questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Unreasonable."
},
"options": [
"Unreasonable.",
"Necessary.",
"Difficult.",
"Urgent."
],
"question": "What does the author think of pulling down Big Ben to make way for a car park?",
"question_type": null
... | What would you think if someone suggested knocking down St Paul's cathedral to widen the road,or pulling down Big Ben to make way for a car park? It'd be ridiculous,right? But when it comes to devastation of the natural world,we aren't so easily shocked.But we should be...or we'll be in a lot of trouble!
_ Ancient forests are destroyed.Wetlands are becoming dry.Woodland is disappearing,all in the name of progress.This is bad in itself,but it's devastating for biodiversity.
Biodiversity refers to the variety of plants,animals and other living things which are all inter-connected.The ecological services provided by biodiversity are vital to everyday life.The air we breathe is a product of photosynthesis by green plants.In fact,all life on earth exists thanks to the benefit of biodiversity.More than 90 percent of the calories consumed by people worldwide are produced from 80 plant species.And 30 percent of medicines are developed from plants and animals.Maintaining a wide diversity of species in each ecosystem is necessary to preserve all living things.
The loss of biodiversity could be devastating."It is wrong to think that biodiversity can be reduced indefinitely without threatening humans," said Harvard University biologist Edward O Wilson,known as "the father of biodiversity".He warned,"We are about to reach a critical point beyond which biodiversity loss will be unavoidable."
But what can we do? The problem is that the concept of biodiversity is so vague.People might care about giant pandas,but it is much harder to excite them about the fate of tiny sea creatures which are being boiled to death in the cooling systems of power stations along coastlines.The Guardian newspaper is trying to help.It has started the Biodiversity 100 campaign to try to convince governments around the world to take action to deal with the widespread concerns about biodiversity.This includes persuading the UK government to create a series of marine reserves to change the decrease in the sea-life caused by industrial fishing,stopping fishing sharks by the Japanese fishermen and banning the killing of dingoes in Australia,among many other things.
There is a lot to do.And we'd better act quickly if we don't want to end up with a planet that can't support life! | high13993.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "not only limited to the U.S"
},
"options": [
"learned from some European countries",
"not only limited to the U.S",
"no longer popular",
"somewhat similar to the European style"
],
"question": "Frank Lloyd Wrigh... | Frank Lloyd Wright probably is the greatest architect that the United States has ever produced. He was very gifted and had a natural ability to design buildings. His buildings were not only beautiful, but they were also practical and useful. They fit their purposes very well. Wright's churches, for example, make people feel like thinking and praying. His office buildings make people enjoy working, and his houses make people feel comfortable at home. However, Frank Lloyd Wright's beautiful, practical and useful buildings are not the only reason that he is famous. There is another reason.
Frank Lloyd Wright is called the greatest American architect because he started an American style in architecture. Most of the architecture in the United States before Wright was really European, not American. Wright's buildings do not look like old European buildings. They have their own style. Wright's ideas about style are still used in the United States and in other parts of the world.
The most important idea in Frank Lloyd Wright's Style of Architecture is that a building must fit its purpose and the land around it. His houses are often called "grass-land houses" because their lines are similar to the lines on the grassland. Both the lines of the grassland and the lines of Wright's house are parallel to the horizon, the place where earth and sky seem to meet. They are horizontal lines. Most European style houses, in contrast, have many vertical lines that form 90degangles with the horizon. | high22596.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "personalities"
},
"options": [
"different jobs",
"personalities",
"personal skills",
"job's pay"
],
"question": "This passage mainly talks about the importance of _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
... | Have you ever picked a job based on the fact that you were good at it but later found it made you feel very uncomfortable over time? When you select your career, there's whole lot more to it than assessing your skills and matching them with a particular position. If you ignore your personality, it will hurt you long-term regardless of your skills or the job's pay. There are several areas of your personality that you need to consider to help you find a good job. Here are a few of those main areas:
1) Do you prefer working alone or with other people?
There are isolating jobs that will drive an outgoing person crazy and also interactive jobs that will make a shy person uneasy. Most people are not extremes in either direction but do have a tendency that they prefer. There are also positions that are sometimes a combination of the two, which may be best for someone in the middle who adapts easily to either situation.
2) How do you handle change?
Most jobs these days have some elements of change to them, but some are more than others. If you need stability in your life, you may need a job where the changes don't happen so often. Other people would be bored of the same daily routine.
3) Do you enjoy working with computers?
I do see this as a kind of personality characteristic. There are people who are happy to spend more than 40 hours a week on a computer, while there are others who need a lot of human interaction throughout the day. Again, these are extremes and you'll likely find a lot of positions somewhere in the middle as well.
4) What type of work environment do you enjoy?
This can range from being in a large building with a lot of people you won't know immediately to a smaller setting where you'll get to know almost all the people there fairly quickly.
5) How do you like to get paid?
Some people are motivated by the pay they get, while others feel too stressed to be like that. The variety of payment designs in the sales industry is a typical example for this.
Anyway, these are a great starting point for you. I've seen it over and over again with people that they make more money over time when they do something they love. It may take you a little longer, but making a move to do what you have a passion for can change the course of your life for the better. | high940.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "by reading posts about their financial journey"
},
"options": [
"by making a web page",
"by reading posts about their financial journey",
"by going on a financial journey",
"by writing to him"
],
"question": "Yo... | Today, we are talking about money. I can share a bit about my history with money and my new view when it comes to using _
I made a web page with links to posts about our financial journey where you can look for more details of where we've been and how we got where we are now. It was a big part of my story in the past and was a huge part of our downsizing journey. We got out of debt and stayed out of debt.
So I feel eager to share the benefits of being on this side. It takes planning and more careful thought whenever a dollar is spent now than it did when I had a wallet full of credit cards. I now like to think all of my dollars having a job. So many of us work for money and don't consider that money should work for us, too. Make your dollars do the job of helping you live the life you want.
Each time money is spent or saved, it should be going toward something that you purposefully want for your life. Last week I was out and I spent $20 on food in 3 days. It made me angry because afterward I thought about eating is not at all what for my life.
On the other hand, there are times I spend $20 while out with my family and it doesn't bother me one bit. An afternoon out with my kids during which we stop for ice cream, and do something fun together has a completely different feel to it.
In the end, I want the dollars I spend to have purpose like I can enjoy life while still planning and saving for the future. | high6577.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Spenser, Shakespeare and John Milton had the friendly relationship between them."
},
"options": [
"John Milton was a most learned poet.",
"John Milton was one of the giants of English literature.",
"Spenser and Shakespeare we... | John Milton, the most learned poet, is the greatest writer of the seventeenth century and one of the giants of English literature as a whole. He was greatly influenced by two historical movements of Renaissance and Reformation. Like Spenser and Shakespeare, he was also one of the Renaissance giants not only in England but also in the whole world. Almost all later poets in English literature respected Milton highly. Milton _ over his age as Shakespeare towers over the Elizabethan age, and as Chaucer towers over the medieval period.
John Milton was born in London in 1608. His education began at St. Paul's School, where he was very hard-working, where he showed wonderful gifts as a student of languages mastering Greek, Latin, Hebrew and many modem European languages. He also received very good home education under the influence of his father who was a Puritan and a lover of music and literature. He attended Christ's College, Cambridge University, where he was very popular because of his handsomeness and talent, where he explained the true aim of knowledge as making the spirit of man "reach out far and wide, until it fills the whole world and the space far beyond with the expansion of its greatness", where he graduated with B.A. in 1962 and M. A. in 1963. | high9644.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The Easter Egg Roll."
},
"options": [
"Walk for the Woods.",
"Teddy Bears' Picnic.",
"The Easter Egg Roll.",
"The Oral History Training Day."
],
"question": "Which of the following will be on 9thApril?",
"qu... | Welcome to our third newsletter of the year!
Our major activity for March is our Walk for the Woods fundraising event on Saturday, 17thMarch, starting any time between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. We will be walking the distance between Warley Woods and Tipperary. It is indeed a long way--80 miles. The more people that you can get to sponsor you, the more money we can raise to help look after our beautiful woodland. More information is available on our website.
The Sunday volunteers planted two beeches and an oak last week. This was thanks to the money from the Big Tree Plant and to Lisa and Gordon Whitaker, whose friends gave money for the big trees instead of for their wedding presents. Thanks to everyone who took part.
There were 15 volunteers at the Oral History Training Day which was led very ably by Julia Letts. The group will be meeting again and will start to interview the local people who have offered to tell their stories. We are happy to hear from others who would like to be interviewed about their memories of the Woods for the project. If you or anyone you know is interested, please call Viv Cole at the office. This project is financed by Heritage Lottery Fund.
There was a huge response to the Forest Schools activities held at half term. These will be held again during the Easter holidays on the following dates: 4thApril from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for over 8s. On 12thApril from 10 a. m. to 12 noon, there will be a Teddy Bears' Picnic for the under 8s. All these must be booked in advance.
Finally, don't forget the Easter Egg Roll on Bank Holiday, 9thApril, starting at 11 a.m. Bring your own hard-boiled and decorated egg to roll down the hill in the woods. The first past the finishing line will win a large chocolate egg! This year, due to popular demand, there will also be an Adults' Easter Egg Roll following the children's competition.
We look forward to seeing you all soon, at one of our many events! | high14030.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "To discover what shapes us as individuals."
},
"options": [
"To find out how many twins are born every year.",
"To discover what shapes us as individuals.",
"To compare differences between twins.",
"To study brother-and... | We each have a unique genetic (,) make-up. Every cell of your body has the same set of about 100,000 separate genes made of DNA. These are the instructions for producing a person. Genes decide everything from the colour of your skin to the way your brain works. You have one of several billion combinations of DNA which come from the random mixing of your parents' genes. Except for identical twins , no one has the same combination as another person. You are unique! You are unique in another way too: in the way you are raised and all the experiences you have from before birth to adult life. These experiences influence you, your behaviour and attitudes, and the choices you make.
But are genes or life experiences more important in shaping your appearance and personality? Scientists are studying twins to find out. One set of twins occurs every 70 births---some are identical and others are non-identical twins. Identical twins are special because they share exactly the same genes and often the same environment. Non-identical twins are more like ordinary brothers and sisters.
Some identical twins have been adopted and brought up in different homes. With identical genes but a different home environment, scientists can study twins to see how much a particular feature depends on the genes we inherit. For example, we know that eye problems, like short-sightedness, are mostly genetic. But resistance to pain is largely dependent on experiences. Genes also influence our eating habits. Identical twins brought up apart often like to eat at the same time of day and feel full after eating the same amount. Non-identical twins in similar circumstances have more varied eating habits. Identical twins are also more likely to follow the same patterns for marriage and divorce than non-identical twins.
Scientists are trying to identify the different genes that influence our behaviour. Some people are thrill-seekers and get into risk-taking and adventurous activities. They take up extreme sports like bungee jumping and possibly take drugs. Scientists have discovered a gene which affects _ .
We could ask, "Are our lives determined by our genes or our upbringing?" Scientists are learning more all the time, but it is certainly true that both are important in making us who we are. | high1218.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "She is concerned about children's attitudes towards failure."
},
"options": [
"She is concerned about children's attitudes towards failure.",
"She is the president of the Education Center.",
"She strongly believes that bad th... | Remind children that bad things don't last. It may sound simple, but the message is extremely important. "Children often don't have the experience to know that when something bad happens---they lose an important game or their best friend lets them down---it's not the end of the world," explains Nancy Leffert, a senior research scientist with the Research Institute, an American adolescents and children's research group. "They think their bad feelings will last for ever, or that one failure will ruin everything."
Unfortunately, that kind of thinking discourages motivation . "If a child believes that the cause of her upset is lasting, or that nothing she does will make a difference, it decreases her ability to keep on trying." says Dorothy Rich, president of the MegaSkills Education Center of the Home and School Institute, based in Washington. Any time you can help your child see that a situation is not lasting, that a result can be changed, or that one opinion does not reflect reality, you give her reason to hope.
Case in point: "When my daughter Kathy was eight, art was one of her favorite subjects," says Beth, a mother of two. "Then she got an art teacher who gave a great deal of praise to one student and barely noticed the rest. Kathy was ready to give up until I explained to her, "Never stop doing your best just because one person doesn't give you praise." Beth had to repeat the advice often, and finally her daughter got the message. "Kathy is 12 now, and art is still one of her strongest subjects." | high12441.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "On Yongxing Island."
},
"options": [
"In Hainan Province.",
"On Yongxing Island.",
"In South China Sea.",
"In Fujian Province."
],
"question": "Where is the center of Sansha city located?",
"question_type": ... | CHINA established the city of Sansha yesterday on Yongxing Island in the southernmost province of Hainan.
A ceremony to mark the city's establishment began at 10:40 am on a square in front of the city government's main building.
The national flag was hoisted and the national anthem played after the unveiling of the signboards of the Sansha Municipal Government and the Sansha Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China(CPC).
Official broadcaster China Central Television(CCTV) aired the ceremony live, with speeches from Sansha's newly appointed mayor and other officials.
Sun Shaochi, vice minister of civil affairs, announced the State Council's approval of the establishment of the city at the ceremony.
Luo Baoming, Party chief of Hainan Province, said in a keynote speech that Sansha was established to administer the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea.
"The provincial government will be devoted to turning the city into an important base to safeguard China's sovereignty and serve marine resource development." he said.
He said the main task now will be to build up political power in Sansha to ensure efficient management. The Sansha city government is located on Yongxing Island, a part of the Xisha Islands and the largest island in the area.
Sansha is 13 hours from the mainland by boat. It has a post office, bank, supermarket and hospital, but little else. | high23844.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The sense of belonging to a group."
},
"options": [
"The act of calling each other.",
"The sense of achievement.",
"The act of hunting for something.",
"The sense of belonging to a group."
],
"question": "What i... | Howling is a behavior commonly observed among a wolf pack . As pack animals, wolves work together to hunt and rely on howling as an important means of communication among each other. There are different explanations of a wolf's howl and it appears that there may be more to discover.
One theory is that wolves howl to bond better together. It's almost as if howling together helps the pack stay together, perhaps something similar to people feeling a sense of involvement with each other when singing a song together. But this theory may be wrong, explains Fred H. Harrington, a professor who studies wolf behavior. Indeed, there have been times when wolves have been seen one moment howling in a chorus, and the next, quarreling among each other. It appears that usually the lowest-ranking members of the pack may actually be "punished" for joining in the chorus at times. So is howling a way to strengthen a social bond or just a way to reconfirm status among its members? --Why do wolves howl for sure?
What is clear, however, is that howling is often used among packmates to locate each other. Hunting grounds are distant and it happens that wolves may separate from one another at times. When this happens, howling appears to be an excellent means of gathering.
Howling, interestingly, is a contagious behavior. When one wolf starts to howl, very likely others will follow. This is often seen to occur in the morning, as if wolves were doing some sort of "roll call" where wolves all howl together to report their presence. | high7669.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "He described the struggles of the poor in London."
},
"options": [
"He described the struggles of the poor in London.",
"He showed an interest in rural matters in his writing.",
"He focused on changing social and economic sit... | It was in the Victorian Era that the novel became the leading form of literature in English. Most writers were more concerned to meet the tastes of the middle class. The best known works of the period included the works of Charles Dickens and the Bronte sisters and others.
Charles Dickens came on the literary scene in the 1830s. Dickens wrote vividly about London life and the struggles of the poor. Most of his works were written in a very humorous style, which was popular with readers of all classes.
The Bronte sisters were English writers of the 1840s and 1850s. They began to write from early childhood. In 1846 they published the first book at their own expense as poets; however, their book attracted little attention, selling only two copies. Then the sisters turned to writing novels, each producing a novel in the following year.
An interest in rural matters and the changing social and economic situation of the countryside may be seen in the novels of Thomas Hardy and a number of others.
Literature for children developed as a single style. Some works became well-known, such as those of Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear. Adventure novels were written for adults but are now generally grouped in the list for children. Helen Beatrix Potter was an English author at the end of the Victorian Era, best known for her children's books, which featured animal characters. In her thirties, Potter published the highly successful children's bookThe Tale of Peter Rabbitin 1902. | high13987.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "cause a shortage of apartments"
},
"options": [
"cause a shortage of apartments",
"worry those who rent apartments as homes.",
"increase the profits of landlords.",
"encourage landlords to invest in building apartments.... | In cities with rent control, the city government sets the maximum rent that a landlord can charge for an apartment. Supporters of rent control argue that it protects people who are living in apartment. Their rent cannot increase; therefore, they are not in danger of losing their homes. However, the critics say that after a long time, rent control may have negative effects. Landlords know that they cannot increase their profits. Therefore, they invest in other businesses where they can increase their profits. They do not invest in new buildings which would also be rent-controlled. As a result, new apartments are not built. Many people who need apartments cannot find any. According to the critics, the end result of rent control is a shortage of apartments in the city.
Some experts argue that the minimum wage law can cause problems in the same way. The federal government sets the minimum that an employer must pay workers. The minimum helps people who generally look for unskilled, low-paying jobs. However, if the minimum is high, employers may hire fewer workers. They will replace workers with machinery. Therefore, other things being equal, the number of workers that employers want decreases. Thus, critics hold the opinion that an increase in the minimum wage may cause unemployment. Some poor people may find themselves without jobs instead of with jobs at the minimum wage.
Supporters of the minimum wage say that it helps people keep their dignity. Because of the law, workers cannot sell their services for less than the minimum. Furthermore, employers cannot force workers to accept jobs at unfair wages.
Economic theory predicts the results of economic decision, such as decisions about farm production, rent control, and the minimum wage. The predictions may be corrected only if "other things are equal". Economists do not agree on some of the predictions. They also do not agree on the value of different decisions. Some economists support a particular decision while others criticize it. Economists do agree, however, that there are no simple answers to economic questions. | high954.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the teacher made a special package for Maria so as to see her smile"
},
"options": [
"the beautiful chain was put inside a beautiful box",
"Maria made a golden chain of popcorn for her mother",
"the teacher made a special pac... | It was Christmas 1961. I was teaching in a small town in Ohio where my twenty seven third graders eagerly _ the great day of gift giving.
Each day the children made some new wonder - strings of popcorn, hand-made decorations, and German bells made from wallpaper samples, which we hung from the ceiling. Through it all she stayed indifferent , watching from afar, seemingly miles away. I wondered what would happen to this quiet child, once so happy, now so suddenly unsociable. I hoped the festivities would light her up. But nothing did.
The day of gift giving finally came. We oohed and aahed over our handwork as the presents were exchanged. Through it all, she sat quietly watching. I had made a special package for her, red and green with white lace. I wanted very much to see her smile. She opened it so slowly and carefully. I waited but she turned away.
After school the children left in little groups, but she hesitated, watching them go out of the door. I sat down to catch my breath, hardly know what was happening when she came to me reaching out her hands, holding a small white box, unwrapped and slightly soiled, as though it had been held many times by unwashed, childish hands. "For me?" I asked with a weak smile. She said not a word, but nodded her head. I took the box and carefully opened it. There inside, lay a golden chain. In a flash I knew - she had made it for her mother, a mother she would never see again, a mother who would never hold her or brush her hair or share a funny story, a mother who would never again hear her childish joys or sorrows, a mother who had taken her own life just three weeks before.
I held out the chain. She took it in both her hands, reached forward, and put it on at the back of my neck. She stepped back then as if to see that all was well. I looked down at the golden chain, then back at the giver, "Maria, it is so beautiful. She would have loved it." Neither of us could stop the tears. She threw herself into my arms and we were in tears together. _ | high22582.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Downhill skiing used to be more difficult to learn because of the old-fashioned skis."
