questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "its support for anti-global warming moves"
},
"options": [
"its booming economy",
"its support for anti-global warming moves",
"its development in key industries",
"its efficiency in energy use"
],
"question": "... | BALl, Indonesia-China, a booming economy known for its air pollution and rising greenhouse gas emissions , is winning praise at an international climate confernce for its efforts to clean up and support anti-global warming moves.
Some experts believe prefix = st1 /Chinahas surpassed theUnited Statesas the world's emitter of greenhouse gases, yet it has made long steps in improving energy efficiency and promoting renewable energy, environmentalists and officials said on Friday.
"I think China is taking climate change seriously, and that's a good sign that there will be a good outcome here in Bali,"said Artur Runge-Metzger, head of the European Commission delegation at the conference on the Indonesian island.
Even hard-to-please environmental groups are praising Beijing, though it's clear China, which relies heavily on dirty, outdated coal burning techniques has a lot more to do.
China ranked 40thon environmental watchdog Germanwatch's annual index , which ranks 56 industrialized and developing countries, was an improvement of four places over last year, the group said on Friday. The US and Saudi Arabiawere the worst on the list, at 55thand 56thplaces, respectively. Last year, theUSwas ranked 53rd, followed byChina,Malaysia, andSaudi Arabia.
Germanwatch noted the Chinese government has carried out policies promoting renewable energy, including orders that solar, wind, hydroelectric and other forms of renewable energy provide 10 percent of nation's power by 2010. it also has ordered key industries to reduce energy consumption by 20 percent.
Politicians and activists said Chian's defensive attitude of the past has given way to constructive discussions at the Bali climate change conference. Beijing has also taken the lead among developing countries in calling for wealthier nations to speed up the transfer of cleaner technologies to _ to help move away from fossil fuels.
Hans Verolme, director of WWF International's Global Climate Change Program, attributed China's position to concerns over energy security and a recogniton that climate change is already having a severe effect on the country, with worsening droughts, water shortages and floods. | high18352.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "learn the value of money"
},
"options": [
"show off their wealth",
"let them make more money",
"let children manage family finance",
"learn the value of money"
],
"question": "Parents give their children allowan... | Many children first learn the value of money by receiving an allowance. The purpose is to let children learn from experience at an age when financial mistakes are not very costly.
The amount of money that parents give to their children to spend as they wish differs from family to family. Timing is another consideration. Some children get a weekly allowance. Others get a monthly allowance.
In any case, parents should make clear what, if anything, the child is expected to pay for with the money.
At first, young children may spend all of their allowance soon after they receive it. If they do this, they will learn the hard way that spending must be done within a budget. Parents are usually advised not to offer more money until the next allowance. The object is to show young people that a budget demands choices between spending and saving. Older children may be responsible enough to save money for larger costs, like clothing or electronics.
Allowances give children a chance to experience the things they can do with money. They can share it in the form of gifts or giving to a good cause. They can spend it by buying things they want. Or they can save and maybe even invest it.
Saving helps children understand that costly goals require sacrifice: you have to cut costs and plan for the future. Requiring children to save part of their allowance can also open the door to future saving and investing. Many banks offer services to help children and teenagers learn about personal finance. A savings account is an excellent way to learn about the power of compound interest . That may not seem like a lot. But over time it adds up. | high14568.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "fake cell phones"
},
"options": [
"fake cell phones",
"electronic products",
"Spring Festival Gala",
"Olympics buildings"
],
"question": "The Chinese word \"Shanzhai\" may have its origin in _ .",
"questio... | The Chinese word"Shanzhai" means a small mountain village, but now it becomes an accepted name for fakes after" Shanzhai cell phones " produced by small workshops in southern China ,became popular in the mainland market over the past few years.
Besides" Shanzhai" electronic products, there are "Shanzhai" movies, "Shanzhai" stars and even a "Shanzhai" Spring Festival Gala, a copy of the 25-year-old traditional show presented by CCTV on Chinese Lunar New Year's Eve.
" Shanzhai" has become a culture of its own,symbolizing anything that _ something famous.
The phenomenon has caused a public debate over whether it is healthy or sick being a copycat.
In southwestern China's Chongqing Municipality,a "Shanzhai" -version"Bird's Nest" woven by farmers with bamboo attracts wide attention and the"Shanzhai"-version "Water Cube"is popular with tourists too. Both are copies of the famous Olympics buildings in Beijing.
Xie Xizhang,a literature critic,said that taking the "Shanzhai" Gala as an example, when the traditional CCTV program becomes less and less attractive to the audience, the "Shanzhai" version appears naturally to attract people.
"In spite of its poor techniques and operation, 'Shanzhai' culture meets the psychological demands of common people and could be a comfort to their minds," Xie said.
Tian Huiqun,a professor at Beijing Normal University,said that "Shanzhai" culture never copies classic things,only trendy products. In that sense,it's like a computer virus, multiplying without meaning.
Though controversial,"Shanzhai" culture is becoming a widely accepted phenomenon.
"To the mainstream culture, the rise of 'Shanzhai' culture is a challenge as well as a motivation," said Xie.
Tian said different kinds of cultures developing together is an ideal situation and it is for the public to choose. | high1740.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "rose from a low social class"
},
"options": [
"rose from a low social class",
"had an unhappy marriage",
"lived with a dog alone on a farm",
"won the championship in the Britain's Got Talent show"
],
"question":... | When 47yearold volunteer Susan Boyle stepped onto the stage of Britain's Got Talent and announced she was unemployed, had never been married and "never been kissed, actually", few in the audience would have wondered why. This Ms Boyle, looking unfashionable, from a village in Scotland, shocked the three judges and the audience with the song I dreamed a dream on a show of Britain's Got Talent.
She couldn't hide the awkwardness when walking to the center of the stage in a house dress, and everyone -- including the judges -- seemed laughing at her when she said she wanted to be as successful as Elaine Paige. As soon as she began singing, however, everyone in the hall fell silent, then rose within seconds to admire her wonderful voice as the celebrity judges sat openmouthed, and remained standing to the end.
After her performance, one of the judges Piers Morgan said,"Without doubt that was the biggest surprise I've had in three years of this show. When you stood there everyone was laughing at you. No one is laughing now. That was amazing." Actress Amanda Holden followed,"I'm so thrilled because I know that we everybody were against you. I honestly think that we were all being very cynical and I think that's the biggest wakeup call ever."
Susan obviously won over the hearts of millions around the world with success spreading across the Atlantic. Hollywood actor Ashton Kutcher, who has nearly 1.5 million followers, speaks highly of her. Kutcher posted a link to the video clip . The Scottish talent made her live American show via satellite connection on CBS's The Early Show, doing an interview and singing live from her room. And she already accepted an invitation from talk show hostess Oprah Winfrey.
Now Boyle has become one of the world's hottest celebrities. The video clip of her performance has been viewed more than 50 million times on Youtube, becoming a hit on the Internet. | high12119.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Watching TV can make children violent."
},
"options": [
"Children should choose positive programs.",
"Watching TV can make children violent.",
"Children should keep away from TV.",
"Parents should watch less TV."
],... | Watching television makes it easier for toddlers to kick and scream, according to a US study.Children under two should not watch any TV.The longer they sit in front of TV,the worse their behavior becomes.
Just having the TV on in the background, even if the child wasn't watching it,was also connected to troublemaking behavior although the relationship wasn't as strong, said the researchers.
"Parents should be smart about TV use,"researcher Jennifer Manganello from the University at Albany, New York, said.
"They should limit the time that children use TV, pay attention to the content of TV programs,and consider how TV is used throughout the home."
The study looked at 3,128 women from 20 US cities who had a child between 2005 and 2008.
While there was some diversity of education among the women,onethird hadn't graduated from high school.
Twothirds of the mothers said their threeyearold children watched more than two hours of TV a day,and the average viewing time for children was around three hours.On average,the TV was on for about five additional hours on a common day.
After accounting for factors such as living in a violent neighborhood,scientists also found watching TV was strongly connected to behavior such as hitting others,having angry moods,being disobedient ,and screaming a lot.
The researchers thought that children may see violence on TV,and spend less time on positive development tasks such as reading or playing.
The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests no TV at all for children at two and younger,and two hours a day or less for older kids. | high7331.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Patients."
},
"options": [
"Patients.",
"Visitors.",
"Doctors",
"Nurses"
],
"question": "Who do you think the listeners might be?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer... | Hello, Listeners. Welcome to Henton Hospital Radio. Before our music programme at four, I'm going to repeat some of our hospital rules.
The hospital can sleep 800 patients. There're 8 beds in each ward . The visiting hours are in the afternoon from 2:30 to 3:30 and in the evening from 7:00 to 8:00. But remember only two people can see you at the same time. Sorry about that, but you can see what would happen if we didn't have these rules.
The other rules are about our hours. We start quite early---you might not be used to that. We wake you at 6 o'clock, and breakfast is at 8 o'clock, lunch is at noon.
There's tea at 3:30 and supper is at 6 o'clock.
You can see the non-smoking sign---we don't allow smoking in the wards. I'm sure you understand why. However, if you do need to smoke, there are some smoking rooms where it is allowed.
You will find the radio switch on the wall near your bed, with your own headphones, if you want to listen. It's our own hospital radio wishing you a quick recovery. | high8002.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "On August 29, 2012."
},
"options": [
"On July 15, 2012.",
"On August 29, 2012.",
"On August 31, 2012.",
"On September 2, 2012."
],
"question": "When did Nicola and her daughter come across the message-in-bottle?... | A romantic message-in-a-bottle discovered by a mother and daughter at a Scottish beach has sparked a mystery about whether it could have travelled 5,000 miles across the seas from China.
Nicola MacFarlane, 41, and daughter Lucy, four, from Portobello, near Edinburgh, were looking for driftwood on Portobello Beach when they came across an old glass bottle containing a note inside written in _ . Now the family are trying to work out if the letter has managed the extraordinary journey across the Philippine Sea, into the Indian Ocean and through both the South Atlantic and the North Atlantic Ocean's before washing up on the shores of Great Britain.
It was written on Chinese Valentine's Day or Qixi Festival as it is more traditionally known, lunar July 7, 2012, so it sent off as recently as six days ago because it followed the modern calendar, which celebrated the occasion on August 23. Nicola was still excited to read about the Chinese love story after having it translated.
"I really do hope that it is from China but even it is from nearer to home, it's still a lovely gesture and an inspiring find. It's a love story regardless of where it came from. Nicola, who runs a beach art business in Portobello, added: "I'm always at the beach looking for bits of driftwood but I've never come across anything like this before. We knew it was Chinese, but we had no idea what it said.'
Unable to read the Mandarin text, Nicola turned to the internet and her Australian friend, Julie Gould, whose daughter attended a Chinese school in Sydney.
Several hours later Julie returned with the news that it was in fact a love letter.
The translated letter reads: "Da Hai(Ocean), I hope no-one will get this bottle, as we just wish you can hear our voice, and get your blessing. Today is the Chinese Valentine's Day, we pray that our relationship will last forever and we will have a long happy life together..."
Nicola said: "It sounds to me like the couple are in love but cannot be together so they have sent the message to tell the world of their love." | high7457.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "a rock music camp for music lovers"
},
"options": [
"a music course for the elderly people",
"a pop club for professional musicians",
"a rock music camp for music lovers",
"a studio for wealthy businessmen"
],
"... | Long before they became doctors, lawyers, CEO's or real estate developers, they played in garage bands and maybe even dreamed of becoming rock stars. That's why they signed up for Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp.
For nearly a week, the mostly middle-aged "campers" had practiced in the West 54th Street studios. They came from as far away as London and Tokyo and as close as Long Island and downtown New York to prepare for their moment of onstage glory.
"I feel like I'm 18 again," said Jerry Goldberg, a 60-year-old investment banker and guitar player, whose family was in the audience." I admit that I felt a little uncertain when I first got here, but this has turned out to be a wonderful experience, one of the greatest of my life."
Everybody has two businesses, their own business and show business. This can be a life-changing experience for them. Mr. Daltrey, who has appeared at several fantasy camps, was asked why he keeps coming back.
"I've had people tell me that I shouldn't be doing this, that it's bad for my image," he acknowledged. "But that's rubbish. Look, it's all so positive, and everybody is having so much fun. So what's bad about that?"
Jeff Munger, a drummer and rancher said. "I'm at a point in my life where I'm going to spend my money on things I'm passionate about, and I'm absolutely crazy about music."
Most of the campers are successful executives or professionals: a founder of the Oracle Computer Company, a businessman whose father invented the Big Mac, a plastic surgeon, presidents of health care and seafood companies. | high15110.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "its gold coast and the surfing condition"
},
"options": [
"miles and miles of beautiful beaches",
"its gold coast and the surfing condition",
"wild animals and the botanical gardens",
"the quiet and beautiful environmen... | Even though Brisbane is all about sun and surfing during the summer, spring time still brings a nice change to the place. That entire region is known as the gold coast, and it extends miles and miles of beaches with some of the best surfing condition in the world. In fact, you would be more pressed for time if you are just visiting, because there is so much for the nature _ to see. They can see the wild animals and quiet and beautiful environment, and there are many interesting activities for them to do.
If you are going there to relax then it's probably safe to say that you want your hotel with a quiet and relaxing environment. You may even want to stay at a place like Urban Hotels located in Brisbane. You have everything you need right there in the hotel. A trip to Brisbane should not be spent indoors, especially during spring time when you have all of that natural beauty that surrounds you. The Botanical Gardens is a must to see during spring because plants have come to life from the cold weather and you get to see more flowers after a boring and cold winter. There are plenty of sports sites for you to visit, where you can do some climbing, boating and cycling. You can enjoy the fresh spring air and get some exercise at the same time. If you are in the mood for a bit of culture, then you can visit some of the galleries and museums located throughout the city. You can even go on a cruise up the river.
It's not quite the right time for surfing in spring, but surfing is still good in some places if you are brave enough to hit the water. | high8764.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "get money from any LEA when he has finished his course"
},
"options": [
"get money if he is taking a first degree course",
"be unable to get money from any LEA",
"get money from any LEA when he has finished his course",
... | Money Matters for Students
GETTING A GRANT
Who pays?
The local education authority (LEA) for the area in which the student is living.
Who can get this money?
Anyone who gets a place on a first degree course,although a student who has already attended a course of advanced further education may not.Students must also have been resident in the UK for at least three years,which can exclude some students from overseas. SPECIAL CASES
If a student has worked before going to college:
A student who is 26 or more before the course starts and who has worked for at least three of the previous six years will get extra money--PS 155 a year if 26,increasing to a maximum of PS 615 at 29 or more.
If a student is handicapped:
LEAs will give up to PS 500 to help meet extra expenses--such as buying a tape recorder for a blind student,extra heating or special food.
Banking:
Most of the big banks offer special services to students who open accounts (in the hope that they will stay with the bank when they become rich officials).A student won't usually have to pay bank charges as long as the account stays in credit.Some banks allow students to overdraw by PS 100 or so,and still don't make charges (though they do charge interest). | high6991.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "experiencing Chilean life as an exchange student"
},
"options": [
"paying a visit to Chile as a tourist",
"working as a volunteer of the American Field Service",
"studying Chilean culture as a college student",
"experie... | Last year I lived in Chile for half a year as an exchange student with the American Field Service. Compared to most visitors, I didn't travel much. I lived with a Chilean family and had the responsibilities of any Chilean teenager. I went to school every day, in uniform. I had good days and bad days and days that I didn't understand.
Chuquicamata, my host community, is a mining camp in the Atacama Desert. There is no disco, no shopping center, no museum or beach. Driveways must be watered daily to keep the dust down.
When I arrived here, I was scared. It was so different from the urban middle-class America I was accustomed to. There were lost dogs on the streets, and a constant cloud of brick-colored dust came from the mine. There was no downtown, few smoothly paved streets, and little to do for amusement. The people worked extremely hard. Rain was a rare phenomenon; earthquakes and windstorms were frequent.
I had studied Spanish for two and a half years and was always one of the best students in my class. But in my first week in Chile I was barely able to communicate and desperate for one person to whom I could explain my shock. I couldn't speak the thoughts in my head --- and there were so many.
Most exchange students experience this like me. Culture shock presents itself in everything from increased aggression toward the people to lack of appetite or weight gain and depression. I was required to overcome all difficulties. Being an exchange student is not easy.
As time passed, everything changed. I began to forget words in English and to dream in Spanish and love Chilean food. I got used to not depending on expensive things for fun. Fun in Chuquicamata was being with people. And I took math, physics, chemistry, biology, Spanish, art, and philosophy --- for which I received half a credit in global studies. Somehow my high school couldn't figure out a way to relate my experience to its curriculum.
But the sacrifices were nothing compared to the gain. I learned how to accept as well as to succeed in another culture. I now know the world is my community and have a much deeper understanding of both myself and others. | high13561.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "He considered reading part of his life."
},
"options": [
"He never watched TV.",
"He read what he had to.",
"He found reading unbelievable.",
"He considered reading part of his life."
],
"question": "What can be... | I grew up in a house where the TV was seldom turned on and with one wall in my bedroom entirely lined with bookshelves, most of my childhood was spent on books I could get hold of. In fact, I grew up thinking of reading as natural as breathing and books unbelievably powerful in shaping perspectives by creating worlds we could step into, take part in and live in.
With this unshakable belief, I, at fourteen, decided to become a writer. Here too, reading became useful. Every writer starts off knowing that he has something to say, but being unable to find the right ways to say it. He has to find his own _ by reading widely and discovering which parts of the writers he agrees or disagrees with, or agrees with so strongly that it reshapes his own world. He cannot write without loving to read, because only through reading other people's writing can one discover what works, what doesn't and, in the end, together with lots of practice, what voice he has.
Now I am in college, and have come to realize how important it is to read fiction. As a law student, my reading is in fact limited to subject matter -- the volume of what I have to read for classes every week means there is little time to read anything else. Such reading made it all the clearer to me that I live in a very small part in this great place called life. Reading fiction reminds me that there is life beyond my own. It allows me to travel across the high seas and along the Silk Road, all from the comfort of my own armchair, to experience, though secondhand, exciting experiences that I wouldn't necessarily be able to have in my lifetime. | high1026.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "he loves dogs and pets"
},
"options": [
"he loves dogs and pets",
"it was too cold outside",
"he wanted to buy a dog",
"he wanted to see the boy"
],
"question": "The author entered the animal shelter because _... | Six years ago, I walked into a local animal shelter on a cold, rainy day. Although my house was already full of cats and dogs, I still couldn't resist an occasional visit to the shelter. This time as I was walking down the row of pens full of barking dogs I noticed a small boy looking into one of them.
He had a malnourished looking body and a bony face with a big nose sticking out of the middle of it. He was looking at a small, golden dog. Its bony ribs were showing and its thin tail was folded between its legs. It wasn't begging for attention like the other puppies but was hiding in the corner instead. The boy looked up at me with sad eyes and asked what was wrong with it. "It was probably abused and abandoned", I said. "That is why it is so scared."
The boy immediately turned to an older lady and said, "Grandma, I want this one." The old woman smiled and walked to the front desk to fill out the adoption forms. I followed and asked about the boy. I found out that he'd had a rough start in life too. She had just gotten custody of him after the state had taken him from his parents. She had hoped getting a dog would make it easier on him. I looked back at him, holding his scared puppy, and said a prayer for them both.
