questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "may be held by your bus driver until you need them"
},
"options": [
"will be sent to you at your departure point",
"will be kept by yourself",
"will be given to you with other documents",
"may be held by your bus driver... | Luggage
We ask you to keep what you bring with you down to one mediumsized suitcase per person on board the bus.
Seat Arrangements
Special needs for particular seats can be made on most bus breaks when booking, but since arrangements are made on a firstcomefirstserved basis, early booking is advisable. When bookings are made with us, you will be offered the best seats we have on the bus at that time.
Travel Documents
When you have paid your deposit , we will send you all the necessary documents, so that you receive them in good time before the bus break departure date. Certain documents, for example, air or boat tickets, may have to be kept and your driver or guide will then give them to you at the proper time.
Special Diets
If you need a special diet, you must tell us at the time of booking and provide us with a copy of the diet. This will be passed on to the hotel or hotels on your bus break. However, on certain bus breaks, the hotels used are tourist class and they may not be able to prepare special diets. Any extra costs must be paid to the hotel yourself before leaving the hotel.
Programs
Some of our hotels arrange extra programs which include music, dancing and film shows, etc. They are all offered by the hotel, but not guaranteed . | high20769.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "increase the food production or look for other food sources"
},
"options": [
"move to other planets",
"produce rain in laboratories",
"build new laboratories for food research",
"increase the food production or look for... | By 2050 there will have been an extra 2.5 billion people on earth. And what will they eat?
To solve the problem, we should have to double our food production. We can also develop a diet of algae , insects and meat grown in laboratories.
Algae can grow very quickly at sea, in polluted water and in places that would normally kill food crops. They are already eaten widely in Japan and China and they are eaten by almost everything from shrimps to blue whales. They can fix CO2 in the atmosphere and provide fats and sugars.
Man-made meat looks like meat, feels like meat and it is meat, although it's never been from a living, breathing animal. Instead, it is grown from cells in big containers. Moreover, studies show that producing man-made meat will use far less water, energy and land.
China has developed "green super rice", a series of rice types which produce more grain and have stronger ability to fight against floods, salty water, insects and disease. We used traditional plant breeding techniques to cross-breed more than 250 rice types. Green super rice, which is enough to feed an extra 100 million people, will be planted widely in the coming years.
Insects like ants are not on most European menus but at least 1,400 kinds are eaten across Africa, Latin America and Asia. Now, with rising food prices and worldwide land shortages, such insects are getting more and more popular. Not only are many insects rich in protein , low in fat and high in Ca and Fe, but insect farms need little space. And they can grow well on paper, algae and industrial wastes. | high4944.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "to encourage consumers to make their efforts to live a green way"
},
"options": [
"to get the government involved in protecting the environment",
"to require the companies produce environmentally-friendly products",
"to encou... | There is a forgotten player in the global efforts to limit C02 emissions:the consumer. Households consume one--third of the final energy used in the European Union and produce around two--thirds of city waste.Moreover,food,housing,and private transport account for almost 80%of environmental pressures.So consumers can make a real difference when it comes to fighting climate change.
Several factors can direct consumers towards more environmentally--friendly behavior. To achieve this,we need clear and simple information to guide consumption decisions. Indeed.Two thirds of consumers find it difficult to understand which products are better for the environment when shopping.
With 58% of Europeans believing that many companies pretend to be green in order to charge higher prices, industry has a long way to go in helping consumers feet confident when making green choices.They should give consumers more information about the carbon footprint of their products,and promote more sustainable behavior among their customers.
To be sure, companies are increasingly creating product labels that help consumers make responsible choices--for instance, reminding users of products made from materials that are recycled,renewable, and/or less carbon--intensive. Even so,only,20% of Europeans believe that companies are doing enough to promote environmentally friendly options.
In times of crisis, consumers prefer high-quality products that will last long and won't go out of style.Durable products might sometimes cost more, but they don't need to be replaced as frequently. In this way,companies that create durable or recyclable products enable consumers to think differently about their purchases, which can help users behave more responsibly, and thus may help end our "throw-way" culture.
However, it is not enough to inform consumers of the environmental features of products. We also need to provide consumers with guidance to establish a practical lifestyle model to follow. This cannot be brought about by regulations alone, but by good business communities that would create a loyal group of "sustainable consumers". | high21477.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Land for them to live on is limited and they are hunted in large numbers."
},
"options": [
"Settlers' buildings break the balance of their living environment.",
"Land for them to live on is limited and they are hunted in large numb... | Could a grizzly bear move to your neighborhood? If you live in the U.S. West, the answer may be yes. People and grizzly bears are living closer together now.
The grizzly bear is one of the largest meat-eating land animals in North America. In the early 1800s, about 50,000 grizzly bears lived there. Today there're far fewer bears. Settlers built cities and roads where bears lived. Many bears were hunted and killed. Now only 1,200 to 1,400 grizzly bears have remained.
In and around Yellowstone National Park, grizzly bears have been making a comeback because of people's efforts to protect them. Some bears are moving to areas where people live. People are also moving into grizzly countries.
People there have to learn how to live with their new, furry neighbors peacefully. If someone leaves their barbecue grill out overnight, or leaves their pet food or rubbish where a bear can get it, the bear will learn to come to their house for food. Grizzly bears that learn to eat people's food can become dangerous, and they often have to be killed or moved. Also, it's important not to surprise a grizzly. Besides, if you are hiking in a grizzly country, you should go with others and make a noise to make bears hear your coming and get out of the way. You may not want to invite grizzly bears to your next neighborhood party, but with a little effort, grizzly bears and people can live together peacefully. | high10872.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "By comparison."
},
"options": [
"By observation.",
"By comparison.",
"By analyzing intelligence tests.",
"By asking women questions."
],
"question": "How did Santiago lead to the findings?",
"question_type":... | Having a child may improve a woman's memory, a new study suggests.
In the study, women who were new mothers scored better on tests of visuospatial memory - the ability to understand and remember information about their surroundings--compared with women who didn't have children.
The findings contradicts the old belief that women develop"baby brain" or a decline in memory and cognitive function, after they have kids, said study researcher Melissa Santiago, a doctoral student at Carlos Albizu University in Miami. "You don't have to feel that because you have kids, your memory isn't the same," Santiago said.
The study was small, and the findings will have to be tested in larger groups of people, Santiago said.
Previous studies on the topic have had mixed results--some showed motherhood hurts cognition, and others showed the opposite. Studies on rats show those with pups have better memory than those without offspring.
Santiago analyzed information from 35 first-time mothers whose children were ages 10 to 24 months, and 35 women who had never been pregnant. Both groups scored similarly on intelligence tests. The average age of mothers was 29 and the average age of never-pregnant women was 27.
To test visuospatial memory, the women were shown a paper containing six symbols for 10 seconds, and then asked to draw what they remembered. This task was repeated several times. The first time women were shown the paper, both groups remembered about the same amount. But on the second and third pass, mothers performed better than those without children, indicating that the mothers collected more information each time than the other women.
Later, the women were shown a variety of different symbols, and asked to remember which ones were presented on the earlier task. Mothers did not make a mistake in this task--they remembered every symbol correctly--but those without children made one or two errors, Santiago said. | high5496.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "2706030"
},
"options": [
"2706030",
"7364431",
"3562367",
"2785161"
],
"question": "If you want to go out for lunch on Tuesday you can call up the number _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
... | Telephone: 2706030
Address: 9020 Bridgeport road
Open: Mon. to Fri. 7:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Sat. 7:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
NEW YORK MUSEUM
Telephone: 7364431
Address: Vanier Park, 1100 Chestnut St. New York, America's largest museum specializing in American history and part of our native people
Open: Mon. to Fri. 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (Monday free)
Sat. 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
LANSDOWNE PARK SHOPPING CENTER
Telephone: 3562367
Address: 5300 No. 3 Road
Open: Mon. Tues. and Sat. 9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Wed. Thurs. and Fri. 9:30 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
SKYLINE HOTEL
Telephone: 2785161
Address: 3031 No. 3 Road (at Sea Island Way)
Hangar Den: Wed. to Sun. Lunch from 10:30 a.m.
Coffee Shop: Mon. - Fri. 6:00 a.m., Sat. 6:30 a.m. and Sun. 7:00 a.m.;
Mon. - Wed. to 10:00 p.m., Thurs. - Sun. to 11:00 p.m. | high4950.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Lyon and Isle of Skye"
},
"options": [
"Sicily and Isle of Skye",
"Lyon and Isle of Skye",
"Isle of Skye and Iceland",
"Lyon and Iceland"
],
"question": "If you are fond of art, you can pay a visit to _",
"... | Where to go in September
Planning a holiday next month? We pick four great trips for September.
Sicily
September is the loveliest month of the year to visit Sicily. It's the perfect time, for the sea is still warm and there are fewer crowds. Besides, the weather is pleasant enough to walk around enjoyable, sandy-coloured towns without working up too much of a sweat. In addition, there are food festivals.
Lyon
Lyon perhaps has more attractive restaurants per square kilometre than anywhere else in Europe. That alone is reason to visit, but _ . The largest preserved Renaissance area in Europe, home to the Lumiere brothers, a centre for fashion designers, Roman ruins and a changing arts scene. The only thing Lyon hasn't got many of is tourists. Visit mid-September and you'll hit the launch of the 11th Biennale of contemporary art when 70 artists from around the world will exhibit their work.
Isle of Skye
On 10 September, the Celeste, a sailing boat covered in 60,000 inch-square mirror tiles , will stop in Portree where it will broadcast songs and stories from the island. Visitors can tune into the stories on Cuillin FM, while having a walk. The Celeste is the main point of Bonnie Boat , a whole day of art and events, including designer craft ,film screenings, dance performances, and sailing workshops.
Iceland
Travel there in September and you can join local farmers in annual ceremony of gathering up thousands of sheep from the mountains of south Iceland for winter. For experienced horse riders it is a great way to meet locals and enjoy a way of life that has little changed in centuries. A similar ceremony rounding up horses takes place at the end of the month in the northwest around the Vatnsdalur valley. | high21463.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "enjoy TV together with various smaller screens on hand"
},
"options": [
"care more about who holds the remote control",
"share the same programmes in the living room",
"watch better and more delicate television programmes",
... | For decades, families settled on the sofa to share the latest news and TV series, until additional bedroom TV, computer games and the Internet almost put an end to family rows over who held the remote control. Now, however, the traditional living room scene is making a comeback. A study by the communications watchdog Ofcom has found families are once again gathering around the main television set, but they are bringing their pads and smartphones with them.
"The 1950s living room is making a comeback as a family entertainment centre," said Jane Rumble, head of media research at Ofcom. "We are watching on much better, bigger, and more delicate television sets, but we are coming into the living room holding our connected devices." While the family are coming together once more, comparisons with the past end there. With a range of smaller screens on hand, not everyone sitting on the sofa shares the same viewing experience.
The coronation may have drawn the undivided attention of 20 million viewers in 1953, but those watching the Queen's Jubilee celebrations 50 years later were as likely to be commenting online about BBC's broadcast as watching it. "Just a few years ago, we would be talking about last night's TV at work or at school," said a viewer, "Now, we're having those conversations live while watching TV, using social media, text and instant messaging."
It is a behaviour of media meshing , whose influence was underlined during this year's Wimbledon men's tennis final. As Andy Murray pushed towards his victory, 1.1 million people worldwide sent an average of over two microblogs about the match.
People use the Internet to enhance their television experience, for example, by reading a newspaper live blog about a football match while watching the action on the main screen. For a huge number of younger viewers, the portable screen offers a chance to do something unrelated, such as online shopping, listening to music or watching another television programme.
Some 70% of 16-to-24-year-olds claim to be absorbed in what Ofcom calls "media stacking" at least once a week. For TV viewers, the Internet scanning is the most popular activity, but they are also calling friends on the phone or sending emails and texts. Surprisingly, 12% claim to have listened to the radio with the television on, and 6% say they have watched another video in the meanwhile. | high4788.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "to put more effort into the health issues in them"
},
"options": [
"to set up more foundations for them",
"to aid them with natural resources",
"to put more effort into the health issues in them",
"to help them take a m... | Microsoft founder Bill Gates said that he planned to give away almost all of his vast fortune , largely to the cause of global health , during the course of his lifetime . With an estimated worth of more than $ 40 billion , according to Forbes , the project will be no small feat for Gates . Having already provided the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with $ 24 billion to address global health issues , Gates said that eventually his entire fortune will be put towards the cause except "a few percent left for the kids."
So what has made the richest man in the world to channel his resources so heavily into one interest ? Gates believes that "the equality of opportunity" in which Americans take such pride needs to extend to other nations around the world . Improving the health of the populations , he says , has proven to be an essential method in helping poor countries to be financially successful . "National borders allow inequalities ," said Gates : "We all need to take a more global view , rather than just saying my country is doing well . We have to step up these health issues , knowing how few resources are going into them ."
Gates said that both his parents set an example for him as a child . His father , William H. Gates , was the head of the local Planned Parenthood , and his mother , Mary , volunteered for the United Way . As he gathered his fortune , Gates knew he would eventually want to give back as well , but he didn't expect to devote himself whole-heartedly to one project until he was about 60.
However , Gates , 47 , began to question his ability to wait that long . "It seemed there was a real time urgency," Gates said . "I started to think , How many lives could I save before then ?" | high10866.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "on a Greek island with six hundred animals"
},
"options": [
"on an island in the middle of great flood",
"at the school that we used to go to on Kyklos",
"on a Greek island with six hundred animals",
"all over the world... | A close friend of mine lives with six hundred wild animals on the Greek Island of Kyklos.Ever since he left school (where I first knew him),he has travelled all over the world collecting animals for his very own zoo.He hoped to collect at least two examples of every sort of animal on his island before the Great Flood. But the flood that my friend was afraid of was a flood not of water, but of people. I expect you have heard of my friend: he writes books about his travels,and about the wild and wonderful animals that he collects. The money from the books helps to pay for all the food that these animals eat.
My friend told me that when he was out looking for water last week,(there is not enough water on the island,though there is plenty all round it,)he found oil.He needs money for his travels,and for his zoo,and a little oil would buy enough water for a lifetime;but he knows that if he tells anybody else about it,it will be the end of his zoo, and his life's work.
So,if I know my friend,he will not tell anybody (but you and me)about what he found--because oil and water do not mix. | high7281.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "after he returned from Vietnam War"
},
"options": [
"after he returned from Vietnam War",
"before they left their home country",
"when they settled down in Miami",
"as soon as she finished high school"
],
"quest... | Singing had always been an important part of Gloria Estefan's life. " Since I was three years old, I sang. I sang everything," Gloria said. "Gubans," she added, "are a musical people."
Gloria was born in Cuba in 1957. Her family left the country just before Fidel Castro came to power. In Miami, where the family settled, many people did not accept Cuban immigrants. In first grade, she spoke little English, but she worked hard to learn the language. Six months after she entered school, she won an award for reading in English!
When Gloria was ten , her father returned from the Vietnam War. Soon, the family realized he wasn't well. They soon found out that he was badly ill. Her mother went back to teaching at school to support the family. Gloria cared for her father and her younger sister.
She still made the honor roll, and she still had her music, but Gloria was lonely. However, when the band leader Emilio Estefan came to speak at her high school, Gloria sang for him. He asked her to join his band. It was the beginning of the Miami Sound Machine. Within a few months, the Miami Sound Machine was the top band in Miami. In 1978, Gloria and Emilio married.
At first, the Miami Sound Machine was known only in Miami. Then the band signed with CBS Records. Estefan and his band became stars.
Since then, the Miami Sound Machine has sold millions of records. Estefan has done more than just singing when Hurricane Andrew hit central Florida in 1992. She used only two weeks to organize an all-star concert that raised $ 2 million for the people who suffered in the hurricane. "We needed a party after that _ ," she said.
Estefan said, "You have to stay true to the music you really love to do. There will always be people who will tell you, 'that won't work.' You've got to be firm in spite of difficulties. Stick to it----that's the main thing." | high1828.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Music helps Mr. Wolfensohn have a better understanding of the different culture."
},
"options": [
"Everybody knows those well-known people are musicians before.",
"Musicians exist in all industries.",
"Music can certainly mak... | Look carefully and you'll find musicians at the top of almost any industry. The television broadcaster Paula Zahn(cello) and the NBC chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd (French horn) attended college on music scholarships; Both Microsoft's Mr. Allen and the venture capitalist Rogar McNamee have rock bands. Lorry Page, a co-founder of Google, played saxophone in high school. The former World Bank president James D. Wolfensohn has played cello at Carnegie Hall.
The connection isn't a coincidence. I know because I asked. I put the question to top-flight professionals in industries from tech to finance to media, all of whom had serious ( if often little-known) past lives as musicians. Almost all made a connection between their music training and their professional achievements.
Will your school music program turn your kid into a Paul Allen, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft (guitar)? Or a Woody Allen (clarinet )? Probably not. These are outstanding achievers. But the way these and other visionaries I spoke to process music is interesting.
But the key question is: why does that connection exist? Paul Allen offers an answer. He says music "establish your confidence in the ability to create." He began playing the violin at age 7 and switched to the guitar as a teenager. Even in the early days of Microsoft, he would pick up his guitar at the end of marathon days of programming. The music was the emotional analog to his day job, both of them show his different creativity. He says, "something is pushing you to look beyond what currently exists and express yourself in a new way."
For many of the high achievers I spoke with, music functions as a "hidden language," as Mr. Wolfensohn calls it, one that enhances the ability to connect different or even opposite ideas. When he ran the World Band, Mr. Wolfensohn traveled to more than 100 countries, often taking in local performances (and occasionally joining in on a borrowed cello), which helped him understand "the culture of people".
Consider the qualities these high achievers say music has sharpened : cooperation, creativity, discipline and the capacity to coordinate conflicting ideas. All are qualities obviously absent from public life. Music may not make you a genius, or rich, or even a better person. But it helps train you to think differently, to process different points of views --- and most important, to take pleasure in listening. | high12917.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "After Daniel Coleman published his book on EQ."
},
"options": [
"After Peter Salovey and John Mayer defined the term.",
"After computers became widely spread in our life.",
"After Daniel Coleman published his book on EQ.",
... | The concept of Emotional Intelligence(EQ or EI)was first given by Peter Salovey and John Mayer.but it became widely popular after the publication of Daniel Coleman's best seller"Emotional Intelligence"in 1995.The meaning of emotional intelligence is"Knowing how you and others feel and what to do about it."
The control center of our emotions is a small part of oily brain called the amygdala,,which scans incoming signals from our sensory organs(eyes,ears...)and acts as the emotional alarm center of our bed.When it detects a condition that we hate,that we fear,or that could hurt us,it sends an immediate signal to the other parts of our brain that controls our actions.
The amygdala's widespread web of neural connections allows it,during an emotional emergency.to take control of much of the rest of the brain including the mind.This explains why we sometimes do things "without thinking'' like closing our eyes just before a flying insect hits our face or losing control during the course of a heated argument.
Emotions are important for good decision-making and to keep friendly relationships with others around us.We admire people with determination when have the ability to control their emotions when they face pressure,arguments or aggression(attack).We also enjoy being with people who can express co-operation and forgiveness.We need these emotions to be happy in our professional life as much as we need them in our private life.
The majority of problems at work are caused by unmet emotional needs.The emotional-intelligent manager knows bow to make out and manage the emotional needs of both the customers and his team.He or she.wants to help others feel respected,supported,helped,trusted,important,special,useful,needed and valued.
When our emotional needs are satisfled, we feel better,and when we feel better,we are more productive,patient,creative,open-minded,and caring.
Emotional intelligence requires that we develop our abilities in four main areas:
1) self-awareness
being aware of our emotions as they happen;
2) managing emotions
keeping a healthy balance of emotion and thinking;
3) recognizing emotions in others
it's a great communicating skill;
4) handling relationships
managing emotions in others increases our popularity.our leadership ability and our
communication effectiveness. | high23512.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "personal or family money"
},
"options": [
"the home universities",
"personal or family money",
"the American schools",
"international organization"
],
"question": "Most foreign students depend on _ to pay fo... | Students who want to study in the United States may find that their chances for financial aid are limited. They often have to pay for their education with their own savings or their family's money.