},
"options": [
"Runners and cyclists cannot train because of the wet or slippery roads in winter.",
"Downhill skiing used to be more difficult ... | Winter is a great time to experiment with new sports. The key is to find one that matches your interests and natural abilities. If you like to walk, keep walking -- on snowshoes. If you want to try an endurance sport, go for cross-country skiing. Besides, snowboarding is just great fun.
Not satisfied with these? Try downhill skiing, then. Downhill skiing is not as hard as it used to be -- shorter, lightweight, curved skis make any beginner feel like an Olympic winner. These newer skis -- along with another type of equipment called skiboards, which are even shorter than skis -- help you control your speed and body movements.
Consider testing the latest high-tech skis or snowboards?Check with your local sports shops or the rental places at the ski mountains about sample programs.
You could also try sledding. Use a wood-framed sled with steel runners or a plastic sled to head down a snowy hill. If you prefer ice to snow, think hockey or figure skating.
Runners can also train during the winter in spite of wet or slippery roads. One of the easiest sports around, snowshoeing can be excellent cold-weather cross-training for runners and cyclists -- or anyone wanting to take a wintry walk in the woods. Snowshoes are smaller, lighter, and better than ever. If you want to try them out, you may be able to rent a pair for a day at many of the larger outdoor or sporting goods stores.
Whatever sport you choose, don't rely on a friend for instruction. You wouldn't let an inexperienced doctor perform a brain operation on you, but why let one teach you to ski or skate? That's what instructors are for -- to help newcomers start out right. Instructors can give you advice about equipment, techniques, safety, and dealing with injuries if they do happen to you.
Above all, if you want to progress, invest your time in learning the basic skills thoroughly. Everything else you do as a skier, boarder, or skater will be built on these first skills. | high16627.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Office manager."
},
"options": [
"Babysitter.",
"Office manager.",
"Waiter / waitress.",
"Office cleaner."
],
"question": "Which of the following position is a full-time job?",
"question_type": null
},
{... | Babysitter Wanted
I am seeking a babysitter for my 6-month-old son. A few hours on Saturdays and Sundays to help me and then other times as needed. He or she should be over 18, responsible, loving, warm, and have some experience in caring for babies. This position also suits a college student with experience looking for a part-time job. The pay is $10 an hour.
If this sounds like a good job to you, please reply to rebecharv@aol.comor call 800-4964.
Office Manager Wanted
Our company is looking for a full-time experienced manager to run the business. Strong skills in organisation and business management are required for this position. The office manager will be responsible for keeping financial records, so he or she should be familiar with computers.
Please reply to jim@californiaaquatics.comor call 800-6978 to apply.
Waiter/ Waitress Wanted
A restaurant is looking for an experienced waiter / waitress. Knowledge of wines and experience in dining are necessary. Must work well under pressure and understand the basics of fine dining and customer service.
If you're interested, please contact us at job-tkupe-1329358152@craigslist.orgto apply. This is a part-time job.
Office Cleaner Wanted
Looking for a Part-time job? A position in the Mississauga area needs an office cleaner! Part-time 4 hours a day from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm.
Duties include:
*Cleaning the washrooms
*Cleaning the furniture
*Sweeping the floors
*Other general cleaning Some experience is necessary. Pay:$15 per hour
Replyto:job-p3b7u-1365632206@craigslist.orgor call 800-8197. | high4360.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "help cure him of his reading problem"
},
"options": [
"encourage him to do more walking",
"let him spend a meaningful summer",
"help cure him of his reading problem",
"make him learn more about weapons"
],
"ques... | One day when I was 12, my mother gave me an order: I was to walk to the public library, and borrow at least one book for the summer. This was one more weapon for her to defeat my strange problem -- inability to read.
In the library, I found my way into the "Children's Room." I sat down on the floor and pulled a few books off the shelf at random. The cover of a book caught my eye. It presented a picture of a beagle. I had recently had a beagle, the first and only animal companion I ever had as a child. He was my secret sharer, but one morning, he was gone, given away to someone who had the space and the money to care for him. I never forgot my beagle.
There on the book's cover was a beagle which looked identical to my dog. I ran my fingers over the picture of the dog on the cover. My eyes ran across the title, Amos, the Beagle with a Plan. Unknowingly, I had read the title. Without opening the book, I borrowed it from the library for the summer.
Under the shade of a bush, I started to read about Amos. I read very, very slowly with difficulty. Though pages were turned slowly, I got the main idea of the story about a dog who, like mine, had been separated from his family and who finally found his way back home. That dog was my dog, and I was the little boy in the book. At the end of the story, my mind continued the final scene of reunion, on and on, until my own lost dog and I were, in my mind, running together.
My mother's call returned me to the real world. I suddenly realized something: I had read a book, and I had loved reading that book. Everyone knew I could not read. But I had read it. Books could be incredibly wonderful and I was going to read them.
I never told my mother about my "miraculous" experience that summer, but she saw a slow but remarkable improvement in my classroom performance during the next year. And years later, she was proud that her son had read thousands of books, was awarded a PhD in literature, and authored his own books, articles, poetry and fiction. The power of the words has held. | high10256.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "the girl didn't drive with great care"
},
"options": [
"the girl drank a lot before driving",
"it was so dark that the girl couldn't see very clearly",
"another car appeared on the girl's lane suddenly",
"the girl didn... | I began to work as a salesgirl in a department store.I got there that morning and was introduced to all the salesmen and saleswomen.Throughout the day,one of the salesmen talked with me.I thought we might become friends.That evening after work we went out for dinner.We sat together and talked,but our numbers were never exchanged.
Around 10 p.m., I began my 2hour drive back. For the first part of the drive, I was thinking to myself how stupid I had been for not giving him my number.Then all of a sudden,when I had gone around a corner, I was completely over in another lane.There was no time to even hit the brakes.I hit at once.The police came and cut the top of my car off to get me out.They sent me to the hospital quickly.
My mother got there late that night,and saw me lying in the emergency room.The next morning,mom called the manager and told him what had happened and that I would be in the hospital for a long time.A few hours later,I received a phone call--it was the guy I hadn't given my number.Well,he came to visit me that night and the next night.We spent a lot of time together.
It was months before I would be walking and driving again,but he'd sit by me.I don't think I could have pulled through it without him.Now I can walk freely,and just this week we are planning on getting married one year after the day we met.It's just amazing how a tragedy like a car accident could bring about such a wonderful relationship! | high20395.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Can dogs smell cancer?"
},
"options": [
"Can dogs smell cancer?",
"Dogs and treatment",
"A new research on breast cancer",
"An interesting experiment on lung cancer"
],
"question": "What's the best title of the ... | In a society where lung and breast cancers are leading causes of cancer death worldwide, early detection of the disease is highly desirable. In a new scientific study, researchers present astonishing new evidence that man's best friend, the dog, may have the ability to contribute to early cancer detection.
Researchers show scientific evidence that a dog's extraordinary smelling ability can distinguish people with both early and late stage lung and breast cancers from healthy people. Researchers first discovered this in the case report of a dog warning its owner to the presence of a melanoma by constantly sniffing the skin lesion . Later studies published in major medical magazines proved the ability of trained dogs to detect both melanomas and bladder cancers. The new study is the first to test whether dogs can detect cancers only by sniffing the breath of cancer patients.
In this study, five household dogs were trained within a short 3-week period to detect lung or breast cancer by sniffing the breath of cancer patients. The experiment consisted of 86 cancer patients (55 with lung cancer and 31 with breast cancer) and 83 healthy people. All cancer patients had recently been diagnosed with cancer and had not yet undergone any chemotherapy treatment . The dogs were presented with breath samples from the cancer patients and the healthy ones, captured in a special tube. Dogs were trained to give a positive identification of a cancer patient by sitting or lying down directly in front of a test station containing a cancer patient sample, while ignoring healthy samples.
The results of the study showed that dogs can detect breast and lung cancer between 88% and 97%. Moreover, the study also proved that the trained dogs could even detect the early stages of lung cancer, as well as early breast cancer. The researchers concluded that breath analysis might become a potential of cancer diagnosis. | high17539.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "She cares a lot about the environment."
},
"options": [
"She likes hugging trees.",
"She knows a lot about trees.",
"She grew up in the countryside.",
"She cares a lot about the environment."
],
"question": "Why... | Not too long ago, our teacher, being a "tree-hugger"(as the kids call her), had us write an essay on an environmental issue. I was eager to start, but something made me stop.
"What is an environmental issue?" one kid asked. "What if we don't care about the environment?" another complained. "It's not like it affects me."
These comments _ me. I have always cared about the environment and assumed that others did too. From the surprised look on my teacher's face, I could tell she felt the same way.
In no time, I finished my essay. In my essay I wrote about logging , which is an important industry, but if we continue to cut down trees without replacing, it will damage the environment.
There are so many things that we can do to save our world. Recycling, of course, is always a good thing, but not everyone has a recycling plant nearby (I don't). There are other ways to help the environment. Plant a tree. Don't waste water.
I can't stand it when a person's excuse for not caring is "Nothing is going to happen in my lifetime, so why should I care?" Sure, the chances of something terrible happening are slim, but I want people to realize that if we don't deal with it, someone will have to eventually. Do you want that to be your children? Or your children's children?
When my teacher told me to read my essay to my class, I was a little embarrassed because I didn't want everyone to call me "tree-hugger". I realize now that if being a tree-hugger means you care about the environment, I'm a tree-hugger 100 percent. I just wish more people were. | high5718.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Employer and employee"
},
"options": [
"Teacher and student.",
"Friends.",
"Family.",
"Employer and employee"
],
"question": "What is the relationship between Ben and Alan?",
"question_type": "factiod_questi... | Ben lived in the same house as I did, on the same floor, his door facing mine; we often saw each other, and I knew how he lived when he was at home. And at home it was the same story: dressing-gown, nightcap, closed windows, locked doors, and -'Oh, I hope nothing bad will happen!' Vegetarian food is not good for him, yet he could not eat meat, so he ate freshwater fish with butter--not a vegetarian dish, yet one could not say that it was meat. He did not keep a female servant for fear people might think evil of him, but had as cook an old man of sixty, called Alan, who had once been an officer's servant and could cook after a fashion. This Alan was usually standing at the door with his arms folded; with a deep sigh, he would _ always the same thing: "there are plenty of them about nowadays!" | high10530.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "in 1939"
},
"options": [
"in 1939",
"in the 1950s",
"in the 1940s",
"in 1919"
],
"question": "First TV set was made _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index"... | Television, which made its first serious appearance in 1939, did not become common until the early 1950s. Since then, millions of children have grown up in front of the set, and many people now worry about the effect that TV has on the young, and on society in general. Educators, psychologists, and crime experts wonder if television should be abolished . Many ordinary parents wish it had never been invented. Why are they so afraid? Is television as harmful as they think it is?
Like almost anything else, television has its good and its bad sides. One should surely thank its inventors for the joy and interest that they have brought into the lives of the old, the sick, and the lonely -- all those who, without it, would have no pleasure and no window on the world.
In truth, television has opened windows in everybody's life. No newspaper has ever reached so many people and shown so clearly what was happening right now in their own country and everywhere else. TV not only gives the news instantly, it also shows it in pictures more powerful than words. It can be said that TV has brought reality to the public. Millions of people now have seen the effects of a battle, a flood, a fire, a crime, disasters of every sort on the screen.
Unfortunately, television's influence has been extremely harmful to the young. Children do not have enough experience to realize that TV shows present an unreal world. They want to imitate what they see. They do believe that the violence they see is normal and acceptable. By the time they are out of high school, most young people have watched about 15,000 hours of television, and have seen about 18,000 killings or other acts of violence. All educators and psychologists agree that the "television generations" are more violent than their parents and grandparents,
According to the same experts, the young are also less patient. Used to TV shows, where everything is quick and entertaining, they do not have the patience to read an article without pictures; to read a book that requires thinking; to listen to a teacher who doesn't do funny things like the people on children's programs. And they expect all problems to be solved happily in ten, fifteen or thirty minutes. That's the time it takes on the screen.
It is certain that television has deeply changed our lives and our society. It is certain that, along with its benefits, it has brought many serious problems. To these problems we must soon find a solution because, whether we like it or not, television is here to stay. | high16141.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "How can a Stamp Be Worth $16,800?"
},
"options": [
"How can a Stamp Be Worth $16,800?",
"Printer Made a Mistake.",
"Stamp-collection Calls for Much Money.",
"A Dance Party Planned."
],
"question": "Which of the ... | Any mistake, which is made in the printing of a stamp, raises its value to stamp collectors. A mistake on a two-penny stamp has made it worth a million and a half times its face value.
Do you think it possible? However, it is true.
The mistake was made more than 100 years ago in Mauritius, a small island in the Indian Ocean, which was a British colony at that time. In 1847, an order for stamps was sent to London. Thus prefix = st1 /Mauritiusbecame the fourth country in the world which had the stamps made in other countries.
Before the order was filled ,that is, the stamps arrived from England, a big dance party was planned by the commander-in-chief of all the armed forces on the island. The party would be held in his house and letters of invitation would be sent to all the important people in Mauritius. So stamps were badly needed to post the letters. Therefore, an islander, who was a good printer, was told to copy the pattern of the stamps. He carelessly put the words "Post Office" instead of "Post Paid", two words seen on the stamps at that time, on several hundred that he printed.
Today, there are only 26 of these misprinted stamps left: fourteen One-penny Reds and twelve Two-penny Blues. Because of so few Two-penny Blues and because of their age, collectors have paid as much as $16,800 for each of them. | high19272.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the claims made by products are often unclear and deceiving"
},
"options": [
"all the products surveyed claim to meet ISO standards",
"the claims made by products are often unclear and deceiving",
"consumers would believe man... | Consumers are being confused and misled by the hodge-podge of environmental claims made by household products, according to a "green labeling" study published by Consumers International Friday.
Among the report's more unacceptalbe findings - a German fertilizer described itself as "earthworm friendly"; a brand of flour said it was "non-polluting" and a British toilet paper claimed to be "environmentally friendlier".
The study was written and researched by Britain's National Consumer Council (NCC) for lobby group Consumers International. It was funded by the German and Dutch governments and the European Commission.
"While many good and useful claims are being made, it is clear that there is a long way to go in ensuring shoppers are adequately informed about the environmental impacts they buy," said Consumers International director, Anna Fielder.
The 10-country study surveyed product packaging in Britain, Western Europe, Scandinavia and the United States. It found that products sold in Germany and the United Kingdom made the most environmental claims on average.
The report focused on claims made by specific products, such as detergent , insect sprays and some garden products. It did not test claims, but compared them to labeling guidelines set by the International Standards Organization (ISO) in September, 1999. Researchers documented claims of environmental friendliness made by about 2,000 products and found many too vague or too misleading to meet ISO standards.
"Many products had specially designed labels to make them seem environmentally friendly, but in fact many of these symbols mean nothing," said report researcher Philip Page.
"Laundry detergents made the most number of claims with 158. Household cleaners were second with 145 separate claims, while paints were third on our list with 73. The high numbers show how confusing it must be for consumers to sort the true from the misleading," he said.
The ISO labeling standards ban vague or misleading claims on product packaging, because terms such as "environmentally friendly" and "non-polluting" cannot be verified. "What we are now pushing for is to have multinational corporations meet the standards set by the ISO," said Page. | high4406.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "keep wireless off"
},
"options": [
"charge it frequently",
"keep wireless off",
"use it in bright sunlight",
"read in a quiet room"
],
"question": "If you want to use the e-reader longer, you should _ .",
... | A quick look at an e-reader
New, High-Contrast E-Ink Screen
50% better contrast than any other e-reader. The clearest text and sharpest images.
Read in Bright Sunlight
Unlike LCD screens, its screen reads like real paper, with no glare. Read as easily in bright sunlight as in your living room.
Lighter Than a Paperback
Weighing only 8.5 ounces and 1/3 of an inch thick, it is lighter than a paperback and thinner than a magazine.
Holds 3,500 Books
We doubled its storage so you can carry up to 3,500 books.
Battery Life of Up to One Month
A single charge lasts up to one month with wireless off. Keeping wireless always on, it can go for up to three weeks without recharging.
Books in 60 Seconds
With fast, free wireless delivery, you can start reading books in less than 60 seconds. No computer required.
_
Over 670,000 books, including 107 of 111 New York Times Best Sellers, plus audiobooks, periodicals and blogs. For non-U.S. customers, content availability varies.
Free, Out-of-Copyright Books
Over 1.8 million free, out-of-copyright, pre-1923 books are available such as Pride and Prejudice.
Low Book Prices
Over 550,000 books are $9.99 or less, including 73 New York Times Best Sellers of the present time.
Free Book Samples
Download and read first chapters for free before you decide to buy. | high15448.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "high calorie snacks"
},
"options": [
"weight-related disorders",
"high calorie snacks",
"parents' bad habits",
"unhealthy lunches and breakfast"
],
"question": "According to this passage, _ are to blame for ... | The federal school lunch program for 30 million low-income children was created more than half a century ago to combat malnutrition . A breakfast program was added during the 1960s, and both attempted to improve the nutritional value of food served at school.
More must be done to fight the childhood obesity epidemic, which has caused a frightening peak in weight-related disorders like diabetes, high-blood pressure and heart disease among young people. The place to start is schools, where junk food sold outside the federal meals program--through snack bars and vending machines--has pretty much canceled out the benefits of all those efforts.
Federal rules that govern the sales of these harmful foods at school are limited and have not been updated for nearly 40 years. Until new regulations are written, children who are served healthy meals in the school cafeteria will continue to buy candy drinks and high sodium snacks elsewhere in school.
Many states' school districts have taken positive steps, but others are likely to resist, especially districts that sell junk food to finance athletic program extracurricular activities, and even copier expenses.
Those districts should take note of a study released in 2009 in West Virginia showing that the budgetary costs of switching from sodas to healthy drinks such as fruit juice, milk, and water were very little. Even if the switch costs money, so be it. The school should not be trading their students' health to buy office supplies.
Over the last five decades, the obesity rates for adolescents have tripled. Unless there is decisive action, weight and inactivity-related disorders will bother a steady larger proportion of the work force and replace smoking as the leading cause of premature death. | high13039.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "make an advertisement"
},
"options": [
"make an advertisement",
"share teaching experience",
"describe an online website",
"present a way of making money"
],
"question": "The purpose of the text is to _ .",
... | Tykoon is an online website that allows you to teach your child financial principles through allowances,assignment of tasks and daily chores.As the parent,you can assign a cash value to the things you want your child to do.Then,your child can go in,accept the task and add to their wish list of what they would like to purchase with the money that they earn.
Let's start with the parent side of things.The parent must be the one to set up the account.You simply enter your information and your child's information to get started.You are then able to assign allowance amounts to your child.
Then you can add tasks for your child to accept and link them to either their weekly allowance or a predetermined amount.Your child is then able to accept or decline their tasks.They can see how much each task earns,how often they need to do it and what they will get if they do!They can add items that they are working toward earning and can even earn nncash _ such as extra TV time or staying up late!
Tykoon is a great way to start teaching your child about responsibility and financial principles in fun and safe way.Through the creation of their own profile and the ability to accept or decline tasks,they are taught the skills that they will need later in life when they are managing their own budgets!So,head over and sign up for a free account today and watch your child get excited about doing their chores!
And right now,as a special reward,if you share Tykoon with your friends and have five friends sign up and stay active for more than a month,you'll earn a $25 Amazon.com gift card!So get your child enrolled ,tell your friends and let's start teaching all our kids about the important financial principles today! | high6211.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "collect information about a coming storm"
},
"options": [
"head straight for the center of the storm",
"get into the car for safety",
"wait patiently for the storm to develop",
"collect information about a coming storm"... | When a storm is coming, most people leave the area as quickly as possible and head for safety. But there are a few people who will get into their cars and go straight for the center of the storm. These people are willing to risk being killed by floods or 100-kilometer-an-hour winds for the excitement of watching the storm close up.
