questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "a year off between high school and college for certain purposes"
},
"options": [
"a gap you come across after leaving high school",
"a time when you are caught in a dilemma between work and study",
"a period after you find a ... | Young women are more adventurous than young men when travelling abroad in gap years.One in three female backpackers visits more than three countries during a year out and travels alone, according to new research.
By contrast, the majority of their male counterparts visit only one country and tend to travel in groups, says a survey by the Gap Year company, which provides information and services for students considering taking a year out.
More women than men say that their prime reason for taking time off is to see the world and experience different cultures.Men are more likely to rank "having fun" higher on their list of _ .Women are more likely to value the challenge of a foreign trip, and many cited reasons such as learning a language and meeting new people.
The more adventurous gap years taken by women seem to work to their benefit; more than three quarters of those surveyed have reported increased confidence, self-reliance and independence, whereas only half of the men had that experience.
The research also shows that women are more likely to do voluntary work while travelling, with more than one in ten helping with teaching or development projects.One of the reasons given for this is a wish to see the country in an authentic light.
A greater proportion of women than men face objections or criticism from their families over their gapyear plans.Among the men surveyed, lack of money is the main barrier to travel.
Carolyn Martin, a doctor from London,is a typically confident female traveller.Starting in Cape Town, she travelled around southern Africa and Australia with a string of unusual and sometimes dangerous jobs.
"I had one job chasing elephants off the runway in Africa by banging a stick against a pan," she recalled."It was OK but one day I did get chased by one."
She said that she had travelled alone because "you meet more people". | high2698.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "hold the hot air"
},
"options": [
"supply the hot air",
"hold the hot air",
"change the height",
"control the direction"
],
"question": "The envelope of a hot-air balloon is used to _ .",
"question_type":... | Imagine sailing through the sky, high above buildings and trees, in perfect peace and quiet. No noisy engines. No window with dirty marks in your way. No strong wind blowing in your face. You can't feel or hear the wind because you're traveling in the exact same direction and at the exact same speed it is.
A hot-air balloon has three main parts: the balloon, called an envelope; a basket, where passengers ride; and a burner system, which supplies the hot air.
Most balloon envelopes are made of strong, lightweight nylon. They vary in size and shape, but they have to be really, really big to lift even a single person. Most weigh more than an adult man and use more fabric than you'd need to cover a baseball diamond .
The basket is usually made of wicker ,which is strong but not too stiff . It needs to bend a bit for a soft landing, just like a good jumper bends her legs instead of keeping them stiff and straight when she lands.
When the burner system blasts flames, it makes a noisy sound, but once the balloon is flying , the burner can be turned off. The air in the envelope will then slowly cool, and the balloon will gradually sink unless the pilot starts the burner again.
To operate, a pilot adds hot air to the balloon to go up or deflates it to go down, until he finds a breeze blowing in the direction he wants to fly. But no matter which way the wind blows them, balloonists have an amazing bird's-eye view of the world. | high18783.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "feel light-hearted while playing"
},
"options": [
"have as many shots as possible",
"improve your volleyball skills",
"be responsible for more ground",
"feel light-hearted while playing"
],
"question": "When you... | Beach volleyball is one of those sports that can be an exciting game to play and watch, or, can just be about some friends getting together to have a great time. It's really easy, and all you need is sand, a net and a group of people, of any age or fitness level, who want to have fun.
Beach volleyball can be played with as few as two people on each team, making a total of four people. However, if you are less skilled and experienced in the game, it will be easier to play with a larger team. The more players you have, the less ground each person will be responsible for covering and the more time they will have to recover in between shots. If you only have a few players, each of you will get quite a workout running for the ball after each volley. If you are looking for that relaxing, fun, low-key experience, choose larger teams.
Beach volleyball is similar to regular volleyball in its rules. However, even experienced volleyball players do not realize how much more difficult it is to run and jump on sand. Since it is harder to move quickly on sand than a hard ground, play will be much slower than regular volleyball on a playground. When a player trains for beach volleyball, he will focus on building lower body strength as well as upper body. While he needs to be able to hit the ball with a great deal of power and accuracy , strengthening his legs is extremely important.
Whether you are in it for the competition, or just to have a great time with your friends, beach volleyball can be very exciting and fun. You may even start out with friends and fall in love with the sport. | high2840.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Students who study hardest."
},
"options": [
"The king and the queen acted by students.",
"The laziest student in study.",
"The teacher who offers advice.",
"Students who study hardest."
],
"question": "Whose pr... | School is a place that is familiar to everyone. Let's find out what American students do in school.
An official dance party is held about twice a year in high schools in the United States. When the final football game is over for the season there is a homecoming party. Sometimes, students select a king from among the football players, and a queen from among the girls. Every student can attend and have fun with the help of their teachers. Sometimes, students, called bookworms, to the surprise of the other students, come to the party in a beautiful dress.
The most exciting party that students can go to would have to be a dance party. Students attend it in dresses similar to those of Hollywood stars and the atmosphere is comparable to an Oscar Award party. Since such a party is for seniors, students usually stay up the night trying to enjoy their last year in high school.
In American schools, instead of the teachers going to different rooms, students have their own class schedules and go to different classrooms. When a student is away from school, they must have an explanation for being away along with the signature of a parent. The signed paper is then handed in to the school office. High school drop outs and students being expelled are not that uncommon in the States. High absences without excuses are one of the reasons why students are expelled from school. American students also enjoy a number of activities out of school like cheerleading , student government and a host of different sports. | high23715.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "To prevent the students' road accidents."
},
"options": [
"To prevent the students' road accidents.",
"To relieve the traffic pressure.",
"To save time for the parents and students.",
"To help the parents save money."
... | A new plan for getting children to and from school is being started by a local government in Eastern England. This could end the worries of many parents fearful for their children's safety on the roads.
Until now the local government have only been prepared to provide bus services for children living more than three miles from their school, or sometimes less if special reasons existed.Now it has been decided that if a group of parents ask for help in organizing transport they will be prepared to go ahead, as long as the arrangement will not lose money and children taking part will be attending their nearest school.
The new plan is to be tried out this term for children living at Milton who attend Impington School.The children live just within the three-mile limit and the local government have said in the past that they will not agree to provide free transport to the school.But now they have agreed to offer a sum of money for a bus service from Milton to Impington and back, a plan which has the support of the school's headmaster.
Between 50 and 60 parents have said they would like their children to take part.Final calculations have still to be carried out, but a government official has said the cost to parents should be less than PS20 a term.
They have been able to arrange the service at a low cost because there is already an agreement with the bus company for a bus to take children who live further away to Impington.The same bus would now just make one more journey to pick up the Milton children.The official said they would get in touch with other groups of parents who in the past had asked if transport could be provided for their children, to see if they would like to take part in the new plan. | high605.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "By aching the subjects' hands while they are watching paintings."
},
"options": [
"By asking the subjects to listen to music.",
"By requiring the subjects to draw paintings.",
"By ordering the subjects to choose which picture... | The research carried out by the University of Bari in Italy could help clarify hospitals who are charged with wasting money on art and decoration as it suggests a pleasant environment helps patients overcome discomfort and pain.
A team headed by Professor Marina de Tommaso at the Neurophysiopathology Pain Unit asked a group of men and women to pick the 20 paintings they considered most ugly and most beautiful from a selection of 300 works by artists such as Lenoardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli. They were then asked to watch either the beautiful paintings, or the ugly paintings, or a blank panel while the team struck a short laser pulse at their hand, creating a sensation as if they had been hurt by a pin. The subjects rated the pain as being a third less intense while they were viewing the beautiful paintings, compared with when considering the ugly paintings or the blank panel.
Electrodes measuring the brain's electrical activity also confirmed a reduced response to the pain when the subject looked at beautiful paintings. While distractions , such as music, are known to reduce pain in hospital, Prof de Tommaso says this is the first result to show that beauty plays a part. The findings, reported in New Scientist, also go a long way to show that beautiful surroundings could aid the healing process.
"Hospitals have been designed to be functional, but we think that their aesthetic aspects should be taken into account too," said the neurologist. "Beauty obviously offers a distraction that ugly paintings do not. But at least there is no suggestion that ugly surroundings make the pain worse. I think these results show that more research is needed into how a beautiful environment can reduce suffering."
Pictures they liked included Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh and Botticellis' Birth of Venus. Pictures they found ugly included works by Pablo Picasso, the Italian 20th century artist Anonino Bueno and Columbian Fernando Botero. "these people were not art experts so some of the pictures they found ugly would be considered masterpieces by the art world," said Prof de Tommaso. | high7938.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "attitudes toward life"
},
"options": [
"body size",
"different beauty standards",
"culture difference",
"attitudes toward life"
],
"question": "The passage tries to highlight the importance of_.",
"question_... | For many years, I was convinced that my suffering was due to my size . I believed that when the weight disappeared, it would take old wounds , hurts and rejections with it .
Many weight-conscious people also mistakenly believe that changing our bodies will fix everything. Perhaps our worst mistake is believing that being thin equals being loved , being special , and being cherished . We fantasize about what it will be like when we reach the long-awaited goal .We work very hard to realize this dream . Then , at last , we find ourselves there .
But we often gain back what we have lost . Even so , we continue to believe that next time it will be different . Next time , we will keep it off . Next time , being thin will finally fulfill its promise of everlasting happiness , self-worth , and , of course , love .
It took me a long while to realize that there was something more for me to learn about beauty . Beauty standards vary with culture . In Samoa a woman is not considered attractive unless she weighs more than 200 pounds . More importantly , if it's happiness that we want , why not put our energy there rather than on the size of our body ? Why not look inside ? Many of us strive hard to change our body , but in vain . We have to find a way to live comfortably inside our body and make friends with and cherish ourselves . When we change our attitudes toward ourselves , the whole world changes . | high17498.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "can improve students' learning results"
},
"options": [
"helps school develop faster",
"is a key to a successful school",
"helps students go to a key school",
"can improve students' learning results"
],
"questio... | Reading is the key to school success and, like any skill, it takes practice. A child learns to walk by practicing until he no longer has to think about how to put one foot in front of the other. An excellent sportsman practices until he can play quickly, correctly and without thinking. Educators call it "automaticity ". www.ks5u.com
A child learns to read by sounding out the letters and finding the meaning of the words. With practice, he stumbles less and less, reading by the phrase . With automaticity, he doesn't have to think about the meaning of words, so he can give all his attention to the meaning of the text.
It can begin as early as first grade. In a recent study of children in Illinois schools, Alan Rossman of Northwestern University found that automatic readers in the first grade not only read almost three times as fast as the others, but also got better results in exams.
According to Rossman, the key to automaticity is the amount of time a child spends reading , not his IQ. Any child who spends at least 3.5 to 4 hours a week reading books, magazines or newspapers will probably reach automaticity. It can happen if a child turns off TV just one night for reading at home.
You can test yourself by reading something new which is suitable for your level. If you read aloud with expression, with a sense of the meaning of the sentences, you probably are an automatic reader. If you read brokenly, one word at a time, without expression or meaning, you need more practice. | high16786.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "skin dryness"
},
"options": [
"skin dryness",
"broken bones",
"complete blindness",
"liver cancer"
],
"question": "Lack of vitamin A can lead to _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answ... | Carrot juice, because of its many healthy benefits, is commonly called the "magic juice". It has been found that adding carrot juice to people's diets greatly improves their health. And its delicious taste makes it popular with all members of the family as a beverage.
Carrot juice is one of the richest sources of vitamin A that can be used in the daily diet. Lack of vitamin A can cause dryness and damage to the skin, nails and hair. Drinking carrot juice to increase the vitamin A in the diet is said to be good for many parts of the body, including the bones and teeth.
Drinking carrot juice is thought to be extremely helpful to the liver , because vitamin A helps to clean the liver and reduce fat in it. And it is suggested that drinking carrot juice should be done regularly, rather than just from time to time.
Drinking carrot juice is also thought to improve the eyesight because of the vitamin A in the juice. Lack of vitamin A can lead to night blindness, which can be very dangerous, especially when the person is driving a car. An easy way to find out if you are lacking in vitamin A is to walk from a bright room into a dark room. Your eyes may have some trouble in getting used to the change of light if you are lacking in vitamin A.
How can you make carrot juice? Wash some carrots well in cold water. Scrape them lightly, but do not peel them, as this will take away valuable vitamins and minerals that lie close to the skin. | high2868.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "18:00."
},
"options": [
"8:00.",
"12:00.",
"18:00.",
"22:00."
],
"question": "Which of the following is the best time to visit Plaka?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,... | Spoiled for choice? That's likely how you'll feel after a mere day in Athens. The secret is in not trying to do everything. Instead, take in a couple of the tourist highlights and then get a feel for this attractive capital.
An ancient sight
The Acropolis always comes out at the top of the list of things to see in Athens. The most famous of the western world's ancient sights continue to impress tourists as they climb the marble steps and stand before the graceful Parthenon. Views from up here are amazing.
A slow wander
Plaka is the city's oldest neighborhood, resting on the slopes of the Acropolis with cafs and fascinating architecture. The streets are perfect for getting lost in, giving wanderers the chance to discover cafs and bars where they can down some strong coffee among locals. Plaka is at its best in the early evening. Acropolis House Pension is a preserved 19thcentury house that gives guests a glimpse into a Greek home.
A market scene
Varvakios Agora is Athens' central market. Locals come here to shop and look for everything needed in a Greek kitchen -- from olive oil to meat. This is a look at local life as well as a window into Greek cuisine. The meat market is also home to some of the city's best pubs, feeding traditional food to crowds of customers from all walks of society.
A splash of nightlife
Athenian nights are filled with music, dancing and dining. Perivoli Tou Ouranou is a club with a strong atmosphere. Filled with the sounds of violins and guitars pelting out traditional blueslike music, it's sad but also beautiful and lively. | high13826.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "talk to make her better understand your situation"
},
"options": [
"stick to your own opinion until she accepts it",
"talk to make her better understand your situation",
"have someone else involved to change her mind",
... | A funny thing about mums is that they always want what is best for their children. Many parents still find themselves worrying when they can't be there to watch over their children, which in turn leads them to be overprotective. Of course, the funny thing about teenagers is that they often feel _ by overprotective parents, but powerless to make their parents believe that they are really fine and can care for themselves. ks5u
In your situation, it might do a world of good to simply sit down with your mum and thank her for caring enough about you. Then let her know that she is worrying needlessly because you aren't involved in any dangerous activities like drinking, using drugs and smoking. Then it is possible to arrive at conclusions that you both feel comfortable with.
If you and your mum cannot reach any conclusion, then you might suggest having someone else become involved in your discussions. That will let your mother know that you are serious about this subject. However, you should recognize that you will probably have to compromise on something, so don't expect to be able to tell your mother how you'd like the future to be and expect her to go along with it without question!
Finally, you might also consider asking your friends how they deal with overprotective parents. There might be something specific in your school or neighborhood that is making parents feel worried about their teenagers. The more you can understand your environment, the more you will know how to prove to your mum that you are safe within it. Try to remember that this is the key to the issue--your mum just wants you to be safe. If you can keep that in mind, you will solve the problem properly. | high22423.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "1 a.m."
},
"options": [
"1 p.m.",
"2 p.m.",
"6 a.m.",
"1 a.m."
],
"question": "The accident perhaps happened at _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
... | A military train carrying soldiers has derailed south of Egypt's capital Cairo, killing at least 19 people and injuring more than 100, officials say.
The train was travelling to an army camp in Cairo when it came off the tracks in the Badrashin area of Giza.
It is not yet known what caused the accident.
Egypt's roads and railways have a poor safety record. Last November 50 children died after a train crash into their school bus.
Both the transport minister and the head of the railway authority were forced to resign as a result of the crash, which took place in November near Manfalut, 350km south of Cairo.
Investigations later showed the barriers at the crossing were not closed because the signal operator had fallen asleep.
Monday's incident occurred as the army train was heading from Upper Egypt into Cairo.
Reports say more than 1,300 passengers were aboard the train when the accident happened shortly after midnight.
The passengers wounded in the accident have been taken to hospitals, the governor of Giza said.
An eyewitness told BBC Arabic that he saw two dozen dead bodies at the scene of the accident.
The latest incident could increase the pressure on the government to deal with the safety of trains, the BBC's Said Shehata reports from Cairo.
Four years ago, some 18 people were killed and dozens injured in an accident crash between two passenger trains in the Giza area.
And in 2002, a train caught fire in Cairo, killing 373 people. | high24052.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "How taking selfies influences people's daily lives."
},
"options": [
"The definition and fun of taking selfies.",
"A study of why people love taking selfies.",
"How taking selfies influences people's daily lives.",
"How... | "A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smart phone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website" is the definition of "selfie" in the Oxford English Dictionary. In fact, it wasn't even in the dictionary until August of last year. It earned its place there because people are now so obsessed with (......) selfies - we take them when we try on a new hat, play with our pets or when we meet a friend whom we haven't seen in a while.
But is there any scientific explanation for this obsession? Well, you should probably ask James Kilner, a neuroscientist at University College London.
Through our lifetime we become experts at recognizing and interpreting other people's faces and facial expressions. In contrast, according to Kilner, we have a very poor understanding of our own faces since we have little experience of looking at them - we just feel them most of the time.
This has been proved in previous studies, according to the BBC.
Kilner found that most people chose the more attractive picture. This suggests that we tend to think of ourselves as better-looking than we actually are. To further test how we actually _ our own faces, Kilner carried out another study. He showed people different versions of their own portrait - the original, one that had been edited to look less attractive and one that was made more attractive - and asked them to pick the version which they thought looked most like them. They chose the more attractive version.
But what does it say about selfies? Well, isn't that obvious? Selfies give us the power to create a photograph - by taking it from various angles, with different poses, using filters and so on - that better matches our expectations with our actual faces.
"You suddenly have control in a way that you don't have in non-virtual interactions," Kilner told the Canada-based CTV News. Selfies allow you "to keep taking pictures until you manage to take one you're happy with", he explained. | high13198.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "less suicides by gun"
},
"options": [
"a good gun control",
"less suicides by gun",
"less shop robbery",
"a sharp fall of gun sales"
],
"question": "A long waiting time to buy in California has led to _ .",
... | Anyone who wants to buy a gun in California will have to wait for 2 weeks. Four people waited for 15 days to buy guns. Then they robbed a store and shot 3 people .
Congress is now trying to pass a law that will make everyone wait to buy a gun. Many people do not want this law. Others are glad it might happen. California is one of the longest waiting times for someone to buy a gun. A gun dealer said that this waiting time does not seems to do much good.He has not seen crime go away because of it.
One good thing that has happened with the waiting time to buy a gun is a smaller number of suicide . a lot of suicides are with a gun. In California, there are less suicides by gun than in other places. One reason to make people wait to buy a gun is to make sure the guns are not sold to criminals . Last year, this check stopped 2,400 guns from being sold to criminals. This check does not stop anyone else from buying a gun.
