questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Smaller plants may have many advantages over their neighbors."
},
"options": [
"Smaller plants may have many advantages over their neighbors.",
"In the plant world, the bigger is better than the smaller one.",
"To be a good c... | New findings from Queen's University biologists show that in the plant world, bigger isn't necessarily better.
"Until now most of the thinking has suggested that to be a good competitor in the forest, you have to be a big plant," says Queen's Biology professor Lonnie Aarssen. "But our research shows it's virtually the other way around."
Previous studies showed that larger plant species monopolize sunlight, water and other resources, limiting the number of smaller plant species that can exist around them. But the research has proved that _ is not generally the case in natural vegetation.
In the Queen's project, PhD student Laura Keating targeted the largest "host plants" of 16 woody plant species growing in the Okanogan Valley, British Columbia. The research team calculated the number and variety of plants that neighbored each large host plant. They then randomly selected plots without host plants and calculated the plant species there as well. The research showed that the massive trees have no effect on the number of species with which they coexist.
Smaller plants have many advantages over their overbearing neighbors, Professor Aarssen notes. Larger species generate physical space niches under their shelters where smaller species grow well. Smaller plants are much more effective than large trees at using available resources. They also produce seeds at a much younger age and higher rate than their bigger counterparts, and settle down much more quickly--thuscompeting with the newly-born plants of larger species. | high6636.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "foolish"
},
"options": [
"brave",
"impolite",
"foolish",
"warmhearted"
],
"question": "The older boys laughed at the boy because he was thought to be _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
... | If you have ever been sad because of failure,please remember,for often,achieving what you set out to do is not the most important thing.
A boy decided to dig a deep hole behind his house.As he was working,a couple of older boys stopped by to watch."What are you doing?" asked one of the visitors."I want to dig a hole all the way through the earth!" the boy answered excitedly.The older boys began to laugh,telling him that digging a hole all the way through the earth was impossible.After a while,the boy picked up a jar.He showed it to the visitors.It was full of spiders,worms and other insects.Then he said quietly and confidently,"Even if I can't dig all the way through the earth,look what I found along the way!"
The boy's goal was far too difficult,but it did cause him to dig.And that is what a goal is for--to cause us to move in the direction we have chosen,in other words,to cause us to dig!
Not every goal will be fully achieved.Not every job will end successfully.Not every dream will come true.Not every love will last.But when you fall short of your aim,maybe you can say,"Yes,but look what I found along the way!Look at the wonderful things which have come into my life because I tried to do something!"
It is in the digging that life is lived.And I believe it is joy in the journey that really matters. | high17678.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Overcrowding."
},
"options": [
"Bad Weather.",
"Technology.",
"Overcrowding.",
"Physical strength."
],
"question": "What is the problem that the climbers have to face in recent years?",
"question_type": "fac... | Crowd controls could soon become an important skill for climbers on Mount Everest, as important as physical strength or watching the weather. In a single day last week, nearly 40 people reached the top of the world --- a record. Reports from base camp spoke of queues at dangerous ridges and crowds as people passed each other in the final dash for the 8, 848 meters top.
More traditional mountaineers tease about the circus atmosphere surrounding Everest in recent years, and there are warnings that the crowds are making the mountain more dangerous. In 1996, 14 died on the mountain when the members of several groups were trapped at high altitudes by sudden snowstorms. Bad weather in early May led to this year's jam on the summit ridge, but the loss, luckily, was light. Just four climbers died, including a Nepali Sherpa who had made 11 previous successful climbing.
Traditionalists are also worried about the growing tendency of climbers to set records and achieve "firsts", rather than simply climb the mountain. This year's crop of mountaineers included the oldest man, 64-year-old Sherman Bull from Connecticut, and the youngest, 16-year-old Temba Tsheri Sherpa of Nepal. An American with only one arm was on the mountain this year; an Indian with no legs also tried but failed. Erik Weihennieyer, an American, became the first blind person to reach the top of the world. His fellow climbers stayed in front of him on the way up, describing the type of land and ringing bells.
Nepal views Mount Everest as something of a cash cow. The government charges journeys a minimum of $ 70,000. That is probably why officials in Katmandu are ignoring concerns about overcrowding and talking about even more climbers coming next year. But a celebration of the 48th anniversary of the first conquest of Everest, by Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, was cancelled after violent strikes. Tumultuous Nepali politics, it seems, could be just the crowd-control measure that Everest needs. | high3996.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Approving."
},
"options": [
"Opposing.",
"Impatient.",
"Approving.",
"Concerned."
],
"question": "What is the author's attitude towards homework's effect on students?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"an... | Do Algebra problems 15 through 25. Give the different forms of the verbs on page 50 of your French workbook. Read page 12 through 20 of the Shakespeare play, and when you have finished that, don't forget to fill the missing chemical symbols on the Periodic Table of Elements worksheet.
Homework is a major part of going to class, and it helps students grasp important concepts. Luckily, you can do a few things to make homework less painful.
First, be sure you understand the assignment. Write it down in your notebook or day planner if you need to, and don't be afraid to ask questions about what is expected. It is much easier to take a minute to ask the teacher during or after class than to struggle to remember later at night!
Second, use any extra time you have in school to work on your homework. Many schools have study halls that are specifically designed to allow students to study or get homework done. It is attractive to hang out with friends during study periods or unscheduled time, but the more work you can get done in school, the less you will have to do at night.
Third, pace yourself. If you don't finish your homework during school, think about how much you have left and what else is going on that day, and then budget your time. Most high school students have between 1 and 3 hours of homework a night. If it is a heavy-homework day and it seems like you have got an assignment on every subject but gym and lunch, you will need to devote more time to homework schedule, especially if you are involved in sports or activities or have an after-school job. | high10117.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "can achieve more and understand themselves better"
},
"options": [
"will work harder on assignments and learn more",
"can deal more easily with stress independently",
"can achieve more and understand themselves better",
... | One period of our lives when better results are demanded of us is, strangely enough, childhood. Despite being young we are expected to achieve good grades, stay out of trouble, make friends at school, do well on tests, perform chores at home and so on. It's not easy.
Likeable children enjoy many advantages, including the ability to deal more easily with stresses of growing up.In her bookUnderstanding Child Stress, Dr. Carolyn Leonard states that children who are likeable and optimistic are able to gain support from others. This leads to focus and resilience , the ability to recover from or adjust early to life stress. Much research shows that resilience has enabled children to succeed in school, avoid drug abuse, and develop a healthy self-awareness .
Why does a likeable child more easily handle stress and do better in his or her life? Because likeability helps create what's known as a positive feedback loop . The positive feelings you want to see in other people are returned to you, creating constant encouragement and motivation to deal with the daily stress of life.
This feedback loop continues into adulthood. To return once again to the example of teaching, learning becomes easier with a likeable personality. Michael Delucchi of the University of Hawaii reviewed dozens of studies to determine if likeable teachers received good ratings because of their likeability or because they in fact taught well. Delucchi found that "Students who perceive a teacher as likeable, in contrast to those who do not, may be more attentive to the information that the teacher delivers and they'll work harder on assignments, and they will learn more."
You may have noticed this pattern in your own life when you try to give some advice. The more positive your relationship with that person, the more he or she seems to listen, and the more you feel certain that that person has heard you and intends to act on your words. | high2450.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "they only want to show their kindness"
},
"options": [
"they are curious about others' affairs",
"they are eager to help others",
"they want to start a long conversation",
"they only want to show their kindness"
],
... | Americans, generally speaking, make an effort to be friendly with their colleagues, neighbours and other people they often run into. This often takes the form of a simple greeting like "How's it going?" or "What's up ?" This is simply a way of saying I see you and I recognize you.
Americans also show this friendliness in "small talk". Small talk is a casual conversation that Americans engage in when they meet on the street, in the shop or in the office before a meeting. Usually the topics of such small talk will be something that everyone is familiar with, the weather, sports, traffic, hobbies or what's on television. The topic of the conversation is not as important as the effort make to spend a few minutes with the other person. Small talk shows that you are a considerate person who is interested in others and who is willing to take the time to get to know people.
Small talk is used in the business world to create a friendly atmosphere and to put everyone at ease before the serious matters of business are discussed. Often businessmen will spend a few minutes talking about the weather or sports before a meeting. This form of small talk only lasts a few minutes before the American businessman wants to "get down to business."
Asians are very skilled at making casual conversation. However, they often find it difficult to make small talk with Americans because they don't know what to say, how to say it and who to say it to. Americans may see Asians who are reluctant to make small talk as unfriendly and cold. | high11209.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Many farmers don't grow any longer"
},
"options": [
"The weather is changeable in the west Africa",
"A certain disease spread around the world",
"Many farmers don't grow any longer",
"It is impossible for conditions to ... | The next time you eat a piece of chocolate, be sure to enjoy it, because according to two of the world's largest chocolate makers--Mars Inc and Barry Callebaut, the treat may soon be in short supply. The problem? We are consuming the candy at a faster pace than farmers can grow cocoa. The manufacturers say that in 2013, people consumed 70,000 tons more cocoa than was produced. Experts say that this is the worst supply-demand imbalance they have experienced in more than 50 years.
Parts of the reason for the condition is the large reduction in supply, caused by a continuous drought in the west African countries of Ivory Coast and Ghana, where more than 70 percent of the world's cocoa is produced. Additionally, a certain disease known as frosty pod has destroyed 30 to 40 percent of global cocoa production. As a result, many farmers have turned to more profitable and easier grown crops like corn. This means that even if conditions improve, cocoa production may never get back to normal.
Meanwhile, the world is only getting hungrier for chocolate. The biggest increase in demand is from the residents of emerging market countries like India. Though their consumption is nowhere close to the amount European devour, their newly acquired amount for the treat , is making a huge dent in an already tight market.
There is also the growing desire for dark chocolate, which contains more than 70 percent cocoa compared to normal chocolates. Experts believe that if consumption continue at this pace, cocoa deficits could swell to one million tons by 2020 and to an even more worrisome, two million tons, by 2030.
Not surprisingly, cocoa prices have risen by 60% since 2012, a cost that manufacturers have offset by raising the prices of everyone's favorite candy. As the situation worsens, the price of chocolate can only rise--so be sure to enjoy piece of the sweet treat, like it is your last! | high19655.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "help night workers to sleep well"
},
"options": [
"persuade workers to have a god sleep.",
"advise night workers to keep healthy",
"encourage workers to do day work",
"help night workers to sleep well"
],
"quest... | It is common to have difficulties sleeping during the day. Humans are naturally wired to sleep best at night and be awake during the day. However, modern work schedules require some people to try to accommodate the unnatural schedule of shift work -- being awake at night and sleeping during the day.
In order to make this adjustment, you need to pay special attention to your sleep environment and your preparation for sleep. If shift work is a necessary part of your work life, here are some suggestions that may help.
Arrange to sleep uninterrupted in a quiet, dark room. This means you may have to turn off or unplug your phone, hang darkening curtains on the windows or wear a sleep eye mask, and train your family and friends to leave you alone while you sleep.
Fit in a nap . When your daytime sleep period is too short, taking a short nap of less than 30 minutes just before work or on a break has been shown to improve alertness and enhance performance.
Develop and follow a sleep routine. It's best if you go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. Try not to vary this too much on weekends. Your body likes routine.
Take extra care to make healthy choices. You may be tempted to reach for unhealthy foods or nicotine to stay awake or alcohol to try to sleep. But ultimately these choices are more harmful than helpful.
If you have tried all these things and are still having problems getting enough quality sleep during the day, talk to your doctor or a sleep specialist. Sometimes medications may be helpful and safe. In other cases, there may be an underlying sleep disorder that needs to be addressed. | high4021.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Heroes."
},
"options": [
"Heroes.",
"Cowboys.",
"Soldiers.",
"Athletes."
],
"question": "What kind of role did Charlton Heston often play in films?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer... | Charlton Heston was born in 1923 in Evanston, Illinois. Charlton Heston discovered his interest in acting while performing in plays at his high school. He later spent two years studying theater at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. But he left college to join the Army Air Forces during World War Two.
After the war, he found small roles in the theater as well as in television shows. His performance in a television version of the book Jane Eyre caught the attention of the Hollywood producer Cecil B. DeMille who later asked Heston to play the role of Moses in his movie The Ten Commandments which came out in 1956. This role made Heston famous and defined his career as a hero and leader. His face and body represented strength and heroism in many different roles. He played cowboys, soldiers and athletes.
The 1959 movie Ben Hur made Charlton Heston an even bigger star. Ben Hur won eleven Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Charlton Heston. Heston starred in many adventure movies during the 1960s. In the 1970s, Heston appeared in popular disaster movies like Earthquake,. Skyjacked and Airport 1975.
Charlton Heston was also very active in the movie industry. He worked to help set up the American Film Institute. In 1977 he was honored for his service in the industry. He received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 1997 he was awarded a Kennedy Center Honor. And, in 2003, President Bush gave Charlton Heston a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
In 2000, Charlton Heston issued a statement announcing that he had an Alzheimer's disease. He died in 2008 at his home in Beverly Hills, California. | high3982.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "They are fond of hiking."
},
"options": [
"They value freedom.",
"They have wide interests.",
"They are fond of hiking.",
"They tend to live in the countryside."
],
"question": "What do we know about people in B... | An estimated eight million people in Britain enjoy walking in the Peak District every year. But what many who enjoy outdoor hobbies don't know is that their "right to walk" was won by men who sacrificed their own freedom to gain access to the countryside for all.
In 1932 wealthy landowners had private use of large areas of uplands for hunting. Walkers were kept out by guards, until a group of 400 people from Manchester and Yorkshire, led by Benny Rothman, engaged on a mass trespass . The campaigner was put into prison with four other men.
The event is supported by many with starting a movement that paved the way for the establishment of national parks. Mr Rothman died in 2002 but he is now being honoured for his contribution with the revealing of a blue plaque on his former home in Crofton Avenue, Timperley, Greater Manchester.
Retired professor, Harry, who followed in his father's footsteps by specialising in environmental issues, says: "He was a very optimistic man and he made the best of it when he went to prison. It did''t put him off campaigning, he went on campaigning on environmental issues most of his life." Mr Rothman did live to see the Countryside Rights of Way Act passed by Parliament in 2000, ensuring the freedom of the countryside for future generations.
Roly Smith, a friend of Mr Rothman and an author of walking guidebooks, said: "It is because of them that we have got what we have today."
Councillor Jonathan Coupe, of Trafford Council, said: "The honour of having a blue plaque attributed to you means you have really made an impression on society."
"Mr Rothman contributed to the changing of history and it is because of him that we are able to enjoy the local countryside as often and freely as we can today." | high10103.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "To attract the readers' attention on the new virtual reality program."
},
"options": [
"To attract the readers' attention on the new virtual reality program.",
"To show the challenge that the readers are required to face.",
"... | You're in your office when you learn there's someone with a gun wandering outside. You can hear gunshots and screams. What do you do?
That's the challenge for users of a new virtual reality program called SurviVR, designed to train employees how to deal with an active shooter situation in the workplace. The program works with HTC Vive, the virtual reality headset released earlier this year.
An active shooter situation is when an armed person or people actively shoot in a small, populated area with the intention to kill. There were 20 such situations in the United States last year and 20 the year before, according to FBI statistics, resulting in a total of 231 deaths. This year saw the deadliest active shooter situation in US history , with 49 people killed in a nightclub in Orlando.
In the training situation, users have four choices. They can lock themselves in the office. They can hide, perhaps in the office closet. They can run for an exit. Or they can use something in the office--a computer or a cup a pair of scissors-as a weapon to fight the shooter. This is an improvement on standard active shooter training. Gallo says, which typically teachers people to lock themselves in place and hide. The "lock down" method is often ineffective, he says, and has resulted in many deaths in recent years.
In the training's basic level, no one gets killed. But as the trainings become more advanced, players who make a wrong choice be shot. There's no blood; the screen simply turns black slowly.
If this sounds terrifying, that's the point, says Gallo. There are plenty of training programs to teach employees how to deal with workplace violence, sometimes involving role play with toy guns. But these trainings are basically games. Gallo says, with employees relaxed and even enjoying themselves. To teach people what they really need to know for an active shooter situation, they need to be scared.
"SurviVR will take the fear and turn it into confidence." Gallo says. | high19899.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "more than one aspect."
},
"options": [
"knowledge only.",
"more than one aspect.",
"technology only.",
"the use of machines."
],
"question": "Many people believe that science helps society to progress through _... | What is the nature of the scientific attitude, the attitude of the man or woman who studies and applies physics, biology, chemistry, geology, engineering, medicine or any other science?
We all know that science plays an important role in our societies. However, many people believe that our progress depends on two different aspects of science. The first aspect is the application of the machines, products and systems of knowledge that scientists and technologists develop. The second is the application of the special methods of thought and action that scientists use in their work.
What are these special methods of thinking and acting? First of all, it seems that a successful scientist is curious - he wants to find out how and why the universe works. He usually pays attention to problems which he notices have no satisfying explanation, and looks for relationships even if the data available seem to be unconnected. Moreover, he thinks he can improve the existing conditions and enjoys trying to solve the problems which this involves.
He is a good observer, accurate, patient and objective and uses the facts he observes to the fullest. For example, trained observers obtain a very large amount of information about a star mainly from the accurate analysis of the simple lines that appear in a spectrum .
He does not accept statements which are not based on the most complete evidence available. He rejects authority as the only basis for truth. Scientists always check statements and make experiments carefully and objectively.
Furthermore, he does not readily accept his own idea, since he knows that man is the least reliable of scientific instruments and that a number of factors tend to disturb objective investigation.
Lastly, he is full of imagination since he often has to look for relationships in data which are not only complex but also frequently incomplete. Furthermore, he needs imagination if he wants to guess how processes work and how events take place.
These seem to be some of the ways in which a successful scientist or technologist thinks and acts. | high2444.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "hearing, speaking, reading and writing"
},
"options": [
"understanding and speaking",
"hearing, speaking, reading and writing",
"writing and understanding",
"memorizing and listening"
],
"question": "The most im... | In order to know a foreign language thoroughly , four things are necessary. First, we must understand the language when we hear it spoken. Secondly, we must be able to speak it ourselves, correctly with confidence and without hesitation . Thirdly, we must be able to write it. We must be able to make sentences that are correct in grammar.