It was yesterday. I was driving down the road enjoying a gloriously sunny, spring day. Then in a green front yard I saw the boy. His teenage body was tall and strong. His nose no longer seemed big but fit well into his smiling face. He was throwing a ball to a healthy, happy dog with shining golden hair. His little act of love and kindness had indeed gone a long way. It had saved a dog's life, healed his own heart, and given this middle-aged man fresh hope for us all. | high22964.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "they released a lot of methane"
},
"options": [
"they ate everything they found",
"they usually had a good appetite",
"they released a lot of methane",
"there were too many dinosaurs on earth"
],
"question": "Sc... | Around 200 million years ago, the earth was 18 degrees warmer than it is now. That might be a bit hot for humans, but it was just right for the giant dinosaurs that wandered about the earth during the Mesozoic era. A new study found that planteating dinosaurs may have contributed to the warming of the earthby releasing significant amounts of methane .
The study, published in science journal Current Biology, focused on sauropods, longnecked herbivores that munched on the top of trees. They were the largest of the dinosaurs; food broke down in their stomachs for long periods of time. The researchers estimate that a sauropoda released 2,675 liters of methane per day--adding up to a large amount of the greenhouse gas being pumped from dinosaur's gut into the atmosphere.
Plant eaters naturally release methane as part of their digestive process. The larger the animal, the more methane it produces. Methane, a greenhouse gas, traps heat and remains in the atmosphere for approximately 915 years, which warms the atmosphere.
Today, some animals, such as cattle, goats and sheep, produce large amounts of methane as a byproduct to their food digestion. Methane is also released from human--influenced sources such as landfill, agricultural activities, coal mining and other industrial practices--which all contribute to today's climate change, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The researchers estimate that earth's sauropods would have produced about 520 million tons of methane per year--similar to the total amount of methane produced today by natural and manmade sources. However, the researchers warn that their numbers are estimates based on multiple assumptions about the digestive systems and populations of dinosaurs.
The author of the study David Wilkinson says the emission of methane from dinosaurs would have been just one of the causes of warm climate during the Mesozoic era. Other causes include gases produced from volcanoes, swamps, shallow seas and so on. Still, Wilkinson says," The amount of methane from dinosaurs is large enough to have a measurable effect." | high6749.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "a popular newspaper"
},
"options": [
"a serious newspaper",
"foreign newspaper",
"any independent paper",
"a popular newspaper"
],
"question": "If you want to get pleasure, please buy yourself _ .",
"quest... | Newspapers in Great Britain _ greatly in their ways of carrying the news. There are serious papers for those who want to know about important happenings everywhere, both at home and abroad. There are popular newspapers for those who prefer entertainment to information.
The London newspaper that is best known outside Great Britain is probably the Times. It began in 1785, and is well accepted for believable news and serious opinions on the news. It calls itself an independent paper, which means that it does not give its support to a particular political party. Its leading articles give the opinions of the editors, not those of the owners of the paper.
Letters to the editor are printed in the newspaper. These parts of the Times are always interesting. Most of the letters are serious subjects. But from time to time there will be long letters on the subject which is not at all serious, perhaps on a new fashion of dress, or the bad manners of the young people, compared with manners of thirty years ago. | high5240.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "telling when they need to take medicine"
},
"options": [
"telling when they need to take medicine",
"finding what is he best medicine for them",
"remembering the names of their medicine",
"knowing how to keep healthy an... | One in 400 children in the United States has diabetes . And the most difficult thing for the young diabetic patients is that many of them don't have a clear idea when they need to take insulin(a drug used in treating diabetes).The parents of one Long Island boy found the perfect solution--Hero, a specially trained dog that can discover when a diabetic is in trouble and find help.
Johnny Pion, eight years old, is a poor kid that was told he was a diabetic in 2008. He can't do without insulin. His blood-sugar levels should be closely checked. He even can't go out to play without his mom or dad fearing he might need help.
With Hero in her new home, Johnny's parents may worry a little less. They received the news about Hero on the newspaper. The dog cost around $20,000. With the help of friends and family, the Pions brought Hero home from Warren Retrievers in Virginia. Mary Campbell. Hero's trainer, said the dog could discover the slightest changes in blood sugar by her sense of smell."Humans have 5 million smell receptors ; dogs have 5 billion smell receptors,"she said.
When the dog discovers something's wrong, she'll rub her head against Johnny's legs. If he doesn't answer her, Hero knows to look for Johnny's mom and dad. Hero even could ring up 911.
On their first night, Johnny's was comfortably sleeping in his own bed with Hero and not with his parents for the first time. Night time is very important because blood sugar goes unchecked while sleeping. Now Hero is a round-the-clock nurse. | high3631.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Between para.3 and para.4"
},
"options": [
"Between para.1 and para.2",
"Between para.2 and para.3",
"Between para.3 and para.4",
"Between para.4 and para.5"
],
"question": "According to the context, where do yo... | Why do 33% of the households in the USA have cats? And how do you explain why there are 16 million more pet cats than dogs? Yes, kittens are adorable .Yes, they can grow up to be good mousers and are very entertaining to watch.And yes, cats are independent and don't require as much care as dogs.But research shows cats can also be caretakers for us and our families, improve our health and teach us and our children to be kinder, gentler souls.
Theodora Wesselman is 94 and has lived the past two years with her elderly cat, Cleo, at TigerPlace, a retirement community in Columbia, Mo.Their enduring friendship is a classic example of how humans and animals can become family and look out for each other.
Wesselman visits other residents, and her children stop by, but Cleo is her best friend, she says.They've been together nearly 21 years.
"She sleeps on her own pillow right beside mine," Wesselman says."In the morning, she pecks on my cheek to wake me up.It's really sweet.I pet her, tell her I love her and take her to the kitchen to prepare her food."
Research shows that being able to care for a pet improves our morale (;), helps validate us and encourages us to take care of ourselves, says Rebecca Johnson, director of the University of Missouri's Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction.The body of research is leading more retirement communities and universities _ . | high11376.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Urban Sprawl"
},
"options": [
"Weekend Fun",
"Urban Sprawl",
"New Automobiles",
"Isolated Villages"
],
"question": "What is mainly discussed in the passage?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
... | When did you last visit a shopping mall? In many places, the answer would be "last weekend." Some people go even more often. Why? For one thing, malls offer goods and services that people need all in one place: food, clothing, things for their houses, entertainment, even medical services. So, are malls one of the highlights of modern civilization? Environmental activists would say No! They would go even further and say that consumer behavior is causing a huge environmental disaster.
cause consumers of ignorance of the side effect of their shopping--urban sprawl .
Social scientists agree that patterns of development have changed the landscape a great deal in the last half century. Before 1950, most people lived in towns or cities and either walked to work or took public transportation. Only very wealthy people had automobiles. Farmers lived in rural areas or isolated villages and came into town only when they needed things they couldn't produce themselves. If you gazed at the landscape you would see towns surrounded by countryside. Then a massive change occurred.
Automobiles became affordable and people were quick to adopt them. Now ambitious workers could live in the suburbs, the areas just outside cities, which started to grow rapidly. As long as there was lots of cheap land in the suburbs, no one paid much attention to the usage of that land. Malls, fast food restaurants, cinemas, and car dealerships spread out in large, flat buildings. These one-storey buildings and their parking lot took up a great deal space. Well- meaning farmers thought they were better off selling their land than growing crops. In ignorance, no one realized that once the land was built up in urban sprawl, the good farming land would be ruined forever. There was no way to preserve it.
Only in recent years have people come to mourn the old way of life as they have developed insight into the problems. Now people realize that urban sprawl has come with serious environmental problems. The negative aspects of sprawl include air and water pollution, loss of agricultural land, traffic jams, and the death of businesses in the old town centers. Many scholars think the time has come to analyze the problems better so we can develop appropriate policies to control further sprawl. Some think the best way to do is to educate citizens about their priceless environment. | high16419.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "you had to stay in a low-grade hotel"
},
"options": [
"you could pay $400 for a basic room",
"you had to stay in a low-grade hotel",
"you could take a suite into account",
"you would have no comfortable place to live in... | Not willing to pay $400 for a basic room or upwards of $1,200 for a suite at a luxury hotel? We hear you. In the past, this meant having to put up with cheap hotels. Essentially, you got what you paid for. But all that's changed, as mid-level hotels have begun competing for a population that travels more then ever. Even in New York and San Francisco --- two of the most expensive cities in the country --- one can find comfortable, affordable options with much modern conveniences. We searched the country for the best hotels under $150.
Hotel 340
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
This twelve-storey English-renaissance building once served as a downtown clubhouse for St. Paul's outstanding people; today, the repaired structure houses the hotel on the top three floors. Its 35 rooms stand out for hardwood floors, marble showers and nice views of the Mississippi River, and room comforts include iPod docks , free local and national telephone calls and coffee makers. The University Club of St. Paul, a grand hall bar, and an all-new-60,000-square-foot fitness center(free for guests)also share space in the building.
Marina Inn
San Francisco, California, USA
Located in the Marina district, where the streets are lined with luxury stores and great restaurants, the Marina Inn is the ideal place for business or pleasure. Few destinations offer the quality and variety of environment, scenery, entertainment, accommodation, and dining that waits for you here at the Marina Inn. It's a ten-minute walk to Fisherman's Wharf and there are abundant bus connections to take you anywhere in the city.
Hotel Havana
San Antonio, Texas, USA
When one thinks of his historic Texas town, usually the southwest comes to mind. So does Mexico. Since 1914, the hotel has served passers-by. The 27 rooms come in all shapes and sizes, many of which include Turkish carpets and elegant Cuban art on the walls. Bathrooms are distinguished with Red Flower body care products. | high13559.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "suits different conditions"
},
"options": [
"helps save sea water a lot",
"suits different conditions",
"is completely different from greenhouse agriculture",
"suits the production of corn"
],
"question": "It ca... | Farming is moving indoors, where the sun never shines, where rainfall is irrelevant and where the climate is always right. The perfect crop field could be inside a windowless building with controlled light, temperature, wetness, air quality and nutrition. It could be in a New York high-rise or a sprawling complex in the Saudi desert. It may be an answer to the world's food problems.
The world is already having trouble feeding itself. Half the people on Earth live in cities, and nearly half of those--about 3 billion--are hungry or ill-fed. Food prices, currently increasing, are _ by dryness, floods and the cost of energy required to plant, harvest and transport. And prices will only get more unstable. Climate change makes long-term crop planning uncertain. Farmers in many parts of the world are already using water available to the last drop. And the world is getting more crowded: by mid-century, the global population will grow from 6. 8 billion to 9 billion.
To feed so many people may require expanding farmland at the expense of forests and wilderness, or finding ways to completely increase crop output.
Gertjan Meeuws has taken the concept of a greenhouse a step further, growing vegetables and house plants in enclosed and regulated environments. In their research station, water flows into the pans when needed, and the temperature is kept constant. Lights go on and off, creating similar day and night, but according to the rhythm of the plant.
A building of 100 square meters and 14 layers of plants could provide a daily diet of 200 grams of fresh fruit and vegetables to the entire population of Den Bosch, about 140, 000 people. Their idea is not to grow foods that require much space, like corn or potatoes.
Here sunlight is not only unnecessary but can be harmful. Plants need only specific wavelengths of light to grow. Their growth rate is three times faster than under greenhouse conditions. They use about 90 percent less water than outdoors agriculture. And city farming means producing food near the consumer, and there's no need to transport it long distances. | high8984.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "many people died during the war in vain"
},
"options": [
"he tried to get involved in politics",
"the nuclear bomb could be built by German scientists",
"many people died during the war in vain",
"President Franklin per... | Einstein's connection with the politics of the nuclear bomb is well known: He signed the letter to President Franklin Roosevelt that persuaded the United States to take the idea seriously, and he engaged in postwar efforts to prevent nuclear war. But these were not just the isolated actions of a scientist dragged into the world of politics. Einstein's life was, in fact, "divided between politics and equations ."
Sickened by what he saw as the waste of human lives during the First World War, he became involved in antiwar demonstrations. His support of civil disobedience did little to endear him to his colleagues. Then, following the war, he directed his efforts toward reconciliation and improving international relations. And soon his politics were making it difficult for him to visit the United States, even to give lectures.
Einstein's second great cause was Zionism . Although he was Jewish, Einstein rejected the idea of God. However, a growing awareness of anti-Semitism , both before and during the War, led him gradually to identify with the Jewish community, and later to become an outspoken supporter of Zionism.
His theories came under attack. One man was accused of motivating others to murder Einstein and fined a mere six dollars. When a book was published entitled 100 Authors Against Einstein, he retorted, "If I were wrong, then one would have been enough!" When Hitler came to power, Einstein then in America declared he would not return to Germany. While Nazi attacked his house and confiscated his bank account, a Berlin newspaper displayed the headline "Good News from Einstein--He's Not Coming Back."
Fearing that German scientists would build a nuclear bomb, Einstein proposed that the United States should develop its own. But he was publicly warning of the dangers of nuclear war and proposing international control of nuclear weaponry. Throughout his life, Einstein's efforts toward peace probably achieved little and won him few friends. His support of the Zionist cause, however, was recognized in 1952, when he was offered the presidency of Israel. He declined, saying he was too naive in politics. But perhaps his real reason was different:" Equations are more important to me, because politics is for the present, but an equation is something for eternity." | high6771.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "People should cut down on sugar intake for the sake of their health."
},
"options": [
"The production of candies should be forbidden.",
"There is a connection between sugar intake and bad teeth.",
"Fruit and vegetables contai... | While sweet treats can be hard to resist, the World Health Organization(WHO) has set new guidelines for people around the world. The guidelines, released on Wednesday, advise that both adults and children cut back on their sugar intake to stay healthy.
In a statement, Francesco Branca, director of the WHO's nutrition department, said there is evidence that reducing daily sugar intake reduces the risk of being overweight and tooth decay .
The guidelines do not apply to the sugars in fresh fruit and vegetables or those that are naturally present in milk. According to the WHO, there is no reported evidence of negative effects of consuming those sugars. Instead, the new guidelines focus on "added" or "free" sugars. These include sugars that are added to processed foods and drinks such as candy and soft drinks.
Added sugars are sometimes described as " hidden" sugars because they exist in foods we might not think of as sweets, such as honey and ketchup . Health experts advise that consumers look at ingredients on food packages to help make better-informed decisions.
The WHO recommends that people in the United States, Europe and other Western societies should cut their average sugar intake by about two-thirds, or down to just 10% of their overall calories. For developing countries, where dental care is less advanced, the WHO recommends that sugar intake be reduced to 5%.
Scientist Kieran Clarke, of the University of Oxford, notes that for those people who can't shake their love for sweets, getting more exercise is a good solution. "If you get enough exercise, you can eat almost anything," she said "But it's very hard to avoid large amounts of sugar unless all you're eating is fruit and vegetables." | high14236.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Stevie was mentally disabled"
},
"options": [
"Stevie was not that reliable.",
"Stevie was mentally disabled",
"Stevie was too short and fat.",
"Stevie was bad-tempered"
],
"question": "Why did the author have d... | I try not to be biased but I had my doubts about hiring Stevie. His social worker assured me that he would be a good, reliable busboy. But I had never had a mentally handicapped employee. He was short, a little fat, with the smooth facial features and thick-togued speech of Down's Syndrome . I thought most of my customers would be uncomfortable around Stevie, so I closely watched him for the first few weeks.
I shouldn't have worried. After the first week, Stevie had my staff wrapped around his stubby little finger, and within a month my regular trucker customers had adopted him as their official truck stop mascot. After that, I really didn't care what the rest of the customers thought of him. He was like a 21-year-old in blue jeans and Nikes, eager to laugh and eager to please, but fierce in his attention to his duties. Every salt and pepper shaker was exactly in its place, not a bread crumb or coffee spill was visible when Stevie got done with the table. Our only problem was persuading him to wait to clean a table until after the customers were finished.
Over time, we learned that he lived with his mother, a widow who was disabled. Money was tight, and _ .
That's why the restaurant was a gloomy place that morning last August, the first morning in three years that Stevie missed work. He was at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester getting a heart surgery. His social worker said that people with Downs Syndrome often had heart problems at an early age and there was a good chance he would come through the surgery in good shape and be back at work in a few months.
A ripple of excitement ran through the staff later that morning when word came that he was out of surgery, in recovery, and doing fine. Frannie, my head waitress, did a little dance when she heard the good news. Belle Ringer, one of our regular trucker customers, stared at her and asked, "Okay, Frannie, what was that all about?"
"We just got word that Stevie is out of surgery and going to be okay."
"I was wondering where he was. I had a new joke to tell him. What was the surgery about?"
Frannie quickly told Belle Ringer and the other two drivers sitting at his booth about Stevie's surgery, then sighed: "Yeah, I'm glad he is going to be OK," she said. "But I don't know how he and his Mom are going to handle all the bills. From what I hear, they're barely getting by as it is."
Belle Ringer nodded thoughtfully, and Frannie hurried off to wait on the rest of her tables.
After the morning rush, Frannie walked into my office. She had a couple of paper napkins in her hand.
"What's up?" I asked.
"I cleared off that table where Belle Ringer and his friends were sitting after they left, and I found this. This was folded and tucked under a coffee cup."
She handed the napkin to me, and three $20 bills fell onto my desk when I opened it. On the outside, in big, bold letters, was printed "Something For Stevie".
That was three months ago. Today is New Year's day , the first day Stevie is supposed to be back to work. His placement worker said he had been counting the days until the doctor said he could work, I arranged to have his mother bring him to work, met them in the parking lot and invited them both to celebrate his day back. I took him and his mother by their arms. "To celebrate you coming back, breakfast for you and your mother is on me."
I led them toward a large corner booth. I could feel and hear truck customers and the rest of the staff following behind as we marched through the dining room. We stopped in front of the big table. Its surface was covered with coffee cups and dinner plates, all sitting slightly on dozens of folded paper napkins.
"First thing you have to do, Stevie, is clean up this mess," I said.
Stevie looked at me, and then pulled out one of the napkins. It had "Something for Stevie" printed on the outside. As he picked it up, two $10 bills fell onto the table. Stevie stared at the money, then at all the napkins peeking from beneath the tableware, each with his name printed on it.
I turned to his mother. "There's more than $10,000 in cash and checks on that table, all from truckers and trucking companies that heard about your problems. Happy Thanksgiving!"
While everybody else was busy shaking hands and hugging each other, Stevie, with a big, big smile on his face, was busy clearing all the cups and dishes from the table. | high15128.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "people can have birthday parties"
},
"options": [
"children are not allowed to swim alone",
"lifeguards are on duty 24 hours a day",
"people can have birthday parties",
"special lessons in diving are offered to adults"
... | Sunshine Sports Center One of the most modern sports centers in town, the Sunshine Sports Center is not just a sports club but much more!
With a swimming pool for adults and teens, and a smaller one for children, our center has something for all the members of the family.Parents can relax while children play in the water.For anybody who is interested in competitive sports, football and basketball courts are the ideal places to work off stress.