"Storm chasing " is becoming an increasing popular hobby, especially in the Midwest of the United States, where there are frequent storms between March and July. A storm chaser begins the day by checking the Internet for the latest weather report, and then drives up to 1000 kilometers to where the storm will be and waits for it to develop.
Although anyone can do it, storm chasing is extremely dangerous. The power of a big storm can throw a cow into the air or destroy a whole house in seconds. Storm chasers are also often hurt in accidents caused by driving in a heavy rain. If you are a beginner, it is much safer to join a group for storm-chasing vacations during the storm season.
Even then, storm chasing is not all adventure and excitement. "Storm chasing is 95% driving," says Daniel Lynch, who spends most of his summer storm-chasing. "Sometimes you can sit around for hours waiting for something to happen, and all you get is blue sky and a few light showers."
However, for storm chasers, it is all worth it. "When you get close to a storm, it is the most exciting sight you will ever see in your life," says Jasper Morley. "Every storm is an example of the power of nature. It is the greatest show on earth." | high18144.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "the star is going to die"
},
"options": [
"the star is going to die",
"special tools are used on it",
"other stars come close to it",
"it is seen from the space telescopes"
],
"question": "The gravity of a black... | A black hole is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light cannot get out. The gravity is so strong because matter has been squeezed into a tiny space. This can happen when a star is dying.
Because no light can get out, people can't see black holes. Space telescopes with special tools can help find black holes. The special tools can see how stars that are very close to black holes act differently from other ones.
Black holes can be big or small. Scientists think the smallest black holes are as small as just one atom. These black holes are very tiny but have the mass of a large mountain. Mass is the amount of matter, or "staff", in an object.
Another kind of black hole is called "stellar" . Its mass can be up to 20 times more than the mass of the sun. There may be many stellar mass black holes in Earth's galaxy. Earth's galaxy is called the Milky Way.
The largest black holes are called "supermassive" . These black holes have masses that are more than one million suns together. Scientists have found proof that every large _ contains a supermassive black hole at its center. The supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy has a mass equal to about four million suns and would fit inside a very large ball that could hold a few million Earths.
Scientists think the smallest black holes formed when the universe began. Stellar black holes are made when the center of a very big star falls in upon itself, or falls apart. When this happens, it exploded part of the star into space. Scientists think supermassive black holes were made at the same time as the galaxy they are in.
A black hole can not be seen because strong gravity pulls all of the light into the middle of the black hole. But scientists can see how the strong gravity affects the stars and gas around the black hole. Scientists can study stars to find out if they are flying around, or orbiting a black hole.
When a black hole and a star are close together, high-energy light is made. This kind of light cannot be seen with human eyes. Scientists use satellites and telescopes in space to see the high-energy light. | high5730.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": ".Employing staff for Kids Camp."
},
"options": [
".Various activities of Kids Camp.",
".Benefits of working at Kids Camp.",
".How to sign up for Kids Camp.",
".Employing staff for Kids Camp."
],
"question": "Wha... | Working at camp is a great journey that not only creates lifelong memories for yourself ,but the chance to make an influence on the loves of children who attend Kids Camp. As a summer camp professional, you are a teacher , a friend and most importantly a role model. Staff-members ensure the Our youngest staff is 18, but most are over 20 years old we desire a staff with a strong interest in children and job-related experience,Each tent has six campers and two staff members ,We run an exciting range of activities and programs such as Athletics, Arts, Basketball ,Computers , Field Games, Fun & Games, Gardening, Hiking, High\Low Ropes Course, Nature Education.
Great Reasons to Become a Camp Professional
Meet energetic, warm-hearted staff from around the world
Gain meaningful leadership experience
Sing crazy songs and wear funny costumes
A positive challenge you will remember in the rest of your life
Make a difference to the life of a child
Staff Needs
Lifeguards --Red Cross certified preferably holding a current WSI certification
High Ropes Staff--training/certification from a nationally recognized organization
Fun & Games - lead non-competitive athletic games
Juggler/Clown - teach circus skills
Archery - with certification from a nationally recognized course
Nature/ Garden - with strong knowledge or interest in natural wildlife and gardening
Dave Meizels , Camp Director
E-mail: demeizels@channe12kidscamp.org
Tel:860-742-2267
Contact Dave if you have any questions about our-application process. | high17277.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "going on a vacation"
},
"options": [
"going on a vacation",
"shopping for luggage",
"moving to a new home",
"hosting relatives for a visit"
],
"question": "This text would be most helpful to a reader who is _ ... | Getting away for a short time always seems like a great idea--until you have to pack. The rule is: pack light. Here are some tips to help you pack.
Organize Yourself
Make a list. Think of what you need from your head to your toes. When you've done this once, it'll be easier next time.
Start Small
Consider buying small-size samples of shampoo, toothpaste, and other items at your local store. Make sure they are all sealed tightly.
In an emergency, you can purchase them at your destination. But remember that the time you spend buying things at your destination will reduce your visiting time.
The Clothing Dilemma
Choosing which clothes to bring is probably the hardest packing decision to make. Think once again from head to toe -- hat, shirts, jeans, sneakers, etc. Once you've picked out what you want to bring, think carefully. Do you really need that extra pair of jeans? If so, fine. Don't try to fool yourself. You are the one who will be left holding the bag.
Weather is an important factor in your packing. If it's cold, you could wear a jacket, a sweater, a regular shirt, and a T-shirt. Layering up will keep you warm and it will leave more room in your bag. Roll up your casual clothes instead of folding and laying them flat. This leaves more room to pack other things, and keeps your clothes fairly wrinkle-free.
Remember how much easier it will be to carry your bag! | high11606.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "the fall colors are always in leaves"
},
"options": [
"the fall colors are always in leaves",
"leaves make chlorophyll all the seasons",
"leaves' changing color have nothing to with the weather",
"leaves begin changing ... | It's a sure sign that summer is over and winter is on the way -- leaves that were once deep green turn red, yellow and bright orange. It happens every autumn. But did you ever wonder why?
The leaves start changing color when the nights start getting longer and the temperature starts getting cooler. Some scientists think that as the number of daylight hours _ the leaves stop making chlorophyll which makes plants green. The reason is that the process of making chlorophyll requires sunlight. But according to horticulture educator Susan Rose from Colorado State University, it turns out leaves don't really change color at all. "The fall colors are actually there all along," she said. "But they are covered by the green chlorophyll. As the chlorophyll stops being produced, the other colors can shine through."
The kind of color that the leaves are going to change to is determined by the plant's genetic background. In some places, the leaves start changing color in September -- before autumn even officially begins. In other places, they don't change until late October or even November. Some scientists say the leaves have been changing color later than usual in recent years. And they think global warming has something to do with that.
In one study, researchers found that the growing season in the Northern Hemisphere was nearly a week longer, on average, in 2008 than it was in 1982. And a professor from Harvard University found that the leaves, west of Boston, Massachusetts, are changing color about three days later than they used to. However, other scientists disagree with the global warming theory. Susan Rose said the leaves in her part of Colorado are changing "right on schedule." But the leaves in other parts of that state are running a little late. "The lateness in the mountains may have something to do with the really warm late summer and early fall," she said. "But I'm afraid that's just a guess." | high3341.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "hundreds of bison travelling through the prairie"
},
"options": [
"the burning fire moving across the grassland",
"hundreds of bison travelling through the prairie",
"tens of millions of bison occupying the farmland",
"... | Watching bison up close is fascinating, like watching a grass fire about to leap out of control. With their huge, wedge-shaped heads and silver-dollar-size brown eyes, the 2,000-pound animals are symbols of another place and time. More than 100 bison now roam the 30,000-acre American Prairie Reserve in eastern Montana -- the first time they've inhabited that region in a century. Direct descendants of the tens of millions of bison that once populated the Western plains, they represent an epic effort: to restore a piece of America's prairie to the national grandeur that Lewis and Clark extolled two centuries ago. During that famous expedition across the Western states to the Pacific, the two explorers encountered so many bison that they had to wait hours for one herd to pass.
In order to protect what's here and reintroduce long-gone wildlife (something the World Wildlife Fund is helping with), the American Prairie Foundation began purchasing land from local ranchers in 2004. It now owns 30,000 acres and has grazing privileges on another 57,000. Its goal over the next 25 years is to assemble three million acres, the largest area of land devoted to wildlife management in the continental United States.
Already, herds of elk, deer, and pronghorn antelope roam the grasslands, where visitors can camp, hike, and bike. Cottonwoods and willows are thriving along streams, creating habitats for bobcats, beavers, and other animals.
Not everyone shares APF's vision. Some residents of Phillips County (pop. 3,904) worry that the area could become a prairie Disneyland, overcrowded with tourists. But the biggest obstacle is the ranchers themselves, whose cattle compete with prairie dogs and bison for grass and space.
"People like me have no intention of selling their ranches," says Dale Veseth, who heads the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance of 35 families in Phillips County and whose family has been ranching here since 1886. "They've been a labor of love through the generations." Instead, he wants APF to pay or
ranchers to raise bison. This would be far less costly for the foundation, he argues, than buying the land directly. | high16169.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "He didn't think he could be easily found there"
},
"options": [
"He thought it was a good place to sleep",
"He wanted to start a big rescue operation",
"He didn't think he could be easily found there",
"He is Australia'... | At just six years old, Joey Kilpatrick is Australia's unofficial hide-and-seek champion after he hid in a bedroom cupboard for eight hours while playing his favorite game,causing a big rescue operation.
The determined little boy's disappearing act led to a careful search, including nice police officers, five State Emergency Service volunteers, tracker dogs and almost all of the people of the town of Goombungee.
His mother, Chris, says she called the police when Joey disappeared one afternoon after telling his older brother, Lachlan, 14, that he was off to play hide-and-seek.
"I called the two boys for dinner," Chris says. "After about 20 minutes I started to worry, I was shouting to Joey, 'OK, we can't find you, time to come out!'"
But there was no sign of her little boy. Within minutes of Chris calling the police, the policemen started one of the biggest ground searches in the town's history.
"I was really frightened. I rang my husband, Kris, who works out of town, and he immediately hit the road, calling me every 10 minutes." Chris recalls."They searched the house from top to bottom; everyone was out looking for him. When a neighbor asked if I'd checked the water tank, that's when reality hit. I was afraid."
After hours of searching the town, confused police decided to search the house one more time.
"I just sat there waiting," Chris says, "Then a strange feeling came over me, and I rushed into the bedroom and put my hand on a pile of blankets in the cupboard. As I pulled then out,there he was---asleep and completely not realizing what was going on! I've never held him in my arms so hard."
Senior officer, Chris Brameld,from Goombungee police,says he is glad that Joey's game had a happy ending: "When we realized he was safe, we agreed that it didn't get much better than that!"
And young Joey promises that next time he won't be so intent on finding the best hiding place. "I want to say sorry to the policemen and to Mummy for scaring them," he says, "I promise next time I'll hide where they can find me and I won't fall asleep!" | high8214.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Alice Walker's reflection on Langston Hughes."
},
"options": [
"Alice Walker's reflection on Langston Hughes.",
"The influence of Alice Walker on the writing of Langston Hughes.",
"Langston Hughes' book about Alice Walker.",
... | Alice Walker makes her living by writing, and her poems, short stories, and novels have won many awards and fellowships for her. She was born in Eatonton, Georgia. She went to public schools there, and then to Spelman college in Atlanta before coming to New York to attend Sarah Lawrence college, from which she graduated in 1966. For a time she lived in Jackson, Mississippi, with her lawyer husband and a small daughter. About
,
, here first book for children, she says, "After my first meeting with Langston Hughes I vowed I would write a book about him for children someday. Why? Because I, at 22, knew next to nothing of his work , and he didn't scold me; he just gave me a stack of his books. And he was kind to me; I will always be grateful that in his absolute warmth and generosity he fulfilled my deepest dream ( and need) of what a poet should be.?"
"To me he is not dead at all. Hardly a day goes by that I don't think of him or speak of him. Once, just before he died, when he was sick with the flu, I took him a sack full of oranges. The joy I felt in giving that simple gift is undiminished by time. He said he liked oranges, too." | high15460.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "can get food as a reward that way"
},
"options": [
"will be punished if it refuses it",
"wants to win the trainer's favor",
"wants to get audiences' applauses",
"can get food as a reward that way"
],
"question":... | I guess I always knew about the little fish treat, but this past summer it was all I could see. Pipin and Nemo were balancing on one front flipper , flying through hoops, dancing with the trainer, and we were all applauding -- the little kids screaming with delight. That's when the trainer, who wore a little treat bag on her belt, slipped Pipin and Nemo a fish. Each time they successfully performed a trick, they'd get an immediate reward.
These creatures weren't really dancing, of course. They were performing a series of movements that they knew would produce a fish. It's such a good show because the sea lions look like they're having such fun. These talented performers who love to be in front of an audience seem almost human.
Somewhere in our faith journey, _ . You see how you've spent years jumping through hoops, balancing a ball on your nose, not because it's really who you are, but because you've always done it and the system rewarded you for your performance. But when you've done that for ten or twenty years, you start to ask yourself, "Whose approval am I working for? What do I really believe?" Suddenly you see it: you've spent most all your life taking direction from other people. They've told you what to believe in, what to work for, what to value, how to live your life. You don't want to end your life like Sinclair Lewis's George Babbitt, the middle-aged real-estate broker who has everything and reached the top. But on the last page of Babbitt, George is speaking to his son Ted, who cannot follow in his father's steps. He wants to leave college and head off on his own way. "Dad, I can't stand it any more," the boy says. "Maybe it's all right for some fellows. Maybe I'll want to go back some day, but now, I want to get into mechanics." Babbitt, seeming old and subdued, says, "I've never done a single thing I've wanted to in my whole life!"
The Good-Bye Gate brings us naturally to a second passage, leading from dependency to self-possession. As you start separating from the whole worn-out system, you discover that where there is supposed to be a self, there really isn't. | high7127.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The bank clerk's unusual behavior."
},
"options": [
"The small number of customers.",
"The total silence in the bank.",
"The bank clerk's unusual behavior.",
"The constant ringing of the phone."
],
"question": "... | D It was about midday.I'd left work early in the morning to cash a check.I walked along to the bank and found there were only about ten or eleven customers in there, a pretty unusual number for those central banks.
I waited until it was my turn, walked up to the desk and started talking to the bank clerk.He had a really strange expression on his face--just sort of a blank stare.I thought he was looking at me until I realized he was staring over my shoulder.
I began to turn round to see what he was looking at and at the same moment, the outside bank guard, the one with the machine gun, came flying through the door and lay face down on the floor.Following him through the door were three absolutely frightening men wearing those horrible stocking masks.They were carrying guns; at least the one in front was carrying a pistol.
Whether or not they said anything I can't remember to this day, or whether people just automatically put their hands up I don't know.I put my hands up but I just didn't know what to do.For a few moments there was just total silence, suddenly broken by the telephone ringing.I remember wondering who was on the other end of the line.Nobody answered the telephone, so it just kept on ringing and ringing, in this otherwise deathly quiet.
Then two of the masked men went to the counter, jumped over it and got the cashiers and bank clerks to start filling their bags with cash.While the two were getting the money, the one at the door covering us with the gun obviously got a bit of an anxiety attack and started swearing at them, telling them to hurry up and get a move on.
They jumped back over the counter.One of them lost his balance when he landed on the floor and fell over.The other two swore at him again.Then they left through the door, warning us, "Don't move.Stay like that with your hands up for ten minutes." Then they just disappeared and there was total silence. | high13011.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "access not only books but other study resources"
},
"options": [
"have a free drink or a meal",
"borrow as many books as they want",
"ask questions and get answers from their tutors",
"access not only books but other st... | The library is one of the most popular places at a western university.Students turn to it for research,conversations about class,and many other services.
Compared with Chinese libraries,college libraries in the US and UK tend to offer more resources.A postgraduate at Yale University can borrow as many as 225 books at a time.
In addition to borrowing books,there are online and electronic resources.These include a database search of popular and academic material,such as LexisNexis Academic,which offers items from newspapers and magazines.
Although books and articles are the items that students ask for most frequently,some libraries provide audio and video recordings,maps and sheet music .At some schools,teachers and tutors put electronic copies of their teaching PPTs on the library web to give easier access for students.
Another useful service in western college libraries is the Interlibrary Loan.This allows a student at one school to borrow books from another school.The loan request is made through the student's college library,which gets the book,gives it to the user,and arranges for its return.
Technology has brought more services to students and has made libraries attractive.Some universities have services for students to send messages through the computer or mobile texts to ask the library staff for information.
Earlier this year,Harvard University introduced a new Scan and Deliver service,allowing students to make requests for parts of books and articles.Requests made through the system are handled by library staff.The student receives an email with an Internet link to the scanned pages.The service is free and all material comes within four days.
It used to be that libraries didn't allow food or drinks.But that rule is changing and many of them now contain a cafe so students can spend as much time as they want in the library.
Actually,some US university libraries are now allnight affairs,or have at least one study room open all night. | high6239.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "request to see if he might use his lighter"
},
"options": [
"invite him to watch a football match together",
"ask him to show the direction to railway station",
"inquire where there was a department store",
"request to ... | On a cold winter Sunday, the little man came up to me as I was about to enter the telephone box and asked me whether I had a match.
"I'm sorry,"I said."I don't smoke, so I haven't any. You'd better ask someone else."
He looked rather disappointed, hesitated, and then turned away. I watched him walk slowly down the street before I picked up the telephone directory to look up the number I meant to dial. I'm not used to a public call box, so, at my first attempt to get through, the warning pips( ) had stopped before I realized I had to insert a coin. When I was at last able to speak, I was told that the person whom I urgently wanted to give a message to had just gone out. Swearing slightly under my breath, I got out of the box and came face to face with the little man. As he raised his hat again, I could see he was quite bald, and a thin line, resembling a dueling( ) scar, crossed one cheek.
"Excuse my troubling you again." he said nervously."May I walk along with you a little way? I must tell you the truth. I need help desperately. "
He had an unusually deep voice which suggested a strange combination of shyness and self-confidence. I was conscious of a fairly strong foreign accent and I wondered what country he had actually come from. I said that I had to catch a train in twenty minutes' time, but that he might accompany me to the station.
"I'm going to shock you,"he said suddenly, after a moment's silence."Can you lend me five pounds? I have no money at all."I have come across many strange characters during my life and plenty of people have tried to borrow money from me. I have generally managed to avoid lending them any. But, perhaps because of the very directness of his appeal, I somehow had the impression that his need might be desperately urgent.
"I'm sorry," I replied,"I'm afraid I can't lend you anything, as I'm not in the habit of carrying much money about with me. Don't you think the police might be the best people to ask for help?"
He hesitated,"I dare not go to the police," he said quietly. "If I do go, they will have to send me home. That's what I'm afraid of. I don't know what to do. " He shook his head rather sadly, raised his hat and left me. I caught my train and soon forgot the incident.
It was three weeks later that I happened to glance at an old evening paper and caught sight of a small paragraph at the bottom of the front page: "The unidentified body of a short bald man, with a deep scar across one cheek, was recovered from the River Thames yesterday. The police believed he had committed suicide." I then noticed the date: just two and a half weeks before.
It was I who might have been the final cause of his terrible tragedy. For days afterwards the cruelty of my refusal made me suffer continual shame and regret. I swore that I would never again refuse any appeal for help. | high14018.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because nothing serious happened then."