There is no short way to succeed in language learning. A good memory is a great help, but it is not enough only to memorize the rules from a grammar book. It is no much use learning by heart long lists of words and their meanings, studying the dictionary and so on. We must learn by using the language. If we are pleased with a few rules we have memorized, we are not really learning the language. We must "Learn through use". Practice is important. We must practise speaking and writing the language whenever we can. | high4035.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The fear for her daughters' safety struck her."
},
"options": [
"She was too tired to move her legs.",
"Thick black smoke blocked her view.",
"The cement on the driveway was still wet.",
"The fear for her daughters' saf... | I discovered the power of fear when I became stuck to my driveway, as if my feet were crazy--glued to the cement .As much as I tried, I could not move them. The realization that my daughters were playing in Nancy's house, just one-half block away, paralyzed my legs, making me unable to move when I neared the end of our driveway. Dense, black smoke was rising from behind the Sycamore Maple trees on the other side of the street and was enveloping three houses, making them barely visible. Nancy's house was one of them.
I tried to call out for my daughters hoping to see them run safely to my arms, but my voice was also stuck - stuck in my throat with no intention of coming out. There I stood, helpless, paralyzed and silenced by fear, unable to protect the two little girls I loved more than even I had realized.
Although trapped in a body that couldn't move or speak, I could still hear. I could hear other mothers anxiously calling their children. I could hear a frightening silence that covered the neighborhood instead of the usual happy voices of children. And, finally, I could hear the alarm of the fire engine. As the alarm announced, "We're on our way," it instantly dissolved the crazy glue that had held my feet to the cement and it unlocked the soundproof box that had silenced my voice. I was free to make sure my daughters were safe.
As I continued down the driveway, two little girls, my two little girls, ran toward me from across the street. They had come home to tell me about the fire in the garage next to Nancy's house. Not only did my feet and voice work now, but my eyes were also in good working order and had no trouble producing tears. | high19641.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "would be improved for kids' health"
},
"options": [
"did no harm to the young people",
"included more fruits and vegetables",
"didn't include any grains and fruits",
"would be improved for kids' health"
],
"ques... | Fast food giant, McDonald's said on Tuesday that they would be cutting out excess calories in their kids' menu choices starting in September. McDonald's will reduce the amount of French fries in Happy Meals and will also include sliced apple "dippers" in every meal. McDonald's say it will still include the ever-popular toys with each meal.
"We are going to introduce more food groups such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains," said Cindy Goody, McDonald's senior director of nutrition.
After getting much of the blame for childhood obesity, fast food chains, especially McDonald's, began selling more nutritious menu items. But the restaurant was most criticized for its marketing which is often aimed at young children. Some cities, such as San Francisco, California, have banned toys from all kids' meals that didn't meet strict nutritional guidelines for fat, salt and sugar content because the prizes attracted more children to the fast food.
McDonald's felt public pressure to change their offerings. It reduced French fry portions from 2.4oz to 1.1oz in every meal. This decreases calorie content by about 20 percent, which means a new Happy Meal is less than 600 calories. Currently, the unhealthiest Happy Meal consists of a cheeseburger, fries and 1 percent chocolate milk, which contains 700 calories and 27 grams of fat.
Meanwhile, Goody and her team plan to cut sodium by 15 percent across the entire menu by 2015, with more cuts to sugar and calories by 2020. The Happy Meal changes will be in place in every place across the United States. | high16572.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "She is a Nobel Prize winner."
},
"options": [
"She is a middle school student.",
"She is a teacher in Lebanon.",
"She makes gifts for Syrian refugees.",
"She is a Nobel Prize winner."
],
"question": "What do you... | Celebrating her first day as an adult on July, 12,2015, 18-year-old Nobel Peace Prize- winner Malala Yousafzai did the gift- giving---a girls' school for Syrian refugees( ) in Lebanon.
" I call on leaders of all the countries all around the world that we must invest in books instead of bullets," Malala Yousafzai said in a speech " on behalf of the world's children." She made it an international conference. When she was 15 in the year 2012, Malala yousafzai was shot on school bus on her way home after school and seriously wounded by some gunmen of the Pakistani Taliban for advocating girls' education. After recovering ,she continued her advocacy, which led last year to her becoming the youngest Nobel winner ever.
Malala told Reuters that she chose to open the school in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley " because I believe that the voices of the Syrian refugees need to be heard, and they have been ignored for so long. We must help them to get education. It is my responsibility to set up some schools for children there."
More than a quarter of the estimated 4 million on Syrians who have fled the country's civil war are gathering in Lebanon, including about 500,000 school-age children. They have no opportunities to go to school.
Malala Yousafzai set up Malala Fund shortly after she won the Nobel Peace Prize. Since then she has done a lot of work to raise money for the education of poor children all around the world. The school, near the Syrian border, can hold up to 200 girls aged14 to 18. The school was paid for by Yousafzai's non-profit Malala Fund. On that day, all the students in the school shared the birthday cake and sang songs, bringing the Nobel winner to tears. | high12714.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "A Clever Assistant"
},
"options": [
"A Clever Assistant",
"Buying a Birthday Present",
"How to Choose a Necklace",
"A Brave Young Man"
],
"question": "A good title for this passage is _ .",
"question_type... | The nervous-looking young man had waited for a few moments--outside the jeweler's before he got enough courage to enter. He was warmly greeted by a young assistant. James felt a rush of blood to his face as he explained he would be bringing in his future wife to choose a birthday present. The assistant listened carefully and told him he'd better buy a necklace. He wasn't used to buying jewellery and was a little worried about over-spending. After some discussion as to a reasonable price and the type, the assistant showed him dozens of necklaces and helped him to choose. At last James chose one and left the shop promising to return at five o'clock. When, half an hour later than planned, James did return to the shop with his future wife, Laura, the assistant acted as if she had never seen him before. When she was asked to show them some necklaces, she first brought out some inexpensive ones for them to choose, and then gave them the one she had prepared. A choice was soon made and they went away satisfied. James would certainly come back to buy what he wanted. | high14365.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "serious or quality paper"
},
"options": [
"financial paper",
"gutter press",
"tabloid",
"serious or quality paper"
],
"question": "If a newspaper often publishes some articles long enough together with national ... | British Newspapers
In Britain there are 11 national daily newspapers and most people read one of them every day. There are two kinds of newspapers. One is large in size and has many detailed articles about national and international events. These newspapers are called the serious papers or the quality papers. The other kind, called the tabloids , is smaller in size. They has more pictures and shorter articles, often about less important events or about the private lives of wellknown people. Although some people disapprove of the tabloids , more people buy them than buy the serious newspapers. The Sun, for example, which is a tabloid,is the biggest-selling newspaper in Britain. The tabloids are sometimes called the gutter press And in 1997, some photograph reporters of the tabloids were said to be involved in the tragic death of Princess Diana in France and they were criticized as gossip reporters by the public.
Most national newspapers in Britain express a political opinion and people choose the newspaper that they read according to their own political beliefs. Most of the newspapers are right-wing, which means they support the Conservative Party . These are The Daily Telegraph ( serious newspaper ) , The Daily Express,Daily Mail, Daily Star, The Sun and Today ( all tabloids) . Of the other serious newspapers, The Times,the oldest newspaper in Britain,did not formerly have one strong political view but it is now more right-wing. The Independent does not support any political party, and neither does The Financial Times, which concentrates on business and financial news. The Daily Mirror^ a tabloid) is the voice of the Labour Party. | high9511.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "there is a possibility of going from DNA to a face"
},
"options": [
"they can merely match to an individual or identify an individual",
"there is a possibility of going from DNA to a face",
"DNA could be used to produce a rou... | DNA left at a crime scene could be used in the future to build up a picture of an offender's face, it was revealed tonight.
A first step towards genetic _ has been taken by researchers in the US who link specific DNA markers with face shape. To identify the genes, they focused on known mutations that cause changes of the face and head. Normal versions of these genes were found to influence individual features. For instance, one gene affected the lips, another the shape and configuration of bones around the eyes, and a third the appearance of the mid-face and skull. In total, 20 genes had "significant effects" on facial appearance.
Lead scientist Professor Mark Shriver, from Pennsylvania State University, said: "We use DNA to match to an individual or identify an individual, but you can get so much more from DNA. Currently we can't go from DNA to a face, or from a face to DNA, but it should be possible." The implications are far reaching, raising the possibility of creating a data bank of facial types based on genetic markers. DNA from a crime scene could then be used to produce a rough image of the face of an offender or victim. Such genetic mugshots may be more reliable than computer-generated "e-fits" based on witnesses' recollections. Other uses of the technique might include proving the identity of fathers in paternity cases, or visualising our remote ancestors from fossil DNA.
The scientists wrote in the online journal Public Library of Science Genetics: "Such predictive modelling could be forensically useful; for example, DNA left at crime scenes could be tested and faces predicted in order to help to narrow the pool of potential suspects. Further, our methods could be used to predict the facial features of descendants, deceased ancestors, and even extinct human species. In addition, these methods could prove to be useful diagnostic tools." The team developed a model which first established a range of physical face shapes from people of mixed West African and European ancestry from the US, Brazil and Cape Verde. Measurements were taken of thousands of point co-ordinates on grids placed over 3D images of the faces.
Statistical methods were then used to determine the relationship between facial differences and the effects of gender, ethnic ancestry and individual gene variants. | high6622.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Coffee service on Sunday."
},
"options": [
"Wi-Fi on Friday.",
"Plasma TVs on Monday.",
"Coffeemakers on Thursday.",
"Coffee service on Sunday."
],
"question": "Which is not got in the private Executive Lounge?"... | Still wonder where to stay? We have a lot to offer.
GUEST ROOMS
Spacious, stylish guest rooms include all the necessities for an unforgettable stay. All guest rooms feature workstations with Internet access, two telephones with voice mail, and in-room safes .
SUITES
Hilton Toronto offers a variety of one-bedroom and Junior Suites. Spoil yourself in the ultimate elegance, and capture the spirit of Canada in one of our four Signature suites.
EXECUTIVE ROOMS
You can enjoy Wi-Fi and access to the private Executive Lounge for breakfast, all-day coffee service and so on. The modern executive rooms offer views of downtown Toronto and come with robes, slippers, 47-inch flat-screen plasma TVs, over-sized chairs, large work desks and coffeemakers.
The Executive Lounge is open 6:30am to 10:00pm Monday through Thursday, 6:30am to 11:00am Friday, and closed on Saturday and Sunday.
ACCESSIBLE ROOMS
Our accessible rooms have features designed for our disabled Guests. Partially accessible rooms have safety bars, raised vanities and toilets. Transfer benches are available upon request.
BEST PRICE GUARANTEE
Get the best price when you book directly with us. If you find a lower publicly available price anywhere else, we will match that price and give you an additional US $50 back.
REACH US
145 RICHMOND STREET WEST, TORONTO, ONTARIO, M5H 212, CANADA
TEL: +1- 416-869-3456
FAX: +1-416-869-3187 | high14403.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "was very important to the development of mankind"
},
"options": [
"was very important to the development of mankind",
"led to the invention of machines in the early time",
"developed cooking abilities of mankind",
"was ... | Human beings have used tools for a very long time. In some parts of the world you can still find tools that people used more than two million years ago. They made these tools by hitting one stone against another. In this way, they broke off pieces from one of the stones. These chips of stone were usually sharp on one side. People used them for cutting meat and skin from dead animals, and also for making other tools out of wood. Human beings needed to use tools because they did not have sharp teeth like other meat eating animals, such as lions and tigers. Tools helped people to get food more easily.
Working with tools also helped to develop human intelligence. The human brain grew bigger, and human beings began to invent more and more tools and machines. The stone chip was one of the first tools that people used, and perhaps it is the most important. Some scientists say that it was the key to success of mankind.
Since 1960 a new kind of tool has appeared. This is the silicon chip . It is smaller than a finger nail, but it can store lots of information. It is an electronic brain. Every year these chips get cleverer, but their size gets smaller, and their cost gets less. They are used in watches, calculators and intelligent machines that we can use in many ways. In the future we will not need to work with tools in the old way. Machines will do everything for us. People will have plenty of spare time. But what will they do with it?
Human beings used stone chips for more than two million years, but human life changed very little in that time. We have used silicon chips for only a few years, but life is changing faster every day. What will life be like twenty years from now? What will the world be like two million years from now? | high9277.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The Future of Newspaper"
},
"options": [
"The Best Way to Get News",
"The Changes of Media",
"Make Your Own Newspaper",
"The Future of Newspaper"
],
"question": "What is the best title for the passage?",
"qu... | "If there is one thing I'm sure about, it is that m a hundred years from now we will still be reading newspapers. It is not that newspapers are a necessity. Even now some people get most of their news from television or radio. Many buy a paper only on Saturday or Sunday. But for most people reading a newspaper has become a habit passed down from generation to generation.
The nature of what is news may change .What basically makes news is what affects our lives - the big political stories, the coverage of the wars, earthquakes and other disasters, will continue much the same. I think there will be more coverage of scientific research, though .It's already happening in areas that may directly affect our lives, like genetic engineering. In the future, I think there will be more coverage of scientific explanations of why we feel as we do - as we develop a better understanding of how the brain operates and what our feelings really are.
It's quite possible that in the next century newspapers will be transmitted electronically from Fleet Street and printed out in our own home. In fact ,I'm pretty sure how it will happen m the future. You will probably be able to choose from a menu, making up your own newspaper by picking out the things you want to read - sports and international news, etc.
I think people have got it wrong when they talk about competition between the different media .They actually _ each other. Some people once foresaw that television would kill off newspapers, but that hasn't happened. What is read on the printed page lasts longer than pictures on a screen or sound lost in the air. And as for the Internet. it's never really pleasant to read something just on a screen. | high6144.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Ecotourism could endanger the survival of the wildlife people want to see."
},
"options": [
"Many animals are dying because of lack of money.",
"There will be no ecotourism without animals.",
"Ecotourism could endanger the su... | LONDON ( Reuters)-- Ecotourism is causing a lot of damage to wildlife and may be endangering the survival of the very animals people are flocking to see, according to researchers.
Biologists and conservationists are worried because polar bears, dolphins, penguins and other creatures are getting stressed and losing weight and some are dying.
"Evidence is growing that many animals do not react well to tourists in their backyard," New Scientist magazine said.
The immediate effects researchers have noticed are changes in behavior, heart rates, or stress hormone levels but they fear it could get much worse and over the long term "could endanger the survival of the very wildlife they want to see".
Although money produced through ecotourism, which has been growing at about 10--30 percent a year, has major benefits for poor countries and people living in rural areas, the Swiss-based World Conservation Union (IUCN) and some governments fear not all projects are audited and based on environmentally friendly policies, according to the magazine.
"The transmission of disease to wildlife, or small changes to wildlife health through disturbance of daily life or increased stress levels, while not obvious to the casual observer, may translate to lower survival and breeding," said Philip Seddon, of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand.
Scientists have noticed that bottleneck dolphins along the northeastern coast of New Zealand become nervously excited when tourist boats arrive. Similar changes in behavior have been observed in polar bears and yellow-eyed penguins in areas visited by ecotourists are producing smaller babies.
Conservationists are now calling for more research into the effect of ecotourism on animals and say the industry must be developed carefully. They also want studies done before new ecotourism projects are started.
"The animals' welfare should be very important because without them there will be no ecotourism," said Rochelle Constantine of the University of Auckland in New Zealand. | high8169.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Both long skirts and short skirts."
},
"options": [
"Long skirts.",
"Short skirts.",
"Both long skirts and short skirts.",
"Neither long skirts nor short skirts."
],
"question": "What kind of skirts do women lik... | Women's fashions change more rapidly than men's. In the early 1990's, all women wore their skirts to the ankle. Today, some skirts are even longer than before, but some are very short. Women's shoes have also gone through all sorts of boots for women were very common at the beginning of this century. Then for years, they were not considered fashionable. Today, they're back again in all colours, lengths and materials. In fact, today's women can wear all types of clothes on almost any occasion. While all of these changes were taking place in women's fashions, men's clothing remained almost the same until a few years ago. And, in fact, most men are still dressed in the kinds of clothes they used to wear. | high4753.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "we can know what to do and what not to do when we go there"
},
"options": [
"we can know what to do and what not to do when we go there",
"they won't think we are ill",
"we won't be thought in poor health",
"we can give... | Different countries and different people have different manners. We must find out their customs, so that they will not think us ill-mannered. Here are some examples of the things that a well-mannered person does or does not do.
If you visit a Chinese family you should knock at the door first. When the door opens, you'll not move before the host says "Come in, please." After you enter the room, you wouldn't sit down until the host asks you to take a seat. When a cup of tea is put on a tea-table before you or sent to your hand, you'll say "Thank you" and receive it with your two hands, not one hand, or they'll think you are ill-mannered.
Before entering a house in Japan, it is good manners to take off your shoes.In European countries, even though shoes sometimes become very dirty, this is not done.In a Malay house, a guest never finishes the food on the table. He leaves a little to show that he has had enough. In England, a guest always finishes a drink or the food to show that he has enjoyed it. This will make the host, especially the hostess pleased. | high19127.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "was set up by the Treaty of Rome"
},
"options": [
"was started by France and Germany",
"started with three countries",
"was set up by the Treaty of Rome",
"included 132 languages"
],
"question": "The organizatio... | Language is a major problem for the European Union (EU). The agreement or treaty which created the organization that eventually became the EU, the Treaty of Rome, stated that each country's language must be treated equally. The original six countries had only three languages between them: French, German and Dutch/Flemish. However, there are now 15 countries in the EU, with a total of 12 languages. EU documents must be translated into all these languages, and at official meetings the speeches must be translated into all the languages by interpreters.
All this translating is very expensive and time-consuming . It is said that nearly half of all employees of the EU are engaged in translating documents and speeches, and nearly half of the EU's administrative costs are spent on this task. In the near future it is probable that several more
countries, most of them having their own languages, will join the EU, thus making the situation even worse.
The problem is not just cost; there are practical difficulties as well. With 12 languages, there are 132 possible "translation situations" that might be needed. It is often difficult to find people in the right place at the right time who can translate from (for example) Danish into Greek, or Dutch into Portuguese, at a high professional standard.