Whether you just want to keep in shape, lose some weight or build your strength, there's the super-modern equipment and three personal trainers to look after you and answer your questions.They can also give you general advice about healthy eating and dieting.
Lessons
It doesn't matter if you're five or eighty-five, there's something for you at the Sunshine Sports Center! We offer personal training in all sports if you want it, but there are also group lessons for all sports if you prefer teamwork.
Kids and teenagers
Take advantage of our special offer for younger members.For members between five and sixteen years old, there are special lessons in water polo, competitive swimming and diving.There are many classes for all levels of swimmers, with a lifeguard on duty from 9:00 am when the pool opens until it closes at 7:00 pm.
Social events
Sunshine Sports Center is not only for sport! You can enjoy a delicious meal at our restaurant or have a milkshake with your friends on the balcony overlooking the swimming pool and the courts.In addition, there are lovely gardens where families or friends can have a picnic! To celebrate a birthday, there is no better place than the Sunshine Sports Center.
So, come on Sign up for Sunshine Sports Center today! | high12647.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "banning all the people from entering the Internet after 10 p.m."
},
"options": [
"demanding the Internet Cafes to be far away from schools",
"telling the students about the dangers of game addiction",
"training counselors to ... | In South Korea, children get used to the Internet at an early age. A survey last year by the Ministry of information and Communication showed that nearly half of children between the age of 3 and 5 use the internet.
"In south Korea, _ , said Lee Kyong Ko, a professor at Duksing, Women's University in Seoul.
Online role-playing games, where participants make friends and band together, have a strong appeal to Koreans,"One problem with those games is that you build your online person through countless hours of battles, and you develop a huge emotional attachment to your game character,"said Chang Woo Min, a one-time online gamer.
Parents report that their children steal money and do not come home for days and even weeks, practically living in Internet Cafes, and sometimes they refuse to look for jobs and play games all night and sleep during the day.
The authorities require Internet cafes to keep their distance from schools, and they open camps for teenage addicts and distribute booklets on the dangers of game addiction. In addition, they are training hundreds of counselors, who visit schools and Internet Cafes.
In the 28,000 Internet Cafes in South Korea, persons under 18 are banded from entry after 10 p.m.. The authorities have even discussed reducing the points of gamers who play for more than three consecutive hours, But such talks have produced no agreement, amid concerns that such restrictions would put a high-growth industry in danger and worse the problem of teenagers stealing adult online identification numbers,"Sooner or later we will be able to announce our measures,"the minister of Information and Communication, Rho Jun Hyoung, said at a news conference in May."Since South Korea is one of the most active and developed countries in the Internet, the world is paying great attention to What policy we will adopt on this problem." | high3609.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "5"
},
"options": [
"2",
"3",
"4",
"5"
],
"question": "We can put the sentence \"But the biggest change was still to come\" at the beginning of Paragraph _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{... | For many students in the UK today, deciding whether or not to go to university can be as much about affordability as it is about ambition and aspiration.
In the past, students in the UK could apply to a university or college. They were sure that even if they came from a low income family, their tuition fees and some of their living (or maintenance) costs would be covered by a local authority grant . A university education was, in a financial sense, open to all and the number of students attending university grew yearly.
Sadly, it seems, those days are long gone. The turning point came in 1998, when the Labour Government introduced tuition fees of PS1,000 a year and, instead of giving students a maintenance grant, asked them to cover their own living expenses with a repayable student loan. Only students on the lowest incomes were entitled to a grant.
The flood gates had been opened. As time passed, the ceiling on tuition fees rose, and although applicants from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales still qualified for varying levels of subsidy , by 2009/10 students in England often found themselves facing tuition fees overPS3,000 a year.
In 2011 the Government announced that, from 2012, universities could charge fees of up to PS9,000 a year. Although the Government
by stating that postgraduates did not have to begin repaying their student loans until they were earning more than PS21,000 a year, the news created over-dissatisfaction. Many students argued that it was unfair that students should have to begin their work life loaded with huge debt, while others complained that the changes would bring back a class divide to university education. These views were reflected in the number of students applying for a university place, which by January 2012 fell by more than 22,000. The Universities Minister, David Willetts, stood by the decision to increase tuition fees, saying that they would not "put universities' finance on a bearable footing" and that they would accelerate "a stronger focus on high quality teaching." | high16421.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "after he had listened to a famous piece of music"
},
"options": [
"because he was blind since birth",
"after he had listened to a famous piece of music",
"when he got a scholarship to study in America",
"since he was bo... | A Tchaikovsky concerto is what made Romel Joseph fall in love with the violin.
He learned how to play in Haiti, where he was born, but a Fulbright scholarship brought him to the United States, and he finally earned a master's degree, reports CBS News reporter Katie Couric. Music had changed his life. He wanted to do the same for the children of Haiti.
Joseph built a school in Port-au-Prince nearly 20 years ago. He was on the third floor when suddenly "It was like boom boom boom and everything just opened," Joseph said. "And the next thing I knew I was on the ground."
Blind since birth, Joseph tried to feel his way out, but was pinned beneath heavy concrete . He remained trapped for 18 hours. He prays that his new wife, seven months pregnant , will be found.
He is now being treated at Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital for two injured legs and an arm.
Joseph wonders if he'll ever play the violin again. He can feel sensation in his fingertips. He said, "If you were to give me a violin and if I didn't have to fold the fingers, I would be able to play."
Joseph's daughter Victoria spent three terrifying days unsure of her father's fate. For her, having him home is the sweetest music.
"Can you imagine your dad not being able to play the violin?" Couric asked.
"No, I can't," Victoria Joseph said. "But I will love him all the same if he can't."
Romel doesn't know how many of his 300 students died in the quake. As he waits for news about his wife, Romel Joseph is already planning a return to Haiti to rebuild the school and continue teaching there.
"We can save two children, 20, 200, 300, 500 through education and music, and these children will make a difference," Romel Joseph said. | high4166.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "a medical magazine"
},
"options": [
"a medical magazine",
"a travel journal",
"a doctor's diary",
"a physics textbook"
],
"question": "You would most likely find the article in _ .",
"question_type": "clo... | Scientists have found that human eyes are more likely to be damaged by UV rays while skiing in the snow-covered areas than sitting on the beach, according to a report by the UK newspaper The Telegraph.
The researchers at Kanazawa Medical University, Japan and American company Johnson conducted the study together. They looked at the effects of light reflection on newly fallen snow on a ski trail (a rough path) in Ishikawa District, northern Japan. They compared the results with the levels of UV rays on a sand beach in southern Japan's Okinawa District. They found that on the beach, eyes are exposed to a daily 260 kilojoules of UV a square meter compared to 658 kilojoules in snow-covered areas.
The findings are supported by the Japan Meteorological Agency. According to the agency, the reflection rate of UV light on beaches is often between 10 and 25 percent, compared to 80 percent in the new snow areas. The amount of light increased 4 percent with a 300-meter rise in height.
Most of us know that UV rays can harm the skin. That's why we wear sunscreen on our skin before we get out in the sun. But many of us may not realize that UV rays are also harmful to the eyes.
If your eyes are exposed to large amounts of UV radiation over a short period of time, you may experience a kind of sunburn of the eye, which is harmful. Your eyes will become red and feel a strange feeling. They may be sensitive to light. Fortunately, this is usually temporary and seldom causes permanent damage to the eyes.
Long-term exposure to UV radiation, however, can be more serious. Scientific studies and researches have shown that exposure to small amounts of UV radiation over a period of many years increases the chance of eye damage, which could lead to total blindness. | high19712.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "They gave him some money"
},
"options": [
"They didn't care for him",
"They gave him some money",
"They refused to let him work with them",
"They laughed at him"
],
"question": "How did the men working on the ro... | On a cold winter morning in the late 1930s, Bobby awoke early. It was a day that Bobby would never forget. Bobby, his brother and his mother were once again abandoned by his father. When times got hard, the man left home. Bobby wasn't surprised. He must take the responsibility for caring for his family.
He put on the warmest clothes he had and pulled on his old socks and torn shoes. After thinking of a way to keep his feet dry, he went outside looking for work.
Coming across some men working on the road, he joined in and worked hard for hours. Suddenly, rain poured down. "Go home and get out of this weather," the men shouted, giving him a few coins.
Bobby used the money to buy as much food as he could afford in the nearest store. While holding a small bag of food ,Bobby stopped to adjust the thick paper in his shoes.
A man, who was a member of the Salvation Army, saw Bobby's problem. He bought Bobby a new pair of shoes.
I wasn't there on that cold day. But I've heard the story many times and can always imagine my father, as a child, dancing and wearing a pair of new shoes home.
Several years later, Bobby joined the navy. He continued to support his family and meanwhile worked for the Salvation Army so that another little boy somewhere might receive a new pair of shoes for Christmas.
The tradition lasted until my father became too ill. Daddy died six years ago. While the new shoes kept his feet warm in the 1930s, Daddy's act of giving back for tens of years warmed his heart in a greater way. | high20193.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "prevent the spread of rumors on the Internet"
},
"options": [
"limit the number of microblogs",
"advance the development of microblogs",
"prevent the spread of rumors on the Internet",
"urge the government to react quic... | With only a click of the mouse, rumors can be forwarded between microblogs very quickly. As an example, recently, perceptive netizens discovered that some photos displayed on microblogs depicting Beijing's June rainstorm had actually been _ .
Sina.com is one of the major internet portals in China with hundreds and thousands of users, and a majority of celebrities and renowned citizens have their microblog accounts on this portal. As recently as six months ago, the website decided to establish a specialized team to verify rumors and provide accurate information for its users. Tan Chao is in charge of the team.
"Before I took the job, I usually couldn't identify what information was real and what was fake. But during the rumor verification process, we discovered that a lot of information was false, including fake photos, fake news stories and rumors that had been spread through microblogs."
It's not just website portals which are taking on fact-checking responsibilities, but also a number of civic-minded netizens, who recently set up a Rumor Verification Federation on Sina.com's microblog system to help netizens identify fake information online.
Dianzizheng is the team leader of the federation. He says they've publicized more than 150 pieces which refute rumors, which attracted more than 10 thousand visitors within two months.
"We live in an age of new media, so we can't use the old methods to verify rumors. We can't wait for the media to verify the facts with related administrative departments and then release a formal announcement. We can't allow rumors to run rampant and then deal with it, we need to fight rumors while they're spreading. I think that this is the best way to deal with rumors nowadays."
Some experts say this demonstrates the advantages of the internet compared to other traditional media. The open platform allows information to be examined and clarified by netizens. But experts like Ding Wenguo, President of the Journalism and Communication College at the China University of Political Science and Law says this self-correction function of the internet is still quite limited.
"It's still quite difficult to tell which information is true in such an open environment by just reading a number of different opinions on the same issue. This is something which we need to pay attention to. If society is deluged with too much false information, and it's allowed to spread in such a fast manner, then people will be suspicious of all kinds of information including important information from authorities. It also exacerbates problems relating to social communications and mutual-understanding, which in turn harms society as a whole."
Experts suggest that the government should react more quickly in the internet age. Once a rumor begins to spread, administrative departments should make announcements as early as possible to dispel rumors before they lead to bad outcomes. | high5278.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "encouraging us to do some voluntary work."
},
"options": [
"explaining different projects for volunteers",
"calling in volunteers for sightseeing projects",
"showing us the advantages of volunteers",
"encouraging us to ... | As a volunteer, you will discover the unique opportunity of visiting the real world beyond the tourist window and became immersed in the culture you visit. For most travelers, this time spent working on meaningful projects, and getting to know the local area and its people, is often cited as their most memorable, enjoyable and fulfilling life experience.
Who can volunteer?
Kaya Volunteers are 18-80 years old people with an adventurous spirit. Whether you have time for a 2-week trip or a 6-month break, travelling on your own, with a group or with your family, or you are a student, taking a break from your job, or have even retired, they will find a project that can use your help.
Countries where you can volunteer:
Asia-Pacific (Australia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam.)
Africa (Botswana,Ghana,Kenya,Mozambique,South Africa,Zambia,Zimbabwe)
Latin America (Belize,Bolivia,Brazil,Costa Rica,Ecuador,Peru)
What type of projects can you do?
Kaya's Project advisors work with you to decide which project is best for you and what type of work you would like to do. you can work in the following fields:
Environmental preservation- From the Ecuadorian rain forest to the jungles of Thailand, repair the damage done to some of the most beautiful and diverse places on earth.
Work with children- They have over 40 projects working with children across the world in orphanages, schools and shelters for the abused, disabled and disadvantaged.
Sports - Through sports, their projects that can provide opportunities for health education and the development of life skills, such as teamwork, communication, discipline and self- confidence.
Education - From English teaching to education programs for special needs and minority groups, give greater opportunity to the disadvantaged through education.
All projects include airport pick-ups and drop-offs, accommodation, orientation and 24-hour support. Many of their placements also include all meals and some language classes so that you can get even more involved. | high10050.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "to feel whether y our lips move or not"
},
"options": [
"to hold a piece of paper between them",
"to stop yourself talking to others",
"to tell others to be silent",
"to feel whether y our lips move or not"
],
"... | Perhaps you have been told about some habits which stop a person reading fast, and have been strongly asked to break those habits which you might have.
Do you still have any of these bad habits7 Check yourself by answering "yes" or "no" to
these questions:
1. Do you move your lips when reading silently?
2. Do you point to words with your finger as you read?
3. Do you move your head from side to side as you read?
4. Do you read one word at a time?
If you answer "yes" to any of these questions, start at once to break the habit.
If you move your lips, hold your fingers over them, or hold a piece of paper between your lips while you are reading. Then if your lips move, you will know it and can stop them.
If you point to words, hold the two sides of your book, one side with your left hand, the other side with your right hand. Then you will not have a free finger to use in pointing while reading.
If you move your head, place your chin in one hand, and hold your head still(,).
If you read no more than one or two or three words at a time, you need to work very hard in learning to take in more words at each glance as your eyes travel across the lines of words. | high2271.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "heard about a crime involving a cell phone"
},
"options": [
"got her cell phone lost by chance",
"found a cell phone with blood on it",
"heard about a crime involving a cell phone",
"did research on cell phones"
],
... | Your cell phone holds secrets about you. Besides the names and numbers that you've programmed into it, traces of your DNA remain on it, according to a new study.
DNA is genetic material that appears in every cell. Like your fingerprint, your DNA is unique to you --- unless you have an identical twin. Scientists today usually analyze DNA in blood,saliva , or hair left behind at the scene of a crime. The results often help detectives identify criminals and their victims.
Meghan J. McFadden, a biologist at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, heard about a crime in which the suspect bled onto a cell phone and later dropped the device. This made her wonder whether traces of DNA remained on cell phones --- even when no blood was involved. To find out, she and a colleague collectedflip-style phones from 10 volunteers. They collected invisible traces of the users from two parts of the phone: the outside, where the user holds it, and the speaker, which is placed at the user's ear.
The scientists scrubbed(meaning "cleaned") the phones using a liquid mixture made mostly of alcohol. The aim of washing was to remove all detectable traces of DNA. The owners got their phones back for another week. Then the researchers collected the phones and repeated collecting traces on each phone once more. They discovered DNA that belonged to the phone's owner on each of the phones.
Surprisingly, DNA showed up even in swabs that were taken immediately after the phones were cleaned. That suggests that washing won't remove all traces of evidence from a criminal's cell phone. So cell phones can now be added to the list of clues that can help a crime-scene investigation. | high10736.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "My First Impressions ofQatar"
},
"options": [
"The New Life with My Employers",
"General Observation of Qataris",
"My Adventure in the CzechRepublic",
"My First Impressions ofQatar"
],
"question": "The best titl... | Hoorah!I have escaped the Czech Republic! I am now wearing light clothing and sunglasses, although the _ today,as it is cool and overcast with cloud and it has rained slightly.
The city of Qatar is flat and sandy with few trees -- mostly palms. You can see construction everywhere, new streets with hotels and apartment blocks in prefix = st1 /Venicetheme. It's a mix of super modern and traditional building styles. Everything looks new including the vehicles. There are many huge roundabouts; no traffic rules or at least no one obeys any. The huge 4-storey shopping mall in fantastic style has an ice rink on the ground floor. Thousands of people walk round the waterfront after dark.
Qataris are very religious and there are calls to prayers regularly. Qatari men are dressed in all sorts of traditional clothing plus western dresses. You can easily find imported labour from South Asian countries, poorly paid and discriminated against. I am told that Qataris don't hide their racist attitudes.
Women are always wonderful sights. Some are in all sorts of black clothing with face uncovered; some totally enveloped; lots wearing western dresses. Best sight so far: a woman in a mall completely wrapped in black including gloves, not even an eye shown -- wearing glasses on the outside of her veil , using a cell phone while fingering a dress.
I am living with my employers -- a New Zealandcouple, and another teacher namedWayne, all about my age. We share one apartment. I have a large room with a bathroom attached: it is a little run-down but very comfortable. The only rather annoying thing is that I have to use the laptop on my bed as there is no desk and chair in here. As soon as it is clear that I will be staying I will make a change to all this. I haven't lived with other people for many years and have been used to living alone so it will be interesting to see how this works. | high17059.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Because she didn't want to be left out."
},
"options": [
"Because she wanted to win in all games.",
"Because she didn't want to be left out.",
"Because she intended to be a normal student.",
"Because she hoped to do som... | Anne Sanders was practicing soccer moves, which was not normal. Usually, Anne only plays basketball. She wins every basketball game she plays, and she loses at any other game. "Anne", I waved to her. "Why are you playing soccer?"
"Well, the gym teacher is doing something different," she said. "There are teams of four and partners of two.We get to pick our partners, and I want someone to pick me. "Anne held up a list.
"It looks like I'm on a team with you, Stacey, and Paul," I said. "Stacey is my best friend.Maybe we can be together: " Just then, Stacey and Paul came over. They had heard of the teams.
"Do you want to be partners, Stacey?" I asked.
"Well, I was going to be partners with Paul," she claimed. I didn't blame her. Paul was as fast as a rocket, and my nickname was "Snail". "But we are best friends," said Stacey. "So I guess I'II be with you. "
It was our first game. Stacey went to talk to some other friends afterwards, and Paul and Anne were talking about winning their game. I was sipping on my water, when I overheard Stacey, "She's worse than I thought; if I played the team alone,, I would have won easily. She's worse than a snail. She's more like a statue. "
That night, I felt terrible for losing and mad at Stacey for calling me a statue. After all, she was my best friend and my only friend. Anyway, the phone rang, and it was Stacey. At first, I thought she might apologize, but no such luck.
"Allison, the game tomorrow is canceled, " she said.
"Okay," I replied. "Sorry about the game today", Stacey hung up on me.
The next day, I went over to the soccer field. I knew the game was canceled, but maybe I could help clean up.But instead of a mess, I saw a soccer game in progress. Stacey and were playing, and Anne was hiding in the corner. "Paul made me pretend to be sick, " she whispered. "He wants to play with Stacey because she's so fast. "
So Anne and I went to get ice cream. Even if I lost Stacey ,I just created a lifelong friendship. | high16347.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "reflect the great changes in the American literary world"
},
"options": [
"show his talent and heroic life to us",
"draw us into a fascinating universe",
"provide insight into his family",
"reflect the great changes in ... | We considered a list of the best American books. Here are five that may help accurately show the national character. Most from a century or so ago, they still entertain, teach, and inspire:
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
First published in 1851, the adventure stories of Captain Ahab and his monomaniacal pursuit of the white whale draw us into a universe full of fascinating characters and stories.