Many criminals buy guns on the street and not in a store... some people think that a law like this will not do any good.But other people think that if only one person is stopped from getting a gun, then this law is worth it. | high9083.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "positive"
},
"options": [
"negative",
"positive",
"neutral",
"realistic"
],
"question": "The author's attitude towards women having a career is_.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {... | In our culture, the sources of what we call a sense of "mastery" - feeling important and worthwhile - and the sources of what we call a sense of "pleasure" - finding life enjoyable - are not always the same. Women often are told "You can't have it all." Sometimes what the speaker really is saying is: "You chose a career, so you can't expect to have closer relationships or a happy family life." or "You have a wonderful husband and children--What's all this about wanting a career?" But women need to understand and develop both aspects of well-being, if they are to feel good about themselves.
Our study shows that, for women, well-being has two dimensions. One is mastery, which includes self-esteem, a sense of control over your life, and low levels of anxiety and depression. Mastery is closely related to the "doing" side of life, to work and activity. Pleasure is the other dimensions, and it is composed of happiness, satisfaction and optimism. It is tied more closely to the "feeling" side of life. The two are independent of each other. A woman could be high in mastery and low in pleasure, and vice versa . For example, a woman who has a good job, but whose mother has just died, might be feeling very good about herself and in control of her work life, but the pleasure side could be damaged for a time.
The concepts of mastery and pleasure can help us identify the sources of well-being for women, and remedy past mistakes. In the past, women were encouraged to look only at the feeling side of life as the source of all well-being. But we know that both mastery and pleasure are critical. And mastery seems to be achieved largely through work. In our study, all the groups of employed women rated significantly higher in mastery than did women who were not employed.
A woman's well-being is enhanced when she takes on multiple roles. At least by middle adulthood, the women who were involved in a combination of roles-marriages, motherhood, and employment were the highest in well-being, despite warnings about stress and strain. | high22345.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Red Lion was the name of a bar."
},
"options": [
"Willington was the name of a relative.",
"Red Lion was the name of a bar.",
"News of the World was a TV program.",
"Store-house is a place to feed the cows."
],
... | June came and the hay was almost ready for cutting.On Midsummer's Eve, which was aSaturday, Mr.Jones went to Willington and got so drunk at the Red Lion that he did not comeback till midday on Sunday.The men had milked the cows in the early morning and then hadgone out rabbiting, without bothering to feed the animals.When Mr.Jones got back, heimmediately went to sleep on the living-room sofa with the "News of the world" over his face,so that when evening came, the animals were still not fed.At last, they could stand no longer.
One of the cows broke into the door of the store-house with her horns and all the animalsbegan to help themselves to the grains.It was just then that Mr.Jones woke up.The nextmoment he and his four men were in the store-house with whips in their hands,whipping in all directions.This was more than the hungry animals would bear.Together,though nothing of the kind had been planned beforehand, they jumped upon their masters.
Jones and his men suddenly found themselves being struck with horns and kicked from allsides.The situation was quite out of their control.They had never seen animals act like thisbefore, and this sudden uprising of creatures whom they were used to beating andwhipping just as they chose frightened them.After only a moment or two, they gave up tryingto defend themselves.A minute later all five of them were in full fright down the road, with theanimals running after them joyfully. | high12286.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Twenty"
},
"options": [
"More than forty",
"Over twenty",
"None",
"Twenty"
],
"question": "_ of Pei's structures have won awards.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer... | On this vivid planet, it appears color1ful with many world famous buildings. Among these largest artificial articles in the world, many were designed by the same architect--Ieoh Ming Pei.
Pei, the 1983 Laureate of the Pritzker, Architecture Prize, is a founding partner of I. M. Pei & Partners based in New York City. He was born in China in 1917, the son of a banker. He came to the United States in 1935 to study architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Harvard Graduate School of Design (M. Arch. 1946).
From 1945 to 1948, Pei taught at Harvard. In 1948 he accepted the newly created post of director of Architecture at Webb & Knapp, Inc., and this association resulted in major architectural and planning projects in big cities. In 1958, he formed the partnership of I. M. Pei & Associates, which became I. M. Pei & Partners in 1966. The partnership received the 1968 Architectural Firm Award of The American Institute of Architects.
Pei has designed over forty projects in the world, twenty of which have been award winners. His outstanding projects have included the East Building of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library near Boston; the Fragrant Hill Hotel near Beijing, China.
Pei is now a member of the National Council on the Arts, and before served on the National Council on the Humanities. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is a member of the Corporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
As a student, he was awarded the MIT Traveling Fellowship, at Harvard. He later won a lot of honors. In 1982, the deans of the architectural schools of America chose I. M. Pei as the best designer of significant non-residential structures. | high20552.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "ad"
},
"options": [
"ab",
"ac",
"bc",
"ad"
],
"question": "According to the passage, the new trend to name a child includes all below EXCEPT _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
}
] | According to a handful of studies, a name not only reveals clues about a person's class, education and ethnic origin, it can also influence the bearer of the name and the choices they make in life.
Scientists have even drawn conclusions to suggest that people are often drawn to things and people that sound like their own names. These experts claim that 'implicit egotism' is the reason that someone called Dennis might become a dentist or even that a child whose name begins with a B or C may perform worse in school examinations.
That a person's name may be bound to his or her destiny is far from a new phenomenon. The Ancient Romans promoted the concept 'nomenest omen', meaning 'name is destiny.' Studies have indeed shown that those with more conservative names are more successful when applying for a job. And a recent survey conducted in Australia revealed that people respond more warmly to colleagues and politicians with names they can easily pronounce.
Yet parents nowadays are putting that much more effort into giving their children original names that are largely unfamiliar. Though historically names from the Bible have been passed down through families, in recent days the tendency has been to think outside the box and consider movies, songs and stories for inspiration. When Britney Spears rose to fame the slightly altered Brittaney became wildly popular among new parents and recently, thanks to the Twilight series, Isabella has made a comeback. One study found that 30 percent of African American girls born in California during the 1990s were given unique names that they shared with not a single person born in the same year in the same state.
Dr Martin Ford of George Mason University, however, believes a name does not stand for much. He explained to The Week: 'Names only have a significant influence when that is the only thing you know about the person. Add a picture, and the impact of the name weakens. Add information about personality, motivation, and ability, and the impact of the name shrinks to minimal significance.' | high21894.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "There is sharp difference between England and America despite their common language."
},
"options": [
"There is sharp difference between England and America despite their common language.",
"Both England and America speak the commo... | The playwright George Bernard Shaw once said humorously, "England and America are two nations divided by a common language. If he were writing today, he might add 'divided by a common technology--- e-mail'".
Two completely different styles of e-mail have formed on either side of the Atlantic-Euromail and Amerimail. Americail is informal and chatty. It's likely to begin with a "Hi" and end with a "Bye". The chances of Amerimail containing a smiley face or an "xoxo" are disturbingly high. We Americans are unwilling to dive into the meat of an e-mail. We feel we have to first inform recipients about our vacation on the island which was really excellent except the jellyfish were biting and the kids caught a cold, so we had to skip the whale watching trip, then about that investors ' meeting in New York. Amerimail is a bundle of contradictions, casual and yet direct, respectful yet over proud. In other words, Amerimail is America.
Euromail is stiff and cold often beginning with a formal "Dear Mr. X" and ending with a simple "Sincerely". You won't find any mention of kids or the weather or jellyfish in Euromail. It's all business. It's also slow. Your correspondent might take days even weeks to answer a message. Euromail is exactly like the Europeans themselves.
Recently about 100 managers were asked on both sides of the Atlantic whether they noticed differences in e-mail styles. Most said yes. Here are a few of their observations:
"Americans tend to write (e-mail) exactly as they speak."
"Why don't you just call me instead of writing five e-mails back and forth?"
"Europeans are less interested in checking e-mail".
"In general, Americans are much more responsive to e-mail--they respond faster and provide more information."
So which is better, Euromail or Amerimail? I realized it's not popular these days to suggest we have anything to learn from Europeans, but I'm fed up with an inbox filled with casual, barely meaningful e-mails from friends and colleagues. If the alternative is a few earnestly written, carefully worded bits of Euromail, then I say, "Bring it on." | high10491.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "a heavy blow"
},
"options": [
"a heavy blow",
"a white lie",
"an unforgettable lesson",
"a ridiculous experience"
],
"question": "From the first part of the story we can get to know that the son's problem was ... | Relax. He is the same little boy you loved yesterday. I smiled trying to hold back the tears. "No, he isn't. Yesterday I dreamed he would be an astronaut. Today I am hoping he will learn to talk."
It was like some sort of cosmic joke. I could still recall the day that determined my fate. It was October in Ottawa and the summer breezes had given way to the autumn rainfall of leaves. The snow would begin soon. The crispness of coming frost was in the air. My casually mentioning Wyatt's behavior to Dr. Martin aroused his worries. He started asking me questions about Wyatt's activities speech pattern and emotions. I still see clearly in my mind the cleanness of the room and all its belongings when the doctor turned to me and said, "He almost sounds autistic ."
I couldn't face that picture in my mind. I had to run to get away from this all too painful place that was reminding me of what was to be my child's life-being strange.
I could not remember how many times I told myself, "This is normal. He is a little boy who is not talking yet," when my asking questions met with his blank-eyed response in a restaurant; how many times I would tell myself, "He loves to play on his own for hours at a time and he never gets into trouble," when Wyatt was playing games that no one else could imagine, let alone join in while other boys in the park were playing together or in small groups played around a sand pail or toy truck. My life was changing direction. So was Wyatt's.
I started to hide Wyatt from my friends and neighbor especially from a good friend. It was too painful to let others know about my boy acting strange.
It was a Thursday afternoon and I found one half of a great pair of kitchen scissors was missing. They were unbelievably sharp and could be taken apart so they could be washed or the blades sharpened. I knew Wyatt had taken the missing blade.
"Wyatt," I began as patiently as I could, "Do you see this?" I held up the blade. "Do you know what this is?"
Wyatt put a bunch of Fruit Loops in his mouth. No response.
"Wyatt!" I forced eye contact with him. "Where are the other scissors? See these." I showed him the half pair.
He smiled big. Ate Fruit Loops. Turned the TV on and off. Still no response.
I didn't know what to do. It was really hard. "Wyatt," I tried once more, "Mommy wants these scissors. Can you go get them for Mommy? It will make Mommy so happy if you bring me the scissors."
"Watch Spongebob." Wyatt asked as he slid down from his kitchen stool and ran off, leaving me shaking my head and wondering in exactly which way this situation was going to end badly.
Five minutes later, I turned my head to see Wyatt coming downstairs, his favorite doll in one hand, the missing half pair of kitchen scissors in the other. I immediately ran over and took it from him.
"Wyatt!" I hugged him. "Thank you for bringing me the scissors! Good job! You did it! These scissors need to stay in the kitchen. These are Mommy's scissors!"
Wyatt laughed, looked at me straight in the eye and said, "Mommy so happy!"
I came close to tears. A realization dawned on me that he was the best gift I had ever gotten even though he was not as normal as other children. And why did I hide him from others as if he were some dark and terrible secret. No! He was my pride. It was a long, hard battle to get him to this point, expressing his wants and needs without turning to violence in embarrassment. With love and patience I have found the beautiful, happy boy who would teach me more about life.
And that is the solution. | high5875.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "whose parents can't afford extras"
},
"options": [
"who are from middle-class families",
"whose parents can't afford extras",
"who perform poorly at school",
"whose weekends are mostly free"
],
"question": "The ... | Poorer children would be offered the chance to attend lessons on Saturday to help catch up with their middle-class peers , the shadow schools secretary, Michael Gove, said today.
The Conservatives would give English state schools the freedom to choose to have longer teaching hours and extra classes at the weekend; he told the Association of Teachers and Lecturers' annual conference.
Gove said the move would help to close the achievement gap with richer children whose parents could afford extras such as tutoring and music lessons.
He told delegates in Manchester, "For children who come from homes where parents don't have the resources to provide _ and cultural experiences, there are benefits in having those children in the learning environment, in school, for longer."
"Parents would love to have schools starting earlier in some circumstances, and certainly going on later in the afternoon, given the reality of their working lives," he said. He held up the example of Kipp (Knowledge Is Power Program) schools in the US, which are often based in the poorest communities and open from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, plus Saturdays.
But it would be up to schools to decide to offer longer hours, Gove added.
Parents said Saturday classes could become a "badge of dishonor" if pupils were forced to go while teachers raised concerns about their workload.
Margaret Morrissey, of Parents Outloud, said, "I think the suggestion the government made about one-to-one teaching for these kids would be a more preferable way of improving these children's performance. I'm just not sure whether taking away a child at weekends is actually going to make them cleverer in the week."
The ATL's general secretary, Mary Bousted, said, "If we want Saturday schools, then we need more teachers doing the extra hours, not the same teachers working longer." | high21658.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "mentally healthy people are not as popular as physically healthy people"
},
"options": [
"some people don't have the skill to make good decisions",
"the world of the physically healthy people is controlled by mysterious forces",
... | Everyone knows we must exercise regularly to maintain good health. Indeed, staying physically fit is a big part of our culture. We consider (and rightly so) that healthy people are attractive people. Since most of us want to be attractive,there is no shortage of exercise clubs , training videos, magazines , and books offering to help us stay physically fit. .
Unfortunately,however,our culture does not place the same emphasis on mental fitness. Although we admire and love men and women with strong and healthy-looking bodies, we don't have the same degree of respect or attraction for smart, educated and mentally healthy people. This is a shame, because there are immense rewards for people who have developed the ability to think well.
If your mind is well trained and flexible , you will be able to understand a great deal of what happens around you. And if you are also well educated---that is,if you understand basic science, mathematics, music, art, literature, history and so on---you will find it much easier to make good decisions throughout your life. Over the long run, _ leads to a sense of control over your destiny and a much better life than otherwise.
People who are poorly educated or who don't think well--- that is,people who are not mentally fit see things differently. Their world is controlled by mysterious, but often malevolent forces. Such people live within a system they will never master, forced to follow the rules they will never understand. Although it may not be obvious , most people spend their lives being manipulated by others. They are told what to do , what to think, how to spend their money , and what they should and should not aspire to in life.
In my opinion, if you want to live well, you must be able to use your mind wel1. For this reason, I want you to be able to concentrate, solve problem, understand complex ideas, and think clearly and quickly. Such skills will make it easier for you to make informed decisions,understand current events,choose good friends, manage your money well, make wise long-term decisions, and appreciate music , art and literature.
The key to developing such skills is to enjoy learning, and to have the ability and motivation to teach yourself. | high20546.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "making a comparison"
},
"options": [
"asking a surprising question",
"giving proper examples",
"imagining a situation",
"making a comparison"
],
"question": "The professor tells a lesson by _ .",
"questio... | A mental professor walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they'd be asked the "half empty or half full" question. Instead, with a smile on her face, she inquired : "How heavy is this glass of water?"
Different answers called out from the audience.
She replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralyzed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn't change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."
She continued, "The stress and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralyzed--incapable of doing anything."
It's important to remember to let go of your stress. As early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down. Don't carry them through the evening and into the night. Remember to put the glass down!
Comments
Aye Chan Aung---October 27, 2015 at 11:37 am
Short but valuable! It has clearly taught me how to deal with stress.
Nelson Malicdem--October 28, 2015 at 8:23 pm
Wow! Thanks to the author and to the one who submitted this article. I am experiencing a challenge, as I read this it gives me peace. What exactly is in the article is what I am doing. My burden actually paralyzes me without my knowing it. I should put down the glass of water that I'm holding. Thank you so much! | high11943.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Not all aged Bees and humans have difficulty finding their way to new home."
},
"options": [
"The Aged Bees and humans always lose their ways",
"Not all aged Bees and humans have difficulty finding their way to new home.",
"M... | It is not just humans that get stuck in their ways. Scientists have discovered that old bees have trouble finding their way to new hives as their learning behavior becomes increasingly inflexible.
Bees are typically impressive navigators, able to wind their way home through complex landscapes after visits to flowers far removed from their nests. But researchers from Arizona State University and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences found that aging damages the bees' ability to extinguish the memory of an unsuitable nest site even after the group has settled in a new home.
To test how old bees adapt to a changed home location, researchers trained bees to a new nest box while their former nest was closed off. Groups composed of mature and old bees were given several days in which to learn the new home location and to extinguish the bees' memory of their unusable former nest box. The scientists then tore down the bees' new home and forced groups of mixed-age bees to choose between three alternative nest locations, including the former nest box.
Old bees began flying toward the former nest site, despite the experience that should have told them that it was unusable. "Although many old bees fail in learning tasks, we also discovered that a few still perform with excellence," explains Daniel Minch, lead author of the study and a senior life sciences researcher in Norway.
The scientists believe that their findings with bees offer a new means to model and understand the variability found in brain function between individuals, where some individuals' memories remain complete, while others' learning behavior becomes inflexible with age. | high21880.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Her husband has passed away."
},
"options": [
"She is totally blind.",
"She can not dress herself any more.",
"She is 92 years old.",
"Her husband has passed away."
],
"question": "Which is the direct reason for... | This story is about a 92-year-old, short, well-behaved and proud lady. She is fully dressed each morning by eight, with her hair fashionably done and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is totally blind. She is moving to a nursing home today. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.
After many hours of waiting patiently in the hall of the nursing home, she moved to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window."I love it," she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old girl having just been presented with a new puppy.
"Mrs. Jones, you haven't seen the room yet. Just wait." "That doesn't have anything to do with it," she replied. "Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged, it's a decision I make every morning when I wake up."
"I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away, just for this time in my life. Old age is like a bank account, you withdraw from what you've put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories. Thank you for your part in filling my memory bank. I am still depositing." | high10485.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "the disease is spreading fast in Africa"
},
"options": [
"about 60000 people died of the disease each year",
"about 60000 people were cured of the disease each year",
"600 million people are likely to get infected",
"th... | Scientists say they have discovered a promising treatment for sleeping sickness, a killer disease that infects about 60,000 people in Africa a year.
British and Canadian experts say drugs could attack the parasite causing the illness needs to survive. They say the drug could be ready for human medical test in about 18 months.
The disease, spread by the bite of a fly, is caused by a parasite attacking the central nervous system. It has similar symptoms to malaria , making it difficult to diagnose. Left untreated, it moves to the brain, resulting in mental confusion and final death
The "breakthrough" came at the University of Dundee in Scotland, where scientists were offered money to research diseases ignored by major drugs companies.
Professor Paul Wyatt, director of the programme, said: "This is one of the most significant findings made in recent years in terms of drug discovery and development for ignored diseases."
He said the research, published in the journal Nature, represented "significant progress" in the development of a full blown drug against the disease.