},
"options": [
"Because it worked perfectly.",
"Because the right booster was still OK.",
"Because nothing serious happened then.",
"Because fewer people died in the flight."
... | While success is surely sweeter than failure, it seems failure is a far better teacher, and organizations that fail spectacularly often flourish more in the long run, according to a new study by Vinit Desai, assistant professor of management at the University of Colorado Denver Business School. Researchers have found that people missing their goals perform much better in the long run. That is because they gain more knowledge from their failures than their successes and the lessons are more likely to stay longer in their minds.
"We found that the knowledge gained from success was often fleeting while knowledge from failure stuck around for years," said professor Desai, who led the study. "But companies often ignore failure. Managers may fire people or turn over the whole workforce while they should treat the failure as a learning opportunity."
Prof Desai compared the flights of the space shuttle Atlantis and the Challenger. During the 2002 Atlantis flight, a piece of insulation broke off and damaged the left solid rocket booster but didn't influence the program. There was little investigation. The Challenger was launched next and another piece of insulation broke off. This time the shuttle and its seven-person crew were destroyed. The disaster led to a major investigation resulting in 29 changes to prevent future disasters.
The difference in response in the two cases came down to this: Atlantis was considered a success and the Challenger a failure.
"Despite crowded skies, airlines are extremely reliable," he said. "The number of failures is extremely small. And past researches have shown that older airlines, those with more experience in failure, have a lower number of accidents."
Prof Desai doesn't recommend finding out failure in order to learn. Instead, he advises organizations to analyze small failures to collect useful information rather than wait for major failures. | high1230.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "It is not usual for radioactive materials to be conveyed across land."
},
"options": [
"It is likely that a leak or an explosion occurs at a power station.",
"It is not usual for radioactive materials to be conveyed across land.",
... | There are three separate sources of danger in supplying energy by nuclear power.
First, the radioactive material must travel from its place of production to the power station. Although the power stations themselves are strongly built, the containers used for the transport of the materials are not. Normally, only two methods of transport are in use, namely road or rail. Unfortunately, both of these may have an effect on the general public, since they are sure to pass near, or even through, heavily populated areas.
Second, there is the problem of waste. All nuclear power stations produce wastes that in most cases will remain radioactive for thousands of years. It is impossible to make these wastes non-radioactive, and so they must be stored in one of the inconvenient ways that scientists have invented. For example, they may be buried under the ground, or dropped into deserted mines, or sunk in the sea. However, these methods do not solve the problem, since an earthquake could easily break the containers.
Third, there may occur the danger of a leak or an explosion at the power station. As with the other two dangers, this is not very likely, so it does not provide a serious objection (,) to the nuclear program. However, it can happen.
Separately, these three types of dangers are not a great cause for worry. Taken together, though, the probability of disaster is extremely high. | high13777.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "She can always offer help when the author is in need."
},
"options": [
"She can always offer help when the author is in need.",
"She author and Susie have lots of things to talk about.",
"Susie is good at solving problems.",
... | It'll soon be the birthday of one of my closest friends, Susie. I still cannot decide what to give her. She's a rare friend because she has been there for me all the time whenever I need a friend to talk to. I can always depend on her to be the first to arrive to give me advice when I have problems. I guess I am so lucky to have her as a friend.
It's more than seven years since I first met Susie in our school. I joined the theater group and she was a director then. At first I thought she was _ but in the end I realized that she needed to keep a strict image in order for her actors and actresses to take her seriously. And then during practice I got a chance to know her better. In fact, she was a friendly and warm-hearted person. Soon we become good friends.
I don't know exactly what to give my friend on her birthday as I believe she has everything. So it's really hard to buy her a gift she will appreciate. This year I want something different and special but I don't know what to give. One day I searched the internet without any purpose and to my surprise there is a really lovely site where you can buy all kinds of gifts.
I scanned some of their items and I found cool and exciting gifts. I chose a special personalized bracelet . I'm sure that this will look perfect on her. I put our names as part of the design of the bracelet so that it'll remind us that we'll forever be friends. I can't wait to give her my gift but I won't tell her yet. I don't want to destroy the surprise. | high7899.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Old newspapers."
},
"options": [
"Old televisions.",
"Old computers.",
"Old cell phones",
"Old newspapers."
],
"question": "Which of the following does NOT belong to e-waste?",
"question_type": null
},
{... | There is a growing problem of what to do with electronic waste such as old televisions, computers, radios, cellular telephones and other electronic equipment.
Electronic trash, or e-waste, is piling up faster than ever in American homes and businesses. People do not know what to do with old televisions or computers, so they throw them in the trash.
National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA) state programs director Chaz Miller says the large amount of electronic waste Americans produce is not unexpected.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates more than 400 million consumer electronic items are dumped each year, and there is a push by more states to ban the waste from landfills and create recycling programs. They can be torn apart and sorted for useable parts. Mike Fannon who runs the plant in Baltimore, says, "There are a lot of valuable metals that can be recovered and reused instead of just putting them in the landfill, and in certain components, there are some materials that should not really be in the landfill," Fannon explains.
Fannon says nearly 20 percent of electronic waste is recycled nationwide. Thirteen years ago, it was only about 6 percent. Recycling rates continue to rise as more communities have banned electronics from landfills in an effort to keep e-waste poisons like lead and mercury out of garbage dumps.
This year, several states like Vermont imposed a ban on electronic waste in landfills. More than 25 other states have also adopted landfill bans, e-waste recycling programs or both. Chaz Miller says more can be done to boost electronic waste recycling.
"We can do much better," noted Miller. "I think clearly our goal should be to do as well as we do recycling newspapers." | high8572.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "usually buy healthier food than beer drinkers"
},
"options": [
"eat more vegetables than beer drinkers",
"usually buy healthier food than beer drinkers",
"are mostly healthier than beer drinkers",
"run a lower risk of d... | Wine drinkers tend to buy healthier food than beer drinkers, according to a Danish study published on Tuesday on the website of a weekly medical magazine.
People who bought wine at the store were also more likely to buy fruit, vegetables, fish, lean meat and milk than beer buyers did, said the study.
Beer buyers were more likely to buy frozen dinners, cold cuts, pork, sugary products, and soft drinks.
The study was conducted by four researchers from the National Institute of Public Health over the course of six months.
Alcohol researchers Erik Schulenburg and Marten Greenback and two other doctors collected 3.5 million receipts from 98 stores. The customers at the stores represented a large number of Danish people, they said.
"Our results confirm international studies which show that wine drinkers tend to eat more fruit, vegetables and fish and rarely eat fats, compared to those who like other kinds of alcoholic drinks," they concluded.
Wine buyers also tended to have higher education levels, higher earnings and be in better mental health, they added.
Their interest in consumers' shopping bags followed a series of studies in the Danish media. The studies suggested that wine drinkers ran a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and some types of cancer than beer drinkers. | high7641.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "easy to use"
},
"options": [
"easy to use",
"beautiful in appearance",
"cheap in price",
"powerful in battery volume"
],
"question": "According to the author, iPhones are popular with both adults and young kids ... | The bedroom door opened and a light went on, signaling an end to nap time.The toddle , sleepy-eyed, clambered to a swinging stand in his crib.He smiled, reached out to his father, and uttered what is fast becoming the cry of his generation: "iPhone!"
Just as adults have a hard time putting down their iPhones, so the device is now the Toy of Choice for many 1-, 2- and 3-year-olds.The phenomenon is attracting the attention and concern of some childhood development specialists.
Natasha Sykes, a mother of two in Atlanta, remembers the first time her daughter, Kelsey, now 3 but then barely 2 years old, held her husband's iPhone."She pressed the button and it lit up.I just remember her eyes.It was like 'Whoa!' "The parents were charmed by their daughter's fascination.But then, said Ms.Sykes (herself a Black Berry user), "She got serious about the phone." Kelsey would ask for it.Then she'd cry for it."It was like she'd always want the phone," Ms.Sykes said.
Apple, the iPhone's designer and manufacturer, has built its success on machines so user-friendly that even technologically blinded adults can figure out how to work them, so it makes sense that sophisticated children would follow.Tap a picture on the screen and something happens.What could be more fun?
The sleepy-eyed toddler who called for the iPhone is one of hundreds of iPhone-loving toddlers whose parents are often proud of their offspring's ability to slide fat fingers across the gadget's screen and pull up photographs of their choice.
Many iPhone apps on the market are aimed directly at preschoolers, many of them labeled "educational," such as Toddler Teasers: Shapes, which asks the child to tap a circle or square or triangle; and Pocket Zoo, which streams live video of animals at zoos around the world.
Along with fears about dropping and damage, however, many parents sharing iPhones with their young ones feel guilty.They wonder whether it is indeed an educational tool, or a passive amusement like television.The American Academy of Pediatrics is continually reassessing its guidelines to address new forms of "screen time." Dr.Gwenn Schurgin O'Keeffe, a member of the academy's council, said, "We always try to throw in the latest technology, but the cellphone industry is becoming so complex that we always come back to the table and wonder- Should we have a specific guideline for _ "
Tovah P. Klein, the director of a research center for Toddler Development worries that fixation on the iPhone screen every time a child is out with parents will limit the child's ability to experience the wider world.
As with TV in earlier generations, the world is increasingly divided into those parents who do allow iPhone use and those who don't. A recent post on UrbanBaby.com, asked if anyone had found that their child was more interested in playing with their iPhone than with real toys. The Don't mothers said on the Website: "We don't let our toddler touch our iPhones ... it takes away from creative play." "Please ... just say no. It is not too hard to distract a toddler with, say ... a book."
Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a psychology professor who specializes in early language development, sides with the Don'ts. Research shows that children learn best through activities that help them adapt to the particular situation at hand and interacting with a screen doesn't qualify, she said.
Still, Dr. Hirsh-Pasek, struck on a recent visit to New York City by how many parents were handing over their iPhones to their little children in the subway, said she understands the impulse . "This is a magical phone," she said. "I must admit I'm addicted to this phone." | high4348.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "working mothers requiring flexible working hours."
},
"options": [
"working mothers requiring flexible working hours.",
"working mothers planning to set up their own businesses.",
"well-paid jobs.",
"unemployment at the... | Flexible working hours, homeworking opportunities and cover for emergencies or school holidays are the top concerns for working mothers, according to a British survey on Thursday.
The survey of 1,677 people by specialist employment advice website workingmums.co.uk showed that despite a tougher job climate, in which redundancies had risen dramatically during the crisis, mothers demanded for a more flexible schedule.
Flexible hours for full-time jobs came top of the list for 85 percent of respondents who were asked what they thought made for a family-friendly employer. That came just ahead of homeworking opportunities.
"Flexibility is really key and able to help achieve an element of work/life balance," workingmums.co.uk founder Gillian Nissim told reporters.
She said the crisis had not reduced the urgency of this issue for working mums and that employers who want to be prepared for the eventual upturn would do well to listen to them rather than risk losing them to more forward-thinking rivals.
Many women said they had considered setting up their own business as a way around the flexibility problem and nearly half (45 percent) of respondents said they had looked into it.
Nissim said the workingmums.co.uk database alone showed that on average working mums have more than 15 years of work experience and a range of valuable skills picked up in the workplace and from their parenting experiences.
"So the benefits to employers of being able to accommodate a degree of flexibility is significant," she said.
Part-time work, flexibility around emergency cover or school holidays were the next highest concerns with extended maternity pay as well on the list of concerns.More than half (54 percent) of respondents said they would accept a less well-paid job in return for flexibility, with 40 percent prepared to consider this option. | high11160.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "suggest some solutions to the water issue in Yemen"
},
"options": [
"analyze the reasons why Yemen lacks water",
"suggest some solutions to the water issue in Yemen",
"present how serious the water problem is in Yemen",
... | In Yemen, you always see one type of vehicle on the road: the water truck.They travel mountain roads and cross deserts to bring Yemenis the goods more valuable than oil.It is one that only the rich can afford, with the supply regularly being cut off.Others must rely on scarce rain or charity to fight thirst.
Experts say Yemen is going to be the first country in the world to run out of water.The capital, Sanaa, will run out of drinking water as early as 2025,says a report by the World Bank.
Hannan, an 18yearold from Lahej, said that only the rich could prepare for cuts in supply."In a good week we'll have a water supply all week but then the following week there will be water only for a day or two, " she said.
She and her husband, a factory worker, pay 3,000 riyals (99yuan) for a week's supply of water from a touring water truck when the taps run dry.With an income of only 20,000 riyals (660yuan) a month,this means the family often spend half their money on water.
"There are a lot of people who can't afford it and they have to rely on their neighbors to help," she said.
The average person in Yemen survives on onefifth of what the World Health Organization considers to be enough water.
In Taiz, in the south,tap water is available only once every 45 days.In the mountainous Malhan district in the north,women and children climb a 1,500m mountain to collect water from a spring, often in the small hours to avoid long queues.
Yemen is located in Southwest Asia,bordering the Arabian and Red Sea.Yemeni people have lived on scarce water supplies for thousands of years but that problem has been made serious by conflict in the area,the fastgrowing population and the use of water to grow a drug called qat.With one of the world's highest rates of population growth--3.46 percent, Yemen is the poorest Arab country.
The government is considering desalinating seawater,but this would be expensive and it may now be too late.The only other solution is to cut down on farming, but that means importing even more food. | high3427.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Swimming in a dangerous area"
},
"options": [
"Feeding a hungry shark",
"Jumping into a rough sea",
"Dragging a boy to the shore",
"Swimming in a dangerous area"
],
"question": "What was the boy doing when the a... | Eight-year-old Jesse Abrogate was playing in the sea late one evening in July 2001 when a 7-foot bull shark attacked him and tore off his arm. Jesse's uncle jumped into the sea and dragged the boy to the store. The boy was not breathing. His aunt gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while his uncle rang the emergency services. Pretty soon, a helicopter arrived and flew the boy to hospital. It was a much quicker journey than the journey by road.
Jesse's uncle, Vance Folsenzier, ran back into the sea and found the shark that had attacked his nephew. He picked the shark up and threw it onto the beach. A coastguard shot the fish four times and although this didn't kill it, the shark's jaws relaxed so that they could open them, and reach down onto its stomach, and pull out the boy's arm.
At the Baptist hospital in Pensacola, Dr Lan Rogers spent eleven hours reattaching Jesse's arm. "It was a complicated operation," he said, "but we were lucky. If the arm hadn't been recovered in time, we wouldn't have been able to do the operation at all. What I means is that if they hadn't found the shark, well then we wouldn't have had a chance."
According to local park ranger Jack Tomosvic, shark attacks are not that common. "Jesse was just unlucky" he says, "Evening is the shark's feeding time. And Jesse was in the area without lifeguards. This would never have happened if he had been in the area where swimming is allowed." When reporters asked Jesse's uncle how he had had the courage to fight a shark , he replied, "I was mad and you do some strange things when you're mad." | high2739.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "he gave me presents and told me stories"
},
"options": [
"he was the headmaster of a school for boys",
"he gave me presents and told me stories",
"he told me stories about how kind he was",
"he never scolded me"
],
... | My grandfather was a teacher.He was the headmaster of a school for boys between the ages of thirteen and eighteen.I know that he was a kind and gentle man at heart,because when I was young (and he was old),he gave me presents and seated me on his knees,and told me stories.But I believe the boys at his school were afraid of him.
At school,when he walked into a classroom full of noisy boys,those boys went red in the faces,and looked down at their shoes.If a boy brought his poor,careless work,which was not the best that boy could do,my grandfather picked up the boy's work and threw it across the room,shouting,"Do it all again,and bring it back early tomorrow morning!" If the boy was late,or if he forgot to bring the work,he had to do it again.My grandfather never forgot.
He was a very different man at school,from the man I saw day by day in his own home. | high18622.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "It has to be separated from other materials."
},
"options": [
"It has by-products.",
"It has to be separated from other materials.",
"It will make energy too cheap.",
"It is too far away from us."
],
"question":... | What if we could replace oil with a fuel which produced no pollution and which everybody had equal access to? The good news is that we can. In fact, we are swimming in it--- literally.
Hydrogen is one of the building blocks of the universe. Our own sun is basically a big, dense cloud of the stuff. And hydrogen can be used to create electricity for power, heat and light.
The problem is that hydrogen is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It does not exist as a material on its own, but is always part of something else. So it has to be separated before it can be used.
Most commercial hydrogen in use now is created from natural gas. As oil will start to run out in around the year 2030, it makes sense to produce as much hydrogen as possible as soon as we can. But natural gas supplies will also begin to run out soon after. Another source is needed.
Researchers are now using electricity to make water into hydrogen. Companies are working on the problem in their own areas. The first commercial hydrogen "fuel cells" for computers and mobile phones have already come on to the market. Auto companies have also invested over US $2 billion in the production of hydrogen fuelled cars.
The nations of a hydrogen fuelled planet would not fight over energy recourses. There would be a great reduction in pollution. The only by-product of creating hydrogen is pure drinking water--- something that is very scarce in many parts of the world. But that is not where the good news ends. Once the costs of producing hydrogen have been brought down, it will possibly provide power for a third of the Earth's population that has no electricity.
And electricity creates wealth. In South Africa over the last decade there has been a large programme of electrification. Thanks to the programme, people do not have to spend their days looking firewood to burn for heat. And with electric light, they can work long into the night.
Some scientists see radical changes in the way the human race co-operates. Hydrogen creates electricity, and is also created by _ . With dual use fuel cells, everyone who consumes energy could also produce it. Late at night, a man drives home in London and connects his car into the "world-wide hydrogen web," which it supplies with electricity. A few hours later, a man in Beijing uses that electricity to power the hydrogen cell in his car. Hydrogen could be the first democratic energy source.
Like all dreams of the future, it seems very far away. But the threat of war and terrorism in the Middle East has made governments and businesses more aware of the need to end oil dependency and spend more time and money on hydrogen resource. So maybe the threat of war is not a completely bad thing for the future of the human race. | high5056.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Because you may be burned if not."
},
"options": [
"Because the fluids below run fast.",
"Because you may be burned if not.",
"Because walkways' surface is cool.",
"Because you may get a good view."
],
"question... | Have you heard of the following places on Earth that look completely alien?
Waiotapu, New Zealand
Steam and gases rising through the pool create bubbles of mud, at the site of what was once a volcano. While Waiotapu is a popular tourist spot, visitors are warned to stay on walkways built by the government for fear that they fall through thin crust surfaces and risk being burned by hot geothermal gases or fluids.
Rio Tinto, Spain
Rio Tinto is a river in southwestern Spain that originates in the Sierra Morena mountains of Andalusia. It flows generally south - southwest, reaching the Gulf of Cadiz at Huelva. As a possible result of the mining, Rio Tinto is notable for being very acidic (pH 2) and its deep red color1 is due to iron dissolved in the water.
The Pinnacles, Australia
This stretch of desert landscape in Australia's Nambung National Park boasts thousands of weathered rock projections that rise out of yellow sand hills -- some topped by round roofs, while others form sharp-edged columns. The spires , some of which reach 11 feet in height, are limestone formations sculpted by wind, vegetation, rain, sun and time over millions of years.
Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii
The closest thing on Earth to a Venusian environment may be the smooth, black basalt formations on Hawaii's Big Island. One of the best examples of a Venus-like volcano is Kilauea Volcano, the youngest and southernmost volcano on the island, and one of the world's most active. Since 1952, there have been more than 34 eruptions at Kilauea, which in Hawaiian tradition is the home of Pele, the volcano goddess. | high19528.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "it is not certain that students will learn better from male teachers"
},
"options": [
"the number of male teachers hit a record 40-year low in 2008",
"it is not certain that students will learn better from male teachers",
"ma... | Maggiano is an award-winning teacher in the Social Studies Department at West Springfield High School in Virginia.He has taught in public and private schools for 25 years.In a piece on his blog called "The Classroom Post," he calls for more males to enter the profession .