In practice the problem has been made less severe by the use of English in many contacts between EU officials, since almost all of them speak some English. However, any move to reduce the number of official languages (perhaps to four or five) would be a blow to the pride of the smaller Countries. Another commonly suggested solution is to make English the official language for all EU business. However, this is strongly resisted by powerful member countries like France and Germany. | high16214.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Youngsters across Europe: suffer permanent hearing loss."
},
"options": [
"Youngsters across Europe: suffer permanent hearing loss.",
"MP3 players: sell best but do harm to youngsters",
"The scientists' study: requested by th... | Millions of youngsters across Europe could suffer permanent hearing loss after five years if they listen to MP3 players at too high a volume for more than five hours a week, EU scientists warned.
The scientists' study, requested by the European Commission, attacked the concept of "leisure noise," saying children and teenagers should be protected from increasingly high sound levels---with loud mobile phones also coming in for criticism .
"There has been increasing concern about exposure from the new generation of personal music players which can reproduce sounds at very high volumes without loss of quality," the Commission, the EU's executive arm, said in a statement.
"Risk for hearing damage depends on sound level and exposure time," it said. More and more young people _ the great threat that leisure noise posed to hearing, it said.
Commission experts said that between 50 and 100 million people listen to portable music players on a daily basis.
If they listened for only five hours a week at more than 89 decibels , they would already be beyond EU limits for noise allowed in the workplace, they said. But if they listened for longer periods, they risked permanent hearing loss after five years.
The scientists calculated the number of people in that risk category at between five and 10 percent of listeners, meaning up to 10 million people in the European Union.
Sales of personal music players have soared in EU countries in recent years, particularly of MP3 players.
"I am worried that so many young people ... who are frequent users of personal music players and mobile phones at high acoustic levels, may be unknowingly damaging their hearing ," she said in the statement. | high10665.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "to make his story realistic and exciting"
},
"options": [
"to learn more about parachute jumping",
"to make his story realistic and exciting",
"to have a rest from his busy work",
"to prove to others his skill and coura... | When we are unfamiliar with something, we may feel nervous and fearful. The help of others is a good way to make us pull through.
I write for a big newspaper, and I wanted to write a story about parachute jumping. To make it a realistic as well as exciting story, I decided that I first had to make a jump myself. Unfortunately, I am not good at any sport of any kind, let alone parachute jumping.
My friend Mr. Smith was willing to give me a hand. He took me to a ground school. The first day's training included several hours of instruction but not my first drop from an airplane. For this, I had to wait until the following morning.
The next morning, after a hurried, anxious breakfast, I was taken to the airfield. There, two heavy parachutes were put on my back. Then I was asked to make my way to a small plane which had just stopped slowly on the runway.
Once on the plane, it was soon climbing. I began to feel nervous. As we reached one thousand meters, Harry, my teacher, hooked a line from my parachute to a steel ring inside the plane. The line was to pull my parachute open after I jumped.
"Get ready, Henry," Harry said. I moved carefully to the door. I wanted to cry, "No, no, no!" but no word came.
"Jump!" Harry called out loudly. "Jump!"
To my surprise, kicking like a frog, I did jump. Away from the plane, and down, down I fell. It worked! The air seemed to hold me up. I was very happy.
Then I felt a quick pull. My big parachute had opened! It was like the best surprise I'd ever had. I looked down. There were rivers, trees, fields and houses. I heard the soft sound of the air. This was fun! | high18239.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The current qualification is out of date and should be replaced."
},
"options": [
"\"Teaching to the test\" should be encouraged.",
"We should stop teachers delivering \"inspirational experience\".",
"The current qualificatio... | GCSEs not fit for purpose
GCSEs(General Certificate of Secondary Education,)encourage "teaching to the test" and may be past their sell-by date, according to Britain's leading business organization. The Confederation of British Industry(CBI) warns that the qualification is stopping teachers delivering an "inspirational classroom experience" and should be replaced.
John Cridland, the CBI director general, said industry faced a shortage of key skills, particularly in science and maths. The CBI , which represents more than 240,000 companies, is also concerned about the 40% of young people who fail to achieve the _ of five good GCSE passes including English and maths. The percentage of pupils who reach this standard is the main measure of school success.
Speaking at the launch of a CBI inquiry into education, Cridland argued that abandoning GCSEs could help deliver a full education. "There's something about this GCSE limitation which produces a form of learning ------ teaching for the test.''
"It frustrates teachers because it stops them delivering that inspirational classroom experience."
The CBI head suggested that raising the school leaving age to 18 - a change that comes into effect in 2015 - is an opportunity to reform the system. "It seems to me that we've raised the participation age to 18 and we're left with an education system that focuses on 16," said Cridland. More than 600,000 children in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are due to take GCSEs this summer.
Many other countries do without a public exam at 16. Finland, the highest performing school system in Europe, has just one public exam, at 18, though children are regularly tested at younger ages. | high4960.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "is expressive enough"
},
"options": [
"comes from America",
"is a young woman",
"is expressive enough",
"knows much about China"
],
"question": "The foreign teacher _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"... | When I was a foreign teacher in China, every day I taught English to my students and they taught me about China. One day the topic turned to saying "I love you". I was shocked to learn that not one of my students had said this to their mothers, nor had their mothers said it to them. "Does your mom love you?" "Of course "they answered.
"How do you know ?"was my logical question. They responded that their mons cooked and always told them what they were doing wrong to show their caring. I was stunned .So mon's cooking and criticzing read out as "I love you ". "Then how do you say 'I love you 'to her?" They agreed that getting good grades, followed by god jobs would be how they showed their love.
I come from a culture where most people are expressive enough, so I repeated these queries in classes over time. Gradually, I began to get different response. Some of them had exchanged those sentiments with their moms.
One of my favorite stories of change came from a girl. When she came home from university, her mother met her at the door and hugged her. This had never happened before, but her mom said, "Now that you have gone I have more time to myself. I noticed that in some places mothers and children hug each other and I decided it was a good idea and that I would begin hugging you."
In my family we all say "I love you" a lot .While it is true that we often say the words without having great depth of feelings at that moment, it is almost like a blessing we give each other. Those three little words carry a world of meaning ,even when said as a greeting, but most especially if they are the last words we say to or hear from those we love. | high21453.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "she could put off college but only had one chance to volunteer in India"
},
"options": [
"she decided that going to university would be a waste of time",
"she could put off college but only had one chance to volunteer in India",
... | India first, college can wait!
It was an opportunity 19-year-old Jodi Sagorin felt she couldn't pass up.
The California student had received an admission letter to New York University, but she wanted to follow a calling to volunteer in India. When she got an offer to do just that, she decided there would be no better time to do it.
"It matches everything I'm interested in," she said. "It's just one of those things; it was meant to be."
Last month, Sagorin packed up her belongings and headed over to Uttar Pradesh as an intern for Drishtee, an organization that works for the economic and social development for the needy in India.
During her stay in India -- for up to seven months -- Sagorin will help with programs involving micro-finance, entrepreneurship , healthcare and women's empowerment.
Since her younger days, Sagorin had read inspiring stories of change makers throughout the world and decided she wanted to get involved somehow.
She decided volunteering would be the path she'd take and NYU could wait. She wanted to make a difference even when others said it wouldn't be possible.
When Sagorin broke the news about deciding to put off college, her parents felt pride, nervousness, fear and excitement.
"We're really proud of her of wanting to do this," said Mike Sagorin, her father. "We're a little concerned about a 19-year-old girl going out there by herself and hope she'll be safe."
Sagorin and her family researched everything they could about the organization and bought more than a dozen books about the country.
Before her trip to India, Sagorin raised $3,500 to pay for her travel and living expenses, along with some to donate to the people she would work with in India.
She has promised to send various levels of gifts -- from a personal postcard to a personalized video touring the Taj Mahal -- to those who _ money towards her trip.
(Visit Sagorin's blog at ifyouneverdid. com for more information.) | high20995.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The greatly increasing usage of the Internet."
},
"options": [
"His dream of being an inventor.",
"The support of his wife.",
"The greatly increasing usage of the Internet.",
"Millions of exciting titles,"
],
"q... | Cleverness is a gift while kindness is a choice.Gifts are easy--they're given after a11.Choicecan be hard.
I got the idea to start Amazon 16 years ago.Icame across the fact that the Internet usage was growing at 2300 percent per year.I'd never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast,andtheidea of building all online bookstore with millions of titles was very exciting to me. I had just turned 30 years old,and I'd been married for a year.I told my wife MacKenzie that I wanted to quit my job and go to do this crazy thing that probably wouldn't work since most start-ups don'tand I wasn't sure what to expect.MacKenzie told me I should go for it.As a young boy,I'dbeen a garageinventor.I'd always wanted to be all inventor,and she wanted me to follow my passion.
I was working at a financial firm in New York Citywith a bunch of very smart peopleand Ihad a brilliant boss that I much admired.I went to my boss and toldhim I wanted to start a company selling books on the Internet.He took me on a longwalk in Central Park,listened carefully to me,and finally said,"That sounds like a really good ides,but it would be an even better idea for someone who didn't already have a good job."That 1ogic made some sense to me,and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours before making a final decision.Seenin that light.it really wasa difficult choice,but ultimately,I decided I had to give it a shot.I didn't think I'd regret trying and failing. _
After much consideration,I took the less safe path to follow my passion,and I'm proud ofthat choice.For all ofus,in the end,we are our choice. | high11590.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Assistant Professor, Musical Theatre Dance"
},
"options": [
"Full Professor in Theatre and Dance",
"Assistant Professor, Musical Theatre Dance",
"Technical Director in Performing and Fine Arts",
"Assistant Director-- Me... | Assistant Professor, Musical Theatre Dance
Wichita State University seeks a full-time, 9-month assistant professor, beginning in August. Applicants are required to have a degree in dance area, teaching experience at a professional or college level, ability to direct and teach stage movement. The salary depends on qualifications and experience.
For complete information visit http://finearts.wichita.edu.
Full Professor in Theatre and Dance
The Department of Theatre & Dance at the University of California at San Diego (http://www-theatre.uscd.edu) is seeking an experienced theatre artist in lighting design. Applicants must work for us for at least one year. Significant professional experience is required. This position is expected to teach at both graduate and undergraduate levels.
A review of applications will start on June 1st. Application deadline: September 1st.
Technical Director in Performing and Fine Arts
De Sales University's Performing and Fine Arts Department seeks a highly skilled, professional technical director. The position is a 10-month staff position with the possibility of summer employment with the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. Professional experience is required; MFA is preferred.
Please email materials to john.bell@desales.edu. Screening of applications begins immediately and will continue until the position is filled.
Assistant Director-- Media Resources Center
Maryland Institute College of Art is seeking an Assistant Director of Media Resources Center in the Academic Affairs Division.
Qualifications for the position include a degree in Art History or related fields with knowledge of art and design history, library experience, excellent interpersonal and communication skills and familiarity with photoshop and scanning.
A review of applications will begin immediately; job announcements will remain open until the position is filled. Applicants are required to work for us at least 11 months. They can send emails to jobs@mica.edu. The salary differs depending on your experience. Please include your desired salary in your application letter. | high12099.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "he was unsatisfied with the present his daughter gave him"
},
"options": [
"he was unsatisfied with the present his daughter gave him",
"the box his daughter gave him was empty",
"he had expected what was in the box",
"... | The story goes that some time ago, a man punished his 3--old--daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became angry when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree. However, the little girl brought the gift to her father the next morning and said, "This is for you, Daddy."
The man was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger burst again when he found out the box was empty. He yelled at her, stating, "Don't you know when you give someone a present, there is supposed to be something inside?" The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and cried, "Oh, Daddy, it's not empty at all. I blew kisses into the box. They are all for you, Daddy."
The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl and begged for her forgiveness.
Only a short time later, an accident took the life of the child. It is also told that her father kept that gold box by his bed for many years and whenever he was discouraged, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there. | high8182.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "suffer from the incident for a long time"
},
"options": [
"suffer from arm and leg injury",
"get laughed at by her schoolmates",
"have to pay all the damages",
"suffer from the incident for a long time"
],
"ques... | One day several years ago,Josie went to collect her sister from her local Harvester pub in Brentwood,Essex,where they both worked.A few men came up with gulls in their hands.The robbers then tied up their arms and legs and told them to get down on the ground,while they _ the restaurant,fleeing withPS1,000.
"As I lay on the ground I felt helpless and ashamed as they took time out to laugh at me,calling me fat cow,''Josie said.Shortly after that she was able to untie herself and raise the alarm,but it was just the beginning of her nightmare.
"I was too terrified to go back to work,so I had to leave.I slept with the light on for more than a year.My confidence was totally destroyed.At school people would call me fatty and shout nasty things.When the robber called me fat that night,it just brought all those horrible memories back.''Over the next few months Josie ate more and piled on more pounds as she tried to cope with the sufferings.
Two years went by and Josie stuck to the same bad habits,which worried her family a lot.In order to wipe the cloud off and cheer her up,her sister suggested a trip.It wasn't until returning from the family holiday on the island of Aruba that she decided to take action once and for all and signed up for Weight.Watchers the next day with her sister.
Eighteen months 1ater,a slimmer and happier Josie flew to Turkey in summer in 2012 with her family,where she met sailor Fatih,26,at a party and the pair:plan to get married next summer."If you had told me three years ago that I would be marrying a handsome Turkish man, and looking for a size 10 wedding dress,I would have never believed you." | high23244.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "making comparisons"
},
"options": [
"making comparisons",
"listing figures",
"giving examples",
"classifying facts"
],
"question": "The researchers draw the conclusion of the effect of long-sitting behavior by ... | Sitting for more than three hours a day can decrease a person's life expectancy by two years, even if her or she is physically active and gets rid of dangerous habit like smoking ,according to a study. Watching TV for more than two hours a day can worsen that problem, decreasing life expectancy by another 1.4 years.
The analysis comes just two years after Australian researchers found that people who said they watched TV for more than four hours a day were 46% more likely to die of any cause than people who said they spent less than two hours a day watching TV. Those watching TV more than four hours a day were also 80% more likely to die of cardiovascular disease. "Long-sitting behavior is something we need to take note of beyond telling people to get 30 minutes of activity a day ," said Peter T. Katzmarzyk, one of the lead researchers. But while the evidence of illnesses is increasing, it remains difficult for many people to find time to get on their feet, especially if they do desk jobs.
"Try to stand as much as you can," Dr Katzmarzyk said. "Typically when you are on the telephone you can stand and use the speakerphone. Instead of e-mailing someone in the office, just get up and so to talk to them." However , Dr Katzmarzyk added, standing shouldn't be alternative to exercising, but an alternative to sitting . "Several studies show that when you're sitting , your leg muscles are completely inactive," he said . "When you're sitting and completely inactive, this is when you run into trouble managing blood sugar." | high13387.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "how parents should bring up their children"
},
"options": [
"how parents should bring up their children",
"what aim can be easier for a child to achieve",
"how parents should make a child a musician",
"what differences ... | If parents bring up a child with the aim of turning the child into a genius , they will cause great damage to him. According to several leading educational experts, this is one of the biggest mistakes that some parents make. Generally, the child will understand very well what the parents expect, and will fall. Unrealistic expectations of the parents can cause great damage to children.
However, if parents are realistic about what they expect their children to do, and are hopeful in a sensible way, the child may succeed -especially if the parents are very supportive to their children.
Michael Li is very lucky. He is very fond of music and his parents help him a lot by taking him to concerts and let him attend piano and violin lessons. Although his father is a good musician, he never makes Michael enter music competitions if he is unwilling to.
Michael's friend, Winston Chen, however, is not so lucky. Both his parents are successful musicians, and they set too high a goal for Winston. They want their son to be as successful as they are and so they enter him for every piano competition held. They are very unhappy when he does not win. "When I was your age, I used to win every competition I entered." Winston's father tells him. Winston is always afraid that he will disappoint his parents and now he is always quiet and unhappy. | high354.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "unfold wings for flying"
},
"options": [
"fold and unfold its wings",
"unfold wings for flying",
"land in the airport",
"meet flying safety regulations"
],
"question": "It takes the car-plane one minute to _ ... | If cars had wings, they could fly and that just might happen, beginning in 2012. The company Terrafugia, based in Woburn, Massachusetts, says it plans to deliver its car-plane, the Transition, to customers by the end of 2012.
"It's next 'wow' vehicle," said Terrafugia vice president Richard Gersh. "Anybody can buy a Ferrari, but as we say, Ferraris don't fly."
The car-plane has wings that unfold for flying-a process the company says takes one minute-and fold back up for driving. A runway is still required to take off and land.
The Transition is being marketed more as a plane that drives than a car that flies, although it is both. The company has been working with FAA to meet aircraft regulations, and with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to meet vehicle safety regulations.
The company is aiming to sell the Transition to private pilots as a more convenient and cheaper way to fly. They say it saves you the trouble from trying to find another mode of transportation to get to and from airports: You drive the car to the airport and then you're good to go. When you land, you hold up the wings and hit the road. There are no expensive parking fees because you don't have to store it at an airport-you park it in the garage at home.
The car-plane is designed to fly primarily under 10,000 feet. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,430 pounds, including fuel and passengers. Thrrafugia says the Transition reduces the potential for an accident by allowing pilots to drive under the bad weather instead of flying into marginal conditions.
The Transition's price tag: $194,000. But there may be additional charges for options like a radio, , a transponder or a GPS. Another option is a full-plane parachute.
"If you get into a very awful situation, it is the necessary safety option." Gersh said.
So far, the company has more than 70 orders with deposits. "We're working very closely with them, but there are still some remaining steps," Brown said. | high432.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "30 friends or fewer at a certain stage."
},
"options": [
"Over 400 friends in their whole lives.",
"30 friends or fewer at a certain stage.",
"400 internet friends in their whole lives.",
"150 internet friends at a cert... | It is said that most people have not more than 30 friends at any given time, and 400 over the whole of their lives. However, on social networking sites, most users have about 150 friends. If these numbers are correct, then friendship means different things in different situations.
Also, there are no rules about friendship. There are no instructions about how to make friends, how to keep friendships going, and how to finish friendships if we want to move on. People have very different opinions about this: some people would die for their friends and they value them more than family. Others say that friends are temporary, only there to help each other until they are no longer needed. If people with such different views become friends, this can lead to problems.
Because of these different definitions of friendship, it is easy to be unhappy about our friendships. We may want them to be deeper or closer, or we may want to have more friends in our lives. Sometimes we simply do not have the time to develop our friendships, or we fear we have left it too late in life to start. If we move to another country or city, we have to find ways to make new friends again.
