questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Those who just walk around the shopping malls."
},
"options": [
"Those who cannot control the amount of credit they use.",
"Those who feel sorry for their shopping.",
"Those who are occupied in too much shopping.",
"Tho... | Are you a problem shopper? The answer is "Yes", if you or someone else thinks that you sometimes get carried away with shopping. In other words, do you or does someone else think you are occupied in extreme shopping? If people have regrets later about their shopping, or have an "out-of-control" feeling about the quantities of what they buy or the amount of credit they use, they may be considered to be problem shoppers.
Extreme shopping can lead to a more serious problem - addictive shopping. Addictive shoppers feel driven by the desire to shop and spend money. They experience great tension which drives them to shop and spend money and they feel a "rush" during the time they are occupied with the shopping activity.
Extreme or addictive shopping may result from long-time unpleasant feelings, of which anxiety, pain and shame are common ones. When we feel bad inside, we often do something to make ourselves feel better. In this case, we often go shopping.
A few people shop to relieve their boredom or emptiness. For some people, the motivation is a desire for status, power, beauty or success. Some love to shop as it makes them feel valued in the eyes of the shop assistants. Others shop simply because it makes them forget, at least temporarily, tension, fear or unhappiness in their life.
Besides, shopping malls are designed to encourage continual shopping. For instance, there are some malls where you can't see clocks displaying the time because they don't want you to become too aware of the time you spend there. What's more, food courts, coffee shops and restrooms are provided, so you don't have to leave the mall because of your physical needs.
Therefore, once you become aware of how market forces work, you will certainly come to control your shopping behavior. For example, how much time you will spend and what areas you will visit can be decided before you enter the mall. Keep a written account of what items you will buy and how much money you will spend. Make a plan for what you are going to buy before you feel the urge to shop and then stick to it. That is vital for gaining self-control. | high3735.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "no laws were made to protect the environment against pollution"
},
"options": [
"he had decided never to leave his hometown",
"the economy of Utah depended wholly on the copper smelter",
"no laws were made to protect the envi... | When Paul was a boy growing up in Utah, he happened to live near a copper smelter ,and the chemicals that poured out had made a wasteland out of what used to be a beautiful forest. One day a young visitor looked at this wasteland and called it an awful area. Paul knocked him down. From then on, something happened inside him.
Years later Paul was back in the area, and he went to the smelter office. He asked if they had any plans or if they would let him try to bring the trees back. The answer from that big industry was "No".
Paul then went to college to study the science of plants. Unfortunately, his teachers said there weren't any birds or squirrels to spread the seeds. It would be a waste of his life to try to do it. Everyone knew that, he was told. Even if he was knowledgeable as he had expected, he wouldn't get his idea accepted.
Paul later got married and had some kids. But his dream would not die. And then one night he did what he could with what he had. As Samuel Johnson wrote, "It is common to overlook what is near by keeping the eye fixed on something remote. Attainable good is often ignored by minds busied in wide ranges." Under the cover of darkness, he went secretly into the wasteland and started planting.
And every week, he made his secret journey into the wasteland and planted trees and grass. For fifteen years he did this against _ . Slowly rabbits appeared. Later, as there was legal pressure to clean up the environment, the company actually hired Paul to do what he was already doing.
Now the place is fourteen thousand acres of trees and grass and bushes, and Paul has received almost every environmental award Utah has. It took him until his hair turned white, but he managed to keep that impossible vow he made to himself as a child. | high6895.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Fresh concepts help build good business."
},
"options": [
"E-tailers are more creative businesses.",
"Fresh concepts help build good business.",
"Fewer consumers will visit physical stores.",
"Physical stores can't stan... | There is no doubt eCommerce is growing, and it will continue to grow. However, physical stores would not die as a result of the rise of eCommerce, at least not in the near future. The idea that eCommerce is taking over physical stores has already misguided many people. Physical stores are far from vanishing, and there are some solid reasons for it.
The _ for online spending is optimistic with $150 billion expected to be spent in the coming three years, yet we are also expecting $300 billion in spending at physical stores in the same duration. Do you still think that physical-store shopping is too small to sustain the eCommerce blow?
Even though consumers are staying away from physical stores that follow older concepts, yet we are seeing the rise of fresh concept stores all around the US. We are seeing innovative and attractive success stories of physical stores, ranging from clothes stores to restaurants to health spas. It would be easy to assume that this trend will continue.
Indeed, many shopping malls are dying, yet there are still those shopping centers that are performing well. You can see this for yourself by visiting shopping malls near you. What I want to emphasize here is that not all shopping centers are made equal, just like not all eCommerce retailers are made equal. Both shopping malls and eCommerce sites can lose business if they fail to maintain productivity through improvements and innovations. When you visit shopping centers that are serious about their business, you would see their shops and parking lots packed.
On the other hand, even e-tailers like Amazon have experimented with pop-up shopping concepts. It is important to bear in mind that consumers prefer face-to-face interactions instead of online interactions during shopping, meaning that physical stores are going to stay there.
Still, eCommerce retailers are seeing all of their excitement disappear as they settle the sales tax problem associated with e-tailing. As of now, five states of America have already imposed sales tax on purchases through eCommerce sites, and e-tailers in those states have already witnessed 6 to 12 percent decrease in sales.
This reinforces the fact that physical stores are here to stay, and if you are still undervaluing their growth, you are omitting a huge chunk of the retail representation. | high15014.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "the army releasing water upriver"
},
"options": [
"the army releasing water upriver",
"the effects of global warming",
"the increasing level of carbon dioxide",
"the dam at Omaha's riverfront breaking"
],
"quest... | Overlooking the swollen banks of the Missouri River at Omaha's riverfront landing, one scientist has an important explanation for the past three months of flooding .While many consider the flood to be man-made, a result of water released by the US. Army Corps of Engineers upriver, his theory aims to look deeper into the root of the problem.
"The Missouri River is flooding," said Dr. James Hansen, Director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, during a visit to Omaha on Tuesday."We've had floods that usually only happen once in every hundred years a couple of times on the Missouri River recently. That's one of the expected consequences of the increasing level of atmospheric carbon dioxide."
Hansen, who is considered to be one of the world's leading experts on global warming , said the Missouri River is an example of how global warming is affecting the earth ."Unless you do statistics ,and you see that the frequency of these events is changing , it's not so easy to see that changes are occurring , because the climate system has large inertia ,"he said .
Hansen explained, "The ocean is four kilometers deep, and the ice sheets are two or three kilometers thick , so they don't respond immediately as we begin to change the atmospheric composition .We've only experienced about half of the warming that will be caused by the gases already in the atmosphere .The full effect is going to be felt by our children and grandchildren .And if we continue to increase the amount of CO2, the effect will be even larger."
Hansen drew a comparison, "If we spend more money than what we're taking in , we're leaving a debt for our children and grandchildren to deal with ."According to Hansen, the responsibility lies in effective policy making to fight against global warming .That includes a gradual reduction in carbon emissions .Hansen suggests that a rising price be placed on carbon emissions, which should be collected from the fossil fuel companies at the first sale .
Without effective measures taken by the government, Hansen said the public could expect more of the recent extreme weather patterns,, including more severe droughts and floods in the decades ahead . | high8660.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "will relieve traffic pressure and improve public transport"
},
"options": [
"can help improve the parking conditions for the staff",
"should be applied to ail commuters driving to work",
"is certain to be carried out despite ... | Commuters who drive to work will face a parking charge of up to PS350 a year.Ministers are backing a workplace parking charge which will come into force in Nottingham in 2013 and is likely to be adopted across the country.The scheme will see firms with more than ten parking places for staff charged PS350 a year for each space in two years.
Employers would be free to pass on the charge to their staff--meaning it would effectively be a tax on driving to work.The scheme aims to reduce traffic by preventing unnecessary car journeys and raise funds to improve public transport,but critics say it is just an excuse for councils to fill their coffers .
Some ten million Britons drive to work each day,and the British Chambers of Commerce says the new charge could total PS3.4 billion a year if rolled out nationwide.
Already some firms in Nottingham have threatened to leave the city,where 40,000 commuters use their cars to get to work.A spokesman said the scheme was nothing more than a tax on jobs."It is very unfair to discriminate against those employers who have parking spaces,which get vehicles off the streets," he said."And these charges apply around the clock,which is especially unfair on shift workers who rely on their cars because public transport is not available.This is more about increasing the government's income than reducing traffic."
However,Transport Minister Sadiq Khan gave the plan an official approval during a visit to Nottingham. The council says the tax will raise as much as PS100 million over ten years--one fifth of the cost of a new transport system for the city.
Another transport spokesman Theresa Villiers said the tax would have a devastating impact on businesses struggling to cope with the economic decline.
But Richard Hebditch of the Campaign for Better Transport said the tax would raise money to invest in better transport."We put forward the idea of workplace parking taxes as a fairer way to raise money to invest in the future local transport services.We are pleased that the people of Nottingham will be the first to benefit." | high7553.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "To help prove his opinion about raising a child."
},
"options": [
"To help prove his opinion about raising a child.",
"To list different ways that parents may take.",
"To criticize some parents' foolish action.",
"To pr... | Honestly, since my daughter was born, I have thought a lot about how to raise a child. I once heard a story that told about when a baby was born. The story said that when a baby was born, a new master was born. The parents of that baby would become the servants. The question is: Why? Based on my observation, this phenomenon is true. Most parents who don't pay much attention to their kids have difficulties with their kids' attitude.
I'll make a comparison of how two families raise their children. The first one is a family with three children. Both mother and father never say "No" to their children's demands. As a result, all of their children became stubborn and won't listen to their parents' words, "We can't."
The second family educated their children strictly from one year old to high school. The parents never approved or agreed directly to give their children what they wanted. They always postponed one or two days, even if they could afford it. Due to the way their parents educated them, these children understood that if they wanted something, they had to wait or they had to make an effort first. As a result, all the kids from the second family successfully graduated from university on time.
In my opinion, if we want to be successful parents and raise our children well, we have to start disciplining them when they are toddlers but not wait until they become teenagers. | high1122.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "always did things in a fixed order"
},
"options": [
"was very busy with her work",
"died a very happy person",
"always did things in a fixed order",
"was the wisest woman in the world"
],
"question": "The passag... | She must be the wisest woman on this planet, for she has lived up to the three words "Seize the moment". Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, or because they are unwilling to try something new.
My sister died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together. I can't remember how many times I was refused when I called her to go to lunch. She would say to me: "I can't. I have clothes on the line." "My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday." "I had a late breakfast." "It looks like rain." Only after her death did I choose to be a little more flexible.
Life is not made up of thing that you do at a particular time, but it demands variety and adventure. As we grow older, the list of promises made to ourselves may get longer. Perhaps one morning, when we awaken, we will find to our surprise that our life is full of "I'm going to", "I plan to" and "Someday, when things are settled down a bit."
My seize-the-moment friend is open to adventure and ready at any moment to make a new start. She keeps an open mind about new ideas. Her great interest in life is _ . With her around you, you may trade your bad feet for good shoes.
I have not touched ice cream for 10 years. The other day, I stopped off and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy. | high22860.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "It has a caring environment."
},
"options": [
"It has a caring environment.",
"It is decorated like Disneyland.",
"It uses the most advanced equipment.",
"It provides service for both kids and old people."
],
"q... | New Way to Experience Dentistry
Have you ever had your hand held during a dental procedure you feel uneasy about? What about a dental office that mimics the spirit of Disneyland? If you're looking for a dental office that provides the best care and the best environment, you're looking for Dr.Licking's office in Sunnyvale.
Officer manager Judy, who has worked with Dr.Licking for 38 years, speaks highly of his kindness.She believes that the office is "the Disneyland of dentistry".Everyone from children to their grandparents loves the environment and care they receive from this welcoming office.
Dr.Licking is known as the best dental care provider for anyone who fears facing appointments with the dental office.The staff goes out of their way to make patients feel comfortable and at ease.Dr.Licking and Judy set the standard with their saying, "when someone comes to your home, you stand up and welcome them, like an old family friend."
Dr.Licking's office has all.They recently relocated to put the new equipment into their practice.The office is equipped with an intra-oral video camera, and as a patient you can get pictures of your teeth as you're walking out the door.
Setting himself apart from other dentists, Dr.Licking continues his education beyond what is required.For this reason, he is one of few dentists in the country who offers ozone treatment.Ozone can naturally stop decay in its tracks.For more information on this new technology, visit their website at www.drjohnlicking.com.
Dr.Licking's office is Diamond Certified, an honor given only to companies with the higher quality after extensive and continual research.Dr.Licking's office extends an invitation to you to meet their gentle staff and offers you a free office visit, including x-rays and an exam.
The office holds extended hours ranging from 7 a.m.to 8 p, m., Monday through Thursday.Don't worry if you have an emergency.Dr.Licking's office responds to all emergencies and urgent calls.
JOHN LICKING, D.D.S.
Cosmetic & Family Dentistry since 1970
408--736--6235
drjohnlicking.com
877 W.Fremont Ave.Suite C3, Sunnyvale | high13465.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the letter \"r\" is sounded after a vowel"
},
"options": [
"the letter \"r\" is silent in any positions",
"the letter \"r\" is sounded after a vowel",
"the ending syllable of a word is stressed",
"the ending syllable of... | Originally, both the British and the American spoke with a rhotic accent. Rhotic essentially means an accent where the letter "r" is pronounced strongly after a vowel . Rhotic accents are strong in both the US and Scotland, but seem to have disappeared from British English and its _ , such as Australian English and New Zealand English.
The major American accent -- the typical accent of the mid-western US -- is rhotic, and British English is, as a rule, non-rhotic. Specifically, US speakers pronounce every "r", wherever they appear in a word. Most British speakers (and you will note that there are some British Isle accents that are strongly rhotic, like US) do not pronounce every "r". Americans stress the "r" at the end of words such as "teacher" or "neighbour", but in many non-rhotic British accents it is more of a "schwa" (an unstressed sound) so it comes out as, "teacha" (unstressed) or "neighba".
This main difference also differs across the country of origin. For example, the US has a clear difference in the accents between people of the north and south, not to mention less clear differences across the states. Similarly, British people have a different accent according to their locality. The "cockney " accent is greatly different to the middle and upper class accents.
Another common difference appears to be that Americans pronounce words such as "herbal" without the "h". Syllables may be stressed differently, too. "Oregano" in the US tends to be pronounced "o-reg-a-no" while in British English it is more likely to be "o-reg-AH-no". | high6881.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "The Top Gear Guide to Britain"
},
"options": [
"The Top Gear Guide to Britain",
"I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue: The Best of Forty Years",
"Mrs Brown's Family Handbook",
"Still Open All Hours"
],
"question": "If you... | The following are books sold on our website, perhaps some of them you'll be interested in.
The Top Gear Guide to Britain (Hardback)
Our price: PS9.99
For over ten years, Top Gear has been travelling all over Britain in the course of making the world's best programme about cars, driving.
This book is not only a guide for outsiders; it is an invaluable reference manual for Britons themselves, like a mirror held up to our very souls.
Still Open All Hours (Hardback)
Our price: PS12.49
From its first episode in 1973, Open All Hours was an instant hit. Audiences around Britain loved its familiar setting, good natured humour, and the hilarious partnership of Ronnie Barker and David Jason. Whilst it only ran for 26 episodes, it firmly cemented itself as a British comedy classic.
Mrs Brown's Family Handbook (Paperback)
Our price: PS7.99
Mrs Brown's Family Handbook, the first and only official book from Brendan O'Carroll's brilliant educational creation, is filled with useful advice and gives us a unique look into the lives of the Brown family.
I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue: The Best of Forty Years (Hardback)
Our price: PS15.99
"I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue" is the most listened to comedy programme on British radio. It regularly attracts a large audience. The author tells us about the forty years of the programme.
Life on Air (Hardback)
Our price: PS16.49
Sir David Attenborough is Britain's best-known natural history film-maker. His career as a naturalist and broadcaster has spanned nearly six decades, and in this volume of memoirs Sir David tells stories of the people and animals he has met and the places he has visited. | high8674.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "are bombarded with excessive amounts of child-care literature."
},
"options": [
"are bombarded with excessive amounts of child-care literature.",
"draw a distinction between permissiveness and carelessness.",
"are only toward... | Few people would defend the Victorian attitude on children, but if you were a parent in those days, at least you knew where you stood: children were to be seen and not heard. Freud and his colleagues did away with all that and parents have been puzzled ever since. The child's happiness is all- important, they say, but what about the parents' happiness? Modern child-rearing manuals would never permit cruelty to children .The trouble is you are not allowed even to shout. Who knows what deep psychological wounds you might cause? The poor child may never recover from the dreadful experience. So it is the parents that bend over backwards to avoid giving their children complex which a hundred years ago hadn't even been heard of. Certainly, a child needs love, and a lot of it. But the excessive permissive of modern parents is surely doing more harm than good.
Psychologists have succeeded in weakening parents confidence in their own authority. And it hasn't taken children long to get wind of the fact. In addition to the great modern classics on child care, there are countless articles in magazines and newspapers. With so much advice flying about, mum and dad just don't know what to do any more. In the end, they do nothing at all. So, from early childhood, the kids are in charge and parents' lives are regulated according to the needs of their kids. When the little dears develop into teenagers, they take complete control. Lack of authority over the years makes teenagers rebellion against parents all the more violent. If the young people are going to have a party, for example, parents are asked to leave the house. Their presence merely spoils the fun. What else can the poor parents do but obey? | high7547.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "no modern world"
},
"options": [
"no modern world",
"no recorded history",
"no animals",
"no dangers"
],
"question": "According to the author, without the development of man's memory there would be _",
"que... | We often hear people say, "I have a good memory for things like that" or "I can remember names". But do you know memory is the single most important thing and it has played a very important part?
For early men, there were dangerous all around them--bad weather, wild animals. The key to keep on living lay in man's ability to remember these dangers and the ways he had dealt with them in the past. In order for memories to be stored, the human brain became more complex. And as man learned how to deal with them, he became civilized . Surprisingly, scientists today understand little about memory and how it works. They have not yet found a way to open up the brain and observe its function without destroying it. Perhaps there are two types of memory: short-term and long-term. Short-term refers to those facts that stay with us for a few seconds to a few hours. For instance, when you stay at a hotel, you remember the room number and forget as soon as you leave. Long-term memory, on the other hand, means you remember things for a long period of time. If you spend your honeymoon in a particular hotel, it's likely that you'll remember your stay quite clearly.
Scientists also believe that a short-term memory can become a long-term memory through consolidation . A lot of chemical and physical changes take place in the part of the brain. Although the human brain weighs three pounds, it contains 30 billion nerve cells acting like a computer. When those changes strengthen the links in certain nerve cells, a thought becomes part of the long-term memory. | high6659.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Being Happy Is A Duty"
},
"options": [
"Pretending To Be Happy",
"Being Happy Is A Duty",
"Staying Away From Unhappiness",
"Keeping Happy Is Easy"
],
"question": "The best title of the passage is_.",
"questi... | Happiness is like a stone dropped into a pool to set in motion an ever-widening circle of ripples . As Stevenson has said, being happy is a duty.
There is no exact definition of the world happiness. Happy people are happy for all sorts of reasons. They key is not wealth or physical well--being, since we find beggars, patients and so-called failures who are extremely happy.
Being happy is a sort of unexpected dividend . But staying happy is an achievement, a victory of soul and character. It is not selfish to struggle for it. It is, indeed, a duty to ourselves and others.
Being unhappy is like an infectious disease; it causes people to stay away from the fufferer. He soon finds himself alone, miserable and upset. There is, however, a cure so simple as to seem, at first glance, ridiculous: If you don't feel happy, pretend to be!
It works. Before long you will find that instead of repelling people, you attract them. You discover how deeply rewarding it is to be the center of wider and wider circles of good will.
Then the _ becomes a reality. You possess the secret of peace of mind, and can forget yourself in being of service to others.
Being happy, once it is realized as a duty and established as habit, opens doors into unimaginable gardens crowded with grateful friends. | high22874.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "It is an example of a search engine that sells information to companies."