Men Teach, a non-profit organization that encourages men to enter teaching, reports that in 2008, 18.8% of all elementary and middle school teachers were men.At the high school level during the same year, men comprised 44% of the work force.
Why are there so few men in teaching? Men Teach says low pay and lack of prestige , as well as a perception in our culture that teaching is for women.As a result, there is no organized effort across the country to attract men into the teaching profession.
A study in 2008 by the National Education Association showed that the number of male teachers hit a record 40-year low.Males comprised 24.5 percent of public schoolteachers.States with high percentages: Kansas (33.6 percent), Oregon (31.6 percent), Alaska (30.9 percent) and Indiana (30.5percent).States with the lowest percentage : Arkansas (16.2 percent), Virginia (17.4 percent), Mississippi (17.5 percent), Louisiana (18 percent), South Carolina (18.5 percent) and Georgia (19.7 percent).
There is no definitive research that male students--or female students, for that matter-- learn better from a particular sex.
But as Maggiano put it, "Kids today, both boys and girls, must have the same opportunity to learn from outstanding, devoted men that I did.However, I have heard little discussion about this problem coming from our national leaders. | high11174.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "After her stormy transAtlantic flight in the early 1960s."
},
"options": [
"After she reached a beach in Trinidad.",
"After she pressed her toes into the Caribbean sand.",
"After her stormy transAtlantic flight in the early 1... | 56yearold becomes 1st woman to swim Atlantic
(AP)-Jennifer Figge pressed her toes into the Caribbean sand, excited and exhausted as she touched land this week for the first time in almost a month. Reaching a beach in Trinidad, she became the first woman on record to swim across the Atlantic Ocean--a dream she'd had since the early 1960s,when a stormy transAtlantic flight got her thinking she could wear a life vest and swim the rest of the way if needed.
The 56yearold left the Cape Verde Islands off Africa's western coast on Jan.12,2009, swimming 19 out of 25 days battling waves of up to 30 feet.The distance from Cape Verde to Trinidad is about 700 miles.Crewmembers are still computing exactly how many miles she swam.
The original plan was for her to swim to the Bahamas--a distance of about 2,100 miles--but inclement weather forced her to change her plans and she arrived at Trinidad on Feb.5.She now plans to swim from Trinidad to the British Virgin Islands,ending her voyage at the Bitter End Yacht Club in late February.
Her journey came a decade after French swimmer Benoit Lecomte made the first known solo transAtlantic swim,covering nearly 4,000 miles from Massachusetts to France in 73 days.No woman on record had made the crossing.
Figge wore a red cap and wet suit,with her only goodluck charm underneath:an old,red shirt to guard against chafing ,signed by friends,relatives and her father,who recently died.The other cherished possession she kept onboard was a picture of Gertrude Ederle,an American who became the first woman to swim across the English Channel."We have a few things in common,"Figge said,"She wore a red hat and she was of German descent .We both talked to the sea,and neither one of us wanted to get out." | high3433.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "People and Relationship"
},
"options": [
"Family and Relationships",
"How to Make Friends with Colleagues",
"What is a True Friendship",
"People and Relationship"
],
"question": "What is the best title of this p... | A relationship is defined as a state of connectedness between people. Although in today's society with its crazy rhythm of everyday life, when people tend to live in thickly populated cities, spending most of their time in the office and hardly knowing their neighbor's name, we still find ourselves in some kinds of relationships-with friends, family, or colleagues.
Family relationships are the first relationships people enter. Parents and relatives influence our emotional development by creating a model that we are sometimes bound to follow all our lives, often subconsciously . In day-care, at school, then in the office we spend a lot of time among fellow students and co-workers. We learn to keep business relationships, to work in a team environment, then form smaller groups of like-minded people and finally select some of them as our friends.
What is a true friendship? How does it start? Are we destined to become friends with certain people or can we actually plan whom to be friends with?
"Everybody's friend is nobody's." said Arthur Schopenhauer. Unlike a companionship based on belonging to the same team or group, friendship is a very personal and selective type of relationship. It calls for trust, sincerity, and emotional bonds.
Sociologists believe that most people are looking for similarities in views, social status, and interests when choosing friends. No wonder that our friends are often people of the same age, sex, and education. Another important factor is joint activity and solidarity. This is the reason why many of us befriend our colleagues and other people who work in the same field.
Most people would agree that a friend is someone who always listens and understands. Understanding in this context implies a lot of meanings-compassion, sympathy, and emotional closeness. It's a process in which your friend reads your emotional state, shares your feelings, identifies himself or herself with you. | high5042.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "have a break between films"
},
"options": [
"appear on television",
"make a film aboutCornwall",
"have a break between films",
"receive a prize for their new film"
],
"question": "Mark and Victoria have returned... | The film The Tides of Kirawira, which won two prizes at a recent television festival, was made by Mark Deeble and Victoria Stone. The couple are inprefix = st1 /Englandto visit friends and family before heading back toTanzaniafor their next film. Their work takes them to some of the world's least-known areas but they still find themselves drawn back toEngland, particularly toCornwall, where their work and personal relationship developed.
"We met in London when Mark was studying biology and I was at the Royal College of Art studying photography," says Victoria. "We both learned to dive at the same pool inLondonand went on diving weekends in the country. It was a terrible place, freezing cold, where we dived in wet suits full of holes. But that is where our relationship developed."
After completing their studies they took part in the management of a conservation area in the mouth of the River Fal in Cornwall. "We were shocked. Nobody seemed to understand the river's ecological importance. So we thought, why don't we make a film to show people what a special place it is? Neither of us had any experience of filming but we took part-time jobs until we had enough cash to buy an underwater camera and some film." A television company agreed to provide money for the work and the film they produced about the underwater life of the River Fal was shown on television and won a number of prizes.
By then, they both knew they wanted to work with wildlife in distant places around the world. Alkan Root, a famous East African wildlife film-maker, asked them to work for him. That was seven years ago and the job took them to the Serengeti to film crocodiles. Their films, Here Be Dragons andDevil Fish, were very successful.
"We love Africa but we have to come back to Englandevery year," saysVictoria. "We need to return to see our friends and family. For us, Africa is temporary andEnglandmeans permanence. It's the difference between living in a tent inTanzaniaand a house inCornwall. We are lucky... we have the best of both worlds." | high17505.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Are something that protect drivers from injury in car accidents."
},
"options": [
"are safe clothes car drivers usually wear when they drive.",
"Are belts that are used to tie drivers' hands when they drive",
"Have been worn ... | According to the American Automobile(car)Association, since 1964 all cars sold in the United States have been equipped with seat belts (They are also called safety belts) Many studies of car accidents have shown that safety belts can save lives. One study showed that forty percent of those killed in car accidents could have been saved if they have been wearing seat belts.
Unfortunately seat belts are worn only by a small number of drivers and passengers _ about fifteen percent in cities and only nine percent in small towns. And safety belt can not protect people who do not wear them.
In order to find out what kinds of people do wear seat belts, a study was made in several cities in of the United States. The following facts were learned about those who use their safety belts.
1. They do not smoke while driving.
2. They had more education than less educated people
3. They know some one who was hurt(but not killed) in an accident
Advertisements based on these facts have been printed in newspapers and magazines in order to teach people the importance of using seat belt. But these advertisements have not helped much. Some people believe there should be a law ordering drivers and passengers to use safety belts. In Australia, where there is such a law, death in car accidents have reduced to twenty-four percent. | high9678.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "had lived a rather simple life in the village"
},
"options": [
"was not getting on well with the headmaster",
"had lived a rather simple life in the village",
"was likely to continue to practice playing the piano",
"wou... | The teacher was leaving the village, and everybody seemed sorry. The miller at Cresscombe lent him the small cart and horse to carry his goods to Christminster, the city of his destination, such a vehicle proving of quite enough size for the teacher's belongings. For his only article, in addition to the packing-case of books, was a piano that he had bought when he thought of learning instrumental music. But the eagerness having faded, he had never acquired any skill in playing, and the purchased article had been a permanent trouble to him.
The headmaster had gone away for the day, being a man who disliked the sight of changes. He did not mean to return till the evening, when the new teacher would have arrived, and everything would be smooth again.
The blacksmith, the farm bailiff and the teacher were standing in confused attitudes in the sitting room before the instrument. The teacher had remarked that even if he got it into the cart he should not know what to do with it on his arrival at Christminster, since he was only going into a temporary place just at first.
A little boy of eleven, who had been assisting in the packing, joined the group of men, and said, "Aunt has got a fuel-house, and it could be put there, perhaps, till you've found a place to settle in, sir."
"Good idea," said the blacksmith.
The smith and the bailiff started to see about the possibility of the suggested shelter, and the boy and the teacher were left standing alone.
"Sorry I am going, Jude." said the latter gently.
Tears rose into the boy's eyes. He admitted that he was sorry.
"So am I," said Mr. Phillotson.
"Why do you go, sir?" asked the boy.
"Well ----- don't speak of this everywhere. You know what a university is, and a university degree? It is the necessary hallmark of a man who wants to do anything in teaching. My scheme, or dream, is to be a university graduate. By going to live at Christminster, I shall be at headquarters, so to speak, and if my scheme is practicable at all, I consider that being on the spot will afford me a better chance."
The smith and _ returned. Old Miss Fawley's fuel-house was practicable; and she seemed willing to give the instrument standing-room there. So it was left in the school till the evening, when more hands would be available for removing it; and the teacher gave a final glance round.
At nine o'clock Mr. Phillotson mounted beside his box of books, and waved his friends good-bye. | high1224.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Shark Caught in Beach Area"
},
"options": [
"Tourists in Danger",
"Killing Whale Shark",
"Shark Caught in Beach Area",
"Whale Shark in Danger"
],
"question": "A possible title of the article should be _ .",
... | Haikou--A shark was killed after being dragged to shore at Yalong Berth beach in Sanya, South China's Hainan Province, on Sunday afternoon.
It was the first time a shark had been caught in the beach area, a popular tourist site in Hainan.
Local fishermen said they caught the 3-meter-long, l-ton shark by chance when they were fishing in sea water 1,000 metres deep near the beach.
Police temporarily protected the shark while oceanographers decided whether it was a species belonging to State protection.
Fishermen later killed and sold the shark after oceanographers _ that it was a whale shark and therefore not under State protection.
The shark was believed to have drifted into the area from the deep sea due to strong waves caused last week by Typhoon Imbudo.It had no open injuries but experts said they believed it suffered from internal bleeding.
Local police officer Fu Chenggeng said beachgoers should not feel threatened by sharks because the fish never attack human beings on their own initiative.Fu said he had never heard of any shark attacks at the Sanya beach since he first started work there eight years ago.
However, police said they will improve the security system to safeguard tourists' safety on the beach. | high13763.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "London used to suffer a lot from the Industrial Revolution"
},
"options": [
"modern people have known what caused the fog in Londonthrough early record",
"most painters were attracted and inspired by the fog of London",
"many... | "Without the fog, London wouldn't be a beautiful city," the French painter Claude Monet wrote to his wife, Alice, during one of his long visits toprefix = st1 /EnglandfromFrance. Few Londoners would have agreed with his statement at the time, when the city was choked by the smog of the Industrial Revolution, but no one argues with the beauty of the color1ful skies he began painting there between 1899 and 1901. Pollution has never looked quite as attractive as when seen through Monet's eyes.
Now there is evidence that Monet's images of London were not only Impressionist creations, but a result of highly accurate observation.According to a paper published by two environmental scientists, the paintings may "provide useful information in the analysis of the London fogs and air quality during this period"--a period before pollution levels were routinely recorded.
In their study, Jacob Baker and John E. Thomas of the University of Birmingham analyzed the position of the sun in 9 of the 19 paintings in Monet's "House of Parliament" series.There was "a perfect correlation ", Thomas says, between the solar positions in the images, the actual solar positions from astronomical records and the dates on which Monet began the works. "We believe," Thomas says, "that we can basically work out how much smoke would have to be in the air to create that visibility and those color1s in, say, February 1900 through the images."
Some art historians doubt the London paintings hold this much documentary evidence, pointing out the Monet continued to work on many of the images after he returned to his studio in Giverny, France.They also argue that there's no question that Monet was astonishingly realistic to what lay in front of him, but at the same time, for example, he had a _ for pinks.He always was trying to put pinks into pictures throughout his career.
Thomas admits that "it's still just a hypothesis " but maintains that "we're fairly optimistic that we'll get something out of it" | high23878.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "he would like his son to read it"
},
"options": [
"he forgot what had happened",
"he would like his son to read it",
"it could remind himself of the past",
"he wanted to find what a crow was"
],
"question": "The... | An 80-year-old man was sitting on the sofa in his house along with his 45-year-old son. Suddenly a crow landed on their window.
The father asked his son, "What is that?"
The son replied, "That is a crow."
After a few minutes, the father asked his son for the second time, "What is this?"
The son said, "Father, I told you just now. It's a crow."
After a little while, the father asked his son the same question for the third time, "What is this?"
This time, the son said to his father in a low and cold tone, "It's a crow, a crow."
After a moment, the father yet again asked his son for the fourth time, "What is this?"
This time his son shouted at his father, "Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again? I have told you already, 'IT IS A CROW'. Are you not able to understand this?"
A minute later the father went to his room and came back with a diary, which he had kept since his son was born. On opening a page, he asked his son to read that page.
Today my little son aged three was sitting with me on the sofa when a crow suddenly landed on the window edge. My son asked me 23 times what it was, and I replied him 23 times that it was a crow. I hugged him lovingly each time he asked me the same question. I didn't at all feel angry, but instead felt _ for my son.
If your parents reach old age, do not look at them as a burden, but speak to them gently, and be kind to them. From today say this aloud, "I want to see my parents happy forever. They have cared for me ever since I was a little child. They have always showered me with love. I will take care of my old parents in the best way no matter how they behave." | high968.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the couple budgeted for their trip carefully"
},
"options": [
"Disney World is located in Georgia",
"Mercury Sable is the name of the mechanic",
"the couple budgeted for their trip carefully",
"repairing their car neede... | For years my husband, John, and I had dreamed of taking our three kids to Disney World.We'd planned our trip down to the last detail and dollar.But in Georgia, halfway there, our car broke down.
At a garage, the mechanic promised our Mercury Sable would be repaired by the next week.Meanwhile, John tried to find us a rental car.After many phone calls, John finally found a car.Luckily, our auto club would _ .We ended up arriving there three hours behind schedule.We tried every ride and met Mickey.
At the end of the long weekend we called the garage to check on our car.It turned out that the mechanic hadn't even looked at it yet! John got on the phone again.He found it would cost more than $ l, 100 to rent a car to drive home.That plus a plane ticket for him to go pick up our own car and we'd be out over $2,000!
I wailed and asked John, "What are we going to do?" He said, "It'll work out." John encouraged me not to lose heart and he insisted on trying to find a way out.Amazingly, John found a car transport company that had a car we could drive home, paying only for gas! But all the way home I couldn't stop thinking about the money we'd still need for John's trip back to the garage and another long driving home.
When we got home, the high school student who had fed our cats asked how our trip was.I gave him the rundown, "Things worked out okay except that our car's still stuck in Georgia." "No problem," he said."I'm heading to Florida for a spring break with my parents.We'll be glad to stop in Georgia on the way back and pick up your car."
We ended up spending only $50 more than we'd budgeted.The next week, our car was back, and I had a new understanding of dealing with trouble.Whatever happens, if you never give up, a good solution will come out at last. | high15312.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "A special whistle."
},
"options": [
"A body language.",
"A special whistle.",
"Its feeling.",
"Its age."
],
"question": "What does a dolphin often use as its \"name\"?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
... | Many people say dolphins are very intelligent. They seem to be able to think, understand, and learn things quickly. But are they smart like humans or more than cats or dogs? Dolphins use their brains differently from people. But scientists say dolphin intelligence and human intelligence are similar in some ways. How?
Fact 1: Talk to me
Like humans, every dolphin has its own "name". The name is a special whistle. Each dolphin chooses a specific whistle for itself, usually by its first birthday. Actually, scientists think dolphins, like people, "talk" to each other about a lot of things, such as their age, their feelings, or finding food. And, like humans, dolphins use a system of sounds and body language to communicate. But understanding their conversations is not easy for humans. No one speaks "dolphin" yet, but some scientists are trying to learn.
Fact 2: Let's play
Dolphins are also social animals. They live in groups, and they often join others from different groups to play games and have fun--just like people. In fact, playing together is something only intelligent animals do.
Fact 3: Fishermen's helper
Dolphins and humans are similar in another way: both make plans to get something they want. In the seas of southern Brazil, for example, dolphins use an interesting strategy to get food. When fish are near a boat, dolphins show signs to the fishermen to put their nets in the water. Using this method, the men can catch a lot of fish. What is the advantage for the dolphins in doing so? They get to eat some of the fish. | high8566.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "designs ads"
},
"options": [
"sells books",
"designs ads",
"offers communication skill training",
"offers language training"
],
"question": "We can learn from the article that Communicaid is a company that _ .... | Why do you need British Accent Training? With the growth in the number of employees from Egypt, Spain and China, organizations need to ensure that their workers are able to communicate effectively with customers and colleagues alike.
First Language Influence (FLI) can have a great effect on an employee's accent. British Accent Training from Communicaid will help your overseas workers decrease the influence of their first language.
Whether through online training courses or face- to- face classes, Communicaid offers suitable training solutions for your organisation's international business.
A Communicaid's British Accent Training course will provide your workers with the ability to :
---increase their customer experience and satisfaction,
---communicate more effectively with customers and colleagues by decreasing first language influenced accent,
---strengthen relationships with customers and colleagues through more successful communication.
Course content
All Communicaid's British Accent Training courses are designed to meet the specific needs of our clients depending on their specific situations.
Generally, a British Accent Training course includes:
---rhythm and stress patterns,
---pausing and breathing,
---relationship between spelling and pronunciation,
---accent familiarisation and listening practice.
Ways to learn
Training can be received worldwide through either face-to-face classes or one of our many online learning methods. Using a combination of published materials and those offered only by Communicaid, we design and offer programmes that will meet the need of our clients.
Our trainers
All Communicaid's British Accent course trainers are native speakers with at least 3 years' professional training experience in the field. A client's British Accent trainer will be decided according to his goals and areas of focus. | high7655.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The two stations were damaged because their cooling systems didn't work."
},
"options": [
"The local people are scared and ready to run away.",
"The earthquake led to many deaths and caused damage to roads.",
"The Japanese go... | The deadly earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11 damaged two nuclear power stations. Officials are now working to prevent dangerous radiation from poisoning the air in the area surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The Japanese government has ordered people living within 12 and a half miles of the plant to
, and asked those living 12 and a half to 20 miles away to stay indoors.
Nuclear power plants create energy using a chemical reaction that produces large amounts of heat. Reactors in Japan have many long, thin rods, called fuel rods , which must be kept cool.
If the reactor's fuel rods aren't cooled, the reaction can burn out of control. That's what happened at the two Japanese plants after the quake caused a power failure and the cooling systems malfunctioned . This overheating could cause radiation to escape and sicken many people.
Japan's 54 nuclear reactors are built to withstand the many small or moderate earthquakes the country faces each year. But Friday's earthquake was one of the most severe earthquakes ever recorded.
People exposed to unsafe levels of radiation have a higher than normal risk of getting cancer. The Japanese government has been distributing potassium iodide pills to people in the surrounding areas to protect those who may have come in contact with radiation from the power plant. The pills flood the body with healthy potassium iodide. The potassium iodide works to crowd out "bad" iodine in the body that may have been poisoned by radiation.