This dissatisfaction shows us how important friendships are for most of us. We should not think that it could be too late to build friendships. We also need to understand that the need to be around other people is one that is shared by many. Therefore, we should not be too frightened about starting to talk to people who in the future may become our friends: it is likely that they too would like to get closer to us. Remember what people say: strangers are friends we have not met yet. | high12927.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "charity-related action"
},
"options": [
"website for charity",
"school organization",
"charity-related action",
"popular part-time job"
],
"question": "According to the passage, \"wugging\" is actually a _ ."... | Wugging, or web use giving, describes the act of giving to charity at no cost to the user. By using Everyclick. com, which is being added to a number of university computers across theprefix = st1 /UKthis week , students can raise money every time they search, but it won't cost them a penny.
Research shows that students are enthusiastic about supporting charity, 88% of full time students have used the Internet to give to charity. This figure is high, considering this age group is often the least likely to have their own income. 19% of 22 to 24 years old have short-term debts of more thanPS5,000. With rising personal debt levels in this age group, due to university tuition fees or personal loans and a lack of long-term savings, traditional methods of donating to charity are often not appealing or possible.
Beth Truman, a 21-year-old recent university graduate has used Everyclick. com to donate to her chosen charity, the RSPCA, for two years and has seen the "wugging" movement grow popular with students. "When you're at university you become more socially aware, but it's sometimes hard to give to others when you have little money yourself. " says Beth. "Wugging is great for people in this age group as it allows them to use the technology on a daily basis to give it to charity, without costing them a single penny. "
Wugging is perfect for people who want to be more socially aware and supportive but don't feel they have the _ to do so. Students using the web can generate money for causes they care about without it costing them anything in terms of time or money, and charities get a valuable source of funding.
Everyclick. com works like any other search engine, allowing users to search for information, news and images but users can identify which of the UK's 170,000 charities they would like to support through their clicks. Everyclick. com then makes monthly payments to every registered charity. Launched in June 2005 Everyclick. com is now the eighth largest search engine and one of the busiest charity websites in theUK. | high23522.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "at least take 5 steps"
},
"options": [
"wear seat belt",
"take some additional measures",
"at least take 5 steps",
"count to three"
],
"question": "According to the text if you want to drive safely you should ... | Wearing seat belt is,of course,the first step to safe driving.These additional measures might also save your life.
Count to three.Keeping up enough space between your car and others is extreme1y necessary.Jim Clark,a California driving instructor,suggests a least amount of three seconds'following distance.To figure this,pick an object on the roadside ahead.When the car in front of you passes it,start counting one-thousand-one,one-thousand-two,one-thousand-three.If you get to that object before you reach one-thousand-three,you don't have three seconds of following time --- time needed to keep away from accidents.
Let followers pass."If someone's driving after you,get out of his way,"Clark advises."You're better of being safe than right."
Expect the worst.In a study,the Federal Highway Administration found that 68 percent of drivers do not come to a complete stop at stop signs.When you're driving and see someone come near to a stop sing,assume the person's not going to stop.
And when you stop at a crossing and another car comes near with its turn signal on,don't take it true that the driver will turn.Instead,wait until he turns.He may have had the signal on for miles.
Stay outside.In crowd,multilane traffic,drive in either the outside--left or outside--right lane."That allows you somewhere to go if a problem develops,"traffic expert Francis Kenel says."If you're in the middle,all you can do is to pause from time to time." | high15090.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "He can play the musical piece he hears."
},
"options": [
"He has a gift for writing music.",
"He can write down the note he hears.",
"He is a top student at the law school.",
"He can play the musical piece he hears."
... | Samuel Osmond is a 19-year-old law student from Cornwall, England. He never studied the piano. However, he can play very difficult musical pieces by musicians such as Chopin and Beethoven just a few minutes after he hears them. He learns a piece of music by listening to it in parts. Then he thinks about the notes in his head. Two years ago, he played his first piece Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven. He surprised everyone around him.
Amazed that he remembered this long and difficult piece of music and played it perfectly, his teachers say Samuel is unbelievable .They say his ability is very rare, but Samuel doesn't even realize that what he can do is special. Samuel wanted to become a lawyer as it was the wish of his parents, but music teachers told him he should study music instead. Now, he studies law and music.
Samuel can't understand why everyone is so surprised. "I grew up with music. My mother played the piano and my father played the guitar. About two years ago, I suddenly decided to start playing the piano, without being able to read music and without having any lessons. It comes easily to me ---I hear the notes and can bear them in mind---each and every note," says Samuel.
Recently, Samuel performed a piece during a special event at his college. The piece had more than a thousand notes. The audience was impressed by his amazing performance. He is now learning a piece that is so difficult that many professional pianists can't play it. Samuel says confidently," It's all about super memory---I guess I have that gift."
However, Samuel's ability to remember things doesn't stop with music. His family says that even when he was a young boy, Samuel heard someone read a story, and then he could retell the story word for word.
Samuel is still only a teenager. He doesn't know what he wants to do in the future. For now, he is just happy to play beautiful music and continue his studies. | high6811.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "They studied the crying experiences of grown-ups from various countries."
},
"options": [
"They studied crying experiences not only in everyday life but also in labs.",
"They collected the crying experiences of the students at the ... | Researchers Look Behind the Tears to Study Crying
Many people found themselves unusually moved by the historic presidential inauguration last week in Washington. Watching the huge crowds, we saw laughter, cheers, hugs---but also many tears.
It made us wonder why do people cry? Surely tears must be good for us--away to calm the mind and cleanse the body. Yet studies show that crying sometimes makes people feel worse.
Three researchers in Florida and the Netherlands recently looked more deeply into the subject. They examined detailed descriptions of crying experiences. Psychologist Jonathan Rottenberg at the University of South Florida says they wanted to study crying as it happens in everyday life, not in a laboratory.
The team analyzed information from the International Study on Adult Crying. As part of that study, three thousand people in different countries, mostly college students, wrote about recent crying experiences. They noted causes, surroundings and any people involved in the event. They also reported how they felt after they cried.
Professor Roaenberg says the research showed that all crying experiences are not created equal. Crying does not always make a person feel better, he says. About ten percent of people reported feeling worse after they cried.
But a third felt better after crying. And a majority reported the experience as helpful.
The research showed that people who cry alone may not do as well as those with others around. People who reached out for emotional support at the time---and received it---reported better results from the crying experience.
But Professor Rottenberg says those who felt shame or embarrassment while crying were less likely to report that crying had been helpful.
Research has shown that women cry more often and more intensely than men. But it may not have better effect, says the psychologist. The new findings, he says, did not show that a person's sex was an advantage of beneficial crying. In other words, just because women cry more does not mean they are more likely to have a "good" cry.
The paper entitled "Is Crying Beneficial?" appeared in December in Current Directions in Psychological Science and there is more to learn. Jonathan Rottenberg says the science of crying is still _ . | high21335.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Delighted."
},
"options": [
"Moved.",
"Delighted.",
"Disappointed.",
"Nervous."
],
"question": "Which of the following words best describes the whole family's feeling about the train journey?",
"question_typ... | We were on the way from Hutchinson to Chicago for a short spring break. For many years I had wanted to take my family on the train. We all had been to Chicago four years ago, and the kids loved it. Chicago is one of my favorite cities, too, so the thought struck me again last fall to ride the train to Chicago. Of course, flying would have been faster. But I don't think flying is easier, especially these days, with all the security and waiting in lines at airports.
Though we were tired in the middle of the night, the kids got on the train with the _ of this adventure. "We're moving," my son William shouted happily with big eyes as the train began to pull away from the Hutchinson station.
I removed my shoes and lay down to try to finish my night's sleep. The sleeper car would have better enabled that, but the ordinary train seats were not too bad. An airline flight is a more miserable experience for me: not enough room, two hours of pain with my knees almost touching my chin, the hard seatback in front cracking my kneecaps with every move of the body planted in front of me. On the train I could almost outstretch all of my 6-foot-2-plus body in the generous legroom.
The journey didn't feel at all as long as it was. We all found the train ride a joy. The car ride would have felt every minute of 13 hours. But on the train you are free to walk around, sit in the observation carriage for a while and enjoy the scenery out the windows, have a nice meal in the dining car, read a book, or play a board game.
In short, the train is all about enjoying the trip, which isn't something I do so much when traveling by airline or by car, when the trip seems more of a mission to get there than an experience to enjoy along the way.
Chicago offers much to do for a family. This time, getting there was half the fun. | high3969.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "He didn't criticize them in public."
},
"options": [
"He didn't criticize them in public.",
"He drove them out of his class angrily.",
"He communicated with them patiently and regularly.",
"He called them by their first... | I liked most of my teachers in college. They were, for the most part, friendly and competent, willing to help students. I liked them--but I don't remember them very well, except for Mr. Jones, my senior English teacher. He was an enthusiastic, sensitive man, who knew his subject and was determined that we would learn it and love it, too.
Mr. Jones was a tall, slim man in his midforties. Put precariously on his nose, his glasses gave him a serious look. But they didn't remain there long, for he was always taking them off and polishing them and putting them in his mouth when he thought over a response to a student's question. When he walked into class, he was always carrying two or three books with strips of paper sticking out of them, marking passages he planned to read. I remember, too, the cardigan sweaters--he must have had a dozen of them. On rainy days he substituted a blue raincoat for the sweater. But what I remember best was his smile. When he smiled, his whole face lit up. His smile made you feel good, at ease.
Yet though he was friendly with people, he was a bit formal in class, and he could be firm on occasion. He never called us by our first names. He obviously loved his work and liked his students, but he kept his distance. He never deliberately embarrassed a student in front of the class with an ironic remark, but he could communicate his displeasure all right. He'd look steadily at the offending student for a few seconds. That was usually enough, but if it didn't work, he'd say something to the student in a lowered tone of voice. He didn't do this often, though.
Mr. Jones' personality and passion made him popular, but what I liked most about him was that he was a fine teacher. Yes, he cared about students, but he cared more about teaching them his subject. And that meant homework, lots of it, and pop quizzes now and then to keep them reading. He lectured occasionally to provide background information whenever we moved on to a new literary period. After a brief glance at his notes, he'd begin to move around as he talked--to the blackboard, to the window, back to the platform. But he preferred discussions. He'd write several questions on the board for the next day's discussion, and he'd expect you to be prepared to discuss them. He directed the discussion, but he didn't control it; he was a good listener and made sure we all had a chance to respond, whether we wanted to or not. If he was pleased with a response, he'd nod his head and smile. Occasionally he'd read a student's essay, praising its good points. But he was toughminded, too, as I suggested before. He really nailed you for careless work or inattention. When you got an A from him, you really felt good, for he wasn't an easy grader. We used to complain about his grading standards, usually in vain, though he would change a grade if he thought the had been unfair.
We had many interesting discussions about Twain, Crane, and Dreiser, as I recall, but his favorite period was the 1920's. He loved the expatriates : Anderson, Cummings, Hemingway, Fitzgerald. He was always bringing in books for us to read, but when he got to this period, he was a walking library, I think he'd read every book ever written by or about Hemingway and Fitzgerald in the twenties. Yes, Mr. Jones was a fine teacher all right: he knew his subject. But more than that, he made us want to continue to read it and study it on our own. | high19872.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "there are different ways to give directions in different parts of the world"
},
"options": [
"never carry a map for travel",
"there are not many landmarks in the American Midwest",
"there are different ways to give directions... | I have a rule for travel: Never carry a map. I prefer to ask for directions.
Foreign visitors are often puzzled in Japan because most streets there don't have names. In Japan, people use _ in their directions instead of street names. For example, the Japanese will say to travelers, "Go straight down to the corner. Turn left at the big hotel and go past a fruit market. The post office is across from the bus stop."
In the countryside of the American Midwest, usually there are not many landmarks. There are no mountains, so the land is very flat . In many places there are no towns or buildings within miles. Instead of landmarks, people will tell you directions and distance. In Kansas or Iowa, for example, people will say, "Go north two miles. Turn east, and then go another mile."
People in Los Angeles, California, have no idea of distance on the map: They measure distance by means of time, not miles. "How far away is the post office?" you ask. "Oh," they answer, "It's about five minutes from here." You say, "Yes, but how many miles away is it?" They don't know.
People in Greece sometimes do not even try to give directions because visitors seldom understand the Greek language. Instead of giving you the direction, a Greek will often say, "Follow me." Then he'll lead you through the streets of the city to the post office.
Sometimes a person doesn't know the answer to your question. What happens in this situation? A New Yorker might say, "Sorry, I have no idea." But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one answers, "I don't know." People in Yucatan think that "I don't know" is impolite. They usually give an answer, often a wrong one. A visitor can get very, very lost in Yucatan!
One thing will help you everywhere -- in Japan, in the United States, in Greece, in Mexico, or in any other place. You might not understand a person's words, but maybe you can understand his body language. He or she will usually turn and then point in the correct direction. Go in that direction, and you may find the post office! | high21321.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "regarded as an important representation of western literature"
},
"options": [
"adapted from Auguste Maquet's novel",
"written by Italian author Alexandre Dumas",
"completed during the historical events of 1815-1838",
"... | The Count of Monte Cristo ( French: Le Comte de Monte Cristo ) is an adventure novel by French author Alexandre Dumas. Completed in 1844, it is one of the author's most popular works, along with The Three Musketeers. Like many of his novels, it is expanded from plot outlines suggested by his co-author Auguste Maquet.
The story takes place in France, Italy, islands in the Mediterranean, and in the Levant during the historical events of 1815-1838. It begins from just before the Hundred Days period, when Napoleon returned to power after his exile , and goes through to the time of Louis Philippe of France. The historical setting is a fundamental element of the book. It is an adventure story primarily concerned with themes of hope, justice, revenge , mercy and forgiveness, and is told in the style of an adventure story. It focuses on a man who is wrongfully imprisoned, escapes from prison, gains a fortune and sets about getting revenge on those responsible for his imprisonment. However, his plans have terrible consequences for the innocent as well as the guilty.
Dumas got the idea for The Count of Monte Cristo from a true story, which he found in a memoir written by a man named Jacques Peuchet. Peuchet related the story of a shoemaker named Pierre Picaud, who was living in Paris in 1807. Picaud was engaged to a rich woman, but four envious friends falsely accused him of being a spy for England. He was imprisoned for seven years. During his imprisonment a fellow prisoner told him a treasure hidden in Milan. When Picaud was released in 1814, he took possession of the treasure, returned under another name to Paris and spent ten years plotting his successful revenge.
The book is considered a literary classic today. According to Luc Sante, " The Count of Monte Cristo has become a fixture of western civilization's literature, as inescapable and immediately identifiable as Mickey Mouse, Noah's flood, and the story of Little Red Riding Hood. " | high17693.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "AIDS and Malaria"
},
"options": [
"Teenagers playing computer games",
"Broken homes and unstable families",
"The rising cost of university education",
"AIDS and Malaria"
],
"question": "According to the article,... | As the saying goes, "Change is not always for the better". Take social interaction, for example! We now live in an era in which many teenagers spend hours locked away in their bedrooms shooting virtual soldiers and hitting zombies over the head with digital baseball bats, while others sit home alone, chatting with friends, not in person, but through social networks. Teachers, politicians and parents have genuine reasons to argue that young people like this are in danger of losing the ability to connect with one another, to develop genuine relationships and to separate the fictional world of the Xbox or the Play Station from the real world.
Others worry about the increasing breakdown of the family unit within the UK and link that to the increase of youth crime and antisocial behavior, or the problems that some young people have with drugs or alcohol. These issues are particularly common in areas of poverty and, in the light of the economic crisis, are unlikely to improve. Indeed, the gap between rich and poor in the UK could well increase, as unemployment figures rise and the cost of higher education increases.
But being a teenager in the 21st century is not all doom and gloom, Young people in the UK today can enjoy living in a far more multicultural, integrated society in which opportunities are more equal and which is increasingly environmentally aware. They benefit from better child protection policies, a wider range of educational activities and clearer guidance on leading healthy lifestyles.
And as they grow up, this generation will benefit from huge technological inventions which will have an impact on almost every aspect of their lives, from entertainment to transport. They will see medical advances which could put an end to diseases like malaria and rid the world of AIDS. They will live longer, work smarter and they will even have a greater understanding of nature and the universe. | high19866.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "taken to the living-room"
},
"options": [
"told to wash your hands",
"taken to the dinning-room",
"told some strict rules about dinner",
"taken to the living-room"
],
"question": "If you are a dinner guest to a ... | Dinner customs are different around the world. If you are a dinner guest in Ghana , this information will help you.
In Ghana, dinner is usually from four in the afternoon to six in the evening. But there are no strict rules about time in Ghana. Whenever a guest arrives, a family offers food.
When you go to a home, the host takes you to the living room first. At this time everyone welcomes you. Then you go to the dinner room. There you wash your hands in a bowl of water. All the food is on the table.
In Ghana you usually eat with your fingers. You eat from the same dish as everyone else. But you eat from one side of the dish only. It is not polite to get food from the other side of the dish. After dinner, you wash your hands again in a bowl of water.
Most meals in Ghana have a dish called fufu. People in Ghana make fufu from the powder of some plants. Sometimes they cut the fufu with a saw because it is very hard and like rubber . You must chew fufu well, or you can get sick. You eat fufu with fingers of your right hand only. | high8828.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The English education system is welcomed by the Chinese."
},
"options": [
"He was surprised at the present current trend.",
"English universities are better than those in China.",
"The English education system is welcomed by ... | Chinese students have tended to come to the UK at a younger age in recent years, which means they come to Britain not only for higher education, but also for high school or even primary school. Asian investors have followed this trend, and started to buy independent schools to serve this demand.
An article carried by theTimes of London on October 17 reported that last year Chinese-owned company Achieve Education bought Chase Grammar, a boarding and day school in Cannock, Staffordshire. Chase Grammar includes a program that offers extra support for pupils from China. "This trend is very good and I am not at all surprised," Barnaby Lenon, chairman of the Independent Schools Council, told theGlobal Times, adding that Chinese people like the English education system. "We welcome Chinese investors in British private education." "Chase Grammar School is small, and the classes are small. It gives the school a family atmosphere," Jackie Medhurst, principal of Chase Grammar School, said in a welcome note on the school's website.