The World Health Organization said there are between 50,000 and 70,000 cases of the disease a year, with a further 60 million people at risk of infection.
The research in Dundee was _ by partners at the University of York in England and the Structural Genomics Consortium in Toronto, Canada. The two drugs currently available to treat sleeping sickness both have problems. One is with side effects that kill one in 20 patients and the other is costly, only partially effective and requires long-time hospital treatment, the scientists said. | high9097.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "It is a way to express one's ideas without words."
},
"options": [
"It is a special language used in a few countries in the world.",
"It is a way to express one's ideas without words.",
"It is only used by the deaf.",
"... | There is one language that is used in every country in the world. The people who use it are young and old, short and tall, thin and fat. It is everybody's second language. It is easy to understand, although you can't hear it. It is sign language.
When you wave to a friend who is across the street, you are using sign language. When you smile at someone, you are saying, "I want to be friendly", but you are not using speech. You are using body language. When you raise your hand in class, you are saying, "Please ask me. I think I know the correct answer."
Babies who can't talk can point at things. They are using sign language. A policeman who wants to stop traffic holds up his hands. He is using sign language.
Many years ago, a French priest, Charles Michel de Epee, became interested in education for deaf people. He invented a finger alphabet . It is still in use. People can make the sign for letters and spell words with their hands, and deaf people can read and understand them. Soon there were schools for the deaf in many countries. The only university for the deaf is Gallaudet College in Washington, D.C.
Today, in the United States, there are special TV news programs for deaf people. The newsreader tells the news in sign language. At the same time, the words appear on the TV screen.
The actors in the Theatre of Deaf don't spell every word. Sometimes they use hand signs. When they put two hands together, it means sandwich. They can make a roof with their hands when they want to show a house. One finger in front of an actor's mouth can mean quiet. You can talk to people who are behind windows that are closed. And when you go swimming with your friends, you can have conversations under water.
How many hand signs do you use every day? | high8389.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "how he was inspired to get the idea of creating a video before death"
},
"options": [
"the app is out of date now",
"smartphones are better tools to make videos",
"it is not convenient to make a video with the app",
"ho... | If you could leave a farewell video for your loved ones that they'd see only if you died, would you do it? I think I would.
I read about an app that helps people create a video to be published on a social-networking site only after death. Of course you don't need an app since it's easy to make your own video with smartphones, laptops and computers. But how many people do you know who would actually go ahead and leave "If I die" footage ?
My father died unexpectedly on Christmas Eve three years ago and I've since longed for one more time to talk to him and hear his voice. Imagine if he had left such a video. I would see him again, hear his laughter and benefit from his parting words and advice.
I don't think people, unless they have a terminal illness, go through life thinking they'd better leave a video in case of an _ death. But it is an opportunity to say all the things you want to say before it's too late.
Still, some say that such a video robs loved ones of their own memories of you. Any special images they have would be superimposed by the video image you've created. Others think it's scaring and might be tempting fate.
I expect my video would consist of reminders to my children: Be safe; be[:++Z+X+X+K]mindful of your surroundings; exercise good judgment; speak up; it never hurts to ask; don't waste time and "call when you get there". And in addition, I would repeat what I always tell them: I need to know where you are, every-step-of-the-way. That would make them laugh.
Readers, would you find comfort in knowing you've said your farewells and left something concrete for your loved ones? What messages would you leave for family and friends? | high12292.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "he didn't want others to know he had a disabled father"
},
"options": [
"he was pitiful for his father's disability",
"it was easy for them to walk together",
"he didn't want others to know he had a disabled father",
"h... | When I was growing up, I was unhappy to be seen with my father. He was disabled and quite short. He used to walk together with me and his hand was on my arm for balance. At this time, people would look at us strangely. I was afraid to look at others but he never cares.
It was difficult to _ our steps -- his slow, mine impatient. But each time, he always said, "You set the pace, I'll follow you."
He never talked about himself as a disabled man and nor did he envy other people's good fortune or health. What he looked for in others was a "good heart" -- a good heart in man.
Now that I am older, I believe that is a right standard to judge people, even though I still don't know exactly what a "good heart" is. But I know the times when I don't have it. Unable to take part in many activities, my father still tried to participate in some way. When I played ball, he "played" it too. When I joined the Navy, he "joined" too. He often introduced me, saying "This is my son, but it is also me, and I could have done this if things had been different."
He has been gone many years, but I am so sorry for my unwillingness to walk with him. I never told him how I regretted it. I think of him often when I complain about small affairs and when I don't have a "good heart ". At such times, I want to put my hand on his arm and say, "You set the pace, I'll try to follow you. " | high9929.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "They constantly worry about losing their job."
},
"options": [
"They have to do more work since then.",
"They have no chance to find better jobs.",
"They have to work with inexperienced workers.",
"They constantly worry... | It is a familiar scene these days: employees taking newly laidoff coworkers out for a drink for comfort. But which side deserves sympathy more, the jobless or the still employed? On March 6, researchers at a conference at the University of Cambridge heard data suggesting it's the latter.
Brendan Burchell, a Cambridge sociologist, presented his analysis based on various surveys conducted across Europe. The data suggest that employed people who feel insecure in their jobs show similar levels of anxiety and depression as those who are unemployed. Although a newly jobless person's mental health may "bottom out" after about six months, and then even begin to improve,the mental state of people who are continuously worried about losing their job "just continues to get worse and worse," Burchell says.
Evolutionary psychologists support this theory by arguing that human beings feel more stress during times of insecurity because they sense an immediate but invisible threat. Patients have been known to experience higher levels of anxiety, for example, while waiting for examination results than knowing what they are suffering from -- even if the result is cancer. It's better to get the bad news and start doing something about it rather than wait with anxiety. When the uncertainty continues, people stay in a nonstop "fight or flight" response, which leads to damaging stress.
But not every employee in insecure industries has such a discouraging view, Burchell says. In general, women get on better. While reporting higher levels of anxiety than men when directly questioned, women scored lower in stress on the GHQ 12, even when they had a job they felt insecure about losing. As Burchell explains, "For women, most studies show that any job -- it doesn't matter whether it is secure or insecure -- gives psychological improvement over unemployment." Burchell supposes that the difference in men is that they tend to feel pressure not only to be employed, but also to be the primary breadwinner, and that more of a man's selfworth depends on his job. | high13832.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "age"
},
"options": [
"age",
"personalities",
"ways to set life goals",
"voices"
],
"question": "Esther Lau and Joanne Tseng have the same _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | Does being one of the younger students mean you have more of an excuse to make mistakes?
The Taiwanese pop duo Sweety, both 18 years old, will never do _ .
Starting to sing at age 14,Esther Lau and Joanne Tseng were among the youngest performers in their company.Over the years, they have learnt to be strict with themselves.
"No one forces us,but we have to work very hard to get to the top," they said."The early bird gets the worm."
Recently,they have brought their new CD, "Sweet Talk" to Beijing.Their songs are as sweet as their honey looks.
Although their voices go together well,they have different personalities.Esther is outgoing,while Joanne looks shy.
They also have different ways to set life goals."I have to make short-term goals and realize them one by one," said Esther.
But Joanne said she sets longer goals."I like to keep one final goal in my heart and work hard to reach it," she says.
Esther studies English at a college.She hopes to be a teacher someday.
Joanne says she has got a business mind from her father.Perhaps she'll be a boss someday! | high22437.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "They cause physical pain."
},
"options": [
"They cause physical pain.",
"They bring comfort to them.",
"They make their vision clearer.",
"They float around and cause trouble."
],
"question": "What effect do tea... | Being an astronaut sounds cool, doesn't it?In space, they get to do some pretty amazing things, like floating in zero gravity.
However,there are also plenty of things that astronauts can't do because of their weightless environment, and that's very sad. What's worse, they can't even let their sadness show--because it's impossible to cry in zero gravity.
Of course, astronauts can still produce tears. But crying is much more difficult in space,reported The Atlantic in January. Without gravity, tears don't flow downward out of the eyes like they do here on Earth. This means that when you cry in space, your tears have nowhere to go--they just stick to your eyes.
In May 2011, astronaut Andrew Feustel experienced this during one of his spacewalks."Tears," he said, "don't fall off your eye... They just kind of stay there."
Besides making your vision unclear, this can also cause physical pain. Back on Earth, tears are supposed to bring comfort to the eyes.But that's not the case in space.The space environment dries out astronauts' eyes, and when tears suddenly wet the eyes, it can cause pain rather than comfort. "My right eye is painful like crazy." Feustel told his teammate during the walk.
Since gravity doesn't work in space, astronauts need some extra help to get rid of the tears.Feustel chose to rub his eyes against his helmet to wipe the tears away. Another choice is to just wait--"When the tears get big enough they simply break free of the eye and float around,"astronaut Ron Parise told The Atlantic.
There are lots of small things--things like crying--that we are so used to on Earth. We usually take them for granted, until they become a problem in a totally different environment,like space. There, astronauts can't talk to each other directly. They also can't eat or drink in normal ways. They can't even burp , because there is no gravity to hold the food down in their stomach. If they do burp, they just end up throwing up everything in their stomach,according to the UK National Space Center.
Thus, perhaps it's only space explorers who can honestly say:"Gravity, you're the best." | high14185.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Napoleon"
},
"options": [
"Ancient Romans",
"Hitler",
"Napoleon",
"Austrians"
],
"question": "Who had a major effect on \"keep-right\" traffic law?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
}
] | It remains a curiosity and a bit of a historical mystery why we don't all drive on the same side of the road. The fact is that most people are right-handed; that's why, for much of history, drivers have stuck to the left. Ancient Romans using two-wheeled carriages are believed to have held the reins with their right hands and a whip with their left; to avoid whipping the near drivers, they favored the left-hand side the road. It's also easier for right-handers to get on a horse from the left, so riders were attracted to that side to avoid the near traffic as they climbed on and off. Finally, knights and the other drivers favored the left so they could do battle, if necessary, with their good hand.
So why does most of the world travel on the right side today? Theories differ, but there's no doubt Napoleon was a major influence. The French have used the right since the late 18th century. Some say that before the French Revolution, people in upper class drove their carriages on the left, forcing the _ to the right. During the violence, fearful rich people sought to mix with the peasantry by traveling on the right as well. Regardless of the origin, Napoleon brought right-hand traffic to the nations he conquered, including Russia, Switzerland and Germany. Hitler, in turn, ordered right-hand traffic in Czechoslovakia and Austria in the 1930s. Nations that escaped right-handed conquest, like Great Britain, kept their left-handed tradition. | high7904.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Changing patterns in spending."
},
"options": [
"Changing patterns in spending.",
"Changes in family planning.",
"Decrease in food demand.",
"Increase in family income."
],
"question": "What is the subject discu... | In the United States ,the biggest change in spending has been in the amount spent on food ,which has decreased from 46% of the total family budget in 1901 to 19% of present day totals .This is due to the fact that people are now able to buy more and better foods at lower prices. As a result of the growth in fast-food restaurants (for example, McDonad's or KFC), more people are also eating out. Thus about 30% of today's food budget goes on meals eaten outside the home while a hundred years ago it was only 3%.
At the beginning of the 20th century, few people owned their homes (only around 19% of working families )and cars (at $ 1,000 per car this was well above the average family income of $ 650 per year) , as most people were unable to borrow money. But there was a rapid rise in both home and car ownership during the mid-1900s.
Free time increased considerably following the shortening of the working week, i. e. from six days to five ,and from ten hours to eight hours a day. In fact, the working day couldn't be too long, otherwise people wouldn't have the time to spend their money. The amount of a family's budget spent on outside entertainment ,such as parties, films and concerts has increased from just under 6% in Ford's day to about 9% today. On the other hand, we spend only a quarter of what our great-grandparents paid for reading materials.
It is difficult to see how our spending patterns may change in the future. We already know that our population is aging and this will have an effect on the amount of money we spend on medical care. | high24046.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "$414"
},
"options": [
"$128",
"$256",
"$207",
"$414"
],
"question": "The return tickets from his hometown to Quito cost the author _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"... | There are two ways to save money traveling. The first way is to get _ on the specific things you want. There is a limitation to this type of approach (,) though. If you find the lowest price on the best hotel in Honolulu at the height of the season, you will save money, but still have a very expensive vacation. Trying to get exactly what you want will generally be an expensive proposition, in travel and in life.
The other approach is to be a true opportunist. This will be difficult for some of you, and entirely unacceptable to others. Nonetheless ,the travelers who get to travel the most, go to the widest variety of places, learn the most and do the most, are the opportunists. This will be true until you are so wealthy that you have no monetary (;)limits.
The first time I went to Ecuador, I went there because it was cheap. If it wasn't, I would have had a great time--somewhere else. The trip lasted a month, and cost $1045, which included airfare and even the $130 fee for a guide to take me to the top or glacier covered Mount Chimborazo.
I cut the cost by taking a bus from my home in Michigan to Miami, and back again when I returned from Ecuador. The round-trip ticket cost $158. The round-trip flight to Quito from Miami was only $256, because it was a courier (,) flight, which meant I signed for some luggage(car parts), and could only take carry-on luggage.
Never did I feel deprived, or bored. I had a great time, eating wherever it was cheap and clean, doing all sorts of inexpensive, but interesting things, and traveling across the country to climb Chimborazo. I also met and fell in love with my wife Ana.
Being an opportunist means you'll have just as much variety, and probably almost everything you want--eventually. You just have to stop trying to get exactly what you want exactly when you want it. If the guide that took me up Chimborazo hadn't dropped his price from $200 to $130, I would have spent $2 for a bus and gone hiking on EI Altar, another great Andean mountain. That would have left me with enough money for several other minor adventures. | high639.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Older people should try to understand the thoughts and feelings of youth."
},
"options": [
"It is unfortunate that so much attention is being paid to young people in the United States.",
"Older people should try to understand the t... | American Youth
Millions of words have been written about young people in the United States. There are reasons for this great interest in the ideas, feelings, and actions of youth.
Today there are about seven million Americans in colleges and universities. Young persons under twenty-five _ nearly half of the American population. Many of these will soon be in charge of the nation. Naturally their ideas are important to everyone in the country, and it is necessary for older people to understand what they think and feel.
College students today have strong opinions about right and wrong. They are deeply interested in making a better life for all people, especially for those who have not been given a fair chance before now. They see much that is wrong in the lives of their parents. It is hard for them to see what is right and good in the older ways. As a result, there is often trouble in American families. Your country may be meeting such problems, too. | high20220.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The passage doesn't mention it"
},
"options": [
"Most bosses feel it unnecessary",
"Most workers didn't work hard enough.",
"This was not what the staff want",
"The passage doesn't mention it"
],
"question": "Wh... | It is often said that politeness costs nothing.In fact,it seems that a little more courtesy could save businessesPS5 billion every year.
Frequently hearing the phrase "thank you" or "well done" means the same to staff as a modest pay rise,researchers say.
Praise and encouragement also makes employees more likely to work hard and stay in their jobs,saving on the cost of finding replacements.
A third of 1,000 workers surveyed by consulting firm White Water Strategies said they did not get thanked at all when they did well--and a further third said they were not thanked enough.
In both cases,staff said they felt undervalued,meaning they were less likely to exert themselves and were more likely to look for employment elsewhere.
The net result is around PS5.2 billion in lost productivity from employees who would raise their game if they felt more appreciated,White Water claimed According to the company,praising staff has the same motivational kick as a 1 per cent pay rise--and works out much cheaper for bosses.
Three out of four employees said that regular acknowledgement by their boss was important to them,but only a quarter said they were actually given as much praise as they felt they needed.
The survey found that those in blue-collar and manual jobs were less likely to be given any recognition for doing well.
In regional terms,Scottish staff felt most undervalued.Four out of ten workers said they were never thanked and eight out of ten said they would like more praise.However,workers in the North-East are less impressed by being buttered up by the boss,as only 69 per cent said they felt the need to be told "well done"regularly.
Older employees and women need the most reassurance,according to psychologist Averil Leimon,a director of White Water Strategies.She said that words of praise did more than create a pleasant place to work--they could even boost profits. | high16792.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "She felt happy to meet the author."
},
"options": [
"She was trying to be polite.",
"She felt happy to meet the author.",
"She had no much time to go to the cinema.",
"She had the habit to do so when going out."
],
... | It was a long time since I visited my mother last time. The demands of my work and my three children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally. That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie. She thought about it for a moment, and then agreed.
That Friday after work, I drove over to pick her up. When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as beautiful as an angel's.
We went to a very nice and comfortable restaurant. After we sat down, I had to read the menu. A smile was on her lips."It was I who used to have to read the menu when you -were a child," she said. "Then it's time that you relax and let me return the favor," I responded.
During the dinner we had an agreeable conversation-nothing special but catching up on recent events of each other's life. We talked so much that we missed the movie. As we arrived at her house later, she said,"I'll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you." I agreed.
A few days later my mother died of an unexpected heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn't have a chance to do anything for her. At that moment I understood the importance of saying "I love you" in time and giving our loved ones the time that they deserve. Nothing in life is more important than your family. Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put off till "some other time". | high18967.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "can't be used to pay taxes"
},
"options": [
"includes shipping fees",
"will be mailed to buyers",
"can't be used to pay taxes",
"needs to be cashed at banks"
],
"question": "The voucher mentioned in the passage ... | Money off your rented textbooks from TextbookRental. ca
Offer details
*Pay online
*Limit l voucher per person,may buy 5 more for others
*Shipping is extra(average$6,return shipping included)
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*Taxes extra
High spots
*Save up to 75%on every textbook
*Rent books by the semester
*past shipping
*Buyback program for your old books
*Make a great gift
Keeping school expenses low i s important. Get a better bargain on academic supplies
with today's WagJag:for$10,receive$25 towards rental textbooks from TextbookRental ca.
TextbookRental. cahelps students continue with their study while saving precious money for other purposes. The site contains books in all academic fields--arts,sciences,business,education and more. Once you find your desired textbooks,complete the easy checkout process and your course materials will be shipped to your dorm or home. Discounts on each single book vary but can save you up to 75%. After the semester finishes,mail back your books(free of marking,stains or other damage),using the included prepaid return envelope. The site's l5-day return policy 1ets you send unneeded books back for a refund.
Centered in Toronto,TextbookRentaL ca has delivery places across the country to make sure students from Victoria to St. John's get their textbooks in a timely fashion. The site also lets students save a little money by buying their previously purchased used textbooks.
If you're not happy with your purchase,let us know why and we'll give you a full refund. Seriously, it's that simple!
TextbookRental. ca
Contact WagJag--WagJag Business Hours are Monday--Friday 9:00 am to 7:00 pm.
E-mail:info@wagiag. com Phone:416-687-5848
Toll free :1-855-492-4524 Fax:1-866-268-4286 | high20977.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Berlin, Amsterdam, London."