On Tuesday morning, 750 workers left the Fukushima Daiichi plant. However, 50 workers stayed behind to use sweater to cool the fuel rods. These dedicated employees are risking their own lives to save many others.
On Thursday, officials used helicopters, fire trucks, and water cannons to spray water on the reactors to cool the fuel rods. But it's not clear whether these efforts were successful. Officials are now working on a power line to restore electricity to the plant. They hope this will help restart the plant's cooling system and stop the fuel rods from leaking radiation. | high15474.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "760-749-3333"
},
"options": [
"760-742-0523",
"760-749-8041",
"760-749-3333",
"760-751-5303"
],
"question": "If you want to go somewhere for a picnic, you may call _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"... | Located 40 miles northeast of San Diego, California, Valley Center has more than 27 square miles of countryside beauty and 21,000 acres of agricultural land. Along with the activities mentioned here, the Chamber of Commerce website (www.vcchamber.com) lists a large number of outings for your family to enjoy: Palomar Mountain Observatory, Lakes Wohlford, Hodges and Henshaw, Sengme Oaks Water Park, and Pala Mission.
Bates Nut Farm
15954 Woods Valley Rd.
www. batesnutfarm.biz
760-749-3333
Most people would agree that no visit to Valley Center would be complete without a stop at Bates Nut Farm. Gilbert and Beatrice Bates founded the farm in 1921.The farm has a picnic area and a large store full of nuts, candies and treats. Kids can feed farm animals, and in the fall, find pumpkins along with many fun, seasonal activities for the family. The place, which started out as a nut farm, is now home to many family-friendly events throughout the year like car shows and music festivals.
Valley Center Wellness Spa
28714 Valley Center Rd.
www.valley centerwellnessspa.com
760-751-5303
The Valley Center Wellness Spa invites you to experience some of the special spa treatments in a private environment. Spa-goers can enjoy facials and skin treatments at this spa owned by Jana Limon.
Keys Creek Lavender Farm
12460 Keys Creek Rd.
www.kclfarm.com
760-742-0523
San Diego County's lavender farm has eight acres of lavender fields. Open during harvest time--May through June--it offers lavender picking. English high teas and workshops. Open daily from 9 am to 5 pm.
Valley Center Western Days
28246 Lilac Rd.
www.westerndays.org
760-749-8041
Each May, the week-long series of events kicks off with the Western Days Parade, the Valley Center Stampede Rodeo, and an evening musical performance. You can enjoy the fun and meet some new friends here. | high8200.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "he thought that the beggar was lying"
},
"options": [
"he happened not to take money then",
"he wasn't fond of beggars",
"he thought that the beggar was lying",
"he didn't like being bothered"
],
"question": "Ac... | It was a cold night in Washington, D.C. and I was heading back to the hotel when a beggar walked up to me. He asked if I would give him some money so he could get something to eat. After a short hesitation, I shook my head and kept walking. With helplessness, he said, "I really am homeless and I really am hungry! You can come with me and watch me eat!" But still, I kept on walking.
The incident bothered me for the rest of the week. In fact, I had money in my pocket and it wouldn't have killed me to hand over a dollar or two even if he had been lying. On a freezing cold night, I wondered what would happen to a hungry man.
Flying back to my hometown, Anchorage, I couldn't help thinking of him. I tried to find excuses for my failure to help. After all, government agencies, churches and charities were there to feed him. Besides, you're not supposed to give money to beggars.
But I just couldn't forget the incident and began to think I must do something. At that time, I was writing a garden column for the local Daily News. Suddenly, I came up with an idea. Why not try to get all my readers to plant one row in their gardens donated to Bean's? Bean's Cafe, the soup kitchen which has volunteered to feed hundreds of hungry people every day for many years.
The idea began to _ . I began to receive more e-mails and calls from kind people. They tried their best to show their concerns about the hungry. Food was sent by different warm-hearted people and even those who only grew flowers sent their flowers. They are food for the spirit, which comforted me a lot.
Next year, the Garden Writers Association of America held their annual conference in Anchorage and after learning of Anchorage's program, Plant a Row for Bean's became Plant a Row for the Hungry. You can imagine how happy I was then. | high7133.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "have enough experience"
},
"options": [
"be doctor",
"have enough experience",
"study in a newspaper company before",
"be good at writing"
],
"question": "If one wants to be a reporter, he must _ .",
"qu... | Reporters collect information and write news stories. These stories appear in newspapers and magazines. Some reporters appear on television and radio. To get information, reporters should look at documents, observe the _ and interview people.
To get the latest news, radio and television reporters often reporter "live" from the scene.
Some reporters work long hours. They might work strange schedules. At morning newspapers, reporters might work from late afternoon until midnight. At evening or afternoon papers, they may work from early morning until afternoon. Radio and television reporters work during the day or in the evening. Magazine reporters generally work during the day. Reporters may have to change their work hours to follow a story.
If someone wants to be a reporter, a bachelor's degree in journalism is preferred. Some employers like graduates with other majors . Working at school newspapers or broadcasting stations is good experience. Internship with news organizations also help when looking for a job as a reporter.
Reporters must write clearly and effectively. They need word processing ,computer graphics , and desktop publishing skills. Speaking a second language is necessary for some jobs. | high1542.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "make sure your means of communication is available and reliable"
},
"options": [
"carry a card or note which is written in the local language only",
"make sure your means of communication is available and reliable",
"buy enou... | When you travel in other countries, you'll have to get yourself well prepared to ensure your safety and handle emergencies.
Before you leave, you'd better:
1. Take out medical insurance policy and learn what the plan covers and whether departure or return to the hometown is covered. Figure out payment choices, such as whether you have to speak directly with the insurance company, before or after treatment, whether you have to pay first and get compensation later.
2. Keep up to date on all required vaccinations .
3. Learn about the city or area where you are going to travel. Know how to say street names and landmarks in the local language. Figure out unique climate issues such as altitude, seasonal changes, potentially risky animals and insects.
4. Visit some local hospitals and write down addresses in the local language along with emergency entrance locations; do the same for dental/pediatric services. Get first aid equipment with necessary medications. Take enough prescribed medication from the home country.
5. Carry a card or note written in both English and the local language listing your emergency contact numbers, name, basic medical information such as blood type and allergies .
6. Ensure a reliable means of communication is available and carry an extra phone battery and a charger. Ensure that housemaids, drivers, office assistants, those who work or travel know how to call for medical assistance since they may be the only ones available in an emergency.
7. Make sure to bring all documents and visas along with you. Plan your journey carefully and carry copies of documents (ID, insurance policy records, medical records) and keep in a place where someone else could access them in an emergency. | high13005.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "wearing red T-shirts"
},
"options": [
"wearing red T-shirts",
"putting on attractive make-up",
"changing the color of T-shirts",
"behaving themselves"
],
"question": "According to the passage, in the research by... | Researchers claimed that waitresses who wear red get up to 26 percent extra in tips than they would wearing other colors. However, the team finds that the sexes tip very differently--with the bigger tips coming only from male customers.
No matter what color they wear, female diners will give the same kind of amounts for service every time. Yet men, whether they realize it or not, add anything between 15 and 26 percent more to a waitress in red than they would if it was the same waitress wearing a different color.
The test was simple. Take 11 waitresses in five restaurants over a six-week period and ask them to wear the same kind of T-shirt every day but change the colors. Previous research has suggested waitresses could earn more if they acted charmingly or wore more make-up than their colleagues. But this study, by the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, only changed the color of the T-shirt. Every other aspect from make-up to behavior remained the same.
When wearing either black, white, green, blue or yellow T-shirts, the size of the tips from both male and female customers was almost _ . But when they wore red, the size of the tips went up by between 15 and 26 percent from male customers, yet stayed the same from female ones.
A total of 272 restaurant customers were studied by researchers Nicolas Gueguen and Celine Jacob for the international journal of the tourism industry.
Even as a T-shirt, it shows just how much the color red is thought, by men, to increase the physical and sexual attractiveness of woman, said the researchers.
The researchers wrote: As red color has no negative effect on women customers, it could be in their interest to wear clothes at work. | high5724.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "To give her some advice."
},
"options": [
"To express his love for her.",
"To give her some advice.",
"To tell her what she should do.",
"To help solve her problems."
],
"question": "Why has the father written t... | Dear daughter,
You are a wonderful person and your mother and I think the world of you. It will not be long before you leave home to make your way in the world. Can I please give you some friendly advice? Here are some things that you should never do.
1. Never Look Down Upon Yourself.
You are great and able to achieve great things so believe in yourself. When things go badly, never stop believing. Some girls get upset, blame themselves and lose self-esteem. All kinds of problems can follow.
2. Never Get Obsessed With Your Appearance.
We think you look great (though some of the clothes you wear worry us!). Please be happy with the person ,you are and the body you have. Eat reasonably, take exercise and be healthy. Some girls show too much concern about losing weight or getting the perfect shape. You look fine.
3. Never Compromise Your Personal Safety.
_ . This means that you cannot trust people until you really know them and that sometimes you have to avoid things that look like they might be fun. Never get drunk or take drugs. Unluckily there are some bad people out there and it is best not to take risks.
4. Never Give Less Than Your Best.
We are very proud of what you have achieved so far. You should be proud too. Keep doing well. Keep trying your hardest at everything you do. No one can ask for more than that.
5. Never Forget That Your Parents Love You.
Whatever happens in life, your family will still be your family. Whatever difficulties you meet with, you can always talk to us and we will try to help. We are here for you. | high11612.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Abraham."
},
"options": [
"Corinne.",
"Louise.",
"Abraham.",
"Sam."
],
"question": "Who is interested inSpilling Ink: A Yong Writer's Handbook?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {... | I'm trying to be a writer, but I can't even start. What should I do?
Abraham, Nebraska
There are many ways to come up with ideas, one of which is to write down a list of your experiences, as well as things from your imagination. When you want to write, look in the notebook for ideas.
Books for writers often have good suggestions, too. One we like isSpilling Ink: A Yong Writer's Handbook by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter. Perhaps your library has it.
My classmates keep asking about a new movie I've seen. But I don't want to spoil it for them. What should I do?
Corinne (by e-mail)
You could ask your classmates whether they are sure they want to know and if they insist, go ahead and tell them. You may be able to give them a general idea of the movie without revealing details of the ending.
I'm going to a soccer camp for youth, but I'm not sure if I'm good at soccer or if I'll make friends.
Louise, New Hampshire
Soccer camp is for people who share an interest in the sport. No matter what a person's ability is at the beginning, it's likely that everyone will leave camp with improved skills.
Sharing a common interest may make conversations easier. Smile, be friendly, and have a sense of humor. Before long, you may find that you've made some good friends.
Someone invited me to a birthday party. When I got there, kids were doing stuff I'm not interested in, like watching scary movies. I told them my mom would pick me up, so I just left. Was I rude for doing that?
Sam (by e-mail)
You just did the right thing and that isn't being rude.
We hope you'll talk with your parents about this. They're probably proud of what you did. They may have other suggestions for you, too. Talk about different situations that might come up and what would be the best way to handle them. | high3355.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The Girl Who Believed In Fairys"
},
"options": [
"Trevor The Taxi",
"Faffenburger's Odyssey",
"The Wise Old Woman",
"The Girl Who Believed In Fairys"
],
"question": "Which story is more well-received by young gi... | Free On-line Short Stories For Kids: Trevor The Taxi
In this children's story, suited to younger children, we have an adventure with Trevor. He is a taxi. Trevor loves his life:
"Sometimes he takes patients to the nursing home, where they can get better after being ill, and sometimes he takes people home when they have been shopping, and Stan puts all their packages inside Trevor's boot, so they will not get wet or broken."
The black cab, in this adventure, goes far beyond the call of duty whilst he achieves his wildest dreams! What could this be? Well you will just have to read this short story for yourself!
Free On-line Short Stories For Kids: The Girl Who Believed In Fairies
The fairy queen is upset and the elves just don't know what to do:
"Oh dear, oh dear," sobbed the queen, getting her hankie all wet with her constant crying. For the twelfth time that day, Elgie the chief elf took her hankie and wrung it out on to the carpet of grass that grew all around the palace."
How will they manage to help the queen? Why was she so unhappy? There is only one person that can help! Can she do it? This is a lovely fairy tale that will glow the embers of your heart - only for young girls!
Free On-line Short Stories For Kids: The Envious Kings
This story is suitable for 6 years and upwards.
Unfolding in the story pages of this recommendation is a children's story about two kings who were competing with each other:
"In spite of the easy life that the two kings had, they were not happy, for each of them kept thinking that the other one had a bigger and better palace, or owned more horses, or had more jewels or even had creamier milk."
They were both petty and, through their envy, they caused themselves much trouble. Who do you think saved the day? Well, you will just have to read the story to find out!
Free On-line Short Stories For Kids: The Wise Old Woman
This story is probably suited to the 8 years old age range and upwards, although would appeal to adults, alike.
Here I introduce you to one of my kids on-line stories listed on the writing and literature section of Hubpages. In this parable you will find a magical world of wisdom involving trees, people and someone very special.
"As she stood and watched, the knowledge melted into her and the sapling grew...The magical transition took her breath away and as she watched on with ore, she noticed something strange."
So, what was this strangeness and magical transition? Let me leave you with wonderment ... and a click of the link!
Free On-line Short Stories For Kids: Unusual Stories - Faffenburger's Odyssey
This story is probably more suited to the older child. So who is Faffenburger? Well with one of these free on-line short stories for kids, we enter into a different realm. A world of nonsense as Faffenburger moves within alpha and omega. This is a rather unusual story as you will find out!
"My friend, Henry Faffenburger stomped down the long lane on his short stumpy legs, moonlight glancing off his bald-spot, which was a little surprising as there was no moon that night. As he rounded the bend, he saw a pair of headlights coming toward him. They drew level, and stopped. A small man with yellow eyes emerged from the darkness behind the lights, and enquired if Faffenburger would like a lift.
"Where are you going ?" asked my friend. "Wherever you want to go", replied the owner of the yellow eyes."
So, the adventure begins! Where will they go? Alpha, Omega or just the middle? After all, it was a long summer - especially the middle! Take a closer look at this - you might find something a little more strange and a little more hidden that you have noticed before. Intrigued? Well you should be with Faffenburger's Odyssey! | high3802.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "ESL Websites for Children"
},
"options": [
"Children Enjoy Learning English Online",
"Children Learn English Through Games",
"Welcome to MES Games",
"ESL Websites for Children"
],
"question": "The best title for... | English as a second language (ESL) websites for children can help build vocabulary, teach correct spelling and pronunciation of words, and assist with basic grammar such as understanding sentence structure, parts of speech, tenses, and singular and plural word forms. English learning websites for children include:
* ESL Kid is an organized website that serves as a comprehensive directory of English as a second language resources for children, teachers, and parents. There are categories for different subjects, such as ABC games, dictionary, spelling, literature and music. Since this is just a directory, parents should help children explore the sites linked to it.
* MES Games has several categories of interactive games. Some games are more suited to younger children and beginning learners, such as the vocabulary building games in which players must first listen to a spoken word and then identify the correct items. More advanced children will enjoy online sport games based on grammar concepts that go with multiple choice questions.
* ESL Kids Lab has many resources for helping children learn English as a second language. These include free video English lessons categorized by grade level, ideas for games, and printable worksheets. However, the inferiority of this website is also obvious -- it contains lots of advertisements.
* ESL Kid Stuff has a variety of resources, including a list of select online English learning games and song lyric sheets. Downloading worksheets and flashcards requires a yearly membership fee, however.
* English Interactive lets children and beginning ESL students click on words to hear their pronunciation and build essential vocabulary skills. After viewing the words, students can try an interactive quiz.
* English Vocabulary Games has a variety of interactive games designed to help ESL children build vocabulary. | high20140.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "he was able to find a job as a pilot"
},
"options": [
"he was able to find a job as a pilot",
"his job is satisfying and totally free of trouble",
"he began flying even when he was very young",
"his physical condition e... | I was fortunate enough to discover my love for flying when I was very young. Lucky that some things went my way: my eyesight, for example, was good enough to allow me to become a fighter pilot. And lucky that when I left the army, I found work as an airline pilot, when such jobs weren't plentiful. I still feel lucky, after all these years, to be able to follow my passion. The airline industry has its problems, and a lot of them can be troubling, but I still find purpose and satisfaction in flying.
There's some freedom you feel when you're flying above the surface of the earth, no longer limited by gravity. Even at a thousand feet, you get a wider perspective. Problems that seem large down below feel smaller from that height, and smaller still by the time you reach thirty-five thousand feet.
I love that flying is an intellectual challenge. If you change the angle of the nose by even one degree while traveling at a typical commercial airliner speed of seven miles a minute, it's enough to increase or decrease your rate of climb or descent by seven hundred feet per minute. I enjoy keeping track of all the calculations, staying aware of the weather conditions, working with a team while knowing closely what the plane can and cannot do. I like the challenge of that.
I also like sharing my passion for flying. It's a disappointment to me that a lot of kids today aren't fascinated by flight. I've watched countless children walk past the plane without paying much attention; they're too focused on their video games or their iPods.
When there are children who eagerly want a look inside "my office" at the front of the plane, it's so rewarding to see their excitement about something I care deeply about. If we aren't busy during boarding, the first officer and I enjoy inviting curious children to sit in our seats in the cockpit , ask questions, and let their parents take photos of them wearing a captain's hat.
Being a pilot has a tangible end result that is beneficial to society. It feels good to take a planeload of 183 people where they need or want to go. My job is to reunite people with family and friends, to send them on vacations, to bring them to loved ones' funerals, to get them to their job interviews. By the end of a day, I feel as if I've accomplished something. All of them have their own stories, motivations, needs -- and helping them brings a rewarding feeling.
This is what gets me ready for work, and one of the things I look forward to. | high19919.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "has to make a difficult choice"
},
"options": [
"lives a very hard life",
"has to make a difficult choice",
"has to give up all that he/she has",
"doesn't know what he/she wants"
],
"question": "If we say some i... | At the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, the sport of canoe racing was added to the list of international competitions. The favorite team in the four-man canoe race was the Unites States team. One member of that team was Bill Havens.
As the time for the Olympics neared, it became clear that Bill's wife would give birth to their first child about the time that the US team would be competing in the Paris games. In 1924, there were no jet airliners from Paris to the Unites States, only slow ocean-going ships. Bill found himself in a _ . Should he go to Paris and risk not being at his wife's side when their baby was born? Or should he stay with his family?
Bill's wife insisted that he go to Paris. But after much soul searching, Bill decided to stay at home, where he could support his wife when the child arrived. As it turned out , the Unites States four-man canoe team won the gold medal in Paris. And Bill's wife was late in giving birth to their child. In fact, Bill could have competed in the event and returned home in time to be with her when she gave birth. People said ," what a shame!"
The child finally born to Bill and his wife was a boy, whom they named Frank. Twenty-eight years later, in 1952, Bill received a telegram from Frank. It was sent from Helsinki, Finland, where the 1952 Olympics were being held. The telegram read, "Dad, I won. I am bringing home the gold medal you lost while waiting for me to be born." Frank had just won the gold medal for the Unites States in a rowing event, a medal his father had dreamed of winning but never did. When people asked Bill about his decision he made twenty-eight years ago, he said he would make the same choice if he was in such a situation again. | high10083.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the negative effects of sugar on people's health"
},
"options": [
"the advantages and disadvantages of sugar",
"the negative effects of sugar on people's health",
"the genetic structure of mice",
"American's diet"
]... | We live in a sweet world. The average American kid consumes more than 20 teaspoons of sugar per day, and adults eat 50% more sugar today than they did in the 1970s. We all know that too much sugar isn't good for you. But did we know it could be dangerous? A team of researchers at the University of Utah used mice to conduct a study on the negative effects of sugar. They found it could have serious effects on people's health.