The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams
Published in 1918, the book was an autobiography. Born in one of America's most famous political families, Adams provides insight into his family, including his experience as private secretary to his father, minister to England during the American Civil war.
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
When Whitman published Leaves of Grass in 1855, he wanted to accurately describe the American experience and reflect the great changes in the American literary world that had taken place during his lifetime.
Poems by Emily Dickinson
An enthusiastic poet whose works have had considerable influence on modern poetry, Dickson's frequent use of dashes, occasional capitalization of nouns, and unconventional metaphors have contributed to her reputation as one of the most inventive poets of the 19thcentury American literature. However, most of her poems were not published during her lifetime.
The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
First published in 1855, this is Longfellow's most popular and most recognized poem, the heroic life and death of a magic American Indian, sent by the Great Spirit to guide the nations in the ways of peace. | high4600.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "A woman in good figure."
},
"options": [
"An experienced climber.",
"A strong-minded woman.",
"A woman in good figure.",
"An enthusiastic woman."
],
"question": "Which of the following is not a must for the inte... | Would you like to join an all-women' s expedition to Annapurna? You must be an experienced high altitude climber, strong, enthusiastic and a hard worker! If you think this is for YOU, please contact: Arlene Blum, Berkeley, California, USA.
Many women wrote to them from all over the world, but they could only choose ten. When the final team was chosen, the youngest was twenty years old, the oldest was fifty.
For Arlene, finding the climbers was only the first step. The team needed another important thing: money. There were long talks at Vera Watson' s house, when they discussed how to make the 80,000 dollars they would need for the expedition. With the help of enthusiastic friends, they organized dances, sports, and parties. They even sold expedition T- shirts. After many months, and a lot of hard work, they finally had the money they needed.
Now at last they were in Kathmandu, the city where their great adventure would begin. Arlene looked round at the women in the airport. They looked tired after the long journey from Francisco, but happy to be in Nepal at last. There had been so many friends and families at the airport to say goodbye. It had been difficult to leave the people they loved. Irene had looked so sad when she said goodbye to her daughters. Arlene had found it very difficult to leave her boyfriend, John. For all of them there was the chance that they would never see their families or friends again.
All climbing in the Himalayas is dangerous. One in ten of the people who go there do not come back. Annapurna was very dangerous because of its avalanches. Arlene knew the avalanches very well. On the expedition film she said... | high19074.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "It was the social practice."
},
"options": [
"It was a very easy job.",
"She had no work to do.",
"It was the social practice.",
"She lived with her father."
],
"question": "Why did Jorjan Sarich caregiver for h... | A daughter's duty? Adult daughters are often expected to caregiver for older parents. In 2007, Jorjan Sarich and her dad moved from California to Idaho. It was where he wanted to live his rest time.
"I left my occupation, I left my friends; he did the same thing," said Sarich, who bought a house with her father, George Snyder, in the China Gardens neighborhood of Hailey after his health began to decline. Though a graduate student struggling to finish her dissertation , Sarich chose to be her dad's full-time caregiver.
"It's only now, several years later, that I'm realizing how much work it was. It's the kind of exhaustion that sleep doesn't cure," she said.
About 6 million Americans provide care to elderly relatives or friends living outside of nursing homes. Laurel Kennedy, author of "The Daughter Trap" (Thomas Dunne Books, $25.95), says that women bear a disproportionate share of the burden -- about 70 percent of hands-on care giving such as bathing.
"I want to be clear: Women don't hate this," Kennedy said. "What they hate is that everyone just assumes they'll do it."
Kennedy is calling for _ equal to the rise of affordable child care and day care: Employers should help working caregivers by offering accommodations. Men should step up more often. It's unfair that women are always chosen to provide care for an elderly family member.
Despite the hard work it took on Sarich -- interrupted sleep and the knowledge that his 2009 death was the end game, she would do it again. Since about half a century had gone by, she wasn't the person he remembered, and he wasn't the person she remembered either. Caring for her father changed how each saw the other. | high11428.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "By paying close attention to the local rugby team."
},
"options": [
"By taking part in the local rugby team.",
"By watching the rugby matches in Limoges,",
"By playing often with the people in Limoges.",
"By paying clos... | I have been in Limoges for a month now. since living here, I have tried to integrate into the local community and one way I have found to do this is by following the local rugby team.
I decided to look for information on the local rugby team after the tourism office could not help me. I searched for the club office online and decided to look into _ . The following day I went back to the club after speaking with them and decided to get a season ticket for the rest of my stay here. I will now be going to each home game as well as travelling to the away games with the team and the fans. I am sure that it is going to be a great experience during my time abroad here. I will also be travelling through various regions of France so I will be visiting new places throughout the season. There is another team in a town called Brive not so far away who play in the top league in France, but I decided to stay local. I may go and see them with other assistants if possible during our stay.
I witnessed a friendly match on Saturday when they played Stade Dijon in the division below them. The match finished 70-12. After the match, both teams went to the club house to see the Rugby World Cup semi-final between New Zealand and Australia. Both teams respected each others which is something you don't always see in other sports. I spoke to the president of the club after the game and he told me, "This is a family club." Hopefully this year will be a good year for Limoges. | high12121.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "More mothers wasn't working outside and was able to afford to look after children ."
},
"options": [
"More mothers wasn't working outside and was able to afford to look after children .",
"American school systems were better than n... | WASHINGTON--Laura Straub is a very worried woman. Her job is to find families for French teenagers who expect to live with American families in the summer.
It is not easy, even hopeless.
"We have many children left to place--40 out of 75," said Straub, who works for a Paris-based foreigner-exchange program started 50 years ago. Family life was more than accommodating . For one thing, more mothers stayed at home. But now, increasing numbers of women work outside the home. Exchange-student programs have struggled in recent years to sign up host families for the 30 000 teenagers who every year come from abroad to spend a school year in the United States, as well as the thousands more who take part in summer programs.
School systems in many parts of the U.S., unhappy about accepting non-taxpaying students, have also strictly limited the number of exchange students they accepted. At the same time, the idea of hosting foreign students is becoming less _ .
In search for host families, who usually receive no pay, exchange programs are increasingly broadening their requests to include everyone from young couples to retirees.
"We are open to many different types of families," said Vickie Weiner, eastern area director for ASSE, a 25-year-old program that sends about 30 000 teenagers on school-year exchange programs worldwide.
For elderly people, exchange students "keep us young--they really do", said Jen Foster, who is hosting 16-year-old Nina Post from Denmark. | high7309.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "emphasize the sharp contrast between now and then"
},
"options": [
"support the fact that more women are working now",
"show that few graduates started working right after graduation",
"demonstrate that there were much fewer ... | "I'm a little worried about my future."said Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate.He should be so lucky.All he had to worry about was whether to have an affair with Mrs. Robinson.In the sixties,that was the total sum of post-graduation anxiety.
Hoffman's modem peers are not so fortunate.The Mrs. Robinsons aren't sitting around at home any more.They are out in the workplace,doing the high-powered jobs the graduates want,but cannot get.For those fresh out of university,desperate for work but unable to get it,there is a big imbalance between supply and demand.And there is no narrowing of the gap in sight.
Parents feel as badly let down as the young people themselves.Middle-class families see their graduate offspring on the dole queue and wonder why they bothered paying school fees.Working-class families feel an even keener sense of disappointment.For many such families,getting a child into university was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.It was proof that they were living in a dynamic,economically successful country.That dream does not seem so rosy now.Graduate unemployment is not,ultimately,a political problem.Job-creation for graduates is very low down in the government's schedule.If David Cameron's Conservatives had a brilliant idea for guaranteeing every graduate a well-paid job,they would have presented it by now.It is a social problem,though a more deep-seated social problem than people perhaps realize. | high6017.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "He was bored with his life there."
},
"options": [
"He was bored with his life there.",
"To attract people's attention.",
"To help advertise the songs.",
"His friend asked him to do so."
],
"question": "Why did ... | "I would say, no matter what people tell you, anything can happen." That's the message Internet singer Austin Mahone says at We Day, an event for young people in Canada.
When he was 14,Austin and a friend began uploading pop songs to musical websites."I was just doing it because we had nothing to do, living in a small town."
"I'd check different websites for the hottest songs, and I'd record my own videos," he explains. "That's how people began to find me online."His videos got millions of hits and he signed with a record company. The result was the release of Austin's first album,Junior Year. While it seems like a sudden rise for the teenager, Austin admits the early days were not always fun. He says a lot of people thought badly of him for posting his videos online. Yet _ didn't put him off."I kept working hard. "And the hits on his videos kept coming.
Austin's achievement and spirit make him a perfect fit for the message of We Day. After all, Free the Children, the creator of the event, was founded to "enable youth to make changes." Even Austin's unusual rise by way of the Internet fits with the way Free The children works and raises money.
Because of Austin, his four million followers will learn about Free the Children. While Austin's presence certainly helps We Day, it's good for him, too. Austin gets to show himself as someone who volunteers his time and talent for a worthy cause and show that he cares about making the world a better place. | high14550.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "e-mail"
},
"options": [
"e-mail",
"a letter",
"a newspaper",
"a report"
],
"question": "The Smiths send their message to Cassy by _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"an... | Dear Cassy,
Thanks for reminding me by e-mail that you want to baby-sit our children. Although you are only 12 years old, my wife and I would be willing to consider your application if you can meet a few requirements:
1)Send us three letters from teachers who will prove that you have never failed to follow instructions perfectly in class and never failed to hand in your homework on time.
2)Send us a note from two doctors who will prove that you are in perfect health, have never been sick, and never will be sick.
3)Send us a document from your physical education teacher or team coach that proves that you can do each of the following: Run two miles in less than four minutes, climb an oiled rope to a height of twenty feet in thirty seconds while balancing a glass of water on your nose, and walk in bare feet over hot coals and broken glass without injury.
4)Send us notarized letters from at least two mental health experts saying that you have never had an envious thought towards other people.
5)Play and defeat five expert chess players while blindfolded after going without sleep for 48 hours.
6)Wait patiently for two years while we have investigators certify that all your documents are real.
Your loving and trusting friends,
The Smiths | high9324.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the more difficulties you may have abroad"
},
"options": [
"the fewer difficulties you may have abroad",
"the more difficulties you may have abroad",
"the more money you will earn abroad",
"the less homesick you will fe... | Experts say it is not easy to get used to life in a new culture. " Culture shock" is the term these experts use when talking about the feelings that people have in a new environment. There are three stages of culture shock, say the experts. In the first stage, the newcomers like their new environment. Then, when the fresh experience dies, they begin to hate the city, the country, the people and everything else. In the last stage, the newcomers begin to adjust to their surroundings and, as a result, enjoy their life more.
There are some obvious factors in culture shock. The weather may be unpleasant. The customs may be different. The public service systems---the telephone, post office ,or transportation --may be difficult to work out. The simplest things seem to be big problems. The language may be difficult.
Who feels culture shock? Everyone does in this way or that. But culture shock surprises most people. Very often the people having the worst culture shock are those who never had any difficulties in their home countries and were successful in their community. Coming to a new country, these people find they do not have the same established positions. They find themselves without a role, almost without an identity. They have to build a new self-image.
Culture shock causes a feeling of disorientation . This feeling may be homesickness. When homesick, people feel like staying inside all the time. They want to protect themselves from the strange environment, and create an escape inside their room for a sense of security. This escape does solve the problem of culture shock for the short term, but it does nothing to make the person familiar with the culture. Getting to know the new environment and gaining experience--these are the long-term solutions to the problem of culture shock. | high1778.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "On a winter Sunday."
},
"options": [
"On a dull Sunday.",
"On a warm Sunday.",
"On a summer Sunday.",
"On a winter Sunday."
],
"question": "When did the trip most probably happen?",
"question_type": "factiod... | One Sunday a few of us decided to take advantage of the first sunny day we'd have for ages to take a trip down to the coast to visit the penguins again. Last time I went down there was a couple of months ago and it was a dull cold day. Sunday couldn't have been more different -- clear skies and sunshine made it feel like summer, although it was still -25degC.
Six of us drove to the coast. It was the first time we'd been off the base on our own without our field assistant, so it had a slightly different feeling -- more like a few friends going to the seaside than an Antarctic field trip! When we reached Windy Creek, we luckily caught sight of quite a few small flying seabirds, which are seldom seen there.
Once on the sea ice we found that some of the more curious penguins had wandered over from the main group to come and check us out. We'd been told that then they were nursing their chicks and they would be more careful and nervous than last time,
We walked across to the main group which were stretched for a couple of miles along the coast. We sat down for some sandwiches and soon found ourselves surrounded by many curious observers. Without any attackers on land, they were very brave and came within a meter of us to pose for photos.
Before heading back, we spent a few hours on the sea ice watching the penguins and their chicks, which had grown dramatically since our last visit. It was such a nice day. | high15896.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "save a man's life"
},
"options": [
"meet his father for the last time",
"put out a really big fire",
"save a man's life",
"do a scientific experiment"
],
"question": "On that rainy Saturday morning, the author w... | Around three forty-five on a rainy Saturday morning, I was woken up by the sound of my pager beeping. As a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician, I can never count on a full night of sleep. I pulled myself out of bed and went toward the desk to grab my radio. Our crew was being sent to a nearby home where a man was in cardiac arrest . We found the man lying on the kitchen floor with his wife beside him. We rushed the patient to the hospital, but despite our efforts, we were unable to save his life.
In my line of life, I rarely get any recognition from the patients we treat, or from their loved ones. But that night, a man's wife approached us, and through her tears, whispered, "Thank you." Then she hugged each of us. She knew we answered her late-night call for help, even though the ending was not positive.
There is something deeply rewarding about helping people in these circumstances. Sometimes, I'm able to make their worst day a bit better: like seeing the tears of an injured child turn into a smile when I gave him an interesting toy; or watching a terrified mother's screams turn into tears of joy when she realized her baby was going to be fine.
Experiences like these allow me to see the impact my work has on others. At the same time, I also know the effect _ has had on my own life. As a teenager, I felt awkward when my dad hugged me and said, " I love you, my dear son." I was equally uncomfortable and responded, "I love you." But then I imagined him lying on the kitchen floor that rainy night and realized that my opportunity to say those three words could---at any moment---be taken away forever. Now, I extremely treasure the moment when my father says those three words to me. I've learned to appreciate every relationship I have, to tell people I care about them, and to never take anything in life for granted. | high12135.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "avoid power lines"
},
"options": [
"stay where you are",
"hide under a big tree",
"avoid power lines",
"sit on the ground"
],
"question": "According to the passage, if you are outside in an earthquake, you shoul... | According to the US Geological Survey, about seven million earthquakes strike worldwide every year--but fortunately, only about 1500 of these are of a magnitude of 5 or greater on the Richter scale. Certain areas, such as California and Japan, are more _ earthquakes than others. Although the chance of being caught in "The Big one" is remote, it's wise to be prepared if you live in a region where earthquakes are common.
Educate your family about earthquakes before a big one strikes. For example, they need to know to take shelter in a doorway or under a strong object if indoors, and never to run outdoors if they are inside. If outside, they need to know to stay away from power lines and buildings where objects could fall.
Teach family members how to turn off gas or water lines or electrical power that may need to be shut off after a quake if severe damage occurs.
Develop a plan. Where will your family meet in the event of a disaster? What if some people are at work or school? How will you know if they are safe? Where will you all meet up?
Pack a preparedness kit and keep it in a safe location. In a major earthquake, it's possible that you won't be able to get into your house. Keep supplies in your car trunk or an outside storage shed if possible. Pack whatever your family is likely to need, enough for three days to a week, including food, water, medication, first aid and personal hygiene supplies, flashlights, a portable radio, blankets, clothes and shoes, cash, or camp stove, candles, matches or lighters, and a whistle.
Consider earthquake insurance for your home if you live in an earthquake-prone area. Regular homeowner's insurance doesn't cover earthquake damage. | high6003.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "a print paperback"
},
"options": [
"a print paperback",
"an Apple iPad",
"a mobile phone",
"an Amazon Kindle"
],
"question": "If the writer were short of money, he would prefer _ .",
"question_type": "clo... | This might not sound so extraordinary, but I didn't just read a book in print, on an e-reader or even on a mobile phone. Instead, I read a book on dozens of devices . I was not trying to set a Guinness world record. I wanted to answer a question I often hear: which e-reader or tablet is the best for reading books? So I set out to try them all, reading a chapter on each: the Amazon Kindle, the first and second generation Apple iPads and mobile phones. To be fair, I also read a chapter in that old-fashioned form -- an old print paperback.
The book I chose was The Alienist. For the first chapter, I turned to an Amazon Kindle. Shopping on Amazon for the Kindle is simple; you go to Amazon's Web site and buy the book, which is then sent to any devices with Kindle software installed . Reading on the Amazon Kindle is a joy in many aspects. The Kindle is light.Its six-inch screen is the perfect size for reading, and reading on its black and white E Ink display doesn't harm your eyes. Battery life is outstanding; on average you charge the device only once a month. My only complaint with the Kindle design is the placement of the keyboard at the bottom of the device. Amazon's CEO has noted during past product announcements that the keyboard is there to help people take notes or search. But to me,it seems like a waste of space.
Despite the small screen on a mobile phone, I find reading on one to be simple and satisfactory. All of the mobile phones on which I read chapters felt somewhat similar; although screen brightness and the size of the phone's screen did vary.
If I had wanted to, I could have bought my book through dozens of e-book apps in the Apple App Store. Most are free and offer access to thousands of free e-books or paid versions. But the big downside for many is that you can read them only on Apple devices. Both iPads 1&2 offer an immersive reading experience. I found myself jumping back and forth between my book and the Web, looking up old facts and pictures of New York City. I also found myself being sucked into the wormhole of the Internet and a few games of Angry Birds rather than reading my book. For the last chapters of the book, I read the paperback, which is still my favourite choice.
Since we are comparing devices so I guess I need to choose one. In the end it might come down to Kindle. But if money is tight, go for print. My used paperback cost only$4 from Amazon. | high9330.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Remind drivers to drive slowly."
},
"options": [
"Guide them to a safer place.",
"Remind drivers to drive slowly.",
"Frighten them away from the road.",
"Advise drivers to choose another way."
],
"question": "Wh... | Free energy is everywhere around us. There are many ways to make and collect energy from various sources like sun, wind and water. People also realize that everyday stuff can be a source of energy too. For example, riding a bike, running or just walking, etc. We simply have to change our way of thinking if we want to change the world.
So comes the idea of solar roadways. Are they the road of future? Why use roads just for driving and collecting tolls ? Why don't we use them for collecting energy?
The US Department of Transportation recently awarded $100,000 to Solar Roadways to build the first ever Solar Road Panel. So how do these future roads work?