A recent report from the Institute of International Education in New York looked at 2008-2009 school year.
Colleges and universities in the United States had more than half a million foreign students. 63% of them paid for school mostly by themselves or with family help. 26% percent were supported by the school they attended.
There are other sources of financial aid for international students. These include a student's home government or university, or the United States government. Private sponsors, international organizations and employers may also provide support. Yet during the last school year, not many students were able to depend on any of these other sources. Current employers provided the most help. Still, they represented the main support for just four percent of international students.
Those at the graduate level, however, are more likely than undergraduates to receive financial aid in the United States. More than 80% percent of foreign undergraduates depended mostly on personal and family money to pay for school last year. The same was true of less than half of graduate students. Most of the others received financial aid from their college or university in the United States.
A list of American schools that offer financial aid to foreign students can be found at a useful Web site. The address is edupass.org. This site also provides information about scholarship programs. But it warns foreign students not to pay if there is any charge for scholarship application forms. You could be cheated out of your money. | high1196.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "inherit London's tradition"
},
"options": [
"change London's skyline",
"inherit London's tradition",
"imitate the Egyptian style",
"attract potential visitors"
],
"question": "When he designed the Shard, Piano w... | London's newest skyscraper is called the Shard and it cost about 430 million pounds to build. At a height of almost 310 metres, it is the tallest building in Europe. The Shard has completely changed the appearance of London. However, not everyone thinks that it is a change for the better.
The Shard was designed by the famous Italian architect Renzo Piano. When he began designing the Shard for London, Piano wanted a very tall building that looked like a spire * He wanted the glass surfaces to reflect the sky and the city. The sides of the building aren't regular. So the building has an unusual shape. It looks like a very thin,sharp piece of broken glass. And that is how the building got the name: the Shard. Piano says that the spire shape of the Shard is part of a great London tradition. The shape reminds him of the spires of the churches of London or the tall masts of the ships that were once on the river Thames.
The Shard has 87 floors. At the top, there is an observatory. At the moment the building is empty, but eventually there will be a five-star hotel. There will also be top quality restaurants, apartments and offices.
Before building work began, a lot of people didn't want the Shard though the plans were approved. Now they are still unhappy about the Shard. Some critics say that such a tall skyscraper might be good in a city like New York, but not in London. They say that the best thing about the Shard is its spire shape. But that is the only thing. There is no decoration, only flat surfaces. The Egyptians did that 4,500 years ago. They also think the Shard is too big for London. It destroys the beauty of the city.
Other critics don't like what the Shard seems to represent. They say that the Shard shows how London is becoming more unequal. Only very rich people can afford to buy the expensive private apartments and stay in the hotel. But the people who live near the Shard are among the poorest in London. So the Shard seems a symbol of the division in society between the very rich and the poor.
The Shard now dominates the London skyline. It is not certain, however, that ordinary London citizens will ever accept it as a valuable addition to the city. | high6821.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "I managed to over come the challenges."
},
"options": [
"I managed to over come the challenges.",
"I encouraged many people who want to succeed.",
"I created many chances to help people.",
"I was respected as a source... | Oprah Winfrey is not just a very successful TV personality in the US, she is also a woman who has encouraged millions. For those people, her life and her success are a good example. She has struggled with many of the challenges that we all face, and she has changed her life. Her message is powerful: I did it, and so can you.
Oprah Winfrey is a black woman whose becoming famous is an encouraging story. She was born on January 29, 1954 in a small village in America. Her patents were very poor. For her family, life seemed to hold no promise.
But there was nothing that could stop Oprah. She was an extremely bright girl at school. She asked her kindergarten teacher to let her go to school sooner and she also skipped the second grade of primary school . Her life from the age of six till about fourteen was very hard. For many women such difficulty would be too heavy to bear . But not for Oprah. When she was fourteen, Oprah went to live with her father. Her father showed her how hard work and discipline could lead to self-improvement. Oprah listened to her father, and a few years later she won a college scholarship that allowed her to go to university.
Two years later, after graduation, she started working for television. For more than ten years she worked for different TV stations across the country. In 1984, she moved to Chicago, where she became the host of a talk show called "AM Chicago". When Oprah started, "AM Chicago" had few listeners. By September of the next year, the show was so successful that it was given a new name: 'The Oprah Winfrey Show".
Oprah Winfrey's story encourages many people to believe that success and happiness in life are within reach for everyone. | high3781.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "protect yourself against crime"
},
"options": [
"protect yourself against crime",
"blind and attack bad guys",
"walk alone at night freely",
"protect animals while camping"
],
"question": "The G700Tactical Flash... | Military Grade Flashlight Available to Public
It seems like every day you turn on the news the world's about to end.Lately,Americans have had enough,and are searching for better ways to protect themselves and their families against rising crime.
Their solution?Military grade tactical flashlights.
Powerful technology used by law enforcement to blind and disorient bad guys,Americans are now gearing up and buying their own.
The G700Tactical Flashlight is currently the most popular tactical flashlight of choice for most American's due to its powerfully disorienting"strobe mode"that allows the user to flash a blinding light into the attackers eyes,leaving them"disoriented beyond belief."
How effective are tactical flashlights,really?
If you've ever had someone take a picture of you at night with the flash on,you'll know how it takes a minute or two for your eyes to re-adjust.Now imagine that flash is 100x brighter and is strobing directly into your eyes.You wouldn't be able to see a thing,and would most likely lose your sense of balance.
That's what you get with a tactical flashlight like the G700Tactical Flashlight.The strobe feature is designed to ruin an attacker's eye sight,so they can't see what they're doing,letting you safely run away-or if need be,gain the advantage and attack them.
The truth is,most people underestimate the importance of owning a tactical flashlight.Whether you're walking alone at night,driving somewhere and break down,or just want a light bright enough to prevent animals while you're camping,tactical flashlights are so bright that they give you the advantage.
Not to mention if you're in an emergency situation,what better way to call attention to yourself than with a powerful G700Tactical Flashlight that can be seen for up to 2miles away.
These 200lights are currently selling for 75% off their normal price!So it's a good time to get them at a discounted price.If you want to make sure you and your loved ones are always prepared for the worst,this flashlight is a great start.It has our vote so much that we made sure everyone on our staff had at least 4.
Obtain even more information concerning G700 Military Grade Flashlight at:http://tacticalmilitaryflashlight.com | high19842.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "sad"
},
"options": [
"sad",
"happy",
"funny",
"boring"
],
"question": "'Incident at Halk Hill' is a _ story.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"a... | My son Jack, a fourth grader, was having a hard time in getting interested in story books recently, so I offered to read the first few chapters to him. In the early pages of 'Incident at Halk Hill', a quiet little boy has a special meeting with a female badger .Soon after, another badger is caught in a steel leg trap , and the author describes in detail the pain and scare of an animal struggling to its death. We meet the cruel hunter and his ill treatment of a dog; we see the badger being skinned by the boy's father;and we experience the child's confusion when beaten by his father in anger. _ , I thought.
Last night , I returned from a weekend away to find that Jack had finished the whole book on his own. "It was really, really good and sad, and violent," he reported. "There was a lot of killing."
"Were there any happy parts?" I asked,
"The boy's life was saved by the badger, and that was good. But then that badger got caught in a trap again and at the end it's dying, too. " Jack said, "It was so sad that I almost cried. "
I told him that many books have made me cry, beginning with Heidi, when I was just his age, right on up to the novel I finished last week.
"Well," he admitted then, "I actually did cry. Reading that book just reminded me of all the sadness in the world, and it made me feel sad ,too. "
So, I think, now he has been through the sad tone of the passage , the discovery that words on a printed page can give rise to such strong emotion ,that a book can move you right out of your own comfortable little self and into someone else's pain. Thus we come to realize that if we are to remain fully engaged in life, open to its mysteries and feel sorry towards its suffering, we indeed need stories to grab us by the neck and remind us of the sadness in the world that is not our own. | high3959.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "in America"
},
"options": [
"in England",
"in the Queen's party",
"in America",
"in a poor restaurant"
],
"question": "It is certain that the story happened _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
... | A man in a very splendid restaurant started to take off his jacket. Seeing this, the head waiter ran to his table and said, "I'm afraid I must ask you to keep your jacket on, sir, for it is not good manners to do it in such a smart restaurant."
"Now listen", said the man, "I'll let you know that the Queen of England gave me permission to remove my jacket here."
"The Queen of England?" said the waiter in great surprise.
"Sure," replied the man, "When I was in England last month, a friend of mine who had a very important position took me to see the Queen. It was rather hot, so I started taking my coat off. The Queen looked over and said, 'You may do that in the United States, but you may not do it here.' So I got the Queen's permission, right?" | high23275.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "NIR light."
},
"options": [
"Temperature change.",
"NIR light.",
"Acidity change.",
"UV light."
],
"question": "According to the passage, which of the following could be the best trigger?",
"question_type": ... | Medical drugs sometimes cause more damage than they cure. One solution to this problem is to put the drugs inside a capsule, protecting them from the body--and the body from them--until they can be released at just the right spot. There are lots of ways to trigger this release, including changing temperature, acidity, and so on. But triggers can come with their own risks--burns, for example. Now, researchers in California have designed what could be a harmless trigger to date: shining near-infrared light (NIR, ) on the drug in the capsule.
The idea of using light to liberate the drug in the capsule isn't new. Researchers around the globe have developed polymers and other materials that begin to break down when they absorb either ultraviolet (UV, ) or visible light. But tissues also readily absorb UV and visible light, which means the drug release can be triggered only near the skin, where the light can reach the capsule. NIR light largely passes through tissues, so researchers have tried to use it as a trigger. But few compounds absorb NIR well and go through chemical changes.
That changed last year when Adah Almutairi, a chemist at the University of California, San Diego, reported that she and her colleagues had designed a polymer that breaks down when it absorbs NIR light. Their polymer used a commercially available NIR-absorbing group called o-nitrobenzyl (ONB). When they catch the light, ONB groups fall off the polymer, leading to its breakdown. But ONB is only a so-so NIR absorber, and it could be poisonous to cells when it separates from the polymer.
So Almutairi and her colleagues reported creating a new material for capsules that's even better.This one consists of a long chain of compounds called cresol groups linked in a polymer. Cresol contains reactive components that make it highly unstable in its polymeric form, a feature Almutairi and her colleagues use to their advantage. After polymerizing the cresols, they cap each reactive component with a light-absorbing compound called Bhc. When the Bhcs absorb NIR light, the reactive groups are exposed and break the long polymer into two short chains. Shining additional light continues this breakdown, potentially releasing any drugs in the capsule. What's more, Almutairi says, Bhc is 10 times better at absorbing NIR than is ONB and is not poisonous to cells. | high365.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "deal with"
},
"options": [
"talk about",
"write to",
"fight for",
"deal with"
],
"question": "The word \" address\" in the first line probably means \" _ \".",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
... | The Coalition for the Homeless is an organization that seeks to _ the needs of the homeless population in the United States. It is a network of offices, some of which provide food and houses for the homeless population, and some of which fight for the passing of laws that would give every American the right to a place to call home. According to the Coalition's studies, of over two hundred million people living in the United States, up to three million are homeless--and the number is still growing. Since the late 1970s, fast-rising house prices, large cuts in government supported housing programs, and economic recession have make it impossible for many Americans to meet housing costs. Sadly, this has resulted in a number of persons being forced to leave their homes and/or unable to find new affordable homes. According to another research, families with children appear to be the fastest-growing part of the homeless population, making up 39% of it. The old idea of a homeless person, that of the single man who gets drunk all the time, is no longer true. A much larger part of the population now finds itself homeless. Even worse, once a person becomes homeless, he often finds it impossible to find a job, since most employers require anyone who wants a job from them to provide a home address on a job application. | high1829.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "prevent students from studying too late"
},
"options": [
"arrest the students who work late at night",
"reward citizens who turn in violators",
"conduct a survey among students",
"prevent students from studying too late... | On a wet Wednesday evening in Seoul, six government employees gathered at the office to prepare for a late-night patrol . The mission is to find children who are studying after 10 p. m. and stop them.
In South Korea, it has come to this. To reduce the country's addiction to private, after-hours tutoring academies(called hagwons), the authorities have begun enforcing a curfew --even rewarding citizens for turning in violators.
But cramming is deeply anchored in Asia, where top grades have long been prized as essential for professional success. Before toothbrushes or printing presses, there were civil service exams that could make or break you. Chinese families have been hiring test preparation tutors since the 7th century. Nowadays South Korea has taken this competition to new extremes. In 2010, 74% of all students engaged in some kind of private after-school instruction, sometimes called shadow education, at an average cost of KRW 2, 600 per student for a year. There are more private instructors in South Korea than school teachers, and the most popular of them make millions of dollars a year from online and in-person classes. When Singapore's Education Minister was asked last year about his nation's reliance on private tutoring, he found one reason for hope, "We are not as bad as the Koreas. "
In Seoul, legions of students who failed to get into top universities spend the entire year after high school attending hagwons to improve their scores on university admission tests. And they must compete even to do this. At the prestigious Daesung Institute, admission is based on students' test scores. Only 14% of applicants are accepted. After a year of 14-hour days, about 70% gain entry to one of the nation's top three universities.
South Koreans are not alone in their discontent. Across Asia, reformers are pushing to make schools more "American"--even as some U. S. reformers make their own schools more "Asian". In China, universities have begun fashioning new entry tests to target students with talents beyond book learning. And Taiwanese officials recently announced that kids will no longer have to take high-stress exams to get into high school. In South Korea, the apogee of extreme education, gets its reforms right, it could be a model for other societies.
The problem is not that South Korea kids aren't learning enough or working hard enough, but that they aren't working smart. When I visited some schools, I saw classrooms in which a third of the students slept while the teacher continued lecturing, seemingly undisturbed.
The government has repeatedly tried to humanize the education system, but after each attempt, the hagwons come back stronger. But this time, its reforms are targeting not just the dysfunctional symptom but also the causes. It is working to improve normal public schools by putting teachers and principals through rigorous evaluations--which include opinion surveys by students, parents and peer teachers--and requiring additional training for low-scoring teachers. At the same time, the government hopes to reduce the pressure on students. Admissions tests for high schools have been abolished. Middle schoolers are now judged on the basis of their regular grades and an interview. And 500 admissions officers have been appointed to the country's universities, to judge applicants not only on their test scores and grades but also other abilities. | high7280.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "at least 10 years"
},
"options": [
"4 years",
"8 years",
"at least 10 years",
"more than 20 years"
],
"question": "If a first -year college student in America wants to be a doctor, he has to wait for _ .",
... | To become a doctor in the United States, students usually attend four years of medical school after they complete college. Then these young doctors work in hospitals for several years to complete a training program called a residency .
These medical residents provide hospitals with needed services in return for not much pay. They work under the supervision of medical professors and more experienced doctors. Medical residents treat patients . they carry out tests. They perform operations. They complete records. In hospitals with few nurses, residents also do work formerly done by nurses. Some medical residents work one-hundred or more hours in a single week. _
Critics of this system say medical residents work too long and do not get enough res. They say these young doctors may be too tired to perform their medical duties effectively. Now, the government will limit the number of hours of work that residents can work. Most doctors in training will be limited to eighty-four hours of work each week. They will have work periods of no more than twenty-four hours at one time. They will have ten hours of rest between work periods.
Medical residents will have one day each week when they do not have to work. Any work they accept outside their hospitals will be limited.Experienced doctors and medical professors will closely supervise the residents to make sure they are not too tired to work.
Many medical residents welcomed the work limits. Others, however, said the new policy may interfere with patient care and their own medical education. | high10867.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "they should demand compensation from the government"
},
"options": [
"retailers are strongly against the policy",
"it's a policy pushed by some health advocates",
"people all over the world are shocked at the news",
"th... | SYDNEY --- Tobacco companies will be forced to use plain, logo-free packaging on their cigarettes in order to make them less attractive to smokers under laws introduced Thursday by Australia's government.
The rules, which will take effect on 1 July 2012, will ban tobacco companies from including logos, promotional text or color1ful images on cigarette packages. A government health warning will be displayed instead, with the brand name at the bottom.
The government also announced it would raise the cigarette tax by 25 percent, driving up the price of a pack of 30 cigarettes by about A$2.16(PS1.30).
Tobacco companies immediately decided to fight it in court. "Introducing plain packaging just takes away the ability of a consumer to identify our brand from another brand and _ is of value to us," an Imperial Tobacco Australia spokeswoman, Cathie Keogh, told ABC, adding the company plans to take legal action. Retailers said the tax increase would hurt their businesses and encourage the cigarette black market.
"It's a policy being pushed by some health advocates," said Mick Daly, the national chairman of Australian supermarket chain IGA. "That is a direct attack on approximately 16 percent of Australians who have made legal lifestyle choices."
Time Wilson, director of intellectual property and free trade at Australia's Institute of Public Affairs, said tobacco companies were likely to demand compensation over the forced packaging changes, which could cost taxpayers around A$3 billion a year.
"Under Australia's constitution, if the government basically takes someone's property rights, including intellectual property such as trademarks, they have to provide compensation," Wilson said. "I'd be shocked if they didn't seek compensation, because if it happens here, it'll happen all over the world."
Opposition leader Tony Abbott said he wanted evidence that changing the packaging would reduce smoking.
"I'm not in the business of defending smoking, I want to make that ly clear. But I also want to make ly clear that this is not a health policy - this is a tax grab ," Abbott said.
Australia has banned tobacco ads from print, television and radio for years. Internet advertising will also be forbidden. | high21462.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "was first used as a history textbook at Calvert School"
},
"options": [
"included many original historical pictures",
"included many interesting historical details",
"was introduced to Calvert School by V. M. Hillyer",
... | A Child's History of the World
Our Price: $28.00
Item #: 010821
ISBN: 978-8-8828-7028-7
Grades: 4--Adult
Product Description
V. M. Hillyer, the first headmaster of Calvert School, spent many of his school years studying only American history. Believing that studying world history would broaden children's horizons and give them a better understanding of the world and history in general, he set out to write an understandable and comprehensive world history children could enjoy. A Child's History of the World functions to familiarize young children with some historical events and people of significance while reading like a good story. The subjects are covered in chronological order, from the beginning of the world through the end of the Cold War. This gives the child a linear view of world history that allows the details to be filled in later. A Child's History of the World is a basic reader and is not intended to be used as a supplementary reader.
Customer Reviews
This is a must-have book. It is a complete and engaging curriculum that is easy to use and understand. My girls are so close in age I was able to use it with all three at once and they loved it. And it's inexpensive! Love the way it is written.
Katrena R. from Shingle Springs, CA
This is a great book. Everyone (elementary/primary aged) should have this book in their homeschooling library. My kids (ages 4-9) have all enjoyed this book. It is engaging and well written for young ones. There is a lot of information packed into this book and it is presented in a way that is not boring for kids. It is kind of like The Story of the World.
Patrice T. from Seattle | high5497.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Tribute to New Orleans."
},
"options": [
"Jazz on Jackson Stage.",
"Jazz & Heritage Family Stage.",
"Tribute to New Orleans.",
"Jazz Club Tour."
],
"question": "What is special for the Chicago Jazz Festival this... | Summer cools down in August when the city features a lot of jazz to send excitement to any music fan. Beginning August 28, the city hosts a week of jazz performances in a variety of places.
This year's annual Jazz Festival in Grant Park will offer a "tribute to New Orleans" with performers from the city, honoring the birthplace of Jazz. Jazz fans who want to be part of the week-long celebration can start with a free concert at Millennium Park's famous Pritzker Pavilion on Monday, August 28 at 6:30 pm.
* Other events will include:
Tuesday, August 29 -- the Jazz Institute of Chicago presents the Fourth Annual Gala Concert.
Wednesday, August 30 -- Heat up Wednesday night with a ride to the best jazz hot spots and learn a bit of history of the genre with the Jazz Institute's Jazz Club Tour, which starts at 6 pm until midnight. For one low price, visit more than a dozen Jazz Clubs. The tour covers nearly every inch of Chicago.