Small class sizes, personal care, good exam result, and entry to world famous universities are features that are most attractive to Chinese students. But many parents are also worried that foreign investors might expand the proportion of international students, and that might _ the British tradition.
It seems that Chase Grammar does not intend to hide their attempts to attract Chinese families. It has set up a China office in Shanghai to facilitate Chinese parents' communication with the school. Tong Zhou, a director of Chase Grammar, told the media that the school does not intent to change the ratio of local students and international students.
Some international branches of British boarding schools are very popular in Asia. In recent years, the Chinese passion for the British boarding school system has led some of the best-known schools such as Harrow and Wellington to set up satellite schools in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. And the trend continues.
It seems that the rising wealthy class in Asia is not satisfied with international branches in their own countries. They want to send their kids to the original British boarding schools to be surrounded by English people and immersed in the British culture. To support their children studying in the UK, Chinese parents are buying houses in Britain. According to a survey by UK Property Weekly, houses near universities and outstanding primary and secondary schools are the most preferable location for Chinese buyers.
Compared to the independent school system, universities are more open. It is reported that China remains the leading source of international students for London. | high12933.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "to work hard and support their family"
},
"options": [
"to enter the society before adulthood",
"to hold together",
"to work hard and support their family",
"to study hard and find a good job"
],
"question": "Ac... | In the past, young people inprefix = st1 /Japanwere expected to take on responsibilities to support their parents and grandparents. Now they expect to be supported well into young adulthood. The "New breed", born since the 1960s, have never known anything but richness. Youth are seen as resistant to entering society as mature adults, to becoming social citizens. Once the great objective of reconstruction after the Second World War was accomplished, a new generation lost the motivating power that had untied the nation together.
Japan's birth rate has been falling rapidly, partly because of the recession , and the job and financial insecurity that it has caused. In 1999, the figure was 1. 38 children per woman, the lowest ever recorded. At the same time, youth crime, although still especially low by western standards, rose to its highest level since record-keeping began 32 years ago. Likewise, the percentage of students dropping out before graduating, at 2. 5% also very low by western standards, has been rising.
Entrepreneurial ( ) role models are few and far between. Bill Gates is often mentioned, but a foreign model can only have so much influence. The problem is that Japanese culture discourages people from revealing details of personal life, including such ordeal as starting a company. In the past, successful companies such as Honda or Hitachiprovided role models of a sort. But today they have been faded by the downturn, and few others have risen to take their place.
Young people also quite often feel isolated from their fathers, who worked too hard at their jobs to establish much of a relationship with their children. "The one thing they're sure of is that they don't want to be like their fathers. And the girls don't want to be with boys who are like their fathers, so the boys are sure not to be," says Professor Morishma. | high23536.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "find a dress you have got used to"
},
"options": [
"find a dress you have got used to",
"buy some modern shoes,ties,etc.",
"have your hair cut",
"put on your newly-bought clothes"
],
"question": "Before you go t... | So you have been called for an interview---well done?Your effort has been paid off? You will feeI better at the interview if you show an understanding of the nature of the organization.
Ask someone who already does it,or check it with one of the advisers.
Ask a member of your family or a friend to act as the employer and to give you an unreal interview.Be as realistic as possible,answer the questions seriously.Afterwards discuss how it went.Think about how the employer would prefer to see your look.Remember---the majority of employers are over 30.
It is not wise to rush out and buy new clothes.which will be worn for the first time at the interview.You'll feel more at ease in a familiar dress.
Carelessness in any of these could cost you the job.Arrive at least 15 minutes before time,this will give you a chance to have a look around,read the notice board and get the feel of the place.Being late at the interview produces a bad impression.The first impression that the interviewer gets of you is formed as you walk through the door,so take a couple of deep breaths.
Be ready to shake hands if the interviewer offers.
Don't take a seat until asked.Then sit comfortably.
Make eye contact when you are greeted and again if you shake hands.And during questioning,eye contact is a form of non-verbal greeting.
Remember the interviewer's name and use it from time to time.
Be ready for the question "Is there anything you want to ask?" Before the interview you should get ready for two or three such questions.Look on these not just as a chance to get information but as a means to give your employer a better impression.Asking can show knowledge but avoid asking about holidays,pensions and so on.It looks as if you are tired even before you begin.You can check on these later,when the hope for job is offered.
And if you fail, look upon the interview as an experience in itself.Learn from it.We wish you good luck and good job hunting. | high15084.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Americans will continue their friendships again even after a long break."
},
"options": [
"Friendships between Americans usually extend deeply into their families.",
"Friendships between Americans usually last for all their lives."... | America is a mobile society.Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon if situations change.Neither side feels hurt by this.Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while --then no more.If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship.This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendships between us flower more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending sometimes deeply into both families.
Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays, and their home life.They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality easily.
Another difficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they include us warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don't show their politeness to us if it requires a great deal of time.This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be _ .Sometimes, we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend.We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends.
The Americans, however, express their welcome usually at homes, but truly can not manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine.They will probably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus.And they expect that we will phone them from there.Once we arrive at their homes, the welcome will be full, warm and real, We will find ourselves treated hospitably.For the Americans, it is often considered friendlier to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants, except for purely business matters.So accept their hospitality at home! | high22628.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Adventures could be everywhere"
},
"options": [
"My beautiful memory",
"Country life and city life",
"My wonderful neighborhood",
"Adventures could be everywhere"
],
"question": "The best title of the text could... | I grew up in a neighborhood that many city kids can only dream of: a quiet street that was our adventure park: a street filled with kids whose parents had to drag us inside for dinner, most of the time long after the sun had retired for the night.
Our street was also a zoo. There were cats, dogs, birds, fish, sheep, rabbits, horses, not to mention all the little things we caught and decided to keep as pets. But these farm animals weren't just farm animals. They were our friends.
Everything was great. I loved my life and never wanted anything to change. Then a day arrived that would ruin everything. The day they said, "We're moving." Dad's job had been relocated, and I would soon be leaving everything I had ever known. I cried. "We are going to live near the beach," I kept hearing, but it was no comfort. I hated my parents for doing this to me, for putting an end to the series of colorful adventures. I watched as removal trucks were filled with boxes my life had been shoved into, but I knew that there was one thing that wouldn't fit into a box. My neighborhood and all the fun and adventure it contained.
I forced myself to dislike our new life and insistently referred to our old house as "home". I would give no one the satisfaction of enjoying our new beachfront lifestyle, not my family, my friends or myself. To admit taking pleasure in the new meant to let go off the old. But once I allowed myself to like the town, I grew to love it and I don't want anything to change. But this time, I know it will. And as scary as that may be, it's okay because exciting adventures can happen anywhere. All I have to do is to let them happen. | high8196.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "amazing"
},
"options": [
"helpful",
"awful",
"frightening",
"amazing"
],
"question": "The family's visit to the Magic Kingdom was _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"a... | Dear Disney,
Last weekend, the four members of my family spent an enjoyable holiday at the Magic Kingdom - Disneyland. And one event made our visit seem truly magical.
We got to the front of the line at Space Mountain, only to find out that our little daughter Gloria couldn't take her ice-cream on the ride. We were so excited that we all forgot ice-cream was not allowed on the ride.
Gloria broke into tears and we all had no idea what to do. Then Murphy, one of the staff members, came over. She bent down and told Gloria that she would hold the ice-cream for her and give it to her when she finished the ride. Gloria said, "Promise? "Then she gave Murphy her ice-cream, and she completely enjoyed the ride.
Sure enough, as we walked out the exit, there was Gloria's new friend with "her"ice-cream. Now you and I both know what happened, because we know that an ice-cream won't last twenty minutes on a summer afternoon in Florida. Murphy knew what time we would get off the ride; she went to the nearest shop and bought a brand-new ice-cream thirty seconds before we walked out the exit. Gloria said, "Thank you, "but I'm sure she thought it was the same ice-cream.
We know that _ tried hard to make our visit special. Thanks so much for going above and beyond!
Yours,
Carmen Rivera | high23250.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "To build massive complexes for public amusement."
},
"options": [
"To sponsor publications and projects in local school.",
"To prevent possible damages to the National Park.",
"To help protect and improve the Park for all to ... | Attractions
Do you:
*love the National Park, value it and hope to safeguard its future?
*Wish to see the beautiful landscape of the Park protected?
*Like to enjoy peaceful, informal recreation within the Park?
Aims
The Friends organization aims to help protect and improve the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park for all to enjoy. We are a voluntary organization and registered charity without financial links to the National Park Authority.
Activities
We encourage everyone to enjoy the National Park through regular talks and visits to interesting places in the Park with expert guides.
We keep an eye on planning applications, Park Authority policies and threats to the National Park such as massive leisure complexes. We work with like minded organizations such as the Campaign for National Parks to make our voice more effective.
We help children to understand the National Park by sponsoring publications such as an adventure booklet and projects in local schools.
Benefits
*Guided visits to places of interest which may not always be available to the general public.
*All members receive our regular News and Views.
*Talks by experts in their fields on current issues.
*A discount is available on Friends items for sale.
*Satisfaction of participation in work parties, for those willing and able to be involved.
If interested, please complete the Application Form at _ | high9288.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "in October 1520"
},
"options": [
"in August 1519",
"in October 1520",
"in November 1520",
"in December 1520"
],
"question": "Magellan Straits were discovered by Magellan _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_ques... | Early in the 16thcentury men were trying to reach Asia by travelling west from Europe. In order to find Asia they had to find a way past South Africa. The man who finally found the way from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific was Ferdinand Magellan.
Magellan sailed from Seville in August 1519 with five ships and about 280 men. Fourteen months later, after spending the severe winter on the coast of Patagonia, he discovered the channel which is now called Magellan Straits. In November 1520, after many months of dangers from rocks and storms, the three remaining ships entered the ocean on the other side of South America.
They then continued, hoping to reach Asia. But they didn't see any land until they reached the islands off the coast of Asia. Before they arrived at these islands, later known as Philippines, men were dying of starvation. While they were in the Philippines., Magellan was killed in battle.
The remaining officers then had to get back to Spain. They decided to sail around Africa. After many difficulties, one ship with eighteen men sailed into Seville after leaving. They were all that remained of Magellan's expedition . | high340.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "there are few animals left to hunt"
},
"options": [
"it is dangerous to hunt there",
"hunting is already out of date",
"hunters want to protect animals",
"there are few animals left to hunt"
],
"question": "Ther... | Hunting
The days of the hunter are almost over in India. This is partly because there is practically nothing left to kill, and partly because some steps have been taken, mainly by banning tiger-shooting, to protect those animals which still survive.
Some people say that Man is naturally a hunter. I disagree with this view. Our earliest forefathers, who at first possessed no weapons, spent their time digging for roots, and were no doubt themselves often hunted by meat-eating animals.
I believe the main reason why the modern hunter kills is that he thinks people will admire his courage in overpowering dangerous animals. Of course, there are some who truly believe that the killing is not really the important thing, and that the chief pleasure lies in the joy of the hunt and the beauties of the wild countryside. There are also those for whom hunting in fact offers a chance to prove themselves and risk death by design; these men go out after dangerous animals like tigers, even if they say they only do it to rid the countryside of a threat. I can respect reasons like these, but they are clearly different from the need to strengthen your high opinion of yourself.
The greatest big-game hunters expressed in their writings something of these finer motives .One of them wrote.
"You must properly respect what you are after and shoot it cleanly and on the animal's own territory . You must fix forever in your mind all the wonders of that particular day. This is better than letting him grow a few years older to be attacked and wounded by his own son and eventually eaten, half alive, by other animals, Hunting is not a cruel and senseless killing - not if you respect the thing you kill, not if you kill to enrich your memories, not if you kill to feed your people."
I can understand such beliefs, and can compare these hunters with those who hunted lions with spears and bravely caught them by the tail. But this is very different from many tiger--shoots I have seen, in which modern weapons were used. The so--called hunters fired from tall trees or from the backs of trained elephants. Such methods made tigers seem no more dangerous than rabbits. | high4974.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "She felt surprised."
},
"options": [
"She felt surprised.",
"She thought it was wise.",
"She was happy.",
"She felt it was useless to her."
],
"question": "How did the author feel when she heard her father's ans... | Life may not always seem fair, but we can learn to deal with it and make new choices along the way.
I remember so clearly sitting next to my dad as we drove through the town. I was complaining about something unfair that had happened to me. Dad looked directly at me and said, "No one ever said life was fair." I was shocked at his answer. Later on as my marriage had problems even though I tried to save it. _ . Now as I raise two kids alone, try to create new relationships and build a business, I am forced to face the inevitable truth every day. Gradually I've found that I have accepted my dad's wisdom.
We all will face loss or unexpected changes. But unfairness should not be the only thing in our life. We choose for ourselves what seems fair by comparing our lives with others', and this can lead us to feel that our own lives are unfair. People need to ignore what others have and set their own plans. Certainly, there're so many unhappy events in the world and in our lives, and when we deal with them, we try to control as many things as we can. Then, the sense of " it's not fair" often comes when we can't control the things in our lives. So please put your efforts into the process rather than the result. You should learn that life is unfair, but you can be fair and learn how to enjoy life. | high20759.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "His parents."
},
"options": [
"The writer himself.",
"His classmate.",
"His teacher.",
"His parents."
],
"question": "Who helped the writer to make the puppet?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{... | As I grew older, Dad was to build all sorts of things for me as I explored a variety of interests: magic tricks, a toy circus, neighborhood shows and science projects.
From as early as I can remember to the time I left home for college, I continued to come to him with a design or an idea, and he would figure out how to build it.
In fifth grade, a schoolmate and I wrote a puppet show that we wanted to perform for our class. I made the puppet heads myself, and I made the costumes and curtains with Mon---who was as expert designing and sewing with cloth as my father was designing and working with wood and metal. With Dad I made the puppet stage, in our own invented style between kid and adult with me saying something like, " It has to be this high, and it needs to come apart and fold up so it can fit in the backseat of the car, and it needs to set up fast, and it needs to have different color1ed lights on top with switches you can reach to control them and a curtain you can pull from under it, even if you still have a puppet on your hand." Dad figured out how to make it all work, making plans as we went along. Then with the tools in his shop he built it, and I helped.
Dad also spent a lot of time out in the garage or in the driveway working on the family car. I don't remember that he ever took it to a professional auto-repair shop. Maybe to save money, but also because he could usually figure out what needed fixing, just by taking it apart and looking. Though not trained as an auto mechanic, he could look under the engine cover and take parts and pieces out, spread them on a tarp to catch the oil and figure out what was supposed to happen to the machine and then figure out what wasn't happening and then replace the worn-out part or whatever and then put everything back together again. | high21447.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "the leaves koalas eat are losing nutritional value"
},
"options": [
"the leaves koalas eat are losing nutritional value",
"koalas cannot get enough water to drink",
"koalas can hardly stand the hot weather",
"the leaves... | Australia's koalas could be dying out within 30 years, unless urgent measures is taken to stop the losing in population, according to researchers. They say development, climate change and bushfires have all related to reduce the number of wild koalas sharply. The Australian Koala Foundation said a recent survey showed the population could have dropped by more than half in the past six years. Previous estimates put the number of koalas at more than 100,000, but the latest figures suggest there could now be as few as 43,000.
The foundation collected field data from 1,800 sites and 80,000 trees to calculate the numbers. In one area in northern Queensland estimated to have 20,000 koalas a decade ago, a team of eight people could not find a single animal in four days of searching.
The foundation said besides problems caused by cutting down forests, hotter and drier conditions because of global warming had reduced the nutritional value of their staple food, eucalyptus leaves, leading to poor nutrition for them.
Koalas, which live in the forests in Australia's east and south, are very particular about what types of the leaves they eat.
Foundation chief Deborah Tabart said: "The koalas are missing everywhere we look. It's really no tree, no me. If you keep cutting down trees you don't have any koalas."She is hoping the new figures will persuade the government's Threatened Species Steering Committee (TSSC) to list the koala as threatened. But committee chairman Bob Beeton said a decision was not likely recently and the koala's status as one of the country's favorite animals would not be a factor. "There's a number of species which are attractive and people have special feelings towards them. We don't consider that," Mr. Beeton was reported as saying by the AFP agency. | high11584.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "probably did not enjoy the cookout"
},
"options": [
"left the cookout early",
"probably did not enjoy the cookout",
"never wears blue jeans",
"complained her friend to have invited her to such a party"
],
"quest... | One day this same friend invited me to a party . It was not a real party , it was some kind of informal get-together . Since it was summertime he had a cookout where most of his American friends and s were known to me , but there were others I had never met before .
It was the most embarrassing party for me when I noticed that everyone was wearing jeans and simple T-shirts for the day , while I arrived in proper dress with my shoes and my hair all fixed for a fancy party . It was hard to explain my embarrassment to the other guests . When one of them turned around and said "What nice clothes ! What's the occasion ?" I felt my face burning hot with embarrassment . I did not answer at all . Many times I thought about going home and changing , but I knew that they would notice . It would be even worse for me , because I knew they would quickly think that I felt out of place . So I wanted to pretend that I was okay . | high22166.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "matures through play"
},
"options": [
"cannot grow up without toys",
"matures through play",
"uses toys as friends",
"has to be taught how to play"
],
"question": "60. The writer wants us to understand that a ch... | Play is the basic business of childhood, and more and more in recent years research has shown the great importance of play in the development of a human being.From earliest infancy , every child needs opportunity and the right material for play, and the main tools of play are toys.The main function of toys is to suggest, encourage and assist play.To succeed in this, they must be good toys, which children will play with often, and will come back to again and again.Therefore, it is important to choose suitable toys for different stages of a child's development.
In recent years research on infant development has shown that the standard a child is likely to reach, within the range of his inherited abilities, is largely determined in the first three years of his life.So a baby's ability to benefit from the right play materials should not be underestimated.A baby who is encouraged, talked to and shown things and played with, has the best chance of growing up successfully.
The next stage, from three to five years old, curiosity knows no bounds.Every type of suitable toy should be made available to the child, for trying out, experimenting and learning, for discovering his own particular ability. Bricks and jigsaws and construction toys; painting, scribbling and making things; sand and water play; toys for imaginative and pretending play; the first social games for learning to play and get on with others.
By the third stage of play development--from five to seven or eight years old-- the child is at school.But for a few more years play is still the best way of learning, at home or at school.It is easier to see which type of toys the child most enjoys.