},
"options": [
"Delhi, Berlin, Paris.",
"Berlin, Amsterdam, London.",
"Athens, London, Berlin.",
"Amsterdam, Bangkok, Delhi."
],
"question": "Where are rickshaws becoming more popula... | They once seemed more at home on the busy streets of Asia like Delhi, Calcutta and Bangkok but cycle powered rickshaws can now be seen taking people across town in many European cities. Many people believe that rickshaws are a good way of experiencing a city close-up, while also cutting down on traffic jams and pollution. In Berlin, one of the first cities to introduce this new model of transport, more than 200 bike-taxis go along at 15km per hour, past many tourist attractions and city parks.
"It is completely environmentally friendly; we have new models with an engine to help the driver up the hills but they use renewable energy." said a spokesman for VELOTAXI, the leading rickshaw company which has carried a quarter of a million people this year.
While the city still has 7,000 motor-taxis, rickshaw company officials say their taxis' green ideas, speed and safety make them more than just a tourist attraction. While now increasingly out of fashion in Delhi, Berlin people have eagerly accepted the new fleet since their launch in 1997.
"It's better than a taxi, better than a bus, better than the train," said ULF Lehman, 36, as he leapt out of a rickshaw near the world famous Brandenburg gate. "It feels so free."
" _ ," said another traveler.
In Amsterdam, driver Peter Jancso said people like to be driven around in his bright yellow rickshaw and pretend to be a queen in a golden carriage. "I like my passengers to feel important," he said as he dropped off another passenger. Another visitor noted how cheap it was compared with a normal taxi.
Although increasingly popular in Europe, it is the opposite in India, where hand-pulled rickshaws are considered inhuman and a symbol of India's backward past.
Nearly 500 bike-rickshaws are running in London and are not required to pay the city's road tax but things may change as other taxi drivers complain of unfair treatment. | high4982.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Unintended"
},
"options": [
"Theoretical",
"Practical",
"Unintended",
"Planned"
],
"question": "What does the author think of John Kerry's statement at a press conference in London last Monday?",
"question_t... | What seemed like an unplanned comment about Syria's chemical weapons had a major effect on world events this week. American Secretary of State John Kerry spoke last Monday at a press conference in London. He was reacting to questions about possible American action to answer a chemical weapons attack believed to be likely in Syria. One reporter asked the secretary whether there is anything Syria's president can do to avoid an American military strike.
"Sure, he can turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international society in the next week."www.ks5u.com
Mr. Kerry made it clear that he was speaking theoretically, and did not expect anything like that to happen.
But Russia seized on the idea and persuaded Syria to do the same. That brought plans for American congressional votes on military action to a halt. President Obama has said he would accept a diplomatic settlement if it can be carried out. But that would likely take weeks, at least.
Mr. Obama has said the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must be punished for breaking the nearly century old ban on the use of chemical weapons. He called for American action to prevent future use of chemical weapons in Syria. He suggested limited airstrikes on government targets. The airstrikes could happen quickly if Congress approves.
Joanna Kidd is a security expert with London's King's College. She says any move to place Syria's chemical weapons under international control would take a long time, if it could be done at all. | high17103.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "is a color1ful one"
},
"options": [
"is made of cotton",
"is a color1ful one",
"has accompanied her for more than 40 years",
"always reminds her of Ray Smith"
],
"question": "The author's favourite quilt _ ."... | My favourite quilt is always on my bed. Even in warm weather.
It is not a large quilt but very beautiful: made up of many brightly color1ed woolen squares of every imaginable color1--red, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, cream.
From the start, I loved this quilt. Just to look at it is to feel comforted. How many years have passed since my mother gave the quilt to me and my husband Ray Smith? I can only guess: thirty years? thirty-five?
The beautiful little quilt in all the color1s of the rainbow has followed me from one house to another. The same bed, in different bedrooms in different houses in different periods of my life.
In this most recent period, the quilt is laid on my bed in a house in Princeton, New Jersey, into which I moved in 2009. My mother visited this house. When she'd visited Ray and me in my former home, less than five minutes from this house, Mom had always helped out in the garden; we would garden together, and we would prepare meals together, while my father, a gifted amateur pianist, played my piano in the living room.
Whenever my parents came to visit us, my mother would bring gifts for us: mostly items she had knitted, or sewn. For years, I wore dresses and jackets my mother had sewn. There is nothing so comforting as wearing clothes your mother has sewn or knitted for you.
In February 2008 when my husband was in hospital, and after he died unexpectedly a week later, often I lay in bed too exhausted to move, beneath the rainbow-color1ed quilt. The bed became my shelter, and my "nest". My mother's quilt made me realize how love lasts in the most comforting way.
We desire comfort, but comfort can come to us from only a few sources. I know that I have been very fortunate. I never stop giving thanks to my wonderful parents who gave me their love, for this quilt on my bed, as special and beautiful in 2013 as it was in the late 1970s. | high18230.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "has to practice for two months"
},
"options": [
"M.",
"begins training at 6",
"has to practice for two months",
"needs to practice for 7 days a week"
],
"question": "If Joe joins the Summer Swim Team, he _",
... | Joe is interested in getting exercise and competing on a team. He reads about the events at the local pool and finds the perfect activity.
Swimming Programs
Summer Swim Team
Join a Summer Swim Team and compete with other swimmers! The program is offered at eight different local pools for youths to 17 years old. The season runs June 21--August 21. Practices are daily (Monday through Friday) throughout the summer. The championship meet is August 21. Cost: $50.00
Pools & Practice Times
Buckman 2-3 P.M. Montavilla 8-9 A.M.
Creston 7-9 A.M. Peninsula 4-7 P.M.
Dishman 8-9 A.M. Pier noon-1 P.M.
Grant 8-10 A.M. Sellwood 7-9 A.M.
Junior Swim Instructor
Two weeks, 20 hours of instruction, two hours per day for children 11-14 years old. Pre-training for youths interested in becoming swim instructors($45 per child)
Two weeks, 30 hours of instruction, three hours per day for children 11-14 years old. Pre-training in lifeguarding, and customer service ($45 per child)
Junior Swim Instructor & Junior Lifeguard Training Dates
June 28-July 9 August 9-August 20
June 12-July 23 August 23-September 3
June 26-August 6
Special Offer
Anyone who takes part in both junior swim instructor and junior lifeguard programs at the same time need only spend $75 instead of $90 for 50 hours of training.
Register Online
You can now register online! Visit our website at http://www.example.com You can choose an area of town, a specific local center, a program, or search for classes which can meet the needs of students of different ages. Just visit our website, and you're on your way! | high5444.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "It is based on Pradhan's idea."
},
"options": [
"It will be fitted on the trains.",
"It is based on Pradhan's idea.",
"It can turn electricity into light.",
"It was invented by an Indian scientist."
],
"question... | Researchers around the world have been trying their hand at making better use of the huge amount of wind energy available in nature to produce clean energy. Apart from this, studies are being carried out to harness usable wind energy produced by man-made technologies.
One useful source identified by Indian inventor Santosh Pradhan about two years ago is a speeding train, which produces fierce wind that can be transformed into electricity.
According to Pradhan's proposal, with a few small improvements in existing trains running in Mumbai, the largest city in India, at least 10,000 megawatts of electricity could be harvested each day.
Building on this principle, designers Ale Leonetti Luparinia and Qian Jiang from Yanko Design have created a device called T-Box that harnesses wind energy from speeding trains.
T-Box can be placed within the railway tracks. It is half-buried underground between the concrete sleepers , which does not disturb the normal train operating at all. According to Yanko, around 150 T-Boxes can be fitted along a 1,000-meter railway track.
A train running at a speed of 200 kph can produce winds blowing at 15 miles a second. Based on this calculation, 150 T-Boxes can produce 2.6 KWH of electricity per day. The T-Box's design won a silver medal in last year's Lite-On Awards and was exhibited last summer at the Xue Xue Institute in Taipei, Taiwan Province.
Though the figures look impressive, it is important to remember that the design is still at a conceptual stage and hasn't taken into account issues such as pieces of waste material produced by the device and the efforts and costs involved in the maintenance of the device.
We can expect the technology to see the light of the day only after it clears these issues. If so, rail travel, one of the greenest forms of travel, will become greener and more energy-efficient. | high13365.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "People hold mixed opinions about science."
},
"options": [
"People think highly of science.",
"People hold mixed opinions about science.",
"Science is getting dangerously out of control.",
"Science is used for both good... | A recent study, while showing a generally positive attitude toward science, also suggests a widespread worry that it may be "running out of control". This idea is dangerous.
Science can be a force for evil as well as for good. Its applications can be channeled either way, depending on our decisions. The decisions we make, personally or collectively, will determine the outcomes of science. But here is a real danger. Science is advancing so fast is so strongly influenced by businesses that we are likely to believe whatever decisions we come to will make little difference. And, rather than fighting for the best possible policies, we may step back and do nothing.
Some people go even further. They say that despite the moral and legal objections , whatever is scientifically possible will be done ----somewhere, sometime. They believe that science will get out of control in the end. This belief is dangerous too, because it a fuels sense of hopelessness and discourages them from making efforts to build a safer world.
In our interconnected world, the lack of agreement in and of the world of science can lead to the failure to control the use of science. Without a common understanding, the challenges of "controlling" science in this century will be really tough. Take human cloning for example. Despite the general agreement among scientists on its possible huge impact on traditional moral values, some countries still go ahead with the research and development of its related techniques. The outcomes are hard to predict.
Therefore, discussions on how science is applied should be extended far beyond scientific societies. Only through the united efforts of people with hope, can we be fully safe against the misuse of science and can science best serve mankind in the future. | high8160.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "\"Since 1968\""
},
"options": [
"\"Since 1968\"",
"\"24 Hours 7 Days Service\"",
"\"56568822\"",
"\"268 Pine Street 5"
],
"question": "Which shows New York P & H (Plumber & Heating) has been in business for a lo... | NEW YORK PLUMBING & HEATING
Since 1968
Plumbing and Heating Fixing
LARGE OR SMALL
24 Hours 7 Days Service
Tel: 56568833
268 Pine Street 5
Avenue | high15714.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "American colleges and universities will take in part-time students equally"
},
"options": [
"students in colleges and universities will be much older",
"full-time students in colleges and universities will be even younger",
"... | When we hear the words "college students", we usually think of a young person between 18 and 22 years old. But in the U.S.A today, a college student often is much older. In fact, educators say in the next few years colleges and universities may have more older part-time students than traditional full-time younger students.
Educators report a big increase in the number of Americans who attend college and university classes in the evening or at night or weekends. Most of them are older than 25 years old and more have full-time or part-time jobs. Many are in their thirties or forties.
Why are so many people deciding to spend their time and money in order to continue their education? Most are doing it because they believe more education will help them to get a better job. Some are industrial workers whose factories have closed. They are learning new skills to prepare for other kinds of work. Some of the part-time students are not pleased with the jobs they have. They are studying for new ones. Some have retired and are looking for new kinds of work. Two of every three of the students older than 35 are women. Many of them are returning to school after years of staying at home to care for children.
Are older students good students? Most teachers say yes. They say older students really want to learn. They ask difficult questions and are not pleased with simple answers. They often get high grades. | high7535.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "they wish to escape from cold, dark and rainy days"
},
"options": [
"they want to see historic remains",
"they wish to escape from cold, dark and rainy days",
"they would like to take pictures in front of famous places",
... | People travel for a lot of reasons. Some tourists go to see battlefields or other historic remains . Others are looking for culture, or simply want to have their pictures taken in front of famous places. Most European tourists are looking for a sunny beach to lie on.
Northern Europeans are willing to pay a lot of money for the sun because they have so little of it. People of cities like London, Copenhagen and Amsterdam spend much of their winter in the dark because the days are so short, and much of the rest of the year are in the rain. This is the reason why the Mediterranean has always attracted them. Every summer many people travel to Mediterranean resorts and beaches for their vacation. They all come for the same reason: sun!
The huge crowds mean lots of money for the economics of Mediterranean countries. Italy's 30, 000 hotels are booked without a break every summer. And 13 million people camp out on French beaches, parks, and roadsides. Spain's long sandy coastline attracts more people than anywhere else. 37 million tourists visit there yearly, or _
But there are signs that the area is getting more tourism than it can deal with. The Mediterranean is already one of the most polluted seas on earth. None of these, however, is ruining anyone's fun. Obviously, they don't go there for clean water. They allow traffic jams and seem to like crowded beaches. They don't even mind the pollution. No matter how dirty the water is, the coastline still looks beautiful. And as long as the sun shines, it's still better than sitting in the cold, rainy in Berlin, London, or Oslo. | high8606.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "prevent the passengers' idleness"
},
"options": [
"prevent the passengers' idleness",
"help invent the concept of standard time",
"show the railroad company's consideration",
"follow the ancient tradition of New York Ci... | For a commuter rushing to catch a train, a minute can mean the difference between dinner with the family and leftovers in the microwave. What most passengers don't realize is that their minute is already there.
Every commuter train that departs from New York City -- about 900 a day -- leaves a minute later than scheduled. If the timetable says 8:14, the train will actually leave at 8:15. In other words, if you think you have only a minute to get that train -- well, relax. You have two.
The courtesy minute, in place for decades and published only in private timetables for employees, is meant as a grace period for those who need the extra time to get off the platform and onto the train.
"If everyone knows they get an extra minute, they're going to waste time doing unimportant things," explained Marjorie Anders, a spokeswoman for the Metro-North Railroad. Told of this article, Ms. Anders laughed. " _ !" she said.
Entirely hidden from the riding public, the secret minute is an odd departure from the railroad culture of down-to-the-second accuracy. The railroad industry helped invent the concept of standard time, and time zones were established in the United States in the 1880s, 35 years before they were written into law. And most commuters know their train by the precise minute it departs. The trains quickly make up the minute: at all other stops, the public timetable prevails. The phantom minute does not exist at commuter railroads in Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, or San Francisco. But in New York, the secret minute dates back decades.
"That's been done forever, from my knowledge," said Jack Swanberg, 70, an unofficial historian of Metro-North. "I was the trainmaster starting in 1970 and I'm sure it's been the case since 1870 for all I know." | high15072.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "an increasing number of animals are killed in road accidents."
},
"options": [
"wild animals have become more dangerous.",
"the driving conditions have improved greatly.",
"the measure for protecting wildlife fails to work.",... | Do you still remember the funny question: why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side.
Most people know this joke. But recently, some people have been much more concerned with how the grizzly bear and mountain lion can cross the road.
Millions of animals die each year on US roads, the Federal Highway Administration reports. In fact, only about 80 ocelots , an endangered wild cat exist in the US today. The main reason? Road kill.
"Ecopassages" may help animals cross the road without being hit by cars. They are paths both over and under roads. "These ecopassages can be extremely useful, so that wildlife can avoid human conflicts," said Jodi Hilty of the Wildlife Conservation Society.
But do animals actually use the ecopassages? The answer is yes. Paul Beier of Northern Arizona University found foot marks left by mountain lions on an ecopassage that went under a highway. This showed that the lion used the passage.
Builders of some ecopassages try to make them look like a natural part of an area by planting trees on and around them. Animals seem _ . Animals as different as salamanders and grizzly bears are using the bridges and underpasses.
The next time you visit a park or drive through an area with a lot of wildlife, look around.
You might see an animal overpass! | high22806.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The little girl bought the Poknemon toys for him."
},
"options": [
"His father bought him the Poknemon toys.",
"Fortunately, he was the hundredth customer and won the Poknemon toys.",
"The cashier felt sympathy for the little... | I was doing some Christmas shopping in a toy store and decided to look at Barbie dolls for my nieces. A nicely dressed little girl was excitedly looking through the Barbie dolls as well. As she was looking, a little boy came to the Pokemon toys. He was dressed neat-ly, but his clothes were obviously old. He was with his father as well, and kept picking up the Pokemon video toys. Each time he picked one up and looked at his father, his father shook his head and said,"No. "
The little girl had chosen her Barbie. However, she stopped and was watching them. Rather dejectedly, the boy had to give up the Pokemon toys and choose something else. The little girl put her Barbie back on the shelf, and ran over to the Pokemon toys. She excitedly picked up one and raced towards the checkout. I picked up my purchases and got in line behind them. Then, much to the little girl's delight, the little boy and his father got in line behind me. After the toy was paid for and bagged, the little girl handed it back to the cashier and whispered something in her ear. The cas her smiled and put the package under the counter.
I paid for my purchases and was rearranging things when the little boy came up to the cashier. The cashier checked his purchases and said," Congratulations, you are my hundredth customer today, and you win a prize !" With that, she handed the little boy the Pokemon toys, and he could only stare in surprise. It was exactly what he had wanted ! The little girl and her father had been standing at the doorway during all of this. Then they walked out. As I walked back to my car, I heard the father ask his daughter why she had done that. I'll never forget what she said to him. "Daddy, didn't grandparents want me to buy something that would make me happy?" He said,"Of course they did, honey. " To which the little girl replied," Well, I just did !"
I feel very shocked to have witnessed the true spirit of Christmas in that toy store, in the form of a little girl who understands more about the meaning of this festival than most adults I know. | high9518.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "he worries about the future of science education."
},
"options": [
"he worries about the future of science education.",
"the top scientists have not noticed the problem until recently.",
"the UKhas lost the ability to train s... | The teaching of physics in schools is in danger of dying out unless urgent action is taken to deal with a serious lack of teachers, the government is warned today.
The number of students taking physics at A-level has fallen 38% since 1990, according to a research. At the same time the number of mew physics teachers has dropped sharply while the shortage is likely to worsen as older teachers retire.
prefix = st1 /Britain's leading scientists and engineers expressed alarm over the findings, which they say are part of the problems in science education generally. Lord May of Oxford, president of the Royal Society, theUK's National Academy of Science, said, "The problems facing science at A-level are well beyond physics. We have over and over again noted the general downward trend of students studying the sciences beside biology and math at A-level. If we fail to deal with this then we may lose the ability to train the next generation of scientists, technologists and engineers."
Alan Smithers and Pamela Robinson, who did the research in 432 schools and colleges inEnglandandWales, said that since 1990, the number of physics students had fallen by 38%, from 45,334 to 28,119. Nearly 10% of state schools now do not offer A-level physics, and of those that do 39.5% had five students or fewer taking it this year.
Over the same period, the research discovered, the number of people who are allowed to become physics teachers dropped from about a third of the science total to 12.8%. The supply of physics teachers is not _ itself, with nearly twice as many aged over 50 as 30 or younger. Another danger is the redefinition of science subjects to "general science".