*The Chicago Jazz Festival Officially opens with a ticketed performance at the Symphony Center on Thursday, August 31. Then, the festival moves to Grant Park on Friday, September 1, for three days of free music on three stages. The event opens daily at 11 am.
* Performance hours are:
Jazz on Jackson Stage 12 pm -- 4:30 pm.
Jazz & Heritage Family Stage 12:30 pm -- 4:30 pm.
Petrillo Music Shell 5 pm -- 9:30 pm.
* In addition to the music, the Chicago Jazz Festival features an art fair lying in the rose garden just south of Jackson. The fair offers all kinds of handmade crafts and artwork. | high18585.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "187l"
},
"options": [
"1986",
"187l",
"1885",
"1886"
],
"question": "Bartholdi made his first trip to the United States to talk about the Statue of Liberty in _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
... | On July 4,1986,Americans celebrated the Statue of Liberty's 100th birthday.Parades,speeches,fireworks,and other activities contributed to the great joy of the event.The celebration caused reporters and the 1ocal people to 1ook back a century to the similar great joy that marked the official opening of the statue.The Statue of Liberty was completed in 1886,but the story began earlier.The idea for a statue was first suggested at a dinner party by Edouard de Laboulaye, a French historian .A guest at the party was Frederic Bartholdi,a young sculptor.
Most people who attended the dinner party soon forgot the idea,but Laboulaye and Bartholdi remembered it.In 187l, Bartholdi came to the United States to interest Americans in a statue that would link France and the United States in friendship.Many people in France had already been persuaded and contributed money to the project.Americans were also persuaded to build a fund for the statue.Much of the money came from school children.
After the idea had been accepted,Bartholdi set to work. He worked hard for many years.His friend Laboulaye died before the statue was completed.At last,in 1885,the statue was sent to the United States.It had to be shipped in sections and then put together for its weight and size.
Ever since then, 1886,the Statue of Liberty has stood as a symbol of freedom to millions of immigrants entering New York Harbor. | high3958.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "High technology may become a reason for loneliness."
},
"options": [
"High technology may become a reason for loneliness.",
"People shouldn't use the Internet to get to know strangers.",
"It's hard for people to get enough co... | They may have text,email,Facebook and Twitter,but young people are still lonelier than any other age group.The Loneliness in New Zealand Report,published by Statistics New Zealand,shows under 30s are more likely to feel lonely than older people because loneliness decreases with age.Loneliness and poor mental health were strongly related across all ages.Young people were not as likely to feel lonely because of financial hardship,but among older people,lack of money was a significant influence on loneliness.Women were more likely to feel lonely than men.
Philip Walker,spokesman for the General Social Survey,said because it was ly new it was hard to know whether loneliness among young people was a new trend.But overseas research has found that levels of loneliness in youth today are growing.
Mr.Walker said the finding needed more exploration,including looking at the role of technology and social media."It could be that people's expectations of connection have gone up,so we expect increased levels of connection,"he said."While technology like cell phones could help young people stay connected,on the other hand for those who do get bullied ,especially bullied online,it's quite isolating.A lot of the time potentially it is a big contributor to loneliness."
Figures from online dating website FindSomeone also confirmed more young people were looking for love.Manager Rick Davies,said younger dating hopefuls were the fastest growing group on the site.
Mr.Davies noted that since the report data was collected in 2010there had been huge growth in smart phones,which meant people were online even more.He believed online tools,such as Skype,could help people stay connected."People can keep in touch with a wide range of friends from all over the world much more easily now.It's like you're sitting in your living room having a chat with them."
Bemardine Reid,operations committee chairwoman for Samaritans,which operates a free helpline,said many of their calls came from people who were lonely."It might be that they've got some problem,just like all the things people would normally talk to a friend about,but people who are alone lack those normal contacts."
The Statistics New Zealand report also showed people who didn't have face-to-face contact with family and friends were more likely to feel lonely,as were those who lived alone. | high19843.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Four"
},
"options": [
"Two",
"Three",
"Four",
"Five"
],
"question": "How many ways of fishing have been introduced in the passage?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
... | People go fishing for many reasons, for one they like the sport of it, reeling in the big catch after a long day of work or just having a few drinks on the water with some friends and letting all the stress just go. Whatever the reasons may be, it is absolutely _ .
People in the south sometimes do a strange type of fishing where they reach their arm inside a hole in the bank and pull out cat fish the size of a boat. There is one form called jug fishing where you get a milk jug or water jug and tie a heavy fishing line with a big hook, put on a small brim and throw it in the water. The next morning you get up and see what's on the hook. There is fly fishing which is with a lighter string and top water jigs such as bugs that lay on the top of the water until the trout comes and takes it. It takes longer to reel them in because the line is so light and the fish are heavy.
Ice fishing is a dangerous kind of fishing in the north. You cut a hole in the ice, drop in your bait and wait for a fish to bite. You have to be careful that the fish doesn't pull your line into the side of the ice and snap it. That is one problem with ice fishing but the fish are usually bigger and worth the trouble.
Going out on the lake with a couple of friends or alone with a couple of drinks and a fishing pole can be the most stress releasing thing you can do sometimes. Just to feel the waves rocking the boat and a good conversation is all the therapy you will need sometimes. Catching a fish is always a great bonus . | high3780.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "was made to do things against his will"
},
"options": [
"was accused of destroying property",
"was told not to yell at other children",
"was made to do things against his will",
"was blamed for creating an air of tensio... | Before I had my son, I spent two years working with children with disabilities. I learned that shouting and threats of punishment would result in a disaster. Coming up against their behaviour could only make the job harder and their behaviour more extreme. I found something that worked, though.
There was a very naughty boy in the nursery and a teacher who was generally very confident with the children was asked to take charge of him. One day the boy joined a session in the room next to mine. His appearance created an atmosphere of tension. He spent the entire session running around, hitting and kicking, and destroying property.
I was in the craft room working with some other children when my co-worker told me that this boy's teacher was in tears, and could not get control of the situation. As we were talking,the boy ran in. I told my co-worker that I would take care of him.
I closed the door. He was full of energy, throwing things around and making a huge mess. But I could see that he was doing all these to annoy me. He needed connection, and this was the only way he knew how to ask for it. So I sat back down and kept quiet. Then he slowed down and began making a rocket. I talked to him about it. We continued like this for a few minutes before I slipped into the conversation:
"So what happened today?"
It was purely a question, no blame or anger in my tone. I believe that if I had criticized him, the gate that was slowly opening would have shut firmly closed. He told me that the teacher didn't let him do what he knew well due to safety but asked him to do what he disliked. He also admitted that he had enjoyed making her run around and saw it as a game. I explained that his teacher had not seen it as a game and was very upset. This again was stated simply as a fact. I suggested that next time he had a session, he talk about what he hoped to do at the start,which might be easier for everyone. He agreed and was quiet for a moment. Then he looked at me with tears in his eyes before quietly asking if he could go to find his teacher to apologize. | high6820.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "bees dance more often than people"
},
"options": [
"people dance better than bees",
"people learned dance from bees",
"bees dance more often than people",
"bees don't like music"
],
"question": "The writer belie... | Have you ever seen people dance? Some dances are fast and others are slow. People's feet always move when they dance. They keep on moving until the music stops.
People have enjoyed dancing for a very long time. This story is of a different kind of dance. It is a dance without people or music. Yet this dance is one of the oldest in the world. It is the dance of bees.
If you have ever watched bees, you know that they are very clever. They also work hard looking for food and bringing it back to their home.
The home of the bees is called a bee hive. Here hundreds even thousand of bees live. They work day and night building small walls. There they make their honey. This is the same honey that we eat.
Where does the honey come from? Bees live on food from flowers. Have you seen bees flying around a flower garden? When a bee rests on a flower, it tries to go to the centre of it. There it takes in as much food as its body can hold. Then it flies to take the food back to the hive.
At the hive, bees change flower food into honey. Then they fly away for more food.
How do the bees know where to find the best food in the sweetest flowers? One bee acts as a guide. When it discovers good flowers, it flies back to the hive and tells the others. It does this by dancing for them.
The bee dances on one side. This tells the other bees which way to go to find the flowers. But that is not all. The bee dances for some time. And the length of its dance tells the other bees how far they must fly to reach the flowers.
When the bees see the dance, they know where the flowers are. They fly away and return with more food for the hive.
Sometimes we hear the music of the bees as they fly around. But few people have ever seen them dance. Yet without that dance we might never have sweet honey to eat. | high403.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "KINGSGATEBAY."
},
"options": [
"COMPTONBAY.",
"BRANSCOMBE.",
"KINGSGATEBAY.",
"RINGSTEADBAY."
],
"question": "Which beach is the most wonderful place for summer bathing? _",
"question_type": "cloze_questio... | There's no better place to be than beside the seaside in the summer. And even in Britainyou can still find beaches away from the crowds with golden sand.
COMPTON BAY, ISLE OF WIGHT
This wide sandy beach is on the south west coast, between Freshwater and Brook and is part of the TennysonHeritageCoast. There are striking views of the white cliffs further along the coast. A coastal path passes behind the beach, and you can enjoy scenic cliff top walks in either direction.
Accommodation: Sandpipers Hotel (01983 758150, www.sandpipersh.tel.com) with doubles fromPS10pp. KINGSGATE BAY,KENT
Around the beach round a bend in the coastal road from Ramsgate is white cliffs with KingsgateCastledominating the whole landscape. It is fairly isolated, with few facilities, but is perfect for summer bathing or for bracing winter walks.
Accommodation: Fayreness Hotel (0188 86866, www.fayreness.com) with doubles with breakfast fromPS69. 15pp.
RINGSTEAD BAY, DORSET
A picturesque 210ft crescent of pebbles with clean water that's a perfect escape from some of the busier beaches around Weymouth. You reach it by passing through the village of Upton,then along a narrow country road. Next to the car park is a well stocked shop. The cliffs behind RingsteadBayare an excellent place for fossil hunting.
Accommodation: Glenburn Hotel (01305 832318, www.glenburnhotell.com) with doubles fromPS7 9 including breakfast. BRANSCOMBE.DEVON
Lying on the EastDevonHeritageCoast, Branscombe has good facilities with toilets and a car park close to the beach, as well as a small picnic area. A well stocked shop sells the most attractive dairy ice cream. Next to the shop is the Sea Shanty restaurant--open every day until 5 p.m. during the summer.
Accommodation: The Mason's Arms, Branscombe Village (01297 680300, www.masonsarms.co.uk) with doubles fromPS6 5 pp with breakfast. | high23513.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The boom of human population"
},
"options": [
"Colonial conquests of Europe",
"The boom of human population",
"Advances in science and industrialization",
"The rise of nation-states"
],
"question": "Which of the... | The death of languages is not a new phenomenon. Languages usually have a relatively short life span as well as a very high death rate. Only a few, including Egyptian, Chinese, Greek, Latin, have lasted more than 2,000 years.
What is new, however, is the speed at which they are dying out. Europe's colonial conquests caused a sharp decline in linguistic diversity, eliminating at least 15 percent of all languages spoken at the time. Over the last 300 years, Europe has lost a dozen, and Australia has only 20 left of the 250 spoken at the end of the 18th century.
The rise of nation-states has also been decisive in selecting and consolidating national languages and sidelining others. By making great efforts to establish an official language in education, the media and the civil service, national governments have deliberately tried to eliminate minority languages.
This process of linguistic standardization has been boosted by industrialization and scientific progress, which have imposed new methods of communication that are swift, straightforward and practical. Language diversity came to be seen as an obstacle to trade and the spread of knowledge. Monolingualism became an ideal.
More recently, the internationalization of financial markets, the spread of information by electronic media and other aspects of globalization have intensified the threat to "small" languages. A language not on the Internet is a language that "no longer exists" in the modern world. It is out of the game.
The serious effects of the death of languages are evident. First of all, it is possible that if we all ended up speaking the same language, our brains would lose some of their natural capacity for linguistic inventiveness. We would never be able to figure out the origins of human language or resolve the mystery of "the first language". As each language dies, a chapter of human history closes.
Multilingualism is the most accurate reflection of multiculturalism. The destruction of the first will inevitably lead to the loss of the second. Imposing a language without any links to a people's culture and way of life stifles the expression of their collective genius. A language is not only used for the main instrument of human communication. It also expresses the world vision of those who speak it, their ways of using knowledge. To safeguard languages is an urgent matter. | high12916.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "holiday-makers"
},
"options": [
"reporters",
"holiday-makers",
"guides",
"sportsmen"
],
"question": "This passage is written mainly for _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | Weekend one-day out
A walk along the Wall -- Beijing Hikers is organizing a hike in a village along the Great Wall in Changping District, north of downtown Beijing. The walk will take around three hours covering a distance of 10 kilometres.
Time: 8:30 a.m-4:30p.m, Dec.4
Cost: 200 yuan (US $25) per adult, 150 yuan (US $18.50) for under-12s.
Meeting place: 8:30a.m. in front of Starbucks at Lido Holiday Inn, Jiangtai Lu
To sign-up (one day before the hike) and more information, contact Huijie at info@beijinghikers.com or 139-1002-5516.
Skiing and hot springs -- Cycle China plans a day's skiing fun at a resort around Beijing followed by an outdoor hot spring bath for your sore body.
Cost: 350 yuan (US $43.40) & Time: 8:30 a.m-6:30p.m, Dec.4
Location: Meet at the office of Cycle China, opposite to the east gate of Jingshan Park, Xicheng District.
For more information and reservation, email reserve@cyclechina.com or call 139-1188-6524.
Horse riding -- This is a trip to a professional horse-riding club with well-trained bilingual instructors, offering lessons to people who love riding and those willing to learn more. The club is located in Hebei Province next to the Kangxi Grassland.
Time: 1:30 a.m-4:30p.m, Dec.4
Cost: 330yuan (US $40.74) including one hour's riding, transportation, guide, lunch
To sign-up and more information, contact Lucy at 8580-5080, 130-1117-1326 or Lucy@highclub.net. | high22619.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "our feelings are related to our bodily experience"
},
"options": [
"our feelings are related to our bodily experience",
"we can learn to take control of other people's bodies",
"participants will live more passionately after ... | If you could be anybody in the world, who would it be? Your neighbour or a super star? A few people have experienced what it might be like to step into the skin of another person, thanks to an unusual virtual reality device. Rikke Wahl, an actress, model and artist, was one of the participants in a body swapping experiment at the Be Another lab, a project developed by a group of artists based in Barcelona. She swapped with her partner, an actor, using a machine called The Machine to Be Another and temporarily became a man. "As I looked down, I saw my whole body as a man, dressed in my partner's pants," she said. "That's the picture I remember best."
The set-up is relatively simple. Both users wear a virtual reality headset with a camera on the top. The video from each camera is sent to the other person, so what you see is the exact view of your partner. If she moves her arm, you see it. If you move your arm, she sees it.
To get used to seeing another person's body without actually having control of it, participants start by raising their arms and legs very slowly, so that the other can follow along. Eventually, this kind of slow synchronised movement becomes comfortable, and participants really start to feel as though they are living in another person's body.
Using such technology promises to alter people's behaviour afterwards-potentially for the better. Studies have shown that virtual reality can be effective in fighting racism-the bias that humans have against those who don't look or sound like them. Researchers at the University of Barcelona gave people a questionnaire called the Implicit Association Test, which measures the strength of people's associations between, for instance, black people and adjectives such as good, bad, athletic or awkward. Then they asked them to control the body of a dark skinned digital character using virtual reality glasses, before taking the test again. This time, the participants' bias scores were lower. The idea is that once you've "put yourself in another's shoes" you're less likely to think ill of them, because your brain has internalised the feeling of being that person.
The creators of The Machine to Be Another hope to achieve a similar result. "At the end of body swapping, people feel like holding each other in their arms," says Arthur Pointeau, a programmer with the project. "It's a really nice way to have this kind of experience. I would really, really recommend it to everyone." | high6834.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "refusing always to say yes to your friend"
},
"options": [
"refusing always to say yes to your friend",
"saying no to your friend who turns to you",
"making different kinds of friends",
"breaking away from your friend"
... | Many people find themselves caught up in others' problems, and then confused about how and when to help. In fact, all relationships need limits no matter whether they are friendships, sibling relations, mates/ lovers or business relations. On some level, all limit setting means saying no. However, it is usually a qualified "no" that says what, where, when, and under what conditions you will give or not give to another person. There are three points we should keep in mind about limit setting:
1.Decide where to set the limits. Think about the entire situation. Consider your time, emotions, and means. Then consider whether you are helping the other person. Aim to do something to help the other person without taking on the whole problem.
2.Express the limits clearly. For example, you say to your friend, " I will lend you $20,000 no more than once every three months. And I expect you will pay me back within three months and certainly before you can borrow more." You say to another friend, "you can stay here for three weeks but you must help me with expenses and cooking and make sure that you will find your own place before the three weeks is up".
3.Stick to your limits. You are not responsible for making the other person obey the limits. You are only responsible for following the limits yourself. Your friend has repaid $12,500 of his/her $20,000 and asks for $20,000 more. You say no. He/She gets emotional and then says, "I need this money to cover a bad check. If you cared for our friendship, you would do it".
Limit setting is often stressful and painful because people mistakes it for rejection. And limit setting certainly brings guilt. Bear in mind, it doesn't mean you have given up or quit loving your friend, lovers, or sibling. It does mean you are expressing that love in a different and more helpful (to both of you) manner. | high8819.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "they have deep effects on our future"
},
"options": [
"they have deep effects on our future",
"they have nothing to do with our career",
"we are faced with choices everywhere",
"we should not waste our precious time"
... | The direction of our lives is determined by the choices we make every day. They accumulate and lead to our final destination. Success in life is not a gift that just falls on people like a ripe pawpaw! It is a choice you have to make. The life you are going to live tomorrow is just a direct product of your choice today.
It is pointless to waste our time today and hope for a successful tomorrow. Everything that happens in your life depends on what you are doing today. Your future begins with a choice. Here are some tips that help you create a life of fulfillment and prosperity in the future.
Choose to be positive. A positive mental attitude will put you miles ahead of your peers . Never say never. Your attitude determines your altitude. It is more valuable than skills. Choose a positive attitude and things will start to work for you.
Choose to always treat others right. We come across all sorts of people, many of whom will treat us poorly. We can choose to treat them right, no matter how they treat us. When they lie, we will tell the truth. When they cheat, we will play by the rules. We may get the short end of the stick sometimes, but in the long run we will win.
Choose to sow more than you reap. There are many takers in this world, but our lives will be better as we become givers. Give away your time, your money and your love and you will most likely get it back sooner or later!
Choose to break bad habit. Take the big ones first. Make every effort to break them. Forget about the others, as you will get to them later. Stop smoking, get out of debt and lose your extra weight. Exercise the power to choose!
Choose to get home for dinner more often. The family is the most important group of people you will ever belong to. Make a decision today to develop your relationship with your family. This one choice you will never regret.
You have a chance today to change your life forever. Make the right choices . | high24268.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "the elderly need humane help from society"
},
"options": [
"the elderly need humane help from society",
"businesses should do something for society in return",
"old people are entitled to special treatment for their contribut... | Age has its special advantages inprefix = st1 /America. And one of the more impressive of them is the senior citizen discount . Anyone who has reached a certain age-- in some cases as low as 55 -- is automatically entitled to plenty of price reductions at nearly every level of commercial life . Eligibility is determined not by one's need but by the date on one's birth certificate . Practically the discounts have become a routine part of many businesses-- as common as color1 televisions in motel rooms and free coffee on airliners .
People with array hair often are given the discounts without even asking for them ; yet , millions of Americans above age 60 are healthy and solvent . Businesses that would never dare offer discounts to college students or anyone under 30 freely offer them to older Americans . The practice is acceptable because of the widespread belief that " elderly " and " needy " are synonymous . Perhaps that once was true , but today , to be sure , there is economic variety within the elderly , and most of them aren't poor .