Until the age of seven or eight, play and work mean much the same to a child.But once reading has been mastered, then books and school become the main source of learning.Toys are still interesting and valuable, which lead up to new hobbies, but their significance has changed --to a child of nine or ten years old, toys and games mean, as to adults, relaxation and fun. | high1824.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "editor"
},
"options": [
"writer",
"doctor",
"editor",
"comedian"
],
"question": "According to the passage, Norman Cousins used to be a(n) _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | Laughter healing benefits and healing with laughter have become synonymous with Norman Cousins, the man who laughed himself to wellness. Norman Cousins was the editor of SaturdayReviewfor over 30 years.
His story began in 1964, when doctors found that the connective tissue in his spine was becoming worse, which is a condition known as Ankylosing Spondylitis . The doctors, one of whom was a close friend of Cousins, said that his chance of survival was approximately 1 in 500. He read about the theory that negative emotions do harm to the body, so he thought that if negative emotions were damaging to health, then positive emotions should improve health.
Faced with the real possibility of his approaching death, Cousins thought long and hard and eventually did three things completely contrary to medical opinion.
First he began his own research on all of the various drugs he was on. He discovered that his condition was removing Vitamin C from his body and, based on Cousins' personal research, doctors agreed to take him off several of the drugs he was on and inject him with large doses of this supplement , as Cousins felt this may be his last hope.
Secondly, Cousins made a decision to check out of the hospital and into a hotel room. The third thing Cousins did was get a movie projector and a large supply of funny films. On his first night in the hotel Cousins found that he laughed so hard at the films that he was able to stimulate chemicals in his body that allowed him several hours of pain-free sleep. When the pain returned he would simply turn the projector back on and the laughter would help sleep, and he was able to measure the changes in his body by measuring his blood sedimentation rate , and found that this rate dropped by at least 5 points each time he watched one of these videos.
The treatment proved to be so effective that in very little time Cousins was off all painkillers and sleeping pills. He found that the laughter relieved the pain and helped him sleep.
He returned to work and wrote about his experimental treatment in his book Anatomy of an Illness. In 1989, it was finally acknowledged in the Journal of the American Medical Association that laughter therapy could help improve the quality of life for patients with chronic illness and that laughter has an immediate symptom-relieving effect. | high23278.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "can reduce the negative effect on a child"
},
"options": [
"plays different roles in shaping a child's welfare",
"can reduce the negative effect on a child",
"has negative effect on a child's development",
"may damage t... | Should you stay at home to look after your child,or return to work?
Maybe you don't have the option.Combining work and motherhood is an issue faced by increasing numbers of women every day.
New research for the Institute for Economic and Social Research could solve this quandary once and for all.In short,it concludes that going back to work after the birth of a child can have a negative impact on the child's development--unless you have lots of money.
"Growing up in a family in which the mother chooses to work appears to have some adverse consequences for children's welfare," the research says.However,it adds that extra money brought in by both parents can reduce the negative effect.The negative effect is also less apparent in children of bettereducated mothers.
The research by John Ermisch and Marco Francesconi is especially downbeat about welfare to work programmes,and especially,the prospects for the children of some single parents.
"It is hard to see anything but gloomy prospects for the children of single parents (who are generally poor)," the researchers said.This is because in a common family where both parents work,extra money brought in by the mother's working would compensate for less time spent with the children.
In contrast,the researchers said the effects of paternal employment were far more modest,but this did not mean that fathers had no role in shaping their children's welfare.Money brought in by the father would be a major resource for helping children develop.
The research says,however,that before parents get too carried away by worrying about working,there are more important issues facing a child's development.Parents' personalities and emotional stability,parenting practices,and the friends and networks that children experience while growing up will be much bigger factors than whether their mothers work. | high6193.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "28/04/2012"
},
"options": [
"09/01/2012",
"04/02/2012",
"01/03/2012",
"28/04/2012"
],
"question": "The voucher can be used for a stay at the chosen B&B on _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{... | Here is your best chance to travel around the UK in 2012: More than 200 B&Bs(bed & breakfast)across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are selected to offer you amazing services for your stay at their lowest prices! Don't miss it. Just collect the vouchers in ourB&B Dailyprinted from 01/04/2012 to 07/04/2012 and book the stays for your travel following the terms and conditions below:
* The offer includes a room for the night and a breakfast the next morning.
* The offer is of two kinds: PS20 per room, valid during stay period of 02/04/2012--31/05/2012 and then again 01/09/2012--31/10/2012;PS35 per room, per night, valid during stay period of 01/06/2012--31/08/2012.
* The offer is valid for a basic twin or double room only.
* The stay must be booked directly with the chosen B&Bs before 28/04/2012.
* Each voucher can only be used by the holder to book one room for one night.
* If voucher holders book either the PS20 or PS35 per room per night, any additional services such as lunch, evening meal or activities may require an extra charge. But these are not required in order to take up the offer. Please check directly with your chosen B&Bs to see what extra services are available.
* Vouchers must be presented on arrival. If no vouchers are presented, the B&Bs may reserve the right to charge at full price for every night of stay.
* Vouchers may not be used together with any other offer.
* The voucher holders must pay for the stay in full at the time of booking. Additional PS10 may be paid to confirm the booking and will be returned on arrival.
* The B&Bs reserve the right to refuse voucher holders' bookings for people under the age of 18. | high368.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "understand the effects of the division of labor"
},
"options": [
"take advantage of the physical labor",
"introduce the division of labor into England",
"understand the effects of the division of labor",
"explain the ca... | Adam Smith was the first person to see the importance of the division of the labor. He gave us an example of the process by which pins were made in England.
One man draws out the wire, another strengthens it, a third cuts it, a fourth points it, and a fifth gives it a head. Just to make the head requires two or three different operations. The work of making pins is divided into about eighteen different operations, which in some factories are all performed by different people, though in others the same man will sometimes perform two or three of them.
Ten men, Smith said, in this way, turned out twelve pounds of pins a day or about 4,800 pins a worker. But if all of them had worked separately and independently without division of labor, they certainly could not have made twenty pins in a day and not even one.
There can be no doubt that division of labor is an efficient way of organizing work. Fewer people can make more pins. Adam Smith saw this, but he also took it for granted that the division of labor is itself responsible for economic growth and development and it accounts for the difference between expanding economies and those that stand still. In fact, the division of labor adds nothing new, and it only enables people to produce more of what they already have. | high20771.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Making dental parts in the basement."
},
"options": [
"Collecting garbage outside the alley.",
"Making dental parts in the basement.",
"Putting food on the table in a hotel.",
"Working oddjobs on the train."
],
... | My father got his first job at eleven years old. cleaning up the garbage outside of the bowlingalley . Two years later his dad died. and my fatber worked odd jobs to help put food onthe table during the Depression. Ten years after that. Dad fell in love. married Mom and had ababy girl. Eight more children followed. During those years, Dad slipped into a routine he neverbroke He woke up before six. took the train to work and wouldn't get home until after five thirly.After supper, Dad spent the rest of the evening in the basement making dental parts for extra
Two years ago, at the age of sixty-four, Dad retired. When I was young, Mom and Dad did well to hide the fact that we were poor. All nine of us attended Catholic schools and we always had plenty of school supplies. We slept in wooden beds, shared one bathroom and watched television from a tiny black-and-white set in the living room. Mom and Dad never bought anything for themselves. They clipped coupons, wore the same pair of sneakers for twenty years and sewed wom clothing together every Saturday afternoon.
At his retirement party. I wanted to thank Dad for all his hard work and sacrifice by buying him the best present I could think of. As I shopped though. l realized there was nothing I could buy for Dad. Dad taught me through his own faith that the greatest gifis come from the heart Finally. I left my present on the kitchen table for Dad to find before he Ieft for his frnal day at work. | high4784.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "What made Steven Callahan live through the circumstances"
},
"options": [
"what made Steven Callahan decide to cross the Atlantic",
"What made Steven Callahan live through the circumstances",
"what Steven Callahan though of i... | In 1982 Steven Callahan was crossing the Atlantic alone in his sailboat when it struck something and sank. He was out of the shipping lanes and floating in a life raft, alone. His supplies were few. His chances were small. Yet when three fishermen found him seventy-six days later, he was alive.
His account of how he survived is fascinating. But the thing that caught my eye was how he managed to keep himself going when all hope seemed lost. Giving up would have seemed the only wise option.
When people survive these kinds of circumstances, they do something with their minds that gives them the courage to keep going. Many people in similarly desperate circumstances give in or go mad.
"I tell myself I can handle it," wrote Callahan. "Compared to what others have been through, I'm fortunate. I tell myself these things over and over, building up fortitude...."
It struck me as something important. And I've told myself the same thing when my own goals seemed far off or when my problems seemed too overwhelming. And every time I've said it, I have always come back to my senses.
The truth is, our circumstances are only bad compared to something better. But others have been through much worse. So here, coming to us from the extreme edge of survival, are words that can give us strength. Whatever you're going through, tell yourself you can handle it. Tell this to yourself over and over, and it will help you get through the rough spots. | high19696.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Painful."
},
"options": [
"Painful.",
"Precious.",
"Unique.",
"Clumsy."
],
"question": "Which word best describes the author's school life in junior high?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
... | If my life were a movie, I would fast-forward through junior high.Like every junior high kid, I was struggling with who I was and how I would make my mark in life.But I was sure I was alone with these strange feelings.
I was trying and failing in a number of things.I wanted to do well in athletics but had not yet figured out that would never happen.I wasn't academic enough to spell academic.I was trying to gain a spot as a new kid in school.All the while, I remember suffering the rejection of most of my peer, being cut from the basketball team, failing to play football that I so wanted to play.To be loved and accepted seemed to me at the time something I could never, in all my life, achieve.
During that time I would go through the cafeteria line and eat alone, feeling unloved and unnoticed.As spring came, one day I was starting out the door and complaining that I had no one to eat with.Mom said to me, "If you want, you can come home for lunch." That day, when lunch came, it was a beautiful spring day in the hills of central Ohio.The bell rang at noon and I _ from the school and ran across the little village home to eat.
That was in about 1972.thirty years ago.My mom sat across the table for about 15 minutes and looked at me and listened to me and three decades later I still remember those times with fondness.She just paid attention to me.It's a powerful thing to pay attention to people.
I now know that I didn't need my stomach filled as much as I needed my emotional fuel tank refilled.I just needed a friendly place of warm acceptance for a few minutes a day.And refueling an emotional fuel tank is a good mother's specialty.
Now you know a little more about how I see home.Home is a place where you don't have to sit alone and eat.Home is a place where people don't ignore you and avoid you.Moms are people who listen to you when no one else is interested.And moms don't ever think the small unexciting things you do don't matter.Moms don't laugh at your dreams.Good moms pay attention.Great moms fix you something warm to eat and pay attention. | high21309.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "To encourage the application of green building."
},
"options": [
"To present arguments about green building.",
"To show different styles of green building.",
"To introduce the effects that pollution causes.",
"To encour... | Pollution's great effects on the environment have become more obvious in recent years, resulting in a movement to make best use of energy, depend less on fossil fuels, and to cut down air and water pollution. Most scientists agree that such changes are necessary to protect our environment from further harm.
The construction industry uses up a large quantity of energy and resources and creates a huge amount of pollution. In the United States, building takes up 39% of the country's total energy use, 12% of total water use, 68% of total electricity use, and 38% of carbon dioxide emissions , according to the Environment Protection Agency.
Green buildings use less energy, water, create less waste, and are healthier to live, work, or go to school in than standard buildings. Green buildings use resources more properly during the entire building cycle than traditional building. The environmental benefits of building green include the protection of ecosystems , improved air and water quality, less waste flowing into streams, and the protection of natural resources. Green buildings can also result in lower operating costs because they use less energy and materials and improve indoor air quality, which improves the health of those who live in such buildings.
The process of building green includes technical and aesthetic planning with nature protection in mind. Building designs often mirror the surrounding environment and natural resources and use building materials that can be reused. In addition, recycled resources that are found locally are used for green buildings, diminishing the cost and air pollution related with transporting materials over long distances. Careful selection of the building place is important to reduce human effect on the surrounding environment. For example, placing a structure in an area that allows it to take advantage of cool wind and sunlight can reduce energy use and expenses. More energy and expense are needed for larger buildings as well, so it is important to build small. Besides, green roofs can be built to reduce energy use and cost. These roofs are partly or completely covered with vegetation, which helps reduce heating and cooling costs, prevent storm-water runoff, and so on. Other advantages of green buildings often include energy and water saving, recycling, and waste reduction. What's more, energy sources such as solar power and wind power are used for heat and electricity, which reduces costs and the effect on the environment. | high18588.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "to get the general idea of each paragraph"
},
"options": [
"at about 350 w. P.m.(words per minute)",
"to get the general idea of each paragraph",
"so that you can take in each word separately",
"to make sure you get to ... | When you practice reading with passages shorter than book length, do not try to take in each word separately, one after the other. It is much more difficult to grasp the broad theme of the passage this way, and you will also get the stuck on individual words which may not be absolutely essential to a general understanding of the passage. It is a good idea to skim through the passage very quickly first to get the general idea of each paragraph. Titles, paragraph headings and emphasized word can be a great help in getting this skeleton outline of the passage. It is surprising how many people do not read titles, introductions or paragraph headings. Can you, without looking back, remember the title of this passage and the heading of this paragraph?
Most paragraphs of a passage or chapter have a 'topic sentence' which expresses the central idea. The remaining sentence expand or support that idea. It has been estimated that between 60% and 90% of all expositive paragraphs in English have the topic sentence first. Always pay special attention to the first sentence of a paragraph; it is most likely to give you the main idea.
Sometimes , though , the first sentence in the paragraph does not have the feel of 'main idea' sentence. It does not seem to give us enough new information to justify a paragraph. The next most likely place to look for the topic sentence is the last sentence of the paragraph.
Remember that the opening and closing paragraphs of a passage or chapter are particularly important . The opening paragraph suggests the general direction and content of the piece, while the closing paragraph often summarizes the very essence . | high3955.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because the economy of Chinais of a better future than of other countries."
},
"options": [
"Because it is by the bank of the ChangjiangRiver.",
"Because it is going to be the highest building in China.",
"Because the econom... | SHANGHAI--The Shanghai World Financial Centre will be the tallest land-mark in the world after its completion this century in Pudong, according to the project's Japanese investors.
The building will be located in the prime Lujiazui Zone in Pudong , on a 30,000-square-metre site. The building was originally designed to be a 94-floor office tower with a height of 460 metres.
The project broke ground in 1997 but was later halted as a result of the financial crisis in Southeast Asia.
"As the economy warms up, we are more confident about Shanghai and the whole prefix = st1 /Chinaand we are working hard to get the Project restarted as soon as possible," said Katsuyuki Takeuchi, vice-president and general manager of the Shanghai World Financial Centre Company.
Its parent company, Japan-based Moil Building Co. Ltd, established the Shanghaisubsidiary as the operator responsible for this ambitious project. The design, which is undergoing revision in apian, will accommodate international high-tech businesses, department stores, art galleries, clubs and a five-star hotel. Unlike the gloomy economies of theUnited States, Europe andJapan,Chinaenjoys a strong growth with brighter prospects, Takeuchi said.
More capital and businesses are expected to flow into Shanghai, which aims to become a world centre for trade and the financial industry--with Lujiazui as its showpiece.
The layout of Luijiazui includes three tall buildings, one of which is the completed JinmaoTower, each rising above 400 metres, as designed by local government after holding an international design competition early last decade.
Other buildings nearby fall in height gradually, creating a special shape against the skyline. The Shanghai World Financial Centre will be built as the peak of the mountain. "The peak will be safe thanks to the perfect design, advanced technology and the stable social and political environment in Shanghai," Takeuchi said, reassuring those who might be anxious about the safety of the soon-to-be world's tallest building. | high20017.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "She wanted to find out what he needed."
},
"options": [
"She meant to offer him some advice.",
"She hoped to know more about him.",
"She expected to make friends with him.",
"She wanted to find out what he needed."
... | My ten-year-old daughter Emma got home yesterday and spoke of a boy called Jake in her class. Being quite overweight, Jake is the butt of many jokes and is treated very badly by other kids. Jake gives the impression that he's got a nice guy, mostly because he's constantly picked on.
For several nights this week Emma came home upset about the fact that Jake gets picked on so much. She also mentioned that Jake had no school supplies as his family could not afford them. He was constantly asking to borrow paper, which just gives kids even more reason to pick on him.
One night Emma was extremely upset about this situation. We sat together that evening and discussed it in great detail. I suggested Emma talk to Jake and found out what supplies he needed.
The next day Emma talked to Jake and came to realize that Jake had a heart of gold, but rarely was able to show it because he was always on the defensive. Emma asked Jake to make a list of the school supplies he needed. Jake put down 3 ring binders, paper, pens, pencils and a pencil sharpener. Emma told him she would help and he was most thankful.
That evening Emma and I went to the store and bought everything for Jake! When we got home, we put all the supplies into a brand new grey backpack--because Jake did not have a backpack either.
The next day, I brought the bag to the school principal and asked him to give the bag to Jake discreetly so that he did not have to feel embarrassed.
That night Emma got home with smiles on her face. The principal had called Jake to his office and gave him the bag. As Jake walked into the classroom, he looked at Emma and later thanked her very much for all the stuff. He loved it all!
Emma said it was so nice to see him take out his new pencil box and start arranging his pencils and pens. He seemed very happy. | high24271.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "he takes Sunday for Monday"
},
"options": [
"he still goes to work on the weekend",
"he takes Sunday for Monday",
"he takes Monday for Sunday",
"he likes to work"
],
"question": "Mr.Bell sometimes goes to work o... | Mr. And Mrs. Bell are very forgetful . For example , Mr. Bell sometimes goes to his office for work on Sunday morning, for he thinks it is Monday. And Mrs. Bell sometimes forget to cook supper for the family.