},
"options": [
"It is an example of a search engine that sells information to companies.",
"It is better than other search engines in gathering information.... | Have you ever felt you were being watched? Some new technologies might make you feel that way. Digital billboards are being created with ability to recognize certain characteristics. These high-tech devices have cameras pointed at the people on the street, and software that tries to recognize people by age and gender. A computer inside the billboard then uses the information to display ads that are directed at the people who are looking at the billboard. For example, if a man passes a billboard featuring an ad for cosmetics, the computer can change the ad to something that is more likely to catch the man's attention, such as football games.
While advertisers see this as a great opportunity to reach their target customers, some people feel that this kind of profiling is an invasion of their privacy. People are now much more aware of how information is exposed, shared, bought, and sold on the Internet. Now this debate will involve technologies such as "smart" billboards. But advertisers claim that they are sensitive to people's concerns about privacy--companies that have tested the billboards in Japan and the U.S. assure consumers that the billboards can only guess your age and gender, but they will not be able to recognize your face or obtain any personal information about you.
Until recently, this kind of personal advertising has been mostly limited to the Internet. Search engines like Google and Bing can follow what we search for because each computer that connects to those sites has a unique identity. Companies then pay search engines to use this information to display ads for products and services that you have searched for. So if you search for travel information, you are likely to see ads for airlines and hotels. This kind of advertising has proven to be much more effective--and valuable--than traditional advertising.
In addition to taking steps to deliver more personalized messages, advertisers are using billboards to offer more useful information. Digital billboards can connect to the Internet to display information such as the time, weather, and news headlines. In the future, this technology could be used to relay immediate social events.
In today's world, people ignore thousands of ads every day. Advertisers are trying to change that trend by personalizing the experience of seeing an ad. So pay attention: next time you see a billboard, it could be talking to you. | high13471.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "show people really care about the result of competition"
},
"options": [
"make excuses for his failure",
"express his concern about the airport",
"imply his neighbor cheated in the competition",
"show people really care... | It does not matter who wins. We are told that from day one. Usually, that statement is followed by some remark about being a loser. If we do not care who wins, then why do we compete? Fun, experience, the chance to meet new people --- these are the reasons we try to outdo each other.
People will compete over anything. Every Christmas, my neighbors and I have a little Christmas light competition. It is heaven for the electric company, but I think we give Will Rogers Airport a scare. It is bright enough to land a plane in our front yards. I admit that last year my neighbors won, but only because they bought every strand of lights Wal-Mart had before I could get there.
Personal competitions are great, but we get a little carried away. I cannot stand to see coaches shout at kids playing sports. Who cares if someone messes up and the other team advances?
I'm tired of people competing just to win. It happens not only in sports, but in music competitions, too. People auditioning for chair placement in certain bands can get really unfriendly. This year I did not audition for a certain band, but I went to auditions anyway. This was the first time I actually had the opportunity to comprehend the whole picture.
Other times I've been the person who was nervous and anxious. This time, I sat back and observed everyone else. I came to the realization that the people who aren't so good are terrified of the good people, and the good people are scared stiff that the bad people have taken lessons and can now show them up. Unless a person is on the outside looking in, I don't think anyone realizes _ .
Maybe competing is human nature, but we shouldn't let it influence our judgment. Being disrespectful to opponents , letting competition become our life, and becoming so involved that we close ourselves off from friends and family is not the meaning of competition.
A little competition is healthy, so it shouldn't hurt anyone. If it does, someone somewhere needs to back off, find the good thing hidden inside, and try it again. Winning isn't everything, and losing isn't the end of the world. | high10178.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "His wife."
},
"options": [
"A boy named Harrison.",
"His wife.",
"Zachary J. Lewis. .",
"Jeffrey Keith"
],
"question": "Who inspires Tim Green to write the novel Unstoppable?",
"question_type": "factiod_ques... | Former National Football League player and children's author Tim Green has added another book to his list of accomplishments: Unstoppable. The book tells the story of a 12-year -old boy named Harrison, who survives life in a cruel foster home before he finally finds a loving family. Once he settles in and realizes his natural football ability, tragedy strikes again and he loses his leg to a deadly bone cancer. Unstoppable follows Harrison's incredible journey as he faces many challenges in his life.
Tim Green says he decided to write a novel about a kid facing cancer after watching how his wife fought to survive her own illness. "Her mental and physical toughness were more heroic to me than anything I'd ever seen in the national sports leagues," Green told TFK Kid Reporter Zachary J. Lewis.
After watching his wife's battle, Green said, he knew he needed to write about a person who struggled through a serious illness. But because the target age for his books is teen, he needed to tell the story through the eyes of someone that age.
When friends introduced Green to Jeffrey Keith, Green knew he had found the right person to help him" capture the heroism that it takes to fight cancer". Cancer-survivor Jeffrey Keith lost his leg to disease at age twelve, but went on to be the goalie for the Boston College Division 1 Lacrosse Team and was also the first _ to run 3,300 miles across the country. When Green heard Jeffrey Keith's story, he knew it was the perfect narrative on which to base his next book.
TFK asked Keith what it felt like to read Unstoppable for the first time. "Tim captured what it felt like for me to go through this experience and battle back," Keith said. "After I read the book, Tim asked me to describe it in one word, and I said 'awesome'. Tim's work sends a message to all the kids across the country that are facing obstacles that can have nothing to do with cancer: you are all unstoppable, as long as you believe it." | high5350.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Around two years"
},
"options": [
"Thirty six months",
"Thirty months",
"Half a year",
"Around two years"
],
"question": "How long did it take to put back the stolen Mona Lisa in Louver ? _",
"question_typ... | Art theft is an ancient and complicated crime. When you look at some of the most famous cases of art thefts in history, you see thoroughly planned operations that involve art dealers, art fakers, mobsters, ransoms, and millions of dollars. Here you can read about some of the most famous cases of art theft in the history.
The First Theft:
The first documented case of art theft was in 1473, when two panels of altarpiece of the Last Judgment by the Dutch painter Hans Memling were stolen. While the triptych was being transported by ship from the Netherlands to Florence, the ship was attacked by pirates who took it to the Gdansk cathedral in Poland. Nowadays, the piece is shown at the National Museum in Gdansk where it was recently moved from the Basilica of the Assumption.
The Most Famous Theft:
The most famous story of art theft involves one of the most famous paintings in the world and one of the most famous artists in history as a suspect. In the night of August 21, 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen out of the Louver. Soon after, Pablo Picasso was arrested and questioned by the police, but was released quickly.
It took about two years until the mystery was solved by the Parisian police. It turned out that the 30x21 inch painting was taken by one of the museum employees by the name of Vincenzo Peruggia, who simply carried it hidden under his coat. Nevertheless, Peruggia did not work alone. The crime was carefully conducted by a notorious con man, Eduardo de Valfierno, who was sent by an art faker who intended to make copies and sell them as if they were the original painting.
While Yves Chaudron, the art faker, was busy creating copies for the famous masterpiece, Mona Lisa was still hidden at Peruggias' apartment. After two years in which Peruggia did not hear from Chaudron,
. Eventually, Peruggia was caught by the police while trying to sell the painting to an art dealer from Florence, Italy. The Mona Lisa was returned to the Louver in 1913.
The Biggest Theft in the USA:
The biggest art theft in United States took place at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. On the night of March 18, 1990, a group of thieves wearing police uniforms broke into the museum and took thirteen paintings whose collective value was estimated at around 300 million dollars. The thieves took two paintings and one print by Rembrandt, and works of Vermeer, Manet, Degas, Govaert Flinck, as well as a French and a Chinese artifact.
As of yet, none of the paintings have been found and the case is still unsolved. According to recent rumors, the FBI are investigating the possibility that the Boston Mob along with French art dealers are connected to the crime. | high16509.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "46"
},
"options": [
"42",
"34",
"46",
"143"
],
"question": "According to the passage, the total number of the A/H1N1 infection in Japan now is _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer... | TOKYO -- The number of domestic infections cases of influenza A/H1N1 in Japan hits 42 on Sunday after a total of 34 people in Osaka and Hyogo counties were confirmed to have been infected, local media reported.
The total number of the infection in the country now stands at 46, including the first four cases contracted abroad.
The country is now facing the risk of grass-root outbreak which could lead the WHO to raise its new flu pandemic alert to the highest level of 6 from the current 5, experts has warned.
The 34 newly confirmed domestic cases, 11 in Osaka and 23 in Hyogo, included high school students, college students and teachers, the health ministry and local governments said Sunday.
Japan on Saturday confirmed the first eight cases of domestic infection on students of a Kobe high school. The later confirmed cases in Osaka are said to have contacted the Kobe students in a volleyball match. Osaka and Hyogo are neighboring in the Kansai region.
All of the 42 people had no record of overseas travel.
Meanwhile, a total of 143 students at the Kansai Okura Senior High School where many infections in Osaka were found, have shown symptoms of influenza since around Monday, according to local media reports.
The privately run school said it will be closed from Monday through Saturday.
More than 1,000 educational facilities -- kindergartens, and elementary, junior and senior high schools -- in Osaka and Hyogo counties have decided to suspend classes for certain periods following the confirmation of new flu infections in the counties, Kyodo News reported.
The two counties have requested private schools to follow suit.
Osaka Governor Toru Hashimoto held a meeting of a new flu task force on Sunday and decided to ask facilities such as movie theaters to suspend operations to prevent the spread of the flu.
TV clips showed people in Kansai region started to wear masks in public spaces and rushed to drug stores for buying medicines.
The Japanese government on Saturday shifted the stage of its new-flu action program from "a period of overseas outbreak" to "a period of domestic outbreak" and called for companies and schools in the areas concerned to allow individuals to avoid commuting during rush hours.
The Kyodo News quoted Masato Tashiro, a member of the World Health Organization's emergency committee, as saying that several hundred people in Japan already may have been infected with the new flu. | high11266.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "need more career advice from their schools"
},
"options": [
"have enough career-related courses",
"need more career advice from their schools",
"perform better in exams than German students",
"can get higher earnings in... | For high school leavers starting out in the working world,it is very important to learn particular skills and practice how to behave in an interview or how to find all internship .In some countries,schools have programs to help students onto the path to work.In the Unites States,however,such programs are still few and far between.
Research shows that if high schools provide career-related courses,students are likely to get higher earnings in later years.The students are more likely to stay in school,graduate and go on to higher education.
In Germany,students as young as 13 and 14 are expected to do internships.German companies work with schools to make sure that young people get the education they need for future employment.
But in America, education reform programs focus on how well students do in exams instead of bringing them into contact with the working world.Harvard Education school professor Robert
Schwartz has criticized education reformers for trying to place all graduates directly on the four-year college track.Schwartz argued that this approach leaves the country's most vulnerable kids with no jobs and no skills.
Schwartz believed that the best career programs encourage kids to go for higher education while also teaching them valuable practical skills at high sch001.James Madison High School in New York,for example,encourages students to choose classes on career--based courses.The school then helps them gain on--the-job experience in those fields while they're still at high school.
However,even for teens whose schools encourage them to connect with work,the job market is daunting.In the US,unemployment rates for 16-to 19-year-olds are above 20 percent for the third summer in a row.
"The risk is that if teenagers miss out on the Summer job experience,they become part of this generation of teens who had trouble in landing a job,"said Michael,a researcher in the US. | high3721.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "health service and welfare"
},
"options": [
"health service and welfare",
"education and training",
"the student service organizations",
"the daily life of students"
],
"question": "The passage is mainly about ... | The University of Wales, Bangor has been rated the top university in the UK for the help and support provided for students by theTimes Higher Education Supplement.We want to make sure all our students are happy and that they enjoy their time here in Bangor. We realize that you may need some support during your time here to solve some personal problems or difficulties.
Our Student Services Centre and the Students' Union can offer the following:
* An advice service that is free and confidential.
* You'll have a personal teacher in your department.
* A Peer Guide will welcome you to Bangor during your first week and answer any question you might have.
* Student Services and Security are on call during the day and there is a warden on call at evenings and weekends at all our halls of residence.
* Personal support and advice on a variety of problems through the Students' Union Welfare Advice Centre.
* Nightline, a confidential support service run during the night by students for students.
* A team of staff volunteers are available to deal with any serious incident which happens outside normal university hours.
* Health care in daily surgeries where you don't need an appointment. You will need to register with a local General Practitioner . We also have a nurse who can make visits to your place when necessary.
* An adviser for international students.
* A room where local postgraduate students who live at home and travel to the university each day, can spend their free time.
The university welcomes applications from disabled students and aims to provide equal opportunities for all. For more information please see our Student Services pages. | high11500.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "good manners are disappearing little by little"
},
"options": [
"good manners will never go out of style",
"her grandmother is right",
"good manners are disappearing little by little",
"it never rains, but it pours"
... | My grandmother seems to be wrong when she says that good manners will never go out of style.
Several days ago, I tried entering a lift with one of my arms fixed in a bandage while carrying a computer bag in the other. Not being fast enough, I was passed by two young people who managed to get into the lift before me. The lift door closed only after I entered. Having already pressed their wanted floor button, the young people waited impatiently for me to press the button for where I was going. If they had decided to help, we could have moved much faster. But they had not. So I did my best and pressed the button with my arm. The two young people looked very angry with me. I was losing heart.
The memory of this incident has stayed with me because it followed shortly after my building's watchman refused to help me carry a heavy box full of books. His answer was that he could not carry the books a few meters because it was not his job. However, I remembered myself helping people for so many years carrying boxes, shopping bags, or pushing wheelchairs upon the request of a stranger in need or when my conscience called on me. "Oh, this young generation, they have no manners, "my grandmother would say. The idea of good manners refers to the considering of other people's feelings. We need more and more people to have good manners. Good manners should be-come part of our lives. | high3047.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "hadgreatinfluenceovertheboywhenshewasalive"
},
"options": [
"hadgreatinfluenceovertheboywhenshewasalive",
"likeddogsverymucheveniftheyoftenattackedher",
"couldseeeverythingaroundherthoughshewasold",
"wasaweakwomanliving... | People say teenagers are no good. They make too much noise in shopping malls; they drive carelessly up and down America's main streets. And at least some of the time those things are true.
But we shouldn't forget that there are hard moments in the life of a teenager too.
I watched such a moment not long ago at a woman's funeral which happened in a church. A teenage grandson stepped forward. Softly he began:"I want to share a few values that Nana taught me. She never failed to see light in any situation. When our family dog would attack her, what would Nana say? Oh, what beautiful markings that dog has." That was Nana.
"She was a strong woman who often lived in the shadow of my grandpa, who was a successful businessman in this city. But she was the one behind the scenes who provided the strength and support for Grandpa's career," he said, with a voice now trembling. "That was Nana's way."
Finally, in a voice breaking free of sorrow, he looked up and said, "Nana taught me courage. She put up a fight to the end, when she died peacefully, which is how she lived her life. That was Nana's way, and I hope I can carry on in the same manner."
There are no hearts as sensitive as those of teenagers, because everything is happening to them for the first time. The trouble with teenagers is that they haven't learned to be controlled. When that boy rose to speak about the woman who had been his dearest friend, his honest voice dragged each of us out into the open where we could no longer hide. I was moved and learned a lot. | high4728.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "learn to be thankful for little things"
},
"options": [
"wish to run like normal person",
"lose courage to stand up to walk",
"learn to be thankful for little things",
"dream of developing artificial legs"
],
"q... | Scout Bassett is often asked if she hopes to have normal legs. Bassett answers, "No. When you lost a leg, it teaches you to appreciate little things - like being able to walk and run."
Born in England, Bassett was left at an orphanage due to terrible burns. Her right leg was cut off above the knee. She felt hungry all the time. When she was old enough to get around, she was forced to clean floors, feed babies and wash dishes. And she had to do all that with an artificial leg that didn't work well.
When she was 7, a family in Michigan adopted her, giving her an improved artificial leg. It was OK for everyday activities, but she couldn't play soccer or basketball.
When she was 14, she got a high-tech leg made for sports. "I remember being terrified because that was my first time," she said. Scout Bassett was waiting nervously for the race to start when the athlete Sarah Reinertsen came up and said, "I've been doing this for a while. Let me help you."
Reinertsen, who lost her leg when she was 7, works with an organization called the Challenged Athletes Foundation to help people like Scout Bassett. She lost that first race, but gained confidence from Reinertsen. Training hard, she improved her strength and skill. She even took up golf and tennis.
Now, living in Califomia, Bassett runs competitively and finds time to share her story with school groups. She said, "Some people think they having nothing in common with me. I want to say everyone has challenges - maybe with homework or friends. No matter what it is, everything you need is inside your heart. Take small steps and you will reach your dream." | high18242.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Energy from the Sun."
},
"options": [
"Energy from lake waters.",
"Energy from fuel resources which have taken millions of years to accumulate.",
"Energy from forests.",
"Energy from the Sun."
],
"question": "Ac... | Treat with Respect
The speed with which Man is changing the face of Earth has outstripped all the mighty processes of nature put together. In his haste to supply himself with increasing quantities of Earth's treasures he risks destroying one he greatly needs, his natural surroundings. Some countries set aside unspoiled areas of natural beauty. prefix = st1 /Canadahas the largest system of national parks in the world, 29 in all covering about 13 million hectares, preserving the different landscapes and the plant and animal life.
Other countries are restoring areas which have been reduced to waste land by mining. At Broken Hill in Australiadrifting sand from rock crushing turned the area into a desert swept by sand storms. This is now being irrigated, fertilized and planted with grass and trees. In Great Britain quarries and gravel pits are being filled in or made into lakes, industrial wasteland is being turned into playing fields and waste tips into sloping green hills.
However Man tries to look after Earth, the fact is that he is using up at a great rate resources, especially fuel resources, which have taken millions of years to accumulate and which he cannot renew. Yet every day the Earth receives a huge supply of energy from the Sun. Man has made several experiments in using solar energy to heat furnaces , cookers, and water-distillers. In space technology, e.g. on satellites, solar cells convert sunlight into electricity. Houses and offices have been designed which are centrally heated by water or air heated by the sunlight. When Man can trap and store this energy, so that he can use it exactly as he needs it, he will have not only an endless supply, but a clean and safe one. | high17171.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Surprised"
},
"options": [
"Satisfied.",
"Sad",
"Surprised",
"Concerned."
],
"question": "Which word can best describe the man's initial reaction as soon as he was diagnosed with cancer?",
"question_type": ... | I once had a friend that was diagnosed with terminal cancer , and the news that he might only live up to six months was a great shock to him, his family, and his friends.However, in spite of the serious illness, he was initially determined to look into all available treatments that might cure or extend his life.I think that when you find yourself in such situations, you tend to look up every possible way for hope of saving your life.
As months went on and his health grew worse, I noticed an unexpected change in attitude that came over him.He had also been a happy person with a cheerful personality, but rather than give in to discouragement and self-pity, he took comfort in God and humanity .His talks focused on others rather than himself, and he spoke of the afterlife as something he was prepared for, believing that his concerned ancestors, including his mother and father, were there waiting for him.
During the last few months, weeks, and days of his life, he was kindly cared for by family, friends, his loving wife, who looked after both his physical and emotional needs, and workers from a local hospice came to the home to regulate his medication and provide any other needed support.He didn't complain about his fate, and he willingly allowed others to serve him.
Indeed, one might think why God allows death and suffering in our world, but for me, such experiences taught me to value family more and kindness for others.You often can't learn these important attributes in the lap of luxury , and perhaps, such an experience is the greatest and final gift the illness can give those left behind. | high2359.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "her backpack was stuck in the closed door"
},
"options": [
"she stood too close to the bus when getting off",
"the bus driver stopped the bus suddenly",
"something was wrong with the bus door",
"her backpack was stuck i... | An 8-year-old girl was dragged about 900 feet by a school bus today in Livingston County.
According to State Police, the incident occurred about 2:40 pm on State Route 436 in the town of Ossian after three sisters were dropped off the bus.