The Solar Road Panels will contain embedded LEDs which "paint" the road lines from beneath to provide safer nighttime driving as well as to give drivers instant instructions such as detour ahead. The road will be able to sense wildlife on the road and can warn drivers to "slow down". There will also be embedded heating elements in the surface to prevent snow and ice buildup, providing safer winter driving.
Replacing asphalt roads and parking lots with Solar Roadway Panels will be a major step toward stopping climate change. Fully electric vehicles will be able to recharge along the roadway and in parking lots, finally making electric cars practical for long trips.
We just can't wait to see more of these roads all over the world in the near future. | high14544.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "they think complaining doesn't work"
},
"options": [
"they think complaining doesn't work",
"they consider it wrong to complain",
"they don't want to waste their time",
"they don't want to become unpopular"
],
"... | Most people who experience bad service while traveling, shopping, or dining out do no complain. They accept bad services or products without making a sound. Why? Many feel complaining won't do any good. In fact, they're wrong, because companies don't want their customers unhappy. Not sure you can do it? Here are some ways to use when things go wrong.
1.If you have a complaint, do something about it right away. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to get your complaint solved.
2.First, complain to the servers. If they are not going to solve your problem, then ask politely to speak to a manager. And if that doesn't work, you can always request to speak to the manager's manager!
3.Demand a discount . Let's say you were promised a hotel room with an ocean view, but got a view of a brick wall instead; if you were promised a seat in the front of a plane, but got a seat in the back. You should do something about both of these situations. Ask a special discount.
4.Don't be passive. Offer ways you think the company can satisfy you.
5.Insist on the price you were told. If you are refused, get a manager's name and telephone number, and promise to follow up with a letter and a telephone call.
6.If all else fails, wait until you get home and take action. Call the company's head office, and speak to the most powerful person possible. Then follow up your call with a letter of complaint. If necessary, call the customer protection office in your city and complain. | high15882.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "a place of interest"
},
"options": [
"a shopping center",
"a hotel",
"a dancing hall",
"a place of interest"
],
"question": "The Tai Mahan may be _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"ans... | Adventure Vacations
People like different kinds of vacations. Some go camping. They swim, fish, cook over a fire and sleep outside. Others like to stay at a hotel in an exciting city. They go shopping all day and go dancing all night. Or maybe they go sightseeing to places such as Disneyland, the Tai Mahan or the Louver.
Some people are bored with sightseeing trips. They don't want to be "tourists". They want to have an adventure--a surprising and exciting trip. They want to learn something and maybe help people too. How can they do this? Some travel companies and environmental groups are planning special adventures. Sometimes these trips are difficult and full of hardships, but they're a lot of fun. One organization, Earth watch, sends small groups of volunteers to different parts of the world. Some volunteers spend two weeks and study the environment. Others work with animals. Others learn about people of the past.
Would you like an adventure in the Far North? A team of volunteers is leaving from Mormons, Russia. The leader of this trip is a professor from Alaska. He's worried about chemicals from factories. He and the volunteers will study this pollution in the environment. If you like exercise and cold weather, this is a good trip for you. Volunteers need ski sixteen kilometers every day.
Do you enjoy ocean animals? You can spend two to four weeks in Hawaii. There, you can teach language to dolphins. Dolphins can follow orders such as "Bring me the large ball." They also understand opposites. How much more can they understand? It will be exciting to learn about these intelligent animals. Another study trip goes to Washington State and follows orcas. We call orcas "killer Whale", but they're really dolphins--the largest kind of dolphin. This beautiful animal travels together in family groups. They move through the ocean with their mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers. Ocean pollution is chasing their lives. Earth watch is studying how this happens.
Are you interested in history? Then Greece is the place for your adventure. Thirty-five hundred years ago a volcano exploded there, on Santorum. This explosion was more terrible than Karate or Mount Saint Helens. But today we know a lot about the way of life of the people from that time. There are houses, kitchens, and paintings as interesting as those in Pompeii. Today teams of volunteers are learning more about people from the past.
Do you want a very different vacation? Do you want to travel far, work hard and learn a lot? Then an Earth watch vacation is for you. | high2265.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "True love lasts forever."
},
"options": [
"Never regret what you've chosen.",
"True love lasts forever.",
"Be matched for marriage.",
"Love waits for no man."
],
"question": "What is the theme of Persuasion?",
... | Jane Austen was born in the English countryside more than 200 years ago. She lived a simple life. She seldom travelled. She never married and she died from illness when she was only 41.
However, people all over the world remember her. Why? It is because Jane Austen is the author of some of the best-loved novels in the English language. These novels include Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion.
Jane completed her last novel Persuasion in 1816, but it was not published until after her death. Persuasion is partly based on Jane's naval brother.
Anne, the daughter of Sir Walter Elliot, falls in love with Captain Wentworth, a person of a lower social position. But she breaks off the engagement when persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that such a match is unworthy. The breakup produces in Anne a deep and long-lasting regret. Eight years later, Wentworth returns from sea a rich and successful captain. He finds Anne's family on the edge of financial ruin. Anne and the captain rediscover their love and get married.
Jane Austen once compared her writing to painting on a little bit of ivory , two inches square. Readers of Persuasion will see that neither her skill of delicate, ironic observations on social custom, love, and marriage nor her ability to apply a sharp focus to English manners and morals has abandoned her in her final finished work.
Persuasion has produced three film adaptations: a 1995 version starring Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds, a 2007 TV miniseries with Sally Hawkins and Rupert Penry-Jones, and a 1971 miniseries with Ann Firbank and Bryan Marshall.
People who are interested in Jane Austen can still visit many of the places she visited and lived. These places include the village of Steventon, although her family house is now gone. Many of the places Jane visited in Bath are still there. You can visit Jane Austen's home in Chawton, where she did her best writing, and Winchester, where she died. | high10722.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Global warming can increase the chances of droughts and floods."
},
"options": [
"Greenhouse gases have been proven to harm merely the Earth .",
"There is little we can do to prevent global warming.",
"Global warming can incr... | We sometimes think global warming or climate change is a problem very far away from our lives, and that only the government needs to worry about it. But it's hardly possible to completely stay out of it scientists are now 95 percent sure that humans have been the "
cause" of global warming trends since the 1950s.
One of the conclusions of a report released on Sept 27 by the United Nations says that human activities have caused global temperatures to rise by 0.89 0C between 1901 and 2012. That might not seem like a lot, but the truth is that a major part of that heat has been absorbed into the oceans, which is not surprising given that they cover two thirds of Earth's surface. Also, water has a much greater capacity to absorb heat than the air does, according to The Economist.
While many greenhouse gases occur naturally and are needed to keep the Earth warm enough to support life, humans' use of fossil fuels is the main source of excess greenhouse gases. According to CNN, by driving cars, using electricity produced by burning coal and oil or heating our homes with coal or natural gas, we release a large amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Your body can barely feel a difference of 0.89 0C, but the Earth's ecosystems are so sensitive that even small changes can disturb them. It often starts with the smallest creatures at the bottom of the food chain, eventually affecting bigger animals, many of which could end up becoming extinct.
Global warming is also linked to an increase in extreme weather. A larger amount of carbon dioxide traps more energy inside the atmosphere. This changes the patterns of storms and rainfall in many regions and can lead to droughts and floods. Worse still, melting sea ice in warmer oceans is causing sea levels to rise at a speed of more than three millimeters per year, according to The Guardian, which also increases the risk of flooding.
"The report should serve as another wakeup call that our activities today have a profound impact on society, not only for us, but for many generations to come," French Michel Jarraud, secretarygeneral of the World Meteorological Organization, said at a news conference. | high16353.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "They are potentially beneficial to people."
},
"options": [
"They are of little help to doctors.",
"They can't be used as a screening tool.",
"They can be applied to medical practice.",
"They are potentially beneficial ... | A firm handshake could be a sign of a longer life expectancy , according to British researchers. Scientists at the Medical Research Council found that elderly people who could still give a firm handshake and walk at a quick pace were likely to outlive their slower peers.
They found simple measures of physical capability like shaking hands, walking, getting up from a chair and balancing on one leg were related to the life expectancy, even after accounting for age, sex and body size. The study is the first to provide a comprehensive view of the existing data from 33 studies. "These measures have been used in population-based research for quite a long time," said Rachel Cooper of the Medical Research Council's Unit for Lifelong Health and Aging. "They may be useful indicators for subsequent health."
Cooper, whose study appears in the British Medical Journal, said more studies are needed to clarify whether the measures would be helpful to doctors as a screening tool. "I wouldn't suggest that we roll them out into clinical practice tomorrow, but it is possible that they could be used in the future," she told the media.
The researchers examined 33 studies involving tens of thousands of people, most of whom were aged over 60 but living in the community rather than in hospital or care homes. The researchers found that those with the strongest hand grasps tended to live longer than those with weak grips. The death rate over the period of the studies for people with weak handshakes was 67 percent higher than for people with a firm grip.
The slowest walkers were nearly three times more likely to die during the study period than swifter walkers. The people who were slowest to get up from a chair had about double the death rate compared to the quick risers.
"Those people in the general population who have higher physical capability levels are likely to live longer," Cooper said. | high19060.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Greater diversity."
},
"options": [
"Greater diversity.",
"Exceptional diligence.",
"Intellectual maturity.",
"Higher ambition."
],
"question": "What characterizes the business school student population of today... | Picture a typical MBA lecture theatre twenty years ago. In it the majority of students will have conformed to the standard model of the time: male, middle class and Western. Walk into a class today, however, and you'll get a completely different impression. For a start, you will now see plenty more women--the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, for example, boasts that 40% of its new enrolment is female. You will also see a wide range of ethnic groups and nationals of practically every country.
It might be tempting, therefore, to think that the old barriers have been broken down and equal opportunity achieved. But, increasingly, this apparent diversity is becoming a mask for a new type of conformity. Behind the differences in sex, skin tones and mother tongues, there are common attitudes, expectations and ambitions which risk creating a set of clones among the business leaders of the future.
Diversity, it seems, has not helped to address fundamental weaknesses in business leadership. So what can be done to create more effective managers of the commercial world? According to Valerie Gauthier, associate dean at HEC Paris, the key lies in the process by which MBA programmes recruit their students. At the moment candidates are selected on a fairly narrow set of criteria such as prior academic and career performance, and analytical and problem solving abilities. This is then coupled to a school's picture of what a diverse class should look like, with the result that passport, ethnic origin and sex can all become influencing factors. But schools rarely dig down to find out what really makes an applicant succeed, to create a class which also contains diversity of attitude and approach--arguably the only diversity that, in a business context, really matters.
Professor Gauthier believes schools should not just be selecting candidates from traditional sectors such as banking, consultancy and industry. They should also be seeking individuals who have backgrounds in areas such as political science, the creative arts, history or philosophy, which will allow them to put business decisions into a wider context.
Indeed, there does seem to be a demand for the more rounded leaders such diversity might create. A study by Mannaz, a leadership development company, suggests that, while the bully-boy chief executive of old may not have been eradicated completely, there is a definite shift in emphasis towards less tough styles of management--at least in America and Europe. Perhaps most significant, according to Mannaz, is the increasing interest large companies have in more collaborative management models, such as those prevalent in Scandinavia, which seek to integrate the hard and soft aspects of leadership and encourage delegated responsibility and accountability. | high4614.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "needs alone lead to insatiable demands"
},
"options": [
"desire is the root of both and needs",
"needs come from our sense of superiority",
"needs alone lead to insatiable demands",
"needs are stronger than needs"... | In his 1930 essay "Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren ", John Keynes, acconmist, ewrote that human needs fall into two classes: needs ,which are indupe what other have , and needs ,which make us feel superior to our fellows He thought alough needs may indeed be insatible this isnottrue of
Keynes wans surely correct that only a small part of total spending id decided by the super iority He was gretly mistaken ,however ,in seeting this desive as the only source of demands
Decisions to spend are also driven by ideas of quality which can influnce the den almost all goods, including even basic goods like food. When a couple goes out for an anm dinner,for example,the thought of feeling superior to others probably never comes to them. The goal is to share a special meal that stands out from other meals.
There are no obvious limits to the _ of demand for quality.For example ,porsche famous car producer,has a model which was considered perhaps the best sport car on the mark Priced at over $120,000,it handles perfectly well and has great speen acceleration.But in 200 the producer introduced some changes which made the model slightly better in handling acceleration.People who really care about cars find these small improvemenmts exciting.To them,however,they must pay almost four times the price.
By placing the desire to be superior to other at the heart of his description of nisation demands,Keynes actually reduced such demands.However,the desire for higher quality has natural limits. | high20839.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "He understood Sonora's story."
},
"options": [
"He liked Sonora's father.",
"He understood Sonora's story.",
"He wanted to encourage the public.",
"He knew dads in the US are hard working."
],
"question": "Why d... | In1909, Sonora Dodd was sitting in her church in Spokane, Washington, listening to a Mother's Day sermon( ) when she had an idea: There should be a day to honor fathers. Sonora's father, William Smart, had raised Sonora and her five siblings all by himself after his wife, Ellen, died. Sonora felt her father _ a special day, so she went to work persuading her community to set aside Sunday to celebrate dads. Moved by her action, the following year, the mayor of Spokane declared June 19 to be the first Father's Day celebration .This date was selected because it was Smart's birthday. News of this day for dads spread across the country.
In 1966, President Lyndon Johonson designated the third Sunday of every June as Father's day. However, it was not until 1972-62 years after the first official celebration in Spokane-that President Richard Nixon signed a law making Father's Day an everlasting holiday.
Countries all over the world have special days to honor their dads. In Catholic countries like Spain and Portugal, dad is honored on March 19 during the feast of St.Joseph. In Thailand ,Father's Day is celebrated on the king's birthday. The current king, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, was born on December5.In Canada, people wear roses on Father's Day. There are currently 70.1 million dads in the United States. Many of these dads are spending more time with their kids than dads did in the past ,according to a recent study by the Pew Research Centre .Years ago, taking care of kids was considered a job mainly for women. Now, however, the roles are sometimes overturned .According to the US Census Bureau ,in 2010,154,000 dads stayed at home to take care of their kids ,and 1.8 million dads raised their kids alone like Sonora's dad.
On Sunday, dads across the country will open cards and gifts. Whether they know it or not , they have _ someoneto thank for the special recognition. | high21299.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "the attraction of baseball"
},
"options": [
"the attraction of baseball",
"the superiority of football",
"the different tastes of people for sports",
"the different characteristics of sports"
],
"question": "The... | There are people in Italy who can't stand soccer. Not all Canadians love hockey. A similar situation exists in America, where there are those individuals you may be one of them who frown when somebody mentions baseball. Baseball to them means boring hours watching grown men in funny tight outfits standing around in a field staring away while very little of anything happens. They tell you it's a game better suited to the 19th century, slow, quiet, and gentlemanly. These are the same people you may be one of them who love football because there's the sport that values "the hit".
By contrast, baseball seems abstract, cool, silent, still.
On TV the game is divided into a dozen perspectives, replays, close-ups. The geometry of the game, however, is essential to understanding it. You will view the game from one point as a painter does his subject; you may, of course, project yourself into the game. It is in this projection that the game affords so much space and time for involvement. The TV won't do it for you.
Take, for example, the third baseman. You sit behind the third base and you watch him watching home plate. His legs are apart, knees flexed . His arms hang loose. He does a lot of this. The skeptic still cannot think of any other sports so still, so passive. But watch what happens every time the pitcher throws: the third baseman goes up on his toes, flexes his arms or brings the glove to a point in front of him, takes a step right or left, backward or forward, perhaps he glances across the field to check his first baseman's position. Suppose the pitch is a ball. "Nothing happened," you say.
The skeptic and the innocent must play the game. And this involvement in the stands is no more intellectual than listening to music is. Watch the third baseman. Smooth the dirt in front of you with one foot; smooth the pocket in your glove; watch the eyes of the batter, the speed of the bat, the sound of ball on wood. If football is a symphony of movement and theatre, baseball is chamber music, a spacious interlocking of notes, chorus and responses. | high16435.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Privacy"
},
"options": [
"Privacy",
"Income",
"Age",
"Marriage"
],
"question": "Which is the most appropriate word to show the first cultural difference ?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
... | Living in a culture that is different from your own can be both an exciting and challenging experience. The following are six cultural differences between China and the US to help promote mutual understanding.
Chinese people do not have the same concept of privacy as Americans do. They talk about topics such as ages, income or marital status, which Americans think is annoying and disturbing.
Family
In China, elders are traditionally treated with great respect while the young are cared for. In America, the goal of the family is to encourage independence, particularly that of the children. Unlike the Chinese, older Americans seldom live with their children.
Friends
Chinese people have different meanings to define friends. Just hanging out together time to time is not friendship. Friendship means lifelong friends who feel it deeply necessary to give each other whatever help might seem required. Americans always call people they meet friends, so the definition of friends is general and different. There are work friends, playing friends, school friends and drinking friends.
Money
As is well known,the Chinese like to save. They are always conservative when they are planning to spend money. It is different in the US, where far fewer families are saving money for emergencies and education than their Chinese counterparts
Education
Chinese people value education and career more than Americans, who in turn put more emphasis on good character and faith.
Team VS Individual
Basically China values the community and the US values the individual. If you achieve something in the US, it's because you are great. While in China, if you achieve something it's because the team, or family, or company is great. Everything you do gets attributed to the greater whole, while in America individual merits are celebrated. | high19706.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "plants don't usually flower in cold weather"
},
"options": [
"plants don't usually flower in cold weather",
"people usually wear thick clothes",
"pollen is active below freezing point",
"the weather is too cold for viru... | An allergy is a strong reaction to a substance. Many things can cause allergies. The most common cause is pollen , which is usually produced by trees in the spring, grasses in the summer and weeds in the fall, as part of their reproductive process.
Other causes include organisms, chemicals, plants and dead skin particles from dogs and cats can also cause allergic reactions. So can insect stings and some food.
The most common kind of allergic reactions is itchy , watery eyes and a blocked or watery nose. Allergies can also cause red, itchy skin. Some reactions can be life-threatening, for example, when breathing passages become blocked.
It is not always easy to avoid allergies. Drugs may offer an effective treatment. Another treatment used in some cases is called immunotherapy. A patient is injected with small amounts of the allergy-causing substance. The idea is that larger and larger amounts are given over time until the patient develops resistance in his body.
In the United States, experts estimate that up to 8% of young children have food allergies. Every year these allergies cause about 30,000 cases with severe reactions that require immediate treatment. It can result in breathing trouble and in some cases death. It is said that about 100 to 200 people will die. It is said that most of the reactions are caused by peanuts and tree nuts like walnuts.
People can also be allergic to medicines. The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology says about 10% of bad reactions to commonly used medicines are allergic. In other words, a person's immune system overreacts and produces an allergic reaction. The most common reactions include skin rashes, itching, breathing problems and swelling in areas such as the face. | high4172.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "what we can do to make rainy days interesting"
},
"options": [
"what we can do to make rainy days interesting",
"why rainy days are boring",
"the children never like rainy days",
"the ways to play games with children"
... | Rainy days may ruin some cheerful plans for outdoor activities, but it doesn't have to be boring inside. On the next rainy day, try some of these ideas for a day full of fun:
Tell stories. You might tell old stories you heard when you were growing up, or you might make up some really fascinating stories just for the kids. Let them all have a turn at making up stories of their own.