One summer they planned to fly to New York for their holidays. They got to the airport only ten minutes before the plane took off. So time was short. But suddenly Mrs. Bell said she must tell Alice, their daughter, not to forget to lock the front door when she went to school. As Alice was then at school, they couldn't tell her about it by telephone. So they hurried to the post office. Mrs. Bell wrote a short note to Alice while Mr. Bell bought a stamp and an envelope . Soon the note was ready. They put the stamp on the envelope in a hurry and dropped it in the letter box, but suddenly Mrs. Bell began to cry. The short note was still in her hand. She had put the plane ticket in the envelope. | high22600.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "make a deal with George on the use of his Christmas gift-iphone"
},
"options": [
"explain to George the function of the new mobile phones.",
"show George how much thought has been put into this gift",
"inform George of good m... | Dear Gregory,
Merry Christmas! You are now the proud owner of an iPhone. Hot Damn! You are a good & responsible 13 year old boy and you deserve this gift. But with the acceptance of this present comes rules and regulations. Please read through the following contract. I hope that you understand it is my job to raise you into a well rounded, healthy young man that can function in the world and coexist with technology, not be ruled by it. Failure to comply with the following list will result in termination of your iPhone ownership.
1. It is my phone. I bought it. I pay for it. I am loaning it to you. Aren't I the greatest?
2. If it rings, answer it. It is a phone. Say hello, use your manners. Do not ever ignore a phone call if the screen reads "Mom" or "Dad". Not ever.
3. It does not go to school with you. Have a conversation with the people you text in person. It's a life skill. *Half days, field trips and after school activities will require special consideration.
4. If it falls into the toilet, smashes on the ground, or vanishes into thin air, you are responsible for the replacement costs or repairs. Mow a lawn, babysit, stash some birthday money. It will happen, you should be prepared.
5. Turn it off, silence it, put it away in public. Especially in a restaurant, at the movies, or while speaking with another human being. You are not a rude person; do not allow the iPhone to change that.
7. Learn to live without it. Be bigger and more powerful than FOMO - fear of missing out. Leave your phone home sometimes and feel safe and secure in that decision. It is not alive or an extension of you.
8. Keep your eyes up. See the world happening around you. Stare out a window. Listen to the birds. Take a walk. Talk to a stranger. Wonder without googling.
9. If you will mess up. I will take away your phone. We will sit down and talk about it. We will start over again. You and I, we are always learning. I am on your team. We are in this together. It is my hope that you can agree to these terms. I hope you enjoy your awesome new iPhone. Merry Christmas!
xoxoxo Mom | high8814.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "surprising"
},
"options": [
"interesting",
"exciting",
"surprising",
"boring"
],
"question": "According to the author's friends and family, his memoir was _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{... | When I decided to write the story of my early years growing up in poverty, many of my friends and family members were shocked. They were more interested in my story of success, such as how I was able to create the nation's largest firm for millions of dollars. That's the story everyone wanted me to write, but it's not the story I wanted to tell.
Looking back, I see so clearly how often, throughout my boyhood, I was touched by random acts of kindness that helped shape me into the man I am today. And random acts of violence and ignorance played just a powerful lawyer involves hard work, bur escaping generational poverty is the hardest thing I ever done.
I chose to write the story of my childhood years in poverty, with the hope that a child somewhere in the world will read my story and be inspired to break the cycle of poverty. My publisher was quick to point out that the market would be small for a memoir written by a ly unknown author. To everyone's surprise, the book received over 1,000 pre-publication orders one month before the scheduled launch date. The book launch scheduled for October 1, was moved up to September 14. Less than four months later, the first print run of 5,000 copies were sold out.
Today, the memoir is being used by universities, high schools and middle schools, as a case study of the behavior patterns of the culture of poverty as well as valuable lessons on how to succeed in life. Here is a quote from the principal of a middle school in Texas on October 27, who is using my memoir for students 5th through 8th grades; "We are halfway through your story. It is changing the lives of our students and the perspectives of our teachers. | high22614.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "angry"
},
"options": [
"excited",
"upset",
"angry",
"happy"
],
"question": "We can infer from this letter that the writer's attitude towards to Mr. Barton is _ .",
"question_type": "summarization_question... | Dear Mr. Barton,
I'm writing in the name of the residents' association to inform you of our feelings regarding your behaviour . We've really had just about enough of you.Although we have tried to speak to you civilly on several occasions,you have always responded with a stream of verbal abuse .
Ever since you moved in three months ago,you have shown very little consideration for the other residents of the building,despite numerous complaints.For the past six weekends in a row, you have held extremely noisy parties,which have not finished until the early hours of the morning.It's just not on! As you are aware,most of the people here are old people or have very young children,and the noise keeps them awake all night.You don't have to be so noisy,do you?
Last weekend the situation _ further when two of your acquaintances were involved in a fight on the first floor landing.The disturbance was so bad that the police had to be called.What's more,your mates left the stairs in a terrible state--they even broke two windows on their way out! We feel that this type of bad behaviour is unbearable.
We strongly recommended that you arrange payment for this damage to the windows,soon.If you don't and you carry on being a nuisance ,we will kick you out! Legal steps will be taken if necessary.
Yours sincerely | high17877.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "where readers are motivated to love books"
},
"options": [
"where students are inspired to write books",
"where books are used as arms in the battle",
"where friends compete with each other",
"where readers are motivate... | Battle of the Books
Each year in April, the "Battle of the Books" teams from each school meet for the Semi-Battle competition. The top three teams from each division go on to the Final Battle to compete for gold, silver and bronze medals. The gold medal winners go on to compete in the Regional Championship.
Battle of the Books Rules and Goals
Goals:
Students: Have fun reading good books from a wide variety of authors and genres .
Educators: Encourage reading, foster friendly competition, and nurture the love of books in young people.
Rules:
One team of six students from grades 7 or 8 will represent each school.
1. Each team will have a spokesperson. While the team is encouraged to discuss possible answers, team answers will only be accepted from the spokesperson.
2. The Semi-Finals will consist of three rounds of play, and the Finals will have one round. Each round features a Regular Battle and a Lightning Battle.
3. Regular Battle questions will be addressed to teams alternately , regardless of the last correct answer. There will be 12 Regular Battle questions per round. When asked a question, teams will have 20 seconds to provide the book's title and author.
4. Five points will be given if the team correctly identifies the exact title, and three points will be awarded for correctly identifying the author's surname. The author's first name does not need to be identified.
5. The Lightning Battles will be featured at the end of each round. Lightning Battles consist of a 2 minutes, 30 seconds time period during which each team is asked up to 12 questions. These questions concern details of the books and will not require teams to identify titles or authors. Each correctly answered Lightning Battle question will be worth three points.
PLEASE NOTE:
A warm-up practice question will be given to each team at the beginning of its first Semi-Battle and at the beginning of the Final and Regional Final Battles.
There may be no assistance from the coordinators and audience members.
Teams will not be punished for incorrect answers.
Any team demonstrating poor sportsmanship will not be invited back. | high3799.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "all above"
},
"options": [
"heat stoke",
"dehydration",
"diarrhoea",
"all above"
],
"question": "We can infer that the heatwave can cause _ .",
"question_type": "summarization_questions"
},
{
"ans... | South Asia heatwave kills nearly 100
DHAKA - A heat wave sweeping India, Bangladesh and Nepal has killed nearly 100 people over the past two weeks, officials said on June 3, 2005.
A third of the people died in northern Bangladesh, mostly women and children from dehydration , heat stroke and diarrhoea .
"We are getting reports of several deaths due to heat wave and related diseases almost every day," an official said, as temperatures touched 43degC .
The weather office in Dhaka said the hot weather will persist for another week until the monsoon rains which are normally due by the middle of June.
Severe heat conditions in the southern Indian have killed at least 55 people, officials in the two states said.
While temperatures have fallen from a high of 45degC in Andhra Pradesh to around 40degC, giving a respite to people, they are still on the rise in Orissa with Talcher town registering 48.5deg C, a weather official said.
At least five people have died in prefix = st1 /Nepalfrom extreme heat, the government said. | high20003.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "babies need warm physical contact"
},
"options": [
"adults should develop social skills",
"babies need warm physical contact",
"caregivers should be healthy adults",
"monkeys have social relationships"
],
"quest... | Next time a customer comes to your office, offer him a cup of coffee. And when you're doing your holiday shopping online, make sure you're holding a large glass of iced tea. The physical sensation of warmth encourages emotional warmth, while a cold drink in hand prevents you from making unwise decisions--those are the practical lesson being drawn from recent research by psychologist John A. Bargh.
Psychologists have known that one person's perception of another's "warmth" is a powerful determiner in social relationships. Judging someone to be either "warm" or "cold" is a primary consideration, even trumping evidence that a "cold" person may be more capable. Much of this is rooted in very early childhood experiences, Bargh argues, when babies' conceptual sense of the world around them is shaped by physical sensations, particularly warmth and coldness. Classic studies by Harry Harlow, published in 1958, showed monkeys preferred to stay close to a cloth "mother" rather than one made of wire, even when the wire "mother" carried a food bottle. Harlow's work and later studies have led psychologists to stress the need for warm physical contact from caregivers to help young children grow into healthy adults with normal social skills.
Feelings of "warmth" and "coldness" in social judgments appear to be universal. Although no worldwide study has been done, Bargh says that describing people as "warm" or "cold" is common to many cultures, and studies have found those perceptions influence judgment in dozens of countries.
To test the relationship between physical and psychological warmth, Bargh conducted an experiment which involved 41 college students. A research assistant who was unaware of the study's hypotheses , handed the students either a hot cup of coffee, or a cold drink, to hold while the researcher filled out a short information form. The drink was then handed back. After that, the students were asked to rate the personality of "Person A" based on a particular description. Those who had briefly held the warm drink regarded Person A as warmer than those who had held the iced drink.
"We are grounded in our physical experiences even when we think abstractly," says Bargh. | high3941.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "$21.5"
},
"options": [
"$ 30",
"$100",
"$21.5",
"nothing"
],
"question": "It will cost a couple with their newly-born baby _ to visit Port Discovery.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"ans... | Garden of small inventions
Visitors of all ages are invited to Port Discovery to see the new exhibit--a garden of small inventions, which features interactive activities and gadgets(,,) for the environmental protection. The exhibit runs through Sept.4. Fee is $10.75; free for ages younger than two. Contact 410-727-8120 or portdiscovery.org.
Rain-barrel workshop
The Parks and People Foundation presents a workshop on building water-efficient rain barrels for the home between 6pm-8pm on Wednesday at the foundation's Stieff Silver Building. Cost is $50 and includes the barrel and all materials. Contact 410-448-5663, ext.109.
Pruning plants
Visitors can attend a workshop on pruning plants between 9:30am-10am on Tuesday at Ladew Topiary Gardens. Visitors should meet in the Visitors Center at Ladew, Jarrettsville Pike, Monkton. $10; free for Ladew members, and includes admission to the gardens and the nature walk. Contact 410-557-9570 or www.ladewgardens.com.
Landscape exhibit
Photographs, paintings and drawings will be shown at Landscape and Nature--a view from Maryland, through Sept.9 at the University of Maryland. Opening reception is between 5pm-7:30pm on Tuesday. Contact 301-985-7937 or um.edu/art. | high2487.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "healthy magazine"
},
"options": [
"art book",
"science fiction",
"healthy magazine",
"psychology book"
],
"question": "The text is most probably taken from a (an) _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
... | Smaller than your fist, your healthy heart just goes on and on. It will beat more than 60 times a minute for 70 years or more. That's something that most of us take for granted. But it's an amazing fact.
60 times a minute for 60 minutes is 3,600 times. What physical thing can most of us do 3,600 times in one hour? Blink? Maybe. Tap our fingers on the desk? No. Jump up and down? Certainly not! But our heart keeps beating, hour after hour. Every day, it pumps almost 2,000 gallons of blood through our blood vessels . It takes you about five years to drink 2,000 gallons of water.
And, unlike your knees or your back, your heart does all this work without ever complaining ! You never know that it's even there. Your heart is such a reliable "silent partner" that people forget to care for it. For many, the first indication that their heart isn't working properly is a serious heart illness! Over 650,000 Americans die of some kind of heart disease every year. Cancer kills 560,000, stroke kills 143,000, and accidents kill 118,000 Americans annually.
Like accidental deaths, many heart disease-related deaths can be avoided if people simply follow the advice of the experts. Unfortunately, most people seem to listen to a little voice in their head that says, "It won't happen to me. " So these people keep on smoking and drinking. They continue to eat too much meat. And their only "exercise" is getting off the sofa to get something out of the fridge. Please follow the following steps to keep your heart healthy. | high4948.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "encourage people to write something"
},
"options": [
"offer some wonderful stories to readers",
"encourage people to write something",
"show that making money is not difficult",
"remind people that life is full of joy"
... | Send us your joke, anecdote or story, and if we publish it in the magazine, we'll pay as follows:
My Story $ 500
Personal stories beyond the call of daily life. They must be unpublished, original and less than 1,000 words. Click here to read more stories.
Kindness of Strangers up to $ 250
True accounts of good _ inspiring acts for unexpected kindness and generosity, or just something someone did that made your day different or changed your life. 100--500 words. Click here to read more stories.
Anecdotes and Jokes $ 50--$ 250
Funny things can happen at work and at home, especially when kids are around to pass comment. We may run your writing in Life's Like That, All in a Day's Work or As Kids See It, or as a short filler. Got a new joke? Send it in for Laughter, the Best Medicine. Click here to read more jokes.
Send Us Your Punchline
So you think of yourself as a bit of a jokester? See if you can come up with punchline to this month's joke...
You Said It
If you'd like to comment on something you saw in Reader's Digest magazine or on this website, this is the place to do it!
Is It Just Me
Can you be humorous about the trials and mysteries of modern life? Get it off your chest in 500 words. Click here to read more stories. | high20765.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Because they heard there was gold there."
},
"options": [
"Because they could find good jobs there.",
"Because they had found gold there.",
"Because they could open laundries and restaurants there.",
"Because they heard... | To Chinese immigrants, in the mid-1800s, California was "The Land of the Golden Mountain." In their homeland they had heard the words, "There's gold in California." They sailed 7,000miles to join the gold rush and strike it rich. Between 1849 and 1882, more than 30,000 Chinese came to California. Most were men. They had been farmers in China. They came here to be miners and laborers. They ended up doing many other jobs, too.
Like many other immigrants, they did not plan to stay in America. They came because of their ties to their homeland and their families. They planned to return to China with their fortunes and help their families.
Only a few Chinese gold miners struck it rich. Most picked over the areas that had been mined already. But still, white miners _ the Chinese. Slowly, they drove the "yellow peril" from the mining camps.
By the end of the 1850s, many Chinese returned home. Those who stayed found other jobs.
Few women had come west in the gold rush. The Chinese saw a good business opportunity. They began doing the jobs women would have done. Many became house servants. Many more opened laundries.
The Chinese opened restaurants. Chop suey and show mein are popular Chinese-American dishes. The Chinese probably created these dishes to serve to the white miners. Other Chinese became fishermen, farmers, and even cigar makers. | high4790.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "very detailed"
},
"options": [
"quite abstract",
"very confusing",
"very detailed",
"quite controversial"
],
"question": "Before Impressionism, the works of artists were _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_quest... | The history of modern art begins with Impressionism, a movement started in Paris in the mid-1800's. At that time many artists painted in a very traditional way that involved spending hours in a studio,painstakingly creating paintings that were extremely detailed. These paintings were sometimes of people or landscapes or historical events. In 1863, Edouard Manet exhibited his painting "Dejeuner sur l'erbe" at the Salon des Refuses. The painting caused acommotion , thus starting the Impressionist movement. Although Edouard Manet is the declared leader and founder of the group, he was not present at the first group exhibition or any of the other eight collective Impressionist shows. The movement gained more attention in the April of 1874 when Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Jean-Frederic Bazille formed Society of Artists, Painters, Sculptors, Engravers and began exhibiting outside of the official salon. The same year, the term Impressionism was invented by criticizing journalist Louis Leroy to describe their paintings, who worked for the magazineLe Charivari.
The Impressionists often paint out of doors and want to show how light and shadow fall on objects at particular times of the day. Their works are sometimes described as "captured moments" and are characterized by short quickbrushstrokes of colour which, when viewed up close looks quite messy and unreal. If we step back from the Impressionist paintings, the colours are blended together by our eyes and we are able to see the painters' subjects which often show colourful landscapes, sunlight on water as well as people busy with outdoor activities. | high1830.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "welfare service"
},
"options": [
"sports",
"festivals",
"natural resources",
"welfare service"
],
"question": "Which of the following about Busan is NOT mentioned in the passage?",
"question_type": null
},... | Busan , the largest port and fisheries city located on the southeast coast of the Korean Peninsula , attracts more tourists to go sightseeing every year.
With a population of four million,Korea's second largest metropolis grew into a modern port city between 1906 and 1944. It first opened its ports as the first international port in Korea in 1876.
As a frequently visited coastal city for Korean and foreign vacationers alike,Busan offers precious natural resources including mountains,rivers and the sea,all to be enjoyed in a year round comfortable climate. Busan,with its four distinct seasons, is reinventing itself into an international tourist sea resort . Aquariums let visitors go on undersea journeys and sea resorts are equipped with amusement parks bringing tourists the best service and hot springs that could be offered in a special tourist zone.
All the year round, _ . At the Busan Sea Festival,the summer's heat and the clean white sands, along with the fresh sea winds mix with youthful vitality . Furthermore,the biggest seafood market at the Busan Jagalchi Festival offers fresh seafood and the Busan International Film Festival has world famous top-quality films. In January, the winter North Polar Bear Swimming Contest and the Greeting Sunrise Festival are held as a bless of good health, activity and happiness after one year's tireness..
Busan is also a city of _ . It has successfully hosted international sporting events such as the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Olympic Games,football and yacht competitions and the 1997 East Asian Games. Because of its hosting experience and world class facilities,Busan hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup and the 14th Asian Games.
All in all, Busan is a fantasy world. If you want to get as much as information about Busan, you can log on the following site: _ | high7299.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "ends in the southeastern state of Georgia"
},
"options": [
"is more than four thousand three hundred kilometers long",
"starts in the northern state of Maine",
"goes through more than fourteen states",
"ends in the sout... | One of the most popular activities enjoyed by Americans is spending time in forests and walking along paths through the country.This activity,called hiking,has led to the creation of paths throughout the United States.
One of the longest is the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.The trail is the first completed part of the National Trails System.The trails system was established by Congress and the president in 1968.The Appalachian Trail is more than 3,400 kilometers long.It starts in the northeastern state of Maine and ends in the southeastern state of Georgia.The trail goes through 14 states.They are Maine,New Hampshire,Vermont,Massachusetts,Connecticut,New York,New Jersey,Pennsylvania,Maryland,West Virginia,Virginia,Tennessee,North Carolina,and Georgia.