It is impossible to determine the effect of the discounts on individual companies . For many firms , they are a stimulus to income . But in other cases the discounts are given at the expense , directly or indirectly , of younger Americans . Moreover , they directly annoy some politicians and scholars who consider it a coming conflict between the generations .
Generational tensions are being fueled by continuing debate over Social Security benefits , which mostly involves a transfer of resources from the young to the old . Employment is another point . Supported by laws and court decisions , more and more older Americans are refusing the retirement dinner in favor of staying on the job-- thereby lessening employment and promotion opportunities for younger workers . Far from a kind of charity they once were , senior citizen discounts have become a powerful economic privilege to a group with millions of members who don't need them .
It no longer makes sense to treat the elderly as a single group whose economic needs deserve priority over those of others . Senior citizen discounts only enrich the myth that older people can't take care of themselves and need special treatment ; and they threaten the creation of a new myth , that the elderly are ungrateful and taking for themselves at the expense of children and other age groups . Senior citizen discounts are the heart of the very thing older Americans are fighting against-- discrimination by age . | high23507.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "He knew he would get home quicker that way."
},
"options": [
"He usually discovered something suspicious along that way.",
"He had an appointment with a man at number 29 there.",
"He chose to go that way by chance.",
"H... | Police Officer Tidwell left the station just after 8 a.m.on Sunday June 4.He had spent aboring night on duty and was looking forward to his day of rest.By habit he took a short-cutdown the path behind Dugby Hall road and after a minute or two he saw a man climbing down a drainpipe from an open bedroom window of Number 29.In silence,Tidwell crept into the garden.The man reached the ground and was dusting himself down when he felt his arm caught.
"It's 8:15 on a Sunday morning,"said the officer,"and this sort of thing seems an unlikely adventure at such a time.Would you mind explaining?"
The man was obviously scared but tried to keep calm.He said,"I know what you are thinking,officer,but it isn't true.This is a funny mistake."
"It's part of my job to take an interest in unusual events.I think you've just left this house in a manner other than the customary one.That may be quite innocent,but I'd like to make sure."Tidwell took out his notebook and a pen."Name,address and occupation and then,please,tell me your story..."
"Charlie Crane,lorry driver,from Nottingham,51 Breton Street.My story..."
"Yes.What were you doing like a fly on that wall,Mr.Crane?"
"Well,I had a breakdown yesterday and had to stay the night here.Bed and breakfast.Theland-lady's name is Mrs.Fern.She gave me breakfast at seven,and I was out of here in the right way and down at the lorry by half past seven.Only when I felt around for a cigarette did I realize I'd left$80in my envelope under the pillow here at number 29.I always put it under my pillow at night.It's a habit I've got into.I even do it at home..."
"I see.Why didn't you miss it when you went to pay Mrs...What's her name?"
"I'd paid her last night.You've got to pay when you take the room,see?So I came rushing back,but it's Sunday,and she'd gone back to bed,and could I wake her?I rang the bell and banged on the front door for ten minutes before I came round here to the back and spotted my bedroom window still open.Up I went,then,up this pipe.It's a trick I learned in the army.She didn't make the bed,and money was still there.You know the rest,I hope you believe it because..."
"Mr.Crane,whatever are you doing here?I thought you'd gone an hour ago."It was Mrs.Fern,speaking from the kitchen at the corner of the house. | high19857.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "children can also invent something"
},
"options": [
"children can also invent something",
"it is easy even for children to make inventions",
"kids have more advantages in inventing things",
"to be an inventor is the bes... | An inventor seeks to create a new product that serves a specific need and fulfills a role that other products do not. Sometimes an inventor comes up with a wholly new idea, but more often inventions are simply improvements on an older design. With a little imagination and creativity , an old idea can suddenly become something new.
However, creating a new invention means much more than having a brilliant idea. A good designer follows the design process: identifying the challenge, researching and brainstorming ideas , designing a solution, testing and evaluating the ideas, and finally building the product. Designers also use science, math, technology, and engineering to design a tool that satisfies the need they identified.
Anyone can be an inventor --even kids! For example, Chester Greenwood was just fifteen years old when he invented a product that changed his life. In fact, his idea was so good that his invention supported him for the rest of his life. You may not know his name, but you probably know his invention --earmuffs !
The inspiration for his earmuff design came to Chester when he was ice-skating. His ears were cold, and he decided to find a way to keep them warm. With the help of his grandmother, he made a new product to protect his ears and at the age of eighteen, Chester patented his earmuff design.
Many other famous inventors started young as well. Margaret Knight --the inventor of the flat-bottomed brown paper bag --is said to have created a safety device for textile looms when she was just twelve years old. Another example is Thomas Edison, one of the greatest inventors in history, who applied for his first patent when he was just twenty-one years old. Over the course of his life, Thomas Edison patented a total of 1,093 inventions! | high3794.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "a string of accidents related to school buses"
},
"options": [
"public response on new safety standards",
"a string of accidents related to school buses",
"the public demand for developing US standards",
"rising anger a... | Over the past two weeks, public feedback was sought on new safety standards for school buses.In the wake of the accidents coming one after another, experts from MIIT drew up a new safety technique document of school buses in December, based on US and EU standards.
School bus makers and industry watchers doubt the possibility of these new standards, saying that hiking costs would make school buses unaffordable in rural China.The US-modeled standards also mean that most smaller bus makers will be kept out from the market.
These views, however, have aroused anger among netizens who are questioning "why can't we enjoy US standards when it comes to human lives?"
Similar debates keep taking place.China falls behind the US on various standards--air quality measurement, mine safety, milk safety and so on.The idea is highly attractive that China presses on with adapting advanced US standards and improves all unsatisfying aspects of social life.However, this is far more complex than drawing up documents on paper.
Some standards today were unimaginable just a few years ago.But public demand for using better standards from developed countries is on the rise.The government has to learn from them and keep pushing for higher standards.Adopting PM 2.5 in air quality monitoring follows _ .
On the other hand, it is not always good to copy Western standards.Take the US-style big school buses.Their size makes it tough for them to go on the narrow roads of rural China.Similarly in cities, if school buses carry a "stop" sign like their US counterparts and enjoy right of way, how many would then complain about the disturbing traffic?
China should try its best to develop its own standards.It should have its own schedule to steadily reach higher standards.Over the past decades, the nation has developed many a standard We need to have more confidence, rather than simply copying foreign standards. | high21310.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "is most important"
},
"options": [
"is most important",
"is considered",
"is included",
"is numbered"
],
"question": "The last word of the text\"counts\"most probably means _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_q... | No one knows exactly how many disabled people there are in the world,but estimates suggest the figure is over 450 million.The number of disabled people in India alone is probably more than double the total population of Canada.
In the United Kingdom,about one in ten people have some disability.Disability is not just something that happens to other people:as we get older,many of us will become less mobile,hard of hearing or have failing eyesight.
Disablement can take many forms and occur at any time of life.Some people are born with disabilities.Many others become disabled as they get older.There are many progressive disabling diseases.The longer time goes on,the worse they become. Some people are disabled in accidents.Many others may have a period of disability in the form of a mental illness.All are affected by people's attitude towards them.
Disabled people face many physical barriers.Next time you go shopping or to work or visit friends,imagine how you would manage if you could not get up steps,or onto buses and trains.How would you cope if you could not see where you were going or could not hear the traffic?But there are other barriers:prejudice can be even harder to break down and ignorance represents the greatest barrier of a11.It is almost impossible for the able-bodied to fully appreciate what the severely disabled go through,so it is important to draw attention to these barriers and show that it is the individual person and their ability,not their disability,that _ . | high10873.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "get connected with the young kids and stay active"
},
"options": [
"get connected with the young kids and stay active",
"provide counseling service for the school kids",
"avoid getting into financial trouble after retirement"... | It's 6 a.In.dark and damp.The gentle mist makes it somewhat difficult to find school bus No.330 parked by the east fence, even with my flashlight.
For so many times.it's occurred to me that I've found a strange way of easing into retirement --wheeling a school bus around the streets of Minnetonka, _ elementary and middle-school kids to and from school. Having spent the past 10 years before retirement as a family counselor, I figured that driving a school bus would give me a chance to reconnect with young people, and get me out of the house more ofen.
Anyway, I'm learning a lot driving a school bus and I've learned a lot form my fellow drivers. If the kids are paying attention, they can learn it, too.
The course is Life 101. The title is Self-Awareness and Self-Management. And the school bus drivers are, for a few minutes each morning and evening, teachers.
These drivers are in fact people from different backgrounds, including retired folks-like a onetime corporate CEO, a onetime lawyer, a former teacher, a former investment banker. Some are younger stay-at-home moms, displaced managers , and people throwing their shoulders into a challenging economy. If the kids are paying attention, they may learn important things form these drivers, like discipline, kindness, and courage.
How can kids know the discipline that it takes to rise every morning before sunrise,to travel to a cold garage and enter a large box of iron--checking it out from beginning to end----ensuring that it allows all the kids a safe ride? Do they recognize the challenge of being kind and respectful when one's financial _ may be coming down? Do children really understand the courage it takes to get up when snow is piling high and drive a school bus,facing all ultimate fear----an injured child?
While academics are vital, self--awareness, self--management and personal responsibility are life--changing. | high21476.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "A wandering man"
},
"options": [
"A crazy man",
"A wandering man",
"A stealing man",
"A useless policeman"
],
"question": "What could be the best title of this passage?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"... | She looked at the man walking along the sidewalk next to the nice houses. He didn't live in any of those houses. She had seen this man several times before. He looked like a criminal. She knav not to judge a book by its cover, but this man was no good
She drove by him. He looked at her car as she drove by. She continued driving. She watched him in her rear view mirror. She got to the corner and stopped. She continued to watch him walking in her direction. Suddenly, he turned left up a driveway. A red SUV was parked in the driveway right next to the sidewalk. She saw him walk up to the driver's door and put his hand on the handle. He relumed to the sidewalk and continued walking in her direction.
"What was that all about. " she wondered. Then she realized that he had tested the door to see if it was locked. He is a criminal, she thought That's what he does. He just walks through our neighborhoods looking for cars to break into.
She called the police. She described the man. The officer said he knew who the man was. Residents called two or three times a week to report him walking by. But the police couldn't arrest him for walking around. They had to catch him with stolen goods. "But he was testing that SUV door to see if it was unlocked," she said.
"I'm sony," said the officer. "That's not against the law. If you see him actually steal something, give us a call." | high4945.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Because they knew Shay was anything but good at playing baseball."
},
"options": [
"Because it was a very important game and they couldn't afford to lose it.",
"Because they knew Shay was physically disabled.",
"Beca... | A Divine Plan
At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learningdisabled children, the father of one student delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by those who attended. He began with a question. "Everything God does is done with perfection. Yet, my son, Shay, cannot learn and understand things as other children do. Where is God's plan reflected in my son?"
The audience was stilled by the question. The father continued,"I believe that when God brings a child like Shay into the world, an opportunity to realize the Divine Plan presents itself. And it comes in the way people treat that child."
Then he told the following story:
Shay and I walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked,"Do you think they will let me play?"
I knew that most boys would not want him on their team. Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball. So I approached one of the boys on the field and asked if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance from his teammates. Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said, "We are losing by six runs . The game is in the eighth inning . He can be on our team and we will try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning."
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. At the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the outfield.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. They had the potential to win. Would the team actually let Shay bat at this _ and give away their chance to win the game?
Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. At last, understanding what the boy's intentions had been, the boys from both teams helped Shay win the game for the team and Shay was cheered as the hero.
"That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face,"the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of the Divine Plan into this world." | high20768.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "PS500."
},
"options": [
"PS500.",
"PS575.",
"PS1000.",
"PS1500."
],
"question": "What'sthemonthly rent ofthe property?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,... | THELANDLORD Mrs Gloria Black of 6 Sutton Road,Cambridge CB5 7AQ THE TENANTMarinaKahn
PROPERTY 24a WoodRoad, CambridgeCB2 8BG
TOGETHER WITH CONTENTS (fixtures, furniture and equipment) specified in the inventory
(attached)
TERMfrom 1 st January 20 _ to 31 st December20 _ (12months)
RENTPS500 per calendarmonth, payablein advance onthefirst day of eachmonth
DEPOSITPS500, payable on commencement ofthis Agreement
AGREEMENTS
A The Landlord may re-enter the Property and terminate this Agreement if the Rent or any part ofit is not paidwithinfourteen daysafterit becomes due.
B The Landlord may bring the tenancyto an end at anytime before the expiry of the Term (but not earlier than six months from the Commencement Date of this Contract) by giving the Tenant not less than twomonths' written notice starting that the Landlord requires possession ofthe Property.
C The Landlord shall put the deposit with the Deposit Protection Service, and shall inform the Tenant within 14 days of taking the deposit of the contact details of this service and details of how to apply fortherelease of the deposit from thisservice.
TENANT'SOBLIGATIONS
1 Pay the RentintotheLandlord's bank account at thetimes specified.
2 Pay for all water, gas and electricity consumed on the Property during the Term; and pay infull for all chargesmadeforthe use of telephone on the Property duringthe Term.
3 Keeptheinterior of the Property duringthe Term in a goodand clean stateofrepair,condition and decoration.
4 Permit the Landlord to enter the Property at all reasonable times; to inspect the Property andits contents; and to carry out any works of maintenance or repair to the Property; to show prospective new Tenantsaroundthe Property at the end of thetenancy.
5 Not takeinany paying guest without the priorwritten consent oftheLandlord.
6 Not use the Property other than as a private dwelling; nor carry on any profession, trade or businessinthe Property.
7 Not use anymusical instrument, wireless or television between midnight and 7 am, nor permit any singing or dancing betweenthesehours.
8 Not keep in the Property any cat, dog or other pet without the prior written consent of theLandlord.
SIGNATURES
Tenant:Name(print):MARINA KAHN Signed:Marina KahnWitnessed by: Name(print): _ LICE RACE Signed: _ RACEOccupation: _ ONDARY SCHOOL TEACHER
Address: _ School House Lane,Cambridge, CB2 8GH
Tenant:Name(print): _ ORIA BLACKSigned: _ loria Black
Witnessed by: Name(print): _ IVE LYDIA LEESigned: _ LeeOccupation: _ rarianAddress: _ dhead Road, Peterborough PB48DU | high23261.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "each period of time has its own taste of the American dream"
},
"options": [
"America's golden dream could never be realized",
"America's golden dream had bought great fortunes to Chinese immigrants",
"each period of time has... | You may have heard the term "the American Dream". In 1848, James W. Marshall found gold in California and people began having golden dreams. That 19th century "American Dream" motivated the Gold Rush and gave California its nickname of the "Golden State".
The American Dream drove not only 1800s gold-rush prospectors but also waves of immigrants throughout that century and the next. People from Europe, and a large number of Chinese, arrived in the US in the 19th century hoping that in America they would find gold in the streets. But most, instead, worked as railroad labourers. They created the oldest Chinatown, in San Francisco, and gave the city a Chinese name "the old gold hill".
In the 20th century, some critics said that it was no longer possible to become prosperous through determination and hard work. Unfair education for students from poor families and racial discrimination almost made the American Dream a nightmare.
Then, in the 1990s, California saw a new wave of dreamers in Silicon Valley. People poured their energy into the Internet. This new chapter of the American Dream attracted many business people and young talents from China and India to form start-ups and seek fortunes in America.
Better pay, a nice house, and a rising standard of living will always be attractive. However, the new American Dream is no longer just about money. It encourages Americans to consume wisely to protect the environment, improve the quality of life, and promote social justice.
The Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has become the model of the new American Dream. After years of hard work, he grew from a poor young man from Austria into a movie superstar and then governor. Many people hope his story can save the American Dream and give California a brighter future. | high7294.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "inform people of exchanging a lid"
},
"options": [
"introduce a new type of mugs",
"persuade people to buy a new lid",
"inform people of exchanging a lid",
"warn against the danger of using the mug"
],
"question... | Attention Tim Hortons
Stainless Steel Travel Mug Owners
Lid Recall-15 oz Stainless Steel Travel Mug
A fault at the cup has been recognized. The fault may result in some lids lifting slightly from the body of the mug, and could probably cause injury from hot liquid leaking. Therefore, we have given an immediate lid recall notice.
This Recall notice is related only to Tim Hortons 15 oz Stainless Steel Travel Mugs sold between October 2002 and January 2003. The bottom of the mug is stamped with distributor's name, "ThermoServ". There is no printing on the handle of the mug.
At Tim Hortons, we value our customers' safety above anything else. So, whether your lid is leaking or not, in the interest of your safety, we are requesting that you bring your mug to your nearest Tim Hortons (excluding Esso Tim Hortons), where they will exchange the lid for a new lid that fits safety. The new lids will be available February 1, 2003; please do not use your mug until you exchange the lid.
Here's what you do:
* Please do not use your mug until you have exchanged the lid for a new one.
* New lids will be available February 1, 2003.
* Return your travel mug to a Tim Hortons store (as of February 1, 2003).
* Your lid will he exchanged for a new lid.
If you prefer to return the entire mug, bring it back at any time for a full repayment.
If you have any questions regarding this recall, please contact us at:
Toll Free Number: 1-888-601-1616
8:30 am - 5:00 pm Eastern Standard Time
Tim Hortons | high20740.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Worried"
},
"options": [
"Proud",
"Worried",
"Happy",
"Strange"
],
"question": "How did Lisa feel about her weight at first?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_inde... | Lisa has always been overweight. She wanted to lose weight, not just because she wanted to look more beautiful and healthier, but also because it would make life easier. For example, it was difficult for Lisa to find ready-made clothes that would fit. She had to ask a tailor to make clothes that were large enough. In school, she needed a special chair which was bigger and stronger than the other chairs. If she went for a walk, she got tired very quickly. She was also unhappy about the way people treated her sometimes. "People look at me and even make fun of me. That's unfair! It's true that I'm overweight, but I don't think people should treat me differently because I'm big. I can't enjoy having dinner with my friends because I'm afraid of getting fatter. "Her friends and family never made fun of her. They tried to help her instead. They wanted her to be happy and healthy. Sometimes when Lisa was feeling sad, she didn't want to speak to anyone.
But now things are quite different. Last month her classmates were preparing for the School Art Week. Someone advised Lisa to play the lead role of the Proud Queen who was tall and fat. Lisa agreed and practiced a lot.
Soon after the play, Lisa became the star! She did so well that everybody remembered the Proud Queen. They stood around her and said "Congratulations"to her. She even won the School Best Actress Award for her wonderful performance.
Now Lisa doesn't worry about being fat any more. She believes in the English saying " _ | high23249.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Some popular books and movies help young Italian people with their English a lot."
},
"options": [
"English learning in Italy has been popular for more than a century.",
"Some popular books and movies help young Italian people with... | European Day of Languages falls on 26 September. BBC News Online reported the attitudes across several European Union countries to languages.
Tamsin Smith, Rome, Italy
Italians place very high importance on learning languages, particularly English. Twenty years ago it was quite difficult to find an English speaker here but today it is quite easy. The strong influence of American and English culture helps young people to learn the English language. They often become familiar with it through "Harry Potter" books or Disney movies. English schools, where Italian children are taught all their lessons in English, are also becoming popular among rich Italians.
Lucien Libert, Paris, France
Languages are very important in France. A good knowledge of the English language is necessary for many Frenchmen to get a good job and the more languages you can learn, the better. English is the first language you learn in school and you start very young. Most people have at least eight years of learning English at school. Learning German or Spanish comes next and Latin is also taught in most schools. While French people learn languages, there is also a movement to protect the French language.
James Helm, Dublin, Ireland
The English language predominates in Ireland, but the ancient Irish language is a lasting source of pride and interest, and it remains a living tongue that is used in several areas. School are required to teach ancient Irish, and most students learn it as part of the subjects. There is a continuing discussion about how to protect the language best. In recent years some primary schools have introduced foreign language classes for younger students, and the Irish government has tried to encourage schools to offer more languages such as French, Spanish, German and Italian. | high9291.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "A child's allowance shouldn't be tied to chores."