As the last sister was leaving the bus, driver John Coley, 62 , of Wayland, Steuben County, told the police that he was not paying attention when he closed the door and trapped her backpack inside. Coley then continued 900 feet before he realized the girl was being dragged, State Police said.
The girl was hurt and was transported to Nicholas H Noyes Memorial Hospital in Dansville,Livingston County, by Dansville Ambulance.
Another 8-year-old child on the bus said he hit his head on the seat in front of him when the bus came to a sudden stop, causing an earache.
*Conservation staff in New Zealand have put down 33 stranded whales after several attempts to refloat them failed.
The whales were shot on Farewell Spit on the South Island. Department of Conservation area manager John Mason says staff and hundreds of volunteers had tried all week to get the whales refloated.
He says they thought they were successful on Wednesday when they got the whales into deep water----but were saddened on Thursday to find that they had swum back ashore. He says the condition of the whales had significantly become worse.
As well as the 33 whales that were shot,36 had died naturally since Monday and 17 were successfully refloated. 13 remain unknown. | high1650.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "They failed to destroy the dam repeatedly built by the beavers."
},
"options": [
"They failed to destroy the dam repeatedly built by the beavers.",
"They didn't know who to send to deal with the dam trouble.",
"The beavers we... | They don't quite know how to cope with all the dam trouble they've got down in Hampden, Maine. And according to town manager Leslie Stanley, it doesn't look as if things will improve any in the immediate future. "We've got a real annoying problem on our hands," he says.
The annoyance began in late May. About three miles outside of town a group of beavers built a dam near the mouth of a culvert that carries a stream under Canaan Road. Some 50 feet of roadway and several hundred feet of land on each side of the culvert were flooded. Stanley sent a road crew out to level the dam. The beavers rebuilt it. The crew tore it apart again. In fact, they tore it apart for ten mornings-and for ten straight nights the beavers rebuilt it.
On the eleventh day, the foreman tossed the problem back to the town manager. He, in turn, tossed it on to the local game warden . The warden, absorbed in beaver knowledge, moved quietly and carefully out one night and placed a petrol-soaked bag over the dam. (Any beaver expert will tell you the creatures just can't tolerate petrol smell.)
In the morning the bag was found artistically woven into the dam.
The warden set out three steel traps that night. In the morning one was empty. The other two had been stolen by the beavers and used to strengthen the dam. The warden, cursing the state law against hunting beavers with firearms, got his traps back and set them out again and again. And every night the beavers stole them.
Town manager Stanley enlisted additional troops. He telephoned his police chief. Those beavers were breaking a state law against blocking up a natural watercourse. "Why aren't you out there to _ the law?" Stanley asked. "You're the police chief. So remove them. Arrest them. Do something."
Three mornings later, the police chief proudly announced the end of the dam. At 2:00 A.M., he said, he and a licensed dynamiter had blown it to small pieces. Stanley said he'd believe it when he saw it.
They drove out to the culvert and found a new dam already half-built. They also found the highway choked with mud and remains thrown up by the dynamite.
Stanley said maybe they should call in the Army Corps of Engineers. But the police chief's faith in explosives was unshaken. He launched an all-out campaign,but the beavers always managed to have the holes plugged by the time the fire department appeared on the scene for its morning mop-up.
In time, the beavers tired of this nonsense and moved their dam "inside" the culvert-where it couldn't be blown up without destroying the road too.
Stanley and his general staff held a council of war and agreed that fresh strategy was called for. Then they came up with an inspired idea. If we remove every branch of the dam by hand, we'll force the beavers to go in search of new building material to replace what we've taken. Then we can place box traps along their runways and seized them.
The plan was completely approved. Moreover it worked. On July 30, town manager Stanley was able to announce that the beaver group had been trapped and removed to a remote wilderness area. And there was great joy in Hampden-until the middle of October, that is, when a group of young beavers was spotted swimming in the same waters from which its elders had recently been taken away.
But to make a long story short, the strategy that worked with the older beavers worked with the young ones too. | high13317.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "do some exercise for weeks or months"
},
"options": [
"do some exercise for weeks or months",
"learn more about sports",
"watch many sports games",
"buy a car"
],
"question": "If you do lots of sports while trav... | Traveling is one of the most important activities and people have been interested in it for many years. Modern traffics develops fast, so traveling to different places has become much easier than before.
Staying healthy:while traveling can make your trip happier. But do you know how to keep healthy during a trip? The following information may be useful for you.
Before leaving:
* Wear comfortable shoes, a hat and sunglasses.
* Take some necessary medicine with you. They can be used when you get sick or have other problems.
* If you do lots of sports like walking or climbing on your trip, you should do some exercise for weeks or months before you leave.
While traveling:
* Be sure not to eat dirty food or bad fruit.
* Have enough time to take a rest during your trip.
* Tap water is not safe, so drink bottled water and always clean the cover on the bottle. | high14478.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "A founder of a cosmetics company in America."
},
"options": [
"A successful cosmetics saleswoman.",
"A beautiful shop owner in London.",
"A popular cosmetics producer in France.",
"A founder of a cosmetics company in Am... | In fine department stores everywhere, you'll see the light-blue boxes of Estee Lauder. These popular cosmetics are sold in more than 130 countries. Who's the woman behind this worldwide cosmetics empire ? Estee Lauder herself, of course. This businesswoman became, for a time, the world's richest self-made woman. Her secret? "I didn't get there by dreaming about it," she would say. "I got there by doing it." Estee was born in the early 1900s in Queens, New York. Her father ran a hardware store, and from him Estee learned how to be a successful salesperson. Estee learned from her uncle John Schotz, too. He made creams in a small laboratory behind the family's house. Estee watched him. Soon, she was experimenting with her own cosmetics. She put lipstick and creams on any female relative who'd let her, until her annoyed father told her to stop.
She married Joseph H. Lauder in 1930, and continued her experiments. She would cook dinner for the family, and at the same time, make her face creams. Then she began to sell her products in a Manhattan beauty shop.
In 1960, Estee began to sell her products in Europe. After many tries she succeeded and began selling her products in some stores in London. But France proved even more difficult. The store Galleries Lafayette refused to sell her products. So Estee "by accident" dropped a bottle of youth dew on the floor in the cosmetics department. As the _ spread around the store, customers came over and asked to buy it. The store soon began selling Estee's products.
Estee led her company until 1982, when her son Leonard took over the business. Until her health worsened in the mid-1990s, she continued to attend the opening of a new store wherever in the world. She died on April 24, 2004. Estee Lauder's talent as a saleswoman was extraordinary. Her son Leonard said, "There was never anyone who could sell like she could." All who worked for Estee appreciated her special talent. | high8112.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "if an adult watches TV for six hours every day, he will die five years earlier"
},
"options": [
"whether you watch TV or not has nothing to do with how long you will live",
"if an adult watches TV for six hours every day, he will d... | Every hour spent in watching TV, DVDs and videos as an adult reduces life expectancy by almost 22 minutes, a study suggests. And viewing TV for an average of six hours a day can cut short your life by five years.
The research claims that a sedentary lifestyle is as bad for health as smoking and obesity, because of the dangers caused by inactivity and the greater opportunities _ offers for unhealthy eating.
The academics conducting the study set out to calculate the overall risk to life expectancy from watching television. Their research involved more than 11,000 people over the age of 25.
Writing in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, they concluded. "TV viewing time may be associated with a loss of life, which is similar to other major chronic disease risk factors such as physical inactivity and obesity."
The researchers, from the University of Queensland, used information from the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study, together with population and death rate data.
But they said: "Although we used Australian data, the effects in other industrialized and developing countries are likely to be similar, considering the large amounts of time spent watching TV and similarities in disease patterns." In the United Kingdom, the average amount of time spent watching TV is four hours a day, compared with five hours in the United States.
Earlier this year, a separate study suggested the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease, or dying early, rises by as much as 20 percent after just two hours a day in front of the box.
England's Chief Medical Officer, Sally Davies, said: "Physical activity offers huge benefits and these studies back what we already know - that a sedentary lifestyle carries additional risks. We hope these studies will help more people realize that there are many ways to get exercise." | high1888.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "he was the same as other kids"
},
"options": [
"he could get high marks",
"he was the same as other kids",
"he could become famous speaker",
"he was liked by his classmates"
],
"question": ".At the age of seven,... | Born in 1982 in Australia, Nick came into the world with neither arms nor legs. Through his childhood Nick dealt with the challenges of studies as well as sadness as he was questioned why he was different from all the other kids. But soon he realized that even with them, he was still unlike his classmates.
As Nick grew up he learnt to do more and more things on his own. He adapted to his situation and found ways to finish tasks that most people could only do by using their arms. As time went by Nick began to _ his situation and achieve greater things. In grade seven Nick was elected captain of his school and worked on various fund-raising events for local charities.
After school Nick went on with further study and get a double bachelor degree . By the age of 19 Nick started to fulfil his dream of being able to encourage other people through motivational speaking and telling his story. Nick believes that there is a purpose in each of the struggles we meet in our lives and that our attitude towards those struggles can be the single most effective factor in overcoming them.
At 25 years old he moved to California, USA, where he is the president of an international organization.Since his first motivational speaking when he was 19, Nick has traveled around the world,sharing his story with millions of people. | high7221.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "They analyze the speeches given by former US Presidents."
},
"options": [
"They always seek advice from the ordinary people.",
"They analyze the speeches given by former US Presidents.",
"They usually have to finish writing a... | You might say that Barack Obama was elected President of the US because he knows how to give a speech. In 2004, the little-known Obama gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention . It was a great speech -- poetic, and inspiring. The people who heard it would remember it for a long time.
Since 2004, Obama has written and delivered thousands of speeches. There are usually praised for two reasons: he treats the audiences like intelligent adults, and he is able to express complicated ideas in a straightforward, natural way.
Before becoming President, Obama was a lawyer, a college professor, and a successful writer - his two memoirs have become best sellers. The skills he needed to succeed in his previous jobs have also contributed to his success as a speechmaker.
As a lawyer, Obama learned how to make strong, convincing arguments. As a professor, he learned how to explain complex subjects in ways that helped students understand without boring them. As a writer, he learned how to use languages to have a powerful influence on his audience. A famous American musician even turned one of Obama's early speeches into a song during the election campaign.
Secret weapons of Obama
Writing team: Obama has a team of people who write his speeches. The writers chat with Obama for hours about what he wants to say. Then listen to recordings of past presidential addresses and seek advice from advisers. Obama usually edits and rewrites the drafts several times.
Make fun of the guests: Obama starts his speech by gently making fun of his guests. His opening lines attract the audience's attention while giving them an opportunity to relax and laugh at themselves and each other.
Make fun of himself: Obama laughs at his past mistakes and is never afraid of showing them to the public.
Obama delivers speeches to audiences large and small. He can make his audiences laugh or cry. His speeches are always thoughtful, well written and just right for each occasion. | high1863.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "To use a tone of voice that can match their children's feelings."
},
"options": [
"To hide their feelings with different tones of voice.",
"To use a tone of voice that can match their children's feelings.",
"Not to speak to t... | Tone of voice is very important in human conversation. A person might use words that communicate one message and a tone that shows something very different. This possibility for confusion is one reason that businessmen encourage discussing things in person, rather than through email, as tone cannot be determined in the written form.
The same rule is true with children. Children as young as a few months respond to a change in voice. It has been recorded that babies prefer to hear a story read by their own mother rather than another woman whom they do not know.
Have you ever talked to someone who had little or no changes in their voice no matter what you were discussing? Think of the teacher or professor you had in the past that spoke in a _ manner for the entirelecture. It is very boring and difficult to become interested in the topic.
Parents should make an active effort to communicate with your child. If your child figures out how to open a box he or she has been struggling with and says "YES!" with pride in his or her voice, your response should be happy and excited (something encouraging, like "You did it!"). If you plainly said the same thing, you would not be matching the tone of your child.
This applies to feelings that the child may express in everyday situations as well. If a child argues with a friend, your response should not be said in a high voice or with a smile. Seriously and sincerely you should say "You look sad" or "That must have been hard for you".
The tone of your voice expresses understanding, acknowledgement, connection and several other healthy things to your child. Although your words are very important, equally important is the tone with which you say those words. | high14493.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "What an Internet addict usually does."
},
"options": [
"How to become an Internet addict.",
"What an Internet addict usually does.",
"Where to find an Internet addict.",
"Why to write this passage."
],
"question... | Do you know any people like these? They are part of a new addiction called Internet addiction.Internet addicts spend at least thirty to forty hours online every week.The use of the Internet can be an addiction like drug use.People lose control of the time they spend on the Internet.
For example,one college student was missing for several days.His friends were worried,and they called the police.The police found the student in the computer lab, he was surfing the net for several days straight.
Studies show that about 6% to 10% of Internet users become addicted.And people worry about the teens because the Internet is changing the playing field for some of them.They spend more time in cyberspace than in the real world of friends and family.
Is "surfing the net'' a hobby or an addiction for you? You may have a problem if you have these symptoms :
*You do not go to important family activities or you do not do school work because you like to spend hours on the Internet.
*You can't wait for your next online time.
*You plan to spend a short time online,but then you spend several hours.
*You go out with your friends less and less. | high20736.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "To guide tourists around the British Museum."
},
"options": [
"To introduce some places of interest in Britain.",
"To show the glorious eastern cultures to western people.",
"To give some advice to the visitors traveling in B... | Welcome to the British Museum, the grandest and the most spectacular in the human history.The admission is free and we open every day from 10:00 to 15:30.You can explore 10 departments including:
The Department of Africa, Oceania and America.
The collection of the Department of Africa, Oceania and America includes around 350,000 objects.The scope of the collection is contemporary and historical.It includes most of Africa, the Pacific and Australia, as well as America.All of the collections were got during the 19 th and 20 th centuries and dates from this time.
The Department of Asia.
The Department of Asia covers the material and visual cultures of Asia--a vast geographical area of Japan, Korea, China, central Asia, Afghanistan, south Asia and south -east Asia.The collection dates from about 4000 BC to present day.It represents the cultures and ways of life of local people and other minority groups.
The Department of Greek and Roman Empires.
The Department of Greek and Roman Empires features antiquities .It has one of the most comprehensive collections of antiquities from the Classical world, with over 100,000 objects.These mostly range in date from the beginning of the Greek Bronze Age (about 3200BC) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine in the fourth century AD. | high21428.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "you may sometimes lose money"
},
"options": [
"you can always make money",
"you can tell exactly when the stock goes up or down",
"you may sometimes lose money",
"your gambling is always safe"
],
"question": "If... | There are stock markets in large cities in many countries. Stock markets in Paris,
London, Tokyo, Shanghai and New York are among the largest and most well-known. The stock, also called stock exchange, is a place where people can buy or sell shares of a factory or company. And each share means certain ownership of a factory or company.
Different people go to stock markets. Some are rich, who want to get more money than they
have. Others are not very rich, who buy stocks to try to become rich. Still others buy stocks as
part of their plan to save money.
Of course, investing money in the stock market is not the safest way to make money.
No one can tell exactly whether the shares will be doing well. The factory or company may
do badly. Then the stocks will go down, and the investors will lose money. The stock may go up or down for a number of untold reasons. Everyone wants the stock to go up, but sometimes even if a factory or company does a good job, the stock may still go down.
Going to the stock market is often like gambling . All want to make money by
"gambling' in the stock market. Factories and companies that need money are pleased that so many people are ready to "gamble". Indeed, the stock market is an attractive but
part of the business world. | high16284.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "It has stood at the same place for 20years."
},
"options": [
"It was founded by Dave Rodenborn.",
"It has stood at the same place for 20years.",
"Its students range from kindergarten to primary.",
"Half of its staff hav... | For over 30years,Rainbow Montessori in Addison has given children a place to grow and explore the world around them,and they're still going strong today.With 20years in the same location,the school is"not going anywhere,"says Dave Rodenborn,a son of the school's founders.As general director,Dave has overseen many improvements,including a new playground for the preschool and a complete modernization.
The school serves families of children from 6weeks to 6th grade.This allows them to have programs in baby care,preschool,kindergarten,and elementary .The curriculum has developed over the decades,most notably in the Elementary.At first somewhat jokingly referred to as"Monte-sorta,"due to its relaxed application of the Montessori Method,the school's elementary now stresses a more traditional Montess environment.Montessori associates abstract concepts with concrete sensorial experiences,ensuring that children are involved in learning,not just memorization.Classrooms still have a creative,casual feel,with children having freedom of choice,but in keeping with Montessori principles,they work within a framework.This helps them learn about freedom within limits,maximizing their potential.
The truly international Rainbow Montessori staff comes from a wide range of backgrounds,all Montessori-trained."They are an energetic,devoted group,"says Dave."They are loyal,caring and like what they do a lot.I'd say a good 30to 40percent of them have been here for almost a decade or more."
Dave says that his favorite part of being at Rainbow Montessori is"making things grow".By that,he doesn't mean it in the sense of the organic,but by"coming up with good solutions to problems as they occur."This is reflective of Montessori beliefs,in which each child learns to use the right tools and discover solutions for themselves.Dave credits a strong staff and great parents with lots of patience for helping to make Rainbow Montessori an ideal place for children to learn and grow.
Rainbow Montessori
790East Duane Ave.,Addison
(408)738-3261
www.rainbow-montessori.com | high19809.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "may not require making actual contact"
},
"options": [
"is important to everyday tasks",
"may not require making actual contact",
"is a problem of life and death",
"may be a challenge for designers of artificial limbs."... | An electric signal can trick a monkey's brain into believing the animal's finger has been touched.
Touch something, and your brain knows. The hand sends signals to the brain to announce contact was made. But that feeling of touch may not require making actual contact, tests on monkeys now show. Zapping brain cells can fool the animal into thinking its finger has touched something.
A person who has lost a limb or become paralyzed may need an artificial limb to complete everyday tasks. But such patients may not truly feel any objects they hold. The new findings point toward one day creating a sense of touch in those who use such artificial limbs. Psychologist Sliman Bensmaia of University of Chicago worked on the new tests. His team's findings appeared on October 14 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
The sense of touch is crucial to everyday tasks: People without _ may have difficulty cracking an egg, lifting a cup or even turning a doorknob. That's why restoring it is a major goal for designers of artificial limbs.
In their new study, Bensmaia and his co-workers worked with rhesus monkeys . The scientists implanted electrodes --- small devices that can detect and relay an electrical signal--into the animals' brains. The scientists used the electrode data to identify which neurons had become active. Then the scientists used the implanted electrodes to zap those same neurons. And the monkeys reacted as though their fingers had been touched. In fact, they hadn't.
The monkeys couldn't use words to tell the scientists what they had felt. Instead, they communicated by looking in a particular direction--just as when they had really been touched.
The new findings show how touch-sensitive devices could be built. The new study also offers " a nice clear pathway" for figuring out how to restore a sense of touch to an amputee or someone with a injury of spinal cord.
The study shows how artificial limbs might be connected to the brain so that a person can "feel" with such a prosthesis . But such a supersensory device doesn't exist yet and scientists have a lot of work to do before people will benefit from it. Researchers must first figure out whether the electrodes would work in people in the same way they do in monkeys.
" I think the foundation is laid for human trials," Bensmaia said. | high10193.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Because he wanted to thank the great farmer for saving his child."
},
"options": [
"Because they were close s.",
"Because they were good friends.",
"Because the nobleman knew the farmer had a promising son.",
"Because ... | His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog. There, tapped to his waist in black mud, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the boy from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.
The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman' s surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved. "I want to repay you," said the nobleman. "You saved my son' s life."
"No, I can' t accept payment for what I did," the Scottish farmer replied, waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer' s own son came to the door of the family hovel . "Is that your son?" the nobleman asked. "Yes, "the farmer replied proudly.
"I' ll make you a deal. Let me take him and give him a good education. If the boy is anything like his father, he' ll grow to a man you can be proud of."
And that he did. In time, Farmer Fleming' s son graduated from St. Mary' s Hospita l Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin.
Years afterward, the nobleman' s son was stricken with pneumonia . What saved him? Penicillin.
The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill. His son' s name? Sir Winston Churchill.