Professor Smithers and Dr Robinson warn that the subject is in danger of dying out in schools." Physics in schools and colleges is at risk through redefinition and lack of teachers with expertise in the subject," they said. "If physics is to survive in schools, both as basic education and as a platform for higher level study and research, there is a need for immediate action." | high17665.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "she was careless when driving"
},
"options": [
"it was rather dark then",
"she didn't use her headlights",
"there was much traffic",
"she was careless when driving"
],
"question": "The writer didn't notice the o... | The sun was just coming up when I headed out to work last May at 6 a.m. Not quite dark but dark enough to need my headlights. I turned onto one of the lonely rural country roads.
Maybe it was because I was listening to the radio, maybe it was because I was already thinking about some projects at work, that I didn't spot the dark object on the road until I was too late. I ran over it and felt the back left tire pull, and then sink. I stopped and got out of the car.
No mystery here---- my back left tyre was cut like a loaf of bread. Back 50 yards was a piece of sharp iron I had run over. I had never changed a tyre. I looked up the road. Not a car in either direction. The nearest service station was miles away. I threw up my hands. Then I remembered---- my cell phone! I powered it up before realizing, I didn't know who to call.
Wouldn't you know it, I spotted a car coming from the opposite direction. The driver slowed as he approached. I guessed he could see I was in trouble. He stopped his car, got out and immediately saw the trouble. "Madam, would you like me to change that tyre for you?" he asked. The man couldn't have been more friendly. I was frightened out there and he put me completely at ease. "There," he said, after putting on the spare, "you are all set to go."
"Good thing for me that you were driving this way," I told him, as I climbed back into my car.
"Funny you should say that," he said. "Just like you, I was heading to work, but my job is in the opposite direction. I made a wrong turn at some point. I don't know what I was thinking." | high5322.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The cupping marks on his back."
},
"options": [
"His great leadership.",
"His scars on his back.",
"The cupping marks on his back.",
"His achievements he made in the men's 200rn butterfly."
],
"question": "What ... | The Spotlight in Rio
Phelps puts spotlight on cupping Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps fed American swimmers to 8 gold medals in the 4x100-meter relay, but what grabbed media attention and led to stories and photos around the globe were the purple and red circles on his back.
Michael Phelps of the USA is seen with red cupping marks on his shoulder as he competes during the 2016 Rio Olympics men's 200m butterfly in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil , Aug 8,2016 .
Chinese swimmer Fu Yuanhui goes viral
China's women's swimmer Fu Yuanhui has created a hit online not just by winning the bronze medal in the 100m backstroke competition, but also by her facial expressions during the post semi-final interview with China Central Television (CCTV) on Monday .
When asked whether she held back for the final, Fu replied, "No, I used my 'prehistorical power'.What she meant was that she had spared no efforts in the semi-final.Since then, the so-called "prehistorical power" has gone viral and become a new Internet meme.
Britain wins first Olympic diving gold in men's synchronized 3m springboard( 3 )
Britain's Jack Laugher and Chris Mears ended China's gold medal monopoly over diving events at the Rio Olympics by winning the men's synchronized 3m springboard final On Wednesday, the country's first-ever Olympic gold medal in diving .
Laugher and Mears finished with a six-round total of 454.32 points, just 4.11 points ahead of silver medallists Mike Hixon and Sam Dorman of the USA at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Center.China's Cao Yuan and Qin Kai took the bronze with 443.70 points. | high19648.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Google."
},
"options": [
"Yahoo.",
"Google.",
"Page.",
"Brin."
],
"question": "Which of the following wins greater customer satisfaction?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index"... | Watch out, Yahoo.There's a search engine out there with super speed and accuracy.It's really cool.
Google is the Web's largest search engine.In just two years it has gained a fame for surprising speed and accuracy, sending exactly what you're looking for in a second.The site now does this 40 million times a day--a number achieved without spending a penny on a TV or newspaper ad.
Google doesn't need them. In the past six months alone, the site has won a Webby (the online version of the Oscar) for technical excellence, sets a new record for search engines by indexing a billion Web pages.
Yahoo still has 10 times the audience, but Google consistently ranks first in customer satisfaction: 97% of users find what they're looking for most or all of the time."You see people smile when they use it, like they've found something no one else knows about," says Danny Sullivan, editor of an online newsletter.
No one is smiling more than Larry Page, 27, and Sergey Brin, 26, who seem certain to become billionaires when the company goes public, probably sometime next year.They make a great comedy.When they first met as PhD students, the pair say, they found each other horrible--"I still find him horrible," adds Brin--but were driven together by a computer science project aimed at coming up with better ways of searching the Web.
The idea behind Google is that traditional search engines are stupid.They think the connection is based on repetition; if you type in a request for Tiger Woods, say, you'll get websites listed according to how many times those words appear.Not only is this no guarantee of quality, but it's also open to bad use.If you own a Tiger fan site and want to lead more people to it, simply type his name thousands of times in the site's source code. | high17671.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "gerontology has suddenly become popular"
},
"options": [
"America has suddenly become a nation of old people",
"more elderly professors are found on American campuses",
"gerontology has suddenly become popular",
"Americ... | For an increasing number of students at American universities, Old is suddenly in. The reason is obvious: the graying of America means jobs. Coupled with the aging of the baby-boom generation, a longer life span means that the nation's elderly population is bound to expand significantly over the next 50 years. By 2050, 25 percent of all Americans will be older than 65, up from 14 percent in 1995. The change brings many problems for government and society, of course. But it also creates career opportunities in medicine and health professions, and in law and business as well. "In addition to the doctors, we're going to need more sociologists, biologists, urban planners and specialized lawyers," says Professor Edward Schneider of the University of Southern California's (USC) School of Gerontology .www.zxxk.com
Lawyers can specialize in "elder law" which covers everything from trusts and estates to nursing-home abuse and age discrimination. Businessmen see huge opportunities in the elder market because the baby boomers, 74 million strong, are likely to be the wealthiest group of retirees in human history. "Any student who combines an expert knowledge in gerontology with, say, an MBA or law degree will have a license to print money," one professor says.
Margarite Santos is a 21-year-old senior at USC. She began college as a biology major but found she was "really bored with bacteria." So she took a class in gerontology and discovered that she liked it. She says, "I did volunteer work in retirement homes and it was very satisfying." | high5336.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "travel a lot in their cars"
},
"options": [
"spend a lot of money traveling by car",
"travel a lot in their cars",
"seldom travel by plane",
"use public traffic often"
],
"question": "We can learn from this pass... | Cars are an important part of life in the United States. Without a car most people feel that they are poor. And even if a person is poor , he doesn't feel really poor when he has a car.
Henry Ford was the man who first started making cars in large numbers. He probably didn't know how much the car was going to change American culture. The car made the United States a nation on wheels. And it helped make the United States what it is today.
There are three main reasons why the car became so popular in the United States. First of all, the country is a big one and Americans like to move around it. The car makes the travel the most comfortable and cheapest. With a car people can go to any place without spending a lot of money.
The second reason cars are popular is the fact that the United States never really developed a practical and cheap public travel system. Long distance trains have never been as common in the United States as they are in other parts of the world. Now there is a good system of air-service provided by planes. But it is too expensive to be used often.
The third reason is the most important one, though. The American spirit of independence is what really made cars popular. Americans don't like waiting for a bus, or a train or even a plane. They don't like to have to follow an exact timetable. A car gives them the freedom to plan their own time. And this is the freedom that Americans want most to have.
Less oil has caused a big problem for Americans. But the answer will not be a bigger system of public transportation. The real answer will have to be a new kind of car, one that does not use so much oil. | high2459.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Depend on the government for a living."
},
"options": [
"Depend on the government for a living.",
"Be treated badly in most workplaces.",
"Ask the government for more dole.",
"Spend more time on job hunting."
],
... | When American soldiers return home from war with disabilities, they often suffer twice -- first from their combat injuries, next from the humiliation of government dependency.
Wounded veterans learn they have two basic choices: They can receive almost $3,000 a month in disability benefits along with medical care and access to other various welfare programs, or they can try to find a job. Especially in this economy, it's no wonder that many find that first option hard to turn down.
Mark Duggan, an economics professor at Stanford University, reports that enrollment in U.S.veterans' disability programs rose from 2.3 million in 2001 to 3.9 million in 2014. The percentage of veterans receiving benefits doubled, from 8.9% in 2001 to 18% in 2014. Disability services for veterans now consume $59 billion.
In the 1980s and 1990s, male veterans were more likely to be in the labor force than nonveterans. But since 2000, that has changed dramatically. Now there is a 4% gap between veteran and nonveteran labor participation, with veteran participation lower.
Navy SEAL Eric Greitens, founder of The Mission Continues, explains how soldiers who served their country are transformed into welfare receivers who live off their country.
"When veterans come home from war they are going through a tremendous change in identity,"he says."Then the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, and others, encourage them to view themselves as disabled."By the time they come to Greitens' non-profit organization,"We meet a number of veterans who see themselves as charity cases and are not sure anymore what they have to contribute."
There are also more practical factors driving the disability boom. One is the expansion of qualification criteria. In 2000, for instance, type 2 diabetes was added as a disability because of evidence linking exposure to Agent Orange with the onset of the disease. Heart disease has also been added to the list.
Another possible factor is that younger veterans seem less against welfare than their parents' generation. Veterans who have served since the 1990s are much more likely to sign up for disability than their older counterparts; 1 in 4 younger veterans is on disability versus just 1 in 7 of those over age 54.
We shouldn't go back to the bad old days when veterans were afraid to admit weakness. But Lt.Col.Daniel Gade is one of many veterans who think our disability system is harmful, psychologically, to former soldiers. Gade lost his leg in combat in 2005 and now teaches at West Point. He recently gave a talk to disabled veterans at Ft. Carson, in which he urged them to rejoin the workforce.
"People who stay home because they are getting paid enough to get by on disability are worse off,"he warned."They are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. They are more likely to live alone."
What a waste of human potential, especially since most veterans on disability still have their prime working years ahead of them when they're discharged .
We could solve this problem by changing the way we view -- and label -- veterans with disabilities. As Gade noted in a recent article,"Veterans should be viewed as resources, not as damaged goods."He recommended that"efforts to help veterans should begin by recognizing their abilities rather than focusing only on their disabilities, and should serve the ultimate aim of moving wounded soldiers to real self-sufficiency."
On a more practical note, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs could reallocate resources to spend more on job training and less on disability. Current placement programs are sadly inadequate.
We are good at sending soldiers off to war. Yet when these young men and women return home, they are essentially told,"We'll give you enough for a reasonably comfortable life, but we won't help you find a job."
It is unreasonable that we are condemning thousands of young veterans who served their country to life on the dole rather than enabling them to reenter the workforce with the necessary accommodations. | high19884.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "girls aren't confident in some areas as they becomes older"
},
"options": [
"girls are considered to be clever than boys",
"girls are considered to be more foolish than boys",
"girls aren't confident in some areas as they bec... | On April twenty-second, some American children stayed out of school but they were not punished. They were with their parents. As Faith Lapidus tells us, it was Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.
The Ms. Foundation for Women started the program seventeen years ago, in 1993. At first it was just called Take Our Daughters to Work. Gloria Steinem and other foundation leaders pointed to studies showing that self-image suffers as girls become teenagers. They can lose trust in their abilities and intelligence, especially in areas like science, math and technology. So the Ms. Foundation planned a day for parents in New York City to show girls all the possibilities for them in the professional world. But there was so much interest, the organizers decided to make it national.
At first, girls mostly followed their mom or dad around at work to learn about their jobs. Later, employers and schools began to offer organized activities. But from the beginning there were protests from parents and others about the exception of boys. So in 2003 the day was renamed Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work.
2007 was the last year that the Ms. Foundation for Women headed the program. Now, the event is run by a twelve-person group called the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Foundation.
The event is connected with Mattel, the company that makes Barbie dolls.
Carolyn McKecuen is president of the foundation. She says a total of about thirty-three million children and adults are involved in the program. About one-third of the adults work at large companies or nonprofit organizations. Another third are in small businesses. The rest work in education.
Carolyn McKecuen says the numbers from this year's event are not final yet. But early reports suggest that participation was up at least ten percent from last year. And she says the foundation is hoping to find support to expand the program internationally. She says there are lots of requests from other countries for information about how to set up similar programs. | high11200.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "she missed the only train back home"
},
"options": [
"her work delayed her trip to Sydney",
"she missed the only train back home",
"the town was far away from Sydney",
"she was going home for her holidays"
],
"q... | In 1978, I was 18 and was working as a nurse in a small town about 270 km away from Sydney, Australia. I was looking forward to having five days off from duty. Unfortunately, the only one train a day back to my home in Sydney had already left. So I thought I'd hitch a ride .
I waited by the side of the highway for three hours but no one stopped for me. Finally, a man walked over and introduced himself as Gordon. He said that although he couldn't give me a lift, I should come back to his house for lunch. He noticed me standing for hours in the November heat and thought I must be hungry. I was doubtful as a young girl but he assured(...) me I was safe, and he also offered to help me find a lift home afterwards. When we arrived at his house, he made us sandwiches. After lunch, he helped me find a lift home.
Twenty-five years later, in 2003, while I was driving to a nearby town one day, I saw an elderly man standing in the glaring heat, trying to hitch a ride. I thought it was another chance to repay someone for the favor I'd been given decades earlier. I pulled over and picked him up. I made him comfortable on the back seat and offered him some water.
After a few moments of small talk, the man said to me, "You haven't changed a bit, even your red hair is still the same."
I couldn't remember where I'd met him. He then told me he was the man who had given me lunch and helped me find a lift all those years ago. It was Gordon. | high4028.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "doing what other people do"
},
"options": [
"listening to skilled people's advice",
"asking older people many questions.",
"making mistakes and having them corrected",
"doing what other people do"
],
"question":... | Let children learn to judge their own work. A child learning to talk does not learn by being corrected all the time :if corrected too much, he will stop talking. He notices a thousand times a day the difference between the language he uses and the language those
Around him use. Bit by bit .he makes the necessary changes to make his language like other people's. In the same way, children learn to do all the other things: they should learn to do without being taught, such as to walk, run, climb, whistle, ride a bicycle--compare their own performances with those of more skilled people, and slowly make the needed changes. But in school we never give a child a chance to find out his mistakes and correct them for himself. We do it all for him. We act as if we thought that he would never notice a mistake unless it was pointed out to him, or correct it unless he was made to .Let him work out, with the help of other children if he wants it, what this word says, what the answer is to that problem, whether this is a good way of saying or doing this or not.
If it is a matter of right answer, as it may be in mathematics or science, give him the answer book. Let him correct his own papers. Why should we teachers waste time on such routine work? Our job should be to help the child when he tells us that he can't find the way to get the right answer .Let the children learn what all educated persons must some day learn ,how to measure their own understanding, how to know what they know or do not know. | high7521.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "She went on a hot air balloon ride"
},
"options": [
"She flew an airplane",
"She entered a competition",
"She went on a hot air balloon ride",
"She moved into a retirement community"
],
"question": "What happene... | "I Went Skydiving at 84!"
As a young girl growing up in the 1930s, I always wanted to fly a plane, but back then it was almost unheard of for a woman to do that. I got a taste of that dream in 2001,when my husband arranged for me to ride in a hot air balloon for my birthday. But the experience turned out to be very dull. Around that time, I told my husband that I wanted to skydive. So when our retirement community announced that they were having an essay competition and the topic was an experience of a lifetime that you wanted to have, I decided to write about my dream.
In the essay, I wrote about my desire to skydive, stating George Brush Sr. did it at age 80. Why not me? I was just 84 and in pretty good health. A year went by and I heard nothing. But then at a community party in late April 2009, they announced that I was one of the winners. I just couldn't believe it. Inspired by this, I decided to realize my dream, even though some of my family members and my doctor were against it.
On June 11, 2009, nearly 40 of my family and friends gathered in the area close to where I would land while I headed up in the airplane. My _ , Jay, guided me through the experience. The plane was the noisiest one I had ever been in, but I wasn't frightened--I was really just looking forward to the experience. When we reached 13,000 feet, Jay instructed me to throw myself out of the plane. When we first hit the air, the wind was so strong that I could hardly breathe. For a second I thought, "What have I gotten myself into?" But then everything got calmer. We were in a free fall for about a minute before Jay opened the parachute , then we just floated downward for about five minutes. Being up in the clouds and looking at the view below was unlike anything I have ever felt--much better than the hot air balloon. I was just enjoying it.
Skydiving was really one of the greatest experiences of my life. I hope other people will look at me and realize that you don't stop living just because you are 84 years old. If there's something you want to experience, look into it. If it's something that is possible, make it happen. | high15066.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "mass media want to attract the public's attention"
},
"options": [
"the public care for reading tragedies",
"the public intend to express sympathy for victims",
"mass media want to attract the public's attention",
"mass... | Bad news travels fast--when you watch the evening news or read the morning papers, it seems that things that get the most coverage are all tragedies like wars, earthquakes, floods, fires and murders.
This is the classic rule for mass media. "They want your eyeballs and don't care how you're feeling," Jonah Berger, a psychologist at University of Pennsylvania told The New York Times.
But with social media getting increasingly popular, information is now being spread in different ways, and researchers are discovering new rules--good news can actually spread faster and farther than disasters and other sad stories.
Berger and his colleague Katherine Milkman looked at thousands of articles on The New York Times' website and analyzed the "most e-mailed" list for six months.
One of his findings was that articles in the science section were much more likely to make the list. Those stories aroused feelings of awe and made the readers want to share this positive emotion with others.
Besides science stories, readers were also found to be likely to share articles that were exciting or funny. "The more positive an article was, the more likely it was to be shared," Berger wrote in his new book. "For example, stories about newcomers falling in love with New York City," he writes, "tended to be shared more than the death of a popular zookeeper."
But does all this good news actually make the audience feel better? Not necessarily.
According to a study by researchers at Harvard University, people tend to say more positive things about themselves when they're talking to a bigger audience, rather than just one person, which helps explain all the perfect vacations that keep showing up on microblogs. This, researchers found, makes people think that life is unfair and that they're less happy than their friends.
But no worries. There's a quick and easy way to relieve the depression you get from viewing other people's seemingly perfect lives--turn on the television and watch the news. There is always someone doing worse than you are. | high8612.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "forbid the use of social networks during work time"
},
"options": [
"take legal action against the attackers",
"avoid posting embarrassing information",
"refuse to hire potential addicted employees",
"forbid the use of ... | By now, we are all aware that social media has had a tremendous influence on our culture, in
business, on the world-at-large. Social media websites revolutionized the way people communicate and socialize on the Web. However, aside from seeing your friends' new baby on Facebook, or reading about Justin Bieber's latest conflict with the law on Twitter, what are some of the real influences?
Social networks offer the opportunity for people to re-connect with their old friends and acquaintances, make new friends, share ideas and pictures, and many other activities. Users can keep pace with the latest global and local developments, and participate in campaigns and activities of their choice. Professionals use social media sites like LinkedIn to enhance their career and business development. Students can work together with their peers to improve their academic and communication skills.