Sugar is found not only in sweets and candies, but also in many household items like pasta and crackers.
During the 58-week-long study, mice were fed a diet containing 25% more sugar. This percentage equals a healthy human diet along with three cans of soda daily. The team found that these mice were twice as likely to die as mice fed a similar diet without the sugar. Though the mice did not show signs of obesity or high blood pressure, male mice were 26% less territorial and produced 25% fewer offspring than the other mice.
Scientists often use mice for research because they have a similar genetic structure to humans. "Since most substances that are dangerous in mice are also dangerous in people, it's likely that those physical problems that cause those mice to have increased deaths also work in people," says study author James Ruff of the University of Utah. Findings from this study reveal negative effects that are not as noticeable as weight gain or heart problems. Sugar can contribute to long-term changes in the body that can change development and even shorten lives.
Cutting sugar out of the American diet altogether may be difficult. But making the effort to control our nation's sugar desire will provide for a truly sweeter future. | high8957.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "it's understandable for kids to annoy their parents"
},
"options": [
"when you are doing a job, your kids shouldn't annoy you",
"parents should be responsible for children's bad behavior",
"parents shouldn't tolerate their ch... | One day my 13-year-old daughter told me that she was going to spend the afternoon at her friend Jesse's house. I didn't doubt it until I called Jesse's number to remind Liz that it was her turn to walk the dog, and Jesse's mom picked up the phone and said, "I thought she and Jesse were planning to be at your house." It turned out that the two of them had decided to hang out at a coffee shop instead. When I questioned my daughter, she replied coldly, "What's the big deal? You're such a psycho ."
Can you say it is right or wrong for them to behave like that? Their changeable personalities leave you feeling angry and guilty at the same time. _
"There's nothing wrong about being angry with your child," Says Laurence Steinberg, Ph.D., author of The 10 Basic Principles of Good Parenting. "Conflict is natural when your innocent, lovely child turns into an adolescent who can hardly tolerate you. It's part of the process of separation." Kids insisted on their individuality with behavior to purposely drive you crazy. It's their way of saying, "I am my own person" -- but doing it in a context that's safe and that has clear limits.
So when your little darling changes into a silent person who still expects meals, clothing, and transportation, don't panic. Here's how to handle some common problems without losing your temper or your self-respect. | high9491.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Jobs."
},
"options": [
"Arts.",
"Sales.",
"Jobs.",
"News."
],
"question": "In which column of a newspaper could we find this advertisement?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | The communication union
Head of Research
Salary:PS55.271
We are looking for a Head of Research to manage the CWU Research Department and Information Centre. You would be required to exercise control of all research work of the department and manage a team of three researchers and four support staff.
The person appointed would be expected to carry out research work of a strategic nature across the range of businesses in which the CWU has or seeks membership and to contribute to the strategic thinking and direction of the union as a whole.
You will need: proven line management skills, especially in managing and motivating a team; good research skills, holding a good degree in a related subject or other similar experience; a high level of mathematical and calculating skills; the ability to produce high quality work under pressure; a commitment to and knowledge of the trade union movement and social democratic politics; and knowledge and/ or experience of the postal and/ or telecommunications industry.
To apply, please request an application pack by emailing _ .org or by telephoning HR( Human Resources ) on 020 8971 7482. When applying please state your source.
Closing Date for Applications: 4thAugust 2010
Anticipated interview date: 17thAugust 2010
No agencies please | high22757.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "People with physical disabilities."
},
"options": [
"People with physical disabilities.",
"People in the solar energy field",
"People who lack suitable housing",
"People in need of computer skills"
],
"question"... | Printing images is easy. Just select an image of a purple robot on your PC, for example, and press print. Your home printer exactly shoots drops of ink onto a flat piece of paper, creating the robot's 2-D image. "Printing" 3-D objects is different. Take the purple robot. First select a file of the 3-D printer. Immediately, the printer begins making noise, and a nozzle releases plastic material in thin layers. In two or three hours, a 3-D purple robot is standing before you.
3-D printing has developed to the point where printers can now create high-quality objects using a variety of materials, including metals. That means 3-D printers can now make final products that meet high industrial standards. 3-D printers are already being used to make parts for racecars and jets as well as man-made limbs and hearing aids.
So far, few homes have 3-D printers. That's because 3-D printing is not only new to most people but also quite expensive. To bring 3-D printing to the masses, some retail stores plan to offer the service. For example, the Staples chain of office supply stores has announced that it will offer 3-D printing in Europe beginning in 2013. Customers will be able to submit their own 3-D designs to Staples website for printing. After the job is done, they'll pick up their item at a nearby Staples store or have it mailed to their homes. This service is sure to encourage many more people to try out 3-D printing. | high12694.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "explain why there won't be a new Einstein soon"
},
"options": [
"show other scientists are no equal to Einstein except Newton",
"explain the difficulty to find a talented physicist",
"praise his scientific contribution to the... | A new genius in physics like Einstein will emerge , scientists say. But it may take a long time .After, more than 200 yeas separated Einstein from his nearest rival , Isaac Newton. Many physicists say the next Einstein hasn't been yet, or is a baby now.
And researchers say there are many factors working against another Einstein emerging anytime soon. For one thing, physics is a much different field today. In Einstein's day, there were only a few thousand physicists worldwide, and the theoreticians who could intellectually rival Einstein probably would fit into a streetcar with seats to spare. Education is different, too. One essential aspect of Einstein's training that is overlooked is the years of philosophy he read as a teenager--Kant, Schopenhauer and Spinoza, among others, It taught him how to think independently and abstractly about space and time. Einstein was also an accomplished musician. The interplay between music and math is well known. Einstein would furiously play his violin as a way to think through a knotty physics problem. Today, universities have produced millions of physicists. There aren't many jobs in science for them, so they go to Wall Street and Silicon Valley to apply their analytical skills to more practical and rewarding efforts.
"Maybe there is an Einstein out there today," said Columbia University physicist Brian Greene, "but it would be a lot harder for him to be heard." Especially considering what Einstein was promoting. "The actual structure of space and time bending? My God, what an idea!" Greene said at a recent gathering at the Aspen Institute. "It takes a certain type of person who will knock his head against the wall because you believe you'll find the solution." Perhaps the best examples are the five scientific papers Einstein wrote in his "miracle year" of 1905. These" thought experiments" were pages of calculations signed and submitted to the prestigious journal Annalen der Physik by an unknown.What might happen to such a submission today? "We all get papers like those in the mail," Greene said. "We put them in the junk file." | high22031.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "drought"
},
"options": [
"drought",
"hibernation",
"windier conditions",
"extreme events"
],
"question": "According to the passage animals may have problems reproducing this year mainly due to _ .",
"ques... | "It's this time of year when the weather starts warming up and frogs start breeding - but they haven't been breeding," says John Wilkinson, research and monitoring officer at the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust (ARC).
Amphibians are just one of the groups of animals that nature observers fear may have problems reproducing this year, as groundwater levels are even lower now than in the infamously dry summer of 1976, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). According to the UK's Centre for Hydrology and Ecology the average rainfall so far this winter has been the lowest since 1972.
"If ponds dry up totally," says Mr. Wilkinson, "you could have lots of dead tadpoles." Drier and windier conditions could also make it more difficult for juvenile amphibians to survive their journeys between wet habitats.
But Peter Brotherton, the biodiversity manager for Natural England, says that "drought is part of nature's cycle", and, at present, a lot of animals, plants and insects are still in hibernation. This means that the population picture is unclear. "However, when we get extreme events, we get animals dying," he says. "And what is worrying is that normally at this time of year we expect soil to be near saturation after winter."
Charlie Kitchin, the RSPB's site manager of the Nene Washes in Cambridgeshire, says the 2,000-acre wetland and grassland area is now struggling following two winters with relatively little winter rain and no flooding. One species that could suffer, he says, is the black-tailed godwit . "There are only 50 breeding pairs in the country, and we have 40 of them, and everything is bone-dry," Mr Kitchin says.
But one bad nesting season, he says, is "not the end of the world". "One of the features of flood plains is that they're _ anyway," he adds. "But if they fail to breed another year, the population is likely to dip again." | high1973.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "he mixed black church music, blues and rock 'n' roll"
},
"options": [
"he mixed black church music, blues and rock 'n' roll",
"he worked hard to create his own sound",
"he recorded Jazz music",
"he could play blues"
... | Ray Charles Robinson, a blind musician in America, was famous for his records of jazz, rock 'n' roll, blues and country music. But the world knew him better as Ray Charles. He had an influence on American popular music.
The song Let's Go Get Stoned is an example of Ray Charles' own kind of music--his own sound. He worked hard for several years to create that sound. No one ever tried it before. He mixed black church music, blues and rock 'n' roll. The sound was extremely successful. In the nineteen fifties, his records began to sell millions of copies. At the same time, Ray Charles recorded jazz music. Those records sold well, too. People said they were new and exciting.
Ray Charles became famous because he could play blues, rock and jazz. He also liked other kinds of music. He told the record company officials that he wanted to record an album of country and western music.
The president of the record company told him it would be a mistake. He said Ray's fans would not buy the album. Charles disagreed. He said he believed he would gain many new fans to replace the few he might lose. He produced the album and it was an immediate success.
The album was called Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. Many of the songs sold very well. One of the most popular songs was I Can't Stop Loving You. It is a countryandwestern song with Ray Charles' sound of blues and black church music. | high14583.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because in her own country women never drive."
},
"options": [
"Because she was not an American woman.",
"Because she was afraid of a car or a bus.",
"Because in her own country women never drive.",
"Because her husband... | The story I am going to tell you happened about three years ago when I started to learn how to drive. At first, I was very frightened, and I thought I could never learn how to drive a car. Driving a car frightened me because in my home country women never drive, but in the United States every woman has to know how to drive. My husband paid an
to teach me how to drive. After that, my husband practiced with me for a long time. My husband always told me that I had to learn. It was important to me and my family.
However, I couldn't get my license right away. I failed my driving test two times. After practicing for a long time, I decided to go for my third driving test. I had failed my first test because I was very nervous. Everybody encouraged me to continue practicing. Three weeks later, I decided to try it again, but I failed again. After that, I was very embarrassed , and I said I couldn't get it, so I stopped practicing for a while.
Not knowing how to drive was bad because I couldn't do anything. I had two kids, my husband works, and I have to take care of everything. Driving was so necessary that I decided to try it again. And finally, that time, I passed the test. Now I have my license. I know how to drive, and it has changed my life in some important ways. Now I'm driving to the college, learning English and hoping I will get a good job in the future. | high15845.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "It uses special systems to save water."
},
"options": [
"Its recycling program is followed by other universities.",
"It produces reusable shopping bags by itself.",
"It uses special systems to save water.",
"It is the m... | Today, innovations to make our lives more eco-friendly can be found everywhere. There are energy-efficient automobiles, eco-friendly light bulbs, and clothes made by fashion designers using sustainable environmental practices. Industries around the world have also begun to take a serious look at how their operations affect the local and global environment.
The university of Colorado has been named one of the top green colleges and universities in the United States. This university was one of the first to start a student-led recycling program in the 1970s and today supplies students with reusable shopping bags to use both on and off campus. The entire University of Colorado also uses low flow water fixtures and has reduced water usage by 40 percent since 2002.
When it comes to going green, Warren Wilson College has been recognized in many places. The Sierra Club and The Princeton Review have named the college as one of America's greenest colleges and universities, while the school has also received the Outstanding College Recycling Award from the Carolina Recycling Association, as well as awards from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education(AASHE). For a small college, Warren Wilson has made enormous efforts to be an eco-friendly campus since its beginning, and today owns a campus farm, a seeding program, and an extensive recycling program. Warren Wilson was also the first College to have an LEED platinum certified residence hall, and its building services department is also 100 percent GreenSeal certified. According to College Stats, Warren Wilson College is one of the first institutions in the United States to be almost completely self-sufficient while also engaging students to incorporate sustainability into all academic programs.
Going green efforts at Oberlin College have not gone unnoticed. Oberlin College spends 22 percent of its food budget on buying food from local farmers, with most of the food raised or harvested with organic and sustainable practices. Oberlin has also stopped selling bottled water on campus and offers discounts to students who use their own storage containers when purchasing beverages and food items. Among Oberlin's other eco-friendly accomplishments is a green graduation ceremony, which includes programs printed on 100 percent recycled paper. | high20626.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "premature or preterm births throughout the world"
},
"options": [
"the causes of people's bad health throughout the world",
"how to improve people's health throughout the world",
"premature or preterm births throughout the wo... | Each year millions of babies are born too soon and too small. Premature or preterm births are defined as births at less than thirty-seven weeks.
Prematurity is the leading cause of death in newborn babies. More than one-fourth of the four million newborns who die each year around the world were born too early.
Preterm babies that survive can suffer a lifetime of serious health conditions. The examples include cerebral palsy, blindness, hearing problems and learning disabilities. Families and communities face emotional, physical and financial costs.
Christopher Howson is the vice president for global programs at the March of Dimes, a nonprofit group. His group and the World Health Organization recently published a report called "The Global and Regional Toll of Preterm Birth."
CHRISTOPHER HOWSON: "Frankly the crisis of preterm birth is under-recognized, undercounted, undervalued and under-funded. I mean, this report shows that thirteen million babies are born every year preterm, and that over a million of those babies die as a result of being born too early."
And these are just estimates; the true numbers could be even higher. More than eighty-five percent of preterm births happen in Africa and Asia. Africa has the highest rate, with about four million cases each year.
Chris Howson says many of the causes of preterm births are related to poverty and weak health-care systems.
CHRISTOPHER HOWSON: "For example, the poor overall health and nutritional status of women. A high burden of infectious diseases. Lack of provision of family planning - allowing a woman to decide when to start and end having children and how to space her children. And also the lack of good prenatal care programs that might identify problems early on in pregnancy."
Preterm births are a problem not just in the developing world. The combined rate in the United States and Canada is the second highest in the world. Preterm birth rates in the United States have increased thirty-six percent in the last twenty-five years.
This has been largely the result of two reasons. One is an increase in pregnancies among women over age thirty-five. The other is an increase in the use of reproductive therapies. | high21538.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The volcanos on earth are lower than those on Mars."
},
"options": [
"The earth is just the right temperature.",
"The volcanos on earth are lower than those on Mars.",
"There is oxygen in the atmosphere of the earth.",
... | The earth is the only planet that scientists think has life. Why does the earth have life while the other planets don't? For one thing, the earth is just the right temperature. As
from the sun, the earth seems to be just the right distance away. The planets which are closer to the sun are hot that their surfaces bake in the sun. The farthest planets are cold balls.
When the earth developed -- which scientists believe may have happened about 4 billion years ago -- many gases covered the earth. The gases caused the earth to be hot. But something wonderful happened. The temperature was just right for thick clouds to form. It rained very hard for a very long time. This gave the earth its oceans. Water made it possible for plants to grow. The plants created oxygen in the atmosphere. Oxygen is the gas that humans and animals breathe.
Only one other planet in the solar system seems to be something like the earth. That planet is Mars . Mars is smaller than the earth, and it is quite a bit cooler. But it is not too cold for humans. On some days, the temperatures are as low as a winter day in the northern United States. If you wore a special space suit, you could walk around on Mars. You would have to bring your own air to breathe, the air on Mars is too thin to breathe.
Mars has the largest volcano in the solar system. It is sixteen miles high. The highest volcano on the earth is five miles high. The most unexpected sight on Mars is dried up river beds. Scientists believe that Mars was once much better than it is now. Does this mean there could have been living things on Mars? Scientists are not sure, but there has been no sign so far. | high16394.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Kobe was the only role model for all the blacks"
},
"options": [
"Kobe was the only role model for all the blacks",
"blacks could only find role models on the basketball court",
"minorities in America couldn't find role model... | The campaign is over. The celebrations have ended. And the work for US president-elect Barack Obama has begun.
The 47-year-old politician rose to the highest post because of his stand against the war in Iraq and his plans to fix a weak economy. But what will the first 47-year-old African-American president do for race relations?
Obama's victory appears to have given blacks and other minorities a true national role model. For years, many looked to athletes and musicians for inspiration. As Darius Turner, an African-American high school student in Los Angeles, told the Los Angeles Times, "Kobe doesn't have to be everybody's role model anymore."
Recent polls also suggest that Obama's victory has given Americans new optimism about race relations. For example, a USA Today poll found that two-thirds of Americans believe relations between blacks and whites "will finally be worked out". This is the most hopeful response since the question was first asked during the civil rights revolution in 1963.
However, it's still too early to tell whether Obama's presidency will begin to solve many of the social problems facing low-income black communities.
Although blacks make up only 13 percent of the US population, 55 percent of all prisoners are African-American. Such numbers can be blamed on any number of factors on America's racist past, a failure of government policy and the collapse of the family unit in black communities.
It is unlikely that Obama will be able to reverse such trends overnight. However, Bill Bank, an expert of African-American Studies, says that eventually young blacks need to find role models in their own communities. "That's not Martin Luther King, and not Barack Obama," he told the Los Angeles Times. "It's actually the people closest to them. Barack only has so much influence."
In the opinion of black British politician Trevor Phillips, Obama's rise will contribute more to multiculturalism than to race relations in the US.
"When the G8 meets, the four most important people in the room will be the president of China, the prime minister of India, the prime minister of Japan and Barak Obama," he told London's The Times newspaper. "It will be the first time we've seen that on our television screens. That will be a huge psychological shift for both the white people and the color1ed ones in the world." | high20632.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "She told the class something untrue about herself."
},
"options": [
"She made Teddy feel ashamed",
"She asked the children to play with Teddy.",
"She changed Teddy's seat to the front row.",
"She told the class somethin... | There was a story many years ago of a school teacher----Mrs.Thompson. She told the children on the first day that she loved them all the same. But that was a lie. There in the front row was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard. He didn't play well with the other children and he always needed a bath. She did not like him.
Then Mrs. Thompson got to know that Teddy was actually a very good boy before the death of his mother. Mrs. Thompson was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when, like all her other students, Teddy brought her a Christmas present too. It was his mother's perfume .
Teddy said, "Mrs.Thompson, today you smell just like my Mom used to." After the children left she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she stopped teaching reading, writing and math. Instead, she began to teach children.
Mrs.Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy.The boy's mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he improved. By the end of the sixth grade, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class.
Six years went by before she got a note from Teddy. He wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life. He went to college. Mrs.Thompson got two more letters from him with the last signed, Theodore F. Stoddar, M. D. .
The story doesn't end there. On his wedding day, Dr.Stoddard whispered in Mrs.Thompson's ear," Thank you, Mrs. Thomson, for believing in me. You made me feel important and showed me that I could make a difference."
Mrs. Thompson , with tears in her eyes, whispered back,"Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you. | high10929.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Ayounghorse."
},
"options": [
"A scared hare.",
"Ayounghorse.",
"Afierce dog.",
"A bravehunter."
],
"question": "What does \"I\" in the passage refer to?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
... | When I was two years old, something happened which I have never forgotten. It was early spring, and there was a light mist over the trees and fields. The other young fellows and I were feeding at the lower end of the field when we heard the distant cry of dogs.
The oldest among us lifted his head to listen. "There are the hounds ", he said, and immediately raced off. The rest of us followed him to the top of the field where we could see several fields beyond.
Soon the dogs were all racing down the field next to ours, making a loud "yoyoyoyo" sound. After then came men on horses, some in green coats. Suddenly, the dogs became silent and ran around with their noses to the ground.