Someone once said, "What goes around, comes around." | high20050.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "performing your regular duties well is important"
},
"options": [
"one should be willing to do some small things",
"being a salesman is not as important as being a journalist",
"performing your regular duties well is importan... | When you need a job very much, you may end up taking one for which you are over qualified. Although you were initially grateful just to have the work, you now feel bored and depressed. Is there any way to change that?
Start by changing your opinion, says Caitlin Kelly, the author of Malled, a book based on her experience as a sales clerk after losing her job in journalism. "Don't focus on what you're not getting but what you are getting," she says. "Be patient and work attentively with a wide range of people. It doesn't matter what the job is -there are always things you can learn and skills you can develop."
Hilary Pearl, the founder of a coaching firm, says, "Tell yourself the current situation isn't the end of your career. Don't overdramatize the negative aspects but try to view the situation more philosophically: life has a series of stages, and this is one of them. Don't forget to study even in the worst stage."
Consider that because you're overqualified, you may be able to learn or do things on the job that might not have been possible in a more demanding position, says Sarah Hathorn, the chief executive of Illustra Consulting. "You could spend your extra time in learning different aspects of the business and teaching others in the organization," she says.
Is it possible to make your work more challenging, even if your job responsibilities aren't likely to change?
Of course, you may seek tasks and responsibilities that force you to learn something new or to work harder. "You may be operating on autopilot right now, but chances are that people above you are stressed," Sarah Hathorn says. " _ and let him know which projects or tasks you want to learn more about."
Always express your request positively, saying that you love new challenges, rather than complaining that you're bored and underused, says Ethun, the president of the Park Avenue Group. In your down time, educate yourself about the company and its industry. "Read corporate information, analyst reports and related news articles," she says. "If your boss accepts your suggestions, it will make you a more valuable employee." | high3912.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the water-use of their swimming pool"
},
"options": [
"being a typical water waster",
"the water-use of their swimming pool",
"her control over her kids' showers at home",
"the construction of the drought-tolerant lands... | The Sieferts are the kind of environmentally conscious family who has solar panels atop their home. They use timers on their kids' showers and have planted drought-tolerant landscaping. But they feel kind of guilt. "I haven't thought about the pool as much as I probably should," said Annette Siefert.
As California's drought worsens, swimming pools have become a target for those who think the classic backyard greens waste water. Some water districts have banned new pools from being filled and have limited how much water existing pools can use.
But some of those agencies are walking back the rules as they make a surprising discovery: Pools aren't the water wasters some have made them out to be. Analyses by various water districts, along with scientific studies, conclude that pools and their surrounding landscapes use about the same amount of water as a lawn of the same size. Over time, pools might even use less water. With pool covers, experts say water evaporation can be cut by almost half, making pools significantly less wasteful than grass and about as efficient as drought-tolerant landscaping.
Facing complaints over a recent ban on filling pools, the Santa Margarita Water District conducted its own water-use analysis. It found that pools require thousands of gallons of water to fill initially, but they use about 8,000 gallons less water than a traditional landscape after that. By the third year, the analysis found, the savings add up, and a pool's cumulative water use falls below that of a lawn.
Water agencies such as the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power have come to similar conclusions. Armed with new information, Santa Margarita Water District officials will reconsider their ban next week.
"We want to respect the people's rights to use their property. There are many families we know that have saved for pools," said Jonathan Volzke, spokesman for the 155,000-customer district. "But at the same time, the reality around us is that we're in the third year of a serious drought, and we don't know if we're in the third year of a three-year drought or the third year of a 10-year drought." | high9581.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "climbing Mount Everest has already lost its true meaning"
},
"options": [
"it's impossible to climb up Mountain Everest without help",
"Mount Everest is now covered with a lot of rubbish",
"climbing Mount Everest has already ... | Today's amazing newspaper headline!
First family of four to walk to the South Pole wearing Mickey Mouse ears and clown's shoes.
No, not really. It isn't true. I invented it. But I wouldn't be surprised to see it one day soon. It seems that every week someone becomes 'the first' or 'the youngest' or 'the oldest' or even 'the first married couple' to do something that doesn't seem to be very useful to the rest of humanity.
This year I've seen headlines saying 'The youngest person to sail the Atlantic alone', 'The youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest', and 'The first people to fly around the world in a hot air balloon'. Why do they do it? Don't they have better things to do with their time and money? And why should I be interested anyway? Human beings have already climbed the highest mountains, sailed across the oceans and flown around the world. People have already reached the most remote parts of our planet. Many of these things were done a long, long time ago. There just isn't anything left to explore nowadays. I suppose there's still a lot of the universe left, and the bottom of the oceans is still a bit of a mystery, but you need a lot of technology to explore areas like that. So, those people who feel the need for adventure can only do things that have been done before. So they have to try and do it in a new way, or be 'the fastest' or 'the youngest' or 'the oldest' to do something that isn't really new at all.
What is so great about climbing Mount Everest these days anyway? It's become a popular tourist trip.
People pay thousands of dollars to be taken up the mountain by the local Sherpas, who lead the way and carry the bags. At any one time there are about a thousand people either climbing up or on their way back down. As a result, Everest is covered with rubbish and the Sherpas have to make special trips up the mountain to pick it up. The climbers are often inexperienced and when they get into trouble other people have to risk their lives to bring them down to safety. Helicopter crews have been killed trying to reach people who were stuck on the mountain.
In January 2003 a helicopter carrying two British men crashed into the sea near Antarctica. I'm not quite sure what they were trying to be 'the first' or 'the youngest' to do. The Chilean navy picked them up after a nine-hour rescue mission that cost tens of thousands of pounds, all paid for by the Chilean and British taxpayers.
Talking of taxpayers, many Australians are getting a bit fed up with record breakers. A lot of people trying to break sailing or rowing records get into trouble in the seas around Australia, so the Australian navy has to send ships to save them. There have been a lot of difficult, time-consuming rescue missions in recent years costing the Australian government millions of dollars. I suppose we can't just leave them to drown, but personally, I think we should give the bill to the people who are rescued. Perhaps they would think twice about doing it if they had to pay for expensive insurance premiums . Then I wouldn't have to read about them in the newspapers either. | high24236.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "tell us how people celebrate Christmas in Africa"
},
"options": [
"persuade us to have a holiday in Africa",
"introduce to us when Christmas came into being",
"tell us how people celebrate Christmas in Africa",
"describ... | In Africa, Christmas day begins with groups of carolers walking to and fro through the village, along the roadway, by the houses of the churchmen, singing the lovely carols known the world around. Often people may be awakened by a group of carolers beginning to gather at the church. They return home to make final preparation as to the clothes one must wear and also as to his offering for the Christmas service. The most important part of their Christmas service is the love offering. This is the gift in honor of Jesus. At about 8 or 9 o'clock, everyone makes their way to the celebration of the birthday of Jesus. Everyone who attends the service goes forward to lay down their gift upon the raised platform near the Communion table. Not one person will attend the service without giving a gift.
Christmas in South Africa is a summer holiday. There is no snow, but it has many flowers, many beautiful varieties of wild flowers being in their full pride.
In Ghana, most churches announce the coming of Christmas by decorating the church and homes beginning with the first week in Advent, four weeks before Christmas. This season happens to be the cocoa harvest time, so it is a time of wealth. Everyone returns home from wherever they might be, such as farms or mines.
In Africa, it is the traditional dinner of turkey, roast beef, mince pies, suckling pig, yellow rice with raisins, vegetables, and plum pudding, or crackers. In the afternoon, families go out into the country and usually there are games or bathing in the warm sunshine, and then home in the cool of the evening. Boxing Day is also a public holiday of real relaxation usually spent in the open air, which falls on December 26. | high8847.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "angry"
},
"options": [
"angry",
"nervous",
"worried",
"regretful"
],
"question": "According to the text, when the author got in the taxi, the driver was _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
... | On a cold evening I was waiting for a taxi in New York. About 5 minutes later, I was picked up by a driver, and he said how terrible some people were. I knew there was a part of me that wanted to be silent, but I had to listen out of kindness.
The man told me that he had just come from JFK Airport without a customer. During the taxi ride, what started as anger changed slowly and he mentioned that he had read an article which said that the happiest people are the ones that give, so he hoped he'd have more chance to give in his life. I was really starting to enjoy being with this man.
As we arrived at the place where I wanted to go, I paid my money by credit card. I pulled out an extra $20 and said, "Sir, since we've been talking about giving this whole time, I want to share that feeling with you. I've already paid my money, but here's an extra little bit. You can tell the next passenger in this taxi that their ride is a gift from another."
I thought I was pretty cool at this point, but he turned toward me, tears in his eyes, and said, "Sir, I have a better idea. You give that $20 to a homeless person around here and I will give the next passenger a free ride myself.
It was a great honor meeting that man and learning the lesson of how everyone gives and adds joy to another with their generosity. | high449.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "58."
},
"options": [
"50.",
"52.",
"58.",
"60."
],
"question": "In 2012, if 50 girls were born, how many boys were probably born?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer... | Singles' Day ---- the Chinese opposite of Valentine's Day has turned into a massive online shopping event. It is a day when single people are supposed to buy themselves presents. But there are sociological reasons behind China's "celebration" of single life. And the imbalance could have big consequences for the country.
There were 34 million more men than women in China in 2011. Part of that is natural - usually there are 105 boys born for every 100 girls. But the Chinese gender ratio at birth is much more obvious. It was 116 boys to 100 girls in 2012. The one child policy is largely to blame. Brought in to limit population expansion, the policy allows only one child per family. But because male children are seen as more valuable, as well as more likely to support their parents in old age, some parents choose to have a son over a daughter. The result is that large numbers of men will likely never get married. In fact, one study has predicted that by 2030, 1 in 5 Chinese men in their 30s will never have married, while another states that 94% of unmarried people in China are men.
Traditionally, China has seen high levels of marriage, usually among the young. Besides, the increased education and career opportunities for women have meant that marriages are happening later. It is also traditional that women often marry men of a higher socioeconomic status than themselves. So women at the top and men at the bottom find themselves alone. One study has even suggested a link between an imbalanced gender ratio and growth in violent crime in the country.
Singles' Day can't solve all the problems China's singles face. Indeed, it is possible that it is causing even more problems, as men resort to increasingly risky lines of work to increase their chances of gaining money and thus a wife. I am worried that as money starts to overcome romance, there is evidence that China's marriage market is increasingly materialistic. | high12784.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "satisfy their own needs"
},
"options": [
"treat guests",
"make money",
"satisfy their own needs",
"attract tourists"
],
"question": "Residents in Cinderland grow fruit trees and vegetables to _ .",
"quest... | Our village, Cinderland, was founded in 2000. It is a fully-sustainable eco-village on the Big Island of Hawaii located about 29 miles southeast of Hilo and 9 miles east of Pahoa. And it is within easy walking distance of the coastline--one mile north of Hwy 132, just off Hwy 137.
Solar power supplies our electrical needs, and water catchment tanks hold enough rain water for our use. Fruit trees and vegetable gardens are located throughout our tropical landscape and can be harvested at any time by the residents for their own personal consumption .
We accept all lifestyles and belief systems, and encourage individuality and diversity. A good attitude and an easy-going manner are most important to us; those qualities go a long, long way here!
Tuesdays are a fun and big day here. In the morning, we all get together for a few hours for various work projects. In the afternoon, many will hop in the truck for a trip to the town of Pahoa. That evening, we then are all treated to what is well-known throughout this region as "Taco Tuesday". Anyone is welcome to join us from the surrounding areas, which makes for a large gathering each week. It's certain that drummers and other musicians will be playing around the fire pit each "Taco Tuesday".
With the exception of the few hours of work on Tuesdays, residents are free to do whatever they please. Some just relax, while others may snorkel , surf, swim, shop, backpack, camp, go sightseeing, watch the lava flow, etc.
It's rare that someone leaves this area without feeling it is a life-changing experience. There are also many who decide to make it their permanent home.
We are very welcoming. Come to give us a visit! Mahalo! | high22647.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The contrast between her devotion to others and her being ignored."
},
"options": [
"The lack of helpful books.",
"The blow of her father's death.",
"The contrast between her devotion to others and her being ignored.",
... | Dear Textual Healing,
I would be very interested in your recommendations for any books to help me through a difficult time of my life. At 57, I am feeling a bit lost. I have a wonderful, loving husband and bright, caring teenage daughter but I am lonely and have lost my spark for life.
I have always taken care of everyone and managed a career, but, after the death of my father this summer, my difficulties as a child in a terribly abnormal family have come back to me regularly. I have become unfocused and often alone while my husband is away frequently on business and my daughter busy with school and friends.
I am seeking the help of a therapist and taking care of myself but I would love to read something to help me "get my groove back" and reengage with life.
PC
Dear PC,
From the letter you've given us about your life, it's no wonder you're feeling a little lost. But before prescribing titles to help you get your groove back, I'd recommend taking a journey into Rebecca Solnit's non-fiction book,A Field Guide to Getting Lost, which is packed with the wisdom of everyone from Pat Barker to Thoreau and Keats.
The word lost is rooted in the Old Norse "los", meaning the disbanding of an army. "This origin suggests soldiers falling out of formation to go home, ceasing fighting with the wide world. I worry now that many people never disband their armies, never go beyond what they know," Solnit writes. So instead of fearing that lost feeling, try seeing its potential for discovery. Explorers, remember, are always lost simply because they're forever someplace new.
"Leave the door open for the unknown, the door into the dark," Solnit advises. "That's where the most important things come from, where you yourself came from, and where you will go."
For something that asks a little less of the reader while still giving plenty in return, try a dose (--) of Anne Tyler, the beloved creator of numerous heroes whose serious conditions will move anyone who finds themselves in a midlife difficult situation. One such character is 53-year-old Rebecca Davitch, the heroine ofBack When We Were Grownups. Like you, she's combined marriage and motherhood with a career but suddenly finds herself feeling lonely in her own home. Could it be, she wonders, that she's "turned into the wrong person"? Don't be fooled by the way this novel ambles along -- as Rebecca revisits youthful ambitions and the college boyfriend she abandoned, it asks some heart-rending questions before arriving at a place of graceful, joyous acceptance.
Along similar lines, I'm also going to recommendThe Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fryby Rachel Joyce. Its hero is 65 when he learns that a former colleague sick. On his way to post her a note,he decides instead to visit her -- on foot, from his home in deepest Devon to England's northernmost town, more than 600 miles away. You don't manage that without focus! It's a journey to a holy place that will take him 87 days to complete, during which he considers his childhood, marriage and relationship with his son, and becomes an accidental media sensation . By the time he reaches his destination, you'll feel anything but tired.
Finally, Ruth Ozeki's novelA Tale for the Time Beingwill charm the missing spark back into your life. Combining the diary of a sad Tokyo teenager with the story of the middle-aged novelist who finds it, washed ashore on a remote island off the coast of British Columbia, it's a beautiful illustration of how our lives touch -- and are touched by -- others in ways we mightn't even be aware of. This "Man Booker Prize" finalist has plenty to teach about Zen Buddhism, and unless you happen to live in one of its settings, it provides a bracing change of scene, too.
One other suggestion: books, as we all know, make great companions but that doesn't mean they can't be enjoyed in the company of others. If you find yourself home alone, why not slip one into your back pack and head out to a favourite cafe. | high12948.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "He wanted to make full use of those toys."
},
"options": [
"He wanted to help those poor children.",
"He was wealthy enough to buy new toys.",
"He wanted to make full use of those toys.",
"He needed some space for more ... | My friend had mentioned the other day that her father had a lot of children's toys he was looking to give away. She knew I have a three-year-old daughter so she thought of me first. I told her I would love it if I could get some nice things for my daughter, which I wouldn't otherwise have been able to afford.
When I met her father, he began to explain he was too poor once and that he would hate to throw away things that can be very useful.
Before he showed me what he was giving away, I thought the toys would be mostly lego's or things like that. When he was showing me around I saw a bed, a slide, a kitchen set and many other things that just blew my mind. He told me to write a list of everything my daughter could use and as my eyes were wide, he told me not to feel guilty. He said I was helping him by getting rid of the stuff.
As I was looking around I did feel guilty, but I tried to remain more grateful than guilty. Every time I tried to thank him for giving me and my daughter all this wonderful stuff he would thank me right back. I wanted to believe that he was just thanking me so that I wouldn't feel so guilty but in reality I believe that he was as grateful as I was that these toys would be put to good use.
In the eyes of charity, it makes sense to feel grateful, but guilt is just as normal. I know that we could have lived without a slide, which is why I do feel guilty, but I am grateful all the same because my daughter really does enjoy all these nice things! | high9595.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The tuition in a Hong Kong university is not high."
},
"options": [
"Graduating from a Hong Kong university may present an opportunity to work in Hong Kong.",
"The tuition in a Hong Kong university is not high.",
"The high qu... | More and more mainland high school graduates are considering attending universities in Hong Kong. They feel that attractive scholarships, the high quality of education and a chance to experience a different culture present a good opportunity.
At Fudan University's prefix = st1 /Handancampus, nearly 800 local high school graduates have attended an admission interview for Hong Kong University (HKU). The candidates have already passed the national college entrance exam and an HKU written test. HKU applicants in the mainland are 10,000 students this year, more than doubling last year's applicants.
"Most of the applicants are excellent high school graduates with outstanding performance in the national college entrance exam," Cui Jijia, an official with HKU's Shanghaioffice, said.
Excellent freshmen from the mainland will be awarded a scholarship ranging from HK$30,000 (US$3,862) to HK$100,000 this year, as HKU has set aside a total scholarship budget of HK$55 million for first-year students.
One HKU applicant says that entering a university in Hong Kong provides access to jobs in Hong Kong in the future. "I'll choose HKU if I receive an offer from both a local school and HKU," he says.
Besides HKU, some other universities from Hong Kong also hold admission interviews for students from mainland high schools. They expect to enroll more than 1,300 mainland students. | high24222.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "butanol"
},
"options": [
"whisky",
"whisky leftovers",
"butanol",
"draff and pot ales"
],
"question": "According to the passage, _ will be used to take the place of petrol.",
"question_type": "cloze_quest... | A deal has been signed to turn by-products from a Scottish distillery into fuel for cars.
In what is declared to be a world first, the Tullibardine distillery in Perthshire has linked up with a spin-out company from Napier University in Edinburgh. They plan to use bacteria to feed on the "leftovers" from the whisky making process. This will produce butanol which can be used to fuel vehicles.
More than 90% of the stuff that comes out of a whisky distillery is not whisky. It is leftovers like draff and pot ales -- both produced in the early stages of the process. They are high in sugar and are currently used for things like fertiliser and cattle feed. Napier University's Biofuel Research Centre (BfRC) has already shown that the right bacteria can feed on those by-products to produce butanol--a direct replacement for vehicle fuel. Now the spin-out company, Celtic Renewables, and independent whisky producer Tullibardine have signed an agreement. Together they will apply the process to thousands of tons of the distillery's leftovers.
Professor Martin Tangney, founder of Celtic Renewables, said "Our partnership with Tullibardine is an important step in the development of a business which combines two important Scottish industries -- whisky and renewables. This project shows that creative use of existing technologies can _ resources on our doorstep to benefit both the environment and the economy."
Douglas Ross, managing director of Tullibardine, which spends PS250,000 disposing of its by-products every year, said "We are delighted to be partnering Celtic Renewables in this creative business, the obvious benefits of which are environmental. It takes a cost to us and turns it into something that has social as well as commercial value."
The project is being supported by a grant from the Scottish government's Zero Waste Scotland initiative. Celtic Renewables said it eventually aimed to build a processing plant in Scotland, with the hope of building an industry that could be worth PS60m a year. | high12790.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "tell other bees where food is"
},
"options": [
"tell other bees where food is",
"attract other bees",
"show they are happy",
"play with other bees"
],
"question": "Bees do a kind of dance to _ .",
"questi... | People have always wanted to speak with animals. There are many books about this, especially children books. Now there are also movies, such as Dr. Doolittle. When you watch animals, it seems clear that they can communicate with each other. Many people wonder why people can't also communicate with them.