},
"options": [
"A child's allowance shouldn't be tied to chores.",
"Kids shouldn't be forced to do chores.",
"Doing chores teaches kids the value of work.",
"Kids shoul... | Parents do need to teach their kids financial responsibility and that money is earned. Still, many child-development experts agree that tying a child's allowance to chores can be a slippery slope. Here's why.
Susie Walton, master instructor at Peace in Your Home advises to keep chores and allowances totally separate. "Allowance is one thing. When it comes to chores, life skills, responsibilities-that's a whole different thing." says Walton.
Walton says, "When kids aren't doing a chore, you don't say, 'well, there goes your allowance.' You're going to sit them down and ask what's going on. 'We are a team. We are a family. We've got to have them done.'"
Besides, by paying children for chores with an allowance, you'll also be sending the message that work isn't worth doing unless they're getting paid for it.
There are times when it would make sense to pay kids for chores. Most financial and child-development experts agree that it's a fine idea to pay children money for extra jobs that are outside their normal set of chores, such as washing windows, washing the car or helping to clean out the garage-especially if the child is saving for a big item. This may even develop an entrepreneurial spirit to think outside of the box to earn money.
For parents who are concerned that their children won't learn the value of a dollar if the allowance isn't tied to household chores, note that there are still plenty of money management skills to be learned from a straight allowance. Depending on the age, kids can be made responsible for paying for their own toys or snacks. Some parents even require that kids set aside a percentage of their allowance toward savings.
"I really like having my own money," says Kevin, 9. "It's up to me if I want to buy the cheap toy now, or save and get the better toy." And that's a good lesson to learn at 9 years old.
No matter which allowance route you take in parenthood, kids will feel empowered by being able to handle their own money. | high12094.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "by 1930 Olivetti produced 13,000 typewriters a year"
},
"options": [
"by 1930 Olivetti produced 13,000 typewriters a year",
"Olivetti earned more in the 1960s than in the 1950s",
"some of the 700 staff regularly visited custo... | The engineer Camillo Oliver was 40 years old when he started the company in 1908.
At his factory in Ivrea, he designed and produced the first Italian typewriter, Today the company 's head office is still in Ivrea, near Turin, but the company is much larger than it was in those days and there are offices all around the world. By 1930 there was staff of 100 and the company turned out 13,000 machines a year. Some went to customers in Italy, but Olivetti exported more typewriter to other countries.
Camillo's son, Adriano, started working for the company in 1924 and later he became the boss. He introduced a standard speed for the production line and he employed technology and design specialists. The company developed new and better typewriters and then calculators .In 1959 it produced the ELEA computer in Italy.
After Adriano died in 1960,the company had a period of financial problems. Other companies, especially the Japanese, made faster progress in electronic technology than the Italian company.
In 1978,Carlo de Benedetti became the new boss. Olivetti increased its marking and service networks and made agreements with other companies to design and produce more advanced office equipment. Soon it became one of the world's leading companies in information technology and communications. There are now five independent companies in the Olivetti group - one for personal computers, one for Systems and services, and two for telecommunications. | high22157.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "disaster"
},
"options": [
"illness",
"disaster",
"terror",
"danger"
],
"question": "The underline word damage means _ in the article.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"a... | Thousands of people have been killed in a massive earthquake in Japan. The quake -- the most powerful to hit Japan in more than 100 years -- caused massive _ and many people are missing and feared dead.
The 8.9 magnitude quake struck Friday(March 11) off Japan's eastern coast, and prompted tsunami warnings across the Pacific as far away as South America and the U.S. West Coast. Several days after a 8.9-magnitude earthquake and resulting 10-meter-high tsunami devastated the coastline. The United States Geological Survey says it was the fifth largest earthquake since 1900. The largest, with a 9.5 magnitude, shook Chile in 1960.
In Japan, the tsunami swept away boats, cars and hundreds of houses in coastal areas north of Tokyo. The quake shook buildings in the Japanese capital and caused several fires. All train and subway traffic in Tokyo has been stopped, and thousands of people there were unable to get back home. People are just trying to find clean water. Food supplies are running out. In the convenience stores, there are no rice balls left. There is no bottled water left. People are facing a really serious situation in the days ahead for these people that are living in areas that were only moderately damaged. The final death toll could range from the thousands to tens of thousands, depending on how many of these communities are gone.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the government would do everything it can to minimize the effects of the disaster. And in Washington, President Obama said the United States is ready to help the people of Japan. | high1815.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "both Americans and Chinese were brave and full of compassion in emergencies"
},
"options": [
"they were both natural disasters",
"both Americans and Chinese were brave and full of compassion in emergencies",
"he is a Chinese ... | On May 12, 2008, an earthquake of 8 magnitude struck prefix = st1 /Sichuan. Everyone inChinawas shocked, and quickly became heartbroken as reported deaths climbed from 10,000 to 32,000 to more than 62,000 people. The death toll is still rising, and the number of injured and missing is many times more.
The Chinese people faced this disaster with compassion and courage. I was touched by the teacher who died forming a bridge with his body between two desks, protecting four surviving students under him, by the trapped child who told the rescue workers to save others first, and by the dying mother who texted her baby, "My Treasure: If you survive, always remember I love you." She died using her own body to protect her 3-month-old from harm. But don't worry about this baby growing up without a family. Thousands of families in Chinahave already volunteered to adopt earthquake orphans.
And the Chinese people faced this disaster with resourcefulness and tenacity . A brave CEO took his weekend SUV, drove hundreds of miles, started digging, and saved several lives. A child used his hands to dig out two fellow students. His hands were severely injured, but his friends survived. Cab drivers turned their cars into ambulances and delivery trucks. More than 100,000 brave soldiers risked (and some gave) their lives to find every survivor.
These are the heroes among us, whether they use an SUV, a shovel or a phone. Their heroic deeds and selflessness inspired me so deeply that I can recall only one other such occasion. It was 9/11---I vividly remember the police officers, the firefighters, and of course the passengers and crew on United Flight 93.
As a Chinese American, I hope that the Chinese and the Americans will see that they have so much in common---their compassion, courage, and generosity. I hope that people will see that these heroic commonalities are much stronger than any differences. And I hope that these heroes from 9/11 and 5/12 will inspire all of us to turn our anxiety into courage, our misery into tenacity, and our sorrow into love. | high22631.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "High school graduates preparing to have at-home training."
},
"options": [
"College students preparing to work in some big companies.",
"College students preparing to study for a degree.",
"High school graduates preparing to ... | Get Your Degree at Home!
Have you ever wondered what a degree might be worth to your job or career? It means a lot of Americans with an Associate Degree average nearly $ 10,000 more in their earnings than those with just a high school diploma.
Harcourt Learning Direct offers you a way to get a Specialized Associate Degree in 11 of today's growing fields---without having to go to college full time .With Harcourt, you study at home, in your spare time---so you don't have to give up your present job while you train for a better one. Choose from exciting majors like Business management, Accounting, Dressmaking & Design, Bookkeeping, Photography, Computer Science, Engineering, and more!
Your training includes everything you need! Books, lessons, learning aids--- even professional-quality tools and equipment---everything you need to master your training and move ahead to a new career is included in the low tuition price you pay.
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Nearly 2,000 American companies---including General Electric, IBM, General Motors, Ford, and many others have used our training for their employees. If companies like these recognize the value of our training, you can be sure that employers in your area will, too!
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The career of your dreams is closer than you think! Even if you have no experience before, you can get valuable job skills in today's hottest fields! Step-by-step lessons make learning easy .Prepare for promotions, pay raises, even start a business of your own!
Send today for FREE information about Harcourt at home training!
Simply fill your name and address on the coupon ( ) above. Then, write in the name and number of the one program you're most interested in, and mail it today. We'll rush you free information about how you can take advantage of the opportunities in the field you've chosen. Act today!
Mail coupon today or call the number below:
1-800-372-1589
Call anytime, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
www.harcourt-learning.com.
E-mail: Harcourt @ learning .com | high24240.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The image of Barbie dolls"
},
"options": [
"The roles of a modern woman.",
"The image of Barbie dolls",
"What is role models?",
"What is beauty?"
],
"question": "What does the passage mainly discuss?",
"qu... | One of the best-known women in the world is a small doll . This famous doll, called Barbie, was created by Ruth Handler in 1959. Now Barbie is known everywhere. Before Barbie, all dolls were made to look like babies. People thought that this was a way to teach young girls how to become a good mother. Barbie was the first doll made to look like an adult instead of baby.
From the beginning, Barbie was a modern career girl. There was a different Barbie for each job: nurse, teacher, police officer, race car driver, professional basketball player, pilot, as well as the very first female to fly in space. Barbie made it possible for young girls to dream about a future other than being a mother and a housewife. It showed girls that they had choices and could become anything they wanted to be. At the time, these ideas were very new and positive. The movement for equal opportunity for women had just begun and women wanted to have the same chance as men to do important work.
However, Barbie's approval as a role model has not lasted. Today, many people criticize Barbie for making young girls too concerned about their appearance . These people complain that the beautiful, well-dressed Barbie seems to tell girls that while they can hope to have different career, it is more important for them to be beautiful and thin. The female figure that Barbie represents has also been criticized for being unrealistic . Young girls might think that Barbie's figure is beautiful and desirable . However, if Barbie were a real person, she would be six feet tall and wear a size three shoe! | high8831.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Travel."
},
"options": [
"Travel.",
"Culture.",
"Education.",
"Entertainment."
],
"question": "In which column of a newspaper can we find the passage?",
"question_type": null
}
] | The English writer Samuel Johnson famously said, "You find no man who is willing to leave London. No, sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life, for there is in London all that life can afford." More than two centuries have passed since Johnson's age, but his words still ring true. Here, you'll find the historic Tower of London and the Tate Modern both considered must-sees. Shakespeare's sonnets are still being uttered by actors. Londoners most certainly still look up to the royals, but they also rock out to Coldplay and Lily Allen. And while they still sip tea, they now drink Starbucks, too.
How to Save Money in London
Find the free attractions. Many of London's top things to do, including the National Gallery, Hyde Park and the Portobello Road Market, are absolutely free to enjoy.
Ride the Tube. Taking taxis will add up quickly, so buy a pay-as-you-go Oyster Card and travel on London's underground system, nicknamed the "Tube".
Dine smart. Corridors like Brick Lane offer fantastic cultural food for bargain prices; fish and chip shops are a cheap standby and takeaway food costs less than dine-in.
London Culture & Customs
London is one of the fashion capitals of the world, and its residents tend to reflect that. Practically, pack an umbrella for the rainy days and a scarf for the cold ones. As for tipping, restaurants and cafes will usually add a 10-to-15-percent service charge to the bill. If a service charge is not allotted , it's customary to tip the same (between 10 and 15 percent). If you're drinking at a pub or wine bar, tipping is flexible. And in a taxicab, tip the driver to the nearest pound or about 10 percent of the cost.
London Dining
London used to be highly criticized for its heavy and common menu items. Now, London is considered as one of the most gourmet cities in the world. And with its melting pot of cultures, it's not difficult to see why. London offers everything from modern British to Malaysian. For Indian food, we suggest visiting the curry houses on Brick Lane. If you want a real high tea experience, book reservations at the Ritz, at Fortnum & Mason, or at the Dorchester -- but be sure to dress the part. Pub culture is still alive and well, so if you have a _ for fried fish and salty chips (or French fries), you'll still find them here. And for a quick bite, exchange a few pounds for a kebab, a quick sandwich or some to go sushi, which can be found in restaurants throughout the city. | high14383.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "They still have a place among the world leaders."
},
"options": [
"They have lost their leading position in many ways.",
"They still have a place among the world leaders.",
"They do not regard it as their responsibility.",
... | (The Guardian): More UK universities should be profiting from ideas
A repeated criticism of the UK's university sector is its noticeable weakness in translating new knowledge into new products and services.
Recently, the UK National Stem Cell Network warned the UK could lose its place among the world leaders in stem cell research unless adequate funding and legislation could be assured, despite an annual PS40m spent by the Department of Health on all kinds of research.
However, we do have to challenge the unthinking complaint that the sector does not do enough in taking ideas to market. The most recent comparative data on the performance of universities and research institutions in Australia, Canada, USA and UK shows that, from a relatively weak starting position, the UK now leads on many indicators of commercialization activity.
When viewed at the national level, the _ (interference) of the past decade have helped transformed the performances of UK universities. Evidence suggests the UK's position is much stronger than in the recent past and is still showing improvement. But national data masks the very large variation in the performance of individual universities. The evidence shows that a large number of universities have fallen off the back of the pack, a few perform strongly and the rest chase the leaders.
This type of uneven distribution is not strange to the UK and is mirrored across other economies. In the UK, research is concentrated: less than 25% of universities are receiving 75% of the research funding. These same universities are also the institutions producing the greatest share of PhD graduates, science citations, patents and license income. The effect of policies generating long-term resource concentration has also created a distinctive set of universities which are research-led and commercially active. It seems clear that the concentration of research and commercialization work creates differences between universities.
The core objective for universities which are research-led must be to maximize the impact of their research efforts. Their purpose is not to generate funds to add to the bottom line of the university or to substitute other income streams. Rather, these universities should be generating the widest range of social, economic and environmental benefits. In return for the scale of investment, they should share their expertise (expert knowledge or skill) in order to build greater confidence in the sector.
Part of the economic recovery of the UK will be driven by the next generation of research commercialization spilling out of our universities. On the evidence presented in my report, there are three dozen universities in the UK which are actively engaged in advanced research training and commercialization work.
If there was a greater coordination of technology transfer offices within regions and a simultaneous (happening at the same time) investment in the scale and functions of our graduate schools, universities could, and should, play a key role in positioning the UK for the next growth cycle. | high3964.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Air pollution."
},
"options": [
"Heavy rains.",
"Cold weather.",
"Air pollution.",
"Aphids."
],
"question": "What makes Lucy the Ladybird suffer most?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"ans... | Hi guys! I'm Lucy the ladybird and while I'm very much of a lady, I'm not actually a bird but a glowing red bettle with decorative black spots.
I'm a friendly little bug, to be honest, and simply like to be close with my pals as long as they handle me very gently. I don't bite humans but I do sink my teeth into aphids which, unlike me, are very harmful to all the plants. I milk the aphids just like people do with cows and I milk them dry of all the sap they have got from your poor plants. I'm a real gardeners' friend and love helping out around the place by pollinating flowers, tidying up plants' fallen leaves and helping to turn them into nice rich fertilizer to feed everything both above and below the soil, and naturally, being so attractive to look at, we are perfect living garden decorations.
One thing I can not tolerate is all that poisonous pollution from vehicles, garbage burning and other environmentally unfriendly acts that occur in the cities every single minute of the day and night. Pollution of any kind really chokes me to death, so these days, I only live in clean countryside areas, particularly cool ones where it rains and everything grows fresh and green from spring right through to autumn. In winter, when the weather is too cold for me to bear, then I find a nice place to sleep until the snow has gone and I can come back out to play.
Oh! I almost forgot to tell you that although I am not a bird I do have wings and can fly for short distances. So if you pick me up and let me run up and down your hands and arms, then please don't frighten me by screaming if I suddenly decide to take off! | high20026.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "To relax themselves away from work."
},
"options": [
"To get recruited in Pittsburgh.",
"To celebrate their successful recruitment.",
"To relax themselves away from work.",
"To meet their old school mates."
],
"... | Walking across the campus of Pittsburgh's prefix = st1 /CarnegieMellonUniversityone delightful spring day, I came upon a table filled with young people chatting and enjoying the fine weather. Several had identical blue T-shirts with "Trilogy @ CMU" written across them--Trilogy being an Austin, Texasbased software company with a reputation of recruiting our top students. I walked over to the table. "Are you guys here to recruit?" I asked. "No, ly not," they replied firmly. "We're not recruiters. We're just hanging out, playing a little frisbee with our friends." How interesting, I thought. They've come to campus on a workday, all the way from Austin, just to hang out with some new friends.
As I later learned, they were gifted students who had inked the highest-paying deal in the history of their departments.
I asked one young man why he was going to a smaller city in Taxas. The company is excellent, he told me. There are also terrific people and the work is challenging. Though he had several good job offers fromPittsburgh's high-tech firms and knew the city well, he said he felt the city lacked the life-styles options, cultural diversity, and tolerant attitude that would make it attractive to him. As he summed it up: "How would I fit in here?"
What a change from my own college days, just a little more than 20 years ago, when students would put on their dressiest clothes and carefully hide any counterculture tendencies to prove that they could fit in with the company. Today, apparently, it's the company trying to fit in with the students.
These young men and their lifestyles represent a lively new force in the enonomy and life ofAmerica. They are members of what I call the creative class: a fast-growing, highly educated, and well-paid part of the workforce on whose efforts corporate profits and economic growth increasingly depend. They do not consciously think of themselves as a class. Yet they share a common belief that values creativity, individuality, difference, and advantage. | high17852.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "it was an exciting place for him"
},
"options": [
"he liked his grandfather",
"he wanted to appreciate the old stone walls",
"there were old relics around the house",
"it was an exciting place for him"
],
"quest... | As a youngster, I liked to stay at my grandfather's farm as there were stone walls around the house, which could provide me endless hours of fun.
Since my first visit to the farm, I wanted to climb them. My parents would never agree. The walls were old and some stones were missing and others loose and falling. However, my idea grew so strong. Then, I had all my courage to enter the living room, where all the adults had gathered.
"I... I want to climb the stone walls," I said. At once voices of disagreement went up from the women in the room. "Heavens! No! You'll hurt yourself!" I wasn't too disappointed because the result was just as I'd expected. But before I could leave the room, I was stopped by my grandfather's loud voice. "Hold on just a minute." I heard him say. "Let the boy climb the stone walls. He has to learn to do things for himself."
"Go," he said to me, "and come to see me when you get back." For the next two and a half hours I climbed those walls, and had a good time of my life. Later I met with my grandfather to tell him about my adventures. I'll never forget what he said. "Fred," he said, smiling. "You made this day a special day just by being yourself. Always remember, there's only one person in this whole world like you, and I like you exactly as you are."
Many years have passed since then, and today I host the television program, which is being seen by millions of children throughout USA. There have been changes over the years, but what my grandfather said never left me. | high21338.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "inform us that rising numbers of children are suffering from mental health problems"
},
"options": [
"tell us Rebecca's troubles during the process of growing up",
"give teenagers some advice on how to relieve pressure",
"int... | Growing up too fast
Rebecca Turner felt "bombarded " by pressures to grow up quickly during her teenage years.The 18yearold British girl felt she had to be thin and attractive,have a boyfriend and appear popular.
Rebecca is not alone.According to a study published last Thursday,more than 1 million children in the UK have disorders ranging from depression,anxiety and anorexia to violent crime.
The research,carried out by The Children's Society,has found bingedrinking ,increased availability of drugs,family breakdown and pressure to look fashionable and attractive are contributing to these mentally health problems.
The study also suggested that there is huge pressure from social networking sites such as MySpace.Whereas in the past teenagers might have had a close group of friends,they are now being given the message that they are not a whole person unless they have 392 friends online.
"These pressure is to appear sophisticated .Any embarrassing minor mistake a child makes at school can be spread around the world on the Internet," said Michele Elliott,of the child protection charity,Kidscape. | high20032.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "She is very active in her high school."
},
"options": [
"She is applying for a master's degree.",
"She is very active in her high school.",
"Her disability prevents her studying well.",
"She has difficulty getting over ... | Q: My daughter is a junior in high school and has been on an individualized education program since fourth grade. She plans to go to college and intends to finish with a master's degree. Her performance in general is fairly good, but test scores are very low. She has held many leadership and volunteer positions. We have been advised to have her write an essay about how her learning disability is a barrier that she has to get over. Will that help or hurt her chances for admission?
---- Deborah
A: First let me answer the question on low standardized test scores (ACT/SAT). There are hundreds of colleges that are "test optional" which means students can choose not to release their test scores in the application process. Admission decisions at these colleges for students who do not submit their test scores are made based on other factors. A list of test optional colleges can be found at fairtest.org. It is important, however, to make sure that the college is the right fit academically regardless of the test optional policy.