Unfortunately, there are a few downsides too to social networking. If you are not careful, immoral people can target you for cyber bullying and disturbance on social sites. School children, young girls, and women can fall victim to online attacks which can create tension and suffering. If you are a victim of cyber bullying, do not take it lying down, but try to take appropriate legal action against the attacker.
Many companies have blocked social networks as addicted employees can distract themselves on such sites, instead of focusing on work. In fact, studies show that British companies have lost billions of dollars per year in productivity because of social media addiction among employees.
Also, what you carelessly post on the Net can come back to trouble you. Revealing( ) personal information on social sites can make users vulnerable to crimes like identity theft, stalking, etc. Many companies perform a background check on the Web before hiring an employee. If a potential employee has posted something embarrassing on social media, it can greatly affect their chances of getting the job. The same holds true for our relationships too, as our loved ones and friends may get to know if we post something undesirable on social networks.
Social media has its advantages and drawbacks as each coin has two sides. It is up to each user
to use social sites wisely to enhance their professional and social life, and exercise caution to ensure
they do not fall victim to online dangers. | high13417.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "didn't believe she could stick to a diet if she had to cook herself"
},
"options": [
"was 200 pounds",
"didn't have any children",
"worked as a cook in a company offering diet meals",
"didn't believe she could stick to ... | I was 230 pounds this spring and I decided to get down to a healthier 200.In a house full of food,including snacks bought for my 7yearold sons,I had a hard time cutting calories. Then I noticed my neighbors were having diet meals .I decided to do the same,knowing I would never be able to stick to a diet if I had to do the buying and cooking myself. I was looking for food that I could afford but I might take a diet more seriously if it hurt me in the wallet.
After online searches,I decided to compare the offerings of four companies:Zone Manhattan,Chefs Diet,NuKitchen and eDiets. All four would send the meals to my door. Three send food daily,while eDiets sends a large package once a week. There were dozens of companies I could have chosen.Research suggests that the economic crisis has made diet programs less _ .Consumers prefer doityourself diets with foods bought from the supermarket.
NuKitchen regards itself as the "personal chef".I ordered the fiveday plan ($230.53) and the taste was disappointing. I neither lost nor gained weight on the food.
eDiets promises "healthy,delicious meals sent to your door".I ordered five breakfasts,five lunches and five dinners. My total cost was $119.70,or less than $25 a day. Overall,the food from eDiets was better than that from NuKitchen.
Chefs Diet charged $380.99 for seven days,making it the most expensive of the four services.I never tasted anything terrible,but I never tasted anything that made me want to renew for a second week.
Zone Manhattan charged $349.80,with tax,for a week's supply of food,or about $50 a day.I liked the food so much that I lost six pounds in the first four days on the diet. | high1150.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Mother's Love, No Charge"
},
"options": [
"Part-time Job",
"Mother's Love, No Charge",
"Payment for House Work",
"Greedy Mother"
],
"question": "What's the best title for this passage?",
"question_type": nul... | One night when my wife was preparing dinner, our little son took a piece of paper to her which read:
For washing the car .........................................................$5.00
For making my own bed this week ....................................... $1.00
Going to the provision shop ................................................$0.50
Playing with little sister......................................................$0.25
Taking out the rubbish....................................................... $1.00
Getting a good report card................................................ ..$5.00
And for sweeping the common corridor................................... $2.00
Total........................................................................... $14.75
His mother looked at him standing there expecting payment. I could see a thousand memories flashed through her mind. So she picked up the pen and turning the paper over, this is what she wrote :
For nine months I carried you, growing inside me .................. No Charge
For the nights I sat up with you, doctored and prayed for you......No Charge
For the toys, food and clothes and wiping your nose ................No Charge
When you add it all up, the full cost of my love.......................No Charge
Well, when he finished reading, he had big tears in his eyes. He looked at his mother and said, "Mummy, I love you." Then he took the pen and in great big letters wrote on the "bill" "All paid." | high22812.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "He had strong powers of observation."
},
"options": [
"He had a strong physical advantage.",
"He had strong powers of observation.",
"He had a strong interest in journalism.",
"He had a strong sense of responsibility."
... | Philo Farnsworth is not a name most people know. But his work changed the way we learn, the way we live, and even the way we think. Philo Farnsworth is responsible for one of the 20thcentury: television.
Philo Farnsworth was born in America in 1906. He was interested in science and technology at an early age. When he was twelve years old, he built an electric motor for his family's washing machine. When he was fourteen, he was already giving a lot of thought to electrons . As he was driving the family's horse-drawn plowing machine, he noticed the evenly spaced rows of the potato fields. This sight gave him the idea that electrons could scan an image one row at a time--an idea that was the key to electronic television.
By the time he was twenty-one years old, Farnsworth had started his own company and had managed to build the world's first electronic television. It was a very simple device . But after years of hard work, Farnsworth was able to introduce the kind of television we now use.
Farnsworth was a great inventor, but lived an unhappy life. He had a legal battle with the company, Radio Corporation of America (RCA) over who the real inventor of the TV was. _ , but the government stopped companies from making TVs during the war, so Farnsworth didn't make much money from the invention.
When Farnsworth was young, he imagined television as a convenient way for distant audiences to enjoy lectures by famous professors, or entertainment by the best symphonies and ballets. When he was older, television became much more popular, but he was very disappointed in the silly programs on TV. He even told his own son, "There's nothing on it worthwhile, and we're not going to watch it in this household." | high14378.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Most of the children are independent now."
},
"options": [
"Some children are raised by others.",
"God sent the children to the Albinas.",
"The children are all twins or triplets.",
"Most of the children are independent... | The Albinas married when Mr. Albina was 30, and they spent the early marriage in Argentina. Then they decided to move to Chile, which meant they had to cross the Andes Mountains. They and their 20s sons made the difficult two-week journey on horses. One night there was a terrible snow storm in the mountains, during which Mrs Albina gave birth to triplets , a boy and two girls.
Mrs Albina now has 30 more girls, including the twins who are 15 months old. The oldest Albina children are in their 30s and 40s. They are on their own now, but 18 of the kids still live with their parents in a two-room house. The house has electricity but no toilet or running water. Clearly, the Albinas don't have enough money and food for the big family. Why, then, do they continue to have children?
The Albinas do not use birth control because it is against their religion. They can let other people take care of their kids, but Mrs Albina doesn't allow it. "When we were babies," she said, "our mother left us at an orphanage and never returned. Then a couple adopted my brothers, and I was left behind. I was heartbroken. I promised that when I became a mother I would never give my children away."
So the Albina family continues to grow. They have so many kids that they run out of names and have to give some children the same name. There are three Susannas, three Miriams, two Estrellas, and two Soledades.
Will the family stop at 53 kids? Mr Albina is 77, and Mrs Albina is 59. "I am getting old," she said with a smile, "and I would like God to think of me and consider my age. But if God sends more children to me, yes, there will be more." | high6159.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "They like to talk to strangers."
},
"options": [
"They are unfriendly.",
"They like to talk to strangers.",
"They talk too much.",
"They are not English."
],
"question": "What does the writer think of the London... | The English are often described as unfriendly people who don't talk to strangers . But not London taxi drivers. I once asked one cabby to describe his life to me and he didn't stop talking until I arrived home half an hour later. He told me many interesting stories and this is one of them."Some strange things happen late at night. The other day I was taking a woman home from a party. She had her little dog with her. When we got to her house, she found that she'd lost her key. So, I waited in the cab with her dog while she climbed in through the window."
"I waited and waited. After half an hour of ringing the bell I decided to find out what was going on. I tied the dog to a tree and started to climb in through the window. The next thing I knew was that the police came. They thought I was to rob the house! Luckily, the woman came downstairs. She'd gone to sleep and forgotten about me and the dog. I was in such a hurry to get away that I forgot to ask her for the fare." | high1636.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "a primary school student"
},
"options": [
"a middle school teacher",
"a primary school student",
"a senior high student",
"a college student"
],
"question": "The grammar book mentioned in this passage is not sui... | A practical English Grammar is intended for intermediate and post-intermediate students. We hope that more advanced learners and teachers will also find it useful.
The book is a comprehensive survey of structures and forms, written in clear modern English and illustrated with numerous examples. Areas of particular difficulty have been given special attention. Differences between conversational usage and strict grammatical forms are shown but the emphasis is on controversial forms.
In the fourth edition the main changes are as follows.
1. Explanation and examples have been brought up to date.
2. There is now more information on countable and uncountable nouns, attributive and predicative adjectives, adverbs of place, sentence adverbs, cleft sentences, prepositions, conjunctives, modal verbs, perfect tenses, infinitive constructions, the passive, purpose clauses and nouns.
3. Some material has been rearranged to make comparisons easier. For example, parts of chapters on can, may, must etc. are now grouped by functions; verbs of liking and preference have a chapter to themselves; suggestions and invitations have joined the chapter on commands, requests and advice.
4. The contents list now summaries every edition heading, and there is a new index containing many more entries references.
In this edition the sign "~" is frequently used to show a change of speaker in examples of dialogue. Note also that although the sign "=""" sometimes connects two words or expressions with the same meaning, it is often used more freely, e.g. to indicate a transformation from active to passive or direct to indirect speech.
We wish to thank all at Oxford University Press who have assisted in the preparation of the fourth edition. We would also like to thank Professor Egawa of Nihon University, Japan, Professor Rene Dirven of Duisburg University, West Germany and other colleagues for their friendly and helpful suggestions.
London, November 1985 A.J.T., A.VM | high3021.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Shanghai New International Expo Centre"
},
"options": [
"Shanghai New International Expo Centre",
"Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre",
"Shanghai Mart",
"Harbin International conference, Exhibition and Sports Ce... | TUESDAY, July11
SHANGHAI---The 12thInternational Processing, Packaging & End-Line Printing Exhibition opens at Shanghai New International Expo Centre ( to July 13)
Tel: 021 6209 5209
HONGKONG---The Hong Kong International Textile and Garment Machinery and Technology Fair 2006 opens at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre ( to July 14).
Tel: +852 2584 4333
THURSDAY, July 13
SHANGHAI---The China(Shanghai) International Wedding Photographic Equipment Exhibition (Autumn) opens at Shanghai Mart ( to July16 ).
Tel: 021 6272 2828
HARBIN, Heilongjiang Province---The Ninth Harbin International Automobile Industry Exhibition and Sports Centre ( to July 17 ).
Tel : 0451 5363 5464
FRIDAY, July 14
HONG KONG---The Hong Kong Wedding, Banquet & Wedding Accessories Expo 2006 opens at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre ( to July 16 ).
Tel: +852 2367 8385
WEDNESDAY, July 19
SHANGHAI---The 14thShanghai International Advertising Technology & Equipment Exhibition / Shanghai International Media Technology & Equipment opens at Shanghai New International Expo Centre ( to July 22 ).
Tel: 021 6328 8899
SHANGHAI---The Shanghai International Outdoor AD Illuminating Technology & Equipment Exhibition, Outdoor Media Promotion Exhibition opens at Shanghai New International Expo Centre ( to July 22 ).
Tel: 021 6321 7522
SHANGHAI---PAPERTECH Shanghai 2006 opens at Shanghai New International Expo Centre ( to July 22 ).
Tel: 021 6328 8899 | high11566.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Because we are eager to go to another place"
},
"options": [
"Because we change our aims all the time",
"Because we are eager to go to another place",
"Because we are looking forward to the future life",
"Because we can... | Future history books might record that we were robbed of the use of our eyes ,In our hurry to get from one place to another, we fail to see anything on the way, Air travel gives you a bird's -eye view of the world ---or even less if the wing of the aircraft happens to _ When you travel by car or train , you are moving so quickly that you do not see the countryside clearly , Car drivers are forever thinking about going on and on; they never want to stop, Is it the great motorways ,that attract them, or what? And as for sea travel ,it hardly deserves mention ,It is perfectly summed up in the words of the old song:'I joined the navy to see the world ,and what did I see? I saw the sea'. You mention the place names in the world like EI Dorado, Kabul and someone is sure to say'I've been there'meaning ,'I drove through it at 100 miles an hour on the way to somewhere else.'
When you travel at high speeds, the present means nothing :you live mainly in the future because you spend most of your time looking forward to arriving at some other place, But actual arrival ,when it is achieved , is meaningless , You want to move on again . By traveling like this, you suspend all experience; the present stops being a reality:you might just as well be dead.
The traveler on foot, on the other hand , lives constantly in the present, For him traveling and arriving are one and the same thing: he arrives somewhere with every step he makes, He experiences, the present moment with his eyes, his ears and the whole of his body, At the end of his journey he feels a delicious physical tiredness, Satisfying sleep will be his: the just reward of all true travelers. | high4996.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "to study as an exchange student"
},
"options": [
"to visit his family memebers",
"to finish his high school there",
"to study as an exchange student",
"to do research on school system in Japan"
],
"question": "T... | Last year I had a wonderful experience. I went on a student exchange to Japan. It was an exciting time of my life and I learned many things about the school system in Japan. I was in Grade 11, which is second year of high school in Japan, but I was younger than most of my classmates. That's because Japanese children enter first year ofelementary school in April following their sixth birthday. I started school when I was still five years old.
In Japan, Children attend elementary school for six years, where they study Japanese, arithmetic, science, social studies, music, crafts, physical education, and home economics (simple cooking and sewing skills). During their three years in middle school, English is added to this list. Most schools have access to computers and the Internet.
The classes in my school seemed rather big to me, around 30 students in a typical high school class. We ate lunch in the classroom, instead of a cafeteria and enjoyed a healthy, nutritious meal prepared by the school or by a local "school lunch centre" instead of eating the same, dry sandwiches every day. I really like the Japanese interpretation of school lunches. I also enjoyed the field trips and activities. At Japanese schools, there are many school events during the year, such as field day when students compete in tug-of-war, field trips, and arts and cultural festivals. | high10678.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the way rock stars live"
},
"options": [
"the success of a rock star",
"the way rock stars live",
"rich rock stars",
"the admirers of rock stars"
],
"question": "This passage is mainly about _",
"question_t... | Rock stars and their money
Around the world young people are spending unbelievable sums of money listening to rock music. Forbes reports that at least fifty rock stars have incomes between two million and six million dollars per year.
"It doesn't make sense," says Johnny Mathis, one of the older music millionaires, who made a million dollars a year when he was popular in 1950s. "Performers aren't worth this kind of money. In fact, nobody is."
But the rock stars' admirers seem to disagree. Those who love rock music spend about two billion dollars a year for records. They pay 150 million to see rock stars in person.
Luck is a key word for explaining the success of many. In 1972 one of the luckiest was Kon Mclean, who wrote and sang "American Pie". Mclean writes his own music, so he earns an additional two cents on every single record of the song.
Neil Young who performs in torn blue jeans, sometimes sings to an audience of 10,000, each of whom has paid five dollars for a ticket. After paying expenses, Young leaves with about $ 18,000 in his blue jeans at the end of an evening.
How do the rock stars use their money? What do they do when the money starts pouring in like water? Most of the young stars simply show the money around. England's Elton John gave someone a $ 38,000 Rolls car and bought himself 5,000 pairs of eyeglasses, then lighted up and spelt :E-L-T-O-N. He also bought himself two cars, "one for each foot".
Many rock stars live like Grace Slick and Jefferson Airplane. Those performers return from a tour, pay their bills, and buy new toys. Then when they need money again, they do another tour. They save no money and live _ www.zxxk.com
In the end the rock stars' life is unrewarding. After two or three years riches and fame are gone. Left with his memories and his tax problems, the lonely star spends his remaining years trying to attract strangers. New stars have arrived to take his place. | high5450.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "are suffering from peer pressure"
},
"options": [
"are suffering from peer pressure",
"are losing yourself",
"are learning from them",
"are getting on well with them"
],
"question": "If you are forced into a cer... | Peer pressure is all about being forced into a certain way of living,dressing, talking,socializing and even thinking--simply because that is how everyone else you know behaves,dresses,talks,socializes and thinks.
Young people can be often insensitive in their dealings with each other.And they are very quick to notice differences of habit,dress and social behavior.As a result,you might have to buy the latest fashions in clothes and other things.Because everyone else does the same,regardless of cost or comfort.You might end up reading what they read,watching the same television programs and movies that others watch and using the same language that they use.Because,otherwise,you feel left out of all the conversation.You might end up staying out late at night or eating out all the time,simply because that is what the others do,regardless of whether you can afford to or not.
The best way to deal with peer pressure is to select your friends very carefully.Preferably, your friends should be in a mixed group of people.That keeps everyone rooted and more tolerant of differences.
The second is to gather your courage and to tell people to mind their own business,if and when they begin to interfere with your life.Sure,a few people may be offended .But they will also learn to be less offensive themselves,in future.
And most importanfly, you have to remember that you are an individual and a unique one.And your decisions to eat,drink,dress,talk,go out,read or think are your own.If others don't share these interests or habits, too bad.Let your peers and friends catch up with you.If they can't find new friends. | high18224.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "News reports."
},
"options": [
"News reports.",
"Research papers.",
"Private e-mails.",
"Daily conversations."
],
"question": "What do the classic rules mentioned in the text apply to?",
"question_type": "fa... | Bad news sells. If it bleeds, it leads. No news is good news, and good news is no news. Those are the classic rules for the evening broadcasts and the morning papers. But now that information is being spread and monitored in different ways, researchers are discovering new rules. By tracking people's e-mails and online posts, scientists have found that good news can spread faster and farther than disasters and sob stories.
"The 'if it bleeds' rule works for mass media", says Jonah Berger, a scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. "They want your eyeballs and don't care how you're feeling. But when you share a story with your friends, you care a lot more how they react. You don't want them to think of you as a Debbie Downer."
Researchers analyzing word-of-mouth communication--e-mails, Web posts and reviews, face-to-face conversations--found that it tended to be more positive than negative, but that didn't necessarily mean people preferred positive news. Was positive news shared more often simply because people experienced more good things than bad things? To test for that possibility, Dr. Berger looked at how people spread a particular set of news stories on The New York Times' website. He and a Penn colleague analyzed the "most e-mailed" list for six months. One of his first findings was that articles in the science section were much more likely to make the list than non-science articles. He found that science amazed Times' readers and made them want to share this positive feeling with others.
Readers also tended to share articles that were exciting or funny, or that inspired negative feelings like anger or anxiety, but not articles that left them merely sad. They needed to be aroused one way or the other, and they preferred good news to bad. The more positive an article, the more likely it was to be shared, as Dr. Berger explains in his new book, "Contagious: Why Things Catch On." | high14436.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "how technology influences human relationships"
},
"options": [
"ways to draw a fascinating portrait",
"how technology influences human relationships",
"the dangers of accepting emotional connections",
"the advantages of... | How many times a day do you check your email? When you wake up? Before bed? A dozen times in between? The technology that was supposed to simplify our lives has become the vital time-suck: the average teen spends more than seven hours a day using technological devices, plus an additional hour just text-messaging friends.