Play in the kitchen. Let the kids help you cook a pizza or maybe some cookies. Give them a chance to help you in the kitchen and make something delicious. Just make sure they remember that part of cooking is cleaning up.
Write a story together. Let the kids come up with a story of their own. They might want to write stories individually and then read them aloud to others, or they might want to get together and write a story together.
Play "let's pretend" games. Let the kids pretend to be teachers, doctors, nurses or policemen. Let them dress up in whatever you may have. Then let them play the roles. You might even volunteer to be the student or the patient.
Have a party. Let the kids pick out some music and dance around the room. Then,
let them fall all over themselves with laughter, when you show them how it was done when you were a kid.
Use these ideas to get you started, and the kids may actually start wishing for more
rainy days. | high18418.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "It is a day for people to visit the cemetery"
},
"options": [
"It is a day to show love to mothers",
"It is a day to wear carnations",
"It is a day for people to visit the cemetery",
"It is a day for many people to atte... | People in the United States honor their parents with two special days: Mother's Day, on the second Sunday in May, and Father's Day, on the third Sunday in June.
Mother's Day was proclaimed a day for national observance by President Woodrow Wilson in 1915. Ann Jarvis from Grafton, West Virginia, had started the idea to have a day to honor mothers. She was the one who chose the second Sunday in May and also began the custom of wearing a carnation.
In 1909, Mrs. Dodd from Spokane, Washington, thought of the idea of a day to honor fathers. She wanted to honor her own father, William Smart. After her mother died, he had the responsibility of raising a family of five sons and a daughter. In 1910, the first Father's Day was observed in Spokane. Senator Margaret Chase Smith helped to establish Father's Day as a national commemorative day, in 1972.
These days are set aside to show love and respect for parents. They raise their children and educate them to be responsible citizens. They give love and care.
These two special days are celebrated in many different ways. On Mother's Day people wear carnations. A red one symbolizes a living mother. A white one shows that the mother is dead.Many people attend religious services to honor parents. It is also a day when people whose parents are dead visit the cemetery. On these days families get together at home, as well as in restaurants. They often have outdoor barbecues for Father's Day. These are days of fun and good feelings and memories. | high2503.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "proud"
},
"options": [
"sorry",
"proud",
"unhappy",
"responsible"
],
"question": "Nowadays, when we greet people by saying, \"I am so busy\", we feel _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
... | Today our life and work rarely feel light or pleasant. Instead, the whole experience of being alive begins to melt into huge responsibility. It becomes the standard greeting everywhere: I am so busy.
We say this to one another with no small degree of pride. The busier we are, the more important we seem to ourselves and, we imagine, to others. To be unavailable to our friends and family, to be unable to find time for the sunset, to speed through our responsibilities without time for a single mindful breath -- this has become the model of a successful life.
Because we do not rest, we lose our way. We lose the nourishment that gives us help. We miss the quiet that gives us wisdom. Poisoned by the belief that good things come only through tireless effort, we never truly rest.
This is not the world we dreamed of when we were young. How did we get so terribly rushed in a world filled with work and responsibility, yet somehow lack of joy and delight?
We have forgotten the Sabbath . Sabbath is the time to enjoy and celebrate what is beautiful and good -- time to light candles, sing songs, tell stories, bless our children and loved ones, give thanks, share meals, nap and walk. It is time to be nourished and refreshed as we let our work, our chores and our important projects lie fallow, trusting that there are larger forces at work taking care of the world when we are at rest.
Sabbath is more than the absence of work. Many of us, in our desperate drive to be successful and care for our many responsibilities, feel terribly guilty when we take time to rest. But the Sabbath has proven its wisdom over the ages. Many of us still recall when, not long ago, shops and offices were closed on Sundays. Those quiet Sunday afternoons remained in our cultural memory. | high10044.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "To show us how he designed his book."
},
"options": [
"To tell us an interesting story.",
"To introduce his famous work.",
"To make up a sentence with \"what if\".",
"To show us how he designed his book."
],
"qu... | As long as I can remember, I've always loved to draw. But my interest in drawing wasn't encouraged very much. Growing up in the 1950s, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, boys were supposed to be athletic. Certain peer pressures encouraged little fingers to learn how to hold footballs rather than crayons.
My early love for drawing developed into a love for telling stories through pictures. Stories began as fragments of pictures in my mind. I created a story by posing questions to myself. I called it the "what if" and "what then" approach. For example, for my book The Polar Express, I started out by thinking "What if a boy gets on that train? Where does he go?"
From the time I come up with the idea, write and illustrate the book, and deliver it to the printer, it takes about seven months. First, I begin thinking of the idea. Then I imagine the pictures and the story. A good picture book should have events that are visually _ . I first consider scenes that are exciting to look at and then my challenge is to weave a story around those pictures. The next step is putting the illustrations and story down on paper.
When you first look at my illustrations, you see ordinary, everyday things. But if you look closer, things might not seem quite so simple. When I'm writing a book, I always try to create something strange or puzzling in each picture. By using artistic strategies, I can give the drawing a kind of mysterious quality.
All of my books are picture books, so they are generally thought of as books for children. But when I make them, I think of the books as being for everybody -- for people of all ages. When I was a kid, I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up, but now I'm really glad I became an artist and a storyteller. | high8990.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "A young man saved a baby after car crash"
},
"options": [
"A woman lost her life in a car crash",
"A traffic accident in Springvale",
"A young man saved a baby after car crash",
"A young man did what he should do"
]... | A young man named Matt Vongsykeo, 14-year-old, has saved a baby from the wreckage of a car. The four-month-old baby boy, found hanging in his capsule when Vongsykeo climbed into the car in Melbourne's Springvale, escaped serious injury and was taken to hospital.
But the child's 33-year-old mother, from Endeavour Hills, died in hospital following last night's high speed crash, which left three other people injured.
A car on the wrong side of the road is thought to have been traveling at over 100 kph when it hit three other vehicles. Vongsykeo said he heard the crash from his house and found a _ rushed against a wall. He heard a baby crying.
"There were two adults standing outside the car and they couldn't get in, so I had to climbed in and get the baby out," he said. "I had to do it quickly because there was a window below me and I was afraid that was going to break."
Vongsykeo told how he took out the baby in his arms and called to see if there was anyone else in the car. He found the baby's mother unconscious .
"I thought she was dead so I just rushed out." he said. "She entered consciousness later on and I went around and started talking to her and getting her to talk to me and stay with me."
He said he comforted the mother and told her baby was safe.
Vongsykeo refused the idea that he was a hero.
"I've lived for 14 years. If something had happened to me ... I've lived for 14 years. That baby hasn't and I wanted to give him a chance." | high22948.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "They are cheaper than traditional newspapers."
},
"options": [
"They are cheaper than traditional newspapers.",
"They are more convenient to read.",
"You can choose the kind of voice you want to hear.",
"You can easily ... | Sometime in the next century, the familiar early-newspaper on the front porch will disappear. And instead of reading your newspaper, it will read to you. You'll get up and turn on the computer newspaper just like switching on the TV An electronic voice will distribute stories about the latest events, guided by a program that selects the type of news you want. You'll even get to choose the kind of voice you want to hear. Want more information on this brief story? A simple touch makes the entire text appear. Save it in your own personal computer if you like. These are among the predictions from communication experts working on the newspapers of the future. Pictured as part of broader home-based media and entertainment systems, computer newspapers will unite print and broadcast reporting, and offer news and analysis with video images of news events.
Most of the technology is available now, but convincing more people that they don't need to read a newspaper is the next step. But resistance to computer newspapers may be stronger from within journalism. Since it is such a cultural change, it may be that the present generation of journalists and publishers will have to die off before the next generation realizes that the newspaper industry is no longer a newspaper industry. Technology is making the end of ' traditional newspapers unavoidable.
Despite technological advances, it could take decades to replace newsprint with computer screens. It might take 30 t0 40 years to complete the changeover because people need to buy computers and because newspapers have established financial interests in the paper industry. | high6765.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Because the child wanted the parents to consider the method of being parents."
},
"options": [
"Because the child wanted to apologize to its parents.",
"Because the child wanted the parents to consider the method of being parents."... | Dear mommy and daddy,
I write this letter to you in hopes that you should consider your method of parenting me before I arrive. I am a joyous child. I expect love and respect, order and discipline. When I arrive, I will seem very small to you. Even though I don't look like an adult, please understand that I am a human being.
Even though I will not speak words to you, I will know you with my heart. I will feel all your feelings, absorb your thoughts. I will come to know you more than you may know yourself. Do not be misled by my silence. I am open, growing and learning more rapidly than you can imagine.
I will keep in heart all that I see, so please give me sweet music and language that tells me how much I am loved. Give me silence to rest my ears. I will absorb all that I feel, so please wrap life in love.
I am waiting patiently to be with you. I am so happy to have the opportunity to be alive. Maybe when you see me you will remember how precious life is too!
Your joyous child | high9456.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Our ankles are stronger than our wrists."
},
"options": [
"Our ankles are stronger than our wrists.",
"Crawling is an efficient way to work out.",
"The city of Zhengzhou is the origin of crawling.",
"Crawling can burn m... | Every few years comes a fitness trend that has people scratching their heads in amazement. "Crunning" will probably be one of them. The "c" stands for "crawling" . This new sport needs two-legged humans running on all fours!
The funny idea is the brainchild of Shaun McCarthy. The 34-year-old is convinced that it will revolutionize fitness as we know it. According to the sports enthusiast, "The only thing that crunning's changed about fitness is that it's changed everything about fitness."
Mccarthy has no scientific evidence to prove that crunning is more efficient than traditional two-legged running. However, he believes it is a more effective way to exercise because it puts an emphasis on the shoulders and arms, providing a complete body workout. Mccarthy also says crunning seems to tire him out more. He therefore concludes that the unconventional exercise is a bigger calorie burner than normal running.
While experts generally agree that crunning may provide a better workout, many are not sure if it is the right exercise for humans. Fitness coach Kevin Dean says we are not built to be on all fours and our wrists are therefore not as strong as our ankles. He believes crunning, which he calls a fad , could result in bad wrist and shoulder injuries, not to mention broken noses.
But McCarthy is not worried. Since the release of his crunning video a few weeks ago, many Melbourne residents have been seen scampering around on all fours. As it turns out they are not the only ones. In the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, crawling, a much slower version of crunning, has been a favorite activity for many years. According to some enthusiasts, the light exercise that is believed to date back two thousand years to the Han Dynasty, is good for curing back and spine ailments.
Ready to give crunning try? Then Mccarthy recommends investing in some good shoes, hardy gloves and most important of all, a face mask! | high14222.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "keeps himself away from his parents"
},
"options": [
"is always busy with his studies",
"is angry with his parents",
"keeps himself away from his parents",
"begins to dislike his parents"
],
"question": "\"The d... | Parents often believe that they have a good relationship with their teenagers.But last summer,Joanna and Henry noticed a change in their older son:suddenly he seemed to be talking more to his friends than to his parents."The door to his room is always shut,"Joanna noted.
Tina and Mark noticed similar changes in their 14-year-old daughter."She used to cuddle up with me on the sofa and talk,"said Mark."Now we joke that she does this only when she wants something.Sometimes she wants to be treated like a 1ittle girl and sometimes like a young lady.The problem is figuring out which time is which."
Before age 11,children like to tell their parents what's on their minds."In fact,parents are first on the list,"said Michael Riera,author of Uncommon Sense for Parents with Teenagers."This completely changes during the teen years,"Riera explained."They talk to their friends first,then maybe their teachers,and their parents last."
Parents who know what's going on in their teenagers' lives are in the best position to help them.To break down _ ,parents should create chances to understand what their children want to say,and try to find ways to talk and write to them.And they must give their children a mental break,for children also need freedom,though young.Another thing parents should remember is that to be a friend,not a manager,with their children is a better way to know them. | high8748.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "science and research"
},
"options": [
"science and research",
"fame and honor",
"character and spirit",
"persons and things"
],
"question": "The valuable thing to Marie Curie was _ .",
"question_type": "c... | Fame troubled Marie Curie and also her husband, because science was their world and in their world of science fame and honor had no value.
One day, when a writer for a newspaper tried to ask Marie about herself and her thoughts and her belief, she answered him, "In science we must be interested in things, not in persons." Much of the real character and spirit of this unusual woman is found in these few words, which she was later often to repeat. One evening, at a big party, a friend asked if she would like to see the king of Greece, who was also a guest. She answered in her simple manner, "I don't see the value of it." Then, seeing that she had hurt the feeling of her friend, she quickly added, "But...but...of course, I shall do whatever you please, just as you please. | high22790.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Both have chargeable exhibitions."
},
"options": [
"Both have chargeable exhibitions.",
"Both are on the banks of the Thames.",
"Both have vast spaces and special shapes.",
"Both exhibit modern and contemporary art."
... | From the modern London Eye to the historic Tower of London, below are London's most visited tourist attractions. Many of London's top attractions are free, making them affordable places to learn about some culture. Whether you prefer history or modern art, you'll find it at one of these must-visit spots.
British Museum
The world-famous British Museum exhibits the works of man from prehistoric to modern times, from around the world. The most interesting and exciting parts include the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon sculptures and the mummies in the Ancient Egypt collection. Some exhibitions require tickets.
National Gallery
The greatest and most beautiful building of Trafalgar Square, London's National Gallery is a vast space filled with Western European paintings from the 13thto the 19thcenturies. In this impressive art gallery you can find works by masters such as Van Gogh, da Vinci, Botticelli, Constable, Renoir, Titian and Stubbs. Some exhibitions require tickets.
Tate Modern
Sitting on the banks of the Thames is the Tate Modern, Britain's national museum of modern and contemporary art. Its unique shape is due to it being a power station before. The gallery's restaurants offer wonderful views across the city. Some exhibitions require tickets.
Coca-Cola London Eye
The Coca-Cola London Eye is a major feature of London's skyline. It has some of London's best views from its 32 capsules, each weighing 10 tonnes and holding up to 25 people. Climb aboard for a breathtaking experience, with an unforgettable view of more than 55 of London's most famous landmarks -- all in just 30 minutes!
Madame Tussauds
At Madame Tussauds, you'll come face-to-face with some of the world's most famous faces. From Shakespeare to Lady Gaga you'll meet influential figures from show business, sport, politics and even royalty. Strike a pose with Usain Bolt, get close to One Direction or receive a once-in-a-lifetime audience with Her Majesty the Queen. | high12653.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Soil that is not very deep."
},
"options": [
"Changes in their \"body\" or \"habits\".",
"Epiphytes that grow on trees' trunks.",
"Soil that is not very deep.",
"The worsening of the natural environment."
],
"qu... | Plants that live in the rainforest have adapted in amazing ways to several very difficult conditions. This means that the plant has changed something in its "body" or "habits" to make it easier to survive in difficult conditions. There are several conditions they have had to adapted to. First, the soil of the forest floor is shallow. Also, the soil of the rainforest is not very rich, or easy to grow in. Next is the problem of very heavy rain which continues over a large part of the year. Finally, many plants of the rainforest are food for animals that live there.
The biggest problem that rainforest plants have to adapt to is the lack of sunlight in the rainforest's lower levels. Plants have adapted to this problem in several ways. Many plants have very large leaves. The large leaf is helpful because it has a bigger surface area. The bigger surface area a leaf has, the more sunlight it can absorb. The canopy trees adapt by growing to be 100 feet tall so that their leaves can grab all available sunlight. Other plants called lianas have adapted by rooting themselves in the soil of the forest floor and growing up the trees until they reach the canopy layer. Still other plants, such as epiphytes, have adapted by growing directly on the trees' trunks and branches in the canopy and understory layers of the rainforest.
An adaptation to the large amounts of rainfall that many rainforest plants have is called "drip tips". Their leaves are tapered to a sharp point at the end. This allows water to run off the leaf quickly. There are many other adaptations that rainforest plants have made to their environment. These will be discussed in detail, as we investigate the plants of the rainforest! | high18430.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "They should make them appealing to readers."
},
"options": [
"They should make them appealing to readers.",
"They should copy others' ideas.",
"They should change some facts to make them interesting.",
"They should desc... | Write a winning story!
You could win PS1,000 in this year's Fiction Prize and have your story printed in Keep Writing magazine. Ten other lucky people will win a cheque for PS100.
Once again, we need people who can write good stories. The judges, who include Mary Littlejohn, the novelist, Michael Brown, the television reporter, and Susan Hitchins, the editor of Keep Writing, are looking for interesting and original stories. Detective fiction was extremely popular last year, although the competition winner produced a love story. You can write down about whatever you want but here's some advice to start your thinking:
Write about what you know
This is the advice which every writer should pay attention to and, last year, nearly everyone who wrote for us did exactly that. Love, family, problems with friends ---- these were the main subjects of the stories. However, you need to turn ordinary situations into something interesting that people will want to read about. Make the reader want to continue reading by writing about ordinary things in a new and surprising way.
Get your facts right
It's no good giving a description of a town or explaining how a jet engine works if you get it wrong. So avoid writing anything unless you're certain about it.
Hold the reader's attention
Make the beginning interesting and the ending a surprise. There is nothing worse than a poor ending. Develop the story carefully and try to think of something unusual happening at the end.
Think about the characters
Try to bring the people in your story alive for the reader by using well-chosen words to make them seem real.
Your story must be your own work, between 2,000 and 2,5000 words and typed, double-spaced, on one side only of each sheet of paper.
Even if you're in danger of missing the closing date, we are unable to accept stories by fax or email. You must include the application form with your story. Unfortunately your story cannot be returned, nor can we discuss our decisions.
You should not have had any fiction printed in any magazine or book in this country ---- a change in the rules by popular request ---- and the story must not have happened in print or in recorded form, for example on radio or TV, anywhere in the world.
Your fee of PS5 will go to the Writers' Association. Make your cheque payable to Keep Writing and send it with the application form and your story to:
Keep Writing
75 Broad Street Birmingham
B12 4TG
The closing date is 30 July and we will inform the winner within one month of this date. Please note that if you win, you must agree to have your story printed in our magazine. | high5244.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "dog owners have trouble renting"
},
"options": [
"dog owners have trouble renting",
"many people treat their pets badly",
"keeping a dog is easy",
"dogs are too much trouble"
],
"question": "The story suggests t... | Sam, a dog, was left behind in Colorado while his owners, Mr. And Mrs. Green moved to Southern California. They did not give the dog up. They found him a very nice home before they moved. They would have let Sam accompany them, but they were afraid the dog's presence would make it difficult for them to rent a house when they reached their _ .
The Green family lived in Colorado for less than a year. Before that, they had lived in the same neighborhood in California to which they returned. So Sam had been there before, but only for a short time when he was young.
Several months after the Greens left Colorado, after they were comfortably settled back in California, they heard a scratch at the door. They couldn't imagine who might be there. It never occurred to them that it might be Sam, because they were sure he was happily set up with his new family back in Colorado. When they opened the door, the Greens saw a dirty, tired dog with very hurting feet. The animal looked a little bit like Sam, but no one could believe that Sam could have walked 840 miles on his own. The tired dog spent the night under the family car. The next day, when he was more rested, he performed some of his old tricks. The Greens knew they had their own dog back. | high1022.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "they couldn't have children of their own"
},
"options": [
"they knew the children's background very well",
"they wanted to help the children out of trouble",
"they couldn't have children of their own",
"they couldn't be... | Sally Donovan is cooking when a paper plane flies across the kitchen and lands at her feet. She picks it up, unfolds it and finds a child's sketch of a tear-stained face with a speech bubble saying: "I'm sorry I was naughty--I'm a bad person."