Scientists know how some animals communicate. Bees, for example, use their bodies. They do a kind of dance to give information about food. Birds, on the other hand, share information with sounds. They use certain sounds to protect their homes and to stay together when they fly. Some male birds use lovely songs to attract a female . Other animals communicate with both body movements and sounds. For example, dogs wag their tails when they are happy, and they bark when they are excited.
People used to think it was possible to teach human language to animals. Parrots and other birds, for example, can learn to say words. But the birds just repeat the words. They don't understand them. Some American scientists tried to teach English to chimpanzees , close s of human beings. However, this was impossible. Chimpanzees can't move their mouths the right way. They could never learn to speak like people.
Then scientists tried to teach human language to chimpanzees in other ways. Some tried with American Sign Language (ASL). Others tried with a simple computer. But chimpanzees could only learn to use a few words. They could never learn to use grammar. Their brains are very different from the brains of human beings.
Now some scientists are studying the same points between human and animal language. In fact, some animals use sounds like people do. Dogs, for example, use an unpleasant, low sound to tell other dogs to stay away. People, too, use that kind of voice to say the same things. A dog's noisy bark communicate that something is happening. People use the same high tone when they shout, "Watch out!"
Scientists want to understand the language of other animals, such as whales and bears. To do this, they go out to the animals' natural homes. They watch the animals for days or even years. They take pictures and make tape recordings and share the information with other scientists. In this way, they hope to learn more about the way animals communicate, and maybe someday we'll be able to communicate better with them. | high22653.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "where young women who behaved badly were once sent"
},
"options": [
"a place to make people feel comfortable",
"a school teaching Internet social networking skills",
"where young women who behaved badly were once sent",
... | "It is high time someone explained to you about good manners. Yours are obvious by their absence and I feel sorry for you."
These were the words that Carolyn Bourne e-mailed to her son's fiancee , Heidi Withers. The couple had just visited the Bourne family home in England.
Within days, the e-mail was all over the Internet, and the subject of manners hit UK national news.
Heidi, Mrs Bourne said, stayed in bed too late. She complained when she was hungry and was particular about food. She told rude jokes. Finally, she had never thanked Mrs Bourne for the weekend.
But it wasn't just Heidi's behavior that got people talking. Facebook groups started up about the e-mail. The one with the most members was called "Carolyn Bourne needs to learn some manners".
People said Mrs Bourne had been too direct. They thought she had been cruel when she told Heidi to go to "finishing school" -- a centre where badly-behaved young women used to be sent. Heidi's father wrote back to Mrs Bourne and called her a "snotty Miss Fancy Pants" -- someone who thinks they are socially better than anyone else. Everyone agreed that there are rules of "good" and "bad" behavior. Everyone agreed that these rules had been broken. However, no one could agree what these rules were -- or whether Heidi or Mrs Bourne was in the wrong.
So what does politeness really mean? Is there a secret to social etiquette ? Shirley Schomaker runs a real-life finishing school. She said that both Mrs Bourne and Heidi had been impolite. The true secret, she said in a BBC interview, lies in making everyone feel comfortable.
"Social etiquette isn't about being snotty and being in the know ," she said. "It's about making other people feel good. It's about communication. It's about making society get along better." | high17830.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "show that students didn't think about what they learnt"
},
"options": [
"show that students didn't think about what they learnt",
"prove the effectiveness of the project known as PEEL",
"test students' general knowledge about... | Tired of telling students to ask questions and to think about what they were doing, Damien Hynes, a high school geography teacher in Australia, decided to do an experiment to test what he had long been thinking.He wrote some well-organized nonsense (something untrue) on the blackboard.The students simply copied it but very few asked any questions.This shows that students are willing to believe anything given by teachers.The story is repeated in support of the Project for Enhancing Effective Learning (PEEL).
PEEL was carried out by some teachers and researchers in Melbourne who had concluded that normal teaching methods seldom achieve their intended goals; what the teachers think they are teaching is one thing and what the students actually learn is something else.Students' lack of an over-all view of learning goals and their concentration on test scores make them see each lesson as a separate activity.
Researchers realized that many students do not come into class empty-headed but have their own explanations of how the world works.Their own ideas can remain important to them even when they differ from scientific explanations that are learned later.In fact such ideas are hardly affected by traditional teaching.Students accept the teacher's scientific explanation, but do not drop their own.They simply keep both and use them practically: in a class test, they copy the teacher's idea, but in real life they use their own.
Clearly what was needed was to make students understand their learning process , and this is what the PEEL teachers set out to deal with.On the surface, a class being taught by PEEL methods only differs from an ordinary class in being a little noisier, because more people are talking.But there are some meaningful changes.Students are given much more time to express their views, and teachers don't make immediate judgment.The students are allowed to guide what is done in class and their own ideas are always respected.This draws their attention to the actual learning process, and they become responsible for their own progress. | high11299.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "It is expensive to travel in space"
},
"options": [
"It is expensive to travel in space",
"they would find the possible life in other star systems",
"they could enjoy the luxury of space hotels",
"they want to realize t... | Most people, when they travel to space, would like to stay in orbit for a few days of more. And this stands to reason, if you' re paying $20,000 for your trip to orbit! Strain order for tourism to reach its full potential there' s going to be a need for orbital accommodation--or space hotels. What would a space hotel actually be like to visit? Hotels in orbit will offer the services you expect from a hotel--private rooms, meals, bars. But they' ll also offer two unique experiences: impressive views--of Earth and space--and the endless entertainment of living in zero gravity--including sports and other activities that make use of this.
The hotels themselves will vary greatly--from being quite simple in the early days to huge luxury structure at a later date. It s actually surprising that as later as 1997, very few designs for space hotels were published. This is mainly because those who might be expected to design them haven' t expected launch costs to come down far enough to make them possible.
Lots of people who' ve been to space have described vividly what it' s like to live in zero gravity. There are obviously all sort of possibilities for dancing, gymnastics, and zero-G sports. Luckily, you don' t need to sleep much living in zero gravity, so you' ll have plenty of time for relaxing by hanging out in a bar with a window looking down at the turning Earth below.
Of course all good things have come to an end. Unfortunately, and so after a few days you' ll find yourself heading back enough you' ll be much more expert at exercising in zero gravity than you were when you arrived. You' ll be thinking how soon you can save up enough to get back up again--or maybe you should change jobs to get to work in an orbiting hotel. | high20044.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "\"Change\" won Japan's character of the year."
},
"options": [
"\"Change\" won Japan's character of the year.",
"\"Change\" written on wooden platform.",
"\"Change\" helped Obama win election.",
"Japan's love of Chinese... | After helping Barack Obama sweep to victory in the US election, the president-elects motto of "change" was Friday declared character of the year by a monk at one of Japan's most respected temples.
Using a calligraphy brush to write the single character on a wooden platform as tourists looked on, Seihan Mori, chief monk at Kiyomizu temple in the ancient capital of Kyoto, declared "change" to be Japan's character of the year.
The event was hosted by a Kyoto-based group that promotes the use of
"kanji," the Chinese characters used in the Japanese language.
The public sent in 111,200 nominations for the kanji of the year.
Of those, a majority 5.42 percent approved of "change," followed by "gold," suggesting the Beijing Olympics, and "fall" to show the global market decre.ase.
"I think it is an expression of the Japanese peoples wishes to see political, economic and societal changes, as they were impressed by Mr. Obama's message of change," Mori said. He added that climate change also drew people attention to the significance of "change".
The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation(JKATF) has been conducting a poll on the year's kanii each year since 1995. Last year's top choice was 'Nise' (fake). | high20722.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "a painter use shapes and colors instead of words"
},
"options": [
"most painters do not express themselves well",
"a painter uses unusual words and phrases",
"a painter use shapes and colors instead of words",
"many pai... | Every artist knows in his heart that he is saying something to the public. Not only does he want to say it well, but he wants it to be something that has not been said before. He hopes that the public will listen and understand ----he wants to teach them, and he wants them to learn from him.
What visional artists like painters want to teach is easy to make out but difficult to explain, because painters translate their experience into shapes and colors, not words. They seem to feel that a certain choice of shapes and colors, out of the countless billions possible, is very interesting for them and worth showing to us. Without their work we should never have noticed these particular shapes and colors, or have felt the delight which they brought to the artists.
Most artists take their shapes and colors from the world of nature and from human bodies in movement and at rest; their choices show that these aspects of the world are worth looking at, that they contain beautiful sights. Modern artists might say that they only choose subjects that provide an interesting pattern, that there is nothing more in it. Yet even they do not choose totally without thinking about the character of their subjects.
If one painter chooses to paint a decaying leg and another a lake in moonlight, each of them is directing our attention to a certain aspect of the world . Each painter is telling us something, showing us something, emphasizing something - all of which means that, consciously or unconsciously, he is trying to teach us. | high16290.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "don't have a swim bladder"
},
"options": [
"cannot be eaten by people",
"don't have a swim bladder",
"only live at high sea levels",
"aren't active in catching food"
],
"question": "The biggest difference betwee... | What looks like an angry old man and lives at the bottom of the ocean? It's the world's ugliest animal---the blobfish .
Its strange skin is shaped by its habitat. It lives 800 meters below the ocean's surface, a depth where very few other creatures can survive.
Most fishes have a swim bladder , which is filled with gas and helps them stay afloat. At the depth that the blobfish live, water pressure is 80 times higher than that at higher sea levels and any swim bladder wouldn't be able to serve its purpose.
The blobfish don't have a swim bladder because their skin works the same way. It helps them stay afloat without having to use any energy.
The blobfish have a pretty relaxed attitude towards eating. All they do is stay and wait for crabs or lobsters to come by.
Since the blobfish like to eat crabs and lobsters, they often get caught in nets that are used to catch lobsters or crabs and end up dying or being killed. They are not suitable for eating so they are useless for fishermen.
There's a purpose behind the blobfish's new title; it has become the new mascot for the Ugly Animal Preservation Society, an organization whose purpose is to preserve endangered ugly animals.
"We've needed an ugly face for endangered ugly animals for a long time and I've been amazed by the public reaction," said the Society's Simon Watt. "For too long cute animals have taken the limelight but now the blobfish will be a voice for those who always get forgotten."They hope this new face will help the world know that we need to help preserve the populations of ugly animals too. | high10839.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "a game"
},
"options": [
"a game",
"a rope",
"rope jumpers",
"careful timing"
],
"question": "This passage is about _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2... | Every student can learn rope jumping.
You can jump alone or with your classmate. You can also help turn a long rope for many others to jump over, one at a time. If you jump alone, you will need a short rope and it will be just enough for your height. Try ropes of different lengths until you find a right one for your size.
A rope should be turned slowly. It must also be turned high enough to let you jump freely and safely. Turning the rope freely and safely needs careful timing. In rope jumping, timing means turning the rope slowly enough for you to jump over at the right time without its striking your feet.
When you jump rope, your heart beats faster and your face has a healthy color1. But if you jump too many times at first, you will get fired. You must learn when to stop for a rest before you jump again, If you practice, you can increase the number of limes you jumpers without resting. | high22135.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Because their parents have to work in a big city."
},
"options": [
"Because their parents don't like them.",
"Because their parents have to work in a big city.",
"Because they enjoy living by themselves.",
"Because thei... | She is only 12 years old but lives only with her younger sister. Her parents are far away from home, and she has to take care of her younger sister. She is He Can, a student at Anqing Jianzhen Middle School in Anhui, one of the "stay-at home children" in her town. To make money, these kids' parents go to big cities to find a job. Their children have to stay at home because they have to go to school.
He Can's parents left home when she was only four. They only come back for the Spring Festival every year. Because she had to live with different relatives at different times, He Can went to eight different primary schools.
"I used to complain," she said. "But later I understood my parents. They have to go away to make a better life for us." He Can said her frequently changing life also has a good side.
"When I went to a new school, I had to try to make friends," said He Can, "I became outgoing. Now I'm not afraid of talking to people."
He Can said her relatives were kind to her. They taught her how to cook and wash clothes.
When she would start junior high school , her parents agreed to rent a house to let her live out with her sister.
Every day, He Can gets up at 6:00 am and cooks breakfast. Then He Can does chores and helps her sister take a shower. She usually goes to bed at 9:30 pm.
Though busy, He Can is still a top student in her class. She said the secret is never to put things off until tomorrow.
" I think my life is OK," she said. "But if possible, I would like my parents to settle down and live with us." | high15799.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "not as large as China ."
},
"options": [
"the largest country in the world",
"as large as Shanghai .",
"not as large as China .",
"the largest island in the north of the earth ."
],
"question": "Australia is ... | Do you know Australia ? Australia is the largest island in the world . It is a little smaller than China . It is in the south of the earth .Australia is big , but its population is not large . The population of Australia is nearly as large as that of Shanghai .
The government has made enough laws to fight pollution . The cities in Australia have got little air or water pollution .The sky is blue and the water is clean . You can clearly see fish swimming in the rivers . Plants grow very well .
Last month we visited Perth , the biggest city in Western Australia , and went to a wild flowers' exhibition . There we saw a large number of wild flowers we had never seen before . We had a wonderful time .Perth is famous for its beautiful wild flowers .In spring every year Perth has the wild flowers' exhibition .After visiting Perth, we spent the day in the countryside . We sat down and had a rest near a path at the foot of a hill .It was quiet and we enjoyed ourselves . Suddenly we heard bells ringing at the top of the hill .What we saw made us pick up all our things and run back to the car as quickly as we could .There were about three hundred sheep coming towards us down the path .
Australia is famous for its sheep and kangaroos . After a short drive from any town , you will find yourself in the middle of white sheep . Sheep , sheep , everywhere are sheep . | high15941.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "to save money for his family"
},
"options": [
"to attract others' attention",
"to keep healthy and strong",
"to accompany his sick wife",
"to save money for his family"
],
"question": "Simon walks 35 miles to hi... | To support his sick wife and earn a paycheck, a 61-year-old Iowa man named Steve Simon sometimes walks 35 miles to his job as an overnight gatekeeper. Simon said that he leaves his basement apartment in a small town at about 3:30 p.m. to get to the Lakesside hotel and Casino in Osceola where he begins to work at 11:00 p.m. for $9.07 per hour. His wife suffered a stoke nine years ago and some days there just isn't enough money to put gas in the couple's 2002 car. Moving closer to his job would likely mean paying more than he now does in monthly rent--$400.
Family and a job are "the two most important things I can think of," Simon said, explaining why he walks to his job. He and his wife, Renee, adopted their now 22-year-grandson, Steven, who has been unemployed since January.
Although some people along the route do stop to offer him a lift, they often drop him off about 8 miles from home. But Simon doesn't seem to mind. He describes the walking route as "picturesque " and sounds like he enjoy passing the cows and fields along the way. He's done the walk in all kinds of weather, including snow. It's a little dangerous because trucks frequent Interstate highway 35, whizzing past him at 70 miles per hour.
Simon story has a familiar ring. Last month there were storied written about a Detroit man named James Robertson who for years has been walking 21 miles roundtrip through city streets to and from his factory job. The media attention got Robertson $350,000 from a GoFundMe campaign and a new car. We wonder what the Internet holds for Simon. | high14487.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Using phones may bring about many problems."
},
"options": [
"Using phones in school often makes students get into trouble.",
"Some students would steal others' phones.",
"Some students are addicted to playing games or listen... | Because phones have caused many problems, many head teachers have ordered that pupils must keep their phones switched off at school. Others have told pupils to leave them at home. However, Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young at the University of Nottingham believes it is time that phone bans were reassessed--because mobile phones can be a powerful learning aid, they say.
"At the start of the study, even pupils were often surprised at the thought that mobile phones could be used for learning," Dr Hartnell-Young says. "After their hands-on experience, almost all pupils said they had enjoyed the project and felt more motivated. "Some teachers also had to reassess their views. "Using this technology gives them more freedom to express themselves without needing to be constantly governed." one said.
Other teachers found that pupils who lacked confidence gained most from the project. However, they recognized that greater use of mobile phones in schools could prove troublesome. Increased temptation to steal phones was one worry. "I thought, well, four of these smart phones are going to end up on e-BAY tomorrow," one teacher said. A few teachers remained concerned that phones could prove a distraction for some pupils. Allowing pupils to access school emails via mobiles would also bring risks if passwords were shared, they said.
Dr Hartnell-Young says that the teachers' worries are understandable. "While the eventual aim should be to cancel overall bans on phones we do not recommend immediate, whole-school change," she said. "Instead we believe that teachers, students and the wider community should work together to develop policies that will enable this powerful new learning tool to be used safely. We hope that, in future, mobile phone use will be as natural as using any other technology in school." | high18295.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "his wife had found a job"
},
"options": [
"they thought moving often brought out the best",
"a couple of students had promised to help them",
"they liked this little town",
"his wife had found a job"
],
"questio... | Moving can bring out the best and the worst in people, I'm finding. And I've discovered where a very generous spirit lives: Defiance, Ohio.
After suffering through many months of unemployment, my wife and I had to move this week from Colorado to Ohio, where she would work as a sales assistant. Not knowing a person there, we were pretty concerned about all the work, including how we'd get all the things unloaded without killing ourselves.
We decided to pay a couple of college students to help with all the heavy lifting once we got there. But one neighbor after another stopped by and joined in. "What? Have we moved to some other country? Maybe we've died and gone to heaven!" I thought.
Unloading actually became fun as we connected with so many wonderful new friends as we worked. The more people that helped, the easier the work became. A job we were afraid might take days for the two of us alone was done in just a few hours. Many total strangers would either walk by or drive by to ask us if we were moving in. Many were delighted that this fine old house that had sat empty for so long was coming to life again. We were invited to an outdoor meal yesterday by neighbors on the same street.
All the while, my brain was on this new sense of hope that people could be outgoing and kind to strangers. Among all the conversations were lots of offers to be of help to one another in a variety of ways. It's wonderful to live in such a kind little town. I feel so grateful to be here, and wish the rest of the world could see how an entire society can be a model for what it's like to look out for one another. I used to stay away from friendships with strangers, but now I live in Defiance! | high4927.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "they are likely to make a profit on the bags on purpose"
},
"options": [
"they have to find the owners",
"they have to keep the bags as long as possible",
"some bags are expensive",
"they are likely to make a profit on ... | Millions of Americans return from long-distance trips by air, but their luggage doesn't always come home with them. Airline identification tags can come loose, and the bags go who-knows-where. And passengers leave all kinds of things on planes.
The airlines collect the items and, for 90 days, attempt to find their owners. They don't keep them, since they're not in the warehouse business. And by law, they cannot sell the bags, because the airlines might be tempted to deliberately misplace luggage.
So once insurance companies have paid for lost bags and their contents, and they no longer belong to passengers, a unique store in the little town of Scottsboro, Alabama, buys them. The "Unclaimed Baggage Center," is so popular that the building, which is set up like a department store, is the number-one tourist attraction in all of Alabama. More than one million visitors stop in each year and take one of the store's shopping carts on a hunt for treasures.
Each day, clerks bring out 7,000 new items, and veteran shoppers rush to paw over them. You can find everything from precious jewels to hockey sticks, best-selling novels, leather jackets, tape recorders, surfboards, even half -used tubes of toothpaste.
The store's own laundry washes or cleans all the clothes found in luggage, then sells them. The Unclaimed Baggage Center has found guns, illegal drugs and even a live rattlesnake.
The store has a little museum where some of its most unusual acquisitions have been preserved. They include highland bagpipes, a burial mask from an Egyptian pharaoh's tomb, and a medieval suit of armor.
Statistics indicate that less than one-half of one percent of luggage checked on U.S. carriers is permanently lost and available to the store. | high3090.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Because she didn't express her thanks to Shari"
},
"options": [
"Because she had a bad service to Shari",
"Because she didn't express her thanks to Shari",
"Because she didn't pay for the strawberries",
"Because she d... | My goddaughter, Shari, owns The Berry Factory in Sacramento, California, and her mother, Joan, and I were helping with the Valentine's Day rush of 2011. We'd been preparing hundreds of berries, arranged gift baskets and packaged orders to be shipped around the country.