The advantage of technological devices is connectedness: email lets us respond on the go, and we are in touch with more people during more hours of the day than at any other time in history. But is it possible we're more lonely than ever, too? That's what MIT professor Sherry Turkle observes in her new book, Alone Together, a fascinating portrait of our changing relationship with technology. Turkle details the ways technology has redefined our comprehension of closeness and loneliness--and warns us of the danger of accepting such virtual relationships in place of lasting emotional connections.
For Turkle, the biggest worry is the effect all these shallow connections have on our development. Is technology offering us the lives we want to live? "We're texting people at a distance," says Turkle, "We're using lifeless objects to convince ourselves that even when we're alone, we feel together. And then when we're with each other, we put ourselves in situations where we are alone--constantly on our mobile devices. It's what I call a perfect storm of confusion about what's important in our human connections."
What can't be denied is that technology, whatever its faults, makes life a whole lot easier. It allows us to communicate with more people in less time and makes conversation simple. But it can also be seductive , providing more stimulation than our natural lives. There are usually some unhealthy videos online which remove teenagers' attention from their schoolwork. Besides, some online activities make people addicted, which occupied their daily life and affected their ability to form real-world relationships."Technology can be more immediately satisfying than the labor of building an intimate relationship," said one highschool student, "Every time I text, I start to have some happy feelings."
But are any of those feelings equal to the kind we feel when engaged in real, face-to-face communication? Online, you can neglect others' feelings. In a text message, you can avoid eye contact. A number of studies have found that this generation of teens is less sympathetic than ever. That doesn't spell disaster, says Turkle--but, | high9242.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Their lives were in danger in the wild."
},
"options": [
"They like the Craigs very much.",
"Their lives were in danger in the wild.",
"Their mother was killed by humans.",
"They were not afraid of lions."
],
"q... | Deep in the wilderness of northern Kenya, two boys found a pair of crying cheetah cubs . The cubs' mother had been killed by a lion. The cheetahs were only a few weeks old. In the wild, about 9 out of 10 cheetah cubs die before they are three months old. They are food for lions. But these cubs were so lucky that they were saved by their "heroes", who brought them to Jane and Ian Craig. The Craigs help save endangered animals at the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy.
The Craigs nursed the cheetah cubs back to health -- feeding them with bottles, sleeping with them, and comforting them. They named the cubs Sambu and Toki. But what would become of these cubs? How would they survive on their own? In the wild, cubs stay with their mothers until they are almost 2 years old. During that time, cheetah mothers teach their young how to hunt and how to protect themselves. The Craigs wouldn't be able to find a cheetah mother to teach the cubs. So they turned to a man named Simon King.
King has spent more than twenty years studying cheetahs. He gave them a nod of approval when hearing about this, though taking care of two baby cubs would take a huge amount of time. For two years, he would need to have them at his side most of the time. But he felt there was no other choice. And so, when the brothers were one month old, King became their father.
The brothers followed King everywhere. If they saw large dangerous and fierce mammals, King would growl at the cubs the way a mother cheetah would have, which was a signal for the cubs to stay away. They learned quickly. King taught the cheetahs to hunt using a toy rabbit as King pulled it around on a rope. With more lessons and training, the brothers began to hunt on their own. King is one proud father now. | high13359.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "She had a problem with her health."
},
"options": [
"She had a heart attack.",
"She had a problem with her health.",
"She was unhappy about her weight.",
"She could not sleep well."
],
"question": ". Why did Ell... | Ellen Parker was worried about her health. She could not walk very quickly and it was difficult for her to climb stairs . She was soon out of breath.
"I think I had better go to the doctor, " she thought.
She went to the doctor and told him her problem.
"I'm not at all surprised, "he said. "It's obvious what your problem is."
He examined her and then gave her some advice."If you don't do what I say, Mrs. Parker," he said. "You will have a heart attack . It could kill you."
Ellen was very worried as she left the doctor's. She knew that she had to take his advice but that would not be easy and it would take time.
The next day she went shopping. The first shop she went into was a butcher's shop .
"I'd like ten pounds of steak , please," she said.
"Certainly, madam," the butcher answered and went into the cold room and found a large piece of steak. He brought the huge piece of meat back into the shop and placed it on the scale .
"That's just ten pounds," he said.
"That's big enough," Mrs. Parker said.
The butcher worked out the price.
"At $ 4.99 a pound that will be $ 49.90, please. Would you like me to cut it into small pieces for you?"
"Oh, I don't want to buy the meat," Mrs. Parker said.
"If you don't want to buy it," the butcher said angrily, "Why did you ask me to get it for you?"
"My doctor told me that I am overweight and have to lose ten pounds. I wanted to see what ten pounds of flesh looked liked." | high12047.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "To ask people to give away their skis to the school"
},
"options": [
"To ask people to give away their skis to the school",
"To attract more tourists to the area",
"To appeal to more locals to attend the school",
"To ra... | Do you have any skiing equipment you are no longer need? A ski school in the far north of India could put it to good use.
In March we published a photo story about the extraordinary Zsnskar region in northern India,which is cut off from the outside world for more than seven months of the year,and only accessible via a frozen river.We also included information about the limited use of skiing in the region and the recent creation of the Zanskar Ski School:
"Despite the difficulties of travelling through the region when the snow comes,skiing hasn't traditionally been used as a means of transport by the locals,largely because trees don't grow here,so there is little in the way of raw materials from which to make skis.In 1995,a group of British scientists in the region noticed the lack of skis and one of them returned to set up the Zanskar Ski School in Padam.The school provides lessons for a small fee and rents skis to the local people.Among the benefits that the school hopes to bring are improved education--children often find it difficult to get to school through the deep snow--and the possibility of offering ski tours to tourists in the future.So far,more than 300 local people have received training,and local doctors and policemen regularly borrow skis."
But,what we weren't able to include in the article is that the ski school is always on the look out for old skiing equipment--particularly of a size suitable for children--and,I thought.now the European ski season is drawing to a close,there might be a few of you out there who have some old equipment you'd like to see go to a good home.If that's the ease you can get in touch with the school via their website www.zanskarskischooL.org. | high22184.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "was not recognized by people"
},
"options": [
"depended on his brother",
"worked hard on art studies",
"was not recognized by people",
"expressed himself in paintings"
],
"question": "All through his life, Van G... | He lived his whole life as a poor man. His art and talent were recognized by almost no one. He suffered from a mental illness that led him to cut off part of his left ear in 1888 and to shoot himself two years later. But after his death, he achieved world fame. Today, Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh is recognized as one of
the leading artists of all time.
Now, 150 years after his birth on March 30, 1853, Zundert, the town of his birth, has made 2003 "The van Gogh Year"in his honor. And the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, home to the biggest collection of his masterpieces, is marking the anniversary with exhibitions throughout the year. The museum draws around 1.3 million visitors every year. Some people enjoy the art and then learn about his life. Others are first interested in his life, which then helps them understand his art.
Van Gogh was the son of a pastor . He left school when he was just 15. By the age of 27, he had already tried many jobs including an art gallery salesman and a French teacher. Finally in 1880, he decided to begin his studies in art.
Van Gogh is famed for his ability to put his own emotions into his paintings and show his feelings about a scene. His style is marked by short, broad brush strokes ."Instead of trying to reproduce exactly what I have before my eyes, I use color more freely, in order to express myself more forcibly," he wrote in a letter to his brother in 1888.
Van Gogh sold only one painting during his short life. He relied heavily on the support from his brother, an art dealer who lived in Paris. But now his works are sold for millions of dollars. His portrait of Dr. Gacher sold for $89.5 million in 1990. It is the highest price ever paid for a painting. "I think his paintings are powerful and the brilliant colors in them are attractive to people," said a Van Gogh's fan. | high15728.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "a very important and beautiful place of the Adriatic Sea."
},
"options": [
"a very beautiful woman of the Adriatic Sea.",
"the most important woman in Italy.",
"a very important and beautiful place of the Adriatic Sea.",
... | Venice is the "Queen" of the Adriatic Sea . Every year thousands of people from all over the world travel to Italy to visit the city. Do you know why they like to go there for a visit?
Venice is a very beautiful city. It is quite different from other cities in the world. There aren't any roads and streets in the city. So there aren't any cars and buses. There are many canals in the city. There is one big canal and one hundred and seventy-seven small canals. People move up and down the canals in boats to go to work, go shopping or visit their friends.
But Venice is sinking. It is going down and the water is going up. In 2040Venice will be under water, The Adriatic Sea will cover the city. The Venetians love their city and want to stay there. So they want to save Venice? They can build some strong huge walls and gates in the sea. The gates will close to keep too much water out. Thus Venice will not sink. | high10888.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the ability of self-control plays a role in personal success"
},
"options": [
"the age of 4 is a proper time for scientific experiment",
"emotional intelligence won't show up until adolescence",
"the ability of self-control p... | A scientist turns out to be able to see the future by offering each of some four-year-olds a piece of candy and watching how he or she deals with it. Some children reach eagerly for the treat they see. Some last a few minutes before they give in. But others are determined to wait until the last moment.
By the time the children reach high school, something remarkable has happened. A survey found that those who as four-year-olds had enough self-control to hold out generally grew up to be more popular, adventurous, confident and dependable. The children who gave in to temptation early were more likely to be lonely, easily frustrated and inflexible .
Actually, the ability to delay reward is a sign of emotional intelligence which doesn't show up on an IQ test.
The hardware of the brain and the software of the mind have long been scientists' concerns. But brain theory can't explain what we wonder about most, like the question why some people remain _ in the face of troubles that would sink a less resistant soul.
Here comes the theory of Daniel Goleman, writer of Emotional Intelligence: when it comes to predicting people's success, brain ability measured by IQ may actually matter less than the qualities of mind once thought of as "character".
EQ is not the opposite of IQ. What researchers have been trying to understand is how they work together; how one's ability to handle stress, for instance, affects the ability to concentrate and put intelligence to use. Among the ingredients for success, researchers now generally agree that IQ counts for about 20%; the rest depends on everything from social class to luck.
While many researchers in this relatively new field are glad to see emotional issues finally taken seriously, some few fear EQ invites misuse. | high4766.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Animal Farm"
},
"options": [
"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland",
"Animal Farm",
"Treasure Island",
"Charlotte's Web"
],
"question": "If you want a book for a five-year-old kid, you will be advised to choose _ ... | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
By Lewis Carroll Walker (first published in 1865).
Reading level: ages 6-15
In stock.
Originally created by Lewis to amuse three young girls on a boat trip, it tells of a curious child named Alice who follows a white rabbit down a rabbit hole, only to find a door opening to a world of strange creatures. A Cheshire cat, a tea party, a Queen and a Duchess all add to the adventure.
Animal Farm
By George Orwell (first published in 1945)
Reading level: ages 5-12
In stock.
Old Major inspires the animals of the Manor Farm to live together with no human to control them. When he dies, three younger pigs--Snowball, Napoleon and Squealer manage to drive the farmer Mr Jones away from the farm, renaming it "Animal Farm". But soon Napoleon becomes the leader of the farm and the animals have even less freedom than before.
Treasure Island
By Robert Louis Stevenson (first published in 1883)
Reading level: ages 8 and up
In stock.
Robert Louis Stevenson created a rich story of the adventures of Jim Hawkins and his search for the buried treasure of the pirate Captain in Flint. The story is told in the first person of Jim Hawkins and begins at his family's inn. The influence of Treasure Island on popular views of pirates is impressive, including treasure maps marked with an "X", the Black Spot, tropical islands and one-legged seamen carrying parrots on their shoulders
Charlotte's Web
By EB White (first published in 1952)
Reading level: ages 7 and up
In stock. Only 4 left in stock--order soon.
Charlotte is a spider living in a barn where one day, a short pig called Wilbur comes to live. When she discovers that Wilbur will be killed, the spider manages to save him by writing special messages in her web. The pair become famous and is celebrated at the county fair , but sadly a spider's life is not a long one. This book explores some difficult issues in a magical story. | high19112.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the pigeons make the city center crowded"
},
"options": [
"the pigeons are eating junk food",
"the pigeons might get killed",
"the pigeons make the city center crowded",
"the pigeons sit on the roofs of buildings"
]... | Liverpool city council want to clear the city of fat pigeons . They say that people are feeding the birds, which makes them fat. The pigeons get bigger because they normally eat seeds and insects for their main food, not high-fat junk food they are eating in the city centre.
The council want people to know that everyone who feeds the pigeons makes the streets crowded with these birds. They hope to encourage the birds to move away from the city centre and into parks and open spaces.
Ten robotic birds have been brought into the city centre to scare the pigeons away and visitors are asked not to give the pigeons any food. The mechanical birds--known as 'robops'--will sit on the roofs of buildings. They can be moved around to different places. They look like a peregrine falcon, which is a bird that kills pigeons. They even make noises and flap their wings to scare the pigeons. They hope that the pigeons will go away before the city becomes the European Capital of Culture in two years. | high3009.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "In the mid-1700s."
},
"options": [
"In the 13\nthcentury.",
"In the mid-1700s.",
"In the mid-20\nthcentury.",
"November 14, 2008."
],
"question": "When did piracy reach its peak?",
"question_type": "factiod_... | Many boys love reading about the legends of old pirates and dreaming of their own wild adventures. But modern pirates are not a thing of the past. Last month Somali pirates did their boldest hijacking to date. They seized the Saudi supertanker Sirius Star carrying crude oil worth about $100 million. They demanded $15 million to free the ship and its crew.
The pirates have kept hitting the headlines this year: 92 attacks have been attempted, with 36 successful hijackings and 268 crew members taken hostage . The Chinese fishing ship Tianyu 8, with 17 Chinese and 8 foreigners on board, has been in their hands since November 14.
Of course piracy is nothing new. Even since there has been water and ships there have been pirates. The earliest documented history of pirates dates back to the 13thcentury in the Mediterranean Sea. Even the famous Roman emperor Julius Caesar was once kidnapped by pirates.
Piracy reached its peak in the mid-1700s. It was during this time in the Caribbean and off the coast of Africa that men like "Blackbeard the Pirate" made this profession attractive. But with the creation of stronger national Navies piracy became less popular around the world.
In the mid-20thcentury, most pirates were petty thieves. They used hooks to sneak on board ships at anchor, and grabbed all that they could find. _
However, nowadays piracy has become a multi-million-dollar business at tracting many in poor countries. Pirates are treated like heroes among local fishermen.
They use satellite phones and Global Positioning Systems (GPS). Once they spot their target, they swarm the ship with fast boats and shoot it by firing AK-47s or even rocket-propelled grenades . Then they hold the ship and its crews for money.
"The world should take forceful actions together to fight piracy," said leaders at the Asian and Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Peru.
"However, putting in anti-piracy army can only be half of the solution. We have to protect the fair chance of Somali fishermen to get a good living and keep them from the lure of easy money," said Peter Lehr, a lecturer in terrorism studies. | high10650.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "it can lower cancer risk"
},
"options": [
"it is nutritious",
"it can't harm people's health",
"it is not taken enough every day",
"it can lower cancer risk"
],
"question": "According to the passage, people are ... | Cancer researchers urged people on Wednesday to take more vitamin D to lower risk of cancer, saying studies showed a clear link. "Our suggestion is for people to increase their intake, through diet or a vitamin supplement," Dr. Cedric Garland said in a telephone interview.
Garland's research team reviewed 63 studies, including several large long-term ones, on the relationship between vitamin D and certain types of cancer worldwide between 1966 and 2004. "There's nothing that has this ability to prevent cancer," he said, urging governments and public health officials to do more to fortify foods with vitamin D.Garland is part of a University of California at San Diego Moores Cancer Center team that published its findings this week online in the American Journal of Public Health. Vitamin D is found in milk, as well as in some fortified orange juice, yogurt and cheeses, usually at around 100 international units (IU) a serving. People might want to consider a vitamin supplement to raise their intake to 1000 IUs per day, Garland said, adding that it was well within the safety guidelines established by the National Academy of Sciences.
The authors said that taking more vitamin D could be especially important for people living in northern areas, which receive less vitamin D from sunshine.
African Americans, who don't produce as much of the vitamin because of their skin colour, could also benefit significantly from a higher intake, the authors said. | high5478.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "quite different from"
},
"options": [
"quite different from",
"the same as",
"more difficult than",
"easier than"
],
"question": "According to the writer, textbook English is _ everyday English.",
"quest... | You want to know about my staying in America, right? Well, to tell you the truth,it is really an eye-opening experience to study here.
In China, I had English classes five times a week since fifth grade. However, I didn't know how different textbook English could be from everyday English until I came to Hotchkiss School, Connecticut.
When I first studied English, I was told to say,"I am fine" when people say "How are you?" But in the US, I found that people say, "I am good" or "I'm tired".
One day, someone greeted me with "What's up?" It made me _ . I thought for a moment and then smiled because I didn't know what to say.
Since then, I have discovered more and more differences between Chinese and US cultures.
To my surprise, US girls spend a lot of time in the burning sun to get a tan . However, in China, girls try every possible way to get their skin paler, or "whiter".
I was also surprised by how hardworking US students are . In China, schoolwork is almost everything, so we study hard and that's it. But here, a "good" student gets good grades, does a lot of work for the public and plays sports or music.
The kids here are so talented, I am starting to be sorry that I gave up playing the piano at an early age and that I have never thought about sports. | high20793.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "our love on speed seems never-ending"
},
"options": [
"our love on speed seems never-ending",
"time is limited",
"the prices are increasingly high",
"the manufacturers boast a lot"
],
"question": "The new produc... | Modern inventions have speeded up people's lives amazingly. Motor-cars cover a hundred miles in little more than an hour, aircraft cross the world a day, while computers operate at lightning speed. Indeed, this love of speed seems never-ending. Every year motor-cars are produced which go even faster each new computer boasts of saving precious seconds in handling tasks.
All this saves time, but at a price. When we lose or gain half a day in speeding across the world in an airplane, our bodies tell us so. We get the uncomfortable feeling known as jet-lag; our bodies feel that they have been left behind in another time zone. Again, spending too long at computers results in painful wrists and fingers. Mobile phones also have then danger according to some scientists; too much use may transmit harmful radiation into our brains, a consequence we do not like to think about.
However, what do we do with the time we have saved? Certainly not relax, or so it seems. We are so accustomed to constant activity that we find it difficult to sit and do nothing or even just one thing at a time. Perhaps the days are long gone when we might listen quietly to a story on the radio, letting imaginations take us into another world.