You also asked if your daughter should write about her disability and if this would hurt her chances of being admitted. Please know that colleges do not deny admission based on disability. "Disclosing" a learning disability in a personal statement within the college application can certainly help. By writing a personal statement, students can potentially _ , for example, their understanding of the challenge they face. They might also prove an improved grade trend in that subject area, and show interest in more complex courses in spite of this disability. More importantly, a student disclosure can show self-confidence, motivation and an understanding of the disability.
---- Ms. Kravis | high3970.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "does whatever he can to protect his kids"
},
"options": [
"lets his kids do whatever they want to",
"allows his kids do what is dangerous",
"does whatever he can to protect his kids",
"considers whatever a kid does is r... | Nobody wants to be called a helicopter parent,who manages to be responsible for whatever a child does, however small a matter is--but parents want to protect their kids.At least no playing with sticks means no risk of lost eyes.
Yet as Gever Tulley points out in Fifty Dangerous Things(You Should Let Your Children Do),children who grow up as safe as possible become adults who aren't adventurous,highly adaptable,or confident.Sometimes you have to fall out of a tree to figure out how to climb one the right way,and learning that you can accomplish such a thing on your own teaches you that you can be self--sufficient.
With Fifty Dangerous Things,Gever Tulley,has written a handbook of activities that are,yes,dangerous at some level-like playing with fire,breaking glass,and opening batteries.The book is a blueprint to help parents and children explore the world,and ensure the children grow up,with a little common sense and a lot of curiosity.
Both the advice and the warnings are down to earth.Yes,there are risks,but Tulley provides good ways to learn to avoid them through your own skill.It takes work to raise a child who can use a table saw or build a campfire.But with this book in hand,it'll be a satisfying adventure.
We see a child climbing a tree and the first thing we think of is how they might fall and be disabled for life.We seldom say,"Look at how well Sarah is climbing that tree!" When we protect children from every possible source of danger,we also prevent them from having the kinds of experiences that develop their sense of self--reliance,their ability to deal with risks,and their sense of accomplishment. | high17846.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "American children"
},
"options": [
"older generation",
"teenagers in Spain",
"Chinese readers",
"American children"
],
"question": "Burke's series of books are intended for _ knowing little foreign language."... | In his earlier books, David Burke, a famous writer, translated the language of American teenagers for an older generation, and explained American idioms for English-language learners overseas. His latest effort targets American children who know little of foreign languages.
He has written a series of books based on the observation that fairy tales are widely known across cultures. "We start in English, and as the reader moves forward, the story starts to change into another language." (INSTRUCTION CD: "Once upon a time, there lived a poor girl--nvhaizi--named Cinderella who was very pretty--piaoliang. The nvhaizi, who was very piaoliang....")
Burke has published books of fairy tales with CDs in Mandarin Chinese, French, Italian, German, Hebrew, Japanese and Spanish. A separate Spanish-language version helps teach English to Lain American youngsters. Young readers learn about 20 words at each level, then move to the next level as they read a different fairy tale. "For example, I've taken the story of Goldilocks , and I bring back all the words the kids have learned in Cinderella, and I add 20 more until the ninth level. By the end of the entire series, it will be 100 percent in the target language." Burke says students often think of language learning as dull, but it doesn't have to be. He designed his books with color1ful cartoon-like illustrations that attract the young readers.
He says many people in other parts of the world often speak at least two languages. Americans have a different reputation. "It's a joke in the linguistic world that's painful, and funny. It's, What do you call a person who speaks three languages? Trilingual. And what do you call a person who speaks two languages? Bilingual. And what do you call a person who speaks one language? American." Not all Americans are monolingual, of course, but too many Americans are fluent only in English, and he is working to change that. | high16580.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "What to do during an earthquake."
},
"options": [
"How to predict earthquakes.",
"What to do during an earthquake.",
"The damage an earthquake can cause.",
"The factors that cause an earthquake."
],
"question": ... | An earthquake is literally an earth-shattering experience! There you are enjoying an afternoon nap, having a cup of coffee in the morning, or even sleeping on a cold winter night when -- WHAM! -- the entire crockery shelf _ , and all the plates and cups break into pieces. A painting on the wall nearly knocks you down as it falls.
What should one do in an earthquake? The prime-time news gives no warning, nor is there a time of year, like the monsoon season, when an earthquake always occurs. Unlike a tornado or hurricane, there is no known way of predicting an earthquake.
Though about 500, 000 earthquakes occur each year, only 100 of them cause damage! However, an earthquake can strike any time of the day or night, so it needs to be prepared for when you have the misfortune of being caught in the middle of one.
If you're indoors, stay indoors, unless you're on the ground floor, where you can easily run outside. The best thing to do if you're indoors is to hide under a strong piece of furniture like a bed or desk. Do not head for the stairway if you're living on an upper storey, because stairways can collapse.
If you're driving, get out of traffic and stop on a wide and open road. Do not stop on a bridge, or in another case, under one. Stay inside your car until the shaking stops. Before you restart driving, look out for fissures , breaks in the road, and bumps or cracks. Inside your home, be careful not to turn on the gas until you' re sure the cylinder is safe, and there is no leak.
Avoid using your telephone unless there's an emergency. You could be occupying lines that are needed by other people.
Lastly, if you're not trapped or seriously hurt, do not expect fire fighters, army or police to help you. They may be busy rescuing people in greater need than you! | high22625.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "body movement"
},
"options": [
"physics",
"health",
"chemistry",
"body movement"
],
"question": "The passage might be taken out of a book dealing with _",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"an... | Perhaps the most astonishing theory to come out of kinetics,the study of body movement,was suggested by Professor Ray Birdwhistell.He believes that physical appearance Is often culturally programmed.In other words,we learn our looks;we are not born with them.
A baby generally unformed facial features.A baby,according to Birdwhistell,learns where to set the eyebrows by looking at those around family and friends.This helps explain why the people of some regions of the United States look so much lilke.New Englanders or Southerners have certain common facial characteristics that cannot be explained by genetics .The exact shape of the mouth is not set at birth,it is learned later.In fact,the final mouth shape is not formed until well after permanent teeth are set.For many,this can be well into adolescence .A husband and wife together for a long time often come to look somewhat alike.We learn our looks from those around us. This is perhaps why in a single country there are areas where people smile more than those in other areas.In the United States,for example,the South is the part of the country where the people smile most frequently.In New England they smile less,and in the western part of New York State still less.Many Southerners find cities such as New York cold and unfriendly,partly because people on Madison Avenue smile less than people on Peach Tree Street jn Atlanta,Georgia.People in densely populated urban areas also tend to smile and greet each other in public less than people in rural areas and small towns. | high15089.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "It came from the word \"ash\"."
},
"options": [
"The Birds came up with it.",
"It was given by Disney.",
"It came from the word \"ash\".",
"She got it from her mother."
],
"question": "How did Cinderella get her... | Walt Disney is credited for creating such wonderful things as Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. However, he cannot take the credit for creating other well-loved characters, such as Cinderella and Snow White. _ are almost automatically associated with Disney because Disney turned old fables into cartoon movies.
The original Cinderella varies very much from the Disney version we know today. It started off with the girl mourning her mother's death and going to her tomb three times a day. In addition, there were only birds that helped Cinderella; there was no such thing as a fairy godmother or helpful mice, nor was there mention of a horse and carriage.
The stepsisters were cruel: they always threw Cinderella's food into the ashes of the fire and made her sleep on the ashes on the floor, hence her name.
In the original story, the king's ball actually lasted for three days. With the help of the birds, the girl, beautifully dressed, danced with the prince on all three nights and the prince fell in love with her. However, she broke away from him to rush back home each night. On the last night, the prince placed soothing sticky on the stairs; as Cinderella made her escape, a shoe got stuck on it.
Here now is where the story becomes unpleasant: when the prince went to the house looking for the girl whose foot fit the shoe, the wicked stepmother told one of her two daughters to cut off her big toe to fit into the shoe. The daughter did as told. So the prince took her away to be his bride. But when they passed the tomb of Cinderella's mother, the birds called out to the prince,
"Turn and peep, there's blood in the shoe;
the shoe is too small, the true bride waits for you." ZXXK
Realizing he had been tricked, the prince returned the daughter to her mother. The other then had to cut off part of her heel in order to fit into the shoe, with the same result. Only Cinderella's foot fit perfectly and so the prince chose to marry her. The story ends with the wedding day: as Cinderella's two stepsisters followed her, pretending to be devoted to her so that they could enjoy the king's riches, two birds flew by and plucked out their eyes. Because of their wickedness and falsehood, they had to spend the rest of their days blind.
The original Cinderella is so different from the Disney version. Thank goodness Disney made such changes; it indeed was a wise move. | high6808.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "studied Latin"
},
"options": [
"attended a public school",
"lived in London",
"studied Latin",
"was put in prison for stealing cattle"
],
"question": "In the early life of Shakespeare,he_.",
"question_type":... | Most people have heard of shakespeare and probably know something of the plays that he wrote. However, not everybody knows much about the life of this remarkable man. Except perhaps that he was born in the market town of stratforduponAvon and that he married a woman called Anne Hathaway,We know nothing of his school life.We do not know,for example,how long it lasted,but we presume that he attended the local grammar school,where the principal subject taught was Latin.
Nothing certain is known of what he did between the time he left school and his departure for London.According to a local legend,he was beaten and even put in prison for stealing rabbits and deer from the estate of neighbouring landowner, Sir Thomas Lucy, It is said that because of this he was forced to run away from his native place.A different legend says that he was apprenticed to a Strstford butcher, but did not like the life and for this reason decided to leave Strstford.
Whatever caused him to leave the town of his birth, the world could be grateful that he did so.What is certain is that he set his foot on the road to fame when he arrived in London, It is said that at first he was without money or friends there, but that he earned a little by taking care of the horses of the gentleman who attended the plays at the theatre.They stopped and spoke to him.They found his conversations so brilliant that finally he was invited to join their compeny. | high24254.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "4."
},
"options": [
"3.",
"4.",
"5.",
"6."
],
"question": "How many main differences are mentioned between Korea's public high school and America's?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"an... | For my grandmother's 70th birthday, my family and I visited South Korea. While there, I was attentive to Korean high schools and students.
I was surprised by how different Korea's public high schools are from America's. Korean high schools can be all-girls, all-boys or co-ed unlike our standard co-ed high schools. There are three grades: "go 1" (10th), "go 2" (11th) and "go 3" (12th). ''Go" is the first syllable of the word "go-deung-hakkyo", which, simply translated, is "high school".
In America, unless you want to go to a private school, you don't have to take an entrance exam. In Korea, however, students must take a test to get in because of the many choices of schools.
Another difference I couldn't help but notice was the students' appearance. With very few exceptions, all wear uniforms. A name tag with the student's name, grade and homeroom number must also be worn. Girl's skirts can't be above the upper part of the knee, and it is forbidden to dye your hair or wear accessories except small earrings. There are strict regulations for appearance to achieve neatness, and it seems the only freedom students have is with their choices of hair style, socks and shoes.
The final difference was the _ of the classes. There may be 40 students in a classroom, but the number can be less or even more, depending on the population of the town or city. Although there are many students per classroom, they are very close, which I think is a result of not changing classrooms for different subjects. There are no levels in the subjects and the teachers are the ones who switch classrooms. They just have ten-minute breaks between subjects. In each class, students are ranked by their grades. This causes strict competition, and Korean students do a lot of studying. To help them, all schools have extra study classes after school. One other fact that helped me appreciate living in America is that Koreans have school on Saturdays. Although it's only a half day, I think I speak for most Americans when I say we could never imagine ourselves in school on a Saturday.
Korea's public high schools are clearly different from America's. I had imagined them to be just like our schools, but now I have a clear picture of how different they are. | high8825.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Negative."
},
"options": [
"Curious",
"Approving.",
"Negative.",
"Unconcerned."
],
"question": "What's Bill Wyman's attitude towards music video games?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
... | Since the invention of Guitar Hero and similar computer games, it is no longer necessary to imagine what it would be like to play along with the Beatles--you can come together with them in the virtual world.
Bill Wyman, former bass player in the Rolling Stones, has pointed out that music video games discourage kids from learning to play real instruments. My own opinion suggest quite opposite.
Last year, I bought Guitar Hero III for our 14-year-old son, Jack. Jack quickly mastered the process and entered an intense period of playing the game.
A few months later, while I was away on tour, a couple of his friends came around with a real electric guitar. Playing Guitar Hero had taught them how to play along the track. Now they wanted to see if they could apply that to the real thing. Jack's friends taught him how to play along to his favorite songs using just his index finger on the bass string. He got it right away.
Guitar Hero had helped him over the first difficulty for guitar players--how to strum the strings with one hand while making chord shapes with the other. He never plays Guitar Hero now, preferring to rock out in the garage with his mates.
Despite my attempts at getting him to learn an instrument, it was Guitar Hero that taught him the basics of playing and built up his confidence to the extent that he was able to make a recognizable sound the first time he played it.
So let's not complain about a game that encourages kids to become music fans and, in our son's case, gives them the basic skills needed to learn how to play guitar. | high14397.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "To lead to the topic he is going to talk about."
},
"options": [
"To prove the importance of book learning.",
"To show the parents' ignorance of spelling.",
"To lead to the topic he is going to talk about.",
"To share w... | Certainly, a well-rounded education is the foundation from which all of us spring forth. I am grateful to the many incredible teachers who have inspired me to do greater things, and have fired my enthusiasm for everlasting learning!
I have also been honored to have the most amazing teachers in all of my children's lives. These are extraordinary people who not only teach our children, but love them, challenge them, and provide an environment where a child learns how to learn.
But, sometimes I wonder if the outline of our educational plan is lacking something. I watched the movie Easy A with my older daughter. The main character's parents were loving, supportive, and built great confidence in their daughter and developed her ability to handle her own problems.
There was a scene where the mother was speaking to the younger child and he announced that he received an "A" on his spelling test. She replied, "That' s great, honey, but everything has spell check these days. " It was funny --- but TRUE ! I don't mean that we shouldn't teach our children how to spell, but maybe some of our time should be spent educating them about the dangers of posting things on Facebook.
Maybe we might want to spend time showing them how real life works - the credit card isn't free money - you will have to pay it back at sometime. Oh, and get this - they charge you for borrowing that money. Perhaps, we should spend some time on interpersonal relationships. I worry that our kids do not know how to relate to one another.
Choosing a career is a daunting task. My daughter is in her second year in college and has changed her major twice. It' s not that she didn't know what she wanted to do. What she "wanted to do" and the degree she chose did not match.
I have learned many college students do not know what they want to do because they haven' t seen what it looks like in the real world. Being a journalist in the real world looks very different from writing stories. Maybe if we spent some time exposing them to real life experience - maybe two or three courses m areas of interest in high school that give them a "feel" for what that particular field would look like, they might be better prepared. I do not know the solution, but it seems that it should at least be a topic of discussion. | high9285.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Tsingtao Brewery Co Ltd."
},
"options": [
"Bright Food (Group) Corp Ltd.",
"Wuliangye Yibin Co Ltd.",
"Tsingtao Brewery Co Ltd.",
"Shuanghui Group."
],
"question": "Which company was set up by a foreigner?",
... | Top 8 food and beverage companies in China
No 1 COFCO Group
COFCO Group is the largest company of various products and services in the agricultural products and food industry in China. It is devoted to providing healthy and nutritious food, as well as contributing to improvement of people's living standards and social development.
No 2 Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co Ltd
Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co Ltd is a dairy company. It is engaged in processing and producing milk products, including ice cream, milk powder, milk tea powder and fresh milk under "Yili"brand. It is headquartered in Hohhot. The company was an official sponsor of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
No 3 Shuanghui Group
Shuanghui Group is a privately-owned meat processing company headquartered in Luohe, Henan, China. The company's businesses include pig raising, consumer meat products, and so on. It is the largest meat producer in China. On May 29, 2013, Shuanghui announced it would sell American pork producer Smithfield Foods Inc.
No 4 China Mengniu Dairy Co Ltd
China Mengniu Dairy Co Ltd is a producing company of dairy products and ice cream in China. The company is based in Inner Mongolia and produces dairy products under the Mengniu brand.
No 5 Bright Food (Group) Corp Ltd
Bright Food (Group) Co Ltd is a food and beverages company headquartered in Shanghai. Bright Food has four listed branches, Bright Dairy & Food Co Ltd, Shanghai First Provisions Store Co Ltd, Shanghai Maling Aquarius Co Ltd and Shanghai Haibo Co Ltd. The company got a 60 percent stake in the British breakfast cereals producer Weetabix Ltd in 2012 and agreed to acquire a 56 percent stake in the Israeli Dairy producer Tnuva in 2014.
No 6 Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co Ltd
Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co Ltd is a private company, and the largest non-alcoholic beverage producer in China. The company is headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.
No 7 Wuliangye Yibin Co Ltd
Wuliangye Yibin Co Ltd is a Chinese alcoholic beverage company. It specializes in producing baijiu, and is best known for Wuliangye. Headquartered in Yibin, Sichuan Province, the company sells its products all over the market at home and abroad.Wuliangye reportedly ranks first in terms of market share compared with other baijiu brands.
No 8 Tsingtao Brewery Co Ltd
Tsingtao Brewery Co Ltd is China's largest company to produce beer. It was founded in 1903 by a German. The beer is produced in Qingdao in Shandong province and it gets its name from the city's name. The beer's present-day logo displays an image of Zhan Qiao, a famous
on Qingdao's southern shore. | high15937.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "They complain that the economy is spoiling their life plans."
},
"options": [
"They expect everything to be easy for them.",
"They complain that the economy is spoiling their life plans.",
"They are unwilling to face all of t... | While reading a story on 20-somethings complaining about how the economy was ruiningg their life plans, I couldn't help but think the 20-somethings sounded like a bunch of spoiled who grew up expecting everything to be easy for them. As a 20-something myself, certainly share their disappointment : my husband and I probably won't be able to buy a house until we're in our 40s, and we two are burdened by student loans . But why should it be any different? Being young persons in America, shouldn't they take up all of the challenges and opportunities that this country offers?
Consider some of these views shared in the story: Jennifer, 29, owner of a two-bedroom apartment with her husband, worries that she won't be able to have children for at least a decade because they can't afford to buy a house yet.
I read that, and I thought what planet she is living on where you need to own a house in order to have kids? Has she ever visited a developing country, or even downtown areas in this one? Home ownership is a luxury , not a _ requirement.
A 26-year-old in the story is disappointed that he can't afford to get a Ph. D in literature. Well, that sounds a bit like expressing disappointment that no one will pay you to write poetry on the beach in Thailand for five years.
Yes, it's sad that these young people feel so lost. But I think the problem is their extremely high expectations, not economic reality. Beth Kobliner, author of Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties, says that she thinks people's expectations grew up at a time when everyone's wealth appeared to be increasing, Their parents probably saw their home values rise along with their investments. "So you have people who have grown up in an environment where people had great expectations of what living well means," says Kobliner.
This recession will certainly play a role in forcing those expectations into more realistic group. In the meantime, it seems a lot better for our mental health to focus on being grateful---for our one-bedroom apartments, for living in modern cities, or perhaps just for being able to eat three meals a day---than on longing for some kind of luxury life. | high1801.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "in Beijing"
},
"options": [
"in Hong Kong",
"in Europe",
"in Beijing",
"in England"
],
"question": "The press conference was held _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"an... | HK's Family Affair
The 39thHong Kong Art Festival, to be held early next year, will be based on the topic of "family"
The art festival, considered to be Asia's best, began in 1973.
"We hope that people from Beijing and from all over the world will go to Hong Kong to enjoy the different performances in our art festival,"Douglas Gautier, the festival's management director, said in a press conference in the capital.
In the 29 days of the festival, which runs from March 8 to April 7,2012, the audience can choose from 111 performances of 51 programmes given by 700 foreign performers, 450 local artists and 160 actors from the mainland.
Programmes vary from classical music, jazz, world music, Western and Peking opera, drama and dance to outdoor shows.
The programmes include Beethoven's only opera Fidelio, Shakespeare's drama Romeo and Juliet, the ballet Mozartina and African dances, to name just a few.