By the end of the day and I were exhausted. Shari didn't seem tired. That was what Shari liked doing especially when she gave someone else something. I'd seen her give away berries to everybody--parking attendants, mail carriers, hairdressers. "For me?" they'd say, breaking into a smile.
As a "thank you", Shari took us out for dinner. But there was a 45-munite wait at her favorite restaurant. "No big deal. There's another place just up the road," she said, driving us there. This time we walked right in. While the waitress took our drink orders Shari reached into her handbag, pulling something out.
"I want you to have these," she said, handing the waitress a box of chocolate-dipped strawberries.
"Will she love those berries!"I said to myself. But the waitress seemed extremely surprised. She hardly let out a "Thank you" before grabbing the box and rushing into the kitchen.
A few minutes later, the waitress returned with our iced tea. " I apologize," she said. " It's just ...my best friend and I made an agreement to send each other something every Valentine's Day. But she passed last year. I didn't know how I'd get through this day without her. Then you handed me that box."
"I'm so sorry to hear that," said Shari. " It's not much, but I hope you can enjoy them."
"Oh, I will," the waitress said. " See, every year we always sent each other the same thing: a box of chocolate-dipped strawberries bought from our favorite store, The Berry Factory." | high21414.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Pretty women are more likely to be helped."
},
"options": [
"Pretty women are more likely to be helped.",
"People on a bus are more likely to stop a crime.",
"Religious people are more likely to look on.",
"Criminals ar... | The "Bystander Apathy Effect" was first studied by researchers in New York after neighbors ignored--and in some cases turned up the volume on their TVs--the cries of a woman as she was murdered (over a half-hour period). With regard to helping those in difficulty generally, they found that:
(1) women are helped more than men;
(2) men help more than women;
(3) attractive women are helped more than unattractive women.
Other factors relate to the number of people in the area, whether the person is thought to be in trouble through their own fault, and whether a person sees himself as being able to help.
According to Adrian Furnham, Professor of University College, London, there are three reasons why we tend to stand by doing nothing:
(1) "Shifting of responsibility"-the more people there are, the less likely help is to be given. Each person excuses himself by thinking someone else will help, so that the more "other people' there are, the greater the total shifting of responsibility.
(2) "'Fear of making a mistake''-situations are often not clear. People think that those involved in an accident may know each other or it may be a joke, so a fear of embarrassment makes them keep themselves to themselves.
(3) "Fear of the consequences if attention is turned on you, and the person is violent."
Laurie Taylor, Professor of Sociology at London University, says: "In the experiments I've seen on intervention , much depends on the neighborhood or setting. There is a silence on public transport which is hard to break. We are embarrassed to draw attention to something that is happening, while in a football match, people get involved, and a fight would easily follow. "
Psychotherapist Alan Dupuy identifies the importance of the individual: "The British as a whole have some difficulty intervening, but there are exceptional individuals in every group who are prepared to intervene, regardless of their own safety: These would be people with a strong moral code or religious ideals." | high15969.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "He didn't have enough money to buy a boat"
},
"options": [
"He wanted to kill time after his retirement",
"He wished to set a new world record",
"He didn't have enough money to buy a boat",
"He had a hobby of making thi... | DIY sailor Owen Warboys has finally launched his homemade boat -- after spending nearly 30 years building it in his mum's garden.
Owen, 66, a retired engineer from Hordle, New Milton, Hants, first started work on the 40ft--long boat in 1982 because he could not afford to buy his own. He told mum Edith that it would only take five years but after suffering "a few problems" it lasted nearly three decades.
When he finally finished, he was left with the head-scratching task of getting the 18-tonne boat out of the back garden. After some time he found a way. A huge crane was brought in to carefully raise it 40ft in the air over his mother's house and onto a lorry. It was then driven to the seaside and, to Owen's delight, it floated and showed no signs of leaking when lowered into the water.
Now, 28 years after he first started, Owen is at last preparing to set sail in his beloved boat, Wight Dolphin, with his long-suffering wife Anne. Owen said, "I am so relieved that it's finished. There were times when I thought it would never end but I'm the sort of person who likes to finish something once I've started."
At first he persuaded his mum to let him do it in her garden and started taking in sheets of steel and pieces of wood. "My mother was happy for me to build it at her house but only bacause I told her it would only take five years." | high1687.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "work experience on the job"
},
"options": [
"work experience on the job",
"typing skills and know English well",
"good wishes for the job",
"pleasant character and PC skill"
],
"question": "If you want to get a ... | TOSHIBA ELEVATORS LTD is one of the leading elevator companies in the world with more than 120 branch companies around the globe. SHENYANG TOSHIBA ELEVATORS LTD in Shenyang produces high-quality elevators. We are offering the following positions:
* Plant Manager: Excellent Senior Engineer with experience in this field to manage our plant in Shenyang
* Senior Engineers (Mechanical and Electrical): For production and Engineering Department, good command of Internet
* Junior positions: For those who wish for success
* One purchaser : Preferably with experience in a mechanical engineering company and international markets
* Cost Accountant : 5 years experience in mechanical factory costing, good knowledge in Office 2000, CET level. For these senior level Positions, we expect preferably a university degree or an excellent job record. 3-5 years of experience on the job and good command of English. If you are ready to work with us, we will offer attractive salary packet and bright future.
SHENYANG TOSHIBA ELEVATORS LTD
Shenyang (024-82846556) Liaoning Province
TOWER DAIRY PRODUCT COMPANY LTD is a well-known food company in Suzhou. We're offering the following positions:
(1) Secretary
* University graduate
* Good at English speaking, writing&translating
* Good PC knowledge and typing skill
* Pleasant character with good personal skill
(2) Accountants
* College or university graduate
* Good command of English and PC operation
* Work experience
(3) Production Trainees
* College or university graduate
* Food engineering/machinery or chemistry
* Good command of English
* 1-2 years experience in food factory
* Leadership ability and PC knowledge
(4) Production workers
* Polytechnic school graduate
* Food technology or chemistry
* Knowledge of basic English
*1-2 years experience in food factory
TOWER DAIRY PRODUCT COMPANY LTD
Suzhou (0512-86734157) Jiangsu Province | high23203.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "About 4.3 billion tons."
},
"options": [
"About 3.3 billion tons.",
"About 3.9 billion tons.",
"About 4.3 billion tons.",
"About 5.6 billion tons."
],
"question": "According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Orga... | An average 30-year-old person who has eaten three meals a day since birth has eaten more than 30,000 meals to date. Even if you've only eaten half that much, you have to admit this: you've let some of that breakfast, lunch or dinner go to waste. And it turns out that we're all to blame for this shaming fact: 30% of all food produced in the world each year is wasted or lost. That's about 1.3 billion tons, according to a new report by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.
That's the weight of more than 8.6 million full-grown blue whales, the largest creatures on earth. That's the weight of more than 2.3 million Airbus A380s, the largest planes in existence. That's as if each person in China, the world's most populous country with more than 1.3 billion people, had one ton mass of food they could just throw into the dustbin. It's almost _ ,isn't it?
Setting aside that big number, we find the people with the most money are the ones who waste the most. Per capita( ), European and North American countries waste between 95 and 115 kilograms of food. Sub-Saharan African, South Asian and Southeast Asian countries waste much less -- between 6 and 11 kilograms per person.
Here's another statistic: all the food that the world's richest countries waste is about equal to all the food that sub-Saharan Africa produces. The numbers: 222 million tons and 230 million tons, respectively( ). Basically, the wasted food of the rich could feed much of the African continent. And these numbers come as we've just been reporting about rising food prices around the world in the past week.
And my own personal tip: if I eat at a restaurant and can't finish it all, I ask for a doggie bag. I used to be a waiter years ago and will never forget the amounts of food I saw left on the table after the bill was paid. There's no reason to waste food. It's up to all of us to use our common sense to eat and shop just a bit more wisely. | high23565.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "He got a baby brother."
},
"options": [
"He got a baby brother.",
"He got a Christmas gift",
"He became four years old.",
"He received a doll."
],
"question": "what happened to the author on September 11th , 195... | One of my wonderful memories is about a Christmas gift . Unlike other gifts, it came without wrap .
On September 11th ,1958,Mum gave birth to Richard. After she brought him home from hospital, she put him in my lap, saying, "I promised you a gift , and here it is." What an honor!I turned four a month earlier and none of my friends had such a baby doll of their own. I played with it day and night. I sang to it. I told it stories .I told it over and over how much I loved it!
One morning, however, I found its bed empty. My doll was gone! I cried for it. Mum wept and told me that the poor little thing bad been sent to a hospital. It had a fever. For several days I Heard Mum and Dad whispering such words as "hopeless", "pitiful", and "dying", which sounded _ .
Christmas was coming. "Don't expect any presents this year," Dad said, pointing at the socks I hung in the living room. "If your baby brother lives, that'll be Christmas enough." As he spoke, his eyes filled with tears. I'd never seen him cry before .
The phone rang early on Christmas morning. Dad jumped out of bed to answer it. From my bedroom I heard him say, "What? He's all right?" He hung up and shouted upstairs. "The hospital said we can bring Richard home !"
"Thank God !" I heard Mum cry .
From the upstairs window, I watched my parents rush out to the car. I had never seen them so happy. And I was also full of joy. What a wonderful day! My baby doll would be home. I ran downstairs. My socks still hung there flat. But I knew they were not empty; they were filled with love! | high475.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "avoid watching TV at night"
},
"options": [
"be exposed to words related to exercise",
"try to eat with men together",
"avoid watching TV at night",
"be always around skinny friends"
],
"question": "In order to ... | A number of recent studies have shown how making several small lifestyle changes could help you lose weight without losing the pleasure to enjoy the food you love.
1.Use a smaller plate
A Comell University study found that when a fixed portion(,) of food was eaten from a large plate, diners felt they had been given a smaller than average portion, so ate more.When the same portion of food was eaten from a smaller dish, the meal seemed more, so they ate less.
2.Eat with men
Eat with men if you're a woman.According to psychologist Meredith Young, women eat less if there are men around.She told The Atlantic: "It is possible that small food portions signal attractiveness."
3.Avoid light at night
This includes late-night television and computer use.A study into the effects of bright light or darkness on weight-gain in mice found that those under a bright light at night gained 50 per cent more weight than those in darkness.
4.Be careful around friends
Children eat more with a friend than with a stranger, according to a study at the State University of New York at Buffalo.Researchers said that it ,which applies to adults too, can be blamed on the fact that friends act as so-called permission-givers, and encourage one to eat.
5.Be aware of skinny friends who eat a lot
Worse still, are thin friends who have large appetites.A study found that participants ate more during a movie when accompanied by a skinny person who ate a Jot, compared with those sitting next to a fat person who ate a lot.
6.Avoid advertisements for exercise
A study shows that participants who were shown advertisements encouraging exercise ate more than those who weren't.The same was true of participants exposed to words related to exercise during mealtimes. | high6856.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Computers are important"
},
"options": [
"People like going shopping",
"Reading books is important",
"Computers are important",
"Computer can be used to play games"
],
"question": "Which is the main idea of this... | Computers are very important to modern life.Many people think that in the future computers will be used in lots of everyday life.It is thought that we won't have to go shopping because we will be able to get most things which are sold in shops on the Internet.There will be no more books because we will be able to get all texts from computers.The Internet will be used to play games, see films and buy food.Most telephone calls will be made by computers, too.
Some people are glad about those new ways of shopping and communicating .Others do not think that computers will replace our old ways.
Some people think that one day we will not read books made of paper. Instead, we will buy and read books using computers, which will keep many different books in them at the same time.We won't need to turn lots of pages and paper will be saved.Computerized books will be used more and more.
While many people say it is a pleasure to go into shops and look at things you want to buy.It is also unlikely that many people will want to read large texts on our computers. Because paper books will perhaps be more friendly.Maybe computers won't change these two habits. | high7590.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "read in a quiet place"
},
"options": [
"read in a quiet place",
"have group discussions",
"take comfortable seats",
"get their computers fixed"
],
"question": "The library's upper floor is mainly for students to... | Guide to Stockholm University Library
Our library offers different types of studying places and provides a good studying environment.
Zones
The library is divided into different zones. The upper floor is a quiet zone with over a thousand places for silent reading, and places where you can sit and work with your own computer. The reading places consist mostly of tables and chairs. The ground floor is the zone where you can talk. Here you can find sofas and armchairs for group work.
Computers
You can use your own computer to connect to the wi-fi specially prepared for notebook computers; you can also use library computers, which contain the most commonly used applications, such as Microsoft Office. They are situated in the area known as the Experimental Field on the ground floor.
Group-study Places
If you want to discuss freely without disturbing others, you can book a study room or sit at a table on the ground floor. Some study rooms are for 2-3 people and others can hold up to 6-8 people. All rooms are marked on the library maps.
There are 40 group-study rooms that must be booked via the website. To book, you need an active University account and a valid University card. You can use a room three hours per day, nine hours at most per week.
Storage of study material
The library has lockers for students to store course literature. When you have obtained at least 40 credits , you may rent a locker and pay 400 SEK for a year's rental period.
Rules to be followed
Mobile phone conversations are not permitted anywhere in the library. Keep your phone on silent as if you were in a lecture and exit the library if you need to receive calls.
Please note that food and fruit are forbidden in the library, but you are allowed to have drinks and sweets with you. | high4099.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Spain hopes to boost its economy by changing its work schedule."
},
"options": [
"Spain hopes to boost its economy by changing its work schedule.",
"Spain will change the time zone to allow families more free time together.",
... | WHAT sets Spain apart from the rest of Europe? It might be "siestas", the three-hour lunch break that is customary in the country.
The Spanish start work at 8 or 9 am, but in the early afternoon they usually take a three-hour break. After lunch, people can be seen napping in cars or on benches. During hot summer afternoons, Spanish village streets are often totally deserted .
When they return to their offices at 4 pm, Spanish workers often have to make up for the lost time by working until 8 or 9 pm. So, while most other Europeans are sound asleep, Spaniards are still having dinner or watching television.
"Everything in Spain happens later, from meal times to broadcast entertainment," described AP.
"This work schedule is a Spanish cultural vice," said Nuria Chinchilla, head of the International Center on Work and Family at the University of Navarra in Barcelona. "Changing to the European schedule should be the most urgent project for the government."
Many Spanish people complain about their never-ending workdays, and some even think the issue has affected the country's development.
"In Spain we sleep almost an hour less than the World Health Organization recommends," lawmakers in the Spanish parliament wrote in a proposal. "This has a negative effect on productivity, stress, accidents and school dropout rates."
That's why, last September, they recommended that Under the proposed newuthe government turn back the clocks by one hour. schedule, the lunchtime break would be cut to an hour or less. And a regular eight-hour workday would be introduced.
However, some doubt that changing the time zone would reverse low productivity, which comes more from the country's service-oriented economy , according to Maria Angeles Durant, a sociologist with the Spanish National Research Council.
But Ignacio Buqueras, the president of the Association for the Rationalization of Spanish Working Hours, told The New York Times that "changing the Spanish schedule would allow families more free time together and boost Spain's economy."
The Spanish government is treating the campaign seriously, but it hasn't taken any action yet, reported The New York Times.
Spain's siesta is not actually a product of its relaxed Mediterranean culture. At the start of the 20th century, Spain had the same working hours as many parts of Europe. It was during World War II that the country moved the clocks forward to align them with those of Nazi Germany.
The same thing happened in Portugal. After the defeat of Hitler, Portugal returned to Greenwich Mean Time, but Spain did not. | high17818.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Immigrants have played an important role in America's history."
},
"options": [
"Immigrants have played an important role in America's history.",
"Immigrants have endured more sufferings than those in other countries.",
"Immi... | Every immigrant leads a double life. Every immigrant has a double identity and a double vision, being suspended between an old and a new home, an old and new self. The very notion of a new home, of course, is in a sense as impossible as the notion of new parents. Parents are who they are; home is what it is.
Yet home, like parentage, must be legitimized through love; otherwise, it is only a fact of geography or biology. Most immigrants to America found their love of their old homes betrayed: they did not really abandon their countries; their countries abandoned them. In America, they found the possibility of a new love, the chance to nurture new selves.
Not uniformly, not without exceptions. Every generation has its Know-Nothing movement. Its understandable fear and hatred of alien invasion is as true today as it always was, but in spite of all this, the American attitude remains unique. Throughout history, exile has been a disaster; America turned it into a triumph and placed its immigrants in the center of a national epic.
The epic is possible because America is an idea as much as it is a country. America has nothing to do with loyalty to a dynasty and very little to do with loyalty to particular place, but everything to do with loyalty to a set of principles. To immigrants, those principles are especially real because so often they were absent or violated in their native lands. It was no accident in the '60 and '70s, when alienation was in flower, that it often seemed to be "native" Americans who felt alienated, while aliens or the children of aliens upheld the native values. The immigrant's double vision results in a special, somewhat skewed perspective on America that can mislead but that can also find revelation in the things that to native Americans are obvious. Psychiatrist Robert Coles speaks of those "who straddle worlds and make of that very experience a new world."
"Home is where you are happy." Sentimental, perhaps, and certainly not conventionally patriotic, but is appropriate for a country that wrote the pursuit of happiness into its founding document. That continues for the immigrant in America, and it never stops, but it comes to rest at a certain moment. The moment is hard to pin down, but it occurs perhaps when the immigrant's double life and double vision joint together toward a single state of mind. When the old life, the old home fade into a certain unreality: places one merely visits, in fact or in the mind, practicing the tourism of memory. It occurs when the immigrant learns his ultimate lesson: above all countries, America, if loved, returns love. | high19835.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "A Fun Game"
},
"options": [
"A Boring Conversation",
"A Fun Game",
"A Trick During The Flight",
"A Question Without Answer"
],
"question": "What's the best title for the passage?",
"question_type": null
},... | A programmer and an engineer are sitting next to each other on a long flight from Los Angeles to New York.The programmer leans over to the engineer and asks if he would like to play a fun game.The engineer just wants to take a nap, so he politely declines and rolls over to the window to catch a few winks.
The programmer persists and explains that the game is really easy and has a lot of fun.He explains, "I ask you a question, and if you don't know the answer, you pay me $5.Then you ask me a question, and if I don't know the answer, I'll pay you $5." Again, the engineer politely refuses and tries to get to sleep.
The programmer, now somewhat anxious, says, "OK, if you don't know the answer you pay me $5, and if I don't know the answer, I'll pay you $50!" This catches the engineer's attention, and he sees no end to this torment unless he plays, so he agrees to the game.
The programmer asks the first question."What's the distance from the earth to the moon?'' The engineer doesn't say a word, but reaches into his wallet, pulls out a five dollar bill and hands it to the programmer.Now, it's the engineer's turn.He asks the programmer, "What goes up a hill with three legs, and comes down on four?" The programmer looks up at him with a puzzled look.He takes out his laptop computer and searches all of his references.After about an hour, he wakes the engineer and hands him $50.The engineer politely takes the $50 and turns away to try to get back to sleep.The programmer, more than a little angry, shakes the engineer and asks, "Well, so what's the answer?" Without a word, the engineer reaches into his wallet, hands the programmer $5, and turns away and goes back to sleep. | high5387.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "responsible"
},
"options": [
"responsible",
"ambitious",
"energetic",
"patient"
],
"question": "When involved in pet-care activities, children are likely to become more _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_quest... | The way to teach the kids to take good care of pets
The best way to teach your child how to be responsible pet caregivers is to be on yourself. This should start before you even get a pet--make sure you have realistic expectations about pet ownership. And take steps to select the right animal at the right time.
As soon as you bring a pet in, set up and enforce rules regarding proper pet care. For example, tell your child not to pull the animal's tail, ears, or other body parts, and insist they never tease(,), hit, or chase it. Teach the child how to properly pick up, hold, and pat the animal. These simple lessons are essential to helping the kid become a responsible caretaker.