There was a time when some people's lives were devoted simply to the cultivation of the land or the care of cattle. No multi-tasking there; their lives went on at a much gentler pace, and in a familiar pattern. There is much that we might envy about a way of life like this. Yet before we do so, we must think of the hard tasks our ancestors faced; they farmed with bare hands, often lived close to hunger, and had to fashion tools from wood and stone. Modern machinery has freed people from that primitive existence. | high10136.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Value This Very Day"
},
"options": [
"Provide Homes For Our Family",
"Take Up Horse-riding",
"Value This Very Day",
"Stay Alive"
],
"question": "What is probably the best title for the passage?",
"question_t... | How many people have I met who have told me about the book that they have been planning to write but have never yet found the time? Far too many .This is Life, all right, but we do treat it like a rehearsal and, unhappily, we do miss so many of its best moments .
We take jobs to stay alive and provide homes for our families, always making ourselves believe that this style of life is merely a temporary state of affairs along the road to what we really want to do. Then, at 60 or 65, we are suddenly presented with a clock and several grandchildren and we look back and realize that all those years waiting for Real Life to come along were in fact real life .
In America they have a saying much laughed at by the English:"Have a nice day!" They speak slowly and seriously in their shops, hotels and sandwich bars. I think it is a wonderful phrase, reminding us to enjoy the moment: to value this very day .How often do we say to ourselves, "I'll take up horse-riding(or golf, or sailing)as soon as I get a higher position," only to do none of those things when I do get the higher position .
When I first became a reporter, I knew a man who gave up a very well paid respectable job at the Daily Telegraph to go and edit a small weekly newspaper. At the time I was astonished by what appeared to me to be his completely abnormal mental state. How could anyone turn his back on Fleet Street in central London for a small local area?I wanted to know .
Now I am a little older and possibly wiser, I see the sense in it. In Fleet Street the man was under continual pressure .He lived in an unattractive London suburb and he spent much of his life sitting on Southern Region trains . | high2471.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "remember more words"
},
"options": [
"get more knowledge",
"live more happily",
"remember more words",
"make one become a musician"
],
"question": "According to the writer, learning to play a musical instrument ... | If you want to increase your vocabulary, the best way to do it might be to pick up a guitar, or learn the violin. A new study shows that learning to play a musical instrument makes the brain more able to remember words.
"Grown-ups with music training in their childhood can have better memory for words," said Dr Agnes Chan of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who did the research. "They can remember things that you tell them better than those who did not have music training when they were young."
It seems that one can remember spoken words because his brain has a special part. "That part of the brain is larger in musicians than in non-musicians," Dr Chan told BBC. "If that part of the brain is larger, it may be better developed and so this explains very nicely our results."
Dr Chan and her workmates came to their conclusion after studying students. Their research is reported in the latest edition of the journal Nature. "We did the experiment with 60 girl college students from our university and 30 of them have at least six years training with one western musical instrument (such as the violin and the piano) before the age of 12. The other 30 had received no music training. We tested their memory by reading them some words and asking them to remember these words--a very common test for memory. We found that people who have had music training can remember about 70% more information than those who have not had any music training."
Dr Chan thinks the process of learning is more important than the actual instrument used. She also believes if one is able to remember words through learning to play instruments, he or she could have some very real benefits. Dr Chan thinks this could be developed into a medical way for patients who are suffering from memory loss. | high11228.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "the labor supply and the cost of living"
},
"options": [
"the way of evaluating management work",
"the method of calculating the pay",
"the requirements of each job",
"the labor supply and the cost of living"
],
... | As is known to all, the organization and management of wages and salaries are very complex. Generally speaking, the Accounts Department is responsible for calculations of pay, while the Personnel Department is interested in discussions with the employees about pay.
If a firm wants to adopt a new wage and salary structure, it is essential that the firm should decide on a method of job evaluation and ways of measuring the performance of its employees. In order to be successful, that new pay structure will need agreement between Trade Unions and employers.
In job evaluation, all of the requirements of each job are defined in a detailed job description. Each of those requirements is given a value, usually in "points", which are added together to give a total value for the job. For middle and higher management, a special method is used to evaluate managers on their knowledge of the job, their responsibility, and their ability to solve problems. Because of the difficulty in measuring management work, however, job grades for managers are often decided without reference to an evaluation system based on points.
In attempting to design a pay system, the Personnel Department should compare the value of each job with those in the job market. It should also consider economic factors such as the cost of living and the labor supply.
It is necessary that payment for a job should vary with any differences in the way that the job is performed. Where it is simple to measure the work done, as in the work done with the hands, monetary encouragement schemes are often chosen, for indirect workers, where measurement is difficult, methods of additional payments are employed. | high17881.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "People wouldn't talk about their mental disabilities with a stranger in the past."
},
"options": [
"He hadn't expected those swimmers had so many questions.",
"He didn't know there would be so many people suffering mental disabilit... | A few months ago, Dr. Ken Duckworth, a psychiatrist in Massachusetts, was swimming in his community's pool, chatting with other swimmers. When he mentioned his career, one man wanted Duckworth's opinion on his struggles with depression; another asked for advice on a family member's mental illness.
"I was sort of amazed. They were talking openly about their mental disabilities with a stranger in a swimming locker room, " said Duckworth, "That wouldn't have happened 15 years ago. "
New research shows that these swimmers aren't the only ones opening up. According to a new study, more American adults than ever are reporting being disabled by the symptoms of depression, anxiety or other emotional problems.
The report, published Thursday in the American Journal of Public Health, found that people who said they couldn't perform everyday tasks or engage in social and leisure activities because of a mental illness increased from 2 percent in 1999 to 2.7 percent in 2009. That increase amounts to nearly 2 million more people disabled by mental distress in the past decade, the report said.
Although people did not say they felt more mental distressed compared to past years, they reported that their mental health problems had a greater impact on their daily lives.
Dr. Ramin Mojtabai, the study's author, said it's unclear whether the findings tell a sad story of greater mental distress in recent times or point to a victory for public education about the importance of acknowledging and evaluating mental illness.
"It is possible that people are realizing the effects of mental illness more acutely now than before," he said. "People could be becoming more aware. "
Mojtabai said it's also possible that a number of factors could be taking a toll on the population's mental well-being. High unemployment, economic hardships and a growing sense of isolation could be putting greater stress on Americans.
But Duckworth said there could be a more positive explanation -- like his fellow swimmers, people may be getting more comfortable with talking about their mental distress.
"I wonder if this tells us that American culture is becoming more open and is giving people the ability to speak about it," he said. "If people have this problem and are willing to acknowledge it, then we're getting closer to dealing with it." | high4000.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "help you locate your important things"
},
"options": [
"help you locate your important things",
"track your wallet through GPS system",
"work better after you pay monthly fee",
"take good care of your pets at home"
... | Have you ever lost your car on a parking lot? You don't have a clue where your car is after shopping. Then you start walking around clicking on your car keys so the alarm goes off. It can be annoying, especially on a hot sunny day.
No, you needn't install an expensive GPS system to keep track of your car. That's too expensive. You would need to pay a monthly fee to use it.
But is there a way to track your vehicle without spending a fortune? Yes, now there is! A California-based company has created a tiny device that works with your smartphone, which could be exactly what you're looking for!
What is it?
It's called TrackR. It is a state-of-the-art tracking device the size of a coin. It's changing the way we keep track of the important things in our lives.
How does it work?
It's easy! Install the free TrackR app on your smartphone, connect the app to your device and you're ready to go! Simply attach TrackR to whatever you want to keep an eye on. The entire process of setting it up only takes 5 minutes or less.
You can attach it to your keys, briefcase, wallet, your latest tech gadgets and anything else you don't want to lose. Then use the TrackR app to locate your missing item in seconds.
If you forget where you have parked your car, pull out your smartphone and open the TrackR app. Tap on the "find device" button on the screen and the app will tell you the exact spot of the last known location of the TrackR.
What else can I do with TrackR?
The device is small and unnoticeable enough that you can attach it to your pet. Put it on their collar, and the issue of searching for them when they run away to nearby places will be over! You'll never waste a minute searching the whole house for it.
TrackR even comes with a double-sided glue so you can stick it to your laptop or under your bike seat. Track down and punish the thieves who steal your expensive things!
How much does it cost?
You're probably thinking that this device is very expensive. False! TrackR only costs $29! That's a small price to pay for peace of mind, isn't it?
Where can I buy one?
You can buy it directly from the company's website by clicking here https://buy.thetrackr.co/gu/special-offers/15/ . | high19674.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "a non-profit organization"
},
"options": [
"your best friend",
"a non-profit organization",
"a historic hero",
"a famous carbon cowboy"
],
"question": "The Friends of the Amazon is the name of _ .",
"qu... | The Friends of the Amazon is a nonprofit association helping to preserve the forest, its wildlife and its native cultures in the Peruvian Amazon. We are located 3 degrees south of the equator in the Region of Loreto, which is roughly the size of Montana and is one of the richest areas in the world in terms of flora and fauna . Our team consists of lawyers, ecologists, sociologists, medical professionals and native Amazonians working together to protect the forest and its people from destruction. We use litigation , filing lawsuits against those who seek to destroy the forest and its native cultures. In addition to legal processes, we promote health, education, and the conservation of native plants and animals.
The Amazon Rainforest is commonly referred to as the "lungs of the planet" whose trees are essential for absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2, a greenhouse gas that causes global warming) and
it into oxygen, thereby mitigating the rise of global temperatures and climate change. An estimated 120 billion tons of carbon dioxide is absorbed in the Amazon Rainforest and global emissions of carbon dioxide increase with every tree of the rainforest that is cut down. That is why the survival of the Amazon Rainforest is vital for the survival of our planet, without which rising global temperatures could melt the polar icecaps and cause flooding of our coastal cities.
Currently, the Amazon is under siege , with an estimated 1000 hectares being destroyed everyday. After harvesting old growth forests, corporations are often replacing the native forest with palm oil plantations instead of reforesting with native tree species. Palm oil trees are native to Africa, not the Amazon, and due to high profits, their promotion by international aid agencies and recent legislation in Peru, palm oil plantations represent perhaps the single greatest threat to the native Amazon Rainforest.
In addition to conventional logging and deforesting to make room for crops such as palm oil and soybeans, the Amazon forest faces a new threat in the form of REDD projects and "Carbon Cowboys". REDD refers to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation by using carbon offsets ("carbon credits"). Under the guise of REDD projects, scammers are tricking native communities into signing unjust contracts in English without legal representation which essentially give these so called Carbon Cowboys the forest for free. These cheaters are making false promises of "billions of dollars in profits" from REDD and voluntary carbon offset projects by lying that they are representatives of the United Nations and World Bank in order to trick vulnerable indigenous Amazonians into ceding their land by signing unjust contracts with hidden clauses that give the Carbon Cowboys a power of attorney to do whatever they want with the forest for a period of 100 years. Friends of the Amazon is actively filing lawsuits against these Carbon Cowboys and those who support them.
For further information on our programs and to find out how you can help preserve the Amazon Rainforest, please contact:
Friends of the Amazon
153 Tupac Amaru Street
Iquitos, Peru
Phone: (+51) 985665374
For more specific information on supporting the goals of our nonprofit organization, please contact us using the email address listed below.
If you would like to learn how you can help preserve the Amazon Rainforest and its indigenous people, please contact us for more information at: | high16547.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Sough Sa's photo of reaching his belly button was popular online."
},
"options": [
"Boys show no interest in this new trend.",
"GayleRabbit reached her belly button on her first try.",
"Sough Sa's photo of reaching his belly ... | Can you touch your belly button by reaching behind your back and around your waist?
A new social trend has started in China, with thousands of netizens facing the challenge and uploading photographs of themselves to show off their bodies. Popular among many young female users on Weibo, the top, which translate as "reaching your belly button from behind to show your good figure," was mentioned more than130 million times among Weibo users.
It not only _ over 104,000 active discussions, but also led to concern about what means a healthy body image. "Look! It has taken me more than four hours but I've finally reached my belly button," said Weibo user GayleRabbit. Another user Lucky said, "Why does my belly button suddenly look and feel completely new?"
While the trend was popular with many female users on Weibo, a photo uploaded by a male blogger caught people's eye. "Is this pose really that difficult? I don't think so," Said Weibo user Sough Sa. His photo showing he was trying to touch his belly button was shared more than 8,452 times. It also drew over 2,000 comments from other users on Weibo. "Show the skinny girls how it's done," said one user.
Weibo user MedicalCream Tang Zhao said, "Now you did it! So you don't have to lose weight and please stay the same."
"I always support failures. Now I don't feel so bad about not being able to touch my belly button," said another user Jacket.
"Do we need to have flexible arms or a skinny waist to pull this off?" asked Weibo user Chantilly623.
But some experts argued that China's new belly button trend was actually distorting society's standards of beauty. "These poses and pictures can be fun but sometimes they also become an expression of competitiveness," said Jolene Tan, Programmes and Communications Senior Manager in Singapore championing women's rights. She also told the BBC that the trend seemed to be a way of examining women's bodies to see whether they are good enough. However, experienced body trainers say the new trend is about flexibility of the arm and the size of the waist, rather than a good figure. A skinny person with fewer muscles has a better chance of achieving the pose. | high12721.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Americans are more socially isolated today."
},
"options": [
"Americans are more socially connected today.",
"Americans are more socially isolated today.",
"Technology plays a bigger role in American society.",
"America... | Technology has totally transformed our ability to communicate with each other. Linking to each other both literally and figuratively, many of us connect through cell phones, email, instant messaging, blogs, and networking web sites, yet we may be less connected to each other than we think.
According to a study, Americans are becoming increasingly socially isolated . The study suggests, for example, that one quarter of Americans say that they have no one to discuss important personal issues with, and that the number of close friends that Americans have has dropped from three to two. Meanwhile, the Boston Globe reports that this spreading isolation is experienced more sharply among those with less education, people of color, and older Americans. Unsurprisingly, those who are young, white, and well educated tend to have stronger social networks.
From my own experience I have to say that I've never felt more connected, thanks to a web of friends, family, and colleagues. One of my closest friends is someone I met through an online discussion group who lives hundreds of miles away from me. We have met face-to-face only twice, yet our regular electronic correspondence and cell phone calls maintain our close friendship. And, speaking of blogging, my blog has introduced me to people I would never have met otherwise and has led to enduring and important friendships.
On the other hand, I recently saw a scene unfold that proved to me how deeply disconnected we as Americans have become. I had just wrapped up a presentation on mediation at a family therapy center.
As I was leaving, I noticed a mother and her teenage son who had just completed their session with their family therapist. After making their next appointment, they both took out their cell phones, placed calls, and began loud conversations with whoever was on the other end. I walked out behind them to the parking lot to my car. They both jumped into their cars, and, as I saw them drive off, they were still talking on their cell phones.
But, alas, not to each other. | high9524.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "They couldn't stand each other."
},
"options": [
"They looked down upon each other.",
"They didn't leave water to each other.",
"They couldn't stand each other.",
"They didn't know how to protect themselves."
],
... | Once upon a time, there was a lovely vegetable field, on which grew a very thick tree. Both the vegetables and the tree gave the place a wonderful appearance, which was the joy of the garden's owner. What no one knew was that the vegetables in the field and the tree couldn't stand each other. The vegetables hated the tree's shadow, because it left them only just enough light to survive. The tree, on the other hand, hated the vegetables because they drank nearly all the water before it could get to him, leaving him with just enough to survive.
The situation became so extreme that the vegetables got totally fed up and decided to use up all the water in the ground so that the tree would dry up. The tree answered back by refusing to give the vegetables shadow from the hot midday sun, so they both began to dry up. Before long, the vegetables were really thin and the tree's branches were drying up.
Neither of them thought that the gardener, on seeing his vegetable field becoming worse, would stop watering it. When he did that, both the tree and the vegetables really learned what thirst was. There seemed to be no solution, but one of the vegetables, a small courgette , understood what was going on, and decided to deal with it. Despite the little water and the unbearable heat, the little courgette did all he could to grow, grow...He managed to grow so big that the gardener started watering the field again. The gardener wanted to enter that beautiful big courgette in some gardening contest.
And so the vegetables and the tree realized that it was better to help each other than to fight. They should really learn how to live in harmony with those around them, doing the best they could. So they decided to work together, using both the shadow and the water in the best combination to grow good vegetables. Seeing how well they were doing, the gardener now gave the best of care to his vegetable field, watering it better than any other field for miles around. | high6617.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The study area should be bright enough for the students to read the textbook."
},
"options": [
"Doing well in high school prepares students for life in college only.",
"Completing most of the homework on time will help a student to... | Doing well in high school prepare students for life in college and beyond, so achieving student success is important. High school students learn valuable information form class lectures and homework, and by asking for help when it is needed. Being prepared for tests and engaging in school activities can help a student to achieve success in high school.
Complete any homework you are assigned on time. Then, if you need help understanding a concept you will have plenty of time to get help.
Create a study area in your home. This can be a quiet bench outside or a seating area in your room. If you like to listen to music while studying, listen to classical or reading music. Be sure to have plenty of lighting in the area to read your textbook or notes.
Keep a schedule. If you have extra-curricular activities like sports or school meetings, make sure to schedule your homework and study time around them. Keeping a schedule will allow you to get better grades while having fun in high school.
Eat breakfast. Having breakfast each morning before school will give you energy and brain function to pay better attention in class. Eat snacks during study sessions to keep alert and focused on your work.
Create a study group to help fellow high school students and get help if you need it. Studying with others will help reinforce concepts and information, and if you need help there will always be someone there to help you before you get behind in your studies.
Set up after-school hours with your teacher if you need extra tutoring . Visiting a teacher for one-on-one time before a test will help you nail down those last few concepts you need help with. | high12735.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "was satisfied with her love for him"
},
"options": [
"was satisfied with her love for him",
"disliked her brothers and sisters",
"was proud of her",
"would recover from the disease"
],
"question": "Before Martha... | Martha was busy with her job. She believed she had to work harder because she loved her father who was sick with cancer. She had to provide for his expensive medicines. Her brothers and sisters meanwhile stayed with their father most of the time. They bathed him, sang for him, spoon-fed him or simply kept him company.
One day Martha was hurt. She overheard her father telling her mother, "All our children love me except Martha."
"How can this be?" Martha thought. "Am I not the one killing myself in my work to have money to pay for his medicines? My brothers and sisters do not even provide their share in the expenses."
One night, as Martha was as usual late in going home, she saw her father was lying awake. She walked close to his bedsides. Her father held her hands and said, "I miss you. I don't have much time. Stay with me." And she stayed with her father holding his hand the whole night.
The next morning Martha said to everybody, "I have taken a leave of absence. I would like to be with father. I will bathe him and sing for him from now on." Her father had a beautiful smile. He knew Martha loved him, too.
As children, we need the presence of our loved ones. Adults need no less. I have observed my mother's orchids . When she is away for a long time, they are unhealthy and many of them wither . But when she is around , they bloom with beautiful flowers. My mother does nothing special . She just spends her time looking after them. | high9530.txt |
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