The lineup includes the English Touring Theatre, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Zurich Ballet, The Spanish National Dance Troupe, as well as Europe Galante the Petersen Quartet, pianists Angela Hewitt and Lang Lang, and saxophonist Jan Garbarek.
In order to increase attendance, hotels and airlines are offering _ along with art festival ticket sales, most of which are at 20% and 30% cheaper.
For more information, please check:
_ | high22143.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Responsibility"
},
"options": [
"Age",
"Partner",
"Responsibility",
"Education"
],
"question": "What does the author think is the key factor that prevents people trying out new experiences?",
"question_type"... | In 1990,22-year-old Christopher McCandless gave up his career plans,left behind everyone he knew,donated all his savings to charity,and went off on an adventure,hiking his way through America to Alaska.
Of course,this is an unusual story most college graduates would not do so. However,studies show that in teenage years, people are more likely to try out new experiences.For example,instead of working his way up the same organization like his grandfather did,a 15-year-old may dream about becoming a travelleronly to find in his early 20s that this attraction of new places is fading and change is less attractive.
The reason why people become less keen to change as they get older may be that people
generally have similar life patterns and demands.Most people aim to find a job and a partner. As they get older,they may have young children and elderly family members to look after. These responsibilities cannot be achieved without some degree of steadiness,which means that new experiences and ideas may not have a place in the person's life.New experiences may bring excitement as well as insecurity,and so most people prefer to stay with the familiar.
However,not every individual is the same. A child may want to play a different game every day and get fed up if nothing changes at the kindergarten.Another may play with the same children and toys on every visit. Young children who avoid new experiences will grow up to be more traditional than others. Psychologist argue that those who have more open personalities as children are more open than others might be when they are older and that young men have a greater interest in novelty than women,although as they age,this desire for new experiences fades more quickly than it does in women. | high11589.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "studied very hard."
},
"options": [
"liked to sleep on park benches.",
"studied very hard.",
"felt high school was easy.",
"hated doing a lot of projects."
],
"question": "According to the passage, David _ ."... | David is an excellent student and he comes from New York. His family was there until he finished eighth grade. David had no choice but to sleep on park benches. Being alone on the streets was scary. One thing kept David going: his determination to do well in school.
Even though many things were difficult in David's life, one thing was going very well. David was accepted to a special high school called MC2STEM.It is a public school in Cleveland for kids who are extremely good at science. The school turned out a peaceful place for David. He especially enjoyed having the chance to learn by doing lots of projects.
High school wasn't easy. But David says that the school helped him set high standards for himself. Even when he didn't have a place to stay at night, David kept his focus on his schoolwork.
While he was homeless, David would sometimes sleep in the park during the day because it was safer. " If you sleep in the daytime in the park, people won't bother you," he says. "you're just taking a nap. It's acceptable." Then David would study through the night. He showered at a friend's house when his friend's parents were at work.
All his hard work paid off. In May 2011, David graduated second in his high school class. He was accepted to 22 colleges. He also won a scholarship form the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It will pay for all his college expenses.
Last fall, David began attending Harvard University, one of the top colleges in the US."I found the perfect school for me." He wrote in his blog.
In the future, David might look for a job at a company like Google. Even better, he would like to start his own company. David says, " I want to work for myself." | high10697.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Corbett didn't want to hurt Wellman."
},
"options": [
"Corbett was poorly trained.",
"Wellman had lost interest in climbing.",
"Corbett didn't want to hurt Wellman.",
"Wellman hadn't decided whether to climb again."
... | They are the sort of friends who are so close they trust each other with their lives. If one falls, the other is there to catch him.
They are Wellman, whose legs were permanently injured nine years ago in a rock-climbing accident, and Corbett, an experienced rock climber. Together, they climbed up Half Dome, the famous 2,000-foot rock in the Yosemite National Park, through one of the most difficult routes .
During the climb, Corbett took the lead, hit in the metal spikes that guided the ropes and climbed up. Then, after Wellman pulled himself up the rope, Corbett went down to remove the spikes and climbed up again. This process was repeated time and again, inch by inch, for 13 days. Wellman's job was not easy either. He got himself up the rope through upper body strength alone. In all, Wellman figured that he had done 5,000 pull-ups up the rope on the climb.
However, when the two men first met, they never talked about climbing. "He knew that was how I got injured." Wellman said. Until one day Wellman decided that he wanted to climb again and they started training.
Their climb of Half Dome was not all smooth. At one point, pieces of rock gave way, and Corbett dropped down quickly. Wellman locked their rope in place, stopping the fall at 20 feet. His quick action probably saved his friend's life.
"Your partner can save your life -- you can save your partner's life," Wellman said as the pair received congratulations from friends. "There are real close ties." | high4979.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "How to Make a Guitar"
},
"options": [
"How to Make a Guitar",
"What a Guitar Is Made of",
"How to Play the Guitar",
"Where to Find the Best Guitar"
],
"question": "The best title for this passage may be_.",
... | It all starts with a tree.In fact, it starts with several trees.Since the first modern guitars were made in northern Spain over 150 years ago, crafts persons have known the wood to be used is important in making a guitar.
Every guitar is made of several different kinds of wood.Each piece is carefully chosen and then cut to fit the part of the guitar for which it is designed.The most important part of a guitar is the soundboard--the piece of wood with a large hole that lies under the strings(,).Guitar makers are careful to make the soundboard just the right shape and thickness.Then they fix stripes of wood across the inside in a special pattern, which helps strengthen the soundboard and improves the tone of the guitar.
Wood for the curvy sides of the guitar must be soaked in water and bent over a hot iron pipe.When all the pieces of the guitar are ready, they are carefully stuck together with glue .Special woodworking tools are used to shape and smooth the neck of the guitar.The craftsperson must make sure that the neck is perfectly centered over the soundboard.
Then it is time to use varnish .This brings out the beauty of the wood.Varnish also improves the sound of the guitar but too much varnish makes the guitar sound flat and dull.
Finally guitar strings are attached and tightened to make just the right musical tones.Then it's time to play a song. | high20754.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "do better in math than in reading"
},
"options": [
"do better in math than in reading",
"work harder at reading than at math",
"prefer to learn math in their spare time",
"are more interested in reading than before"
... | Scores on a national test released on November 1 show that students in the U.S.A. have improved in math over the last two years, but mostly stayed the same in reading. This year, 422,000 fourth graders and 343,000 eighth graders took the exams between January and March. Students were asked to read grade-appropriate materials and answer questions for the reading test. For the math test, students answered questions about geometry, algebra, number properties, measurement and other topics.
The U.S Department of Education released the scores in a report called The Nation's Report Card (NAEP). This year, students earned the highest scores ever recorded on the math exam, which has been given since 1990.Fourth graders scored an average of 241.That is a one-point increase from 2009and a 28-point increase from 1990. Eighth graders made similar progress. Then average score this year was 284,up one point from 2009 and 21 points from 1990.
In reading, fourth graders scored an average of 221 points, the same average score since 2007.That score is four points above those from 1992, when the first reading test was given. Eighth graders scored an average of 265 points, up one point from 2009 and five points from 1992.
Education experts say reading is a harder subject to improve in the classroom than math. While math is largely learned in classrooms, reading results depend on how much kids read outside of school and how much they read in other subjects, such as history and science.
On the NAEP, math scores were the highest among students who have limited use of calculators during math lessons, compared with students who have unlimited use or no use. Reading scores were the highest among students who said they read for fun on their own time almost every day. | high4992.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "How to deal with the greenhouse gas creatively."
},
"options": [
"How to find more oil and natural gases.",
"How to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.",
"How to deal with the greenhouse gas creatively.",
"How to make good... | In face of global warming, much effort has been focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions through a variety of strategies. But while much of the research and innovation has concentrated on finding less-polluting energy alternatives, it may be decades before clean technologies like wind and solar meet a significant portion of our energy needs.
In the meantime, the amount of CO2 in the air is rapidly approaching the limits proposed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). "As long as we're consuming fossil fuels, we're putting out CO2," says Klaus Lackner, a geophysicist at Columbia University, "We cannot let the CO2 in the atmosphere rise indefinitely."
That sense of urgency has increased interest in capturing and storing CO2, which the IPCC says could provide the more than 50% reduction in emissions needed to reduce global warming. "We see the potential for capture and storage to play an integral role in reducing emissions," says Kim Corley, Shell's senior advisor of CO2 and environmental affairs. That forward thinking strategy is gaining support. The U.S. Department of Energy recently proposed putting $1 billion into a new $2.4 billion coal-burning energy plant. The plant's carbon-capture technologies would serve as a pilot project for other new coal-burning plants.
But what do you do with the gas once you've captured it? One option is to put it to new uses. Dakota Gasification of North Dakota captures CO2 at a plant that converts coal into synthetic natural gas. It then ships the gas 200 miles by pipeline to Canada, where it is pumped underground in oil recovery operations. In the Netherlands, Shell delivers CO2 to farmers who pipe it into their greenhouses, increasing their production of fruits and vegetables.
However, scientists say that the scale of CO2 emissions will require vast amounts of long-term storage. Some propose storing the CO2 in coal mines or liquid storage in the ocean, Shell favors storing CO2 in deep geological structures such as saline formations and exhausted oil and gas fields that exist throughout the world. | high18220.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "She led a typical aristocrat life when she was young."
},
"options": [
"She led a typical aristocrat life when she was young.",
"Though she could travel around Europe, she spent most time at Charmois.",
"She was taught German... | October 15, 1970 was declared International White Cane Safety Day (IWCSD) for the first time by the President of the International Federation of the Blind (IFB). This date was adopted at the first convention of the IFB, held in Colombo on October 4, 1969. The object of _ is to enable the general public to have a better understanding of blindness and visual handicap, and to make people more aware of the white cane as a mobility aid.
Peguilly d'Herbemont was born on 25th June 1888 into an old French noble family of the same name. In her youth she led the conventional and protected existence, lack of great activity, of a girl from a "good family", an existence reminding of the life of the aristocracy before the French Revolution. She never visited a public school, but was educated by German and English governesses and nuns. Her movements were restricted and were mainly confined to the family positions in Paris and Belgium, but she spent most of her time at the castle of Charmois not far from Verdun.
In the process of helping individual blind people across the road, Peguilly d'Herbemont was made aware by narrow scrapes which almost led to accidents, of the dangerous situation of the visually impaired brought about by the steadily increasing traffic on the roads. She first spoke about measures to protect the blind against street hazards to her mother in 1930, but she was of the opinion that it was unfit for a lady of good society to create a public outcry and advised her to stick to the transcription of books, a popular pastime of ladies of rank at the time.
But the idea did not leave her. The urgent wish to encourage the integration of the blind into society by providing them with a means of moving about more freely without endangering others, and at the same time attracting the attention of passers-by ready to offer assistance, caused her to take the unusual step of writing to the editor of the Paris daily Echo de Paris in which she suggested issuing the blind of the Paris region with white sticks similar to those used by the traffic police.
The editor took up the idea, published it in November 1930 and saw to it that the relevant authorities acted with atypical speed. Thus it was that the white cane received official backing, and on 7th February 1931. | high5454.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "it is a chance to develop your career"
},
"options": [
"it is an interesting experience",
"it is fun to travel around the world",
"it is a chance to develop your career",
"all your friends are doing so"
],
"ques... | Living abroad to study can certainly be an interesting experience but is that alone a good enough reason for spending years far away from home? To make the experience truly worthwhile, there has to be a goal behind the decision to study abroad. This may be a wish to perfect language skills in a foreign language environment, or a clever move in your career development. You must also consider the costs, not just of living and studying abroad, but of applying. Most universities now charge application fees for international students.
If after considering these points you are sure that you want to apply to study abroad, your next step is to choose the right programme of studies. Research your choices and select carefully. You must do your homework well. Most universities have information online but you can also email and ask them to send you more details. You can find a lot of information on school ranking from education websites. But read carefully. Different universities emphasize different strengths. Don't just think about the university's reputation ; look for the most suitable for your goals.
Next, you must deal with a large pile of paperwork. This involves filling in application form, preparing your school records, and getting reference letters. Reading the instructions and requirements of the universities carefully is of great importance. Sadly, many fine applicants get kicked out in the first round, simply because they don't follow the application procedure properly.
Money is another important consideration. Some scholarships are provided by governments, others by schools and colleges. This information, again, can be found on the Internet. If you find a scholarship that is suitable for you, follow the application procedure carefully; the earlier you apply, the better your chance of getting it. | high17113.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Her novels are all about love and marriage."
},
"options": [
"Her novels are all about love and marriage.",
"Her novels still make sense to today's people.",
"All her novels are easy to read.",
"Her novels benefit peopl... | There are many famous writers in the English world, among whom Jane Austen (1775--1817) has been popular with all ages. But then Jane Austen wrote her novels in England, she was writing about a world that most of us would not recognize.
But today Austen's books are in greater demand than ever. In the last ten years, five of the six novels have been made into Hollywood films, while her books continue to be bestsellers. So why is Austen still popular?
Richard Jenkyns, a professor of English at Oxford University, argues that her novels still appeal to people because they focus on issues that are as _ today as they were when she wrote them. Her novels are about women trying to find a perfect husband, but also explore issues surrounding marriage, friendship and the family. "The plots are fairly timeless stories about human interaction which are familiar to us," Jenkyns says.
The most famous book Austen wrote is Pride and Prejudice,a love story betweenElizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. At first the two characters do not get on. They finally fall in love, but still have to overcome opposition to their relationship from their families.
All of Austen's books are easy to read, making them popular with children and adults, but they work on different levels so people can take what they need from them, author Kate Henry says.
Austen is often praised as the greatest romance writer in the English language, so it is surprising she remained unmarried. "Maybe she was too much of a romantic, waiting for a perfect man," Henry says. | high11562.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "her volunteering experience in Peru"
},
"options": [
"her medical experience in Peru",
"her organization work in Peru",
"her volunteering experience in Peru",
"her traveling experience in Peru"
],
"question": "T... | The hallways cast shadows since the only light available was from open windows and doorways. The lights are turned off to save money on the electricity bill. The rooms, borrowed rooms, were not like being in hospitals. There were no color1s on the walls, or framed pictures for us to be distracted by. There were no magazines to look at, or pens to write with. There were no plants, or matching chairs, or paper spread over the examining tables.
By the second day of a medical mission hosted by PAMS (Peruvian American Medical Society) in Abancay, Peru, it was easy to start adapting and taking advantage of what we did have inside the hospital. I learned to reuse a brown paper bag in order to transport items the entire week. I hid my mask, hat and shoe covers whenever I needed to leave the surgery floor to be sure they were available again. The one towel was creatively folded so that we could keep using it. By the third day, I realized how wasteful I was the first day. I had thrown away a rubber band that had held a pile of envelopes, a used water bottle, and worst of all: we had used two gloves instead of one. The free medical care the local Indians were receiving today was a new experience for many of the people.
PAMS is a nation-wide, non-profit organization that helps bring Peruvian and American doctors together to offer medical treatment and education to towns in Peru. Several other towns including Cusco, Lima, and Trujillo also benefit from these medical missions. All the volunteers donate their own time and services. The mission is organized for two weeks, once or twice a year. Volunteers are encouraged to stay as long as possible. Abancay is a beautiful town, 7,000 feet above sea level with a population of 80,000 people.
This first week, there are 19 other people who volunteered to help those less fortunate. Many of the volunteers stayed in the same hotel together and many were paired up to have a roommate. On the first night, the mayor welcomed everyone as the high school children performed a dance of local custom.
Work started at 8 a.m. the next morning. The first task to accomplish was setting up a room to be used as an office and pharmacy . Everything that was donated was set up on portable shelves that were put up for the occasion. | high20967.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Unlikely friends."
},
"options": [
"Unlikely friends.",
"Lasting friendship.",
"Unselfish love.",
"Magic nature."
],
"question": "Which would be the best title for the passage?",
"question_type": null
}
] | When elephants retire, many head for the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn. They arrive one by one, but they tend to live out their lives two-by-two. "Every elephant that comes here searches out someone that she then spends most all of her time with," says sanctuary co-founder Carol Buckley. It's likely having a best girlfriend, Buckley says - "Somebody they can relate to, they have something in common with."
Debbie has Ronnie. Misty can't live without Dulary. _ But perhaps the closest friends of all are Tarra and Bella. Tarra, an 8,700 pound Asian elephant; Bella, a stray dog, are closest friends.
Bella is one of more than a dozen stray dogs that have found a home at the sanctuary. Most want nothing to do with the elephants and vice versa. But not this odd couple. "Bella knows she's not an elephant. Tarra knows she's not a dog," Buckley adds. "But that's not a problem for them." "When it's time to eat they both eat together. They drink together. They sleep together. They play together," Buckley says.
Tarra and Bella have been close for years -- but no one really knew how close they were until recently. A few months ago Bella suffered a spinal cord injury. She couldn't move her legs, couldn't even wag her tail. For three weeks the dog lay motionless up in the sanctuary office. And for three weeks the elephant held vigil: 2,700 acres to roam free, and Tarra just stood in the corner, beside a gate, right outside that sanctuary office. "She just stood outside the balcony - just stood there and waited," says Buckley. "She was concerned about her friend." Then one day, sanctuary co-founder Scott Blais carried Bella onto the balcony so she and Tarra could at least see each other.
"Bella's tail started wagging. And we had no choice but to bring Bella down to see Tarra," Blais says.
They visited like that every day until Bella could walk. Today, their love -- and trust -- is stronger than ever. Bella even lets Tarra pet her tummy - with the bottom of her enormous foot. They harbor no fears, no secrets, no prejudices. Just two living creatures who somehow managed to look past their immense differences.
Take a good look at this couple, human beings. Take a good look at the world. If they can do it -- what's our excuse? | high8170.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "To avoid crocodiles' attack."
},
"options": [
"To keep itself cool.",
"To get the food easily.",
"To stay away from people.",
"To avoid crocodiles' attack."
],
"question": ".Why does the Cuban iguana build its n... | The Cuban iguana is a species of lizard of the iguana family. It is the largest of the West Indian rock iguanas, one of the most endangered groups of lizards. This species with red eyes and a thick tail is one of the largest lizards in the Caribbean.
The Cuban iguana is primarily _ ; 95% of its diet consists of the leaves, flowers and fruits from as many as 30 plant species, including the seaside rock bush and various grasses. However, Cuban iguanas occasionally consume animal matter, and individuals have been observed eating the dead flesh of birds, fish and crabs, The researchers wrote that quite a few people on Isla Magueyes could have caused this incident.
The Cuban iguana is distributed throughout the rocky southern coastal areas of mainland Cuba and its surrounding islands with a wild population booming on Isla Magueyes, Puerto Rico. It is also found on the Cayman Islands of Little Cayman and Cayman Brac, where a separate subspecies occurs. Females guard their nest sites and often nest in sites half destroyed by Cuban crocodiles. To avoid the attack from them, the Cuban iguana often makes its home within or near prickly-pear cacti .
In general the species is in decline, more quickly on the mainland than on the outlying islands. One of the reasons for their decline is habitat destruction caused by the over consuming of farm animals, housing development, and the building of tourist resorts on the beaches where the animals prefer to build their nests. Although the wild population is in decline, the numbers of iguanas have been sharply increased as a result of captive-breeding and other conservation programs. | high7243.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "spend their free time"
},
"options": [
"spend their free time",
"play golf and other sports",
"avoid doing their schoolwork",
"keep away from their parents"
],
"question": "The author and his friends were often ... | As kids, my friends and I spent a lot of time out in the woods. "The woods" was our part-time address, destination, purpose, and excuse. If I went to a friends house and found him not at home, his mother might say, "Oh, he's out in the woods, " with a tone of airy acceptance. It is similar to the tone people sometimes use nowadays to tell me that someone I'm looking for is on the golf course or at the gym, or even "away from his desk." For us ten-year-olds, "being out in the woods" was just an excuse to do whatever we feel like for a while.
We sometimes told ourselves that what we were doing in the woods was exploring . Exploring was a more popular idea back then than it is today. History seemed to be mostly about explorers. Our explorations, though, seemed to have less system than the historic kind: something usually came up along the way. Say we stayed in the woods, throwing rocks, shooting frogs, picking blackberries, digging in what we were briefly persuaded was an Indian burial mound.