The path takes walkers through the Appalachian Mountains.They extend from the Canadian province of Quebec to the southern American state of Alabama.
The Appalachian Mountains are among the oldest on Earth.They first began forming about one thousand million years ago.During the millions of years since then,the mountains were changed and reformed by the forces of water and wind.Ice also changed the mountains,making many of them smaller and digging valleys and lakes among them.Many different kinds of trees grow along the trail.And many different kinds of animals live in the forests along the trail.
Lands along the trail are protected by the federal government and by state governments.Some parts are not protected by the government directly.Instead,they are protected by legal agreements with private owners willing to permit people to walk across their property.
Walkers on the Appalachian Trail pass through some of the great valley systems of the mountains.They can look down into these beautiful valleys and see farms and forests stretching across the land for many kilometers.Farmland in the valleys is rich and productive.And some of the great events in American history took place in the valleys.For example,one of the great battles of the American Civil War was fought in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. | high6187.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "they have got some ideas about long living"
},
"options": [
"they believe that there is no limit of living",
"they are sure to find the truth about long living",
"they have got some ideas about long living",
"they are a... | Do you want to live another 100 years or more? Some experts say that scientific progress will one day help humans to last tens of years longer than what is now seen as the natural limit of the human life span .
" I think _ ," said Michael Zey, a Montclair State University business professor and author of two books on the future. " I think by 2075 we will see it and that's a conservative estimate ."
At the conference in San Francisco, Donald Louria, a professor at New Jersey Medical School in Newark said progress in using genes as well as nanotechnology makes it likely that humans will live in the future beyond what has been possible in the past. " There is a great push so that people can live from 120 to 180 years," he said. " Some have suggested that there is no limit and that people could live to 200 or 300 or 500 years."
However, many scientists who research into aging are doubtful about _ and say the human body is just not designed to last about 120 years. Even with healthier lifestyles and less disease, they say failure of the brain and organs will finally lead all humans to death.
Scientists also disagree on what kind of life the super aged might live. "It remains to be seen whether you could be healthy enough to have good quality of life when you pass 120." said Leonard Poon, director of the University of Georgia Gerontology Center. " At present people who could get to that point are not in good health at all." | high2486.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "your blood sample will be sent through to the lab and analysed there"
},
"options": [
"the nurse will measure your blood as soon as possible",
"your blood sample will be sent through to the lab and analysed there",
"the docto... | Book into the new prefix = st1 /AucklandHospitalat a typical hour, say 11 on a Saturday night, and you will notice changes in the way you are treated.
Let's start with the blood sample taken from your arm as you are wheeled in the door.
By the time you are through the security doors and into the emergency area, that sample could have been sent through to the lab by vacuum tube and analysed by a machine which automatically feeds a preparative result into the clinical database.
Less than a minute after the sample is processed, the doctors can see the results through the monitors beside every position in the emergency suites.
As you are being wheeled in, you may notice cameras in the ceiling. The hospital has spent $4 million on its camera security system to protect staff and patients.
When you come to in the neighbouring Admission and Planning Unit, the clinician may be looking at all your records, x-rays and even documents sent in by your GP on a Compaq tablet PC wirelessly connected to the network by an 802.11 "WiFi" card.
It's not ideal for viewing images, but it should be good enough for a bedside consultation .
If the clinician needs to consult a specialist or your GP, the other party can see the same records from home or office through a secure internet connection.
Dr Nigel Murray, general manager of the hospital building programme, said about $30 million of the $500 million budget for the project had been spent on information technology. | high20002.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "She felt stressed."
},
"options": [
"She was relaxed.",
"She felt stressed.",
"She was worrying about Rio.",
"She was still annoyed with Bryan."
],
"question": "How was the author at the beginning of the walk?",... | In the early morning, I headed for the back door and found 10 inches of snow blanketing our home. Oh, no, Bryan would have to clear the roof again, I thought. But Rio rolled onto his back, playing in the white stuff and kicking his back legs, delighted. His days in an animal shelter in New Mexico were long forgotten---he had wholeheartedly enjoyed life as a Colorado dog.
Rio needed a walk. I had planned to attend an emergent webinar, but my husband was busy clearing. Rio pushed my leg with his snout , wondering why we were still inside. We were overdue for our morning hike. I pulled on my boots reluctantly. I didn't have time for this.
Rio and I walked a block through our neighborhood to the beginning of a road. Rio leaped happily into the snow, which was up to his neck. But I walked slowly with heavy steps, worrying about my to-do list, and I didn't notice that the world around me until Rio started barking.
A squirrel chattered at him from a high branch of a pine tree. We hadn't seen a squirrel in at least a week because of all the storms, so this was a treat for us.
Once again, my animal teacher was reminding me to enjoy the present moment, and I was grateful. I took a deep breath ans looked around. Suddenly, there was an explosion of snow. A nearby tree had released its heavy burden, snapping back upright. Silver snowflakes dusted the air around me as a group of birds fled the area, talking to one another as they flew overhead.
I watched and listened in wonder for what seemed like a full minute. There would be 1,440 minutes in this day, but this was the one I would remember most. Then I looked back to the earth and there was my sweet boy, waiting patiently for a treat. He knew I would want to celebrate this moment we had just shared.
"I love you, Rio!" I said as I gave him a cookie. He had trained me well.
When we walked home, I smiled broadly, spirit washed clean, ready for whatever the day might bring. | high19683.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "with the help of a dictionary"
},
"options": [
"at the first attempt",
"with great ease",
"with the help of a dictionary",
"with the aid of the instructor"
],
"question": "The author finished his first homework ... | At the age of 45 I decided to learn the English language. Not that I didn't know the language, but to improve my command over the language, I joined English academic classes close to my house. In one class, the instructor gave us a sheet of a hundred words and told us to write the opposite of each word as homework. At home I sat with that page but though I could manage the easy words quickly, for certain words I had to take the help of the dictionary.
Feeling relaxed and like an achiever, my new found enthusiasm forced me to explore some more words. Exploring the dictionary, for every word I found the opposite word (except all forms of nouns). The entire night went on exploring words, but the night was not enough to complete the dictionary. I had enough time to hand in my homework, so the next day, after work once again I sat in through the night and started exploring opposite words from the dictionary.
The exercise was easy, but suddenly something struck my mind. Instead of finding the words which have opposite words, I should look for words that do NOT have any opposite word. After going through sleepless nights that week, I could not find a single word which doesn't have an opposite word.
This amazed me and forced me to conclude that without the opposite word the original word doesn't have its real meaning or value. In other words, every word is incomplete without its opposite. The conclusion forced me to think differently. Although many questions remained unanswered in my mind, the one thing I concluded was that these words are created by humans and every human possesses two qualities within himself, Positive and Negative. Similarly he created words with opposites. This proves that whatever we welcome in our life, we will also be welcoming the opposite of it. And at the end of the day we will complain about the negative forces surrounding us, making us weak, dull, pessimistic and so on...Isn't this strange? | high17876.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "tips for preparing children for a natural disaster"
},
"options": [
"the importance of mutual help in disaster preparation",
"tips for preparing children for a natural disaster",
"the importance of educating children about na... | You can't hide a natural disaster from children, so how do we prepare them for it? First of all, you should explain to them that acts of nature aren't necessarily disasters but can become one. These may include floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, winter storms, wild fires, and earthquakes. The way to prepare children for these disasters is to educate them about what each type is and then make it fun by making them "Disaster Masters" or whatever title you can think of.
Making them a Disaster Master won't be easy. They must know what's in a disaster emergency kit and why it's included. You can get your friends involved, too. If your friends have children, they may want to be involved in your emergency preparations. Make it a group project. This is the opportunity for everyone to become familiar with the equipment.
We have to be aware of our conduct and the way we react to stress. The children will be easily influenced by your attitude and _ . The calmness, steady manner, and good humor of your spouse and you will go a long way toward the easing or the reduction of stress.
Explain to them what they're likely to encounter or see and describe how people may react. Disasters can come and go very quickly and generally don't last long. If you must stay away from home, try to get into a routine quickly and encourage them to make new friends. Let them know they can look to their parents and other adults if they become scared or confused. And it's important to let them know it's OK to cry during a disaster.
It's sometimes helpful to let the children draw pictures of what they've experienced. Encourage them to write what they learned and what could have been done better. Save the story. Make it part of a documented family history! | high3798.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "He had little interest in school study."
},
"options": [
"He was too stupid to learn lessons at school.",
"He had little interest in school study.",
"His parents wanted him to work at an early age.",
"He loved fishing v... | Jack was not a stupid kid,nor was he the shiniest spoon in the drawer. He didn't care for school. With his "I'd rather be fishing" attitude, Jack missed a lot of classes. Knowing that graduating from middle school was not going to be written in his life, Jack became a dropout at the age of fourteen.
Jack was sent to live on his uncle's farm in Wisconsin. He happily stayed there until he reached the age of eighteen. He wanted to see more about the United States, so he went to California. He found a good job at an aircraft company. He had to lie about his education. Worrying that his background was found out, Jack was employed there.
Two years later, Jack got married. He wanted to better his life, so he signed up for a home study course to get his high school diploma .He chose his elective subject to be automotive technology .Sadly, this was ended when he took his wife and son back to his uncle's farm. Jack found a job as a worker in a wire factory. Seven years later, Jack began dreaming of something better for them all. He wanted to be an automobile engineer, and he knew that it needed education to get into that field.
Because of Jack's efforts, he joined a junior college in California. Jack was accepted to go for his Associates in Arts degree in automotive technology.
Jack found that for the most parts, the studies covered most of what he had learned in elementary school. He studied hard for two years and passed the final examination. He received his diploma. Jack went on to work as an automotive technician for an excellent company. Within a year he was the engineer. | high24264.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because he didn't know the common kitchen utensils ."
},
"options": [
"Because he was not well behaved.",
"Because he refused to help with dinner.",
"Because he didn't know the common kitchen utensils .",
"Because he ... | One evening last summer, when I asked my 14-year-old son, Ray, for help with dinner, his response shocked me. "What's a colander ? " he asked.
I could only blame myself. In the family, nobody else's hands went in the sauce except my own. But that night, as I explained with a touch of panic that a colander is the thing with holes in it, I wondered what else I hadn't prepared Ray for.
As parents, while we focus on our sons' confidence and character, we perhaps don't always consider that we are also raising someone's future roommates, boyfriends, husbands, or fathers. I wanted to know that I'd raised a boy who would never ask the woman in his life, "What's for dinner?" So I came up with a plan: I would offer Ray a private home economics course. I was delighted to find that he didn't say no. For two hours, three days a week, Ray was all mine. One day, as his tomato sauce reduced on the stove, he washed and seasoned a chicken for roasting. Then he rolled out the piecrust and filled it with apples, all while listening to my explanation on the importance of preheating an oven.
I knew that he would rather have been shooting hoops in the driveway than learning to mend socks with his mother--he tried to beg off sewing lessons, even though I insisted that one day, someone would find the sight of him fixing his own shirt very attractive-- but it couldn't be denied that he was learning, and more than just housekeeping. "I appreciate what you do as a mom," he told me one day. Ray now understands the finer points of cooking, and more importantly, he realizes there's nothing masculine about being helpless.
Now, not only can he make his own dinner, but also he can make a big meal for his family. That's what I call a man. I'm glad that I prepared so great a present for my future daughter-in-law. | high8815.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "he is tall and does something big"
},
"options": [
"he is a tall and tough man",
"he is tall and does something big",
"he is living in a tough community",
"he leads a tough community"
],
"question": "The author ... | His name is James,but people call him Rocky.The name fits.He's big,over six feet tall,and he's tough when he needs to be.James "Rocky" Robinson lives and works in New York City's BedfordStuyvesant district,one of the poorest and most dangerous neighborhoods in the United States.Yet it is here in BedStuy that he is saving lives and reviving a community.
In 1966,when Rocky was twentysix years old,his sevenyearold niece was struck by a car on the street of BedStuy.Had someone at the scene known first aid or CPR,she might have lived.But by the time she reached a hospital,she was dead.
His niece's unnecessary death was one reason why Rocky became a paramedic .Working for the Emergency Medical Service of New York City,he realized that more than half the city's emergency calls came from highcrime areas.According to Rocky,residents of crimeplagued minority neighborhoods like BedStuy sometimes had to wait as long as 26 minutes after calling 911 for an ambulance while calls in richer white communities were answered _ .
Rocky decided to find out more about the problem.His research showed that the richer communities had organized their own ambulance corps to improve city services because the city was overwhelmed with calls."If that's the key to success,"he told his friend and EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) colleague,Joe Perez,"we'll start our own corps in BedStuy!"
In 1988,Rocky had no idea that he and Joe would be attempting to establish the first minorityrun ambulance service in the country,or just how creative he would have to be to overcome the difficulty.The pair's first challenge was to find a location for the headquarters.They took over an abandoned building that was commonly used by drug dealers.Because there was no electricity or running water (except for the leaks in the roof),the two men worked during daylight hours.They used a twoway radio to receive emergency calls.
Although they could make do with their new headquarters,Rocky and Joe still lacked the most important component of an ambulance service:an ambulance.An old Chevrolet got them to the scenes of accidents,fires,shootings,and stabbings.But the car didn't always start.At times,they were forced to strap their trauma kits and oxygen tanks to their backs and run on foot to the emergencies.Everyone laughed,except the victims who were still alive when Rocky and Joe arrived. | high6186.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "The real cause of Dr Woolley's death is known to us."
},
"options": [
"The real cause of Dr Woolley's death is known to us.",
"Many students didn't prepare themselves for the bad news so that they felt very sad.",
"It takes t... | MOST recently, my world has been shaken by the death of a teacher at my school. He was Dr Allan Woolley and he was only 52. Suddenly he took his own life, which remains a mystery.
That morning, everyone sensed that something wasn't right. During our lessons, an announcement was made that an assembly was scheduled for morning break, which was only done in emergencies.
Once morning break came, the entire school gathered in the main hall. As our headmaster marched out to announce the "momentous news", it felt like the air around us trembled . Many students broke down in tears, and the reaction afterward was intensely powerful and unifying .
The headmaster said that students were allowed to miss lessons and have a free period to _ themselves if they found the news too distressing . Many students went outside and shared memories of Dr Woolley to control theirselves.
Dr Woolley taught me chemistry two years ago, but up until his death he still taught many of my close friends. Many of my friends were so shocked that they still couldn't believe the person that they had owed some homework to was now dead.
It was heart-warming to spend time with teachers that morning and get to know more about them. _ | high7298.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "come up with an idea"
},
"options": [
"begin with some specific persons",
"come up with an idea",
"describe a famous place",
"organize your thoughts"
],
"question": "When you begin to write a poem, you should fi... | Poetry is an interesting form of writing. It is very free, has few _ and can be a great way to express feelings. Writing a poem is all about observing the world within you or around you.
To write a poem, first you should begin with an idea or inspiration. Inspiration may come at any time unexpectedly. It may be a specific person, place or thing that causes some sort of strong emotion. It may be more of an abstract idea or release of emotion.
After getting the idea, you can write down everything that comes to mind. Don't think much and let all feelings pour out. Remember everything can be thrown out later.
Then, you can think about its form and begin to organize thoughts. Poetry comes in many forms, from epic poetry that has a story to dramatic poetry intended to be performed. Try them all out. One will come naturally. Maybe different poems fit different forms. When you write a poem, think about bothmeter and rhythm carefully, which are equally important in poetry. Meter is the fixed pattern of the poem, while rhythm refers to the sound when it is spoken. It is also important to use a lot of descriptive words. Createimagery with words, trying to make them attractive to all the senses. Forauditory interest, try repeating of similar sounds in a sentence or phrase. All of this adds life and interest to a poem.
After you finish your work, don't be afraid to share your work with others. When others point out your weakness, accept and grow from it. | high1831.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "How Environmental Habitats Change"
},
"options": [
"The Importance of Weeds and Grasses",
"The Success of Oak and Hickory",
"How Environmental Habitats Change",
"Animal and Plant Habitats"
],
"question": "The be... | Over a period of time, many habitats change with respect to the types of plants and animals that live there. This change is known as succession.
Succession occurs because plants and animals cause a change in the environment in which they live. The first weeds and grasses that appear on a bare field, for example, change the environment by shielding the soil from direct sunlight. As these plants spread, the ground becomes cooler and more moist than it was originally. Thus, the environment at the ground surface has been changed. The new surface conditions favor the sprouting of shrubs. As shrubs grow, they kill the grasses by preventing light from reaching them and also enhance the soil. Pine seedlings soon take hold and as they grow, they in turn shade out the shrubs. They are not able to shade out oak and hickory seedlings, however, that have found the forest floor suitable. These seedlings grew into large trees that eventually shade out the pines. | high4791.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "express her opinion about the food"
},
"options": [
"invite students to judge the food",
"show the terrible taste of the food",
"express her opinion about the food",
"ask the school to improve the food"
],
"ques... | Every day, 15-year-old Martha wrote on the Internet about the meal she ate at school. She also took pictures of the food. However, Martha was very honest about the food. She did not just describe the food. She judged the taste and health of the food.
Martha also began to use her blog for an important reason. She began to raise money for the organization Mary's Meals in the East African country of Malawi. It provides food for children in schools for free. Martha encouraged her readers to send money to Mary's Meals to help build a kitchen.
But then, Martha began to have a problem. Many people read her blog. She became big news. The news stories showed that the food at Martha's school was not always healthy. And that made some people angry. So the school officials decided to stop Martha's blog. They said that she could not take her camera to school.
But an amazing thing happened. Many people began sending messages of support across the Internet. Martha's story was even bigger than before. Now the officials had to change their minds. A few days later, Martha was again writing her blog. But more than that, people had sent a lot of money for the Malawi school children. Martha had hoped to raise about 10,000 dollars. But the total reached 100,000 dollars and still kept on growing!
Martha's blog also helped to improve meals at her school. One day she wrote: As we waited for dinner we were told that we are allowed to eat as much fruit and bread as we want.
No one knows what will happen to Martha's blog in future. But already this little girl has helped to change the eating experience of many children just by sharing on the Internet pictures of her school meals. | high4949.txt |
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