Sally, 42, draws a big smiley face on the back of the paper with "I love you, Rose, and we're always going to look after you." Then she folds it up and launches the plane back into the living room where her nine-year-old daughter is watching TV with brother Jamie, 13 and dad Rod, 40.
Jamie often makes pictures for his parents too--like the one showing a swift river with them on one side and him trapped on the other side.
It's one of the many unusual ways that Sally and Rob have learned to communicate emotionally with their abused children in an astonishing eight-year journey of hope, healing and love.
Jamie was just four and half--sister Rose one when they were adopted by the Donovans in 2005. The youngsters had been taken from their natural mother and placed in foster care after a series of cruelty and neglect. They were left alone, hungry, and witnessed home violence on a regular basis.
Sally and Rob spent three years trying for a baby before deciding to adopt, and were well aware of the youngsters' poor background. But they were still unprepared for raising a child permanently scared by abuse or the lack of support on offer.
But now Sally has written a brilliant and heart-touching account of their family struggle in a book called "No Matter What". Sally said: "These kids come to you with a story that what happened to them was their fault--because they are bad and unlovable. To show them they are loveable and none of it was their fault takes a lot of time. They both still say "I'm bad". Jamie is less stuck on it now but whenever life deals him a knock, he will fall back into 'that happened because I am stupid, I'm rubbish, I'm bad'."
Sally's book is humorous, heart-touching and so wildly honest that academics, charity bosses, parents and adoptees are praising it as a major contribution to child welfare work. | high13565.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "look friendly and confident at least for the first few minutes"
},
"options": [
"be sure of yourself without caring about the other's feelings",
"be honest and always tell the whole truth even if it hurts",
"look friendly and... | Have you ever wondered when people will make up their minds to become friends? Dr. Leon answered the question in his book, "During their first four minutes together! Whenever you meet someone in a social situation, remember to focus your undivided attention on him for four minutes. That would change a lot of people's whole lives."
When you are introduced to new people, you are supposed to appear friendly and self-confident to attract them. Generally speaking, "You like those who like you." On the other hand, it's unwise to make others think you are too sure of yourself.
You may not sure about such advice, saying, "But In reality, I'm not either friendly or self-confident. That's not my nature. Wouldn't it be dishonest for me to behave that way?" For that question, Dr. Leon would tell you that a little practice can help you feel comfortable about changing your social habits. You will get used to any changes you choose to make in your personality . "It's like getting used to a new car. It may be unfamiliar at first, but it goes much better than the old."
However, you may still wonder if it's dishonest to give the appearance of friendly and self-confidence while you don't actually feel that way. Perhaps, but according to Dr. Leon, "Entire honesty" is not always good for social relationships, especially during the first few minutes of two strangers' being introduced to each other. There is a time for a certain amount of _ may be the best choice for the first few minutes of contacting a stranger. That is not a suitable time to complain about one's health or to mention shortcomings you find in other people. It is not the right time to tell the whole truth about one's opinions and impressions.
The author also makes it clear that that interpersonal relations need to be regarded as a required course in every school, along with reading, writing, and mathematics. In his opinion, success in life depends mainly on how you get along with other people. That is at least as important as how much you know. | high8760.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "a computer game on climate change"
},
"options": [
"a book on computer games",
"a company developing computer games",
"a computer game on climate change",
"a player in charge of computer games"
],
"question": "\... | Ever wondered how one person could save the planet from the effects of climate change?
A British-made computer game on trial release on Monday creates different ways of doing just that.
"Fate of the World"puts the Earth's future in players' hands, placing them in charge of an international environmental body which could save the world from the effects of rising greenhouse gas emissions or let it destroyed by more emissions.
Through different scenes, players can explore options such as geoengineering and alternative energy sources to save the planet from rising temperatures, decreasing natural resources and a growing population over the next 200 years.
An improved version of the game will be followed by a three-month feedback period from players, with final release due in February next year.
Created by Oxford-based games developer Red Redemption, the game is different from other mainstream action games mainly by using data from real climate models and advice from scientists and economists.
"Science data is often inaccessible and we are trying to put players in a position of power and connected with the issues," Gobion Rowlands, Red Redemption's founder and chairman said.
This year, a series of apparent errors in climate science and the failure of UN talks to reach an international deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions appeared to weaken the public's interest in climate change.
However, games centered on sustainability and human rights have been growing in popularity and are welcomed by green groups as a way of raising awareness.
Using climate change as inspiration for entertainment shows the issue has affected global culture, which can only be a good thing.Friends of the Earth's head of climate Mike Childs said."We need creative industries to work with these big issues as the results can be extremely powerful and can help us to understand what a sustainable future looks and feels like,"he added. | high15114.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Jessica didn't really like working as a lawyer."
},
"options": [
"Jessica didn't really like working as a lawyer.",
"Jessica didn't know what she truly loved for ten years.",
"Jessica wasn't satisfied with the pay she got as ... | Both of Jessica's parents were lawyers and expected her to follow suit. So she went to law school, got a job at a great firm in Washington, DC, and worked as a lawyer for a decade. But her heart was never in it. "I had a big salary but no personal satisfaction," she says.
Jessica found pleasure in the same thing that had brought her joy since joining the church choir at the age of 12. "Singing always felt like communicating something real at a spiritual and emotional level," says Jessica. Yet she never considered it a career option. "That seemed like something people did in fairy tales, and I would never let my parents down," she says.
It was her mom's diagnosis of brain cancer in 2009 that made Jessica realize she had to write her own happy-ever-after. "Work was busy and my mother was _ . So I was flying back and forth from Washington, DC to Houston to see her," Jessica says. "I finally said, 'Enough!' and quit." While caring for her mom, Jessica made a plan. She would spend her savings and study music for a year, and then open a part-time law practice so she could pursue her passion. Before her mother passed away two years later, she encouraged Jessica to follow her dream. Her song Live This Life was inspired by her mom, and her dad came to watch her perform at clubs.
In 2012, Jessica moved to Nashville to try singing and songwriting. A decade of presenting cases in court gave her the confidence to sing for a crowd. "At 20, I would have been too shy to perform," says Jessica.
"Doing music is so free," Jessica says. "There's no pressure to be a star. Success, to me, isn't a dollar amount or a record deal; it's doing what I love." | high7453.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Chinese has become popular among foreign kids."
},
"options": [
"Chinese has become popular among foreign kids.",
"Chinese can be more difficult to learn.",
"In America, Chinese is the second most popular foreign language aft... | While English is getting more important in our schools, Chinese has become popular among foreign kids. But Chinese can be more difficult to learn. At least 16-year-old Piao Chenglong thinks so. "English is easier for me. Chinese characters have too many strokes ," said Piao. "But I want to learn it. I want to study at Peking University when I grow up." Piao is from South Korea. He came to China in 2008.
In South Korea, there are more than 300000 Chinese learners like Piao. Some South Korean students begin to learn to write the language on their first day at school. To help students learn Chinese, South Korea holds speaking competitions for high school students every year.
Chinese isn't just popular in South Korea. People from all the world want to learn it. The Chinese Ministry of Education says that nearly 130 million people from 85 countries are learning Chinese. This number will be increasing to 800 million in the coming years.
In America, Chinese is the second most popular foreign language after Spanish. Some American middle schools have Chinese classes. Students learn to make jiaozi and tie Chinese knots . Some even try to write and draw in Chinese way!
People want to learn Chinese because China is becoming such an important country. Foreign countries want to understand China better to help them with business. The Chinese government is also helping the world learn Chinese. It has sent more than 200 Chinese teachers to more than 60 countries in the world. Many more Confucious College will be set up in the world. These colleges will teach Chinese to foreign students. | high8006.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "a good writer may not be a good speaker"
},
"options": [
"a good writer may not be a good speaker",
"a good writer is always a good speaker",
"a speechless person always writes well",
"a good writer will find himself sp... | Have you ever heard the old saying ,"Never judge a book by its cover" ?This is a good rule to follow when trying to judge the intelligence of others. Some people have minds that shine only in certain situations. A young people with an unusual gift in writing may find himself speechless in the presence of a pretty girl when he speaks. He may not be able to find the right words. But don't make mistake of thinking him stupid, with a pen and a paper, he can express himself better than anybody .
Other people may fool you into overestimating their intelligence by putting up a good front. A student who listens attentively and takes notes in class is sure to make a favorable impression on his teachers. But when it comes to exams, he may score near the bottom of the class .
It all boils down to this: you can't judge someone by appearance. The only way to determine a person's intelligence is to get to know him. Then you can see how he reacts to different situations. The more situation you see, the better your judgment is likely to be. So take your time. Don't judge a book by its cover . | high15672.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "The dying soldier was filled with love."
},
"options": [
"The dying soldier was filled with love.",
"Lincoln only signed his name in the letter instead of the soldier's.",
"The soldier was the only child in his family.",
... | President Abraham Lincoln often visited hospitals to talk with wounded soldiers during the Civil War.Once,Lincoln went over to the bedside of a young dying soldier.
"Is there anything I can do for you?"asked the President. The soldier obviously didn't recognize Lincoln, and with some effort he was able to whisper, "Would you please write a letter to my mother?"
So the President carefully began writing down the soldier's words,"My dearest mother, I was badly hurt while doing my duty. I'm afraid I'm not going to recover. Don't _ too much for me, please. Kiss my sister Mary for me.May God bless you and Father."
The soldier was too weak to continue, so Lincoln signed the letter for him and added, "Written for your son by Abraham Lincoln."The young man asked to see the note and was astonished when he discovered who had written it."Are you really the President?"he asked. "Yes, I am,"replied Lincoln quietly.Then he asked if there was anything else he could do."Would you please hold my hand?"asked the soldier."It will help to see me through to the end."
In the quiet room, the tall gaunt President took the soldier's hand and spoke warm words of encouragement until death came. | high7335.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "night owls may earn more money than morning people"
},
"options": [
"morning people will probably find good jobs and earn a lot",
"morning people show higher intelligence from an early age",
"night owls may earn more money th... | Early risers are most likely to be healthy, wealthy and wise, according to the old saying. But those who are early to bed and early to rise do not always have advantages, researchers say. They have found that night owls are generally brighter and wealthier than those who are able to get up early in the morning.
Experts from the University of Madrid carried out tests on around 1,000 teenagers and found that those who preferred to stay up late showed the kind of intelligence to find good jobs and earn much money. Larks or "morning people", however, often get better exam results, possibly because lessons are held at the wrong time of day for night owls.
The researchers examined the habits and body clocks of the young people to determine whether they liked to stay up late and sleep later in the morning, or preferred to go to bed early and were at their best state in the morning. School performance and problem solving ability, were judged and test grades in the major subjects were also taken into consideration.
Jim Horne, professor of psychophysiology at Loughborough University, said: "Evening types tend to be the more creative types, the poets, artists and inventors, while the morning types are considered to be civil servants and accountants . " | high9318.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Hopeless."
},
"options": [
"Hopeless.",
"Curious.",
"Confused.",
"Energetic."
],
"question": "Which word can best describe the author's feeling after visiting the doctor?",
"question_type": null
},
{
... | Just 10 years ago, I sat across the desk from a doctor. "Yes," he said, "there is something wrong with the left, upper lobe . You have a moderately advanced case... You'll have to give up work at once and go to bed. Later on, we'll see."
Feeling like a man who is in midcareer has suddenly been placed under sentence of death, I left the doctor's office, walked over to the park, and sat down on a bench. I needed to think. In the next 3 days, I cleared up my affairs, then I went home, got into bed, and set my watch to tick off not the minutes, but the months. Two years later, I left my bed and began the long climb back. It was another year before I made it.
I speak of this experience because _ that passed so slowly taught me what to value and what to believe. I realise now that this world I'm living in is not my oyster to be opened but my opportunity to be grasped. Each day, to me, is a precious thing. The sun comes up and presents me with 24 brandnew, wonderful hours--not to pass, but to fill.
I've learned to appreciate those little, allimportant things I never thought I had the time to notice before:the play of light on running water, the music of the wind in my favourite pine tree. I seem now to see and hear and feel with some of the recovered freshness of childhood. How well, for instance, I recall the touch of the springy earth under my feet the day I first stepped upon it after the years in bed.
Frequently, I sit back and say to myself, "Let me make note of this moment I'm living right now, because in it I'm well, happy and hard at work doing what I like best to do. It won't always be like this, so while it is, I'll make the most of it--and afterwards, I remember--and be grateful. All this, I owe to that long time spent on the sidelines of life." | high13203.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "his interest, method and study environment"
},
"options": [
"his interest, method and study environment",
"practiced skills on Chinese expression",
"his cleverness",
"special humour with a Peking accent"
],
"que... | With his standard Mandarin pronunciation, practiced skills on Chinese expressions and special humor with a Peking accent, Dashan has become a household name acrossprefix = st1 /China.
People have always wondered how the 36-year-old Canadian can be so skillful in the Chinese language even though it is considered by many as one of the most difficult languages in the world. But to Dashan, the great challenge was _ due to his deep interest, proper method and the excellent environment he created for himself.
"Interest is the best teacher." That is a universal principle. Even if he hadn't fully realized what attracted him to the Chinese department at the University of Toronto inCanada, he was already deeply interested in Chinese culture when he decided to have further study inBeijing.
Entering the Chinese department ofPekingUniversityin 1988, Dashan felt like a duck in water. Study is always a hard job, no matter how much interest you have. Therefore, effective ways are necessary to improvement. " _ " is Dashan's belief.
As a freshman at theUniversityofToronto, the student did study the textbooks. They did help him build a solid foundation.
However, that's far from enough to grasp the Chinese language. Starting in his junior year, Dashan began to read original Chinese novels, Chinese newspapers and even the Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping. "Only the material for Chinese native readers could give me a proper sense of the language," he said.
That the language is the daily means of communication is the principle that Dashan always keeps in his mind. What you have really learned depends on what you can use, not necessarily your mastery of textbooks.
To learn in daily life requires a favourable language environment, which is also necessary for improvement. Dashan admits it is hard for Chinese English learners to be brought into a good English speaking environment, but he insists, "To listen and speak as much as possible does help." | high18356.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "It is used to make water clean."
},
"options": [
"It can move very fast.",
"It is extremely beautiful.",
"It is used to make water clean.",
"It is made of eco-friendly materials."
],
"question": "What is special... | President Barack Obama rode a bicycle at the White House Science Fair on April 22. But it wasn't an ordinary bike. As he pedaled, the President stayed in place, while the energy from his pedaling powered a water filtration system. He was testing an invention created by a team of 14 students from Northeast High School, in Oakland Park, Florida.
Payton Karr, 16, and Kiona Elliot, 18, attended the fair as representatives of the project."We were hoping President Obama would ride the bike, but we didn't actually expect him to," Payton told TFK. " It really meant a lot." Kiona agreed. "It was pretty awesome to see the invention, which was invented by a group of 14 high school students and one teacher, along with the help of community members, got the interest of the leader of our nation," she said.
The project was an idea that came about after one of the Northeast students, Kalie Hoke, visited Haiti after the terrible 2010 earthquake and saw how difficult it was to find clean water. The students invented a portable , bicycle-powered emergency water filtration system, which can provide 20-30 people with drinking water in a 15-hour period. The teens hope their invention will one day be used by relief organizations like the Red Cross. " They can take it to places after natural disasters so that water can be clean for the people there," said Payton.
Payton and Kiona were among the 100 students from more than 40 states invited to the third annual White House Science Fair, in Washington, D.C., which is also attended by leaders in science and education. President Obama started the event in 2010 to _ students interested in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths)."Well, if you're a young person and you produce the best experiment or design, you ought to be recognized for that achievement," Obama said when he first announced the fair.
President Obama praised the projects during a speech to attendees after the fair. "The science fair projects of today could become the products and businesses of tomorrow," he said. "If you're inventing things in the third grade, what are you going to do by the time you get to college?" | high5522.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the pilot's qualification"
},
"options": [
"the unusual thick fog",
"the pilot's qualification",
"the air traffic controller",
"the airline company"
],
"question": "According to the passage, it was _ that ma... | Has anyone been prepared for the possibility that unexpected poor visibility will stop the pilot from landing? If your pilot is forced to turn back only for his lack of passing a certain test, you will be certainly shocked. This very thing happened to the passengers on Flight BE1431 on Thursday. Just minutes before landing on Charles de Gaulle Airport , Paris, the pilot, a very experienced one, told his passengers, "Unfortunately I'm not qualified to land in Paris for the poor visibility. To do so a level II qualification is required, which I have not gained. We'll have to fly back." Then, you may guess how the passengers felt about their flight back to the starting airport.
A spokeswoman said the pilot was really experienced with more than 30 years flying a number of different passenger aircraft types. "But he has recently transferred from flying aBQ300 to aBQ400, so hehas to regain his qualification for landing in such conditions as the thick fog he experienced this time," she said. "The pilot, therefore, quite correctly turned the aircraft back, a decision 100 percent accepted by the aviation officials in the company."
One passenger said she had missed an appointment for an interview in prefix = st1 /Paris. "I might have had a nice chance to work inParis," she told the local newspaper. "The whole thing sounds hard to believe. If I had not been on the plane, I would take it as a funny story!"
The British Civil Aviation Authority described the incident as one that was "quite unusual but probably not unheard of," because there are different classifications of aircraft with different qualifications for landing in different climatic conditions and when an aircraft is updated, the pilots have to get retrained, even though they have enough skills to do the job successfully.
Poor pilot, it's not really his fault... | high17065.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "his mother left home for an operation"
},
"options": [
"they moved to Texas",
"his mother told them all she wanted was for them to be happy",
"his mother left home for an operation",
"his mother died"
],
"questi... | People say that a mother's love knows no boundaries. This is true when it comes to my mother. She has given up many things so that my sisters and I could live a better life.
My mother comes from a large family and her parents died when she was quite young. She dropped out of school when she was fifteen because no one could afford to pay her studies. At the age of 19, she married my father and when they had my sisters and I, they moved to the United States so that we could have a better life. My parents did not know English but somehow they communicated with other people. My mother stayed at home and raised us while my father was working. There were so many dangerous incidents that happened where we lived that my mother finally decided that we all moved to Texas when I was seven.
My mother has worked so hard to give us everything. She always tells us that all she wants is for us to be happy.
As the saying goes, "You don't appreciate something until it's gone." Well, I finally had a chance to experience it. My mother went to Mexico this winter because she needed to have an operation. For the first time in my life, my mother was not there to hold and comfort me. Those two weeks when she was away made me realize how much I love her. All she has done for me is incredible. When I suffer she suffers with me. I have to show her how much I care about her. She means the world to me. | high19048.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "1786"
},
"options": [
"1781",
"1786",
"1787",
"1791"
],
"question": "Robert was not officially accepted by readers until _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_inde... | Robert Burns, the son of a hard-working and intelligent farmer, was the oldest of seven children. Although always hard pressed financially, their father encouraged his sons with their education. As a result, Burns not only read the Scottish poetry of Ramsay and the collections by Hailes and Herd, but also the works of Pope, Locke, and Shakespeare.
