have a regular pattern and so the device does not block it. | high17165.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The girl picked one pebbles and made it disappear."
},
"options": [
"The girl refused to take a pebble and fled at once.",
"The girl exposed the cheat and found another way.",
"The girl picked one pebbles and made it disappea... | Many years ago in a small German town, a Jewish businessman had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to the moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the businessman's beautiful daughter. So he proposed a bargain.
The moneylender told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty bag. The girl would then have to pick one pebble from the bag. If she picked the black pebble, she would become the moneylender's wife and he would _ her father's debt. If she picked the white pebble, she need not marry him and her father's debt would still be forgiven. But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.
They were standing on a pebble-strewn path. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. The sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the bag. No doubt she was caught in a dilemma.
What would you have done if you were the girl? Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:
1.The girl should refuse to take a pebble.
2.The girl should know that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the money-lender as a cheat.
3.The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.
The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking.
Read on...
The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles. "Oh, how clumsy of me!" she said. "But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked." Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one. | high5344.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "he enjoyed seeing new places"
},
"options": [
"he preferred to stay alone",
"he enjoyed seeing new places",
"he couldn't do well at school",
"he didn't get along well with his parents"
],
"question": "Johnny fre... | Johnny the Explorer
Johnny was three when he ran away from home for the first time.Somebody left the garden gate open.Johnny wandered out,crossed some fields and,two hours later,arrived in the next village.He was just able to give his name and address.
By the time be was seven,Johnny used to disappear from home two to three times a year.Sometimes he covered quite long distances on foot.Sometimes he got on a bus or even a train,and simply sat there until someone asked for his ticket.Generally the police brought him home."Why do you do it?"they used to ask."I just like seeing places,"Johnny told them.
Johnny continued to "see places"although everyone tried to stop him.His parents used to watch him closely,and so did his teachers;but sooner or later Johnny managed to slip away.As he grew older,his favorite trick was to hide on a long distance truck.Sometimes he trayelled hundreds of miles before anyone discovered him.
It is hardly surprising that eventually Johnny managed to board a plane.He was twelve at the time.It was a cargo plane and a few hours later,Johnny found himself in Cairo.How did he get on board? No one knows! According to Johnny himself,it was easy:he just went into the airport,walked along some passages and got on board the nearest plane.
In spite of all this,Johnny did well at school.He enjoyed mathematics and languages and,perhaps not surprisingly,he was especially good at geography."What do you want to be when you grow up?" his teachers asked him."An explorer!" he answered."But it,s difficult to become an explorer in this modern age,"they tried to tell him.But it was no use:Johnny knew what he wanted!
Just before he left school,Johnny saw a notice in a daily paper.A long journey was about to go to Brazil to travel up the Amazon River.There were jobs for three young people"willing to work hard and with a sense of adventure".Johnny applied,and two months later,he was on his way to Brazil. | high17603.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Teenagers tend to overestimate their future earnings."
},
"options": [
"Students understand personal finances differently.",
"University tuition fees in England have been rising.",
"Teenagers tend to overestimate their future... | A study involving 8,500 teenagers from all social backgrounds found that most of them are ignorant when it comes to money. The findings, the first in a series of reports from NatWesl that has started a five-year research project into teenagers and money, are particularly worrying as this generation of young people is likely to be burdened with greater debts than any before.
Universitytuition fees are currently capped at PS3,000 annually, but this will be reviewed next year and the Government is under enormous pressure to _
In the research, the teenagers were presented with die terms of four different loans but 76 per cent failed to identify the cheapest. The young people also predicted that they would be earning on average PS 31.000 by the age of 25, although the average salary for those aged 22 to 29 is just PS 17,815. The teenagers expected to be in debt when they finished university or training, although half said that they assumed the debts would be less than PS 10.000. Average debts for graduates are PS 12,363.
Stephen Moir, head of community investment at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group which owns NatWest, said. "The more exposed young people are to financial issues, and the younger they become aware of them, the more likely they are to become responsible, forward-planning adults who manage their finances confidently and effectively."
Ministers are deeply concerned about the financial pressures on teenagers and young people because of student loans and rising housing costs. They have just introduced new lessons in how to manage debts. Nikki Fairweather aged 15 from St Helens, said that she had benefited from lessons on personal finance, but admitted that she still had a lot to learn about money. | high11272.txt |
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