Although a certain pet-care activity must be handled by an adult, you can still include your child by explaining why and what you're doing. For example, when you take your pet to the veterinarian to be spayed or neutered, explain to your child how the operation not only reduces pet overpopulation but can also make it healthier, calmer, and more affectionate.
Also involve your child in a pet-training activity, which not only make your pet a more well-mannered family member, but teach your child humane treatment and effective communication.
Ultimately, your child will learn how to treat animals--and people--by watching how you treat the family pet. And they'll pay close attention to how you react when a pet scratches the furniture, barks excessively, or soils in the house. Frustrating as these problems are, "getting rid of" the pet isn't just unfair to the pet and your child, but it also sends the wrong message about commitment, trust, and responsibility. When faced with pet problems, get to the root of the problem. Often a veterinarian, animal shelter professional, or dog trainer can help you resolve pet issues so you can keep the whole family together. | high21366.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Any group of more than ten people."
},
"options": [
"Any group of more than ten people.",
"Only groups wanting guided tours.",
"Anyone wanting an\"unguided visit\".",
"Anyone hoping to watch a planetarium show."
],
... | Expand your knowledge of natural history!
The University of Michigan Exhibit Museum is located on central campus in the historic Alexander B.Ruthven Museums Building.With over 300displays on four floors,the museum offers unlimited opportunities for discovery.Exhibits,artifacts and habitat scenes help you expand your knowledge of prehistoric life,wildlife,geology,astronomy and more.
Hours and Admission Fees
The museum is open 9am to 5pm Tuesday through Saturday and 1pm to 5pm on Sunday.The museum is closed on Mondays and major holidays.There is no general admission fee for individuals.
Groups
All groups of more than 10must make reservations to visit the museum at least two weeks in advance,even if the group is only planning to browse in the museum on an"unguided visit".Unguided visits can be arranged for any day the museum is open.Groups may schedule guided tours,multimedia shows,and planetarium shows for any day Tuesday through Friday.Call the reservation desk at 313-555-1234between 9am to 4pm to make group reservations.
Parking
Parking is available in many of the nearby public parking structures for a $5.00daily fee.Buses may park in the museum lot only on weekends.Parking is free in the museum lot.
Museum Shop
The Exhibit Museum Shop is located on the basement level of the museum.The shop carries items for children and adults,including rocks,minerals,fossils,books,a variety of dinosaur merchandise,T-shirts and posters.A subscription to the quarterly Newsletter of the Exhibit Museum is also available there.
Planetarium Shows
The planetarium is located on the fourth floor of the Exhibit Museum.On weekends,regularly scheduled planetarium shows are open to the general public.Show topics change seasonally.Currently showing:"The Brightest Stars"(no age limits) Sat.at 10:30and 11:30;"The New Solar System"(for age 8 up) Sat.at 12:30and 3:30; Sun.at 2:30.Tickets are 2.5per person.Planetarium shows are free for members of the Exhibit Museum Club. | high19821.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "She taught English in exchange for piano lessons."
},
"options": [
"She turned to her friends for financial aid.",
"She taught English in exchange for piano lessons.",
"She was admitted to a university for a second degree cou... | Our bedroom has no full-length mirror. There is one at the canteen entrance. I always cherish a secret desire to take a glance before it at myself in a beautiful new dress. However, each time when it comes to the fulfillment, I get seized with such an uneasiness that I literally stagger away--backing out at the critical moment.
At the root of it is my lack of confidence by which I have been enslaved since childhood. It embarrasses me at the mildest praise, crushes my utmost efforts to say "No", and prevents me from asking my parents for one cent more than necessary. Among other things, lack of confidence has wormed its way into my love of piano.
At the age of 14, one Sunday morning, I was woken up by a resounding hymn . Tracing that call of God into a neighboring church, I found myself deeply attracted by the melody of a piano--something beyond the means of my parents. To make it worse, people say a pianist is supposed to have music in the blood, but I believe I had none from my engineer father and technician mother. For days on end, I kept thinking of nothing else. I had a dream.
It wasn't a dream after gold, which made some of my close friends to engage in business as self-employed traders or street peddlers. I was sometimes dazzled by their gold rings or elegant necklaces behind which, however, I seemed to catch sight of skeletons in their cupboards and was frightened away from the craze for fortunate. Out of despair, I kept it to myself, lack of confidence weighing heavy on me. I could do nothing but turn to my dream for comfort, for courage to aim high and wish for the impossible. I was convinced that before I could afford anything expensive (to me, it was a piano), I should climb up the academic ladder as high as possible.
For the next nine years, I carefully held back my desire for music to keep my search for learning, especially in English studies. My efforts were so rewarding that I went successfully through high school and college in my hometown. When I received the admission notice for a second degree course at a famous university in Beijing, the national capital, tears welled up in my eyes. I knew my command of English was my wealth, for I might make a deal with a pianist who would give me access to his piano in exchange for English lessons. And that has come true!
To this day, whenever I lay my fingers on the snow-white keyboard, ready for a melody, I still feel shy. I am quite aware of my limited music talent, but as a shy dreamer, I have found my way to success. | high5393.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "tries to explain how civilization developed in human history"
},
"options": [
"gives a comparison between ancient civilization and modern civilization",
"suggests that population increase is most important in the development of civ... | There are many thoughts on the origins of civilization. One of the major factors involved was the increase in population. The development of techniques, primarily irrigation and flood control, which permitted agriculture in special areas such as the flood plain of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, made possible the support of large population. Once populations reach a certain number, the older pattern of social organization breaks down and new ones develop. Specifically the older system, whereby each individual participated in food production and maintained a similar standard of living and whereby kinship served as the basic method of social organization, was replaced by the occupational division of labor, political and religious hierarchies , public works such as road and public building construction, class systems, codes of law, markets, new forms of warfare, and urban centres. Allied with these important sociological traits are material traits, such as monumental architecture and the development of science and, in many cases, metallurgy and writing systems.
The earliest civilization, Sumer, developed in the Middle East. This was the Bronze Age of the Old World, during which people first developed the art of metallurgy, civilization also arose in other parts of the Old World, first in Egypt, China, and India, and later in Europe and Africa. At this time, civilization also developed independently in the New World, in the Mexican area and in Peru and its adjacent areas.
In the Old World the Bronze Age was followed by the Iron Age, which saw the rise and fall of great empires and the shift of power from the Middle East to Greece and Rome and then to Western Europe. In the 1700s the Industrial Age began, leading directly to the modern civilization of today. | high20078.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Portable."
},
"options": [
"Powerful.",
"Fast.",
"Portable.",
"Available."
],
"question": "Which of the following words can best describe the Hoverbike?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
... | Many people have long dreamed of being able to fly around as simply as riding a bicycle. Yet the safety and strength of a flying bike was always a big problem.
Over the past 10 years, developments in technology have moved the dream of personal flying vehicles closer to reality. Now, two groups of inventors say such vehicles may be available very soon.
Grant Stapleton from Malloy Aeronautics says the Hoverbike, which is able to get in and out of small spaces very quickly, will be a truly personal flying vehicle. "It can be moved across continents very quickly because it can be folded and packed," he adds.
Mr. Stapleton says safety was the company's main concern when developing the Hoverbike. He ays the designers solved the safety issue by using overlapping rotors to power the vehicle. The company is testing both a one-third size model and a full-size prototype of the Hoverbike.
Inventors say their Hoverbike will most likely be used first by the police and emergency rescue teams.
In New Zealand, the Martin Aircraft Company is also testing a full-size prototype of its personal flying bike, called Jetpack. It can fly for more than 30 minutes, up t0 1,000 meters high and reach a speed of 74 kilometers per hour.
Peter Coker is the CEO of Martin Aircraft Company. He said Jetpack "is built around safety from the start, " In his words, "reliability is the most important part of it. We have safety built into the actual structure itself, very similar to a Formula One racing car. "
Jetpack uses a gasoline-powered engine that produces two powerful jet streams. Mr. Coker says it also has a parachute that can be used should there be an emergency.
"It opens at a very low altitude and actually saves both the aircraft and the pilot in an emergency," he adds. | high12974.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "dangerous"
},
"options": [
"pleasant",
"delicious",
"dangerous",
"important"
],
"question": "It is _ for David Blaine to eat food after such a long starvation.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{... | American magician David Blaine left the glass box in which he had lived for 44 days without food on October 19, 2003. Hundreds of people came to watch the end of his starvation experiment, which has become one of London's main tourist attractions.
Looking thinner and darker, 30-year-old Blaine was taken out of his box over the River Thames and immediately went to hospital. He was then slowly reintroduced to food, a process doctors say could be life threatening. He had been drinking only water since September 5.
A native of Brooklyn, New York, Blaine first became known as a street magician in the early 1990s. He soon found himself doing magic tricks in bars for the likes of American actor Leonardo DiCaprio and his super model friends.
Over the last decade Blaine has become famous with a combination of breathtaking magic and clever tricks aimed at getting a lot of attention. In 1999, he was buried in a coffin for one week and, in 2000, he spent 62 hours in a giant block of ice. Last year he stood on top of a 25-meter pillar in the center of New York for 35 hours before jumping into a pile of boxes.
"I think a lot of people are unable to accept that they're able to do what they can do," he said. "They don't realize we can survive. The human being is an amazing creation."
But he seems to have suffered from spending so long in the glass box. He said that at times he was unable to see, had serious back pains and lost his sense of taste. | high461.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Putting aside a little money regularly for future use."
},
"options": [
"Paying 1% income tax at a time.",
"Setting a goal before making a travel plan.",
"Aiming high even when doing small things.",
"Putting aside a lit... | Wealth starts with a goal saving a dollar at a time. Call it the piggy bank strategy . There are lessons in that time-honored coin-saving container.
Any huge task seems easier when reduced to baby steps. I f you wished to climb a 12,000-foot mountain, and could do it a day at a time, you would only have to climb 33 feet daily to reach the top in a year. If you want to take a really nice trip in 10 years for a special occasion, to collect the $15,000 cost, you have to save $3.93 a day. If you drop that into a piggy bank and then once a year put $1,434 in a savings account at 1% interest rate after-tax, you will have your trip money.
When I was a child, my parents gave me a piggy bank to teach me that, if I wanted something, I should save money to buy it. We associate piggy banks with children, but in many countries, the little containers are also popular with adults. Europeans see a piggy bank as a sign of good fortune and wealth. Around the world, many believe a gift of a piggy bank on New Year's Day brings good luck and financial success. Ah, but you have to put _ in it.
Why is a pig used as a symbol of saving? Why not an elephant bank, which is bigger and holds more coins? In the Middle Ages, before modern banking and credit instruments, people saved money at home, a few coins at a time dropped into a jar or dish. Potters made these inexpensive containers from an orange-colored clay called "pygg," and folks saved coins in pygg jars.The Middle English word
for pig was "pigge". While the Saxons pronounced pygg, referring to the clay, as "pug", eventually the two words changed into the same pronunciation, sounding the "i" as in pig or piggy. As the word became less associated with the orange clay and more with the animal, a clever potter fashioned a pygg jar in the shape of a pig, delighting children and adults. The piggy bank was born.
Originally you had to break the bank to get to the money, bringing in a sense of seriousness into savings. While piggy banks teach children the wisdom of saving, adults often need to relearn childhood lessons. Think about the things in life that require large amounts of money--- college education, weddings, cars, medical care, starting a business, buying a home, and fun stuff like great trips. So when you have money, take off the top 10%, put it aside, save and invest wisely. | high6842.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "four daughters"
},
"options": [
"four daughters",
"five daughters",
"son and four daughters",
"son and five daughters"
],
"question": "The members of the March family were Father March, Mrs. March and their _ ... | The Marches were a happy family. Poverty, hard work, and even the fact that Father March was away with the Union armies could not down the spirits of Meg, Jo, Amy, and Marmee, as the March girls called their mother.
The March sisters tried to be good but had their share of faults. Pretty Meg was often displeased with the schoolchildren she taught; boyish Jo was easy to become angry; golden-haired schoolgirl Amy liked to show up; but Beth, who kept the house, was loving and gentle always.
The happy days passed and darkness came when a telegram arrived for Mrs. March. "Your husband is very ill," it said, "come at once." The girl tried to be brave when their mother left for the front. They waited and prayed. Little Beth got scarlet fever when she was taking care of the sick neighbor. She became very ill but began to recover by the time Marmee was back. When Father came home from the front and at that joyful Christmas dinner they were once more all together.
Three years later the March girls had grown into young womanhood. Meg became Mrs. Brooke, and after a few family troubles got used to her new state happily. Jo had found pleasure in her literary efforts. Amy had grown into a young lady with a talent for design and an even greater one for society. But Beth had never fully regained her health, and her family watched her with love and anxiety.
Amy was asked to go and stay in Europe with a relative of the Marches. Jo went to New York and became successful in her writing and had the satisfaction of seeing her work published there. But at home the bitterest blow was yet to fall. Beth had known for some time that she couldn't live much longer to be with the family and in the spring time she died.
News came from Europe that Amy and Laurie, the grandson of a wealthy neighbor, had planned to be married soon. Now Jo became ever more successful in her writing and got married to Professor Bhaer and soon afterwards founded a school for boys.
And so the little women had grown up and lived happily with their children, enjoying the harvest of love and goodness that they had devoted all their lives to. | high7584.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "a former colony of Great Britain"
},
"options": [
"a Pacific island",
"a province of India",
"a stamp",
"a former colony of Great Britain"
],
"question": "Mauritius is the name of _",
"question_type": "clo... | Any mistake made in the printing of a stamp raises its value to stamp collectors.A mistake on a two-penny stamp has made it worth a million and a half times its face value.
Do you think it impossible? Well,it is true.And this is how it happened.
The mistake was made more than a hundred years ago in the former British colony of Mauritius,a small island in the Indian Ocean. In l847 all order for stamps was sent to London Mauritius was about to become the fourth country in the world to put out stamps.
Before the order was filled and the stamps arrived from England,a big dance was planned by the commander-in-chief of all the armed forces on the island.The dance would be held in his house and letters of invitation would be sent to all the important people in Mauritius.Stamps were badly needed to post the letters.Therefore,an islander,who was a good printer,was told to copy the pattern of the stamps.He carelessly put the words "Post Office" instead of "Post Paid", two words seen on stamps at that time,on the several hundred that he printed.
Today, there are only twenty-six of these misprinted stamps left-fourteen One-penny Reds and twelve Two-penny Blues, Because there are so few Two-penny Blues and because of their age, collectors have paid as much as$16,800 for one of them. | high23217.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "To help the disabled with wheelchairs take a taxi conveniently."
},
"options": [
"To found a Taxi & Limousine Committee on Wednesday.",
"To encourage the locals to use wheelchairs properly.",
"To help the disabled with wheelc... | The Taxi & Limousine Committee agreed Wednesday to carry out a 30-cent extra charge on every city taxi fare -- part of a historic plan to make half the city's yellow cabs wheelchair-accessible.
The 30-cent extra charge will be assessed starting next January on all metered
yellow and green cab fares. The money will be put in a fund to help yellow cab owners make their vehicles wheelchair-accessible.
Only about 400 of the more than 13,000 yellow cabs now on city streets can accommodate wheelchairs. Hopefully, that number will rise to more than 7,500 by 2020.
Mayor de Blasio in the city Washington proposed the 30-cent charge to support the upgrades.
Consequently, disabled New Yorkers said the addition of more accessible cabs would be life-changing.
"We can't go anywhere more conveniently," said Jean Ryan of Brooklyn, who uses a wheelchair.
For the birth of her grandson, she had to wheel a mile and a half in a snowstorm to get to the hospital, she said.
Ronnie Raymond of Manhattan wept as she described spending "hours trying to get somewhere that takes everybody else 20 minutes."
Some supporters for the disabled said more was needed to be done.
"I dream of a world where it's 100% accessible and we have cabs just like anyone else," said Jason DaSilva, a Brooklyn filmmaker who suffers from multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair.
It's particularly important because the city's subway system is ly inaccessible to wheelchair riders.
Some other cities, including London, with its famous black cabs, require that all its taxis be fully accessible.
Some citizens expressed sympathy for the wheelchair-using riders, many of whom carried neon signs that read "Taxi" next to a wheelchair symbol.
"The goal of this committee should be 100% accessibility -- and I hope sooner rather than later," said Frank Carone from the Taxi & Limousine Committee. | high18281.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "he knew how to make his mother happy from her answer"
},
"options": [
"he told the truth that he wanted a smaller one",
"his mother loved him more than she loved the younger brother",
"elder brother should of course have the ... | Here is a true story about a famous man who worked in the White House and a criminal. They once faced the same thing: their mother gave them apples when they were young.
The criminal said: one day, my mother brought some apples and asked my brother and me: "Which do you want?" "The reddest and biggest one," my little brother said. My mother stared at him and said to him angrily: "You should learn to give the good things to others; you shouldn't always think of yourself." Seeing this, I suddenly changed my idea and then said to my mother: "Mum, please give me the smaller one and give the bigger one to my little brother." Hearing my words, my mother was very happy. She kissed me on my face and gave the reddest and biggest apple to me as a prize. From then on, I learned to tell lies, fight, steal and rob. In order to get what I wanted, I played hard. As a result, I was sent into prison.
The famous man from the White House said: One day, my mother brought some apples. She said to my brother and me: "You all want the reddest and biggest one, right? Well, let's have a competition. Now I divide the grassland in front of the gate into two and I will give one to each of you and you must shear it well. And I will give the reddest and biggest apple to him who does it the most quickly and best."
After the competition, I won and I got the biggest apple. In our family, as long as you want to get the best things, you must take part in competition. I think it is fair. No matter what you want, you must pay lots of efforts. | high4933.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "They have power if magician recites the right spells."
},
"options": [
"They have the power to kill devils.",
"They have power if magician recites the right spells.",
"They have no effect at all.",
"They can be used whe... | The practice of magic includes special words, actions, and objects. Most magic involves a person called a magician, who claims to have supernatural powers. Magic words.
To work most magic, the magician sings or speaks special words in a certain order. These words are called incantations or spells. Some spells form prayers to demons , spirits, or other supernatural forces. Many societies believe the magic will not work unless the magician recites the spells perfectly. Other magic words have no meaning, though they supposedly possess power when spoken by a magician. Magic actions accompany the words spoken in performing much magic. Many of these movements act out the desired effect of the magic. For example, a magician trying to make rain fall may sprinkle water on the ground. The magician's combined words and actions form a ceremony. Magic objects include certain plants, stones, and other things with supposed supernatural powers. Any such object may be called a fetish . But this term often refers to an object--for example, a carving or a dried snake--honored by a tribe for its magic powers. Many tribes believe fetishes have magic power because spirits live in these objects. Many people carry magic objects called amulets to protect themselves from harm. Many amulets are stones or rings engraved with magic symbols.
The magician, in some societies, nearly everyone knows how to work some magic. In other societies, only experts practice magic. Magicians may be called medicine men, medicine women, shamans, sorcerers, or witch doctors. In many societies, magicians must inherit their powers. In others, any person may become a magician by studying the magical arts.
Many societies believe magicians must observe certain rules and taboos (forbidden actions) for their spells to work. For example, they may be required not to eat various foods or to avoid sexual activity for a certain period before the ceremony. | high3084.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "They failed to design effective walking robots."
},
"options": [
"Their robots cannot be applied at home.",
"Preparing food is really difficult for robots.",
"Their robots can just repeat the same movement.",
"They fail... | For many years,machines have been doing work that people once did,including some dit- ficutt jobs. Search and rescue operations in dangerous environments are often seen as the first areas that will employ high technology robots. But there is another area where they may soon take jobs traditionally held by human beings: the restaurant industry.
Teams from around the world competed in early June at the DARPA Robotic Challenge Finals in California. A team from South Korea and its robot,called DRC-Hubo,won the first place in the competition. The second and third place winners were from the United States. The robots were required to drive a vehicle,climb up steps and do mechanical work. Such activities are easy for humans to perform,but more difficult for machines. Not all of the competitor were successful. The failures showed how difficult it is to design effective walking
machines.