By 1781, Burns had tried his hand at several agricultural jobs without success. Although he had begun writing, and his poems were spread widely in manuscript , none were published until 1786, when Burns published Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (1786), which was an immediate success. Later Burns brought out a second edition of his poems at Edinburgh in 1787, and for two winters he was socially active in the Scottish city. In 1788 he retired to a farm at Ellis land. By 1791 Burns had failed as a farmer, and he moved to Dumfries, where he held a position as a tax collector. He died of illness at 37.
Burns's art is at its best in songs such as My Heart's in the Highlands. Some of his songs, such as Auld Lang Syne and Comin' thro' the Rye, are among the most familiar and best-loved songs in the English language. But his talent was not limited to songs; two descriptive pieces, Tam o' Shanter and The Jolly Beggars, are among his masterpieces.
Burns had a fine sense of humor, which was reflected in his satirical , descriptive, and playful poems. His great popularity with the Scots lay in his ability to describe the life of his fellow rural Scots. His use of dialect brought an energetic, much-needed freshness into English poetry. | high3153.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "China's family planning"
},
"options": [
"China's population",
"China's family planning",
"China's late marriage",
"China's childbirth"
],
"question": "What is the passage about?",
"question_type": null
},... | China is the country with the largest population in the world. Too many people cause many problems such as food problem. And today, China's population is still growing very
fast. So in order to control the population, China has formulated the policy of family planning, that is late marriage, late childbirth and having fewer but healthier children. Men of 22 years old and women of 20 years can get married. If a man of 25 or over 25 gets married with a wo-man of 23 or over 23 , their marriage is late marriage. Childbirth by a woman at the age of 23 or late is a late childbirth. The country encourages people to have only one child. Family planning is a useful policy to control China's population. And it is still needed in China in the following years. | high20811.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "unreasonable"
},
"options": [
"unreasonable",
"criminal",
"harmful",
"costly"
],
"question": "It is commonly accepted in American society that too much sleep is _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
}... | American society is not nap -friendly. In fact, says David Dinges, a sleep specialist at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, "There's even a prohibition against admitting we need sleep". Nobody wants to be caught napping or found asleep at work. To quote a proverb: "Some sleep five hours, nature requires seven, laziness nine and wickedness eleven."
Wrong. The way not to fall asleep at work is to take naps when you need them. "We have to totally change our attitude toward napping," says Dr. William Dement of Stanford University, the godfather of sleep research.
Last year a national commission led by Dement identified an " _ " which one member said was as important as the national debt. The commission was concerned about the dangers of sleepiness: people causing industrial accidents or falling asleep while driving. This may be why we have a new sleep policy in the White House. According to recent reports, President Clinton is trying to take a ha1f-hour snooze every afternoon.
About 60 percent of American adults nap when given the opportunity. We seem to have "a mid afternoon quiet phase," also called "a secondary sleep gate." Sleeping 15 minutes to two hours in the early afternoon can reduce stress and make us refreshed. Clearly, we were born to nap.
We Superstars of Snooze don't nap to replace lost shut-eye or to prepare for a night shift.Rather, we "snack" on sleep, whenever, wherever and at whatever time we feel like it. I myself have napped in buses, cars, planes and on boats; on floors and beds; and in libraries, offices and museums. | high2259.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Some choices for monitoring and controlling kid's internet use"
},
"options": [
"More and more kids have mobile internet access",
"Some choices for monitoring and controlling kid's internet use",
"It is difficult to monitor a... | If your child has mobile internet access, it will be more difficult to monitor and control his or her internet use. Kids are turning to the internet for everything from hanging out with friends to shopping, which makes it harder for parents to keep track of their online activities. Fortunately, there are many choices for controlling what your kids see on their computers, laptops, and mobile devices.
Content blockers and filters are great tools to use for younger kids. They allow you more control over where they go and what they do online. A content blocker can block some unhealthy websites or limit a child's search to the kind of sites. A content filter can scan sites and pictures and block those sites that contain certain words, key phrases, or content.
Consider tracking software for older teenagers. This software enables you to see which sites your children have visited, tracking their path online. This tool gives young people more freedom to explore the Internet, but it also allows you to check that they are using the internet responsibly. Let your teenagers know that you trust them, but that you will be regularly checking that they are visiting appropriate sites online.
Even if you use content blockers, filters, and trackers, you know that a lot of kids figure out ways to get around these, so it's important to remain alert . Remember that not all adult sites can be identified by blocker, filter, or tracker software. That's why it's important to talk to your kids about what to do when something inappropriate or scary comes up. Nothing can replace involvement and supervision by adults. Keep monitoring how your kids use the internet on a regular basis without getting into the role of internet traffic police. | high5536.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Book lovers."
},
"options": [
"Students.",
"Educators.",
"Book lovers.",
"Parents."
],
"question": "Who is the potential readers of the passage ?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answe... | Goodreads. com is a website for book lovers everywhere. If you love to read, and if you love social networking, you should check out Goodreads. The website marries social networking and books in such a way as makes your friends' reading progress easy to follow and makes it simpler than ever to find your next reading material. Goodreads is a social network for readers. Like Facebook or Twitter, it allows you to share information. Unlike most popular social networks, Goodreads also allows you to show your friends your progress on the book you are reading and to write reviews for everything you've ever read. You can see and comment on your friends' reading progress.
Goodreads is simple to use. When you sign up for an account, you will be able to find your friends by their email addresses or other social network accounts. Once you have some friends, every time you log in, you will see a timeline of their updates. You can see when they've added a book to a list, or when they've finished or reviewed a book. As soon as you have an account, you can also start looking for books you've read or that you want to read and added them to your lists. Once you finish reading a book, you can go to the book page and review it by giving it any number out of five stars. If you wish to write a longer review, you can do that, too.
If you have ever finished a book and needed a recommendation for what to read next, Goodreads has the answer. Finding your next book has never been easier. Now, not only can you search for individual books you know you want to read and add them to your "to read" list, but you can also easily see what your friends have recently read. When you search through your friends' reviews, you can also see who likes what books, making your selection process even easier. Adding books to your "to read" list can help you keep track of what you want to read next, and seeing what books your friends enjoy - or don't enjoy- can help you better your list of books to read next.
Like all good social networks, Goodreads has apps for mobile phones and ways to connect to other social networks. You can get Goodreads for iphone and Android by downloading them from the App Store or Andorid Market.
You can also connect your Facebook and Twitter accounts so all of your networks know what you're reading. Furthermore, you can connect your Amazon Kindle to automatically update your progress on your e-books. Last but not least , you can set up Goodreads to auto- publish book reviews to your Wordpress or blog. Sharing your favorite books has never been easier .
If you want to create a web space for your own book club, you can do that easily; just start a new group on Goodreads and update the page to show what books you're reading. You can also create events to easily share with members where and when book club meetings and author readings are taking place. Goodreads. com is young, but we will do our best to attract more people and we hope you can use it and give us your advice. | high18342.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "People's music preferences have deep connections with their social lives"
},
"options": [
"People's music preferences have deep connections with their social lives",
"Children don't like the songs that their parents like because th... | Our lives and our songs
Do you ever listen to the songs that your parents like? Chances are that you don't. You probably think the music that they like is old and dull and that the songs on your playlist are much cooler.
But here is what scientists found recently : People's music tastes change as they age, according to a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. So it is likely that your own musical preferences will follow a similar path to your parents', whether you like it or not.
We used to think that culture and personality are the only factors that affect one's music choice. But researchers at the University of Cambridge, UK, gathered data from more than 250,000 people over the past 10 years. They noticed that as people age, their social circumstances change, and so does their music taste.
There are three musical periods that people pass through as they mature -- "intense ", "contemporary" and " sophisticated ".
The first period comes in the teenage years , during which people like intense music such as punk and rock because teenagers tend to be aggressive and want to establish their identities as independent individuals.
But as people move into early adulthood, their lifestyle changes --they socialize more and want to build close relationships with others. As a result, they become more fond of contemporary music ,such as pop and R&B, which is usually uplifting and danceable and played at parties where people hang out together and chat.
When middle age comes, things have settled down for most people. This period will be dominated by more "sophisticated" music, such as jazz and classical, as well as more catchy music like country, folk and blues.
" For many , this life stage is frequently exhausted by work and family, and there is a requirement for relaxing , emotive music,"Jason Rentfrow, a research member , told The Telegraph.
But you must be thinking : "Aren't there old people who are still into rock music ?"
Of course there are. But Rentfrow explained that their reasons for listening to rock music may have changed. " We use music for different reasons," he said , and thus at that age people may listen to remind themselves of their youths. | high17071.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "learn squirrels' influence on black walnut trees"
},
"options": [
"find out the living conditions for squirrels",
"learn squirrels' influence on black walnut trees",
"do something to get rid of squirrels",
"save the for... | Winter begins in the north on December 22nd. People and animals have been doing what they always do to prepare for the colder months. Squirrels , for example, have been busy gathering nuts from trees. Well, scientists have been busy gathering information about what the squirrels do with the food they collect.
They examined differences between red squirrels and gray squirrels in the American state of Indiana. The scientists wanted to know how these differences could affect the growth of black walnut trees. The black walnut is the nut of choice for both kinds of squirrels. The black walnut tree is also a central part of some hardwood forests.
Rob Swihart of Purdue University did the study with Jake Goheen, a former Purdue student now at the University of New Mexico. The two researchers estimate that several times as many walnuts grow when gathered by gray squirrels as compared to red squirrels. Gray squirrels and red squirrels do not store nuts and seeds in the same way. Gray squirrels bury nuts one at a time in a number of places. But they seldom remember where they buried every nut. So some nuts remain in the ground. Conditions are right for them to develop and grow the following spring. Red squirrels, however, store large groups of nuts above ground. Professor Swihart calls " _ ".
Gray squirrels are native to Indiana. But Professor Swihart says their numbers began to decrease as more forests were cut for agriculture. Red squirrels began to spread through the state during the past century.
The researchers say red squirrels are native to forests that stay green all year, unlike walnut trees. They say the cleaning of forest land for agriculture has helped red squirrels invade Indiana. Jake Goheen calls them a sign of an environmental problem more than a cause. | high4628.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "To buy some books from a bookstore."
},
"options": [
"To prepare for a meal.",
"To arrange the furniture in a special way.",
"To buy some books from a bookstore.",
"To \"write\" a letter with the computer."
],
"... | If you look up the word "create" in the dictionary , you will find it means "to bring into being, to cause something each of us does daily to exist".
We are creative whenever we look at or think about something in a new way. First, this includes an awareness of our surroundings.It means using all of our senses to become aware of our world.This may be as simple as being aware of color and texture , as well as taste, when we plan a meal.Above all, it is the ability to notice things that others might miss.
A second part of creativity is an ability to see relationships among things.There is nothing new under the sun. The creativity is remaking or recombining the old in new ways. For example, we might do this by finding a more effective way to study or a better way to arrange our furniture, or we might make a new combination of camera lenses and filters to create an unusual photograph.
A third part of creativity is the courage and drive to make use of our new ideas, to ask for them to achieve some new results.To think up a new idea is one thing; to put the idea to work is another.
These three parts of creativity are included in all the great works of geniuses, but they are also included in many of our day-to-day activities.(257 words) | high11400.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "In a movie poster"
},
"options": [
"In a science magazine.",
"In a biology report.",
"In a student's textbook.",
"In a movie poster"
],
"question": "Where can we most probably find this text?",
"question_typ... | The Ant Bully
Actor: Julia Roberts -- Hova(voice) Nicolas Cage--Zoc (voice)
Language: English
Run Time: 1Hour 25 Minutes
Price: Mon--Fri$30(VIP:18) $ 15 (Children under 7)
Sat.--Sun.--$40 (VIP:28) $ 20 (Children under 7)
Lucas Nickel is often bullied by the big boy in his neighborhood. Because he cannot fight back, he takes out his anger on an anthill in his front yard. He stamps it, squirts it with his water gun, and floods it. One wizard ant, Zoc, makes Lucas as little as an ant and Lucas has to work and live in the ants' county. During his staying with the ants, Lucas learns the value of friendship and teamwork, and finally gains the things he wants most: friendship and the courage to stand up for himself.
I really enjoyed this movie. It's a fun movie for the whole family. I had really good laughs and enjoyed being there. --James
I went to see this film today with my 8-year-old daughter, really without knowing too much about it. My daughter and I were pleasantly surprised at how funny it was. We just couldn't help laughing. I would recommend this film for the whole family. --Mary
I've seen several movies of this kind, like Antz or Bugs Life, but this one blows them both away as having greater movie qualities. The film is so well made --some of the scenes are unbelievably beautiful. --John
I would recommend their movie to everyone. Whether you go with family or friends, I honestly think this movie has something you will really enjoy. --Sam | high20805.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "had trouble walking and talking"
},
"options": [
"was unconscious of everything",
"had trouble walking and talking",
"got over injuries completely",
"went back to her work"
],
"question": "Within five years afte... | Ginny Ruffner is one of the best-known glass artists in the United States. Her one-of-a-kind pieces are colorful, detailed and often humorous. Over the years, she became famous for a method called lamp working, also known as flame working. It involves using a torch to melt and shape the glass instead of blowing on it.
Ginny Ruffner almost died in a three-car accident in 1991. No one thought the Seattle-based artist would ever walk or talk again. An award-winning film documentary explores that period of her life. "It's scary when you can't talk, you can't do... all your life." said Ruffner.
Ms. Ruffner was in a coma for five weeks and a wheelchair for five years. But she overcame her injuries. And although she still has difficulty walking and talking, she has willed herself back to work. Now, she has a team that helps bring her dream to life.
Her team recently finished an eight point five meter-high flowerpot made of steel and aluminum. It is now in downtown Seattle. Ms. Ruffner was recently honored in Washington, DC. The Renwick Gallery presented a special showing of the film, "A Not So Still Life, the Ginny Ruffner Story."
Ms. Ruffner says "it has been a long battle, but the hardest part has not been the physical problems. I hate being taken for granted, being ignored. The way I talk, people assume that I'm either really old, or kind of retarded , and that is so frustrating."
But she is firm. She says "Fortunately I've done a lot of stuff in my life, so I know that the best thing is to be open to the mystery, who knows what great things will happen. I'm sure they're many more to come."
Ginny Ruffner's art can be seen in more than forty museums around the world. Her work and her life continue to motivate people of all ages. | high15666.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "To advise the readers to learn a local language when abroad."
},
"options": [
"To share his or her experience of learning a foreign language.",
"To tell the readers the advantages of knowing a foreign language.",
"To give the... | When I started a degree in English language, I hadn't intended to study abroad, not to mention starting learning German. But having recently returned from my year abroad in Germany, I can say that making the effort to learn the language really enriched my experience.
With language translation technology advancing all the time, it's convenient to rely on Google Translate and smartphone apps without having to learn the language. But a second language shouldn't be a luxury . Researchers have discovered that much language learning can increase the size of your brain in as little as three months. From my own experience, learning the language lets you travel beyond the well-known tourist paths, gain a real student experience and widen your social network beyond the international circle.
The process of learning German abroad was completely different from my language course at university, where students sat quietly and stumbled through spoken exercises. Instead, language learning abroad was energetic and part of my lifestyle - from chatting with sales assistants to preparing speeches with course mates. It meant being part of the local area.
Visiting language exchange cafes - where international and German students meet to improve their European language - was a great way to practice in a relaxed space and meet a wide range of people. Not being afraid to make mistakes is important to learn a language. By giving up that comfortable phrase " _ " (I speak only a little German), I made progress and it was praised by friends and locals alike.
Germany has a lively theater scene and learning the language meant I was able to get more entertainment and an understanding of German culture.
Even when it comes to eating out, knowing the language works to your advantage. In more than a few traditional German restaurants, the English menus didn't contain all the dishes listed on the German menus.
Learning the language has saved me from getting on the wrong train, after last-minute platform changes were announced in German.
So why not learn the local language in your year abroad? It'll improve your employability while letting you take part fully in local life. | high8012.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "They are willing to take difficult tasks."
},
"options": [
"They should be given top jobs.",
"They are willing to take difficult tasks.",
"They are better than those who are competent and intelligent.",
"They must have ... | Today, when there are many top graduates looking for top jobs, graduates can differentiate themselves by obtaining a double major or even a double degree. Increasingly, employers are looking for individuals who are not only competent and intelligent, but who have different skill sets and who are knowledgeable in many areas. Part of the appeal to employers is that your extra work demonstrates a willingness to take on difficult tasks. Additionally, if your majors overlap , you are able to show potential employers that you have both _ and depth of knowledge.
By studying for a double major, although you will be studying for only one degree, you will be focusing on two related and integrated subjects that complement each other. Classes overlap between the majors, meaning fewer classes are required than with a double degree, so it is easier to finish within four years.
In contrast, with the more rigorous double degree, you will be studying for two different degrees in two completely different areas of study. Although pursuing such a course of study allows students to complete two wholly separate degrees in less time than if they were to earn them separately, many strong students still find it incredibly difficult to complete in four or five years.
If you are committed to a double major/degree, it is wise to do a little bit of planning. Some students try to find two courses of studies that are related, while others seek to round out their academic studies by choosing two completely unrelated fields.
For double majors, common pairings include: (i) economics and a foreign language; (ii) political science or government and journalism; (iii) economics and psychology.
For double degrees, common pairings include: (i) engineering and a business program such as finance or accounting; (ii) engineering and economics. | high1988.txt |
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"answer_text": "How to beat test anxiety."
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"question": "The best title of the pas... | Do you blank out or feel so nervous in exams that you have trouble writing answers to questions that you knew just last night? If so, you likely have a case of test anxiety.
But, don't be afraid. By recognizing the problem, you are taking the first step towards overcoming it.
Believe it or not, a touch of nervousness can sharpen your mind, allowing you to perform more quickly. This is because under stress, the body releases the hormone adrenaline , which prepares it for something important that will happen. However, too much anxiety can result in sleeplessness, loss of appetite before tests, and poor performance. Some people might feel hot and tired. With great anger they often shout or complain for no reason.
If you worry a lot or are a perfectionist, you are more likely to have trouble with test anxiety. Those who have prepared poorly for a test or have had negative experiences taking tests may also experience test anxiety.
When you feel a storm of anxiety coming on, stop what you're doing and make your mind a blank. If possible, actually tell yourself to 'STOP!' This will get your mind off the stress.
Then think of being at a place of comfort and let your body relax. As you continue the test, find questions you know the answers to and answer them first. This will help restore your confidence.
Important of all, talk to yourself using positive language. Make it a habit to replace each negative thought with a logical reason. For example: "I've studied hard and I know the material, so I'm ready to do the best I can."
Another thing you can do is to learn to accept mistakes. In fact, they can be valuable learning opportunities.
Last but not least, start test preparation early - three to five days ahead of the quiz or test. After all, good study habits and skills - for example, time management and note-taking - will give you the feeling that you are in control. | high7321.txt |
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