Often we got "lost" and had to climb a tree to find out where we were. If you read a story in which someone does that successfully, be _ : the topmost branches are usually too skinny to hold weight, and we could never climb high enough to see anything except other trees. There were four or five trees that we visited regularly--tall beeches, easy to climb and comfortable to sit in.
It was in a tree, too, that our days of fooling around in the woods came to an end. By then some of us had reached seventh grade and had begun the rough ride of adolescence . In March, the month when we usually took to the woods again after winter, two friends and I set out to go exploring. We climbed a tree, and all of a sudden it occurred to all three of us at the same time that we really were rather big to be up in a tree. Soon there would be the spring dances on Friday evenings in the high school cafeteria. | high1632.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "pay for his college education"
},
"options": [
"support his family",
"pay for his college education",
"help his partner expand business",
"do some research"
],
"question": "DeLuca opened the first sandwich shop ... | It was the summer of 1965. DeLuca, then 17, visited Peter Buck, a family friend. Buck asked DeLuca about his plans for the future. "I'm going to college, but I need a way to pay for it," DeLuca recalls saying. "Buck said, 'You should open a sandwich shop.'"
That afternoon, they agreed to be partners. And they set a goal: to open 32 stores in ten years. After doing some research, buck wrote a check for $1000. DeLuca rented a storefront in Connecticut, and when they couldn't cover their start-up costs, Buck kicked in another $1000.
But business didn't go smoothly as they expected. DeLuca says, "After six months, we were doing poorly, but we didn't know how badly, because we didn't have any financial controls." All he and Buck knew was that their sales were lower than their costs.
DeLuca was managing the store and going to the University of Bridgeport at the same time. Buck was working at his day job as a nuclear physicist in New York. They'd meet Monday evenings and brainstorm ideas for keeping the business running. "We convinced ourselves to open a second store. We figured we could tell the public, 'We are so successful, we are opening a second store.'" And they did--in the spring of 1966. Still, it was a lot of learning by trial and error.
But the partners' learn-as-you-go approach turned out to be their greatest strength. Every Friday, DeLuca would drive around and hand-deliver the checks to pay their suppliers. "It probably took me two and a half hours and it wasn't necessary, but as a result, the suppliers got to know me very well, and the personal relationships established really helped out," DeLuca says.
And having a goal was also important. "There are so many problems that can get you down. You just have to keep working toward your goal," DeLuca adds.
DeLuca ended up founding Subway Sandwich, the multimillion-dollar restaurant chain. | high1154.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Poor children have thinner neocortex than their wealthy peers."
},
"options": [
"Wealthy parents do better in raising children.",
"Differences exist between poor children and rich ones.",
"Poor children study harder due to th... | New research shows that kids from low-income families may be falling behind their peers because an important part of their brains is underdeveloped.
Researchers from MIT' s McGovern Institute for Brain Research compared the brains of 12-and 13-year-olds from rich families with the brains of their peers from lower-income families. They found that one particular area of the brain--the neocortex ,which plays a key role in memory and learning ability--is thinner in children from lower-income households.
This is a _ part of the brain for young students, who are often tested based on their ability to recall large chunks of information. Children who had a thinner neocortex performed poorly on standardized tests,researchers found.More than 90% of high-income students scored above average on a statewide math and English/Language Arts standardized test,compared with less than 60% of low-income students.Differences in cortical thickness could account for almost half of the income-achievement gap in this sample,researchers wrote.
"Just as you would expect, there' s a real cost not living in a supportive environment. We can see it not only in test scores,in educational attainment,but within the brains of these children,"says psychological scientist John Gabrieli,a professor of brain and cognitive sciences at MIT and one of the study's authors.
Since a 2011 study published by Stanford University professor Sean Reardon found that the gap between standardized test scores of high-income and low-income students has grown by about 40% since the 1960s,there' s been a lot of research aimed at finding links between income and achievement, rather than race alone. The MIT study found low-income children were equally likely to have a thinner neocortex,no matter their races.
Gabrieli and his co-authors can' t say exactly why poor children' s brains develop differently because there are too many possibilities to count.Their findings do,however,underline the importance of early intervention to ensure that low-income kids get the tools they need to succeed. | high13413.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Spanish artist"
},
"options": [
"French artist",
"Spanish artist",
"English artist",
"Australian artist"
],
"question": "After reading the text, we can learn that Picasso was a _ .",
"question_type": "clo... | Pablo Picasso, born in Spain in 1881, was one of the most famous artists of the 20th century. Picasso began painting when he was a small child and took advanced art courses when he was only fifteen. Between 1904 and 1947 Picasso lived in Paris. In 1947 he moved to Riviera, in the south of France.
Many people thought Picasso's works were strange and unpleasant. Still,he had a great influence on artists in every country. Today, Picasso is regarded as a genius , and his paintings are in the museums all over the world.
In 1912, Picasso actually invented a new type of art. He painted a picture,then he _ bits of paper and something else on the picture. This picture of art is called collage .
Picasso was not only a painter, he was also a sculptor and a designer of scenery for plays. There are even some photographs of " light paintings " that he created. These paintings were produced by moving a light pencil, or a small flashlight in the air. Although the images could be seen only briefly by anyone watching them happen, the camera was able to catch the images as they occurred.
By the time he died in France in April of 1973 , he had created a staggering 22,000 works of art.
When Picasso was asked how someone could become an artist, he would reply, If you want to draw, you must shut your eyes and sing. | high9508.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Our sense of how good we feel about ourselves."
},
"options": [
"A kind of positive lifestyle.",
"The impression we have on other people.",
"Our sense of how good we feel about ourselves.",
"Our understanding of how we ... | "Love your neighbor as yourself"is a saying familiar to most of us. It means that you must have he ability to love and accept yourself in order to form and keep satisfying relationship with others self-esteem means accepting yourself for who you really are, and believing that you are indeed a worthwhile person who is deserving of love and respect from others.
Self-esteem is our sense of how good we feel about ourselves. It is based on our judgment of ourselves, not on other people's assessment, but simply on our own. Our self-esteem is not dependant on our talent. Some very ordinary people feel very good about themselves, while other extraordinarily high achievers hold low opinions of themselves.
Self-esteem is the primary key to long-term stress management. Why? The first three sources of stress are: predictable life event, unexpected changes and build-up of daily stresses, These are much easier to handle when we believe in ourselves, A positive, healthy self-esteem gives us the "hardiness" to deal with the difficulties of life, and to see them as challenges to be met, rather than threats to be feared.
The forth category of stress is entirely the result of a low self-esteem. It is the category of stress that is most common and tiring over the long run. This kind of stress cannot be overcome, or even changed, until the self-esteem problems that cause it are corrected.
Learning to love yourself for who you are is the key to overcoming stress. Self-esteem comes form the self, and cannot be promoted by others. A person who feels that his self-esteem comes from the approval of those around him or her is bound to self-destruct , One cannot keep the level of "performance" required to please everyone else, especially if that performance disagrees with who you are and is simply a _ that makes you popular with the world. When the applause is gone, there is nothing left.
Only those who can feel the strength of knowing who they are and those who can feel good about that will survive the stresses of life. Self-esteem is the basis of contentment and positive living. | high8616.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Slogan And Brand"
},
"options": [
"Just Do It!",
"Slogan And Brand",
"Famous slogans",
"What Is A Good slogan?"
],
"question": "what would be the best title for the text?",
"question_type": null
}
] | On hearing the words "Just do it!",you will know there is a Nike product nearby.If it's "Always Coca-Cola", you can be sure someone wants to sell you a refreshing drink.
_ The slogan helps people understand the brand better by telling them what it wants to sell to its customers.Good slogans 1eave a message inside people'sminds.It's almost certain that every brand has a popular slogan.
Here are a few examples:
"Just do it!"This slogan speaks out to teens.It tells them to do something,but only if they think it's worth it.And if so,why not do it wearing Nike? "Always Coca-Cola."Coke's slogans change every few years,but this one has enjoyed lasting popularity because it shows the brand's spirit.It seems to say "coke is the only drink there is;there are no other forms of drinks."
"Share moments,share life."----This slogan from Kodak connects photos and beauty.It asks people to remember the happy moments in life by taking photos of them--using Kodak film of course! | high15062.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the improper way of teaching"
},
"options": [
"her cleverness in test taking",
"the good way to take tests",
"the improper way of teaching",
"the best way to read textbooks"
],
"question": "The author mentions E... | Testing has taken the place of teaching in most public schools. Pretests, drills, tests, and retests. They know that the best way to read a textbook is to look at the questions at the end of the chapter and then read the text quickly for the answers. I believe that my daughter Erica, who gets excellent marks, has never read a chapter of any of her school textbooks all the way through. And teachers are often heard to say proudly and openly that they teach to the test.
Teaching to the test is a curious phenomenon . Instead of deciding what skills students ought to learn, helping students learn them, and then using some methods of assessment to discover whether students have mastered the skills, teachers are encouraged to teach the students in the opposite way. First one looks at a test. Then one chooses the skills needed not to master reading, but to do well in the test. Finally, the test skills are taught.
The ability to read or write might suggest the ability to do reasonably well on standardized tests. However, neither reading nor writing develops simply through being taught to take tests. We must be careful to avoid mistaking preparations for a test of a skill with the acquisition of that skill. Too many discussions of basic skills make this misunderstanding because people are tested rather than concerned with the nature and quality of what is taught.
Recently, many schools have faced what could be called the crisis of comprehension or, in simple words, the phenomenon of students with grammar skills still being unable to understand what they read. These students are quite good at test taking and filling in workbooks. However, they have little or no experience reading or thinking, and talking about what they read. They know the details but can't see or understand the whole. They are taught to be so concerned with grades that they have no time to think about meaning, and reread things if necessary. | high11204.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The moon is the easiest place in space to get to and it has no air, unlike Earth."
},
"options": [
"The moon is beautiful.",
"The moon is different from the earth.",
"The moon is Earth's nearest neighbor--it is the easiest pl... | Did you ever look up at the moon and think you saw a man's face there? When the moon is round and full, the shadows of the moon mountains and the lines of the moon valleys sometimes seem to show a giant nose and mouth and eyes. At least, some people think so.
If there were a man on the moon--instead of mountains and valleys that just look like the face of a man--what would he be like?
He would not be like anyone you know. He would not be like anyone anybody knows.
If the man on the moon were bothered by too much heat or cold the way Earth people are, he could not stay on the moon.
The moon becomes very, very hot. It becomes as hot as boiling water. And the moon becomes very, very cold. It becomes colder than ice.
Whatever part of the moon the sun shines on is hot and bright. The rest of the moon is cold and dark.
If the man on the moon had to breathe to stay alive, he couldn't live on the moon because there's no air there. He'd have to carry an oxygen tank, as astronauts do. There's no food on the moon, either. Nothing grows--not even weeds(grass).
If the man on the moon liked to climb mountains, he would be very happy. There are many high places there, such as the raised land around the holes, or craters , of the moon. Some of these _ are as tall as Earth's highest mountains.
But if the man on the moon liked to swim, he would be unhappy. There is no water on the moon--just dust and rock.
When you think of what it's like on the moon, you may wonder why it interests our scientists. One reason is that the moon is Earth's nearest neighbor--it is the easiest place in space to get to.
Going back and forth between the moon and Earth, astronauts will get a lot of practice in space travel. Things learned on moon trips will be of great help to astronauts who later take long, long trips to some of the planets.
Scientists are also interested in the moon because it has no air. The air that surrounds Earth cuts down the view of the scientists who look at the stars through telescopes. A telescope on the moon would give them a clearer, closer view of the stars.(words: 411) | high3743.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Prejudice is a preconceived opinion before becoming aware of fact or reason."
},
"options": [
"Prejudice is a reasonable idea that is based on one's own experience.",
"Prejudice is a preference for one group of people or things ove... | Prejudice is a preconceived opinion that is not based on fact or reason. Examples of prejudice in schools include believing that some students are particular type of people simply because of the way they dress or act, or believing that a certain group is good at sports simply because many peop1e in that group are goad at sports. Another example is believing that a boy is good at science because many boys are good at science.
I would like to cite more examples from the English literature. The best example of "prejudice" can be found in Jane Austen's novels. Her novels in the history of English literature are popularly known as "novels of manners".Thus you can clearly understand that where manners and social behavior are concerned,"prejudice" is inevitable ! Austen' s famous novel Pride and Prejudice is the best example in this respect. When you read the novel, the very first line that would strike you is "it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."It is an example of 18th century English middle class prejudice that eventually looked upon women just as an object that would serve as the basic sign for a man to establish his manliness and his superior and well acquired financial status. This novel is chiefly about class division,social norms and the consequent human behavior. The characters Elizabeth and Darcy,in their journey of 1ife through the course of the novel, highlight their personal prejudices towards one another that arise from their different social strata .Darcy,a rich man , at first ,
fails to admire the beauty and intelligence of Elizabeth because of her low social status:"she is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me;"and Elizabeth,proud of her "first impressions",failed to understand the well natured man under the proud and unfriendly Darcy. | high17675.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "They received much less than they had expected."
},
"options": [
"They hoped less homework would be given.",
"They were upset about what they had done.",
"They wanted to be respected by their teacher.",
"They received m... | As I made my way to my office last Thursday, I noticed an A4 poster stuck to the lift door. Then I noticed one on the wall, one on the noticeboard, and then one on my classroom door. In fact, they were stuck to nearly every available surface along the corridor. And they all had the same statement:"All I'm asking for is a little respect seeing I pay you PS9,000 a year."
I still don't know what led to this flyer campaign -- it is said that it's linked to a group of students who were not given extra assignment grade for their examination -- but I could not help but become annoyed at the impolite language.
I started to think about the ways that my students act and speak, and the way I acted and spoke during my time at university. I will admit that I didn't do all of the readings, and yes, I may have missed a couple of lectures throughout the year, but I completed all assignments and followed the guidelines presented to me, without expecting my lecturers to chase after me. I wish I could say the same for my students.
As I walked through the car park with a colleague at the end of the day, we discussed the unrest that the posters had caused:"If you ask me,"he said,"all universities are going to need a customer services department before long."And there it was, plain and simple, the issue that I hadn't been able to explain: these young people weren't behaving like university students, they were behaving like customers. I recalled the student who told me he was disappointed with his low grade because he had"paid so much money". My colleague topped it: when one of his students was asked to leave a seminar for not completing the reading, he responded:"I pay you to teach me what's in the article, not the other way around."
Last week I sent out the first round of grades for a module and had 12 emails of complaint within an hour. One in particular stood out for its misunderstanding of what it means to be a scholar. The student said the grade must be incorrect because he had turned up to all the lectures -- as if simply hoping what I had taught him deserved a 70+ grade. As I attempted to make a polite and supportive response, I considered a few things. When did it become an expectation that turning up to lectures is worthy of reward in itself? Moreover, when I was studying would I have ever had theballsto contact my lecturers and not only question their ability to grade my work appropriately but imply that my low grade was their fault?
I find that as time goes by, my students become increasingly reluctant to engage in any academic behavior that does not have a direct effect on their assignment grade. That is, after all, what they are paying for. And so I am not regarded as an academic. I am not an expert in my field, a person with 10 years' worth of industry knowledge. I am a service provider.
I wish I'd had the gusto to reply to those posters."Hey student -- all I'm asking for is a little respect, seeing how much you pay makes no difference to my wages, yet the level of support I am forced to offer you takes up 80% of my time in spite of the fact that teaching is still only equal to 33% of my workload. But I'll be in the office until 9 pm anyway because if I don't publish two papers by the end of the year, I'll be fired." | high19880.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "were Irish immigrants in America"
},
"options": [
"still lived in Ireland alone",
"owned a small farm in Texas",
"returned to their birthplace",
"were Irish immigrants in America"
],
"question": "Michael's paren... | Michael was a farmer in Texas.His parents moved to the USA from Ireland in the 1940's, and they became very rich.Michael decided to go back to Ireland to meet his old grandfather, who was still living on the same farm.
Michael booked his ticket,flew to Shannon airport,hired a car and drove to the small village where his parents had been born.He asked for directions to the Ohagan farm,and in the end he drove up a bumpy path.He was shocked by what he saw:a small field,and in the middle of it was an old house,which looked as if it was falling down.Animals were wandering in and out of the front door,and on the porch an old man was smoking a pipe.
"Are you Mr. Ohagan?"asked Michael.
"Yes,"replied the old mall.
"I'm your grandson,Michael,"said Michael.
"A--ha,"replied the old man.
"Is this your farm?"asked Michael.
"Yes,all the way to the wall over there,"said the old man.
Michael was astonished."Grandfather,"he said,"I have a farm in Texas.I can get into my car and drive all day and I still haven't reached the end of the farm."
"Yes,"said his grandfather."I used to have a car like that." | high11210.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "How to dress properly in a business setting."
},
"options": [
"How to dress properly in a business setting.",
"The relationship between career and social life.",
"The differences between professional and casual dress.",
... | Being less than perfectly well-dressed in a business setting can result in a feeling of great discomfort that may well require treatment to eliminate (remove). And the sad truth is that "clothing mismatches" on the job can ruin the day of the person who is wearing the inappropriate attire --and the people with whom he or she comes in contact.
Offices vary when it comes to dress codes. Some businesses have very high standards for their employees and set strict guidelines for office attire, while others maintain a more relaxed attitude. However, it is always important to remember that no matter what your company's attitude is regarding what you wear, you are working in a business environment and you should dress properly. Certain items may be more appropriate for evening wear than for a business meeting, just as shorts and a T-shirt are better suited for the beach than for an office environment. Your attire should reflect both your environment and your position. A senior vice president has a different image to maintain than that of a secretary or sales assistant. Like it or not, you will be judged by your personal appearance.
This is never more apparent than on _ , when what you wear can say more about you than any business suit ever could. In fact, people will pay more attention to what you wear on dress-down days than on "business professional" days. Thus, when dressing in "business casual" clothes, try to put some good taste into your wardrobe choices, and recognize that the "real" definition of business casual is to dress just one notch down from what you would normally wear of business-professional attire days.
Remember, there are borders between your career and our social life. You should dress one way for play and another way when you mean business. Always ask yourself where you are going and how other people will be dressed when you get there. Is the final destination the opera, the beach, or the office? Dress properly and you will discover the truth in the principle that clothes make the man--and the woman. Unless you are sure what to wear, it pays to dress slightly traditionally than the situation demands. | high3757.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Students' passion for activities was high at first but disappeared gradually."
},
"options": [
"Students' passion for activities was high at first but disappeared gradually.",
"Students' passion for activities grew gradually becaus... | Actually we have known a lot of examples and meaningful words to support the fact that we should try our best to ease the bad impression of others. Just like the old saying goes, we should give a better assumption to the one than we think he was. But many of us always fail to do this.
Take the situation of my class for example. Right at the beginning of the first semester when we were freshmen we all showed great favor to each other. And when there was an activity that needed some people to join, we would be willing to attend whether it was interesting or not. And we were really like brothers and sisters, and our class was just like a family, a warm family. But now, I feel tired of those meaningless activities not only because of the boring activities themselves but also the cool response of our classmates.
I think the reasons why the passion of most classmates is so low may be as follows:
To start with, many of us take part in more than one organization, which will certainly make us tired. Also, in the study fields, many of us may find that our courses are sometimes difficult to understand or comprehend, especially the specialized subjects. Moreover, "history" teaches us that if one does not study hard, it is possible to fail in the exams. So it is a big and good excuse to say that "I do really want to attend, but I have a lot of homework to do, so..."
Last but not least, some people believe that some of our leaders should not be regarded as a leader, maybe I should say we, as leaders, lost the reputation, support and trust of yours. At least I am the warm-hearted one, although I cannot promise you that your advice will be adopted surely, at least I will spare no effort to "give" you the right to be heard, and to serve you.
Be active to show your talents and abilities and to create a better image of our class. Most important of all, work painstakingly for a better condition that we should have reached. | high4038.txt |
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