"They've lost the smell of the hare." said the old horse. "Perhaps it will escape." But the dogs began their "yoyoyoyo" again and came at full speed towards our field. Just then a hare, wild with fear, ran towards the trees. The dogs jumped over the stream and ran across the field, followed by the huntsmen. Six or eight jumped their horses over the stream, close behind the dogs. Before the hare could get away, the dogs were upon her with wild cries. We heard a terrible scream, and that was the end of the hare. One of the men picked her up and held her by the leg. She was covered in blood, but all the huntsmen seemed pleased.
I was so greatly surprised that at first I did not see what was happening by the stream but when I did look, I saw a sad sight. Two fine horses were down, one in the stream struggling to stand up and the other on the grass with one of his legs broken. One rider, who seemed unhurt, was climbing out of the water, but the other lay quite still. "His neck is broken," said my mother. "I can't understand why men are so fond of this sport. They often hurt themselves and ruin good horses, all for one hare that they could get more easily in other ways. But we are only horses, and don't know why men do these things."
They carried the dead rider to our master's house, and then came back to the black horse on the grass. The animal was in great pain and one of his legs was broken. Someone ran to our master's house and came back to the horse with a gun. Soon after there was a loud bang and a terrible cry, and the black horse did not move any more. | high16380.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "They felt confused by her words."
},
"options": [
"They didn't believe what she had said.",
"They couldn't hear what she was saying.",
"They got bored with her story.",
"They felt confused by her words."
],
"que... | A TV program was being videoed. Tonight it was to select the sweetest whisper of love ever said between husband and wife.
The final competition was held among 10 married couples. Seven of them were young ones, two middle-aged and one old. The last turn came to the old couple. The old lady took the microphone and said the sweetest whisper of love she had ever heard was: " Are you standing or sitting?"
The host fixed his eyes on her, quite puzzled by her words.
Regardless of all the talking around, she went on with her story. Her husband had been a doctor before he retired. One day when he was on duty at the hospital, he felt a sharp pain at the heart. By his professional knowledge he knew immediately he suffered a fit of heart attack. His colleagues carried him at once to the operation room and prepared him for a bypass operation, which was highly risky. The patient's family members had to be informed before it began. The patient himself was allowed to put in a word. Lying silently on the operation table with a trembling hand, he dialed after a moment's thinking of the number of his wife's phone. Finally a familiar voice came from the other end...
"So many years had passed but memory of this incident remained fresh in my mind. What he said in the beginning was: 'Are you standing or sitting?' He was actually worried about me, wondering how I felt at the news. He was afraid I would have fallen flat onto the ground. In such a critical state as he was then, his thought still went to me..." The old lady concluded slowly, "That's the sweetest whisper of love I've ever heard all my life."
A loud applause followed in the wake of a short silence. | high22025.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "producing some chemicals"
},
"options": [
"making some sounds",
"waving their leaves",
"producing some chemicals",
"sending out electronic signals"
],
"question": "We learn from the text that plants communicate ... | Plants can't communicate by moving or making sounds, as most animals do. Instead, plants produce volatile compounds ---- chemicals that easily change from a liquid to a gas. A flower's sweet smell, for example, comes from such volatile compounds to attract insects such as bugs and bees.
Plants can also discover volatile compounds produced by other plants. A tree under attack by hungry insets, for instance, may give off these chemicals in order to let other trees know about the attack. In response, the other trees may send off their chemicals to keep the bugs away ---- or even chemicals that will attract the bugs' natural enemies.
Now scientists have created a quick way to understand what plants are saying: a chemical sensor called an "electronic nose". The "e-nose" can tell such compounds as plants make. When plants are attacked, scientists say, the e-nose could help quickly decide whether plants are being eaten by insects. But today, the only way to spot such insects is to inspect individual plants by observing them. This is a challenging task for managers of greenhouses, including those that can house thousands of plants. The research team is working with an e-nose that can recognize volatile compounds. Inside the device, 13 sensors chemically react with volatile compounds based on the interactions , and then the e-nose will give off electronic signals that the scientists can analyze by using computer software.
To test the e-nose, the team presented it with healthy leaves from cucumber, pepper and tomato plants, all being common greenhouse crops. Then scientists collected samples of the air around damaged leaves from each type of crop. These plants had been damaged either by insects or by scientists who made holes in the leaves with a hole punch .
The e-nose, it turns out, can identify healthy cucumber, pepper and tomato plants based on the volatile compounds they produce. It could also identify tomato leaves that had been damaged. But even more impressive, the device could tell which type of damage ---- by insects or with a hole punch ---- had been done to the tomato leaves.
With some fine-tuning , a device like the e-nose can one day be used in greenhouses to quickly spot harmful bugs, the researchers say. A device like this can also be used to identify fruits that are perfectly ripe and ready to pick and eat, says Natalia Dudareva, a biochemist at Purdue University in West Lafayette, India, who studies smells of flowers and plants. Hopefully, scientists believe, the device can bring large benefits to greenhouse managers in the near future. | high15689.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "He can follow a belief to live his life."
},
"options": [
"He can follow a belief to live his life.",
"He can behave like the heroes in storybooks.",
"He can have the courage to be enthusiastic.",
"He can know where to ... | For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted a personal motto. I wanted a saying that I could really try to live my life by. I mean all the humorous book and storybook heroes always have a personal principle they follow. Good manners! Courage! Keenness! But a part of me could never get myself to create my own motto because I never knew where to start and I never thought I could give one.
"With great power comes great responsibility." is a quote by the great writer and philosopher, Voltaire. More familiar, it makes an appearance in the modern day movie performance of the superhero Spider-Man. This saying provides a sense of responsibility for those with actually limitless power.
"Be good to others and others will be good to you." is another well-known proverb that has roots in almost all of the major religions. Although it is less practiced today than it is lectured, it is a powerful and good motto to live by. Kindness, in this sense, is the final power in judging every action.
My personal motto today has an idea - being efficient. Through my limited knowledge, I have come to find that this is simply the best way for me to give insight about who I am and what I believe in.
Efficiency is a quality that everyone desires for, right? Who doesn't want to be able to not only work fast but to achieve great results? To some, it may appear to be a frightening journey. But to me, it means that I have a lifelong journey to improve the methods and ideas with which I come near my tasks.
Regardless of what motto you want to live by, I believe that everyone should have one, or two or more. These are all symbols of a perfect story of us, in our own view. And it immediately provides insight to the type of person we were, we are and what we strive to be. We are never meant to be perfect, but it is important to try and live by a belief that will help us reach our potential. All you have to do is know what your excitement is and live by it. | high14597.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "They want successful communication."
},
"options": [
"They want successful communication.",
"They want to ask the boss for a raise.",
"They want to have their own company.",
"They will have a chance to get a better job.... | It is important to learn business English if you are going to be successful in another country where English is the primary language. It will also be a great idea to practice speaking and writing in business English. If a university offers a course on business English, it will be a good idea to take the class. Reading, writing and speaking English is necessary to start a business.
Business English is different from asking where to find the nearest hotel. There are classes you can take to help you but there are things that you can learn on your own. Vocabulary and grammar are a good place to start with. You need to know what words mean. Later, try to pronounce the words and then look them up in the dictionary. Try using them in a sentence and ask someone who is good at English to help you. Once you have an understanding of English, you can use it in business English.
In business you will have to learn such things as taking messages, answering the phones with proper words and communicating with your co-workers. You may have to learn how to make travel plans. Business English is very different than spoken English. Grammar is the same but you have to learn things like expressing yourself in a proper manner or maybe making a report in your office.
If you are working in the customer service sector , you really have to learn business English. Dealing with the public is sometimes more important than asking your boss for a raise . Most businesses offer training classes and some companies offer classes on how to do the job with proper business English. | high8943.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The machine can help raise awareness of lacking water in the world ."
},
"options": [
"The water processed by the machine is cleaner than local tap water .",
"The machine can help raise awareness of lacking water in the world .",
... | A machine that takes sweat-laden clothes and turns the moisture into drinking water is in use in Sweden. The device spins and heats the material to remove the sweat, and then passes the vapor through a special membrane designed to only let water molecules get through.
Since its Monday launch, its creators say more than 1,000 people have "drunk others' sweat(h)" in Gothenburg. They add the liquid is cleaner than local tap water.
The device was built for the United Nation's child-focused charity UNICEF to promote a campaign highlighting the fact that 780 million people in the world lack access to clean water.
The machine was designed and built by engineer Andreas Hammar, known locally for his appearances on TV tech show Mekatronik. He said the critical part of the sweat machine was a new water purification component developed by a company named HVR in collaboration with Sweden's Royal Institute of Technology.
"It uses a technique called membrane distillation ," he told the BBC."We use a substance that's a bit like Gortex that only lets steam through but keeps bacteria, salts, clothing fibers and other substances out."They have something similar on the International Space Station to treat astronaut's urine - but our machine was cheaper to build. Volunteers have been sampling the treated sweat since the start of the week in Gothenburg ."The amount of water it produces depends on how sweaty the person is - but one person's T-shirt typically produces 10ml , roughly a mouthful."
The equipment has been put on show at the Gothia Cup - the world's largest international youth football tournament. MattiasRonge, chief executive of Stockholm-based advertising agency Deportivo - which organized the stunt - said the machine had helped raise awareness for UNICEF, but in reality had its limitations.
"People haven't produced as much sweat as we hoped - right now the weather in Gothenburg is lousy," he said."So we've installed exercise bikes alongside the machine and volunteers are cycling like crazy."Even so, the demand for sweat is greater than the supply. And the machine will never be mass produced - there are better solutions out there such as water purifying pills." | high12858.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Because it can help students get a better shape."
},
"options": [
"Because most of students don't like dancing.",
"Because it can help students get a better shape.",
"Because losing weight is necessary to students.",
"B... | prefix = st1 /West Virginia--Public schools are using a dance video game to help get students in shape. In these schools, students are often told to turn off their video games and get some exercise. The schools have found a new way for their students to work out while playing a new video game. West Virginiais one of the heaviest states in the country. About half of its fifth-graders are considered to be overweight, and their parents are worried about that. To get them moving on a healthier path, the state's public schools are using a video game called "Dance Dance Revolution".
To use the game, players should stand on a special mat in front of a TV screen. Following arrows on the screen, players must move their feet to the specific symbols on the mat. Players must move quickly, touching symbols on the mat at just the right time. With each song, they get more exercise.
"It we can get children to change their behavior at a young age, they will hopefully grow up to be healthy and active adults," said Carl Callison of Mountain State Blue Cross, a health care company.
West Virginiais ranked among the top three heaviest states. About a third of West Virginians are considred to be obese. Even more are considered to be overweight. Extra weight can lead to serious health problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes, some cancers, and many other health issues.
"One out of three children born in West Virginia today will have diabetes by the time they grow up," said Nidia Henderson, a manager for the public employees' insurance program. "That's a terrible thing and not acceptable."
All ofWest Virginia's 157 middle schools are using the video game. School officials hope that all public schools in the state will use the game within the next three years. However, officials emphasize that the game is not meant to _ physical education and health classes. The game will be part of physical education classes and after-school programs. | high22743.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The figures cannot be simply judged as good or evil."
},
"options": [
"The complex time tends to turn good into evil.",
"He uses his films to show good finally defeats evil.",
"The figures cannot be simply judged as good or e... | Hayao Miyazaki, the 72-year-old Japanese master of fantasy animation , one of the most respected animation directors in the world, announced his retirement on September 6, after the recent release of his new film The Wind Rises.
Miyazaki's vision has remained unique throughout his many films over the past thirty years. The worlds he creates--the valley of the wind, the castle in the sky, and so many--are so special, so attractive. Here are some key words about his films.
Good and evil Miyazaki rarely tells stories in simple good and evil. The worlds he creates tend to be complex and unclear. The bad figures often don't seem so bad once you get to know them. Miyazaki has explained that the lack of clear good and evil is because he sees the 21st century as complex time, in which old ideas need to be re-examined, even in children's films.
Children The heroes in Miyazaki's films are usually children or teens, more often young girls. Sometimes they can see the spirit world; they are curious and friendly, even to strange creatures. The stories often deal with growing up.
Sky and water Two of Miyazaki's great loves are the sky and water, and he uses them in related ways. Flight is a forever theme--Miyazaki has never done a film without flying of some kind. His imagination seems to fly and leave behind the pull of gravity , a force and control that he feels a bound from setting him free. Water is another way for Miyazaki to fight gravity. In his films he likes the unexpected floods with crystal-clear water, and objects floating on the surface seem to be supported by magic.
Peace Miyazaki's negative view of the war goes far more than surface deep. Violence is usually seen as wrong and painful, and Miyazaki's heroes are often peacemakers. | high12680.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "a sporting robot"
},
"options": [
"an experienced expert",
"a computer system",
"a flying spaceship",
"a sporting robot"
],
"question": "What we know about Hua Fei is that he is_.",
"question_type": "cloze_q... | My name is Hua Fei and I am a sporting robot of the 23rdcentury. I am an expert at high flying exercises. I jump from spaceships and as I fall I turn, dive circle and dance until I softly land as close as I can to the finishing line. Robot competitions in the 23rdcentury are truly a popular sport. Fans from all overprefix = st1 /Chinawatch their handheld TVs when a competition comes on. Last time I took part in the 78thOlympics on a flying island aboveBrusselsin the sky. I won the silver medal for my performance.
This year I had the honour to be chosen again. I wanted to meet robots from other countries and explore ideas about sport. However, my programmer fell ill the week before we were going to leave. It was very painful for her and I felt very frightened. I no longer felt so confident that I would win. The day of the competition was rather cold for my legs and my special oil began to freeze. I paused before I jumped from the starting place on a little spaceship but then I began my performance. At the correct moment I tried to open my parachute but there was a problem. It only opened a little. Instead of flying softly to earth I began to fall faster and faster so that I could not turn, dive, circle or dance. My heart stopped beating as I landed heavily on a mountain covered with snow.
This is why I am writing to you from my hospital bed with two broken legs and a fragile head. I did not win anything at the Olympics after all. I need the factory to build me two new legs and an even bigger head. Then I will be able to compete once more. Let's hope for greater success in the next Olympics! | high17920.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "more than half of teenager workers are in fast food business"
},
"options": [
"more than half of teenager workers are in fast food business",
"teenagers in America like to work in a fast food restaurant",
"teenagers like to t... | High school students need "cool" jobs in summer holidays. Working at popular retail chains and ice-cream shops are good choices. The U.S. Department of Labor says that about two-thirds of the teenager workers are in fast food business. 1/5 of cooks and food workers are between 16 and 19 years old and 2/5 of food workers are part-time workers.
If you think taking a part-time job is easier, you are wrong. For young people, whatever you do, do your jobs well. Because a good work record will be useful for higher-paid jobs in the future. Let's share my story.
Unless with my family members, I would go to eat fast food. That doesn't mean I don't like working in a fast food restaurant. My first part-time job, at age 16, was at the McDonald's in Bloomington, Indiana. It was very hard work. Especially on Indiana University football weekends, we had no time to rest, but we still had a lot of fun. Finally I got a higher-paid job.
A future manager believes that difficult work encourages success. The growing U.S. population will bring more restaurants. While many people can't deal with the pressure to fill orders quickly, the people who really do a great job will get plenty of rewards in the workplace. | high3816.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "It keeps them from seeing unwanted contents."
},
"options": [
"It stops them from opening too many windows.",
"It makes them aware of conspicuous activity.",
"It keeps them from seeing unwanted contents.",
"It stops spy... | The new world of today introduced new threats that were not known in the previous generations: Internet predators . Often we do a lot of our researching, shopping, talking; just about everything online nowadays. New advancements in revolution comes along with the unwanted attackers. There are people out there who gain pleasure from, interrupting and taking from our peaceful lives what's not rightfully theirs. But like with everything, there are indeed counteractive measures that can be set in place to fend off these predators from such damage. I'd like to introduce the Guardian Eye.
Within this program is a complex program which has several functions to create a safe atmosphere for whomever uses the computer, It has the ability to track and log every key stroke, every website that has ever been accessed, takes screenshots of web pages, blocks web pages according to content and even sends you messages via email once conspicuous activity has been reported and logged. Just think, you or child could be browsing and searching through the Internet and inappropriate content pops up with several different windows. You try to click out of the windows but you accidentally click one which releases spyware, infecting your computer. Guardian Eye blocks unwanted content from popping up or appearing to the users, which I thought was extremely convenient. In this way there is not even the slightest temptation.
This product helps prevent damage from being done to your computer and worse, your identity. It's quite the product and it offers a little version so you may try it out first. If you'd like the full package, it's a once time fee 39.99 and can be installed on unlimited computers for your convenience. It's a nice deal and I'm considering getting it again considering I do a lot of writing on various websites myself. | high10097.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "how to plan your travel"
},
"options": [
"how to plan your travel",
"how to travel with enough money",
"how to make your travel interesting",
"how to get life experiences"
],
"question": "This passage is about ... | Traveling can be a way to gain life experiences,especially during Spring Break--a week long school vacation in the United States. But what if you're a student and don't have enough money for a trip?Don't worry. Here are some useful suggestions.
Save:This probably is the most important preparation for traveling. Cut expenses to fatten your wallet so you'll have more choices about where to go and how to get there.
Plan ahead:Don't wait until the last minute to plan your trip. Tickets may cost more when bought on short notice. Giving yourself several months to get ready can mean security and savings.
Do your homework:No matter where you go,research the places you will visit. Decide what to see. Travel books will provide information on the cheapest hotels and restaurants.
Plan sensibly:Write down what you expect to spend for food and hotels. Stick to your plan or you may not have enough money to cover everything.
Travel in groups:Find someone who is interested in visiting the same places. By traveling with others you can share costs and experiences.
Work as you go:Need more money to support your trip?Look for work in the places you visit.
Go off the beaten path:Tourist cities may be expensive. You may want to rethink your trip and go to a lesserknown area. Smaller towns can have many interesting activities and sights.
Pack necessary things:The most important things to take are not always clothes. Remember medicine in case you get sick and snacks in case you cannot find a cheap restaurant.
Use the Internet:The net can help to save money. Some useful websites include _ .
By planning sensibly,even students can enjoy the travel. Your travel experiences will be remembered for a lifetime. | high565.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "the general public"
},
"options": [
"the general public",
"architects",
"adventurers",
"geographers"
],
"question": "The passage is intended for _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answ... | How can we reduce the risk?
There are four general approaches to dealing with volcanic dangers. We can try to keep the danger from occurring-often an impossible task. We can try to change its path or reduce its impact on existing development. We can take steps to protect future development. We can also do our best to have disaster response plans in place before they are needed.
Removing the Threat
Clearly, there is no way to stop an eruption. We can, however, attempt to reduce the eruption's effects by strengthening structures, for example, building protective works such as walls to make lava flow away from developed areas. Such efforts can be and have been successful, but are of limited use in a large-scale eruption.
Planning for the Future
Protecting future development from volcanic dangers is a simple task. Before building houses, we should judge the risk. If the risk seems too great, a safer location should be found. This type of planning is very effective, but all too often, people are drawn to the lush ,rolling land of a quiet volcano.
Disaster Preparedness
When a volcano comes to life, a few weeks may not be enough time to avoid a tragedy. Planning is the key to saving lives. Well before the warning signs occur, people must be educated about volcanic dangers. Escape plans must be in place. Communication between scientists, officials, the media, and the general public should be practiced. Emergency measures must be thought out and agreed upon.
If you doubt the importance of these efforts, take another look at past volcanic tragedies, such as the eruption of Nevado del Ruiz. Communication failures left the town of Armero unprepared for escape. When a deadly mudflow came down the slope , 21,000 people--90 percent of the town's people--died. | high12870.txt |
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