Akihiro Suzuki works at Yaskawa Electric,a company that develops robots. He says robots cannot do everything a human can,but they are able to work without becoming tired. He says robots cannot taste food,change heating levels or seasonings to get the best flavor .But he says if a food can be easily prepared,a robot can repeat the same movement to reproduce the same meal.
One Japanese woman who saw the robots working wanted to bring them home. Masayo Mori says she would like to have a husband who could work like a robot. Suzumo Machinery showed its sushi maker robot. It performs the often difficult work of wrapping the popular Japanese food. Hiroshi Monden is an official with the company. He says people all over the world now eat sushi,but there are not enough skilled workers to prepare it. He says his machine can help anyone make sushi. | high10805.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "can also be harmful to a person's performance in the test"
},
"options": [
"helps a student to perform better in the test",
"can also be harmful to a person's performance in the test",
"helps a student to cope with a challeng... | Have you ever felt so anxious during an examination that you couldn't even put down the answers you knew? If so, you were suffering from what is known as test anxiety.
According to psychologist Ralph Trimble, test anxiety is a very real problem for many people. When you're worried over your performance on an exam, your heart beats faster and your pulse speeds up. These reactions start others: You may sweat more than normal or suffer from a stomachache or headache. Your field of vision narrows and becomes tunnel-like. Before you know it, you're having difficulty focusing.
"What I hear students say over and over again," says Dr. Trimble, who is working at the Psychological and Counseling Center at the University of Illinois, "is, 'My mind went blank.'"
For a number of years, Dr. Trimble helped many students learn how to perform better during exams and to bring up their grades. Some of these students were interested in sharing what they learned and, with Trimble's help, began holding workshops on overcoming test anxiety. For many students, just being in a workshop(,) with other sufferers made them feel better. They realized that they were not the only ones who had done poorly on tests because of tension.
The workshops were so successful that they are still given.
In the workshops, students are taught that anxiety is normal. You just have to prevent it from getting the best of you. The first step is to learn to relax. If before or during an examination you start to panic, stretch as hard as you can, tensing the muscles in your arms and legs; then suddenly relax all of them.
This will help relieve tension. But keep in mind that you don't want to be too relaxed. Being completely relaxed is no better than being too tense. "If you are so calm you don't care how you do on an examination, you won't do well," Trimble says. "There is an optimum level of concern when you perform at your best. Some stress helps. There are people who can't take even slight stress. They have to learn that in a challenging situation, being anxiously excited is good and will help them to do better. But if they call it anxiety and say, 'It's going to hit me again,' that will make them nervous and worried."
As a student you must also realize that if you leave too much studying until a day or two before the examination, you can't do the impossible and learn it all. Instead, concentrate on what you can do and try to think what questions are likely to be asked and what you can do in the time left for studying.
When you sit down to study, set a moderate pace and vary it by reading, writing notes, and going over any papers you have already written for the course, as well as the textbooks and notes you took in class. Review what you know. Take breaks and go to sleep early enough to get a good night's rest before the exam. You should also eat a moderate breakfast or lunch, avoid drinks like coffee and stay away from fellow students who get tense. Panic spreads easily.
Get to the exam room a few minutes early so that you will have a chance to familiarize yourself with the surroundings and get out your supplies. When the examination is handed out, read the directions twice and underline the significant instructions, making sure you understand them. Ask the teacher to explain if you don't. First answer the easiest questions, then go back to the more difficult.
On essay questions, instead of starting right away, take a few minutes to organize your thoughts, make a brief outline, and then start off with a summary sentence. Keep working steadily, and even when time starts to run out, don't speed up. | high21400.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "To advise parents how to help their kids deal with stress."
},
"options": [
"To share the author's ideas on proper parenting.",
"To persuade parents to spend more time with their kids.",
"To advise parents how to help their k... | How can you help kids cope with stress? Proper rest and good nutrition can improve coping skills, so can good parenting. Make time for your kids each day. Whether they need to talk with you or just be in the same room with you, make yourself available.
Even as kids get older, quality time is important. It's really hard for some people to come home after a tiring day of work, get down on the floor, and play with their kids or just talk to them about their day -- especially if they've had a stressful day themselves. But expressing interest in your kids shows that they' re important to you.
Help your child deal with stress by talking about what may be causing it. Together, you can come up with a few solutions. For example, he should cut back on after-school activities, spending more time talking with his parents or teachers, developing an exercise plan or keeping a journal.
You can also help by predicting potentially stressful situations and preparing kids for them. For example, let a child know ahead of time, but not too far ahead of time, that a doctor's appointment is coming up and talk about what will happen there. Keep in mind, though, that younger kids probably won't need too much advance preparation. Too much information can cause more stress.
Remember that some level of stress is normal, Let kids know that it's OK to feel angry, scared, lonely, or anxious and that other people share those feelings, too.
When kids can't or won't discuss these problems, try talking about your own concerns. This shows that you're willing to handle tough topics and are available to talk with when they're ready. If a child shows symptoms that concern you and is unwilling to talk, consult a counselor or other mental health experts.
Most parents have the skills to cope with their children's stress. The time to seek professional attention is when any change in behavior continues to exist, when stress is causing serious anxiety, or when the behavior is causing significant problems in functioning at school or at home. | high7585.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "To suggest the transformation from victims to creators."
},
"options": [
"To define victims and creators.",
"To evaluate victims against creators.",
"To explain the relationship between victims and creators.",
"To sugge... | You are given many opportunities in life to choose to be a victim or creator. When you choose to be a victim, the world is a cold and difficult place. "They" did things to you which caused all of your pain and suffering. "They" are wrong and bad, and life is terrible as long as "they" are around. Or you may blame yourself for all your problems, thus internalizing your victimization. The truth is, your life is likely to stay that way as long as you feel a need to blame yourself or others.
Those who choose to be creators look at life quite differently. They know there are individuals who might like to control their lives, but they don't let this get in the way. They know they have their weaknesses, yet they don't blame themselves when they fail. Whatever happens, they have choice in the matter. They believe their dance with each sacred moment of life is a gift and that storms are a natural part of life which can bring the rain needed for emotional and spiritual growth.
Victims and creators live in the same physical world and deal with many of the same physical realities, yet their experience of life is worlds apart. Victims relish in anger, guilt, and other emotions that cause others---and even themselves---to feel like victims, too. Creators consciously choose love, inspiration, and other qualities which inspire not only themselves, but all around them. Both victims and creators always have choice to determine the direction of their lives.
In reality, all of us play the victim or the creator at various points in our lives. One person, on losing a job or a special relationship, may feel as if it is the end of the world and sink into terrible suffering for months, years, or even a lifetime. Another with the same experience may choose to first experience the grief, then accept the loss and soon move on to be a powerful creative force in his life.
In every moment and every circumstance, you can choose to have fuller, richer life by setting a clear intention to transform the victim within, and by inviting into your life the powerful creator that you are. | high460.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Other buyers' comments"
},
"options": [
"Other buyers' comments",
"Powerful online tools",
"The varieties of online item",
"The price and the way to play"
],
"question": "What influences Asia-Pacific consumers m... | Asia-Pacific consumers are the world's largest group of online shopping lovers and many rely on Internet reviews when making purchases, research firm Nielsen said this week.
The firm said 35% of consumers in Asia-Pacific used over 11% of their monthly spending to make online purchases, compared to a global average of 27% of consumers.
South Koreans were the heaviest online buyers in Asia, with 59% directing more than 11% of their monthly spending to online purchases, followed by 41% in China, Nielsen said in a report.
A further 31% of Asian consumers use between 6% and 10% of their monthly shopping purchases to buy items online.
More Asia-pacific consumers also intend to buy online in the next six months than those from other regions, with South Koreans and Chinese the most likely to make such purchases.
Among the purchases consumers in the region are likely to make in the next six months are books, clothing, shoes, airline tickets, electronic equipment and hotel reservations.
"Technology and the Internet will very likely basically change how and where shoppers spend their money and interact with sellers," said Pete Gale, a managing director at Nielsen's Retailer Services.
"We are seeing a strong trend in markets like Korea, where a significant population of online shoppers buy essentials such as groceries, cosmetics and nutrition supplies over the Internet."
Nielsen said opinions posted online were important in Asia-pacific customers' decisions to buy products such as cosmetics, cars, software and food.
Asia-pacific consumers were also the most likely to share dissatisfaction at a product on the Internet compared with consumers elsewhere.
"The increasing accessibility of the Internet and unbelievable popularity of social media and online discussion forums mean today's brands have nowhere to hide, " said Megan Clarken, Asia-Pacific managing director at Nielsen's online division.
Nielsen said in June that social media such as Facebook and Twitter or blogging sites had become powerful tools influencing what people buy and urged businesses to embrace the trend. | high12975.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Three."
},
"options": [
"Two.",
"Three.",
"Four.",
"Five"
],
"question": "How many kinds of food are mentioned in the passage?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
... | Thousands of years ago, people only ate food that was grown near their homes. Some kinds of food were only grown in one place, so people from other places didn't know about them. When Europeans first traveled to Central and South America in the 1500s, they discovered strange kinds of food that they had never seen before. Today, these are grown in a lot of different countries and they're sold in supermarkets all over the world. They don't seem strange any more!
Potatoes were first grown in the Andes in South America. In 1586, they were taken to Europe by explorers . In 1719, they were taken to North America. Before 1719, nobody in North America had ever seen or eaten a potato. Today each American eats more than 60 kilos of potatoes a year.
Tomatoes were also first grown by native Americans. When European explorers visited the south of America in 1500, they took tomato seeds back to Europe. Soon, tomatoes were grown in Europe, but people in England didn't eat them. At that time, a lot of English people thought that tomatoes were _ !
Chilies have been eaten in Central and South America for more than 8,000 years! In the 1500s, chilies were taken to Europe by explorers. Today, they are grown in hot countries all over the world. | high23570.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "the government planned to forbid over 1 million cars to run on the roads during the Olympics."
},
"options": [
"the government planned to forbid over 1 million cars to run on the roads during the Olympics.",
"banning private cars i... | Limit the use of private cars, improve public transport and encourage the use of bicycles to control traffic congestion during the 2008 Olympics, experts from foreign countries advised Beijing on Friday.
Professor Nigel Wilson, of the civil and environmental engineering department of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said he was "supportive to the limiting of private cars during the Olympic Games", saying that in foreign countries, the method is also adopted during big events, but he was unsure about the approach.
The government planned to keep an average of more than one million cars off the roads to improve traffic flow during the Olympics, said Liu Xiaoming, deputy director of the Beijing Traffic Committee, at the China Planning Network First Urban Transportation Congress.
Sharing Wilson's view, Dr. Yoshitsugu Hayashi, dean of the Graduate School of Environmental Studies of Nagoya University, believed the reduction in car use should be achieved not by banning, but through _ .
"Drivers who don't use their private cars could be given points," he said, "and the points could be exchanged for goods from online shopping."
Wetzel stressed limiting the use of company cars. "Governmental officials should also be encouraged to use public transportation or ride bicycles," he said, adding that he himself is a bicycle-rider in London.
Matthew Martimo, director of Traffic Engineering with Citilabs, said the bicycle was China's advantage. "Limiting private cars is an idea worth trying but it is just a temporary solution," he said. "The real cause of congestion is high density of people in Beijing and many have cars."
Beijing, with a population of 15 million, is home to more than three million automobiles, and the number is rising by 1,000 a day.
Professor Wilson said the Olympic Games was a great opportunity for Beijing to think about traffic problems and develop transportation, adding that the city had already been making public transport more efficient. Beijing has promised to stretch its 114-kilometer city railway to 200 kilometers before the opening of the Olympic Games.
"We are looking forward to borrowing Beijing's experiences and drawing from its lessons in preparation for the 2012 Olympics," said Wetzel. | high20079.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "all-nighters hurt students' grades"
},
"options": [
"the bad effects of pulling an all-nighter",
"pulling an all-nighter leads to sleep problems",
"Thacher' s doubt about all-nighters",
"all-nighters hurt students' grad... | There is a discovery that students who rely on working at night to improve their grades might want to sleep on that strategy: a new survey in the US says those who never study all night have slightly higher grades than those who do.
A survey of 120 students at St. Lawrence University found that students who have never pulled an all-nighter on average have higher grades than those who have. The survey found those who did not study through the night had a grade point average of 3.2 compared to 2.95 for those who have.
The study, by assistant professor of psychology Pamela Thacher, is to be included in the January issue of Behavioral Sleep Medicine. "It's not a big difference, but it's pretty striking," Thacher said. "I am primarily a sleep researcher and I know nobody thinks clearly at 4 in the morning. You think you do, but you can't."
Many college students, of course, have inadequate or irregular sleep, for reasons ranging from excessive caffeine to poor time management.
"A lot of students were under the impression that all-nighters were a very useful tool for accomplishing work, that caffeine intake was very useful in meeting deadlines and stuff like that," said Chatani, who had a 3.4 grade point average last term.
Dr Howard Weiss, a physician at St. Peter's Sleep Center in Albany, said the study results make sense.
"Certainly that data is out there showing that short sleep duration ly interferes with concentration, interferes with performance on objective testing," he said.
Some night owls do get good grades, of course, which may be explained by circadian rhythms , Weiss said. Some people have different 24-hour body clocks than others, and may do better depending on class and testing times, Weiss said. | high21367.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "lost money as its young customer did not have the money to pay his debts"
},
"options": [
"received a telephone order to buy shares for a twenty-one year old",
"lost a lot of money because the shares they bought fell in value",
... | There were red faces at one of Britain's biggest banks recently. They had accepted a telephone order to buy PS 100,000 worth of shares from a fifteen-year-old schoolboy (they thought he was twenty-one). The shares fell in value and the schoolboy was unable to pay up. The bank lost PS 20,000 on the deal which it cannot get back because, for one thing, this young speculator does not have the money and, for another, being under eighteen, he is not legally liable for his debts. If the shares had risen in value by the same amount that they fell, he would have pocketed PS 20,000 profit. Not bad for a fifteen-year-old. It certainly is better than delivering the morning newspaper. In another recent case, a boy of fourteen found, in his grandmother's house, a suitcase full of foreign banknotes. The clean, crisp, banknotes looked very convincing but they were now not used in their country of origin or anywhere else. This young boy headed straight to the nearest bank with his pockets filled with notes. The cashiers did not realise that the country in question had reduced the value of its currency by 90%. They exchanged the notes the notes at their face value at the current exchange rate. In three days, before he was found out, he took PS 200,000 from nine different banks. Amazingly, he had already spent more than half of this on taxi-rides, restaurant meals, concert tickets and presents for his many new girlfriends (at least he was generous!) before the police caught up with him. Because he is also under eighteen the banks have kissed goodbye to a lot of money, and several cashiers have lost their jobs.
Should we admire these youngsters for being enterprising and showing initiative or condemn them for their dishonesty? Maybe they had managed for years with tiny amounts of pocket money that they got from tight-fisted parents. Maybe they had done Saturday jobs for peanuts. It is hardly surprising, given the expensive things that young people want to buy, such as fashionable running shoes and computer games, if they sometimes think up more imaginative ways of making money than delivering newspapers and baby-sitting. These lads saw the chance to make a lot of money and took it.
Another recent story which should give us food for thought is the case of the man who paid his six-year-old daughter PS 300 a week pocket money. He then charged her for the food she ate and for her share of the rent and household bills. After paying for all this, she was left with a few coins for her piggy bank. "She will soon learn the value of money," he said. "There's no such thing as a free lunch. Everything has to be paid for and the sooner she learns that the better." At the other extreme there are fond parents who provide free bed and board for their grown-up children. While even the most hard-hearted parents might hesitate to throw their children out on the streets, we all know people in their late twenties who still shamelessly live off their parents. Surely there comes a time when everyone has to leave the parental nest, look after themselves and pay their own way in life. But when is it? | high21401.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "was the only daughter of the Scotts"
},
"options": [
"couldn't walk until she was four",
"was the only daughter of the Scotts",
"held her first lemonade stand in 2001",
"was born with cancer"
],
"question": "It ... | Alexandra Scott was born to Liz and Jay Scott in Manchester,Connecticut on January 18, 1996,the second of four children. Shortly before her first birthday,Alex was diagnosed with neuroblastoma,a type of childhood cancer.
On her first birthday, the doctors informed Alex's parents that if she beat her cancer it was doubtful that she would ever walk again. Just two weeks later,Alex slightly moved her leg at her parents' request to kick. This was the first indication that she would turn out to be a courageous and confident child with big dreams and big accomplishments.
By her second birthday,Alex was able to stand up with leg braces .She worked hard to gain strength and to learn how to walk. She appeared to be overcoming the difficulties, until the shocking discovery within the next year that her tumors had started growing again. In the year 2000,the day after her fourth birthday,Alex received a stem cell transplant and informed her mother,"When I get out of the hospital I want to have a lemonade stand. " She said she wanted to give the money to doctors to allow them to "help other kids,like they helped me.,,True to her word, she held her first lemonade stand later that year with the help of her older brother and raised an amazing $ 2,000 for "her hospital,
People from all over the world,moved by her story,held their own lemonade stands and donated the earnings to Alex and her cause. In August of 2004,Alex passed away at the age of 8,knowing that,with the help of others,she had raised more than $ 1 million to help find a cure for the disease that took her life. Alex's family--including brothers Patrick,Eddie,and Joey--and supporters around the world are committed to continuing her inspiring cause through Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation . | high10804.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "four people's thoughts after reading Martha's article"
},
"options": [
"comments on a book about a girl who has no father",
"comments on Martha's opinion about parents' love",
"four people's thoughts after reading Martha's ar... | Kasey Kaczmarek: When I read "Would my dad love me?" by Martha, I related to how Martha felt about her father. I always wondered if my dad cared about me, or if he even loved me. All the kids would be with their dads and they would ask me where my dad was, and I would tell them that he was out of town. For all you kids who have a dad, tell him how much you love him because there are plenty of kids who would love to have a dad.
Armen Abidian: This article describes everything about me and my life. When I was about 3 years old, my mother and father had a big argument and got divorced. Now I'm 13 years old and I haven't seen my father for 10 years. Just like Martha, I don't know what he looks like now, whether or not he's got married to a different woman, or if he has another child.
Emma Ramirez: When Martha talked about how "most girls have dads who take them to their practices, buy them things and play with them", I thought I was one of those girls. I never stopped to think about how there are girls who have always dreamed of having those things but don't have a father. After reading what Martha wrote, I told myself I would always appreciate the days I spend with my dad because I am very lucky to have a dad who does so much for me.
Stephanie Felix: This article reminded me of how much I missed my dad when I was younger. I really relate to this article because I used to always wonder about my dad, but not any more. Life without my father has made me more independent and responsible. By reading this article I remember all of this and I was able to understand what the writer was talking about. | high3085.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Because the weather can be changeable unexpectedly."
},
"options": [
"Because the more plans there are, the more successful the harvest will be.",
"Because the author no longer believes in weather forecast.",
"Because gardene... | It will soon be time to set out to plant tomatoes, an act one performs when the weather has settled. That means warm soil, proper night temperatures and no risk of a sudden reversion to winter.
I no longer believe in settled weather. In the current age of climate confusion, a backup plan is always an essential part of a gardener's intention for an ideal tomato harvest.
Where tomatoes are concerned, the best crop insurance is to root some extras from cuttings . It can take a couple of months to grow garden-ready tomato plants from seed , but cuttings can be ready to go in a few weeks. Yes, you could pick up some starts at a garden center, but it's hard to find strong ones in good condition.
Instead, buy one tomato plant, and turn it into many. Tomatoes root very quickly and easily. All you do is remove a tiny branch about 6 inches tall off the main stem , carefully cut off all but the top two leaves, plant the tiny branch in a pot, and wait.
Roots will emerge along the stem and new growth will soon appear if kept damp, warm and out of direct sunlight.
If you have never rooted stem cuttings before, you will have gained not only a tomato crop but also a skill that you can now apply to other plants in your garden, both edible and ornamental . Tomato s such as peppers and eggplants can be similarly rooted, as can many herbs, especially those in the mint family. | high18280.txt |
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